Daily Current Affairs 16 February 2022 | WBCS, WBPSC, WBP

Daily Current Affairs: 16:02:2022

 Important News: World

1. First-ever Global Summit on ‘Reimagining Museums in India’

Why in News

• The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and Development of the North- Eastern Region, G. Kishan Reddy inaugurated the first of its kind, a 2- Day Global Summit in Hyderabad on ‘Reimagining Museums in India’.
• Participants from countries such as India, Australia, France, Italy, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States are participating in the summit being held virtually on 15th-16th February 2022.
• The Summit inauguration event was also attended and addressed by Alberto Garlindini, President of the International Council of Museums.

Key Points

• The Global Summit brings together leading luminaries, domain experts and practitioners in the field of museum development and management from India and around the world to discuss best practices and strategies.

Note:

• Today India’s 1000+ museums are instrumental in not just showcasing and preserving the cultural heritage, but also educating future generations.
• The Government of India is also developing 10 museums on tribal freedom fighters to recognise their contribution in our freedom struggle and is continuing to support specialised museums such as Textiles and Crafts museums, Defence Museums and Railway Museums.
• Since 2014 the Ministry of Culture has funded 110 museums across the country and in order to promote scientific temper, 18 science museums are also being developed.
• Apart from this, the Archaeological Survey of India which functions under the Ministry runs 52 museums across the country.

Source: PIB

Important News: India

2. Integration with Beneficiary Database under Different Schemes aimed at Enrichment of Database for Implementation of AB PM-JAY Why in News

• National Health Authority (NHA) is mandated with the implementation of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY).

Key Points

• AB PM-JAY provides health assurance of up to Rs. 5 Lakhs per family per year, for secondary and tertiary care-related hospitalizations.
• The 10.74 Crore beneficiary families under AB PM-JAY have been identified from the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) of 2011 basis 6 deprivation and 11 occupational criteria across rural and urban areas, respectively.
• NHA has collaborated with various ministries implementing welfare schemes to strengthen the different aspects of scheme implementation including inter alia beneficiary awareness campaigns, beneficiary database (SECC 2011) enrichment etc.
• The majority of AB PM-JAY beneficiaries from SECC 2011 are also eligible for benefits under the National Food Security Portal (NFSA).

About National Health Authority (NHA):

• NHA is responsible for implementing India’s flagship public health insurance/assurance scheme Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY).
• NHA has been set-up to implement the PM-JAY at the national level.
• In the States, SHAs or State Health Agencies in the form of a society/trust have been set up with full operational autonomy over the implementation of this scheme including extending the coverage to non SECC beneficiaries.
• It has been constituted as an autonomous entity under the Society Registration Act, 1860.

Source: PIB

3. Centre reduces agri-cess for Crude Palm Oil (CPO)

Why in News

• The Government of India has reduced the agri-cess for Crude Palm Oil (CPO) from 7.5% to 5%. 

Key Points

• After reduction of the agri-cess, the import tax gap between CPO and Refined Palm Oil has increased to 8.25%.
• Another pre-emptive measure taken by the Government to check the prices of edible oils is to extend the current basic rate of import duty of zero percent on Crude Palm Oil, Crude Soyabean oil and Crude Sunflower Oil upto 30^thSeptember, 2022.
• The above steps will augment the earlier measure taken by the Government viz. the stock limit order dated 3^rdFebruary, 2022 vide which the Government had specified the stock limit quantities on edible oils and oilseeds for a period upto 30^th June, 2022 under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

Note: In August, 2021, the government has announced the National Edible Oil Mission-Oil Palm (NMEO-OP) scheme for self-reliance in edible oil.

About Agri Cess:

• Cess is a kind of special-purpose tax which is levied over and above basic tax rates.
• The Agriculture Infrastructure and Development Cess (AIDC) is a tax that the government imposes on the commercial production of agricultural produce.

Source: PIB

4. India-Australia Interim Trade Agreement and FTA

Why in News

• India and Australia have announced that they are set to conclude an Interim Trade Agreement in March 2022 and a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) 12-18 months thereafter.

Key Points

• An interim or early harvest trade agreement is used to liberalise tariffs on the trade of certain goods between two countries or trading blocs before a comprehensive FTA (Free Trade Agreement) is concluded.
• Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at about $12.5 billion in FY21 and has already surpassed $17.7 billion in the first 10 months of FY22.
• India and Australia have also signed a MoU to boost tourism between the two countries.

How has the Quad impacted trade relation between India and Australia?

• India and Australia are both members of the Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) along with the US and Japan.
• Australia noted that it already had FTAs with both the US and Japan and that all four countries could start building a framework for economic cooperation within the countries of the Quad after they announced a deal with India.

What other Free Trade Agreements is India currently negotiating?

• India is currently in the process of negotiating FTAs with the UAE, the UK, Canada, the EU and Israel, besides Australia.
• India is also looking to complete an early harvest agreement with the UAE and the UK in the first half of 2022.

Note: Earlier, India, Japan and Australia have formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI).

Source: Indian Express

5. Govt bans 54 Chinese apps over security threat concerns

Why in News

• The Government of India is set to issue a ban on 54 Chinese applications that pose a threat to India’s security.

Key Points

• The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology said it had received a request from the ministry of home affairs (MHA) for blocking the 54 apps under the emergency provision envisaged in Section 69(A) of the IT Act.
• The Centre had blocked 59 apps on June 29, 2020, followed by a ban on 47 related/cloning apps on August 10, 2020. Thereafter, 118 apps were blocked on September 1, 2020, and another 43 apps on November 19, the same year. 

Source: HT

Important News: Economy

6. Reliance Jio partners with SES to announce satellite-based internet for India

Why in News

• Reliance Jio has partnered with SES, a Luxembourg-based satellite solutions provider to form a new initiative – Jio Space Technology Limited.
• The joint venture is aimed at delivering the next generation scalable and affordable broadband services in India by making use of satellite technology.

Key Points

• Jio and SES will own 51 percent and 49 percent each in the equity stake.
• The technology will use multi-orbit space networks – that is, a combination of geostationary (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellations capable of delivering multi-gigabit links and capacity to companies.
• Internet speeds could go up to 100 Gbps, according to claims from Jio.

Source: Indian Express

7. Dabur becomes first Indian ‘Plastic Waste Neutral’ FMCG Company in India

Why in News

• India’s largest Science-based Ayurveda major Dabur India Ltd has now become a 100% ‘Plastic Waste Neutral company’ in India, having collected, processed and recycled around 27,000 MT of post-consumer plastic waste from all over India in the 2021-22 financial year.

Key Points

• With this, Dabur has become the first Indian consumer goods company to achieve this landmark.
• Dabur’s Plastic Waste Management initiative was rolled out in the year 2017-18 as part of the Plastic Waste Management (PWM) Rule 2016, 2018 (amended).
• Dabur is a registered brand-owner with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) since November 2018 and with all State Pollution Control Boards across the country.

Note: Dabur India Limited is the fourth largest FMCG Company in India.

Source: ET

Important News: State

8. West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar prorogues Assembly session

Why in News

• Recently, West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar prorogued the state Legislative Assembly after exercising power vested with him under Article 174 of the Constitution.

Key Points

About Prorogation: Prorogation is discontinuing a session of the Parliament or a legislative assembly without dissolving it.

Article 174: The article provides powers to the governor to summon, prorogue and dissolve the legislative assembly. The governor can do so only based on conditions as mentioned in Article 163.

Article 163: The Governor should act based on the advice of the chief minister and the council of ministers.

Source: Indian Express

Important News: Appointment

9. Former Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci to be Air India CEO & MD

Why in News

• Former Turkish Airlines chairman Ilker Ayci has been appointed as the CEO & MD of Air India.

Key Points

• The key appointment was finalised at the Air India board meeting, in which Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran was a special invitee.
• Ayci will assume his responsibilities by April 1, 2022.

Note:

• After a competitive bidding process, the government had on October 8 last year sold Air India to Talace Private Limited, a subsidiary of the Tata Group's holding company, for Rs 18,000 crore.
• Air India was started by the Tata Group in 1932. However, after the country got independence, it was nationalised in 1953.

Source: TOI

Daily Current Affairs: 16:02:2022