Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
- BIMSTEC
- Draft Export Policy
- Social and Labor Convergence Programme (SLCP)
- Akash Missile
- Facts for Prelims : PS GOLAY, Debenture Trustee
1 . BIMSTEC
What to Study :
- For Mains : Significance of BIMSTEC for India
- For Prelims : Details about BIMSTEC
Context : India has invited several heads of state, including those from the Bay of Bengal community (BIMSTEC) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on May 30.
About BIMSTEC
- The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
- This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
- It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.
- Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
- With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th Ministerial Meeting (February 2004, Thailand), the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC).
- The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.
Importance of BIMSTEC
- The objective of building such an alliance was to harness shared and accelerated growth through mutual cooperation in different areas of common interests by mitigating the onslaught of globalization and by utilizing regional resources and geographical advantages.
- Unlike many other regional groupings, BIMSTEC is a sector-driven cooperative organization. Starting with six sectors—including trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism and fisheries—for sectoral cooperation in the late 1997, it expanded to embrace nine more sectors—including agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture, people to people contact and climate change—in 2008.
Significance of BIMSTEC for India
- As the region’s largest economy, India has a lot at stake. BIMSTEC connects not only South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal. For India, it is a natural platform to fulfil our key foreign policy priorities of ‘Neighborhood First’ and ‘Act East‘
- Connectivity. Almost 300 million people, or roughly one-quarter of India’s population, live in the four coastal states adjacent to the Bay of Bengal (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal). And, about 45 million people, who live in landlocked Northeastern states, will have the opportunity to connect via the Bay of Bengal to Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand, opening up possibilities in terms of development.
- Asian Trilateral Highway connecting India and Thailand through Myanmar, Kaladan Multimodal project that seeks to link India and Myanmar, the project envisages connecting Kolkata to Sittwe port in Myanmar, and then Mizoram by river and road Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) pact for movement of goods and vehicles are the projects undertaken by BIMSTEC countries which will provide connectivity especially in the North Eastern States.
- From the strategic perspective, the Bay of Bengal, a funnel to the Malacca straits, has emerged a key theatre for an increasingly assertive China in maintaining its access route to the Indian Ocean. Beijing has undertaken massive drive to finance and develop infrastructure in South and Southeast Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative in almost all BIMSTEC countries, except Bhutan and India. As China mounts assertive activities in the Bay of Bengal region, with increased submarine movement and ship visits in the Indian Ocean, it is in India’s interest to consolidate its internal engagement among the BIMSTEC countries.
2 . Draft Export Policy
What to Study
- Prelims : HSN Code and Indian Version of HSN Code
- Mains : Importance of Exports for India, Challenges and impacts in boosting exports.
Context : The Commerce Ministry has come out with a comprehensive draft of the export policy which includes product- specific rules with a view to provide a ready reckoner for exporters.
About Draft Export Policy
- Draft Export policy proposes to bring out a comprehensive exports policy for all ITC (HS) tariff codes (including items which are ‘free’ for export and do not currently exist in the policy), covering conditions/restrictions imposed by partner government agencies on exports
- ITC-HS Codes are Indian Trade Clarification based on Harmonised System of Coding. It was adopted by India for import-export operations.
- Every product has been accorded eight digit HS codes. The compendium will help an exporter know all the applicable norms pertaining to a particular product, helping him/her understand policy conditions for that item.
- The draft policy aims at consolidating the export norms for each product as applicable at different government agencies.
About Harmonized System
- The Harmonized System is an international nomenclature for the classification of products.
- It is developed by World Customs Organization (WCO). It first came into effect in 1988.
- The main purpose of HSN is to classify goods from all over the World in a systematic and logical manner. This brings in a uniform classification of goods and facilitates international trade.
- At the international level, the Harmonized System (HS) for classifying goods is a six-digit code system.
- The six digits can be broken down into three parts : The first two digits (HS-2) identify the chapter the goods are classified in, e.g. 09 = Coffee, Tea, Maté and Spices. The next two digits (HS-4) identify groupings within that chapter, e.g. 09.02 = Tea, whether or not flavoured. The next two digits (HS-6) are even more specific, e.g. 09.02.10 Green tea (not fermented)
Indian version of HSN Codes
- ITC-HS Codes or better known as Indian Trade Clarification based on Harmonized System of Coding was adopted in India for import-export operations.
- India is a member of World Customs Organization(WCO) since 1971.
- It was originally using 6-digit HSN codes to classify commodities for Customs and Central Excise.
- Later Customs and Central Excise added two more digits to make the codes more precise, resulting in an 8 digit classification.
3 . Social and Labor Convergence Programme (SLCP)
What to Study
- Prelims : About SLCP
Context : The ‘Social and Labor Convergence Programme (SLCP),’ an initiative to have a standard-neutral, converged assessment framework for the textile and clothing industry, will be launched in India shortly.
About Social and Labor Convergence Programme
- The ‘Social and Labor Convergence Programme (SLCP) is an initiative to have a standard-neutral, converged assessment framework for the textile and clothing industry
- The issues of social and labour compliance had become highly relevant in labour-intensive industries, including in the textile and clothing sector. The converged assessment framework is a tool developed by the SLCP, which provides a data set with no value judgment or scoring. It is, however, compatible with existing audit systems and codes of conduct.
- Initiative is led by world’s leading manufacturers, brands, retailers, industry groups, non-governmental organisations and service providers.
- It is only a voluntary adoption by the textile and clothing makers.
- Benefits : For the exporting units, it will reduce the number of social audits and facilitate measuring of employment practices, thus improving working conditions and employee relations.
4 . Akash Missile
What to Study
- Prelims : About the Missile
Context : The DRDO on Monday successfully test-fired the new version of the Akash surface-to-air defence missile system with a new indigenously-developed seeker in Balasore off the Odisha coast.
About Akash Missile
- Akash Missile is a medium range Surface to Air Missile with multitarget engagement capability. It uses high-energy solid propellant for the booster and ram-rocket propulsion for the sustainer phase. The missile system is said to be highly mobile.
- The medium range multi-target engagement capable missile was developed as part of the Integrated Guided-Missile Development Programme (IGMDP) other than Nag, Agni, Trishul, and Prithvi missiles.
- The supersonic missile has a range of around 25 km and up to the altitude of 18,000 metres.
- Several variants of the missile — Akash MK1, Akash-MK2 — with improved accuracy and higher ranges are under development by the DRDO.
5 . Facts for Prelims
Chief Minister of Sikkim
- Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) was on Monday sworn in as the Chief Minister of Sikkim. Mr. Golay’s party, Sikkim Krantikari Morcha (SKM), won 17 of the 32 Assembly seats in the April 11 election.
Debenture Trustee
- Debenture : A debenture is an instrument of debt executed by the company acknowledging its obligation to repay the sum at a specified rate and also carrying an interest. It is one of the methods of raising the loan capital of the company. A debenture is thus like a certificate of loan or a loan bond evidencing the fact that the company is liable to pay a specified amount with interest and although the money raised by the debentures becomes a part of the company’s capital structure, it does not become share capital.
- Debenture Trustee : A debenture trustee means a trustee of a trust deed for securing any issue of debentures of a body corporate
- Who can be appointed a Debenture Trustee : To act as debenture trustee, the entity should either be a scheduled bank carrying on commercial activity, a public financial institution, an insurance company, or a body corporate. The entity should be registered with SEBI to act as a debenture trustee.
- Duties of the Debenture Trustee
- Call for periodical reports from the body corporate, i.e., issuer of debentures.
- Take possession of trust property in accordance with the provisions of the trust deed.
- Enforce security in the interest of the debenture holders.
- Ensure on a continuous basis that the property charged to the debenture is available and adequate at all times to discharge the interest and principal amount payable in respect of the debentures and that such property is free from any other encumbrances except those which are specifically agreed with the debenture trustee.
- Exercise due diligence to ensure compliance by the body corporate with the provisions of the Companies Act, the listing agreement of the stock exchange or the trust deed.