1. U.S. CURRENCY WATCHLIST

Union Commerce Secretary questioned the rationale behind the U.S. government’s decision to put India on the watchlist for currency manipulators, and said the list constituted an intrusion into the policy space needed by central banks around the world to meet their mandates.

About:

• The U.S. Treasury Department had recently retained India on a watchlist for currency manipulators submitted to the U.S. Congress, citing higher dollar purchases (close to 5% of the gross domestic product) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• Another trigger for the inclusion on the currency watchlist is a trade surplus of $20 billion or more.
• India’s trade surplus with the U.S. grew by about $5 billion to $23 billion in 2020-21, from around $18 billion in the previous fiscal year, as imports fell more sharply than exports in the COVID-affected year.
• In response to a question on the U.S .move, India said the RBI had been taking necessary steps to maintain stability in the financial markets and not accumulating forex reserves like China did in the past.
• It is a mandate of the central bank to provide stability in the currency as a result of which central banks buy and sell foreign currency. Our overall reserves have been fairly steady at $500 billion to $600 billion. We are not accumulating reserves like China, which at one point had reserves of $4 trillion.

Source : The Hindu

2. FINANCE BILL, 2021

The Union Cabinet has given ex-post facto approval for the Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021 (enacted on 28th March, 2021 as the Finance Act, 2021).

About:

• The amendments were essential to clarify and rationalise the proposals further and address stakeholders concerns arising out of amendments proposed in the Finance Bill.
• The Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021 shall provide equity and inclusiveness to all the taxpayers by addressing stakeholders concerns arising out of amendments proposed in the Bill.
• The Government amendments to the Finance Bill, 2021 are tax proposals which shall generate timely revenue for the Government and streamline existing provisions by addressing grievances of the taxpayers.

Source : Business Standard

3. TALCHER FERTILIZERS LTD. (TFL)

Union Cabinet has given its approval for the proposal of the Department of Fertilizers for the formulation of exclusive subsidy policy for Urea produced through coal gasification route by Talcher Fertilizers Limited (TFL).

About:

• Considering the strategic energy security and urea self-sufficiency of the country, looking into the country's vast coal reserves, it has been decided go ahead with Talcher Fertilizer Limited plant based on coal gasification technology.
• The project shall improve availability of fertilizer to farmers thereby boosting development of eastern region and will save transport subsidy for supply of urea in eastern part of the country.
• It would assist in reducing Urea imports to the tune of 12.7 LMT per annum leading to savings in foreign exchange.

Background

• Talcher Fertilizers Ltd. (TFL) is a Joint Venture Company of four PSUs namely Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers (RCF), GAIL (India) Ltd. (GAIL), Coal India Ltd. (CIL) and Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) which was incorporated on 13th November, 2015.
• TFL is reviving the erstwhile Talcher plant of Fertilizer Corporation of India Ltd. (FCIL) by setting up a now greenfield Urea Plant with the installed capacity of 12.7 Lakh Metric Ton per annum (LMTPA). The estimated project cost of the TFL Urea project is 13277.21 Crore (+/-10%).

Source : The Hindu

4. INDIA-BANGLADESH MOU ON THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A FRAMEWORK OF COOPERATION IN THE AREA OF TRADE REMEDIAL MEASURES

The Union Cabinet Modi has given its ex post facto approval to the MoU between the Director General of Trade Remedies, India and the Bangladesh Trade & Tariff Commission on the establishment of a framework of cooperation in the area of trade remedial measures signed on 27th March, 2021 at Dhaka.

About:

• The primary objective of the MOU is to promote cooperation between the two countries in the area of Trade Remedies, covering the broad activities related to exchange of information, undertaking capacity building activities and activities in accordance with various provisions of World Trade Organization in the area of anti-dumping, countervailing and safeguard measures in bilateral trade between India and Bangladesh.
• The MOU seeks to foster better cooperation between the relevant authorities of both the countries so as to discourage unfair trade practices and promote rule based bilateral trading between the two countries.

Source : Indian Express

5. CZECH REPUBLIC

A day after the Czech Republic expelled 18 Russian diplomats, Russia retaliated by announcing it would send back 20 Czech diplomats, exacerbating relations that have already been strained in recent times.

About:

• Prague had accused Russian embassy officials of being intelligence operatives, and said that it suspected them of being involved in a 2014 explosion at an arms depot that left two dead.
• The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe.
• It is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the east.
• Its Capital is Prague.

History of Czech Republic

• In the 19th century, the Czech lands became more industrialized, and in 1918 most of it became part of the First Czechoslovak Republic following the collapse of Austria-Hungary after World War I.
• After the Munich Agreement in 1938, Nazi Germany systematically took control over the Czech lands.
• Czechoslovakia was restored in 1945 and became an Eastern Bloc communist state following a coup d'état in 1948.
• In November 1989, the Velvet Revolution ended communist rule in the country, and on 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia dissolved with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Source : Indian Express

6. FUSION PEPTIDE

Using a new platform, scientists have developed a Covid-19 vaccine that they say could offer protection against not only existing and future strains of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, but also other coronaviruses.

About:

• The new vaccine-production platform was invented by Dr Steven L Zeichner of the University of Virginia Health System (UVA). It involves synthesising DNA that directs the production of a piece of the virus. This can instruct the immune system how to mount an immune response against the virus.
• The vaccine targets a part of the virus’s spike protein called the fusion peptide. This compound is essentially universal among coronaviruses, and has not been observed to differ at all in the many genetic sequences of SARS-CoV-2 obtained from around the world.
• Most vaccines in development target either the entire spike protein, or just the receptor binding domain (RBD). While antibodies against the RBD can provide good neutralising activity, there can be mutations in the RBD that decrease somewhat the effectiveness of the antibodies.

Source : Indian Express

7. DEMOGRAPHIC ADVANTAGE

India’s demographic advantage to overtake China’s by 2035, says China’s central bank report.

About:

• China’s demographic transition owing particularly to its stricter birth policies has grappled it with the problem of ageing population and dwindling work-force.
• A report released by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, said that China should immediately liberalise its birth policies to tackle the problems of an ageing population and plan to compete economically with a demographically young India and an immigration-friendly US.
• In a detailed section on India, the report said the gap between the two countries is narrowing. As two big countries in Asia, China’s economic growth has been faster than India’s for a long time but in recent years, China’s demographic dividend fading, India’s economic growth has tended to approach China’s, the report said.
• It added that China’s ageing population and the declining birth rate will become more serious in 10 years while India’s demographic structure will be further optimised.
• The report pointed out that India’s labour force will exceed China’s by hundreds of millions in the years ahead.
• By 2050, this advantage will continue to grow. Not only will India have a much narrower elderly population at the top and a much wider workforce in the middle, but it will also have a wider workforce at the bottom, indicating a more abundant workforce and greater growth potential beyond 2050.

Source : All India Radio

8. CABINET APPROVES MOU BETWEEN CCI AND CADE

Union Cabinet approved the MoU between Competition Commission of India (CCI) and Administrative Council for Economic Defense of Brazil, (CADE).

About:

• Section 18 of the Competition Act, 2002 permits CCI to enter into any Memorandum or arrangement with any agency of any foreign country for the purpose of discharging its duties or performing its functions under the Act.
• CCI has entered into the MoUs with the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice of USA, Director General Competition of European Union, Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Competition Bureau of Canada and BRICS Competition Authorities.

Source : All India Radio

9. STARTUP INDIA SEED FUND SCHEME (SISFS)

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has launched the Startup India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS).

About:

• The Fund aims to provide financial assistance to startups for proof of concept, prototype development, product trials, market entry and commercialization.
• An amount of 945 crore rupees corpus will be divided over the next 4 years for providing seed funding to eligible startups through eligible incubators across India.
• The scheme is expected to support an estimated 3,600 startups through 300 incubators.
• The SISFS will Secure seed funding, Inspire innovation, Support transformative ideas, Facilitate implementation, and Start startup revolution.
• This Scheme will create a robust startup ecosystem, particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns of India, which are often deprived of adequate funding.

Source : All India Radio