Oil price pickle

PAPER- GS-III OIL CRISIS

The increased duty on fuel can fund welfare, but arbitrary methods will have implications

Union Petroleum Minister that the Centre is taking a ‘cautious and conscious approach’ of ensuring a balance in fuel prices and aims to use the resultant savings for welfare is on the face of it unexceptionable. With global oil prices still about 45% lower than 2019 closing levels despite coordinated supply cuts by major producers, India had an opportunity to pass on the benefit to consumers and provide a fillip to becalmed consumption.

Imp Points

• That the ‘deregulated’ oil marketing companies chose not to reduce pump prices, even when crude tumbled last month, could be attributed to their caution amid a sharp slump in demand in the wake of the nationwide lockdown.
• It is the government’s decision, earlier in May, to raise Excise Duty on petrol and diesel for a second time in less than two months that raises several concerns.
• For one, subsequent to the latest increase the Centre’s tax revenue on a litre of petrol sold by IOC in Delhi as on May 16 was 1.8 times the fuel’s freight inclusive base price of ?18.28 and represented 46% of the final retail price of ?71.26.
• With economic activity brought to a near standstill by the lockdown the Centre’s overall revenue prospects have come under severe strain, and from that perspective the government’s move to maximise its takings from transport fuels is understandable.
• Still, the fact that the government has consistently tinkered with the duty structure through recent years of largely benign oil prices, undermines the benefits from pricing deregulation that ought to have accrued to oil companies and consumers.
• Back in 2018, ahead of key Assembly elections, the Centre had cut the excise duty at a time when global crude prices were on the ascent in order to minimise any electoral fallout from unchecked fuel costs.
• The government’s goal of maximising revenue from fuel products to fund welfare measures can only bear fruit if demand for petrol and diesel remains unaffected by the continuing high costs.

With curbs on inter-State road transport still in place, contracting automobile sales unlikely to recover any time soon, job losses and pay cuts sure to shrink household budgets, it is hard to see transport fuel demand rebounding to pre-lockdown levels for at least one or two quarters. Add to that the fact that the Centre’s ambitious disinvestment target of ?2.1-lakh crore for this fiscal had included a stake sale in BPCL, and the petroleum products’ pricing approach gets even more complicated. With potential investors unlikely to be impressed by the lack of autonomy in the sector, it is in the government’s interest not to risk the health of the goose that lays the golden eggs.

Oil crisis past to present: https://www.aspireias.com/daily-news-analysis-current-affairs/Oil-Crisis-Past-to-Present

Farthest known galaxy

NASA has spotted the farthest known galaxy in the universe, a primitive cluster of stars just 500 million years old. The galaxy was named SPT0615-JD. Preliminary analysis suggests that the galaxy is less than 2,500 light-years across.

A galaxy is a huge collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems. A galaxy is held together by gravity. Our galaxy, the Milky Way, also has a supermassive black hole in the middle.

UMANG App

• UMANG (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance) is envisaged to make e-governance.
• It is developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) to drive Mobile Governance in India.

• It provides a unified approach where citizens can install one application to avail of multiple government services.
• The app services include Aadhaar, DigiLocker, and Bharat Bill Payment System (BBPS). Etc.

Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (1958)

The Union government has tabled amendments to Ancient monuments and archaeological sites and remains active in the parliament. The Lok Sabha passed the amendments to the Act, but the Bill is yet to be cleared by the Rajya Sabha. The Act originally instituted conservation measures and banned construction activities near protected monuments.

The amendment now allows carrying out public works within the 100 m prohibited zone.

FDI in single-brand retail

The Union government has decided to allow 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in single-brand retail trading through the automatic route. The single-brand retail chain is expected to sell all its products under only one label across its store, for example Burger King, KFC, Levis.

If an MNC operates a single-brand retail chain, the product must also be sold under the same brand name globally. The MNC must also source 30 per cent of its purchases for the business from India. Now these rules are slightly relaxed to allow an MNC to set off any local sourcing for its global business, against this 30 per cent quota.

FDI

• Foreign direct investment (FDI) is an investment made by a company or individual in one country in business interests in another country.
• Foreign direct investments are distinguished from portfolio investments in which an investor merely purchases equities of foreign-based companies.
• FDI comes to India with two routes automatic and the Government route.
• Automatic route-under this route the foreign companies do not need prior approval for investment either by the Government or the Reserve Bank of India.
• The investors are only required to intimate the Regional office concerned of the Reserve Bank within 30 days of receipt of inward remittance.
• Government route - Certain activities that are not covered under the automatic route and that require prior Government approval come under this route.
• Earlier Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) issued permissions for such foreign investments.
• Recently FIPB was scrapped and now the concerned government department can clear such procedures.

Orange Passports and LOTUS mark on PASSPORT

Ministry of External Affairs has decided to offer an orange-coloured passport to travellers who require an emigration check. By this ECR status would be issued a passport with an orange-coloured, non-ECR status will continue to get blue passports.

ECR status

As per the Emigration Act, 1983, certain categories of Indian passport holders require obtaining an ‘Emigration Clearance’ for going to certain countries.

Emigration, as per the Act, means the leaving of India by any Indian citizen with the intent of taking up employment in certain foreign countries. Persons who don’t have a minimum educational qualification of 10th standard (SSC, Matriculation) will come under the ECR category. The idea behind the ‘ECR’ is to ensure the safety of uneducated and unskilled Indian citizens, from the most deprived socio-economic strata, against prevailing legal conditions in certain foreign countries.

Types of passports issued in India

• Regular Passport - This has a navy blue cover; it is issued to citizens for ordinary travel like vacations and business trips.
• Diplomatic Passport - This has a maroon cover; it is issued to Indian diplomats, top-ranking government officials (joint secretary and above) and diplomatic couriers.
• Official Passport - This has a white cover; it is issued to individuals representing the Indian government on official business.

Recent news: The symbol of the lotus is being printed on the Indian Passport for a security feature.

Key data:

A day after opposition members in Lok Sabha raised the issue of lotus being printed on the news the ministry of external affairs said it was part of the enhanced security features to identify fake passports. Also mentioned is that another national symbol such as a national flower or national animal, also be used for security features in a rotational basis. The question was asked in the Zero hour of the Parliamentary session.

The new passports with the lotus symbols are being distributed in Kozhikode in Kerala. These security features have been introduced as part of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) guidelines. Indian citizens who are the bearer of Indian Passport can travel internationally which serves as proof of Indian citizenship as per the Passports Act (1967).

Chiru Goat

Chiru goat is also known as the Tibetan antelope. It is native of China (Tibet, Xinjiang region) and India (North Eastern Ladakh region) and is regionally extinct in Nepal. Its numbers and distribution have decreased sharply as a result of commercial hunting for the underfur for the making of shawls.

In India, it is killed for making of the famous Shahtoosh shawls, which is renowned for its quality from Srinagar.

In 2017, it has been included in “Near Threatened” category by IUCN. The parliamentary standing committee on science & technology, environment & forests had recommended to the ministry of environment, to conserve and breed the Chiru goat, which can then be given to the shawl makers.

The motive behind such a recommendation is to provide a sustainable livelihood opportunity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir. However, the Ministry of Environment has ruled out the possibility of conservation breeding citing that it may lead to a decline in its population due to commercial poaching.

Aadhaar Face Authentication

• The Unique Identification Authority of India has decided to enable Face Authentication for validating Aadhaar cards from July 2018.
• Currently, the UIDAI provides two modes of biometric verification: fingerprint authentication and iris authentication.
• Face authentication will be allowed only in fusion mode along with one more authentication factor either fingerprint or iris or OTP to authenticate an Aadhaar number holder.
• Face authentication will only be allowed on a “need” basis.

LEADS Index

Logistics Ease Across Different States (LEADS) index is a composite indicator to assess international trade logistics across states and Union territories. It is based on a stakeholders’ survey conducted by Deloitte for the Ministry of commerce and industry.

Gujarat topped the first-of-its-kind index, and Punjab and Andhra Pradesh took the second and third positions, respectively. The index is loosely based on the World Bank’s biannual Logistics Performance Index (LPI).

India was ranked 35 among 160 countries in LPI in 2016, up from 54 in 2014. LEADS is based on eight parameters such as infrastructure, services, timeliness, track and trace, the competitiveness of pricing, the safety of cargo, operating environment and regulatory process.

Kala Azar

India has missed the 2017 deadline for the elimination of Kala Azar. Elimination is defined as reducing the annual incidence of Kala Azar to less than 1 case per 10,000 people at the sub-district level.

• Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar, is caused by the protozoan Leishmania parasites.
• It is transmitted to humans through infected sandflies.
• It is characterized by irregular bouts of fever, weight loss, enlargement of the spleen and liver, and anaemia.
• The parasite migrates to the internal organs such as the liver, spleen, and bone marrow, and, if left untreated, may result in death.
• It is endemic to the Indian subcontinent in 119 districts in four countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal).
• India itself accounts for half the global burden of the disease.
• Further, a little-known skin condition called Post Kala Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL), a red flag for transmission of Kala Azar has been growing steadily over the past few years.

International termination charges (ITC)

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) cut termination charges for international incoming calls to Landline and wireless connections. International termination charges (ITC) are payable by an international long-distance operator (ILDO), which carries calls from outside the country, to an access provider in the country in whose network the call terminates. ITC is one of the sources of foreign earnings for the country.

North Koel reservoir

A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation for the completion of the North Koel reservoir project. Part of the fund for this project is derived under PMKSY’s LTIF- Long term Irrigation Fund and the rest from the state government's contributions. The project is situated on North Koel River, a tributary of the Sone River. It will provide irrigation to most backward and drought-prone districts in Jharkhand and Bihar.

Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY)

• This scheme has been formulated with the vision of extending the coverage of irrigation and improving water use efficiency in a focused manner.
• It focuses on end-to-end solutions for source creation, distribution, management, field application and extension activities.
• The scheme now comes under the Ministry of Agriculture and farmer’s Welfare.
• PMKSY has been formulated amalgamating schemes of

1. Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) of the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation (MoWR,RD&GR),
2. Integrated Watershed Management Programme (IWMP) of the Department of Land Resources (DoLR).
3. On Farm Water Management (OFWM) of Department of Agriculture and Cooperation (DAC).

SAREX – 18

It is a joint search and rescue exercise between India and Japan to help increase mutual understanding in Anti-Piracy operations. During the exercise, helicopters of the Japan and Indian Coast Guard will perform cross-landing operations to improve compatibility between the two forces at Chennai. Japanese coast guard ship “Tsugaru”, a patrol vessel with helicopters will participate in this exercise.