In last 5 years, Rs 10 lakh crore in write-offs help banks halve NPAs

• A non-performing asset (NPA) is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a period of 90 days.
• Banks are required to classify NPAs further into Substandard, Doubtful and Loss assets.
  • Substandard assets: Assets which has remained NPA for a period less than or equal to 12 months.
  • Doubtful assets: An asset would be classified as doubtful if it has remained in the substandard category for a period of 12 months.
  • Loss assets: As per RBI, loss asset is considered uncollectible and of such little value that its continuance as a bankable asset is not warranted, although there may be some salvage or recovery value.
• AFTER a loan turns bad, a bank writes it off when chances of recovery are remote. It helps the bank reduce not only its NPAs but also taxes since the written off amount is allowed to be deducted from the profit before tax.
• In “Technically Written Off” accounts, loans are written off from the books at the Head Office, without foregoing the right to recovery.
• Further, write-offs are generally carried out against accumulated provisions made for such loans.
• Once recovered, the provisions made for those loans flow back into the profit and loss account of banks.

India opposes attempt to link action on emissions to farming

• India recently communicated strong objections to discussions under a special UN Framework Convention on Climate Change effort known as the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, which has sought to expand efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouses gases to the agriculture sector.
• It aims to recognise the unique potential of agriculture in tackling climate change.
• It was established at the 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP) in Fiji in 2017 as a new process to advance discussions on agriculture in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
• The joint work will address six topics related to soils, nutrient use, water, livestock, methods for assessing adaptation, and the socio-economic and food security dimensions of climate change across the agricultural sectors.

Majority of People Who Invest in Bitcoin Inevitably Lose Money

• After the U.S. and Turkey, India has the third highest number of registered downloads of crypto exchange apps.
• As of June 2022, there were over 30 million crypto exchange app downloads in India.
• But in terms of downloads per capita, India features among the countries with the lowest number of downloads.
• This is because of its vast population and crypto awareness being mostly limited to urban pockets.
• Countries such as the U.S., Canada, Australia and the U.K. rank much higher in terms of per capita downloads.
• India also features among those countries with the lowest average monthly app usage per 1 lakh people.
• According to the study 73%-81% of the users would have lost money. A median investor would have lost $431, corresponding to 48% of the total $900 invested.
• Cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of their units and verify the transfer of funds.
• These currencies operate independently of a central bank.
• The economic transactions underlying cryptocurrency are decentralized, distributed and disbursed.
• The first and most famous cryptocurrency, bitcoin was introduced in 2009.
• Most cryptocurrencies of the world are built on blockchain technology.
• Blockchain is a decentralized and distributed database on a peer-peer network which works on the basis of a consensus mechanism involving every node (computer) on the network.
• Blockchain is a peer-to-peer distributed network that records a public history of transactions without actually recording identities of the parties or the transaction details.

COP27 establishes ‘Loss and Damages’ fund for climate reparations

• It refers to costs the rich and developed countries, who are majorly responsible for industrial emissions that pollute the environment, should pay to poorer nations that have made negligible contribution to pollution but are more vulnerable to extreme climate events.
• The expected monetary compensation from the L&D fund is estimated to be nearly $500 billion and rising by $200 billion annually.
• Crucial questions such as who will manage this fund, whether contributions are expected from large developing countries and what the fair share of contributors will be — have been left to a “transitional committee” that will make recommendations for the adoption of the fund at the next Conference of the Parties (COP) of the UN’s Framework Convention for Climate Change, to be held in the UAE in 2023.
• UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC):
  • The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the 1994 international agreement that lays down the broad principles of the global effort to fight climate change, acknowledges the differentiated responsibility of nations.
  • It makes it clear that rich countries must provide both the finance and the technology to developing nations to help tackle climate change.
  • However, the UNFCCC does not mention loss and damage.
• In 2009, developed countries agreed to provide US$ 100 billion every year from 2020 to help developing nations fight climate change.
• Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM):
  • The Warsaw International Mechanism (WIM) for Loss and Damages, set up in 2013, was the first formal acknowledgment of the need to compensate developing countries struck by climate disasters.

Dalai Lama receives Gandhi Mandela Award: What is this honour

• A government of India registered Trust, the Gandhi Mandela Foundation is a non-profit organisation, formed with the motive to promote Mahatma Gandhi’s and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela’s values of non-violence.
• It has constituted an international prize, the Gandhi Mandela Award.
• The foundation instituted the award on the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, MK Gandhi.
• The award is given to personalities who have carried forward the legacies of Gandhi and Mandela by making significant contributions in the fields of Peace, Social Welfare, Culture, Environment, Education, Healthcare, Sports and Innovation.

Great knot sighting untangles a migration mystery

• A great knot from Russia, belonging to the endangered Calidris tenuirostris (Horsfield, 1821), has found its way to Kerala’s coast, flying over 9,000 km for a winter sojourn. Recently many juvenile great knots have been tagged with MOSKVA rings in the Kamchatka peninsula in eastern Russia.
• The Great Knot is an international migratory wading bird that travels vast distances between the northern hemisphere breeding grounds and southern hemisphere summer feeding grounds.
• The Great Knot is a medium-sized shorebird with a straight, slender bill of medium length and a heavily streaked head and neck.

Scientific name: Calidris tenuirostris

Species author: (Horsfield, 1821)

• Great Knots occur around coastal areas in many parts of Australia during the southern summer.
• They breed in eastern Siberia, and when on migration they occur throughout coastal regions of eastern and South East Asia.

Habitat:

• In Australia, Great Knots inhabit intertidal mudflats and sandflats in sheltered coasts, including bays harbours and estuaries.
• They forage on the moist mud, and they often roost on beaches or in nearby low vegetation, such as mangroves or dune vegetation.
• IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Endangered

Sri Lanka exports five times more than imports under India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement

• Sri Lanka’s exports added up to over 140 billion Lankan rupees under the agreement.
• Imports into Sri Lanka from India stood at 28 billion rupees.
• Trade with India contributed to almost 65 percent of the total trade of Sri Lanka under four existing free trade agreements.
• The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Sri Lanka was the first-ever bilateral trade agreement for both countries, signed in 1998 and enforced in 2000.
• The pact is aimed at further boosting the economic ties between the two countries by liberalising trade norms.

Free Trade Agreement (FTA):

• FTA is an agreement between the countries or regional blocks to reduce or eliminate trade barriers, though mutual negotiations with a view to enhancing trade.
• It can however be comprehensive to include goods, services, investment, intellectual property, competition, government procurement and other areas.
  • On goods, the key areas covered are customs duties or tariffs, rules of origins, non-tariff measures such as technical barriers to trade (TBT), sanitary phytosanitary (SPS) measures, trade remedies etc.
  • On services, the negotiations are on barriers to various modes of supply including domestic regulations.
• Bilateral trade agreements occur when two countries agree to unshackle trade restrictions to expand business opportunities.
• Plurilateral agreements occur between a large number of countries, either in the regional context or otherwise.
• Multilateral trade agreements is generally referred to for WTO negotiations since it covers a large number of countries and sets global trade rules.

Terror financing, shift to metaverse, virtual assets cause for concern: Amit Shah

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing a session on Global Trends in Terrorist Financing and Terrorism’ at ‘No Money for Terror’ Ministerial Conference on Counter-Terrorism Financing in New Delhi, has stressed on the need for coordinated efforts to deal with the challenges posed by the use of dark net and virtual currencies like cryptocurrency by the terrorists.
• Dark Net (or Darknet), also known as the dark web, refers to the deep hidden internet platform that is used for narcotics sale, exchange of pornographic content and other illegal activities by using the secret alleys of the onion router (ToR) to stay away from the surveillance of law enforcement agencies.
• Darknet is the part of the Internet below the private deep web that uses custom software and hidden networks superimposed on the architecture of the Internet.
• Owing to its end-to-end encryption, darknet is considered very tough to crack when it comes to investigating criminal activities being rendered over it.
• The darkweb operates in secrecy using specialized browsers, that prevent eavesdropping and traffic analysis attacks.
• It is very tough to penetrate owing to its end-to-end encryption.
• The access to darknet is possible only through specialized browsers like Tor, Freenet, I2P and Tails to surf the darknet anonymously.
• Tor (The Onion Router) is free and open-source software for enabling anonymous communication.
• The privacy-centric browser like Tor routes the web page requests through proxy servers thus making your IP address untraceable.
• Both the dark and deep web share one thing in common: Neither can be found in search engine results.
• The difference between them primarily lies in how their content is accessed.
  • Deep web pages can be accessed by anyone with a standard web browser who knows the URL.
  • Dark web pages, in contrast, require special software with the correct decryption key, as well as access rights and knowledge of where to find the content.

NCPCR launches ''GHAR'' to enable smooth repatriation of children to their native place

• It addresses the changed roles of CWCs and District Child Protection (DCPO) for children in need of care and protection.
• The portal was developed by the NCPCR.
• The portal has digital tracking and monitoring of children who are in the Juvenile Justice system and need to be repatriated to another country/state/district.
• Digital transfer of cases of children to the concerned JJB/CWC of the State. It will help in speedy repatriation of children.
• List of Government implemented schemes will be provided, so that at the time of restoration the CWCs can link the child with the schemes to strengthen the family and ensure that child remains with his/her family.

India to take over Chair of Global Partnership on AI from France

• GPAI is an international initiative to support responsible and human-centric development and the use of Artificial Intelligence.
• It aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-related priorities.
• Members: The GPAI is a congregation of 25 member countries, including the US, UK, European Union, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea, and Singapore.
• India joined the GPAI in 2020 as a founding member.
• Its Secretariat is hosted at the OECD.
• India occupying the chair also signifies how the world today perceives it as a Trusted Technology partner and one that has always advocated for the ethical use of technology for transforming citizens’ lives.
• Artificial Intelligence: Artificial Intelligence is expected to add 967 billion US dollars to the Indian economy by 2035.
• It is also expected to add 450 to 500 billion US dollars to India’s GDP by 2025 accounting for 10 per cent of the country’s 5 trillion dollar GDP target.