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  • Current Affairs 2nd March 2019

    Updated : 02-Mar-2019

    Current Affairs 2nd March 2019 - Important Points

    • Union Cabinet approved National Mineral Policy 2019 on - 28th February 2019
    • Union Cabinet approved National Policy on Software Products 2019 on - 1st March 2019
    • Financial support for non-communicable diseases, e-Health approved by - CCEA
    • Reserve Bank of India sets up Usha Thorat Panel on - Offshore rupee markets
      Current Affairs 2nd March 2019 - Details

    Union Cabinet approved National Mineral Policy 2019 on - 28th February 2019

    The Union Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi on February 28th, 2019 sanctioned National Mineral Policy 2019. The main goal of the policy is to have a much effective, meaningful & implementable policy that will bring transparency, better regulation & enforcement, balanced social & economic growth with sustainable mining practices.
    Important Highlights

    • Introduction of Right of 1st Refusal for RP/PL holders.
    • Inspiring the private sector to take-up exploration.
    • Auctioning in virgin areas for compound RP with PL together with ML on revenue share basis.
    • Reassurance of merger & acquisition of mining entities.
    • Transfer of mining leases & formation of dedicated mineral corridors to enhance private sector mining areas.
    • The 2019 policy offers to grant status of industry to mining activity to encourage financing of mining for private sector & for acquisitions of mineral properties in other nations by private sector.
    • It also remarks that long term import-export policy for minerals will benefit private sector in better planning & stability in business.
    • The new policy also remarks rationalise earmarked areas given to PSUs which have not been utilised & to put these areas to auction, which will give extra opportunity to private sector for involvement.
    • It also remarks to make efforts to harmonise taxes, levies & royalty with world benchmarks to aid private sector.

    Union Cabinet approved National Policy on Software Products 2019 on - 1st March 2019

    The Union Cabinet, led by the PM Narendra Modi on March 1st, 2019 sanctioned the National Policy on Software Products 2019 to develop India as a Software Product Nation. The National Policy on Software Products 2019 goals to develop India as the worldwide software product hub, driven by innovation, enhanced commercialisation, sustainable Intellectual Property, promoting technology start-ups & specialised skill sets.
    It also goals to bring into line with other government initiatives including start-up India, make in India & Digital India, Skill India, to create Indian software products Industry of USD 70-80 billion with direct as well as indirect employment of 3.5 million by 2025.
    Important Highlights 

    • Primarily, an outlay of Rupees 1500 crore is involved to execute the programs & schemes envisioned under this policy over a period of Seven years.
    • The amount will be divided into Software Product Development Fund & Research & Innovation fund.
    • The policy will lead to the preparation of several schemes, initiatives, projects & measures for the development of software products sector in the nation according to the envisaged roadmap.
    • Promoting the formation of a sustainable Indian software product market, driven by intellectual property, resulting in to a 10-fold increase in India share of the Worldwide Software product market by 2025.
    • Fostering 10000 technology start-ups in software product industry, including 1000 such technology start-ups in Tier-II & Tier-III towns/cities & generating direct as well as indirect employment for 3.5 million people by year 2025.

    Financial support for non-communicable diseases, e-Health approved by - CCEA

    The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs- CCEA, led by the PM Narendra Modi, has sanctioned the
    continuation of the execution of the Tertiary healthcare programs for non-communicable diseases & E-Health up  to 2020 with an expenditure of Rupees 2551.15 crore.
    The main goal of the umbrella programme of tertiary healthcare is to deliver support for the formation of tertiary care health services in the areas of cancer diagnosis & treatment, care for the elderly, trauma & burn injuries, drug addiction, mental health and blindness & visual impairment along with the digitisation of health sector.
    Important Highlights

    • The programmes are aimed at consolidation of tertiary level healthcare facilities for treatment via capacity building in terms of both infrastructure & human resources.
    • There would be significant generation of direct & indirect employment both for technical & non-technical professionals in the nation.
    • The involvements of the government for health care at tertiary level in the above-cited areas are aimed at cultivating access to good quality & affordable healthcare provisions through support for infrastructure development, equipment, fortifying capacities of healthcare specialists involved in the delivery of services & awareness generation.
    • The support to these provisions will be sustained keeping in view the necessity for confirming the availability of such functional amenities in different parts of the nation. 
    • In addition to this, formation of 4 new State Cancer Institutes will also be maintained.

    Reserve Bank of India sets up Usha Thorat Panel on - Offshore rupee markets

    The RBI has formed a panel under the former deputy governor Usha Thorat to inspect issues related to
    offshore rupee markets & mention policy measures to ensure the stability of the external value of the domestic currency.
    The members of the Usha Thorat panel will comprise a candidate from the Department of Economic
    Affairs, candidate from the Securities & Exchange Board of India, Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist of the Aditya Birla Group- Sajjid Chinoy, Chief Economist- J.P.Morgan, Surendra Rosha, CEO, India, HSBC,
    Adviser-in-charge, Department of Economic Policy & Research, Reserve Bank of India, & Chief General Manager, Financial Markets Regulation Department, Reserve Bank of India.
    Mandate for the Panel

    • The panel will inspect the causes behind the expansion of the offshore rupee market & inspect the effects of the offshore markets on the rupee exchange value & market liquidity in the domestic market.
    • The panel will also acclaim measures to address concerns, if any, rising out of offshore rupee exchange in addition to recommending actions to produce incentives for non-residents to access the domestic market.
    • The panel will acclaim actions to produce enticements for non-residents to access the local market &  inspect the role if any, International Financial Services Centres can play in addressing these concerns.