GS- 2 Paper
Topic covered– Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies.
Competition Commission of India (CCI)
Context
Competition Commission of India (CCI) should ensure Indian enterprises are safeguarded from abuse by entities operating from other jurisdictions: Union Finance & Corporate Affairs Minister.
About CCI
- Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a quasi-judicial statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing The Competition Act, 2002.
- After the Competition Act, 2002 came into existence a Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) was established.
- It was established on 14 October 2003.
- It became fully functional in May 2009.
Composition of CCI
- The CCI is composed of a Chairperson and 6 members.
- The members of CCI are appointed by the Central Government.
- The CCI acts as a market regulator to check on the ill competitive practices in India.
Objectives
- To prevent practices having adverse effect on competition.
- Make the markets work for the benefit and welfare of consumers.
- To promote and sustain competition in markets.
- To protect the interests of consumers.
- Ensure fair and healthy competition in economic activities in the country for faster and inclusive growth and development of economy.
- Implement competition policies with an aim to effectuate the most efficient utilization of economic resources.
The Competition Appellate Tribunal
- The Competition Appellate Tribunal (CAT) was formed in 2009.
- It is a fully empowered body by the Constitution of India.
- The final appeal after this tribunal can be made in the Supreme Court of India.
The Competition Act, 2002
- The idea of Competition Commission was conceived and introduced in the form of The Competition Act, 2002.
- It was enacted to promote competition and private enterprises especially in the light of 1991 Indian economic liberalization.
- The Competition Act, 2002, is amended by the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2007.
- The Act prohibits anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominant position by enterprises and regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control and Merger and acquisition), which causes or likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.
- The Commission is also required to give opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.
GS- 2 Paper
Topics Covered– Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
PMAY(U) Awards
Context
PMAY(U) – 2019 Award, for Beneficiaries for “Best House Construction”, has been instituted for the first time to recognise the contribution of States/UTs, Urban Local Bodies and Beneficiaries.
About
- Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has instituted awards for select beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)- PMAY(U) from each state/UT.
- The award is being given under ‘Beneficiary-led Construction’ component for building their house in a most aesthetic and innovative manner.
- This special award for beneficiaries is likely to enthuse the States / UTs to fulfil the dream of the house for millions, a reality.
- It will encourage beneficiaries to build their house aesthetically using sustainable methods.
- To facilitate this, a PMAY(U) mobile application was launched.
- The mobile app has been designed for beneficiaries to upload high-resolution photographs and videos clips highlighting their success stories of owning a house under PMAY (U).
- The mobile app has marked its reach to more than 50 thousand beneficiaries so far across all States/ UTs,” stated the release.
About the PMAY- U mission
- The Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban) Programme was launched by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (MoHUPA).
Objectives
- The Mission will be implemented during 2015-2022 and will provide central assistance to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and other implementing agencies through States/UTs for-
- In-situ Rehabilitation of existing slum dwellers using land as a resource through private participation
- Credit Linked Subsidy
- Affordable Housing in Partnership
- Subsidy for Beneficiary-led individual house construction/enhancement.
- Credit linked subsidy component will be implemented as a Central Sector Scheme while other three components will be implemented as Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS).
Beneficiaries
- The mission seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers.
- A slum is defined as a compact area of at least 300 people or about 60 – 70 households of poorly built congested tenements in unhygienic environment usually with inadequate infrastructure and lacking in proper sanitary and drinking water facilities.
- Beneficiaries include Economically weaker section (EWS), low-income groups (LIGs) and Middle Income Groups (MIGs).
- The annual income cap is up to Rs 3 lakh for EWS, Rs 3-6 lakh for LIG and Rs 6 + -18 lakhs for MIG.
- A beneficiary family will comprise husband, wife, unmarried sons and/or unmarried daughters.
- The beneficiary family should not own a pucca house either in his/her name or in the name of any member of his/her family in any part of India to be eligible to receive central assistance under the mission.
- States/UTs, at their discretion, may decide a cut-off date on which beneficiaries need to be resident of that urban area for being eligible to take benefits under the scheme.
Significance
- PMAY-U does offer a huge opportunity for several sectors by setting off a virtuous cycle.
- One crore houses would mean an opportunity for over Rs 2 lakh crore of home loans, and incremental consumption of 80-100 million tonne of cement and 10-15 million tonne of steel.
- The construction opportunity is of about four billion square feet over the life of PMAY-U and all that would translate into 9-10 crore incremental jobs over the execution period.
Achievements of PMAY(U)- Mission
- PMAY(U)- Mission has achieved a significant milestone of approving more than 85 Lakh houses against a demand of about 112 Lakh houses in urban areas.
- Out of these, around 50 Lakh houses are at various stages of construction and more than 26 lakh houses have already been completed.
For Prelims-
World Youth Conference on Kindness
Context
The President of India inaugurated the first World Youth Conference on Kindness in New Delhi today (August 23, 2019).
About WYCK
- The first-ever World Youth Conference for Kindness organised by the UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP).
- The conference was in commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi.
- The World Youth Conference on Kindness culminated with the adoption and release of the ‘New Delhi Declaration on Kindness for the SDGs’.
Theme
- The theme of the conference was ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam: Gandhi for the Contemporary World: Celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.’
Aim
- The aim of the conference is to impart critical competencies (i.e. empathy, compassion, mindfulness and critical inquiry) in global youth to inspire, empower and enable them to transform themselves and build long-lasting peace in their communities.
About UNESCO MGIEP
- The UNESCO Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace and Sustainable Development (MGIEP) is UNESCO’s category 1 Research Institute.
- It focuses on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4.7 towards education for building peaceful and sustainable societies across the world.
- The vision of UNESCO MGIEP is ‘Transforming Education for Humanity’.
- The institute’s programmes are designed to mainstream Social and Emotional Learning in education systems, innovate digital pedagogies and to put youth as global citizens at the centre of the 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development.
ANUBHAV awards, 2019
Context
The ANUBHAV Awards, 2019 function organized by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
About ANUBHAV awards
- The Anubhav scheme was instituted at the call of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi in the year 2015.
- Under Anubhav scheme, the retiring employees give an account of their experiences during service.
- It is envisaged that their rich experience will be preserved for future generation to learn and explore knowledge on various aspects of governance, culture & development history of a particular region.
- An Anubhav award scheme to incentivize and encourage more retiring employees to submit their write-ups was introduced in 2016.
All India Pension Adalat
- The All India Pension Adalat was inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
- The Pension Adalats are being set up with the objective of bringing on a common table the aggrieved pensioner, the concerned department, the bank or CGHS representative so that such cases can be settled across the table within the framework of extant rules.
- In addition to the central ministries, the offices of accountant general would be separately addressing the pensioner grievances of all-India service officers, in all the states across the country.
