Survey to assess plight of farmers

To assess the plight of farmers, the Centre will conduct a pan-India survey to ascertain their income and indebtedness among other issues for the current crop year (July-June). Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said that the Situation Assessment Survey of Agricultural Households will be conducted during the 77th round of the National Sample Survey in the current calendar year. The survey aims to provide a “comprehensive assessment of the situation of agricultural households in the country, including their income, expenditure and indebtedness”. The last such survey was conducted for the reference year 2012-13. Thereafter, the National Sample Survey Office has not conducted any such survey.

CCI nod for PFC acquiring stake in REC

The Competition Commission of India has given its approval to state-owned financial institution Power Finance Corporation for the acquisition of 52 per cent stake in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC). The government is expected to garner around Rs 15,000 crore from this sale process. Last December, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs as well as the board of PFC had given in-principle approval for the strategic sale. The government’s shareholding stood at 57.99 per cent in REC, and 65.64 per cent in PFC at the end of the September quarter. However, the government holding in REC had come down to 52.63 per cent after a stake sale through exchange-traded funds.

Govt seeks nod for additional spending

The Union government on February 5 sought Parliament’s nod for gross additional expenditure of Rs 1,98,831.36 crore during the current fiscal ending March. The third batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants, tabled by acting Finance Minister Piyush Goyal in the Lok Sabha, said the net cash outgo aggregates to Rs 51,433.28 crore. The gross additional expenditure aggregates to Rs 1,47,396.87 crore to be matched by savings by ministries or higher receipts. Of the total net cash outgo, the document has pegged Rs 19,481 crore for the agriculture ministry and Rs 4,840.75 crore for the highways ministry. It is also seeking over Rs 4,700 crore for the home ministry.

Working group to resolve angel tax issue

The Centre has decided to form a working group to look into the issue of angel tax being faced by startups and come out with a workable solution in 4-5 days. The issue was discussed in a meeting convened by the department for promotion of industry and internal trade. DPIIT secretary Ramesh Abhishek said many suggestions were flagged by startups. He said the Central Board of Direct Taxes has asked its officers not to take any coercive action against them. The meeting comes against the backdrop of various startups raising concerns on notices sent to them under Section 56(2) (viib) of I-T Act to pay taxes on angel funds.

‘Detained students were aware of the crime’

All 130 foreign students, including 129 Indians, detained in the US for enrolling in a fake university were aware that they were committing a crime to fraudulently remain in the country, the State Department said amid claims they knew nothing about the varsity’s illegal operation. The response came after India issued a demarche to the US Embassy in New Delhi. The students were arrested last week by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for enrolling at the University of Farmington allegedly to remain in America. The fake university was set up by the DHS to bust the “pay-and-stay” racket. Eight individuals - either Indian citizens or Indian-Americans - have been arrested for running the racket. They have pleaded “not guilty” before a federal court in Michigan.

UK min clears Mallya’s extradition

The UK home secretary has approved the extradition of liquor baron Vijay Mallya, the British government said on February 4, boosting India’s efforts to bring back the fugitive businessman. The 63-year-old business tycoon, accused of conspiracy to defraud banks and money laundering offences, had been found to have a case to answer before the Indian courts by Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London on December 10, 2018. Under the Extradition Treaty procedures, the chief magistrate’s verdict was sent to Home Secretary Sajid Javid because only he was authorised to order Mallya’s extradition. Javid had two months from that date to sign off on that order. Mallya now has 14 days from February 4 to appeal in the UK High Court.

SC tells top cop to appear before CBI

The Supreme Court has directed Kolkata police commissioner Rajeev Kumar to make himself available before the CBI and “faithfully” cooperate with the agency in the Saradha chit fund scam probe. The apex court said Kumar will appear before the CBI in Shillong, Meghalaya, and no coercive steps, including his arrest, will take place during the course of the probe. The court’s direction came amid a political standoff between the CBI and the West Bengal government. A bench headed by CJI Ranjan Gogoi on February 5 issued a notice to Kumar and sought his response before February 20, the next date of hearing on allegations by the CBI that he was tampering with electronic evidence and the SIT headed by him provided the agency with doctored materials.

India is world’s No. 2 LPG consumer

The Centre’s push to provide clean cooking fuel to every household has turned India into the world’s second largest LPG consumer whose demand is projected to rise 34 per cent by 2025, said Oil Secretary M.M. Kutty. Speaking at the Asia LPG Summit in New Delhi, he said active LPG consumers have grown at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15 per cent - from 14.8 crore in 2014-15 to 22.4 crore in 2017-18. “Rapid increase in population combined with LPG penetration in rural areas has resulted in an average growth of 8.4 per cent in LPG consumption, making India the second largest consumer of LPG in the world at 22.5 million tonnes. As per oil ministry’s projections and forecasts, LPG consumption is expected to grow to 30.3 million tonnes by 2025 and 40.6 million tonnes by 2040,” he said.

Himalayan glaciers face apocalypse

Two-thirds of Himalayan glaciers, the world’s ‘Third Pole’, could melt by 2100 if global emissions are not reduced, scientists warned in a major new study released on February 4. And even if the “most ambitious” Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is achieved, one-third of the glaciers would go. Glaciers in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region are a critical water source for some 250 million people in the mountains as well as to 1.65 billion others in the river valleys below, the report said. The region stretches 3,500 km across Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. The glaciers feed 10 of the world’s most important river systems and directly or indirectly supply billions of people with food, energy, clean air and income.

Services PMI slips for 2nd straight month

India’s services sector activity fell for the second straight month in January, as new orders rose at the slowest rate in four months; despite which companies continued to hire staff, a monthly survey said on February 5. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index fell from 53.2 in December to 52.2 in January, indicating a softer expansion in output. Despite easing marginally, the services PMI was in the expansion territory for the eighth straight month. In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction. “Expansion rates in the Indian services sector have been at similarly modest levels for the past four months, with January data extending the recent trend,” said Pollyanna De Lima, principal economist at IHS Markit and author of the report.

NTA launches app for mock tests

The National Testing Agency (NTA) has launched a mobile app through which students can practice or take mock tests on their smartphones. The NTA has established a network of more than 4,000 test practice centres (TPCs) to familiarise aspirants, especially those from rural areas, with computer-based tests. Students can register themselves online at the NTA website or the app for visiting the TPCs. More than 1 lakh students have registered at these TPCs and over 1 crore students have benefited from the app and web services, officials said. The NTA conducts entrance exams for admission in higher educational institutions.

Researchers generate laser from carrots

Exploiting a process first discovered by Nobel laureate C.V. Raman, researchers at IIT-Madras claimed to have generated laser from carrots, promising key advancements in optical spectroscopy and sensing research. A team comprising professor C. Vijayan and assistant professor Sivarama Krishnan from the physics department and a PhD scholar demonstrated the possibility of generating bio-compatible lasers from carrots, exploiting a process first discovered by Raman, the institute said in a statement on February 4. “This finding, a first-of-its-kind development even globally, promises significant advancements in scientific and industrial research on optical spectroscopy and sensing,” the statement said.

Rising temperatures lead to pollution

Researchers found that rising temperatures increase the concentration of aerosols in the atmosphere that cause air pollution, another disturbing effect of climate change. While climate change is warming the ocean, it is warming the land faster, according to researchers from the University of California, Riverside, in the US. The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, shows that the contrast in warming between the continents and sea, called the land-sea warming contrast, drives up the aerosol concentration in the atmosphere. Aerosols are tiny solid particles or liquid droplets suspended in the atmosphere. Aerosols affect the climate system, including disturbances to the water cycle, as well as human health. They also cause smog and other kinds of air pollution that can lead to health problems.

Newsmakers

Thirteen-year old Woman International Master Divya Deshmukh logged eight points to emerge as champion after the 10th and final round of the Velammal-AICF Women International Grandmaster round robin chess tournament. The tournament saw Divya Deshmukh achieving an International Master Norm and a Woman Grandmaster Norm.

Finnish ski jumping great Matti Nykanen, who won four Olympic gold medals, died on February 4 at the age of 55. He had also won five World Championship gold medals - the first as an 18-year-old - between 1982 to 1989 in a career that made him a sporting superstar.