CURRENT AFFAIRS
TOPICS:
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A ‘silver’ moment to propel a Bay of Bengal dream
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Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
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Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
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Bad bank to kick off NPA takeover in July: Fin Min
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76,390cr. defence projects get nod
A ‘silver’ moment to propel a Bay of Bengal dream
Context:
- June 6 marked the completion of 25 years since the 1997 Bangkok Declaration launched a modest grouping (of Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand), with the acronym, BISTEC.
- Three countries (Nepal, Bhutan and Myanmar) joined it later to make it the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).
Past Scenario:
- At its birth the world was different; it was stamped by America’s ‘unipolar moment’.
- India and Thailand joined hands to start an experiment of infusing a part of South Asia with the economic and institutional dynamism that defined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- But BIMSTEC found the burdens of South Asia too heavy to carry, and so it grew slowly.
Present scenario:
- The strategic contestation between the United States and China defines the region’s geopolitics and geo economics, creating new tensions and opportunities.
- The grouping has succeeded in rejuvenating itself.
- BIMSTEC is viewed as an instrument of regional cooperation and integration, not just of sub regional cooperation.
Key achievements
- It has crafted a new Charter for itself, spelling out the grouping’s vision, functions of its constituent parts, and has secured a legal personality.
- It has prioritised the sectors of cooperation, reducing them from the unwieldy 14 to the more manageable 7.
- Each member state serving as the lead country for the assigned sector
- Unlike the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, post2014, BIMSTEC has continued to hold its summits and meetings of Foreign Ministers.
- Unlike the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) which held only one summit since its establishment in 1997
AREAS OF INTEREST
- Combating terrorism, forging security cooperation.
- Creating mechanisms and practices for the better management of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.
- Cooperation in select areas such as agriculture, trade, Energy, sustainable development and connectivity.
The faultlines
- The gaps between ambition and action is not good
- A major failure relates to the continuing inability to produce a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) 18 years after the signing of the Framework Agreement
- The other disappointment is connectivity — in infrastructure (roads, railways, air, river, and coastal shipping links), energy, the digital and financial domain, and institutions that bring people closer together for trade, tourism and cultural exchanges.
Challenges:
- NO regular meetings are being held, only 5 meetings held so far
Internal conflicts
- The BIMSTEC region witnessed the influx of over a million Rohingya refugees into Bangladesh, the result of oppression by the Myanmar military.
- The coup in Myanmar that led to its virtual boycott by a large segment of the international community
- Grave political and economic crisis afflicting Sri Lanka.
- The movement towards establishing the BIMSTEC Development Fund is minimal
- No permanent secretariat
In this Indo Pacific century, the BOBC has the potential to play a pivotal role, deepening linkages between South Asia and Southeast Asia.
It should accelerate the region’s economic development by collaborating with the newly minted Indo Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF).
New synergy should be created between BIMSTEC and the IPEF.
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme
Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme is function across 14 key sectors, to create national manufacturing champions and to create 60 lakh new jobs.
- Production linked incentive to boost domestic manufacturing and attract large investments in mobile phone manufacturing and specified electronic components, including Assembly, Testing, Marking and Packaging (ATMP) units.
- The Scheme would tremendously boost the electronics manufacturing landscape and establish India at the global level in electronics sector.
- The scheme shall extend an incentive of 4% to 6% on incremental sales (over base year) of goods manufactured in India
So far, the government has announced PLI schemes for 14 sectors including automobile and auto components, electronics and IT hardware, telecom, pharmaceuticals, solar modules, metals and mining, textiles and apparel, white goods, drones, and advanced chemistry cell batteries.
Objectives:
- TO reduce the import dependency
Eg ; china
- Support labour intensive sectors and boost domestic industry
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
CONTEXT:
On June 2, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) put out a draft proposal, seeking comments from the general public on a set of proposed amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
What is the law?
- IT Rules (2021) mandate social media platforms to exercise greater diligence with respect to the content on their platforms.
- They are required to establish a grievance redressal mechanism.
- Remove unlawful and unfitting content within stipulated time frames.
- The grievance officer of the platform’s redressal mechanism is responsible for receiving and resolving complaints of the users.
- She/he is expected to acknowledge receipt of the complaint within 24 hours and dispose the same in an appropriate manner within 15 days.
- ‘Grievance Appellate Committee’, functioning over and above the intermediary’s grievance redressal officer
- In case a user is not satisfied with the resolution provided by the intermediary, she/he can appeal against the decision at the appellate rather than going directly to court.
- Content portraying an individual in full or partial nudity, in a sexual act or impersonating some other individual in the act (using morphed photos) are required to be removed within 24 hours of receiving the complaint.
- The privacy policies of the social media platforms must ensure that users are educated about not circulating copyrighted material.
Challenges
- Digital advocacy group, Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) said that “worryingly, this would have made the government the arbiter of permissible speech on the internet and incentivised social media platforms to suppress any speech that may not be palatable to the government.
- The draft put forth the obligation that all social media intermediaries resolve all complaints within 72 hours of reporting.
- Such a short time line would have created the possibility of disposal of grievances without application of mind and led to arbitrary restriction on speech.
Bad bank to kick off NPA takeover in July: Fin Min
Context:
The National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. (NARCL), set up to take over large bad loans of more than 500 crore from banks, will pick up the first set of such Non Performing Assets (NPAs) in july 2022.
About The National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd. (NARCL)
- The NARCL, announced in the Budget for 2021-22, is intended to resolve stressed loans of 2 lakh crore, of which fully provisioned assets of about 90,000 crore are expected to be transferred to it in the first phase.
- Following extant guidelines, it will acquire these assets through 15 percent upfront payment in cash and 85 percent security receipts (SRs), a tradable security.
- The NARCL, which will acquire the bad loans from banks, and the India Debt Resolution Company Ltd. which will then manage these assets and seek to enhance their value have secured necessary approvals and permissions.
- NARCL is capitalised through equity contributions from banks/financial institutions (FIs). It will also raise debt as and when required.
- The new entity is being created in collaboration with both public and private sector banks
Rs. 76,390cr. defence projects get nod
Context:
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, on Monday accorded preliminary approval, the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), for capital acquisition proposals of the armed forces amounting to Rs. 76,390 crore.
- An Acceptance of Necessity (AoN), is accorded by the Defence Ministry for a particular weapon system or equipment at the beginning of the procurement process.
Significance:
- This will provide substantial boost to the Indian defence industry
- Reduce foreign spending significantly
- ARMY- fresh AoNs for procurement of rough terrain fork lift trucks, bridge laying tanks, wheeled armoured fighting vehicles with antitank guided missiles.
Weapon locating radars through domestic sources with emphasis on indigenous design and development
- NAVY-procurement of next generation corvettes (NGCs)
These NGCs will be versatile platforms for variety of roles viz. surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group operations, search & attack and coastal defence.
- Ship building
- This will strengthen the SAGAR (Security and Growth for all in the Region) initiative
- The proposals include manufacture of Dornier aircraft and Su30 MKI engines by HAL.
- Focused on enhancing indigenisation, particularly in indigenising aero engine material.
- A Digital Coast Guard project under “Buy (Indian) category” plan approved.
- Under this project, a secure pan India network for digitising various surface and aviation operations, logistics, finance and human resources processes in the Coast Guard will be established.
UPSC Civil Services Daily Current Affairs 7th June 2022
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