Top News Highlights- 3 October 2024

Cruise Bharat Mission Launched

• Mission Goal: Reiterating India to be a global hub for cruising and doubling the traffic of cruise passengers in India by 2029
• Mission Strategy in various Phases: Alliance of cruises, New Cruising terminals, and Cruising circuits linking the entire Indian Subcontinent under the same roof.
• Employment Generation: The new cruise economy will create employment for 4 lakh people by 2029, which is a big boost to India’s tourism and cultural heritage.

India BioEconomy Report 2024

• BioEconomy Growth: India’s bioeconomy crossed $151 billion in 2023; it has contributed 4.25% to India’s GDP and has created employment opportunities for more than 3.3 million people.
• Key Sectors: BioPharma 36%, BioIndustrial 48% and BioAgri 8% are the main contributors.
• Future Projections: Bio-economy likely to touch $300 bn by 2030 and India will also be one of the major leaders in the world vaccine manufacturing.

Annual Survey of Industries (ASI) 2022-23

• Manufacturing GVA Growth: It has experienced 7.3% growth over 2021-22 with Maharashtra leading on GVA followed by Gujarat.
• Employment Growth: Employment growth was recorded at 7.4% in manufacturing with Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra together proving to be the top employing states.
• Key Sectors: Growth drivers were Basic metals, Refined petroleum, and Food products.

Launch of Jal Hi Amrit Program

• Objective: To improve the quality of treated water in urban areas and promote the reuse of treated water under AMRUT 2.0.
• Rating: Cities will be rated on the quality of treated water through a star rating of 3 to 5 stars, with financial incentives for achieving higher performance ratings.
• AMRUT 2.0 Target: Achieve universal water coverage and septage management in all statutory towns by 2026.

Digital Radio Broadcasting Consultation

• Objective: To formulate a policy on digital broadcasting of radio in private broadcasting, which currently is allowed only for FM radio.
• Benefits: Digital radio broadcasts can carry 3-4 channels on one single frequency with better audio quality and do not involve manual re-tuning.
• Impact: This will improve the reach as well as the quality of private radio channels more significantly in rural areas.

Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) Scheme

• Extension: The government extended the scheme by a year for domestic tariff area units till September 2025.
• New Rates: With effect from October 10, 2024, the scheme aims to offer basic duty exemption on exports of commodities and replaces the erstwhile Merchandise Exports from India Scheme.

Exercise KAZIND-2024

• Bilateral Military Exercise: The 8th edition of the bilateral military exercise between India and Kazakhstan began in Uttarakhand.
• Objective: To intensify joint military capabilities for counter-terrorism operations in a sub-conventional scenario.
• Significance: It enhances the level of inter-country defense cooperation as well as trust.

Key Concepts & Policies

• Cruise Bharat Mission: A proposed venture to accelerate the Indian cruise tourism industry and provide employment opportunities.
• BioEconomy: Utilizing biological resources to manufacture something productive and services sustainably, and largely contributes to the GDP of India.
• AMRUT 2.0: The government launched the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 to cover water supply and sanitation.
• RoDTEP Scheme: This is a government measure to give back taxes and duties paid on the export of goods. The intention behind it is to promote the sector’s exports
• Exercise KAZIND: This is a joint exercise by the militaries to improve cooperation between India and Kazakhstan in counter-terrorism.