Competition Commission of India, Swadesh Darshan 2, Mission LiFE, National Curriculum Framework, International Energy Agency

Competition panel imposes ₹1,338­cr. penalty on Google

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Thursday imposed a ₹1,337.76­crore penalty on Google for “abusing its dominant position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem.

About Competition Commission of India (CCI):

• The CCI is a statutory body which acts as the competition regulator in India and is responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, of 2002.
• The Commission was established in 2003, although it became fully functional only by 2009.
• The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act) was repealed and replaced by the Competition Act, 2002, on the recommendations of the Raghavan committee.

The objectives of the Commission are:

1. To prevent practices that harm the competition.
2. To promote and sustain competition in markets.
3. To protect the interests of consumers.
4. To ensure freedom of trade.
5. The Commission is also required to give an opinion on competition issues on a reference from a statutory authority established under any law, undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.
6. The Commission consists of one Chairperson and six Members who shall be appointed by the Central Government.

The Chairperson and every other Member shall be a person of ability, integrity, and standing and who:

• has been, or is qualified to be a judge of a High Court, or,
• has special knowledge of, and professional experience of not less than fifteen years in international trade, economics, business, commerce, law, finance, accountancy, management, industry, public affairs, administration, or in any other matter which, in the opinion of the Central Government, may be useful to the Commission.

The commission is a quasi-judicial body which gives opinions to statutory authorities and also deals with other cases. The Chairperson and other Members shall be whole-time Members.

About The Competition Act, 2002.

• The Competition Act, 2002 was enacted to repeal the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act).
• The creation of the act was under the recommendation of the Raghavan committee.

The Act prohibits:

• anti-competitive agreements
• abuse of dominant position by enterprises
• regulates combinations (acquisition, acquiring of control, and M&A)

as these could cause or are likely to cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition within India.

Centre To Promote Destinations In 15 States as Part Of Swadesh Darshan 2

• The government recently revamped the scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) to develop sustainable and responsible destinations with a tourist and destination-centric approach.
• Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, and Gwalior are among the places that will be promoted as part of India’s new domestic tourism policy, which shifts away from theme-based tourist circuits and puts more of an emphasis on destination tourism.
• The initiative is being taken as part of the “Swadesh Darshan 2″‘s initial phase, which will begin in January.
• Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra are among the 15 States that make up the first phase.

Significance

• It has made the State government as well as the local government stakeholders.
• Local economic development: The local community would gain a lot from this because it would contribute to the creation of jobs, which would assist the locals to develop their skills. Overall, this will positively impact the local economy.
• Employment: According to the third Tourism Satellite Account for the years 2017–18, 2018–19, and 2019–20, tourism contributed 14.78%, 14.87%, and 15.34%, respectively, to national employment.
• The total jobs generated by tourism are 72.69 million (2017-18), 75.85 million (2018-19) and 79.86 million (2019-20).
• The tourists could be divided into groups according to their preferences with the help of further destination categorization into categories like adventure tourism, beach tourism, wellness tourism, eco-tourism, and many more.
• Promotion of domestic tourism: The scheme is essentially aimed at targeting domestic tourists with the mantra of “vocal for local”.According to the Ministry, domestic tourist visits were approximately 677 million in 2021 and 572 million in 2022 (based on data as of this writing).
• Synchronization of government schemes: The plan was designed to work in tandem with other government initiatives like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India, and Make in India in order to position the tourism industry as a major generator of jobs and an engine of economic growth while fostering synergies between various industries to help tourism reach its full potential.

What is Swadesh Darshan?

• The Ministry of Tourism and Culture of the Government of India introduced the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014–15 to develop theme-based tourist circuits.
• It is a central sector scheme.
• The programme intends to advance, expand, and maximise India’s tourist industry’s potential.
• The Ministry of Tourism offers Central Financial Assistance, or CFA, to State Governments and Union Territory Administrations for the construction of circuits’ infrastructure as part of the Swadesh Darshan programme.
• With the goal of placing the tourism sector as a significant engine for job creation and the driving force behind economic growth, this programme is intended to work in tandem with other programmes like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India, Make in India, etc. to maximise tourism’s potential.
• Theme-based tourist circuits — Buddhist Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Heritage Circuit, Northeast Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Sufi Circuit, Krishna Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Tirthankar Circuit, Wildlife Circuit and Tribal Circuit.

Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0)

• It will develop sustainable and responsible destinations with a tourist and destination-centric approach.

Vision

to develop destinations for responsible and sustainable tourism throughout the nation.

Mission

To develop a strong framework for the integrated development of tourist destinations in collaboration with the local governments and the States/UTs in order to advance ethical and sustainable travel across the nation.

Objectives

The strategic objectives of the Scheme are:

• To boost the contribution of tourism to the local economies
• To generate jobs including self-employment for local communities
• To boost the skills of local youth in hospitality and tourism
• To enhance private sector investment in hospitality and tourism
• To preserve and enhance the local cultural and natural resources.

Key Principles

In order to achieve the vision of sustainable and responsible tourism and the key objectives of enhancing the contribution of tourism to the local economy and local jobs, the following principles have been identified to be followed under the Scheme:

• Develop standards and benchmarks for important tourism themes.
• Responsible and sustainable tourism
• Destination and tourist-centric approach
• integrated tourist destination development
• focus on institutional reforms and domestic tourism policy
• operation and upkeep based on sustainability
• Synergy with other central and state schemes

 

Mission LiFE launched

Prime Minister and United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on 20 October 2022 launched Mission LiFE, a global plan of action aimed at saving the planet from the disastrous consequences of climate change. The launch of the mission, aimed at encouraging people towards sustainable living, comes ahead of next month’s mega UN climate meet in Egypt.

What are the action plans?

1. The action plan – a list of ideas on lifestyle changes that can be taken up as climate-friendly behaviour – along with the logo and tagline for Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment) were jointly launched by PM and Guterres at Kevadia in Gujarat.
2. The PM asked people to adopt the concept of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ and circular economy and said India is committed to tackling the menace of climate change.
3. Mission LiFE will strengthen the concept of a pro-people planet. The mission signifies “lifestyle of the planet, for the planet and by the planet”.
4. Mission LiFE aims at following a three-pronged strategy for changing people’s collective approach towards sustainability.
5. This includes nudging individuals to practice simple yet effective environment-friendly actions in their daily lives (demand), enabling industries and markets to respond swiftly to the changing demand (supply), and to influence government and industrial policy to support both sustainable consumption and production (policy).
6. People are experiencing the effects of climate change in their surroundings, and in the last few decades unexpected calamities were witnessed. This makes it amply clear that climate change goes beyond just policy-making,” he said.
7. The PM said the mantra of Mission LiFE is ‘Lifestyle For Environment’. The mission will connect the people’s power for the protection of the earth, and teach them to utilise its resources in a better way.

India and the environment:

• India is ranked fourth in wind energy and fifth in solar energy.
• India’s renewable energy capacity has increased by about 290 percent in the last 7-8 years.
• India has also achieved the target of achieving 40 percent of the electric capacity from non-fossil-fuel sources 9 years ahead of the deadline.
• India has also achieved the target of 10 percent ethanol blending in petrol, and that too 5 months before the deadline.
• Through the National Hydrogen Mission, India has moved towards an environment-friendly energy source. This will help India and many countries of the world to achieve their goal of net zero.

NCF for children in 3-8 yrs launched

Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on 20 October 2022 launched the National Curriculum Framework for foundational stage education of children in the three to eight years age group. The NCF (National Curriculum Framework) is an important step taken to implement the New Education Policy-2020.

More about framework

1. The NCF-2022 has four sections — the National Curriculum Framework for School Education, the National Curriculum Framework for Early Childhood Care and Education, the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education and the National Curriculum Framework for Adult Education.
2. Research from across the world on education, neuroscience and economics demonstrates clearly that ensuring free, accessible, high quality early childhood care and education is perhaps the very best investment that any country can make for its future.
3. The framework has listed the ‘panchakosha’ concept for education of children and its five parts are physical development (sharirik vikas), development of life energy (pranik vikas), emotional and mental development (manasik vikas), intellectual development (bauddhik vikas) and spiritual development (chaitsik vikas).
4. Panchakosha is an ancient explication of the importance of the body-mind complex in human experience and understanding.
5. This non-dichotomous approach to human development gives clear pathways and direction towards a more holistic education.
6. The framework noted that while staffing of anganwadis is not complete, it is at high levels.
7. ‘Vidya pravesh’ (entry level education) will enable learning of ethical values and cultural diversity, and interaction with the physical, social and natural environment.

CO2 emissions rise in 2022: IEA

The International Energy Agency said that it expects carbon emissions from the burning of fossil fuels to rise again this year, but by much less than in 2021 due to the growth in renewable power and electric cars. Last year saw a strong rebound in carbon dioxide emissions the main greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, after the global economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

What

1. The Paris-based IEA said CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are on course to rise by almost 1% in 2022 compared to the previous year.
2. That’s nearly 300 million metric tons of CO2 more than in 2021, when the burning of gas, oil and coal released about 33.5 billion tons of CO2.
3. This year’s increase is driven by power generation and by the aviation sector, as air travel rebounds from pandemic lows.
4. While coal emissions grew 2% as countries that previously imported natural gas from Russia scrambled for other energy sources, this didn’t outweigh the expansion of solar and wind power, which saw a record rise in 2022.
5. Oil use also increased as pandemic-related restrictions eased, resulting in more people commuting to work and a rise in air travel.
6. The rise in global CO2 emissions this year would be much larger than tripling to reach close to 1 billion tonnes were it not for the major deployments of renewable energy technologies and electric vehicles around the world.
7. Emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases need to decline drastically in the coming decades to keep global temperatures from rising beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit), the ambitious threshold agreed in the 2015 Paris climate pact.

Flashback

1. A report published Wednesday by the environmental think tank World Resources Institute found countries’ current plans for cutting emissions would see them decline just 7% by 2030 from 2019 levels.
2. The group said emissions would need to drop by 43% over that period to meet the Paris goal.
3. Stepping up global efforts to reduce emissions will be one of the topics at next month’s United Nations climate meeting in Egypt.

About IEA:

Established in 1974 as per framework of the OECD, IEA is an autonomous intergovernmental organisation. MISSION – To ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its  member countries and beyond. Its mission is guided by four main areas of focus: energy security, economic development, environmental awareness and engagement worldwide Headquarters (Secretariat): Paris, France.

Roles and functions:

Established in the wake of the 1973-1974 oil crisis, to help its members respond to major oil supply disruptions, a role it continues to fulfil today. IEA’s mandate has expanded over time to include tracking and analyzing global key energy trends, promoting sound energy policy, and fostering multinational energy technology cooperation.

Composition and eligibility:

It has 30 members at present. IEA family also includes eight association countries. A candidate country must be a member country of the OECD. But all OECD members are not IEA members. To become member a candidate country must demonstrate that it has:

1. Crude oil and/or product reserves equivalent to 90 days of the previous year’s net imports, to which the government has immediate access (even if it does not own them directly) and could be used to address disruptions to global oil supply.
2. A demand restraint programme to reduce national oil consumption by up to 10%.
3. Legislation and organisation to operate the Co-ordinated Emergency Response Measures (CERM) on a national basis.
4. Legislation and measures to ensure that all oil companies under its jurisdiction report information upon request.
5. Measures in place to ensure the capability of contributing its share of an IEA collective action.

Reports:

1. Global Energy & CO2 Status Report.
2. World Energy Outlook.
3. World Energy Statistics.
4. World Energy Balances.
5. Energy Technology Perspectives.