CRITICAL MINERALS SUMMIT

The “Critical Minerals Summit” is being arranged by the Ministry of Mines.

Context:

• This historic occasion will take place at the India Habitat Center in Lodhi Estate, New Delhi, on April 29 and 30, 2024.

About CRITICAL MINERALS SUMMIT

• Anticipated to be a momentous occasion, the crucial Minerals Summit 2024 will center on the strategic significance of crucial minerals.
• The Indian Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD), Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation (Shakti) work together to arrange it on behalf of the Ministry of Mines.
• The summit’s objectives are to promote cooperation, information exchange, and creativity in the important mineral processing industry.
• The significance of indigenous mineral production for India’s goals of clean energy and economic growth will be discussed during the summit.
• Eight important minerals—Graphite, Tungsten, Vanadium, Chromium, Lithium, Rare Earth Elements, and Glauconite—will be the focus of discussion.
• Critical minerals are necessary for a number of industrial sectors, including technology, defense, energy, and healthcare, as well as for economic growth and national security.
• The development of the CRM ecosystem through environmentally sustainable solutions, governmental incentives, and the status of the mineral auction will all be covered in technical workshops.

GREEN TAXONOMY

The developing world, particularly the ASEAN region, where a layered green taxonomy is a living document that is constantly updated with sectoral perspectives on potential sustainable trajectories, is a place where the RBI and the Finance Ministry could draw inspiration.

Context:

• This taxonomy is always changing, taking into account viewpoints from different industries regarding possible sustainable routes.

Green Taxonomy :

• An environmental sustainability framework for investments is provided by a green taxonomy.
• It categorizes assets and economic activity according to how they affect the environment. In essence, it aids in determining which actions are “green” or sustainable from an environmental standpoint.

Purpose and Benefits:

• Avoiding Greenwashing: Taxonomies are essential for avoiding greenwashing, which is the dishonest act of spreading false information about a company’s eco-friendly policies or goods.
• Well-Informed Investment selections: Taxonomies help investors find truly sustainable possibilities by defining explicit criteria that help them make well-informed selections.
• Channeling Investments: They direct funds toward assets and economic activity that is sustainable.

Structural Aspects:

• Environmental Objectives: Mitigation and adaptation to climate change are goals included in the majority of taxonomies. Some also tackle other environmental goals, such as the preservation of biodiversity.
• “Avoid Significant Injury” Requirements: Green activities shouldn’t interfere with other environmental goals.
• Social Safety Measures: Human rights compliance is frequently incorporated into taxonomies.

NATIONAL CENTRE FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE (NCGG)

For bilateral talks on updating the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh’s Ministry of Public Administration and India’s National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG), a delegation from India traveled to Bangladesh.

Context:

• Negotiating the extension of the Memorandum of Understanding for the years 2024–2029 is the main goal of the visit, with a particular emphasis on mid-career capacity-building initiatives for Bangladeshi civil servants.

National CENTRE FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE (NCGG) :

• Under the direction of the Indian government’s Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances, the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) is an independent organization.
• Its goal is to assist with governance reforms by means of research, instruction, information exchange, and the development of creative concepts.

Purpose and Functions:

• The NCGG is concentrated on reforms, governance, and public policy.
• It creates case studies and carries out research pertinent to policy.
• The center selects training programs for Indian and other developing country civil personnel.
• It works in tandem with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to offer international civil servants training.
• The NCGG seeks to improve India’s and other developing nations’ civil servants’ capabilities.

Start-up Ecosystem in India

At the Startup Mahakumbh event, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently declared that India now has the third-largest startup ecosystem in the world, with over 1.25 lakh firms and 110 unicorns.

Context:

• The Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Commerce presented the 182nd report on the “Ecosystem of Startups to Benefit India” last year. It has offered important insights, some of which are covered below.

Start-up:

• An organization that was founded less than ten years ago, has its headquarters in India, and generates less than ₹100 crore in revenue annually is considered a start-up in that country.
• Usually, it is distinguished by its creative concepts, goods, or services.
• To fund their expansion, startups frequently combine venture financing, angel investing, crowdsourcing, and personal savings.
• Usually, venture funding, bootstrapping, or other methods are used to finance them.

Significance/Impact of Start-ups:

• Roughly 47% of the recognized start-ups come from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, which give young people jobs.
• Roughly 47% of the nation’s officially recognized start-ups have at least one female director.
• They support fresh concepts and inventions. Deep Tech Start-ups, for example.
• These days, fintech startups—like Paytm, etc.—are reaching out to remote places.
• Multinational companies have been drawn to startups in order to attract international investment.

Issues/Challenges in the Start-up Ecosystem of India:

• Just 5.18% of all recognized startups are in the agricultural industry.
• Just 11% of startup companies’ patent applications have been approved.
• The flipping trend was emphasized in the Economic Survey 2022–2023 because of increased access to foreign loans, the removal of the angel tax risk, improved intellectual property protection, etc.
• A mere one percent of recognized start-ups have obtained the Certificate of Eligibility under Section 80-IAC of the Income Tax Act, 1961. For three consecutive years that they turn a profit, recognized start-ups are exempt from taxes at 100% thanks to this section.
• Absence of adequate and specific testing requirements, particularly for companies dealing with hardware items.
• Startups can only access funding from angel investors and venture capital firms once they have demonstrated their proof of concept.

The Committee’s recommendations:

• Promote the implementation of cutting-edge technology in agriculture to boost decision-making, increase productivity, and optimize resource usage, such as data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT).
• establishing funds targeted to female businesses to guarantee continuous access to funding.
• regulatory and legal environment should be loosened in order to let unlisted Indian start-ups to be directly listed abroad and to make reverse flipping easier.
• changes made to the Income Tax Act of 1961 to limit the taxation of Employee Stock Option Plans (ESOPs) to the moment when shares are sold, rather than on the basis of potential gains.
• International best practices will be used in the establishment of dynamic testing and certification standards.
• closing the skills gap by enticing businesses to work with academic institutions to develop customized curricula.
• Promote cooperative innovation and R&D relationships between research institutes and startups.

Star campaigners

• The roster of prominent candidates for the forthcoming Lok Sabha General Elections has been made public by multiple political groups.
• Star campaigners are political party leaders designated for campaigning; regulations governing them are outlined in the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• A registered unrecognized political party may designate up to 20 star campaigners, whereas recognized political parties may designate up to 40.
• The travel expenses incurred by these campaigners for their campaigns will not have an impact on the candidates’ expenditure caps.

Project ISHAN

• With the launch of Project Indian Single Sky Harmonized Air Traffic Management at Nagpur, India has begun the process of merging its four airspace regions (ISHAN).
• It is anticipated that this endeavor would improve air traffic control, which will help travelers and airlines alike by increasing operational safety and efficiency.
• Implementing new technology, altering existing procedures, and retraining employees are challenges.
• At the moment, four independent FIRs—Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai, and a sub-FIR in Guwahati—manage the entirety of Indian airspace.

Salmonella contamination in spices

• Because of worries about salmonella contamination, US customs officials have refused 31% of all exports from Mahashian Di Hatti (MDH) relating to spices over the last six months.

About Salmonella:

• A genus of bacteria called Salmonella can make people sick from eating.
• It is among the leading causes of foodborne illness in the globe.
• Frequent digestive tract infections by Salmonella bacteria can result in symptoms like vomiting, fever, cramping in the abdomen, and diarrhea.
• Consuming contaminated food or water, especially raw or undercooked meat, eggs, poultry, and dairy products, is the usual way that contamination happens.
• It is imperative to follow proper food handling, cooking, and hygiene procedures to avoid contracting salmonella illnesses.

Second Thomas Shoal Reef

• At the Second Thomas Shoal, tensions have increased as China is obstructing maneuvers and interfering with supply operations. China’s assertion that a deal had been reached over the South China Sea dispute has been denied by the Philippines, who called the claim propaganda.
• In the South China Sea, Second Thomas Shoal is a submerged reef that lies close to the Spratly Islands. Although China also claims the shoal, it is located within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Philippines.

About the South China Sea:

Stretching from Singapore and the Strait of Malacca in the southwest to the Strait of Taiwan in the northeast, it is a sizable portion of the western Pacific Ocean. The region is characterized by notable geopolitical tension as a result of multiple territorial conflicts. A significant point of contention is China’s “nine-dash line” claim, which spans the majority of the South China Sea and crosses over with a number of other nations’ claims to exclusive economic zones, including those of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Important contentious aspects consist of:

• Paracel Islands (controlled by China but also claimed by Taiwan and Vietnam)
• Spratly Islands (claimed by multiple countries including China, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Malaysia)
• Scarborough Shoal (claimed by China, Taiwan, and the Philippines)