{"id":9349,"date":"2017-10-04T12:11:29","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T06:41:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=9349"},"modified":"2017-10-04T12:51:13","modified_gmt":"2017-10-04T07:21:13","slug":"answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-october-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-october-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 October 3"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/mains-marathon\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Archives<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Q.1 NITI Aayog\u2019s three-year action plan on agriculture raises hope as well as concerns. \u00a0Discuss. GS 2<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ans:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recently, the NITI Aayog released the Action Agenda for the government, a roadmap for reforming various sectors of the economy including agriculture.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NITI Aayog\u2019s Action Agenda forms a part of larger Vision Document which spans a seven year strategy and a 15 years vision till fiscal year 2031-32.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hopes:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Target of doubling farmers&#8217; income by 2022.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It will address the problems of increasing suicides &amp; distress of the farmers<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Increasing productivity of land and water<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reforming agri-markets on the lines of e-NAM<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reforming tenancy laws<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Relief measures during natural disasters<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Shift to high value commodities: horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Concerns:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><b>What are the reasons for not achieving desired results?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The policy of minimum support prices (MSP) has not improved profitability of cultivation in the last few years.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Farmers\u2019 returns have done down in the case of most crops.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The situation is worse for producers of basic vegetables like potatoes, onions and tomatoes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Prices of these crops during the harvest time plunged to about Rs 2 per kg in the last season while the consumers were still paying Rs 15 to Rs 20 per kg.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Attempts to reform the <\/span><b>Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) markets on the lines of the model act of 2003<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, and now through the <\/span><b>Agricultural Produce and Livestock Marketing Act, 2017<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, have not achieved much success.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><b>e-NAM scheme,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which is supposed to create an all India market, in order to ensure better prices to farmers, has not succeeded in its endeavour so far.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inter-mandi and inter-state transactions are very rare<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Q.2 What has prompted the sudden takeoff of Public issues and private placements of corporate bonds? Examine. Also, discuss the factors that led NBFCs to expand. GS 3<\/p>\n<p><b>Reasons for increase in public issues and private placements of corporate bonds<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the borrowing side<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: firms have taken to bond issues to source more of their requirements because bond markets have transmitted the recent fall in interest rates much more quickly and effectively than banks. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the last couple of years, it has been much cheaper for high-quality corporate borrowers to tap bond markets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On the lending side<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: retail savings flooding into mutual funds, insurance firms and pension funds have helped stoke the domestic institutional investors\u2019 demand for bonds.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These trends, taken with active efforts by the RBI, suggest that bond markets may continue to remain a leading source of credit to businesses, offering stiff competition to banks. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The only caveat is that the bond market route is more accessible to large enterprises with good credit ratings, than SMEs or borrowers with low ratings.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Factors that led NBFCs to expand<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span><b>Crisil study<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in 2016 noted that NBFCs had gained a 3 percentage point share of overall credit pie from banks in the last three years as a result of their mortgage and MSME lending push, and would continue to gain share over the next three years. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Housing finance NBFCs have emerged as a major source of funds for real estate developers too, with financial institutions such as LIC, SIDBI, National Housing Bank and NABARD playing a complimentary role in funding other businesses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Two factors have helped NBFCs expand their lending activities at the cost of banks &#8211; their <\/span><b><i>comfortable capital adequacy ratios<\/i><\/b> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and their <\/span><b><i>ability to borrow at lower costs due to falling interest rates<\/i><\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the last couple of years, NBFCs have been even more aggressive than corporates in tapping the bond markets for capital. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They have also augmented their resources by borrowing from banks and institutional investors through securitisation deals. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lately, there is worry the sluggish property market will force NBFCs to tread more cautiously on loans against property.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is \u00a0important that rather than External Commercial Borrowings or short-term credit, it is the more durable FDI money that is meeting this need.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is essential to recognise that these cannot completely substitute for bank lending. <\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Q.3 Companies are looking outside their organizations to acquire skills and capabilities rather than building them in-house. In reference to the above context, discuss the reasons behind the fundamental shift occurring at the today\u2019s industrial ecosystem. GS 3<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Instead of adding skills and services in-house, companies are proactively partnering with other organizations<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>What is happening?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a fundamental shift in industry today of ecosystems, rather than individual firms, competing with each other.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Companies are looking outside their organizations to acquire skills and capabilities rather than building them in-house.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This means that they are also integrating and partnering with other organizations more proactively than before.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>What are the reasons behind this change?<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The rise of the new-age consumer who is more aware and has access to more information is the main push factor.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such awareness makes them extremely demanding, and at the same time not loyal to any one brand.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This shift is putting immense pressure on organizations to take a holistic, long-term view in terms of revenue and create a sustainable business by increasing proximity with consumers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone understands that technologies such as blockchain, cognitive, Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, etc., can do wonders for their business, developing in-house capabilities and continuously upgrading those can also become a distraction from the core business.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Such understanding itself drives organizations to tie up with start-ups and companies excelling in specific areas to deliver these requirements.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Importance of digital technology<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the operating expenses model of selling and buying services is not new, digital technologies today have made it possible to provide almost anything as a service.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organizations are making revenue by developing an ecosystem of companies (like those selling fertilizers, pesticides, farm equipment, insurance, etc.), for whom the farmer is the buyer and the \u201cfarm as a service\u201d company providing easy access to these farmers by getting them on the platform.<\/span><\/span><br \/>\n<hr \/>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Archives\u00a0 Q.1 NITI Aayog\u2019s three-year action plan on agriculture raises hope as well as concerns. \u00a0Discuss. GS 2 Ans: Recently, the NITI Aayog released the Action Agenda for the government, a roadmap for reforming various sectors of the economy including agriculture. \u00a0\u00a0NITI Aayog\u2019s Action Agenda forms a part of larger Vision Document which spans a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answers-mains-marathon-upsc-mains-current-affairs-questions-october-3\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Answers: Mains Marathon \u2013 UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions \u2013 October 3<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":2292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9349","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mains-marathon-answers","category-public","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/pen-paper-laptop.jpg?fit=1000%2C500&ssl=1","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704886857},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9349","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}