Export Preparedness Index 2020: NITI Aayog

Why in News

Recently, the NITI Aayog in partnership with the Institute of Competitiveness released the Export Preparedness Index (EPI) report 2020.

Key Points

• EPI 2020:
  
  • Aim: To identify challenges and opportunities, enhance the effectiveness of government policies and encourage a facilitative regulatory framework for export.
  • Ranking Parameter: The index ranked states on four key pillars:
    
    • Policy: A comprehensive trade policy providing a strategic direction for exports and  imports.
    • Business Ecosystem: An efficient business ecosystem helping states attract investments and create an enabling infrastructure for individuals to initiate start-ups.
    • Export Ecosystem: Assess the business environment, which is specific to exports.
    • Export Performance: This is the only output-based parameter and examines the reach ofexport footprints of States and Union Territories.
  • Sub-pillars: The index also took into consideration 11 sub-pillars - export promotion policy; institutional framework; business environment; infrastructure; transport connectivity; access to finance; export infrastructure; trade support; R&D infrastructure; export diversification; and growth orientation.
  • Features: The EPI is a data-driven effort to identify the core areas crucial for export promotion at the sub-national level (states and union territories).
  • Benefit: The Index would be a helpful guide for the state governments to benchmark regional performance with respect to export promotion and thus deliver key policy insights on how to improve and enhance the exports.
• Performance:
  
  • Gujarat has topped the overall EPI 2020 followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
  • Among the landlocked states, Rajasthan has topped the index, followed by Telangana and Haryana.
  • Among the Himalayan states, Uttarakhand topped the index, followed by Tripura and Himachal Pradesh.
  • Across Union Territories, Delhi has performed the best.

• India’s Exports:
  
  • India’s merchandise exports have witnessed growth from USD 275.9 billion in 2016-17 to USD 331.0 billion in 2019-20.
    
    • However, the Covid-19 crisis gave a major blow to the current fiscal. Consequently, India’s exports shrank by 60% in April 2020.
  • This consistent positive growth has been a result of key measures adopted by the government post-2016 for the promotion of merchandise exports.
    
    • A mid-term review of the Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 was conducted in 2017 to assess the policy interventions required to boost the export levels.
    • A new Logistics Division was established in the Department of Commerce to organize the integrated development of the logistics sector.
    • Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES) was launched in 2017 to address the existing export infrastructure gaps.
    • Agriculture Export Policy was rolled out to target export contribution at a micro-level.
    • Transport and Marketing Assistance (TMA) scheme was also introduced for the export of specified agriculture products to mitigate the disadvantage of the higher cost of transportation.
• Challenges: The export promotion in India faces three fundamental challenges:
  
  • Intra- and inter-regional disparities in export infrastructure.
  • Poor trade support and growth orientation among states.
  • Poor research & development infrastructure to promote complex and unique exports.

Way Forward

• The per capita exports in India stood at about USD 241, as compared to USD 11,900 in South Korea and USD 18,000 in China. Therefore, Indian economy has a huge potential to become a strong exporter on the world stage. This can be achieved by making India’s states and union territories active participants in the country's export efforts.
  
  • Currently, 70% of India’s export has been dominated by five states- Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.
• Emphasis on key strategies like a development of export infrastructure, strengthening industry-academia linkages and creating state-level engagements for economic diplomacy to address the challenges in exports.
• The private sector can also play an important role in export promotion.
• Increase in exports can help India to achieve the target of making India a developed economy by focusing on ‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’. The exports can also help generate employment in India.

Source: PIB

Economic Measures Suggested by McKinsey

Why in News

Recently, the McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has released a report titled 'India's turning point: An economic agenda to spur growth and jobs'.

• The report identifies a reform agenda that could be implemented in the next 12 to 18 months to increase productivity and create jobs.

Key Points

• Data Analysis:
  
  • Increasing Workforce: Given the increasing urbanisation and population trends, there will be 90 million additional workers in search of non-farm jobs by 2030.
  • Triple Job Creation: To cater to that, India will have to triple job creation to 12 million gainful non-farm jobs per year from the 4 million achieved between 2013 to 2018.
  • Required GDP Growth: The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is set to contract by over 5% in 2020-21, needs to go up to 8-8.5% per annum for the next decade to create the opportunities in the post Covid-19 era.
  • Promising Sectors: Manufacturing and the construction sectors offer the most opportunities for economic growth and also for higher employment.
  • Risk of Stagnation: The country risks a decade of stagnating incomes and quality of life if urgent steps are not taken to spur growth.
• Measures Suggested:
  
  • Global Shift: Global trends such as digitization and automation, shifting supply chains, urbanization, rising incomes and demographic shifts, and a greater focus on sustainability, health, and safety can become the hallmarks of the post pandemic economy.
  • Higher Productivity through Privatisation: Privatisation of 30 or so of the largest state-owned enterprises to potentially double their productivity.
    
    • Government also had a focus on privatisation under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat Package.
  • Sector Specific Focus: Framing sector-specific pro-growth policies to attract investment in manufacturing, real estate, agriculture, healthcare and retail.
  • Labour Reforms: Creation of flexible labour markets for industry with better benefits and safety nets for workers.
  • Improvement in Infrastructure: India needs to unlock supply in land markets to reduce land costs by 20-25%, enable efficient power distribution to reduce commercial and industrial tariffs by 20-25%; and improve the ease and reduce the cost of doing business.
  • Going Big: India needs to triple its number of large firms having revenues of over USD 500 million.
  • Efficient Financing: Streamlining fiscal resources can deliver USD 2.4 trillion in investment while boosting entrepreneurship by lowering the cost of capital for enterprises by about 3.5 percentage points.
    
    • Measures are required to channel more household savings to capital markets, to reduce the cost of credit intermediation, and to streamline government finance.
  • Bad Bank: Creation of a ‘bad bank’ can take care of the inoperative assets.
  • Responsibility for Reforms: A bulk 60% of the reforms will have to be undertaken by states and the remaining 40% by the Centre.

Source: Mint

Assessment of Economic Impact of Covid-19: DSGE Model

Why in News

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is using Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model to provide a tentative and proximate assessment of the likely impact of Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown on the Indian economy.

Key Points

• DSGE Model:
  
  • DSGE modelling is a method in macroeconomics that attempts to explain economic phenomena, such as economic growth and business cycles, and the effects of economic policy, through econometric models based on applied general equilibrium theory and economic principles.
    
    • Econometrics is the application of statistical methods to economic data in order to give empirical content to economic relationships.
    • General Equilibrium Theory is a macroeconomic theory that explains how supply and demand in an economy with many markets interact dynamically and eventually culminate in an equilibrium of prices.
  • RBI has considered three main economic agents, viz., households, firms and the government.
    
    • Because of lockdown, households have to stay at home and therefore, reduced labour supply to firms and consumption and income fall due to non-availability of non-essential items.
• Possible Scenarios under the DSGE Model:
  
  • First scenario i.e lockdown I which impacts the supply side of the economy by decreasing the labour supply and its productivity.
  • Second scenario i.e lockdown II, which additionally considers the increase in marginal cost i.e. the additional cost incurred in the production of one more unit of a good or service.
    
    • Inflation is expected to decline under both the first and second scenario.
    • Under the first scenario production cut is less severe, but demand contraction is more pronounced due to a rise in infections.
    • In the second scenario firms will curtail production as profits take a hit, wages see a lower rise and the economy goes through a large contraction.
    • However, the recovery from the pandemic is faster in the lockdown scenario on account of fewer opportunities for people-to-people interactions.
  • RBI has calibrated the DSGE model for the above two scenarios by assuming that:
    
    • Covid-19 infections peak around the second half of August 2020.
    • The output gap (difference between the actual and the potential output) reduces to about 12% of potential output when the economy is worst hit.
  • In both the scenarios of two lockdowns, the decline in economic activity reaches its bottom in April-June quarter of 2020-21 and recovers thereafter, with growth turning gradually positive from January-March quarter 2020-21.
  • Third scenario i.e the government does not impose a lockdown, the pandemic is more widespread and peaks in the second half of January 2021 with a very slow recovery.
    
    • This will cause a persistent labour shortage and the supply shock will increase the inflation and reduce the output.

Source: IE

Multi-State Phishing Scam

Why in News

Recently, Haryana Police has identified a phishing racket which accessed over 300 nationalized and private bank accounts across many states.

Key Points

• Frauds were done with Phishing and use of e-SIMs as the main conduit.
  
  • Phishing: It is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone, or text message.
    
    • This is done by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.
  • e-SIM: It is the Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) embedded in the phone.
    
    • It can not be removed as opposed to physical SIM cards, which can be removed.
    • The e-SIMs enable users to change service providers through a simple process.
    • Multiple networks and numbers can be stored on a single e-SIM too, so one can have more than one number.
• Online Monetary Frauds in India:
  
  • According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in 2019-20, banks reported 2,678 card and internet-related fraud, totalling Rs. 195 crore in value, which was more than double the value of such frauds reported by banks in 2018-19.
  • In the current fiscal (2020-21), between April and June, banks reported 530 fraudulent transactions involving debit and credit cards, or techniques such as phishing done over the internet.
• Steps taken:
  
  • RBI is taking measures to improve awareness related to cybersafety among people through:
    
    • e-BAAT (Electronic Banking Awareness And Training) programmes.
    • Organising campaigns on safe use of digital payment modes, to avoid sharing critical personal information like PIN, OTP, passwords, etc.
  • RBI has also directed all banks and authorised payment system operators to undertake targeted multi-lingual campaigns by way of SMS, advertisements in print and visual media to educate their users on safe and secure use of digital payments.
  • The Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) functions as the nodal agency for coordination of all cyber security efforts, emergency responses, and crisis management.

Source IE

Integration of e-PPO with Digi Locker

Why in News

The Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions has decided to integrate the electronic Pension Payment Order (e-PPO) with Digi Locker.

• The decision has been taken to enhance ease of living of central government civil pensioners.
• e-PPO is generated through the Public Finance Management System (PFMS).

Key Points

• Benefits of the Decision:
  
  • This initiative will create a permanent record of pensioners' respective PPO in their Digi Locker and eliminate the necessity of handing over a physical copy.
  • Further, it will eliminate delays in reaching the PPO to new Pensioners
• Process: The integration facility has been created with ‘Bhavishya’ software. Bhavishya will provide an option to retiring employees, to link their Digi-locker account with their “Bhavishya” account and obtain their e-PPO in a seamless manner.
  
  • Bhavishya is an online Pension Sanction and Payment Tracking System implemented by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions.
  • Pension tracking can be done by the individual as well as the administrative authorities for all actions preparatory to grant of pension and other retirement benefits as well as monthly pension paid after retirement.

Public Financial Management System

• The Public Financial Management System (PFMS), earlier known as Central Plan Schemes Monitoring System (CPSMS), is a web-based online software application developed and implemented by the Office of Controller General of Accounts (CGA), Ministry of Finance.
• PFMS was initially started during 2009 as a Central Sector Scheme of Planning Commission.
• The primary objective of PFMS is to facilitate a sound Public Financial Management System for the Government of India (GoI) by establishing an efficient fund flow system as well as a payment cum accounting network.

Digi Locker

• It is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) under the Digital India programme. It is the national Digital Locker System.
• It aims at ‘Digital Empowerment’ of citizens by providing access to authentic digital documents to citizen’s digital document wallet.

Source PIB

Draft Health Data Management Policy

Why in News

The National Health Authority (NHA) has released the Draft Health Data Management Policy of the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) in the public domain for comments and feedback.

• NHA is the apex agency of the Government of India responsible for the design, roll- out, implementation and management of Ayushman Bharat and the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) across the country.

Key Points

• The draft health data management policy acts as a guidance document to set out the minimum standard for health data privacy protection.
• Purpose: To create a National Digital Health Ecosystem that supports Universal Health Coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely and safe manner, through provision of a wide-range of data, information and infrastructure services ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information.
• Objectives:
  
  • Provide adequate guidance and to set out a framework for the secure processing of personal and sensitive personal data of individuals.
  • b digital personal health data like medical conditions, reproductive outcomes, prescriptions and diagnosis etc.
  • Create a system of digital personal and medical health records which is easily accessible to individuals and health service providers and is purely voluntary in nature, based on the consent of individuals, and in compliance with international standards.
  • Increase awareness of the importance of data privacy.
  • Ensure national portability in the provision of health services.
  • Establish appropriate institutional mechanisms for auditing of the National Digital Health Ecosystem.
  • Leverage the information systems existing in the Indian health sector.
• Background:
  
  • The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released the National Health Policy, 2017 which envisaged creation of a digital health technology eco-system aiming at developing an integrated health information system.
  • A committee headed by former Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman released the National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) in July 2019.
  • NDHB recognised the need to establish a specialised organisation, called the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM), to facilitate the evolution of the National Digital Health Ecosystem.
  • The Prime Minister announced the launch of NDH on 74^th Independence Day i.e. 15^th August, 2020.

Way Forward

• With the emergence of Big Data and increase in online data management, concerns around the protection of different kinds of sensitive personal information of individuals are being raised globally. Although India has realized the right to privacy, it is yet to roll out laws for protection of different kinds of datasets being used by the government, like Aadhar, DNA profiling, Aarogya Setu etc. The Draft Health Data Management Policy is a proactive initiative for protecting the health data of citizens before the creation of its repository.

Source: TH

Asteroid 2018VP1

Why In News

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), an asteroid named 2018VP1 is on a collision course with Earth.

Key Points

• Asteroid 2018VP1:
  
  • Asteroid 2018VP1 has a diameter of about 2 metres, around the size of a small automobile.
  • Only 1 in 240 chance that 2018VP1 would impact the Earth. It would likely burn up into a fireball after entering the Earth’s atmosphere before reaching the ground.
  • According to NASA, such an event happens about once every year.

Asteroids

• Asteroids are also known as minor planets.
• They are rocky remnants left over from the early formation of our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago.
• Most asteroids are irregularly shaped, though a few are nearly spherical.
• Many asteroids are known to have a small companion moon (some have two moons).
• There are also binary (double) asteroids, in which two rocky bodies of roughly equal size orbit each other, as well as triple asteroid systems.
• Classification of Asteroids:
  
  • Main Asteroid Belt: The majority of known asteroids orbit within the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
  • Trojans: These asteroids share an orbit with a larger planet, but do not collide with it because they gather around two special places in the orbit (called the L4 and L5 Lagrangian points). There, the gravitational pull from the sun and the planet are balanced.
    
    • Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two body system like the Sun and the Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion. These can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.
  • Near-Earth Asteroids: These objects have orbits that pass close by that of Earth. Asteroids that actually cross Earth's orbital path are known as Earth-crossers.

• Asteroid Collision with Earth:
  
  • Cut-off Size: Objects that can cause significant damage upon impact are larger than 30 metres.
    
    • As per NASA’s Near-Earth Object Observations Programme, asteroids that are 140 metres or larger (bigger than a small football stadium) are of “the greatest concern” due to the level of devastation their impact is capable of causing.
    • No asteroid larger than 140 metres has a “significant” chance of hitting the Earth for the next 100 years.
  • The Chicxulub Impactor: It was an asteroid that caused the sudden extinction of most dinosaur species 66 million years ago,
    
    • It had a diameter of over 10 kilometres.
• Deflecting Asteroids:
  
  • Methods to Deflect: Over the years, scientists have suggested different ways to ward off threats of more serious impact events, such as:
    
    • Blowing up the asteroid before it reaches Earth, or
    • Deflecting it off its Earth-bound course by hitting it with a spacecraft.
  • The Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment (AIDA): It is the most drastic measure undertaken so far, which includes NASA’s Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission and the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Hera.
    
    • Target: The target is Didymos, a binary near-Earth asteroid, one of whose bodies is of the size that could pose the most likely significant threat to Earth.
      
      • Didymos is in orbit between Earth and Mars.
    • Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART): The construction of DART began in 2018, which is scheduled to launch in 2021.
      
      • Aim is to slam into the smaller asteroid of the Didymos system at around 6 km per second in 2022.
    • Hera: It is scheduled to launch in 2024, will arrive at the Didymos system in 2027.
      
      • Aim is to measure the impact crater produced by the DART collision and study the change in the asteroid’s orbital trajectory.

Source IE

Landslide in Kodagu

Why in News

Recently, due to heavy rain, numbers of landslides occurred in many parts of India.

Key Points

• Landslides:
  
  • A landslide is defined as the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope.
  • They are a type of mass wasting, which denotes any downward movement of soil and rock under the direct influence of gravity.
  • The term landslide encompasses five modes of slope movement: falls, topples, slides, spreads, and flows.

• Causes:
  
  • Slope movement occurs when forces acting downward (mainly due to gravity) exceed the strength of the earth materials that compose the slope.
  • Landslides are caused due to three major factors: geology, morphology, and human activity.
    
    • Geology refers to characteristics of the material. The earth or rock might be weak or fractured, or different layers may have different strengths and stiffness.
    • Morphology refers to the structure of the land. For example, slopes that lose their vegetation to fire or drought are more vulnerable to landslides.
      
      • Vegetation holds soil in place, and without the root systems of trees, bushes, and other plants, the land is more likely to slide away.
    • Human activity which include agriculture and construction increase the risk of a landslide.
• Region:
  
  • Continent-wise, Asia suffers the maximum damages/losses due to landslides and within that, South-Asian nations are the worst sufferers including India which is one of the worst affected by landslides.
• Mitigation:
  
  • Restriction on the construction and other developmental activities such as roads and dams in the areas prone to landslides.
  • Limiting agriculture to valleys and areas with moderate slopes.
  • Control on the development of large settlements in the high vulnerability zones.
  • Promoting large-scale afforestation programmes and construction of bunds to reduce the flow of water.
  • Terrace farming should be encouraged in the northeastern hill states where Jhumming (Slash and Burn/Shifting Cultivation) is still prevalent.

Source: TH

Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021

Why in News

The Ministry of Women and Child Development has invited nominations for the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar 2021 from children, individuals and institutions.

• The Awards are given by the President of India in the week preceding Republic Day (26^th January) every year.

Key Points

• The Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar is given under two categories:
  
  • Bal Shakti Puraskar, and
  • Bal Kalyan Puraskar.
• Bal Shakti Puraskar:
  
  • Recognition: It is given by the Government of India every year to recognize exceptional achievements of children in various fields i.e., innovation, scholastic achievements, social service, arts & culture, sports and bravery.
  • Eligibility: A child who is an Indian Citizen and residing in India and is between 5-18 years of age.
  • Award: A medal, a cash prize of Rs. 1,00,000, book vouchers worth Rs.10,000, a certificate and citation.
  • Background: It was instituted in 1996 as the National Child Award for Exceptional Achievement, renamed from 2018 as Bal Shakti Puraskar.
• Bal Kalyan Puraskar:
  
  • Recognition: It is given as recognition to Individuals and Institutions, who have made an outstanding contribution towards service for children in the field of child development, child protection and child welfare.
  • Eligibility:
    
    • An individual who is an Indian Citizen and residing in India and should have attained the age of 18 years or above (as on 31^st August of respective year). S/he should have worked for the cause of children for not less than 7 years.
    • The institution should not be entirely funded by the government and should have been in the field of child welfare for 10 years and performing consistently in the field.
  • Award: Three awards are given in each of the two categories - Individual and Institution - along with cash prizes (Rs. 1,00, 000 and Rs. 5,00, 000 respectively).
  • Background: It was instituted in 1979 as the National Child Welfare Awards, renamed from 2018 as Bal Kalyan Puraskar.

Source: PIB

New Circles of Archaeological Survey of India

Why in News

The Ministry of Culture has announced 7 new circles of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Key Points

• The step has been taken in accordance with the Prime Minister’s call to facilitate and strengthen the process of preservation and registration of archaeological monuments.
• New circles in Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh), Trichy (Tamil Nadu), Jhansi and Meerut (Uttar Pradesh), Hampi (Karnataka), Raiganj (West Bengal) and Rajkot (Gujarat) have been created.
• The Hampi circle has been upgraded from the previous Hampi mini circle, and the Delhi mini circle has been merged with the Delhi circle.
• ASI Circles:
  
  • For the maintenance of ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains of national importance the entire country is divided into 36 Circles.
  • These carry out archaeological fieldwork, research activities and implement the various provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, 1958 and Antiquities and Art Treasures Act 1972.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

• ASI, under the Ministry of Culture, is the premier organization for the archaeological research and protection of the cultural heritage of the nation.
• It administers more than 3650 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance.
• Its activities include carrying out surveys of antiquarian remains, exploration and excavation of archaeological sites, conservation and maintenance of protected monuments etc.
• It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham- the first Director-General of ASI. Alexander Cunningham is also known as the “Father of Indian Archaeology”.

Source: TH

Pulikkali Folk Art of Kerala

Why in News

Pulikkali will be held online in Kerala this year due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Key Points

• Pulikkali (Puli means Leopard/Tiger and Kali means Play in Malayalam) is a recreational street folk art performed on the fourth day of Onam celebrations.
  
  • Onam (August–September) is a Hindu rice harvest festival of Kerala celebrated to commemorate King Mahabali.
• The folk art is mainly practiced in Thrissur district of Kerala.
• The main theme of this folk art is tiger hunting with participants playing the role of tiger and hunter.
• Performers paint their bodies like tigers and hunters and dance on streets to the beats of traditional percussion instruments such as thakil, udukku and chenda.
• It was introduced by Maharaja Rama Varma Sakthan Thampuran, the then Maharaja of Cochin.
• Another key event which takes place during Onam is Aranmula Boat Race, the oldest river boat festival in Kerala.
  
  • It takes place at Aranmula in Pampa river, near a Sree Parthasarathy temple in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala.
• Some Other Art Forms of Kerala:
  
  • Ottam Thullal
  • Talamaddale
  • Kalaripayattu
  • Kathakali
  • Mohiniyattam
  • Mudiyettu

Source: TH