Economy This Week (7th to 13th Jan 2023)

Economy is an important part of the UPSC prelims and mains exams; this series titled ‘Economy This Week’ 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 7th  to 13th Jan 2023 is given below. Business news is essential for IAS exam preparation.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. ₹ 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 ₹ 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. World’s 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. ₹ 2600 Cr incentives for banks to promote digital payments (TH 12/1/23)

• The union cabinet has approved ₹ 2600 Cr to banks to promote payments using the RuPay cards and Unified Payments Interface (UPI)  
• The funds will be paid as the banks are not allowed to impose Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) 
• 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 country  

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 marginally 
• 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 obligations 

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 accounts 
• 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 rupee 

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 Programme 
  • Ropeways are generally seen as a tourist attraction 
  • Ropeways are also preferred as a mode of transportation because of its economic cost, environment friendly nature, can also be used to decongest the cities 
• The ministry has prioritized eight ropeways projects worth ₹ 4000 Cr to develop 60 kms length of ropeways 
• Ropeways market is a new one in India with a huge potential 
  • Earlier the issue was that there were no detailed project reports (DPR). Now govt has started doing DPR for over 200 projects 
  • There is also a concern regarding safety and home ministry has written to all states for having a standard operating procedures for contingency plans 

5. RBI to sell ₹ 16000 Cr sovereign green bonds (LM 7/1/23)

• RBI on Friday has announced that it will be auctioning ₹ 16000 Cr (₹ 8000 Cr in two tranches)  
  • There will be two types – one in maturing in 5 and other in 10 years – worth ₹ 4000 Cr each 
  • 5% of the notified amount will be reserved to the retail investors and will be eligible for the repurchase transactions (Repo) 
  • These will be considered eligible for the SLR 
• The funds will be used in public sector projects that will help in reduction in carbon intensity 
• Some of the foreign investors who invest under ESG Scheme may find investing in these meaningful 

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 parameters 
  • This will enable holistic development in areas requiring assistance 
  • It will cover 500 districts across 31 states and UTs to begin with 
  • It is on the lines of Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) launched by govt in 2018 which covers 112 districts 
• Govt had announced its intention to launch such programme in the Union Budget 2022-23  

7. Co-op ministry writes up new by laws for uniform adoption by agriculture credit societies (BL 11/1/23)

• The Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) have a member base of about 13 Cr 
  • There are over 95000 PACS and of these nearly 63000 are active and engaged in different areas 
  • The centre is a targeting increasing the PACS to 3 lakh in two years 
  • The primary objective with the bylaws is to move the agricultural marketing activities from the mandis (markets) to PACS 
• 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 states 
  • The states have been given the flexibility to amend the bylaws 
• Bylaws 
  • Current law allows the PACS to work in one area, the model bylaw allows them to perform multifarious activities to improve their financial health  
  • 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 etc 
• The minister for co-operation has also written to  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 etc 
  • As of now around 13% procurement of wheat and over 20% of the paddy for central pool is done by the PACS     

8. World’s largest varsity for coops mooted (LM 12/1/23)

• Ministry of cooperation is planning to set up world’s largest cooperative university – National Cooperative University – which will award 9600 degrees, 16000 diplomas and 80000 certificates by 2026-27 
• It will be promoting cooperative education, training, research and development etc enacted through an act of the parliament 
• 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 societies  
  • National multi-state cooperative organic society 
    • Will manage various activities of the organic sector by providing certified and authentic products 
  • National multi-state cooperative seed society 
    • 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 etc 

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 2022 
• 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 it 
• However the prices of food items such as cereals, milk, spices etc have risen by 13.8%, 8.5% and 20.3% respectively 
• For rural consumers, the inflation has remained high at 6.05% with food prices rising over 5% compared to just 2.8% in urban India 
• If vegetables are excluded then the inflation has risen to 7.2% in December compared to 7% in November 
• The core inflation has remained over 6% and is a cause of concern

Economy This Week (7th to 13th Jan 2023):- Download PPT Here

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