Prelim Bits 25-07-2018

Anti-Graft Amendment Bill

The Lok Sabha has recently passed the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2018.
The bill amends the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The bill termed bribe as ‘Undue advantage’, defined as ‘gratification other than legal renumeration’.
It seeks to punish bribe-givers and bribe-takers.
The bill provides for jail terms of three to seven years, besides fine, to those convicted of taking or giving bribes to public officials.
The bill introduces powers and procedures for the attachment and forfeiture of property of public servants accused of corruption.

Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2018	Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988
It makes specific provisions related to giving a bribe to a public servant, and giving a bribe by a commercial organisation.	No specific provision for offence of giving a bribe, except as abetment.
Police officer cannot begin probe without prior approval of relevant authority or government except when caught red-handed.	No such provisions in the Act.
Sanction needed for prosecuting former officials for offences done while in office.	Sanction was required for serving officers only.
New section introduced for special court to confiscate property.	Not given under the act.
It redefines criminal misconduct to only cover misappropriation of property and possession of disproportionate assets.	Criminal misconduct cover circumstances where the public official: (i) uses illegal means, (ii) abuses his position, or (iii) disregards public interest and obtains a valuable thing or reward for himself or another person.

Exercise Pitch Black

It is a multinational air exercise in Australia, involves over 100 aircraft from around the globe to provide opportunity to operate in a dynamic warlike environment.
It is going to be conducted in Darwin air base, Australia.
Indian Air Force is going to participate in this exercise for the first time.

Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0

Ministry of Human Resource Department has recently launched Unnat Bharat Abhiyan 2.0.
It aimed at providing rural India with professional resource support from institutes of higher education.
The scheme will link Higher Education Institutions with set of villages, so that these institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base.
The objectives of the scheme are
- To engage the faculty and students of Higher Educational Institutions in understanding rural realities;
- To allow Higher Educational Institutions to contribute to devising systems for smooth implementation of various Government Programs;
- Identify and select existing innovative technologies, enable customization of technologies, or devise implementation methods for innovative solutions, as required by people.

Consolidation of Regional Rural Banks

RRBs were set up with the objective to provide credit to the small and marginal farmers, agricultural labourers, artisans and small entrepreneurs in rural areas for development of productive activities.
RRBs are jointly owned by Government of India, the concerned State Government and Sponsor Banks with the issued capital in the ratio of 50:15:35 respectively.
Earlier, the Government has sought comments of respective State Governments and Sponsor Banks on a roadmap for consolidation of RRBs within a State.
In line with the proposal, the roadmap for consolidation of RRB has been prepared in consultation with NABARD.
It is expected that it will bring better scale-efficiency, higher productivity, robust financial health of RRBs, improved financial inclusion and greater credit flow to rural areas.
Earlier, the government approved the extension of the scheme of recapitalization of RRBs for the next 3 years upto 2019-20.
This was done to help RRBs to maintain the minimum prescribed Capital to Risk Weighted Assets Ratio (CRAR) of 9 per cent.

Scheme for Safeguarding the Intangible Heritage and Diverse Cultural Traditions of India

Ministry of Culture has formulated this scheme for revitalizing various institutions, groups, individuals, NGOs, researchers and scholars to engage in activities for preserving and promoting the rich Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) of India.
The scheme is being implemented through Sangeet Natak Akademi, an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Culture.
It cover all recognized domains of ICH such as
- oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage,
- Performing arts, Social practices, rituals and festive events,
- Knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe,
- traditional craftsmanship etc.
Assistance under the scheme will be provided in the form of non-recurring grants, honoraria, infrastructure grants for the survival and propagation of all forms of ICH.
Assistance will also be provided for short research and referencing work of relevance to ICH.
It also support initiative of Ministry of HRD in setting up Sector Skill Councils relating to art under National Vocational Educational Qualifications Framework (NVEQF).

Global Promotion of Kumbh Mela

Kumbh Mela is the largest congregation of pilgrims in the planet, held once in every 12 years in 4 places - Haridwar, Allahabad, Ujjain and Nashik.
It represents a syncretic set of rituals related to worship and ritual cleansing in holy rivers in India.
The intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage under UNESCO has recognised Kumbh Mela as an intangible heritage.
The “49 day Kumbh Mela” is going to be held in January, 2019.
The government is taking various measures to promote globally to attract foreign tourists.
Some of the measures are,
- Launch of ‘Chalo Kumbh Chalo’ campaign across the country
- Development of a designated area for flag hoisting for 192 countries visiting Kumbh Mela
- Organising the ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Divas’, 2019 in Varanasi to attract ‘Pravasi Bharatiya Delegates’ to visit Kumbh, 2019.

Source: The Hindu, PIB