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Front Page / NATIONAL
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Editorial/OPINION
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ECONOMY
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Indian Express
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Live Mint
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The monetary policy committee’s realistic currency swap assessment
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Top environment stories of 2016
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Dealmaking in 2016
Click here to Download 9 PM Daily Brief PDF (23rd Dec. 2016)
Front Page / NATIONAL
[1] Centre recasts panel helping Krishna Board
Context
The committee is tasked with assisting the Krishna River Management Board prepare a manual on how projects, common to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, ought to be handled.
What has happened?
The Centre has reconstituted a committee that was tasked with assisting the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
• Headed by: The new committee will be headed by A.K. Bajaj, former chairman of the Central Water Commission
• Task
Assist KRMB to prepare a manual: The committee is tasked with assisting the Krishna River Management Board prepare a manual on how projects, common to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, ought to be handled
Transfer of Godavari water:It also has to weigh in on how the Godavari waters ought to be transferred to the Krishna Basin in accordance with the Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal Award
Similar committee
The Water Resources Ministry constituted a similar committee of irrigation, hydrology and hydel power experts in September to suggest a “mechanism for facilitating the effective functioning of the KRMB as per the provisions of the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014”
Objection to KRMB’s decision
The committee’s reconstitution comes even as the Board ruled that Krishna water be divided 70:30 between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for the coming month. The Telangana government has strongly objected to this.
Read More: Krishna River Water Dispute Tribunal.
[2] HC tells Centre to fix MRP of coronary stents by March 1
The Hindu
Context
The Delhi High Court has directed the Centre to fix by March 1 next year the maximum retailprice (MRP) and a ceiling price for coronary stents.
What has happened?
Delhi HC has directed the Centre to fix by March 1 next year the maximum retail price (MRP) and a ceiling price for coronary stents.
Backdrop
Bench gave the directions a day after coronary stents were notified by the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) as a Schedule-I drug under the Drug (Price Control) Order (DPCO), 2013, making it eligible for price control.
- The court had on December 7 asked the Centre why the MRPs of coronary stents had not been fixed despite these devices being included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM)
DoP order
The DoP, on 21st December, had issued a notification putting bare-metal stents, drug-eluting stents and bioresorbable scaffold or biodegradable stents in Schedule-I of the DPCO. The move will now allow the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to fix a ceiling prices for the devices.
Petition filed
The Bench was hearing a petition filed by advocate BirenderSangawan, who had petitioned that the rates of coronary stents has not been fixed despite being included in the NLEM 2015 by way of a notification issued on July 19
Drug Price Control Order
Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO) are issued by the Government, in exercise of the powers conferred under section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, for enabling the Government to declare a ceiling price for essential and life-saving medicines (as per a prescribed formula) so as to ensure that these medicines are available at a reasonable price to the general public. The latest Drug Price Control Order (DPCO-2013) was issued on 15.05.2013.
- Issued by: The Drug Price Control Ordersare issued by Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers, which is the main nodal administrative ministry for pharmaceutical companies
What are essential medicines?
India has adopted the concept of Essential Medicines as pronounced by the World Health Organisation (WHO), while formulating her national list of essential medicines.
- Essential medicines are those commonly used medicinesat primary, secondary and tertiary healthcarelevels that satisfy the priority healthcare needs of majority of the population
- These are the medicines which are required to be made available within the context of a functioning health system at all times in adequate quantities in the appropriate dosage forms to serve large public masses. They are selected with due regard to public health relevance, evidence on efficacy, safety and comparative cost-effectiveness
- Essential Medicines do not mean that they are only life-saving drugs
- In fact, the word life-saving drugsis not defined in any of the domestic legislations on the matter
What is NLEM?
The “Essentiality” criteria for drugs in India is declared by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, through the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) as revised from time to time (the latest being the NLEM 2015; the first such list was specified in 1996).
- Prepared by: The NLEM is prepared by an Expert Core Committee constituted by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) out of the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) model list of essential medicines, Essential Drugs Lists of various States, medicines used in various National Health Programmes and Emergency Care Drugs.
- Different from WHO’s list:India’s list of essential medicines is different from the list issued by WHO due to differences in national circumstances
- NLEM contains:The NLEM contains such medicines that satisfy the priority health needs of the country’s population, addressing its own disease burden. The medicines used in the various national health programmes, emerging and re-emerging infections are included in the category of essential medicines.
Relation between DPCO & NLEM
NLEM forms the basis of deciding which medicines should come under price control via DPCO.
- Schedule 1 of DPCO was amended to substitute NLEM 2011 with NLEM 2015 on 10th Mar 2016
Read More: Primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare.
Editorial/OPINION
[1] A little gain after more pain
Context
Income tax authorities on the trail of illegal acts of money exchange in commercial banks following the demonetisation are netting bigger fish than they may have expected.
Article is in the context of the recent incident where loads of cash and gold were recovered from Tamilnadu Chief Secretary’s house and office premises
Helping the corrupt
It is now clear that in the first few days after the demonetisation announcement, when government-imposed limits on withdrawals were in force, and people were queuing up before banks, several unscrupulous officials of both public sector and private banks conspired to convert demonetised notes to benefit black marketeers and corrupt public servants.
Conclusion
Author concludes by stating that the Centre is under pressure to prove that the demonetisation drive has been effective in unearthing black money. Substantial seizures from the corrupt is a way of signalling this, and it will be no surprise if the raids only intensify in the days to come
[2] Doing the right thing
The Hindu
Context
India must break its silence on the humanitarian disaster in Syria, particularly Aleppo.
Author, a former IFS officer, makes a case for a pragmatic foreign policy wherein he states that national interest must trump every other consideration.
Give it a go-through once.
ECONOMY
[1] Centre spots 67.54 lakh taxpayers who did not file I-T returns
The Hindu
Context
The government has identified 67.54 lakh potential taxpayers in the FY15 who did not file income tax returns in the relevant assessment year.
What has happened?
The Income Tax Department has conducted the fifth cycle of data matching which has identified an additional 67.54 lakh potential non-filers who have carried out high value transactions in the financial year 2014-15 but did not file return of income for the relevant assessment year i.e. A.Y 2015-16
- Information available in compliance module: The information relating to the identified non-filers has been made available in the compliance module on the e-filing portal of the Income Tax Department. The information will be visible only to the specific PAN holder when they log into the e-filing portal
- The PAN holder will be able to respond electronically and retain a copy of the submitted response to maintain a record
NMS System
The Centre had introduced the Non-filers Monitoring System (NMS) to identify non-filers with potential tax liabilities.
Read More: NMS
Indian Express
[1] Digital hurdles
Indian Express
Context
SBI report on declining card use is a warning: Economy needs a boost after disruption due to demonetisation.
What has happened?
As per a new SBI research report, the aggregate of debit and card transactions at point of source (PoS) terminals have fallen to a little more than Rs 35,000 crore in November, the lowest since February
Situation in October
The amount spent at PoS terminals was a little more than Rs 51,000 crore in October
Conflicting situation
Banks have reported an increase in the total number of transactions involving swipe cards while the total number of card transaction have gone up.
What does this situation signify?
This signifies a fall in consumer sentiment. People seem to be using their debit and credit cards for purchases of relatively inexpensive items, while there has been a sharp fall in big ticket purchases.
Need for digital infrastructure
The SBI report also points to the necessity of bolstering the digital transaction infrastructure
- Number of PoS machines in country: There are about 15 lakh PoS machines in the country
- Additional PoS machines needed:The SBI report points out that the country needs an additional 20 lakh such machines. A vast majority of these should be in tier II and tier III cities, and in rural areas
- Cost of a PoS machine: A PoS machine costs between Rs 4,000 and Rs 8,000. There are low cost options but these require the use of smartphones. Given that only about 250 million people in the country have such phones, it’s difficult to imagine that the seemingly low cost options will be adopted without sound incentives
Security concerns
- Data safety issues: Author points out that people prefer making their purchases in cash because they are not convinced about data safety in digital transactions. In fact, a security breach a few weeks before the demonetisation drive had forced the SBI to recall more than three lakh debit cards.
What should be done?
Author points out that
- Privacy law: Government should bring in a privacy law with strong liability clauses to allay people’s fears
- Awareness drives: Action on the legislative front should be accompanied by robust awareness drives
Conclusion
Author concludes by stating that the SBI report is a warning that the economy needs a push. Sound digital infrastructure and robust privacy laws could be the first steps in that direction.
Live Mint
[1] The monetary policy committee’s realistic currency swap assessment
Context
Forecasts about the economic effects of an exogenous shock are tricky affairs.
Article addresses the following question,
What is the likely effect of the withdrawal of specified banknotes on economic growth in the coming quarters?
Monetary Policy Committee’s view
The monetary policy committee members seem to believe that the effects of the currency swap on economic growth will be transient.
Impact on economic activity
Two ways in which demonetization’s monetary shock could hurt economic activity,
- Informal sector: The disruption in supply chains that are heavily dependent on cash transactions, i.e. the informal sector
- Negative wealth effect: The negative wealth effect that could hit the economy in case real-estate prices tumble meaning if a person who has invested heavily in real estate sees his investment value coming down (decrease in real estate prices), it will lead to a perception of decreased wealth causing decreased spending (negative wealth effect)
Negative wealth effect: It refers to the phenomenon wherein a decrease in wealth leads to a decrease in spending thereby leading to a decrease in consumption
Author points out that much of the data available right now is for the month of November and the situation will be clear once data for coming months starts to pour in.
Conclusion
Author concludes that the currency shortage should ease very soon. But the impact of the currency policy will linger longer. A drop in economic growth is very likely. A total economic collapse is very unlikely.
[2] Top environment stories of 2016
Context
Our environmental indices may be at an all-time low, but the stories of victory in the year gone by create hope for the coming year.
Author recounts victories that were achieved on the environmental front in the 2016
- Victory for Standing Rock
Protest against: For several months, Native American tribes and their allies, led by the Standing Rock Sioux, have been protesting against the Dakota Access pipeline, a project that would transport oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota and Montana across the plains to Illinois.
Protesters arguments: The protesters had argued that the pipeline would desecrate ancestral lands, threaten the water supply, and unfairly burden the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which is unlikely to benefit from any economic development that accompanies the project.
Victory: The tribe won a major victory when the Department of the Army announced that it would not allow the pipeline to be drilled under a dammed section of the Missouri river.
- Battle for clean air in Indian cities
Environmental pollution reached our households via media attention it received and caught the eye of the politicians too.
Odd-even formula: While scientists are still debating whether the odd-even formula will bring down pollution levels, here’s what this scheme has succeeded in doing: it has made sure that air pollution as an issue has occupied centre stage. In a city known for its flashy cars and political connections, the citizens of Delhi, for the first time in 2016, embraced the inconvenient experiment in the hope that it would bring down air pollution. The good news is that more and more citizens are willing to come forward to tackle air pollution, but will this be enough? This is the space to watch in 2017.
- A proactive green tribunal
A proactive NGT: At a time when the government is trying to dilute environment laws, the National Green Tribunal (NGT), through a series of orders in 2016, restored our faith—that there is a redressal mechanism in the country.
Landmark judgements
In a number of landmark decisions, the tribunal stepped in when all else failed.
- Tawang case: This year it suspended the environmental clearance to a hydropower project in Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh on the ground that both the environmental impact assessment report and the project developers did not disclose that an endangered bird (the black-necked crane) inhabited the region.
- Tim-bound measures to tackle pollution in Delhi:In another strong order, the NGT asked for a slew of measures, with time-bound targets, to be taken to tackle air pollution in Delhi. At a time when the centre and state governments were playing politics on who is to blame for pollution in the National Capital Region, the NGT orders helped fix responsibility with clear targets for each stakeholder.
- Bengaluru steel flyover case:The same tribunal ordered a temporary halt to the construction of a steel flyover in Bengaluru that would have led to the destruction of 800 trees and heritage buildings in the city.
- The creation of the world’s biggest protected area
At a global level, US President Barack Obama created the largest ecologically protected area on the planet when he expanded the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument in Hawaii to encompass more than half a million square miles. With this one order, the US president succeeded in creating the largest swath of protected land or water on Earth, an area roughly twice the size of Texas.
- New species continue to be discovered
The discovery of new species every year is a gentle reminder of just how little we know about the natural world.
- Discoveries made: This year too had its share of discoveries
- An African damselfly, a ruby sea dragon in Australia
- A new species of giant tortoise in the Galapagos in Ecuador
- A sundew plant that oozes mucus to trap insects, found on just one mountain in Brazil.
Of course the idea behind this list is not to create a rose-tinted picture of the times we live in. Never before have so many species been lost and never before have our air and water been pounded with so many toxic chemicals. Yet we soldier on, with the sweet memory of the small victories.
Conclusion
As the year draws to an end, what is important to remember is that people have come together to fight for clean air, forests or wildlife, however insurmountable the battle may have seemed. May 2017 bring you clean air and lots of time spent in green spaces.
[3] Dealmaking in 2016
Context
Dealmaking in 2016 has largely been about big-ticket announcements. One can look at the following key trends that shaped the industry
Article is pretty straightforward and talks about key trends that shaped the industry.
Give it a go-through once
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