News: Massive stimulus packages, given during the pandemic, could lead to high inflation amid low growth, if global production capacity lags overall demand. Why the stimulus packages were given? As the pandemic spread around the world, demand decreased due to fear and lockdowns. Services, travel, tourism, and retail operations took the hardest hits. Firms around… Continue reading We’re on a knife’s edge between global reflation and stagflation
Category: 9 PM Daily Articles
The Goa government’s TReDS adoption is worthy of emulation
News: Central Govt has taken various steps to improve working capital (capital to manage day-to-day expenses) situation of small businesses. RBI too had launched TReDS platform to towards this end. However, many govt procurers lie outside the coverage of TReDS. It’s in this light that an initiative by the Goa govt assumes significance, wherein it registered… Continue reading The Goa government’s TReDS adoption is worthy of emulation
Draft extended producer responsibility policy: How gaps in achieving fundamental goals can be closed
News: MoEFCC has released a draft EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) policy for management of plastic waste in India. The Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 introduced the concept of EPR to manage plastics in India. It has seen inadequate progress in the last five years as the policy failed to translate into action, due to the… Continue reading Draft extended producer responsibility policy: How gaps in achieving fundamental goals can be closed
Basking in reflected glory
News: The recent appointment of Parag Agrawal, as the CEO of US-based company ‘Twitter’ started renewed debate on brain drain from India. What are the reasons for brain drain from India? It started in the late-1960s when private sector companies were few and there were few good jobs available in public sector undertakings. Unlike India,… Continue reading Basking in reflected glory
Why India will be scrutinised at Summit for Democracy
News: US will host a virtual “summit for democracy”, which will bring together leaders of 100 countries, civil society and private sector representatives. The summit will convene around 3 broad themes — defending democracy against authoritarianism, addressing and fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights. Why India is likely to be scrutinised at the… Continue reading Why India will be scrutinised at Summit for Democracy
A new era in public procurement
News: Recently, the Department of Expenditure in the Ministry of Finance, issued a notification on the General Instructions on Procurement and Project Management. These instructions set out a number of desirable actions in government purchases of works contracts and services. Currently, these are applicable to only Central government entities and Central public sector units. The… Continue reading A new era in public procurement
The way to tackle malnutrition
News: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MOHFW) has released the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5). There has been tardy progress in reducing undernutrition, wasting and stunting. What are the findings of NFHS 5? Read here: Union Health Ministry releases NFHS-5 Phase II Findings What are the lacunae in the system? Real-time monitoring of PDS is required… Continue reading The way to tackle malnutrition
A docket full of unresolved constitutional cases
News: There is a great asymmetry of power between the state and the citizen. Thus, one of the proposals during the making of the constitution was that petitions which challenge the violation of fundamental rights by the state should be decided within one month. The pendency of critical cases in the judiciary reflects that such proposals… Continue reading A docket full of unresolved constitutional cases
Storm surges and relief: Why India should rethink its cyclone response
News: Factors such as the cyclone’s intensity, high tides and topography results in storm surges, which are the principal cause of destruction in major cyclones. It is important that, in this period, we recognise that there is more to cyclone risk management than the total number of evacuees. However, the usual approach has certain deficiencies… Continue reading Storm surges and relief: Why India should rethink its cyclone response
Fresh air has become a luxury in Delhi
News: Supreme Court (SC) judges expressed dissatisfaction with the Delhi and central governments for not doing enough to correct the dire situation of pollution in NCR. As per the World Air Quality Report of 2020, published by IQAir, 22 out of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are in India. Delhi’s pollution, in… Continue reading Fresh air has become a luxury in Delhi
