06, March 2019 06/03/2019 – Posted in: Press Information Bureau

Generalized System of Preferences

 

News Flash

United States of America today has given a 60-day withdrawal notice to India on the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) benefits extended by US.

  • GSP benefits are envisaged to be non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory benefits extended by developed countries to developing countries.

Background

  • India-U.S. trade tensions escalated last year when the U.S. took two consecutive decisions to increase import tariffs on steel and aluminium, and place India’s eligibility for GSP benefits under review.
  • Washington’s decision to review India’s GSP status stemmed from complaints from American medical and dairy industries, both of which said India was not providing “equitable and reasonable access to its market”.
  • S. has been expressing discontent over India’s policies to do with data localisation and FDI rules in e-commerce.

Benefits

The GSP benefits amounted to only $190 million while India’s total exports under GSP to the U.S. stood at $5.6 billion. Indian officials have stressed that talks on the issue would still continue during the 60-day period after which the GSP decision would come into effect.

GSP

  • Generalised System of Preferences is a scheme that has offered duty-free import benefits to over 2,000 Indian goods worth well over $5 billion that are exported to the U.S.
  • GSP benefits are envisaged to be non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory benefits extended by developed countries to developing countries.

India’s Case

  • In India’s case the GSP concessions extended by the US amounted to duty reduction of only USD 190 million per annum.
  • India was ready to address US concerns regarding medical devices in principle, by putting in place a suitable trade margin approach in a reasonable time frame to balance concerns about fair pricing for the consumers and adequate remuneration for the suppliers.
  • On the issue of dairy market access, India has clarified that while our certification requirement, that the source animal had never been fed animal derived blood meal, is non-negotiable given the cultural and religious sentiment, the requested simplified dairy certification procedure, without diluting this requirement, could be considered.
  • Acceptability of US market access requests related to products like alfalfa hay, cherries and pork was conveyed.
  • On telecom testing, India was willing to consider discussions for a Mutual Recognition Agreement.

Due to various initiatives resulting in enhanced purchase of US goods like oil and natural gas and coal the US trade deficit with India has substantially reduced in calendar years 2017 and 2018. The reduction is estimated to be over USD 4 Billion in 2018, with further reduction expected in future years on account of factors like the growing demand for energy and civilian aircrafts in India.

India is also a thriving a scheme that has offered duty-free import benefits to over 2,000 Indian goods worth well over $5 billion that are exported to the U.S. GSP benefits are envisaged to be non-reciprocal and non-discriminatory benefits extended by developed countries to developing market for US services and e-commerce companies like Amazon, Uber, Google and Facebook with billions of dollars of revenue.

The issue of Indian tariffs being high has been raised from time to time. It is pertinent that India’s tariffs are within its bound rates under WTO commitments, and are on the average well below these bound rates. India’s trade weighted average tariffs are 7.6%, which is comparable with the most open developing economies, and some developed economies.

Source: The Hindu

 

 

National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP)

 

News Flash

The World Bank and the Government of India signed here a $250 Million Agreement for the National Rural Economic Transformation Project.

  • The will help women in rural households shift to a new generation of economic initiatives by developing viable enterprise for farm and non-farm products.

Aim:

  • Promote women-owned and women-led farm and non-farm enterprises across value chains.
  • Enable them to build businesses that help them access finance, markets and networks.
  • Generate employment.

NRETP

  • The National Rural Economic Transformation Project (NRETP) is an additional financing to the $500 million National Rural Livelihoods Project (NRLP) approved by the World Bank in July 2011.
  • The NRLP which is currently being implemented across 13 states, 162 districts and 575 blocks, has so far mobilized more than 8.8 million women from poor rural households into 750,000 self-help groups (SHGs).
  • Since its launch in 2011, the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM) has mobilized 50 million poor rural women into self-help groups and their higher-level federations. These groups have leveraged nearly $30 billion from commercial banks.

The NERTP will

  • Create a platform to access finance including start-up financing options to build their individual and/or collectively owned and managed enterprises.
  • Develop financial products using digital financial services to help small producer collectives scale-up and engage with the market.
  • Support youth skills development, in coordination with the Deen Dayal Upadyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana.

Source: The Hindu

 

Fifteen of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in India

 

News Flash

According to an analysis of air quality in several cities around the world, fifteen of the top 20 most polluted cities in the world are located in India.

  • Gurugram (Haryana) topped the list with an average annual particulate matter (PM 2.5) quality of 135 g/m3 (micrograms/cubic metre), in 2018.
  • Delhi — a frequent fixture on global pollution hotspots — was only the 11th most noxious city.
  • Cities of India: Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Bhiwadi, Noida, Patna, Lucknow, Jodhpur, Muzaffarpur, Varanasi, Moradabad, Agra, Gaya and Jind.

Across the globe      

  • Jakarta and Hanoi emerged as Southeast Asia’s two most polluted cities.
  • Average concentrations in the cities in China fell by 12% from 2017 to 2018.
  • Beijing ranks now as the 122nd most polluted city in the world in 2018.
  • China, the 12th most polluted country in the world.
  • Bangladesh emerged as the most polluted followed by Pakistan and India respectively.

World Health Organization

  • WHO sets recommended limits for health-harmful concentrations of key air pollutants both outdoors and inside buildings and homes, based on global synthesis of scientific evidence.
  • WHO guidelines cover annual and daily concentrations of fine particulates, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone (WHO, 2005).
  • Guidelines also cover indoor mould and dampness (WHO, 2009) and emissions of gases and chemicals from furnishings and building materials that collect indoors (2010).
  • Most recently, WHO Guidelines for indoor air quality – household fuel combustion, set limits on emissions from cooking and heating stoves, as well as recommendations regarding clean fuel use.

Global scenario

  • Of the cities analysed, 64% exceeded the WHO’s annual exposure guideline (10g/m3) for fine particulate matter, also known as PM2.5.
  • India’s annual guidelines range from 40-60 g/m3, depending on whether they are residential or industrial areas.
  • Middle East and Africa exceeded the WHO guideline.
  • 99% of cities in South Asia, 95% of cities in Southeast Asia and 89% of cities in East Asia breached WHO guidelines.

Source: The Hindu

 

Person may be cure of HIV

 

News Flash

A man in the United Kingdom may be the second person ever to be cured of HIV.

  • A stem-cell treatment had cleared patient’s body of the HIV virus.
  • He received the transplant from a donor who had a mutation in the CCR5 gene, which makes carriers HIV-resistant.
  • The last person to experience such a dramatic remission was the ‘Berlin patient’, who in 2007 became HIV-negative after a complicated treatment process.

HIV

HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS. The HIV infection assaults the body’s immune system and makes it logically more fragile and weaker. This is the reason it is frequently said that HIV itself does not kill: beyond a point, the immune system is so frail that it can’t fight off other infections, like tuberculosis, which kill the person.

Currently, no effective cure exists. HIV attacks and destroys the immune cells – specifically, cells called CD4 lymphocytes (CD4 lymphocytes are major anti-infection fighters).

However, AIDS can be managed with highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), also known as ART.  ART medicines are used to decrease the measure of the virus in the blood, known as the viral load, to a level that modern diagnostic systems can’t detect.

How was the virus eliminated?

  • First, the doctors had used chemotherapy to kill all blood cells.
  • Second, the donor cells could have acted against the remaining of the cells in what is called graft versus host disease (GVHD).
  • This is the disease that causes organ transplant failures.
  • It could have killed the cells that survived chemotherapy.
  • And since the new cells were mutated, they couldn’t be infected with residual HIV.

Source: The Hindu