Table of Contents

Editorial Analysis 

GS-3

Competition Amendment Bill, 2023

 Facts for Prelims

• Kaziranga National Park
• Finland Joins Nato
• World Energy Transitions Outlook report

 

Competition Amendment Bill, 2023

Context

The lower house of Parliament passed the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2023 to amend the Competition Act, 2022, which grants the CCI the power to Personalised entities for anti-competitive behaviour based on their global turnover.

About Competition Act 2002

• The Competition Act protects consumers and promotes market competition in India.
• It replaces the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act (MRTP Act), 1969.
• The Competition Act is based on three pillars: the Competition Commission of India (CCI), the Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT), and the National Competition Policy (NCP).
• The act applies to the entire country and aims to ensure freedom of trade for all participants in the market.

Objectives

• To ensure that market competition works effectively and that consumers get access to a wider range of products at competitive prices.
• To safeguard and promote consumers\’ economic interests in MERS by curbing anti-competitive business practices.
• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is responsible for implementing and enforcing the Act.
• The Competition Appellate Tribunal is a statutory body created in accordance with the Competition Act, 2002 to hear and regulate on appeals against any rules made, decisions made, or orders made by the Competition Commission of India.

Competition Commission of India (CCI)

• The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body that was established under the Competition Act, 2002.
• Its primary objective is to promote and sustain fair competition in markets in India and protect the interests of consumers.
• The CCI is responsible for preventing anti-competitive practices such as cartels and abuse of dominant market positions by companies.
• The Commission can investigate and penalize companies found to be engaging in such practices and can also issue orders to prohibit or regulate them.
• The CCI also plays a role in reviewing and approving mergers and acquisitions to ensure that they do not have an adverse impact on competition in the market.

Amendments

Penalty: Amends the definition of \”turnover\” to include global turnover derived from all products and services by a person or an enterprise.

• Allows for the imposition of penalties for competition law violations based on a company\’s global turnover, rather than just its turnover in India.

Decriminalisation: Changing the nature of punishment from imposition of fine to civil penalties.

Expands CCI’s Scope: Deals with transaction value of more than Rs 2,000 crore will require CCI’s approval.

Timeline: The Bill reduces the time limit for the CCI to form a prima facie opinion on a combination from 30 working days to 30 days.

Settlement: introduces a scheme for commitment and settlement which is meant to reduce litigation by way of negotiated settlements.

Significance

• Global turnover included in turnover definition for transparency and accountability.
• Companies can\’t evade penalties by shifting revenue abroad.
• Regulators have a more comprehensive view of financials for better antitrust assessment.
• Amendments to Competition Act reduce regulatory hurdles for ease of doing business.
• Combined measures create a more business-friendly environment, hold companies accountable, and attract investment.

Way Forward

1. India\’s efforts to promote free and fair competition should prioritize competitive neutrality.
2. Competitive neutrality involves creating a level playing field between private and public sectors.
3. India should gradually open sectors such as mining, ports, railways, and electricity to true competition.
4. The government\’s recent move towards limited privatization of Indian Railways is a step in the right direction.
5. These measures will foster a more competitive marketplace and attract greater investment in India\’s economy.

 

Kaziranga National Park

Context

The President will inaugurate the Gaj Utsav-2023 (successful rendition of 30 years of Project Elephant, which was started in 1991-92) at the Kaziranga National Park.

About Kaziranga National Park

 

 

Location	Assam
Status	·       National Park declared in 1974 ·       Declared a tiger reserve since 2007
International Status	·       Declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 ·       Important Bird Area by BirdLife International
Fauna	·       Home of the world\’s most one-horned rhinos ·       Rhino, Elephant, Royal Bengal tiger and Asiatic water buffalo
Flora	Wet alluvial grasslands , Dillenia swamp forest , Semi-evergreen forest , Riparian forest with a fringing riparian forest
River	Diphlu River running through it.

Project Elephant

• Project Elephantwas launched in 1992 by the Government of India Ministry of Environment and Forests
• To provide financial and technical support to wildlife management efforts by states for their free-ranging populations of wild Asian Elephants.
• Centrally Sponsored Scheme with following objectives:
  • To protect elephants, their habitat and corridors.
  • To address issues of man-animal conflict.
  • Welfare of captive elephants
  • To promote not to harm elephants for their tusks.

 

Data

• Two recently notified ERs (Elephant Reserve):
• Lemru in Chhattisgarh and
• Agasthymalai in Tamil Nadu

 

• 33 elephant reserves together cover a total area of nearly 80,000 sq km.
• Tamil Nadu and Assam have the highest number of ERs (5 each) followed by Kerala (4) and Odisha (3).
• Mysore ER in Karnataka is the largest ER.
• As per the last count in 2017, India has 29,964 elephants.

Karnataka has the highest number of elephants, followed by Assam and Kerala.

 

Finland Joins Nato

Context

Finland has joined NATO in a historic shift triggered by the war in Ukraine, prompting anger in Russia where officials have cast the move as a threat.

Timeline

 

 

About NATO

• NATO was formed in 1949 by 12 countries including the US, UK, Canada, and France.
• Finland is the 31st country to join the organization.
• NATO members agree to defend each other if they come under attack.
• The organization was initially created to counter Soviet expansion in Europe after World War Two.
• After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many former Warsaw Pact countries became NATO members.
• Article 5 of the Washington Treaty ensures collective defense, while Article 4 guarantees consultations among Allies on security matters of common interest, including new threats such as cyber attacks and terrorism.

 

Member Countries

 

 

About Finland

• Finland is a Nordic welfare state that aims to be carbon neutral by 2035. It’s also the happiest country in the world.
• Around 75% of its surface is covered with forests, and it has the world’s biggest archipelago, as well as Europe’s largest lake district and last untamed wilderness, Lapland.
• Finland’s capital, Helsinki, is known for design and architecture.

 

India-Finland

In 2020–2021, Finland was India’s 69th largest trade partner globally and the 11th largest within the EU. Similarly, in 2020, India was Finland’s 27th largest trade partner globally and the 6th largest in Asia.

Finland’s top imported goods from India

1. Medicinal, pharmaceutical products
2. Articles of apparel and clothing accessories
3. Textile yarn, fabrics, made-up articles
4. Manufactures of metals
5. Electric machinery and parts

India’s top imported goods from Finland

1. Machinery for special industries
2. Electric machinery and parts
3. Paper, paperboard, and articles thereof
4. Metalliferous ores and metal scrap
5. General industrial machinery

 

 

World Energy Transitions Outlook report

Context

Recently, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) released the World Energy Transitions Outlook report.

Key Highlights of Reports

• Global climate change still \’off track\’, not on track for 1.5°C
• To maintain 1.5°C, emissions levels should rise from around 3,000 gigawatts (GW) today to 10,000 GW in 2030.It needs to go above; that\’s an average of 1,000 GW per Year”.
• With global investment in renewable energy technology hitting a new record of $1.3 trillion in 2022, annual investment needs to more than quadruple to over $5 trillion to stay afloat at 1.5 degrees Celsius.
• Investments are expected to reach $44 trillion by 2030, with technological change or advanced, electrified, continuous grid and flexible $35 trillion accounting for 80 percent of the total.\”
• Current commitments and plans are less than 1 of IRENA. The 5°C path will result in a 16 gigatonne (Gt) difference in 2050.

International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA)

• It is an intergovernmental organisationthat supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future.
• It was officially founded in Bonn, Germany, on 26 January 2009.
• Its head quarter is in Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates.
• Its membership comprises 167 countries and the European Union.
• In 2009, India has become the 77th Founding Member of this organization.
• It is an official United Nations observer.

 

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