30th DEC, 2022

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ELECTION COMMISSION OF INDIA (ECI) READY TO PILOT REMOTE VOTING FOR
DOMESTIC MIGRANTS

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ECI has developed a prototype for a Multi-Constituency Remote Electronic

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Voting Machine (RVM) which would enable remote voting by migrant voters.
SIGNIFICANCE OF REMOTE VOTING
Voter turnout in General Elections 2019 was 67.4% indicating over 30 Crore
electors not exercising their franchise.
Apart from urban and youth apathy, missing vote of domestic migrant is seen
as a key factor behind stagnating voter turnout.

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RVMs are stand alone, non-networked system that will be able to cater to
multiple constituencies (as many as 72). Can lead to social
Will improve voter transformation of
It will enable the migrants to vote in their home constituencies from a migrants by
remote location. turnout and ensure
participative enabling them to
As per 2011 census, there are nearly 45.36 crore migrants in India elections. connect with their

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amounting to approximately 37% of country’s population. roots.
Challenges in implementation

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Administrative : enumerating remote voters declaration, maintaining secrecy of voting location, provision of booth setup and
personnel, implementation of moral code of conduct etc.
Legal: several laws need relevant amendments (Representation of the People Act, 1950 & 1951; Conduct of election rules 1961),
process of defining Migrant worker and Remote voting etc.

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Technological: Method of remote voting and its counting, familiarity of the voters.

NON-PERFORMING ASSETS (NPAs) REFERRED BY BANKS TO VARIOUS CHANNELS

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JUMPED FOUR-FOLD IN 2021-22 COMPARED TO 2020-21
Earlier loan recovery processes was affected due to COVID-19 as insolvency proceedings were suspended and banks were also
restricted to initiate harsh recovery methods.

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Various mechanisms for NPA recovery
It is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms given statutory status under Legal Services
Authorities Act, 1987.
Lok Adalat It is a forum where disputes/cases pending in court of law or at pre-litigation stage are settled amicably.
NALSA along with other Legal Services Institutions conducts Lok Adalats across the country.
Awards are final and binding on all parties.

DRTs and Debts Recovery Appellate Tribunals (DRATs) were established under Recovery of Debts and
Debt Recovery Bankruptcy Act, 1993 for expeditious adjudication and recovery of debts due to Banks and Financial Institutions.
Tribunals (DRT)
Each DRT and DRAT are headed by a Presiding Officer and a Chairperson respectively.

Insolvency and IBC was introduced in 2016 and recently amended in 2021.
Bankruptcy Code It provides a time-bound process for resolving insolvency of corporate debtors (330 days) and establishes
(IBC) a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP).

Under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets & Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002
(SARFAESI Act), banks can take control of securities pledged against loan and manage or sell them to
SARFAESI Act recover dues without court intervention.
It covers all assets, movable or immovable, promised as security to the lender.

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NO ACTION PLAN BY MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST & CLIMATE CHANGE

(MOEF&CC) TO HANDLE PLASTIC WASTE
Findings are part of a compliance audit by Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to assess effectiveness and compliance of
provisions of Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rules,2016.
PWM Rules, 2016 provides statutory framework for plastic waste management in an environmentally sound manner
throughout the country.
Key findings

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PWM Rules, 2016, could not be implemented effectively due to a lack of an action plan by the MoEF&CC.
No uniform framework to implement Extended Producer’s Responsibility (EPR).
EPR is responsibility of a producer for environmentally sound management
of product until the end of its life. MoEF&CC has issued Plastic Waste

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Management (Second Amendment) Rules,
Delay in taking initiatives for elimination of Single Use Plastic.
2022, to phase out certain single-use plastic
Absence of guidelines and standards for monitoring of plastic pollution. products and to increase thickness of plastic

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No uniform method for assessment of plastic waste generation within a state. carry bags
Recommendations MoEF&CC also notified Guidelines on the
A system for effective data collection in relation to generation, collection and Extended Producer Responsibility for plastic
disposal of plastic waste. packaging under PWM Rules.
Carry out a comprehensive assessment of quantity of plastic waste being

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INDIA - AUSTRALIA ECONOMIC
generated and collect data according to parameters like population size,

AND COOPERATION TRADE

geographical size of area etc.
Local bodies may expedite process of notifying their bye-laws by
incorporating PWM Rules. AGREEMENT (ECTA) COMES
MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY NOTIFIED INTO FORCE

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THE NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL POLICY, 2022
ECTA provides an institutional mechanism to

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encourage and improve trade between two
Policy seeks to strengthen countries and covers almost all tariff lines
the Geospatial sector to Geospatial technology is a combination of dealt by India and Australia.
support national techniques like Geographic Information After India-UAE Comprehensive Economic
development, economic System (GIS), Global Positioning System Partnership Agreement, ECTA will be the

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prosperity and a thriving (GPS), Earth Observation and Scanning to second trade agreement for India that will
information economy. perform geographic mapping and analysis of be operationalised this year.

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Earth and human societies.
Policy highlights a ETCA is expected to:
13-year guideline to It has applications in almost every domain
Raise bilateral trade to USD 45-50 billion in
promote the country's of the economy ranging from agriculture to
next five years.
geospatial data industry industries, development of urban or rural
infrastructure, administration of land, Create an additional employment of at
and develop a national

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economic activities of banking and finance least 10 lakhs jobs in India.
framework to use such
data for improving citizen etc. Create opportunities for investment,
services, and more. It is now widely accepted as a critical promotion of start-ups.
Key highlights of the policy national infrastructure. Key features of ECTA
Union government to constitute a Geospatial Data Promotion and India will benefit from preferential market
Development Committee (GDPDC) which will act as the apex body for the access provided by Australia on 100% of its
sector. tariff lines, including all labour-intensive
sectors of export interest to India, such as
GDPDC will replace the existing National Spatial Data Committee (NSDC)
Gems and Jewellery, Textiles, leather,
and Geospatial data promotion and development Committee.
footwear etc.
Operationalization of a National Geospatial Data Registry (NGDR) for
Australia has offered wide ranging
efficient access to the National Fundamental and Sectoral Geospatial Data.
commitments in several services
Survey of India’s topographic data and other Geospatial Data produced using sub-sectors like IT, ITES, Health, Education.
public funds would be treated as common good and be made easily available
A separate Annex on Pharmaceutical
to all.
products which will enable fast-track
Recognizes 14 Global Fundamental Geospatial Data Themes considered approval for patented, generic and biosimilar
fundamental to development of a country’s Integrated Geospatial Information medicines.
Infrastructure and supporting SDGs.
Covers areas like Rules of Origin, Sanitary
National Digital Twin strategy would be devised by GDPDC. and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures,
Digital Twin is a virtual replica of a physical asset, process or service that lies at Dispute Settlement, Movement of Natural
the core of the new digital revolution. Persons etc.

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PATRIOTIC CITIZENS IN BORDER VILLAGES CAN PROVIDE PERMANENT SECURITY:

UNION HOME MINISTER
Home Minister asked the border-guarding forces to use Vibrant Village
Programme (VVP) to populate border villages to enhance border security.
VVP, announced in Union Budget 2022-23, aims to enhance infrastructure in
villages (in states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Arunachal Pradesh) along
India's border with China.

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Activities will include construction of village infrastructure, housing, tourist
centres, road connectivity, provisioning of decentralized renewable energy,
direct to home access for Doordarshan and educational channels, and support for
livelihood generation.
Existing schemes will be converged and their outcomes will be defined and

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monitored on a constant basis.
Scheme will also help to encourage tourism in border villages, to make them self-reliant and vibrant.

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Role of community in border management
Hold vast amounts of knowledge on area, characteristics of terrain etc, thus can help in building comprehensive situational
awareness.
Help in ensuring that security responses do not compromise human rights or inhibit unduly the free movement of goods and
people.

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Watch groups can be formed in difficult areas to fill in gaps existing in the surveillance cover on a regular basis.

ALSO IN NEWS
Ministry of Home Affairs has issued guidelines for those whose parents had renounced Indian

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citizenship when they were minors but now want to reclaim their nationality.
Under Citizenship Act, 1955, every minor child of a person who renounces their citizenship shall,

Citizenship Norms notified
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thereupon, cease to be a citizen of India.
Provided that any such child may, within one year after attaining full age, make a declaration that
he wishes to resume Indian citizenship.
Citizenship Act of 1955 prescribes five ways of acquiring citizenship, viz, birth, descent,

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registration, naturalisation and incorporation of territory.
Act has been amended in 1986,1992, 2003, 2005 and 2019.

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FSR is a bi-annual report that reflects risks to financial stability and the resilience of Indian
financial system (Global FSR is released by IMF).
With inputs from all financial sector regulators, it reflects overall evaluation of Sub Committee
of Financial Stability and Development Council.

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Key highlights
Financial Stability Report Gross non-performing asset (GNPA) ratio of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) fell to a
(FSR) released by RBI seven-year low of 5.0% and net NPA have dropped to ten-year low of 1.3% in September 2022.
Buoyant demand for bank credit and early signs of a revival in investment cycle.
Indian Air Force successfully fired Extended Range Version of BrahMos air-launched cruise missile.
About BrahMos missile
It is a joint venture of India and Russia, and its name is derived from Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
It can be launched from land, air, sea, and underwater.
Its range was originally capped at 290 km as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control
Regime (MTCR).
BrahMos
Following India’s entry into MTCR, it was decided to extend range to 450 km and 600 km at a
later stage.
Centre has given approval for implementation of Kalasa-Banduri canal construction project.
About Kalasa-Banduri project:
Proposes to divert water from two tributaries of the Mahadayi river (also known as Mandovi): Kalasa
and Banduri to the Malaprabha river (Mandovi flows through Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra).
Entire project aims to construct several dams on the river Mandovi.
Kalasa-Banduri project
Aimed at facilitating drinking water for towns in drought-hit northern Karnataka.

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Theaterisation or Theatre Command means putting specific number of personnel from three
services —army, navy and air force— under a common commander in a specified geographical
territory.
Aim is to combine single-service commands, that currently exist, into several geographical
commands including
Western theatre command: For border against Pakistan.
Northern theatre command: For border with China.
Maritime command: For Indian Ocean Region.

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Theaterisation
Island command: It is already functional, called Andaman & Nicobar Command.
Idea of Theatre commands has been proposed by both Kargil review as well as D B Shekatkar
committee.
Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals issued a gazette notification titled Ethylene Glycol

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(Quality Control) Order, 2022.
Ethylene glycol is a colourless and odourless alcoholic compound that can be fatal if consumed.

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It is a syrupy or viscous liquid at room temperature.
It is mostly used as an automotive antifreeze and for manufacturing polyester fibres.
Also found in hydraulic brake fluids, stamp pad inks, ballpoint pens, solvents, paints, cosmetics
Ethylene Glycol and plastics etc.

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Diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol are adulterants that are sometimes illegally used as
solvents in liquid drugs to cut costs.

National Health Authority (NHA) is releasing beta version of ABDM-compliant HMIS.

NHA is nodal agency for implementing Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) which aims
to develop backbone for digital health infrastructure in India.

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HMIS envisions providing a digital platform for healthcare providers, particularly focusing on
private clinics and small health facilities.

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HMIS will allows doctors to
Hospital Management
Information System Generate and fetch ABHA (Ayushman Bharat Health Account) for their patients.
(HMIS) View previous health records and prescriptions for registered patients.
Generate and share digital standardized prescriptions etc.

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European Space Agency (ESA) is set to launch Juice mission in 2023.

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It will be Europe’s first dedicated robotic mission to Jupiter and will make detailed observations
of Jupiter and three of its largest moons, Ganymede, Callisto and Europa.
The mission will characterise these moons as both planetary objects and possible habitats,
Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
explore Jupiter’s complex environment in depth, and study the wider Jupiter system.
(Juice)

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Kosovo (Capital: Pristina)
Kosovo closed its main border crossing
with Serbia amid ethnic tensions.
Kosovo is a landlocked country in Balkans
region of Europe. It is bordered by
Albania, North Macedonia, Montenegro
and Serbia.
Kosovo unilaterally declared
independence from Serbia in 2008,
after years of strained relations between
Places in News its Serb and mainly Albanian inhabitants.
Geographical features:
Terrain: Flat fluvial basin with an elevation of 400-700 m above sea level.
Climate: continental, with cold, relatively dry winters and warm, humid summers
Lowest point: Drini i Bardhë (located on border with Albania.)
Highest point: Gjeravica

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