Daily Mains Practice Questions 21-01-2023

1) KEY POINTS

·        The global food, energy, and financial crises have been exacerbated by the climatic crisis and India has a unique opportunity to lead from the front of one of the most influential global platforms.

·        The majority of problems that South Asian countries face are global in nature, transcend national borders, and necessitate group effort. The economic forecast for South Asia is bleak for the coming year.

·        India needs to promote collective action at the G20 that results in economic stability and peace in the region.

·        Hence, India can draw attention to issues that are significant for South Asia and the entire developing world, ensuring greater momentum for those nations not represented in the G20.

·        The majority of South Asian nations produce their energy from fossil fuels; 63% of the region’s emissions of greenhouse gases come from energy generation.

·        Green energy transition is one of the top priorities for this region. Improving health infrastructure is quite important for South Asia and the G20 agenda.

·        For South Asia, it is important that multilateral organisations and development finance institutes supporting economic development and good governance are reformed as these countries are major stakeholders for these global institutes.

·        India should use its G20 chair to reform international governance procedures and ensure fair negotiations.

2) KEY POINTS

·        December 2022 marked the steepest fall in two years for India’s goods exports, with products worth $34.5 billion shipped out — 12.2% lower than a year ago.

·        This was the second time in three months that shipments dropped year-on-year and top Commerce Ministry officials sought to calm nerves by citing the global headwinds that were posing challenges for Indian merchandise.

·        The world’s trade dynamics have been altered since then, as the momentum swung from a strong post-pandemic pent-up rebound to a stuttering growth trajectory.

·        The other silver lining is that imports also contracted 3.5% in December, the first such instance since November 2020, although they remained flat sequentially at around $58.2 billion.

·        For the first nine months of 2022-23, India’s goods exports are still 9.1% higher than a year ago, slightly lower than the 11.1% rise recorded till November 2022.

·        The latest data on U.S. retail sales signal the sharpest slump in 12 months even as industrial output has tanked, signalling that demand for finished goods or inputs is set to slacken further in India’s top export destination.

·        Some recent government moves such as fixing glitches in a duty remission scheme for exports and lifting curbs on iron ore shipments have helped.

3) KEY POINTS

·        The UPI of India has been a game changer in digital payment sector, making the country global leader in instant payment.

·        In 2021, India alone accounted nearly 40 per cent of the total digital transactions globally.

·        The NPCI further launched UPI 2.0 in 2018 with several new features to increase penetration of UPI in rural areas having poor internet connectivity and lower penetration of smart phones.

·        Moreover, round-the-clock support service — ‘Digi Sathi’ — was introduced to address queries of the users and to provide information about various digital payment products.

·        The introduction of these new and enhanced security features has led to exponential growth in volume and frequency of digital transaction through UPI since its launch in 2016.

·        Successful integration and collaboration with the payment network of these countries will enable Indian immigrants, travellers, students to make payment in the partnering countries using UPI or Rupay Card.

·        Adoption of UPI is also expected to bring down cost of printing and managing currency and boost commerce across hospitality, tourism and retail sectors in partnering countries.

·        To achieve the goal of financial inclusion and digitalised economy, emphasis should be given on imparting financial and digital literacy, creating awareness about new products.

Q. 1) G20 & south asia

KINDLY REVIEW

Q 2