PIB ANALYSIS FOR UPSC CIVIL SERVICES EXAM
Topics Covered
- IIM Act 2017
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
- Samudra Shakti
1 . IIM Act 2017
Government approves the process of constitution of new Boards of Governors for the IIMs as per the IIM Act 2017.
About IIM Act 2017
- The Bill declares 20 existing Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) as institutions of national importance and confers on them the power to grant degrees.
- The Board of Governors will be the executive body of each IIM, comprising upto 19 members. It will nominate 17 board members including eminent persons, faculty members and alumni. The remaining two members will be nominees from the central and state governments, respectively. The Board appoints its own Chairperson.
- The Board of Governors will appoint the Director of each IIM. A search committee will recommend names for the post of the Director. The Director is eligible for variable pay, to be determined by the Board.
- The Academic Council of each IIM will determine the: (i) academic content; (ii) criteria and process for admission to courses; and (iii) guidelines for conduct of examinations.
- A coordination forum will be set up, which will include representation from the 20 IIMs. It will discuss matters of common interest to all IIMs
About the release
- The Government has today approved the process of constitution of new Boards of Governors for the IIMs as per the IIM Act 2017.”The process of constitution of Boards for the IIMs, which have been given full powers of running the institutions, is a major development which signals complete autonomy of quality institutions in higher education and will ensure quality expansion of higher education
- The process of constitution of the first Boards as laid down in Section 10 of the Act would be kicked off with the (3) Ex-officio members. who will select Chairperson, who shall normally be the current Chairperson and would be given the full term under the new Act(except where there are issues of ineligibility). Then on, the Chairperson would lead the further process of constitution of the Boards as laid down under the Act.
- Thereafter, the Board consisting of Chairperson and ex-officio members will co-opt (5) alumni from each of the IIMs, who will normally be the current serving members, except in cases of ineligibility.
- In the first meeting of the Board, the regulations for selection of (4) eminent persons and two faculty members would be framed; and based on this, normally the current serving persons would be selected for a full term.
2 . Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)
About RCEP
- The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a pact that aims to cover goods, services, investments, economic and technical cooperation, competition and intellectual property rights.
- The RCEP members include 10 ASEAN members – Brunei Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam and their 6 free trade agreement partners – India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
India and RCEP
- India already has a free trade agreement with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan and South Korea and it is negotiating similar pacts with Australia and New Zealand.
India is pushing for liberalizing norms to promote services trade as the sector accounts for about 55 % of India’s GDP. India is looking for a balance trade agreement as it would cover 40% of the global GDP and over 42% of world’s population.
3 . Samudra Shakti
INS Rana at Surabaya to participate in Indian Navy – Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise ‘ Samudra Shakti’
About Samudra Shakti
- Samudra Shakti is the inaugural edition of Indian Navy – Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise
- The aim of the exercise is to strengthen bilateral relations, expand maritime co-operation, enhance interoperability and exchange best practices
About the Release
- INS Rana of the Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command is on deployment to the South East Asia and arrived at the port of Surabaya to participate in the inaugural edition of Indian Navy – Indonesian Navy Bilateral Exercise ‘Samudra Shakti
- The strategic partnership between the two nations was elevated to ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ during the visit of Honourable Prime Minister of India in May 18 and Defence co-operation has been a significant pillar in this partnership.
- The visit of the ship seeks to promote India’s solidarity with Indonesia towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and to strengthen existing bonds between the navies of the two nations.