Domestic Subsidies of WTO

• In WTO terminology, subsidies in general are identified by “boxes” which are given the colours of traffic lights: green (permitted), amber (slow down — i.e. need to be reduced), red (forbidden).
• The Agriculture Agreement has no red box, although domestic support exceeding the reduction commitment levels in the amber box is prohibited; and there is a blue box for subsidies that are tied to programmes that limit production.
• There are also exemptions for developing countries (sometimes called an “S&D box” or "development box".

Amber Box

• All domestic support measures considered to distort production and trade (with some exceptions) fall into the amber box, which is defined in Article 6 of the Agriculture Agreement as all domestic supports except those in the blue and green boxes.
• These include measures to support prices, or subsidies directly related to production quantities.

Blue Box

• This is the “amber box with conditions” — conditions designed to reduce distortion. Any support that would normally be in the amber box, is placed in the blue box if the support also requires farmers to limit production.
• At present there are no limits on spending on blue box subsidies.

Green Box

• Green box subsidies must not distort trade, or at most cause minimal distortion.
• They have to be government-funded (not by charging consumers higher prices) and must not involve price support.

Aggregate Measurement of Support

• “Aggregate Measurement of Support” and “AMS” mean the annual level of support, expressed in monetary terms, provided for an agricultural product in favour of the producers of the basic agricultural product or non-product-specific (fertilizer subsidy) support provided in favour of agricultural producers in general.
• Under Article 6.4(b) of the AoA, developing countries such as India are allowed to provide a de minimis level of product and non-product domestic subsidy.
• This de minimis limit is capped at 10% of the total value of production of the product, in case of a product-specific subsidy; and at 10% of the total value of a country’s agricultural production, in case of non-product subsidy. Subsidies breaching the de minimis cap are trade-distorting. Consequently, they have to be accounted for in the AMS.
• The procurement at MSP, after comparing it with the fixed external reference price (ERP) — an average price based on the base years 1986-88 — has to be included in AMS. 
• Even if the Government does not procure directly but mandates private parties to acquire at a price determined by the Government, as it happens in the case of sugarcane, the de minimis limit of 10% applies.

Ramna Kali Temple

• President of India will inaugurated a famous Hindu shrine, Sri Ramna Kali Mandir,  that was destroyed by the Pakistani forces during the war (Operation Searchlight) of 1971.
• The Ramna Kali Bari used to be a famous landmark of Dhaka where a Kali temple stood for centuries.
• India supported the renovation and conservation of the historic temple with the help of the Government of Bangladesh. The inauguration comes 50 years after Pakistan was defeated in 1971.

Biological Diversity Act, 2002

• The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 was born out of India’s attempt to realise the objectives enshrined in the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992 which recognizes the sovereign rights of states to use their own Biological Resources.
• It aims at the conservation of biological resources, managing its sustainable use and enabling fair and equitable sharing benefits arising out of the use and knowledge of biological resources with the local communities.
• The Act prohibits the following activities without the prior approval from the National Biodiversity Authority:
  • Any person or organisation (either based in India or not) obtaining any biological resource occurring in India for its research or commercial utilisation.
  • The transfer of the results of any research relating to any biological resources occurring in, or obtained from, India.
  • The claim of any intellectual property rights on any invention based on the research made on the biological resources obtained from India.
• The act envisaged a three-tier structure to regulate the access to biological resources:
  • The National Biodiversity Authority (NBA)
  • The State Biodiversity Boards (SBBs)
  • The Biodiversity Management Committees (BMCs) (at local level)
• The Act provides these authorities with special funds and a separate budget in order to carry out any research project dealing with the biological natural resources of the country.
• It shall supervise any use of biological resources and the sustainable use of them and shall take control over the financial investments and their return and dispose of those capitals as correct.
• Under this act, the Central Government in consultation with the NBA:
  • Shall notify threatened species and prohibit or regulate their collection, rehabilitation and conservation
  • Designate institutions as repositories for different categories of biological resources
• The act stipulates all offences under it as cognizable and non-bailable.
• Any grievances related to the determination of benefit sharing or order of the National Biodiversity Authority or a State Biodiversity Board under this Act, shall be taken to the National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

• The Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary is one of the oldest in India, Kanchipuram district – 86 kms from Chennai about 250 years ago the locals noticed that this area comprising several lakes and ponds attracted a large number of birds.
• The area was recognised as a Sanctuary in 1936 and was named a Reserve in 1962 by the Madras Forest Act.
• It was upgraded to a wildlife sanctuary in 1972 by the Wildlife Protection Act. Till date the local community holds low key functions and marriages during the breeding season of the birds marking their exemplary link with the ecosystem.
• A tank having a compact grove of Barringtonia and Acacia nilotica trees Dry evergreen scrub and thorn forests.
• These sanctuaries are famous for their breeding heronry including cormorants, egrets, grey heron, open-billed stork, darter, spoonbill, white lbnis, night herons, grebes, grey pelican etc.
• Many migratory birds like garganey teals, shovellers, pintails, stilts, sandpipers etc. visit the sanctuary in winter.
• A variety of resident birds like coots, moorhen and terns can also be seen. Vedanthangal is the oldest water bird sanctuary in the country.