PIB 16th May

Contents

1. Sikkim Statehood Day
2. RERA can Restore Trust Between Buyer and Seller
3. Scientists develop biodegradable metal implants
4. National Migrant Information System (NMIS)
5. OP Samudra Setu Phase 2

SIKKIM STATEHOOD DAY

Focus: GS-I History, GS-II Polity, Prelims

Why in news?

The Prime Minister greeted the people of Sikkim on their Statehood Day on May 16^th.

On 16 May, 1975, the Himalayan Kingdom of Sikkim became the 22nd state of India, and putting an end to the monarchy.

Sikkim’s Statehood: History

1. In the 1640s India, Pakistan Bangladesh and Nepal were still many princely states with many rulers at that time and had not unified.
   But by this time, Sikkim had already solidified into country then with a king known as a Chogyal or dharma king, and till 16 May 1975 was an independent country ruled by the monarchs.
2. In the early 18th century, the British Empire sought to establish trade routes with Tibet, leading Sikkim to fall under British suzerainty until independence in 1947. The Treaty of Tumlong in 1861 made Sikkim a protectorate of the British.
3. Initially, Sikkim remained an independent country, until it merged with India in 1975 after a decisive referendum.
4. Indian independence and its move to democracy spurred a fledgling political movement in Sikkim, giving rise to the formation of Sikkim State Congress (SSC).
5. After India’s independence in 1947, the guarantees of independence that Sikkim had acquired from the British were transferred to the new Indian government.
6. In 1950, a treaty was agreed between India and Sikkim which gave Sikkim the status of an Indian protectorate.
7. The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave special protectorate status for Sikkim, which was to be a ‘tributary’ of India.
8. Sikkim came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defence, diplomacy and communications.
9. In 1973, anti-royalist riots took place in front of the Chogyal’s palace.
10. In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India. In April 1975, the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok and disarmed the Chogyal’s palace guards.
11. Thereafter, a referendum was held for abolishing the monarchy, effectively approving union with India.
12. On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished.
13. To enable the incorporation of the new state, the Indian Parliament amended the Indian Constitution. First, the 35th Amendment laid down a set of conditions that made Sikkim an “Associate State”, a special designation not used by any other state.
14. The 36th Amendment repealed the 35th Amendment, and made Sikkim a full state, adding its name to the First Schedule of the Constitution.

Creation of New States in Indian Constitution

The procedure for formation of new States laid down in Article 3 of the Constitution.

Article 3 assigns to Parliament the power to enact legislation for the formation of new States. Parliament may create new States in a number of ways, namely by:

1. separating territory from any State
2. uniting two or more States
3. uniting parts of States
4. uniting any territory to a part of any State

Parliament’s power under Article 3 extends to increasing or diminishing the area of any State and altering the boundaries or name of any State.

Note: A state has no say over the formation of new States beyond communicating its views to Parliament.

1. A bill calling for formation of new States may be introduced in either House of Parliament only on the recommendation of the President.
2. The bill must be referred by the President to the concerned State Legislature for expressing its views to Parliament if it contains provisions which affect the areas, boundaries or name of that State.

RERA CAN RESTORE TRUST BETWEEN BUYER AND SELLER

Focus: GS-III Industry and Infrastructure, Prelims

Why in news?

The 3rd anniversary celebrations of RERA, through webinar, was held on 16^th May 2020.

Views of Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs

• One of the principal objectives of RERA is to help restore the trust between a buyer and the seller and this trust can only be restored by the true and effective implementation of RERA.
• Effective implementation of RERA would not only help ease the burden of inventory pile-up in the sector, but also provide the necessary financial cushion to the developers to complete pending projects.
• Before RERA came into existence, Indian Real Estate sector was largely unregulated till 2016.
• With the enactment of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 (RERA), the country got its first real estate regulator.
• The core objective of this transformative legislation is to ensure regulation and promotion of real estate sector in an efficient and transparent manner and to protect the interest of the home buyers.
• Affordable Rental Housing Complex (ARHC) scheme – Government funded houses in cities will be converted into Affordable Rental Housing Complex under PPP model.

Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA)

• Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) is a Statutory Body established in each state by the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, which came into effect fully from 1st May, 2017.
• The Act seeks to protect home-buyers as well as help boost investments in the real estate sector by bringing efficiency and transparency in the sale/purchase of real estate.
• The Act requires any project that has 8 dwelling units or is at least 500 sq m in area to be registered with the RERA. (Only the Projects coming up after the act was passed are covered).
• RERA is established in each state for regulation of the real estate sector and also acts as an adjudicating body for speedy dispute resolution.

The Mandatory Functions of RERA are:

1. Registering and maintaining a database of real estate projects
2. Publishing the database on its website for public viewing
3. Protection of interest of promoters, buyers and real estate agents
4. Development of sustainable and affordable housing
5. Render advice to the government and ensure compliance with its Regulations and the Act.

Decisions of RERAs can be appealed in Real Estate Appellate Tribunal.

Why was the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act Needed?

• Until RERA Real estate sector had been largely unregulated and there was no standardization of business practices and transactions.
• Issues like delay in delivery of flats, pricing issues, quality of construction problems were prevalent.
• Cases where developers cheated property buyers were rampant and there was No grievance redressal mechanism.
• There was also the issue of generation of black money in real estate sector.

SCIENTISTS DEVELOP BIODEGRADABLE METAL IMPLANTS

Focus: GS-III Science and Technology

Why in news?

The Scientists at the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI) and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences have jointly developed new generation Iron-Manganese based alloys for biodegradable metal implants for use in humans.

Details

• Biodegradable materials (Fe, Mg, Zn, and polymer) can participate in the healing process (Like in case of fractures etc.) and then degrade gradually by maintaining the mechanical integrity without leaving any implant residues in the human body.
• Biodegradable materials are better alternatives to currently used metallic implants which remain permanently in the human body and can cause long-term side effects like systemic toxicity, chronic inflammation, and thrombosis.
• The ARCI team employed both conventional melting and powder metallurgy techniques in manufacturing of the new Fe-Mn based biodegradable alloys and stent.
• Iron-Manganese based alloy Fe-Mn (having Mn composition of more than 29% by weight) is a promising biodegradable metallic implant which exhibits single austenitic phase (non-magnetic form of iron) with MRI compatibility.
• The Fe-Mn alloy produced at ARCI exhibited 99% density with impressive mechanical properties and behaved as a nonmagnetic material even under a strong magnetic field of 20 Tesla.
• These properties are comparable to presently used permanent Titanium (Ti) and stainless-steel metallic implants.
• the Fe-Mn alloy exhibits mechanical integrity for 3-6 months and completely disappears from the body in 12-24 months.

NATIONAL MIGRANT INFORMATION SYSTEM (NMIS)

Focus: GS-III Science and Technology, Prelims

Why in news?

In order to capture the information regarding movement of migrants and facilitate the smooth movement of stranded persons across States, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has developed an online Dashboard – National Migrant Information System (NMIS).

Details

• The online portal NMIS would maintain a central repository on migrant workers and help in speedy inter-State communication/co-ordinationto facilitate their smooth movement to native places. It has additional advantages like contact tracing, which may be useful in overall COVID-19 response work.
• The key data pertaining to the persons migrating has been standardized for uploading such as name, age, mobile no., originating and destination district, date of travel etc., which States are already collecting.
• States will be able to visualize how many people are going out from where and how many are reaching destination States.
• The mobile numbers of people can be used for contact tracing and movement monitoring during COVID-19.

Click Here to Read More about National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

OP SAMUDRA SETU PHASE 2

Focus: GS-III Disaster Management, Prelims

Why in news?

The Indian Naval Ship Jalashwa completed embarkation of 588 Indian citizens on 15 May 20, at the port of Male, Maldives as part of Operation Samudra Setu.

Click Here to read More about Operations Samudra Setu