Present issue Farmers in Maharashtra have gone for strike recently. Demand of the farmers includes: Full waiver of farm loans, Hikes in the minimum support price for agricultural produce and Writing off of pending electricity bills. As the strike nears the end of its first week, prices of essential goods such as milk, fruits and… Continue reading Issue of farmer’s suicide in India
Author: ForumIAS
MULTIDIMENTIONAL POVERTY INDEX
Context In 2010, for the 20th anniversary edition of the United Nation’s Development Programme’s flagship Human Development Report, the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI) developed a new way to estimate poverty, known as the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). This international measure paints a clear picture of people living in poverty within and across… Continue reading MULTIDIMENTIONAL POVERTY INDEX
NEW ADVICE ON ANTIBIOTICS
Context The World Health Organization (WHO) decides to restrain the antibiotics resistance. WHO has divided the drugs into three categories i.e., access, watch and reserve. The saturation is on the basis of common ailments and complicated diseases. The division of the antibiotic is as follows: Access: For commonly used antibiotics Watch: For slightly more potent… Continue reading NEW ADVICE ON ANTIBIOTICS
Quota in higher education institutes
What is the Issue? Noting that the Allahabad High Court “overstepped” its jurisdiction, the Supreme Court has set aside the High Court’s decision to remove the 50% institutional quota for admission to postgraduate medical courses in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Banaras Hindu University (BHU). Judgment The judgment said: “The High Court did not take… Continue reading Quota in higher education institutes
Need to Reform International Investment Agreement (IIA) and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)
India’s Take on ISDS Earlier this year some of the countries led by India, Japan, Argentina and South Africa rejected an informal proposal brought forward by the EU and Canada to form a multilateral investments pact at the World Trade Organization (WTO) that will have an in-built an Investor State Dispute Settlement system. The EU… Continue reading Need to Reform International Investment Agreement (IIA) and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)
India-Bangladesh Relations
Context With an attempt to improve bilateral trade, Bangladesh had approved land for the establishment of SEZs exclusively for Indian companies. The SEZs are supposed to be located near Mongla Port which is in close proximity to the Sundarbans, the other at Behrammara, very close to Murshidabad and the third one at Mirsarai. However, recently… Continue reading India-Bangladesh Relations
What is Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and inflation targeting?
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is a committee of the Central Bank in India (Reserve Bank of India), headed by its Governor, which is entrusted with the task of fixing the benchmark policy interest rate (repo rate) to contain inflation within the specified target level i.e. inflation targeting. The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934… Continue reading What is Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and inflation targeting?
Qatar Issue and India
Current Issue Four Arab countries out of which three are also the members of Gulf Cooperation Council – Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain along with Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar as well as suspended land, sea, air travel routes to and from the country. The Persian Gulf and its coastal areas… Continue reading Qatar Issue and India
Amendment of Banking Regulation Act, 1949
President Pranab Mukherjee approved an ordinance to amend the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 to give more powers to the Reserve Bank of India to take action against defaulters to solve the NPA crisis. The ordinance gives the RBI powers to issue directions to any bank to initiate insolvency resolution process in case of default, issue… Continue reading Amendment of Banking Regulation Act, 1949
India – Europe: Trade and Ties
Context: Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Europe last week to galvanise India’s ties with key European powers as well as to keep the momentum of his past visit to Europe 23 Background The Republic of India maintains an ongoing dialogue with the supranational Institutions of the European Union which is separate from the… Continue reading India – Europe: Trade and Ties
