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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

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

    Mosquito Terminator on Wheels: Special train flagged off to prevent breeding of mosquitoes in New Delhi

     Delhi division of Northern Railway and South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) jointly launched Mosquito Terminator on Wheels, a special mosquito terminator train to prevent mosquito breeding along railway tracks in New Delhi. The special train aims to control and mitigate menace of mosquito breeding in the burrow pits along railway tracks in New Delhi.
    • Mosquito Terminator on Wheels
    For this train, SDMC has provided high power sprayer and insecticide on truck mounted power sprayer. It has been loaded on special kind of wagon, which will spray insecticides during train movement to sanitise areas upto distance of 50-60 metres along rail tracks on Ring Railway. It will cover distance of 150km in each cycle over by moving at speed of 20 kmph. The train will pass through Hazrat Nizamuddin, Sewa Nagar, Lajpat Nagar, Lodhi Colony, Brar Square, Delhi Safdarjung, Inderpuri, Patel Nagar, Delhi Kishanganj, Dayabasti, Sadar Bazar and New Delhi and will cover other areas of NCR region. There will be two rounds of spraying each week to cover peak mosquito breeding season totalling to 10 rounds/trips in 5 weeks. Indian Railways is also collaborating with three corporations in NCR Delhi to take requisite measures to prevent breeding of mosquitoes in railway colonies and railway land.
    Catgeory: National

    India Elected President Of Asia-Pacific Institute For Broadcasting Development

     AIBD India has been elected as the President of the Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) for a period of two years. India got elected against Iran during voting which took place at the 44th annual gathering of AIBD in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Director General of All India Radio F. Sheheryar was re-elected as chair of the executive board while Sri Lanka was elected as vice-chair. Broadcasters from 26 countries in the region including India are full members of the organization.
    Source- AIR World Service
    Catgeory: National

    Government launches Seva Bhoj Yojna

     Union Ministry of Culture launched Seva Bhoj Yojna, a new scheme to provide financial assistance on purchase of specific food items by Charitable Religious Institutions (CRIs) for free distribution among people. Under this scheme, Centre’s share of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Interstate GST charged on raw food materials purchased by the religious institutions will be refunded.
    • Seva Bhoj Yojna
    The scheme aims to reimburse Central Government share of Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) and Integrated Goods and Service Tax (IGST) to lessen financial burden of religious and charitable institutions providing food, prasad, langar (Community Kitchen), Bhandara free of cost without any discrimination to public and devotee
    Beneficiaries: Religious and charitable institutions such as temples, gurudwara, mosque, church, dharmik ashram, dargah, matth, monasteries etc. having existence for at least five years and serve free food to at least 5000 people  in month. Grant will be given to such institutions if they are covered under Section 10 (23BBA) of Income Tax (IT) Act or are institutions registered as Society under Societies Registration Act (XXI of 1860) or as Public Trust under any law for time being in force of statuary religious bodies or institutions registered under Section 12AA of IT Act
    Selection: All eligible religious and charitable institutions first must registered with Darpan portal of NITI Aayog and get Unique ID generated by it. Thereafter, they shall enroll themselves in CSMS Portal on the Ministry of Culture’s website in prescribed format. The applications will be examined by committee constituted for purpose. On basis of recommendation of committee, competent authority in Ministry of Culture will register these institutions for reimbursing claim of CGST and Central Government share of IGST paid on mentioned specific items.
    Catgeory: National

    Indian Railways Launches ‘Mission Satyanishtha’

      The Indian Railways launched ‘Mission Satyanishtha’ and a programme on Ethics in Public Governance, in a first-of-its-kind event, at a day-long function held at National Rail Museum, New Delhi. The Union Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal administered the oath to the officers and supervisors at the programme. The first-of-its-kind event was inaugurated by Ashwani Lohani, Chairman, Railway Board. The Satyanishtha mission aims to sensitise all railway employees about the need to adhere to good ethics and to maintain high standards of integrity at work. 
    Source- The Times of India
    Catgeory: National

    Dharmendra Pradhan Laid Foundation Stone Of Permanent Campus For NSTI, Women In Mohali

     The Union Minister for Petroleum & Natural Gas and Skill Development &Entrepreneurship  Dharmendra Pradhan laid the foundation stone for permanent campus of National Skill Training Institute (NSTI) for Women at Mohali, Punjab. This is the first NSTI Institute for Punjab and only one of its kind in India which is exclusively for women. The Minister also launched a unique Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) which would admit differently abled persons as well, also a first of its kind in India at Mohali. He a launched India’s first in-phone guide and mobile application “Go whats That”  in Chandigarh. 
    Source- Press Information Bureau (PIB)
    Catgeory: National

    India to develop model to give flash floods warning to Asian nations: WMO

     World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has designated India as nodal centre for developing customized model to issue advance warning of floods to Asian countries, including Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. The model will be called as Flash Flood Guidance System. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) under Ministry of Earth Sciences will work to customize this weather model.
    • Flash Flood Guidance System
    The model will provide forecasts by computing likelihood of rainfall and soil moisture levels to warn of possible floods. It will carry out forecasts by using combination of satellite mapping and ground-based observation. It will be customized weather model, originally developed by US and donated to WMO to warn about flash floods at least six hours in advance. It already has carried out test version of this model. Pakistan was among list of beneficiary countries of this forecast model, but it has refused to participate in it.
    • Background
    Like India, several southeast Asian countries depend on monsoon and are prone to its vagaries. WMO estimates that flash floods account for 85% of flooding incidents across the world, leading to around 5,000 deaths every year. While science to warn of floods can be developed, India was yet to work out how exactly it will warn countries of potential inundation. India currently has its own warning system for tsunamis that also doubles up warning system for several Asian countries. At present in India, Central Water Commission (CWC), which monitors dams, warns of rising water levels in water reservoirs, which are usually taken to be signs of imminent floods. Recently CWC has recently tied up with internet giant Google to develop software application to visualise rising water levels during heavy rains.
    • World Meteorological Organization (WMO)
    WMO is an intergovernmental organization whose mandate covers weather, climate and water resources. It is UN specialized agency for meteorology, operational hydrology and related geophysical sciences It is dedicated to international cooperation and coordination on state and behaviour of Earth’s atmosphere, its interaction with land and oceans, the weather and climate and distribution of water resources. It has 191 Member States and Territories. It originated from International Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873. It has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
    Catgeory: National

    Union HRD Minister Releases The AISHE Report 2017-18

     On the auspicious occasion of Guru Purnima, the Ministry of Human Resource Development organized a National Conference of Vice Chancellors & Directors of Higher Education Institutions of India in New Delhi. Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar chaired the conference and Minister of State for HRD, Higher Education Dr. Satya Pal Singh also graced the occasion. The theme of this conference is "Research and innovation in Higher Education." On the occasion, the Minister released the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) Report 2017-18, Higher Educational Profile 2017-18, and Swachh Campus Manual.
    Source- DD News
    Catgeory: National

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