A brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
National
[1]. PMO sets ambitious paperless target.
What has happened :
As part of the Digital India mission, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has set a target of December 2016 to shift 90% of all govt transactions i.e all payments and receipts from citizens and businesses to electronic mode. For this, all govt departments have been asked to provide electronic options for all payments and receipts by mar31,2016.
Implementation :
- DEITY – Departmentt of Electronics and Information Technology is in charge of developing an online portal through which payment of all govt services can be done online by all citizens.
- All govt depts. have been asked to come up with innovative measures to encourage citizens to make payments online. This initiative is headed by cabinet secretary P.K Sinha.
Why this is needed –
The flagship financial program of Government of India JAM (i.e. Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhar no. and Mobile Payment) trinity scheme aims at financial inclusion. To achieve this, all transactions must be moved online.
Also, this move will reduce corruption and mis-governance and address the leakages in subsidy system.
What is JAM –
JAM is a trinity of three scheme of Indian Government i.e.
- Jan Dhan Yojana – A flagship financial inclusion program of Government of India aimed to bring people into the banking net and inculcate the habit of saving. What it assures is every citizen has a bank account where government can directly transfer the money.
- Aadhar Card – To provide unique identification to citizens of India. The role it plays in JAM trinity is of better targeting of subsidies with information available from Aadhar database which was validated at the time of issuance of Aadhar card.
- Mobile Payments – A part of payment banking enables easy remittances of money even in remote location. With 869 million subscribers mobile payments becomes an enormous tool for government to remit money to intended beneficiary, also making easier for beneficiary to receive.
[2]. Rajya Sabha Unanimously Passes SC|ST Bill Without Debate
Context:-
The Rajya Sabha on Monday unanimously passed the SCST bill that provides for stringent action against those compelling any member of Dalit or tribal communities to carry human or animal carcasses or do manual scavenging.
Provisions of the bill:-
The Bill seeks to amend the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The Act prohibits the commission of offences against members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) and establishes special courts for the trial of such offences and the rehabilitation of victims.
New offences added under the Bill include:
- Garlanding with footwear
- Compelling to dispose or carry human or animal carcasses, or do manual scavenging
- Abusing SCs or STs by caste name in public
- Attempting to promote feelings of ill-will against SCs or STs or disrespecting any deceased person held in high esteem
- Imposing or threatening a social or economic boycott.
Public servant:-
The Act specifies that a non SC or ST public servant who neglects his duties relating to SCs or STs shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term of six months to one year.
Exclusive courts:-
It specifies that an Exclusive Special Court must be established at the district level to try offences under the Bill. In districts with fewer cases, a Special Court may be established to try offences.
[3]. Draft Civil Aviation Policy 2015: Are we making our airports safer?
What has happened?
Two matters in the Draft Aviation policy that stand out are the indecision on the 5/20 rule and the proposed new ground handling policy.
What is Ground Handling?
Ground handling at an airport involves all aspects of management of an aircraft between the time it arrives and takes off—cleaning, passenger and cargo handling, cabin service, catering service, ramp service, guiding aircraft into parking slots, lavatory cleaning, air conditioning, air start services, baggage handling, etc
Ground handling provision in the draft:-
Each airport operator must have at least three GHAs, of which one will be Air India through its subsidiary or its JV but there will be no upper limit of GHAs at an airport.
Further, all domestic airlines and charter operators will be free to carry out self-handling through themselves or their own subsidiaries and are permitted to ground handle another airline.
Also, while ground handling staff will be on the rolls of GHAs, airlines or their subsidiaries are allowed to take contract employees with a contract of at least one year, which is against the labour laws.
Concerns:-
Security Issues:-
The use labour contractors for ground handling is dangerous because police verification and on-ground vigilance of such a large and changing workforce cannot be done in a short period of time, and will never be as good as a permanent workforce
Productivity decreases:-
It has been documented that productivity decreases in proportion to the growing number of ground handlers.
More the GHAs, more space for parking their equipment is needed.
The pooling of equipment has been suggested but it is found impractical due to competition.
Morale of workers:-
Since efficiency and high skills are essential for a good and quick turnaround of aircraft, the labour needs to be highly trained and motivated.
Contract labours for a minimum of one year will not fulfil the above requirements.
What is 5/20?
It requires a domestic airline to have a fleet of 20 aircraft and operational experience of five years to start international operations.
[4]. Tread carefully on minimum wage reform
What has happened?
The labour ministry has moved a cabinet note seeking to merge four wage-related laws and set a mandatory national minimum wage.
Special case in India:-
Researches have shown that modest minimum wage hikes caused no visible change in employment levels.
But in India with the informal economy accounting for 90% of the workforce and 50% of the national product, employers hold disproportionate bargaining power.
Not just Mere Tokenism:-
Enforcing wage reforms is more challenging.
Government should set an optimal minimum wage rate and a modest hike followed by periodic inflation-linked revisions.
It should also update outdated labour laws to make it easier for employers to adjust their workforce in accordance with market conditions.
Conclusion:-
Minimum wage reform is simply one measure in an interlocking system necessary for poverty alleviation.
When implemented in isolation, or when guided by political considerations instead of economic, it runs the risk of being ineffective at best and counterproductive at worst.
International Relations
[1]. India welcomes, Madhesis reject Kathmandu Package
What has happened :
Nepal decides to amend its new constitution in order to address the following issues which sparked protests from the marginalized Madhesis group.
- Demarcation of states,
- Delimitation of constituencies,
- Proportional representation for Madhesis, and
- Strict citizenship rules.
India’s reaction : India has been consulted with and is happy with this announcement.
Madhesi reaction : UMDF (United Madhesis Democratic Front) is not happy with this announcement stating that these amendments leave out their main demands for separate state and identity. They will continue with their agitation and protests till these demands are met.
Background : Madhesis migrated from India to Nepal long back. They have been marginalized and dominated in Nepal. The new constitution of Nepal further marginalizes them and this sparked a huge protest from the Madhesis which has been going on ever since the constitution came into force. India has been supporting the Madhesi cause which has led to a dip in India-Nepal relations.
Economic Digest
[1]. Centre tables bankruptcy Bill in Lok Sabha/ A law to quickly resolve bankruptcy
[2]. ‘RBI discussion paper on peer-to-peer lending soon’/ Reserve Bank of India to prune NBFCs for effective regulation
What has happened?
The central bank was actively studying the peer-to-peer lending arrangements and would soon come out with a discussion paper.
The central bank is also looking at another category of NBFCs — NBFC account aggregators.
They are working towards harmonisation of the regulations to reduce the number of NBFC categories since there are several categories of NBFCs and varied regulations across these categories.
What is peer to peer lending?
Enables individuals to borrow and lend money – without the use of an official financial institution as an intermediary. It is also known as “social lending”.
The advantage to the lenders is that the loans generate income in the form of interest, which can often exceed the amount interest that can be earned by traditional means
It is because the lender has very little assurance that the borrower, who traditional financial intermediaries may have rejected due to a high likelihood of defaults, will repay their loan.
What is NBFC AA?
The NBFC-AA will provide a technology-enabled solution to a person to view at one place the position of his financial assets across institutions under different sectoral regulators.
Guidelines for the same are under preparations
[3]. Servicing the fisc
Context:-
The article suggests measures to keep fiscal deficit within limits.
Stress on Fiscal consolidation:-
- Seventh pay commission
- One rank one pension
Tax to GDP ratio:-
To meet expenses meet Tax to GDP ratio should be increased.
So government is considering to increase Service tax by 2% to 16%.
But Laffers curve suggests that if the service tax rate is increased too much, the taxable base may not grow by as much as is expected.
Over the years, growth in service taxes has been more a factor of the increased base than it has been the hike in the rate itself.
Way forward:-
The government must focus on disinvestments and strategic sales.
Laffer curve:-
This curve shows the relationship between tax rates and tax revenue collected by governments.
The curve suggests that, as taxes increase from low levels, tax revenue collected by the government also increases.
It also shows that tax rates increasing after a certain point (T*) would cause people not to work as hard or not at all, thereby reducing tax revenue.
For more:- http://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/laffercurve.asp
What is tax to GDP ratio?
This ratio is the total government tax collections divided by the country’s GDP.
Opinion & Editorials
[1]. Failing the test of gender
Context: Supreme Court verdict on policy of DMK regime in Tamil Nadu on the issue of appointment of priests in Hindu temples.
The Issue:
Agamas are the rules that govern temple construction and worship and dictate the eligibility of those to be appointed to important religious positions in the temple, including the priests.
Discourse: this has been shown as Brahmin v/s Non – Brahmin and that everything is being done to bring an end to Brahman dominance.
Article Emphasis: In the whole legislative and judicial process there has been a gross neglect of women and their right to different religious post.
Questions before Supreme Court:
Two important dimensions to adjudicate on
- a) Whether DMK legislative order encroached on the freedom of religion
- b) The prevalent practices violate Right to Equality (Art. 14) and Abolition of Untouchability (Art. 17)
The Verdict:
The Supreme Court uphold agama rules saying as it doesn’t prescribe any caste or society in text it doesn’t violate above mentioned fundamental rights. It has instances where sanctum sanctorum is not reachable for certain Brahmans.
The Issue of Women:
Women has been kept out pf priesthood on many points, them menstruating being one. In fact, they are not even allowed to enter the temple in that period.
In a non-agama temple by the recent judgment of Madras High Court a woman priest was appointed in one of the temples. The judge in the case noticed that it was possible because temples governance was not in the shackles of agama rules.
Conclusion:
It is important here to revisit the language of Article 14, 15 and 17. The first two bar discrimination on the basis religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. The third is also clear in its dictate: “Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form [emphasis added] is forbidden”. Thus, it should be essential for any custom, denomination or usage to pass the test of gender to be declared as being in consonance with the Constitution.
While the Supreme Court judgment asserts that “the exclusion of some and inclusion of a particular segment or denomination for appointment of archakas would not violate Article 14 so long as such inclusion/exclusion is not based on criteria of caste, birth or any other constitutionally unacceptable parameter”, the fact that the judgment, while upholding the Agamas, fails to deal in detail the aspect of gender leaves a major lacuna.
[2]. Rajya Sabha’s winter of disquiet/Don’t appease the mob/Juvenile Delinquency and Law
Context: After a long period of protesting and withholding work, in the sudden issue of juvenile being released facing a nationwide protest Rajya Sabha has hurriedly agreed to pass Juvenile Justice Bill.
Author in the article cautions,
That Rajya Sabha members should not work like a herd mentality and should look into legality as well as rehabilitative and reformation aspect of Juvenile law before taking any actions.
The article looks into the deliberative and questioning spirit of Parliament and how between all chaos the initiatives by Chairman of Rajya Sabha (Vice President of India) for keeping this spirit alive has gone unnoticed.
The author calls for the cooperative nature in Rajya Sabha where ruling party having less in numbers goes an extra inch to provide answers to stringent questions as well as Opposition should held a bipartisan views and their views should not be curbed because of anti-defection laws.
Current Law:
Children below 18 years of age are subject to criminal action only in a specialised juvenile justice system that is required to reintegrate children, who are in conflict with the law, back into society as productive citizens
Proposed Law:
Will reverse the existing law if it gets the Rajya Sabha’s nod. It would put children aged 16-18 years, who are accused of committing crimes punishable by seven or more years of imprisonment, in the adult criminal justice system.
Author states,
This change will bring no benefit to society. Crime will not be deterred by harsh punishment, as we have seen in the case of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, post the Nirbhaya rape case. More than that it can lead to dehumanization of the child convicts and turning them in a hardcore criminal.
The current law is a copy paste of United States law, whose own record on Juvenile Justice is shady. It is the only member country of the UN that has not ratified the UN convention on the rights of the child.
That response is to strengthen the juvenile justice system, not to weaken and destroy it. The proposed law violates not only Indian constitutional standards but also our international obligations.
Conclusion:
The author argues that Government and Parliament will do a heinous crime if the Juvenile Justice Bill is passed just to appease to the mobs. As stated above and from experience world wide the idea can ruin life of many children in the age bracket of 16 – 18 years. Also, it is against the standard international conventions and practises where mostly the age of juvenile is set to 18 years.
We should not look for an eye for eye, through our legal system. Judicial decision should not be confused with revenge.
[3]. Riddles in the Syria road map
Context: United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has finally come to an agreement on an international road map for a peace process in Syria. Resolution 2254, adopted unanimously by the Security Council.
Proposal:
- a) Ceasefire between the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the rebels within a month and the establishment of a “credible, inclusive and non-sectarian” government in Damascus within six months.
- b) Set an 18-month deadline for free and fair elections and a new Constitution that would decide the future of Syria
Implementation Challenges:
- The region of Syria affected by IS which has not been acknowledged in the agreement on what will happen to these regions.
- Implementation will face challenge due to strategic difference and distrust among the involved nations such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, Russia and Turkey.
- No differentiation between rebels and terrorist makes it even more difficult. Also, many rebel groups have cordial contacts with terrorist groups.
- Implementation of Sharia law after Assad regime is one of the demand which won’t amuse the West.
- Polarity in nations on the issue of Assad role in future.
Historical position of US and Russia:
Syria is the first conflict where both the United States and Russia are militarily involved since the end of the Cold War. Syria is the first conflict where both the United States and Russia are militarily involved since the end of the Cold War.
For Russians, Syria is a strategic asset in West Asia. Russia’s only naval base outside the former Soviet region is in the Syrian coastal city of Tartus. Russia also sees Syria as an outpost of its power from where it could influence West Asian politics.
Washington’s Syria policy has evolved from one of idealistic intransigence to that of pragmatic flexibility, narrowing the gap with the Russian position.
[4]. Lies and the Sensex
Context:-
The article explains why Stock market performance is not a real indicator of Indian economy and what is causing this divergence.
Divergence:-
Stock prices usually reflect the future prospects of a company, which in turn are linked to the economy. Therefore stockmarket indices like the Nifty and the Sensex are seen as indicators of the robustness of the Indian economy.
By this logic, the current weakness in the Nifty, which is down nearly 7 per cent over the past 12 months, has dampened sentiment about the economy.
This comes at a time when several hard broad-based indicators like oil and auto demand are pointing towards an economic recovery.
Reasons for this divergence:-
The weakness in stockmarkets, particularly the larger listed stocks, is linked to weakness in the global economy.
This happens in two ways First, through strong business links to global trends among larger companies and second, through fund outflows
Link between business and global trends:-
More than half of the revenues of the top 100 listed companies (53 per cent to be precise) are fundamentally unrelated to the domestic economy.
Businesses like metals, energy and petrochemical companies, whose prices are driven by global demand and supply are some examples.
Fund outflows:-
Net selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in the past nine months is high.
This is driven by fiscal problems in oil-exporting economies caused by the fall in oil prices. When oil prices were high, these economies (particularly those in West Asia and Scandinavia) were generating large fiscal and current account surpluses, which were deployed into equity and bond markets globally.
EM funds also saw strong inflows, and as these were then deployed into various markets due to the same reason.
Those stocks which are driven by domestic economy performed well during the same time the stock market indices were falling. For example stocks of consumer discretionary and non-banking finance companies.
Since they are less exposed to global trends, and so they better reflect the improvement in the Indian economy
Is the divergence permanent?
This divergence will likely reduce over time on both fronts as markets keep evolving.
Indices regularly shed weaker companies and add stronger ones: Over the next few years, as the Indian economy continues to outperform global trends, it is likely that they may become more representative of the economy.
[5]. In The Right Company
Context:-
Rising Controversies about Section 25 companies
What are section 25 companies?
Section 25 companies are those companies which are formed for the sole purpose of promoting commerce, art, science, religion, charity or any other useful object and have been granted a licence by the central government recognizing them as such. T
There are three criteria for determining whether a particular company is section 25 company or not:
- Its objects should be only to promote commerce, art, science, religion, charity or any other useful object.
- It should intend to apply its profits or other incomes only in promoting its objects; and
- Central government should have granted a licence to such a company recognizing them as such, these types of companies can be either public company or private company having a limited liability.
Example: – Sabarmati riverfront project, was planned and implemented by a not-for-profit section 25 company.
What are Producer companies?
It is based on the recommendations of an expert committee led by noted economist, Y. K. Alagh.
It is termed as `producer company’, to indicate that the members have necessarily to be `primary producers,’ that is, persons engaged in an activity connected with, or related to, primary produce.
The objects of producer companies shall include one or more
- Production, harvesting, procurement, grading, pooling, handling, marketing, selling, export of primary produce of members or import of goods or services for their benefit;
- Processing including preserving, drying, distilling, brewing, venting, canning and packaging of produce of its members; and
- Manufacture, sale or supply of machinery, equipment or consumables mainly to its members.
For more:- http://www.thehindu.com/biz/2003/06/30/stories/2003063000010300.htm
[6]. Dargah diplomacy
Context:-
Government has cleared an invitation to Shahbaz Sharif, chief minister of Pakistani Punjab and younger brother of Premier Nawaz Sharif, to attend the annual Urs celebrations of the 14th-century Sufi saint, Hazrat Nizamuddin Auliya, next month.
Dargah Diplomacy:-
Religious tourism figured explicitly as one of the 12 elements identified in the “comprehensive dialogue” announced by External Affairs Ministry in its engagement with Pakistan.
It was also part of the joint statement issued after the talks between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif in Ufa in July.
This shows that the government is sensitive to the diplomatic possibilities that religious tourism offered as it promote people-to-people exchanges.
By: ForumIAS Editorial Team
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