Current Affairs Assam – October 2017 e-Magazine
October 19
India, Brazil, South Africa sign IBSA Trust Fund agreement
India, Brazil and South Africa (IBSA) have signed the IBSA Trust Fund Agreement that seeks to fight poverty in developing countries. It was signed at the 8th IBSA trilateral Ministerial Commission Meeting in Durban, South Africa. It is an international tripartite grouping for promoting international cooperation among these countries.
FACTFILE – The IBSA Dialogue Forum
- The IBSA Dialogue Forum (India, Brazil, South Africa) is an international tripartite grouping for promoting international cooperation among these countries.
- It represents three important poles for galvanizing South-South cooperation and greater understanding between three important continents of the developing world namely, Africa, Asia and South America.
- The forum provides the three countries with a platform to engage in discussions for cooperation in the field of agriculture, trade, culture, and defence among others.
- The IBSA Dialogue Forum plays an increasingly important role in the foreign policies of India, Brazil and South Africa.
- It has become instrumental for promoting ever closer coordination on global issues between three large multicultural and multiracial democracies of Asia, South America and Africa, and contributed to enhancing trilateral India-Brazil-South Africa cooperation in sectoral areas.
India and Russia to participate in first-ever tri-services military exercise INDRA 2017
The first-ever Tri-Services Joint Exercise between Indian and Russian Armed Forces, INDRA-2017 began. The Indian contingent comprises of 350 personnel from Army, 80 from Air Force, two IL 76 aircraft and one Frigate and Corvette each from the Navy. It is a landmark event in the history of Indo-Russian defense co-operation and will strengthen mutual confidence, inter-operability and enable sharing of best practices between both the armed forces.
October 20
State Tourism Policy unveiled
“Once you visit Assam, it stays with you forever” – with internationally acclaimed actor Priyanka Chopra inviting people to visit Assam through this promo catch line, the much-awaited Awesome Assam promotional campaign was launched by State Tourism Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, along with an incentive-laden Tourism Policy of Assam 2017, inviting investors to the State.
The government plans to market the brand Assam in a big way in India and abroad, with Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal leading from the front. Sonowal would be conducting road shows in all major cities of the country, while his Cabinet colleagues would promote Assam on foreign turf, said Tourism Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Approved by the State Cabinet, the policy will become operational from January 1, 2018, and would continue till December 31, 2022.
Generous incentives are on offer for the filmmakers shooting in Assam for Hindi, English or any other foreign language film. The perks would further compound if the story of the film is based in Assam – a strategy to give tourism a huge boost in the State.
India among five countries responsible for 50% newborn deaths
As per a report titled “Levels and Trends in Child Mortality 2017”, India along with Pakistan, Nigeria, Congo, and Ethiopia is responsible for half of all newborn deaths in the world. This report has been authored by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), World Bank Group and United Nations.
October 21
Centre’s move to reduce import tariff on tea
In a significant move having wider ramifications for the tea industry, the Centre proposes to bring down the import tariff on tea from the current level of 110 per cent to 50 per cent by 2019.The Most Favoured Nation (MFN) tariff rates, which are being currently applied on products such as coffee, palm oil, pepper and tea will be brought down in phases and in the case of tea, the commitment is to reduce the import tariff from the present level of 110 per cent to 50 per cent by 2019, a report on ‘Trade with Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)’ of the Commerce and Industry Ministry said.
However, the Tea Board has expressed apprehensions that a reduction in the import tariff on tea will adversely affect the Indian tea industry, and through the lenient rules of origin, China’s cheaper tea may enter Indian markets through the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (FTA) route.
The tea industry also thinks that there is an urgent need to take appropriate measures to not only check cheap import from ASEAN countries but also prevent entry of Chinese tea into Indian markets through the India-ASEAN FTA route. Experts underscored the need to revisit the provisions regarding the rules of origin to avoid the Chinese imports taking advantage of the lower tariff envisaged under the Trade in Goods Agreement.
There is an immense scope of promoting tea exports to ASEAN countries provided the tariff structure is tweaked suitably so as to provide a level playing field for export of Indian tea to ASEAN. The Ministry may explore the possibility of extracting a similar tariff structure for the Indian tea sector which is prevalent for ASEAN countries inter se, said the sources.
The report said that it may be advantageous for countries like Indonesia and Vietnam, which are the largest exporters of tea to India among all ASEAN counties, to explore the huge Indian domestic market under the FTA in future.
In 2008, the share of ASEAN in India’s total tea import was 21.94 per cent, which constituted 2.36 per cent of ASEAN’s total tea export. India’s tea import from ASEAN increased to 32.8 per cent of India’s total tea imports in the next year. However, from the year 2011, the import from the two ASEAN countries of Vietnam and Indonesia came down to 10 per cent, which further reduced to 4 per cent during 2014 and 2015.
The import has again risen to around 10 per cent during 2016. India’s tea export to the ASEAN countries has been low (ranging between 1.6 per cent and 2.5 per cent of the total export volume). ASEAN countries are also importing tea from Indonesia and Vietnam. It was argued that under the India ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, opportunities for India to expand its tea exports to ASEAN countries are limited.
The report said that Assam is strategically located as the gateway to the South East Asian countries and has an ideal location for international trade and business. The capital of Assam has an international airport and is connected with major cities of the country.
Pollution killed 2.5 million people in India in 2015: study
India had the world’s highest number of deaths due to air, water and other forms of pollution in 2015, according to a study published in the Lancet journal which showed that pollution killed as many as 2.5 million people in the country.Most of these deaths are due to non-communicable diseases caused by pollution such as heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers said.
According to the study, air pollution is the biggest contributor, linked to 6.5 million deaths in 2015 in the world, while water pollution (1.8 million deaths) and workplace-related pollution (0.8 million deaths) pose the next largest risks.
Almost 92 per cent pollution-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries.
In rapidly industrialising countries such as India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Madagascar and Kenya, deaths due to pollution can account for up to one in four deaths.
“In 2015, the greatest numbers of deaths due to pollution occurred in India (2.5 million deaths) and China (1.8 million),” the study said.
Welfare losses due to pollution are estimated to cost more than USD 4.6 trillion each year, equivalent to 6.2 per cent of the global economic output, it said. Pollution is linked to an estimated nine million deaths each year worldwide – equivalent to one in six (16 per cent) of all deaths.
PM Modi to launch India’s first Ro Ro ferry service in Gujarat
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be launching India’s first Roll On-Roll Off or ‘Ro-Ro’ ferry service between Ghogha in Saurashtra’s Bhavnagar district and Dahej in Bharuch district.
The service is expected to reduce the distance between the two coastal towns from 310 km by road to 30 km, saving time and money. The travel time will be cut by at least five hours.
The ferry service will be able to carry up to 100 vehicles and 250 passengers.
