On August 19, 2020, the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the following proposals:
–Cabinet approves setting up of National Recruitment Agency to conduct Common Eligibility Test; Rs. 1517.57 cr sanctioned
The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal to set up the National Recruitment Agency (NRA) that will conduct a Common Eligibility Test (CET) for non-gazetted posts (Group B and C) of Staff Selection Commission (SSC), the Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) and the Institute of Banking Service Personnel (IBPS). Candidates who qualify CET can apply to any recruitment agencies for higher level of examination. Therefore CET will be a first level test (preliminary) to shortlist candidates which will be held twice a year with score validity of three years.
- It will eliminate multiple tests, time as well as reduction in costs with expected savings of Rs 600 crore.
- The Government has sanctioned a sum of Rs. 1517.57 crore for NRA.
Incorporation of NRA:
NRA will be a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It will be headed by a Chairman of the rank of the Secretary to the Government of India and have representatives of the Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Finance/Department of Financial Services, the SSC, RRB & IBPS.
Key Points:
-The National Recruitment Agency (NRA) was first proposed by the government in the Union Budget 2020.
-There will be different CETs for graduate level, 12th Pass level and 10th pass level.
-It will be conducted in 12 major Indian languages in comparison to current languages of English and Hindi only.
-There will be no restriction on the number of attempts to be taken by a candidate to appear in the CET subject to the upper age limit.
–Cabinet approves proposal for leasing out three airports – Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram of AAI through PPP
The Central Government has approved the proposal for leasing out three airports namely Jaipur, Guwahati and Thiruvananthapuram airports of Airports Authority of India (AAI) under Public Private Partnership (PPP) to Adani Enterprises Ltd. for Operation, Management and Development
- Adani Enterprises Ltd. is declared as the successful bidder in a Global Competitive Bidding conducted by AAI, for a period of fifty years.
- The decision on privatisation of six airports of Ahmadabad, Mangalore, Lucknow, Guwahati, Thiruvananthapuram, and Jaipur has already been taken in the first phase. Adani Group had signed the concessionaire agreement with the AAI for three airports – Ahmedabad, Mangaluru, and Lucknow on February 14, 2020, and now for other three has been approved.
- Revenue received by AAI from PPP partners enables AAI to create infrastructure facilities in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities and also to upgrade their airports to international standards.
Background:
Government decided to lease out more airports of AAI under PPP through Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC). In this regard, Government constituted an Empowered Group of Secretaries (EGoS) to decide on issues falling beyond the scope of PPPAC.
- The entire bidding process was carried out under the supervision of EGoS which comprised of representatives of NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog, Department of Expenditure and Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) of Ministry of Finance (MoF).
About Adani Enterprises Ltd.
Chairman– Gautam Adani
Headquarter– Ahmedabad, Gujarat
–Cabinet approves FRP of sugarcane payable by sugar mills for the sugar season 2020-21 at Rs 285 per quintal
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved a hike in Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane payable by sugar mills for the sugar season 2020-21 (October-September) at Rs 285 per quintal for a basic recovery rate of 10% on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
- A premium of Rs. 2.85 per quintal would be paid for every 0.1% increase above 10% in the recovery.
- There will be a reduction in FRP by Rs 2.85 per quintal for every 0.1 percentage point decrease in recovery, in respect of those mills whose recovery is below 10% but above 9.5 per cent.
- For mills having recovery 9.5% or below, the FRP is fixed at Rs 270.75 per quintal.
The “Fair and Remunerative price” of sugarcane is determined under Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966.
–Cabinet approves liquidity measure in the Power Sector amid financial stress caused by COVID-19
The CCEA has approved a one-time relaxation to Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) for extending loans to Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) above limits of working capital cap of 25% of 2019’s revenues under Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) amid COVID-19.
- One-time relaxation would help in providing liquidity to the power sector and ensure payments by State Governments to DISCOMs.
Recent Related News:
To develop strong cooperation and promote strategic intervention in the power sector, an MoU(Memorandum of Understanding ) on the Indo-Denmark Cooperation between the Ministry of Power, Government of the Republic of India and the Ministry for Energy, Utilities and Climate, Government of the Kingdom of Denmark was signed on 5th June 2020.
