Economy is an important part of the UPSC prelims and mains exams; this series titled βEconomy This Weekβ has been initiated to address the need to read and analyse economic articles in various business-related newspapers. The round-up of the Economy/Business section news for 7thΒ to 13th Jan 2023 is given below. Business news is essential for IAS exam preparation.
![](https://cdn1.byjus.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Economy-1.png)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. βΉ 2600 Cr incentives for banks to promote digital payments (TH 12/1/23) 2. New customs rules from 11th February (FE 12/1/23) 3. Non-residents from 10 countries will soon be able to use UPI (FE 12/1/23) 4. 250 proposals received for ropeway project (FE 10/1/23) 5. RBI to sell βΉ 16000 Cr sovereign green bonds (LM 7/1/23) 6. Govt launches Aspirational Blocks Programme (IE 8/1/23) 7. Co-op ministry writes up new by laws for uniform adoption by agriculture credit societies (BL 11/1/23) 8. Worldβs largest varsity for coops mooted (LM 12/1/23) 9. Cabinet approves Cooperative societies to promote organic products, seeds and exports (IE 12/1/23) 10. Inflation - Vegetable prices help cool inflation (TH 13/1/23)
1. βΉ 2600 Cr incentives for banks to promote digital payments (TH 12/1/23)
- The union cabinet has approved βΉ 2600 Cr to banks to promote payments using the RuPay cards and Unified Payments Interface (UPI)Β Β
- The funds will be paid as the banks are not allowed to impose Merchant Discount Rate (MDR)Β
- The scheme will also promote UPI Lite and 123PAY as economical and user friendly digital payments solution and enable further deepening of digital payments in the countryΒ Β
2. New customs rules from 11th February (FE 12/1/23)
- Govt has notified new rules – The Customs (Assistance in Value Declaration of Identified Imported Goods) Rules 2023 – to address the menace of the undervalued imports and could help raise the revenues marginallyΒ
- Under this a list of goods are identified where there are concerns over correct declaration of value by the importer and now the importer has to undertake additional obligationsΒ
3. Non-residents from 10 countries will soon be able to use UPI (FE 12/1/23)
- NPCI has permitted non-residents of 10 countries (USA, Canada, UAE etc) to digitally transfer funds using the UPI Platform from NRO/NRE accountsΒ
- The NRIs and PIOs can open the Non-Resident (External) Rupee (NRE) accounts, Non-Resident Ordinary (NRO) accounts can be opened by any person residing outside India for a bonafide transactions in rupeeΒ
4. 250 proposals received for ropeway project (FE 10/1/23)
- The ministry of road, transport and highways has received around 250 proposals for developing ropeways under Parvatamala Yojana or National Ropeway Development ProgrammeΒ
- Ropeways are generally seen as a tourist attractionΒ
- Ropeways are also preferred as a mode of transportation because of its economic cost, environment friendly nature, can also be used to decongest the citiesΒ
- The ministry has prioritized eight ropeways projects worth βΉ 4000 Cr to develop 60 kms lengthΒ of ropewaysΒ
- Ropeways market is a new one in India with a huge potentialΒ
- Earlier the issue was that there were no detailed project reports (DPR). Now govt has started doing DPR for over 200 projectsΒ
- There is also a concern regarding safety and home ministry has written to all states for having a standard operating procedures for contingency plansΒ
5. RBI to sell βΉ 16000 Cr sovereign green bonds (LM 7/1/23)
- RBI on Friday has announced that it will be auctioning βΉ 16000 Cr (βΉ 8000 Cr in two tranches)Β Β
- There will be two types – one in maturing in 5 and other in 10 years – worth βΉ 4000 Cr eachΒ
- 5% of the notified amount will be reserved to the retail investors and will be eligible for the repurchase transactions (Repo)Β
- These will be considered eligible for the SLRΒ
- The funds will be used in public sector projects that will help in reduction in carbon intensityΒ
- Some of the foreign investors who invest under ESG Scheme may find investing in these meaningfulΒ
6. Govt launches Aspirational Blocks Programme (IE 8/1/23)
- Govt launched the Aspirational Blocks Programme (ABP), which aims at improving the performance of the blocks lagging in various development parametersΒ
- This will enable holistic development in areas requiring assistanceΒ
- It will cover 500 districts across 31 states and UTs to begin withΒ
- It is on the lines of Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) launched by govt in 2018 which covers 112 districtsΒ
- Govt had announced its intention to launch such programme in the Union Budget 2022-23Β Β
- The Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) have a member base of about 13 CrΒ
- There are over 95000 PACS and of these nearly 63000 are active and engaged in different areasΒ
- The centre is a targeting increasing the PACS to 3 lakh in two yearsΒ
- The primary objective with the bylaws is to move the agricultural marketing activities from the mandis (markets) to PACSΒ
- The ministry of co-operation has formed the bylaws and has asked all the states to circulate its new by laws which has been accepted by the statesΒ
- The states have been given the flexibility to amend the bylawsΒ
- BylawsΒ
- Current law allows the PACS to work in one area, the model bylaw allows them to perform multifarious activities to improve their financial healthΒ Β
- Will allow the PACS to expand/diversify their activities under 25 segments – seed, fertiliser, and pesticide sale; fisheries, dairy and poultry; farm machinery and implements etcΒ
- The minister for co-operation has also written toΒ all the states asking the CMs to support the PACS by providing gram Sabha/government land for infrastructure development, fair price shops (FPS) licenses and designating PACS as a procurement agency on behalf of. The FCI etcΒ
- As of now around 13% procurement of wheat and over 20% of the paddy for central pool is done by the PACSΒ Β Β Β Β
8. Worldβs largest varsity for coops mooted (LM 12/1/23)
- Ministry of cooperation is planning to set up worldβs largest cooperative university – National Cooperative University – which will award 9600 degrees, 16000 diplomas and 80000 certificates by 2026-27Β
- It will be promoting cooperative education, training, research and development etc enacted through an act of the parliamentΒ
- There is an annual requirement of 1.3 lakh trained personnel for cooperatives
9. Cabinet approves Cooperative societies to promote organic products, seeds and exports (IE 12/1/23)
- Union cabinet has approved setting up of three new cooperative bodies under the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act 2002
- National multi-state cooperative export society
- Will act as an umbrella organization and promote exports from cooperative societiesΒ Β
- National multi-state cooperative organic societyΒ
- Will manage various activities of the organic sector by providing certified and authentic productsΒ
- National multi-state cooperative seed societyΒ
- Will act as an apex organization for production, procurement, processing, branding, labelling, packaging, storage, marketing and distribution of quality seeds; strategic research and development: and develop a system for preservation and promotion of indigenous seeds etcΒ
- National multi-state cooperative export society
10. Inflation – Vegetable prices help cool inflation (TH 13/1/23)
- Retail inflation has fallen to 12 month low of 5.72% with a steep 15.1% fall in vegetable prices in December 2022Β
- The retail inflation has been over a level of 6% for the 10 consecutive months in 2022 and for the last two consecutive months has been below itΒ
- However the prices of food items such as cereals, milk, spices etc have risen by 13.8%, 8.5% and 20.3% respectivelyΒ
- For rural consumers, the inflation has remained high at 6.05% with food prices rising over 5% compared to just 2.8% in urban IndiaΒ
- If vegetables are excluded then the inflation has risen to 7.2% in December compared to 7% in NovemberΒ
- The core inflation has remained over 6% and is a cause of concern
Economy This Week (7th to 13th Jan 2023):- Download PPT Here
ETW (7th to 13th Jan 2023):- Download PDF Here
Related Links | |||
Sovereign Green Bonds | Digital Transactions | ||
Inflation | Reserve Bank of India (RBI) | ||
Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs (CBIC) | Financial Stability Report (FSR) 2022 |
Comments