Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
- GS PAPER 2
- One glass of milk at a time {International Relation}
- Maldives opposition forms shadow govt. in London; seeks help from India {Foreign Policy}
- Ripe for a reboot {Foreign Policy}
- Only ill-gotten assets a crime, observes SC judge {Judiciary}
- GS PAPER 3
- Police stations to be graded on performance {Security}
- Ministry to consult seed firms, farmers on GM crops {Agriculture}
- The challenge of sustaining growth {Economy}
- Proposal to hire private sector talent in PSUs wins approval {Economy}
- Govt. mulls ‘outcome-linked’ incentive for NIIF chief {Economy}
- India Post’s payments bank gets Cabinet nod {Economy
- Night shifts are not the answer to getting more women to work {Indian Economy}
GS PAPER 2
[1] One glass of milk at a time
Issue
- Importance of diary sector.
Context
- 16th WORLD MILK DAY was observed on June 1, 2016.
Why hold a World Milk Day?
- The Day provides an opportunity to focus attention on milk and to publicise activities connected with milk and the milk industry.
- The fact that many countries choose to do this on the same day lends additional importance to individual national celebrations and shows that milk is a global food.
Milk in the Asia-Pacific region
- Asia-Pacific region has taken over Europe as the world’s largest milk producer.
- It is expected that two-thirds of increase of global production of milk will come from the Asia-Pacific region.
- The increased competition in Asia and the Pacific is playing a vital role in
a) Improving child nutrition
b) Improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the region
Importance of Milk
- Milk is a complete food.
- Milk is rich in minerals like calcium, magnesium and zinc, among others.
- The wide range of vitamins and amino acids present in milk are important building blocks for cells, bones, and muscles.
- It addresses the problem of undernourishment, which is a major problem in the Asia-Pacific region.
Role of Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
- FAO is working with stakeholders in the dairy sector on a Strategic Development Framework in Asia and developing an action plan for implementation and improved collaboration among countries in the region as development of the dairy sector progresses.
Steps need to be taken for betterment of the dairy sector
- Value chains need to be improved.
- Need to see improvements in productivity and competitiveness.
- Introduce ways to reduce negative environmental impacts, as there is increasing scarcity of, and competition for, natural resources.
- Improve the ability of smallholders to organise themselves and attain greater bargaining power in the market place.
- Smallholders farmers are need to be rewarded for their efforts.
- Above all, we have to make the sector more efficient and sustainable.
[2] Maldives opposition forms shadow govt. in London; seeks help from India
What happened?
- Maldives opposition parties have formed a shadow government in London by the name of Maldives United Opposition.
Background
- Mr. Nasheed, the first democratically elected leader of the Maldives was forced out of office in 2012, four years after his election, and was convicted and jailed on disputed terrorism charges.
- Mr. Nasheed, was recently given political asylum in the U.K and he called for unity of the opposition parties against the current President Yameen.
Vision and tasks of the new government
- Its objective is to fight for the restoration of democracy in the Indian Ocean nation.
- It has called for the immediate removal of President Abdulla Yameen through all legal and lawful mechanisms.
- It also called for the “immediate restoration” of freedoms unconstitutionally suspended by the Maldivian government.
- It has also demanded establishing a “transparent system to monitor public finances and safeguard the national treasury” and protect the rights of 1700 individuals currently under prosecution, investigation and arbitrary arrest.
Indian recognition:-
- The government wants to formally seek recognition and assistance for their cause from India
- The government is critical of the growing economic footprint of China in the Maldives, which they believe President Yameen has encouraged to counter India’s influence in the Indian Ocean region.
[3] Ripe for a reboot
Issue
- India-Iran relation.
Context
- Recent visit by PM Modi and the signing of the strategic Chabahar port deal.
Importance of Chabahar Agreement for India
- Closer ties with Iran and Central Asia.
- Access to Central Asia and other regions by bypassing Pakistan.
- It is the point of origin for the proposed Iran-India pipeline.
- Direct competition with China’s growing influence in the region. It is a response to
- China’s pursuit of a port in Pakistan’s Gwadar region.\
- It has scope for more future cooperation on issues such as terrorism, security, energy, trade, culture etc.
Importance of Iran for India
- Important supplier of energy to India.
- Key regional player in Central Asia and the Near East.
- After lifting of western sanctions, Iran is once again considered as a very resourceful country with greater political stability than many of its neighbours.
- And India would like to invest (oil and gas companies) in such an environment to secure its commercial and political interests.
How does Iran sees India?
- Pakistan interference in internal matters of Iran through ISI and different approach towards Taliban in Afghanistan, has made Iran to look towards India as a potential regional partner.
- Iran look towards India as a way to challenge US hegemony, because of India’s economic progress and its global ambitions as a full-time player in international affairs.
- Iran has looked towards India non-ideologically, that means without being a blind follower of any political theory, and has dealt with India on merits
- All political parties in Iran are in favour of strong India-Iran relations.
- It has promised proactive help to India in fighting al Qaeda and other forms of Islamist jihadism, while keeping its distance from Muslim-related issues in India.
Modern history of India-Iran relations
- Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visit to Iran, followed by Muhammad Khatami’s visit to India in January 2002 as a guest at the Independence Day function was the first step in Indian-Iranian regional cooperation.
- New Delhi Declaration of 2003 laid out the principles of cooperation in defence, including the training of Iranian military personnel by India.
- In September 2006, Iran, however, felt betrayed by India’s decision to vote in favour of sending its nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council.
- In spite of this, Iran has been lenient and accommodative of India’s good relations with US and Israel, both of which are considered anti-Iran countries.
Past and the future
- India and Iran have had long and close cultural links.
- And their ancient and modern histories have been intertwined.
- Since Indian independence, the relations have been essentially peaceful, friendly and empathic.
- They have turned more fruitful and productive after the Iranian revolution of 1979, the war in Afghanistan and the tense Iranian-Pakistani ties.
- India should be credited for its achievements with Iran via diplomacy rather than threats, sanctions and demonisation.
- Now, India must make sure that Iran remains the most stable, safe and inviting stop along the Silk Road.
[4] Only ill-gotten assets a crime, observes SC judge
Context
- Supreme Court on hearing a case related to the wealth of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, gave a ruling that the acquisition of assets in itself is not a crime.
- Only when it is proved that the source of such assets/funds is illegal, it can be considered as a crime.
What does the ruling mean?
- The ruling simply means that anyone having large or disproportionate assets cannot be tagged as a criminal unless it is proven with facts that he/she acquired such assets from an illegal source.
- Only on an inference that disproportionate assets always come from illegal source, the personal cannot be pronounced a criminal.
Bearing of the Judgement
- Now, as per the judgement, the illegality of the source of large wealth has to be established.
- This becomes really difficult because the act of bribery might already have happened without leaving any records. In such a case the person cannot be brought to justice.
- Also, for high profile people like ministers who have sufficient nexus with administration, it becomes almost next to impossible to establish the illegality of income.
Conclusion
- Although, this ruling will protect those who “are legally rich” from unnecessary judicial complexities. It remains to be seen that how it can be assured that the judgement will not be misused by those who are “illegally rich”.
GS PAPER 3
[1] Police stations to be graded on performance
Context
- Union Minister recently announced that the Police Stations in India will be given a grading on the basis of their performance.
How the grading will be done?
- Grading will be done by deciding the performance of police stations on various parameters.
Who decides these parameters?
- The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) is the body which has developed these parameters.
- Even the states would be consulted and their suggestion over the grading and parameters will be taken.
How would grading help to boost Police performance?
- Poor grading would result in police stations being perceived negatively.
- Thus, none of the police stations would like to be graded poorly.
- For this, they would have to perform better on various parameters to get a good grade.
- This would automatically result in an increase in overall performance of the police force.
Other new initiatives related to policing
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[2] Ministry to consult seed firms, farmers on GM crops
Issue
- Policy of GM crops.
Purpose of the policy
- It deals with technology agreements between seed technology companies and private seed companies.
- Government has said that it will have a wider consultation with seed companies, seed technology companies and farmers before introducing a new policy.
What is a GM crop?
- A GM or transgenic crop is a plant that has a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.
- For example, a GM crop can contain a gene(s) that has been artificially inserted instead of the plant acquiring it through pollination.
- The resulting plant is said to be “genetically modified” although in reality all crops have been “genetically modified” from their original wild state by domestication, selection, and controlled breeding over long periods of time.
Context
- Earlier, the Agricultural Ministry had issued — and retracted in less than a week — Licensing and Formats for GM Technology Agreement Guidelines, 2016 that would govern contracts between licensors and licensees of genetically modified cotton seeds.
Objections with this notification:-
- The notification was withdrawn because it contradicted, in spirit, India’s National Intellectual Property Rights Policy.
Assurance given by the government
- The government want to ensure that cotton seeds are cheaply and readily available to farmers.
- And, it will draft a policy where it will be difficult to have monopoly on GM technology by a single company.
[3] The challenge of sustaining growth
Context
- The recent data released by Central Statistics Office reveals that the Indian economy grew by 7.9 % in Quarter 4 (Jan-March 2016).
- This strong 4th Quarter growth took the full year GDP growth to 7.6%.
Let us see the table and observe how the condition was in 2014-15 and how the condition is in 2015-16:
| Year | GDP Growth |
| 2014-15 | 7.2% |
| 2015-16 | 7.6% |
The above table clearly reflects the marked improvement in GDP growth in comparison to the previous year.
But, what is the reason for this growth?
- An increase in Private sector consumption expenditure is the topmost reason for this jump in GDP.
- Private sector consumption expenditure grew by 7.4% this year compared to 6.2% growth of previous year.
- Estimates say that a 1% increase in Private sector consumption expenditure results in 0.6% growth of GDP (approximately).
How did the Private Sector Consumption Expenditure improve?
Let us consider 3 important factors which affect private consumption expenditure and see how they fared with respect to India:
- Interest Rates: The recent rate cuts by RBI has resulted banks being able to provide loans at lesser interest. This means people had greater access to money and thus more spending.
- Inflation: Consumers tend to save more during high inflation. Indian economy has seen lowering inflation rates in the recent times, this resulted in a boost in spending.
- Income: Higher personal income means more spending. In the recent past better directed subsidies, transfers and over all rationalization of taxes has resulted in more income and thus boosted spending.
All these factors combined resulted in higher Private Sector Consumption expenditure this year and thus resulted in a boost in GDP.
Is the growth picture really this rosy?
There is no doubt that the overall growth scenario is positive but then there are other statistics which offer a different view.
- If we consider the date of Gross Value Added at basic prices released by CSO we see a negligible increase (7.2% from 7.1% of previous year).
- We are talking about GVA here because GVA does not consider the impact of taxes and govt. spending on subsidies on the overall GDP.
- So it can be safely assumed that it was because of a substantial fall in subsidies that the GDP figure is inflated.
What lies in the longer run?
India seems to be in a comfortable position in the future as well. This is because of various factors e.g.
- Implementation of Seventh Pay Commission will further increase the household spending.
- Predictions of above average monsoon will increase the agricultural output, thus increasing rural demand.
- Increased agricultural output will reduce inflation and thus boost more spending.
However, there is an area of concern
Investment by the private sector in the economy continues to be lacking. This is because of two reasons:
- 1. Private companies are still not even close to 80-85% of capacity utilization (the point where they think of expanding)
- 2. Many companies are under the burden of heavy debts and thus, it is financially not feasible to expand.
This is an area where the Central govt. and the state govt. must come out with suitable regulations and legislations so as to break this deadlock.
Conclusion
- Criticisms apart, RBI and Central govt. have both done a commendable job from bringing the country out of the sever grip of inflation and leading towards a path of economic growth.
[4] Proposal to hire private sector talent in PSUs wins approval
Issue: Amending public sector recruitment rules.
Current Recruitment Process: In central public sector enterprise (CPSEs) a competitive exam is held at entry level. There is no other entry point at mid management or top management.
Changes: Selection of employees in CPSEs for a period of 5 years from
- Private Sector
- State Public Sector Enterprise
Rationale behind the move: Expectation of greater efficiency.
Caution in selection: The candidate who shows interest in selection, should not be there with a single motive of higher job security.
It should be tried that political hand in selection should be avoided.
Additional Changes: Chairperson of CPSEs and Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) can hold office for three years or up to the age of 65 years whichever is earlier.
[5]Govt. mulls ‘outcome-linked’ incentive for NIIF chief
Issue: Providing motivation to NIIF chief in form of incentives for bringing in more money to National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF). An outcome linked payment package where the chief will be given an incentive for every $10 billion that NIIF raises.
NIIF:India’s first sovereign wealth fund.
Some Important Terms
- Greenfield Project:Construction to done where no previous facilities or infrastructure were there.
- Brownfield Project: New project is undertaken under the existing facilities and infrastructure. In short they can also be termed as modification or upgradation project.
- Sovereign Wealth Funds: A fund which is taken from country reserve and kept aside for investment purpose. They invest globally. The fund seeks to benefit country’s economy at the same time accruing benefits for its citizens. Where to invest is something that varies country to country but can be invested in both real (real estate, precious metals) and financial assets (stocks, bonds, private equity fund etc.).
[6] India Post’s payments bank gets Cabinet nod
Issue: Setting up Indian Post as payment bank.
Name of the bank: Indian Post Payment Bank (IPPB)
Total Fund: Rs. 800 crore (Rs. 400 crore (equity) + Rs. 400 crore (grant))
Starts Operation: In march 2017, in almost 50 districts.
For Payment Banks Refer:https://forumias.com/portal/9-pm-daily-brief-1-june-2016/#Don’t-write-off-payments-banks
[7] Night shifts are not the answer to getting more women to work
Issue
- Making policies without understanding the ground realities.
Context
- Recently, the labour and employment ministry has asked all States to amend laws in order to allow women to work night shifts in factories.
Objective of such a move
- To increase India’s female labour force participation rate (LFPR)
Labour force participation rate (LFPR)
- Labor force participation rate is the proportion of the population ages 15 and older that is economically active: all people who supply labor for the production of goods and services during a specified period.
Implications of such a move
- It will increase gender equality.
- It will not bring more women under the labour force.
Why it will not bring more women under the labour force?
Restrictive laws:-
- India has the most restrictive laws when it comes to women working night shifts, when compared to other countries of similar socio-economical conditions.
Structural shift in the manufacturing sectors:-
- The impact of this legislation will be statistically insignificant in the manufacturing and services sectors, the areas where night shift is required constitute only a small proportion of the total jobs.
- It is attributed to the structural shifts in the manufacturing industry which has led to decline in manufacturing jobs where women were earlier employed.
Willingness of women to work at night:-
- In India, there are various socio-cultural norms that restrict women’s mobility.
- Safety and security is a major concern for women while working at nights.
Social Solution to the economical problem
- This is a welcome step by the Government to increase gender equality, but it will not fulfill its desired objective of bringing more women into the work force.
- For that, we need to address issues such as women’s safety and restrictive socio-cultural norms,so that an environment can be created where women feel safe to work at night.
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