DAILY PIB 3rd April 2023

Sagar Setu Mobile App: The App Version of the National Logistics Portal (Marine), named ‘Sagar-Setu’, has been launched by Ministry for Ports, Shipping and Waterways.The app will provide real-time information on vessel-related information, gate, container freight stations, and transactions, enabling digital transactions for payments.The app will boost maritime trade, enhance the economy of the country, and increase the visibility of operations and tracking.

National Logistics Portal (Marine) is a national maritime single window platform encompassing complete end-to-end logistics solutions to help exporters, importers, and service providers exchange documents seamlessly and transact business.Maritime India Vision 2030 (expected to supersede the Sagarmala Scheme) aims to build ports and digitize maritime infrastructure within the country.

Advance Pricing Agreement: It is an agreement between a taxpayer and a tax authority that sets out how international transactions between related companies will be priced, to avoid any confusion or disagreement about the pricing of those transactions.For example, let’s say Company A in India sells products to its subsidiary Company B in the US. Company A can enter into an APA with the Indian tax authority and the US tax authority to agree on the transfer pricing methodology that will be used to determine the pricing of these products (being sold to its own subsidiary).The main objective of an APA is to keep a check on big multinational companies so that they do not engage in tax evasion by adjusting their profits based on their inter-corporate transactions (transfer pricing).Guidelines are included in Income Tax Act, 1961.

Types of APA: Unilateral, Bilateral, and Multilateral.APA helps determine the arm’s length price of international transactions in advance for a maximum of five future years (taxpayer also has the option to roll back the APA for four preceding years = Total of nine years of tax certainty).

Unified Tariff: The Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board has implemented the Unified Tariff in the natural gas sector.The Unified Tariff is a way to calculate the price of transporting natural gas across different pipelines in India. This helps to ensure that the cost of transporting gas is fair and consistent across the country.PNGRB (the regulator) has notified a levelized unified tariff of ₹73.93 per metric million British thermal units (MMBTU) and created three tariff zones for unified tariff:First zone is up to a distance of 300 km from the gas source,Second zone is 300 – 1200 kms and Third zone is beyond 1200 km.

The Unified Tariff is expected to assist in achieving the ‘One Nation One Grid One Tariff’ model and stimulate gas markets in remote areas.The Ministry bi-annually revises the price of natural gas produced from various sources.PNGRB is a statutory body, constituted under Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board Act, 2006. Its primary functions include regulation of refining, transportation, distribution, storage, marketing, supply and sale of petroleum products and natural gas.

Swachhotsav 2023:Ministry for Housing and Urban Affairs launched Swachhotsav 2023 campaign to galvanise the participation of women to realize the goal of ‘Garbage Free Cities’ and help 1,000 cities become 3-star Garbage Free Cities GFC by October 2024 under the Swachh Bharat Mission Urban (SBM-U).Star Rating (launched in 2018 under SBM-U 2.0) aims to encourage a competitive, mission-mode spirit among Urban Local Bodies.ODF Plus villages in India increased from about 7% in 2022 to 40% in March 2023.