17th June 2021
Generalized System of Preferences (GSPs)
Recently, the European Union (EU) Parliament has adopted a resolution which has urged the EU Commission to consider temporary withdrawal of the GSP+ status given to Sri Lanka.
Generalized System of Preferences (GSPs)
- It was instituted in 1971 under the aegis of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
- It is aimed at creating an enabling trading environment for developing countries.
- The countries which grant GSP preferences are Australia, Belarus, Canada, the European Union, Iceland, Japan, Kazakhstan, New Zealand, Norway, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, Turkey and the United States of America.
- The provision and utilization of trade preferences is a key goal the Istanbul Program of Actions adopted at the UN LDC IV in 2013, as further reaffirmed in SDGs Goal 17.
- The objective of UNCTAD's support on GSP and other preferential arrangements is to help developing countries to increase utilization of GSP and other trade preferences.
European Union’s Generalized System of Preferences (GSPs)
- It is a set of EU rules allowing exporters from developing countries to pay less or no duties on their exports to the European Union.
- The EU adopted a new Generalized Scheme of Preferences in 2012.
- The objectives of the EU's new GSP are:
- To focus help on countries which are more in need of trade preferences;
- To provide incentives for good governance and sustainable development; and
- To make the scheme more transparent, stable and predictable
- The Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) has 3 strands:
- GSP general arrangement: for all beneficiary countries
- GSP+: A special scheme with entire removal of tariffs on essentially the same product categories as those covered by the general arrangement.
- The countries need to ratify and implement international conventions relating to human and labour rights, environment and good governance.
- Everything But Arms: A special arrangement for least developed countries (as recognised and classified by the UN) giving them duty- and quota-free access for all products, except arms and ammunitions.
UNCTAD
- It is a permanent intergovernmental body established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1964.
- Its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland.
- It is part of the UN Secretariat.
- Its goals are to maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis.
- Its objective is to formulate policies relating to all aspects of development including trade, aid, transport, finance and technology.
Mandatory Hallmarking of Gold
Recently, the government has announced the phased implementation of mandatory hallmarking of gold jewellery.
- In the first phase, gold hallmarking will be available in only in 256 districts and jewellers having annual turnover above Rs 40 lakh will come under its purview.
Hallmarking of gold
- The Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS) operates gold and silver hallmarking scheme in India.
- It defines hallmarking as the accurate determination and official recording of the proportionate content of precious metal in precious metal articles.
Metals covered under hallmarking in India
- The government has notified two categories i.e. gold jewellery and gold artefacts and silver jewellery and silver artefacts under the purview of hallmarking.
- The hallmarking in India is available for jewellery of only two metals i.e. gold and silver.
Exemptions under mandatory hallmarking
- A certain category of jewellery and items will be exempted from the mandatory requirement of hallmarking.
- The export and re-import of jewellery as per Trade Policy of Government of India i.e. Jewellery for international exhibitions, jewellery for government-approved B2B domestic exhibitions will be exempted from mandatory Hallmarking.
- The fountain pens and special types of jewellery such as Kundan, Polki and Jadau will be exempted from hallmarking.
Provisions under mandatory hallmarking
- The government has announced that no penalty will be imposed till August 2021 for non-compliance with the hallmarking norm.
- The jewellers with annual turnover up to Rs 40 lakh will be exempted from mandatory hallmarking.
What are the purity standards for gold and silver under the hallmarking scheme?
- As per BIS standards, there are three categories of hallmarking based on purity of gold i.e. 22 carat, 18 carat and 14 carat.
- The ministry has announced that the gold of additional carats 20, 23 and 24 will also be allowed for Hallmarking.
- The ministry further said that jewellers can continue to buy back old gold jewellery without a hallmark from consumers.
Reasons for mandatory hallmarking
- India is the biggest consumer of gold but the level of hallmarked jewellery is very low in the country.
- At present, only 30% of Indian gold jewellery is hallmarked.
- It is non-availability of sufficient assaying and hallmarking centres (A&HC) responsible for low level of hallmarked jewellery.
Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS)
- It is the National Standard Body of India established under the BIS Act 2016.
- It is established for the harmonious development of the activities of standardization and marking and quality certification of goods.
- It has been providing traceability and tangibility benefits to the national economy in a number of ways:
- Providing safe reliable quality goods;
- Minimizing health hazards to consumers;
- Promoting exports and imports substitute; and
- Control over proliferation of varieties etc. through standardization, certification and testing
Adi Prashikshan Portal
Recently, the Minister of Tribal Affairs has launched ‘Adi Prashikshan Portal’ and inaugurated a training programme on “Capacity Building Training of Master Trainers for ST PRI Members” as part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
- It would be a repository of all training programmes conducted by the Ministry, TRIs, COEs and EMRS, upcoming NTRI and TRIFED.
- It will have data base of trainees, trainers and resource persons.
- The trainees will have access to course material even after completion of training.
- The portal has been developed by Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with UNDP and TRI-Odisha.
Significance of Adi Prashikshan Portal
- It should be interactive and should also include feedback in the form of actual experiences of the PRIs in implementation which will also help to improve the programme.
- It is intended to reach remotest areas with ‘knowledge packets’ using information technology (IT).
- It is an effort to bring Training Institutions/ Organizations, Experts and Trainers together for addressing thematic knowledge gaps among Tribal PRIs, Communities, Officials and various other stakeholders involved in tribal area development.
- It will transform the various ongoing training initiatives under different units of the Ministry like TRIs, COEs and converge the initiatives for better skill and knowledge building.
- It will also catalyze and improve the processes of conducting training by making it online and accessible to all.
Cabinet Approves Deep Ocean Mission
Recently, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the Deep Ocean Mission.
Deep Ocean Mission
- It is a Rs 4,077-crore mission that will be led by scientists at the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
- It is a five-year inter-ministerial and inter-departmental mission.
- The five thrust areas under the Deep Ocean Mission are:
- Development of technologies for deep sea mining;
- Manned submersible;
- Development of ocean climate change advisory services;
- Development of technology for exploration and conservation of deep-sea biodiversity; and
- Deep ocean survey and setting up of a marine station for ocean Biology.
- Under the mission, India will build a research vessel specifically for carrying out deep ocean explorations and it will be built at an Indian shipyard.
Significance of Deep Ocean Mission
- It will bring together researchers and experts from the ISRO, DRDO, Department of Atomic Energy, CSIR, Department of Biotechnology and the Indian Navy.
- It will make India one among the handful of powerful nations that already have dedicated ocean studies and missions, including the US, Japan, France, Russia and China.
- It provides impetus to India’s Blue Economy initiatives planned from 2020 to 2030 which envisages a number of researches that will be performed to study the oceans.
- It will help India tighten its grip in the South Asia region given India’s long coastline of 7500km and flanked by sea on three sides.
Challenges in Deep Ocean Mission
- The technologies required for deep-sea mining have strategic implications and are not commercially available.
- The plan to allow deep-sea mining has come under criticism from environmental organisations that fear it might cause irreparable damage to the flora and fauna on ocean floor.
- Under the Deep Ocean Mission, there are plans to acquire a dedicated vessel for this exploration, which could cost around Rs 900 crore, depending on the equipment.
- There are about 30 private and government contracts with the ISA for deep-sea exploration but mining is not allowed because the international code for it has yet to be announced.
Jalgaon Banana
Recently, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry has announced that it had started the export of Jalgaon Banana to Dubai.
Jalgaon is considered Banana city of India
- In 2016, Jalgaon Banana got GI certification which was registered with Nisargraja Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Jalgaon.
- It is located over 300 km from the west coast and on the northern edge of the Deccan plateau.
- It receives an average rainfall of just 750 mm yearly and the bananas are wholly produced by independent growers.
- It contributes about half of Maharashtra’s banana production and more than 16% of that of India.
- Its average yields at 70 tonnes per hectare are way above global levels.
- Strategic location: The district is located near the Bhusaval railway station enabling access to the North Indian market.
- Drip irrigation: The spread of drip irrigation has made efficient use of scarce water possible.
- It covers 15,000 plants using the same 15-hp motor used under normal flood irrigation that could at best water 10,000 plants.
- High-density planting: Jalgaon’s major disadvantage was its dry weather and lack of humidity required by bananas but this was overcome by close planting.
- Tissue culture: As per the report, the main advantage with tissue-cultured banana plants is that it is based on the disease-free and genetically pure material.
Significance of Geographical Indication (GI) Tag
- A GI is a name or sign used on certain products under Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 that corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin.
- It indicates a community's intellectual property attached to that particular product.
- It implies that the product's uniqueness has been verified by an expert committee of the Government of India.
- It helps the community get a premium price for the product.
- It creates a distinct identity, assures the buyers of quality, brings reputation to the product and creates an international market for it.
India’s position in Banana
- India’s banana exports grew both in terms of volume as well as value from 1.34 lakh metric tonne valued at Rs 413 crore in 2018-19 to 1.95 lakh metric tonne valued at Rs 660 crore in 2019-20.
- During 2020-21 (April-February), India has exported banana worth of 1.91 lakh tonne valued at Rs 619 crore.
- India is the world's leading producer of bananas with a share of around 25% in total output.
- Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh contribute more than 70% of the country's banana production.
High Court - UAPA misuse
Recently, three orders by the Delhi High Court are perhaps the first instance of a court calling out alleged misuse of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against individuals in cases that do not necessarily fall in the category of "terrorism" cases.
Arguments of High Court under UAPA
- The court highlighted that the UAPA, in relaxing timelines for the state to file chargesheet and its stringent conditions for bail, gives the state more powers compared to the Indian Penal Code.
- The court stated that the phrase ‘terrorist act’ has been defined in a very wide and detailed manner within Section 15 itself.
- The court said that it is a “sacrosanct principle of interpretation of penal provisions” that these must be construed strictly and narrowly.
- It is key to ensuring that a person who was not covered by the legislative ambit does not get roped into a penal provision.
Arguments of Police
- The Delhi Police argued that the terror clause in UAPA can be invoked for:
- The intent to threaten the unity and integrity but the likelihood to threaten the unity and integrity; or
- The intent to strike terror but the likelihood to strike terror, not just the use of firearms; or
- Causing or likely to cause not just death but injuries to any person or persons or loss or damage or destruction of property
UAPA
- The Constitution (Sixteenth Amendment) Act, 1963 was enacted to impose, by law, reasonable restrictions in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India.
- The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Bill was passed by Parliament in 1967.
- It is considered to be the predecessor of laws such as the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA).
Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA)
- It is primarily an anti-terror law which is aimed at “more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations and for dealing with terrorist activities”.
- Under previous arrangement, the UAPA could designate only an organisation as terrorist organisation and not the individuals but the 2019 amendment to Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) provided that an individual can be designated a terrorist.
- The UAPA cases are tried by special courts.
- The Act defines unlawful activity as any action i.e. spoken or written words, signs, or visible representation, which is intended or supports any claim to bring about secession of any part of India or which incites anyone towards secession.
- It defines unlawful activity which disclaims, questions, disrupts or intends to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India.
- The word “disaffection” has not been defined in the law, and finds mention only once.
- Under ordinary criminal law, an individual is entitled to bail by default if the investigating agency fails to file a chargesheet within 90 days but under UAPA, the period of probe and detention of the accused can be extended up to 180 days.
- Under the Act, investigation of cases may be conducted by officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police or above.
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