29 NOVEMBER 2023

Topic 1 : Kancheepuram

Why in news: An architect who helped get Santiniketan on UNESCO’s World Heritage List says that Kancheepuram deserves world heritage status.
 

About Kancheepuram:

• Kanchipuram also known as Kanjeevaram, is located in Tamil Nadu.
• It is known as the City of Thousand Temples.
• Kanchipuram is known for its temple architectures, 1000-pillared halls, huge temple towers and silk saris.
• Kanchipuram is a Sanskrit word formed by combining two words “Kanchi” and “-puram” meaning “Brahma worship” and “residential place” respectively.
• It is located on the banks of the Vegavathy and Palar river.
• Kanchipuram has been ruled by the Pallavas, the Medieval Cholas, the Later Cholas, the Later Pandyas, the Vijayanagara Empire, the Carnatic kingdom, and the British, who called the city “Conjeeveram“.
• The city’s historical monuments include:
  • Kailasanathar Temple
  • Vaikunta Perumal Temple
  • Varadharaja Perumal Temple
  • Ekambareswarar Temple
  • Kamakshi Amman Temple
  • Kumarakottam Temple
• The Pallava-era Kailasanathar Temple is among the oldest-surviving monuments in Kancheepuram.
• Historically, Kanchipuram was a centre of education and was known as the ghatikasthanam, or “place of learning”.
• The city was also a religious centre of advanced education for Jainism and Buddhism between the 1st and 5th centuries.
• The city is most important to Sri Vaishnavism, Shaktism and then Shaivism.
• Kanchipuram has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY – Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of Government of India.Topic 2 : Inclusion of five castes from Andhra Pradesh in Central OBC list

Why in news: National Commission for Backward Classes recommends inclusion of five castes from Andhra Pradesh in Central OBC list.
 

Key details:

• The five classes included are:
  • Turpu Kapus,
  • Kalinga Vysyas,
  • Sistakaranalu,
  • Sondi and
  • Arava
• The NCBC recommendation is a prerequisite for the inclusion of any caste in the Central OBC list.
• Turpu Kapus have OBC reservation even now but that is limited only to Uttarandhra districts.
  • With this recommendation, the OBC reservation for Turpu Kapus will be extended to all districts of Andhra Pradesh.

About NCBC:

• The National Commission for Backward Classes is a constitutional body under Article 338B of the Indian Constitution.
• It comes under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• It was constituted pursuant to the provisions of the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
• Composition
  • a Chairperson,
  • Vice-Chairperson and
  • three other Members
• The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and other Members of the Commission shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.
• Functions:

• to investigate and monitor all matters relating to the safeguards provided for the socially and educationally backward classes under the Constitution or under any other law;
• to inquire into specific complaints with respect to the deprivation of rights and safeguards of the socially and educationally backward classes;
• to participate and advise on the socio-economic development of the socially and educationally backward classes and to evaluate the progress of their development under the Union and any State;
• to present to the President, annually reports upon the working of those safeguards;
• to make the recommendations as to the measures that should be taken for the effective implementation of those safeguards for the protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the socially and educationally backward classes; and
• to discharge such other functions as the President may by rule specify.

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Topic 3 : The Parthenon Sculptures

Why in news: A diplomatic row sparked between Greece and the UK after British Prime Minister cancelled a meeting with his Greek counterpart over the status of the Parthenon Sculptures housed at the British Museum.
 

What are the Parthenon Sculptures?

• The Parthenon Sculptures at the British Museum are more than 30 ancient stone sculptures from Greece that are more than 2,000 years old.
• Most of them originally adorned the walls and grounds of the Parthenon temple on the rocky Acropolis hill in Athens.
• Completed in 432 BC, the temple is dedicated to the goddess Athena and is seen as the crowning glory of Athens’ Golden Age.
   

How did the sculptures reach Britain?

• They were removed from the Parthenon in the early 19th century by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin and then-British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.
• The marbles were taken to Britain and purchased by the British Museum in 1816.
   

Were the sculptures stolen?

• While Athen accused Lord Elgin of theft, he insisted he had permission to remove the marbles from the Ottoman Empire, which used to control Athen at the time.
• The original letter giving him permission, however, has been lost and its text remains disputed.
• Athens has been demanding the return of the sculptures since it became independent in the early 1830s.
   

Arguments of Britain:

• The British Museum claims that they were acquired by Elgin under a legal contract with the Ottoman Empire and has rejected the demands of their return.
• Britain said that the marbles are a huge asset to the UK and ruled out changing a law that would allow the sculptures to be given back to Greece.Topic 4 : RBI increased risk weights for lending

Why in news: Seeking to rein in an observed rise in unsecured personal loans and credit cards, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) directed banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to reserve more capital for risk weights.
 

Key details:

• The mandatory risk weight requirement has been increased by 25 percentage points.
• This would be applicable to unsecured personal loans, credit cards and lending to NBFCs.
   

What is credit risk and risk weights?

• The idea is to address the notion of ‘credit risk.’
• Credit risk refers to the risk entailed by a borrower being unable to meet their obligations or defaulting on commitments.
• ‘Risk weights’ are an essential tool for banks to manage this risk.
• This metric, in percentage factors, adjusts for the risk associated with a certain asset type.
• In other words, it is an indicator of the essential holding the lender should ideally have to adjust the associated risk.
• This is what the RBI has directed to be increased.

RBI’s proposal:

• The primary purpose of effective risk management by banks is to maximise their returns by maintaining credit risk exposure within acceptable parameters.
  • Earlier, the RBI had raised concerns about the growth seen in consumer credit and increased dependency of NBFCs on bank borrowings.
• Now, it has directed that the risk weight for consumer credit exposure be increased by 25 percentage points to 125%, for all commercial banks and NBFCs.
  • At present, exposures in this realm mandate a risk weight of 100%.
  • This would apply to personal loans (and retail loans for NBFCs), excluding housing loans, education loans, vehicle loans and loans secured by gold and gold jewellery.
• Credit card loans of scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) currently attract a risk weight of 125% while that of NBFCs attract 100%.
• RBI has decided to increase the risk weight to 125% for NBFCs and 150% for SCBs.
• Bank credit to NBFCs, excluding core investment companies, also had their risk weights increased by 25 percentage points.
  • This would not apply to housing finance companies and loans to NBFCs classified into the priority sector.

Need for the changes:

• Concerns have been raised about the high growth in certain components of consumer credit.
• It was advised to banks and NBFCs to::
  • strengthen their internal surveillance mechanisms,
  • address the build-up of risks, if any, and
  • institute suitable safeguards, in their own interest.
• RBI figures stipulate that unsecured personal loans have increased by 23% on a year-over-year basis.
• Outstanding loans from credit cards increased by about 30% during the same period.
• Major concerns emerge for loans below ₹50,000 — these carry the utmost default risk.
• Delinquencies, defined as loans overdue by more than 90 days, in this segment stood at 5.4% as of June this year.

Chief concerns:

• Capital adequacy and profitability:
  • The primary concerns relate to the impact on capital adequacy and the bank’s overall profitability.
  • Slower loan growth and an increased emphasis on risk management will likely support better asset quality in the Indian banking system.
• The immediate effect will likely be:
  • higher interest rates for borrowers,
  • slower loan growth for lenders,
  • reduced capital adequacy, and
  • some hit on profits.
• Effect on finance companies:
  • However, the worst-affected might be finance companies, as their incremental bank borrowing might surge.
• Effect on NBFCs:
  • NBFCs face a double-loss because of higher risk weights on their unsecured loans and on account of the bank lending mandates to NBFCs.
  • Bank lending to NBFCs remained the principal source of funding for NBFCs — constituting 41.2% of the total borrowing of entities.
  • It is expected that the increased costs would be passed onto borrowers.Capital Adequacy Ratio
  • Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) is the ratio of a bank’s capital in relation to its risk weighted assets and current liabilities.
  • It is decided by central banks and bank regulators to prevent commercial banks from taking excess leverage and becoming insolvent in the process.
  • It is measured as:
    • Capital Adequacy Ratio = (Tier I + Tier II + Tier III (Capital funds)) /Risk weighted assets
    • The risk weighted assets take into account:
      • credit risk,
      • market risk and
      • operational risk.
  • The Basel III norms stipulated a capital to risk weighted assets of 8%.
  • However, as per RBI norms, Indian scheduled commercial banks are required to maintain a CAR of 9% while Indian public sector banks are emphasized to maintain a CAR of 12%.Topic 5 : ASEAN India Grassroots Innovation Forum

Why in news: India along with 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) were represented by 200 participants, at the 4^th edition of the annual ASEAN India Grassroots Innovation Forum (AIGIF) that was launched in Langkawi, Malaysia.
 

Key details:

• The AIGIF is an annual programme focused on fostering a strengthened relationship between India and AMS on the premise of cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI).
• Aim:
  • To give exposure to social innovations in different countries
  • Strengthens governance in the grassroots innovation ecosystem
• The annual program is a collaboration between:
  • India:
    • the ASEAN Committee on Science, Technology, and Innovation (COSTI);
    • Department of Science & Technology (DST), Government of India;
    • National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India and
  • Malaysia:
    • the Science and Technology Ministry.
• Significance:
  • Platforms like AIGIF can create opportunities for students and the grassroots population in each of the participating countries to learn something new every year.
  • It should translate into greater co-operation between India and AMS.
  • The industry should connect with grassroots innovations and translate them into sustainable solution for the society.What is ASEAN?
  • Establishment:
    • On 8 August 1967, the Foreign Ministers of Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand came together in Bangkok.
    • The five Foreign Ministers signed a document and were hailed as the Founding Fathers of The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
    • The document that they signed was known as the ASEAN Declaration.
  • Joining of other countries:
    • Over the next few decades, five other countries joined them:
      • Brunei Darussalam,
      • Lao PDR,
      • Cambodia,
      • Myanmar and
      • Vietnam.
  • Main features:
    • They have an anthem, a flag and biannual summits (twice a year) with a rotating chairmanship.
    • Official motto – “One Vision, One Identity, One Community”.
  • Aim and purpose:
    • The ASEAN Declaration conveyed the aspiration to further regional cooperation.
    • These were about cooperation in the economic, social, cultural, technical, educational and other fields, and in the promotion of regional peace and stability and adherence to the principles of the United Nations Charter.
    • It stipulated that the Association would be open for participation by all States in the Southeast Asian region subscribing to its aims, principles and purposes.
  • Main pillars:
    • Its major pillars that help lay out a blueprint for cooperation are:
      • Political-Security Community (APSC),
      • Economic Community (AEC) and
      • Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC).