TOPIC : GS 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment.
Mixed bag
What is the news?
- India’s merchandise exports reached an all-time quarterly high of $95 billion in the three months ended June, providing cheer on the economic front.
- The record was notched up during a quarter when the second wave of the pandemic hit its peak, and amid varying degrees of lockdowns
- Exports last month surged 47% from June 2020 to $32.5 billion.
- The year-earlier period provided an anomalous base as the economy had just begun reopening from a protracted nationwide lockdown
- Growth in shipments was still a robust 30% when compared with the prepandemic June of 2019.
- Propelling the surge from the 2019 levels were non-rice cereals increased four fold
- Iron ore, which more than doubled and organic and inorganic chemicals that rose 62%.
- Engineering goods exports had the biggest jump in dollar terms, adding $2.73 billion in value, or 42%
- The rising vaccination coverage and economic recovery in key developed markets including the EU and the U.S. bolstered demand.
- Export performance to posit that shipments of goods to overseas markets could touch the $400 billion mark this fiscal, a figure which, if achieved, would represent an annual record
Trade data
- It reveals that a signifcant driver of the export growth has been the runaway rally in commodity prices that have benefited from the accelerated reopening of major economies
- The crucial job-generating export sectors including readymade garments, leather and leather products and tea all posted double-digit declines from June 2019 levels
- It reflecting the deeper structural problems that visible each one of them.
- Tea industry has been facing a long-term downtrend by inadequate product variety, lack of marketing and sharp competition from rivals including Sri Lanka and Kenya
- The leather goods segment has been put on the ropes by a combination of short-sighted policy measures, WTO-mandated withdrawal of export incentives and a pandemic-induced slowdown in orders.
- The recent imposition of an import duty on a key raw material has thrown the sector’s very viability into question.
Way Forward
- Government dragging its feet on notifying the rates applicable under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme, exporters are still unsure of how to price their products while bidding for orders.
- A container shortage and heightened congestion have also sent freight rates out of Indian ports soaring.
- Policymakers need to look beyond headline numbers and expedite action to restore the health of every constituent sector if economically enduring long-term growth in exports is to be ensured.
PRELIMS PUNCHERS
- Raba Tribe
The Rabha are a Tibeto-Burman community indigenous to the Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal. They primarily inhabit the plains of Lower Assam and the Dooars, while some are found in the Garo Hills. Most of the Rabhas of Dooars refer to themselves as Rabha, but some of them often declare themselves as Kocha.
The agricultural practices, food habit and belief systems of the Rabhas reflect a conglomeration of features from both the Aryan and Mongoloid culture. The Rabha society is matrilineal. The village economy is based on agriculture and both men and women work in the fields. The women love to wear colorful clothes that they weave themselves and they wear a lot of beads and silver ornaments. The Rabhas are non-vegetarians and rice is their staple food.
- Cyprus
It is officially called the Republic of Cyprus, is an island nation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is the third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, and is located south of Turkey, west of Syria, northwest of Lebanon, Israel and the Gaza Strip, north of Egypt and southeast of Greece. Nicosia is the country’s capital and largest city.
The earliest known human activity on the island dates to around the 10th millennium BC. Archaeological remains from this period include the well-preserved Neolithic village of Khirokitia, and Cyprus is home to some of the oldest water wells in the world
- The Women’s Indian Association (WIA)
It was founded at Adayar, Madras, in 1917 by Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins, Jeena Raja Dasa, and others to liberate women from the deplorable condition women suffered in socio-economic and political matters during the 19th and the early 20th century. The Association later developed into a potent force to fight against illiteracy, child marriage, the Devadasi system and other, social ills. After Ms. Besant’s death in 1933 Ms. Jinarajadasa became more involved in the internal politics of theosophists. Unfortunately the faction she supported fell from favour, and her name stopped appearing in all documents from that point onward.
The Stri Dharma was the journal published by the WIA to voice its ideals and beliefs. It addressed political and social issues facing women in India as well as the achievements of women worldwide
- Ecological niche
It is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors for example, by growing when resources are abundant, and when predators, parasites and pathogens are scarce and how it in turn alters those same factors for example, limiting access to resources by other organisms, acting as a food source for predators and a consumer of prey.
The type and number of variables comprising the dimensions of an environmental niche vary from one species to another and the relative importance of particular environmental variables for a species may vary according to the geographic and biotic contexts”
PRELIMS QUESTIONS
- Consider the following statement regarding to The Women’s Indian Association (WIA)
- It was founded by Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins and Sarojini Naidu
- Stri Dharasana was the journal published by the WIA
Select the correct statement using code given below.
(a). 1only      (b) 2 only
(c).Both      (d). None of above
Answer: D
It was founded at Adayar, Madras, in 1917 by Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins, Jeena Raja Dasa, and others to liberate women from the deplorable condition women suffered in socio-economic and political matters during the 19th and the early 20th century. The Association later developed into a potent force to fight against illiteracy, child marriage, the Devadasi system and other, social ills. After Ms. Besant’s death in 1933 Ms. Jinarajadasa became more involved in the internal politics of theosophists. Unfortunately the faction she supported fell from favour, and her name stopped appearing in all documents from that point onward.
The Stri Dharma was the journal published by the WIA to voice its ideals and beliefs. It addressed political and social issues facing women in India as well as the achievements of women worldwide
- Raba Tribe recently seen in news are from which of the following state
- Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal
- Assam, Manipur and West Bengal
- Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram
- Assam, Nagaland and Mizoram
Answer : A
The Rabha are a Tibeto-Burman community indigenous to the Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya and West Bengal. They primarily inhabit the plains of Lower Assam and the Dooars, while some are found in the Garo Hills. Most of the Rabhas of Dooars refer to themselves as Rabha, but some of them often declare themselves as Kocha.
The agricultural practices, food habit and belief systems of the Rabhas reflect a conglomeration of features from both the Aryan and Mongoloid culture. The Rabha society is matrilineal. The village economy is based on agriculture and both men and women work in the fields. The women love to wear colorful clothes that they weave themselves and they wear a lot of beads and silver ornaments. The Rabhas are non-vegetarians and rice is their staple food.