Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
- GS PAPER 1
- Pulakeshin’s famed victory over Harsha was in 618 A.D {Ancient History}
- GS PAPER 2
- CJI slams government for stalling judicial appointments {Judicial Appointments,Slow Justice Delivery System}
- Govt mulling setup up CGMP facility for yellow fever drugs {Health}
- PM asks panchayats to play active role in development activities {Local Bodies}
- Keep it parliamentary {Parliamentary Logjam}
- National corridor body plan shelved {Infrastructure}
- Next door Nepal – China is welcome, India is not {India & Her Neighbours}
- Art of trifling {National Green Tribunal – Quasi Judicial Body }
- GS PAPER 3
- Ministry ask RBI to examine Workers’ bank proposal {Labour and Earnings Investment}
- The big thirst {Disaster – Drought}
- The truth about India’s growth {Economic Growth}
- The importance of IP rights for innovation {Intellectual Property Rights & Innovation}
- No sanctity for sovereign guarantee {Banking and Government Guarantees}
GS PAPER 1
[1] Pulakeshin’s famed victory over Harsha was in 618 A.D
News
A copper plate has been decoded by the researchers of Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute(BORI)
Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute
- Located in Pune, Maharashtra
- It was founded on July 6, 1917 and named after Dr. Ramakrishna Gopal Bhandarkar (1837–1925), long regarded as the founder of Indology (Orientalism) in India.
- The institute is well known for its collection of old Sanskrit and Prakrit manuscripts
- Houses South Asia’s largest collection of manuscripts and rare texts
Plate
Copper plate was received by the BORI from Raghuvir Pai, a noted coin-collector of Mumbai.
What the plate says
- The date of Emperor Harshavardhan’s defeat to the Chalukya King Pulakeshin II can now be fixed at 618 AD(battle occurred in the winter of 618-619 AD)
- The plate is also useful in fixing the details of the coronation of Pulakeshi II in 610-611 AD
- The plate further records the grant of 50 ‘nivarthanas’ (a unit of land) by Pulakeshin from the village Brahmana-Vataviya (in modern-day Paithan Taluka of Aurangabad) to a Vedic scholar, Nagasharma(This donation must have been made by the Chalukya king during his return from the Narmada campaign against Harsha, scholars say)
History
- Pulakeshin, who ruled from the Chalukyan capital of Badami, challenged Harsha’s conquests.
- The former had established himself as ‘lord paramount’ of the south, as Harsha had of the north.
- Unwilling to tolerate the existence of a powerful rival in the south, Harsha had marched from Kanauj with a huge force.
- Such was Pulakeshin’s efficiency in guarding the passes of the Narmada that Harsha was compelled to accept the river as the demarcation and retire from the battlefield after losing most of his elephant force
GS PAPER 2
[1] CJI slams government for stalling judicial appointments +
The growth of litigation versus pendency
Issue
CJI T.S.Thakur blamed the government for the current state of affairs in the judiciary.
Issues raised by him
- Attack on the government:-He blames the Centre for stalling appointment of judges to the High Courts. (434 judicial vacancies in the High Courts)
- He also blamed the Centre of doing nothing to increase the number of courts and judges in the country.
- It denies the poor man and under trial prisoners their due of justice.
- He said there is no point of ‘Make in India’ when investors are increasingly doubtful about the timely delivery of justice.
- Heading towards crisis:- He warned the country is slipping into a crisis where the ratio of the number of judges to the population is grossly inadequate.
- Running away from responsibilities:- The Centre says the States should take the lead and the States say Centre should take the lead. As this tug-of-war goes on, judges’ strength remains the same and litigants remain in jail.
- Judiciary under Pressure:- There is an “impossible burden” of justice delivery faced by the judiciary reeling under the impact of huge pendency, anemic number of judges and government inaction.
- Appeal to the Government:- He, appealed to the government to protect the judiciary from crumbling under the load by speeding up judicial appointments, increasing judges’ sanctioned strength and drastically improving court infrastructure.
Response from PM Modi
- He said judges should reduce their annual holidays to help reduce pendency.
- He said judges and the government should sit together and work for a more efficient tomorrow rather than dwell in the past
- He blamed the flood of archaic laws that fill up the statute books, faulty or vague drafting of laws and their multiple interpretations by various courts as reasons for prolonged litigation.
[2] Govt mulling setup up CGMP facility for yellow fever drugs
Indian government is establishing WHO-approved Current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) facility for yellow fever drugs.
- Facility will help in supplying yellow fever vaccine to African and Latin American countries
- Union Health Minister inaugurated the first government facility for CGMP compliance for DPT and TT vaccines at the Central Research Institute (CRI) in Kasauli in Himachal Pradesh.
- He also announced that the Zonal Office of Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO)
- will start functioning within a week in Baddi
- Himachal Pradesh government has agreed to provide land for the Zonal Office of CDSCO at Baddi.
- to facilitate pharma companies and exporters from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana to get their clearances and no objection certificates.
What are CGMPs?
- CGMP refers to the Current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations enforced by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). CGMPs provide for systems that assure proper design, monitoring, and control of manufacturing processes and facilities.
- Adherence to the CGMP regulations assures the identity, strength, quality, and purity of drug products by requiring that manufacturers of medications adequately control manufacturing operations.
- This includes establishing strong quality management systems, obtaining appropriate quality raw materials, establishing robust operating procedures, detecting and investigating product quality deviations, and maintaining reliable testing laboratories.
- This formal system of controls at a pharmaceutical company, if adequately put into practice, helps to prevent instances of contamination, mix-ups, deviations, failures, and errors.
- This assures that drug products meet their quality standards.
Future
- It needs the creation of CGMP-compliant infrastructure and processes
- CRI is the first central government institute to have CGMP-compliant infrastructure for vaccine production.
- TT vaccine has been commercialised from this facility for universal immunisation programme use and production of DPT bulk has been initiated.
- This will enable the institute to supply yellow fever vaccine to African and Latin American countries.
- CRI is in process of acquiring 128 bighas of land from the Himachal Pradesh government for the infrastructure
- This facility will enhance the production of life saving anti sera and will also generate employment opportunities for youth
Central Research Institute (CRI)
- CRI has been working as one of the few pioneer institutions in the field of vaccine manufacturing.
- The institute performs large-scale production of bacterial and viral vaccines and serum.
- It has developed DPT, DT, tetanus, cholera, and typhoid vaccines, and is the only producer in India of rabies vaccine.
- It also produces snake antivenin.
- The institute has plans to manufacture all vaccines like Japanese encephalitis vaccine, Rabies vaccine and Typhoid vaccine.
- CRI plans to create state of the art, fully dedicated CGMP compliant laboratory for research on vaccine development and various other public health related issues.
- The institute plans to undertake research on newer vaccine candidates for existing and emerging diseases and to manufacture more efficacious and safer vaccines as also to contribute to the prevention of spread of novel antigenic variants
- This field is important and highly technical it requires trained manpower at every level that is why CRI is initiating a certificate course in ‘Production of Immunobiologicals and Animal Care’, affiliated to the State Council of Vocational Training, Himachal Pradesh.
- This course will help in developing trained manpower to work in various health, research and pharmaceutical setups and provide plethora of opportunities for youth of the country
- The Health Minister also launched the website of CRI on the occasion.
[3] PM asks panchayats to play active role in development activities
Context
PM at campaign in Jharkhand said gram panchayats play an important role in growth of the country on “Panchayat Day”
What else he said
- Gram panchayats should play stronger role in developmental activities
- He said bridging gap between urban and rural areas so that all modern amenities reach the rural areas
- Focused on development of villages, including infrastructure development construction of toilets to ensure end to open defecation, ensuring proper health care to prevent childbirth mortality and provision of better education to ensure there is no school dropouts.
- Emphasised the role of women panchayat representatives, who constitute 40 per cent of the 30 lakh representatives.
- He suggested that each village should take up one task each year like ensuring all farmers get crop insurance, ensuring preservation of water, ensuring digitalisation, and ensuring adequate attention to children.
National Panchayati Raj Day
- National Panchayati Raj Day (National Local Self-Government day) is the national day of India celebrated by Ministry of Panchayati Raj on 24 April annually
- Then Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh inaugurated first National Panchayati Raj Day in 2010
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 24 April 2015 called for an end to the practice of “husbands of women sarpanches” or “sarpanch pati” exercising undue influence on the work of their wives elected to power
[4] Keep it parliamentary
Budget sessions resumes in parliament.
- This is not a continuation but a fresh session. Earlier session was adjourned on March 16, with the announcement that the Houses will meet again on April 25, but the session was formally closed just before the end of March.
- This was done to pass the Uttarakhand Budget by executive order of the Central government after President’s Rule was imposed in the State.
- The Constitution allows Parliament to pass the budget of a State if it is under President’s Rule.
- This is the example of using the flexibility of Parliament sessions by governments to suit their ends.
The main issues to discuss are
- The Bankruptcy Bill
- Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
Objections to the Bill
- There were three main objections:
- abolition of the 1 per cent tax on inter-State movement of goods,
- the creation of a dispute resolution body over the GST Council
- setting a cap on the tax rate
- The Parliamentary Standing Committee pointed out that a judicial dispute resolution body may impinge on the fiscal autonomy of legislatures, and had recommended that the provision be removed. The current Bill adheres to this recommendation. So there will be no dispute resolution body if the current bill passes.
- The demand for a cap on the tax rate is interesting. Indian Constitution does not fix a limit on any other tax. However, frequent increases in excise duties on petroleum products through executive notification, there is a case to limit such powers.
- There will be a question whether the Finance Bill can be classified as a money bill.
- The Lok Sabha will discuss in detail the demand for grants of a few ministries, and will pass the rest without discussion (it is called guillotine).
Accountability
- Rajya Sabha will be discussing the working of a few Ministries
- Like Health; Human Resources Development; Finance; Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises; and, if time permits, External Affairs.
- Objective is to examine how each ministry is implementing various policies and whether it is achieving various national objectives.
- Cross fingers that these discussions bring out the challenges faced in various areas, such as learning outcomes in education, improvements in health indicators, and so on.
- It is crucial that Parliament focusses on outcomes to be achieved by ministries, and monitors them effectively.
[5] National corridor body plan shelved
Context
Plan to set up National Industrial Corridor Authority(NICA) on the lines of National Highway Authority of India(NHAI) for all national “Industrial Corridors” has been put to rest
Why has it been put to rest
PMO and Cabinet Secretariat has put the plan to rest because they think that it might take a while getting parliament to approve the decision of having the plan a “statutory status” and its implementation is also difficult
What is “Statutory status”
- Statutory Body: It is a non-constitutional body. This body is created by statute i.e. act of parliament. A cabinet resolution can be passed to establish this body. It has to rely upon its statute to derive power.
- Statutory bodies are set up by statutes which Parliament and State Legislatures can pass. Since there is no instruction to set up these bodies in the Constitution, there is no obligation on the Parliament or State Legislatures to set them up.
- The main difference is that a Constitutional body must exist even if Parliament is unhappy with it – while a Statutory body can be disbanded if Parliament wants to do so with a relatively simple process.
Why central government wanted NICA to be constitutional body by passing NICA Act
- NICA would have more power over state bodies and the freedom to operate without any hurdles
- Industries fall in state list, except those specifically mentioned in union list, so to remove any confusion matters relating to “national industrial corridors” would definitely be in union list and this would have better centre-state relations in coordinating the operations
- Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (DMICDC) and DMIC Project Implementation Trust would come under NICA Act(due to Japanese government having 26% stake in NICA would make matters more complicated, this also has been put to rest)
DMICDC
DMICDC will be made nodal agency for matters to approve proposals relating to corridors
These proposals will be forwarded to DMIC trust for final approval
DMIC trust
currently managed by the Secretaries of Department of Economic Affairs, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion and that of NITI Aayog — could be expanded to include the Secretaries of Shipping, Road Transport and Urban Development (for including ‘smart cities’ in these corridors)
[6] Next door Nepal – China is welcome, India is not
News
- Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli (of Nepal) laid the foundation of Pokhara international airport, Nepal’s second, being built with Chinese assistance and soft loan.
- Oli was joined by Maoist chief Prachanda and all major party leaders in a show of appreciation for the Chinese initiative likely to be completed in four years.
It implies that
- China making good relations with Nepal.
- But the concern is that: whether it’s at the cost of India’s image, influence and interest in its crucially important neighbourhood Nepal.
Oli and the ruling coalition in nepal are getting positive responses from the people across the country for having stood up to India, mainly for what it has “done without accountability in Nepal’s internal politics”.
Nepal is already considering waiving the visa fee for the Chinese.
Indian immigration, started “stamping” Nepali passports at airports, diluting the spirit of open borders and hassle-free movement.
India and nepal hardly begun any exercise to address the misunderstandings and the visible fallouts.
Conclusion
- India’s relation with Nepal is changing. We hope to see a cordial relation in future. Let us see what all India will do to make a friendly relation with this neighbouring country, which shares history with her.
[7] Art of trifling
Issue
Critical analysis of National Green Tribunal (NGT) in handling of the Art of Living Foundation (ALF) episode.
Initially, NGT acted as per the law
- Earlier, it has pulled up the (ALF) for standing in the way of its expert panel, which was to inspect the venue of the World Culture Festival hosted by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in the floodplain of the Yamuna.
- The purpose of the body was to sketch out an action plan for rejuvenating the site, which was overrun by giant structures and hordes of visitors in the course of the extravaganza, and reckon the modicum of compensation which would make good the damage and restore the site to its former state.
Poor precedents set by NGT
- The NGT’s real comedown was the readiness with which it allowed the show to go ahead on the payment of Rs 25 lakh, just five per cent of its initial demand of Rs 5 crore.
- When a watchdog organisation backs off repeatedly, it leaves behind the impression that it can be brushed off.
- And now, the ALF has prevented the NGT’s expert panel from inspecting the site in order to compute the final compensation figure and facilitate rejuvenation over the long term.
- It has left behind the impression that it is legitimate to do environmental damage if compensation follows.
- Further, it suggests that compensation is not necessarily laid down by a court — if the authority of the tribunal is not absolute, it can be bargained with, as if it were a market entity.
Conclusion
Perhaps the National Green Tribunal (NGT) does not protest too much, but whenever it does, it does too late.
GS PAPER 3
[1] Ministry ask RBI to examine Workers’ bank proposal
A Workers’ Bank using Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) (labour ministry’s proposal)
- Labour ministry ask RBI to form a panel headed by former deputy governor to look into the proposal
- To see whether a Workers’ Bank is feasible or not.
- This is a decade back demand of trade unions.
- In 2004, Indian National Trade Union Congress (Intuc) had first submitted a theme paper to the government on setting up ‘Workers’ Capital Trust’ to improve the earnings of Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) by investing its corpus in various instruments.
- Idea was modelled on similar experiences in countries like Canada, Netherland, Switzerland and South Africa where a collective pension fund system invests worker’s savings in equities of domestic and global markets.
[2] The big thirst
Context
Drought in Maharashtra’s districts and other districts of India( 250 out of 678 total), high cost are to blame rather than less expenditure on irrigation
What happened
- Specifically latur district is facing the brunt of the ongoing drought
- Trains with laden with water were sent to the district and nearby district called “jal doots”
- Section 144 was imposed by govt. In maharashtra, (Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973, empowers a magistrate to prohibit an assembly of more than ten people in an area. According to sections 141-149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the maximum punishment for engaging in rioting is rigorous imprisonment for 3 years and/or fine)
- IPL matches were shifted to save 60 lakh litres of water by intervention of the high court
How low is Maharashtra’s investment in developing irrigation
Only Rs. 7000 crore( Telangana is Rs. 25000 crore)
Statistics that show Maharashtra incurs high costs(makes us believe that it isn’t really the topography of the area or the leaks in irrigation systems)
- 18% irrigated in total cropped area( India average is 47%, Punjab is 97%)
- In 10th and 11th FYP(from 2003-2012), irrigation investment was Rs 1,18,235 crore(in 2014-15 prices)
- Irrigation potential created(IPC) created was 8.9 lakh hectares and irrigation potential utilised(IPU) was 5.9 lakh hectares
- So, cost per hectare utilised is Rs. 20 lakh
- (Gujarat expenditure- Rs. 46,888 crore, IPC= 22.5 lakh ha, IPU= 17.3 lakh ha, IPU cost=Rs.2.71lakh/ha)
- (Madhya Pradesh IPU cost Rs.4.26 lakh/ha)
Story about Sugarcane in Maharashtra
Takes only 4% of cropped area but takes 2/3rd of irrigated water and 100% of sugarcane is under irrigation and 25-30 irrigations are given to sugarcane( cotton is only 3% of total is under irrigation and needs only 4-5 irrigations, cotton production in Gujarat is double and is 57% under irrigation)
Sugar factories
Government decided that no new sugar factories for five years in Marathwada
(20 sugar factories came up in last 3 years)
About IPL
- Needed as much as water as 3 tonnes of sugar requires in production
- 1 kilogram of sugar needs more than 2000 litres of water
- 3 tonnes of sugar costs about Rs. 1 lakh
- IPL could have generated Rs. 100 crore
What is needed to control expenditures
- Thorough inspection in its irrigation expenditures and irrigation potential, created and utilised, in comparison with similar states to find out why such huge investments have not yielded results.
- Rationing the quantity or raising the price to manage the water demand
- Government could ask sugarcane are to be drip fed, it could save 40-50% of water
[3] The truth about India’s growth
Issue
Skepticism over the role of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the growth.
What happened?
Recently, the official figures have highlighted the enlarged size and faster growth of the private corporate sector in its new series.
Critics’ take on this
Critics claim this is the result of using the ministry of corporate affairs’ (MCA) newer database and an improvised methodology.
| Arguments in favour of MSMEs as growth engines | Arguments against MSMEs as growth engines |
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Conclusion
Based on above arguments, it is difficult to believe that that the long tail of MSMEs with a minuscule output share can wag the economy.Therefore, the recent endorsements of the official growth narrative are perhaps premature.
[4] The importance of IP rights for innovation
Context
Piracy is a problem all over the world, original content created by the innovators is being distributed in this digital age where data is distributed all over the internet and is rampant
Why India and US have a relationship in IP rights
Indian movie production companies and software development companies have made a mark around the world, US also has done the same, to protect the rights of creators from both countries and to grow our economies, we must try and curb this illegal distribution.
World Intellectual Property Day
- World Intellectual Property Day is observed annually on 26 April.
- 2016 theme “Digital Creativity: Culture Reimagined”
- 2015 theme was “Get Up, Stand Up. For Music”
- The event was established by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in 2000 to “raise awareness of how patents, copyright, trademarks and designs impact on daily life” and “to celebrate creativity, and the contribution made by creators and innovators to the development of societies across the globe”
- 26 April was chosen as the date for World Intellectual Property Day because it coincides with the date on which the Convention Establishing the WIPO entered into force in 1970.
World Intellectual Property Organization
- The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations.
- WIPO was created in 1967 “to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world
- WIPO currently has 188 member states,administers 26 international treaties, and is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
What is the idea behind protecting intellectual property
- That the original content creators are rewarded for their creations whether it be movies, art work, music, computer software and other so that future generations appreciate the rich, diverse and creative cultures as to the ones we enjoy today.
- Also people make their living by selling their content and if their creations are not protected, they will go out of work, and producers will no more be encouraged to produce new things
How is it becoming impossible to protect the content
Growth in broadband connectivity also means an increase in the proliferation of piracy, which reduces the incentive of content innovators to create and erodes the desire of companies to invest. Illegal downloads, recording in movie theatres and other forms of intellectual property theft cost the creative industry dearly
[5] No sanctity for sovereign guarantee
Issue
A mismatch between the value of stocks kept in warehouses and loans taken against them.
Context
It has been found that the stocks of foodgrains kept in the warehouses of the Punjab government are inadequate to cover the loan against such stocks, so the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has directed banks to set aside 15% of such exposure.
Food credit
- Food credit, a pre-emptive credit for procurement, stocking and distribution of foodgrains, is the first charge on bank lending.
- This means, banks must disburse food credit before giving any other loans. They give such loans to the Food Corp. of India (FCI) as well as various state government agencies.
- FCI, responsible for the distribution of foodgrains, lends price support operations to safeguard the interests of the farmers and maintains buffer stocks of foodgrains to ensure national food security.
Backing of sovereign
- While the State Bank of India, the nation’s largest lender, leads the consortium of banks for disbursing food credit, the RBI assesses the credit limit for each bank, which typically reflects their share in deposits.
- The banks don’t seem to be meticulous in checking the quantity and quality of foodgrains procured and kept in warehouses as their loans to FCI is guaranteed by the central government, and the respective state governments stand behind the agencies that procure foodgrains on behalf of them.
- Simply put, their exposure to food credit is guaranteed by the sovereign.
Fear factor
- Technically, there is no difference between the state and a corporate defaulter (Kingfisher).
- Still, the banks would neither dare to move court against Punjab nor stop lending to the state agencies for foodgrains procurement simply because they will have to do business in the state.
What can banks do?
- Currently, the interest rate on food credit is uniform across all states, based on the weighted average of the loan rates of five large banks.
- The least banks can do is raising the interest rate on cash credit for procurement and stocking foodgrains in a state like Punjab, factoring in the risk premium.
1. The lead article of the day is covered under Editorial Today. Click here to read.
2. Science and Technology and Environment articles has been left out, they will be covered in weekly compilation for next week.
BY: ForumIAS Editorial Team
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