National IAS Academy Current Affairs: Contact: Mahadayi River

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1 Topic: Environment and Ecology 1. Mahadayi River Karnataka has diverted the flow of the Mahadayi river at Kalasa-Banduri and the Goa government will file a contempt petition before the Central Tribunal to resolve the dispute More on Mahadayi River: The Mahadayi is described as the lifeline of the Indian state of Goa. It originates from a cluster of 30 springs at Bhimgad in the Western Ghats in the Belagavi district of Karnataka. The river has a 2,032 km2 catchment area in Karnataka and a 1,580 km2 catchment area in Goa. With its cerulean waters, Dudhsagar Falls and Varapoha Falls, it is also known as the Gomati in a few places. The Mandovi and the Zuari are the two primary rivers in the state of Goa. The Cumbarjuem Canal, which links both rivers, has made the interiors of the Mandovi accessible to ships carrying iron ore. Iron ore is Goa's prime mineral and it is mined in the eastern hills. Three large freshwater isles Divar, Chorao and Vashee are present in the Mandovi near the town of Old Goa. The island of Chorão is home to the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary, named after the renowned ornithologist Salim Ali. A regular ferry transports the inhabitants between the isles and the mainland. The sharing of the waters of this river is a cause of dispute between the governments of Karnataka and Goa. The Karnataka government proposes to divert some water from the Mahadayi river to the Malaprabha river basin as part of the Kalasa-BanduriNala project, as approximately 200 tmc feet of water flows into the Arabian Sea now without being used for anything. The Mahadayi Water Tribunal has to decide on the sharing of this river's waters between Karnataka and Goa. Source: Bhimgad 1 P a g e

2 Topic: Art and Culture 2. National Culture Fund National Culture Fund (NCF), under the Ministry of Culture, aims at inviting the participation of the Corporate Sector, Non-Government agencies, State Governments, Private/Public Sector and individuals in the task of promoting, protecting and preserving India s cultural heritage both tangible and intangible. The broad guiding principles of the NCF are as under:- NCF sanctions grants to Government and Non-Government Organizations largely out of interest accrued on the Corpus Fund and out of the contributions of the donors. Financial assistance under the NCF is given to Government or Non-Government Organizations to foster India s contemporary culture as well as cultural heritage and to bring both within the reach of the largest possible number of its citizens. Assistance is, however, not provided to those organizations who are already in receipt of financial assistance from attached/subordinate offices or autonomous organizations under the Ministry of Culture or under any scheme of the Ministry. NCF could accept projects relating to preparatory assistance, technical cooperation including studies of problems on heritage protection, provision of experts, supply of equipment, emergency assistance, training and support for promotional activities. NCF strives to keep in readiness a number of projects requiring funding and shall, from time to time, renew, upgrade and add to them. The donors would be free to choose any projects or suggest new ones for funding and support. It would be possible for a donor to indicate to NCF a project along with any specific location/aspect for funding and also an agency for execution of the project while 2 P a g e

3 making donations to NCF, subject to general policy guidelines and rules, if any, in this regard. The NCF respects the choice of the donor to the extent possible. When a donor s project covers a World Heritage Site, the matter would need to be specifically considered keeping in view the need to take care of environment surrounding the site, as also the fact that adequate funding for them could be already available from conventional sources and concentration of funds on a few important monuments should be avoided. Topic: Social Issues 3. Committee to check mob lynching Considering the increasing incidents of mob lynching, the Union Government has constituted a High Level Committee chaired by the Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba to deliberate in the matter and make recommendations. The committee will submit its recommendations to the Government within four weeks. More on the issue: The Supreme Court condemned the recent spate of lynchings as horrendous acts of mobocracy and told Parliament to make lynching a separate offence. Describing lynchings and mob violence as creeping threats, the court warned that the rising wave of frenzied mobs fed by fake news, self-professed morality and false stories would consume the country like a typhoon-like monster. Government respects the recent directions of the Supreme Court on the issue of mob violence, and has issued an advisory to State Governments urging them to take effective measures to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching and to take stringent action as per law. as per the Constitution, Police and Public Order are State subjects and State governments are responsible for controlling crime, maintaining law and order and protecting the life and property of the citizens. 3 P a g e

4 Topic: Indian Economy 4. Inter-Creditor Agreement (ICA) More than 50 banks and financial institutions in India have entered into an intercreditor agreement to speed up the resolution of stressed assets of Rs 50 crore and above that are under consortium lending. What is it The inter-creditor agreement is aimed at the resolution of loan accounts with a size of 50 crore and above that are under the control of a group of lenders. It is part of the Sashakt plan approved by the government to address the problem of resolving bad loans. Significance The agreement says if 66% of lenders by value agree to a resolution plan, it would be binding on all lenders. The dissenting creditors will, however, have the option to sell their loans to other lenders at a discount of 15% to the liquidation value, or buy the entire portfolio paying 125% of the value agreed under the debt resolution plan by other lenders. The agreement says each resolution plan would be submitted to an overseeing committee comprising experts from the banking industry. For dissenting creditors, the agreement says the lead bank has the right, but not the obligation, to arrange the buyout of the loan facilities at a value that is equal to 85% of the liquidation or the resolution value whichever is lower. Dissenting creditors can also exit by selling their loans to any entity at a price mutually arrived at between the lender and buyer. The agreement has a standstill clause wherein all lenders are barred from enforcing any legal action against the borrower for recovery of dues. During the standstill period, lenders are barred from transferring or assigning their loans to anyone except a bank or finance company. The standstill provision will be operative for 180 days from the reference date the RBI had asked lenders to resolve their restructured loans within 180 days beginning March 1 or refer those to the bankruptcy court. However, the provision would not prevent lenders from acting against borrowers or directors for criminal offence. Lenders are in the process of getting this inter-creditor agreement approved by their boards. 4 P a g e

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