Blog

PIB – October 25 , 2019

GS- 3rd Paper

Topic- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Doing Business Report (DBR) 2020

Context            

The World Bank released its latest Doing Business Report (DBR, 2020), October 2019.

Main findings for Doing Business 2020

  • Doing Business captures 294 regulatory reforms implemented between May 2018 and May 2019. Worldwide, 115 economies made it easier to do business.
  • The economies with the most notable improvement in Doing Business 2020 are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Togo, Bahrain, Tajikistan, Pakistan, Kuwait, China, India and Nigeria.
  • Only two Sub-Saharan African economies rank in the top 50 on the ease of doing business; no Latin American economies rank in this group.
  • Doing Business 2020 continues to show a steady convergence between developing and developed economies, especially in the area of business incorporation.
  • While economic reasons are the main drivers of reform, the advancement of neighboring economies provides an additional impetus for regulatory change.

About Doing Business Report

  • Ease of Doing Business is an annual survey published by World Bank.
  • It has its origin in a paper” The Regulation of Entry” first published in 2002 in the Quarterly Journal of Economics by Bulgarian economist Simeon Djankov.
  • The DBR ranks countries on the basis of Distance to Frontier (DTF), a score that shows the gap of an economy to the global best practice.
  • This year, India’s DTF score improved to 71.0 from 67.23 in the previous year.
  • Countries are ranked on the basis their performance on 10 parameters.
  • These parameters are-
  1. Construction permits;
  2. Starting a business;
  3. Enforcing contracts;
  4. Trading across borders;
  5. Getting electricity connection;
  6. Getting credits;
  7. Registering property;
  8. Paying taxes;
  9. Resolving insolvency
  10. Protecting minor investor.

India in DBR 2020

  • India has recorded a jump of 14 positions against its rank of 77 in 2019.
  • India is placed at 63rd rank among 190 countries assessed by the World Bank.
  • India’s leap of 14 ranks in the Ease of Doing Business ranking is significant considering that there has been continuous improvement since 2015 and for the third consecutive year India is amongst the top 10 improvers.
  • India has improved its rank in 7 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices (Distance to Frontier score).
  • Significant improvements have been registered in 7 indicators-
  1. ‘Resolving Insolvency’,
  2. ‘Dealing with Construction Permits’,
  3. ‘Registering Property’,
  4. ‘Trading across Boards’
  5. ‘Paying Taxes’
  6. ‘Getting electricity’
  7. ‘Starting a Business’

The important features of India’s performance this year are–

  • The World Bank has recognized India as one of the top 10 improvers for the third consecutive year.
  • Recovery rate under resolving insolvency has improved significantly from 26.5% to 71.6%.
  • The time taken for resolving insolvency has also come down significantly from 4.3 years to 1.6 years.
  • India continues to maintain its first position among South Asian countries. It was 6th in 2014.

Top 5 Ranker countries

  1. New Zealand
  2. Singapore
  3. Denmark
  4. Hong Kong
  5. South Korea

Top 10 Improver Countries

  1. Saudi Arabia,
  2. Jordan,
  3. Togo,
  4. Bahrain,
  5. Tajikistan,
  6. Pakistan,
  7. Kuwait,
  8. China,
  9. India

Significance

  • India’s rapid growth will offer opportunities for both local and global business.
  • The rapid growth will create jobs which are the need of the hour due to the rising demographic dividend.
  • Elevated ranking demonstrates India’s commitment towards providing conducive environment for business activities. It will fetch more investment to the country.
  • It would attract foreign investors to invest in India and will also bring advanced technologies to the country.
  • If India aims to reach a higher rank in the index then there is lot of work which needs to be done.

GS- 1st Paper

Topic – Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, Literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.

Kartarpur Sahib Corridor

Context

India signs the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor Agreement with Pakistan.

About the agreement

  • India has signed the Agreement with Pakistan today on the modalities for operationalisation of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor at Zero Point, International Boundary, Dera Baba Nanak.
  • The 550th Birth Anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Devji is to be celeberated in a grand and befitting manner, throughout the country and across the globe.
  • The Union Cabinet also approved the building and development of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to the International Boundary, to facilitate pilgrims from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, round the year, in a smooth and easy manner.

 The highlights of the Agreement are–

  • Indian pilgrims of all faiths and persons of Indian origin can use the corridor;
  • The travel will be Visa Free;
  • Pilgrims need to carry only a valid passport;
  • Persons of Indian Origin need to carry OCI card along with the passport of their country;
  • The Corridor is open from dawn to dusk. Pilgrims travelling in the morning will have to return on the same day;
  • The Corridor will be operational throughout the year, except on notified days, to be informed in advance;
  • Pilgrims will have a choice to visit as individuals or in groups, and also to travel on foot;
  • India will send the list of pilgrims to Pakistan 10 days ahead of travel date. Confirmation will be sent to pilgrims 4 days before the travel date;
  • The Pakistan side has assured India to make sufficient provision for ‘Langar’ and distribution of ‘Prasad’;

Challenging Issues

  • The main issue that has been a point of discussion is the insistence of Pakistan to levy US Dollars 20 as service charge per pilgrim per visit.
  • India has consistently urged Pakistan to not levy any fee on the pilgrims.
  • However, in the interest of the pilgrims and timely operationalization of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor before the 550th Prakash Purb, the agreement has been signed.
  • India continues to pursue the issue of all-weather connectivity through the corridor.
  • Government of India has built the bridge on Indian side and a temporary service road as an interim arrangement.
  • It is expected that Pakistan will fulfil the assurance that it would build the bridge on their side at the earliest.

Kartarpur Sahib Pilgrim corridor

  • Kartarpur Sahib Pilgrim corridor is also called as the “Road to Peace”.
  • It will connect Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Kartarpur with Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Gurdaspur district.
  • The construction of the corridor will allow visa-free access to pilgrims from India.
  • The gurdwara in Kartarpur stands on the bank of the Ravi, about 120 km northeast of Lahore.
  • It was here that Guru Nanak assembled a Sikh community and lived for 18 years until his death in 1539.
  • The shrine is visible from the Indian side, as Pakistani authorities generally trim the elephant grass that would otherwise obstruct the view.

GS- 3rd Paper

Topics – Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

Merger of BSNL and MTNL

Context

Union Cabinet approves revival plan of BSNL and MTNL and in-principle merger of the two.

About the revival plan

  • The Union Cabinet today approved the proposal for revival of BSNL and MTNL
  • The revival plan envisioned-
  1. Allotment of spectrum for 4G services,
  2. Debt restructuring by raising of bonds with sovereign guarantee,
  3. Reducing employee costs,
  4. Monetization of assets
  5. In-principle approval of merger of BSNL & MTNL.

Reason for the Merger

  • BSNL is trying hard to sustain itself in a competitive market and was willing to accept what the government decides.
  • The government was in a Catch-22 situation wherein it had to decide between survival of BSNL/MTNL on one side and safeguarding the interests of employees.
  • BSNL has a huge employee base of 1.66 lakh and MTNL 21,679 while Private players have just 25,000-30,000 employees across India.
  • The overstaffing of BSNL cost about 60% of BSNL’s revenues that goes towards managing employee expenses, while for MTNL it is around 87%.

Need for Merger

  • It is expected that with the implementation of said revival plan, BSNL and MTNL will be able to provide reliable and quality services through its robust telecommunication network throughout the country including rural and remote areas.

For prelims

Global Bio-India 2019

Context

The Global Bio-India 2019, one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders conglomerate will be held for the first time in India at New Delhi.

Highlights

  • India for the first time is hosting a mega event for the biotech community.
  • It will attract investments, showcase our indigenous strengths and more importantly fuel the hopes.
  • It is noteworthy to point that Biotechnology is recognized as the key driver for contributing to India’s USD 5Tn economy target.
  • The Summit assumes significance as it is one of the largest biotechnology stakeholders conglomerate to be held in India for the first time. indigenous talent pool.

Chenani Nashari Tunnel renamed after Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee

Highlights

  • Chenani Nashri Tunnel on NH 44 in Jammu & Kashmir as Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee Tunnel in an event in New Delhi.
  • Chenani Nashri Tunnel 9 km tunnel is the longest such state of art tunnel in the country.
  • It connects Udhampur to Ramban in Jammu.
  • It cuts down 31 km of travel distance and reduces the travel time between the two points by about two hours, in addition to substantial saving in fuel cost.

 

Leave a Reply