Daily Current Capsules
6,7 and 8 September 2023
20th ASEAN-India Summit and 18th East Asia Summit (EAS)
- Prime Minister attended the 20th ASEAN-India Summit and the 18th East Asia Summit (EAS) in Jakarta on 7 September 2023 hosted by Indonesia as current Chair of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- The summit was held on the sidelines of the 43rd ASEAN Summit 2023.
- The theme of ASEAN Summit in 2023 is ‘ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth.
- At the ASEAN-India Summit, Prime Minister held extensive discussions with ASEAN partners on further strengthening of ASEAN-India Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and charting its future course.
- Prime Minister reaffirmed ASEAN centrality in the Indo-Pacific and highlighted the synergies between India’s Indo-Pacific Ocean’s Initiative (IPOI) and ASEAN’s Outlook on the Indo-Pacific (AOIP).
- He also emphasized the need to complete the review of ASEAN-India FTA (AITIGA) in a time bound manner.
Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN
- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, was established on 8 August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand, with the signing of the ASEAN Declaration (Bangkok Declaration) by the Founding Fathers of ASEAN: Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.
- Brunei Darussalam joined ASEAN on 7 January 1984, followed by Viet Nam on 28 July 1995, Lao PDR and Myanmar on 23 July 1997, and Cambodia on 30 April 1999, making up what is today the ten Member States of ASEAN.
East Asia Summit (EAS)
- ASEAN also participates in the East Asia Summit (EAS), a pan-Asian forum held annually by the leaders of eighteen countries in the East Asian region, with ASEAN in a leadership position.
- Initially, membership included all member states of ASEAN plus China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and New Zealand, but was expanded to include the United States and Russia at the Sixth EAS in 2011.
- The first summit was held in Kuala Lumpur on 14 December 2005, and subsequent meetings have been held after the annual ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting.
- The summit has discussed issues including trade, energy, and security and the summit has a role in regional community building.
Source
Regulation of Dark Patterns
- The Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India, has sought public comments on Draft Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns.
- The draft Guidelines for Prevention and Regulation of Dark Patterns have been framed after detailed deliberations with all stakeholders including e-commerce platforms, law firms, Government and Voluntary Consumer Organizations (VCO’s).
- The draft sent by the Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs to E-commerce companies, Industry Associations, requesting them to refrain from incorporating any design or pattern in the online interface of their platform that may deceive or manipulate consumer choice and fall in the category of dark patterns.
- It strongly advised online platforms to not engage in ‘unfair trade practices’ by incorporating dark patterns in their online interface to manipulate consumer choice and violate ‘consumer rights’ as enshrined under Section 2(9) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
- The draft guidelines define dark patterns as any practices or deceptive design patterns using UI/UX (user interface/user experience) interactions on any platform; designed to mislead or trick users to do something they initially did not intend or want to do; by subverting or impairing the consumer autonomy, decision making or choice; amounting to misleading advertisement or unfair trade practice or violation of consumer rights.
Under the Guidelines, following Dark patterns have been specified:
- False Urgency means falsely stating or implying the sense of urgency or scarcity so as to mislead a user into making an immediate purchase or take an immediate action, which may lead to a purchase
- Basket sneaking means inclusion of additional items such as products, services, payments to charity/donation at the time of checkout from a platform, without the consent of the user, such that the total amount payable by the user is more than the amount payable for the product(s) and/or service(s) chosen by the user
- Confirm shaming means using a phrase, video, audio or any other means to create a sense of fear or shame or ridicule or guilt in the mind of the user, so as to nudge the user to act in a certain way that results in the user purchasing a product or service from the platform or continuing a subscription of a service.
- Forced action shall mean forcing a user into taking an action that would require the user to buy any additional good(s) or subscribe or sign up for an unrelated service, in order to buy or subscribe to the product/service originally intended by the user
- Subscription trap means the process of making cancellation of a paid subscription impossible or a complex and lengthy process including similar other practices
- Interface interference means a design element that manipulates the user interface in ways that (a) highlights certain specific information; and (b) obscures other relevant information relative to the other information; to misdirect a user from taking an action desired by her.
- Bait and switch means the practice of advertising a particular outcome based on the user’s action but deceptively serving an alternate outcome.
- Drip pricing means a practice whereby-elements of prices are not revealed upfront or are revealed surreptitiously within the user experience; and/or other such practices
- Disguised advertisement means a practice of posing, masking advertisements as other types of content such as user generated content or new articles or false advertisements.
- Nagging shall mean a dark pattern due to which users face an overload of requests, information, options, or interruptions; unrelated to the intended purchase of goods or services, which disrupts the intended transaction.
- Guidelines would be made applicable to all the persons and online platforms including sellers and advertisers.
- The objective of the Guidelines is to identify and regulate such practices which tend to manipulate or alter consumer choices, often by using deceptive or misleading techniques or manipulated user interfaces/web designs.
Source –
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1955344
EX- BRIGHT STAR- 23
- INS Sumedha arrived at Port Alexandria, Egypt on 06 September 2023 to participate in ‘Exercise BRIGHT STAR- 23’.
- This edition of the multinational Tri-Services military exercise will see participation from 34 countries.
- It is the largest-ever joint military exercise in the Middle East & North Africa region.
- Ex Bright Star 23 is scheduled to be conducted in two phases.
- This is the maiden participation of the Indian Navy in Ex Bright Star, which will also see the participation of Naval ships from other Friendly Foreign Navies.
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Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2023
- Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change announced the award of Swachh Vayu Sarvekshan 2023 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh
- Under the 1st category (million plus population) Indore ranked first followed by Agra and Thane.
- In second category (3-10 lakhs population), Amravati secured first rank followed by Moradabad and Guntur.
- Similarly, for third category (less than 3 lakhs population) Parwanoo secured first rank followed by Kala Amb and Angul.
4th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies (Swachh Vayu Diwas 2023)
- MoEF&CC has been implementing a National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a national-level strategy outlining the actions for reducing the levels of air pollution at city and regional scales in India since 2019.
- 131 cities have been identified for the implementation of the city-specific action plans under this Programme.
- NCAP focuses on the preparation and implementation of the national-level action plan, state-level action plans & city-level action plans of the targeted 131 cites.
- Under NCAP Ministry has also launched “PRANA” a portal for monitoring the implementation of NCAP.
- In this portal, action plans of cities, states, and line ministries will be reflected and monitored for their implementation status.
Know! about 4th International Day of Clean Air for Blue Skies
- The theme for the fourth annual International Day of Clean Air for blue skies, “Together for Clean Air”, highlights the urgent need for stronger partnerships, increased investment, and share responsibility for overcoming air pollution.
- On November 26, 2019, the Second Committee of the 74th session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly adopted a resolution designating 7 September as the “International Day of Clean Air for blue skies”.
- The resolution stresses the importance of, and urgent need to, raise public awareness at all levels and to promote and facilitate actions to improve air quality.
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Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV)
- Indian Railways’ Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) Vadodara and Airbus entered into a collaboration to significantly strengthen the Indian aviation sector.
- Airbus and Tata had recently announced a partnership to design, innovate, make, manufacture and develop in India C295 aircraft facility at Vadodara (Gujarat).
- Airbus is the world’s largest manufacturer of commercial aircraft and a leading producer of helicopters, defence and space equipment.
- GSV will focus on intense industry-academia partnerships. All its courses will be designed in collaboration with industry. The students who study at GSV will be industry-ready.
- They will be highly sought after for employment in transportation and logistics sectors.
Know! about Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV)
- Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV) Vadodara was established through an Act of Parliament in 2022, for creating best-in-class manpower and talent for the entire transportation and logistics sectors.
- This Central University is sponsored by the Ministry of Railways, Govt. of India and has Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics and IT as its First Chancellor.
- Focusing exclusively on transport and logistics sectors, GSV is a “first of its kind” university aiming to fulfil the mandate of the National Developmental Plans (PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan 2021 and National Logistics Policy 2022) across railways, shipping, ports, highways , roads, waterways, and aviation etc.
- GSV shall create a resource pool of professionals across technology, economics, management and policy comprising multidisciplinary teaching (bachelors/masters/doctoral), executive training and research.
- GSV shall also undertake trainings for Indian Railways probationers and serving officers.
Source –
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1955461
BHARAT DRONE SHAKTI 2023
- The IAF is partnering with the Drone Federation of India to co-host the ‘Bharat Drone Shakti 2023’.
- The event to be held on 25th & 26th September 2023 will be hosted at the lAF’s airbase in Hindan (Ghaziabad), where the Indian drone industry shall give live aerial demonstrations.
- ‘Bharat Drone Shakti 2023’ will present the prowess of the Indian drone industry at full capacity hosting over 50+ live aerial demonstrations showcasing survey drones, agriculture drones, and fire suppression drones and witness participation from more than 75 drone start-ups and corporates.
Drone Federation of India (DFI)
- The Drone Federation of India (DFI) is a non-government, not-for-profit, industry-led body that promotes and strives towards building a safer and scalable unmanned aviation industry in India.
Source
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1955079
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS)
- The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister approves the Scheme for Viability Gap Funding (VGF) for development of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS).
- The approved scheme envisages development of 4,000 MWh of BESS projects by 2030-31, with a financial support of up to 40% of the capital cost as budgetary support in the form of Viability Gap Funding (VGF).
- The scheme aims to provide clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to the citizens.
- To ensure that the benefits of the scheme reach the consumers, a minimum of 85% of the BESS project capacity will be made available to Distribution Companies (Discoms).
- The selection of BESS developers for VGF grants will be carried out through a transparent competitive bidding process, promoting a level playing field for both public and private sector entities.
- This approach will foster healthy competition and encourage the growth of a robust ecosystem for BESS, attracting significant investments and generating opportunities for associated industries.
Know! about Viability Gap Funding scheme
- The Viability Gap Funding (VGF) Scheme aims at supporting infrastructure projects that are economically justified but fall marginally short of financial viability.
- Support under this scheme is available only for infrastructure projects where private sector sponsors are selected through a process of competitive bidding.
- The total VGF under the scheme does not exceed 20% of the total project cost, however, the Government may decide to provide additional grants up to a limit of a further 20%.
21st EDITION INDIA FRANCE BILATERAL NAVAL EXERCISE ‘VARUNA’ – 2023
- Phase Il of the 21st edition of Varuna (Varuna-23) bilateral exercise between Indian and French Navy was conducted in the Arabian Sea.
- The exercise witnessed the participation of guided missile frigates, tankers, Maritime Patrol Aircraft, and integral helicopters from the two sides.
- The first phase of ‘Varuna-2023’ was conducted off India’s Western Seaboard from 16 to 20 Jan 23
- Indian & French Navy bilateral naval exercise was initiated in 1993.
- The exercise was later christened as ‘Varuna’ in 2001 and has since become a hallmark of robust India-France strategic bilateral relationship.
Source
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1956442
HINDUSTAN TURBO TRAINER HTT-40
- Deputy Chief of the Air Staff flew the Hindustan Turbo Trainer Aircraft – 40 (HTT-40) Basic Trainer Aircraft, today at Bengaluru.
- Manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the aircraft has been indigenously designed and developed by the Aircraft Research & Design Centre of HAL and is based on the training requirements of the Indian Armed Forces.
- The HTT-40 is a fully aerobatic aircraft, powered by a four bladed turbo-prop engine. It is fitted with a state-of-the-art glass cockpit, modern avionics and latest safety features, including a zero-zero ejection seat.
- The trainer has a maximum speed of 450 kilometers per hour and a maximum service ceiling of six kilometers.
- The HTT-40 first flew on 31 May 2016 and obtained system level certification on 06 June 2022.
- Clearance by Centre for Military Airworthiness and Certification for the full aircraft is currently underway.
- IAF signed a contract with HAL for the supply of 70 aircraft, the induction of which will commence on 15 September 2025 and continue till 15 March 2030.
- The HTT-40 will enhance the quality of training of ab-initio pilots of the Indian Armed Forces.
Source
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1956442
Port Victoria
- INS Sunayna, a ship based at Southern Naval Command, Kochi, visited Port Victoria, Seychelles from 03- 06 Sep 23.
- The visit reinforces India Seychelles defence ties.
Source
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1956442
Sovereign Gold Bonds 2023-24
- Sovereign Gold Bonds 2023-24 (Series II) will be opened for subscription during the period September 11-15, 2023 with Settlement date September 20, 2023.
- The issue price of the Bond during the subscription period shall be Rs. 5,923 (Rupees Five Thousand Nine Hundred Twenty Three only) per gram, as also published by RBI in their Press Release dated September 08, 2023.
- The Government of India in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India has decided to allow discount of Rs. 50 (Rupees Fifty only) per gram from the issue price to those investors who apply online and the payment is made through digital mode.
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme
- It was launched by Govt in November 2015, under Gold Monetisation Scheme.
- Under the scheme, the issues are made open for subscription in tranches by RBI in consultation with GOI.
- RBI Notifies the terms and conditions for the scheme from time to time.
- The rate of SGB will be declare by RBI before every new tranche by issuing a Press Release.
Features
- The Sovereign Gold Bond will be sold through banks, Stock Holding Corporation of India Ltd (SHCIL), designated post offices, and recognised stock exchanges such as the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
- To be issued by Reserve Bank India on behalf of the Government of India.
- The Bonds will be restricted for sale to Resident individuals, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), Trusts, Universities and Charitable Institutions
- The tenor of the SGB will be for a period of eight years with an option of premature redemption after the fifth year to be exercised on the date on which interest is payable.
- The minimum permissible investment in the Sovereign Gold Bond is one gram. However, the maximum limit of subscription shall be 4 Kg for individuals, 4 Kg for HUF and 20 Kg for trusts and similar entities per fiscal year (April-March) notified by the Government from time to time.
- The investors will be compensated at a fixed rate of 2.50 per cent per annum payable semi-annually on the nominal value.
- The interest on Gold Bonds shall be taxable as per the provision of Income Tax Act, 1961 (43 of 1961).
- The capital gains tax arising on redemption of SGB to an individual has been exempted.
- The Gold Bonds will be issued as Government of India Stocks under Government Security Act, 2006.
- All the branches of the State Bank of India are authorised to accept the subscription.
- Bonds can be used as collateral for loans.
Source
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1956442
Tribal products that are being showcased at the Tribes India pavilion as part of the G-20 Leaders’ Summit
- The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Ltd. (TRIFED), Ministry of Tribal Affairs is showcasing a wide range of traditional tribal art, artifacts, paintings, pottery, textiles, organic natural products, and many more at the ‘Tribes India’ pavilion.
- The exhibition is being hosted at the Crafts Bazaar (Hall 3), as part of the G-20 Leaders’ Summit at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi on 9th and 10th September 2023.
Highlights
- Pithora art, revered by Rathwa, Bhilala, Naik and Bhil tribes of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. (Pithora is a ritualistic painting done on the walls by the Rathwa, Bhils and Bhilala tribes. The name Pithora also refers to the Hindu deity of marriage.
- Gond painting from Madhya Pradesh
- Saura painting by artisans from Odisha
- Angora and Pashmina shawls from the high altitudes of Leh-Ladakh and Himachal Pradesh, woven by the Bodh and Bhutia tribes
- The colorful jewelry by the Konyak tribals of Nagaland
- Maheshwari silk sarees from Madhya Pradesh
- Eri or “Millenium Silk”, so delicately made by Bodo tribe from Assam which gives richness a new dimension altogether.
- Dhokra jewelery – Origins of Dhokra dates back to over 4000 years. It is amongst the oldest traditional techniques of metal casting dates back to pre-historic times of the Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro Civilizations. This technique of casting non-ferrous metals was popular in the ancient regions of present-day West Bengal and Odisha.
- Grace and beauty are so delicately carved out of Meena tribal artisans of Rajasthan in the Metal Ambabari craft.
Source
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1955624
Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts (Third Amendment) Order, 2023
- The third phase of the mandatory hallmarking vide Hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts (Third Amendment) Order, 2023 comes into force from September 8, 2023
- The third phase of the mandatory hallmarking will cover additional 55 new districts under the mandatory hallmarking system, wherein a hallmarking centre has been setup post-implementation of the second phase of the mandatory hallmarking order thereby making the total number of districts covered under mandatory hallmarking as 343.
- The Government of India notified the order on September 8, 2023.
- BIS has been successful in implementation of Mandatory Hallmarking in 256 districts of the country with effect from 23 June 2021, in the first phase and in the additional 32 districts with effect from 04 April 2022, in second
- More than 4 lakh gold articles are being hallmarked with HUID every day.
- Consumers are encouraged to verify the authenticity and purity of the hallmarked gold jewellery items with the HUID number purchased by using ‘verify HUID’ in BIS Care app which can be downloaded from the play store.
Know! also about
Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) number
- It is a six-digit alphanumeric code consisting of numbers and letters.
- With the help of this number, a buyer can get all the information related to jewellery.
Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS)
- The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the National Standards Body of India under Department of Consumer affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Government of India.
- It is established by the Bureau of Indian Standards Act, 2016 which came into effect on 12 October 2017.
- The Minister in charge of the Ministry or Department having administrative control of the BIS is the ex-officio President of the BIS.
Source
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