Sand Mining laws

• Sand is the second-most harvested natural resource after water.
• Despite this, sand is categorized as a ‘minor mineral’ in India.
• In India, Mining depth should be restricted to 3 meters and distance from the bank should be one-fourth of river width and should not be less than 7.5 meters.
• Sand Mining threatens riverine ecosystems. Sand mining is impacting the environment at an alarming pace.
• In comparison to sand, rules regarding the mining of coal, categorised as a major mineral, are strict.
• ‘Major’ and ‘Minor’ minerals have been defined in the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
• The Supreme Court, in Deepak Kumar and others vs State of Haryana in 2012, had remarked that the categorisation of sand as a minor mineral should be looked into.
• Sand mining is prohibited from July to September. Floods in rivers bring with them sand and minerals.
• According to the 2020 Sand Mining Regulations, the permission to extract sand given to any mining contractor would be audited mandatorily every two years on the basis of the replenishment rate of sand and gravel after every monsoon.

Money Mules

• Ministry of Finance has recently asked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to prepare a ‘Whitelist’ of legal loan apps to curb the menace of illegal loan apps.
• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) has been tasked with ensuring only such applications are available on app stores.
• The central bank has also been entrusted with monitoring ‘mule or rented’ accounts that may be used for money laundering.

Working of Money Mules

• Fraudsters contact customers via emails, chat rooms, job websites or blogs, and convince them to receive money into their bank accounts, in exchange of attractive commissions.
• The fraudsters then transfer the illegal money into the money mule’s account.
• The money mule is then directed to transfer the money to another money mule’s account – starting a chain that ultimately results in the money getting transferred to the fraudster’s account.
• When such frauds are reported, the money mule becomes the target of police investigations.

Supporting Entrepreneurs in Transformation and Upskilling Programme (SETU)

• The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has recently launched the US Startup SETU initiative.
• The initiative would connect start-ups in India to US-based investors and start-up ecosystem leaders.
• It will provide mentorship and assistance in various areas including funding, market access and commercialization.
• SETU is designed to break the geographical barriers between mentors based in US that are willing to invest in entrepreneurship and sunrise startups in India.
• The interaction will be supported through the mentorship portal under the Startup India initiative Mentorship, Advisory, Assistance, Resilience, and Growth program (MAARG).
• MAARG is a single-stop solution finder for startups in India.
• The core functions of MAARG are to improve ease of access, use Artificial Intelligence for Matchmaking, schedule meetings virtually, host masterclasses, provide a custom dashboard for relevant information, analytics, features.

Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)

• India has agreed to the three pillars of IPEF and for now opted to remain out of the IPEF’s trade pillar.

• The IPEF has four pillars:

1. Trade,
2. Supply chains;
3. Clean energy, decarbonisation and infrastructure;
4. Tax and anti-corruption.

• IPEF was launched in 2022 by the US President Joe Biden in Japan.
• The 14-members of IPEF include Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam.
• Unlike trade agreements, this framework does not look for providing greater market access
• The US has repeatedly reiterated that the IPEF is not a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) like the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Comprehensive and Progressive Transpacific Partnership (CPTPP).
• Except Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, other Southeast Asian nations are a part of the IPEF.
• The forum gives flexibility to the 14 member countries to choose which pillar(s) they want to be part of.

Ni-kshay Mitra Initiative

• The Ni-kshay Mitra initiative forms a vital component of the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
• This initiative seeks to ensure adequate and nutritional food for those being treated for tuberculosis.
• Ni-kshay Mitra portal provides a platform for donors (Ni-kshay Mitras) to provide various forms of support to those undergoing TB treatment.
• The donors could be a wide range of stakeholders from elected representatives, political parties, to corporates, NGOs, and individuals.

Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan

• Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan is aimed at working towards TB elimination from the country by 2025.
• The ‘Abhiyaan’ has been envisioned to bring together all community stakeholders to support those on TB treatment and accelerate the country’s progress towards TB elimination.
• The ‘Abhiyaan’ is a step towards garnering community support towards a patient-centric health system.