BIHAR
Bihar to chalk out tourism road map within 90 days
Bihar’s enormous potential in geo-tourism owing to its rich natural resources is yet to find an important place on the tourist map of the country, primarily due to lack of infrastructure facilities at most of the important sites.
Experts assert that many important sites can be developed to attract tourists from different parts of India and abroad. They point out that the oldest surviving rock-cut caves in India —Barabar caves, Lomas Rishi cave, Sudama cave, Karan Chaupar and Viswa Zopri caves are situated in the Bela Ganj Block of Gaya district. Carved entirely out of granite these caves have a highly polished internal surface. But there is no good hotel in the vicinity of these caves, which makes it difficult for tourists.
Karkat waterfall (located on Kaimur hills near wildlife sanctuary), Telhar waterfall (located on NH-2 in Kaimur District), Manjhar Kund and Dhua Kund Waterfall (located near Sasaram) are some other waterfalls in the state where geotourism can be promoted.
INTERNATIONAL
Indias Rice Exports To Vietnam
Due to attractive prices, Vietnam has recently started to buy grain, especially rice, from India. Although Vietnam is the world’s third-largest rice exporter, Vietnam has started to import rice from India.
Vietnam has started to import rice from India because the country’s local price has jumped to the highest level in 9 years due to limited domestic supply. This is mainly because Vietnam has begun to stock a large amount of rice for the future.
In addition, the price of Indian rice is very attractive. The huge price difference forced the Vietnamese government to import rice from India.
Indian traders will export 70,000 tons of rice to Vietnam at a price of approximately US$310 per ton. India will export broken rice to Vietnam in January and February 2021.
The global pandemic has prompted Vietnam and other countries to stock up rice. This is because the reduction in food supply makes people increasingly worried about food insecurity.
Vietnam plans to reserve US$270,000 of rice to ensure access to food in the event of a disruption in the global covid-19 supply chain. Therefore, it is facing shortages and is dependent on imports.
NATIONAL
IFSCA Becomes a Member of IOSCO
The International Financial Services Center Authority (IFSCA) has become an Associate Member of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO).
IOSCO is an international organization which brings together global securities regulatory agencies, covering more than 95% of the global securities market. It is also a global standard-setter for the securities sector. IOSCO works closely with the G20 and the Financial Stability Board (FSB) to develop standards to strengthen the securities market.
The FSB has recognized IOSCO Objectives and Principles of Securities Regulation as one of the key standards for a sound financial system.
Tide-Rainfall Flood Quotient: A New Measurement Devised
In order to understand whether coastal cities are more prone to flooding due to tidal events or extreme rainfall, a research team from IIT Bombay has devised a new measure called the “Tide–Rainfall Flood Quotient”.
Using past rainfall data, tide data and the topography of the area, this framework can be used to determine the main factors at play.
The team selected three coastal areas that are geographically diverse and vulnerable to flooding-Mithi catchment area in Mumbai, Jagatsinghpur district in Odisha and Greater Chennai Corporation in Tamil Nadu to test their new metric
The new method helps to classify these areas as ‘storm-tide dominated’ or ‘pluvial (rainfall) dominated’.
Sagarmala Seaplane Services Launched by Union Ministry
The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is launching the Sagarmala Seaplane Service (SSPS). The Ministry is beginning the operation of Seaplane Services on specific routes under the framework of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) through potential airline operators.
The Ministry is beginning the operation of Seaplane Services on specific routes under the framework of Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) through potential airline operators.
The execution and implementation of the project will be carried out through Sagarmala Development Company Ltd. (SDCL), which is under the administration of the Ministry.
The Seaplane will use the nearby waters for take-off and landing, thus connecting these places in a very economical way, because the seaplane operation does not require conventional airport infrastructure such as runways and terminals.
GST Compensation Shortfall In States
The 10th Instalment of Rs 6,000 crore was issued to the States as a back-to-back loan to meet the GST compensation shortfall.
The Ministry of Finance has issued the tenth instalment of 60 billion rupees a week to the states to make up for the shortage of goods and services tax compensation.
The money has been released to 23 states and 3 UTs with legislative assemblies.
The remaining 5 states (Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim) have no income gap due to the implementation of GST.
Now, more than 50% of the estimated GST compensation shortfall has been issued to the States & UTs with legislative assemblies.