15TH JUNE 2020 - PIB SUMMARIES - Shiksha IAS
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Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore 15th June 2020 – PIB Summaries
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/pib-summaries/15th-june-2020-pib-summaries/
15TH JUNE 2020 – PIB SUMMARIES
Posted on June 17, 2020 by admin
Page: 1Best IAS Coaching in Bangalore 15th June 2020 – PIB Summaries
Shiksha IAS https://iasshiksha.com/pib-summaries/15th-june-2020-pib-summaries/
PIB SUMMARIES CONTENTS
1. STATE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
2. INDIA’S FOREIGN TRADE
3. GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (GPAI).
4. INDIAN GAS EXCHANGE.
5. PM VAN DHAN YOJANA.
STATE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
CONTEXT
Bye Election to the Andhra Pradesh and Bihar Legislative Councils by the members of
Legislative Assembly (MLAs).
ABOUT LEGISALTIVE COUNCIL
Bicameralism is the practice of having two Houses of Parliament. At the State level, the
equivalent of the Lok Sabha is the Vidhan Sabha (Legislative Assembly), and that of the Rajya
Sabha is the Vidhan Parishad (Legislative Council).
Under Article 169, Parliament may by law create or abolish the second chamber in a State if the
Legislative Assembly of that State passes a resolution to that effect by a special majority.
At present, six Indian States have bicameral legislatures. Some argue that unlike the Rajya
Sabha, the Vidhan Parishad does not serve its purpose and poses a strain on States’ finances.
Constitutional provisions
Article 171 of the Constitution provides option for a state to have a Legislative Council in
addition to its Legislative Assembly.
As in Rajya Sabha, members of a Legislative Council are not directly elected by voters.
Manner of Election Of the total number of members of a legislative council:
1. 1/3 are elected by the members of local bodies in the state like municipalities, district
boards, etc.
2. 1/12 are elected by graduates of three years standing and residing within the state
3. 1/12 are elected by teachers of three years standing in the state, not lower in standard
than secondary school,
4. 1/3 are elected by the members of the legislative assembly of the state from amongst
persons who are not members of the assembly, and
5. the remainder are nominated by the governor from amongst persons who have a special
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knowledge or practical experience of literature, science, art, cooperative movement and
social service.
Thus, 5/6 of the total number of members of a legislative council are indirectly elected and
1/6 are nominated by the governor.
Procedure - Under Article 169, a Legislative Council can be formed “if the Legislative
Assembly of the State passes a resolution to that effect by a majority of the total membership
of the Assembly and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of the Assembly
present and voting”. Parliament can then pass a law to this effect.
Legislative council comparison with Rajya sabha
The legislative power of the Councils is limited.
Unlike Rajya Sabha which has substantial powers to shape non-financial legislation, Legislative
Councils lack a constitutional mandate to do so.
Assemblies can override suggestions/amendments made to legislation by the Council.
Unlike Rajya Sabha MPs, MLCs cannot vote in elections for the President and Vice President.
The Vice President is the Rajya Sabha Chairperson; an MLC is the Council Chairperson.
INDIA’S FOREIGN TRADE
CONTEXT
India’s overall exports (Merchandise and Services combined) in April-May 2020-21* are
estimated to be USD 61.57billion, exhibiting a negative growth of (-) 33.66 per cent over the
same period last year. Overall imports in April-May 2020-21* are estimated to be USD 57.19
billion, exhibiting a negative growth of (-) 48.31per cent over the same period last year.
Balance of Payment
Balance of Payment is systematic record of overall economic transaction during specific time
period
Consists of Current account payments & Capital account payments
World’s net Balance of Payment is always 0
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Current Account
Balance of Trade / Visible
Also known as balance on merchandising goods.
Records all transactions of foreign currencies on account of export & import of goods only.
BOT is always deficit in India means import >> export.
Means insufficiencies of foreign currency through export to pay for critical imports.
Balance of Invisible
Records all transactions of foreign currencies resulting out of export & import of services such
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as banking, insurance, software, consultancy etc.
Also includes the following :
Inward & outward tourism
Inward & outward education
Inward & outward medical treatments
Inward & outward Remittances : Indians settled abroad (Indian diaspora) send money in foreign
currency to India & similarly for foreigners in India
Profit & Interest on ReFI investments outgoing & similarly incoming interest on Indian investors
investing in foreign markets
Points to ponder
Net effect of BOT + BOI leads to Current account surplus (CAS) or current account deficit (CAD)
Generally, BOP is negative in India & if BOI is over and above BOT than CAS otherwise CAD
CAD + Fiscal deficit = Twin Deficit
Capital Account
Foreign investment in India (ReFI (FDI, FII), ADR, Direct purchase of land or assets).
External commercial borrowing (IMF, WB, ADB etc.), External assistance & Grants etc.
Indian Diaspora maintain deposits in foreign currency in India known as NRI deposits.
Overall BOP cannot tell the health of an economy, weather there is CAD or CAS but what is
important is the manner in which inflow & outflow are matched.
As CAD can be fulfilled by ECB (external borrowings)/RBI (internal borrowings) in capital
account of BOP.
The true picture can be seen from current account of BOP.
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Forex Reserve Consists of -
Foreign currency
Gold
SDR
Reverse Tansche
Reverse Tansche – A certain proportion of a member country’s quota is specified as its reserve
tranche. The member country can access its reserve tranche funds at its discretion, and is not under
an immediate obligation to repay those funds to the IMF. Member nation reserve tranches are
typically 25% of the member’s quota.
GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP ON ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (GPAI)
CONTEXT
India joins Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) as a founding member to support
the responsible and human-centric development and use of AI.
India today joined the league of leading economies including USA, UK, EU, Australia, Canada,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Singapore to launch
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the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI or Gee-Pay).
What is AI?
Artificial intelligence is the branch of computer science concerned with making computers
behave like humans. AI refers to the ability of machines to perform cognitive tasks like
thinking, perceiving, learning, problem solving and decision making.
ABOUT GPAI
GPAI is an international and multi-stakeholder initiative to guide the responsible
development and use of AI, grounded in human rights, inclusion, diversity, innovation, and
economic growth. This is also a first initiative of its type for evolving better understanding of the
challenges and opportunities around AI using the experience and diversity of participating
countries. In order to achieve this goal, the initiative will look to bridge the gap between
theory and practice on AI by supporting cutting-edge research and applied activities on AI-
related priorities.
INDIA AND AI
It is pertinent to note that India has recently launched National AI Strategy and National AI
Portal and have also started leveraging AI across various sectors such as education,
agriculture, healthcare, e-commerce, finance, telecommunications, etc. with inclusion and
empowerment of human being approach by supplementing growth and development.
NITI Ayog unveiled its discussion paper on national strategy on AI which aims to guide
research and development in new and emerging technologies.
NITI Aayog has identified five sectors — healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and
infrastructure and transportation — to focus its efforts towards implementation of AI.
Benefits
NITI Ayog estimates that adopting AI means a 15% boost for the gross value added (GVA) for
the economy by 2035.
AI can increase access and affordability of quality healthcare.
In agriculture, it can contribute towards enhancing farmers’ income, increase farm productivity
and reduce wastage.
It can also improve access and quality of education.
It can help build efficient infrastructure for the increasing urban population.
Develop smarter and safer modes of transportation to address traffic and congestion
problems.
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AI could create jobs in the country that would be higher than the number of jobs becoming
redundant due to innovation in technology.
Increase efficiency and enhance governance across the government.
Helps in improving the ease of doing business, as well as making the lives of people simpler
‘Make in India’ programme can be strengthened and help India in becoming a major
manufacturing hub with AI-assisted technology.
Opportunities
Advancements in technology over the last couple of decades—computing evolution (cloud,
big data, machine learning, etc), falling costs (cheaper data storage) and growing digitalisation.
Access to technology easing for the masses.
The demand for AI and machine learning specialists in India could rise by 60%.
Recent Developments
In agriculture, Microsoft, in collaboration with the International Crops Research Institute for the
Semi-Arid Tropics (Icrisat), has developed AI-enabled sowing app that sends advisories to
farmers on the best date to sow, soil-test based fertiliser and manure application, seed
treatment, etc.
In 2017, 3,000 farmers in Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Karnataka used the app, resulting in a
10-30% increase in kharif yields.
NITI has partnered IBM to develop AI-enabled yield-prediction and real-time advisory to the
farmer on productivity, pest-warning, etc, using data gathered from remote-sensing satellites,
soil health cards, IMD etc.
To tackle school dropout, the Andhra Pradesh government has partnered Microsoft to identify
those likely to drop out.
INDIAN GAS EXCHANGE
CONTEXT
Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launches Indian Gas Exchange, first nationwide online delivery-
based gas trading platform.
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ABOUT IGX
IGX will be a delivery-based trading platform for delivery of natural Gas. Incorporated as a
wholly owned subsidiary of the IEX - India’s energy market platform, IGX will enable market
participants to trade in standardised gas contracts. The platform is fully automated with web-
based interface to provide seamless trading experience to the customers.
NEED
India currently uses both methods. The Administered Pricing Mechanism (APM) price set by
government for gas and used by the power and fertilizer sectors, is an example of the
‘assessed’ price, while the price that Indian companies pay for imported gas is an example of
the market-linked price.
Unfortunately, neither model accurately reflects the physical market – the actual demand and
supply – for natural gas in India.
That’s because the ‘assessed’ prices carry distortions within. The ‘assessed’ APM price set by
the government is deliberately kept low for the poor who benefit from the subsidized rates.
Such assessments have been based on a complex ‘cost-plus’ method that adds the cost of raw
material, production, distribution, and marketing. Private companies have also ‘assessed’ prices
in the past when bidding for government gas exploration tenders or seeking buyers for the gas
produced. This has ultimately also proved unsustainable.
There are two problems with this method: one, there’s no way of verifying appropriateness or
accuracy, because the price-setting processes are opaque. Two, it creates an opportunity for
state – or private owner – intervention at every level, as also for corruption, since the
assessments are subjective.
The other method is to link India’s natural gas prices to the international market, more
specifically to the benchmarks of the U.S., UK, Japan, and those of countries such as Qatar and
Australia. The US and UK benchmarks – the Henry Hub and National Balancing Point
respectively – are determined by their local gas exchanges, whose prices include not just the
cost of raw material, production, distribution and marketing, but also the sophisticated inputs
from the financial markets such as volume, speculation, hedging, currency risks, geopolitical
developments. The Japan benchmark -Japan Custom Cleared or JCC – is based on
international crude prices. Our own gas import contracts such as those with Qatar and Australia
are based on JCC.
Although this is a transparent process, the market-linked international price comes with its
own limitations for India. Since the gas rates partially depend on crude prices, they become
directly affected by the volatility of the global crude oil markets. And if the prices are
denominated in dollars, a weakening rupee will cause a loss for the Indian consumer.
These limitations with the international market-linked prices, coupled with our own inefficient
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domestic assessments now under scrutiny for corruption, makes price assessment in India
sub-optimal at best.
India has moved to an international market-linked pricing model for gas which is linked to
average gas prices in the markets of the U.S., UK etc, for our private and public sector
players. This was done based on the recommendations of a 2012 committee headed by C.
Rangarajan, the Chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council. The aim is to
incentivise domestic exploration and pricing with even better transparency.
BENEFITS
Help the nation move towards free market pricing of natural gas.
India's vision on mega investments on Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals, gas pipelines,
CGD infrastructure and permission for market driven price mechanism will be materialized.
PM VAN DHAN YOJANA
CONTEXT
Coverage of PM Van Dhan Yojana proposed to be expanded from the current 18,000 SHGS to
50,000 Van Dhan SHGS, coverage of tribal gathers to be increased Three-fold to 10 lakhs.
ABOUT PMVDY
Pradhan Mantri Van Dhan Yojana (PMVDY) is a retail marketing led value addition plan for Minor
Forest Produce (MFP), meant for forest-based tribes to optimize the tribal income, locally.
Under the program, MFP-based tribal groups / enterprises of around 300 members are
formed for collection, value addition, packaging & marketing of Minor Forest Produces (MFPs).
These tribal enterprises will be in the form of Van Dhan SHGs which will be a group of 15-20
members and such 15 SHG groups will further be federated into a larger group of Van Dhan
Vikas Kendras (VDVKS) of around 300 members.
TRIFED will support the VDVKs through providing them with model business plans, processing
plans & tentative list of equipment for carrying out the value addition work of MFPs.
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TRIFED, as the apex national organisation involved in the improvement of the livelihood and
empowerment of these tribal people, is the nodal agency for the implementation of the
scheme. The Scheme has been a resounding success in offering some basic support to the
tribal gatherers and has helped in improving their lives. 1,126 Vandhan Kendras have been set
up as Tribal start-ups across the country onboarding over 3.6 Lakhs beneficiaries.
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