Current Affairs

1. BUDGET 2024 UNVEILS INR 1 LAKH CRORE CORPUS FOR PRIVATE SECTOR R&D INCENTIVES –

• In a groundbreaking move to foster research and development (R&D) within the private sector, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during the Interim Budget 2024 announcement, disclosed the establishment of a substantial financial corpus amounting to INR 1 lakh crore. This corpus aims to provide low- cost or interest-free loans, extending up to 50 years, specifically dedicated to fueling research and innovation endeavors within the private industry.
• Private companies eligible for interest-free loans for 50 years.INR 1 lakh crore corpus facilitating long-term financing or refinancing. Encouraging significant scaling up of research and innovation in emerging domains.
• Aligns with government efforts to boost private sector participation in research activities.National Research Foundation (NRF) established last year with a spending target of INR 50,000 crore over the next five years.Over 70% of NRF funding expected from the private sector.

 

2. THE SUPREME COURT QUESTIONED THE UNION TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR ABOUT THE NON¬PUBLICATION OF ORDERS FOR THE SUSPENSION OF INTERNET SERVICES IN THE UT. –

• In the past few years India had gone through several violence acts as a result of certain legislations by the Union Government such as The Citizenship Amendment Act, abrogation of Article 370 etc. which could have resulted in Internal Aggression.
• Due to which it becomes the need of the hour to shut down the internet services to maintain peace.
• It has become very common practice for law enforcement agencies and even for the Government to cut down the internet during the moment of tension.

• Till the year 2017, shutdowns were imposed largely under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
• Section 144 of CrPC gave the police and the District Magistrate the powers in order to prevent unlawful gathering of people and also to direct any person to abstain from a certain activity.
• However, in 2017 the law was amended and the Government promulgated the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rule 2017.
• Under the 2017 Rules, telecom/internet shutdowns may be ordered on grounds of public emergency and public safety.
• Public emergency and public safety have not been defined in the 1885 Act or the 2017 Rules.