Daily Mains Practice Questions 28-02-2023

KEY POINTS

·        The government has undertaken several structural reforms to make the entire infrastructure pipeline visible and viable.

·        Building on the mixed success derived from private participation in infrastructure programmes supported through PPP models like BoT, ToT, etc.

·        The government launched the National Infrastructure Pipeline to channelise dedicated credit support for world class infrastructure across the country.

·        A major problem that plagued the infrastructure sector, and thus impeded the pace of development, was the lack of integrated planning and coordinated implementation of projects.

·        With the vision of $1 trillion digital economy by 2025, the government is marching towards providing new e-governance-based services and modifying the existing ones on a need basis.

·        The success story of UPI has travelled internationally, as many jurisdictions have applauded and adopted India’s  sui-generis payment infrastructure.

·        The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) is a revolutionary step forward towards democratising and decentralising digital commerce through a set of standards.

·        The ONDC has the potential to transform how businesses and consumers presently interact, by giving greater thrust to penetration of e-retail commerce in India.

·        Under the vision of Digital India, the government has rolled out futuristic infrastructure in the form of smart cities based on the interlocking of physical and digital aspects.

KEY POINTS

·        Over the years, seizures of smuggled products in India have grown at a rapid pace.

·        No nation can achieve its developmental goals without having a zero-tolerance policy against smuggling. Smuggling results in an annual drain of $2.2 trillion globally.

·        In addition to a well-established enforcement machinery, widespread awareness and strong consumer action against such malpractices can help addressed problems efficiently.

·        Over the past several years, CASCADE has been working closely with school and college children to create a youth movement through various programmes and competitions.

·        Over the years several CASCADE has sensitised youngsters in shunning fake products and saying no to smuggled goods.

·        Adding thrust to its Anti-Smuggling Day programme, CASCADE has also invited students across India to participate in a Digital Art Competition themed ‘Stand Against Smuggling’.

·        Like any complex problem, there is no silver bullet to address the insidious threat of smuggling.

·        CASCADE will continue to appeal at both the national and international platforms for the need to come together and recognise Anti-Smuggling Day as a globally important date and chart an effective course of action in tackling this socio-economic scourge.

KEY POINTS

·        India needs to develop its own paradigm of climate finance. It cannot allow itself to be boxed in by the watertight categories of ‘green’ and ‘brown’ projects being laid down by the western world as a precondition to secure green funds.

·        To begin with, government(s) may consider catalytic or start-up funding and capacity building.

·        Catalytic funding should be utilised for ‘re-purposing’ key economic activities into green activities — something that western finance and its frameworks do may not recognise as per their taxonomy.

·        The RBI influenced flow of credit, since the 1970s, to sectors and population groups which did not receive adequate attention from the banking system.

·        This is widely known as priority sector lending. RBI’s policy stance was to ensure development impact by directing credit. Climate change (CC) is the significant development issue now.

·        While FRR is the most important determinant of investment decisions, most CC related investments will not be able to meet the FRR thresholds.

·        Going forward, DFIs and commercial banks must be nudged to play an active role in designing credit products for managing CC.

·        In sum, India’s commitments to net-zero CO2 emissions are based on a bouquet of options: shifting to renewable energy, battery storage systems, cleaner transport, climate resilient sustainable farming.