GS- 3rd Paper
Topic- Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme
Context
Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme 2019-20 (Series V) – Issue Price.
About Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme (SGB)
- Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme was launched by Govt in November 2015, under Gold Monetisation Scheme.
- Sovereign Gold Bonds are Government securities denominated in multiples of gram(s) of gold.
- They are substitute for investment in physical gold.
- RBI Notifies the terms and conditions for the scheme from time to time.
Objective
- To reduce the demand for physical gold by shifting a part of the demand for physical gold into investment in Gold Bonds.
- The main objective of the scheme is to develop a financial asset as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.
Key features of the Scheme
- Sovereign Gold Bond Bonds will be issued by RBI on behalf of govt.
- It will be sold through bank, post offices and Stock Holding Corporation of India Limited.
- Sovereign Gold Bonds will be issued on payment of rupees and denominated in grams of gold.
- Customers can buy gold bonds which will be relatable to the weight of gold.
- The bonds will be issued in various denominations for 5-7 years with a rate of interest to calculated on the value of the metal at the time of investment.
- The scheme is available only for Indian citizen and institutions.
- Capital gains tax treatment will be the same as for physical gold for an ‘individual’ investor.
- Rate of interest under the scheme will be decided by government.
- The bonds will be issued in denominations of 5,10,50,100 grams of gold or other denominations.
- Sovereign Gold Bonds can be used as collateral for loans.
Significance
- With the Reserve Bank of India issuing these gold bonds, it brings in transparency and trust, providing an avenue wherein people can own gold without having to worry about its storage or safety.
- This scheme aims to reduce the demand for physical gold, thereby keeping a tab on gold imports and utilising resources effectively.
- Gold and crude oil have significant role in India’s widening current account deficit.
- The government, however, chose not to increase import duty on gold when it raised duty on non-essential imports to narrow the current account deficit, fearing a surge in gold smuggling.
GS- 3rd Paper
Topic– Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
Context
Government has noted the reduction in repo rate from 5.40 percent to 5.15 percent announced by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC).
Highlights
- Government has reduced repo rate from 5.40 percent to 5.15 percent.
- This will complement the recent measures taken by government to accelerate growth.
- Revised growth projections of the MPC at 6.1 percent for 2019-20 along with growth projections made by other bodies including the IMF, ADB etc.
- Higher projection of headline inflation by MPC for 2019-20, is within the band of 3-4 percent and well within the target range.
About Monetary Policy Committee
- The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Central Bank in India (Reserve Bank of India), headed by its Governor.
- Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark policy interest rate (repo rate) to contain inflation within the specified target level.
- The formation of the monetary policy committee was mooted by the Urjit Patel committee.
- The final decision on monetary policy should not lie with the RBI governor alone but on a group of people.
- The MPC replaces the current system where the RBI governor, with the aid and advice of his internal team and a technical advisory committee, has complete control over monetary policy decisions.
- Targeting inflation is to be the core objective of the central bank, and it will be answerable to law-makers if it failed to achieve the target.
- MPC will meet four times in 1 year and will announce its decisions publicly after each meeting.
Constitution of the MPC
The Central Government constitutes the MPC through a notification in the Official Gazette.
MPC have six members –
- The RBI Governor (Chairperson),
- the RBI Deputy Governor in charge of monetary policy,
- One official nominated by the RBI Board
- Three members would represent the Government of India.
- The members appointed by the govt. will be appointed based on the recommendations by the search-cum-selection committee which will be headed by the cabinet secretary.
- Decisions in the MPC will be taken by majority vote with each member having a vote.
- The governor will not enjoy a veto power to overrule the other panel members, but will have a casting vote in case of a tie.
- No government official will be nominated to the MPC.
GS-2 Paper
Topic- Issues relating to development & management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
“Eat Right India” Movement
Context
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare launched the “Trans Fat Free” logo of Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
About “Eat Right India” Movement
- The Eat Right India Movement is a year-long social and mass media campaign of Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
- It is the new healthy eating approach which places citizens at the centre of a Health Revolution through food and fitness.
- This movement is aligned with the government’s flagship public health programmes such as POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anemia Mukt Bharat, Ayushman Bharat Yojana and Swachh Bharat Mission.
Aims
- The movement aims to cut down salt/sugar and oil consumption by 30% in three years.
- It aims to engage and enable citizens to improve their health and well-being by making the right food choices.
Key features
- The FSSAI has put in place robust regulatory measures under three major pillars: Eat Safe, Eat Health and Eat Sustainably for the programme.
- FSSAI has prescribed a limit for Total Polar Compounds (TPC) at 25% in cooking oil to avoid the harmful effects of reused cooking oil.
- As part of ‘Eat Right India’ campaign, FSSAI has trained about 1.7 lakh food safety supervisors for capacity building under the Food Safety Training and Certification (FoSTaC) initiative.
- They will sensitise people and food vendors on food safety.
Need of the campaign
- The country is in need of a movement on preventive health for all in the backdrop of the increasing burden of non-communicable diseases including diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases, widespread deficiencies of vitamins and minerals and rampant food-borne illnesses.
- The Eat Right India movement acts as a crucial preventive healthcare measure to trigger social and behavioural change.
GS-2 Paper
Topic- Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies
Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
Context
“Trans Fat Free” logo of Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) was launched at the 8th International Chefs’ Conference (ICC VII).
About
- The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India is the administrative Ministry of FSSAI.
Objectives
- It consolidates various acts & orders that have hitherto handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments.
- To lay down science based standards for articles of food and to regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
Food Safety and Standard Act, 2006
- The Act also aims to establish a single reference point for all matters relating to food safety and standards, by moving from multi- level, multi- departmental control to a single line of command.
- The Act establishes an independent statutory Authority – the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India with headquarter at Delhi.
- FSSAI Act, 2006 consolidates various acts & orders that had earlier handled food related issues in various Ministries and Departments, such as–.
- Various central Acts like Prevention of Food Adulteration Act,1954,
- Fruit Products Order , 1955,
- Meat Food Products Order,1973,
- Vegetable Oil Products (Control) Order, 1947,
- Edible Oils Packaging (Regulation)Order 1988,
- Solvent Extracted Oil, De- Oiled Meal and Edible Flour (Control) Order, 1967,
- Milk and Milk Products Order, 1992 etc will be repealed after commencement of FSS Act, 2006.
Functions of FSSAI
- Framing of regulations to lay down the standards and guidelines of food safety.
- Granting FSSAI food safety license and certification for food businesses.
- Laying down procedure and guidelines for laboratories in food businesses.
- To provide suggestions to the government in framing the policies.
- To collect data regarding contaminants in foods products, identification of emerging risks and introduction of rapid alert system.
- Creating an information network across the country about food safety.
- Promote general awareness about food safety and food standards.
For Prelims-
Goa Maritime Conclave– 2019
Context
The Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC)-2019 was inaugurated at Goa on 4th October 2019.
Highlights
- The Indian Navy will host ‘Goa Maritime Conclave – 2019’ in its bid to foster friendly relations with maritime neighbours.
- Naval War College, Goa, is hosting the event which is follow-on to the maiden Goa Maritime Conclave held in 2017.
- Theme- The theme for the conclave is “Common Maritime Priorities in IOR and need for Regional Maritime Strategy”.
- The conclave will facilitate interaction between the participating navies and maritime agencies in the IOR on common issues of maritime interest.
- It will play a constructive role in bringing together stakeholders that have a role in evolving strategies, policies and implementation mechanisms in the maritime domain.
- Goa Maritime Conclave, participated by the heads of the navies of ten nations from the Indian Ocean region –
- Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
World Cotton Day
Context
Union Textiles Minister represented India at World Cotton Day celebrations in Geneva.
Highlights
- World Cotton Day being observed from 7th October in Geneva.
- The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is organizing World Cotton Day event.
- WTO is hosting the event at the request of the Cotton – 4 countries, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali to celebrate their official application for the recognition of 7th October as World Cotton Day by the United Nations.
- World Cotton Day will also serve to shed light on the challenges faced by cotton economies around the world because cotton is important to least developed, developing and developed economies worldwide.
The objective of observing October, 7 as World Cotton Day is-
- To give exposure and recognition to cotton and all its stakeholders in production,
- Transformation and trade; to engage donors and beneficiaries and strengthen development assistance for cotton;
- Seek new collaborations with the private sector and investors for the cotton related industries
- Production in developing countries and promote technological advances
- Further research and development on cotton.
