The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister(PM) Narendra Modi approved the following proposals on 27th December 2023.
- Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for copra for 2024 season.
- Improvement and widening of Khowai-Harina road in Tripura
- Construction of a New 6-Lane Bridge across River Ganga connecting Digha and Sonepur in Bihar.
- Migration and Mobility Agreement between India and Italy
- Opening of the Consulate General of India in Auckland, New Zealand
- MoU between Prasar Bharati and Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), Malaysia
CCEA Approved MSPs for Copra for 2024 season:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by PM Modi, approved the Minimum Support Prices (MSPs) for Copra for the 2024 season.
New Rates:
i.The MSP for Fair Average Quality(FAQ) of milling copra has been fixed at Rs. 11,160 per quintal and for ball copra at Rs.12,000 per quintal for the 2024 season.
ii.The MSP has been increased by Rs 300 per quintal for milling copra and Rs.250 per quintal for ball copra over the previous season.
iii.The new rates will ensure a margin of 51.84% for milling copra and 63.26% for ball copra. This is over 1.5 times the all-India weighted average cost of production.
Nodal agencies:
Central Nodal Agencies for the procurement of copra and de-husked coconut under the Price Support Scheme (PSS) are National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation (NCCF).
Key Points:
i.The Government has increased MSP for milling copra from Rs 5250 per quintal (in 2014-15) to Rs11,160 per quintal (2024-25), registering a growth of 113%. MSP for ball copra has been increased from Rs5500 (2014-15) to Rs12000 (2024-25), witnessing a growth of 118%.
ii.During the 2023 season, the government procured a record amount of more than 1.33 lakh metric tonnes of copra, at the cost of Rs 1,493 crores. This indicates an increase of 227% over the 2022 season.
Background: In Union Budget(2018-19), the Government announced that MSPs of all mandated crops will be fixed at a level of at least 1.5 times of all India weighted cost of production.
Note:
i.MSP is the amount paid to farmers when the government buys their produce. it is based on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP), under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare(MoAFW).
ii.Milling Copra is used to extract oil. Kerala and Tamil Nadu are major producers of Copra.
iii.Ball Copra (edible copra) is consumed as dry fruit. It is mainly grown in Karnataka.
CCEA Approved Improvement & widening of Khowai-Harina road in Tripura
CCEA approved the project for the improvement and widening of the Khowai-Harina road covering a total length of 134.913 kms in Tripura.
About Khowai-Harina Road Project:
It involves the improvement and widening of the road from Khowai(approx. 101 Km) to Harina (approx. 236Km) of National Highway(NH)-208 to two lanes with paved shoulder.
Budget: The estimated cost of the Project is Rs 2486.78 crore (including a loan component Rs 1511.70 crore (Japanese Yen 23,129 million))
- The loan assistance will be from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) scheme.
Project duration: The construction period for the Project will be 2 years which includes the maintenance of these National Highways(NH). It can be extended to 5 years in the case of flexible pavement or 10 years in the case of rigid pavement.
Significance:
i.It aims to provide better road connectivity between various parts of Tripura.
ii.Other than NH-8, it will provide alternative access to Assam and Meghalaya from Tripura.
iii.It will improve Interstate connectivity between Assam and Tripura through NH-208A and also reduce transit time and provide safer connectivity for the commuters.
CCEA approved the construction of the Bridge across River Ganga in Bihar
CCEA approved the Construction of a New 4556 meter-long, 6-Lane High Level/ Extra Dosed Cable-stayed Bridge across the River Ganga connecting Patna and Saran (National highway NH-139W), Bihar.
- This is a part of the Buddha circuit, which connects the Buddha Stupa at Vaishali and Keshariya.
About the Bridge:
i.Total cost: Rs 3,064.45 crore (includes civil construction cost of Rs.2,233.81 crore).
ii.Implementation: The project is implemented in Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode using the latest technology like 5D-Building Information Modelling (BIM), Bridge Health Monitoring System (BHMS), etc.
The project is set to be completed in 42 months from the appointed date.
iii.Details:
The bridge connects Patna at Digha on the South side and Saran on the North Side across the River Ganga
The bridge will be parallel to the Western Side of the Existing Digha-Sonepur Rail-Cum Road Bridge.
This will connect Patna to the Golden quadrilateral corridor via NH-139 at Aurangabad and Sonepur (NH-31), Chhapra, Motihari (East-West corridor old NH-27), Bettiah (NH-727) in the Northern side of Bihar.
Union Cabinet approved the Migration & Mobility Agreement between India & Italy
The Union Cabinet gave ex-post facto approval for the proposal to sign the Migration and Mobility Agreement between the government of India (GoI) and the Government of the Italian Republic.
- The proposal was made by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), GoI.
Features of the agreement:
i.The agreement will foster mobility of students, skilled workers and young professionals and strengthen cooperation between India and Italy on issues related to irregular migration.
ii.Indian students on completion of their studies would get additional Permanent Residence (PR) for 1 year (12 months). It will help them to gain initial professional experience.
iii.Joint Working Group will be formed to monitor the irregular migration under the formal mechanism. The Joint Working Group will meet periodically in physical or virtual form.
iv.Italy has offered incremental reserved quotas for both seasonal and non-seasonal workers under the Flow of Decree for 2023-2025.
v.The Agreement will remain effective for 5 years. It will be renewed automatically for the same period unless terminated by any of the member countries.
Background: The Agreement was signed by Union Minister Dr S. Jaishankar, MEA, GoI and Antonio Tajani, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy, on 2nd November 2023.
Opening of Consulate General of India in Auckland, New Zealand
The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi has approved the proposal to open the Consulate General of India in Auckland, New Zealand to increase the India’s diplomatic footprint.
- The Consulate will be fully operationalised within 1 year (12 months).
- It will help to consolidate diplomatic relations between India and New Zealand and benefit the Indian community in Auckland.
Cabinet approved MoU between Prasar Bharati & Radio Television Malaysia
The Union Cabinet approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between Prasar Bharati, a Public Broadcaster of India and Radio Television Malaysia, a Public Service Broadcaster of Malaysia on 7th November 2023.
About the MoU:
i.The MoU aims to strengthen cooperation between India and Malaysia in the field of broadcasting exchange of news and audio-visual programmes.
ii.This will enable the exchange of programmes in the areas of Culture, Education, Science, Technology, Sports, News and other fields on gratis/non-gratis basis.
Note: With this, Prasar Bharati has a total of 46 MoUs signed with different countries.
About Union Cabinet & Cabinet Committees:
Union Cabinet is the decision-making body consisting of the Prime Minister and other senior ministers.
At present, there are 8 cabinet committees. They are
i.Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.
ii.Cabinet Committee on Accommodation.
iii.Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
iv.Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs.
v.Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs.
vi.Cabinet Committee on Security.
vii.Cabinet Committee on Investment and Growth.
viii.Cabinet Committee on Employment and Skill Development
All the cabinet committees, except the Committee on Accommodation and Parliamentary Affairs, are chaired by the Prime Minister of India.
