India’s first e-waste clinic is going to be setup in Bhopal.
The clinic would ensure scientific handling and disposal of electronic waste generate from both households and commercial establishments.
The Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC) and the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) have signed an MoU to this effect.
The project would be taken up as a pilot project in Bhopal for three months and will be subsequently replicated across India.
It has been conceived as per the Solid Waste Management Policy, 2016.
New Strategic Disinvestment Process
Strategic Disinvestment - The sale of substantial portion (50% or more) of the Government shareholding of a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) as the competent authority may determine, along with transfer of management control.
The Cabinet has approved a new process of strategic disinvestment with a view to expediting privatisation of select PSUs.
Presently PSUs for strategic sale are identified by NITI Aayog.
The new process has madeDepartment of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM) under the Ministry of Finance, the nodal department for the strategic stake sale.
Now, NITI Aayog and DIPAM will jointly identify PSUs for strategic disinvestment.
Also, DIPAM secretary will be a part of Inter-ministerial group on disinvestments.
Derivatives Trade in IFSC
Based on the recommendations by the Usha Thorat committee on offshore rupee markets, RBI has brought in changes.
In its monetary policy review, RBI has
allowed banks to freely offer foreign exchange prices to non-resident Indians ,
allowed trading on rupee derivatives and settled in foreign currencies in International Financial Services Centres (IFSCs)
These two were the major recommendations of the committee which aimed at bringing the offshore markets to India.
Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) is India’s IFSC much like an offshore market in Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Dubai and New York.
Electric Vehicles Guidelines
Ministry of Power has recently approved amendments in Electric Vehicles charging guidelines and specifications.
Under it, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) nominated as the Central Nodal Agency to facilitate installation of charging infrastructure.
It envisages at least 1charging station should be available in a grid of 3 Km X 3 Km in the cities and 1 charging station at every 25 Km on both sides of highways/roads.
Fast Charging Station for long range and/or heavy duty EVs like buses/trucks etc., shall be installed at every 100 Kms.
Phases of Development – It covers cities in two phases for distributed and demonstrated effect.
Phase I (1-3 years) - All Mega Cities with population of 4 million plus as per census 2011, all existing expressways and highways connecting it.
Phase II (3-5 years) - State Capitals, UT headquarters
Further, setting up of Public Charging Stations shall be a de-licensed activity and any individual/entity is free to set up public charging stations.
The tariff to be charged has also been mentioned in the guidelines.
Microfinance Institutions
The Reserve Bank of India has raised the lending cap for microfinance institutions to ₹1.25 lakh, against the earlier limit of ₹1 lakh.
This is mainly to improve credit availability in rural and semi-urban areas.
RBI has also decided to increase the household income limit for borrowers of non-banking financial companies-micro finance institutions (NBFC-MFIs).
It has the set the limit as ₹1.25 lakh and ₹2 lakh for rural and urban/semi urban areas.
NBFC-MFI – Based on the recommendation of Y.H. Malegam committee recommendation, a separate category of NBFC-MFI was created in 2011.
The committee was setup to study issues and concerns in the micro finance sector in the wake of the Andhra Pradesh micro finance crisis in 2010.
World Cotton Day
WTO is organizing World Cotton Day event in collaboration with FAO, UNCTAD, International Trade Centre (ITC) andInternational Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC).
WTO is hosting it at the request of the Cotton – 4 countries - Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali.
It is to celebrate their official application for the recognition of 7th October as World Cotton Day by the United Nations.
It is an opportunity for members, the private sector and the international development community to share knowledge and showcase cotton related activities and products.
