A brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
National
[1]. Sensing public mood, Rajya Sabha clears Juvenile Justice Bill/Parliament veers away from history/ An arbitrary cutoff
Highlights of the bill:-
- It replaces the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2000.
- It permits juveniles between the ages of 16-18 years to be tried as adults for heinous offences
- Any 16-18 year old, who commits a lesser, i.e., serious offence, may be tried as an adult only if he is apprehended after the age of 21 years.
- Juvenile Justice Boards (JJB) and Child Welfare Committees (CWC) will be constituted in each district.
- The JJB will conduct a preliminary inquiry to determine whether a juvenile offender is to be sent for rehabilitation or be tried as an adult.
- The CWC will determine institutional care for children in need of care and protection.
- Procedure for adoption has been included in the Bill.
- Penalties for cruelty against a child, offering a narcotic substance to a child, and abduction or selling a child have been prescribed.
Analysis:-
Punitive approach:-
It is argued that the current law does not act as a deterrent for juveniles committing heinous crimes. And that a reformative approach will reduce likelihood of repeating offences.
Against UN Convention:-
The provision of trying a juvenile as an adult contravenes the Convention. The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child requires all signatory countries to treat every child under the age of 18 years as equal.
Penalties are not proportionate to gravity of offence:-
Penalty for selling a child is lower than that for offering intoxicating or psychotropic substances to a child.
Misleading Data:-
The Bill observed that it was based on misleading data regarding juvenile crimes and violated certain provisions of the Constitution.
Previous acts:-
Juvenile justice laws enacted by Parliament in the past 55 years shows that lawmakers have always leaned in favour of reformation and social re-integration of child offenders rather than populating Indian jails with them.
The current act tries to find a balance between right of victims and right of juveniles.
Author Views:
The author expresses his view that rather than considering the age of the convict, his mental maturity should be used as the yardstick. This in turn should be the task of the judicial discretion than a board.
It is said that the amended act again has the same flaw of placing the under 16 convict beyond the reach of criminal law even if his mental maturity is aware of the consequences his crime would produce.
[2]. Finally, Govt may Write a Code for Software Sector
Context:-
The government is working on a national policy for software products.
The policy will take a comprehensive view of the sector and try to fix some longstanding issues pertaining to international tariffs, taxation and R&D among others that have been scuttling the industry’s growth.
The first draft of policy in the form of a consultation paper is ready and will be circulated soon for industry consultation.
Concerns:-
The industry has been seeking clarity from the government on whether digital goods will be taxed as a product or a service.Even the proposed goods and services tax (GST) does not have a definition for digital goods.
The confusion has led to digital product downloads off the internet being treated as both products as well as services, and companies have to pay dual taxes on them.
Software product companies also suffer from over regulation, especially when it comes to recurring payments.
For instance, companies that provide software-as-a-service (SAAS) can’t process payments from their Indian clients on a monthly basis without an authentication each time, according to RBI guidelines. Similarly, they need to set up different accounts for each of these customers in order to process refunds.
In a lot of government projects, departments are mainly procuring MNC products so the Indian software products need to be given a level-playing field.
[3]. What is behind the regional variation in adult mortality in India?
India’s crude death rate (CDR)—the number of deaths per thousand people per year—declined from 9 to 7 between 2000 and 2013, as per data from the civil registration system.
A falling death rate is often associated with an overall improvement in heath and sanitation.
But the above inference can be misleading as countries with younger populations will tend to have lower death rates.
For example, India’s CDR (7) is lower than that of Japan (10).
To overcome this, researchers often use the age-standardized mortality rate (ASMR), which is a weighted average of the age-specific mortality rates, with the weights being the proportions of persons in the corresponding age groups of the World Health Organization (WHO) standard population.
India’s ASMR declined from 12.6 in 2000 to 10.5 in 2012.
A recent study has found significant divergences in ASMR across states. Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh and Assam have the highest ASMRs.
Reasons:-
The main reasons for variation in adult mortality across districts are not clear.
But the authors show that deaths due to tuberculosis, vascular diseases, malaria and other infections, and respiratory diseases together contribute around 60% of the gap between high and low mortality districts.
In addition, around 5% of the excess deaths among women in high-risk districts were attributed to maternity-related causes.
International Relations
[1]. Modi’s visit to reassure Moscow
Context:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will leave for Moscow on Wednesday with a slew of defence acquisitions worth an estimated $10 billion and nuclear and space cooperation agreements.
About Syria:-
Both Russia and India agree that the solution to the problem in Syria will be achieved by political and diplomatic means and through an intra-Syrian dialogue.
[2]. Zhengzhou emerges a major hub along the New Silk Road
Context:-
Zhengzhou is becoming the hub of brisk trans-border trade between China and Europe because of rail connectivity and e commerce.
What is SREB?
Zhengzhou and Hamburg are emerging as the major centres of the Silk Road Economic Belt (SREB), a trans-Eurasia connectivity project.
The China-led initiative will connect Asia with Europe along a land corridor interlinked by rail, roads, industrial parks and smart cities.
China’s Look west policy:-
Zhengzhou Hub Development and Construction Company (ZIH) is the state-owned enterprise that steers transcontinental transportation of goods by rail, road, sea and air.
Temperature controlled wagons are used to transport the cargo even in winter
The location of Zhengzhou in the centre of China has gone a long way in making profitable the multiple railway routes that radiate from the city.
Opinion & Editorials
[1]. Misdiagnosis of the Rajya Sabha malfunction
Context:-
The article illustrates the need for Rajya Sabha and how to balance legislative productivity and legislative dissent.
Why do we need an Upper house?
Check against whims:-
People have argued that “the Upper House is a creation of imperialism” and independent India did not need it.
To which Gopalaswami Ayyangar, replied that “the role of the Upper House is merely to delay legislation which might be the outcome of passions of the moment until the passions have subsided”.
It means that Lok Sabha MPs can be vulnerable to passing laws in the spur of the moment and The upper house will serve as an effective tool to curtail such momentary instincts.
Indirectly elected Vs Directly elected:-
It is also argued that how can the indirectly elected Rajya Sabha members have veto powers over the directly elected Lok Sabha Members.
In India first-past-the-post electoral system is followed,where a political party can form a government without the majority of citizens voting for it.
Which means the percentage of seats won in the Lok Sabha by a political party is not the same as percentage of Indians voting for that party
Thus legislation passed by the Lok Sabha may not necessarily represent the views of the majority.
Does Anti defection Act aggravate the situation?
Anti Defection law disqualifies any Member of Parliament who either changes political parties mid-way or disobeys the whip of her party
It was enacted to prevent horse-trading on the floor of the House and penalise members who succumb to temptations from opposition parties.
For a large, diverse polity such as ours, with a large number of regional parties this act is relevant.
Also the choice of when to issue a whip rests with the party and in some cases the members have voted as per their choices even against their party.
Hence Anti-Defection Act in itself cannot be made a villain for an internal matter of political parties over degrees of freedom to be given to their members for voting in Parliament.
Way Forward:-
There has to be an outlet for opposition members to voice their protests without disrupting productivity.
One suggestion is to have designated day(s) in a week on which the opposition can raise, discuss and debate issues rather than the government dictating the order of business every day of the session.
Conclusion:-
To argue that the construct of the Upper House and the Anti-Defection Act need to be amended or done away with might substantiate our founding fathers’ fears of lawmaking in a fit of frenzy.
[2]. In the spirit of South Asianism/ Make amends
Context:-
Nepal’s government agreed on Monday to amend its new constitution, in the hope of meeting the demands of the madhesis.
Impact of blockade:-
The tactic of the blockade has helped to construct a dangerous dichotomy Madhesi vs Pahadi while muffling the diversity of dissent as along with Madeshis, Janajatis and Dalits are also not given fair representation in the constitution.
The blockade has set a dangerous precedent by the polarising politics of the border blockade.
It is a great irony that South Asia allowed its borders to be captured by parochial interests when the world is embracing post-nationalist visions of regionalism and globalism.
Demands of Madhesis:-
Population-based proportional representation in government and changes in constituency delimitation
Proposed amendments:-
While Nepal Government has agreed to amend the constitution to incorporate the demands of protesters, the madhesis are rejecting it claiming that the proposals are vaguely worded.
Way forward:-
India should take measures to ensure that the backlog on essential supplies of medicines, cooking gas, kerosene and petrol is cleared as soon as possible.
Delhi then needs to rebuild its relations with Kathmandu and ensure that its policies do not favour the political struggle of one agitating Nepali constituency against the others.
Above all, India should withdraw from any imperial designs in the region if it truly believes in South Asianism and the spirit of Panchsheel.
The government to resolve the situation, rather than perpetuating the stand-off as this would provide the Nepal government an incentive to continue with accommodating consensus.
Delhi’s best interests lie in creative diplomacy that leverages India’s strengths — not crude displays of its coercive resources otherwise it will lead Nepal to lean more towards China.
[3]. Nothing ‘historic’ about Nairobi Ministerial
Context:-
The WTO Nairobi meet is a setback because the developmental issue of developing countries was not taken forward.
Distorting Agriculture Trade:-
Agricultural trade is highly discriminatory in nature essentially because of three primary issues that distort the trade even now -Domestic subsidy, market access and export competition.
Export competition has the least intensity among the three and it experienced an overwhelming emphasis in the WTO Meet.
Though export subsidy remains a major irritant to free trade, according to the World Bank its abolition will only yield 2% of theoretical gains to world agriculture.
The entire export subsidy given to the magnitude of $5 billion on farm products is minuscule compared to domestic support that is given to the tune of $1 billion per day
Special Safeguard Mechanisms (SSM) :-
It would help developing countries defend their triple concerns of food security, farmers’ livelihoods and rural development in the event of agricultural trade liberalisation.
SSM enables them to raise their tariffs above the bound rates in the event of a fall in price of the imported product or an increase in volume of the imported product beyond certain levels.
Identification of ‘Special Products’ (SPs):-
SPs are a set of products that directly concern their food security and livelihoods, and therefore should be subject to no or low tariff reductions
Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA):-
Trade facilitation agreement (TFA) is a trade protocol aiming to give a spur and do away with the stumbling blocks in doing international trade between various countries.
The implementation of TFA has the potential to increase global merchandise exports by up to $1 trillion per annum,
The developing country especially India and South Africa wants that before pushing for this TFA WTO has to address their concerns on food subsidy which is a lifeline for lakhs of BPL people in these countries
It is argued that developing countries will benefit significantly from TFA, capturing more than half of the available gains.
For more:- https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/20y_e/wto_tradefacilitation_e.pdf
[4]. Defence reforms: time to execute the vision
Context:-
Today’s Defence challenges in India require a coordinated armed force that can work in tandem in different spheres of planning, training, procurement and operations.
Need for a Chief Defence Staff:-
Jointness across every level of our armed forces should be promoted.
The CDS will be a four-star general and serve as a single point of contact for the defence minister. He would be accorded a place above the three service chiefs in the pecking order.
But very little progress has been made.
Increased Geographic Presence in neighbourhood:-
The neighbourhood continues to remain in top priority.
The focus on Indian Ocean and articulation of a need for a maritime strategy is the need of the hour for the country with a coastline exceeding 7,500km.
India is working to safeguard its interests and relationships in the neighbourhood to counter the increasing Chinese influence.
While India’s capability to counter China in the Indian Ocean is considerable, its capability gap on the continental boundary remains a source of worry.
Cyber and aerospace also needs attention.
Defence Hub:-
Building domestic defence capabilities under the umbrella of ‘Make in India’ is a welcome move.
While liberalization on FDI is done to some extent, an effective regulatory mechanism is needed.
Creating a level playing field between the state-owned public sector units and the private firms will go a long way in boosting investments and innovation.
A new defence procurement policy is also being worked upon.
Economic Digest
[1]. Government says it protected India’s interests at WTO talks
Context:-
The Nairobi WTO ministerial conference and its outcome for India.
‘Nairobi Package,’ for India contains
- Ministerial Decisions on public stockholding for food security purposes,
- Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) for developing countries- SSM is a tool that will allow developing countries to temporarily hike duties to counter import surges and price falls of farm items.
- Commitment to abolish export subsidies for farm exports particularly from the developed countries
[2]. Mid-year review: Macroeconomic policy rethink required/Analysing the Analysis
Context: Mid-year Macroeconomic performance review of India Economy.
Findings:
- Macroeconomic conditions are very weak.
- Exceptional public investment and private consumption.
- Fiscal policy has been contractionary since 2012.
- Monetary policy in tight mode since 2010.
- The GDP deflator has turned negative, so nominal GDP growth is well below real GDP growth
Question Asked:
It asks whether India should depart from its promised path of fiscal consolidation, which calls for the fiscal deficit to fall by another 0.4% of GDP (from 3.9% to 3.5%) in 2016-17
Focus of the report:
The focus of the review appears to be upon how to break out of the circle of excess capacity, weak demand, falling prices, high levels of debt.
Visible outcomes of tight monetary policy has been stated by Author as,
- Steady worsening of corporate balance sheets,
- The continuous increase in interest costs,
- The relentless souring of bank loans and
- The structural deterioration of banks’ balance sheets.
What has made recovery cycle difficult?
- Pre-committed fiscal consolidation path
- Falling nominal gross domestic product
- Weak consumer demand
The Challenge:
- On the monetary side is the inflation targeting framework
- Credibility issues on the fiscal side are far more serious in the light of India’s history and the increased dependence upon short-term foreign capital
What is needed?
There is a need to increase public investment to crowd in private investment. But the challenge is breach of commitment towards fiscal deficit.
Alternate Ways to Raise Public Investment Without Breaching Fiscal Deficit:
- Liquidate the government holdings of equities held in Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI)
- Rationalising of subsidies
- The big corporation can borrow money to fund programmes rather loading the borrowing on budget.
[3]. The positive side of Fed rate hike
Context:-
It is unlikely to hurt stock markets, and based on past evidence, India will do well out of any resultant volatility.
Asymmetric monetary policy:-
Divergence in monetary policy among Major economies is now a reality.
Any cry for joint response is a thing of the past as the European Central Bank indicating a new round of QE (Quantitative Easing) as well as Bank of Japan and Bank of England not changing their policy.
Impact on emerging Economies:-
The rate of growth of MSCI Emerging Markets Index, which captures trends in large and mid-cap companies across 23 emerging markets, has increased over the years, exhibiting better prospects.
But this has been accompanied by increased dispersion in emerging market returns, indicating higher uncertainty in the global financial system.
India with its better macros stands is hoping to gain from positive market volatility in future.
[5]. India’s credit boom, and bust
What is needed to be known from this article?
Urgent requirement of Bankruptcy reform in India is a reflection of major debt problems in the country’s corporate sector. This in turn is a reflection of large number of Non Performing Assets.
The analysis of bank borrowing in the credit boom and subsequent firm performance hints at structural problems that may be difficult to resolve. They can be:
- Problems arose in infrastructure and construction, part of the cause may be political influences on lending decisions
- Banks did not have the expertise for assessing large, complex infrastructure projects
What is to be done meanwhile?
In a new scheme, banks have become de-facto owners of some firms with bad loans, but they need an expedited path to liquidating these positions, since they cannot be expected to start managing these firms’ operations. This needs urgent attention and perhaps some ad hoc solutions until a new bankruptcy legal framework is put into place.
India needs more aggressive recapitalization of its banks than has so far been proposed. In such cases, reluctance to acknowledge the problem and move on from it is always more costly than the alternative.
Science & Technology
[1]. IISc makes Big Impact on Small World of Chips
Scientists at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have devised a method to lay circuits in electronic chips that is both cost-effective and energy-efficient.
They have found a way to etch nano-circuits on silicon chips at room temperature.
Nano-circuits, several thousand times thinner than a strand of hair, are the basic building blocks of any high-end device -be it mo bile phones, television sets or even aircraft.
They could accelerate the growth of connected devices, which are dependent on lower power consumption and faster speeds.
Currently, electric circuits are etched using two methods: Electron-beam lithography and photolithography.
As of now circuits are etched the circuit on polymer the new technique does the same on metal.
It is energy-efficient and reduces the operating cost too.
If this method actually works, it can be a game-changer in the Internet of Things industry due to the industry’s need for low power and small form requirements.
[2]. Round 2: Free Basics vs Internet Saviours
Net neutrality , or the notion that internet service providers must treat all traffic as equal, became a topic of heated discussion after Telecom Regulatory Authority of India floated a consultation pa per on per on “Regulatotry Frame work for Over-the Top (OTT) Services
Net neutrality has already been dealt in earlier briefs.
Recent Happenings:
Facebook launched its “Save Free Basics” campaign on the social network, in an attempt to promote its Free Basics programme, which the social networking giant says is a part of its internet.org initiative. It is urging users in India to show support for “digital equality“ in India.
By: ForumIAS Editorial Team
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