Csap-At-15-03-2021
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THE ASSAM TRIBUNE ANALYSIS DATE – 15 MARCH 2021 For Preliminary and Mains examination As per new Pattern of APSC (Also useful for UPSC and other State level government examinations) Answers of MCQs of 13-03-2021 1. C 2. D. Shanghai, China 3. B. Johannesburg, South Africa 4. D. 2010 5. B. Amrita Pritam MCQs of 15-03-2021 Q1. India is a member of which among the following? 1. Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation 2. Association of South-East Asian Nations 3. East Asia Summit Select the correct answer using the code given below. A. 1 and 2 only B. 3 only C. 1, 2 and 3 D. India is a member of none of them Q2. The term ‘Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership’ often appears in the news in the context of the affairs of a group of countries known as A. G20 B. ASEAN C. SCO D. SAARC Q3. India is a regular member of which of the following organizations? 1. BIMSTEC 2. Shanghai Cooperation Organization 3. ASEAN 4. G-20 Codes: A. 1 and 2 only B. 2 and 3 only C. 1 and 4 only D. All of these Q4. UDAN scheme launched in the year A. 2015 B. 2016 C. 2017 D. 2018 Q5. The proportion of tribal population to the total population of Assam is A. One third B. One fifth C. One – eighth D. One – tenth CONTENTS 1. Committed to free, secure and ‘prosperous Indo-Pacific region’ ( GS 2 – International Relations ) 2. Govt launches UDAN 4.1, invites bids for priority routes ( GS 3 – Schemes ) 3. MeitY invites applications for 2nd round of PLI scheme (GS 3 – Schemes ) 4. CAIT seeks restoration of MSME status for 8 cr traders ( GS 3 – MSMEs ) 5. DPIIT to hold meets with industry, trader bodies ( GS 3 – Industry ) EDITORIALS 1. Level field ( GS 2 – Polity ) 2. The business of education ( GS 3 – Education ) 3. Guwahati water supply ( GS 5 – Water Resources ) Committed to free, secure and ‘prosperous Indo-Pacific region’ The leaders of the four-nation Quad have reaffirmed that they are striving to ensure that the Indo-Pacific is accessible, dynamic and governed by international law and bedrock principles such as freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of disputes, and free from coercion, sending a clear message to China which is flexing its muscles in the region and beyond. In an opinion piece in The Washington Post after holding the first Leaders’ Summit of Quadrilateral alliance on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Joe Biden, Australian PM Scott Morrison and Japanese PM Yoshihide Suga asserted that all countries should be able to make their own political choices, free from coercion. They said the governments of India, Japan, US and Australia have worked closely for years, and Friday, for the first time in “Quad” history, they convened as leaders to advance meaningful cooperation at the highest level. “To strengthen our quest for a region that is open and free, we have agreed to partner to address the challenges presented by new technologies and collaborate to set the norms and standards that govern the innovations of the future,” the leaders said. The Quad leaders in the summit on Friday vowed to strive for a “free, open and inclusive” region unconstrained by “coercion”. The virtual Quad summit took place as China and India are involved in a military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh since May last year. China is also engaged in hotly-contested territorial disputes in both the South China Sea and the East China Sea. In the East China Sea, Japan has maritime disputes with China. In the opinion piece after the summit, the leaders said the cooperation, known as “the Quad,” was born in crisis. It became a diplomatic dialogue in 2007 and was reborn in 2017. “In December 2004, the continental shelf off the coast of Indonesia shifted two metres, creating one of the largest tidal waves in modern history and a nearly unprecedented humanitarian crisis around the Indian Ocean. With millions displaced and hundreds of thousands killed, the Indo-Pacific region sounded a clarion call for help. Together, our four countries answered it,” they wrote. Australia, India, Japan and the US – a group of democratic nations dedicated to delivering results through practical cooperation – coordinated rapid humanitarian assistance and disaster relief to people in need, they wrote. “Now, in this new age of interconnection and opportunity throughout the Indo-Pacific, we are again summoned to act together in support of a region in need,” they said. – PTI Govt launches UDAN 4.1, invites bids for priority routes To further enhance regional air connectivity, the Centre today invited bids for the 4.1 round of the RCS- Udan scheme. Accordingly, the ‘bid document’ has been uploaded on the Central procurement portal of the National Informatics Centre inviting the bids from interested airlines. The process is expected to be completed by six weeks. In a statement, the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) said that some operational flexibilities are extended to airlines under the Udan 4.1 to ensure suitable operation models to connect smaller cities or airstrips. Besides, new routes are proposed under ‘Sagarmala Seaplane Services’. Furthermore, operations under NSOP will be allowed for seaplane, fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters for RCS routes awarded under Udan 4.1. According to Usha Padhee, Joint Secretary, MoCA: “Following the four successful rounds of bidding, the special Udan 4.1 bidding round invites bids for priority routes which have not been covered under Udan so far.” “This bidding round also includes routes specially requested by the State governments or UT administrations and earlier cancelled or terminated routes. We have observed great demand on many tier-2 and 3 Udan routes attesting the necessity along with essentiality and criticality of these regional routes. We aim to equip our country with one of the strongest air connectivity networks.” The process was launched on the commencement of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav (India@75)’. Notably, the scheme envisages to make air travel affordable and widespread in the country. It intends to boost inclusive national economic growth, employment opportunities, and air transport infrastructure development across the nation. Till date, 325 routes and 56 airports including 5 heliports and 2 water aerodromes have been operationalised under the Udan scheme. – IANS MeitY invites applications for 2nd round of PLI scheme The government has started inviting applications for the second round of large-scale electronics manufacturing under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme with focus on some electronic components like motherboards, semiconductor devices, among others. The application window for the scheme has been opened till March 31 which may be further extended, as per guidelines issued by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY). “The second round of the PLI scheme is open for accepting applications. The tenure of the second round of PLI scheme is for four years and the incentive shall be applicable from April 1, 2021,” an official memorandum dated March 11 said. The first round of the scheme was open for receiving applications till July 31 which attracted participation from global majors like Apple’s contract manufacturers Foxconn, Wistron and Pegatron; Samsung; local players Lava, Optiemus, Dixon, etc., with investment commitments of over Rs 11,000 crore. While the first round targeted mobile manufacturing with incentives for 20 companies, the second round has expanded the window for up to 30 eligible companies. The new guidelines have identified components, discrete semiconductor devices including transistors, diodes, etc., passive components including resistors, capacitors, printed circuit board, assembly, ATMP (assembly, testing, marketing and packaging) units, etc., as target segment for the second round of PLI. “Incentives under the second round of PLI scheme shall be applicable from April 1, 2021,” the guidelines said. – PTI CAIT seeks restoration of MSME status for 8 cr traders The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has demanded restoration of MSME status taken away in 2017 from 8 crore retail and wholesale traders who are part of the service industry. The government in June 2017 removed retail and wholesale traders from the MSME category forcing the players either borrow at a higher rate or from informal financial sources, CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal told PTI. According to banking sources, about Rs 3-lakh crore loans given to them are at the risk of losing a tag of MSME loan at the end of March when banks do their annual closure. As a result, many banks will face the problem of meeting priority sector lending (PSL) target and the shortfall may have to be parked with Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) or Micro Units Development & Refinance Agency Ltd (MUDRA). Along with agriculture, loans given to MSME sector also come under the PSL and as per the RBI’s guidelines, commercial banks should extend 40 per cent of the total lending towards the priority sector. However, for regional rural banks (RRBs) and small finance banks (SFBs), the PSL target is 75 per cent. PSL is available at concessional rate and objective behind this is to promote these labour-intensive businesses in the economy. According to estimates, the country’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) alone will have to reclassify Rs 50,000-crore loans given to traders and ICICI Bank will do reclassification of about Rs 25,000 crore at the end of this month. Khandelwal said even the Udyam portal launched in July last year after the revision in definition of micro, small & medium enterprises (MSMEs), denied MSME tag to traders. As a result, he said, traders are facing difficulty in getting loans from formal sources and even denied registration on Government e-Market (GeM) platform as there is no MSME tag attached to the business.