Prelim Booster

News Discussion
06-September-2021
 Financial Stability and Development Council
Recently, the Finance Minister chaired the 24th meeting of the
Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC).

👉 About
◎ What is it? è It is a non-statutory apex council
under the Ministry of Finance constituted by
the Executive Order in 2010.
◎ The Raghuram Rajan Committee (2008) on
financial sector reforms first proposed the
creation of FSDC.
 Financial Stability and Development Council
◎ Composition of FSDC è
○ Chairperson à The Union Finance Minister of India.
○ Members à Governor Reserve Bank of India (RBl), Finance Secretary
and/ or Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Secretary,
Department of Financial Services (DFS), Secretary, Ministry of
Corporate Affairs, Chief Economic Advisor, Ministry of Finance.
○ Other members include the Chairman of SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA and IBBI
○ The FSDC Sub Committee is Chaired by the Governor of the RBI.
○ All the members of the FSDC are also members of the Sub-committee.
◎ Functions è
○ To strengthen and institutionalize the mechanism for maintaining
financial stability, enhancing inter-regulatory coordination and
promoting financial sector development.
 Financial Stability and Development Council
○ To monitor macro-prudential supervision of the economy. It assesses
the functioning of the large financial conglomerates.
 CSE 2016
Q. With reference to 'Financial Stability and Development Council', consider
the following statements:
1. It is an organ of NITI Aayog.
2. It is headed by the Union Finance Minister
3. It monitors macro-prudential supervision of the economy.
Which of the statements given above is/ are correct?
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
 CSE 2016
Answer (c
 International Fund for Agricultural Development
Recently, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
has made the commitment to focus 30 per cent of its climate finance
to support nature-based solutions in rural small-scale agriculture by
2030.
👉 About
◎ What is it? è It is a specialized international
financial institution of the United Nations
working in the field of poverty eradication in
the rural areas of developing countries.
◎ Formation è It was created in 1977, which is
the outcome of the World Food Conference of
1974.
 International Fund for Agricultural Development
◎ It works with marginalized and vulnerable groups such as farmers with
small holdings, foresters, Pastoralists, Fishermen and small scale
entrepreneurs by giving them disaster preparedness, access to weather
information, technology transfer and social learning.
◎ Headquarters è Rome, Italy.
◎ Members è It has 177 member countries.
◎ India is also a member country.
◎ Objectives è
○ To increase the productive capacity of poor people.
○ To increase benefits for them from market participation.
○ To strengthen the environmental sustainability & climate resilience of
their economic activities.
 Dementia
Recently, the WHO (World Health Organisation) released a report
‘Global status report on the public health response to dementia’.

👉 About Dementia
◎ What is it? è It is a syndrome – usually of a
chronic or progressive nature – that leads to
deterioration in cognitive function (i.e. the
ability to process thought) beyond what might
be expected from the usual consequences of
biological ageing.
◎ It affects memory, thinking, orientation,
comprehension, calculation, learning capacity,
language, and judgement.
 Dementia
◎ However, the consciousness is not affected.
◎ Symptoms è
○ Memory loss, Difficulties with thinking, Visual perception, Self-
management, Problem solving or language and the ability to focus and
pay attention.
○ Personality changes, like depression, agitation, paranoia, and mood
swings.
◎ Causes è When brain cells are damaged then dementia may occur. It can
be caused by a head injury, a stroke, a brain tumour or due to HIV
infection.
◎ Treatment è There is currently no treatment available to cure dementia,
though numerous new treatments are being investigated in various stages
of clinical trials.
 Eastern Economic Forum
The Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas will lead a delegation to
Russia to participate in the 6th Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) Summit
in Vladivostok.

👉 About
◎ EEF was established by the decree of the
President of the Russian Federation in the
year 2015.
◎ Its aim is to support the economic
development of Russia’s Far East and to
expand international cooperation in the
Asia-Pacific region.
 Eastern Economic Forum
◎ It takes place each year in Vladivostok, a city in Russia.
◎ It serves as a platform for the discussion of key issues in the world
economy, regional integration, and the development of new industrial and
technological sectors, as well as of the global challenges facing Russia and
other nations.
 Collegium System for the Appointment of Judges
9 judges of the Supreme Court including one third women have taken
the oath, the biggest ever number at one go. It takes the total SC
strength to 33, of whom 4 are women.

👉 About
◎ Articles 124(2) and 217 of the Constitution
govern the appointment of judges to the
Supreme Court (SC) and High Courts (HC)
respectively.
◎ Under this, the President has the power to
make the appointment after “consultation”
with such judges of SC and HC as the president
may deem necessary.
 Collegium System for the Appointment of Judges
◎ Evolution of the System è
○ First Judges Case (1981) è It declared that the “primacy” of the Chief
Justice of India (CJI)s recommendation on judicial appointments and
transfers can be refused for “cogent (ठोस) reasons.”
§ The ruling gave the Executive primacy over the Judiciary in judicial
appointments for the next 12 years.
○ Second Judges Case (1993) è SC introduced the Collegium system, holding
that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”.
§ It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional
opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the
SC.
○ Third Judges Case (1998) è SC on President’s reference expanded the
Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-
most colleagues.
 Collegium System for the Appointment of Judges
◎ The SC collegium is headed by the CJI and comprises four other senior
most judges of the court.
◎ A HC collegium is led by its Chief Justice and four other senior most judges
of that court.
○ Names recommended for appointment by a HC collegium reaches the
government only after approval by the CJI and the SC collegium.
◎ Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed only through the collegium
system and the government has a role only after names have been
decided by the collegium.
 CSE 2014
Q. The power to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court of India
is vested in
a) the President of India
b) the Parliament
c) the Chief Justice of India
d) the Law Commission
 CSE 2014
Answer (b
 Hospital Management Information System
Indian Railways has rolled out the Hospital Management Information
System (HMIS) over 156 Health facilities across Indian Railways.

👉 About
◎ Objective è HMIS is an initiative of Indian
Railways to bring the entire Railway Health
System on a single architecture to provide
faster, seamless and hassle free healthcare.
◎ Implemented by è RailTel- a miniratna PSU
of Ministry of Railways and C-DAC (Centre for
Development of Advanced Computing) under
Ministry of Electronics & Information
Technology.
 Hospital Management Information System
◎ Key Features of HMIS è
○ HMIS will cover clinical care such as labs, Pharmacies as well as
Hospital Administration.
○ A mobile app has also been developed which enables the patients to
access their Electronic Medical Record (EMR) from anywhere.
○ Moreover, features like teleconsultation, lab report access, medicines
disbursed to patients have also been provided through this app.
○ This system is also fully integrable with the National Digital Health
Mission program of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
 Quick revision (True/False)

Question True / False

1. Financial Stability and Development Council -> It is a statutory apex False
council under the Ministry of Finance.

2. International Fund for Agricultural Development -> created in 1977. True

specialized international financial institution of the United Nations.

3. Dementia -> is a Fungal diseases. False

Eastern Economic Forum, 2021 -> It was established by the ASEAN in False
4. 2015.

5. Appointment of Judges -> President has the power to make the True
appointment after “consultation” with such judges of SC and HC as
the president may deem necessary.
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