Author: ForumIAS

Surprise softening What has happened? The Reserve Bank of India’s policymakers have acted predictably in opting to keep interest rates unchanged and in retaining the ‘neutral’ stance. Price stability, after all, remains the Monetary Policy Committee’s primary remit, and trend line retail inflation continues to run above its medium-term target of a durable headline inflation… Continue reading Surprise softening

Was the SC right on the anti-atrocities law? Context The recent Supreme Court ruling on the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Author is in agreement with the SC’s view It directs the police to verify all the facts of a case before registering a complaint under the Act so as to… Continue reading Was the SC right on the anti-atrocities law?

SC raps govt for passsing ordinance What has happened? The Supreme Court on Thursday rapped the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government for promulgating an ordinance to “blatantly nullify” last year’s apex court order freezing illegal medical admissions made in the State. SC observed It stayed the operation of the ordinance and made it clear that no… Continue reading SC raps govt for passsing ordinance

Expanding the SC/ST Act What has happened? The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015, was highlighted in the Supreme Court by the government as a significant step taken to affirm the trust of the SC/STs in the law. The amendments, which came into effect in January 2016, expand the… Continue reading Expanding the SC/ST Act

‘Skill India’ urgently needs reforms Context Salvaging the Indian demographic dividend  Background Sharada Prasad Committee: In 2016, the Government of India formed the Sharada Prasad Committee to rationalise the Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) and improve ‘Skill India’. Main point stressed in the suggestions by the Committee Focus on youth and need for vocational education not… Continue reading ‘Skill India’ urgently needs reforms

Not above the law Context The Wildlife (Protection) Act, the landmark law from 1972 that shields the diversity of India’s endangered animals mainly in 4% of its land area designated as protected, struggles to be effective and conviction rates are low. What has happened? The stiff sentence of five years in jail awarded to actor… Continue reading Not above the law

All the rhinoceroses Context Counting one-horned rhinos in Kaziranga National Park, home to nearly two-thirds of the world’s population of the ‘vulnerable’ species, is no easy task Problems faced in the process Shortage of guards: require at least 3,000 men to be deployed in 8 hour shifts. The park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since… Continue reading All the rhinoceroses

RBI raises limits on FPIs’ debt investment What has happened? The Reserve Bank on Friday upped debt investment limits for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) across all segments, which will cumulatively result in an increase of more than Rs. 1 lakh crore in fiscal year 2018-19 Numbers The total debt limit will rise to Rs. 5,94,600… Continue reading RBI raises limits on FPIs’ debt investment

Forging a culture of innovation Context India’s innovation policy has to shift beyond a mere focus on R&D spending to transforming the ecosystem On paper India should be in a good position in terms of research and development (R&D) spending on paper Our pipeline of researchers seems undiminished; we are ranked third in the world… Continue reading Forging a culture of innovation

Disruptive Mr. Trump Context The consistent undermining of multilateralism by the U.S. must be countered The larger point Trump continues to undermine the World Trade Organisation and the international world trade order, now that it has served the West well and developing countries are in a significantly stronger position than when the WTO came into… Continue reading Disruptive Mr. Trump