CURRENT AFFAIRS – 03.02.2024

1. 12^TH CM of Jharkhand

• Appointment of a CM if the incumbent dies in the office/or removed
• Governor at his own discretion can appoint a Chief Minister
• However, the ruling party nominates a member and Governor usually appoints that person as the Chief Minister
• This person then has to prove confidence within a specified time
• A person not belonging to either house (Legislative Assembly & Council) can also be appointed as the Chief Minister
• However, within six months of his tenure as a CM he should be elected to either house without which he ceases to be a CM
• Chief Minister can belong to any house in the State Legislature

2. NEW POLITICAL PARTY

How is a party declared State Party?

• A party is recognised as a state party in a state if any of the following conditions is fulfilled:
• If it secures 6% of the valid votes polled in the state at a general election to the respective state legislative assembly and also, it wins 2 seats in the same state legislative assembly
• If it secures 6% of the total valid votes in the state at a general election to the Lok Sabha and also, it wins 1 seat in the Lok Sabha from the same state
• If it wins 3% of seats in the legislative assembly at a general election to the legislative assembly of the state concerned or 3 seats in the assembly (whichever is more)
• If it wins 1 seat in the Lok Sabha for every 25 seats or any fraction thereof allotted to the state at a general election to the Lok Sabha from the state concerned
• If it secures 8% of the total valid votes polled in the state at a General Election to the Lok Sabha from the state or to the State legislative assembly

3. PM ROOFTOP SOLAR SCHEME

• Renewed thrust to increase adoption of household rooftop solar systems (h-RTS) through the Pradhan Mantri Suryoday Yojana
• The Centre is likely to bear the entire cost of setting up
• Such systems for households consume less than 300 units of electricity a month
• For implementation
• Public sector units of the Power Ministry such as the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will be charged with identifying households that consume less than 300 units a month in States
• About 85% of Indian households, on average, use 100 to 120 units a month
• Then, they will install RTS with eligible householders having to pay effectively nothing  60% cost of installation will be subsidised by the Centre
• 40% — PSU will take a loan (from a bank) and will repay from the cost of electricity (used by the household) over and above the 300 units
• Householder pay nothing
• Households with consumption of over 300 units can also use the scheme
• However, they would be required to fund the 40% themselves through a loan or self-financing

4. Animal Husbandry Infrastructure Development Fund

• It is a Central Sector Scheme.
• It has been approved for incentivizing investments by individual entrepreneurs, private companies, MSME, Farmers Producers Organizations (FPOs) and Section 8 companies to establish the dairy processing and value-addition infrastructure meat processing and value addition infrastructure and Animal Feed Plant.
• The government of India will provide a 3% interest subvention for 8 years including two years of moratorium for loans up to 90% from the scheduled bank and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), NABARD and NDDB.
• Under this government entities and cooperatives are not eligible to get the benefit of this scheme

5. Payments Bank

• A payments bank is like any other bank but operates on a smaller scale without involving any credit risk.
• It was set up based on the recommendations of the Nachiket Mor Committee.
• To advance financial inclusion by offering banking and financial services to the unbanked and underbanked areas, helping the migrant labour force, low-income households, small entrepreneurs, etc.
• It is registered as a public limited company under the Companies Act 2013 and licensed under Section 22 of the Banking Regulation Act 1949.
• It is governed by a host of legislation, such as the Banking Regulation Act, 1949; RBI Act, 1934; Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, etc.
• They are differentiated, and not universal banks.
• These operate on a smaller scale.
• The minimum paid-up equity capital for payments banks shall be 100 crores.
• The minimum initial contribution of the promoter to the Payment Bank to the paid-up equity capital shall be at least 40% for the first five years from the commencement of its business.

ONE LINER

1. FEB – 2 To create awareness on wetlands and Human Wellbeing and to celebrate the vital connection between wetlands and Human Beings. Wetlands and Human Wellbeing (2024).