May 5th 2015 Current Affairs

[TIMES OF IAS CURRENT AFFAIRS] May 3, 2015

Rural stress affects farmers even in prosperous states

According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data, nearly 64 per cent of all farmer suicides in

the country in 2013 took place in the four states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and

Kerala. These are relatively prosperous states. But why?

Maharashtra tops the list, accounting for about a third of these, followed by Andhra Pradesh and

Karnataka. Not all suicides take place because of economic stress.

Reasons for Rural stress on farmers:

Greater adoption of cash crops in these relatively prosperous regions could be one of the reasons for

acute rural stress in such states.

What has worsened the situation is the volatility in prices of some agri-commodities. Example: The

average annual price of J-34 variety Cotton spiked from Rs 3,115 a quintal to Rs 5,571 the following

year and collapsed subsequently.

Other reasons include: Rise in input cost of farming, Banks showing unwillingness to restructure loans.

Natural catastrophe pool still remains a distant dream

What is catastrophe pool? It is a pool of money used when a catastrophe or natural disaster occurs where people lose life and property in

large scale.

A proposal for such a pool was presented to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), but

has not taken shape yet.

Currently, India doesnt have a single cover for all catastrophic incidents. Two years ago, non-life

insurance companies had presented a concept paper on catastrophe insurance to the NDMA. The

paper cited the need for a pool to deal with losses from natural disasters. In the absence of such a

pool, both insurers and reinsurers have to bear the cost, leading to a big hit on profitability.

Last year, Asia recorded the highest economic loss from natural catastrophes and manmade disasters.

Cyclone Hudhud, an earthquake in China, and floods in India and Pakistan led to the loss of about 7,000

lives in Asia last year, with the overall economic loss from these disasters estimated at $52 billion.


Subramanian to head panel to fix issues in reporting govt data

The government has formed a coordination committee under Chief Economic Advisor Arvind

Subramanian to address issues while reporting Government Finance Statistics (GFS) data.

Currently, numerous constraints are being faced in reporting GFS data, which include manual

compilation of data from detailed demand of grants for economic and functional classification and a

time lag of more than two years to get final data.

The composition of the committee will have representation from RBI, the Controller General of

Accounts, the Central Statistics Office, the Comptroller and Auditor General and the Department of

Economic Affairs.

Lahiri panel invites industry to discuss tax issues

Committee set up by the finance ministry to address industry's tax concerns & to interact with trade

and industry on tax related issues on regular basis and ascertain areas where clarity in tax laws is

required.

It is headed by former chief economic advisor Ashok lahiri, was constituted in november 2014. The

term of the committee is for one year.

Other two members of the committee are settlement commission's (income tax and wealth tax)

retired member Sidhartha Pradhan and customs and central excise retired dg (audit) Gautam Ray.

Whom will this High Level Committee give recommendations to?

The hlc will give recommendations to the central board of direct taxes (cbdt) and central board of

excise and customs (cbec) for issuance of appropriate clarifications by way of circulars.

In News now:

Panel now invited associations, federations and stakeholders representing trade and industry to

present their views and suggestions on issues that required clarity in tax laws.

In the recent past, the government has been involved in tax disputes with some big multinational

companies such as vodafone, nokia and shell. This panel will address these problems.

Nepal aid: govt. working to amend PMs relief fund rules

How can Prime Minister Nation Relief Fund be used? According to the rules of the Prime Ministers National Relief Fund and the tax exemption granted to donors,

the fund can be used to provide relief only to the citizens of India.


Can India use this fund to help Nepal? The confusion deepened when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on April 27 that he would donate one-month salary for assistance to those affected by the recent earthquake. As the rules stand now, however, the PMNRF money can only be used for the earthquake victims in India. What now? If the government agrees, Mr. Modi could use his discretionary powers to extend the fund for Nepali citizens, given that the India-Nepal Friendship Treaty (1950) accords them national treatment, and they are treated on a par with Indian citizens with regard to property and commercial rights.

Banks cap upper limit for withdrawals at micro ATMs

In News:

Banks have firmed up the upper limit on withdrawals at micro automatic teller machines (atms) at Rs

10,000 as part of rules governing small transactions.

They will levy an interchange fee of Rs 2 for withdrawal up to Rs 2,000 per transaction. The charge will

rise to Rs 15 per withdrawal for amount between Rs 5,001 and Rs 10,000.

Banks will not levy interchange fee for non-financial transactions at micro atms.

AIIMS launches autism helpline

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has launched a helpline to help parents cope with any

medical emergency.

What is Autism?

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-

verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.

About Micro ATM in India: The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) would enable

beneficiaries with Aadhaar to withdraw money near their doors through the

core banking system. The beneficiary has to put his finger and Aadhaar

number in to the micro ATM wireless device and get the money within 8 to 9

seconds. Postal department which has about 1.55 lakh post offices over 90

per cent of which are in villages is planning to install 135,000 micro-ATMs at

post-offices across the country by September 2015.

MICRO ATM


Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction, verbal and non-

verbal communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.

Autism is highly heritable, but the cause includes both environmental factors and genetic susceptibility.

In rare cases, autism is strongly associated with agents that cause birth defects.

Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses

connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.

Although there is no known cure, there have been reported cases of children who recovered.

C N R Rao conferred with Japan's highest civilian award

In News:

Scientist C N R Rao was conferred with Japan's highest civilian award for his contributions to science

and Indo-Japanese science coperation.

Rao is also the only Indian to be elected as a foreign member of the Japan Academy in Jawaharlal

Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research.

Soon, norms for selling medicines online

After controversy over Snapdeal selling prescription drugs online, India's drug regulator is considering

bringing out guidelines for selling medicines on e-commerce portals.

Maharashtra's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) filed a First Information Report (FIR) against

Snapdeal CEO Kunal Bahl and the company's directors. The FIR has been registered under the Drugs

and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

About CNR Rao: He is an Indian chemist who has worked mainly in solid-state and structural

chemistry. He currently serves as the Head of the Scientific Advisory Council to

the Prime Minister of India. On 16 November 2013, the Government of India

announced his selection for Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in India,

making him the third scientist after C.V. Raman and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam to

receive the award. He, along with the legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar,

was conferred the award on 4 February 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee.

His work on transition metal oxides has led to basic understanding of novel

phenomena and the relationship between materials properties and the

structural chemistry of these materials. Rao was one of the earliest to

synthesize two-dimensional oxide materials.

CNR Rao receiving Bharat

Ratna


The matter pertained to sale of prescription drugs online. While OTC products can be sold without

prescriptions, many e-commerce companies following the marketplace model are selling even

prescription drugs online.

What are over the counter (OTC) drugs and Prescriptive drugs?Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are medicines sold directly to a consumer without a prescription from a healthcare professional, as compared to prescription drugs, which may be sold only to consumers possessing a valid prescription.

Asiatic lions census begins in Gujarat

In News: Gir is the last abode of Asiatic Lions, where the species are found at present. This time a method of direct

sighting or direct contact will be used to count lions. The earlier indirect evidence like pug-marks or scat will

not be taken into account, thus giving 100 per cent results. The forest department conducts the head count

for lions every five years in first week of May. The last census was conducted in 2010. At that time the lion

population had increased from 359 (census figures of 2005) to 411.

Virtual Harappans to come alive

Skeleton at Rakhigarhi

About Asiatic Lion: The Asiatic lion (Panthera leo persica), also known as the Indian lion or Persian

lion, is a lion subspecies that exists as a single population in India's Gujarat

state. It is listed as Endangered by IUCN due its small population size. The lion

population has steadily increased in the Gir Forest National Park, more than

doubling from a low of 180 individuals in 1974 to 411 individuals comprising 97

adult males, 162 adult females, 75 sub-adults. The Asiatic lion is one of five big

cat species found in India, apart from Bengal tiger, Indian leopard, snow leopard

and clouded leopard.

Asiatic Lion

In News: DNA to be extracted from the four full-sized skeletons excavated from a

Harappan site at Rakhigarhi in Haryana will be simulated using a novel software

developed in South Korea to show how the Harappans looked like 4,500 years ago

(their build, the colour of their skin or hair, their facial features and so on). These

skeletons belonged to the Mature Harappan period (2600 BCE-1900 BCE). The

skeletons were those of two men, one woman and a child. Rakhigarhi is a big

Harappan site, 25 km from Jind in Hisar district. 21 trenches, besides four burial

pits, were dug during the excavation. The four burial pits with the skeletons had a

variety of ritual pottery. The 21 trenches yielded typical Harappan painted pottery,

including goblets, terracotta figurines of wild boar and dogs, and furnaces and

hearths that provided evidence of a bangle- and bead-making industry using

terracotta.

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May 5th 2015 Current Affairs