Recently, as per the release of data by the Ministry of statistics and program implementation, industrial growth of 1.3 percent has been observed in January on account of better performance by mining and manufacturing sectors.
Context
? Recently, as per the release of data by the Ministry of statistics
and program implementation, industrial growth of 1.3 percent has
been observed in January on account of better performance by
mining and manufacturing sectors.
? The growth in the mining sector was 2.8 percent against a
contraction of 2.4 percent in January,2021 and in the
manufacturing sector by 2.8 percent against the contraction of 0.9
percent.
? Also, a downward trend was observed in the power generation and
capital goods sector. The consumer durable segment too showed
a negative zone with an annual contraction of 3.3 percent.
Index of industrial production
? The index of industrial production shows the status of production in
the industrial sector of an economy in a given period of time.
? IIP is a composite indicator to measure the growth of various
production sectors during a given period of time with respect to the
base period.
? National statistics office under the Ministry of statistics and
program implementation compiled and published the Index of
Industrial production monthly.
? The base year for IIP is 2011-2012.
Core Industry Sector
? There are Eight Industries that collectively carry the highest
weightage of around 40.27 percent in items included in the Index
of Industrial production are termed as Core sector Industries.
? These eight industries are;
1. Refinery product (28.04)
2. Electricity (19.85)
3. Steel (17.92)
4. Coal (10.33)
5. Crude oil (8.98)
6. Natural gas (6.88)
7. Cement (5.37)
8. Fertilizers (2.63)
Agriculture infrastructure fund scheme
Context
Union minister of state agriculture urges the farmer to take advantage of
the agri-infra scheme as only 8000 crores was availed under the
government`s Rs 1 lakh crore Agri infrastructure fund scheme.
Agricultural Infrastructure fund ( National agriculture infra
financing facility)
? Like as in other sectors infrastructure played a crucial role in
agricultural development, especially at the post-harvest stage.
That infrastructure development is vital to address the vagaries es
of nature, the regional disparities, the development of human
resources, and the realization of the full potential of our limited
land resources.
? To realize these objectives in the agriculture sector the union
cabinet has approved an Agricultural infrastructure Fund (National
Agricultural Infra Financing Facility) in July 2020.
? It is a central sector scheme with the purpose to provide a medium
long-term debt financing facility for making investments in viable
projects for post-harvest management infrastructure and
community farming assets through interest subvention and
financial support.
? Initially, a 10 year period was set from FY2020 to FY2030 which
was later extended by 3 years till 2032-33.
? The scheme will be steered by NABARD with the Ministry of
Agriculture and farmer welfare.
Advantages
? The interest subvention of 3% will be given per annum up to a limit
of Rs 2 crores under this scheme which will be available for a
maximum period of 7 years, mainly for infrastructure purposes.
? The scheme also included a credit guaranteeing coverage under
Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for MSMEs for loans up to Rs 2
crore.
? This financial support and credit guarantee will improve the
processing and storage facilities and will help the farmers in
building post-harvest agriculture infrastructure and community
farming assets.
? It will help the farmers in getting an optimal price for their crop by
reducing the wastages, store process and giving value addition to
their products.
TDS of 1% on cryptocurrency
Context
? The government announced its decision of imposing 1% TDS on
all crypto or virtual digital assets transfers in budget 2022. It also
announced a flat 30% tax on profit from crypto transactions.
? There is being a demand for this tax reduction by the crypto
industry stakeholders, including individual investors and traders.
According to WazirX founder Nischal Shetty 1% TDS on crypto
trading will ascribe a huge of tax revenue for the government.
What are cryptocurrency assets?
? Cryptocurrency is a digital/virtual medium of exchange that uses
encryption blockchain technology to control the creation of
monetary units and to verify the transfer of funds. The transactions
are secured by this technology.
? This blockchain technology is essentially a set of connected blocks
or online ledger in which each block gets verified by each node
before being confirmed which secures the transactions. It is based
on peer-to-peer networking and serves multiple industries such as
supply chains and processes such as online voting and
crowdfunding.
? Unlike fiat currency, cryptocurrency is not issued by the central
bank. It did not have an intrinsic value that means it is non-
redeemable for another commodity such as gold.
? It exists only in network form, physical form does not exist.
? Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin , Litecoin, Cardano, etc. Are some
examples of cryptocurrency assets.
? Bitcoin emerged as the most widely traded and covered
cryptocurrency. It was made available to the public in 2009 and as
of November 2021, there were over 18.8 million bitcoins in
circulation with a total market cap of around $1.2 trillion.
What is TDS(Tax deduction at source)
This TDS was introduced to collect taxes from the very source of
income. Under this concept, a liable person shall deduct tax at the
source and remit the same into the account of the government.
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