India projected to grow at 8% this fiscal: World Bank 

• The country is estimated to have grown at 8.3% in the fiscal year that just passed, following a contraction of 6.6% in the previous year owing to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• For the South Asia region, growth is expected to be slower than projected, by 1 percentage point, at 6.6% in 2022 and 6.3% next calendar year.
• This is due to Russia’s war on Ukraine, which has impacted the region, when it was already experiencing “fragile” growth, rising commodity prices, bottlenecks to supply and financial sector vulnerabilities.

Sri Lankan economic crisis kindles Kochi container terminal’s hopes

• At ICTT, Vallarpadam, Kochi, cargo traffic has increased by over 62% in March with mother vessels calling at the Cochin port.
• According to statistics available with the Cochin port, the transshipment volume at the ICTT has increased to 13,609 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) in March 2022 compared to 8,394 TEUs in March 2021.
• There were also reports that ports such as Thoothukudi, Chennai, and Mundra have become beneficiaries with traffic being diverted from Colombo due to various reasons.

Government lays down norms for quota in promotions

• It said that following a January 28 Supreme Court judgment, the Attorney-General opined that three conditions were to be met while implementing the policy of reservation in promotions.
• These are
  • Collection of quantifiable data regarding inadequacy of representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes;
  • application of this data to each cadre separately; and
  • if a roster exists, the unit for operation of the roster would be the cadre or which the quantifiable data would have to be collected and applied in regard to the filling up of the vacancies in the roster.
• The order said that all the Ministries and departments are required to ensure that the conditions are complied with before implementing reservation in promotions and carrying out any promotions based thereon.

Govt exempts all customs duties on cotton imports till 30 Sept

• Ministry of Finance has issued a notification in this regard saying that the exemption on cotton import will come into effect from 14th April and remain in force till 30th of September, 2022.
• The exemption will benefit the textile chain-yarn, fabric, garments and made-ups and will also provide relief to consumers. Textile exports are also to be benefitted from this move.
• Previously, the import of cotton attracted a 5 percent basic customs duty and another 5 percent Agriculture Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC).

Allow colour blind candidates to study film editing courses, Supreme Court tells FTII

• Colour blindness, also known as colour deficiency, is the inability to see colours in the normal way. Colour blind individuals often cannot distinguish between certain colours — usually greens and reds, and sometimes blues as well.
• Two types of cells in the retina detect light — the “rods”, which distinguish between light and dark, and the “cones” that detect colour. There are three types of cones that see colour — red, green, and blue — and our brains use the information from these cells to perceive colour.
• Colour blindness can be the result of the absence of one or more of these cone cells, or their failure to work properly.

Prabhat Patnaik named for Malcolm Adiseshiah Award 2022

• The award is annually given by the Malcolm and Elizabeth Adiseshiah Trust to an outstanding social scientist for Distinguished Contributions to Development Studies.
• Patnaik has taught at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning in the School of Social Sciences at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and has served as Vice-Chairman of the Kerala State Planning Board.
• Malcolm Sathiyanathan Adiseshiah (1910 – 1994), was an Indian development economist and educator. In 1976 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.

Nod to extend Gram Swaraj scheme

• The CCEA approved the extension of the scheme that ended on March 31 at a total financial outlay of ₹5,911 crore, of which ₹3,700 crore would be the Centre’s share and ₹2,211 crore the share of States.
• The scheme would work towards “poverty-free and enhanced livelihood in villages; healthy villages, child-friendly villages; water-sufficient villages; clean and green villages; self-sufficient infrastructure in villages; socially-secure villages; villages with good governance and engendered development in villages.”
• Panchayats would be strengthened and a spirit of healthy competition inculcated.
• The scheme started in 2018-2019.