Current Affairs Assam – August 2018
( Covers all important Assam Current Affairs & GK topics for the month of August 2018 )
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August 10
PM targets to save Rs 12k cr in oil import bill
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10th Aug set a target to triple ethanol production in four years to help save Rs 12,000 crore in oil import bill by mixing the sugarcane extract in petrol as well as boost farm income.
Speaking at a function to mark World Biofuel Day, he said about Rs 10,000 crore is being invested in setting up 12 bio-refineries in the country that will produce fuel from crop stubble and residue as well as urban waste.
The world’s third largest oil consumer is dependent on imports to meet 81 per cent of its needs and substituting some of the fuel with biofuels will help cut import dependence. India started blending ethanol, produced as a by-product during the process of making sugar from sugarcane. The target is to raise ethanol production for doping in petrol to 450 crore litres in four years that will save Rs 12,000 crore in import bill.
Currently, petrol contains 3.8 per cent of ethanol. The bio-refineries being set up will generate about 1.5 lakh jobs in the entire value chain.
The government approved the National Policy on Biofuels in June this year which seeks to produce fuel that can be doped in petrol and diesel from agriculture and municipal waste as well as crop residue.
Fuel is targeted to be produced from crop stubble, which otherwise is burnt every year causing pollution and erosion in soil’s nutrient value. It can also be produced from damaged crops.
Point2Rember
- India spent nearly USD 88 billion (about Rs 5.9 lakh crore) on import of crude oil in 2017-18.
- India is world’s third largest oil consumer country.
- World Biofuel Day is observed on 10th August to create awareness about the importance of non-fossil fuels
National Policy on Biofuels, 2018 – Highlights
- It categorises biofuels to enable extension of appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.
- Basic Biofuels: First Generation (1G) – bioethanol and biodiesel.
- Advanced Biofuels: Second Generation (2G) – ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels; Third Generation (3G) – biofuels, bio-CNG etc.
- It expanded the scope of raw material for ethanol production, allows use of sugarcane juice, sugar containing materials like sweet sorghum, sugar beet, starch containing materials like corn, cassava, damaged food grains like broken rice, wheat, rotten potatoes, unfit for human consumption for ethanol production.
- Use of surplus food grains for production of ethanol for blending with petrol with approval of National Biofuel Coordination Committee. This will also ensure farmers get appropriate price for their produce during the surplus production phase.
- Incentives to advanced biofuel – Viability gap funding scheme indicated for 2G ethanol Bio refineries of Rs.5000 crore in 6 years for giving special emphasis to advanced biofuels.
- Proposes additional tax incentives, higher purchase price as compared to 1G biofuels.
- Supply chain mechanisms – encourage setting up of supply chain mechanisms for biodiesel production from non-edible oilseeds, used cooking oil, short gestation crops.
Assam CM launches new ferries in Majuli
As part of the State Government’s efforts to upgrade the communication system between Majuli and the mainland, the Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on 10th Aug flagged off four new modern ferry vessels of Inland Water Transport (IWT) department at Kamalabarighat.
The new ferries are expected to improve the communication system while minimizing the people’s dependence on traditional boat service. Sarbananda Sonowal also flagged-off another new ferry service between Ahotguri and Misamora areas of Majuli. The service will significantly shorten the travel time between the places.
One Ramp Powered Lighter (RPL), which has been refurbished to carry JCB and dumpers to Majuli from Jorhat side, was also launched by the Chief Minister.
FACTFILE – Assam Inland Water Transport
- It was established in the year 1958. The department of Transport, Govt of Assam is the Administrative department of Inland Water Transport, Assam.
- The Directorate of Inland Water Transport, Assam was initially setup with a skeleton staff headed by a Director with its Head Quarter at Shillong.
- In October, 1963 the Directorate of Inland Water Transport was shifted to Guwahati. This was slowly expanded to a fully fledged Directorate under the Transport Department, Govt. of Assam at Guwahati.
- As a first major steps toward its expansion activity, 6 (six ) nos. of ferry services operating in the river Brahmaputra were taken over from the State PWD Department in 1968.
ISRO not to sign MoU with Assam Govt
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has ruled out any possibility of signing an MoU with the Assam State Government for flood and disaster management.
However, North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC), under Department of Space, has been working closely with the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) since 2009.
In association with ASDMA, the NESAC has developed the Flood Early Warning System (FLEWS), a terrain-specific model and employs satellite-based inputs, in-situ data on rainfall and river discharge data at critical locations to provide advance information on flood events as an input to disaster preparedness.
FACTFILE – North Eastern Space Applications Centre (NESAC)
- NESAC, came into being on 5th of September, 2000, as a joint initiative of Department of Space (DOS) and the North Eastern Council (NEC) in Shillong.
- The Centre plays a catalytic role in holistic development of entire north-eastern region by providing space science and technology support on natural resource management.
Sensex hits historic 38,000 mark for the first time
The BSE Sensex hit the 38,000 level for the first time on 09 August 2018, amid widespread buying in banking, energy and PSU stocks amid unabated inflows by domestic and foreign institutional investors. The broader NSE Nifty too touched a new peak of 11,495.20.
Strong gains in banking, oil and gas, PSU, realty, healthcare, IT, teck, metal, infrastructure, capital goods, FMCG, power and auto stocks spurred the index higher.
Analysts said strong liquidity in the market following unabated buying by foreign as well as domestic institutional investors and encouraging Q1 earnings bolstered sentiment.
On a net basis, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth Rs 568.63 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities to the tune of Rs 30.25 crore yesterday, provisional data showed.
August 11
SEBI allows investors to hold shares in physical form beyond December 5
The SEBI on 10th Aug said that its new notification allows investors to continue maintaining shares in physical form even after December 5. The new amendment does not prohibit investors from holding shares in the physical form. Investors have the option of holding shares in the physical form even after December 5, 2018.
Earlier in July month, SEBI notified that the transfer of securities of listed companies has to take place in dematerialized or electronic mode from December 5. But the recent clarification comes up after the watchdog was reached out by several stakeholders in respect of the applicability of this directive.
SEBI favored dematerialisation of shares over physical form as it helps in maintaining a transparent record of shareholding at listed companies. It is to be noted that the new rules is not applicable in case of transfer of title of securities due to succession or inheritance and interchanging of the order of the name of shareholders.
FACTFILE – Securities and exchange Board of India (SEBI)
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India was established on April 12, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
- The Preamble of the Securities and Exchange Board of India describes the basic functions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India as “to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development of, and to regulate the securities market and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”
- Securities and exchange Board of India (SEBI) was first established in the year 1988 AQF as a non-statutory body for regulating the, securities market.
- It became an autonomous body on 12 May 1992 and given statutory powers in 1992 with SEBI Act 1992 being passed by the Indian Parliament.
- SEBI has its headquarters at the business district of Bandra Kurla Complex in Mumbai, and has Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Regional Offices in New Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Ahmedabad respectively.
GST compensation worth Rs 52,077 crore paid to states/UTs
The Union government said a GST compensation totaling Rs 52,077 crore has been paid to states and UTs during the 11-month period through May 2018.
Under the Goods and Services Tax (GST), implemented on July 1, 2017, the Centre has to compensate states/UTs for loss of their revenue on account of implementation of the new indirect tax regime.
States/UTs have been paid GST compensation of Rs 48,178 crore for the period July 2017 to March 2018 and of Rs 3,899 crore for the period of April-May 2018. Total taxes collected under GST works out to be Rs 11.3 lakh crore in the 13-month period ending July 2018.
The maximum GST collection was Rs 1.03 lakh crore in April. The collection dipped to Rs 94,016 crore in May and has been gradually increasing in the subsequent months.
FACTFILE – Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- GST is an indirect tax (or consumption tax) levied in India on the supply of goods and services. GST is levied at every step in the production process, but is refunded to all parties in the chain of production other than the final consumer.
- Goods and services are divided into five tax slabs for collection of tax – 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.
- Petroleum products, alcoholic drinks, electricity, and real estate are taxed separately by the individual state governments. There is a special rate of 0.25% on rough precious and semi-precious stones and 3% on gold.
- In addition a cess of 22% or other rates on top of 28% GST applies on few items like aerated drinks, luxury cars and tobacco products.
- Pre-GST, the statutory tax rate for most goods was about 26.5%, Post-GST, most goods are expected to be in the 18% tax range.
- The tax came into effect from July 1, 2017 through the implementation of One Hundred and First Amendment of the Constitution of India by the Indian government. The tax replaced existing multiple cascading taxes levied by the central and state governments.
Assam CM launches free textbook distribution programme
Parents and teachers must play a vital role in nurturing students as quality human resource for the future and both these sections must fulfil their responsibilities to create good citizens for the country by harnessing the individual qualities of the students, said Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal while speaking at the launching ceremony of free textbook distribution programme for Class XI students of the State.
14,92,600 free textbooks were distributed among 1,71,065 students enrolled in Class XI of various colleges of the State. Free textbooks were also distributed in the district headquarters towns of the State.
Assam State Textbook Production and Publication Corporation has already published textbooks for Assamese, Bengali, Bodo, English, Nepali and Manipuri mediums for distribution among the Class XI students in the 2018-19 academic year.
Education Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharyya and MoS of Education Department Pallab Lochan Das also spoke in the meeting where the Chairman of the Assam State Textbook Production and Publication Corporation gave the welcome address.
2-day Meet on SDG-6 in Assam
A two-day session on “Training and Monitoring Action Plan on Sustainable Development Goal-6” was organised here recently by the Water and Sanitation Support Organisation (WSSO), PHED, Assam and supported by UNICEF, Assam.
The two-day programme focused on Sustainable Development Goal-6 by the year 2030, with emphasis on the provision of safe and adequate water for drinking, cooking and other domestic purposes for all households on a sustainable manner and provision of safe rural sanitation practices for all.
ASSAM-2030 in light of SDGs is the Vision of the Government of Assam for a developed and prosperous state with happy, healthy, cared-for and gainfully employed people. This will be through achievement of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015. The Government of Assam is fully committed to the SDGs, and has decided to achieve all the goals in Assam by 2030, though a major all-round initiative.
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