23 October 2018: UPSC Exam PIB Summary & Analysis

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Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (Mechanism for Issuing Regulations) Regulations, 2018

• The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (Code) is a modern economic legislation.
• Section 240 of the Code empowers the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) to make regulations subject to the conditions that the regulations:

1. carry out the provisions of the Code,
2. are consistent with the Code and the rules made thereunder;
3. are made by a notification published in the official gazette; and
4. are laid, as soon as possible, before each House of Parliament for 30 days.

• Section 196 (1) (s) of the Code requires the IBBI to specify mechanisms for issuing regulations, including the conduct of public consultation processes, before notification of regulations. 
• The Issuing Regulations provide that for the purpose of making or amending any regulations, the IBBI shall upload the following, with the approval of the Governing Board, on its website seeking comments from the public–
  • draft of proposed regulations;
  • the specific provision of the Code under which the Board proposes regulations;
  • a statement of the problem that the proposed regulation seeks to address;
  • an economic analysis of the proposed regulations;
  • a statement carrying norms advocated by international standard setting agencies and the international best practices, if any, relevant to the proposed regulation;
  • the manner of implementation of the proposed regulations; and
  • the manner, process and timelines for receiving comments from the public.
• The IBBI shall allow at least twenty-one days for public to submit their comments.
• It shall consider the public comments received and upload the same on its website along with a general statement of its response on the comments, not later than the date of notification of regulations.
• If the Governing Board decides to approve regulations in a form substantially different from the proposed regulations, it shall repeat the process under the Issuing Regulations.
• The regulations shall be notified promptly after it is approved by the Governing Board and the date of their enforcement shall ordinarily be after thirty days from the date of notification unless a different date is specified therein.
• Where the IBBI is of the opinion that certain regulations are required to be made or existing regulations are required to be amended urgently, it may make regulations or amend the existing regulations, as the case may be, with the approval of the Governing Board, without following the above process of consultation.

SIAL Paris exhibition

Context:

• Forty-five Indian companies are participating in the SIAL Paris exhibition – the largest international market place for food service professionals. 
• Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI) has inaugurated a special Indian pavilion in the ongoing mega exhibition for the participating companies.

About:

• SIAL Paris is the leading exhibition of food service products with more than 7020 French and international exhibitors from 109 countries displaying their foodstuffs, ranging from ingredients to processed products, including fresh produce.
• The exhibition is one of the most important get-togethers of buyers and sellers interested in dairy products, meat, fresh fruits and vegetables, tinned and preserved foods, semi-processed food products, organic products, health products and food supplements, seafood, and ready-prepared dishes, pet and poultry products and equipment and services. Indian companies are getting good inquiries from the buyers who have converged from all over Europe.

Background: 

• SIAL Paris is held every two years, and is famous for culinary demonstrations by famous chefs every day.
• This is a unique culinary show which stage SIAL Paris exhibitors’ products on the basis of current topics and trends: locavore cooking, fresh attitude, trends and textures, besides live cuisine lessons.
• Buyers throng this exhibition to discover fresh produce and raw supplies and Indian companies are making their mark felt through their products and cuisine.

India – Czech Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation

• The eleventh session of India – Czech Republic Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation (JCEC) was held at Prague.
• The deliberations were marked with the mutual desire to further expand and strengthen relations between the two countries in the economic field.
• The Czech side stressed that the Czech Government continues to rank India among the priority countries for promotion of mutual commercial, investment and economic activities and stated that Czech companies are interested to cooperate with Indian partners within the framework of the ‘Make in India’ programme.
• The recent growth of global protectionism had negatively affected many countries and concerted effort is required for a positive outlook for the future.
• Solutions should be sought for closer economic cooperation as well as for promotion of multilateral and inter-regional trade.
• Stressing on the importance of a rule-based multilateral trading system embodied in WTO both sides expressed concern over the current protectionist and anti-globalist tendencies that threaten free trade.
• They appreciated a record level of trade exchange in 2017 and noted that this exchange was almost balanced.
• The Indian side noted that as per the Indian statistics, bilateral trade between India and Czech Republic crossed USD 1 billion in 2016-17.
• Czechoslovakia is preparing a project called Czech Industrial Cluster (CIC) near Bengaluru.
• The CIC will comprise administrative and production units and will serve as a hub for Czech companies that intend to settle down in India.
• The two sides reaffirmed their support to finalizing an ambitious and balanced Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between India and the EU.

National Workshop on Physical & Mental Disabilities in the Light of Global Best Practices in Care, Rehabilitation & Research

• Shri Thaawarchand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment inaugurated the “National Workshop on Physical and Mental Disabilities in the Light of Global Best Practices in Care, Rehabilitation and Research”.

Objective:

• To help our country’s commitment under the UNCRPD, RPWD Act and help establish uniformity in the services for persons with disabilities. 
• It also supported protocol development in the service delivery; promote replication of global best practices; and encourage adaptation of global best practices to Indian context.
• The workshop assisted in implementation of best-practices for the 21 disabilities covered under the RPWD Act. 
• It helped fine tune our practices of disability-specific, discipline-specific, model-specific, approach-specific holistic-services and Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) models. 

Aim:

• To improve the quality of life of persons with disabilities and their families.

Outcome: 

• To share, implement and bring uniformity in global best practices for empowerment of persons with disabilities (Divyangjans)in India specially in the context of 14 new disabilities of the RPWD Act 2016. 
• The workshop witnessed the best practitioners from across the nation in each of the 21 disabilities as per the RPWD Act.
• It also came up with recommendations for Government, Service providers, activist, policy makers, educationalist, and professionals to implement RPWD Act, by adopting the best practices.

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