Daily Current Affairs for UPSC IAS: 18th November 2021

National Register Of Citizens (NRC):

Only little over a thousand doubtful cases in the final draft of the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Assam have been referred to the concerned district commissioners for necessary action.

• More than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants in Assam were excluded from the final draft register published on August 31, 2019, which cost ₹1,220 crore.
• The government had rejected the NRC in its current form and demanded re-verification of at least 30% names in areas bordering Bangladesh and 10% in the rest of the State.
• The Supreme Court had monitored the exercise of updating the NRC of 1951 in Assam. About 19.06 lakh out of 3.3 crore applicants were excluded from the updated draft.

About NRC:

• The NRC is an official record of those who are legal Indian citizens. It includes demographic information about all those individuals who qualify as citizens of India as per the Citizenship Act, 1955.
• The register was first prepared after the 1951 Census of India and since then it has not been updated until recently.
• NRC in Assam:
  • So far, such a database has only been maintained for the state of Assam.
  • The exercise was a culmination of Assam Accord of 1985 signed between the Centre and the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) for detection, disenfranchisement and deportation of foreigners.
  • In 2013, the SC ordered the updation of the NRC, in accordance with Citizenship Act, 1955 and Citizenship Rules, 2003 in all parts of Assam. The process officially started in 2015.

G.N. Bajpai Committee:

The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), with an objective to develop the financial products and services International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) has constituted an Insurance Committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. G.N. Bajpai, former Chairman LIC and SEBI, to identify key areas for the development of insurance and reinsurance business from IFSC.

• IFSCA has developed eco-system for Aircraft Leasing and Financing which can be utilized to develop Aviation Insurance Hub and Trade Credit Insurance at IFSC.
• Also, similar platform may be implemented for shipping industry through facilitating of Protection and Indemnity clubs.
• The Captive insurance model is one of the cost efficient manner of managing own risk.
• Globally, leading financial centres have favourable regulatory regime for captive insurance model. Hence IFSCA may develop a new framework for enabling operations of Captives.
• IFSCA has enabled framework for Global In-house centres which may be utilized by (re)insurers to develop Global In-House Centres to provide services ancillary to insurance.
• Investment framework may be redesigned to give more avenues for insurers to mobilize their funds to a basket of financial instruments and products offering them more returns and flexibility.
• Globally premium financing is prevalent which is very significant driver for some the niche areas of insurance business. The same may be introduced in IFSC.
• Developing alternate risk transfer solutions such as insurance linked securities, catastrophe bonds and parametric risk transfers available for the global market.
• The Committee has also recommended the mapping of insurance needs of the Indian diaspora and meet such needs through promotion and development of the ‘hub and spoke’ model.

Unique Land Parcel Identification Number (ULPIN) Scheme:

Bhumi Samvaad’ – a National Workshop on Digital India Land Record Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) was held recently at India Habitat Centre here in the national capital.

• Talking about the importance of Unique Land Parcel Identification Numbers (ULPIN), Shri Singh said it is just like the Aadhar Number of land parcels.
• He said that in this unique system wherein a unique ID based on Geo-coordinates of the parcels is generated and assigned to the plots.
• Under the scheme, a 14-digit identification number will be issued to every plot of land in the country.
• It is being described as “the Aadhaar for land” — a number that would uniquely identify every surveyed parcel of land and prevent land fraud, especially in rural India, where land records are outdated and disputed.
• The identification will be based on the longitude and latitude of the land parcel, and is dependent on detailed surveys and geo-referenced cadastral maps.

STARS Project: World Bank

Performance of World Bank aided project STARS was reviewed recently.

• STARS stands for Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States Program (STARS).
• STARS project would be implemented as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme under the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
• It is a project to improve the quality and governance of school education in six Indian states.
• Six states are- Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan.
• Some 250 million students (between the age of 6 and 17) in 1.5 million schools, and over 10 million teachers will benefit from the program.

Component of the project:

Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC):

• The project includes a Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC) under the National Component which would enable it to be more responsive to any natural, man-made and health disasters.
• It will help the government respond to situations leading to loss of learning such as school closures/infrastructure damage, inadequate facilities and use technology for facilitating remote learning etc.
• The CERC component would facilitate the rapid re-categorization of financing and the utilization of streamlined financing request procedures.

Audit Diwas:

1st Audit Diwas was celebrated on November 16. Audit Diwas is being celebrated to mark the historic origin of the institution of CAG and the contribution it has made to the governance, transparency and accountability over the past several years.

About CAG:

• The Constitution of India provides for an independent office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) in chapter V under Part V.
• The CAG is mentioned in the Constitution of India under Article 148 – 151.
• He is the head of the Indian Audit and Accounts Department.
• He is the guardian of the public purse and controls the entire financial system of the country at both the levels- the centre and state.
• His duty is to uphold the Constitution of India and the laws of Parliament in the field of financial administration.
• The CAG is appointed by the President of India by a warrant under his hand and seal.
• He holds office for a period of six years or upto the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.

7th Edition Of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS):

The 7th edition of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Conclave of Chiefs is being hosted by French Navy at Paris from 15 – 16 Nov 21.

• The Conclave of Chiefs is being attended by Chiefs of Navies/ Heads of Lead Maritime Agencies of IONS nations.
• The 7th edition of IONS Symposium was held at Le-Reunion from 28 Jun – 01 Jul 21 in hybrid format due to COVID protocols. During the Symposium, it was agreed upon to conduct the extant Conclave of Chiefs at Paris.
• IONS was conceived by the Indian Navy in 2008 as a forum which seeks to enhance maritime co-operation among Navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region by providing an open and inclusive platform for discussions on regionally relevant maritime issues.
• The inaugural edition of IONS was held in Feb 2008 at New Delhi, with Indian Navy as the Chair for two years.
• The IONS Chair is presently held with France.

Best Tourism Village :Pochampally Village In Telangana:

The Pochampally Village in Telangana State has been selected as one of the best Tourism Villages by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

• The prestigious award will be given on the occasion of the 24th session of the UNWTO General Assembly on 2nd December 2021 in Madrid, Spain.
• Pochampally, 50 Kms from Hyderabad, is a town in Nalgonda district of Telangana and is often referred to as the Silk City of India for the exquisite sarees that are woven through a unique style called Ikat.
• This style, Pochampally Ikat, received a Geographical Indicator (GI Status) in 2004.
• Ikat is a Malaysian, Indonesian word which means “Tie and Dye”.
• Ikat involves the process of wrapping (or tying) and dyeing sections of bundled yarn to a predetermined colour pattern before they are woven. The dye penetrates into exposed sections while the wrapped section remains undyed. This pattern formed by the yarn in this process is woven into fabric.
• Pochampally is also known as Bhoodan Pochampally to commemorate the Bhoodan Movement that was launched by Acharya Vinobha Bhave from this village on April 18th, 1951.
• Currently a two room Vinobha Bhave Mandir exists within the village which was earlier the place where Vinobha Bhave resided during his visit to the village.
• The Best Tourism Villages by UNWTO Pilot initiative aims to award those villages which are outstanding examples of rural destinations and showcase good practices in line with its specified nine evaluation areas.
• It also aims to support villages to enhance their rural tourism potential through training and access to opportunities for improvement.