Daily Current Affairs – 04th March 2021

Given below are the daily current affairs for 04th March 2021. You can take the daily current affairs quiz here for free.

Government Amended Insurance ombudsman Rules

Context:

The government has amended insurance ombudsman rules.

As per the new rules:

1. Insurance brokers are now covered under ombudsman rules.
2. Policyholders are now allowed to file online complaints.
3. The scope of complaints has been enlarged to ombudsmen from only disputes earlier to deficiencies in service on the part of insurers, agents, brokers and other intermediaries.
4. The ombudsman may use video-conferencing for hearings.

About Insurance Ombudsman:

The Insurance Ombudsman scheme was created by the Government of India for individual policyholders to have their complaints settled out of the courts system in a cost-effective, efficient and impartial way.

Who can approach?

Any person who has a grievance against an insurer, may himself or through his legal heirs, nominee or assignee, make a complaint in writing to the Insurance ombudsman.

One can approach the Ombudsman with complaint only if:

One has first approached insurance company with the complaint and;

1. They have rejected it
2. Not resolved it to satisfaction or
3. Not responded to it at all for 30 days

And the value of the claim including expenses claimed should not be above Rs 30 lakhs.

Appointment of Ombudsman:

The Ombudsman is a person in the insurance industry, civil or judicial services, and is appointed by the insurance council.

• The serving term of the Insurance Ombudsman is three years.

The settlement process:

Recommendation:

The Ombudsman will act as mediator and

• Arrive at a fair recommendation based on the facts of the dispute
• If you accept this as a full and final settlement, the Ombudsman will inform the company which should comply with the terms in 15 days.

Award:

If a settlement by recommendation does not work, the Ombudsman will Pass an award within 3 months of receiving all the requirements from the complainant and which will be binding on the insurance company.

Once the Award is passed:

The Insurer shall comply with the award within 30 days of the receipt of award and intimate the compliance of the same to the Ombudsman.

India, 17 countries face U.S. anti-dumping tax

Context:

The U.S. Department of Commerce is preparing to tax aluminium sheet exporters from 18 countries after determining that they had benefited from subsidies and dumping.

Details:

• According to a department statement, the US International Trade Commission (ITC), an independent body, must approve the final decision to impose anti-dumping or countervailing duties.
• The investigation, launched under the Donald Trump administration, had been requested by nearly a dozen U.S. aluminium alloy manufacturers, including Arconic and Aleris Rolled products.
• They felt that they were being harmed by competing imports at lower prices.
• President Joe Biden’s administration determined that imports from Germany in particular ($287 million in 2019) benefited from dumping, ranging from 40% to 242%.
• Imports from India ($123 million in 2019) have benefited from subsidies for 35% to 89%.

14 Trojans found in servers, says Minister

What’s in News?

A report prepared by Maharashtra’s cyber cell on a possible cyberattack that caused the power outage in Mumbai and parts of Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) found that 14 Trojan programs had entered the Maharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company (MahaTransco) servers.

• The firewalls of the information technology [IT] and operational technology [OT] servers, which are essential for power transmission, were affected by these Trojan horses.

Trojan Programs:

• A Trojan horse or Trojan is a type of malware that is often disguised as legitimate software.
• Trojans can be employed by cyber-thieves and hackers trying to gain access to users’ systems.
• It is a program that generally impairs the security of a system.
• Trojans are used to create back-doors (a program that allows outside access into a secure network) on computers belonging to a secure network so that a hacker can have access to the secure network.

U.S. thinktank report classifies India as ‘partly free’

What’s in News?

According to a report from a U.S. think tank, Freedom House, freedoms in India have reduced, resulting in India being classified as ‘partly free’.

Details:

• The report is called “Freedom in the World 2021: Democracy under Siege”
• India’s score was 67 in 2021, the latest report.
• This is a drop from 71/100 from 2020 (reflecting 2019 data) downgrading it from the free category.

Note:

• In the U.S., the Freedom House said that the risky state of American democracy was on display during the attack on the Capitol.
• The U.S. dropped three points over one year, down to 83/100.
• China, classified as ‘not free’, dropped a point from 2020 going down to 9/100.

Marine Spatial Planning (MSP)

• India and Norway agree to conduct marine spatial planning in Lakshadweep and Puducherry.
• This is a part of the Indo-Norway Integrated Ocean Initiative under the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two countries in 2019.
• Lakshadweep and Puducherry have been identified as pilot sites for the project.

Udyog Manthan

• Organised by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
• Udyog Manthan is a series of focused webinars on promoting quality and productivity in Indian industry.
• It will cover various sectors including pharma, medical devices, closed circuit camera, electronics system design and manufacturing, new and renewable energy, robotics, aerospace and defence, toys, furniture, etc.

EX Desert FLAG VI

• Ex Desert Flag is an annual multi-national large force employment warfare exercise hosted by the United Arab Emirates Air Force.
• The Indian Air Force is participating for the first time in Exercise Desert Flag-VI along with the air forces of the United Arab Emirates, the United States of America, France, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Bahrain.

Nag River

• The Nag River is a river flowing through the city of Nagpur in Maharashtra, India.
• It is known for providing the etymology for the name Nagpur.
• Forming a part of the Kanhan-Pench river system, the Nag River originates in Lava hills near wadi.

Context:

The Nag River Pollution Abatement Project has been approved at a cost of Rs. 2,117.54 crores.

• It will be implemented by the National River Conservation Directorate (NRCD).