6th Sept Daily current affairs for UPSC Civil Service Exam

National Nutrition Strategy

• To address the slow pace of decline in the under nutrition and to bring nutrition to the centre-stage ofthe National Development Agenda, NITI Aayog has drafted the National Nutrition Strategy.
• The Strategy lays down a roadmap for effective action, among both implementers and practitioners, in achieving our nutrition objectives.
• It envisages a framework wherein the following four determinants of nutrition work together to accelerate decline of under nutrition in India –
  1. Uptake of health services,
  2. Food,
  3. Drinking water & sanitation and
  4. Income & livelihoods.
• Currently, there is a lack of real time measurement of these determinants, which reduces our capacity for targeted action.
• The framework envisages a Kuposhan Mukt Bharat - linked to Swachh Bharat and Swasth Bharat.
• It enables states to make strategic choices, through decentralized planning and local innovation, with accountability for nutrition outcomes.

Surya Kiran

• India and Nepal began their 12th edition of joint military exercise with around 300 troops each side in Rupandehi district in the western part of Nepal.
• It focuses on counter-terrorism and forest fighting operations.
• According to the Indian Army officials, the Surya Kiran is the largest joint exercise in terms of troop participation.
• Disaster management and joint operations for disaster relief will also be a part of the exercise.
• The exercise will provide the two armies a platform to exchange experiences, ideas and skills.
• Surya Kiran series of exercises are held alternately in India and Nepal.

Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)

• Following the global financial crisis of 2008, it was observed that problems faced by certain large and highly interconnected financial institutions hampered the functioning of the financial system.
• This in turn negatively impacted the real economy.
• It was decided to identify such institutions and prescribe them higher capital requirements.
• Following this, RBI had started listing D-SIBs from August 2015.
• The banking regulator prescribes higher capital requirements for such entities.
• HDFC Bank is the second largest private sector lender of the country
• RBI has added HDFC in the list of D-SIBs.
• State Bank of India and ICICI Bank are also in this category.

Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC)

• CVC is the chief of the country’s top anti-corruption body- Central Vigilance Commission.
• Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is an autonomous apex Indian governmental body created to address governmental corruption.
• It is free of control from any executive authority, charged with monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government of India.
• The Commission shall consist of
  1. A Central Vigilance Commissioner - Chairperson;
  2. Not more than two Vigilance Commissioners - Members;
• Recently allegations were raised in a PIL, challenging the appointments as “arbitrary, illegal and in violation of the principle of institutional integrity.”
• The Centre told the Supreme Court that K.V. Chowdary was appointed Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), with the “unanimous consensus” of a high-profile committee led by the Prime Minister in June 2015.

Advance Pricing Agreement

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into Advance Pricing Agreements (APAs) between Indian Company and UK based Company.
• An APA is a contract, usually for multiple years, between a taxpayer and at least one tax authority specifying the pricing method that the taxpayer will apply to its related-company transactions.
• It was introduced in IT act, 2012.
• It helps taxpayers voluntarily resolve transfer pricing disputes in a cooperative manner reducing the incidence of double taxation.
• It also involves resolving both the future and existing transfer pricing audits and adjustments.
• It fosters a non-adversarial tax regime.
• Unilateral APA – It involve agreements between only the taxpayer and one government.
• Bilateral APA – Tax payer enter into APA with more than one tax authority.
• Transfer Pricing - A transfer price is the price at which different divisions of a same company transact good or services with each other.
• Transfer pricing are used when individual entities of a large multi-entity firm are treated as separately run entities.

Source: The Hindu, Indian Express, PIB