Click here to Download 9 PM Daily Brief PDF (13th Oct. 2016)
NATIONAL
[1]. Draft Water Bill suggests basin-level management
Context
Final draft of the National Water Framework Bill, 2016 has been finalized by the central government.
Highlights of the bill:
- Every person has a right to sufficient quantity of safe water for life within easy reach of the household regardless of his/her socio-economic condition.
- All basin states have equitable rights over the use of river water provided such use does not violate the right to water for life of any person in the river basin.
- All the basin States are equal in rights and status, and there is no hierarchy of rights among them .According to document here ‘equality of rights’ means not equal but equitable shares in river waters.
- States must recognize the principle that the rivers are public trustees and not owned by the basin-States
- It suggested for Managing water at river basin-level and right measurement of State’s contribution to river system in order to resolve conflicts.
- Stressed on establishing River Basin Authority (RBA) for each inter-State basin to ensure optimum and sustainable development of rivers and valleys. Establishing institutional arrangements to deal with inter-state water disputes in order to “obviate” disputes through negotiations, mediation or conciliation.
Note: Water is a State subject under VII Schedule of constitution and hence the law will be not binding on States for adoption.
[2].Sweden’s SAAB sweetens deal for Gripen jet
Context
India is looking to select a single engine fighter aircraft to be built in large numbers in India with extensive technology transfer for which the SAAB had offered its latest Gripen E fighter.
- To capture a share in India’s fighter aircraft market, Swedish aerospace major SAAB has offered its latest radar technology long with significant technology transfer as part of the Gripen fighter package.
- Gripen was the first fighter to be integrated with the Meteor, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missile.
- India is procuring the Meteor, with its range of 150 km, as part of the Rafale package concluded with France recently.
- It also offered design consultancy for developing the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Mk-1A as India is looking to select a single engine fighter aircraft to be built in India in large numbers under the ‘Make in India’ initiative.
- Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd., which is manufacturing the LCA, is looking for foreign design assistance on the LCA Mk-1A to make specific improvements sought by the Indian Air Force which include an AESA radar, mid-air refuelling and improved electronic warfare suite which need design change in addition to other minor improvements.
SAAB also offered help in the development of the next-generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) being designed by Aeronautical Design Agency (ADA).
EDITORIAL
[1].The alphabet soup at Goa
The Hindu
Context
As Indian foreign policy looks westwards, the BRICS summit offers India an opportunity to calibrate its outreach to multiple powers.
All the articles regarding BRICS, in today’s newspaper and in the forthcoming issues, will be dealt in detail after the BRICS summit.
ECONOMY
[1].Market size helping Indian firms post rapid growth: WEF
Context
The number of Indian firms in WEF’s global rapid-growth list has risen from 17 in 2014 to 30
According to the World economic forum the number of Indian firms among the global rapid-growth companies has almost doubled to 30 now from 17 in 2014.
- 100 Indian companies that are members of the WEF, of which 30 are mid-sized or entrepreneurial companies.
- The sheer scale of the Indian market, and the necessary innovation made by Indian companies, make them highly competitive at the global level.
- Start-up like PayTM, Ola Cabs, Dabur, Parle Agro etc are some of the innovative companies playing a greater role in the WEF’s ecosystem.
- The only matter of concern with the Start-ups is their over-valuation and then the subsequent scaling back of this valuation.
- Despite India’s improved performance in the global competitiveness rankings, there still remain substantial challenges in the ease of doing business, and the taxation system.
[2]. Tread carefully
Context
Personal law reform is desirable. But a consensual approach will be needed to take it forward.
Background
The Centre filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court supporting ShayaraBano’s plea against the practices of talaq-e-bidat (instantaneous triple talaq), nikahhalala (prohibition on remarriage with the divorced husband without consumating marriage with another man) and polygamy.
- It referred to constitutional principles like gender equality and secularism, and cited international covenants, religious practices and marital law prevalent in various Islamic countries to emphasise that the practices need to be re-looked at by the court.
ShayaraBano case
ShayaraBano’s petition challenges these practices as being violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, particularly Articles 14, 15, 21 and 25, which are concerned with the right to equality, protection against discrimination on grounds of sex or religion, protection of life and personal liberty and freedom of religion respectively.
- Support: A host of Muslims groups and secular bodies have also come out in support of ShayaraBano in the court
Government’s view on ShayraBano case
In the ShayaraBano case, the Centre has held the view that the said practices are not an integral part of Islam
- Interpretation: This could be taken to mean that they are subject to executive intervention
Call for reform from within
The call for reforms has periodically been raised from within the community, be it in the Shah Bano case in the 1980s or the ShayaraBano case now
Conclusion
Author concludes by saying that reform in Muslim personal laws over the past have been laced with political and electoral urgencies
[3]. India’s Ocean opportunity
Live mint
Context
Article focusses on the opportunity that the Uri attack aftermath has presented itself to India, that of reviving India Ocean integration across Indian Ocean Rim counties
Is it the end of the days for SAARC?
September 2016’s terrorist attack has created an existential crisis for the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), forcing the eight-nation body to cancel its meeting next month in Islamabad. SAARC is often viewed as ineffectual. Many observers are now asking whether its position has become untenable (unsustainable)
African potential
- As per a research from Harvard University, India will be the world’s fastest growing nation in the decade to 2024, with its gross domestic product expanding by an average of 7% per year
- But of the world’s six fastest growing economies over that same period, four will also be in east or southern Africa, including Kenya and Tanzania. A host of other countries likely to grow comparably quickly, not least Myanmar and Indonesia, are part of the wider region too.
- This potential growth is already attracting corporate India, with groups like Tata and Mahindra targeting African markets
- Goods produced under Make-in-India should look for potential markets in eastern Africa and South-East Asia
The Problem
The problem is that while these nations are set to grow individually, the links between them are often weak
Present situation
- South Asian Region is the least economically integrated regions
- Similar is the condition of the Indian Ocean, which encompasses roughly 40 nations and stretches from Australia to East Africa.
Trade volume: Estimates suggest that a third of global bulk cargo and two-thirds of oil shipments cross the Indian Ocean. But most of this heads off elsewhere, rather than being traded between countries in the region
How can India improve this situation?
Idea being floated around is this: creating a new regional body, or expanding an old one
- India has presented an idea in the form of expansion of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, a low-profile grouping of 21 countries
Problem with the idea: As SAARC is dominated excessively by India, an expanded Indian Ocean forum would suffer the opposite problem, bringing together a diffuse grouping with variant interest having little in common with each other
A better approach
A better approach would see India making efforts towards improving regional connectivity, including greater financial support for new infrastructure investment, and a new push to reduce trade barriers
Conclusion
The Indian Ocean has the potential to become the most important source of new global growth over the next 20 years, just as the Pacific Rim powered the world’s economy for much of the last 20 years.
[4]. The Reserve Bank of India’s new neutral rate
Live mint
context
Central banks globally are moving towards lower neutral interest rates. The neutral or equilibrium rate of interest is the policy rate of the central bank when both inflation and growth are on target.
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