The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved the following initiatives on August 18, 2021.
- Ratification of Kigali Amendment
- Launch of National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm
- Revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd
- MoU Between PMI to the WTO, CTIL, CTEI
- MoU Between ICMR and GARDP
- MoU Between ICMR and FIND
-Ratification of Kigali Amendment:
The cabinet has approved the ratification of the Kigali Amendment for phase-down of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by India under the Montreal Protocol to prevent greenhouse gas emission.
a.About Kigali Amendment:
i.It is an amendment to the ‘Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer’.
ii.It was adopted by the 28th Meeting of Parties to the Montreal Protocol (MOP28) on 15 October 2016 in Kigali, Rwanda.
iii.The Amendment added powerful greenhouse gases HFCs to the list of substances that are to be controlled under the Protocol.
b.Cause of Amendment:
- As HFCs would not deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, they were introduced as an alternative to chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC).
- But the HFCs creates a severe impact on climate as it is having high global warming potential (GWP) ranging from 12 to 14,000. Hence the amendment was made to overcome the impact.
- Most of the HFCs are used as refrigerants in refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC) equipment.
Note – The stratospheric ozone layer protects humans and the environment from harmful levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
iv.As per the Amendment, Montreal Protocol parties will phase down/reduce HFCs production and use by 80-85 percent within the late 2040s.
c.Key Initiatives of Indian Govt:
i.A national strategy for the phase-down of HFCs was scheduled to be developed after consultation with all the industry stakeholders by 2023.
ii.Amendments to the existing legislation framework, the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) (Regulation and Control) Rules to control the production and consumption of HFCs will be done by mid-2024.
iii.The phasedown of HFCs could prevent the emission of up to 105 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and help in avoiding up to 0.5 degree Celsius of global temperature rise by 2100.
iv.India’s Phase Down Schedule for HFCs: As per the amendment regulation, India (which comes under Developing Countries Group) will phase down HFCs in 4 steps from 2032 through a reduction of 10 percent in 2032, 20 percent in 2037, 30 percent in 2042, and 80 percent in 2047.
d.Background:
i.The ‘Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer’ is an international environmental treaty for the protection of the Ozone Layer by phasing out the production and use of ODS.
ii.India became the Party to the Montreal Protocol on 19 June 1992 and also has ratified the amendments. India has met all the ODS phase-out targets as per the Montreal Protocol Schedule.
-Launch of National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm (NMEO-OP)
The Cabinet approved the launch of the ‘National Mission on Edible Oils – Oil Palm’ (NMEO-OP) as a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a financial outlay of Rs 11,040 crore with a special focus on the Northeast region and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
a.Key Points:
i.Objective: To reduce the edible oil import dependence and make the country self-sufficient in cooking oils.
ii.Financial Outlay: Out of the Rs 11,040 financial outlay, Rs 8,844 crore will be the Centre’s share and Rs 2,196 crore as State share. It also includes the viability gap funding.
iii.The mission targets to cover 10 lakh hectares (ha) for oil palm. Now the government (govt) plans to cover the area of 6.5 lakh ha within 2025-26.
iv.The production of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) is expected to go up to 11.20 lakh tons by 2025-26 and up to 28 lakh tons by 2029-30.
v.Through the govt’s effort, oilseeds production was increased from 275 lakh tons in 2014-15 to 365.65 lakh tons in 2020-21.
b.Pricing:
i.The oil palm farmers produce Fresh Fruit Bunches (FFBs) from which oil is extracted by the industry.
ii.For the 1st time, the govt plans to give price assurance to the oil palm farmers for the FFBs through Viability Price (VP).
- Currently, the prices of those FFBs are linked to the international CPO prices fluctuations.
- The VP will be the annual average CPO price of the last 5 years adjusted with the wholesale price index to be multiplied by 14.3 percent.
- VP will be fixed yearly for the oil palm year from 1st November to 31st October. It will protect the COP price fluctuations.
c.Assistance for Planting and Seed Garden:
i.The govt has increased the assistance to oil palm growers for planting material from Rs 12,000 per ha to Rs 29000 per ha.
ii.For seed gardens, the assistance of up to Rs 80 lakhs for 15 ha (in the Rest of India) and Rs 100 lakhs for 15 ha (in the North-East and Andaman regions) will also be provided under the mission.
-Revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation Ltd
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a revival package of Rs 77.45 crore for the revival of North Eastern Regional Agricultural Marketing Corporation (NERAMAC) Limited.
- NERAMAC is a central Public Section Enterprises under the administrative control of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Regional (MDoNER).
Key Points on Revival Package:
i.Out of the revival package, Rs 17 crore was towards fund based support and Rs 60.45 crore was towards non-fund based support.
ii.It will help NERAMAC to implement different plans such as providing better farming facilities, organic seeds and fertilizer, post-harvesting facilities, etc to promote the products of North East farmers in the world market.
iii.The implementation of the revival package will generate employment for around 33,000 people. It will also promote the registration of GI (Geographical Indications) products of NER.
iv.Additional Info:
The NER could also be benefitted from the other govt schemes and initiatives such as,
- PM Kisan SAMPADA (Scheme for Agro-Marine Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters) Yojana.
- Agriculture Infrastructure Fund under AatmaNirbhar Bharat, Krishi Udaan and Kisan Rail.
- Retail outlets under its own brands like ‘NE Fresh’ and ‘ONE’ (Organic North East) and through NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India), TRIFED (Tribal Cooperative Marketing Federation of India).
-MoU Between PMI to the WTO, CTIL, CTEI
Union Cabinet approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Permanent Mission of India (PMI) to the WTO (World Trade Organization), Centre for Trade and Investment Law (CTIL) of the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, and Centre for Trade and Economic Integration (CTEI) within The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.
- The MoU, which was signed for 3 years with CTEI, will provide academic and research opportunities to the employees of CTIL and the Department of Commerce in the field of international trade and investment law.
-MoU Signed Between ICMR and GARDP
Cabinet approved the MoU between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), India and the GARDP (Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership) Foundation on Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Innovation, Switzerland.
- MoU was signed to strengthen the relations within the framework of international scientific and technological collaboration. The MoU was signed by India in March 2021.
-MoU Signed Between ICMR and FIND
Cabinet notified the MoU signed between the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Switzerland in February 2021 to strengthen the scientific and technological collaboration.
- Under the MoU, ICMR is committed to make funding up to USD 100,000 and FIND will make available funds up to USD 400,000 to local partners and researchers.
Recent Related News:
In July 2021, the Union Cabinet approved the Deposit Insurance & Credit Guarantee Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2021 to amend the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) Act, 1961.
The cabinet also approved the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2021 which amends the Limited Liability Partnership Act (LLP), 2008.
About Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR):
It is an apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research.
Headquarters – New Delhi
Director-General – Balram Bhargava
About Ministry of Development of North Eastern Regional (MDoNER):
Union Minister – G. Kishan Reddy (Constituency – Secunderabad, Telangana)
Minister of state – B. L. Verma (Constituency – Uttar Pradesh)
