Important Facts For Prelims (13th March 2019)

• 13 Mar 2019

Exchange Traded Fund

• The government is considering selling a fresh tranche of Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) to raise Rs 4,000-5,000 crore in disinvestment.
• Till now, the government's disinvestment proceeds have reached Rs 56,473 crore so far against the full year Budget target of Rs 80,000 crore.
• CPSE ETF, which functions like a mutual fund scheme, comprises scrips of 10 PSUs -- ONGC, Coal India, IOC, GAIL (India), Oil India, PFC, Bharat Electronics, REC, Engineers India and Container Corporation of India.

Exchange Traded Funds (ETF)

• ETFs are index funds that are listed and traded on stock exchanges just like regular shares.
• They are a basket of stocks with assigned weights that reflect the composition of an index.
• The ETFs trading value is based on the net asset value of the underlying stocks that it represents.
• They enable investors to gain broad exposure to entire stock markets in different countries and specific sectors with relative ease, on a real-time basis and at a lower cost than many other forms of investing.
• The ETF is aimed at helping speed up the government’s disinvestment programme.

Bharat 22 ETF

• Bharat 22 ETF comprises of stocks of 22 Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs), Public Sector Banks (PSBs) and Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI).
• Bharat 22 ETF is managed by ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.
• The foundation of Bharat 22 ETF was laid by the government in the Union Budget 2017.

Early Harappan Artefacts

• Artefacts believed to be around 5,000 years old, dating back to the early Harappan phase, have been unearthed during an excavation jointly being held by archaeologists from the University of Kerala and Kachchh University in Khatiya village of Kutch in Gujarat.

Findings

• Rectangular graves, each of varying dimensions and assembled using stones, contained skeletons that were placed in a specific manner.
  • They were oriented east-west with the heads positioned on the eastern side.
  • Next to the legs on the western side, the archaeologists found earthen pots and pottery shards and other artefacts, including conch-shell bangles, beads made of stones and terracotta, numerous lithic tools and grinding stones.
  • The burial of belongings next to the corpse could possibly suggest the prevalence of the concept of afterlife.
• The presence of animal skeletons along with those of humans were also recorded in a few graves.
• The mode of burial was found to be non-uniform.
  • Instances of primary burial and secondary burial (when the remains of the primary burial are exhumed and moved to another grave) were found.
  • The remains of those who were possibly cremated were also found in a few graves.
• These artefacts bore similarities with the ones unearthed from ancient settlements in Harappan sites, including Kot Diji and Amri of Pakistan, and Nagwada, Santhali, Moti Pipli, Datrana, Surkotada, and Dhaneti in North Gujarat.
• This will shed light on the burial rituals and other customs prevalent in the Harappan civilisation during its early phase from 3300 BCE to 2600 BCE.