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Daily PIB/ 12 March
General Studies- II
Topic- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
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Re-launch of CEPA between India – Canada
Context:
India – Canada agreed to re-launch the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) negotiations to unlock full potential of bilateral trade.
- India and Canada held the fifth Ministerial Dialogue on Trade & Investment (MDTI), recently.
- The Ministers agreed to formally re-launch the negotiations for India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA).
- They are also considering an Interim Agreement or Early Progress Trade Agreement (EPTA) that could bring early commercial gains to both the countries.
Need for:
- The existing trade complementarities between India and Canada and emphasised that the trade agreement would help in expanding bilateral trade in goods and services through unlocking the potential across sectors.
- The Interim Agreement would include high level commitments in goods, services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, and dispute settlement, and may also cover any other areas mutually agreed upon.
India-Canada Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA):
In September 2008, the India-Canada CEO Round Table recommended that India and Canada would benefit enormously from CEPA by elimination of tariffs on a substantial majority of the bilateral trade.
- CEPA would cover trade in goods, trade in services, rules of origin, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade and other areas of economic cooperation.
- A Joint Study was conducted and report came in September 2010 strongly recommending the benefits of CEPA for both the countries.
- Accordingly, the announcement of launch of India-Canada CEPA negotiations was made by PMs of both the countries in Seoul in November 2010 and the negotiations were formally launched by CITM and Canadian Trade Minister Van Loan on 16 November 2010 in New Delhi.
- So far, ten rounds of negotiations have already taken place. The 10th Round was held in New Delhi in August, 2017.
- A stocktaking CEPA and FIPA virtual bilateral meeting was held on 22nd June, 2020 between Chief Negotiators of both sides.
- Subsequently, on 27th Oct. 2020 a bilateral meeting was held to explore the option of an early harvest / interim agreement.
- In this regard, scoping paper has been shared with Canadian side, and on 19th November 2020 a DVC was held and both sides are engaged to take it forward.
Difference between CECA, CEPA and FTA:
CECA – Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement.
CEPA – Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement.
The major “technical” difference between a CECA and CEPA is that CECA involve only “tariff reduction/elimination in a phased manner on listed/all items except the negative list and tariff rate quota (TRQ) items.
- CEPA also covers the trade in services and investment and other areas of economic partnership”.
- So CEPA is a wider term that CECA and has the widest coverage.
- Usually, CECA is signed first with a country and after that, negotiations may start for a CEPA.
- It is a kind of free trade pact which covers negotiation on the trade in services and investment, and other areas of economic partnership.
- It may even consider negotiation on areas such as trade facilitation and customs cooperation, competition, and Intellectual Property Rights.
- Partnership agreements or cooperation agreements are more comprehensive than Free Trade Agreements.
- CEPA also looks into the regulatory aspect of trade and encompasses an agreement covering the regulatory issues.
General Studies- II
Topic- Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI) Scheme
Context:
Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers has released the guidelines for the scheme “Strengthening of Pharmaceutical Industry (SPI)”.
- Total financial outlay of Rs.500 Cr for the period from FY 21-22 to FY 25-26 has been sanctioned for the scheme.
- The scheme will address the rising demand in terms of support required to existing Pharma clusters and MSMEs across the country to improve their productivity, quality and sustainability
Objective:
- To strengthen the existing infrastructure facilities in order to make India a global leader in Pharma Sector by providing financial assistance to pharma clusters for creation of Common Facilities to improve the quality and ensure the sustainable growth of cluster;
- To upgrade the production facilities of SMEs and MSMEs, to meet national and international regulatory standards, by providing interest subvention or capital subsidy on their capital loans, which will facilitate the growth in volumes as well as in quality;
- To promote knowledge and awareness in and about the Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Industry by taking up studies, building databases and bringing industry leaders, academia and policy makers together to share their knowledge and experience for overall development of Pharma and Medical Devices industry.
Components of SPI:
The Scheme has 3 components / sub-schemes:
- Assistance to Pharmaceutical Industry for Common Facilities (APICF): To strengthen the existing pharmaceutical clusters’ capacity for their sustained growth by creating common facilities.
- Pharmaceutical Technology Upgradation Assistance Scheme (PTUAS): To facilitate Micro, Small and Medium Pharma Enterprises (MSMEs) of proven track record to meet national and international regulatory standards.
- Pharmaceutical & Medical Devices Promotion and Development Scheme (PMPDS): To facilitate growth and development of Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Sectors through study/survey reports, awareness programs, creation of database, and promotion of industry.
Background of the scheme:
The Pharmaceuticals industry a key sector for achieving wellness for all Indians. It is also an important sector in terms of providing employment to trained personnel.
- Atmanirbhar Bharat envisages self-reliance in terms of healthcare products, among other things, for people of India.
- In this context, the Department of Pharmaceuticals is supporting the pharma industry to enhance manufacturing capabilities by increased investment in green field projects through Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes.
- There are over 80 Pharma clusters across the country and over 10500 manufacturing facilities.
- Further, the Department also got a study done by ‘Centre for Global Development Research’ to assess the requirement of already existing schemes, especially for the MSMEs.
This scheme addresses the demand and requirement for support to already existing pharma clusters and MSMEs to improve productivity, quality and sustainability
General Studies- III
Topic- Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)
Context:
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) celebrated its 37 th Inception Day on 11 March.
About NCRB:
The National Crime Records Bureau, is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).
- NCRB was created in 1986 after the recommendations of National Police Commission – 1977.
- It is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), Government of India.
Organs of NCRB:
- CCTNS
- Central Finger Print Bureau
- Statistical Branch
- Training Branch
- Data Centre and Technical Branch
Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS)
CCTNS is a plan scheme conceived in the light of experience of a non-plan scheme namely – Common Integrated Police Application (CIPA).
- CCTNS is a Mission Mode Project under the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) of Govt. of India.
- CCTNS aims at creating a comprehensive and integrated system for enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of policing through adopting of principle of e-Governance and creation of a nationwide networking infrastructure for evolution of IT-enabled-state-of-the-art tracking system around ‘Investigation of crime and detection of criminals’.
Central Finger Print Bureau (CFPB)
The Central Finger Print Bureau, came into being in 1955 in Calcutta (now Kolkata) under the administrative control of the Intelligence Bureau.
- In 1973 the administrative control was transferred to CBI.
- It was in July, 1986 that the CFPB was finally placed under the administrative control of the newly formed National Crime Records Bureau.
Statistical Branch
Statistical Branch of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) was formed out of the Statistical Section of Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).
- It was one of the four units that were merged in NCRB at the time of NCRB’s creation.
- Thus, Statistical Branch of NCRB is one of the founding branches of NCRB.
Training Branch
- One of the objectives of NCRB is to provide training in IT and Finger Print Science essential for capacity building of Police Forces in the country.
- Training Branch of National Crime Records Bureau has been making every effort towards achieving this goal.
Data Centre & Technical Branch (DCT)
DCT works to build up, update and maintain a secure National Database on crimes, criminals and property which will make available informed, accurate and timely information on-line to all State forces and Central agencies for the purpose of improving day-to-day functioning in terms of crime detection, crime prevention and maintenance of public order.
Chrome facts for Prelims
Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela 2022
- Pusa Krishi Vigyan Mela was organised by IARI, New Delhi.
- The theme was “Self-reliant farmer with technical knowledge”.
- During the mela, nearly 40,000 farmers from different regions of the country participated and learned about varieties and technologies of IARI and 100 ICAR institutes, Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
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