Defence Minister inaugurates DefConnect 2.0

• The event was inaugurated by Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh. The event will attract a large number of innovators and investors from India’s leading industries in the defence sector.
• The DefConnect will provide a unique opportunity for innovators associated with iDEX-DIO to showcase their capabilities, products and state-of-the-art-technologies to the target audience of the industry leaders.
• The iDEX, launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in 2018, essentially provides a unified platform for various stakeholders in the defence and aerospace sectors.
• It acts like an umbrella organisation to oversee technology development and potential collaborations in this specific field.
• Platforms like the iDEX enable the military to find disruptive solutions to complex challenges through its flagship programmes like Defence India Startup Challenges (DISC) and Open Challenges (OC) which shall be the key components for the future of military technology.
• Till date, iDEX has launched five rounds of DISC and three rounds of OC, receiving more than 2,000 applications from individual innovators and start-ups.
• Furthermore, iDEX has been able to fund projects in numerous technological areas through its Grant-in-Aid framework, Support for Prototype and Research Kickstart (SPARK), which entail provisioning of grant up to Rs 1.50 crore to budding entrepreneurs.

Govt. approves advisory for management of Human-Wildlife Conflict across the country.

• The report analyses the Wildlife (Protection) Amendment Bill, 2021 tabled in the Lok Sabha in December 2021.
• The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 provides a legal framework for the protection of various species of wild animals and plants.
• While it has been amended several times, the latest set of proposed amendments by the Environment Ministry were to make it more compliant with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which India is a signatory.
• One of the clauses proposed by the Ministry was to have a Standing Committee of the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) to make the functioning of the body “more purposive”
• The report recommends an advisory committee to be headed by the Chief Wildlife Warden, who can consult the committee to act appropriately.

India Post Payments Bank''s ''Fincluvation''

• Fincluvation is an Industry first initiative to create a powerful platform to mobilize the start-up community towards building meaningful financial products aimed at financial inclusion.
• Fincluvation will be a permanent platform of IPPB to co-create inclusive financial solutions with participating start-ups.

India Post Payments Bank

• India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) has been established under the Department of Posts, Ministry of Communication with 100% equity owned by Government of India.
• IPPB was launched by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on September 1, 2018.

PM Award for Excellence in Public Administration

• Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration have been instituted with a view to recognize the extraordinary and innovative work done by Districts/implementing units and Central/State organisations for the welfare of common citizens.
• They are also conferred for effective implementation of identified priority programs and innovation.
• Exemplary work done in the following five identified priority programmes are given awards
  • Promoting “Jan Bhagidari” or People’s Participation in Poshan Abhiyan,
  • Promoting excellence in sports and wellness through Khelo India scheme,
  • Digital payments and Good Governance in PM SVANidhi Yojana,
  • Holistic Development through One District One Product scheme,
  • Seamless, End-to-End Delivery of Services without Human Intervention.
• A total of 16 awards for 5 identified Priority Programmes and for innovations in the sphere of public administration/delivery of services etc. are given this year.

Civils services Day?

• When observed: 21st April every year.
• Why 21st April: On this day, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel addressed the first batch of probationers at the All India Administrative Service Training School at Metcalfe House, New Delhi in 1947. In his speech he called civil servants as the steel frame of India.

NITI Aayog, UNICEF to Develop Country’s First Report on ‘State of India’s Children''

• The SoI seeks to formalize a framework of cooperation to launch the first report on the ‘State of India’s Children: Status and Trends in Multidimensional Child Development’, with a focus on the multidimensional aspects of child development like health, education, nutrition, protection, and other relevant areas.
• The collaboration between NITI Aayog and UNICEF India will draw up the methods, technical analysis, reporting, and action planning for the first report on the ‘Status of India’s Children’

Dr. Ambedkar Centres of Excellence (DACE) Scheme launched

• Ambedkar Foundation (DAF), Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Govt. of India, is starting Dr. Ambedkar Centres of Excellence (DACE) in 31 Central Universities across the country.
• The DACEs are being set up to provide high quality free coaching facilities to the Scheduled Caste students forthe Civil Services examinations, conducted by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
• Under the DACE Scheme, a total of 100 seats will be sanctioned for coaching per centre.
• Of the total sanctioned seats for coaching, 33% seats will preferably be given to the eligible female candidates of Scheduled Castes.
• If eligible female candidates are not available in sufficient numbers for the coaching, the concerned University will allocate the vacant seats to the male/transgender candidates (SC Candidates only).
• The coaching benefits, under the scheme,will only be utilized by a student ONCE regardless of the number of chances he/she is entitled for a particular competitive examination.
• Ambedkar Foundation (DAF) shall fund the entire expenditure incurred on the establishment of Dr. Ambedkar Centre for Excellence.
• 75,000/- per annum / per student will be provided to the University for 100 students. Total amount of Rs. 75.00 lakh per year would be provided to the University for running the Scheme.

IFSCA (Fund Management) Regulations, 2022

• Registering the Fund Management Entity: A Fund Management Entity will be registered with IFSCA and will be able to manage different types of funds and schemes subject to meeting the eligibility criteria.
• Green Channel: Venture Capital Schemes or non-retail schemes soliciting money from accredited investors only shall qualify for a green channel i.e. the schemes filed can open for subscription by investors immediately upon filing with IFSCA.
• Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs): Considering that ETFs offer a means to gain exposure to specific markets or asset classes at a low cost, registered fund managers in IFSC shall be able to launch not just Index based ETFs but also Active ETFs and Commodity based ETFs.
• Environment Social Governance (ESG): Growing number of investors expect fund managers to make ESG issues integral to their investment strategies. With the intent of making IFSC a hub for a host of activities related to sustainable finance, disclosures have been proposed to be mandated at the entity level and scheme level.

Government think-tank Niti Aayog has prepared a draft battery swapping policy.

• Under this, it has proposed offering incentives to electric vehicles (EVs) with swappable batteries, subsidies to companies manufacturing swappable batteries, a new battery-as-a-service business model, and standards for interoperable batteries, among other measures.
• The draft policy has suggested that the GST Council consider reducing the differential across the tax rates on Lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicle supply equipment. Currently, the tax rate on the former is 18 per cent, and 5 per cent on the latter.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced during this year’s Union Budget that the government was set to roll out a battery swapping policy, in a bid to reduce upfront costs of purchasing EVs and drive adoption among buyers.
• The policy is targeted at supporting the adoption of battery-swapping, primarily for battery swapping systems used in electric scooters and three-wheeler electric rickshaws.
• Niti Aayog said battery swapping will fall under the battery-as-a-service (BaaS) business model, and such models would have to ensure interoperability between EVs and batteries for a successful mainstreaming of battery swapping as an alternative.

Regulatory framework for special purpose acquisition companies

• The Company Law Committee, which was set up in 2019 to make recommendations to boost ease of doing business in India, has made this suggestion in its report submitted to the government recently.
• An SPAC, or a blank-cheque company, is an entity specifically set up with the objective of acquiring a firm in a particular sector.
• An SPAC aims to raise money in an initial public offering (IPO) without any operations or revenues. The money that is raised from the public is kept in an escrow account, which can be accessed while making the acquisition.
• If the acquisition is not made within two years of the IPO, the SPAC is delisted and the money is returned to the investors.
• While SPACs are essentially shell companies, a key factor that makes them attractive to investors are the people who sponsor them. Globally, prominent names such as tennis star Serena Williams, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, billionaire and venture capitalist Vinod Khosla etc. have participated in SPACs.

Atal Pension Yojana; Enrollments cross 4 crore

• Atal Pension Yojana is the guaranteed pension scheme of Government of India administered by PFRDA. The scheme allows any Citizen of India between the age group of 18-40 years to join through the bank or post office branches where one has the savings bank account.
• Under the scheme, a subscriber would receive a minimum guaranteed pension of Rs.1000 to Rs. 5000 per month from the age of 60 years, depending upon his contribution.
• The same pension would be paid to the spouse of the subscriber after the demise of subscriber and on demise of both the subscriber and spouse, the pension wealth as accumulated till age 60 of the subscriber would be returned back to the nominee.
• Out of the total enrolments under APY as on 31st March 2022, nearly 80% subscribers have opted for Rs 1000 pension plan and 13% for Rs 5000 pension plan. Out of the total APY subscribers 44 % are female subscribers while 56% are male subscribers. Further, out of the total APY subscribers, 45% are aged between 18 and 25 years.