Relevance IN - Prelims (about Ease of doing business report and about 10 indicators) + Mains (GS III Economic development)
What's the NEWS

• The World Bank released its latest Doing Business Report(DBR, 2020)
• India has recorded a jump of 14 positions against its rank of 77 in 2019to be placed now at 63rdrank among 190 countries assessed by the World Bank.
• India's leap of14 ranks in the Ease of Doing Business ranking is significant considering that there has been continuous improvement since 2015 and for the third consecutive year India is amongst the top 10 improvers.
• As a result of continued efforts by the Government, India has improved its rank by 79positions in last five years [2014-19].

• The Doing Business assessment provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement across 190 economies on ten parameters affecting a business through its life cycle.
• The DBR ranks countries on the basis of Distance to Frontier (DTF), a score that shows the gap of an economy to the global best practice.
• This year, India's DTF score improved to 71.0 from 67.23 in the previous year.
• India has improved its rank in 7 out of 10 indicators and has moved closer to international best practices (Distance to Frontier score).
• Significant improvements have been registered in ‘Resolving Insolvency', 'Dealing with Construction Permits', ‘Registering Property', ‘Trading across Boards' and ‘Paying Taxes' indicators.

• The World Bank has recognized India as one of the top 10 improvers for the third consecutive year.
• Recovery rate under resolving insolvency has improved significantly from 26.5% to 71.6%.
• The time taken for resolving insolvency has also come down significantly from 4.3 years to 1.6 years.
• India continues to maintain its first position among South Asian countries. It was 6th in 2014.

• Apart from India, the other countries on this year's 'top 10 performers' list are Saudi Arabia (62), Jordan (75), Togo (97), Bahrain (43), Tajikistan (106), Pakistan (108), Kuwait (83), China (31) and Nigeria (131).
• New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong topped the list in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business ranking.

• The Government of India, Government of Odisha and the World Bank signed a US$165 million loan agreement to support smallholder farmers strengthen the resilience of their production systems as well as diversify and improve the marketing of their produce, for increased income.

• The Odisha Integrated Irrigation Project for Climate Resilient Agriculture will be implemented in rural areas vulnerable to droughts and largely dependent on rainfed agriculture.
• It will benefit about 125,000 smallholder farmer households from 15 districts of Odisha managing 128,000 ha of agricultural land.
• The project will strengthen the resilience of smallholder farmers against adverse climate by improving access to resilient seed varieties and production technologies, diversifying towards more climate-resilient crops, and improving access to better water management and irrigation services.

• The project will support the rehabilitation of 532 water tanks - expected to irrigate 91,435 ha; promote productivity improvements at the farm level; support farmers to reduce the current emphasis on food grains (especially paddy and wheat) and increase the share of high-value and more nutritious products like fruits and vegetables; and provide marketing support to farmers who are able to generate a marketable surplus.
• The project will also support aquaculture in rehabilitated tanks, help farmers access affordable and quality fingerlings, and disseminate improved aquaculture practices and post-harvest management.

• Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has approved issuance of two Open General Export Licences (OGELs) for export of certain parts &components and intra-company transfer of technology to select countries.

• It will give a boost to defence exports and enhance ease of doing business. The application for grant of OGEL will be considered by Department of Defence Production (DPP) on a case-to-case basis.
• The countries allowed under the OGELs are: Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Poland and Mexico. Export of items to a ‘Special Economic Zone' is not permitted.
• The transfer of technology to the countries is subject to the condition that the export is an intra-company transfer from an Indian subsidiary (applicant exporter) to its foreign parent company and/or to subsidiaries of the foreign parent company.
• The OGEL is a one-time export licence to be granted to a company for a specific period (two years initially).

• India has made significant strides in improving its defence exports.
• This has been made possible due to the reforms brought in the standard operating procedure and ushering in a portal for online clearance of applications. The processing time has been brought down significantly.

Health Sector
Guidelines for Evaluation of Nanopharmaceuticals in India
Relevance IN - Prelims (about nano pharmaceuticals) + Mains ( GS II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Know! the guidelines released by the Government

• These "Guidelines for Evaluation of Nanopharmaceuticals in India" is one of the most important steps for delineating quality, safety and efficacy assessment of the novel nanoformulations.
• These guidelines are intended to provide transparent, consistent and predictable regulatory pathways for nanopharmaceuticals in India.
• Nanocarrier based targeted drug delivery is an emerging field with introduction of nanopharmaceuticals in the market.
• These nanoformulations have higher efficacy, lower toxicity and are safer than the conventional drugs.

Know! about Nanopharmaceuticals

• Nanopharmaceuticals offer the ability to detect diseases at much earlier stages and the diagnostic applications could build upon conventional procedures using nanoparticles.
• Nanopharmaceuticals represent an emerging field where the sizes of the drug particle or a therapeutic delivery system work at the nanoscale.
• In the pharmaceutical industry, a long standing issue is the difficulty of delivering the appropriate dose of a particular active agent to specific disease site.
• Nanopharmaceuticals have enormous potential in addressing this failure of traditional therapeutics which offers site-specific targeting of active agents.
• Such precision targeting via nanopharmaceuticals reduces toxic systemic side effects, resulting in better patient compliance.
• Nanopharmaceutical reduces the cost of drug discovery, design & development and enhances the drug delivery process.
• This results in the improved Research & Development success rate which enables faster introduction of new, cost-effective products to the marketplace.
• The Guidelines are developed by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and is an outcome of all concerned Inter-Ministerial efforts coordinated by DBT.

Bilateral Relations
India signs the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor Agreement with Pakistan

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Kartarpur Sahib Corridor) + Mains (GS II Bilateral relations)
What's the NEWS

• India has signed the Agreement with Pakistan on the modalities for operationalisation of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor at Zero Point, International Boundary, Dera Baba Nanak.
• Representatives from the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Defence, and Ministry of Home Affairs along with the representatives from Government of Punjab have been present during the signing ceremony.
• The Union Cabinet passed a resolution on 22 November 2018 to celebrate the historic occasion of 550th Birth Anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Devji in a grand and befitting manner, throughout the country and across the globe.
• In a landmark decision, the Union Cabinet also approved the building and development of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor from Dera Baba Nanak to the International Boundary, to facilitate pilgrims from India to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur, round the year, in a smooth and easy manner.
• With the signing of this Agreement, a formal framework has been laid down for operationalisation of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor.

The highlights of the Agreement are: -

• Indian pilgrims of all faiths and persons of Indian origin can use the corridor;
• The travel will be Visa Free;
• Pilgrims need to carry only a valid passport;
• Persons of Indian Origin need to carry OCI card along with the passport of their country;

• The Corridor is open from dawn to dusk. Pilgrims travelling in the morning will have to return on the same day;
• The Corridor will be operational throughout the year, except on notified days, to be informed in advance;
• Pilgrims will have a choice to visit as individuals or in groups, and also to travel on foot
  
  

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