CURRENT AFFAIRS: NATIONAL
Centre forms panel to bring in reforms in urban planning education system
- The Union government has constituted a 14-member advisory committee for introducing reforms in urban planning education system in India. According to official sources, the panel is being formed considering the multiple challenges being faced in the cities and India’s commitment towards global agenda.
- The Committee will review the current urban planning education system in India in terms of multi-disciplinary curriculum and related issues at graduate and post graduate levels in the context of rapid urbanisation and will suggest changes.
- The committee will also examine the present availability, demand and supply of qualified urban planners in India. It will also strengthen the mechanisms of empowering States and local bodies with skilled and qualified human resources for planning and managing the settlements.
- Vice chairman of Niti Aayog Rajiv Kumar, CEO of Niti Aayog Amitabh Kant, Union Housing secretary, Union education secretary, chairperson of Town and country Planning department, Union secretary of Ministry of Panchayati Raj, president of Institute of Town Planners, India, director of National Institute of Urban Affairs, chairman of University Grants Commission, director of school of planning and architecture among others
Centre notifies new laws allowing any Indian citizen to buy land in Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh
- The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified new land laws for the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh and omitted any precondition on the purchase of land in Jammu and Kashmir, as existed under Article 370 for the outsiders.
- Before the repeal of Article 370 and Article 35-A in August last year, non-residents could not buy any immovable property in Jammu and Kashmir. However, the fresh changes have paved the way for non-residents to buy land in the union territory, sparking fears among locals that this will dilute Jammu and Kashmir’s demography.
- The MHA in its release stated that the order will be called the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Adaptation of Central Laws) Third Order, 2020. It added that it will come into effect immediately.
- The Centre also notified that the “permanent resident of the state” clause has been omitted now.
- Under this, 12 state laws have been repealed and 26 others have been adapted with changes or substitutes, according to news agency ANI. Those completely repealed include the Jammu and Kashmir Alienation of Land Act, 1995, the Jammu and Kashmir Big Landed Estates Abolition Act, the Jammu and Kashmir Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1956, and the Jammu and Kashmir Consolidation of Holdings Act, 1962.
- The notification issued by MHA also says that the government can now, on the written request of an army officer not below the rank of Corp Commander, declare an area as Strategic Area within a local area, only for direct operational and training requirements of armed forces, which may be excluded from the operation of this Act and rules and regulations made there under in the manner and to the extent.
- The government also can allow the transfer of land in favour of a person or an institution for the purpose of promotion of healthcare or senior secondary or higher or specialised education after the new notification.
About Ministry of Home Affairs:
- Amit Shah, Minister of Home Affairs
- Constituency: Gujarat
- Kishan Reddy, Minister of State for Home Affairs
- Nityanand Rai, Minister of State for Home Affairs
Wealth of Indian adults rises marginally amid covid outbreak: Credit Suisse
- Wealth per adult in India rose 6% to USD 17,420, despite covid-19 bringing economic activities across the nation to a standstill with gross domestic product (GDP) contracting 23.9% in the first quarter of the current fiscal, shows the Global Wealth Report 2020 by Credit Suisse. As per the report, wealth per adult in India stood higher at USD 17,299 as on 31 December 2019, from USD 14,569 in June 2019.
- The Credit Suisse Research Institute attributed the upgrade to a change in its entire data series based on estimates from Karvy Private Wealth, an arm of the Karvy Group.
- Comparing this to the World Bank’s estimate of per capita income at USD 2,104 for 2019, India’s wealth per adult translates to 8.27 times it’s annual per capita income. In rupee terms at today’s exchange rates, this implies wealth of 12.86 lakh per adult. The Credit Suisse Wealth report measures wealth in current and not constant prices.
- The 2020 report has made similar changes to other parameters of India’s wealth. Personal debt per adult was reduced from USD 1,345 (end June 2019) to USD 1,080 (end December 2019). Population with wealth below USD 10,000 fell from 78% to 73% and the proportion of adults with wealth above USD 100,000 rose from 1.8% to 2.3%.
- Putting aside the divergence between the old and new series, a look at the new series alone also reveals relatively optimistic estimates. According to Credit Suisse, financial assets of Indians in calendar year 2019 grew by 8.6%, non-financial assets grew by 12.5% and debts grew by 14.4%. This placed a growth in wealth per adult at 9.4% in calendar year 2019. According to the report non financial assets are 78% of household wealth implying a buoyant growth in the real estate market. Official data however has presented a more muted picture, pegging nominal GDP growth in FY 2019-20 at 2%.
About Credit Suisse:
- CEO: Thomas Gottstein
- Headquarters: Zürich, Switzerland
CURRENT AFFAIRS: INTERNATIONAL
The World’s Longest Immersed Tunnel Will Connect Germany and Denmark — and Make Trips So Much Shorter
- After 10 years of planning, the construction of the world’s longest immersed tunnel has officially begun. The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel that will connect Denmark and Germany, is scheduled to be officially opened by It’s one of Europe’s largest ongoing infrastructure projects, with a budget of more than US$8 billion.
- The tunnel will have an 18 kilometers extension and will be built across the Fehmarn Belt, a strait between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. It will be an alternative to the current ferry service, which takes 45 minutes. Traveling through the tunnel will take seven minutes by train and ten minutes by car.
- It will be the longest combined road and rail tunnel in the world, with two double-lane motorways, separated by a service passageway, and two electrified rail tracks. Besides the benefits to passenger trains and cars, it will have a positive impact on the flow of freight trucks and trains.
