Update : 9 PM Daily Current Affairs Brief – 26th January 2017

The Hindu

Context

Article highlights the latest development vi-a-vis Jallikattu issue

What has happened?

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a plea by the Animal Welfare Board of India, Compassion Unlimited Plus Action and animal rights activists to stay the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Bill, 2017 passed by the State Assembly

Petition’s contention

• Amendment is a fraud: Plea has termed the amendment a “fraud” on the Constitution and a violation of a 2014 Supreme Court judgment, which had declared Jallikattu as an “inherently cruel” event practiced on bulls
• Extremely violent event: It described jallikattu as an “extremely violent” event where untrained persons either volunteer or are “coerced” into taming or fighting terrified bulls agitated by the organisers and the crowd
• Injuries during the event: Every year many individuals get seriously injured or are killed by the bulls while participating or watching the event

 Backdrop

The development comes a day after Attorney-General MukulRohatgi informed the Supreme Court that the government would file an interlocutory application seeking the withdrawal of the January 7, 2016 central notification allowing jallikattu in the wake of the amendment passed by the State

The Hindu

Context

A major international index of corruption and transparency has placed India on the watch list for its inability to curb mega corruption scandals and petty bribery

 What has happened?

The annual index of Transparency International issued on 25^th January 17 for 2016 placed India with Brazil and China in the 40th position. India’s condition showed growth with inequality

Views of Transparency international

• India’s ongoing poor performance with a score of 40 reiterates the state’s inability to effectively deal with petty corruption and large-scale corruption scandal
• The impact of corruption on poverty, illiteracy and policy brutality showed that not only was the economy growing but so was inequality

Ranking of other countries

South Asia has performed poorly

• Bangladesh at 27th and Nepal at 29th positions were slotted in the highly corrupt section
• Pakistan, at 32, also came in the red zone. Afghanistan ranked 15th was in the “highly corrupt” list with South Sudan, North Korea and Libya
  

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The Hindu

Context

The global resonance of the Women’s March on Washington sent out the signal that the silent majority will register its resistance against rising intolerance and prejudice.

In the backdrop of the women’s march held in US and in many other countries, author throws light on the reasons which lead to movement’s large scale support

Read it once

The Hindu

Context

The global resonance of the Women’s March on Washington sent out the signal that the silent majority will register its resistance against rising intolerance and prejudice.

In the backdrop of the women’s march held in US and in many other countries, author throws light on the reasons which lead to movement’s large scale support

Read it once

The Hindu

Context

In the light of a recent report by Association of Democratic Reforms (ADR) regarding funding of political parties, article tries to build a case for more transparency in that respect to ensure clean and better democratic governance

 Issue: Transparency in political funding

Note: The ADR report deals with the funding received by political parties from 2004-05 to 2014-05

Funding from unknown sources

Author cites the analysis done by ADR and states that,

• Major portion from unknown sources: 69% of funds and contributions received by political parties from 2004-05 to 2014-05 came from unknown sources. There cannot be a better case than this statistic for demanding greater transparency in political funding
• Worrying stats: Going by income tax returns and statements submitted to the Election Commission,

• Total income: 6 national and 51 recognised regional parties together had an income of ₹11,367.34 crore during this period
• Income from named donors: ₹1,835.63 crore
• Income from other declared sources such as sale of assets, bank interest, membership fee and sale of publications accounted for ₹1,698.73 crore
• Income from unknown sources: ₹7,832.98 crore

Backed by law

Author states that the reason behind such a high number of donations from unknown sources is the present income tax law under which parties need not disclose the names of those donating up to ₹20,000

• Exploiting the loophole: To enjoy income tax exemption, they need to maintain records only of those who donate sums above this. This provision effectively gives parties the required cover to pass off sizeable donations as small contributions from anonymous donors

Bringing political parties under RTI

Bringing parties under RTI is a step in the right direction as it would imply that the list of donors be made public in spite of the size of donation. In 2013, the Central Information Commission ruled that political parties were covered under the Right to Information Act

• Rationale: It was pointed out that they got tax exemptions, land allotments and free airtime on state-owned media, in effect benefiting significantly from the exchequer. The order, however, is yet to be accepted by parties

Author suggests

Author suggests that,

• State funding of elections is another remedy which can be looked into to reduce the dependency on contributions, though the financial implications of this needs careful consideration
• Regulatory authority: A more practical mechanism is to have a regulatory authority to receive authentic reports on political funding, scrutinise them and put them in the public domain

Read More: State funding of elections has also been covered by the live mint editorial in the 9pm brief dated 13^th Jan 2017, A TOI article on the issue of state funding

The Hindu

Context

Article talks about some interesting questions around women’s empowerment thrown by the recently released movie Dangal

Scene from the movie

A critical scene in the film is MahavirPhogat instructing his wife that the daughters will not do chulha-chowka (household work) any more, but will henceforth devote time to wrestling

A consequent question

Author rightly states that in the above case a pertinent question can be raised i.e. in the real world, outside the film, who is going to do the work that the girls are liberated from?

Q: Can we consider household work — cooking, cleaning, fetching water over long distances, caring for children, the sick and the elderly — or what is called as unpaid care work performed by women/girls as an optional service? And, which could be forsaken at will, without having an alternative in place?

Q: Can we have women’s liberation without questioning the fundamental division of labour that drives patriarchy i.e. it is primarily a women’s task to tend to home and care for the elderly while men go out to earn?

Q: Can we break this public/private division, by women competing in a man’s world as a man, by following the rules set by men, in a world made for men?

Q: Can we not break this man-woman dichotomy by making it irrelevant rather than by simply bringing a few women on board to the male side of the division of labour?

Unpaid care work: A neglected area

This unpaid labour is looked down upon in the world, and is not part of national accounting or Gross Domestic Product. But ironically, it is what sustains the economy.

Contribution

It is estimated that women perform 75% of the world’s unpaid care work

• India: In India, women perform 10 to 12 times the unpaid care work of men. Even in the West, women’s share is much higher
  • A paper by Ferrant, Pesando and Nowacka put the unpaid care work at 63% of the Indian GDP, and 40% of the Swedish one
• Agriculture: Women contribute to agricultural work too. In the developing world, women constitute nearly half of the agricultural labour force, and 60% in Asia and Africa
• Despite this, women own less than 20% of the agricultural land of the world. Women and girls also constitute 60% of the world’s chronically hungry
• The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that if women farmers had the same resources as men, it would have led to 150 million fewer hungry people. Thus, the elimination of hunger and malnutrition are crucially dependent on women

Double burden

Authors state that even if a woman finds employment outside it does not ease her burden as now she is burdened with both household and paid work leading to a double burden 

Limited access to paid work

It is because women cannot give up unpaid care work that their access to paid work is severely limited. Even when they find paid work, it is mostly low-paid, dangerous or temporary work

Women participation in sport

• Authors state that women participation in sports, especially in gender inequitable societies can lead to reversal of established gender norms. This effect is stronger if women enter male -dominated sports
• Female/athlete paradox: Even if women enter sports they are subjected to constant scrutiny wherein their bodies are measured to societal standards to what a female body must resemble. For eg: A female wrestler might have large shoulders, a broad chest but the society might see such female athletes having less feminine characteristics

Burdened as domestic helps

Even when some women break out of the private sphere and enter the public sphere, the unpaid care work falls upon lowly-paid women domestic help from the most marginalised backgrounds, and poor immigrant women in developed countries

• Large numbers of women, especially in the Third World — as mothers, wives, sisters and daughters — are unsung heroes, but who are systematically marginalised unless they bring home a medal or moolah, to prove they are of equal worth as men

Way forward

Authors state that women’s liberation has to be based on concrete material foundations. It is women’s unpaid care work, which makes work and sport outside the home possible

• Recognise unpaid care work: For real equality, it is imperative that women’s care work be given its due material recognition
• Reorienting gender norms: Men should shoulder responsibility of unpaid care work along with women so that they can secure paid employment in public sphere

1. Poor labor force participation rates: Despite economic and educational growth, female participation in the labour force of India has fallen to 24% in 2011, from 31% in 2004. India is 11th from the bottom in the world in women’s labour-force participation rates
   

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The Hindu

Context

The Finance Ministry’s stand on the suggestions made by a panel of Chief Ministers on encouraging digital payments

Finance ministry’s stand

The Finance Ministry is yet to take a final view on the suggestions made by a panel of Chief Ministers on encouraging digital payments

 Panel’s recommendations

In its interim report submitted to Prime Minister on January 24, the panel has recommended

• Levying a handling charge: Levying of a handling charge for cash payments above Rs. 50,000, while pitching for tax breaks to consumers and merchants using digital modes of payments
• Abolition of MDR:It also suggested the abolition of merchant discount rate to make digital payments cheaper than cash
• Banking Cash Transaction Tax: Levy of Banking Cash Transaction Tax on transactions of Rs. 50,000 and above has also been recommended by the panel
• Subsidy for buying smartphones:A Rs 1,000 subsidy for purchase of smartphones by non-tax assesses and small merchants
• Making Aadhaar primary ID:  Panel has recommended making Aadhaar primary ID for KYC.
  

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Indian Express

Context

India celebrates both democracy and elections. But is the latter dominating the former today?

Points to be noted

• National Vote’s day: 25^th January
• Republic Day: 26^th January

Relevant points from the article

• Not just a boring exercise: Author states that, preparation of voter lists is not just a mundane bureaucratic exercise but it gives to each one of us a political standing. Political freedom has been guaranteed to us by the constitution by recognising the universal suffrage i.e. right of adults to vote
• A safeguard against tyranny: Author points out that elections often act as a safeguard against tyranny but they can sometimes legitimize tyranny if power is concentrated in few hands

Just glance over the rest of the article

Indian Express

Context

Mission Indradhanush marks the Centre’s commitment to building a healthy India

Focus on initial 5 years

Author, the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare of India, states that the highest attainable standards of health in terms of physical, mental and social well-being is not only a fundamental right of every human being, but also a prerequisite for the economic and social development of a nation

• Improved cognition: The highest possible physical and mental development can only be attained by investing in the initial five years of a person’s life as this ensures survival with improved cognition
• Initial 5 years of life: The Ministry of Health &Family Welfare (MoHFW) is therefore working towards ensuring the most productive life for a person by specifically focussing on the initial five years of life

What we have achieved and what more needs to be done?

So, author states that, on the 68th Republic Day, let us reflect on what we have achieved and what more needs to be done

Progress in Public health

India should take pride in its progress in public health. Following successes mark India’s dedication to ensuring its people remain healthy and productive

• Increase in Life expectancy: Life expectancy has increased from 63.5 to 67.9 during the last decade; through 2009 to 2015
• Decrease in MMR: The maternal mortality rate has decreased from 212 deaths per 100,000 live births to 167 deaths
• Decrease in IMR: Infant mortality rate has decreased from 50 to 37 deaths per 1,000 live births
• Eradication of Polio
• Elimination of maternal and neonatal tetanus

 Challenges India continues to face

Author states that as our country moves towards achieving its aspirations of better health, one of the biggest challenges we continue to face is

• High child death and disability

Mission Indradhanush (MI)

Major cause of child death are childhood diseases. Immunization is a powerful weapon against such diseases. To ensure that every child has access to immunization, MoHFW launched Mission Indradhanush (MI) in 2014

• The Mission Indradhanush, depicting 7 colors of the rainbow, targets to immunize all children against 7 vaccine preventable diseases namely

1. Diphtheria
2. Pertussis
3. Tetanus
4. Childhood Tuberculosis
5. Polio
6. Hepatitis B
7. Measles

In addition to this, vaccines for following diseases are also being provided in selected states

8. JE (Japanese Encephalitis)
9. Hib (Haemophilusinfluenzae type B)

4 new vaccines have been added in the list taking the number of vaccines to 11 instead of initial 7

10. Rotavirus
11. Measles rubella (MR): Measles and rubella contribute significantly to India’s child mortality and morbidity. The MR vaccine protects children against measles as well as rubella. Protection from rubella is essential to prevent congenital rubella syndrome, which can cause blinding cataracts, deafness and heart disease
12. Inactivated polio vaccine bivalent
13. Japanese Encephalitis (for adults)

Note: As the number of vaccines have surpassed 7, so the program is set to be renamed in future

Goal of MI: To achieve more than 90 per cent full immunization coverage among children in the country by 2020

Achievements of MI

• Increased newborn care: Trainings offered to frontline workers are facilitating a higher number of institutional deliveries and increase in newborn care, in addition to immunisation
• Interface b/w people and health services: As health workers reach out to people in previously unaccessed and remote areas, MI has created an interface to connect populations with a wide range of health services and strengthened health systems in these areas
• Increase in immunization:Since the launch of MI in 2014, full immunisation coverage has increased by 5 per cent to 7 per cent

Significance of immunisation

Immunisation is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, yielding a 44-fold return on investment

• Helps investment in human capital: Immunisation helps the country invest in human capital, contributing to future economic growth and reducing the economic burdens of hospitalization and treatment costs
• Lessons for strengthening of public health services:For instance, the lessons learned from the special immunisation campaign has contributed to strengthening other public health services, including deworming and diarrhoea control
  

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Live Mint

Context

At this stage of development, there is no reason why the government should transfer cash to the entire population

Issue: Universal Basic Income (UBI)

Why UBI is the hot topic now-a-days in developed countries?

• Increasing automation: One of the reasons why the idea is gaining more attention in the developed world these days is the increasing use of robots in the industrial sector
  • Fear of job loss: As automation increases, the fear is that more people will find it difficult to get jobs
  • A dignified living: The thought is to give all citizens a basic income that will allow them to live with dignity, irrespective of their learning capability

 A divided opinion on UBI

Author states that the opinion on UBI still remains divided and voters in a rich country like Switzerland rejected the idea by an overwhelming majority in 2016

Note: Arguments for UBI have been discussed in the article on UBI in the brief dated 27^th Jan 17

 UBI in India: Not a new concept

A number of economists have argued that universal basic income (UBI) can be implemented in India as a significant proportion of the population is still in poverty and anti-poverty spending is marred by leakages

• Planning Commission’s work: The Perspective Planning Division of the erstwhile Planning Commission worked on the idea of providing minimum income in the early 1960s

Welfare leakages: A major argument for implementing UBI in India

Author states that a major reason and justification given for implementing UBI in India is the leakages in the funds dedicated for welfare schemes due to prevalent corruption. The benefits of such targeted programmes often go to the non-targeted and better-off people

Views and calculations of various Indian economists

• Economist PranabBardhan showed that if a UBI of Rs10,000—indexed to 2014-15 prices (three-fourths of the poverty line that year)—is given to all citizens, it will cost about 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP), which can be funded by ending regressive subsidies and revenue forgone

 What is Revenue Forgone?

The government levies taxes to raise revenue to fund its expenditure. To give relief to certain sections which includes industries and taxpayers, or to promote certain activities, the government also provides tax breaks and incentives. The revenue forgone is also referred to as tax expenditure or indirect subsidy to taxpayers

• Statement of revenue forgone: Along with the other budget documents, the government of India also presents the Statement of Revenue Forgone, which shows the revenue impact of tax incentives. This was first presented with the budget 2006-07 as an annexure to the receipts budget. In subsequent years, the government started presenting it as a separate document with the budget
• Examples:
  • Tax rebate on savings under Section 80C fall under revenue forgone
  • Lower excise rates: Section 5A (1) of the Central Excise Act, 1944, empowers the Union government to lower tariff rates below levels prescribed in the schedules. These lower excise rates are applicable to mass-consumption goods such as medicines, toothpowder, candles, postcards, sewing needles, kerosene stoves, etc.

• Economist Vijay Joshi, with the Suresh Tendulkar committee poverty line and using the poverty gap index, at 2014-15 prices, has arrived at a figure of Rs17505 per household per year. This will cost about 3.5% of the GDP for the entire population
• Economist Debraj Ray has proposed an interesting variant where instead of a fixed sum a fraction of the GDP is committed as universal income

Author’s contention: UBI is not feasible in India

Author states that there are a number of reasons why UBI is not feasible for India. He further states that all the arguments in the favor of UBI are based on few inherent assumptions.

1. Assumption number 1: The amount of money being spent on various kinds of subsidies is justified, and the only issue is of targeting, which can be addressed by the transfer of basic income to every citizen

 Author’s view: Boost capital spending instead of an efficient allocation

• Author states that as per 2003 National Institute of Public Finance and Policy study both Centre and state government subsidies amount to about 14% of GDP. The idea should be to reduce expenditure on non-merit subsidies and use the savings to boost capital spending that India badly needs

2. Assumption number 2: Roll back of all non-merit subsidies is easy

Author’s view:It will not be easy for the government to roll back subsidies such as food, fertilizer, fuel, electricity and water. Also, if removed, it will be even more difficult for the government to decide the amount to be transferred under UBI

3. Assumption number 3: Reduction in revenue forgone can augment resources for UBI

Author’s view: Author states that revenue augmentation from reduction in revenue forgone may not happen. Moreover, Revenue loss or revenue forgone on account of lower excise duties on mass-consumption goods like toothpaste, kerosene stoves etc, which are essential components in any poor family’s consumption basket, are certainly not tax sops to big private companies and should not be eliminated

Unintended consequences of UBI

Author states that government should also consider some unintended consequences of UBI, like,

• Reduced motivation to work: It may reduce the motivation for work and might encourage people to live off assured cash transfers
• Rise in wages: It is also argued that unconditional cash transfers might raise wages due to the decline in the supply of casual laborers, thus hitting India’s reputation as a low cost manufacturing destination

Author suggests

• Build productive capacity: Author suggests that instead of just doling out free cash, government should put efforts into building productive capacity in the economy
• Better targeting of cash transfers: The government should focus on increasing the use of conditional cash transfers with better targeting, which will not only help the poor but will also plug leakages.

 Read More: UBI: An Idea whose time has come