9 PM Daily Brief – 30 March 2016

Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation

What is 9 PM brief?

• GS PAPER 1
  1. When Delhi bowed to Singapore {Subhash Chandra Bose}
• GS PAPER 2
  1. Judiciary, an old boys club  {Judiciary}
• GS PAPER 3
  1. Towards military self – reliance {Security}
  2. India’s case on its solar policy {Solar Energy}
  3. Inoperative PF accounts to earn interest {Fiscal Policy}
  4. Government protection will create third class companies: Amitabh Kant {Exemption Sought by Industry}
  5. Starving MGNREGA {Welfare Schemes}
  6. The case against higher FDI in defence sector {FDI}
  7. Five reasons why defence production in India will take off {Manufacturing}

---

GS PAPER 1

---

[1] When Delhi bowed to Singapore

The Hindu

Why in news?

The Government has recently released another set of declassified files related to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

What does it reveal?

The scrutiny of the old files reveal that Netaji has had a “contested legacy” in Singapore.

“Contested Legacy”

• Many in Singapore perceive Netaji as  a “collaborator” of Japan, which inflicted atrocities on people during its occupation of the island during World War II.
• So, India has followed a cautious foreign policy with Singapore, specially when such sentiments were strong in the 1960s, 1970s, and the 1980s.

 

---

GS PAPER 2

---

 [1] Judiciary, an old boys club

The Hindu

Issue

Position of women in the Indian Judiciary.

Past and the Present

• Since Independence, there have been only 6 women judges in the Supreme Court.
• No female judge has yet been appointed as Chief Justice of India.

 

• There are some High Courts that do not have even one woman judge.
• There are only 62 women Judges out of 611 (including Additional Judges) in the High Courts across the country.
• Women representation is also very less in law firms.

Is there a Gender Bias?

The lack of proper representation for women in the judiciary may raise questions of how gender bias is inherent in the very high temples of justice.

Why we need women judges?

• Women litigants would feel less intimidated in the presence of female judges.
• Women judges would exhibit greater sensitivity to their grievances.
• Women judge would understand the realities of women’s life with greater clarity.

Need for Inclusion

• To have more women in judiciary is a big step towards empowering women in society.
• An increased presence of women will infuse public confidence in the courts and the selection process.
• Affirmative action of this kind is the best way to usher in social and gender justice.

---

GS PAPER 3

---

 

[1] Towards military self – reliance

The Hindu

News

2016 Defence Procurement Policy (DPP) has been released.

Brief History of DPP

• It was first launched in 2002.
• It was part of the military reforms that were undertaken to overcome the deficiencies noticed during Kargil War.
• It is revised periodically, last unveiled in 2013.

Key points of DPP 2016

• Objective is to increase the participation of India’s private sector in military manufacturing.
• A new procurement class ‘Buy Indian-IDDM’ has been created to achieve the objective.
• It lays stress on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), and on “Make in India”.

Indigenous Designed Developed and Manufactured (IDDM)

This category refers to procurement from an Indian vendor, products that are indigenously designed, developed and manufactured with a minimum of 40 per cent local content, or

products having 60 per cent indigenous content if not designed and developed within the country.

Why we need to  develop Military-Industrial complex?

• India is the largest importer of defense equipment, by indigenising Military-Industrial complex, we will become self-reliant.
• India faces a combination of security threats from both state and non-state actors.
• It can also reduce the potential for corruption in military procurement.
• We have all the prerequisites for it: (a) Growing Defense Budget  (b) A large base of engineering institutes (c) A diverse Private sector.

[2] India’s case on its solar policy

The Hindu

Issue

• The U.S. had taken to the WTO its case against India’s policy of favouring domestic inputs in solar cells and solar modules, arguing that it amounted to a discriminatory trade practice and distorted the game.

Solar panel

Connected assembly of typically 6×10 solar cells

Less than 14% of the energy that reaches them will be converted to electricity.

Solar electricity in India

• Government-funded solar electricity in India was approximately 6.40 MW per year as of 2005. India is ranked number one in terms of solar electricity production per watt installed
• 25.10 MW was added in 2010 and 468.30 MW in 2011
• As of 31 December 2015, the installed grid connected solar power capacity is 4,879.00 MW
• India expects to install an additional 10,000 MW by 2017
• A total of 100,000 MW by 2022.

WTO

• an intergovernmental organization which regulates international trade
• Formed 1 January 1995
• Headquarters Centre William Rappard, Geneva, Switzerland
• Since launch of the Doha Round, developing countries’ voices have increased considerably, bringing in Brazil and India in the Quad (earlier there was a Quad of US, EU, Japan and Canada)

The verdict

• The verdict, which came last month, is a setback for India’s Solar Mission, the WTO ruling obviously threatens the financial viability of the plan.

What India offered

• To modify its stand on the issue, and agreed to apply the domestic content requirement only for buying solar panels used for government sector consumption.
• Power generated from such subsidised panels would not be sold for commercial use.

The U.S., however, did not agree.

India’s contention

• Sort out trade practice concerns in a manner that keeps the Solar Mission firmly on track.
• The trade rift and the WTO ruling on the solar issue does not ensure level playing field
• 9 states in US have been provided protection to domestic manufacturers
• If the U.S. can protect its workers, India too cannot wish away the job concerns of its people.

What Next

• The Center will contest the ruling in the World Trade Organisation against India’s policy of local sourcing of components as part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission.
• Keeping ego aside and focussing on resolving the issue to continue to aspire India’s green energy initiatives

[3] Inoperative PF accounts to earn interest

The Hindu

News

Government has decided to credit interest to inoperative accounts.

Background

Previous Government had suspended interest credits on inoperative Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) accounts, in the absence of any fresh contributions in these accounts for three years.

Senior Citizen Welfare Fund

The  amounts of EPF will be appropriated  to a corpus which will be used to subsidize the premiums of vulnerable groups such as old age pensioners, BPL card-holders, small and marginal farmers and others.

Key points in the new rules

• EPF accounts will also continue to get interest credits for three years after members reach the age of 58 years.
• Accounts will become inoperative only in cases where employees settle abroad permanently and fail to withdraw their account balance within 36 months.
• In the case of an EPF member’s death, the interest on their savings will be credited for a period of three years after his or her death.

[4] Government protection will create third class companies: Amitabh Kant

The Hindu

Issue – Indian companies seeking protection from government against cheaper imports

 

• Constantly seeking protection from the government in order to compete with cheaper imports
• Overprotected our companies, including automobile companies, for far too long.
• We have protected our industry, set a minimum import price for steel

Government’s aim

• To protect small and medium enterprises but India must understand that in a globalised world, you can’t be uncompetitive and keep saying ‘Protect us, Protect us’

Solution

• Companies must raise their productivity in order to compete and make for the global market in India.
• If you are cost-competitive and attain size and scale, you can compete with the world like other (Indian) firms have
• In short run domestic demand can help grow the business but the real value is in capturing exports where Indian producers can get ten times the value that they would earn domestically
• Indian industry should embrace the convergence of digital technologies with manufacturing processes instead of fearing them
• If you are cost-competitive and attain size and scale, you can compete with the world like other (Indian) firms have.

[5] Starving MGNREGA

The Indian Express

Issue

Reducing the funds for the MGNREGA by the government has pushed people into misery

History of MGNREGA  

• It was inspired by Maharashtra Employment Guarantee Act, passed in 1977
• People were empowered through wage employment
• Funding came from the taxes imposed on people less affected by the drought

How has it affected

• Main reason is draught, a third of the country is under drought
• Droughts comes slowly which provide clear warnings to policymakers to plan and execute effective strategy to cope with the situation
• If it is mismanaged, it can have adverse impact on progress made over decades

Some recent problems with MGNREGA

• Rs 10,588 crore is currently pending in payment delays.
• In 9 drought affected states, govt. has increased the working days to 150, where itself has a negative cash balance
• Delayed payments leading to lesser demand and still fewer payments — resulting in helplessness and distress migration

[6] The case against higher FDI in defence sector

Livemint

Issue

Private foreign companies asking to increase FDI

Current FDI status

• A provision for FDI policy that permits more than 49% investment is there
• 100%, on a case-to-case basis with the approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) only when the investment is likely to result in access to modern and ‘state-of-the-art’ technology in the country.

Why FDI should not be increased

• Increase in FDI limit in a strategic industry like defence may not be in the long-term national interest.
• Will be a disaster for the country’s attempt to build self-reliance.
• Increasing FDI from 26% to 49% unexpected, Indian defence industry did not welcome the increase because they knew that FOEMs(foreign original equipment manufacturers) will ask for more increase in FDI

What India should do

• India should not agree to increase in FDI and any absurd terms because India is too big a market for these foreign companies
• Have Indian companies work for Indian defence which are lean and mean and can sustain the downturns without handholding from Indian government.
• Some Indian companies are in the process of building new capabilities and technologies. increasing FDI will kill these budding companies
• Encourage development of subsystems and equipment by Indian firms within the shortest possible time and make the procedure for procurement easier.

[7] Five reasons why defence production in India will take off

Livemint

Defence manufacturing is a crucial pillar to revitalise the manufacturing sector and put India on the road to self-reliance in defence products.

Whether the sector would actually deliver?

Yes  

Here are five reasons:

Establishment of a new procurement regime:

• Relaxations have been made to appointment of offset partners to reduce lead times. Constructive feedback taken from the empowered committee to outline the issues and its suggested remedial steps.

Push to domestic industry:

• Newly incorporated procurement class called “Buy (Indian-IDDM)
• omitted the seventh chapter titled ‘Strategic Partners and Partnerships’

There are two advantages because of these:

1. it would ensure a more comprehensive skill building and knowledge transfer for these platforms in India
2. the domestic industry would not be required to compete amongst themselves.

Simplification of offset regime:

• the government is devising new ways to keep OEMs invested.
• This is one of the key areas where the government has shown that it is willing to get out of the way of businesses to achieve the end goal.

Increasing involvement of states:

• A few states such as Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra have shown a clear indication to attract the defence manufacturing industry by welcoming companies and putting in place clear policies for the industry.
• Industries at the state levels are facing Some resistance.
• The efforts introduced by the above mentioned states have also seen rewards since Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are evolving as India’s aerospace hub.

Maturity in Indian industry:

• The domestic industry has matured significantly in the last few years.
• Companies such as Bharat Forge and Tata have shown Great work and standards on global levels.
• The Indian industry has also shown its ability to innovate
• There are many categories of products where the domestic industry has significantly worked and developed improved designs from existing equipment.

Conclusion

Despite the challenges, the defence manufacturing industry in India is the beginning of an optimistic tale.

---

Science and Technology and Environment articles has been left out, they will be covered in weekly compilation for next week.

---

BY: ForumIAS Editorial Team