KERALA

Ease of Doing Business: Kerala seeks clarity on ranking criteria from Centre

he Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) ranking 2019, covering different states and Union Territories, lacked clarity on some counts, the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation has claimed, and urged the Centre to disclose the criteria details applied in deciding the status.

The EoDB ranking, as published on the website of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), did not reveal either the criteria adopted for scoring and ranking or disclose the feedback from the states and UTs, according to S Harikishore, managing director, KSIDC.

As per the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP) of 2019, each state had to complete 187 missions.
Of these, Kerala has accomplished 157 missions, which comes to 85 per cent of the mandated missions.

For the last four years, Kerala has made steady and systematic progress in formulating and implementing reforms suggested under BRAP.
The record of Kerala in securing the goals set by the Centre in this regard has steadily increased—percentage figures from 2015-16: 22.8 per cent,2016-17 : 26.9 per cent, 2017-18 : 52.56 per cent, and 2018-19 : 85 per cent.
Kerala government has drawn up and proactively implemented a slew of innovative measures during this period to make the state industry-friendly.

Some of the major steps taken by the government in the last three years include announcement of an investor-friendly industrial policy that has created the most conducive ecosystem for industrialists and service providers.
As many as seven Acts have been amended to bring in the comprehensive Kerala Investment Promotion and Facilitation Act-2018, which has made the investment process fast and transparent, he said.

Kerala has also made considerable progress in key parameters such as digital connectivity, skill development and infrastructure development.
Since 2016, as many as 52,137 MSME enterprises have been started in Kerala, which account for 40 per cent of all businesses the state has in this job-generating sector.
The state has clocked an estimated investment of Rs 4,500 crore in MSME sector alone, which itself vouch for the strides made by Kerala in industrialisation.

INTERNATIONAL

India expresses concern over Armenia, Azerbaijan clashes

For almost four decades, Armenia and Azerbaijan have been battling over a piece of land situated in the mountainous region of south Caucasus.

The dispute over Nagorno Karabakh that began in 1988 has over the years caused massive human rights violations, a severe refugee crisis and impacted the economies of both the Transcaucasian republics.

The issue flared up once again this week, resulting in more deaths and destruction.

Reportedly, close to a hundred lives have been lost between civilians and Armenian combatants. Azerbaijan is yet to release data on its military losses.

India has expressed its concern over reports of resumption of hostilities in the Nagarno-Karabakh region of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border which took place in the early hours of September 27.

India, Bangladesh hold joint naval exercise Bongosagar

The second edition of the bilateral naval exercise “Bongosagar”, between India and Bangladesh was held on 3 October 2020 in Northern Bay of Bengal. Both navies participated in seamanship evolutions, surface warfare drills, and helicopter operations. Bongosagar aims to develop interoperability and joint operational skills through the conduct of maritime exercises and operations.

The first edition of the ‘Exercise Bongosagar’ was held in 2019.

The third edition of India Bangladesh Coordinated Patrol (CORPAT) on 4-5 October. ♦ During the CORPAT exercise, both navies will undertake joint patrolling along the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).

NATIONAL

Arjun Munda launches largest market of tribal products ‘Tribes India E-Marketplace’

Minister of Tribal Affairs Arjun Munda virtually launched India’s largest handicraft and organic products marketplace- Tribes India E-Marketplace on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

This path breaking initiative of TRIFED will showcase the produce and handicrafts of tribal enterprises from across the country. It will help them market their products directly.

On this occasion, Mr Arjun Munda also flagged off several other TRIFED initiatives that are aimed to support tribal brethren.

These include the inauguration of Tribes India’s 123rd and 124th outlets in Rishikesh and Kolkata, inclusion of new tribal product ranges from the states of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh and partnership of TRIFED and Tribes India with Amazon in their Seller Flex program.

Over 97 per cent of cities across country become Open Defecation Free

Government said that more than 97 per cent of the cities across the country have become Open Defecation Free, ODF.

The spirit of Jan Andolan and Jan Bhagidari is exemplified by the Swachh Survekshan 2020 in which over 12 crores of citizens have participated in the survey.

When Swachh Bharat Mission- urban was launched in 2014, it was with the vision of achieving Clean India by 2nd October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation.

From a position of zero ODF states and cities in 2014, more than 97 per cent of Indian cities have now become ODF.

ISRO to launch its Venus mission in 2025

ISRO is scheduled to launch its Venus mission in 2025 and France will participate in it.

The VIRAL (Venus Infrared Atmospheric Gases Linker) instrument co-developed with the Russian federal space agency Roscosmos and the LATMOS atmospheres, environments and space observations laboratory attached to the French national scientific research centre CNRS has been selected by the ISRO after a request for proposals.

ISRO chairman K Sivan and CNES president Jean-Yves Le Gall held talks and reviewed the areas driving cooperation between France and India in space.

After the Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) and Moon missions Chandrayaan-1 and 2, ISRO has set its eyes on Venus for carrying out its interplanetary mission.

France and India share a robust collaboration in the arena of space.

It is one of the three nations with whom India collaborates in the strategic sectors of nuclear, space and defence — the other two being the US and Russia.

DRDO successfully tested SMART Missile

Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) successfully flight tested the Supersonic Missile Assisted Release of Torpedo (SMART) from Wheeler Island off the coast of Odisha on 5th October 2020.

SMART:

SMART missile is the assisted release of lightweight Anti-Submarine Torpedo System for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations for far beyond torpedo range.

This test demonstration are significant in establishing ASW capabilities.

Parameters including missile flight upto the range and altitude, the release of Torpedo, separation of the nose cone, and deployment of Velocity Reduction Mechanism (VRM) were tested successfully.

NITI Aayog to host India PV EDGE 2020 Symposium

NITI Aayog, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, and Invest India, jointly organize virtual ‘India PV EDGE 2020’, a global symposium on 6 October 2020 from 5-8.40 pm.

Highlights:

The symposium includes sessions on ‘Wafers and Cells’, ‘Modules and Production Equipment’ and ‘Supply Chain’.

The session also include a ‘Investors Conclave’ on PV Manufacturing.

States namely Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Maharashtra will participate in the conclave.

An ‘Investors Roundtable’ will discuss and deliberate upon issues related to India’s solar manufacturing sector through affordable financing, role of developers in building the ecosystem of cutting edge solar manufacturing etc.

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