CAA WEEK 3 OCTOBER 2019.Indd
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Disclaimer The current affairs articles are segregated from prelims and mains perspective, such separation is maintained in terms of structure of articles. Mains articles have more focus on analysis and prelims articles have more focus on facts. However, this doesn’t mean that Mains articles don’t cover facts and PT articles can’t have analysis. You are suggested to read all of them for all stages of examination. CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYST WEEK-3 (OCTOBER, 2019) CONTENTS Section - A: Mains Current Affairs Area of GS Topics in News Page No. Defence Creation of Vibrant SMEs for Defence Corridors 06 Environment Alternatives to single-use plastics 09 International India-Bangladesh Relations 12 Relations Fake News menace in India: Dangers and How to 15 Polity & tackle it? Governance Making Political Parties Accountable 19 Social Issues Creating Jobs for Young India 21 Section - B: Prelims Current Affairs Area of GS Topics in News Page No. Electoral Bond Scheme 24 Economy New Strategic Disinvestment Processes 25 Why Onion prices often shoots up in India? 27 Advanced Air Quality Early Warning System 28 Environment Water Management 28 Environmental E-Waste Clinic in Madhya Pradesh 30 Governance Geography Mass Extinctions 31 Governance Prakash Portal 33 History Chalukyas 34 Guru Nanak Dev 35 Polity Semi-Presidential System 36 Science & Lithium-ion Batteries 37 Technology Reinventing Border Management: Drone threat in Security 38 Border Areas National Nutrition Survey 39 Social Issues Rajasthan has announced the creation of a 40 Pneumoconiosis Fund C40 Cities 43 Extinction Rebellion 44 Interconnect Usage Charge (IUC) 44 Miscellaneous Kamini Roy 44 Military exercises 44 Ramachandran Plot 45 51 Pegasi b 45 ********** SECTION: A (MAINS) CURRENT AFFAIRS CURRENT AFFAIRS WEEK - 3 (OCTOBER, 2019) WEEKLY CREATION OF VIBRANT SMES FOR DEFENCE CORRIDORS CONTEXT Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for increased and active participation of the private sector in defence manufacturing to achieve the government’s target of making the Indian defence industry worth $26 billion by 2025. BACKGROUND: Present status of MSME in defence: ! 90 percent of the industrial units in India What are Defence Industrial Production belong to the Micro, Small and Medium Corridors? Enterprises (MSME) sector. ! There are over 11 million MSME units in India A defence corridor refers to a route or a path along that produce more than 8,000 products. They which domestic production of defence equipment contribute nearly 45 percent to manufacturing by the public sector, private sector an MSMEs is and about 40 percent to the Indian export lined up to enhance the operational capability of sector. the defence forces. ! Their contribution to the Indian Gross The budget for 2018-19 provided for development Domestic Product (GDP) is 8 percent. of two defence industrial production corridors: the locations of these corridors have been Opportunities for start-ups in the defence sector strategically decided, taking into account the include not only the manufacture of equipment natural ecosystem. but also the provision of technical support and The fi rst corridor plans to link Chennai and integration services in information technology, Bengaluru and will pass through Coimbatore and maintenance, repair, and overhaul, communication several other industrial clusters. This southern and navigation, among other areas. corridor will extend from Chennai, Hosur, Although exports are a nominal part of the earnings Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchi. of the defence industry, as the SMEs develop the The second corridor will be in Bundelkhand—a capacity to manufacture defence equipment, they region divided between Uttar Pradesh and can be part of the global supply chain. Madhya Pradesh. This will be a Rs 20,000-crore The SMEs are crucial for the Indian defence sector defence industrial production corridor, which will due to their fl exibility, diversity, low cost inputs, generate 2,50,000 jobs. etc. Issues and Concerns: ANALYSIS: Reluctance to Technology sharing: Make in It is in the strategic interest of a nation aspiring to India for defence has not made any substantial be a regional power to develop an indigenous and difference because of the primary dependence internationally competitive defence industry base. on the import route for acquisition of technology. India has the potential to emerge as a global platform There is a general reluctance among technology for defence research, manufacturing, supply chain leaders to share critical technologies with Indian sourcing, software development, and offsets, with partners and there is relative inability of the the right kind of policy interventions. The Small and Indian counterparts to absorb and upgrade the Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector is critical for the technology. success of these fl agship initiatives. Stiff competition: The MSMEs face stiff MSMEs in Defence sector: competition from two sources: the bigger and more established players in the market, and The Ministry of Defence set up a Committee of Experts imports. These make it necessary for the MSMEs under the chairmanship of Dhirendra Singh in May to innovate and either introduce a product or a 2015 to evolve a policy framework for ‘Make in India’ service to fi ll the void created by the bigger players, and to suggest the requisite amendments in Defence or reduce the costs and streamline the processes Procurement Policy 2013. The Committee stressed on to enable them to be on a more level playing fi eld the importance of SMEs for the Defence production. against the bigger players. 6 www.iasscore.in CURRENT AFFAIRS WEEKLY WEEK - 3 (OCTOBER, 2019) Infrastructural bottlenecks: The MSMEs are of Information and Communication Technology located in decades-old industrial estates, are (ICT) is a key enabler for migration to Industry 4.0. functioning within urban areas or have come up in The government should play the role of a facilitator an unorganized manner in rural areas. The state of for delivery of cost-effective solutions such as infrastructure, including power, water, roads, etc. in Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a such areas is poor and unreliable. Service (IaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) Lack of skilled manpower: Although India has through cloud computing. a large pool of human resources, the industry A special fund to provide up to 50 percent funding continues to lack formally skilled manpower support for hiring external experts to improve required for manufacturing, marketing, servicing, management and operations can make the SMEs etc. more effi cient. Recommendations to Create Vibrant SMEs As part of the intellectual property management in Defence Corridors: support programme, the necessary support can be given for developing new products, processes, The important issues faced by the industries ideas and business models. need to be researched and common issues like Better linkage to the venture capital and angel testing facility, Computer Aided Design (CAD) and investors would help the SMEs to learn and grow Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) facility for by tapping onto the expertise of these special R&D, Internet Protocol (IP) management services, categories of investors. co-location of the Quality Assurance Evaluator (QAE) establishments and defence PSUs, and talent Knowledge and technology transfer from the upgradation specifi c for emerging technologies, universities to the SMEs and innovative start- need to be addressed. ups can be facilitated by the government under an appropriate scheme. A symbiotic relationship Considering the relative state of development of between the MSME clusters and technical the two proposed corridors, the approach for each institutions would help solve the technical and corridor needs to be different. designrelated problems of the MSMEs. From a generalistic SME policy to adopting specifi c policies for high-growth innovative SMEs, and from promoting entrepreneurship to improving CONCLUSION: the business environment for SMEs can be helpful The rise of India as a growing power would require in supporting the SMEs. not only a macroeconomic uplift but also a thorough As the MSMEs are bogged down in routine realization of entrepreneurship and innovation by operations, reporting for regulatory compliance, the MSMEs. Since fi rms, not countries, are the ones an integrated IT system taking care of non-core that have to compete internationally, it is therefore functions will allow them to concentrate on core essential for India to foster innovation, especially areas, improving employee productivity. Adoption at the fi rm level. Practice Question Analyse the role of Small and Medium Enterprises in the development of Defence Corridors in the country. www.iasscore.in 7 CURRENT AFFAIRS WEEK - 3 (OCTOBER, 2019) WEEKLY Creation of Vibrant SMEs for Defence Corridors plans to link Chennai Context and Bengaluru and will Defence Minister Rajnath Singh called for increased and pass through active participation of the private sector in defence Coimbatore and several manufacturing to achieve the government's target of making other industrial clusters the Indian defence industry worth $26 billion by 2025 will be located in ꔅ Bundelkhand region This southern corridor ꔅ will extend from This will be a Rs 20,000- Chennai, Hosur, crore defence industrial Coimbatore, Salem and production corridor, which will Tiruchi generate 2,50,000 jobs first corridor second corridor refers to a route or a path along which domestic production