National
OIL’s Hydrogen Bus
⇒ Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi flagged off Oil India Limited’s (OIL) indigenously developed hydrogen fuel cell-based e-bus at the India Energy Week (IEW) in Bengaluru on 6th February 2023.
OIL, under the National Hydrogen Mission and Atmanirbhar Bharat vision of the Government of India, developed indigenously this hydrogen fuel cell-based bus under its Startup program (SNEH). Oil India Limited is India’s oldest Exploration & Production company committed to India’s Energy Security.
About Bus:
- The bus is a hybrid of an Electric Drive and a Fuel Cell, the Fuel Cell uses hydrogen to produce electricity which drives the electric motor & also charges the auxiliary battery that provides for back-up power during acceleration and braking.
- The 60 KW capacity fuel cell uses Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) technology to produce electricity. Bus has the tank capacity of 21.9 Kg at 350 bar pressure.
- The bus is designed to accommodate 32 persons including the driver and is provided with wheel chair facility.
NCAER Report on “Making India a Global Power House on Farm Machinery Industry”
⇒ The National Council of Applied Economic Research’s (NCAER) latest report on “Making India a Global Power House on Farm Machinery Industry” was released on 07 February 2023 by the Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare, Ms Shobha Karandlaje in New Delhi.
Sponsored by:
The NCAER is one of India’s premier economic policy research thinktanks. This study was sponsored by Mahendra & Mahendra.
Key Points:
- NCAER has analyzed the non-tractor farm machinery industry from both demand and supply side perspectives, bringing out the challenges in the sector, and recommending measures & reforms by benchmarking global practices in their report.
- The report, amongst other things, stresses that India needs a vision for the next 15 years to convert itself into a production and export hub for non-tractor farm machinery.
- Availability of adequate farm power is very crucial for timely farm operations for increasing production and productivity and reducing losses.
- With the increase in intensity of cropping, the turnaround time is drastically reduced, which demands availability of adequate power for timely farm operations for subsequent crop. Though we are witnessing considerable progress in farm mechanization, its spread across the length and breadth of our country still remains uneven.
- Our farm power availability is at 2.49 Kw/ha in year 2018-19 which is much lower as compared to Korea (+7 kw/ha), Japan (+14kw/ha), USA(+7kw/ha).
Recommendation:
- The twin objectives of this study were to recommend to policymakers’ key strategic actions to foster the growth of the non-tractor farm machinery industry in India and turn it into a global production hub, and to improve the match between the needs of Indian farmers and Indian farm machinery producers in terms of the price, quality, size and efficiency of the machinery.
- The report recommends measures and reforms by benchmarking global practices, which will be examined by the team of policy makers for making best solutions in farm mechanization.
- This will make India a global powerhouse for farm machinery and enable farmers to improve crop yields, farm productivity and their overall lives.
ODOP-DEH products in Taj Hotel's in-house luxury store, Khazana given ODOP-DEH tags
⇒ One District One Product-Districts as Export Hubs (ODOP-DEH) has mapped and tagged the overlapping products in Taj Hotels’ in-house luxury store, Khazana. The launch of this initiative was held in New Delhi on 07 February 2023.
Key Points:
- A diverse collection of artisanal products representing all parts of the country are available at this store. For instance, the store gives the age-old craft of Chamba Rumal from Himachal Pradesh a contemporary touch by placing them in modern frames, thus preserving the art yet making it a fit for modern decor.
- Similarly, the ODOP-DEH tagging was done for a range of products, including Kota Doria from Kota, Rajasthan, Bidriware from Bidar, Karnataka, Pattachitra Sarees from Puri, Odisha, Srikalahasti kalamkari from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh & Jewellery from Surat, Gujarat.
- The tagging is intended to strengthen each district’s identity, while giving a greater visibility to these products.
ODOP-DEH plans to further this campaign by engaging other such stores that have overlaps with the products under ODOP-DEH in order to boost the morale of artisan and weaver clusters by giving them a larger platform to display their craft and bringing it to the forefront.
About ODOP-DEH:
- The One District One Product – Districts as Export Hubs programme under the Department of Commerce and Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce & Industry is aimed at creating sustainable employment at the district level while promoting holistic socio-economic development.
- The idea is to select, brand, and promote one product from each district of the country.
68th India International Garment Fair (IIGF)
⇒ Smt. Darshana Jardosh, Minister of State for Textiles, Govt of India inaugurated the 68th India International Garment Fair (IIGF) at India Export Mart, Greater Noida (City of Apparels) on 07 February 2023.
Organized by:
The 68th IIGF was organized for three days from 7 to 9 February, 2023. It was organized by the International Garment Fair Association.
Participation:
Around 250 exhibitors showcased their products for Autumn/winter 2023-24 season and more than 1000 buyers from all over the world and around 800 sourcing consultants visited the fair.
» The next edition, the 69th India International Garment Fair was held during 26-27-28 June 2023 at India Expo centre, Greater Noida, India.
About IIGF:
- The India International Garment Fair is an ultimate Buyer-Seller platform to meet the sourcing requirements of Apparel and Fashion Accessories. This is a B2B FAIR.
- This event provides foreign business owners with an opportunity to network with Indian manufacturers and suppliers, and import the latest Indian designs.
- IGFA organizes two events every year in the month of January and June-July in India – in January for the Autumn/Winter Season and in June-July for Spring/Summer Season.
International
3rd Employment Working Group (EWG) meeting under the G20 Indian Presidency
⇒ The 3rd Employment Working Group (EWG) meeting under the G20 Indian Presidency successfully concluded on 02 June 2023 in Geneva.
The 3rd Employment Working Group (EWG) meeting was held from June 31st to June 2nd, 2023, at the International Labour Organization (ILO) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
Participation:
- The three-day meeting witnessed active participation from delegates representing 78 G20 Members, Invitee Countries, Guest Countries, and International Organizations.
- 78 delegates from 20 G20 member countries, 09 guest countries and 04 International Organizations attended the meeting.
- The Ministry of Labour & Employment’s international knowledge partners i.e. International Labour Organisation ILO), Organisation for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD), International Social Security Association (ISSA), World Bank (WB) and a domestic knowledge partner i.e. Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Government of India, attended the meeting to provide their technical expertise to the Group.
Priority areas:
This meeting of the EWG is a crucial step towards building consensus amongst the participating G20 countries on the outcomes of the 3 key priority areas for EWG 2023 selected by the Indian Presidency.
These priority areas encompass three crucial topics:
- Addressing global skill gaps
- Gig and platform economy and social protection
- Sustainable financing of social protection.
Discussion:
- The discussions began on day 1 of the 3rd EWG meeting post a comprehensive update about progress on Antalya and Brisbane Targets by the ILO and OECD.
- It emerged from the update that significant progress has been made in achieving the goals. However, countries need to accelerate their efforts in order to meet the goals. The updates were followed by exhaustive line by line discussions and extensive negotiations across three days.
- The Chair Ms. Arti Ahuja steered the deliberations smoothly to ensure consensus is reached on all substantive issues.
The proposed significant outcomes of the key priority areas under Indian Presidency include-
- development of an international reference classification of occupations by skill and qualification requirements to facilitate cross-country comparability and mutual recognition of skills and qualifications, and
- extension of coverage of ILO and OECD’s Skills for Jobs Database to G20 countries through comparable indicators to map skill gaps globally.
» They also include commitments by the G20 countries to work towards providing adequate social protection for all including gig and platform workers and ensure sustainable financing of social protection.
» This meeting concluded on a high note with a broad agreement by all members on the draft Ministerial Communique and Outcome documents related to the priority areas of the G20 EWG 2023.
» The fourth and final meeting of the Employment Working Group and the Labour and Employment Ministers Meeting is scheduled for 19th -21st July, 2023 in India at Indore.