November 2024
Download PDFDaily Current Capsules 24th May 2022
Regional Grouping
Indo-Pacific Economic Framework
What's the NEWS
- US President Joe Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) with a dozen initial partners.
- These countries include India, Australia, Japan, Brunei, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Together, these countries represent 40% of world GDP.
- IPEF is aimed at strengthening ties in this critical Indo-Pacific region to define the coming decades for technological innovation and the global economy.
- The Framework will create a stronger, fairer, and more resilient economy for families, workers, and businesses in the United States and in the Indo-Pacific region.
- IPEF is a declaration of collective will' to make the region an engine of global economic growth.
- The Prime Minister of India expressed his commitment to work with all Indo-Pacific countries for an inclusive and flexible IPEF.
- Mr Modi also declared that the foundation of resilient supply chains, a major focus area for the Framework that will apparently provide an alternative to China's approach to critical' economic issues, must be 3Ts - trust, transparency, and timeliness.
India - USA Investment Incentive Agreement (IIA)
- The Government of India and the Government of the United States of America has signed an Investment Incentive Agreement (IIA) at Tokyo, Japan.
- This IIA supersedes the Investment Incentive Agreement signed between the two sides in 1997.
- Significant developments have taken place since the signing of the earlier IIA in 1997 including the creation of a new agency called DFC, a development finance agency of Government of USA, as a successor agency of the erstwhile Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) after the enactment of a recent legislation of USA, the BUILD Act 2018.
- IIA has been signed, to keep pace with the additional investment support programmes, offered by the DFC, such as debt, equity investment, investment guaranty, investment insurance or reinsurance, feasibility studies for potential projects and grants.
- The Agreement is the legal requirement for DFC, to continue providing investment support in India.
- DFC or their predecessor agencies are active in India since 1974 and have so far provided investment support worth $5.8 billion of which $2.9 billion is still outstanding.
ABHA app
- The National Health Authority (NHA) under its flagship scheme of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) announced the launch of a revamped Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) mobile application (previously known as NDHM Health Records app)
- The updated version of the ABHA app has new User Interface (UI) and added functionalities that enable individuals to access their health records anytime and anywhere.
- The ABHA app will be instrumental in helping citizens to create their longitudinal health records.
- The patients can access their health records with the help of their ABHA address in seconds which will empower them in many ways.
- It will enable them to save their health history on a single platform and access or share their health records anytime and anywhere without a worry of losing them.
- This digitization of data exchange will ensure better clinical decision making and continuum of care.
- The World Health Organization Director-General's Global Health Leaders Awards has recognised ASHA's "crucial role in linking the community with the health system and ensuring that those living in rural poverty can access primary health care services".
- ASHA workers are volunteers from within the community who are trained to provide information and aid people in accessing benefits of various healthcare schemes of the government.
- They act as a bridge connecting marginalised communities with facilities such as primary health centres, sub-centres and district hospitals.
- The role of these community health volunteers under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was first established in 2005.
- ASHAs are primarily married, widowed, or divorced women between the ages of 25 and 45 years from within the community. They must have good communication and leadership skills; should be literate with formal education up to Class 8, as per the programme guidelines.
- The aim is to have one ASHA for every 1,000 persons or per habitation in hilly, tribal or other sparsely populated areas.
- There are around 10.4 lakh ASHA workers across the country, with the largest workforces in states with high populations - Uttar Pradesh (1.63 lakh), Bihar (89,437), and Madhya Pradesh (77,531).
- Goa is the only state with no such workers, as per the latest National Health Mission data available from September 2019.
Indian Gas Exchange.
- Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) has become the first Exploration and Production (E&P) company in India to trade domestic gas on Indian Gas Exchange.
- The first online trade was made on 23 May 2022 by ONGC Director (Onshore) In-charge Marketing on India's first automated national level Gas Exchange, IGX.
- The gas traded is from ONGC Krishna Godavari 98/2 block.
- The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is an Indian oil and gas explorer and producer.
- It is under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.
- Its headquarters is situated in New Delhi.
- ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by the government of India.
- It was conferred with 'Maharatna' status by the Government of India in November 2010.
- On Jan 30th 2018, ONGC acquired the entire 51.11% stake of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL).
- It is India's first automated national level Gas Exchange to promote and sustain an efficient and robust Gas market and to foster gas trading in the country.
- The exchange features multiple buyers and sellers to trade in spot and forward contracts at designated physical hubs.
- IGX is a neutral and transparent market place where both buyers and sellers trade Gas as the underlying commodity.
- IGX enables efficient and competitive discovery of gas prices and one of its most important objectives is also to maintain market integrity.
- IGX started operations on 15th June 2020 as Gas Trading Platform and has been operating as the Gas Exchange since 10th December 2020.
- The Exchange operates under the regulatory framework of Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB).
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