8 July 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
Commerce scraps 259 show cause notices to patent officers: ‘Not in line with procedure’
Page no- 1
GS3-issues relating to Intellectual Property Rights
- The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has withdrawn 259 show cause notices issued by the office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trademarks (CGPDTM) to patent officers, saying the notices were “not in line of established procedure”.
- On January 3 this year, the All India Patent Officers’ Welfare Association had approached the ministry against the “unlawful show cause notices”.
- It sent another representation on April 1, saying the notices amounted to interference in the discharge of their statutory duties, intimidation and harassment by the CGPDTM.
Chhattisgarh moves to offer primary edu in 18 local languages, dialects
Page no- 5
GS2-Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education
- The Chhattisgarh government has initiated a move to provide primary education in local language and dialects in remote tribal regions as part of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, which recommends that mother tongue or the local language be the medium of instruction at least up to the fifth standard.
- Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai has directed the State Education Department to develop and distribute for free bilingual books in 18 local languages and dialects, with a focus on providing high-quality educational resources.
Return of reformists
Page no- 8
GS2-Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests
- In a major surprise, the reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, won the second round of voting last Friday to become the ninth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
- The elections were held after the previous president Ibrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash in May.
- Unlike his predecessor Raisi and his electoral rival Saeed Jalili, both of whom pursued hardline policies at home and abroad, Pezeshkian offers a different path.
- He has promised to make peace with the world, free the internet, and lift social restrictions, especially on women.
- For the people of a country that has been locked in a prolonged conflict with many of its Arab neighbours and the West, and endured endless censorship and repression at home, Pezeshkian could bring a breath of fresh air.
A trust deficit with farmers
Page no- 9
GS3-Issues related to Direct and Indirect Farm Subsidies and Minimum Support Prices
- If agriculture in the country has to be put on a fast and sustainable track, first and foremost, the agriculture minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, has to bridge this trust deficit with farmers.
- The best way to do it is to form two agri-councils, one with representatives of farmers from each state, say two per state, one owner cultivator and one tenant.
- Let us call it the Farmers’ Council. The second council will comprise agri-ministers of each state, somewhat on the lines of the GST council.
- Both these councils must meet at least twice a year, at the beginning of the kharif and rabi conferences that the Centre holds each year.
- This will go a long way to converge on some important reforms in the agri-sector, which is crying for change.
Hoping for a miracle at COP29
Page no- 9
GS3-Environmental Pollution and Degradation
- We are back to where we had left off during COP28. In the recently concluded Bonn talks, a precursor to COP29 (to be held in Baku in November), there was no consensus regarding resource transfer for climate change.
- This, however, is not surprising given the fact that the world community has been labouring over the transfer of $100 billion per year since the last 15 years, without success.
- This kitty, however, has been given a new name — New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) — though without any flesh and blood in the form of money.
- The developed world is engaged in who all should contribute to this fund and the latest missive is that countries like China and Saudi Arabia should also be viewed as donors rather than recipients.
Crop insurance coverage drops in FY24 as 4 top insurers cut exposure
Page no- 11
GS3-Inclusive Growth and issues arising from it
- General insurance companies reduced their exposure to crop insurance under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) during FY24 despite the government’s push to expand the insurance coverage in the farm sector.
- Gross direct premium underwritten by insurers declined by 4.17 per cent to Rs 30,677 crore during the fiscal as against Rs 32,011 crore in the previous year even as farmers faced crop losses due to floods, unseasonal rains and heatwaves.
UP, West Bengal, Maharashtra had highest share of informal sector enterprises in 2022-23
Page no- 11
GS3-Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development
- Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra had the highest share of informal sector enterprises in both rural and urban areas in 2022-23, the latest Annual Survey of Unincorporated Enterprises for 2022-23 released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) showed.
- While the share of informal sector enterprises decreased in the post-pandemic year 2022-23 for some states such as Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, the state of Uttar Pradesh topped among major states with an increase in the number of unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises.
Digital Bharat Nidhi: Govt’s fresh attempt to improve rural telecom connectivity
Page no- 11
GS3-Infrastructure: Telecom
- The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on July 4 released draft rules to operationalise the Digital Bharat Nidhi, in a fresh attempt by the central government at increasing telecom connectivity in rural areas.
- Digital Bharat Nidhi would replace the erstwhile Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which is a pool of funds generated by a 5 per cent Universal Service Levy charged upon all the telecom fund operators on their Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
The vital importance of Putin
Page no- 12
GS2-Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be in Russia to meet President Vladimir Putin on Monday (July 8) and Tuesday.
- The two leaders have met a total 16 times since Modi became Prime Minister, but not since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, provoking wide-ranging Western sanctions.
- Modi last went to Russia for the Eastern Economic Forum meeting in Vladivostok in September 2019; Putin last visited India in December 2021 for the annual bilateral summit.
Karnataka’s crackdown on food businesses
Page no- 12
GS2-Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health
- Karnataka’s food safety department has cracked down on sellers of many street food staples, such as gobi manchurian and pani puri.
- The statewide crackdown is against the use of artificial food colouring, and other cancer-causing agents by food business operators (FBOs).
- In the past five months, 4,000 food samples have been collected for testing by the food safety department following reports of FBOs’ unhygienic practices leading to health disorders.
