DAILY

CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

18 OCTOBER 2022

. No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	About the One Nation One Fertilizer Scheme	Prelims & Mains
2.	Details of the Defence Expo	Prelims & Mains
3.	About the Tokenisation	Prelims & Mains
4.	Details of the Cheetah Reintroduction in India	Prelims & Mains

1 –About the One Nation One Fertilizer Scheme:

GS II

Topic à Government Policies and Interventions:

·         Context:

·         The Center’s fertiliser subsidy programme, formerly known as the Prime Minister’s initiative, “Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna,” has changed its name to “One Nation One Fertilizer,” which requires that all fertiliser manufacturers adopt a common trademark and emblem (PMBJP).

·         One Nation One Fertilizer, or ONOF Scheme:

·         All fertiliser companies, state trading enterprises (STEs), and fertiliser marketing organisations must use the exclusive brand names BHARAT UREA, BHARAT DAP, BHARAT MOP, and BHARAT NPK, respectively (FMEs).

·         The Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna fertiliser subsidy program’s emblem will also be on the fertiliser bags.

·         Why did the government choose to employ this specific strategy?

·         Currently, the government determines the maximum retail price for urea, which compensates companies for higher import or manufacturing costs

·         Except for urea, the MRPs for fertilisers are unrestricted.

·         If a company’s MRP is higher than what the government has specifically advised, then they are not eligible for subsidies.

·         The MRPs and subsidies for around 26 different fertilisers, including urea, are established by the government.

·        Possible problems with the plan:

·         It might make it less likely for companies that sell fertilisers to launch branding and marketing campaigns.

·         Now, they will only carry out agreements for government-sponsored imports and manufacturing. Any business’s long-standing farmer relationships and brand recognition are its two most significant assets.

 

Source à The Hindu

 

2 –Details of the Defence Expo: 

GS II 

Topic à Government Policies and Interventions:

 

·         Context:

 

·         At the opening ceremony of the 12th edition of DefExpo in Gandhinagar on October 17, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh declared that India had changed from being the world’s largest importer of defence to an exporter.

·         About:

·         DefExpo 2022, the largest defence expo ever held in India, will be hosted in Gandhinagar, the Gujarati capital, from October 18–22, 2022. The 12th iteration of the event, with the theme “Path to Pride,” will take place on October 19 with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in attendance.

·         Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh gave a speech at the Gandhinagar curtain-raiser news conference on October 17. He said that the biennial exhibition was established with the ultimate goal of satisfying domestic and friendly international demand for the Indian aerospace sector, as well as to promote, advertise, and forge alliances for that industry. He said that at DefExpo 2022, the nation’s dedication to realising the Prime Minister’s vision of “Make in India, Make for the World” will be evidenced by the domestic defence industry’s growing strength.

 

·       According to Shri Rajnath Singh, Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation and the inspiration for the Swadeshi movement, would be honoured with a “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” at DefExpo 2022. The defence industry has made significant strides along the “Path to Pride” with enthusiasm and a desire to attain the goal of “Aatmanirbharta” in defence, thanks to the dynamic leadership of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. We quickly move up to the leadership positions in the production, development, and design fields. DefExpo 2022, which will take place during the “Amrit Kaal” festival, symbolises India’s will to rank among the top nations in the defence and aerospace industries over the course of the next 25 years.

·         In addition to being DefExpo 2022’s theme, the Raksha Mantri defined “Path to Pride” as an ongoing process in which all participants, including those from the public and private sectors, MSMEs, academia, start-up businesses, and Research & Development institutions, collaborate to provide cutting-edge concepts and products to the world.

 

Source à The Hindu

 

3 – About the Tokenisation:

 

GS III

Topic à Economy related issues:

 

·         Context:

·         The Dutch company PayU, which offers payment services, announced that it has tokenized more than 50 million cards as of this writing.

·         Background:

·         One of the most popular and practical ways to conduct transactions and acquire services in the modern world is digital.

·         The majority of us have been preserving our payment information on merchant websites due to the growth in the frequency of our online transactions, which means that our payment partners have access to sensitive financial information that is generally very private.

·        Tokenization: What is it?

·         During the tokenization procedure, credit and debit card numbers are exchanged into a unique code referred to as a “token.”

·         This token can only be used by the card, token requestor (the business that accepts a client’s request to tokenize a card and sends it to the card network to issue a token), and device.

 

·         Why does RBI want to tokenize cards?

·         If security measures are insufficient when firms handle credit card information, all customers are at risk. Debit and credit card data was exposed on retailer websites as a result of numerous past hacking incidents. The RBI wants this done away with.

·         Because card tokenization is now required, banks and payment processors—not retailers—are now in control of security.

·         Tokenized card transactions are thought to be safer because the merchant does not obtain the actual card information when the transaction is completed.

·         The advantages of tokenization:

·         Transaction security: Tokenization lessens the possibility of fraud brought on by the sharing of credit card information.

·         Simple payments: At point-of-sale (PoS) terminals, the token can be used to pay with contactless cards and QR codes.

·         Only card networks and banks that issue cards will have access to any card data.

 

Source à The Hindu

 

4 – Details of the Cheetah Reintroduction in India 

GS III

Topic à Environmental Conservation

 

·         Context:

·         The action plan for bringing African cheetahs into India greatly exaggerates the potential benefits of conservation and does not support it with reliable scientific evidence.

·         Many national conservation programmes are greatly hampered by it, and in certain cases, it even serves as a barrier.

·         The best areas only support one wild cheetah, and they have enormous home ranges (more than 750 sq km). Cheetahs require a sizable, adequate habitat, sufficient prey, and low human disturbance in order to survive.

·         About:

·         The cheetah, scientifically known as Acinonyx Jubatus, is the swiftest land animal on the planet. The only large mammal to entirely disappear from India was the cheetah, primarily as a result of overhunting and habitat loss.

·         The word “cheetah” derives its “variegated,” “adorned,” or “painted” meaning from Sanskrit roots.

·         Initial references to the past:

·         Strabo’s classical Greek accounts of India, which were written about 200 years before the Common Era, describe them.

·         Cheetahs were frequently utilised for hunting under the Mughal Empire. Cheetahs made up one thousand of Emperor Akbar’s animals.

·         For a very long time, cheetahs lived in Central India, particularly in the Gwalior region. Cheetah hunting used to be practised in a number of states, most notably in Gwalior and Jaipur.

 

·         Plan for introduction:

 

·         Despite declaring cheetahs extinct in India in 1952, the country still intends to reintroduce them.

·         Due to habitat loss, a lack of suitable prey, climate change, and an increase in human population, Asiatic cheetahs are now extinct in India.

·         The only country in the world with an active population of Asiatic cheetahs is Iran.

·         Since the 1960s and 1970s, India has been planning to introduce cheetahs.

·         Tehran declined to give up its Asiatic Cheetahs because of their extremely low population, hence this idea was never put into practise.

·         Between Asia and Africa, cheetahs are slightly different in size. They are common in Africa and the IUCN Red List classifies them as vulnerable.

·         Four females and four males would make up the first group of African cheetahs.

·         Cheetahs would be released into a 500-acre enclosure that was enclosed by an electrified wire.

·         There might only be 21 cheetahs left in India in 15 years.

 

Source à The Hindu