Pib

Pib

1. Cabinet gives approval to the Approach to be adopted by India at the Eleventh Ministerial Conference of the WTO held in Buenos Aires, Argentina during 10-13 December 2017

In the run-up to the Conference, decisions were expected on a permanent solution on the issue of public stockholding for food security purposes as per the Bali/Nairobi mandate and other agriculture issues. Some WTO member countries were seeking outcomes on domestic regulations in services, disciplines on fisheries subsidies, E-commerce, Investment Facilitation and Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises (MSMEs).

However, ultimately, there was no outcome on public stockholding for food security purposes or on other agriculture issues due to an absence of consensus.

The Bali Ministerial Decision together with the General Council Decision of November 2014, which was reaffirmed at the Tenth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in December 2015 protects India through availability of an interim mechanism on public stockholding for food security purposes, till a permanent solution is agreed and adopted by the WTO. Thus, India’s foodgrain procurement programmes at Minimum Support Prices remain protected.

Ministerial decisions taken during the Conference include a Work Programme on disciplines on Fisheries Subsidies with a view to arriving at a decision by the Twelfth Ministerial Conference of the WTO, in 2019. It was also decided to continue with the non-negotiating mandate of the existing Work Programme on E-Commerce, as proposed by India. As was done in previous Ministerial Conferences, an existing moratorium on imposing customs duties on electronic transmission was expanded for two years. Another moratorium on TRIPS non-violation companies was maintained, which prevents ‘ever-greening’ of patents in the pharmaceuticals sector, thereby ensuring accessibility and affordability of generic medicines.

2. Cabinet approves Agreement between India and Myanmar on Land Border Crossing

The Agreement will facilitate regulation and harmonization of already existing free movement rights for people ordinarily residing in the border areas of both countries. It will also facilitate movement of people on the basis of valid passports and visas which will enhance economic and social interaction between the two countries.

The Agreement is an enabling arrangement for movement of people across India-Myanmar border. It is expected to provide connectivity and enhance interaction of the people of North Eastern States of India with the people of Myanmar.

The Agreement would give a boost to the economy of the North East and allow us to leverage our geographical connections with Myanmar to boost trade and people to people ties.

The Agreement will safeguard the traditional rights of the largely tribal communities residing along the border which are accustomed to free movement across the land border.

3. Cabinet approves extension of norms for mandatory packaging in Jute Materials

Features:

1. The CCEA has extended the mandatory packaging norms under the Jute Packaging Material (JPM) Act, 1987.

2. The approval mandates that 90% of the food grains and 20% of the sugar products shall be mandatorily packed in jute bags.

3. The decision also mandates, in the first instance, the entire requirement for packing of food grains would be placed in jute bags thus, making a provision for 100% packing of food grains in jute bags subject to the ability of the jute industry to meet the requirement.

Impact:

The decision will benefit farmers and workers located in the Eastern and North Eastern regions of the country particularly in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura.

4. High Ash content

Ash content of coal produced in the country is generally 25 to 45 % whereas average ash content of imported coal varies from 10 to 20 %. Indian Coal has comparatively higher ash content than imported coal due to drift theory of formation of coal deposits in India. Coal seams formed due to drift theory contains higher ash as compared to in-situ theory of formation.

As per Ministry of Environment and Forest & Climate Change (MOEF&CC) stipulation, coal based thermal power plant (situated beyond 500 km from the pit-head) be supplied with, and shall use, raw or blended or beneficiated coal with ash content not exceeding thirty-four percent, on quarterly average basis. Coal Companies are supplying coal to their customers maintaining ash percentage below 34% on quarterly average basis as per the aforesaid MOEF&CC stipulation.

5. Monsoon Mission

Under the National Monsoon Mission initiative, the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad and National Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (NCMRWF), NOIDA have embarked upon to build a state-of-the-art coupled ocean atmospheric model for a) improved prediction of monsoon rainfall on extended range to seasonal time scale (16 days to one season) and b) improved prediction of temperature, rainfall and extreme weather events on short to medium range time scale (up to 15 days) so that forecast skill gets quantitatively improved further for operational services of India Meteorological Department (IMD). For the first time, India Meteorological Department used the Monsoon Mission dynamical model to prepare operational seasonal forecast of 2017 monsoon rainfall over India.

IMD in collaboration with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) provides district level agro meteorological advisories to farmers through 130 agromet field units. Currently, about 22 million farmers are receiving crop specific agro-meteorological advisories in vernacular languages. These advisories are used for critical farm operations Viz. (i) Management of sowing (Delayed onset of rains); (ii) Changing crop variety (Delay in rainfall); (iii) Spraying Pesticides for disease control (occurrence of rainfall); (iv) Managing Irrigation (Heavy rainfall Forecast).