03 Apr 2023: PIB Summary for UPSC

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Defence Industrial Corridor
2. B20 Conference of North-East Region
3. India - Central Asia Culture Ministers’ Meet
4. SCO: Culture Ministers Meet
5. PM - DevINE
6. India - Netherlands JWG - 1st Ministerial level Meeting

1. Defence Industrial Corridor

Syllabus – GS3, Science & Technology: Indigenisation of Technology.

Prelims – Defence Industrial Corridors, iDEX, DAP 2020, DefSpace

Context – Establishment of two Defence Industrial Corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Details –

• In 2001, the Defence Industry sector was opened up to 100% for Indian private sector participation. 
• In order to promote domestic production and to encourage indigenous design, development and manufacture of defence equipment in the country, GoI has taken several initiatives which include –
  • Under Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020, priority is being given to the procurement of capital items from domestic sources.
  • Launch of Mission DefSpace.
  • Launch of iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) scheme.
  • Launch of an indigenisation portal SRIJAN to facilitate indigenisation by Indian industry including MSMEs.
  • Liberalisation of FDI policy allowing 74% FDI under automatic route.
  • Progressive increase in allocation of Defence Budget for military modernisation for procurement from domestic sources.
• GoI has established two Defence Industrial Corridors (DICs), in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, to attract total investment worth Rs 2000 cr by the year 2024-25 for defence industries, develop the domestic supply chain and strengthen the defence manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
• In Uttar Pradesh Defence Industrial Corridor (UPDIC), there are 6 nodes – Agra, Aligarh, Jhansi, Kanpur, Chitrakoot and Lucknow. Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) is the nodal agency for UPDIC.
• In Tamil Nadu Defence Industrial Corridor (TNDIC) there are 5 nodes – Chennai, Hosur, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruchirappalli. Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) is the nodal authority.

2. B20 Conference of North-East Region

Syllabus – GS2, International Relations: Global Groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. 

Prelims – G20: B20 Conference of NER.

Context – Kohima, Nagaland hosts the fourth and final event of B20 being organised in the north-east region (4-6 April 2023).

Details –

• Under India’s G20 presidency, the B20 conference in the north-east region of India in partnership with CII (Confederation of Indian Industries), DPIIT ( Department for Promotion of Internal Trade), Ministry of External Affairs and North-Eastern state governments has been organised for exploring partnerships among business communities.
• The first three conferences were held in Imphal, Aizawl, and Gangtok in which the untapped potential of the north-east region was highlighted.
• The main theme of the fourth B20 conference of the north-east region will be ‘Opportunities for Multilateral Business Partnerships in Agriculture and Food Processing, Tourism and Information Technology’. There will also be B2B and B2G meetings.
• The B20 Conference in Kohima will witness 64 overseas delegates from 29 countries.

3. India – Central Asia Culture Ministers’ Meet

Syllabus – GS2, International Relations: Regional Groupings involving India and /or affecting India’s interests.

Prelims – First India – Central Asia Culture Ministers’ Meeting.

Context – Shri G. Kishan Reddy hosted the first India- Central Asia Culture Ministers’ meeting via video conferencing.

Details –

• The Minister of Culture, Tourism and DoNER, Shri G.Kishan Reddy hosted the first India-Central Asia Culture meeting through video-conferencing.
• The India – Central Asia Summit was hosted by Shri Narendra Modi on 27th January 2022; the meeting laid great emphasis on promoting cultural cooperation for a better understanding of culture between Central Asian countries and India and strengthening the age-old cultural linkages which bind people together.
• The culture ministers of Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan participated in the meeting. The ministers presented their perspective to take forward their leader’s commitment for further strengthening cultural cooperation in the region.

4. SCO: Culture Ministers Meet

Syllabus – GS2, International Relations: Regional Groupings 

Prelims – 20th Session of Culture Ministers of the SCO Member States.

Context – The Union Minister Shri G. Kishan Reddy hosted the 20th session of the culture ministers meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member states through video conferencing.

Details –

• The SCO: Cultural Meeting was attended by the culture ministers of China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. The ministers expressed their views for increasing cooperation in the field of culture under the SCO framework.
• The Union Culture Minister mentioned the historical and cultural linkages among SCO member countries. He highlighted the importance of cultural collaboration and dialogue in promoting peaceful co-existence through mutual respect, diversity and inclusiveness. A special curated digital exhibition on the Shared Buddhist Heritage of SCO countries was launched by the minister.
• India is chairing the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) council of heads of state for a year from September 2022. India joined SCO in 2017.
• India’s theme of SCO chairmanship is SECURE – ‘Security, Economic Cooperation, Connectivity, Unity, Respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity and Environment’.

5. PM – DevINE

Syllabus – GS2, Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors.

Prelims – PM DevINE

Context – Generation of livelihoods for youth and women under PM-DevINE.

Details –

• PM-DevINE is a central sector scheme announced in the Union Budget 2022 – 23. The Union Cabinet approved the scheme in October 2022.
• The scheme has an outlay of Rs 6600 cr for the four-year period from 2022-23 to 2025-26 (the remaining years of the 15th Finance Commission period).
• Objectives of the PM-DevINE scheme-
  • Support social development projects based on the felt needs of the North-East Region.
  • Fund infrastructure convergently, in the spirit of PM GatiShakti.
  • Fill the developmental gaps in various sectors.
  • Provide livelihood opportunities for youth and women.
• 11 projects amounting to Rs 1502.44 cr, including the seven projects announced in the Union Budget 2022-23 have been selected for sanction in FY 2022 -23.
• The PM DevINE projects will lead to the creation of infrastructure, social development, support industries and will create livelihood opportunities leading to income and employment generation.

6. India – Netherlands JWG – 1st Ministerial level Meeting

Syllabus – GS2, International Relations

Prelims – ‘Strategic Water Partnership’ between India & Netherlands.

Context -The first ministerial-level meeting of the India-Netherlands Joint Working Group was held in New Delhi.

Details –

• The first ministerial-level meeting of the JWG between India and the Netherlands was held in New Delhi in presence of the Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Mr Mark Harbers, the Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Government of Netherlands. In March 2022, the ‘Strategic Water Partnership’ between the two countries was signed by the ministers. 
• The partnership is a joint effort by the governments of India and the Netherlands to expand the bilateral water cooperation recognising the importance of sustainable development goals, water safety, water availability, and water quality for the well-being of the present and future generations. 
• The work plan of the JWG includes 3 Action Plans on bilateral water cooperation with-
  • Ministry of Jal Shakti, in particular, the National Mission for Clean Ganga,
  • Ministry of Irrigation, Kerala and
  • Ministry of Irrigation and Waterways, West Bengal.
• The Strategic Water Partnership aims to expand the ongoing bilateral cooperation by involving policy experts, knowledge institutes, academia, and stakeholders and combining resources, expertise, and knowledge skills. The character of the Strategic Water Partnership is knowledge cooperation in which each partner will finance its own expenses arising from the cooperation.

Read the previous PIB articles here.

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