News: 12 Maharashtra BJP MLAs have gone to Supreme Court against their year-long suspension from the Assembly. Contents1 What is the background of this issue?2 What is the argument laid down by the suspended MLAs?3 What has Maharashtra said in its defence?4 What are the rules on the length of suspension of a Member of… Continue reading Explained: For how long can an MLA be suspended?
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Govt needs to plug loopholes, minimise irregularities, in implementation of NREGA in times when it is most needed
News: Social audit has been conducted in Jharkhand for the implementation of the MGNREGA scheme where so many loopholes were visible. This questions the effective implementation of the MGNREGA scheme. What is the importance of MGNREGA? MGNREGA played a critical role in alleviating economic hardship as migrations increased and non-farm employment opportunities declined. In 2020–21, 11.19… Continue reading Govt needs to plug loopholes, minimise irregularities, in implementation of NREGA in times when it is most needed
In 2022, India should keep an eye on Indo-Pacific
News: The year 2020 was transformational not just because of a pandemic, but because of massive geopolitical changes surrounding the Indo-Pacific. The region is central to emerging geopolitics and nine countries are the key players: the USA, China, Japan, India, Germany, UK, Russia, Australia and France. Contents1 How USA and China impact the Indo-Pacific region?2… Continue reading In 2022, India should keep an eye on Indo-Pacific
Why India’s Health data needs a booster jab
News: India’s health data system is not functioning properly. It requires a complete overhaul. About 16 years ago, HIV AIDS was threatening to become a pandemic. Then, no answers were available on the questions related to the prevalence of the disease, due to the unavailability of data. The situation, even today, has not improved much.… Continue reading Why India’s Health data needs a booster jab
Shifting demand patterns must guide state excise policy design
News: Policymakers need to design their tax policies after studying the market trends and available data carefully. Contents1 How a change in the consumer sector can impact the market?2 What is the status of the alcohol beverage sector in India?3 Why the data of consumer pattern change is useful for policymaking?4 What is the status of… Continue reading Shifting demand patterns must guide state excise policy design
There must be fair competition in telecom sector
News: The board of Vodafone Idea (Vi) has approved the conversion of part of their liability owed to the government into equity. Accordingly, Rs 16,000 crore of the interest on the deferred spectrum and adjusted gross revenue (AGR) liabilities will now be converted to government equity. This makes the government as the single-largest stakeholder, owning… Continue reading There must be fair competition in telecom sector
Rooftop solar: Why India is now considered to be a laggard globally
News: Rooftop solar installation in India is lagging behind the target. As a part of nationwide revamped target in 2014 for renewable energy installations, at least 40 gigawatt was earmarked for rooftop solar by 2022. However, only 6.11 GW (15 per cent of the target) was achieved as of November 2021. Even the urbanized, high-income cities like Delhi could achieve only… Continue reading Rooftop solar: Why India is now considered to be a laggard globally
Trust deficit: On tech platforms and news publishers
News: CCI has launched a probe against Google, following allegations by the country’s digital news publishers. Read – CCI’s Google probe In the recent years, many countries such as Australia and France have tried to correct the balance between the big tech companies and traditional journalism industry. What is the case in India? In India, the complaint has… Continue reading Trust deficit: On tech platforms and news publishers
Cutting corporate debt
News: Indian companies are deleveraging i.e. that is there is reduction in their borrowed debt. This trend is likely to continue, specially in the present pandemic situation. What are the indicators of deleveraging by Indian companies? The debt-to-equity ratio of listed firms dropped to a six-year low of 0.59 in 2020-21, compared to 0.73 in… Continue reading Cutting corporate debt
Establishing India’s Apple
News: U.S. tech company Apple has reached the $3 trillion-mark in market capitalisation. This now makes it wealthier than most countries. How can India advance towards creating such companies? This will require India to establish ecosystems that are innovation driven. Following are some key steps to achieve this: 1) Sustained public funding to build world-class… Continue reading Establishing India’s Apple
