- Indian Heritage
- Culture
- Modern Indian history
- The Freedom Struggle
- Post-independence
- Indian Society
A. population and associated issues
B. poverty and developmental issues
C.urbanization
7. Geographical features
8.Indian Constitution
9. Polity
10. Governance
A. institutions
B. regulatory
Priest can give CAA eligibility certificate, says govt. helpline
Alocal priest may issue an “eligibility certificate” under the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019 to validate the religion of an applicant, according to a response received by The Hindu through the Union Home Ministry’s helpline on CAA.
The certificate, a mandatory document, is to be enclosed along with an affidavit and other documents that the applicants are to upload on the CAA portal. “The reasons for which applicant wishes to acquire Indian citizenship” must also be stated.
On March 11, the Ministry notified the Citizenship Amendment Rules, 2024, enabling the implementation of the CAA. On March 21, it launched the helpline number 1032 “for assistance and information” on the CAA, so that “applicants can make free call from anywhere in India from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m”.
The certificate is to be issued by a “locally reputed community institution”. When The Hindu called the helpline on March 26 to seek information on its format, the person attending the call said, “It can be on a blank sheet of paper or on a judicial paper with a stamp value of ₹10.” Asked who can issue the certificate, The Hindu was told that “any local pujari can be asked to issue it”.
When the rules were notified, the Ministry did not specify the authority or the body that can issue the certificate. A source said on Wednesday: “Any institution which has the trust of people can issue the certificate. The final decision to grant citizenship will be taken by the empowered committee, the local institution is only recommending that they belong to a particular faith.”
The form says that the person issuing the certificate will have to specify their name and confirm that the applicant belongs to one of the six communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan and are known to them. They must certify that “to the best of my knowledge and belief, he/she belongs to Hindu/ Sikh/ Buddhist/ Jain/Parsi/Christian community and continues to be a member of the above mentioned community”.
The CAA facilitates citizenship to undocumented people from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, who entered India on or before December 31, 2014. It fast tracks the citizenship process by reducing the eligibility requirement for such applicants to five years of continuous stay in India instead of the usual 12 years.
C. Government policies
D. role of NGOs
E. measures
11. Social Justice
A. Welfare schemes
B Health
C. Education
D. Human Resources
E. poverty and hunger
12. International relations
A. India and its neighbourhood
B. groupings and agreements
C.Indian diaspora
13. Economic Development
A. Government Budgeting
Expert Committee on developing GIFT IFSC as ‘Global Finance and Accounting Hub’ submits report to IFSCA
he Expert Committee on developing the Gujarat International Finance Tech-City International Financial Services Centre (GIFT IFSC) as ‘Global Finance and Accounting Hub’ has submitted its report to Chairperson, International Financial Services Centre Authority, (IFSCA) on 26th March, 2024.
The Expert Committee was constituted pursuant to the notification issued by Ministry of Finance on 18th January, 2024 wherein book-keeping, accounting, taxation and financial crime compliance were notified as ‘financial services’ under Sec 3(1)(e)(xiv) of IFSCA Act, 2019. The Expert Committee was chaired by the President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI). The committee comprised of experts from the industry, academia and the Government.
The Expert Committee has recommended a comprehensive regulatory regime for undertaking bookkeeping, accounting, taxation and financial crimes compliance services from IFSC in India. Additionally, the Committee has also made several recommendations for the promotion and development of GIFT IFSC as ‘Global Finance and Accounting Hub’, including measures for enhancing the skills and competencies of the workforce.
In its report, the Committee has highlighted the potential for GIFT IFSC to become a global hub for book-keeping, accounting, taxation and financial crime compliance services, which would create large employment opportunities for the talented workforce.
B. industrial
Combined Index of Eight Core Industries increases by 6.7% (provisional) in Feb 2024 as compared to Index of Feb 2023
The combined Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) increased by 6.7per cent (provisional) in February 2024 as compared to the Index of February 2023. The production of Coal,Natural Gas,Cement, Steel, Crude Oil,ElectricityandRefinery Productsrecorded positive growth in February 2024. The details of annual and monthly indices and growth rates are provided at Annex I andAnnex II respectively.
The ICI measures the combined and individual performance of production of eight core industries viz. Cement,Coal, Crude Oil, Electricity,Fertilizers, Natural Gas, Refinery Products and Steel.The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
The final growth rate of Index of Eight Core Industries for November2023 is revised to 7.9per cent. The cumulativegrowth rate of ICI during April to February, 2023-24is 7.7per cent(provisional) as compared to the corresponding period of lastyear.
The summary of the Index of Eight Core Industries is given below:
Cement – Cement production (weight: 5.37 per cent) increased by 10.2 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 9.1 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Coal – Coal production (weight: 10.33 per cent) increased by 11.6 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 12.1 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Crude Oil – Crude Oil production (weight: 8.98 per cent) increased by 7.9 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 0.5 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Electricity – Electricity generation (weight: 19.85 per cent) increased by 6.3 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 6.8 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Fertilizers – Fertilizer production (weight: 2.63 per cent) declined by 9.5 per cent in February 2024 over February, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 4.1 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Natural Gas – Natural Gas production (weight: 6.88 per cent) increased by 11.3 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 6.0 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Petroleum Refinery Products – Petroleum Refinery production (weight: 28.04 per cent) increased by 2.6 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 3.8 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
Steel – Steel production (weight: 17.92 per cent) increased by 8.4 per cent in February, 2024 over February, 2023. Its cumulative index increased by 12.9 per cent during April to February, 2023-24 over corresponding period of the previous year.
E.issues
14. Technology
15. Environment
16. Security
Department of Defence Production issues notification for re-organisation of DGQA
In a major reform towards ‘Ease of Doing Business’ and to achieve Aatmnirbharta in Defence, the Department of Defence Production under the Ministry of Defence has issued notification for re-organisation of Directorate General of Quality Assurance (DGQA) which is aimed at speeding up Quality Assurance processes and trials and reducing layers of decision-making. This re-organisation also factors change in the Quality Assurance methodology and revised role of DGQA post corporatization of OFB.
With the corporatisation of Ordnance Factories into new DPSUs, increased participation of private defence industry and impetus by the Government towards indigenisation, a need was felt to re-organise DGQA for an effective and efficient support to emerging defence manufacturing industry. DGQA has already been steering various organizational and functional reforms after active discussions with all stakeholders in the defence manufacturing ecosystem.
The new structure under implementation will enable single point technical support for complete equipment/ weapon platform at all levels and also ensure uniformity in product-based QA. The new structure also provides for a separate Directorate of Defence Testing and Evaluation Promotion to facilitate transparent allocation of Proof Ranges and testing facilities.
This arrangement coupled with automation and digitization of standardized QA processes is likely to significantly improve the engagement of Defence Industry with DGQA. The re-organised structure and ongoing functional reforms will give an impetus to indigenization drive under ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ with availability of Indian standards/ equivalent to guide manufacturers within the country and this will also boost export of high Quality qualified defence products.
17. Disaster Management