Daily Current Affairs 22 August 2023 – IAS Current Affairs
Current Affairs 22 August 2023 focuses on Prelims-Mains perspective. Major events are :
15th BRICS Summit
Source: Indian Express
GS III: Science and Technology
Overview
- Key Facts
- About BRICS
Why in the News?
The 15th Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS) summit will be hosted in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Key Facts
- BRICS nations have held their first summit in 2009 and produced significant outcomes, like the New Development Bank, Contingency Reserve Arrangement for currency, and Research & Development (R&D) center for vaccines.
- It is the fastest-growing developing economies group and is seen as an attractive alternative to the G-7 developed countries club.
- BRICS is a movement of emerging economies and gives salience to economic issues, but geopolitical flux after the Ukraine war has increased its importance.
- This is the first in-person summit since the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
- Issues of global stability, food, fertilizer, and fuel (energy) security were threatened after the war.
- BRICS deliberations could carry a counter-western slant, due to the isolation of Russia by the U.S. and European Union (EU).
- The newly elected political power in Brazil represents a more socialist, anti-western politics than his predecessor.
Key Aspects of BRICS
BRICS is an acronym that represents a group of five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. These nations, characterized by their significant influence on regional and global affairs, formed this association to promote cooperation and dialogue on various economic, political, and social issues.
- Economic Cooperation
- BRICS countries collaborate on economic issues, including trade, investment, and currency exchange.
- They aim to foster economic growth and reduce poverty.
- Political Coordination
- BRICS nations engage in diplomatic efforts to address global challenges, such as climate change, terrorism, and regional conflicts.
- Development Initiatives
- BRICS nations have initiated development banks and funds, like the New Development Bank (NDB), to provide financial assistance to member countries and other developing nations.
- Cultural and Academic Exchanges
- The BRICS grouping encourages cultural and educational exchanges, enhancing mutual understanding and people-to-people contacts.
- Summit Meetings
- BRICS leaders hold annual summit meetings to discuss and coordinate their positions on various issues.
- These summits help shape the group’s agenda and priorities.
Investment Trends in India for FY 2022-23 by RBI
Source: Indian Express
GS III: Science and Technology
Overview
- Key Facts
Why in the News?
The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recent study sheds light on the state-wise distribution of capital investments in India during the fiscal year 2022-23.
Key Facts
- Credit offtake soared by 19.7% in July 2023, amidst a 250 basis points hike in the repo rate by the RBI since April 2022, indicating robust investment momentum.
- The aggregate capital outlay reached an impressive of over Rs 3.5 lakh crores, reflecting a significant increase compared to the previous years.
- State Wise Status
- Uttar Pradesh emerges as the frontrunner, accounting for the highest share of 16.2% in the total cost of projects sanctioned by banks and financial institutions.
- Following closely are Gujarat (14%), Odisha (11.8%), Maharashtra (7.9%), and Karnataka (7.3%), showcasing a dynamic distribution of investments.
- Kerala, Goa, and Assam secured the lowest shares, with Kerala receiving just 0.9% of the total investment plans.
- Haryana and West Bengal also fell within the 1% bracket of the total investment projects.
- The infrastructure sector played a pivotal role, accounting for 60% of the total project cost in 2022-23.
- The RBI study provides a positive outlook for private investment, attributing the surge to increased government spending, improved business sentiments, and policy support.
- Greenfield projects, constituting 93.1% of total project costs financed by banks and financial institutions, underscore the focus on new initiatives.
Reforms for Mobile User Protection
Source: Indian Express
GS III : Science and Technology
Overview
- What are the Reforms?
- About Sanchar Saathi
Why in the News?
Minister of Communications, Railways and Electronics & IT, today launched two reforms towards digital transformation and enhancing customer Protection
What are the Reforms?
Two reforms towards digital transformation and enhancing customer Protection
- KYC Reforms
- KYC is a process to uniquely identify a customer and enable his traceability before providing him with telecom services.
- Strengthening the existing KYC process is one of the tools in protecting the subscribers of telecom services from any probable fraud and thereby enhancing the confidence of the general public in the digital ecosystem.
- To prevent misuse of printed Aadhaar, the demographic details will mandatorily be captured by scanning the QR code of the printed Aadhaar.
- In case of disconnection of a mobile number, it will not be allocated to any other new customer till the expiry of 90 days.
- A subscriber has to undertake complete KYC for the replacement of his SIM and there will be a bar of 24 hours on outgoing & incoming SMS facilities.
- In addition to thumb impression and iris-based authentication in the Aadhaar E-KYC process, facial-based biometric authentication is also permitted.
- Introduction of business connections for issuing of mobile connections to entities (for ex. company, organizations, trust, society, etc).
- Entities can take any number of mobile connections subject to complete KYC of all of its end-users.
- SIM will be activated only after successful KYC of end users and physical verification of premise/address of the entity.
- Point of Sale(POS) registration Reform
- This reform introduces the process for mandatory registration of Franchisee, Agents and Distributors (PoS) by Licensees.
- This will help in eliminating the rogue PoS who by fraudulent practices issue SIMs to anti-social/anti-national elements.
- The PoS registration process includes indisputable verification of PoS by Licensee.
- The process mandates written agreement between the PoS and the Licensees.
- If a PoS indulges in any illegal activities, it will be terminated and blacklisted for a period of 03 years.
- Licensees will register all the existing PoS as per this process within 12 months.
About Sanchar Saathi
- It is a citizen-centric portal that has empowered India’s fight against the menace of cybercrimes and financial frauds.
- It was launched on 17 May 2023 (World Telecommunication Day) for protection of mobile users.
- This portal empowers mobile subscribers to:
- Find out mobile connections registered in their name
- Report fraud connections registered in their name, if any
- Report stolen/ lost mobile handsets & block them.
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