SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation)

Members: India + Indian padosis (except China (ek Jungle mein do sher nahi) and Myanmar-it falls in East ie SE Asia)

Members: (Clockwise)

1. Afghanistan
2. Pakistan
3. India
4. Nepal
5. Bhutan
6. Bangladesh
7. Sri Lanka
8. Maldives

• SAARC compromises 3% of the world's area, 21% of the world's population and 9.12% of the global economy, as of 2015.
• SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the UN as an observer.
• Secretariat in Kathmandu

News:

India's satellite 'gift' for SAARC to be up in Dec 2016

(Mar, 2015) Source BS

India's satellite for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Region is expected to be on the space by end of 2016. Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year asked the Indian Space Research Organsiation (Isro) to develop a satellite, which India can gift to the neighbours.

“Such a satellite will be helpful in SAARC nations’ fight against poverty and illiteracy, the challenge to progress in scientific field, and will open up avenues to provide opportunities to the youth of SAARC countries.

Till date, only two SAARC countries - India and Pakistan - have sent satellites in space, but several others are trying to follow.

According to reports, amongst the SAARC countriies, India got the maximum number of satellites operating in various orbits. According to SpaceReview.com, Pakistan's first indigenously developed satellite was launched from China on July 16, 1990. This satellite is no longer operational.

Pakistan opts out of SAARC satellite project

(March 2016) Source: Link

“Pakistan has decided to opt out of the satellite project. So it cannot be called a SAARC satellite. It will be a South Asia satellite,” External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson  said.

Sagarmala Project , Water Transport
(May 24, 2016)

Introduction:

Indian ports and coastal regions are set to witness a sea change, thanks to the ambitious Sagarmala project mooted by the Centre.

What is it?

The Sagarmala is a series of projects to leverage the country’s coastline and inland waterways to drive industrial development. It was originally mooted by the Vajpayee government in 2003 as the waterways equivalent of the Golden Quadrilateral. Sagarmala, integrated with the development of inland waterways, is expected to reduce cost and time for transporting goods, benefiting industries and export/import trade.

One-Two-Three-Four (Impact)

The project is mammoth with 150 initiatives with a total outlay of ₹4 lakh crore, spread across four broad areas. One, modernise port infrastructure, add up to six new ports and enhance capacity. Two, improve port connectivity through rail corridors, freight-friendly expressways and inland waterways. Three, create 14 coastal economic zones or CEZs and a special economic zone at Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in Mumbai with manufacturing clusters to enable port-led industrialisation. Four, develop skills of fishermen and other coastal and island communities.

Implementation:

To implement this, State governments would set up State Sagarmala committees, headed by the chief minister or the minister in charge of ports. At the central level, a Sagarmala Development Company (SDC) will be set upto provide equity support to assist various special purpose vehicles (SPVs) set up for various projects.

Why is it important?

India is located along key international trade routes in the Indian Ocean and has a long coastline of over 7,000 km. Yet, capacity constraints and lack of modern facilities at Indian ports tremendously elongates the time taken to ship goods in and out of the country and has held back India’s share in world trade.

Developing rivers as inland waterways can also help save domestic logistics costs too. Transport costs are high in India – 18 per cent of GDP, compared to less than 10 per cent in China.

Employment Generation:

Port infrastructure and linkages have been frankly a sinking ship and initiatives such as Make in India cannot take off without better port infrastructure. This has led to expectations that Sagarmala could boost India’s merchandise exports to $110 billion by 2025 and create an estimated 10 million new jobs (four million in direct employment).

Such a project looks promising, going by the example of Shenzhen in China. Since 1978, it helped create an estimated seven million jobs and the city’s GDP grew 50 times to $180 billion after the development of ports. If Indian port development takes off similarly, local and foreign funds would flow in and coastal regions may become good bets for real estate too, as they will see industry and job growth. Logistic costs savings of over ₹35,000 crore per year can also help the Centre spend on development and possibly reduce taxes.

The bottomline

There is lots of moolah in Sagarmala if we know how to ride this wave.

Note:

• The Union Ministry of Shipping has been appointed as the nodal ministry for this initiative.
• Major ports are controlled by the central government (the Central Shipping Ministry) and minor ports by state governments (ministries in nine coastal states).
• 9 coastal states of India are shown below:

12 Major ports:

More facts:

• Kandla Port is located on the Gulf of Kutch. It is the largest port of India by volume of cargo handled.
• Ennore Port, officially renamed Kamarajar Port Limited,  is the only corporatised major port and is registered as a company.
• Max minor port= Maharashtra, 2nd=Gujarat
• Enayam (Tamil Nadu) will be 13th major port (received in principle approval). Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) known as Indian Port Rail Corporation (IPRC) has been established under companies Act, 2013 to fund Port Rail connectivity.

Source: Business Line

Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) and Disinvestment targets

Market appetite for such large fund-raising remains uncertain

The government faces an uphill task in meeting its disinvestment target of Rs.565 billion for 2016-17. Having failed to raise the targeted amount through stake sale in PSUs for the last six years and in view of the current low valuations of a majority of PSUs , the government has decided to liquidate its stake in private companies, held through SUUTI. Recently, the Specified Undertaking of Unit Trust of India (SUUTI) put out a notification (RFP) inviting merchant bankers to bid for a mandate to sell its stake in 51 companies. As per media reports, the government will sell SUUTI’s holdings in two to three tranches. The companies include big-ticket names like Ultratech cement, Axis Bank, ITC, Bharat Petroleum, L&T, Hindustan Unilever and Reliance Industries. SUUTI was formed by the restructuring of the erstwhile Unit Trust of India (UTI) into UTI Trustee Company and SUUTI. It came into effect in February 2003, on the passing of the Unit Trust of India (Transfer of Undertaking and Repeal) Act of 2002. Source: Economic Outlook Article

• Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) was established for management of investment in CPSEs and oversee stake-sale process.
• SUUTI was formed in 2003 as an offshoot of erstwhile Unit Trust of India (UTI)

Land Holdings in India

• Land holdings in the marginal category (less than 1 ha. ie 2.5 acres) constitute 67 per cent of the operational holdings in the country (2010-11). ). In terms of area operated, the share of marginal holdings has doubled to 22 per cent (2010-11)  from a mere 9 per cent (1970-71)
• Small farmer = 1 to 2 ha
• Small and marginal holdings together, constitute 85 per cent in terms of number of operational holdings and 44 per cent of the operated area in the country.
• Thus, over the period, the marginal category has emerged as a distinct and dominant class by itself. Hence, farm mechanisation suited to the needs and requirements of marginal and small farmers is required.
• The average size of large category land holdings indicate that huge potential exists to scale up agriculture wherein corporatisation of agriculture can be an independent intervention that can trigger the sector.

Source: NABARD Rural Pulse document 2014

Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS)

• BBPS is a centralised bill payment system which gathers details of bills issued by utility services such as electricity, water, gas, telephone, DTH and insurance companies and facilitates payment instantly across India.
• it makes access to bill payments universal.
• Common platform to pay utility services bills.
• Mainly aimed at those for whom netbanking is not a way of life.
• A framework created by the RBI.
• Any bank or a payment company that plugs into BBPS can allow its customers to view and pay bills. The system comprises a digital platform called Bharat Bill Payment Central Unit (BBPCU) operated by the National Payments Corporation of India and a network of existing players called Bharat Bill Payment Operating Units (BBPOUs)
• BBPCU will plug in all billers into a central server. The operating units (BBPOUs) will comprise two sets of players -banks and wallet companies like Paytm, Oxigen, Mobikwik and Itz Cash on one hand and aggregators like BillDesk, TechProcess, Citrus Pay and Euronet on the other.
• Customers can view the bill and make payments through multiple modes such as netbanking, creditdebt cards, e-wallets and cash in case of offline mode, and get instant confirmation.
• A bank can provide an interface through an ATM as well.

Source: Economic Times

SDR (Special Drawing Rights)

SDR:

• Special Drawing Rights
• Created by IMF to supplement official reserves to its member countries 
• Initially based on 4 currencies: $ (US dollar), Japanese Yen, Pound Sterling, Euro
• Before creation of SDR only Gold and USD were primarily used in the international market
• Recently Chinese Renminbi added (RMB)
• SDR is allocated to members in proportion to their standing in global economy
• SDR cannot be used to purchase goods and services directly, countries can exchange them among themselves.
• Member countries can voluntarily exchange SRD for 5 currencies

Q&A:

Q: Is SDR an interest earning instrument?

A: Yes. If member country buys SDR and has above allocation level, it gains interest.

Source: IMF Website

Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav

What: Under project "Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav", the agricultural scientists of India will be required to adopt a village and provide then technical information on how to increase agricultural productivity.

When: The program was started in August 2015 by PM Narendra Modi. Also known as “lab to land” program.

How: Over 20,000 agriculture scientists from Central and state universities are required to form a group of four scientist. Each group will adopt 5 villages in 100 KM radius. Will be delivered through Kisan Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)

Criticism: The scientific community is concerned that if they shoulder this additional responsibility, their primary work of research may suffer.

Why in News: President Pranab Mukherjee, in a speech on 5th Feb, 2016, expressed his concerns on declining agricultural production at ICAR (Indian Council of Agricultural Research) - Nodal Agency for this program, and urged agricultural scientists to develop technology and take it to the fields so that the farm output may increase.

Main Objectives:

• Increase interaction with farmers in order to understand their problems
• Educate farmers about the best practices in agriculture
• Provide information on farm inputs, climate etc
• Spread awareness on water conservation, Soil Fertility, Climate change, Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan, market conditions, etc.

Oxygenation by Sponges in the deep Ocean

• Life began by oxygenation in ocean and the atmosphere
• Oxygen at the upper layer of atmosphere >> bottom layer
• To sustain life the oxygen demand ~ oxygen supply
• At the botton: when demand gets high, lifeforms struggle to evolve

Role of Sponges: 

• Helped in reducing oxygen consumption and creating conditions suited for the evolution of more complex, multi-cellular life with higher oxygen needs 
• Also helped in “removing” phosphorus found in the ocean
• This led to a rise in oxygen supply in the deep ocean for the animals to evolve.

*Courtesy: Nature Geoscience

China's ASBM in the Pacific Ocean

What: ASBM (Anti Ship Ballistic Missile) + Onboard radar

Purpose: Can track and strike an aircraft carrier in  the Pacific from about 2000 km distance

Comment: "Has shaken the traditional view of the U.S. Navy’s unassailable superiority in the Pacific"

Note:

China currently has three clusters of ELINT (Electronic Intelligence)satellites that provide global surveillance. 

The People's Liberation Army (PLA). It is the world's largest military force, with a strength of approximately 3 lakhs.

The UNEP Minamata Convention

Type                United Nations treaty
Signed             10 October 2013
Location          Kumamoto, Japan
Signatories      94

The Minamata Convention on Mercury is an international treaty designed to protect human health and the environment from anthropogenic emissions and releases of mercury and mercury compounds.
*Minamata is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning.