4 April 2023

• Monetary policy: The RBI MPC continued deliberations through day two of its three-day meeting. Markets remained on watch for the April 6 announcement.
• Defence: The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill 2023 was introduced in Parliament, decriminalising certain offences and enabling cage culture and seaweed cultivation.
• Start-ups: The Stand-Up India scheme marked its seventh anniversary with Rs 30,160 crore sanctioned across 1.33 lakh accounts since 2016.
• Security: Finland's formal NATO accession raised the alliance's total membership to 31 nations, bringing a new 1,340-km border with Russia into the security umbrella.

GS area: Economy (Agriculture and Allied activities), Polity (Legislature)

The Coastal Aquaculture Authority (Amendment) Bill 2023 was introduced in Parliament, proposing significant changes to the 2005 Act.

• What the 2005 Act does: The Coastal Aquaculture Authority Act 2005 regulates aquaculture activities in coastal areas, covering registration, siting and environmental standards for fish and shrimp farms in the coastal belt.
• Decriminalisation: The amendment replaces imprisonment penalties for minor violations with financial penalties. This aligns with the government's broader programme of decriminalising business laws to ease compliance.
• New activities enabled: Cage culture (growing fish in floating enclosures in open water) and seaweed cultivation are proposed to be permitted under a simplified registration process. Both have significant export potential.
• Antibiotic regulation: The Bill prohibits the use of specific antibiotics identified as harmful to human health in coastal aquaculture output. This addresses import rejection concerns: several countries have rejected Indian seafood exports due to antibiotic residues.
• Significance for India: India is one of the world's largest seafood exporters. Shrimp exports alone exceeded $5 billion in 2022-23. The coastal aquaculture sector employs millions of fisher communities.
• Coastal Regulation Zone: Coastal aquaculture must comply not only with the CAA but also with the Coastal Regulation Zone notification under the Environment Protection Act 1986.

Static linkage: Fisheries sector, coastal regulation, ease of doing business.

GS area: Economy (Credit, Financial inclusion, Government schemes)

Stand-Up India marked seven years since its April 5, 2016 launch with cumulative disbursements of Rs 30,160 crore across 1.33 lakh loan accounts.

• What the scheme does: Stand-Up India provides bank loans between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore to at least one Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe borrower and one woman borrower per bank branch for greenfield enterprises in manufacturing, services, trading or agri-allied activities.
• A greenfield enterprise: The loan must go to a new enterprise, not an expansion of an existing business. The borrower must be a first-generation entrepreneur.
• Credit Guarantee Fund: A dedicated credit guarantee fund was created so banks can extend loans without insisting on full collateral, which is often the barrier for first-generation entrepreneurs.
• Gender and social inclusion: About 80 per cent of Stand-Up India accounts are held by women borrowers. SC/ST borrowers constitute the remaining 20 per cent of accounts (with overlap where women borrowers are also SC/ST).
• Administered by: Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) operates the credit guarantee mechanism. The loan is extended by scheduled commercial banks.
• PM MUDRA comparison: MUDRA covers micro and small loans from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh in three tiers (Shishu, Kishore, Tarun). Stand-Up India starts where MUDRA Tarun ends, at Rs 10 lakh.

Static linkage: Financial inclusion, credit schemes for marginalised groups.

GS area: International Relations, Society

India hosted the Global Buddhist Summit in New Delhi on April 20-21, 2023 (announced in advance). The event produced the New Delhi Declaration.

• Theme: "Responses to Contemporary Challenges: Philosophy to Praxis."
• Organisers: Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the International Buddhist Confederation.
• Declaration highlights: The New Delhi Declaration emphasised peace, harmony and compassion as universal values. It recognised Buddhist pilgrimage sites as living cultural heritage and called for protection of sacred sites.
• India's soft power angle: India positions itself as the land of Buddha's birth. The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya, Sarnath, Kushinagar and Lumbini (in Nepal) form the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit. India's Buddhist diplomacy targets Southeast and East Asian nations with large Buddhist populations.
• UNESCO angle: The Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya is a World Heritage Site. India has been pushing for Lumbini's connectivity with Indian Buddhist sites under the UNESCO framework.

Static linkage: India's soft power, Buddhist circuit, cultural diplomacy.

GS area: International Relations, Security

Finland formally became NATO's 31st member on 4 April 2023, completing a process that began with Finland's application in May 2022 following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

• Article 5: The cornerstone of NATO collective defence: an attack on one member is considered an attack on all. Finland now sits under this umbrella. Article 5 has been invoked once, after the 11 September 2001 attacks on the United States.
• Border significance: Finland's 1,340-km border with Russia is the longest the alliance has ever added at one time. Russia's land border with NATO more than doubled with Finland's entry.
• Sweden's parallel: Sweden applied simultaneously but its accession was delayed by objections from Turkey and Hungary. Sweden eventually joined in 2024.
• India's position: India maintains a balanced position on the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the NATO expansion, stressing dialogue and diplomacy. India has not joined Western sanctions against Russia and has increased Russian oil purchases.

Static linkage: NATO, collective security, Russia-Ukraine conflict.

• ASBA extended to secondary markets: The Application Supported by Blocked Amount facility, which blocks funds rather than debiting them until allotment, was extended to secondary market trading to reduce settlement risk.
• Green Deposits Framework: The RBI issued guidelines allowing scheduled commercial banks to issue interest-bearing green deposits for financing environmentally sustainable activities. Eligible sectors include renewable energy, clean transportation and green buildings. Fossil fuels, nuclear power and hydropower above 25 MW are excluded.
• IRENA renewable data: The International Renewable Energy Agency reported that 83 per cent of newly installed global power capacity in 2022 came from renewables. India added significant solar capacity.