Government

31.01.18 Arunachal Pradesh(APPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Nagaland receives no instruction from EC

 

  • Nagaland state election authority has not received any instruction from the Election Commission 24 hours after all major political parties agreed not to contest the upcoming assembly polls slated for February 27 alleging the Centre’s failure to resolve the main political problem.

 

  • According to state election department sources, the authority was aware of the decision and they passed the message to the ElectionCommission.

 

  • Many political functionaries in Kohima callerstate chief election officer Abhijeet Sinha on Tuesday who said that they won’t halt the process until they receive any instruction from the country’s poll panel which announced the poll scheduled two weeks back.

 

  • All major political parties on Monday signed a joint statement prepared by the civil society organizations not to contest the polls without a complete solution of the vexed decade old problem.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

  • India and Asian Development Bank (ADB) sign $250 Million Loan

 

  • The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India have signed a $250 million loan to finance the construction of 6,254 kilometers all-weather rural roads in the States of Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal under the Prime Minister’s Rural Roads Program (PMGSY).

 

  • The First Tranche Loan is part of the $500 million Second Rural Connectivity Investment Program for India approved by the ADB Board in December 2017.

 

  • The program is aimed at improving rural connectivity, facilitating safer and more efficient access to livelihood and socio-economic opportunities for rural communities through improvements to about 12,000 kilometers Rural Roads across the 5 States.

 

·        India Ranks 6th In The List Of Wealthiest Countries

 

  • India ranked sixth in the list of wealthiest countries with the total wealth of 8,230 billion US dollars.
  • The list was topped by the United States of America, according to a report by New World Wealth.
  • He was the best-performing wealth market globally in 2017 as its total wealth swelled from 6,584 billion dollars in 2016 to 8,230 billion dollars in 2017, registering a 25% growth.

 

 

  • India ranks 62th in inclusive development index by World Economic Forum

 

Inclusive Development Index

 

  • 103 countries
  • 74 –developing countries
  • India ranked 62th
  • Three individual pillars — growth and development; inclusion; and inter-generational equity — has been divided into two parts. The first part covers 29 advanced economies and the second 74 emerging economies.

 

  • Growth score (6 level)— receding, slowly receding, stable, slowly advancing and advancing.

 

  • The top-five most inclusive emerging economies are Lithuania, Hungary, Azerbaijan, Latvia and Poland.

 

  • India ranks 72nd for inclusion, 66th for growth and development and 44th for inter-generational equity.

 

  • Three parameters -Standard of living-  Environment stability – future generation indebtedness

 

  • India is above only from South africa in BRICS countries.

 

NATIONAL

 

·        India becomes third largest producer of crude steel

 

  • According to a recent report published by World Steel Association (WSA), India overtook the US to become the world’s third-largest steel producer in 2018.
  • China has remained world leader by producing 831.7 MT in 2017, up 5.7% from 786.9 MT in the year-ago period.
  • Japan is second largest global steel producer.
  • The Global steel production had reached 1,691.2 MT in 2017, up by 5.3% compared to 2016 when output was 1,606.3 MT.
  • It includes over 160 steel producers with 9 of the 10 largest steel companies, national and regional steel industry associations, and steel research institutes.
  • It was founded in July 1967 and is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium.

 

  • Stree Swabhiman Initiative launched for Women Health and Hygiene

 

  • The Information Technology and Electronics Ministry of the country has announced to launch the new scheme initiative under Stree Swabhiman Drive.

  • The new initiative has been introduced by the Ministry and CSC to ensure and maintain perfect health for Women and at the same time to maintain Health Hygiene.

 

  • Prime Minister to launch Khelo India School Games in the Capital

 

  • Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will launch the first Khelo India School Games at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi on January 31, 2018.

 

  • The Khelo India programme has been introduced to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establishing India as a great sporting nation.

 

  • Talented players identified in priority sports disciplines at various levels by a High-Powered Committee will be provided annual financial assistance of Rs. 5 lakh per annum for 8 years.

 

  • The Khelo India School Games are being held from 31st January to 8th February, 2018 in New Delhi.

 

  • It is being implemented in 150 Colleges and 20 Universities.

 

  • Under-17 athletes have been invited to participate across 16 disciplines.

 

·        India to witness super blue moon with lunar eclipse

  • India would witness a ‘super blue blood‘ moon between 5:15 PM and 7:37 PM on as the Moon goes from east to west.
  • Occurring for the first time since 1866, the second Full Moon of the month, often called a Blue Moon, would coincide with a lunar eclipse giving it a blood-red tint, with the Moon also being a supermoon.

 

·        Indian Navy launches third Scorpene class submarine Karanj

 

  • The Indian Navy launched ‘Karanj,’the third Scorpene class submarine.
  • The submarine, constructed by shipbuilder Mazagon Dock Limited (MDL)in Mumbai.
  • The first of the six Scorpene-class submarines, Kalvari, was commissioned into the Indian Navy by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last month.
  • He had called its induction a big step in the country’s defense preparedness.
  • On the occasion, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had called submarine building a sophisticated and exacting craft, which only a handful of countries possess in their industrial capacity.

 

  • The second one, INS Khandari, was launched on January 12 this year is currently undergoing sea trials.

 

  • The Scorpene submarines are a primary modernization requirement of the Indian Navy, which is currently faced with an ageing submarine fleet, and that too when the Chinese navy has a growing presence in the Indian Ocean.

 

  • The technology being used for construction of the Scorpene class submarines has ensured superior stealth features such as advanced acoustic silencing techniques, low radiated noise levels and hydrodynamically optimized shape. These stealth features give it an invulnerability, unmatched by most submarine.

 

·        Environment Minister Harshvardhan Launches PetaFlop Super Computer

 

  • Environment Minister Harshvardhan launched a 8 PetaFlop capacityhigh-performance computer system ‘Mihir’ in Noida.
  • The system will be able to predict weather and climate accurately. This will be helpful in addressing the various issues of agriculture operations and fishing in the country.
  • The system will help the department in predicting severe climate-related calamities and warnings for fishermen.
  • With the launch of the system, India has joined the elite 30 member group of countries which have this advanced technology.

Arunachal Pradesh Public Finance and Fiscal Policy

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Arunachal Pradesh Public Finance and Fiscal Policy

The own resource of the State to finance its budget is very low, and the state is highly dependent on the central inflow. Thus, the budgetary policy of the government is constrained by limited own resources on the one hand, and high unit cost of supply of public and merit goods, on the other.

The economic reform process initiated by the central government in the beginning of the 1990s has also constrained the state in terms of access to soft central resources. Adding to it, due to implementation of 6th pay commission, has resulted in bulging of the public debt which reached 68.9 per cent of the GSDP in 2006-07 and more than 100 percent in2008-09.Arunachal Pradesh Public Finance and Fiscal Policy

Further, easy access to market borrowing (after the implementation of 12th Finance Commission Report) has refueled the process, and as a result, outstanding liability of the state as shown in the budget of 2007-08 climbed to 100 percent of GSDP in 2008-9. It is with this background that the finance and fiscal issues of the state have to be considered.

Broad Budgetary trend

From 1993-94 to 2000-01, except the years 2000-01, the state had surplus in revenue account (Arunachal Pradesh Development Report, 2009). The surplus was more than 10 percent of GSDP. From 2001-02 to 2005-06 the surplus was less than 5 percent. From 2006-7 onwards the surplus became more than 10 percent in average up to the year 2012-13.

The trend in fiscal deficit is also same in line of revenue deficit. It was 3 to 9 percent of GSDP in between 1993-1998-99. In 1999-2000, it went up above 40 percent of GSDP then remained stable around 15 to 20 percent of GSDP).

From 2001-2 to 2005-06it was hovering around 12 to 15 percent of GSDP. After the stricture given by 12th Finance commission, fiscal deficit came down to less than 5 percent of GSDP up to in 2006-07, 2007-8 and in 2009-10.

Again from 20011-12 onwards fiscal deficit is hovering around 10 percent of GSDP. Interest payment as a percentage of GSDP was around 5-6 percent in between 1993-94 to 2000-01. From 2001 to 2006-7 it remained around 4 percent and there after started declining and became 2.46 percent in 2012-13.

Outstanding Debt

Market Loan: Share of Market loan in total outstanding liability has undergone a significant change over time during 1991-92 and 2007-08.1 In Arunachal Pradesh, the share went up from 12.24 percent in 1991- 92 to 19.27 percent in 2006-07. Then, with some variation marker loan alone constitute 26.44 percent of total outstanding liability in 2013-14. Thus, over time, market loan is gaining importance in the state.

 NSSF: As discussed above, NSSF became a separate head in the debt accounting system in 1999-2000. Therefore, here the analysis will pertain to the period 2000-01 and 2013-14. In 2000-01, NSSF had a small share of 0.14 percent in 2001-02. In 2006-07, the share became 19.27 percent in Arunachal Pradesh and hovered around as low as 9 percent in 2008-09 and became 15.63 percent in 2013-14.

Loan from Financial institutions: Under this head also a significant change in share was observed during 1991-92 and 2007-08 in Arunachal Pradesh. It was as low as 0.14 percent in 2000-01 and as high as 21 percent in 2006-07. Subsequently remained around 15-17 percent thereafter.

Loan and Advance from the Central government: Central government’s Loan and Advance to the states was around 56.33 percent in 2006-07 in Arunachal Pradesh.Wihh a steady decline it became 6.97 percent in 2013-14. Thus, in 2006-07, a drastic fall in the share of Central government loan in total outstanding debt liability took place. This was basically due to conversion of high interest rate bearing central loan by low interest loan from the market and financial institution. Further, it happened because of 12th Finance Commissions’ incentives.

 Public Accounts: Share of Public accounts in total debt liability was 40 percent and above in the state in 1991-2.Within the public accounts share of provident fund increased from 11.54 percent in 1991-92 to 36.33 percent in 2006-07. Then it declined to 11 percent in 2008-09. In between 2009-10 and 2013-14 it remained around 23 to 25 percent.

Implementation of FRBM Act in Arunachal Pradesh

In Arunachal Pradesh FRBM Act has been implemented since 2006-07. FRBM Act’s provisions were passed into a law in March 2006. Since then the State Government  has been implementing the different provisions in letter and spirit. The FRBM Act was amended in 2010-11 and the following targets were set:

  • To maintain revenue surplus in all the years from 2010-11 to 2014-15;
  • To reduce fiscal deficit to 3 per cent of GSDP by 2011-12 and maintain the
  • Same during 2011-15, The amended FRBM set the year-wise target of total debt in relation to the State’s GSDP.

Composition of Revenue

The tax collected by the Government of Arunachal Pradesh constitutes a small portion, less than 5 percent, of the total revenue at its disposal. The rest are share of central tax, the state’s own non-tax revenue, and most important of all, the grant from the Central Government.

From 2001-02 to 2011-12 own tax of the state averaged 3.63 percent of the total revenue. On the other end of the spectrum is the grant from the Central Government, which averaged as high as 84.06 percent of the total revenue. Not only own-tax revenue, but also the share of the central tax is not high, being only 12.31 percent of the total during the eleven-year period from 2001-02 to 2011-12.

Total tax, own and central share, averaged 15.94 percent of the total during 2001-12. Compared with the own tax, the state’s own non-tax is high averaging 11.92 percent of the total revenue during 2001-02.

Revenue and Capital expenditure

The overall expenditure of the Government of Arunachal Pradesh is dominated by what is called ‘consumption; the revenue part of the expenditure varied during 2001-12 from a low of 66.68 percent to a high of 74.62 percent of the total.

The capital expenditure varied between 25.38 percent of the total to 33.32 percent. Table 2. 3 shows the composition of expenditure and its magnitude in the State’s GSDP. The Government expenditure is very high in the state forming more than 50 percent of its GSDP.

The expenditure varied during 2001-12 between 53.82 percent of the GSDP, the lowest value and 74.77 percent, the highest value. The revenue expenditure varied from a low of 39.67 percent of the GSDP in 2011-12 to a high of 50.49 percent of the GSDP in 2008-09. The capital expenditure as the percentage of the GSDP was lowest in 2001-02, only 13.66. This percentage reached the peak during the reference period in 2008-09 when it was 24.28 percent of the GSDP.

 

30.01.18 Arunachal Pradesh(APPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Territorial integrity of North eastern states won’t be compromised: Rajnath

 

  • Territorial integrity of Assam and other northeastern states will not be compromised when the final Naga peace accord is inked, home minister Rajnath Singh assured Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

 

  • The insurgent group NSCN-IM’s key demand is to integrate the Naga-inhabited areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur, which has been strongly opposed by the three states, currently ruled by the BJP.

 

  • The NSCN-IM has been engaged with peace talks with the interlocutor of the central government since 1997 when it announced a ceasefire agreement after a bloody insurgency movement which started in Nagaland soon after the country’s Independence. 

     

    INTERNATIONAL

     

    • ‘Aadhaar’ is Oxford’s first Hindi word of the year

     

    • Dictionaries at the Jaipur Literature Festival.

     

    • ‘Aadhaar’ also becomes the first Oxford Dictionaries Hindi Word of the Year.

     

    • The accompanying shortlisted words include Notebandi, Swachh, Vikaas, Yoga and Bahubali.

     

    ·        India Cheapest Country To Live In After South Africa: Survey

     

    • India is ranked second only to South Africa as the cheapest country to live or retire, according to a recent survey of 112 countries by GoBankingRates.
    • The survey ranked nations on the bases of four key affordability metrics. The metrics are Local purchasing power index, rent index, Groceries index, and Consumer price index.
    • India’s local purchasing power is 20.9% lower, rent is 95.2% cheaper, groceries are 74.4% cheaper, local goods and services are 74.9% cheaper.
    • The top three most expensive countries in the survey are Bermuda (ranked 112), Bahamas (111), and Hong Kong (110).

     

     

    NATIONAL

     

    ·        Economic Survey 2018:  Brief Summary

     

    • The Economic Survey, an annual publication of the Finance Ministry, is presented in both houses of Parliament during the Budget Session. It is a review of the developments in the country’s economy over the previous one year.
    • Sticking to the practice started last year, finance minister Arun Jaitley will present Union Budget 2018 on 1 February.
    • It presents a summary of the performance of the government’s major development programmes undertaken during that period.
    • It also details the main policy initiatives of the government.

     

    • The  Survey sees FY19 GDPgrowing 7-7.5% vs 75% in FY18.

     

    • The Due to higher expected increase in imports, net exports of goods and services are slated to decline in 2017-18.

     

    • The Exports biggest source of the boost to growth.

     

    • It points out that the GDP growth has averaged 7.3% for the period from 2014-15 to 2017-18, which is the highest among the major economies of the world.

     

    • Demonetisation helped share of financial saving to rise.

     

    • The ratio of domestic saving to GDP reached 29.2 percent in 2013 to a peak of 38.3 percent in 2007, before falling back to 29 percent in 2016.

     

    • The Sanitation coverage in rural India increased substantially from 39 percent in 2014 to 76 percent in January 2018. With the launch of Swachh Bharat Mission (Gramin) on October 2, 2014, the sanitation coverage in rural India increased substantially.

     

    • So far, 296 districts and 307,349 villages all over India have been declared Open Defecation Free (ODF).

     

    • India is gradually improving its performance in Science and Technology. In 2013, India ranked 6th in the world in scientific publications. Its ranking has been increasing consistently. The growth of annual publications between 2009 to 2014 was almost 14%. This increased India’s share in global publications from 3.1% in 2009 to 4.4% in 2014 as per the Scopus Database.

     

    • The foreign exchange reserves grew by 14.1% on a year-on-year basis from the end of Dec 2016 to end of Dec 2017.

     

    • The forex reserves as per 2016-17 were estimated at USD 370 billion. It grew to USD 409.4 billion in 2017-18.

     

     

     

    ·        VINBAX: India and Vietnam hold first military exercise in Jabalpur

     

    • The India-Vietnam Bilateral Army Exercise (VINBAX-2018)was conducted at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.
    • It is the first military exercise between the two countries.
    • The six-day-long military exercise (from January 29 to February 3, 2018) was conducted as part of joint training undertaken with friendly foreign countries by Indian Army.
    • VINBAX-2018 was Table Top Exercise to carry out training for Peace Keeping Operations under United Nations (UN) mandate.
    • The Defence ties between India and Vietnam have been on an upswing with the primary focus being cooperation in the maritime domain.

    ·        International Bird Festival To Be Held In Dudhwa National Park

     

    • A three-day international bird festivalwill be held at the Dudhwa National Park, Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh in February 2018 with nearly 200 leading ornithologists expected to attend.
    • The purpose of the international bird festival is to promote eco-tourism in Dudhwa and to give it a distinct international identity besides highlighting its traditional Tharu arts, culture, and heritage.

     

    ·        Asias biggest auto testing track inaugurated in Madhya Pradesh

     

    • Union Minister Babul Supriyo and Madhya Pradesh Industrial minister Rajendra Shukla inaugurated Asia’s biggest auto testing track in Pithampur of Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh.
    • The country’s research and development activities in the sector of automobile engineering and technology will get a boost, due to the construction of the auto testing track in Pithampur.
    • Pithampur will emerge as a hub of the automobile industry in future.
    • Union Minister further mentioned that the state government has provided 4 thousand acre land to NATRiP and the National Auto Testing Track has been developed on 3 thousand acre land.
    • Automobile units can be established by the industrialists on the remaining one thousand acre land.

     

    ·        Sandeep Lamichhane Becomes 1st Nepal Player To Get IPL Contract

     

    • Sandeep Lamichhane became the first cricketer from Nepal to land a deal an IPL contract.
    • He was picked by Delhi Daredevils in the player’s auction.
    • The 17-year-old, the only Nepal player in the IPL auction, was sold at his base price of Rs 20 lakh.
    • The leg-spinner rose to prominence with a successful outing at the 2016 U-19 World Cup where he guided Nepal to a creditable eighth place.
    • He hogged the limelight by becoming the second-highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 14 scalps in six innings.

28-29.01.18 Arunachal Pradesh(APPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Northeast children dominate list of bravery award winners

 

  • Four children from Nagaland, two from Mizoram and one of each from Manipur and Meghalaya are among the 18 bravehearts honoured with the National Bravery Awards 2017.

 

  • Among the eight from the northeastern states, two — F. Lalchhandama from Mizoram and Km Loukrakpam Rajeshwari Chanu from Manipur — were honoured posthumously.

 

  • Of the eighteen children selected for National Bravery awards this year, seven are girls. Nazia from Uttar Pradesh was honoured with the Bharat Award for raising her voice against illegal gambling and betting which has become rampant in her neighbourhood.

 

  • Last year the National Bravery Awards was given to 25 children from different parts of the country. Five of the awardees were from the North-Eastern states. The children for National Bravery Award are selected by a committee comprising representatives of various Ministries, NGO’s and office bearers of Indian Council for Child Welfare ( ICCWF). The national Bravery Award was initiated by the ICCWF to give recognition to children for outstanding deeds of bravery.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

·        India To Host Informal WTO Ministerial Gathering In New Delhi

 

  • Trade ministers from various countries including Australia, Japan, and Switzerland met for an informal WTO ministerial gathering in Davos, Switzerland.
  • India was represented by Deepak Jagdish Saksena, ambassador and permanent representative to the WTO.
  • India announced that it will host an informal WTO Ministerial gathering in March 2018.
  • The meeting would be held in New Delhi on March 19-20.

 

 

·        Worlds second largest food producer India ranks under Severe Hunger Levels

 

  • One of the highest food producers- India stands on the 100th rankfor the title ‘Hungry’.
  • Out of 119, India stood on 100th rank which is disturbing for the nation with the highest population.
  • ‘Global Hunger Index’ carried out by International Food Policy Research Institute chalked out nations that fall under ‘Starving’ category.
  • The 100 out of 119 countries on the GHI, while last year it was at 97 out of 118.
  • Even though India’s 2017 GHI score—31.4—has improved over the years, its hunger problem remains categorized as “serious.”
  • The rankings are based on four indicators: undernourishment, child mortality, child wasting, and child stunting.
  • A GHI score of between 20 and 34.9 points reflects serious hunger levels; between 35 and 49.9, it is alarming, and extremely alarming if over 50.

·        Doklam issue heated up

What is Doklam issue ?

 

  • Doklam, or Donglang in Chinese, is an area spread over less than a 100 sq km comprising a plateau and a valley at the trijunction between India, Bhutan and China. It is surrounded by the Chumbi Valley of Tibet, Bhutan’s Ha Valley and Sikkim.
  • Despite several rounds of engagement between China and Bhutan, the dispute between the two over Doklam has not been resolved. It flared up in 2017 when the Chinese were trying to construct a road in the area, and Indian troops, in aid of their Bhutanese counterparts, objected to it, resulting in the stand-off. Doklam is strategically located close to the Siliguri Corridor, which connects mainland India with its north-eastern region. The corridor, also called Chicken’s Neck, is a vulnerable point for India.
  • India and China have one of the world’s longest disputed borders and areas — which include 37,000 sq km of uninhabited Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh with 1.4 million residents and over 84,000 sq km.
  • Despite several rounds of negotiations between Special Representatives, the dispute is nowhere near a solution.

 

NATIONAL

 

·        2017 witnessed a 38% rise in social media URL blocking

 

  • A total of 1,329 social media URLs were blocked or removed on the recommendation of a government committee to deal with “objectionable content” last year till November 2017.
  • This is an increase of nearly 38% from 964 social media URLs blocked or removed for the whole of 2016.
  • URLs that were blocked or removed on account of court orders during the same period came down from 100 in 2016 to 83 in January-November 2017, according to an internal note of the Ministry of Electronics and IT
  • Also, the widespread usage of social networking sites and lack of awareness among users about the methods of cybercriminals, it added, is leading to a rise in the spread of malware such as Trojans and bots, and the theft of sensitive personal information.
  • Blocking is a sovereign power that is given to the government by virtue of Section 69A of the Information Technology Act. So under certain specified considerations, the power of blocking can be exercised… This power was inserted in the IT Act by virtue of the Information Technology (Amendment) Act, 2008, which came into effect from October 2009.

 

·        Sensors in Andamans to monitor earthquakes

 

  • The Indian Tsunami Early Warning System (ITEWS) of the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is in the process of setting up an elaborate system of sensors on the Andaman & Nicobar Islands for real-time monitoring of earthquakes.
  • Strong Motion Sensors with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) have been installed at 28 locations on the islands.
  • INCOIS, which comes under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, has in place a fail-safe satellite-based communication system, Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs), with VSAT based VoIP phone and fax, electronic display board, a computer-based earthquake alert and web access system.
  • The system is capable of displaying ticket messages related to tsunami events and triggering of a built-in siren alert system audible for up to 1 km, which can be triggered by INCOIS or by the EOCs.
  • The real-time data is collated at INCOIS in collaboration with the Indian Meteorology Department, the National Institute of Ocean Technology, the Survey of India and international sources.
  • It detects globally occurring earthquakes of 5 magnitude and above within 5-10 minutes of the event.

 

·        Finance Minister Arun Jaitley aim to ease doing business in India

 

  • Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reiterated that the government aims to provide an easy environment for doing business in India.
  • He was addressing a function to mark the International Customs Day in New Delhi.
  • He urged the officers of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to be very sharp in the detection process to avoid tax evasion.
  • The role of customs in terms of detection changed a lot.
  • The appealed the officers to perform the role of trade facilitator to cut down costs, time and bring efficiency to the system.
  • He also launched ICETRAK app of CBEC.
  • The app tracks the status of consignments.

 

·        Bharat Net opens door for telemedicine and e-education facilities in Gram Panchayats

 

  • Under the purview of the telecommunication industry, the Gram Panchayats in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan are been provided access to telemedicine and re-education facilities riding on Bharat Net infrastructure.
  • With the aim of dreaming of a nation to use internet services, the government has taken immense efforts and pressure to provide people with easy access and availability of resources.
  • The rural area development has grown and the nation is moving towards progress at a faster pace.
  • The access to the internet has made the people more prone to the internet and use telecommunication at a higher level. Educating the masses and likewise providing them.
  • According to the survey it is found that Hamira is one among the one lakh Gram

panchayat covered under the BharatNet phase 1.

 

  • In total Rajasthan comprises of over8117 Gram panchayats under the BharatNet service.

24.01.18 Arunachal Pradesh(APPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

 

  • Khandu inaugurates World War II Memorial Museum in Arunachal
  • Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu inaugurated the World War II Memorial Museum in the state’s Changlang district bordering Myanmar.

 

  • Built by the Union Culture Ministry, the Rs 2.25 crore museum in memory of those who laid down their lives in WWII is located adjacent to the historic Stilwell Road.

 

  • Khandu visited the war memorial where remnants of the war, personal belongings of the soldiers and others involved were preserved.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

·        Rachel Morrison 1st Oscar nominated female cinematographer

 

  • Rachel Morrison has become the first female cinematographer to receive an Oscar nomination in the 89-year-old history of the Awards. She has been nominated for her work in the film ‘Mudbound’. “The job of the cinematographer is to visualise emotion – things we as women are inherently good at,” said Rachel.

 

 

·        India inks $120 million loan agreement with World Bank to fund improved water supply in Uttarakhand

 

  • India signed $120 millionloan agreement with multilateral lending agency World Bank to help increase access to improved water supply services in in peri-urban areas in Uttarakhand.
  • The agreement was signed between Government of India, Government of Uttarakhand and World Bank Board.
  • The loan amount will be used for Uttarakhand Water Supply Program for Peri-Urban Areas to help the state to increase water supply coverage as well as ensure sustainable water supply service delivery in peri-urban areas.
  • The program will develop and implement service-oriented and efficient water supply for peri-urban areas, strengthen current monitoring and evaluation systems.
  • It will also provide dedicated incentives for preparation and adoption of of water supply ‘master-plans’ in peri-urban areas.

 

  • India Ranked 177 in Environmental Performance Index (EPI)

 

  • India has been ranked 177 among 180 countries in the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) – 2018. This index has been developed by Yale University and Columbia University in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

 

  • Top 5 countries are Switzerland, France, Denmark, Malta and Sweden.

 

  • Top bottom countries are Nepal, India, Congo, Bangladesh, Burundi.

NATIONAL

 

·        India to Host 16th International Energy Forum Meet

 

  • The 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial meetingwill be held in New Delhi in April 2018.
  • According to the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, the meeting will be hosted by Government of India in New Delhi and co-hosted by the Government of China and South Korea.
  • Representatives from 92 countries will be participating in the conference, including 72 member countries of IEF and 20 guest countries.

 

·        Andhra Pradesh and Zurich Sign Sister State Agreement

 

  • The Andhra Pradesh Governmentand the Canton of Zurich signed a letter of intent, to promote mutual prosperity and development.
  • The agreement was signed in the presence of Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu and Government Counselor Minister Carmen Walker Spah for sister state relation.
  • This will bring the State of Andhra Pradesh and Canton of Zurich closer and ensure that a framework is created, which supports the exchange between both the parties.

 

  • Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palanichamy receives UNESCO Award.

 

  • Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palanichamy received UNESCO Award of Merit awarded to the iconic Srirangam Ranganathaswamy temple in Tiruchirapalli. The award of merit was awarded by UNESCO Asia Pacific region for the reconstruction activities undertaken in temple without in least affecting its traditional splendour and Vedic rituals.

  • It is considered as one of the most important of the 108 main Vishnu temples (Divyadesams). It is Vaishnava temple built in Tamil or Dravidian style of architecture. It is located on an islet formed by twin rivers: Coleroon and Cauvery. The temple complex is situated in sprawling ground of more than 156 acres. The temple and 1000 pillared hall were constructed in the Vijayanagar period (1336–1565) .

 

 

·        Water storage level of India’s 91 major reservoirs drops 2%

  • The water storage available in 91 major reservoirs of the country for the week ending on January 11, 2018 was 80.484 BCM which is 50% of the total storage capacity of these reservoirs. This percentage was at 52 for the week ending January 4, 2018.

 

  • The total storage capacity of these 91 reservoirs is 161.993 BCM, which is about 63% of the total storage capacity of 257.812 BCM which is estimated to have been created in the country. Thirty seven of the 91 reservoirs have hydropower benefit with installed capacity of more than 60 MW.

 

  • The storage during the corresponding period of last year was 58% and average storage of last ten years during the corresponding period was 54% of live storage capacity of these reservoirs. Thus, the storage during the current year is less than that of the previous year and is also less than the average storage of the last ten years during the corresponding period.

 

·        Monsoon rainfall down only 24mm in country since 1981

  • Over 50% of sub-divisions in India have witnessed a decreasing trend in monsoon rainfall from 1981 to 2016, but the country has seen a 24mm drop during the period, a fresh Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) report has found.

 

  • The study stated that the number of deficient monsoon years during this period have been more than excess monsoon years — with 20 excess and 27 deficient years.

 

Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms

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Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms

Major Land Mark Economic Reform Goods and Service tax

The launch of GST on July 1, 2017 was indeed a historic occasion and a paradigm shift as India moved towards ‘One Nation, One Tax, One Market’.

Benefits:

  • Consumers – Removal of cascading in taxes and efficiency gains will bring down the overall cost paid by consumers.
  • Trade and Industry –
  1. It will benefit because of uniform single indirect tax throughout the country, seamless flow of input tax credit, removal of tax related barriers ate inter-state borders, reduced logistic costs, end to end IT enabled system and minimal interface with tax authorities.
  2. Exports will become more competitive and Make in India programme will get a major fillip due to increased ease of doing business and protection from cheap imports as all imports will be subject to integrated GST, in addition to the basic custom duty.
  • Manufacturers – They will be able to take rational decisions with regard to sourcing of raw materials, location of manufacturing and warehousing facilities.
  • Central and State Governments – Will witness tax buoyancy and the tax collection costs will reduce significantly.
  • Ease of doing business –
  1. Simpler tax regime with fewer exemption
  2. Reduction in compliance costs – no multiple record keeping for a variety of taxes so lesser manpower needed
  3. Simplified and automated procedures for various processes such as registration, returns, refunds etc.
  4. All interaction to be through the common GSTN portal – minimal public interface between the tax payers and administration
  5. Harmonization of laws, procedures and rates of taxes

Need for Constitutional Amendment:

  • Indian constitution had clearly demarcated the fiscal powers between Centre and States as per the entries in Union and State list.
  • Centre – Levy tax on the manufacture of goods (except alcoholic liquor for human consumption, opium, narcotics etc.). Centre, alone, is also empowered to levy service tax.
  • State – Levy tax on the sale of goods.
  • In case on inter-state sales, the Centre had power to levy tax (the Central Sale Tax) by the tax was collected and retained entirely by the states.
  • Amendment concurrently empowered the Centre and States to levy and collect GST.

Journey to launch of GST in India:

  • The idea of GST was first mooted in 2000 and a committee was set up under the chairmanship of Asim Dasgupta (the then West Bengal Finance Minister).
  • In 2003, another task force under Vijay Kelkar to recommend tax reforms were formed.
  • During the presentation of 2006-07 union budget, the govt. proposed to introduce GST from April 1, 2010.
  • The constitutional amendment (122nd) bill was introduced in 2014 and finally became act in September 2016. It became the 101st Amendment act.

Constitution (101st Amendment) Act 2016:

  • It empowers both, the Centre and the States, to levy and collect GST.
  • The GST has been defined as a tax on supply of goods or services or both, except supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption.
  • Thus, alcohol for human consumption has been kept out of the GST by way of the definition of GST in the constitution.
  • On the other hand, five petroleum products viz. petroleum crude, motor spirit (petrol), high speed diesel, natural gas and aviation turbine fuel have temporarily been kept out and GST council would decide the date from which they shall be inducted in GST.
  • Inter-State supply of goods and services (Integrated GST, IGST) would be levied and collected by Centre. It will ensure that the GST is truly destination based consumption tax and there is seamless flow of input tax credit, even when goods and services are moving from one state to another state.

The GST Council of Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms:

  • The guiding principle of the GST Council is to ensure harmonization of different aspects of GST between the Centre and the States as well as among States with a view to develop a harmonized national markets for goods and services within India.
  1. Chairperson – Union FM,Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms
  2. Vice Chairperson – to be chosen amongst the ministers of State Govt.
  3. Members – MOS (Finance) and all Ministers of Finance/Taxation of each state
  4. Quorum – 50% of total members
  5. States – 2/3 weightage and Centre – 1/3 weightage
  6. Decision by 75% majority (the weightage of voting has been so assigned that it is not possible for either the Centre or the states to take any decision unilaterally)
  • However, till now all the decisions in the council have been taken by consensus and there has not been any occasion for voting.
  • The difficult issue of cross empowerment and administrative division of tax payers between the states and center was resolved in a true spirit of give and take.
  • Council to make recommendations on everything related to GST including laws, rules and rates etc.
  • The newly created constitutional body, the GST Council, has emerged as a new model of cooperative federalism, where the centre and the states are willing to share and pool in their sovereignty and give fiscal space to each other.

Compensation to the Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms:

  • As GST is a destination based tax, there was an apprehension that many manufacturing states might lose revenue after implementation of GST.
  • Hence, the act provides for the compensation to the States for loss of revenue arising on account of implementation of GST for a period of 5 years.
  • The compensation act has fixed the revenues of the year 2015-16 as the base year revenues and further a nominal annual growth rate of 14% has been provided.
  • The Act provides for levying of a cess, which shall be used for compensation to the states in case there is loss of revenue. This cess shall be levied on luxury items and goods.

Deciding Tax Rates of Arunachal Pradesh Tax and economic reforms:

  • While deciding tax rates, the council has tried to achieve balance between three objective:
  • To ensure that interests of poor and vulnerable sections of the society are protected and goods of mass consumption and essential commodities remain at affordable level.
  • To ensure that the overall revenues of the States and the Centre are protected.
  • To see that the tax incidence on the goods and services does not increase or decrease substantially from the present incidence of tax.
  • Hence four tax rates of 5%, 12%, 18% and 28% slabs have been decided.

Supporting Medium and Small Enterprises:

  • The law provides for an exemption threshold where by it is not mandatory for a business whose aggregate turnover in a financial year is less than Rs. 20 lakh ( Rs. 10 lakh for special category states) to register.
  • There is also a composition scheme under which an eligible registered person, whose aggregate turnover in preceding financial year did not exceed Rs. 75 lakhs can opt to file summarized returns on a quarterly basis.
  • The taxpayers dealing in goods and restaurant sector can only opt for the composition
  • Under the composition scheme, the manufacturer will pay tax at the rate of 1%, restaurant sector @ 2.5% and traders @ 0.5% of the turnover each under CGST act and SGST act.
  • However, the service providers and the tax payers making inter-state supplies or making supplies through e-commerce operators are not eligible for composition scheme.

Tracking Tax leakages and Corruption:

  • The mechanism of matching of invoices will ensure that the input tax credit of purchased goods and services will only be available if the taxable supplies received by the buyers get matched against the taxable supplies received by the suppliers.
  • The GST Network is responsible for the IT backbone and is geared to generate more than 3 billion invoices per month.
  • It will check tax frauds, tax evasion and would bring more and more businesses into formal economy.
  • Tax payers can register, file returns and make payment of taxes on a single portal on the
  • Even in rare case, if the tax payer is to interact with the tax authorities, he will have to interact with only one authority either from the State govt. or from the Central govt.

Conclusion:

The launch of GST is a transformative reform and will change the way businesses are done in India. Radical change of this magnitude is bound to bring about some pain bu the gains of little pain are going to be many and long lasting for the Indian economy.

 

Main Features of Arunachal Economy

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Main Features of Arunachal Economy

Introduction

  • The economy of Arunachal Pradesh is predominantly agrarian. Agriculture and allied activities have overriding importance as a source of livelihood to the people of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • The State’s economy is characterized by persistent stringent financial situation marked by a very low level of State’s own resources co-existing with high level of borrowing.
  • The State has been suffering from impaired economic development due to bottlenecks in development of roads, civil aviation etc. in terms of per capita State Domestic Product and other development indices such as power, road length, Arunachal Pradesh ranks below national average.
  • Arunachal Pradesh is one of the Special Category States and is largely dependent on Central Assistance for Plan investment as the scope of internal mobilization of resources is limited in Arunachal Pradesh in view of low tax base. Therefore, the prime mover of the growth of the economy has been the flow of funds from the Centre.
  • The relatively isolated economies of the tribal communities of the area, which were later reorganized as Arunachal Pradesh, were gradually integrated into the larger economy only after independence, and more particularly after the Indo-China war of 1962. Apart from the relatively late exposure to modernization, another specificity of the historical transformation of the Arunachal economy was the role of the State as the prime mover in this process of gradual transformation and integration of the economy.
  • Arunachal Pradesh has now witnessed remarkable social and economic changes within a comparatively short period of time. The State’s economy has not only experienced a remarkable growth over the past decades, it has diversified from agriculture and forestry based subsistence economy into a market economy.
  • In 1970-71 the per capita Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) of Arunachal Pradesh was 56.14 percent of the per capita national income. Starting from a very low base, Arunachal’s per capita income increased at a faster rate than the country’s national income.
  • The predominantly barter economies are in the process of being transformed into a monetized economy. The market institutions are still underdeveloped in many respects, and there is a great deal of regional variations in the degree of integration with the market economy.
  • There is a significant change in terms of land tenure system, which is steadily leading to individual ownership by making collective ownership (clan, village, community ownership) a marginal phenomenon. In urban or semi-urban areas, land became a commodity for earning cash and ‘brewing social conflicts’
  • Subsistence nature of farming coupled with modern consumption structure is the driving force behind the changing economic institutions in Arunachal Pradesh. The rural urban migration, due to pull factors in the state, has resulted in substantial increase in employment in service sector. Thus, the process of modernization has led to the transformation of the traditional economic institutions in the State.
  • In the context of Arunachal Pradesh, power sector is the most vital infrastructure input for socio- economic development and has assumed centre stage because of huge hydropower potential.
  • At the time of independence there were less than 100 km. of dirt roads. At the time attaining statehood in 1987 the total road length was only 3419 km and today it stands at 21066.36 km i.e., 25.16 km/ 100 sq. km a quantum jump in progress.
  • The prospect of creating an industrial base in the state seems daunting in the light of the ecological and economic specificities of the state. However, a carefully designed strategy for establishing specific industries having strong forward and backward linkages has been envisaged in the New Industrial Policy-2008 of the State.

Economic Reforms

The Government of Arunachal Pradesh has been pursuing economic reforms for speedy development. There has been a significant fiscal correction in the last couple of years. Major reforms initiated by the State are

  • The State has taken various measures to curtail non-plan and unproductive expenditure and to increase State’s Own tax and non-tax revenue. The State’s own tax which was around Rs. 37.00 crore has now jumped to above Rs.80 crore this year. Because of various initiatives in development of hydropower, mines and minerals etc. The non-tax revenue is also increasing substantially.Main Features of Arunachal Economy
  • The State Govt. has enacted the ‘Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act 2006’ and in accordance the ‘Arunachal Pradesh Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Rule 2007’ have been framed to ensure prudence in fiscal management.
  • Mobilization of State’s own resource is pre-requisite for financing the annual plan. The Finance Department is in constant touch with revenue generating departments and monitoring meticulously for greater revenue generation.
  • The gross fiscal deficit which was at 13.85% of GSDP in 2004-05 has been reduced to 3.57 in 2007-08. • Serious restrictions have been put for the non-developmental expenditure including the post creation. • The Plan schemes are now being executed in Project Mode with the introduction of the concept of non-divertible earmarked allocation. The State Govt. has constituted very high level committee under the Chairmanship of the Chief Secretary to scrutinize the project proposals.
  • The State Govt. has notified “Hydro Electric Power Policy 2008” to accelerate investments in development of hydro power projects having installed capacity above 25 MW. The Govt. of Arunachal Pradesh had also announced “Small Hydro Power Policy 2007“for small hydro power projects upto an installed capacity of 25 MW.
  • The State PWD has reduced its manpower by 7000 Nos. through VRS. It will lead a saving of Rs. 30.00 crore per year. Other departments with surplus man-power are also working out the modalities.
  • To minimize the burden of committed liabilities of salary, Government of Arunachal Pradesh has transferred 13265 Nos. Plan posts of 37 Nos. departments from 7th Five Year Plan onwards during Annual Plan 2008-09 in the first phase. Transfer of remaining 8 Nos departments as well as committed liabilities of 8 departments will be taken care in the second phase during Annual Plan 2009-10. As a result provision Direction and Administration has been reduced to 27.69% during 2008-09 compared to 44.14% during Annual Plan 2007-008.

 

02.02.18 Arunachal Pradesh(APPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Budget brings hope to bamboo-rich northeast

 

  • Bamboo is essentially a type of grass, but its classification as a tree for 90 years prevented the northeast, which grows 67% of India’s bamboo, from exploiting it commercially unlike China, the only country with richer bamboo genetic resources.

 

  • Now Budget 2018 has ignited farm hope for this tree-turned-grass which once fuelled insurgency in the northeastern states. The allocation of ₹1,290 crore for a restructured National Bamboo Mission (NBM) has raised hopes for a range of bamboo-based industries – from food professing to construction.

 

  • Bamboo is a wonder, multi-utility grass that more than 300 ethnic groups in the northeast have traditionally been using in every stages of life, from birth to death, besides it being a delicacy. Bamboo’s commercial journey began when it was struck off the list of trees by amending the Indian Forest Act last year.

 

  • The Budget provision is one of the best initiatives to promote holistic development of bamboo. But the restructured NBM needs to be more focussed on value-chain management and value-addition of bamboo at community level which will bring more income to the bamboo farmers and bamboo processors.

 

 

INTERNATIONAL

 

·        India Slips to 42nd Place On EIU Democracy Index, Norway Tops

 

  • India slipped to 42nd place on an annual Global Democracy Index according to the data compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). India has moved down from 32nd place last year.
  • The top 5 Countries in the list are

    Norway,

    Iceland,

    Sweden,

    New Zealand and

    Denmark

 

  • The index ranks 165 independent states and two territories on the basis of five categories: electoral process and pluralism, civil liberties, the functioning of government, political participation and political culture.

 

  • The list has been divided into four broad categories- full democracy, flawed democracy, the hybrid regime and authoritarian regime.

 

  • North Korea is ranked the lowest at 167th, while Syria is a notch better at 166th place.

 

 

·        India Joins Ashgabat agreement

 

  • India joined Ashgabat Agreement on the establishment of an International Transport and Transit Corridor between the Iran, Oman, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
  • The agreement was signed in 2011, which envisages facilitation of transit and transportation of goods between Central Asia and the Persian Gulf.
  • According to the External Affairs Ministry, the accession to the Agreement would diversify India’s connectivity options with Central Asia and have a positive influence on its trade and commercial ties with the region.

 

NATIONAL

 

  • Union Budget 2018: Key takeaways and sector-wise highlights

 

  • Finance Minister Arun Jaitley delivered the current government’s fifth and last full financial budget (Budget 2018 for the fiscal year 2018-19) amid subdued economic growth, challenging fiscal situation and farm distress.

 

Here are the key highlights from the Union Budget 2018:

Economic Health

  • Economy firmly on course to achieve high growth of 8%
  • GDP growth at 6.3% in the second quarter of 2017-18 signals turnaround of the economy
  • Growth in the second half likely to remain between 7.2% to 7.5%

Agriculture and Rural Economy

  • MSP for all unannounced Kharif crops increased to 150%
  • Institutional credit for agri-sector increased to Rs.10 lakh crore in 2017-18
  • Fisheries, aquaculture and animal husbandry corpus at Rs.10,000 crore
  • New scheme Operation Greens with an outlay of Rs 500 Crore
  • Govt to develop and upgrade existing 22,000 rural haats
  • Agri-Market Infrastructure Fund with a corpus of Rs.2000 crore
  • Allocation for Ministry of Food Processing doubled to Rs.1400 crore
  • Loans to Self Help Groups (SHG) of women to increase to Rs.75,000 crore by March 2019.
  • Increased allocation of National Rural Livelihood Mission to Rs 5750 crore
  • Under Ujjwala Scheme distribution of free LPG connections will be given to 8 crore poor women
  • Housing for All by 2022 – more than one crore houses to be built by 2019 in rural areas

Education, Health, and Social Protection

  • Estimated budgetary expenditure on health, education and social protection at Rs.1.38 lakh crore
  • Ekalavya Model Residential School to be set up for tribal children
  • Investments for research & infra in premier educational institutions at Rs.1 lakh crore in next 4 years
  • Allocation on National Social Assistance Programme at Rs. 9975 crore
  • NHPS to cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families (approximately 50 crore beneficiaries)
  • NHPS to provide coverage up to 5 lakh rupees per family per year for hospitalisation
  • Rs 1200 crore for the National Health Policy, 2017 – additional Rs.600 crore for TB patients
  • 24 new Government Medical Colleges and Hospitals

Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) and Employment

  • Major thrust for Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) – allocation at Rs. 3794 crore
  • Target of Rs.3 lakh crore for lending under MUDRA Yojana
  • 70 lakh formal jobs to be created this year
  • Govt to make 12% contribution of new employees in the EPF for all the sectors for 3 years
  • Outlay of Rs.7148 crore for the textile sector
  • Increase budgetary allocation on infrastructure for at Rs.5.97 lakh crore
  • To develop 10 prominent tourist sites into Iconic Tourism destinations
  • 35000 kms road construction in Phase-I at an estimated cost of Rs.5,35,000 crore

Railways

  • Railways Capital Expenditure pegged at Rs.1,48,528 crore
  • 4000 kilometers of electrified railway network slated for commissioning
  • Work on Eastern and Western, dedicated freight corridors
  • Over 3600 km of track renewal targeted in current fiscal
  • Redevelopment of 600 major railway stations
  • Mumbai’s local train network to have 90 kilometers of double line tracks at Rs.11,000 crore cost
  • 150 km of additional suburban network planned for Mumbai
  • Suburban network of 160 km at for Bengaluru metropolis

Air Transport

  • To expand airport capacity more than five times to handle a billion trips a year
  • Regional connectivity – 56 unserved airports and 31 unserved helipads to be connected
  • To establish unified authority for regulating all financial services

Digital Economy

  • NITI Aayog to initiate a national program to direct efforts in artificial intelligence
  • Department of Science & Technology to launch Mission on Cyber-Physical Systems
  • Allocation doubled on Digital India programme to Rs 3073 crore
  • To set up 5 lakh wifi hotspots to provide net-connectivity to five crore rural citizens
  • Rs. 10000 crore for creation and augmentation of telecom infrastructure

Defence

  • Development of two defence industrial production corridors.
  • Allocation of Rs 2.95 lakh crore to defence sector.

Emoluments

  • To revise emoluments to Rs.5 lakh for the President
  • Rs 4 lakhs for the Vice President
  • Rs.3.5 lakh per month to Governor
  • Pay for Members of Parliament – law for automatic revision of emoluments every 5 years
  • 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi- Rs.150 crore for commemoration programme

Fiscal Management

  • Budget Revised Estimates for Expenditure at Rs.21.57 lakh crore
  • Revised Fiscal Deficit estimates at 3.5% of GDP
  • To bring down Central Government’s Debt to GDP ratio to 40%

Jaitley announces ‘world’s largest healthcare programme’

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced two new initiatives under the Ayushman Bharat Programme in the Union Budget 2018.

  • Under the programme, Mr. Jaitley announced a new flagship National Health Protection Scheme, providing a health insurance cover of ₹5 lakh a family per annum.
  • The scheme will cover 10 crore vulnerable families, with approximately 50 crore beneficiaries.
  • Mr. Jaitley also announced the creation of health and wellness centres, which will “bring healthcare closer to home”.
  • These centres, 1.5 lakh in number, will provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services. A sum of Rs. 1200 crore had been allocated for this.

·         Thirty Second Surajkund International Crafts Mela Begins

 

  • The 32nd Surajkund International CraftsMela begun in Faridabad, Haryana.

    The Mela is organized by the Surajkund Mela Authority and Haryana Tourism in collaboration with Union Ministries of Tourism, Textiles, Culture and External Affairs.

    The 17-day cultural extravaganza will see a spectacular showcase of regional and international crafts, handlooms, traditions along with some mouth-watering multi-cuisine food for the visitors.

    This year Uttar Pradesh is the theme state and Kyrgyzstan is the Partner Nation.

25.01.18 Arunachal Pradesh(APPSC) Current Affairs

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NORTH-EASTERN STATES

  • Railways to invest Rs 48,000 crore to boost Northeast infrastructure

 

  • The Railways will invest nearly Rs 48,000 crore in the northeast to boost infrastructure and development in the region.

 

  • Tracks up to Imphal will come up by 2020. the Railways could not expedite work in Meghalaya as local councils are unwilling to part with their land. the Railways has acquired land stretching up to 17 km for train connectivity to Kohima in Nagaland.

 

  • Doubling of tracks in Assam has been sanctioned up to Lumding via Goalpara and the NFR is working to complete the task by 2020. 

    INTERNATIONAL

     

    • Japan’s Development Loan Assistance to India for an amount of Yen 45 billion

     

    • The Government of Japan has committed JICA Official Development Assistance loan for an amount of Yen 45 billion (Rs.2587 crore approx.) for the project.

     

    • The Notes in this regard were exchanged between Mr. S. Selvakumar, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India and H.E. Mr. Kenji Hiramatsu, Ambassador of Japan to India on Japanese official development assistance loan for Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewerage Project (Phase 3) (I).

     

    • This Project will provide residents of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) area especially in 110 villages with safe and stable water supply and sewerage services by carrying-out construction of water treatment plant and sewage treatment plants thereby improving living conditions of the residents as well as the investment environment in the concerned areas in BBMP in the State of Karnataka.

     

    • India and Japan have had a long and fruitful history of bilateral development cooperation since 1958. In the last few years, the economic cooperation between India and Japan has steadily progressed.

     

    • This further consolidates and strengthens the Strategic and Global Partnership between India and Japan.

     

    NATIONAL

     

    ·        Eighth National Voters Day is observed on 25th January

     

    • The Election Commission of India celebrated the 8th National Voters’ Dayacross the country on 25th January for enhanced participation of citizens in the electoral process.
    • The National level function was held in New Delhi.
    • President Ram Nath Kovind gave away awards for best electoral practices to District Collectors, Superintendents of Police and other functionaries involved in election management.

     

    Gk bit – National Voters Day

     

    • National Voters’ Day or Rashtriya Matdata Diwasis celebrated on January 25 every year. The significance of National Voters’ Day is to encourage more young voters to take part in the political process. It is a day to celebrate the right to vote and vibrant democracy of India.

     

    • The day was first celebrated in 2011 to mark Election Commission’s Foundation Day. This will be eighth National Voters’ Day (NVD) and will be used to spread awareness among voters regarding effective participation in the electoral process.

     

    • ECI (Election Commission of India) is permanent and independent constitutional body established directly by Constitution of India to ensure fair and fair elections in the country. It is multi-member body and currently has three members including Chief Election Commissioner (CEC).

     

    • Bharat Parv to be held at Red Fort on Republic Day

     

    • Cultural extravaganza Bharat Parvwill be held at the Red Fort in Delhi as part of the Republic Day celebrations.
    • The prime objective of the event is to promote rich cultural diversity of the country, generate a patriotic mood and to ensure wider participation of the general public.
    • The Bharat Parv event includes a display of Republic Day Parade Tableaux, Performances by Armed Forces Bands, Cultural Performances from a different region.

     

    ·        Union Government To Infuse Over Rs88 Thousand Crore In 20 PSB

     

    • The Union Government announced 88,139 crore rupees capital infusion in20 public sector banks, PSBs, during the current fiscal ending 31st March to boost lending and revive growth.
    • IDBI Bank will get the most- Rs10,610 crore followed by State Bank of India 8,800 crore rupees.
    • The 20 banks that will receive the capital infusion during this phase include Bank of India, UCO Bank, and Punjab National Bank.
    • In October last year, the government had announced over two lakh crore rupees bank recapitalization plan spread over spread over two financial years  2017-18 and 2018-19.

     

    • India to host 16th International Energy Forum meet

     

    • The 16th International Energy Forum (IEF) Ministerial meeting will be held in New Delhi on April 10 to 12.

     

    • It will be hosted by Government of India in New Delhi and co-hosted by the Government of China and South Korea.

     

    • Representatives from 92 countries will be participating in the conference, including 72 member countries of IEF and 20 guest countries.

     

    • India had last hosted the IEF ministerial conference in 1996.

     

    ·        Union Government to increase number of AMRIT pharmacy stores 4 times

    • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced to increase the number of AMRIT pharmacy stores by four times by end of 2018 from the existing 111 outlets in a bid to make low-cost medicines more accessible. So far, 52 lakh patients have been benefited by buying discounted drugs (60 to 90% less than market price) from AMRIT (Affordable medicine and reliable implants for treatment) stores and have saved over Rs. 267 crores.
    • The AMRIT (Affordable medicine and reliable implants for treatment) scheme aims to reduce expenditure incurred by patients on the treatment of cancer.
    • Under it, retail outlets in the name of AMRIT pharmacy are opened to sell drugs for cancer and heart diseases at highly discounted rates on market rates.

     

     

    • SARAS PT1N makes its maiden flight

     

    • SARAS PT1N (14 seater) designed and developed by CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (CSIR-NAL), a frontline aerospace research laboratory, has successfully made its maiden flight.

     

    • Union Minister for Science & Technology, Dr. Harsh Vardhan, has congratulated the scientists of CSIR-NAL and other agencies involved in the successful maiden flight.

     

    • The aircraft took off at about 11 a.m from HAL airport and flew for about 40 minutes at the maximum height of 8500 ft at the speed of 145 knots.

     

    • The aircraft programme is named after Indian crane Saras. It was first conceptualised in the 1990s to establish short-haul civil aviation market. The original design of the plane included maximum take-off weight of 6,100kg and a maximum payload of 1,232kg.

     

    • Rapid Reporting System for the Scheme for Adolescent Girls launched

     

    • Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Shri Rakesh Srivastava launched the Phase -1 i.e. the beneficiary module of the Rapid Reporting System for the Scheme for Adolescent Girls – a web based on line monitoring for the Scheme for Adolescent Girls in New Delhi.

     

    • This Portal has been developed in collaboration with National Informatics Centre (NIC).

     

Arunachal Industrial Policy

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Arunachal Industrial Policy

Objectives:

The Industrial Policy, 2008 of Arunachal Pradesh is formulated to achieve the following objectives:

  • To create an investment-friendly environment in the State for industrial growth in the private/ joint venture / cooperative sectors for sustainable economic development of Arunachal Pradesh.
  • To generate employment opportunities in the State.
  • To make Arunachal Pradesh a preferred destination for outside investors.
  • To encourage local entrepreneurs to set up enterprises based on locally available raw materials.
  • To promote export oriented industrial units.
  • To take steps to promote hand loom and handicrafts.
  • To promote local investors through joint ventures with outside investors.
  • To encourage industrial units producing high value – low volume products.
  • To ensure fast track clearance of industrial proposals.Arunachal Industrial Policy

Focus Industries

Focus Industries will be

  • Industries based on agricultural, horticultural and plantation produce.
  • Industries based on non-timber forest produce: bamboo, cane (rattan), medicinal plants / herbs, aromatic grass, tea, coffee etc.
  • Industries based on locally available raw materials except timber.
  • Textiles (handlooms and power looms), Handicrafts and Sericulture
  • Electronics and IT based Enterprises.
  • Mineral Based Industries ( eg. Ferro-alloys, Cement Plant etc.).
  • Facilitation and Development of Industrial Infrastructure including Power, Communications etc. under Public Private Partnership (PPP).
  • Food Processing Industries.
  • Engineering and Allied Industries (Rolling Mill, Steel etc.).
  • Tourism (tourism infrastructure including resorts, hotels, restaurants etc.).

Main Features of Arunachal Industrial Policy

  • The State Government shall make special efforts to create proper infrastructure by promoting establishment of Industrial Estates, Industrial Growth Centres, Integrated Infrastructure Development Centres, Small Industries Cluster Development, Export Promotion Industrial Parks, Export Promotion Zones, Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Food Parks; strengthening of existing Industrial Estates, Border Trade Centres, Industrial Cluster Development etc,.
  • Entrepreneur(s)/ a group of entrepreneurs/ consortium of industries will be allowed cent percent equity holding / ownership of their industrial unit(s)/enterprises for a period of 50 years.
  • Entrepreneurs/ Investors shall be allowed to hold the land on lease for a period of 50 years on a predetermined lease rent. The consideration for lease of land may be in the form of annual or lump sum payments or equity participation.
  • State Government shall provide 99% Sales Tax (VAT) / Entry Tax exemption to eligible industrial units on import of actual raw materials, machineries and equipments into Arunachal Pradesh as also on sale of finished goods in the State for a period of 7 years from the date of commencement of commercial production.
  • At present, trading licenses are issued only to indigenous local traders. The present policy will continue to hold good for small scale industries/enterprises. However, under this policy the trading license will be issued to all entrepreneurs including outside investors for the industries/ enterprises which involve investments of minimum Rs 5.00 Crore in plant and machineries, whereas in case of service sector the minimum investment on equipments should not be less than Rs.2.00 Crore to qualify for obtaining trading license.
  • State Government Departments and other state Government controlled bodies and organizations, while making purchases will give price preference to the products manufactured by registered Micro and Small Enterprises
  • The Department of Industries shall be the Nodal Department for quality control of all industrial products in the state and for the products notified by the union government from time to time.
  • Special incentives will be provided to eligible Food Processing Units as additional State Capital Investment Subsidy @ 20 % subject to a ceiling of Rs.25.00 lakhs.
  • The financial institutions’ under the control of the State Government will be revamped and the District Industries Centers and financial institutions will work in tandem to ensure smooth flow of credit to new projects, existing industrial units for modernisation/ expansion/ diversification, village industries and rural artisans.
  • A State Level Industrial Empowered Committee headed by the Chief Secretary will be constituted, which will comprise the Commissioners/ Secretaries of the concerned administrative department and representatives from banking and financial institutions as members for smooth passage of various clearances through a Single Window Clearance System.