Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: High Ambition Coalition (HAC)
Mains level: NA
India has officially joined the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People, a group of more than 70 countries encouraging the adoption of the global goal to protect 30×30.
High Ambition Coalition (HAC)
Aim: To promote an international agreement to protect at least 30 % the of world’s land and ocean by 2030
- The HAC is an informal group of approximately 61 countries within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- It is committed to advancing progressive proposals on climate ambition.
- The HAC was founded by the Republic of the Marshall Islands in 2014 with the aim of ensuring the Paris Agreement, adopted in 2015, was as ambitious as possible.
- The Republic of the Marshall Islands serves as the convener and secretariat of the HAC.
- The global 30×30 goal is currently a centerpiece of the treaty.
Members
- HAC members currently include a mix of countries in the global north and south; European, Latin American, Africa and Asia countries are among the members.
- India is the first of the BRICS bloc of major emerging economies (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to join the HAC.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Central Asian Flyway
Mains level: NA
The two-day meeting of 30 range countries of Central Asian Flyway has begun.
What is Central Asian Flyway?
- Central Asian Flyway (CAF) is a flyway covering a large continental area of Eurasia between the Arctic Ocean and the Indian Ocean and the associated island chains.
- It comprises several important migration routes of waterbirds, most of which extend from the northernmost breeding grounds in Siberia to the southernmost non-breeding wintering grounds in West Asia, India, the Maldives and the British Indian Ocean Territory.
- The CAF range is essentially centred on one of the three major wintering areas of waterfowl in the Old World, namely the Indian subcontinent, the other two being Africa.
- There are also the African-Eurasian Flyway (AEWA) to the west, and south-east Asia in the East Asian – Australasian Flyway (EAAF) to the east.
- These wintering areas are geographically separate, and present entirely different ecological, historical and cultural situations.
Range countries
- The flyway covers 30 countries of North, Central and South Asia and Trans-Caucasus.
- India is the core country of the CAF and supports 257 species of water birds.
Major migratory birds
- Critically Endangered – northern bald ibis, white-bellied heron, Baer’s pochard
- Endangered – greater adjutant
- Vulnerable – black-necked crane, Indian skimmer, lesser adjutant, masked finfoot, Socotra cormorant, wood snipe
- Near Threatened – black-headed ibis, lesser flamingo, pygmy cormorant, white-eyed gull
Why designate such flyways?
- Approximately one in five of the world’s 11,000 bird species11,000 bird species migrate, some covering enormous distances.
- Conserving migratory birds requires cooperation and coordination along the entire flyway between countries and across national boundaries.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Road Safety Board
Mains level: Road safety issues in India
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has notified the constitution of the National Road Safety Board.
National Road Safety Board
- The NRSB will be constituted of a panel of seven members and a chairman, with the members having experience in the fields related to road safety, traffic regulation, urban planning, civil engineering and police enforcement and investigation.
- Additionally, the board will also comprise of technical committees to look into a variety of aspects of road safety from civil engineering to vehicle construction and safety equipment.
Why need such board?
- Along with the rapid expansion and up-gradation on the road network and the enforcement of higher safety standards for vehicles, the Government is now actively looking into the safety of roads too.
Terms of reference
- The Head Office of the Board shall be in the National Capital Region and the Board may establish offices at other places in India.
- The Board shall be responsible for promoting road safety, innovation and adoption of new technology and for regulating traffic and motor vehicles.
For this purposes, inter alia, the Board shall formulate
- specific standards for road safety, traffic management and road construction for hilly regions
- guidelines for capacity building and development of skills for traffic police, hospital authorities, highway authorities, educational and research organizations and other organizations
- guidelines for establishing and operating trauma facilities and para-medical facilities, for consideration by the Central Government
- provide technical advice and assistance to the Central Government, State Governments and local authorities on road safety and traffic management
Key provision: Protection of Samaritans
- The board aims to promote Good Samaritans and good practices in road safety and traffic management
- Good Samaritans who rescue victims of serious road accidents and rush them to a hospital within the golden hour will now be rewarded with ₹5,000.
- They will also be eligible for a cash prize of ₹1 lakh which will be given to 10 such Samaritans in a year.
- It has been felt that there is a need to motivate the general public through cash awards and certificates to help the road accident victims in emergency situation and to boost their morale.
- The categories of accidents that will make one eligible for the award will include those that result in a major surgery or minimum three days of hospitalisation or brain and spinal cord injuries.
Do you know?
The ‘golden hour’ has been defined as ‘the time period lasting one hour following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GI, Mihidana
Mains level: NA
The first consignment of GI-tagged sweet dish Mihidana sourced from Bardhaman, West Bengal has been exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain.
About Mihidana
- Mihidana, described as the micro cousin of the traditional Boondi, is derived from two words, Mihi meaning fine, and Dana, meaning grain.
- The dessert is made from powdered Kaminibhog, Gobindobhog and basmati rice, mixed with a small amount of gram flour and saffron for a golden colour.
- It is then blended with water by hand till its colour lightens.
- This mix is then poured through a brass ladle with tiny holes into a pot of ghee and deep-fried.
- The fine fried small rice-like grains are dipped in sugar syrup and drained once soaked.
Back2Basics: Geographical Indication
- A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
- Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
- GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
- GI is granted for a term of 10 years in India. As of today, more than 300 GI tags has been allocated so far in India (*Wikipedia).
- The tag stands valid for 10 years.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which of the following has/have been accorded ‘Geographical Indication’ status?
- Banaras Brocades and Sarees
- Rajasthani Daal-Bati-Churma
- Tirupathi Laddu
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Digi-Saksham
Mains level: Various initiaitves for Skilling India
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has launched DigiSaksham Initiative.
DigiSaksham
- It is joint initiative with Microsoft India is an extension of the Government’s ongoing programs to support the youth from rural and semi-urban areas.
- Through DigiSaksham initiative, free of cost training in digital skills including basic skills as well as advance computing, will be provided to more than 3 lakh youths in the first year.
- The Jobseekers can access the training through National Career Service (NCS) Portal.
- DigiSaksham will be implemented in the field by Aga Khan Rural Support Programme India (AKRSP-I).
Training offered
- Under the initiative, there will be basically three types of training viz. Digital Skills – Self paced learning, VILT mode training (Virtual Instructor led) and ILT mode training (Instructor led).
- The ILT training which is in person training would be conducted at the Model Career Centres (MCCs) and National Career Service Centres (NCSC) for SCs/STs across the country.
- Students will be able to access training in areas like Java Script, Data Visualisation, Advance Excel, Power Bi, HTML, Programming languages, software development fundamentals, Introduction to coding etc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: REC Mechanism
Mains level: Renewable Energy in India
Union Minister of Power and New & Renewable Energy has given his assent to amendments in the existing Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) mechanism.
What are RECs?
- Renewable Energy Certificates (REC) is a policy instrument to catalyze the development of renewable energy.
- It is a market-based mechanism that will help the states meet their regulatory requirements (such as Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPOs)) by overcoming the geographical constraints on existing renewable potential in different states.
REC Mechanism
- REC mechanism is a market-based instrument to promote renewable energy and facilitate compliance of renewable purchase obligations (RPO).
- It is aimed at addressing the mismatch between availability of RE resources in state and the requirement of the obligated entities to meet the RPO.
- 1 REC is treated as equivalent to 1 MWh.
How many types of RECs are there?
There are two categories of RECs, viz., solar RECs and non-solar RECs.
- Solar RECs are issued to eligible entities for generation of electricity based on solar as renewable energy source.
- Non-solar RECs are issued to eligible entities for generation of electricity based on renewable energy sources other than solar.
Sources of revenue under REC mechanism
- Revenue for a RE generator under REC scheme includes revenue from the sale of electricity component of RE generation and the revenue from the sale of environmental attributes in the form of RECs.
What are the proposed changes?
The salient features of changes proposed in revamped REC mechanism are:
- Validity of REC would be perpetual i.e., till it is sold.
- Floor and forbearance prices are not required to be specified.
- The RE generator who are eligible for REC, will be eligible for issuance of RECs for the period of PPA as per the prevailing guidelines.
- The existing RE projects that are eligible for REC would continue to get RECs for 25 years.
- A technology multiplier can be introduced for promotion of new and high priced RE technologies, which can be allocated in various baskets specific to technologies depending on maturity.
- RECs can be issued to obligated entities (including DISCOMs and open access consumers) which purchase RE Power beyond their RPO compliance notified by the Central Government.
- No REC to be issued to the beneficiary of subsidies/concessions or waiver of any other charges.
- Allowing traders and bilateral transactions in REC mechanism.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Export Insurance Account Scheme
Mains level: NA
The Centre has approved the contribution of Grant-in-aid (Corpus) of ₹1,650 Crore to the National Export Insurance Account (NEIA).
National Export Insurance Account Scheme
- NEIA Trust was established in 2006 to promote project exports from India that are of strategic and national importance.
- The NEIA Trust promotes Medium and Long Term (MLT) /project exports.
- It extends (partial/full) support to covers issued by ECGC (ECGC Ltd, formerly known as Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India Ltd.) to MLT/project export and to Exim Bank for Buyer’s Credit (BC-NEIA) tied to project exports from India.
Benefits offered
- The capital infusion in NEIA Trust will help the Indian Project Exporters (IPE) to tap the huge potential of project exports in focus market.
- Support to project exports with Indian content sourced from across the country will enhance the manufacturing in India.
- In addition, assuming an average 75% Indian content in the projects, it is estimated that around 12000 workers will move into formal sector.
Performance highlights
- Since inception, NEIA has extended 213 covers, with a consolidated project value of Rs. 53,000 crores, to 52 countries as of 31st August 2021.
- Its impact in enabling project exports has been most significant in Africa and South Asia.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Crop Varieties with Special Traits
Mains level: GM Crops
In an endeavor to create mass awareness for adoption of climate resilient technologies, PM will dedicate 35 crop varieties with special traits to the Nation.
About Crop Varieties with Special Traits
- The crop varieties with special traits have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition.
- Thirty-five such crop varieties with special traits like climate resilience and higher nutrient content have been developed in the year 2021.
- These special traits crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health.
Which are these varieties?
- Drought tolerant variety of chickpea
- Wilt and sterility mosaic resistant pigeonpea
- Early maturing variety of soybean
- Disease resistant varieties of rice
- Biofortified varieties of wheat, pearl millet, maize and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean and faba bean
- Pusa Double Zero Mustard 33
- Canola quality hybrid RCH 1 with <2% erucic acid and <30 ppm glucosinolates and
- Soybean variety free from two anti-nutritional factors namely Kunitz trypsin inhibitor and lipoxygenase.
Try answering the PYQ:
The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee is constituted under the:
(a) Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006
(b) Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999
(c) Environment (Protection) Act, 1986
(d) Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PM-SAUBHAGYA Scheme
Mains level: Rural and Urban Electrification
The Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana – SAUBHAGYA Scheme has successfully completed four years of its implementation.
Progress till date
- 82 crore households have been electrified since the launch of SAUBHAGYA till 31st March, 2021.
About SAUBHAGYA Scheme
- The Saubhagya is a scheme to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas.
- It was launched in September 2017.
- The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is the nodal agency for the operationalization of the scheme throughout the country.
Objective
- To provide energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified households in rural as well as urban areas
- To achieve universal household electrification in the country
Beneficiaries of the project
- The beneficiaries for free electricity connections would be identified using Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
- However, un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 installments through electricity bill.
- The solar power packs of 200 to 300 Wp with battery bank for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible areas, comprises Five LED lights, One DC fan, One DC power plug.
- It also includes Repair and Maintenance (R&M) for 5 years.
Implementation process
- For the easy and accelerated implementation of the Scheme, modern technology shall be used for household surveys by using Mobile App.
- Beneficiaries shall be identified and their application for electricity connection along with applicant photograph and identity proof shall be registered on spot.
- The Gram Panchayat/Public institutions in the rural areas may be authorised to collect application forms along with complete documentation, distribute bills and collect revenue in consultation with the Panchayat Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies.
Expected outcomes of the scheme
The expected outcome of the Scheme is as follows:
- Environmental upgradation by substitution of Kerosene for lighting purposes
- Improvement education services
- Better health services
- Enhanced connectivity through radio, television, mobiles, etc.
- Increased economic activities and jobs
- Improved quality of life especially for women
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International Hydropower Association (IHA), Teesta River
Mains level: NA
NHPC’s 510 MW Teesta-V Power Station located in the Himalayan State of Sikkim has been conferred with the prestigious Blue Planet Prize by International Hydropower Association (IHA).
Teesta-V Power Station
- The power station has been built, owned and being operated by NHPC.
- The award has been conferred for its sustainability assessment undertaken by Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) of IHA.
About IHA
- IHA is a London based non-profit membership association operating in 120 countries.
- The IHA membership includes leading hydropower owners and operators, developers, designers, suppliers and consultants.
- The IHA Blue Planet Prize is awarded to hydropower projects that demonstrate excellence in sustainable development.
- The Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol (HSAP) is the leading international tool for measuring the sustainability of hydropower projects.
- It offers a way to benchmark the performance of a hydropower project against a comprehensive range of environmental, social, technical and governance criteria.
Back2Basics: Teesta River
- Teesta River is a 414 km long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Bangladesh and enters the Bay of Bengal.
- It drains an area of 12,540 sq km.
- In India, it flows through North Sikkim, East Sikkim, Pakyong District, Kalimpong district, Darjeeling District, Jalpaiguri District, Cooch Behar districts and the cities of Rangpo, Jalpaiguri and Mekhliganj.
- It joins River Brahmaputra at Fulchhari in Bangladesh. 315 km portion of the river lies in India and rest in Bangladesh.
- Teesta is the largest river of Sikkim and the second largest river of West Bengal after Ganges.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Blue Flag Certification
Mains level: NA
The international eco-label “Blue Flag”, has accorded the Blue Flag Certification for 2 new beaches this year –Kovalam in Tamil Nadu and Eden in Puducherry beaches.
With this India now has 10 International Blue Flag beaches.
Which are the other 8 beaches?
- Shivrajpur (Dwarka-Gujarat)
- Ghoghla (Diu)
- Kasarkod (Karnataka) [NOT Kasargod which is in Kerala] and
- Padubidri (Karnataka)
- Kappad (Kerala)
- Rushikonda (AP)
- Golden Beach (Odisha) and
- Radhanagar (A&N Islands)
Blue Flag Beaches
- The ‘Blue Flag’ beach is an ‘eco-tourism model’ and marks out beaches as providing tourists and beachgoers clean and hygienic bathing water, facilities/amenities, a safe and healthy environment, and sustainable development of the area.
- The certification is accorded by the Denmark-based Foundation for Environment Education.
- It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined.
- It has 33 stringent criteria under four major heads for the beaches, that is, (i) Environmental Education and Information (ii) Bathing Water Quality (iii) Environment Management and Conservation and (iv) Safety and Services.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: White Goods, PLI Scheme
Mains level: Success of the PLI Scheme
A total of 52 companies have filed their application with a committed investment of Rs 5,866 crore under the PLI scheme to incentivize the domestic manufacturing of components of White Goods.
What are White Goods?
- White goods refer to heavy consumer durables or large home appliances, which were traditionally available only in white.
- They include appliances such as washing machines, air conditioners, stoves, refrigerators, etc. The white goods industry in India is highly concentrated.
Why PLI scheme for white goods?
- Indian appliance and consumer electronics (ACE) market reached INR 76,400 crore (~$10.93 bn) in 2019.
- Appliances and consumer electronics industry is expected to double to reach INR 1.48 lakh crore (~$21.18 bn) by 2025.
- The PLI Scheme on White Goods is designed to create complete component ecosystem for Air Conditioners and LED Lights Industry in India and make India an integral part of the global supply chains.
- Only manufacturing of components of ACs and LED Lights will be incentivized under the Scheme.
What is PLI Scheme?
- As the name suggests, the scheme provides incentives to companies for enhancing their domestic manufacturing apart from focusing on reducing import bills and improving the cost competitiveness of local goods.
- PLI scheme offers incentives on incremental sales for products manufactured in India.
- The scheme for respective sectors has to be implemented by the concerned ministries and departments.
Criteria laid for the scheme
- Eligibility criteria for businesses under the PLI scheme vary based on the sector approved under the scheme.
- For instance, the eligibility for telecom units is subject to the achievement of a minimum threshold of cumulative incremental investment and incremental sales of manufactured goods.
- The minimum investment threshold for MSME is Rs 10 crore and Rs 100 crores for others.
- Under food processing, SMEs and others must hold over 50 per cent of the stock of their subsidiaries, if any.
- On the other hand, for businesses under pharmaceuticals, the project has to be a greenfield project while the net worth of the company should not be less than 30 per cent of the total committed investment.
What are the incentives offered?
- An incentive of 4-6 per cent was offered last year on mobile and electronic components manufacturers such as resistors, transistors, diodes, etc.
- Similarly, 10 percent incentives were offered for six years (FY22-27) of the scheme for the food processing industry.
- For white goods too, the incentive of 4-6 per cent on incremental sales of goods manufactured in India for a period of five years was offered to companies engaged in the manufacturing of air conditioners and LED lights.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NITI Aayog
Mains level: Evolving concept of urban development
NITI Aayog has launched a report titled ‘Reforms in Urban Planning Capacity in India’ on measures to ramp up urban planning capacity in India.
Reforms in Urban Planning
- The report has been developed by NITI Aayog, in consultation with concerned ministries and eminent experts in the domain of urban and regional planning.
- It underscores urban challenges, including town planning and emphasizes need greater policy attention in our country.
Why such report?
- India is home to 11% of the total global urban population.
- By 2027, India will surpass China as the most populous country in the world.
- Unplanned urbanization, however, exerts great strain on our cities. In fact, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed the dire need for the planning and management of our cities.
- The existing urban planning and governance framework is complex, which often leads to ambiguity and lack of accountability.
Highlights of the report
The report makes several recommendations that can unblock bottlenecks in the value chain of urban planning capacity in India. Some of them are:
Programmatic Intervention for Planning of Healthy Cities:
- Every city must aspire to become a ‘Healthy City for All’ by 2030.
- The report recommends a Central Sector Scheme ‘500 Healthy Cities Programme’, for a period of 5 years, wherein priority cities and towns would be selected jointly by the states and local bodies.
Programmatic Intervention for Optimum Utilization of Urban Land:
- All the cities and towns under the proposed ‘Healthy Cities Programme’ should strengthen development control regulations based on scientific evidence to maximize the efficiency of urban land (or planning area).
- The report recommends a sub-scheme ‘Preparation/Revision of Development Control Regulations’ for this purpose.
Ramping Up of Human Resources:
- To combat the shortage of urban planners in the public sector, the report recommends that the states/UTs may need to a) expedite the filling up of vacant positions of town planners.
- It asks to additionally sanction 8268 town planners’ posts as lateral entry positions.
Ensuring Qualified Professionals for Undertaking Urban Planning:
- State town and country planning departments face an acute shortage of town planners.
- This is compounded by the fact that in several states, ironically, a qualification in town planning is not even an essential criterion for such jobs.
- States may need to undertake requisite amendments in their recruitment rules to ensure the entry of qualified candidates into town-planning positions.
Re-engineering of Urban Governance:
- The report recommends the constitution of a high-powered committee to re-engineer the present urban-planning governance structure.
- The key aspects that would need to be addressed in this effort are:
- clear division of the roles and responsibilities of various authorities, appropriate revision of rules and regulations, etc.,
- creation of a more dynamic organizational structure, standardisation of the job descriptions of town planners and other experts, and
- extensive adoption of technology for enabling public participation and inter-agency coordination.
Revision of Town and Country Planning Acts:
- Most States have enacted the Town and Country Planning Acts, that enable them to prepare and notify master plans for implementation.
- However, many need to be reviewed and upgraded.
- Therefore, the formation of an apex committee at the state level is recommended to undertake a regular review of planning legislations (including town and country planning or urban and regional development acts or other relevant acts).
Demystifying Planning and Involving Citizens:
- While it is important to maintain the master plans’ technical rigour, it is equally important to demystify them for enabling citizens’ participation at relevant stages.
- Therefore, the committee strongly recommends a ‘Citizen Outreach Campaign’ for demystifying urban planning.
Steps for Enhancing the Role of Private Sector:
- The report recommends that concerted measures must be taken at multiple levels to strengthen the role of the private sector to improve the overall planning capacity in the country.
- These include the adoption of fair processes for procuring technical consultancy services, strengthening project structuring and management skills in the public sector, and empanelment of private sector consultancies.
Steps for Strengthening Urban Planning Education System:
- The Central universities and technical institutions in all the other States/UTs are encouraged to offer PG degree programmes (MTech Planning) to cater to the requirement of planners in the country.
- The committee also recommends that all such institutions may synergize with Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Panchayati Raj and respective state rural development departments.
Measures for Strengthening Human Resource and Match Demand–Supply:
- The report recommends the constitution of a ‘National Council of Town and Country Planners’ as a statutory body.
- Also, a ‘National Digital Platform of Town and Country Planners’ is suggested to be created within the National Urban Innovation Stack of MoHUA.
- This portal will enable self-registration of all planners and evolve as a marketplace for potential employers and urban planners.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Transport and Marketing Assistance Scheme
Mains level: Export promotion schemes in India
The Centre has revised “Transport and Marketing Assistance” (TMA) scheme for Specified Agriculture Products’.
What is the TMA Scheme?
- The TMA Scheme was introduced in 2019 to provide assistance for the international component of freight, to mitigate the disadvantage of higher freight costs faced by the Indian exporters of agriculture products.
- All exporters, duly registered with relevant Export Promotion Council as per Foreign Trade Policy, of eligible agriculture products, shall be covered under this scheme.
- The assistance, at notified rates, will be available for the export of eligible agriculture products to the permissible countries, as specified from time to time.
- Assistance would be provided in cash through a direct bank transfer as part reimbursement of freight paid.
Following major changes have been made in the revised scheme:
- Dairy products, which were not covered under the earlier scheme, will be eligible for assistance under the revised scheme.
- Rates of assistance have been increased, by 50% for exports by sea and by 100% for exports by air.
List of ineligible products
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Account Aggregator Network (AAN) and its regulation
Mains level: Account Aggregator Network (AAN)
The Account Aggregator system in banking has been started off with eight of India’s largest banks. In this newscard, we shall learn it in a FAQ manner.
What is an Account Aggregator?
- An Account Aggregator (AA) is a type of RBI regulated entity (with an NBFC-AA license) that helps an individual securely and digitally access and share information from one financial institution they have an account with to any other regulated financial institution in the AA network.
- Data cannot be shared without the consent of the individual.
- There will be many Account Aggregators an individual can choose between.
- Account Aggregator replaces the long terms and conditions form of ‘blank cheque’ acceptance with a granular, step by step permission and control for each use of your data.
How would it improve an average person’s financial life?
- India’s financial system involves many hassles for consumers today.
- This includes sharing of physical signed and scanned copies of bank statements, stamp documents, or having to share your personal username and password to give your financial history to a third party.
- The AAN would replace all these with a simple, mobile-based, simple, and safe digital data access & sharing process.
- This will create opportunities for new kinds of services — eg new types of loans.
- The individual’s bank just needs to join the Account Aggregator network.
How is AAN different to Aadhaar eKYC data sharing?
- Aadhaar eKYC and CKYC only allow sharing of four ‘identity’ data fields for KYC purposes (eg name, address, gender, etc).
- Similarly, credit bureau data only shows loan history and/or a credit score.
- The AAN allows sharing of transaction data or bank statements from savings/deposit/current accounts.
What kind of data can be shared?
- Today, banking transaction data is available to be shared (for example, bank statements from a current or savings account) across the banks that have gone live on the network.
- Gradually the AA framework will make all financial data available for sharing, including tax data, pensions data, securities data (mutual funds and brokerage), and insurance data will be available to consumers.
- It will also expand beyond the financial sector to allow healthcare and telecom data to be accessible to the individual via AA.
Can AAs view or ‘aggregate’ personal data? Is the data sharing secure?
- Account Aggregators cannot see the data; they merely take it from one financial institution to another based on an individual’s direction and consent.
- Contrary to the name, they cannot ‘aggregate’ your data.
- AAs are not like technology companies which aggregate your data and create detailed profiles of you.
- The data AAs share is encrypted by the sender and can be decrypted only by the recipient.
- The end to end encryption and use of technology like the ‘digital signature’ makes the process much more secure than sharing paper documents.
Can a consumer decide they don’t want to share data?
Yes. Registering with an AA is fully voluntary for consumers.
- If the bank the consumer is using has joined the network, a person can choose to register on an AA, choose which accounts they want to link, and share their data.
- A customer can reject a consent to share request at any time.
- If a consumer has accepted to share data in a recurring manner over a period (eg during a loan period), it can also be revoked at any time later as well by the consumer.
Duration of the data shared
- The exact time period for which the recipient institution will have access will be shown to the consumer at the time of consent for data sharing.
How can a customer get registered with an AA?
- One can register with an AA through their app or website.
- AA will provide a handle (like username) which can be used during the consent process.
- Today, four apps are available for download (Finvu, OneMoney, CAMS Finserv, and NADL) with operational licenses to be AAs.
- Three more have received in principle approval from RBI (PhonePe, Yodlee, and Perfios) and may be launching apps soon.
- A customer can register with any AA to access data from any bank on the network.
Does a customer need to pay the AA for using this facility?
- This will depend on the AA. Some may charge a small user fee.
- Some AAs may be free because they are charging a service fee to financial institutions.
What new services can a customer access if their bank has joined the AA network of data sharing?
The two key services that will be improved for an individual is access to loans and access to money management.
- If a customer wants to get a small business or personal loan today, there are many documents that need to be shared with the lender.
- This is a cumbersome and manual process today, which affects the time taken to procure the loan and access to a loan.
- Similarly, money management is difficult today because data is stored in many different locations and cannot be brought together easily for analysis.
- Through Account Aggregator, a company can access tamper-proof secure data quickly and cheaply, and fast track the loan evaluation process so that a customer can get a loan.
- Also, a customer may be able to access a loan without physical collateral, by sharing trusted information on a future invoice or cash flow directly from a government system like GST or GeM.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bharat series (BH-series)
Mains level: Not Much
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has rolled out a new series for vehicles registration ‘BH’ to avoid re-registration of vehicles while moving to another state.
Bharat series (BH-series)
- There was a procedure of re-registration of a vehicle while moving to another state.
- A vehicle bearing BH registration mark shall not require assignment of a new registration mark when the owner of the vehicle shifts from one State to another.
- Format of Bharat series (BH-series) Registration Mark –
Registration Mark Format:
- YY BH #### XX
- YY – Year of first registration
- BH- Code for Bharat Series
- ####- 0000 to 9999 (randomized)
- XX- Alphabets (AA to ZZ)
Why such move?
- Station relocation occurs with both Government and private sector employees.
- Such movements create a sense of unease in the minds of such employees with regard to transfer of registration from the parent state to another state.
- Under section 47 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a person is allowed to keep the vehicle for not more than 12 months in any state other than the state where the vehicle is registered.
Who can get this BH series?
- BH-series will be available on voluntary basis to Defense personnel, employees of Central Government/ State Government/ Central/ State PSUs and private sector companies/organizations.
- The motor vehicle tax will be levied for two years or in multiple of two.
- This scheme will facilitate free movement of personal vehicles across States/UTs of India upon relocation to a new State/UT.
- After completion of the fourteenth year, the motor vehicle tax shall be levied annually which shall be half of the amount which was charged earlier for that vehicle.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Transport Initiative for Asia
Mains level: Not Much
NITI Aayog and World Resources Institute (WRI), India, jointly launched the ‘Forum for Decarbonizing Transport’ in India as part of the NDC-Transport Initiative for Asia (NDC-TIA).
Transport Initiative for Asia
- The NDC Transport Initiative for Asia (TIA 2020-2023) is a joint programme that will engage China, India, and Vietnam in promoting a comprehensive approach to decarbonizing transport in their respective countries.
- The project is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
- NITI Aayog is the implementing partner for the India component of the project.
- The project aims at bringing down the peak level of GHG emissions (transport sector) in Asia (in line with a well below 2-degree pathway), resulting in problems like congestion and air pollution.
Why need such initiative?
- India has a massive and diverse transport sector, which is also the third most CO2 emitting sector.
- Data suggests that within the transport sector, road transport contributes to more than 90% of the total CO2 emissions.
- The NDC-TIA India component focuses on developing a coherent strategy of effective policies and the formation of a multi-stakeholder platform for decarbonizing transport in the country.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: E-Shram Portal
Mains level: Welfare of the unorganized workers
The Union Ministry of Labour & Employment will launch the e-Shram portal – National Database on Unorganized Workers (NDUW).
What is the E-Shram Portal?
- The government aims to register 38 crore unorganized workers, such as construction labourers, migrant workforce, street vendors and domestic workers, among others.
- The workers will be issued an e-Shram card containing a 12-digit unique number, which, going ahead, will help in including them in social security schemes.
- The government had earlier missed deadlines for creating the database, inviting criticism from the Supreme Court.
How will the registration for workers happen on the portal?
- The registration of workers on the portal will be coordinated by the Labour Ministry, state governments, trade unions and CSCs.
- Awareness campaigns would be planned across the country to enable nationwide registration of workers.
- Following the launch of the portal, workers from the unorganized sector can begin their registration from the same day.
- A national toll free number — 14434 — will also be launched to assist and address the queries of workers seeking registration on the portal.
- A worker can register on the portal using his/her Aadhaar card number and bank account details, apart from filling other necessary details like date of birth, home town, mobile number and social category.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India's largest solar PV Project
Mains level: Renewable Energy in India
The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project of 25MW on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Simhadri PV Project
- The 2000MW coal-based Simhadri Station is the first power project to implement an open sea intake from the Bay of Bengal which has been functional for more than 20 years.
- This is the first solar project to be set up under the flexibilization scheme of coal-powered plant, notified in 2018.
- The floating solar installation which has a unique anchoring design is spread over 75 acres in an RW reservoir.
- This floating solar project has the potential to generate electricity from more than 1 lakh solar PV modules.
- This would not only help to light around 7,000 households but also ensure at least 46,000 tons of CO2e are kept at arm’s length every year during the lifespan of this project.
- The project is also expected to save 1,364 million litres of water per annum. This would be adequate to meet the yearly water requirements of 6,700 households.
Other important facts you must know
- As of May 2021, India has 95.7 GW of renewable energy capacity, and represents ~ 25% of the overall installed power capacity.
- The government plans to establish renewable energy capacity of 523 GW (including 73 GW from Hydro) by 2030.
- India was the world’s 3rd largest renewable energy producer with 38% (136 GW out of 373 GW) of total installed energy capacity in 2020 from renewable sources.
- Tamil Nadu has the highest installed solar power capacity in India. Kamuthi Solar Power Project near Madurai is the world’s second-largest solar park.
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Back2Basics: NTPC
- NTPC is an Indian statutory corporation engaged in the generation of electricity and allied activities.
- It is incorporated under the Companies Act 1956 and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Power.
- NTPC’s core function is the generation and distribution of electricity to State Electricity Boards in India.
- It is the largest power company in India with an electric power generating capacity of 62,086 MW.
- It has also ventured into oil and gas exploration and coal mining activities.
- In May 2010, NTPC was conferred Maharatna status by GoI, one of the only four companies to be awarded this status.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ex Malabar
Mains level: QUAD security Dialogue
Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt have arrived at Guam, an Island Territory of the USA to participate in the annual Exercise MALABAR-21.
Also read:
[Prelims Spotlight] Various Defence Exercises in News
Ex Malabar
- MALABAR series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 as a bilateral IN-USN exercise and has grown in stature over the years to include four prominent navies in the Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.
- It is carried out between navies of Australia, India, Japan, and the USA
- The exercise provides an opportunity for common-minded navies to enhance inter-operability, gain from best practices and develop a common understanding of procedures for Maritime Security Operations.
Significance
- The exercise will see the participation of all four Quad countries.
- Indian Navy also conducted a number of Passage Exercises (PASSEX) with navies from Japan, Australia and the US.
Another Exercise in news: Ex Konkan 2021
- Exercise Konkan 2021 was held between INS Tabar and HMS Westminster on 16 Aug 21 in the English Channel.
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Back2Basics: Quad Security Dialogue
- QSD is a strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by talks between member countries.
- The dialogue is paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar.
- Quad is widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power.
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