Currently, Indian Navy opera only a single carrier, the 44,000-tonne INS Vikramaditya bought from Russia.
INS Vikrant, is an indigenous aircraft carrier being built in Cochin Shipyard.
It is a 40, 000 tonne carrier and expected to join service by 2021.
INS Vishal, proposed to be India’s 2nd indigenous aircraft carrier has stalled since 2017 awaiting defence ministry’s clearance.
It was conceived as 65,000 tonne class carrier. The clearance was mainly delayed owing to its production cost.
Recently, Indian government has approached UK to build state of the art aircraft carrier along the lines of Britain's HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The talks are under way to buy detailed plans for the 65,000-ton British warship to build a so-called "copycat supercarrier" to be named INS Vishal in 2022.
This India-UK Naval deal would follow the sale of INS Viraat to India in 1987, which was decommissioned 2 years ago.
Anti-dumping Duty
The Finance Ministry has, on the recommendations of the Commerce Ministry, imposed an anti-dumping duty on the import of saccharine from Indonesia.
Saccharine is a compound most commonly used in sugar-substitute sweeteners.
Dumping is said to occur when the goods are exported by a country to another country at a price lower than its normal value.
Anti-dumping is a measure to rectify the situation arising out of the dumping of goods and its trade distortive effect.
The use of anti-dumping measure as an instrument of fair competition is permitted by the WTO.
It is an instrument for ensuring fair trade and is not a measure of protection per se for the domestic industry. It provides relief to the domestic industry against the injury caused by dumping.
There is one more trade remedial measure called "safeguards" which are applied as an emergency measure in response to the surge in imports of a particular item.
Varuna
It is a bilateral naval exercise between India and France.
It was initiated in the year 1983 and it form a vital part of the Indo-French strategic partnership.
It will be held in two phases with the 1st part in Goa Coast and other part in Djibouti.
Cyclone Fani
According to IMD report, cyclone fani was intensified in to extremely severe cyclone in the Bay of Bengal region.
It is named by Bangladesh.
In the past (1891-2017) only 14 severe tropical cyclones formed in April over the Bay of Bengal. Only one storm crossed the Indian mainland.
Cyclone Fani is the second storm forming in April and crossing the mainland. Last severe cyclone Nargis in 2008 devastated Myanmar.
Tropical Cyclone – It is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain.
Naming of Cyclones over north Indian ocean region was started in 2004.
India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Sri Lanka and Thailand are part of the panel that names cyclones.
In the event of a tropical cyclone/storm, the Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre, New Delhi, selects a name from the list.
Foreign Direct Investment
According to the recent data presented by Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Maharashtra has emerged as the favourite destination for FDIs by NRIs in the last 4 financial years.
It attracted 30% of the total NRI investments in the country.
It is followed by Kerala and Gujarat. Three states together received 60% of the total FDI-NRI investments.
Marsquake
NASA has recently recorded tremblings in Mars for the first time ever.
It appears to have come from inside the planet, as opposed to being caused by forces above the surface.
It was recorded by NASA’s Insight lander and its specially designed seismometer picked up the fainted trembles.
Insight’s core mission is to study the interior of Mars by looking for seismic waves, studying the planet's wobble as it moves in its orbit around the Sun.
Generalised System of Preferences (GSP)
India has decided to postpone the proposed higher tariffs on high-value goods from US with its access to US markets through GSP under stake.
The GSP is a U.S. trade program designed to promote economic growth in the developing world.
It was instituted in 1976 by the Trade Act of 1974.
It provides preferential duty-free entry for up to 4,800 products from more than 120 designated beneficiary countries and territories.
It was extended to India in 1976, under which India is able to export about 2,000 product lines to the U.S. under zero tariff.
United States Trade Representative (USTR) is currently viewing India’s eligibility under the programme.
USTR notified that Indian exports did not qualify for GSP benefits under their updated eligibility criteria. However, final presidential proclamation is still pending.
India is the largest beneficiary nation under the GSP, having exported goods worth $5.6 billion to the US in 2017-18.
Source: The Hindu, Business Standard, Indian Express
