Cabinet approvals as on June 27, 2018

Following are the cabinet approvals  as on June 27, 2018.

Cabinet approves Shifting of experienced doctors for strengthening  teaching, patient / clinical care and public health programme implementation
On June 27, 2018, The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Strengthening of teaching, patient / clinical care and public health programme implementation.

• This would include Shifting of more experienced doctors (after attaining the age of 62 years) belonging to Central Government and Central government entities to teaching/ clinical / Public Health Programme implementation activities.
• The decision will make available more experienced doctors for patient / clinical care, medical teaching activities and implementation of National Health Programmes etc.
• This would tackle the problem of shortage of doctors, low joining and high attrition rate in Central Health Service.

Cabinet approves enhancement of age of General Duty Medical Officers and members working in Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, Bhopal
On June 27, 2018, The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to enhance the age of superannuation of General Duty Medical Officers, Specialist Grade doctors and Teaching medical faculty working in Bhopal Memorial Hospital and Research Centre, Bhopal.

• The age has been enhanced to sixty-five years at par with doctors of Central Health Services and doctors working under other Central government hospitals/institutes.
• The same had been done by the government for the medical officers of Central Health Services in January 2018.
• This will meet the shortage of faculty and specialist doctors in the BMHRC and improve the patient care facility to the victims of Bhopal Gas Tragedy and members of their families.

Cabinet approves establishment of additional 6.5MMT Strategic Petroleum Reserves at Chandikhol in Odisha and at Padur, Karnataka
On June 27, 2018, The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved establishment of additional 6.5 Million Metric Tonne (MMT) Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) facilities at two locations, i.e. Chandikhol in Odisha and Padur in Karnataka.

• This would include construction of dedicated SPMs (Single Point Mooring) for the two SPRs which will be underground rock caverns and will have capacities of 4 MMT and 2.5 MMT respectively.
• The project would be under PPP model to reduce budgetary support of Government of India and will be determined by M/oP&NG in consultation with Ministry of Finance.
• This will provide an additional supply of about 12 days and is expected to augment India’s energy security.

Earlier Projects:
ISPRL has already constructed underground rock caverns for storage of 5.33MMT of crude oil at three locations, viz. Vishakhapatnam (1.33 MMT), Mangalore (1.5 MMT) and Padur (2.5 MMT). The total 5.33 MMT capacity under Phase-I of the SPR programme is currently estimated to supply approximately 10 days of India’s crude requirement according to the consumption data for FY2016-17.
About ISPRL:
♦ The Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve is an emergency fuel store of total 5 MMT .
♦ Owner : Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas.
♦ CEO: Rajan K. Pillai.

Cabinet approves Mechanism to carry out the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme- Revision of ethanol price for supply to Public Sector OMCs
On June 27, 2018, The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the Mechanism for procurement of ethanol by Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to carry out the Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme- Revision of ethanol price for supply to Public Sector OMCs.

• CCEA has approved  the following for the forthcoming sugar season 2018-19 during ethanol supply period from 1^st December 2018 to 30^th November 2019.
• The ex-mill price of ethanol derived out of C heavy molasses has been fixed to Rs.43.70 per litre from Rs.40.85 per litre.
• The ex-mill price of ethanol derived from B-heavy molasses and sugarcane juice at Rs.47.49 per litre.
• The price of ethanol will be modified by MoP&NG as per actual Fair & Remunerative Price (FRP) declared by the Government.
• Government has  notified administered  price of ethanol since 2014 which has improved the supply of ethanol during the past four years and the ethanol procured by Public Sector OMCs has increased from 38 crore litre in ethanol supply year 2013-14 to estimated 140 crore litre in 2017-18.
• Government is also deciding the price of B heavy molasses and Sugarcane juice for the first time which is likely to positively impact the capability of sugar industry to pay farmers dues and increase availability of ethanol for EBP Programme.
• This is along the lines of National Policy on Bio fuels 2018 announced in May 2018.

About National Policy on Biofuels 2018:
The Policy categorises biofuels as “Basic Biofuels” viz. First Generation (1G) bioethanol & biodiesel and “Advanced Biofuels” – Second Generation (2G) ethanol, Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to drop-in fuels, Third Generation (3G) biofuels, bio-CNG etc. to enable extension of appropriate financial and fiscal incentives under each category.
Ethanol Blending Programme(EBP):
Many countries, including India, have adopted ethanol blending in petrol in order to reduce vehicle exhaust emissions and also to reduce the import burden on account of crude petroleum from which petrol is produced.

Cabinet approves capital infusion of Rs.2000 crore in Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd.
On June 27, 2018, The government approved capital infusion of Rs 2,000 crore in Export Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECGC).

• The decision was taken in the meeting of cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• The amount would be infused in the three financial years i.e. Rs.50 crore in 2017-18, Rs.1450 crore in the year 2018-19 and Rs.500 crore for 2019-20.
• More than 85 per cent of customers benefited by ECGC’s covers are MSMEs.

ECGC:
♦ Headquarters: Mumbai.
♦ Founded:1957.
♦ CMD: Geetha Murlidhar.

Cabinet approves infusion of Rs.1040 crore to National Export Insurance Account Trust
On June 27, 2018, The government approved capital infusion of Rs 1,040 cr to National Export Insurance Account Trust (NEIA) to boost exports.

• The decision was taken in the meeting of cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
• For NEIA the grant has been given to promote project exports from the country.
• India’s exports grew by 9.78 per cent to USD 302.84 billion in 2017-18.
• The Corpus is to be utilised during three years from 2017-18 to 2019-20.  An amount of Rs.440 crore has already been received for the year 2017-18.  Rs.300 crore each will be given to NEIA for the years 2018-19 and 2019-20.