CCEA - Current Affairs Questions and Answers

ANSWER: 2017-18 to 2019-20

Explanation:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved 'Pradhan Mantri Mahila Shakti Kendra' scheme for a period 2017-18 to 2019-20.

The scheme is part of Umbrella Scheme "Mission for Protection and Empowerment for Women" of the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development.

It aims at empowering rural women through community participation to create an environment in which they realise their full potential.

PMMSK scheme is envisioned as one-stop convergence support service for empowering rural women with opportunities for skill development, digital literacy, health and nutrition and employment.

ANSWER: Innovate in India

Explanation:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a collaborative mission between industry and academia called ‘Innovate in India empowering biotech entrepreneurs and accelerating inclusive innovation' that is aimed at accelerating research for early development of bio-pharmaceuticals.

The mission would attract an investment of INR 1,500 crore from the central government over a period of five years.

Half of the funding would be funded through a loan from World Bank.

The mission will be implemented by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), a public sector undertaking working under the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).

The mission will focus on key areas that would supplement country’s technological and product development capabilities in the biopharmaceutical sector to enable the sector to become globally competitive over the next 10-15 years.

The significance of the mission lies in the fact that National Biotechnology Development Strategy 2015-2020 announced by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) lays emphasis on making the country achieve USD 100 billion biotech industry by 2025.

The mission will concentrate on development of specific products such as vaccines, biotherapeutics, medical devices and diagnostics etc.

Besides, the mission will also work on establishment of shared infrastructure and facilities.

The mission will help in building and strengthening domain specific knowledge and management skills at the same time creating and enhancing technology transfer capabilities in public and private sector.

ANSWER: All of the above

Explanation:
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved a new coal linkage policy to ensure adequate supply of the fuel to power plants through reverse auction.

The new policy will help in ensuring fuel supplies to the power plants in an organised manner.

Though, the government’s initiatives and prevailing market conditions to a large extent has helped to bring down the prices of the dry fuel and boosted the domestic production, a proper mechanism for providing coal linkages to power plants at competitive rates was lacking.

The new policy will address this issue and will ensure proper sourcing of the dry fuel by the power plants as per their schedules.

Coal linkage policy is a policy designated by the union government for the allocation of coal among thermal power plants.

Inadequate availability of domestic coal coupled with high price for imported coal requires the government to allocate the available coal rationally among the power plants.

This is especially necessary as the coal producing firms are public sector companies. Also, the pricing of coal is an another important issue.

In this context, the government designates coal linkage policies to allocate coal among different thermal power plants.

ANSWER: Meghalaya and Mizoram

Explanation:
CCEA approved Phase 1 of the North East Road Network Connectivity Project.

The approval was given at the meeting of CCEA and under the project, 403 km of National Highways will be developed in Mizoram and Meghalaya.

Of the 403 km, around 52 km will be in Meghalaya and 351 km in Mizoram. The project will be executed in Engineering, Procurement and Construction mode.

Projects will be taken up for implementation during 2017-2018.

The project will encourage sub-regional social as well as economic development by improving infrastructure in Meghalaya and Mizoram.

It will also enhance the connectivity with inter-state roads and international borders.

The estimated cost is Rs 6,721 crore, including cost of land acquisition, resettlement and other pre-construction activities.

The project will be executed with assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

The JICA is a governmental agency that coordinates official development assistance (ODA) for the Government of Japan.

The existing carriageway of all the stretches in Meghalaya and Mizoram is varying between single lane to intermediate lane. A majority of these stretches is located in landslide areas and sinking zones.

JICA: Know More

• Formation: October 1, 2003
• Type: Government agency
• Legal status: Active
• Purpose: Official development assistance
• Region served: Worldwide
• Official language: Japanese and English (secondary)
• President: Shinichi Kitaoka