Current Affairs 30th March

National Affairs

1. EPFO Hardly Expands Store Loan cost to 8.15% for FY23

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO)’s apex decision-making body, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), has proposed a new interest rate of 8.15 percent for Provident Fund deposits for the upcoming fiscal year 2022-23 (FY23) for nearly 6 crore subscribers.

 

The FY22 interest rate, which was the lowest in four decades at 8.15 percent, is 0.05 percent higher than the proposed 8.15 percent rate.

 

The Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) interest rate has increased for the first time since 2018-19, when it increased to 8.65 percent from 8.5%.

 

It is anticipated that the EPFO will have a principal amount of Rs. 11.02 lakh crore, with a profit of Rs. 90,497.57 crore for FY23, the highest income recommendation to date.

 

This is significantly more noteworthy than the pay of Rs. Rs. 77,424.84 crore in principal 9.56 crore in fiscal year 22.

 

About Workers’ Opportune Asset Association (EPFO):

 

Through insurance, pension, and provident funds, EPFO is a social security organization that provides benefits.

2. ICAR & World Bank issue Delhi Declaration on modernisation of Agricultural Education System

The Delhi Declaration on Modernization of Agricultural Education System in Alignment with the National Education Policy (NEP) was jointly issued by the World Bank and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) during the valedictory session of the International Conference on Blended Learning Ecosystem for Higher Education in Agriculture 2023 (ICBLE 2023) in New Delhi, Delhi.

 

The ICAR and World Bank jointly organized the three-day ICBLE 2023 initiative, the first of its kind to promote blended learning initiatives in agricultural higher education, from March 21 to 23, 2023, at the Bharat Ratna C. Subramaniam Auditorium, National Agricultural Science Complex (NASC), New Delhi, Delhi.

 

The conference and the Blended Learning Platform for agricultural higher education were inaugurated on March 21, 2023, by Narendra Singh Tomar, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

 

As part of the project that is funded by the World Bank, ICAR developed the platform.

 

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research, or ICAR, is as follows:

 

ICAR is a separate organization that falls under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare’s Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE).

3. PFRDA Increases Ombudsman’s Upper Age Limit to 70 Years from 65 Years

The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) amended the PFRDA (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) Regulations 2015 and raised the Ombudsman’s age limit from 65 to 70 years, as stated in a notification dated March 27, 2023.

 

The “Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (Redressal of Subscriber Grievance) (Amendment) Regulations, 2023” are the new regulations.

On the day the official gazette is published, the amended rules take effect.

 

Note:

 

As indicated by the PFRDA (Redressal of Endorser Complaint) Guidelines 2015, the

upper age limit for the ombudsman was 65 years.

 

A PFRDA-appointed official known as the Ombudsman is responsible for receiving, considering, and facilitating the resolution of complaints or grievances that fall under the purview of the regulations.

 

The Swedish word “ombudsman” means “legal representative.”

 

The position is held by the appointed ombudsman for a period of three years. Additionally, the Ombudsman is eligible to be reappointed for an additional two years.

 

Additional details:

 

The Centralised Grievance Management System (CGMS) is the first place where complaints must be filed. The complaints can be escalated to the ombudsman if they are not resolved.

 

To facilitate the smooth processing of exit and annuity payments for subscribers of the National Pension System (NPS), the PFRDA mandated the upload of withdrawal and KYC documents on April 1, 2023.

4. Gandhamardan Hills of Odisha named as 37th Biodiversity Heritage Site of India

The Gandhamardan Hill Range in the Bargarh and Balangir district has been designated a Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) by the Forest, Environment, and Climate Change Department of the Government of Odisha.

 

After Mandasuru Gorge in the Kandhamal district in 2019 and Mahendragiri Hill Range in the Gajapati district in 2022, this is Odisha’s third BHS.

India’s 37th biodiversity heritage site is the Gandhamardan Hills.

 

Following this, 18,963.898 hectares of the Gandhamardan Hill (Gandhamardan Reserve Forest) are designated as the BHS of Odisha, including 12,431.8 hectares in Bargarh and 6,532.098 hectares in Balangir.

 

In accordance with Section 37 of the Biodiversity Act and Rule 20(2) of the 2012 Odisha Biodiversity Regulations, the designation was made.

 

Threat:

 

The traditional ecological knowledge associated with the rich biological resources of the Gandhamardan Hill range is declining as a result of various human activity (anthropogenic) such as pollution and climatic factors.

 

Gandhamardan Hill’s significance:

 

The Gandhamardan Hill is regarded as an Odisha Ayurvedic paradise and a treasure trove of medicinal plants.

 

For the people of Odisha, this ecosystem’s abundant floral and faunal diversity has a wide range of socioeconomic, ecological, and biological significance.

 

Flora:

 

There are approximately 1,055 species of plants in the region, including 849 angiosperms (plants that produce flowers), 56 pteridophytes, 40 bryophytes, 45 lichens, two gymnosperms (plants that produce seeds), and 63 macrofungi.

 

Fauna:

 

43 mammals, 161 birds, 44 reptiles, 16 amphibians, 118 butterflies, 27 dragonflies, 7 damselflies, and 83 species of spiders are among the region’s approximately 500 species.

 

Note: This hill is only home to the angiosperm Ficus conccina var dasycarpa and the spider Peucetia harishankarensis.

 

Monuments:

 

There are two historical landmarks in the area: the Nrusinghanath Temple on the northern slope and the Harishankar Temple on the southern slope of the Gandhamardan foothills.

Odisha’s two hill shrines are popular pilgrimage destinations.

 

The hill shrine had been described by Hiuen Tsang as a Buddhist heritage site known as Parimalagiri.

 

Mining for bauxite:

 

The state government planned to explore the region’s bauxite reserve through a private venture.

 

Bharat Aluminium Company Limited (BALCO), which is now owned by Vedanta Group, had almost begun mining bauxite from Gandhamardan in the 1980s.

 

Following people’s protests against mining, the mining proposal was eventually halted.

5. Government extends PAN-Aadhaar linking deadline to June 30, 2023

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) informed the Ministry of Finance (MoF) on March 28, 2023, that the deadline to link Permanent Account Number (PAN) with Aadhaar has been extended to June 30, 2023.

 

To link the PAN and Aadhaar, every person who has been issued a PAN as of July 1, 2017, is required to provide their Aadhaar Number in accordance with Subsection (2) of Section 139AA of the Income Tax Act 1961.

 

The Ministry of Finance claims that more than 51 million PANs will already be linked to Aadhaar as of March 28, 2023.

International Affairs

1. IAF Participated in “Exercise Cobra Warrior” for The First Time

India participated for the first time in “Exercise Cobra Warrior,” which took place from March 6 to March 24, 2023, at the Waddington Air Force Base of the Royal Air Force (RAF).

India, Finland, and Saudi Arabia have also participated for the first time in the exercise.

 

Five Mirage 2000 fighters, two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, and an IL-78 midair fighter were among the 145 Air Warriors from the Indian Air Force (IAF) that participated in the exercise.

Cobra Warrior i workout The largest multilateral air exercise, Exercise Cobra Warrior, takes place twice a year at the UK RAF.

 

Participants: RAF and IAF, in addition to air forces from Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Finland, Sweden, South Africa, the United States of America (USA), and Singapore.

 

Participating in a variety of fighter aircraft encounters and learning from other air forces’ best strategies is the exercise’s goal.

 

Operations of high intensity, large force, and tactical air warfighting were part of this exercise.

 

During the exercise, the RAF offered Surveillance, Multi-Engine Tactics, Qualified Space Instructor Courses, Qualified Weapons Instructor Courses, and other training.

Banking and Finance

1. Japan commits Rs 7,084cr for Three Infrastructure Projects in India

 

Japan pledged Rs 7,084.5 crore to India for three infrastructure projects on March 28, 2023. one each in West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Patna (Bihar).

 

Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), and Suzuki Hiroshi, Japan’s Ambassador to India, exchanged notes in this regard.

 

The Patna Metro Rail Construction Project (I), the Rajasthan Water Sector Livelihood Improvement Project (II), and the Forest and Biodiversity Conservation for Climate Change Response in Western Bangladesh are the infrastructure projects.

2. NPCI recommends up to 1.1% interchange fee on UPI transactions of over Rs 2,000 via PPIs

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) announced on March 24, 2023, that transactions exceeding Rs. 2000 made with Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs) such as wallets or cards will be subject to an interchange fee of 0.5 percent to 1.1 percent.

 

The modifications will take effect on April 1, 2023.

 

The end-customer will not be impacted by the 1.1% interchange fee, and UPI transactions will continue to be free for them.

3. PSBs wrote off Rs 91,000 cr in 9 months of FY23

In a written response to the Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in the Rajya Sabha, data show that Ministry of Finance Public Sector Banks (PSBs) have written off approximately Rs 91,000 crore in the first nine months of FY23.

 

In bank-wise subtleties of the discounted sums, State Bank of India(SBI) is on the

top (Rs 17,356 crore) trailed by Association Bank of India(UBI) (Rs 16,497 crore) and

Bank of Baroda(BoB) (Rs 13,032 crore).

 

Recovery information for the current fiscal year has not been made public.

 

Key Points:

 

In FY18, all scheduled commercial banks—PSBs, private banks, and foreign banks—wiped out approximately Rs 1.61 billion worth of loans. In FY18, recovery from written-off accounts accounted for less than Rs 13,000 crore, or about 8%, of bad debts removed from the book. 

 

In the subsequent four fiscal years, this percentage increased to 10.8, 12.8, 14.9, and 19.4%, respectively.

 

Over these five years, more than Rs 10 lakh crore was written off loan accounts, while more than Rs 1.3 lakh crore was recovered. This indicates that the net amount written off was approximately Rs 8.7 crore.

Science and Technology

1. NIC developed the “Maaptol Grievance” app to facilitate the Registration & Redressal of Consumer Grievances 

A mobile software application known as “Maaptol Grievance” was created by the National Informatics Centre (NIC), which is part of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Its purpose is to make it easier for consumers to file complaints about the Legal Metrology Act and the rules that go along with it through online registration and time-bound resolution.

 

The information that was made available on this application was provided by the Weights and Measurements Department of the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD).

 

The application primarily delivers eGovernance Services and aims to improve government services for citizens.

 

Key Points:

 

Within two working days (48 hours), the Delhi government’s Weights and Measures Department must address the app-related complaints in a time-bound manner.

 

Using this software, any consumer can complain to the government’s Weights & Measures Department.

 

If the division of Loads and Measures finds any infringement including merchandise

that are being sold or appropriated by weight, measure, or number, or any

deficiency in the obligatory statements on bundled merchandise and items as per the arrangements of the Legitimate Metrology Act, 2009 and rules made

thereunder.

 

The types of complaints absence of mandatory declarations on packaged goods from the manufacturer, packer, or importer; overcharging; shortage of goods or services; the lightness of the gas cylinder’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG); a lack of gasoline or diesel at the pump; lack of compressed natural gas (CNG) at an outlet for a CNG pump; likewise weighbridges