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- October 2019
Index
Toppers Talk
Art & Culture
Polity
- Right to access internet is fundamental right declares Kerala High Court
- Legal rights of Deities in India, Difference in Natural and Juristic Person
- Bru refugees refuse to return to Mizoram
- No animal sacrifice in Tripura temple-Orders High Court
- EC’s Order on Reducing Sikkim CM’s Disqualification Period
- Law Ministry issues corrigendum to Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act
- Appointment of the Judges in India.
- New Chief Justice of India- How is CJI appointed?
- Indian Penal Code 1860, HM Amit Shah wants to Overhaul IPC
- National Population Register (NPR) 2020
- Whistle Blowers Allegations on Infosys
Governance & Social Justice
- 60% girls in Delhi colleges anaemic
- Niti aayog’s School education quality index
- Multipurpose National Identity Card
- Population pyramid : India Vs China, Demographic dividend Phase of India
- UN Population Report, India will become the most populous country by 2027
- Supreme Court upholds SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendments Act
- Comparing Population Pyramids of India and China
- Waqf boards-Their governance and purpose
- Harvard Admissions Case
- Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana- Ist Anniversary, Problems and solutions
- Significance of sexual and Reproductive Health-Status of reproductive services in India
- Pregnancy in Old Age, What is In Vitro Fertilisation-Risks and legal shortcomings
- Supreme Court Judgement on NGOs and RTI
- Social Stock Exchange
- Rajasthan Govt changes EWS norms, Sets Rs 8 lakh family income as only criteria
- Global hunger index 2019
- No Government job for those with more than two kids
- Ranitidine CANCER risk
- IIT Council Introduces Tenure track system
International Relations
- Bangladesh growing faster than India ?
- Cyprus dispute explained
- Donald Trump impeachment
- India wins Hyderabad Nizam case against Pakistan
- India’s reply to Pakistan at UNGA
- Prime Minister of Malaysia calls India and invader in Kashmir
- Should India recognise the armenian genocide ?
- Why are CARICOM countries important for India ?
- Why are countries leaving OPEC ?
- Attacks on Saudi Oil facilities
- Organization of Islamic Cooperation issues statement on Jammu and Kashmir
- Sri Lanka’s relations with India & China
- US troops start pullout in Syria as Turkey prepares for operation
- What are Vanilla Islands?
- India-USA trade deal
- UNHCR Nansen Refugee Award-2019
- Modi – Xi Informal meet at Mamallapuram – Historic Chinese links
- India China informal summit in Tamil nadu
- Pakistan save from FATF blacklist till 2020
- USA blacklists China organisations over Uighur Muslim abuse
- Why is Chile burning ?
- Why is the Philippines important for India
- Xi jinping Nepal visit 2019 and impact on India
- India Pakistan Cross LOC Trade suspended, Should India revoke suspension?
- Protests in Lebanon
- Chennai to Vladivostok Sea Route
- End of baghdadi
- Indian government’s security advisory
- Indians no longer require Visa to visit Brazil
- Non Aligned Movement 2019 summit
- US backed Ceasefire between Turkey and Kurds
- Pakistan stops postal exchange with India
- China’s GDP growth slows to 6% slowest in 27 years
- Common Goods for Health project by WHO
- Turkey attack Kurds in Syria
Geography
Economy
- Behavioural Aspect of Farmer Suicide
- Is rural India really open defecation free ?
- Global Growth Slow Down
- Nobel Prize in Economics 2019
- Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
- SBI wrote off bad loans worth 76,000 crores
- Surge in Onion Price
- Agriculture Credit by RBI’s Internal Working Group
- What is Debt to GDP Ratio?
- Yes Bank Crisis
- Nobel prize in Literature – Controversy
- Boosting Indian Exports
- Sopore Fruit Mandi deserted
- What is Pink Collarisation?
- Mizoram to have Broad Gauge railway line by 2021
- Demand downturn in Indian Economy
- Payment facilitation fund
- Participatory Guarantee Scheme
- RBI’s 4th Bi-monthly Monetary Policy 2019-20
- Tourism restrictions lifted in Kashmir
- Link between Jobs, Farming, and Climate
- Draft Social Security Code 2019
- State Tax Revenues, SGST and Central Tax Devolution are likely to fall short
- Competitiveness Index 2019 by World Economic Forum
- NITI Aayog’s Water Resources Strategy
- BSNL and MTNL financial issues-DoT prepares Rs 74000 crore revival plan
- 20th Livestock Census
- India falls 10 ranks in World economic forum’s Global competitiveness index
- RBI stops Printing Rs 2000 Notes
- What is the Unified Approach proposal of OECD?
- FCI granaries overflowing
- India’s Economic Growth 2019
- Financial Sector Scams in India
- Labour Market of India
- New Strategic Disinvestment Process
- Payment Delays to Sugarcane Farmers
- Why India’s IMF Quota is not increased
- What is monetary policy Transmission? Why banks are not reducing interest
- Mahatma Gandhi’s theory of Economics
- India moves up 14 spots to 63 on world Bank ease of doing business index
- New amendments to the Motor Vehicles Act
- Power Sector Scenario in India
- Telecos to Pay Rs 96,642 crore to the Government
- Camel population declines in Rajasthan
- Merger of BSNL and MTNL
- World bank on Indian economy
Defence & Security
- Nagas Kukis Conflict, What is the cause of the latest tensions?
- Case against 50 Celebrities controversy
- Can Indian Government intercept WhatsApp?
- UP Government fires 25000 home guards, Is Yogi Government’s decision justified?
- NCRB’s Crime in India 2017 report
- Aadhaar Social Media mandatory linking case
- What is TechSagar? National repository of India’s cyber tech capabilities.
Disaster Management
Science & Technology
- ISRO’S Project NETRA
- Facebook’s LIBRA Currency in trouble
- WHO launches first World report on Vision
- 2019 Nobel prize in physics
- 2019 Nobel prize in Physiology and Medicine
- Elon musk’s starlink project
- NASA’s ICON mission
- New King of the Moons in the Solar system is Saturn
- What Is Spectroscopy ?
- Quantum supremacy
Environment
- Climate Vulnerable Mapping Of India
- C40 Cities
- Gujarat Unveils emission trading scheme
- Forest Plus 2.0
- Himalayan States seeks Green Bonus
- India to Phase Out Single Use Plastic (SUP) by 2022
- Role of Volcanoes in Global Warming
- NH 766 ban controversy, Protests in Kerala against night traffic ban on the forest stretch
- Climate Change needs Global Solution
- Aarey Forest -2185 trees to be cut for Mumbai metro
- Government to build 1400 km long Green wall
- Graded Response Action Plan in Delhi
- Aerosol formation brightening clouds
- Anthrax outbreak in Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, Two affected buffaloes died
- Species in News from June to October 2019
- Climate Action Summit 2019
Prelims bits

Tag:GS 2|| International Relations|| India & Rest of the World|| USA
Why in news?
- India and the US failed to reach a limited trade agreement during the visit of the Indian PM to the U.S.
What is the expected “limited” trade deal?
- Duties imposed by India
- The trade agreement lagged behind India’s duties on Information and communication technology (ICT) goods.
- The U.S. wanted to reduce or remove the 20% penalty on mobile phones and Ethernet switches.
- Greater access to the market: The U.S. has called for greater access to the Indian market for medical devices, such as stents and knee implants, other than dairy and agricultural products.
- GSP: India, for its part, wanted to restore the Generalized System of Preferences, which provides preferential market access to its goods in the United States.
Why the trade deal couldn’t be finalized?
India
- Sensitive products
- S. specifications for medical devices and dairy and agricultural goods are seen as politically sensitive items for India.
- As the government has often taken credit for making such items affordable.
- Losing price controls at present is not a choice for India, as it would push up prices for these goods in the state.
- Issues on IP, e-commerce, HIB visas
- A full-scale trade agreement will present major challenges to problems such as intellectual property, e-commerce, and H1B visas.
- Economic slowdown
- With its economy in the grip of a big recession, any concessions from India on imports of American products may not have gone well, both politically and economically.
U.S.
- Elections
- For U.S. President Trump, even a small deal with India will be something to think about as the election year progresses.
- US-China trade talks
- The trade talks with China are going nowhere.
- China has not only introduced punitive tariffs on the part of the US but has also retaliated by choosing goods that could damage Trump’s electoral district and supporters.
- It explains the hectic, behind-the-scenes operation with India over the last few weeks.
- Despite little information in the public domain, it seems that India has been strong and has refused to give in to U.S. demands.
Way ahead
- Trade negotiations are never quick, and for them to succeed, both sides should believe in a policy of giving and taking action.
- It does not help when one side is trying to bulldoze the other to fully yield to its interests.
- At this point in time, even a limited trade agreement between India and the U.S. seems to be some distance away.
Additional information
- Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP)
- The Generalized Scheme of Preferences (GSP) is a U.S. trade policy designed to foster economic growth in the developing world by offering preferential duty fee entry to up to 4,800 goods from 129 identified recipient countries and territories.
- Objective of GSP
- The goal of the GSP was to support the development of poor countries by promoting exports from them to developed countries.
- The GSP supports sustainable development in recipient countries by allowing those countries to improve and diversify their trade with the United States.
- GSP provides opportunities for many of the poorest countries in the world to use trade to develop their economies and alleviate poverty.
- Benefits of GSP
- Indian exporters profit indirectly–through the gain to the importer of reduced tariffs or duty-free entry of qualifying Indian goods.
- Reduction or elimination of import duty on an Indian commodity makes it more profitable for the importer–other items (e.g. quality) are equivalent.
- This tariff choice helps new exporters to enter the market and existing exporters to increase their market share and boost profit margins in the donor country.
- H-IB visa
- The U.S. H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that requires U.S. companies to recruit graduate-level employees in specialized occupations. Specialized professions include theoretical and technical expertise in specialized fields such as IT, banking, accounting, architecture, engineering, mathematics, research, medicine, etc.
- Any professional level work that usually requires a bachelor’s degree or higher may be subject to an H-1B specialty occupation visa.
- H-1B visa holders in the US face difficulties in switching jobs, even if the new job is similar to the old one and needs the same exact skill sets.
- The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) rejected a number of applications by the new employer, citing that the new position does not constitute a’ specialty occupation.
References