NHAI InvIT looks to raise additional Rs 3,800 cr: Minister Nitin Gadkari

• These InvIT bonds will be listed on BSE and NSE, providing an opportunity for investors to invest and trade.
• NHAI InvIT is the infrastructure investment trust sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to support the government’s National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP).
• NHAI’s InvIT is a Trust established by NHAI under the Indian Trusts Act, 1882 and SEBI (Security and Exchange Board of India) regulations.
• The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had approved the NHAI’s Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) in December 2019.
• Infrastructure investment trusts are institutions similar to mutual funds, which pool investments from various categories of investors and invest them into completed and revenue-generating infrastructure projects, thereby creating returns for the investor.
• The capital market regulator notified the SEBI (Infrastructure Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014 on September 26, 2014, and these trusts are likely to help facilitate investment in the infrastructure sector.
• Structured like mutual funds, they have a trustee, sponsor(s), investment manager and project manager.
• While the trustee (certified by Sebi) has the responsibility of inspecting the performance of an InvIT, sponsor(s) are promoters of the company that set up the InvIT.

BJP to hold a Pasmanda Muslim meeting in UP, ''first by a party''

• Pasmanda is a Persian word that means the ‘ones left behind’.
• The word is used to describe the depressed classes among Muslims who have been deliberately or consciously excluded from the fruits of power and privilege.
• Backward, Dalit, and tribal Muslims use the word Pasmanda as an umbrella identity to flag caste-based discrimination within the community.
• The term ‘Pasmanda Muslims’ was first used in 1998 by Ali Anwar Ansari when he founded the Pasmanda Muslim Mahaz.
• Muslim society in India consists of several status groups or biradaris that are broadly sorted in three categories: the Ashrafs (the ‘noble’ elite or the ‘honourable ones’), the Ajlafs (backward Muslims), and the Arzals (Dalit Muslims).

Kerala governor threatens to remove ministers if their statements lower dignity of his office

• Article 163: There shall be a council of ministers with the chief minister as the head to aid and advise the governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is required to exercise his functions in his discretion.
• Article 164: The chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister, and the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor.
• Article 174: The Governor can also summon, prorogue, and dissolve the Legislative Assembly. By convention, he does this on the advice of the Council of Ministers while they enjoy the confidence of the Assembly.
• Article 200: Every Bill passed in an Assembly has to be sent to the Governor, after which he has four options
  • to assent to the Bill,
  • withhold assent,
  • reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President, or
  • return the Bill to the legislature, asking it to reconsider the Bill or an aspect of it. The Governor can also suggest an amendment to the Bill.

EdCIL pays a dividend of Rs 16 Crore for the year 2021-2022

• EdCIL (India) Limited is a Mini Ratna Category-I CPSE of the Ministry of Education, Government of India.
• **Miniratna Category-I status:**The CPSEs which have made profit in the last three years continuously, pre-tax profit is Rs.30 crores or more in at least one of the three years and have a positive net worth are eligible to be considered for grant of Miniratna-I status.
• Miniratna Category-II status: The CPSEs which have made profit for the last three years continuously and have a positive net worth are eligible to be considered for grant of Miniratna-II status.
  • Miniratna CPSEs should have not defaulted in the repayment of loans/interest payment on any loans due to the Government.
  • Miniratna CPSEs shall not depend upon budgetary support or Government guarantees.

This year too, only green crackers to be sold

• Green crackers are low-emission crackers, free of harmful chemicals such as sulphur, nitrates, arsenic, magnesium, sodium, lead, and barium, which reduce the emission of up to 30%.
• Emit noise in the range of 100-130 deciBels.
• Come with a green logo and Quick Response (QR) code to differentiate from conventional firecrackers.
• The crackers developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) falls under three categories:
  • SWAS:
    • SWAS is safe water releaser, which suppresses the dust released by releasing water vapour in the air. It does not comprise potassium nitrate and sulphur and the particulate dust released will reduce approximately by 30 per cent.
  • STAR:
    • STAR is the safe thermite cracker, which does not comprise potassium nitrate and sulphur, emits reduced particulate matter disposal and reduced sound intensity.
  • SAFAL:
    • SAFAL is safe minimal aluminium which has minimum usage of aluminium, and used magnesium instead. It ensures reduction in sound in comparison to traditional crackers.

Conventional firecrackers:

• Composed of charcoal or thermite in combination with oxidizing agents such as nitrates or chlorates, sulfur agents, and coloring agents.
• Include salts of strontium, sodium, barium, calcium, and copper as well as white metals, which produce more particulate matter (PM).
• Emit sound between 160-200 deciBels.

IHBAS joins central scheme to address mental health issues

• Tele Mental Health Assistance and Networking Across States (Tele-MANAS) initiative was launched on occasion of World Mental Health Day.
• Its objective is to provide free tele-mental health services all over the country round the clock, particularly catering to people in remote or under-served areas.
• It is an initiative of the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• NIMHANS is the nodal centre and International Institute of Information Technology-Bangalore (IIITB) providing technology support.
• Tele-MANAS will be organised in two tier system;
  • Tier 1 comprises of state Tele-MANAS cells which include trained counsellors and mental health specialists.
  • Tier 2 will comprise of specialists at District Mental Health Programme (DMHP)/Medical College resources for physical consultation and/or e-Sanjeevani for audio visual consultation.
• Presently there are 5 regional coordination centres along with 51 State/UT Tele MANAS cells.

E-Manas:

• E-Manas is the tele-counselling programme which was launched by the Karnataka government during the first wave of COVID-19 in association with NIMHANS to help people through the stress of the pandemic and lockdown.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh launches integrated portal for pensioners

• The Anubhav portal was created on the call of Prime Minister in 2015 with a vision to preserve rich experience of retired official in digital form.
• An award scheme to incentivize and encourage more retiring employees to submit their write-ups was introduced in 2016.
• It provides a platform to retiring government employees for sharing their experiences while working in different Ministries or Departments of the government.
• It also provides them with an opportunity to convey information related to their contribution in enhancing the effectiveness of the various government policies.
• It is envisaged that this culture of leaving notes by retirees will become the foundation stone of good governance and administrative reforms in future.
• 92 Ministries, Departments or Organizations have registered on Anubhav Portal of this Department and 8722 write-ups have been published as on 30th September.

Prime Minister Launches ''One Nation One Fertiliser'' Scheme

• All subsidised soil nutrients - urea, di-ammonium phosphate (DAP), Muriate of Potash (MoP), and NPK - will be marketed under the single brand Bharat across the nation.
• With the launch of this scheme, India will have a common bag design across the country like Bharat urea, Bharat DAP, Bharat MOP, Bharat NPK, and so on.
• The rationale is that since fertilizers of a particular category must meet the nutrient-content specifications of the Fertilizer Control Order (FCO), there is no product differentiation among different brands for each type of fertilizer. For example, all DAP fertilizer brands must have 18% nitrogen and 46% phosphorus.
• The One Nation One Fertiliser scheme will also prevent the criss-cross movement of fertilisers and reduce high freight subsidies.

PM- Kisan Samruddhi Kendras (PM-KSK):

• The Union government also intends to convert more than 3.3 lakh fertiliser retail shops in the country into PM- Kisan Samruddhi Kendras (PM-KSK) in a phased manner.
• The PM-KSK will supply agri-inputs like seeds, fertilisers, and farm implements. It will also provide testing facilities for soil, seeds and fertilisers.
• Information about government schemes will also be provided.

415 million exited poverty in India in 15 years: UNDP

• About 41.5 crore people exited poverty in India during the 15-year period between 2005-06 and 2019-21, out of which two-third exited in the first 10 years, and one-third in the next five years.
• The incidence of poverty fell from 55.1% in 2005-06 to 16.4% in 2019-21 in the country.
• The deprivations in all 10 MPI indicators saw significant reductions as a result of which the MPI value and incidence of poverty more than halved.
• Improvement in MPI for India has significantly contributed to the decline in poverty in South Asia.
• It is for the first time that it is not the region with the highest number of poor people, at 38.5 crore, compared with 57.9 crore in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• The report doesn’t fully assess the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on poverty in India as 71% of the data from the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-2021) relied upon for MPI were collected before the pandemic.
• Bihar is the poorest State in 2015-2016, saw the fastest reduction in MPI value in absolute terms. The incidence of poverty there fell from 77.4% in 2005-2006 to to 34.7% in 2019-2021.

Ending Poverty a Challenge:

• India has by far the largest number of poor people worldwide at 22.8 crore, followed by Nigeria at 9.6 crore.
• Two-third of these people live in a household in which at least one person is deprived in nutrition.
• There were also 9.7 crore poor children in India in 2019-2021
• About 4.2% of the population in the country still live in severe poverty.
• Rural areas account for nearly 90% of poor people.

Global Multidimensional Poverty Index:

• The report produced by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI).
• It was first launched in 2010.
• The global MPI constructs a deprivation profile of each household and person through 10 indicators spanning health, education and standard of living and includes both incidence as well as intensity of poverty.
• All indicators are equally weighted within each dimension.
• The global MPI identifies people as multi-dimensionally poor if their deprivation score is 1/3 or higher.

CAA norms can be applied to Hindu Tamils from Lanka

• The Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 amends the Citizenship Act, 1955.
• It seeks to grant citizenship to a class of migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
• It exempts the members of the six communities from any criminal case under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport Act, 1920. The two Acts specify punishment for entering the country illegally and staying here on expired visas and permits.
• It was passed by Parliament on December 11, 2019 and the Act was notified within 24 hours on December 12.
• The Joint Committee on Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016, in its report to the Lok Sabha on January 7, 2019, mentioned the reason provided by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for not including Sri Lanka under the ambit of the amendment.
• According to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the guidelines of the Standard Operating Procedure issued by the Centre on December 29, 2011, would take care of the migrants or refugees from other countries, including Sri Lanka and Myanmar.