PIB Analysis : Date 10th and 11th January

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PIB ANALYSIS FOR UPSC CSE

  1. Bilateral Swap Arrangement
  2. Section 126 of the RPA
  3. E-NAM
  4. INDUS Food
  5. Partnership Summit
  6. Prasad Scheme
  7. MoUs Signed,Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Programme
  8. National Clean Air Programme
  9. GST Council and decision
  10. Renukaji Dam Project

1 . Bilateral Swap Arrangement

Cabinet approves Bilateral Swap Arrangement between India and Japan

What is Swap Arrangement

  • The swap arrangement is an agreement between India and Japan to essentially exchange and re-exchange a maximum amount of USD 75 Billion for domestic currency, for the purpose of maintaining an appropriate level of balance of payments for meeting short-term deficiency in foreign exchange.

Benefits

  • The BSA is a very good example of mutual cooperation between India and Japan for strategic objective of assisting each other in times of difficulty and for restoring international confidence.
  • This facility will enable the agreed amount of Capital being available to India on tap for use. Also, with this arrangement in place, prospects of Indian companies would improve in tapping foreign capital as there would be greater confidence in stability of country’s exchange rate.
  • Availability of such swap line to tide over difficulties arising out of Balance of Payment (BOP) would deter speculative attacks on the domestic currency and greatly enhance the RBI’s ability to manage exchange rate volatility.

2 . Section 126 of the Representation of People’s Act

Report of the Committee on Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 Submitted to The Commission

Background

  • The task of maintaining campaign silence during last 48 hours before the conclusion of polling is becoming increasingly onerous in the light of the increasing influence of digital media.
  • So, apart from the regulation by law and ECI instructions, the resolve, proactive support and sustained effort by all stake holders which include political parties, media, civil society organizations, academia and educational institutions, the youth and citizens at large, will remain necessary to contain the evil impact.
  • The Committee constituted under the chairmanship of Sr. Deputy Election Commissioner Sh. Umesh Sinha to review and suggest modifications and changes in the provisions of the Section 126 and other sections of the Representation of the People Act 1951, provisions of Model Code of Conduct and any other ECI instruction in this regard has submitted its report

The Committee had the following scope of work:

  • Study and examine the present provisions of the Section 126 and other related Sections of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and identify difficulties/critical gaps to regulate the violation of the said provisions of the act, particularly during the prohibitory period of 48 hours before the completion of the poll, mentioned in section 126 and suggest necessary amendment/modification.
  • Examine the type, category or growth of communication technology or media platform in the country and difficulties in regulating these media platforms during multiphase election when prohibitory period of 48 hours are in force.
  • Impact of new media platforms and social media during the prohibitory period of 48 hours before the close of poll and its implication in view of the provisions of section 126.
  • Examine the present provisions of Model Code of Conduct (MCC) related to the above issues and suggest modification in this regard.

3 . E-NAM

Prime Minister’s flagship program e-NAM has achieved another milestone by commencing inter-State trade between mandis using e-payments

What is E-NAM

  • E-NAM i.e. National Agriculture Market is a pan-India electronic trading (e-trading) portal which seeks to network the existing physical regulated wholesale market (known as APMC market) through a virtual platform to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
  • e-NAM platform promotes better marketing opportunities for the farmers to sell their produce through online competitive and transparent price discovery system and online payment facility.
  • It also promotes prices commensurate with quality of produce. The e-NAM portal provides single window services for all APMC related information and services.
  • This includes commodity arrivals, quality & prices, buy & sell offers & e-payment settlement directly into farmers’ account, among other services.
  • Farmers can access the information on e-NAM easily through their mobile phones from anywhere.

About the Release

  • e-NAM has achieved another milestone by commencing inter-State trade between mandis of two different States. Earlier trade used to happen either within the APMC or between two APMCs situated within same state.
  • The very first Inter State transaction in tomatoes has been carried out between trader of Bareilly e-NAM APMC of Uttar Pradesh and farmer of Haldwani e-NAM APMC of Uttarakhand.
  • In all the cases, e-payments have been made through e-NAM portal. This will helps farmers get better market access, more buyers/ traders & realise better prices for their produce.

4 . INDUS Food 2019

What is INDUS Food 2019

  • The event is aimed at promoting India as a strong and reliable exporter of food and beverage products to the world.
  • INDUS FOOD 2019 will promote value addition to India’s agriculture exports and integrate Indian farmers and agricultural products with global value chains.
  • INDUS FOOD is a global platform where top exporters from Food and Beverage Industry of India will be participating and buyers from across the world have been invited. After the success of the first edition of INDUS FOOD in 2018, Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) has scaled up the Reverse Buyers-Sellers Meet (RBSM) with the financial assistance under Market Access Initiative (MAI) scheme of Department of Commerce.

5 . Partnership Summit

25TH edition of Partnership Summit in Mumbai

What is Partnership Summit

  • It is a global platform for dialogue, debate, deliberation and engagement among Indian and global leaders on economic policy and growth trends in India
  • This edition of the Summit will showcase India in the present landscape of an emerging “New India”, the “New Global Economic Address”.
  • The Summit will see New India in active engagement and collaboration within the country and with the world. Discussions will be held among key stake holders – policy makers, institutions, business, media and academia. 
  • The Summit is being organized by the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India, State Government of Maharashtra and Confederation of Indian Industry.  

6 . Prasad Scheme

Four more projects of Rs. 190.46 crore sanctioned under Swadesh Darshan and PRASAD schemes of M/o Tourism

Background

  • India is a land of numerous religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Sufism having their major pilgrimage centres in different parts of the country.
  • Pilgrimage tourism is a form of tourism motivated partly or wholly by religious sentiments.
  • Religion and spirituality are common motivations for travel, with major tourist destinations having developed largely as a result of their connections to sacred places, persons and events.
  • The growth of domestic tourism largely depends on pilgrimage tourism. To tap this potential there is a need for holistic development of the selected pilgrimage destinations in cooperation with other stakeholders. 

About PRASAD Scheme

  • PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive) scheme was launched to identify and develop pilgrimage tourist destinations on the principles of high tourist visits, competitiveness and sustainability to enrich the religious tourism experience.
  • The PRASAD Scheme was launched with 12 identified sites namely Ajmer (Rajasthan), Amritsar (Punjab), Amaravati (Andhra Pradesh), Dwarka (Gujarat), Gaya (Bihar), Kedarnath (Uttarakhand), Kamakhya (Assam), Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu), Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Puri (Odisha), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu).
  • Under the PRASHAD scheme, the Ministry has sanctioned the project ‘Development of Govardhan’ in District Mathura in Uttar Pradesh,
    The Ministry has also sanctioned the project ‘Development of Pilgrimage Amenities at Somnath – Phase II’ 

7 . MoU’s Signed

India – Denmark

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Maritime issues between India and Denmark.

Benefits

  • facilitating cross-border cooperation and investments between the maritime sectors of India and Denmark;
  • enabling both the countries to exchange expertise, publications, information, data and statistics to improve mutual capabilities for ensuring quality shipping;cooperation in the field of green maritime technology and shipbuilding, granting the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS) the status of Recognized Organization (RO), cooperation in the fields of maritime training and education;
  • research and development for sustained cooperation in the field of merchant shipping and maritime transport related matters; and
  • It will also further extend and deepen the cooperation on the opportunities of mutual benefits to both the countries, at both bilateral and international level.

India – Japan

The Union Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Understanding between India and Japan on Development of Advanced Model Single Window.

Benefits

  • The MoU would lead to cooperation between India and Japan on the development of ‘Advanced Model Single Window’ and its operationalization in Central and State Governments in India for taking administrative procedures necessary for business operations, and to develop a structure in which those procedures are completed in an expeditious manner, so as to accelerate India’s effort to promote Ease of Doing Business in India.
  • The ‘Advanced Model Single Window’ is based on the best practices in and outside India, with measurable parameters and identify possible obstacles for establishment of the Single Window in India. It will thus, facilitate investments.

India – Eswatini (Map marking)

  • The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Signing of Terms of Reference (TOR) governing the engagement of the designated Indian Expert to provide tax assistance to Swaziland (now known as Eswatini) under the Tax Inspectors Without Borders Programme between India and Eswatini.

Background (Important)

  • The Tax Inspectors Without Borders (TIWB) Programme which is jointly launched by UNDP and OECD is intended to support developing countries to strengthen national tax administrations through building audit capacity and to share this knowledge with other countries.
  • The TIWB Programme aims to strengthen tax administrations of developing countries by transferring technical know-how and skills to their tax auditors, and through the sharing of general audit practices and dissemination of knowledge products with them.
  • The TIWB Programme complements the efforts of the international community to strengthen cooperation on tax matters and contribute to domestic tax mobilisation efforts of developing countries. India has been supportive in capacity building in tax matters in developing countries.
  • India being a global leader in this respect has a very important role to play in South-South Cooperation in tax matters.

Point-wise details

  1. An Indian Expert has been mutually selected by the Government of India and the Government of the Kingdom of Eswatini under the TIWB programme.
  2. The Terms of Reference will formalize the conditions of the engagement of the designated Indian Expert to provide tax assistance to Eswatini under the TIWB Programme.

Major Impact

  • The engagement of the Indian Expert under the TiWB programme will give impetus to India’s support in capacity building in tax matters in developing countries.

8/9/10 Covered under Daily Current Affairs


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