Current Affair 1:

Liquidity Trap and bonds price

 

As some students are confused on questions regarding liquidity trap, so let me clarify

 

In case of liquidity trap, the interest rate comes down to almost zero. So, if new bonds are issued at time of liquidity trap situation in the economy, then the interest rate offered on the bonds will be almost zero (or very less) and hence the yield will also be almost zero.

But the previous bonds which were issued let us say 3 years back at an interest rate of 5%, these bonds price would go up (in the secondary market) once the economy moved into liquidity trap and interest rate came down to zero. And the yields on these bonds will also be almost zero because the present interest rate is almost zero and bond prices have moved up.

So, there are two aspects of bonds. One is the issuance of new bonds and the other is the already issued bonds being traded in secondary market. And when we talk about the bonds its basically the bonds being traded in secondary market.

When a new bond is issued then there is no sense of talking about its price because you can issue the bond at any price i.e., Rs. 1, Rs. 10, Rs. 100 etc.

It’s the already issued bonds which are being traded in secondary market and their price increases or fall and hence yield falls or increases.

 

Current Affair 2:

Green Hydrogen Method for Steel Production

 

Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has proposed setting up of National Hydrogen Energy Mission with an aim to develop and scale up green hydrogen production technology, make it affordable and widely accessible. The steel sector has also been made a stakeholder in the Mission.

Under this initiative, it has been proposed to set up pilot plants with part funding from Government to explore the feasibility of using green H2 in Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) production, by partly replacing natural gas with H2 in gas based DRI plants. Based on the success of the pilot projects, the gas based DRI units shall be encouraged for large scale adoption of the process.

Green H2 is produced through electrolysis of water using electricity produced from renewable energy. Green H2 is not commercially viable at present. However, with declining costs of renewable power generation and electrolyzes, production of green hydrogen is likely to become cost competitive in future.

Current Affair 3:

Investment and Export in Steel Sector

 

The Government has taken following measures for increasing investment and export in the steel sector: -

Notification of the following policies having impact on investment and export in the steel sector: -

National Steel Policy 2017 which envisages inter-alia domestically meeting the entire demand of steel and high-grade automotive steel, electrical steel, special steel and alloys for strategic applications.

Domestically Manufactured Iron & Steel Products (DMI&SP) Policy for promoting procurement of Made in India steel.

Steel Scrap Recycling Policy to enhance the availability of domestically generated scrap for making steel at competitive prices.

Steel Import Monitoring System (SIMS) in order to enhance production through disseminating advance information regarding grades of the imports for enhancing investment and import substitution.

Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Specialty Steel with an outlay of ₹ 6,322 Crore to promote the manufacturing of specialty steel within the country for domestic use and export by attracting Capital investments.

Establishment of Project Development Cell in the Ministry to attract and facilitate investment in the steel sector.

‘Make in India’ initiative and the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, with further engagement with potential users, including from Railways, Defence, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Housing, Civil Aviation, Road Transport and Highways, Agriculture and Rural Development sectors to enhance the steel usage, overall demand for steel and investment in steel sector in the country.

Adjustments in basic custom duty on steel products and trade remedial measures like Anti-dumping duty (ADD), Countervailing duty (CVD) on certain raw materials and steel products to enhance competitiveness of India’s steel sector.

Other measures to improve Ease of Doing Business and Reducing Compliance burden, Market Access Initiatives (MAI), Startup India initiative etc. to help domestic industry in capacity creation, providing level playing field and creating a conducive business environment to attract investments and promote exports.

Current Affair 4:

National Food Security Mission Commercial Crops - Jute (NFSM-CC-Jute)

 

Government is implementing the National Food Security Mission Commercial Crops - Jute (NFSM-CC-Jute) since 2014-15 to increase the productivity and to improve the quality of fiber.

Under the programme various interventions are being carried out viz., production of foundation jute seeds, production of certified jute seed through seed village programme and at Government farm, front line demonstrations (FLDs) on alternate retting technology, FLDs on production technology/ intercropping, national & state level training, distribution of certified seed, distribution of nail weeder, distribution of microbial consortium (CRIJAF-Sona) and local initiatives.

The government has been implementing following schemes that foster integrated manufacturing facilities and technology adoption:

The Government has approved setting up of Seven Pradhan Mantri Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel (PM MITRA) Parks in Greenfield/Brownfield sites with an outlay of Rs. 4,445 crore for a period of seven years upto 2027-28. These parks will enable the textile industry to become globally competitive, attract large investment and boost employment generation.

Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS): In order to generate employment and promoting exports by way of technology upgradation in textile sector.  Amended Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (ATUFS) is being implemented.  Every eligible individual entity under the scheme is entitled for reimbursement of Capital Investment Subsidy (CIS) under this scheme.

Scheme for Integrated Textile Parks (SITP): With a view to increasing investments, generating employment opportunities and boosting exports in textile sector, the Ministry is implementing Scheme for Integrated Textile Park (SITP) to provide subsidy for setting up textile parks with world-class, state-of-the-art infrastructure in textile hubs across the country. The primary objective of the Scheme is to provide financial assistance to a group of entrepreneurs to establish state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities in a cluster for setting up their textile units, conforming to international environmental and social standards and thereby mobilize private investment in the textile sector and generate fresh employment opportunities.

In order to promote skilling and training in technical textiles sector, a two week Skilling of Design Commissioning to technical personnel in "Applications of Geo-synthetics in Infrastructure Projects" for facilitating technical human resources in the related field has been initiated as Pilot Project under National Technical Textiles Mission.

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