Solution (b)

The Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane announced by the Central Government which is decided on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) in consultation with the State Governments and after taking feedback from associations of sugar industry.

On the recommendations of CACP final pricing of sugarcane is decided by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is headed by the Prime Minister of India.

Following factors are considered by the CACP while deciding the prices of sugarcane:

• cost of production of sugarcane;
• return to the growers from alternative crops and the general trend of prices of agricultural commodities;
• availability of sugar to consumers at a fair price;
• price at which sugar produced from sugarcane is sold by sugar producers;
• recovery of sugar from sugarcane;
• the realization made from sale of by-products viz. molasses, bagasse and
• reasonable margins for the growers of sugarcane on account of risk and profits

Under the FRP system, the farmers are not required to wait till the end of the season or for any announcement of the profits by sugar mills or the Government. FRP system also assures margins on account of profit and risk to farmers, irrespective of the fact whether sugar mills generate profit or not and is not dependent on the performance of any individual sugar mill.

Article Link: Government approves determination of Fair and Remunerative Price of sugarcane payable by Sugar Mills for sugar season 2021-22

Solution (c)

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of 124 countries initiated by India, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.

The ISA is headquartered in Gurugram India. It is the first treaty based inter-government organization headquartered in India.

As guided by the Framework Agreement of the ISA, the interests and objectives of the ISA are as follows:

• To collectively address key common challenges to scale up solar energy applications in line with their needs;
• To mobilize investments of more than USD 1000 billion by 2030;
• To take coordinated action through programmes and activities launched on a voluntary basis, aimed at better harmonization, aggregation of demand, risk and resources, for promoting solar finance, solar technologies, innovation, R&D, capacity building etc.;
• Reduce the cost of finance to increase investments in solar energy in member countries by promoting innovative financial mechanisms and mobilizing finance from Institutions;
• Scale up applications of solar technologies in member countries, andFacilitate collaborative research and development (R&D) activities in solar energy technologies among member countries.
• Promote a common cyber platform for networking, cooperation and exchange of ideas among member countries.

Article Link: India on course to exceed Paris Climate Change commitments

Solution (b)

Startup Accelerator of MeitY for Product Innovation, Development & Growth’ (SAMRIDH) programme is launched by the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY).

It aims to create a conducive platform to Indian software product startups to enhance their products and secure investments for scaling their business. The programme is being implemented by MeitY Startup Hub (MSH).

It will support 300 startups by providing customer connect, investor connect, and international immersion for next three years.

MeitY will provide seed funds of up to Rs 40 lakh for the selected startups and mentorship.

The programme aims to boost growth in the startup sector which has seen the emergence of 63 unicorns, and is now the third largest unicorn hub globally with a total valuation of $168 billion. A unicorn is a privately held startup valued at over $1 billion.

Article Link: SAMRIDH programme launched by MeitY

Solution (d)

Report titled Key Indicators for Asia and the Pacific 2021 is released by the Asian Development Bank.

The report demonstrated that the region made substantial progress in the last two decades with respect to several development targets.

It presents comprehensive economic, financial, social and environmental statistics for ADB’s 49 regional members.

Findings of the report:

• The pandemic pushed 75-80 million people in developing Asia-Pacific into extreme poverty in 2020.
• About 203 million people — 5.2 per cent of developing Asia’s population — lived in extreme poverty as of 2017. Without COVID-19, that number would have declined to an estimated 2.6 per cent in 2020.
• The report warned that the relative rise in extreme poverty — defined as living on less than $1.90 (Rs 141) a day, may be even greater.
• From 2019 to 2020, labour force participation rates among women, on average, declined by 1.4 per cent, while labour force participation rates among men declined by 0.8 per cent.
• 71 per cent of Asia-Pacific’s workforce is now in non-agricultural employment. From 2000-2019, the region’s non-agricultural employment rate grew to 71 per cent from 52 per cent, one of the fastest growth rates worldwide.
• Low-skilled people and those living in rural areas still face greater poverty risk.
• Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Asia-Pacific had been experiencing steady progress in several SDG III health targets, particularly on maternal and child mortality.
• The prevalence of undernourishment decreased from more than 521 million people in 2001 to 316 million in 2019.
• Almost all learners in the region were affected by closure of schools during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Despite efforts to continue school activities through remote learning, poorer students suffered greater disruption to their education during the pandemic.

Article Link: Asia-Pacific region lost 8% of working hours in 2020

Solution (c)

EASE 4.0 or Enhanced Access and Service Excellence is a common reform agenda aimed at institutionalising clean and smart banking.

EASE 4.0 commits Public Sector Banks to tech-enabled, simplified and collaborative banking to further the agenda of customer-centric digital transformation.

Following agenda has been proposed under EASE 4.0:

• Under EASE 4.0, the theme of new-age 24×7 banking with resilient technology has been introduced to ensure uninterrupted availability of banking services.
• Banks have also been asked to come up with specific schemes for the North-East.
• Banks will be urged to work with state governments to push the ‘one district, one export’ agenda.
• Now industries have the option of raising funds even from outside the banking sector.

Article Link: FM Nirmala Sitharaman launches EASE 4.0