The Ministry of Coal has decided to establish a ‘Sustainable Development Cell’ in order to promote environmentally sustainable coal mining in the country and address environmental concerns during the decommissioning or closure of mines. This move gains significance as the new private entities are now going to form a significant part of the future, a set of guidelines for proper rehabilitation of mines need to be evolved in tune with global best practices.
Role of Sustainable Development Cell: The Sustainable Development cell (SDC) will advise, mentor , plan and monitor the mitigation measures taken by the coal companies for maximising the utilisation of available resources in a sustainable way, minimising the adverse impact of mining and mitigating it for further ecosystem services and will act as nodal point at Ministry of Coal level in this matter. This cell will also formulate the future policy framework for the environmental mitigation measures including the Mine closure Fund.
Tasks of the Cell: The SDC will adopt a systemic approach, starting from collection of data, analysis of data, presentation of information, planning based on information; by domain experts, adoption of best practices, consultations, innovative thinking, site-specific approaches, knowledge sharing and dissemination and finally end with an aim to ease the lives of people and communities in general. All of the above will be done by executing following tasks on a planned way:
In India approximately 2,550 sq Km areas is under different coal mines and there are also plans to bring more areas under it. These land masses required both extensive and intensive amelioration measures and will be carried out as per following procedure:
Collection of all the baseline data/maps related to different coal mines like total mines/ block areas, OB dumps areas, water filled voids, reclaimed areas, unutilized areas, plantations etc., from various Coal companies. All the data/maps will be collated and analysed on a GIS based platform and different thematic information and maps will be prepared. These will be updated at regular intervals. All GIS based activities will be carried out with active participation of CMPDIL.
To help Coal companies to identify areas where plantation projects could be taken up immediately, along with identification of various species of plants, suitable for specific regions to create large carbon sinks for climate change management.
To Identify the activities to be taken up for creation of additional land suitable for plantation, stabilization of slope, soil treatment, creation of levelled land, de-watering etc., as per time line under MCP.
It also checks the possibility and plan for productive reuse of these lands for rehabilitation, integrated modern township, agriculture, horticulture, FCA compensatory land, renewable energy farms etc.
2. Air quality, emission and noise management: To advice coal companies for effective implementation of environmental mitigation measures (water sprinkling, dust suppression methods, noise barriers etc.) related to air and noise pollution generated due mine activities, heavy earth moving machines (HEMMs), transport of coal etc.
It also works towards energy efficiency in the mining operation, noise and emission reduction in case of HEMMs. Analysis of Environment Management Plans (EMP) of different companies and will advise coal companies to making it more effective.
3. Mine water management: Collection of data regarding present quantity, quality, surface runoff, drainage of mine water, future availability of water collected in UG or OC coal mines etc., and to analyse it on a GIS based platform to prepare model Coal Mine Water Management Plans (CMWMP).
The plan will suggest ways and also have innovative planning to storage, treatment and re-use of such water for drinking, irrigation, fisheries, tourism, industrial or any other sustainable purpose.
4. Sustainable Overburden Management: The cell will also check feasibility and suggest measures to reuse, recycle and rehabilitation of over burdened dumps in a sustainable manner. Will examine and plan out use of overburdened material for use in different infrastructure projects, earthen bunds etc.
5. Sustainable Mine Tourism: To explore and conceptualise a plan for the beautification & creation of eco parks in the reclaimed areas and which will also include water bodies etc., for re-creation activities and tourism purpose. It will also explore tourism potential and plan it out in few underground mines.
6: Planning and Monitoring: Analysis of Mine Closure Plans (MCP)of different companies and advise to make it more effective. To help Coal companies to finalize time- line for execution of different mitigation activities / projects in all mines in phased manner. Will also monitor effective utilization of Mine Closure Fund and Environment Budgets of Different Coal Companies.
To formulate future guidelines for the mine closure plan, mine closure fund etc. 7: Policy, Research, Education, and Dissemination: Will hire experts/ institutions/ organisations to conduct specific studies for establishing a robust knowledge base.
Will organise consultative meetings, workshops, field visits, exposure study tours etc., to enrich the knowledge base, known best global and ideas for environmental mitigation planning and monitoring.
Will conduct regular workshop and seminar for the company level officials to educate them in new methods, technologies, approaches and also global practices.
The seventh edition of the joint training exercise between the Indian Army and the Sri Lankan Army, Exercise Mitra Shakti concluded on 14 December at Aundh Military Station, Pune.
Contingent comprising of 120 personnel each from Sri Lankan and Indian Army participated in the exercise. The two week long exercise had commenced on 01 December and focused on enhancing interoperability for developing the capability to undertake joint operations in counter terrorism operations under United Nations mandate.
The themes chosen for the joint training exercise were both, live & contemporary affecting both the nations, the joint training exercise concluded with a 48 hour long culmination exercise which was witnessed by Senior Military & Defence officials of the Indian Army as well as representatives of the Sri Lankan Army.
The culmination exercise showcased the standards achieved by the contingents during the joint training & demonstrated the commitment as well as capabilities of the participating armies in working closely with each other to maintain world peace under the United Nations flag.
What are Breast Milk Banks? They are known as Comprehensive Lactation Management Centres (CLMC) and Lactation Management Unit (LMU), depending on the level of health facilities where these units are established.
Established under “National Guidelines on Establishment of Lactation Management Centres in Public Health Facilities” by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Value addition for Mains: Need for Milk Banks: It is universally accepted that breast milk is the optimum exclusive source of nutrition for the first six months of life, and may remain part of the healthy infant diet for the first two years of life and beyond.
Unicef India mentions mothers, both in high- and low-income countries, face challenges such as poor healthcare and nutrition. Sometimes, families end up giving babies honey or sugared water as their first oral feed, referred to as prelacteal feed.
Milk banks have a dedicated set of counsellors to answer such queries about lactation management and convince new mothers about the benefits of donating milk.
Initiatives by India: MAA – “Mothers Absolute Affection”: A nationwide programme of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to promote breastfeeding.
Vatsalya – Maatri Amrit Kosh: Established in collaboration with the Norwegian government.
What are the issues? Three years after it was first announced, the chorus on its many exclusions is growing louder leading to a demand for a scheme that is truly universal. Besides, lengthy documentation work is seen as a deterrent to illiterate sections.
Women have to pay a hefty bribe during the application process.
About PMMVY: Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) is a maternity benefit rechristened from erstwhile Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY). The IGMSY was launched in 2010.
The scheme is a conditional cash transfer scheme for pregnant and lactating women. It provides a partial wage compensation to women for wage-loss during childbirth and childcare and to provide conditions for safe delivery and good nutrition and feeding practices.
They receive a cash benefit of Rs. 5,000 in three installments on fulfilling the respective conditionality, early registration of pregnancy, ante-natal check-up and registration of the birth of the child and completion of first cycle of vaccination for the first living child of the family.
The eligible beneficiaries also receive cash incentive under Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY). Thus, on an average, a woman gets Rs. 6,000. Exceptions: The maternity benefits are available to all Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) except those in regular employment with the Central Government or State Government or Public Sector Undertaking or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being in force.
Funding: The scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under which cost sharing ratio between the Centre and the States & UTs with Legislature is 60:40 while for North-Eastern States & three Himalayan States; it is 90:10. It is 100% Central assistance for Union Territories without Legislature.
Value addition for Mains: Need for special attention: Under-nutrition continues to adversely affect majority of women in India. In India, every third woman is undernourished and every second woman is anaemic.
An undernourished mother almost inevitably gives birth to a low birth weight baby. When poor nutrition starts in-utero, it extends throughout the life cycle since the changes are largely irreversible.
Owing to economic and social distress many women continue to work to earn a living for their family right up to the last days of their pregnancy. They resume working soon after childbirth, even though their bodies might not permit it, thus preventing their bodies from fully recovering on one hand, and also impeding their ability to exclusively breastfeed their young infant in the first six months.
Performance of the scheme: Key concerns: The scheme has failed to reach at least 49% of all mothers who would have delivered their first child (an estimated total of 123 lakh for 2017 according to the researchers).
Given the stipulated conditions, the scheme brings under its ambit 23% of all births and pays full benefits to a mere 14% of all births, which was at 270.5 lakh for 2017.
Only 66% of pregnant women and 69% of nursing women knew about the scheme. Only 8% of pregnant women and 23% of nursing mothers received some benefits.
About Jaga mission: What is it? Odisha Liveable Habitat Mission “JAGA” is a society under Housing & Urban Development Department, Government of Odisha.
Composition: Headed by the Chief Secretary, Odisha as Chairman and Principal Secretary, H&UD as Member Secretary.
Aims: Transform the slums into liveable habitat with all necessary civic infrastructure and services at par with the better off areas within the same urban local body (ULB). Continuously improve the standard of the infrastructure and services and access to livelihood opportunities.
Leverage and converge various schemes/ programs/ funding opportunities by strengthening collaboration among various Departments and other Stakeholders.
Provide advisory support to Government of Odisha to examine options for policy reforms required for the sustainable transformation of lives of urban poor.
What is World Habitat Award? This award is given by World Habitat, a UK-based organization, in partnership with United Nation (UN)-Habitat, every year, in recognition of innovative, outstanding, and revolutionary ideas, projects, and programmes from across the world.
Value addition for Mains: Why land rights for slums matter? More often than not, slums are seen as encroachments and slum dwellers, even if they stay in slums for decades, are not provided with any legal rights over the land. This illegality further condemns slums — which are an urban reality in Indian cities — to unsanitary conditions. Formal recognition of land rights allows for cleaner cities and better living conditions for slum dwellers.
About Government Instant Messaging System (GIMS):
Designed and developed by National Informatics Centre (NIC). It is being packaged for employees of Central and state government departments and organisations for intra and inter organisation communications.
It is an Indian equivalent of popular messaging platforms, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, for secure internal use. It is being developed as a secure Indian alternative without the security concerns attached with apps hosted abroad or those owned by foreign entities.
Like WhatsApp, GIMS employs end-to-end encryption for one-to-one messaging.
Value addition for Mains: Need for and significance: The launch of the new app comes amid the recent controversy over the WhatsApp breach. Some Indian users’ mobile devices were targeted through a spyware called Pegasus recently.
GIMS is being touted as a safer bet as the platform has been developed in India, the server hosting it is installed within the country and the information stored would be in government-based cloud — NIC-operated data centres that are only meant for captive use by the government and its departments.
About Namami Gange Programme: It is an umbrella programme which integrates previous and currently ongoing initiatives by enhancing efficiency, extracting synergies and supplementing them with more comprehensive & better coordinated interventions.
Implemented by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), and its state counterparts—State Programme Management Groups.
National Ganga Council (NGC): Created in October 2016 under the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016, dissolving the National Ganga River Basin Authority.
Headed by the Prime Minister. It replaced the National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA). NGC would have on board the chief ministers of five Ganga basin states—Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal—besides several Union ministers and it was supposed to meet once every year.
Main Pillars of the Namami Gange Programme are: Sewerage Treatment Infrastructure River-Surface Cleaning Afforestation Industrial Effluent Monitoring River-Front Development Bio-Diversity Public Awareness Ganga Gram
Value addition for Mains: Why we need “Namami Gange” programme? River Ganga has significant economic, environmental and cultural value in India. Rising in the Himalayas and flowing to the Bay of Bengal, the river traverses a course of more than 2,500 km through the plains of north and eastern India. The Ganga basin – which also extends into parts of Nepal, China and Bangladesh – accounts for 26 per cent of India’s landmass.
The Ganga also serves as one of India’s holiest rivers whose cultural and spiritual significance transcends the boundaries of the basin. If we are able to clean it, it will be a huge help for the 40 per cent population of the country.
What are the pollution threats to Ganga? Rapidly increasing population, rising standards of living and exponential growth of industrialization and urbanization have exposed water resources to various forms of degradation.
The deterioration in the water quality of Ganga impacts the people immediately. Ganga has become unfit even for bathing during lean seasons. The impacts of infrastructural projects in the upper reaches of the river Ganga raise issues.
Challenges ahead: Sewage treatment. Restoring the flow. Sludge control. Cost overruns. Governance glitches.
About the cell: Objective: To promote environmentally sustainable coal mining in the country and address environmental concerns during the decommissioning or closure of mines.
Roles and functions: Advise, mentor, plan and monitor the mitigation measures taken by the coal companies for maximising the utilisation of available resources in a sustainable way.
Act as nodal point at Ministry of Coal level in this matter. Formulate the future policy framework for the environmental mitigation measures including the Mine closure Fund.
For mains: Implications: This move gains significance as the new private entities are now going to form a significant part of the future, a set of guidelines for proper rehabilitation of mines need to be evolved in tune with global best practices.
Awarded by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Hosted by World Economic Forum’s World Arts Forum.
Exercise SURYA KIRAN-XIV, a joint military training exercise between India and Nepal culminated today at Nepal Army Battle School (NABS), Salijhandi, Rupendehi district of Nepal, wherein the troops of both the Armies participated in 14 days long joint training based on counter insurgency operations in jungle and mountainous terrain and also practised response mechanism in the eventualities of natural and man made disasters.
As part of the exercise, important lectures, demonstrations and drills related to counter insurgency, counter terrorism operations and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief response mechanism were rehearsed and executed jointly. The training culminated with a 72 hours outdoor exercise in which troops of both contingents carried out drills of counter insurgency operations. During the final phase of the exercise, Major General Gopal Gurung, Head of Indian Observer Mission was present as observer representative of Indian Army and Lieutenant General Sharad Giri, Chief of General Staff, Nepal Army was the chief guest during the ceremony.
In addition to training, both the contingents also participated in a number of extracurricular activities including friendly Football, Basketball, Volleyball matches and cultural events on the final day to showcase respective cultural lineage as also to increase the bonhomie amongst troops. The joint training was undoubtedly, an unprecedented success. Besides promoting understanding and interoperability between the two armies, it will further help in cementing ties between both the nations.
The fifth meeting of the Economic Advisory Council of the Fifteenth Finance Commission (XVFC) was held in New Delhi today. Chairman and Members of the XVFC, members of the Advisory Council and some special invitees attended the meeting.
Advisory Council Members were updated by the Commission regarding the additional terms of reference extending XVFC’s term till October’2020. Additional ToRs also asked the Commission to submit two reports- one, for the year 2020-21 and second report for the five year period of 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Advisory Council was informed about submission of the 2020-21 report and now the Commission is on its next task of preparing the report for 2021-26 period.
Among other things, following major issues were discussed - Possible macro assumptions for the Commission’s award period relating to real growth, inflation etcwere discussed in detail. Issues like the structural shift in inflation, the relationship between the GDP deflator and the consumer price inflation and possible trajectories of movement in real activity were discussed.
Tax revenues and expenditure patterns emerging both at the Union and the States level. Possible way to improve tax collection for additional resource mobilization.
Issues related to stabilization of Goods & Services Tax (GST), relationship between GST Council and Finance Commission and GST compensation being paid to States.
Issues related to compliance and adherence to Fiscal responsibility legislations (FRLs) enacted by respective governments. The need for bringing in fiscal transparency was underlined in the discussions.
21,778 Startups Recognised Under Startup India Initiative India Ranked 52nd in Global Innovation Index
Nirvik: New Credit Scheme for Exporters Announced; Infusion of Funds in ECGC for Export Support
National Traders Welfare Board Established Posted On: 16 DEC 2019 6:30PM by PIB Delhi India’s remarkable jump in World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Report 2020
India ranks 63rd among 190 countries improving by 14 ranks from its rank of 77 in 2019. India has improved its rank in 7 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices. The 2020 edition of the Report acknowledges India as one of the top 10 improvers, third time in a row, with an improvement of 67 ranks in 3 years. It is also the highest jump by any large country since 2011.
Startup India- reaching new heights, making India a global leader in Innovation A total of 21,778 startups are now recognised under the Startup India Initiative, of which 2,912 startups have been recognised since 1st June 2019.
The Startup India Hub has 3,42,614 registered users of which 21,540 users have been added since 1st June 2019.With the amendment in Section 54GB of Income Tax Act on August 1st, 2019 the condition of minimum holding of 50% of share capital or voting rights in the startup has been relaxed to 25%.
India’s remarkable jump on the Global Innovation Index In the past 4 years India’s rank in the GII has improved from the 81st rank in 2015 to the present 52nd rank in GII 2019 report. India became the first developing country to launch the Global Innovation Index (GII) in association with World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and Confederation of India (CII).
Final Patent (amendment) Rules, 2019 - published on 17th September, 2019 amending The Patents Rules, 2003 has led to significant simplification of rules, especially for startups and MSMEs.
The Patent (Second Amendment) Rules, 2019 publishedto reduce fees for small entity/MSMEs for processing of patent applications under various sections of the Patents Act, 1970 will incentivise MSMEs to file for more parents.
In order to promote export the Department of Commerce has undertaken various measures: Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) has introduced a new Export Credit Insurance Scheme (ECIS) called ‘NIRVIK’ for exporters in which increased insurance cover for export credit has been extended by banks from existing average of 60% to 90% for both Principal and Interest.
Accounts with limits below Rs. 80 crore, the premium rates will be moderated to 0.60 per annum and for those exceeding Rs. 80crore, it will be 0.72 per annum forthe same enhanced cover. It is expected that the initiative will cost about Rs 1,700 cr per annum. It will provide comfort to banks, bring down the cost of credit due to capital relief, less provision requirement and liquidity due to quick settlement of claims and will ensure timely and adequate working capital and relief to MSMEs.
To enhance ease of doing business, Deemed Export drawback has been allowed on All Industry Rate of drawback schedule. An online portal for filing applications under ‘Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA)' scheme for Specified Agriculture Products has been launched.
Easing Exporters’ claims with ECGC through transparency A database has been prepared by ECGC for all pending claims and online access on status of claims has been provided. This will be a critical tool for providing information access to exporters.
The online “Origin Management System” givessingle access point for all exporters, for all Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) Preferential Trade Agreements (PTAs) and for all agencies. India has 15 FTAs/PTAs and 7 lakh ‘Certificates of Origin’ are issued annually. The platform will be made live for FTAs as per the concurrence of the concerned partner countries. This process is electronic, paperless and transparent with real time tracking of FTA utilisation at product level and country level. It will also lead to reduced transaction cost and time.
Scheme for Remission of Duties or Taxes on Export Product (RoDTEP) formulated to replace existingMerchandise Exports from India (MEIS) scheme. This will be a WTO compliant scheme for promotion of exports. Textiles and all other sectors which currently enjoy incentives upto 2% over MEIS will transit into RODTEP from 1.1.2020. RoDTEP will span all sectors and the revenue foregone will be about Rs 50,000 crore.
A capital of Rs. 389 crore has been infused into Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC) on 21st June 2019. This will provide extra support to exports to emerging and challenging markets like Africa, CIS, Latin America and Asian countries.
A Grant-in-aid (corpus) of Rs. 300 crore has been contributed to National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) trust on 21st June 2019, thereby, enhancing its risk taking capacity to support project exports in challenging markets.
Boost to Gem and Jewellery exporters by resolution of various issues like removal of the requirement of paying IGST on re-import of goods which were exported earlier for exhibition purpose/consignment basis. Allowing partial discharge of bonds executed by nominated agencies/banks for import of gold to be supplied to jewellery exporters, thereby enabling nominated agencies/banks to release bank guarantee of jewellery exporters who have fulfilled their export obligation has helped in release of blocked working capital.
National Logistics Policy, 2019 The National Logistics Policy is being prepared with the aimto bring down total logistics cost from 14% to 9% of country's GDP. The policy aims to boost business competitiveness, drive economic growth and make India a global logistics hub.
The Multi-Modal Transportation of Goods Bill, 2019 has been finalised for approval. This aims at facilitating the movement of goods for exports, imports and domestic trade. It will help to fix accountability and liabilities for violation of its provisions.
Skilling for Logistics Sector 34 Qualification Packs (QPs) for skill development of manpower engaged in Logistics Sector have been developed and finalised in collaboration with Logistics Skill Council. This is the first time that such qualification packs have been developed.
Implementation of Agriculture Export Policy The Agriculture Export Policyhas been approved with an outlay of Rs. 206 Crores for 2019-20. In order to establish linkage between FPOs and the exporters a portal has been created by Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA). About 740 Farmers Producer Organisation (FPO) have been registered under Farmers Connect Portal.
Budgetary Support under GST Regime to the units located in Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and North Eastern States including Sikkim has been made. Rs. 1,700 crore has been authorised by Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) to Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) for disbursement to eligible industrial units. Rs. 1,692 crore already been disbursed by CBIC under the Scheme till 15th November, 2019. During the last 6 months, Rs. 86 crore was disbursed to 420 industrial units under the Special Package to the Himalayan States.
Ensuring level playing field for domestic industry and farmers For Antidumping theaverage number of days taken for initiation of anti-dumping investigations has come down to 32 days in 2019 (upto 1st November) as against 259 days in 2016
Directorate General of Trade Remedies(DGTR) for the first time ever initiated 2 cases of bilateral safeguards to protect domestic industry from injury. No bilateral safeguard has ever been initiated in the past by DG Safeguards/Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties.
There has been significant drop in the number of days taken to initiate two cases of Global Safeguards. In 2019, the average number of days taken is just 61, as compared the standard 75 days.
In order to ensure interests of the Indian industry and farmers in FTAsIndia successfully laid out its stand in Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)India’s key concerns were not addressed. India took a strong stance to protect the interest of domestic producers. This decision willhelp vulnerable sectors including farmers and the dairy sector as well as small manufacturers, who would have been threatened by RCEP rules.
India has also secured agreement for review of ASEAN FTA (ASEAN-India Free Trade Area-AIFTA) after repeated follow up. This will help in removing rules that affect Indian producers and exporters and will also promote Indian exports and Make in India.
Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) The SIMS willfacilitate the Steel Industry by providing advance information about steel imports to all stakeholders including Government,steel industry and steel importers for effective policy interventions. Importers of specified steel products will register in advance on the web portal of SIMS providing necessary information. The registration will be online and automatic and no human intervention is required.
SIMS has been notified with effect from 1st November, 2019. Trade Facilitation Measures The completion of negotiation of India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) will enable trade promotion between the two countries.
Improving Trade with Bangladesh - Besides the four operational Border Haats across India-Bangladesh border in Tripura and Meghalaya, construction of three Border Haats in Meghalaya, out of six already identified locations (two in Tripura and four in Meghalaya) has been completed.
Merger of Council of Trade and Development and Board of Trade: providing a common platform for addressing stakeholder concerns This common platform, comprising of representatives from industry, export promotion councils, Government of India and State Governments and representatives from Banking and Finance Sector is playing a critical role in addressing export related concerns, with a focus on addressing these on a priority basis.The first meeting of this common platform took place on the 6th of June, 2019.
Special Economic Zone (Amendment)Bill, 2019; first legislation passed by newly formed Government SEZ (Amendment) Bill 2019 became the first legislation of the newly formed Government to be passed by the Parliament.This will enable any entity to set up an unit in SEZs, including Trusts. This willhelp boost investments and create new export and job opportunities.
Investments of USD 1.1 billion has been proposed since the ordinance was promulgated earlier this year. Better facilities for employees: SEZ units allowed to create facilities/amenities like crèche, gymnasium, cafeteria for their exclusive use as a measure towards ease of doing business.
Promoting Foreign Direct Investment 100% FDI has been allowed under theautomatic route for coal mining activities including associated processing infrastructure.
100% FDI under automatic route has also been allowed in contract manufacturing. Providing more flexibility and ease of operations to Single Brand Retail Trading (SBRT) entities. All procurements made from India shall be counted towards local sourcing, whether goods are sold in India or exported. Online retail trading permitted upto two years prior to opening brick and mortar stores.
Boost to Make in India in Government Procurement Progressive amendments have been made to favour local suppliers likeprocurement upto Rs 50 lakhs has been exclusively reserved for local suppliers (except in certain cases). Only local suppliers eligible to bid for procurement of items, where there is sufficient local capacity and local competition, irrespective of purchase value.
Bicycle Development Council constituted for the benefit of Bicycle Industry The Indian bicycle industry is the world’s second largest bicycle industry. To develop the Bicycle industry and small part manufacturers towards global standards a Bicycle Development Council has been constituted.
Amendment to National Institute of Design (NID) Act was moved for consideration and passing in the Rajya Sabha on 6th August, 2019 to confer Institute of National Importance status to the four new NIDs Rajya Sabha has passed the Bill. It will be introduced in the forthcoming session of the Lok Sabha for consideration and passing. The four new NIDs at Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam and Haryana to be declared as Institutions of National Importance on the lines of NID, Ahmedabad.NIDs, Madhya Pradesh and NID, Assam have commenced academic session of 2019-20 from 29th July 2019.
A long pending demand oftraders has been fulfilled with the constitution of the Board to understand the issues and problems faced by traders and employees in their day to day business operations and for their welfare. The Board shall have a number of representatives from Traders' Associations as members.