Current Affairs Current Affairs August 2018

Restricted Area Permit eased for foreigners visiting 29 Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The Union Home Ministry has excluded 29 inhabited islands in Andaman and Nicobar from Restricted Area Permit (RAP) regime under the Foreigners (Restricted Areas) Order, 1963 till December 2022. This decision aims to increase footfalls and promote tourism. Government is also planning to open 11 other uninhabited islands to foreigners. The lifting of RAP will allow foreigners to visit these islands without prior permission from the government. However, citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and foreign nationals having their origin in these countries will continue to require RAP to visit Union Territory. Moreover, for visiting Mayabunder and Diglipur islands, citizens of Myanmar will also continue to require RAP, which shall be issued only with prior approval of Home Ministry. Besides, separate approvals of competent authority will be required for visiting reserved forests, wildlife sanctuaries and tribal reserves.

Restricted Area Permit (RAP) regime

RAP regime has been notified under Foreigners (Restricted Areas) Order, 1963. Under it, foreign nationals are not normally allowed to visit protected or restricted area unless Government is satisfied that there are extra-ordinary reasons to justify their visit. Every foreigner, except citizen of Bhutan, who desires to enter and stay in protected or restricted area, is required to obtain special permit from competent authority having power to issue such permits to foreigner, seeking it. Citizens of Afghanistan, China and Pakistan and foreign nationals of Pakistani origin are exception and are not allowed to enter such areas.

Catgeory: National

Government raises import duty on 328 textile products to curb imports

Government has doubled import duties on 328 textile products to 20% from existing rate of 10% under Section 159 of the Customs Act, 1962. Earlier in July 2018, Government had doubled import duty on over 50 textile products — including jackets, suits and carpets to 20%.

Significance

The increase in duties will give edge to domestic manufacturers as imported products are currently cheaper. It will curb soaring imports from China and focus more on local value addition in labour-intensive sector. This move will also help to promote ‘Make in India’ as imports of these goods had surged drastically in last one year especially post GST. It will increase in manufacturing activity in various segments of the entire value chain of textile sector, which will help to create jobs in sector, which employs about 10.5 crore people.

Background

The move comes amid mounting concerns that trade war between world’s biggest economies United States and China will further aggravate dumping of cheaper products from China to Indian markets. As such, India’s textile imports jumped by 16% to record $7 billion in last fiscal, with China accounting for over 40% of purchases. Moreover, 28% hike in cotton prices by Government recently to ensure at least 50% premium to farmers over costs is expected to raise basic raw material costs for domestic manufacturers and could hurt our export competitiveness across value chains in the textile and garment sector.

Catgeory: National

India has highest gender gap in mobile phone ownership amongst: Study

According to recent study released by LIRNEAsia, India has highest gender gap in mobile phone ownership amongst 18 comparable countries and ranks among the lowest in women’s access to Internet. LIRNEAsia is an information and communications technology (ICT) policy think tank that is involved in pro-poor, pro-market research in Asia-Pacific since 2005. The study also included comparative research done by ICT Africa in Africa and DIRSI in Latin America.

Key Highlights of Study

Ownership of mobile phones: Only 43% of women in India own mobile phones compared to almost 80% of Indian males mostly because of lack of awareness. This difference is almost half of all other countries in study including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Rwanda. There is substantial urban-rural divide in mobile phone ownership with 71% urban penetration and 55% in rural. India’s urban-rural gap is comparable to that in Nigeria.
Internet and social media usage: Women, rural citizens, and those with lower education or income significantly lag behind in internet and social media usage. The gender gap in internet usage is accentuated in rural regions at 52% as compared to 34% in urban areas. India’s 57% gender gap in Internet usage was surpassed only by Bangladesh and Rwanda. Its gender gap in social media usage was even higher with wider divides only in Bangladesh.
Information about internet: In India, 64% do not know about internet which is higher percentage than other countries except Pakistan and Bangladesh. 68% of this group was female and 68 % were from rural areas. India’s internet use was at 19% which is lower than that of Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Cambodia.
E-commerce: Awareness of platforms for e-commerce was higher in India compared to Pakistan and Bangladesh. In India, 27% mainly use social media, 16 % for entertainment and 15% for news. Higher percentage of women used social media for marketing and educational content, while men used social media to chat which is significantly more than women.
Political views on social media: Indian social media users share their political views at some of highest rates. More than half shared their religion, 26% share their sexual orientation, and 70% shared their mobile number or email address. Women shared information less than men in almost all categories except for political and sexual orientation.
Distrust of news: India also has high distrust of news shared on social media and only 29% trust social media news while more than half did not. India also saw higher online harassment than Pakistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia at 19% of users. Much of this was offensive name-calling and in 20% of such cases, it led to reduced use of particular website.

Catgeory: Economy & Banking

Indo-Thailand Joint Exercise 'Maitree 2018' Begins In Thailand

Exercise 'Maitree' is a joint military exercise between Indian Army and Royal Thai Army which is running on in Thailand. It is a platoon level exercise which comprises of infantry component. The exercise will emphasize to hone the tactical and technical skills in joint counter insurgency and counter-terrorist operations in the rural and urban scenario under UN mandate.

Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)

Catgeory: Defense

World’s 1st Thermal Battery Plant Inaugurated In Andhra Pradesh

The world's first-ever thermal battery plant was unveiled in Andhra Pradesh by the state’s Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Manufactured by the Bharat Energy Storage Technology Private Limited (BEST), the first-of-its-kind batteries will aim to boost renewable sources of energy production and reduce the dependence on non-renewable fossil fuel-based energy generation. The technology, which will help in mitigating carbon emissions, is best suited for grid balancing and stabilisations. It will also be used to store energy for telecommunication, commercial establishments, electric vehicles and highway charging stations.

Source- The Indian Express

Catgeory: State

Parliament Passes Bill To Grant Constitutional Status To NCBC

The 123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill giving constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) has got Parliamentary assent. It will give the institution all powers to safeguard the rights of the socially and educationally backward classes and fulfils a long pending commitment of the central govt to the OBCs.

123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill Explained:

It seeks to establish the NCBC under the constitution with authority to examine complaints and welfare measures regarding OBCs,

NCBC will have a Chairperson, Deputy Chairperson and 3 other members of which at least one will be a woman,

The provision for mandatory woman member will be made during framing of rules,

NCBC will work as an autonomous institution with powers of a civil court,

It will investigate & monitor how safeguards provided to OBCs under Constitution and other laws are being implemented,

It will inquire into specific complaints regarding violation of rights of OBCs,

It will also advise and make recommendations on the socio-economic development of such classes,

Central and state governments will have to consult NCBC on all major policy matters affecting OBCs.

Source- DD News

Catgeory: National

National Handloom Day: 7 August

The National Handloom Day is being observed every year on 7 August to honour the handloom weavers in the country and also carter an impetus to India’s handloom industry. This year it was the 4th edition of the National Handloom Day after it was instituted in 2015. The celebration of the day seeks to highlight the contribution of handloom to the socioeconomic development of the country and promote handlooms to increase the income of weavers and also enhance their pride.

Source- The Hindu

Catgeory: National

Saudi Arabia Freezes Trade Ties With Canada

Saudi Arabia has announced that it is freezing all new trade and investment with Canada over its interference in its internal affairs. The Saudi foreign ministry expelled the Canadian ambassador and recalled its own envoy in Canada.

Source- AIR World Service

Catgeory: International

Italian Bike-Maker Benelli Signs MoU For Plant In Telangana

Italian motorcycle-maker Benelli signed an MoU with Telangana government and Adishwar Auto Ride International (AARI) for setting a manufacturing facility. The group company would initially start assembling CKD (completely knocked down) kits of the bike for Benelli to assemble, manufacture bikes and import exclusive range of the bikes from Italy and SouthEast Asian regions.

Source- DD News

Catgeory: Agreements

Ajay Data, 1st Indian To Become Member In ICANN

The nominating committee of Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has selected Ajay Data, Founder & CEO of Data XGen Plus and a global leader in email linguistic services, as a new council member of Country Code Supporting Organisation (ccNSO). Ajay Data is the first Indian to have been selected as a member of ccNSO and will be representing India at a global level. He will be the custodian of Asia, Australia and Pacific Islands as a member of ccNSO. Data has got a two-year term and will take up the position during ICANN 63 Meet in Spain in October 2018.

Source- The Indian Express

Catgeory: Appointments

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