Current Affairs 31 August 2024

Contents:

1. DGTR recommends imposition of anti-dumping duty on aluminium foils
2. Vice-President calls for implementation of Uniform Civil Code
3.  Samagra Shiksha Scheme
4. Need to strengthen Fast Track Special Courts for rape and POCSO cases
5. Cyclone Asna
6. India’s real GDP growth estimates

DGTR recommends imposition of anti-dumping duty on aluminium foils

Context:      

The Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) recently recommended the imposition of an anti-dumping duty on aluminium foils imported from China.

It found that Chinese imports had captured 30 per cent of the Indian market despite sufficient domestic capacity.

Relevance:

GS-III: Indian Economy (International Trade, Mobilization of Resources, Growth and Development of Indian Economy)

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is Dumping?
2. What is Anti-Dumping Duty?
3. Role of the WTO in Regulating Anti-Dumping Measures
4. Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR)

What is Dumping?

• Dumping is a term used in the context of international trade. It’s when a country or company exports a product at a price that is lower in the foreign importing market than the price in the exporter’s domestic market.
• Because dumping typically involves substantial export volumes of a product, it often endangers the financial viability of the product’s manufacturer or producer in the importing nation.

What is Anti-Dumping Duty?

• Anti-dumping duty is a tariff imposed on imports manufactured in foreign countries that are priced below the fair market value of similar goods in the domestic market.
• The government imposes anti-dumping duty on foreign imports when it believes that the goods are being “dumped” – through the low pricing – in the domestic market.
• Anti-dumping duty is imposed to protect local businesses and markets from unfair competition by foreign imports.
• Imposition of Anti-dumping duty is a measure to rectify the situation arising out of the dumping of goods and its trade distortive effect. In the long-term, anti-dumping duties can reduce the international competition of domestic companies producing similar goods.
• It is a protectionist tariff that a domestic government imposes on foreign imports that it believes are priced below fair market value.
• The use of anti-dumping measures as an instrument of fair competition is permitted by the World Trade Organisation.

Role of the WTO in Regulating Anti-Dumping Measures

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) plays a critical role in the regulation of anti-dumping measures. As an international organization, the WTO does not regulate firms accused of engaging in dumping activities, but it possesses the power to regulate how governments react to dumping activities in their territories.
• Some government sometimes react harshly to foreign companies engaging in dumping activities by introducing punitive anti-dumping duties on foreign imports, and the WTO may come in to determine if the actions are genuine, or if they go against the WTO free-market principle.
• According to the WTO Anti-Dumping Agreement, dumping is legal unless it threatens to cause material injury in the importing country domestic market. Also, the organization prohibits dumping when the action causes material retardation in the domestic market.
• Where dumping occurs, the WTO allows the government of the affected country to take legal action against the dumping country as long as there is evidence of genuine material injury to industries in the domestic market. The government must show that dumping took place, the extent of the dumping in terms of costs, and the injury or threat to cause injury to the domestic market.

Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR)

• Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR) is an apex national authority responsible for administering all the trade remedial measures which include:
  • Anti-Dumping Duties
  • Countervailing Duties and
  • Other Safeguard Measures.
• Established in 1998 as the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping & Allied Duties, it was renamed in 2018 as the Directorate General of Trade Remedies (DGTR).
• The Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD), Directorate General of Safeguards (DGS) and Safeguards (QR) functions of DGFT were merged into one single entity, DGTR, making it an integrated single umbrella National Authority.
• DGTR works alongside the Department of Commerce under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• The Department of Revenue considers the recommendations of DGTR for imposing Anti-Dumping, Countervailing and Safeguard Duties.
• Trade defence support would be provided by the DGTR to our domestic industries and the exporters in dealing with the trade remedy investigations instituted by other countries against them.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

Vice-President calls for implementation of Uniform Civil Code

Context:

The Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar recently said that implementing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) would be a step forward to ensure justice for women.

Relevance:

GS II- Polity

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is Uniform Civil Code (UCC)?
2. Positive aspects of Uniform Civil Code include
3. Challenges in Implementing Uniform Civil Code Include
4. Does India not already have a UCC for civil matters?
5. How does the idea of UCC relate to the Fundamental Right to religion?

What is Uniform Civil Code (UCC)?

• The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) in India proposes to replace the personal laws based on the scriptures and customs of each major religious community in the country with a common set governing every citizen.
• The constitution has a provision for Uniform Civil Code in Article 44 as a Directive Principle of State Policy which states that “The State shall endeavor to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.”

Article 44 is one of the Directive Principles of State Policy. These, as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down therein are fundamental in governance.

Fundamental Rights are enforceable in a court of law. While Article 44 uses the words “state shall endeavour”, other Articles in the ‘Directive Principles’ chapter use words such as “in particular strive”; “shall in particular direct its policy”; “shall be obligation of the state” etc.

Article 43 mentions “state shall endeavour by suitable legislation”, while the phrase “by suitable legislation” is absent in Article 44. All this implies that the duty of the state is greater in other directive principles than in Article 44.

Positive aspects of Uniform Civil Code include

• UCC will divest religion from social relations and personal laws and will ensure equality in terms of justice to both men and women regardless of the faith they practice.
• There will be uniform laws for all Indians with regard to marriage, inheritance, divorce etc.
• It will help in improving the condition of women in India as Indian society is mostly patriarchal
• Informal bodies like caste panchayats give judgements based on traditional laws. UCC will ensure that legal laws are followed rather than traditional laws.
• It can help in reducing instances of vote bank politics. If all religions are covered under same laws, politicians will have less to offer to communities in exchange of their vote.

Challenges in Implementing Uniform Civil Code Include

• Implementation of UCC might interfere with the principle of secularism, particularly with the provisions of Articles 25 and 26, which guarantee freedom relating to religious practices.
• Conservatism by religious groups, which resist such changes as it interferes with their religious practices.
• It is difficult for the government to come up with a uniform law that is accepted by all religious communities. All religious groups- whether majority or minority have to support the change in personal laws.
• Drafting of UCC is another obstacle. There is no consensus regarding whether it should be a blend of personal laws or should be a new law adhering to the constitutional mandate.

Does India not already have a uniform code in civil matters?

• Indian laws do follow a uniform code in most civil matters — Indian Contract Act, Civil Procedure Code, Sale of Goods Act, Transfer of Property Act, Partnership Act, Evidence Act, etc.
• States, however, have made hundreds of amendments and, therefore, in certain matters, there is diversity even under these secular civil laws. Recently, several states refused to be governed by the uniform Motor Vehicles Act, 2019.
• If the framers of the Constitution had intended to have a Uniform Civil Code, they would have given exclusive jurisdiction to Parliament in respect of personal laws, by including this subject in the Union List. But “personal laws” are mentioned in the Concurrent List.
• In 2020, the Law Commission concluded that a Uniform Civil Code is neither feasible nor desirable.

How does the idea of a Uniform Civil Code relate to the fundamental right to religion?

• Article 25 lays down an individual’s fundamental right to religion; Article 26(b) upholds the right of each religious denomination or any section thereof to “manage its own affairs in matters of religion”; Article 29 defines the right to conserve distinctive culture. An individual’s freedom of religion under Article 25 is subject to “public order, health, morality” and other provisions relating to fundamental rights, but a group’s freedom under Article 26 has not been subjected to other fundamental rights.
• In the Constituent Assembly, there was division on the issue of putting Uniform Civil Code in the fundamental rights chapter.
• The matter was settled by a vote. By a 5:4 majority, the fundamental rights sub-committee headed by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel held that the provision was outside the scope of Fundamental Rights and therefore the Uniform Civil Code was made less important than freedom of religion.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

Samagra Shiksha Scheme

Context:

The Union Education minister asks the Government of Tamil Nadu to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to release funds under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme for the financial year 2024-25.

Relevance:

GS II: Government policies and Interventions

Dimensions of the Article:

1. About PM SHRI Schools
2. Key features
3. Aim

About PM SHRI Schools:

• This will be a new centrally sponsored scheme for upgradation and development of more than 14,500 Schools across the country by strengthening the selected existing schools from amongst schools managed by Central Government/ State/ UT Government/ local bodies.
• PM SHRI Schools will showcase all components of the National Education Policy 2020 and act as exemplar schools and also offer mentorship to other schools in their vicinity.

Implementation strategy

• PM SHRI Schools would be implemented through the existing administrative structure available for Samagra Shiksha, KVS & NVS. The other autonomous bodies would be involved on specific project basis as required.
• These schools shall be monitored vigorously to assess progress and understand the challenges faced in implementation of National Education Policy 2020.

Beneficiaries

• More than 18 lakh students are expected to be direct beneficiaries of the scheme. Futher impact will be generated through the mentoring and handholding of the schools in vicinity of PM SHRI schools.

Key features

•  PM SHRI will provide high-quality education in an equitable, inclusive and joyful school environment that takes care of the diverse background, multilingual needs, and different academic abilities of children and makes them active participants in their own learning process as per the vision of NEP 2020.
• It will provide leadership to other schools in their respective regions by providing mentorship.
• The PM SHRI  Schools will be developed as Green schools, incorporating environment friendly aspects like solar panels and LED lights, nutrition gardens with natural farming, waste management, plastic free, water conservation and harvesting, study of traditions/practices related to protection of environment, climate change related hackathon and awareness generation to adopt sustainable lifestyle.
• Pedagogy adopted in these schools will be more experiential, holistic, integrated, play/toy-based inquiry-driven, discovery-oriented, learner-centred, discussion-based, flexible and enjoyable.
• Focus will be on learning outcomes of every child in every grade. Assessment at all levels will be based on conceptual understanding and application of knowledge to real life situations and will be competency-based.
• Assessment of the resources available and their effectiveness in terms of availability, adequacy, appropriateness, and utilisation for each of the domains and their key performance indicators will be done and gaps will be filled in a systematic and planned manner.
• Linkage with Sector Skill Councils and local industry for enhancing employability and providing better employment opportunities will be explored.
• A School Quality Assessment Framework (SQAF) is being developed, specifying the key performance indicators to measure outcomes. Quality evaluation of these schools at regular interval will be undertaken to ensure the desired standards.

Aim:

• The aim of these schools will not only be qualitative teaching, learning and cognitive development, but also creating holistic and well-rounded individuals equipped with key 21st century skills.
• They will provide leadership in their respective regions in providing high-quality education in an equitable, inclusive and joyful school environment that takes care of the diverse background, multilingual needs, and different academic abilities of children and makes them active participants in their own learning process as per the vision of NEP 2020.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

Need to strengthen Fast Track Special Courts for rape and POCSO cases

Context:

Recently, the Union Minister for Women and Child Development urged the Chif Minister of west Bengal to expedite the establishment and operationalisation of Fast Track Special Courts (FTSCs) dedicated to handling cases of rape and those under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act in the State.

Relevance:

GS II- Polity and Governance

Dimensions of the Article:

1. About Fast-track courts
2. Advantages of Fast track courts
3. Issues Faced by FTCs
4. Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO)

About Fast-track courts :

• Fast-track courts (FTCs) are created primarily to deal with the judicial backlog.
• A ‘special court’ is one which is to deal with special types of cases under a shortened and simplified procedure.
• Fast-track courts (FTCs) have been around for a long time, with the first ones being established in the year 2000.
• However, 56% of the States and Union Territories, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, had no FTCs.
• Judges are appointed on the ad hoc basis.
• Retired judges or eligible judicial officers who are selected by the High court of the respective states are the head of these courts.

Need for Fast Track courts

• Clearing the considerable amount of pending cases
• Expected to reduce the number of undertrials in jails
• Need for Speedy Trial
• Judiciary’s commitment to end sexual and gender based violence

Advantages of Fast track courts:

• Lessening of the general caseload burden: The objective with which the fast track courts were established has been very beneficiary for judiciary as it has solved over a million cases and has reduced the case load from other courts.
• Promotes specialization and professionalization: It has helped employ thousands of people from different fields, it also avails retired judges from high courts and district courts. The establishment of fast track courts has promoted the specialization of a category of law.
• Improves judicial efficiency and effectiveness: By the proper use of judiciary and by speedy trial and judgment, fast track courts boost the efficiency of the judiciary.
• High case clearance rate and speedy trial rate: Fast Track courts in India have the highest case disposal rate due to its speedy trial and judgment. And hence it is efficient in solving cases in a bound time.
• Guarantees consistency and predictability: Fast track courts have high performance rate and are stable and steady. It renders justice with high accuracy.

Issues Faced by FTCs

• Non-Uniformity in Type of Cases: In a survey of FTCs conducted by National Law University Delhi, it was observed that there is a huge variation in the kinds of cases handled by these courts across States, with certain States primarily allocating rape and sexual offence cases to them and other States allocating various other matters.
• Infrastructural Issues: Most FTCs were not set up with different infrastructure or facilities, but were often housed in an existing court. Moreover, several States appoint FTCs special judges from the current pool of judges. This substantially increases the workload of the remaining judges.
• Technological Barrier: Several FTCs lacked technological resources to conduct audio and video recordings of the victims and many of them did not have regular staff.
• Adhocism: Setting up of FTCs was not based on actual problems of pendency, but was often in response to specific incidents such as securities scams, rape cases and sexual harassment of children.
• Lack of Coordination: In India, tribunals are managed by different ministries, and fast-track courts and special courts are administered under different judicial bodies, with little coordination or uniformity among them.
• Other Issues: There are delays in getting reports from the understaffed forensic science laboratories, judges make frivolous adjournments and inadequate staff adversely affect the efficiency of the fast track courts.

Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO):

• About: It is the country’s first comprehensive law dealing specifically with child sexual abuse, enacted in 2012, and administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development.
  • Its goal was to protect children from sexual assault, sexual harassment, and pornographic violations, as well as to set up Special Courts for such cases.
  • The Act was amended in 2019 to increase the penalties for certain offences in order to deter abusers and promote a dignified upbringing.
• Important provisions:
  • Gender equality legislation: According to the Act, a child is “any person” under the age of 18.
• Non-reporting is illegal: Anyone in charge of an institution (excluding children) who fails to report a sexual offence involving a subordinate faces punishment.
  • There is no time limit for reporting abuse: A victim may report an offence at any time, even years after it has occurred.
  • Confidentiality of the victim’s identity: The Act prohibits the disclosure of the victim’s identity in any form of media unless authorised by the Act’s special courts.
• Concerns: o This type of abuse is on the rise, especially since the Covid-19 outbreak, when new forms of cybercrime have emerged.
  • A lack of awareness or knowledge on the part of minor girls, boys, parents, and society in general.

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express       

Cyclone Asna

Context:

The Cyclone Asna that formed over the coast of Kutch in Gujarat, has moved into the Arabian Sea towards Oman without leaving any major impact on the region.

Relevance:

GS-I: Geography (Physical geography – Climatology, Important Geophysical phenomena), GS-III: Disaster Management

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What are Tropical Cyclones?
2. Conditions for cyclone formation:
3. How are Tropical Cyclones Formed?
4. Why tropical cyclones don’t form in the eastern tropical oceans?
5. Names of Tropical Cyclones
6. Structure of the tropical cyclone
7. Landfall, what happens when a Cyclone reaches land from the ocean?
8. Cyclone Management in India

What are Tropical Cyclones?

• The Tropical Cyclones are violent storms that originate over oceans in tropical areas and move over to coastal areas bringing about large-scale destruction caused by violent winds, very heavy rainfall and storm surges.
• These are low pressure weather systems in which winds equal or exceed speeds of 62kmph.
• Winds circulate around in anti-clockwise direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in clockwise direction in the Southern Hemisphere.
• “Tropical” refers to the geographical origin of these systems, which form almost exclusively over tropical seas.
• “Cyclone” refers to their winds moving in a circle, whirling round their central clear eye, with their winds blowing counter clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere.
• The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect.

Tropical Cyclones in India

• Tropical cyclones striking India generally originate in the eastern side of India.
• Bay of Bengal is more prone to cyclone than Arabian Sea because it gets high sea surface temperature, low vertical shear winds and has enough moisture in middle layers of its atmosphere.
• The frequency of cyclones in this region is bi-modal, i.e., Cyclones occur in the months of May–June and October–November.

Conditions for cyclone formation:

• A warm sea surface (temperature in excess of 26o –27o C) and associated warming extending up to a depth of 60m with abundant water vapour.
• High relative humidity in the atmosphere up to a height of about 5,000 metres.
• Atmospheric instability that encourages the formation of cumulus clouds.
• Low vertical wind between the lower and higher levels of the atmosphere that do not allow the heat generated and released by the clouds to get transported from the area.
• The presence of cyclonic vorticity (rate of rotation of air) that initiates and favours rotation of the air cyclonically.
• Location over the ocean, at least 4–5 o latitude away from the equator.

How are Tropical Cyclones Formed?

• Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water. Warm water > Evaporation > Rising up of air > Low Pressure area.
• They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface, which ultimately re-condenses into clouds and rain when moist air rises and cools to saturation.
• Water takes up heat from the atmosphere to change into vapour.
• When water vapour changes back to liquid form as raindrops, this heat is released to the atmosphere.
• The heat released to the atmosphere warms the air around.
• The air tends to rise and causes a drop in the pressure.
• More air rushes to the centre of the storm.
• This cycle is repeated.

Why tropical cyclones don’t form in the eastern tropical oceans?

• The depth of warm water (26-27°C) should extend for 60-70 m from surface of the ocean/sea, so that deep convection currents within the water do not churn and mix the cooler water below with the warmer water near the surface.
• The above condition occurs only in western tropical oceans because of warm ocean currents (easterly trade winds pushes ocean waters towards west) that flow from east towards west forming a thick layer of water with temperatures greater than 27°C. This supplies enough moisture to the storm.
• The cold currents lower the surface temperatures of the eastern parts of the tropical oceans making them unfit for the breeding of cyclonic storms.
• ONE EXCEPTION: During strong El Nino years, strong hurricanes occur in the eastern Pacific. This is due to the accumulation of warm waters in the eastern Pacific due to weak Walker Cell.

Names of Tropical Cyclones

Depending on its location and strength, a tropical cyclone is referred to by different names:

1. Cyclones in the Indian Ocean
2. Hurricanes in the Atlantic
3. Typhoons in the Western Pacific and the South China Sea
4. Willy-willies in Western Australia

Structure of the tropical cyclone

Tropical cyclones are compact, circular storms, generally some 320 km (200 miles) in diameter, whose winds swirl around a central region of low atmospheric pressure. The winds are driven by this low-pressure core and by the rotation of Earth, which deflects the path of the wind through a phenomenon known as the Coriolis force. As a result, tropical cyclones rotate in a counter clockwise (or cyclonic) direction in the Northern Hemisphere and in a clockwise (or anticyclonic) direction in the Southern Hemisphere.

1. The Eye: A characteristic feature of tropical cyclones is the eye, a central region of clear skies, warm temperatures, and low atmospheric pressure. Typically, atmospheric pressure at the surface of Earth is about 1,000 millibars.
2. The Eyewall: The most dangerous and destructive part of a tropical cyclone is the eyewall. Here winds are strongest, rainfall is heaviest, and deep convective clouds rise from close to Earth’s surface to a height of 15,000 metres.
3. Rainbands: These bands, commonly called rainbands, spiral into the centre of the storm. In some cases the rainbands are stationary relative to the centre of the moving storm, and in other cases they seem to rotate around the centre.

Landfall, what happens when a Cyclone reaches land from the ocean?

• Tropical cyclones dissipate when they can no longer extract sufficient energy from warm ocean water.
• A storm that moves over land will abruptly lose its fuel source and quickly lose intensity.
• A tropical cyclone can contribute to its own demise by stirring up deeper, cooler ocean waters. tropical cyclone can contribute to its own demise by stirring up deeper, cooler ocean waters.

Cyclone Management in India

India is highly vulnerable to natural disasters especially cyclones, earthquakes, floods, landslides, and drought. Natural disasters cause a loss of 2% of GDP every year in India. According to the Home ministry, 8% of total area in India is prone to cyclones. India has a coastline of 7,516 km, of which 5,700 km are prone to cyclones of various degrees.

• Loss due to cyclones: Loss of lives, livelihood opportunities, damage to public and private property and severe damage to infrastructure are the resultant consequences, which can disrupt the process of development
• Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) is the nodal agency for early warning of cyclones and floods.
• Natural Disaster Management Authority is mandated to deal with the disaster management in India. It has prepared National Guidelines on Management of Cyclone.
• National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project (NCRMP) was launched by Home ministry to upgrade the forecasting, tracking and warning about cyclones in states.
• National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has done a commendable performance in rescuing and managing relief work.
• National Disaster Response Reserve (NDRR)– a fund of 250 crores operated by NDRF for maintaining inventory for an emergency situation.
• In 2016, a blueprint of National Disaster Management Plan was unveiled to tackle disaster. It provides a framework to deal with prevention, mitigation, response and recovery during a disaster. According to the plan, Ministry of earth science will be responsible for disaster management of cyclone. By this plan, India joined the list of countries which follow the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.
• Due to increased awareness and tracking of Cyclone, the death toll has been reduced substantially. For example, Very severe cyclone Hudhud and Phailin claimed lives of around 138 and 45 people respectively, which might have been more. It was reduced due to the early warning and relocation of the population from the cyclone-hit areas. Very severe cyclone Ockhi claimed many lives of people in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. This was due to the unprecedented change in the direction of the cyclone.
• But the destruction of infrastructure due to cyclonic hit is not been reduced which leads to increase in poverty due to the economic weakening of the affected population.

-Source: The Hindu

India’s real GDP growth estimates

Context:

India’s real GDP rose 6.7% in the April to June 2024 quarter, the slowest in five quarters.

• This figure is well below the Reserve Bank of India’s expectation of a 7.1% uptick as well as the 7.8% uptick registered in the preceding quarter.
• For the first time in a year, growth in the real Gross Value Added (GVA) in the economy outperformed GDP growth.

Relevance:

GS-III Indian Economy, Prelims

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is Gross Value Added (GVA)?
2. How does India Measure GVA?
3. Real GDP
4. Gross Value Added (GVA) Vs. GDP

What is Gross Value Added (GVA)?

• As per the United Nations System of National Accounts (SNA) – Gross Value Added (GVA) is defined as the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption;
• and GVA is a measure of the contribution to GDP made by an individual producer, industry or sector.
• In simple terms, GVA gives the rupee value of goods and services produced in the economy after deducting the cost of inputs and raw materials used.
• GVA can be described as the main entry on the income side of the nation’s accounting balance sheet, and from an economics perspective represents the supply side.

How does India Measure GVA?

• India had been measuring GVA earlier using ‘factor cost’.
• In the new series, in which the base year was shifted to 2011-12 from the earlier 2004-05, GVA at BASIC PRICES became the primary measure of output across the economy’s various sectors and when added to net taxes on products amounts to the GDP.

Categories of NSO’s GVA Data:
When it comes to GVA data provided by NSO- the sectoral classification provides data on eight broad categories:

1. Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
2. Mining and Quarrying
3. Manufacturing
4. Electricity, Gas, Water Supply and other Utility Services
5. Construction
6. Trade, Hotels, Transport, Communication and Services related to Broadcasting
7. Financial, Real Estate and Professional Services
8. Public Administration, Defence and other Services.

Real GDP:

Real gross domestic product is an inflation-adjusted measure of the value of all goods and services produced in an economy.

Gross Value Added (GVA) Vs. GDP 

Gross value added (GVA) is defined as the value of output less the value of intermediate consumption. Value added represents the contribution of labour and capital to the production process. When the value of taxes on products (less subsidies on products) is added, the sum of value added for all resident units gives the value of gross domestic product (GDP). Thus, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any nation represents the sum total of gross value added (GVA) (i.e, without discounting for capital consumption or depreciation) in all the sectors of that economy during the said year after adjusting for taxes and subsidies.    

The relationship between GVA at Factor Cost and GVA at Basic Prices and GDP at market prices and GVA at basic prices is shown below: 

GVA  at factor cost + (Production taxes less Production subsidies) = GVA at basic  prices 

GDP  at market prices = GVA at basic prices + Product taxes- Product subsidies 

Production taxes or production subsidies are paid or received with relation to production and are independent of the volume of actual production.  

Some examples of production taxes are land revenues, stamps and registration fees and tax on profession.  

Some production subsidies include subsidies to Railways, input subsidies to farmers, subsidies to village and small industries, administrative subsidies to corporations or cooperatives, etc.   

Product taxes or subsidies are paid or received on per unit of product. Some examples of product taxes are excise tax, sales tax, service tax and import and export duties.  

Product subsidies include food, petroleum and fertilizer subsidies, interest subsidies given to farmers, households, etc. through banks.  

In the revised series, as is the practice internationally, industry-wise estimates are presented as Gross Value Added (GVA) at basic prices, while “GDP at market prices” will be referred to as “GDP”. GVA at basic prices can be referred to as GVA at producer price and GDP at market price as GDP at buyer price.  

-Source: The Hindu, The Indian Express