27 Oct 2021: PIB Summary & Analysis

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. 16th East Asia Summit
2. Krishi UDAN 2.0
3. Agni V Missile

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1. 16th East Asia Summit

Context:

Prime Minister participated in 16th East Asia Summit (EAS) on October 27, 2021.

About the Summit:

• The Summit was hosted by Brunei as EAS and ASEAN Chair.
• Leaders of the ASEAN nations and other EAS Participating Countries including Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, USA and India participated in the Summit.
• The 16th EAS discussed important regional and international issues including Indo-Pacific, South China Sea, UNCLOS, terrorism, and situation in Korean Peninsula and Myanmar.
• The EAS leaders adopted three statements on Mental Health, Economic recovery through Tourism and Sustainable Recovery, which have been co-sponsored by India.

2. Krishi UDAN 2.0

Context:

Union Civil Aviation Minister released Krishi UDAN 2.0 to boost transport of agricultural products.

About Krishi UDAN 2.0:

• Krishi UDAN 2.0 lays out the vision of improving value realization through better integration and optimization of Agri-harvesting and air transportation and contributing to Agri-value chain sustainability and resilience under different and dynamic conditions.
• The scheme proposes to facilitate and incentivize movement of Agri-produce by air transportation.
• Background: The Krishi Udan scheme, launched by the Centre in September 2020, waived airport charges such as parking charges and terminal navigational landing charges on select Indian airports for air cargo operators if the agricultural cargo is over 50 per cent of the total chargeable weight carried.
• The Centre, under Krishi Udan 2.0, has stated that full waiver of airport charges would be granted at select airports even if the agricultural cargo is less than 50 per cent of the total chargeable weight carried.
• Features:
  • The enhanced version of the Krishi UDAN scheme was formulated with support from AAICLAS – a 100% subsidiary of the Airports Authority of India and Invest India, India’s national Investment Promotion & Facilitation Agency, under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
  • The scheme will be implemented at 53 airports across the country. The pilot will run for six months and based on the evaluation, amendments will be made to the programme.
  • The scheme will facilitate the development of hub and spoke model in India and create cargo terminals at the airports in a phase-wise manner.
  • Under the scheme, the government would also encourage states to reduce sales tax to one per cent on aviation turbine fuel that is used in freighter aircraft and passenger aircraft that are being used to just transport cargo.
  • Various government departments and regulatory bodies, under the newly launched scheme, will collaborate with the civil aviation ministry to provide freight forwarders, airlines and other stakeholders with incentives and concessions to carry more agriculture products.
  • Additionally, an online platform called e-Kushal would be developed to facilitate information dissemination to all stakeholders regarding transportation of agriculture produce.

Also read: UDAN scheme

3. Agni V Missile

Context:

Agni-5, successfully launched from APJ Abdul Kalam Island.

Know more about AGNI V in the link.

Read previous PIB here.

October 27th, 2021, PIB:- Download PDF Here