The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has congratulated General Bipin Rawat on taking charge as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff.
In order to promote India-Africa trade and economic relations, Ministry of Commerce and Industry regularly reviewsIndia’s trade with Africa through institutional mechanismslike Joint Commission Meetings (JCMs), Joint Trade Committees (JTCs), and Joint Working Groups(JWGs).
The 9th Session of the India-Kenya Joint Trade Committee was held in New Delhi on 19-20 August, 2019 under the co-chairmanship of Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal and his Kenyan counterpart Mr. Peter Munya, Cabinet Secretary (Minister) for Ministry of Industry, Trade and Cooperatives, Government of the Republic of Kenya. During the meeting, wide ranging discussions were held cutting across sectors like MSME, Agriculture, Information Communication Technology (ICT), Tourism, Administration of Standards, Development of Human Resources in Higher Education, Science & Technology, Investment Promotion and Protection, Air Services, Energy, Plastics, Textile, Pharmaceuticals, Oil & Gas, Health, Immigration, Automobile and other engineering products. Collaboration in the field of issue of recognition of Indian Pharmacopoeia in Kenya was also discussed.
The First India-Nigeria JTC was held on 19th – 20th December, 2019 in New Delhi, under the Co-chair of Commerce Secretary, Government of India and his Nigerian counterpart. During the meeting discussions were held in various sectors including oil and natural gas, market access in bovine meat, rice, recognition of pharmacopoeia, cooperation of SME sector, higher education and power.
The first meeting of the India-South Africa JWG on Trade and Investment was held in January, 2019, to deliberate upon the bottlenecks including non-tariff barriers, and suggest the way forward to further deepen India’s trade with the region.
The proposed India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA)seeks to mutually benefit both the countries, in the area of trade in goods, and trade in services. Seven rounds of India-Mauritius CECPA negotiations have been held till now. The 7th round was held during 19-23 November, 2018 in Mauritius. During these rounds, negotiations were held cutting across trade in Goods, trade in Services, Rules of Origin, Technical Barriers to Trade and Sanitary and Phyto-sanitary(SPS) measure, Trade Remedies and Dispute Settlement. India- Mauritius CECPA negotiations for trade in goods and trade in services, have been completed. The Agreement is near finalization.
On the Occasion of World Cotton Day organized by WTO in Geneva on 7th October, 2019, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India announced the launch of Phase-II of C-TAP in 11 African countries. The programme is aimed at enhancing productivity in cotton sector, improving the post-harvest and plant by-products industry in the participating countries, as well as building the capacity of the cotton-based textile sector. Department is currently working on implementation plan inconsultation with stakeholders such as foreign counterparts through IndianMissions, Ministry of External Affairs, institutes engaged in cotton researchand capacity building activitiesinIndia.
In order to leverage the huge presence of Indian business community in Africa for promoting India’s exports to the region, three rounds of interactions of Minister of Commerce & Industry were organized through Indian Missions with Indian business community in Madagascar, Tanzania, Mauritius, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Ghana, Botswana, Nigeria, Morocco, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Egypt over Digital Video Conference (DVC) in May, 2019.
For promoting India-Africa trade and economic relations, a regional conclave was organised by Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India jointly with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), in March, 2019 at New Delhi. On the sidelines of the Conclave/Regional Conclave, bilateral meetings with participating countries were also held at the Ministerial level to boost up Indian participation in project exports opportunities in African countries. The conclave was attended by Head of the States from three African countries. More than two dozen Ministers along with around 500 business delegates from Africa participated in the Conclave.
On the sidelines of the conclave, bilateral meetings were held between Minister of State (Commerce & Industry) with Trade Ministers of African countries, issues related to trade, investments, and cooperation in agriculture, pharmaceutical sector were discussed.The conclave also focused on new ideas and strategies, for enhancing the engagement between Indian and the Southern African Development Community (SADC- a 16-member organization) in various sectors. Various opportunities in project exports were discussed by Indian and African business delegates in B2B meetings.
It called upon political and administrative authorities to pursue the constitutional duty of promoting composite culture, which is vital to promoting the territorial unity of India.
What is Indian History Congress? Founded in 1935, the Indian History Congress(IHC) is the largest association of professional historians in South Asia. It has about 35000 members of which over 2000 delegates participate in its session every year.
It has been holding its sessions very regularly from its inception and publishing its proceedings every year since 1935. Its main objective is to promote secular and scientific writing of history.
Origin: The BISM organised an All India Congress in 1935 to celebrate its silver jubilee in Pune. As an outcome, the Indian History Congress (IHC) was thus born with about 50 delegates.
The Bharata Itihasa Samshodhaka Mandala (BISM) was founded by Vishwanath Kashinath Rajwade in 1910 in Pune with the support of K C Mehendale.
About the Bhima- Koregaon battle: A battle was fought in Bhima Koregaon, a district in Pune with a strong historical Dalit connection, between the Peshwa forces and the British on January 1, 1818. The British army, which comprised mainly of Dalit soldiers, fought the upper caste-dominated Peshwa army. The British troops defeated the Peshwa army.
Outcomes of the battle: The victory was seen as a win against caste-based discrimination and oppression. Peshwas were notorious for their oppression and persecution of Mahar dalits. The victory in the battle over Peshwas gave dalits a moral victory a victory against caste-based discrimination and oppression and sense of identity. However, the divide and rule policy of the British created multiple fissures in Indian society which is even visible today in the way of excessive caste and religious discrimination which needs to be checked keeping in mind the tenets of the Constitution.
Why Bhima Koregaon is seen as a Dalit symbol? The battle has come to be seen as a symbol of Dalit pride because a large number of soldiers in the Company force were the Mahar Dalits. Since the Peshwas, who were Brahmins, were seen as oppressors of Dalits, the victory of the Mahar soldiers over the the Peshwa force is seen as Dalit assertion.
On 1 January 1927, B.R. Ambedkar visited the memorial obelisk erected on the spot which bears the names of the dead including nearly two dozen Mahar soldiers. The men who fought in the battle of Koregaon were the Mahars, and the Mahars are Untouchables.
Why? – Kerala’s arguments: The CAA act contradicts the basic values and principles of the Constitution. It is against the “secular” outlook and fabric of the country and would lead to religion-based discrimination in granting citizenship.
Background: The Parliament had passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 on December 11, 2019. The act had triggered widespread protests across India and created fear of discrimination based on religion. Kerala has already put on hold all the activities in connection with the National Population Register (NPR) considering the anxiety among people that it relates to the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
What’s the issue now? The Centre has clarified that the CAA act will not impact any Indian citizen including Muslims. The clarification has failed to have any impact on the protests, with many states announcing that they will not implement the law.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019: It seeks to allow illegal migrants from certain minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenshipby amending the Citizenship Act of 1955. It seeks to grant citizenship to people from minority communities —Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians —after 6 years of stay in India even if they do not possess any proper document. The current requirement is 12 years of stay.
The Bill provides that the registration of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders may be cancelled if they violate any law.
Why is it criticised? It violates the basic tenets of the Constitution. Illegal immigrants are distinguished on the basis of religion. It is perceived to be a demographic threat to indigenous communities. It makes illegal migrants eligible for citizenship on the basis of religion. This may violate Article 14 of the Constitution which guarantees the right to equality.
It attempts to naturalise the citizenship of illegal immigrants in the region. It allows cancellation of OCI registration for violation of any law. This is a wide ground that may cover a range of violations, including minor offences.
SS League is conducted in three quarters (April-June, July-September and October-December) with the objective of sustaining the on-ground performance of cities along with monitoring of when it comes to cleanliness. Swachh Survekshan 2020 is the 5th edition of the annual urban cleanliness survey conducted by the Ministry.
Performance of various states: Cleanest city: Indore for the fourth time in a row. Worst performer: In the category of cities having population more than 10 lakh, Bhopal stood second in first quarter results (April to June), while Rajkot grabbed the second spot in second quarter results (July-September) of ‘Swachh Survekshan League 2020’.
The third position was grabbed by Surat in the first quarter and Navi Mumbai in the second quarter. In the second quarter, Vodara was ranked fourth, followed by Bhopal, Ahmedabad, Nashik, Greater Mumbai, Allahabad and Lucknow. Among cantonment boards, Tamil Nadu’s St.Thomas Mount Cantt was ranked 1st in quarter 1 whereas Delhi Cantt ranked first in the 2nd quarter. Secunderabad Cantonment Board in Hyderabad is the worst performer among other cantonment boards.
All About Swachh Survekshan: The process of ranking cities and town of India on the basis of cleanliness was first conducted in 2016, which covered 73 cities. The second and third round of the survey in 2017 and 2018 widened the coverage of the assessment to 434 cities with a population of one lakh and above and 4,203 cities respectively.
Objectives of Swachh Survekshan: The annual cleanliness survey aims to encourage large scale participation of citizens in cleanliness drives. It aims to ensure sustainability of initiatives taken towards garbage free and open defecation free cities. It aims to create awareness among all sections of the society regarding the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in.
About Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi: Under this programme, vulnerable landholding farmer families, having cultivable land upto 2 hectares, will be provided direct income support at the rate of Rs. 6,000 per year. This income support will be transferred directly into the bank accounts of beneficiary farmers, in three equal installments of Rs. 2,000 each. The complete expenditure of Rs 75000 crore for the scheme will borne by the Union Government in 2019-20.
What is a small and marginal landholder family? It comprises of husband, wife and minor children up to 18 years of age, who collectively own cultivable land up to two hectares as per the land records of the concerned states.
Significance of the scheme: Around 12 crore small and marginal farmer families are expected to benefit from this. It would not only provide assured supplemental income to the most vulnerable farmer families, but would also meet their emergent needs especially before the harvest season. It would pave the way for the farmers to earn and live a respectable living.
Similar programmes by states: Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana in Madhya Pradesh was sought to provide relief to farmers by providing the differential between MSPs and market prices.
The Rythu Bandhu scheme of the Telangana provides ₹4,000 per acre for every season to all the farmers of the state. Similar initiatives have also be framed in Jharkhand and Odisha.
Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income augmentation (KALIA) of Odisha is more complicated in design and implementation. It commits to give Rs 5,000 per SMF, twice a year, that is Rs 10,000 a year.
Background: The finance ministry had set up a task force headed by Economic Affairs Secretary to prepare a road map for the “national infrastructure pipeline” from 2019-20 to 2024-25 under the ₹100 lakh crore infra plan.
Sector- specific: Irrigation and rural infrastructure projects would account for ₹7.7 lakh crore each. ₹3.07 lakh crore would be spent on industrial infrastructure. Agriculture and social infrastructure would account for the rest. Road projects will account for ₹19.63 lakh crore while another ₹13.68 lakh crore would be for railway projects. Port projects would see spending of ₹1 lakh crore and airports another ₹1.43 lakh crore. ₹16.29 lakh crore would be spent on urban infrastructure and ₹3.2 lakh crore in telecom projects.
According to the sector-wise break-up of projects made available by the Finance Ministry, ₹24.54 lakh crore investment will flow in the energy sector, and of that ₹11.7 lakh crore would be in just the power sector. ₹42 lakh crore NIP projects which are in the implementation stage now include expressways, national gas grid and PMAY-G.
About the National Infrastructure Pipeline and it’s significance: It is estimated that India would need to spend $4.5 trillion on infrastructure by 2030 to sustain its growth rate. The endeavour of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), is to make this happen in an efficient manner.
Funding: The central government and state governments would have an equal share of 39% each in the NIP. The private sector, on the other hand, would have 22% share which the government expects to increase to 30% by 2025. National Infrastructure Pipeline will ensure that infrastructure projects are adequately prepared and launched.
Each Ministry/ Department would be responsible for the monitoringof projects so as to ensure their timely and within-cost implementation. It will help in stepping-up annual infrastructure investment to achieve the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $5 trillion by 2024-25.
Need for infrastructure funding: Availability of quality infrastructure is a pre-requisite to achieve broad-based and inclusive growth on a sustainable basis. Investment in infrastructure is also necessary for sustaining the high growth rate of India.
It is a fee charged from a merchant by a bank for accepting payments from customers through credit and debit cards in their establishments. MDR compensates the card issuing bank, the lender which puts the PoS terminal and payment gateways such as Mastercard or Visa for their services.
MDR charges are usually shared in pre-agreed proportion between the bank and a merchant and is expressed in percentage of transaction amount.
Why in News? From January onwards, all companies with a turnover of Rs 50 crore or more need to provide the facility of payment through RuPay Debit card and UPI QR code to their customers, under which no MDR fee will be charged from customers as well as merchants