Current Affairs Question - March 2021

Explanation :

Context: Recently, the Lok Sabha has passed supplementary demand for grants for the second batch (2020-2021).

The budget contains the ordinary estimates of income and expenditure in a financial year.The parliament can make various other grants under extraordinary or special circumstances. These include:

Constitutional Provision

• Article 115: Supplementary, additional or excess grants
• Article 116: Votes on account, votes of credit and exceptional grants

Supplementary Grant

• It is granted if the amount authorized by the parliament through the appropriation act to be expended for a particular service for the current financial year is found to be insufficient for the purpose of that year.

Additional Grant

• It is granted when a need has arisen during the current financial year for supplementary or additional expenditure upon some new service not contemplated in the Budget for that year.

Excess Grant

• Itis the money given to the government when the already allocated money for expenditure for that year does not turn out to be enough and extra money is sought.
• This demand for extra money or excess grants is made when the expenditure has been incurred after a financial year has expired.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) brings the demand for an excess grant to the notice of Parliament through a report on appropriation account.
• The excess grant is then examined by the Public Accounts Committee, which makes recommendations regarding their regularisation in its report to Parliament.

Vote of Credit

• It is granted for meeting an unexpected demand upon the resources of India, when on account of the magnitude or the indefinite character of the service, the demand cannot be stated with the details ordinarily given in a budget.
• Hence, it is like a blank cheque given to the Executive by the Lok Sabha.

Exceptional Grant

• It is granted for a special purpose and forms no part of the current service of any financial year.

Token Grant

• It is granted when funds to meet proposed expenditure on a new service can be made available by re-appropriation, a demand for the grant of a token sum may be submitted to the vote of the House and, if the House assents to the demand, funds may be so made available.

Explanation :

Context: For the first time ever, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) has started work on reopening the crucial Baralacha Pass in Himachal Pradesh much before schedule to restore connectivity to Leh in Ladakh.

• Bara-lacha la also known as Bara-lacha Pass is a high mountain pass in the Zanskar range connecting the Lahaul district in Himachal Pradesh to Leh district in Ladakh.
• It is situated along the Leh–Manali Highway.
• The Bhaga river, a tributary of the Chenab River, originates from Surya Taal lake, which is situated a few kilometres from the pass towards Manali.
• The pass also acts as a water-divide between the Bhaga River and the Yunan River.

Explanation :

Context: The Himachal Pradesh government has decided to start planting seabuckthorn in the cold desert areas of the state this year.

• Seabuckthorn is an ecologically and economically important plant that belongs to the family Elaegnaceae. The species is a wind pollinated dioecious shrub.
• In India, it is found above the tree line in the Himalayan region, generally in dry areas such as the cold deserts of Ladakh and Spiti.
• In Himachal Pradesh, it is locally called chharma and grows in the wild in Lahaul and Spiti and parts of Kinnaur.
• The plant is hardy and it can withstand extreme temperatures from -43ºC to 40ºC and it is considered to be drought tolerant.
• The shrub develops extensive root system having ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. It is therefore an ideal plant for soil erosion control, land reclamation, wildlife habitat enhancement, and farm stand protection in temperate region.
• As a folk medicine, seabuckthorn has been widely used for treating stomach, heart and skin problems.
• Its fruit and leaves are rich in vitamins, carotenoids and omega fatty acids.
• Besides being an important source of fuelwood and fodder, seabuckthorn is a soil-binding plant which prevents soil-erosion, checks siltation in rivers and helps preserve floral biodiversity.
• It also has commercial value, as it is used in making juices, jams, nutritional capsules.

Explanation :

Context: In Assam, the campaigns of political parties often include going to different Sattras to seek blessings or to glorify the teachings of Sankardeva.

• Sattras are monastic institutions in Assam. They were created as part of the 16th century Neo-Vaishnavite reformist movement. Movements started by the Vaishnavite saint-reformer Srimanta Sankaradeva(1449-1596).
• They were established to spread the Sankardeva’s unique “worship through art” approach. They are doing it presently with music (borgeet), dance (sattriya), and theatre (bhauna).
• Each Satra has a naamghar (worship hall) as its nucleus and is headed by an influential “Satradhikar”.
• Monks known as bhakats are inducted into Sattras at a young age. They may or may not be celibate depending on the kind of Sattra they are inducted into.
• There are about 900 Sattras across Assam, but the main centers are Bordowa (Nagaon), Majuli and Barpeta. These institutions are of paramount importance and lie at the heart of Assamese culture.

Sankardeva’s Philosophy

• Sankardeva propagated a form of Bhakti called eka-sharana-naam-dhrama, and espoused a society based on equality and fraternity, free from caste differences, orthodox Brahmanical rituals and sacrifices.
• His teaching focused on prayer and chanting (naam) instead of idol worship.
• His dharma was based on the four components of deva (god), naam (prayers), bhakats (devotees), and guru (teacher).

Explanation :

Context: The share of cess and surcharge in the gross tax revenue (GTR) of the Centre has almost doubled to 19.9% in 2020-21 from 10.4% in 2011-12.The 15^thFinance Commission has recommended a higher grant-in-aid and lower tax devolution to the States.

About Cess

• It is a form of tax levied or collected by the government for the development or welfare of a particular service or sector.
• It is charged over and above direct and indirect taxes.
• Cess collected for a particular purpose cannot be used for or diverted to other purposes.
• It is not a permanent source of revenue for the government, and it is discontinued when the purpose levying it is fulfilled.
• Currently, the cess and surcharge collected by the Centre are not part of the tax devolution.
• Examples: Education Cess, Swachh Bharat Cess, Krishi Kalyan Cess etc.

About Surcharge

• Surcharge is an additional charge or tax levied on an existing tax.
• Unlike a cess, which is meant to raise revenue for a temporary need, surcharge is usually permanent in nature.
• It is levied as a percentage on the income tax payable as per normal rates. In case no tax is due for a financial year, then no surcharge is levied.
• The revenue earned via surcharge is solely retained by the Centre and, unlike other tax revenues, is not shared with States.
• Collections from surcharge flow into the Consolidated Fund of India.

Explanation :

Context: Recently, the NITI Aayog has proposed to revise the National Food Security Act 2013.

The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was introduced by the Government of India in 2013.

Objective

• To provide for food and nutritional security in human life cycle approach, by ensuring access to adequate quantity of quality food at affordable prices to people to live a life with dignity.

Salient Features

• It provides for coverage of upto 75% of the rural population and upto 50% of the urban population for receiving subsidized foodgrains under Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), thus covering about two-thirds of the population.
• The eligible persons will be entitled to receive 5 Kgs of foodgrains per person per month at subsidised prices of Rs. 3/2/1 per Kg for rice/wheat/coarse grains.
• The existing Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) households, which constitute the poorest of the poor, will continue to receive 35 Kgs of foodgrains per household per month.
• The Act also has a special focus on the nutritional support to women and children. Besides meal to pregnant women and lactating mothers during pregnancy and six months after the child birth, such women will also be entitled to receive maternity benefit of not less than Rs. 6,000.
• Children upto 14 years of age will be entitled to nutritious meals as per the prescribed nutritional standards.
• In case of non-supply of entitled foodgrains or meals, the beneficiaries will receive food security allowance.
• The Act also contains provisions for setting up of grievance redressal mechanism at the District and State levels.

Responsibilities under NFSA

• NFSA defines the joint responsibility of the Centre and State/UT Government.
• The Centre is responsible for allocation of required foodgrains to States/UTs, transportation of foodgrains up to designated depots in each State/UT and providing central assistance to States/UTs for delivery of foodgrains from designated FCI godowns to the doorstep of the FPSs.
• The States/UTs are responsible for effective implementation of the Act, which inter-alia includes identification of eligible households, issuing ration cards to them, distribution of foodgrain entitlements to eligible households through fair price shops (FPS), issuance of licenses to Fair Price Shop dealers and their monitoring, setting up effective grievance redressal mechanism and necessary strengthening of Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)

• It provides for reforms in the TPDS including schemes such as Cash transfers for provisioning of food entitlements. In pursuance of enabling provisions under section 12 of NFSA for cash transfer, Govt. notified ‘Cash Transfer of Food Subsidy Rule, 2015’ in Aug 2015.

The DBT experiment aims to-

• reduce the need for huge physical movement of foodgrains
• provide greater autonomy to beneficiaries to choose their consumption basket
• enhance dietary diversity
• reduce leakages
• facilitate better targeting
• promote financial inclusion