‘Panchamrita’ of reach, reform, regulate, respond and revolutionise has transformed telecom sector: PM Modi
Author: BI Bureau
New Delhi: Coming out of the despair, frustration, corruption and policy paralysis of the 2G era, the country has moved rapidly from 3G to 4G and now 5G and 6G, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday, adding that in the last eight years, new energy has been infused into the telecom sector with the ‘Panchamrita’ of reach, reform, regulate, respond and revolutionise.
Stating that connectivity will determine the pace of progress in 21st century India, he said that mobile manufacturing units in the country have increased from two to more than 200 bringing mobile phones within reach of the poorest of poor families.
PM Modi, who was addressing the programme marking silver jubilee celebrations of TRAI, said that self-made 5G test-bed is an important step toward self-reliance in critical and modern technology in the telecom sector. “5G technology is going to bring positive changes in the governance of the country, ease of living and ease of doing business,” he said.
“Today everyone is experiencing the need for collaborative regulation. For this it is necessary that all the regulators come together, develop common platforms and find solutions for better coordination,” he said, while citing the telecom sector as a great example of how self-reliance and healthy competition create a multiplier effect in society and the economy.
The Prime Minister said that now the country is going beyond thinking in silos and moving ahead with the ‘whole of the government approach.’ Today we are expanding the fastest in the world in terms of teledensity and internet users in the country, many sectors including telecom have played a role in it, he said.
He said that today India is connecting every village in the country with optical fibre. Before 2014, not even 100 village panchayats in India were provided with optical fibre connectivity. Today we have made broadband connectivity reach about 1.75 lakh Gram Panchayats. Hundreds of government services are reaching the villages because of this. /BI/
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The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores.
As the economy comes to a standstill amid the coronavirus-led lockdown, India’s agriculture sector has taken the baton of economic growth in its hands. The exports of agricultural commodities from March to June 2020 shot up by 23.24 percent on-year to Rs 25,552.7 crores, according to the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare. The government said that self-reliant agriculture is critical for the goal of an Atmanirbhar Bharat and for this, agricultural export is extremely important as besides earning foreign exchange for the country, the exports help farmers, producers, and exporters to take advantage of the wider international market and increase their income.
The surge in exports has also resulted in increased production in the farm sector by increasing coverage area and productivity. The share of India’s agricultural exports and imports in the world agriculture trade in 2017 was 2.27 percent and 1.90 percent, respectively. Even during the difficult time of pandemic lockdown, India took care not to disturb the world food supply chain and continued to export, the government said.
Ministry of Agriculture has prepared a comprehensive action plan for the promotion of Agri trade; the twofold approach focuses on boosting Agri Export with emphasis on value addition and action plan for Import Substitution. Recently, the Agriculture sector has witnessed a series of reforms, giving more choices to the farmers to sell their produce at competitive rates.
To mention a few, the Export strategy focuses on the export promotion of fast-evolving niche markets of Wellness food/ Health-conscious food/nutraceuticals, Development of “Brand India” in campaign mode to help penetration into new foreign markets and of new products which automatically translates into higher value realization, Gulf countries have been identified as focus destination to increase the market share which is a strong market for India though presently India caters to only 10-12% share of their total imports. A product-market matrix has been made containing a list of products of strength that could be expanded in new geographies and a list of known markets which can be introduced with newer products.
At the behest of the Department of Agricultural Cooperation & Farmers’ Welfare, Ministry of Agriculture, product-specific Export Promotion Forums have been created to lead Agri exports to new heights. Each Export Promotion Forum shall be having exporters of the related commodity as its members along with official members representing concerned Ministries/Departments of the Central and State Governments. Chairman APEDA shall be the chairman of each of these forums. The forums will meet at least once every two months, to discuss recommendations on issues pertaining to the export.
The recommendations of the forum will be placed in the product committee / Authority of APEDA. The Forum will keep in close contact with the concerned organization of the Ministry of Agriculture such as MIDH, Extension, NPPO, etc., DGFT, Ministry of Civil Aviation, MoFPI, etc. to further the interest of agricultural export.
