Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
- GS PAPER 1
- The declining power of Babel {Art & Culture}
- Median marriage age up: Census data {Society}
- GS PAPER 2
- Parched Panchayati Raj Ministry on verge of closure {Polity}
- Ministries can approve up to Rs. 500 cr. of non-Plan spending {Governance}
- Flaws in a flagship programme {Governance}
- GS PAPER 3
- Bank NPAs may hit 8.5 % by March {Economy}
- Talks soon on new Plan blueprint {Economy}
- Another chance for India’s textile industry {Economy}
GS PAPER 1
[1]The declining power of Babel
Context
Indian languages and dialects are getting endangered and many have become extinct since independence. There is a desperate need to conserve the languages.
Analysis
- A survey conducted by People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) reveals that around 800 languages and dialect exist in India. Census 2011 date reveals that the number of languages used in India has dropped from 1600 in 1961 to 122 in 2011.
- The difference between PLSI and census figures is due to the fact that census excludes language spoken by less than 10000 people whereas PLSI includes them.
- UNESCO data reveals that there are 197 endangered languages in India and 42 languages which are critically endangered.This also includes Nihali, language belonging to pre-Aryan period.
What should be done to preserve the languages?
- Efforts must be made to preserve the indigenous languages because when the language become extincts, the related culture along with it also becomes extinct and the country loses a part of its identity.
- One way to save the languages from extinction is by bringing up institution and programs which teach languages. School and college education must also be provided in the mother tongue of the students.
[2]Median marriage age up: Census data
Context
Census data on marriage reveals that the median age of marriage for both men and women has increased. This increase is due to various socio-economic changes that have taken place in India.
What does the data say?
- The median age of marriage for men increased to 23.5 years during 2011 Census. It was 22.6 during 2001 Census.
- Median age for women increased to 19.2 years during 2011 census as compared to 18.2 years in 2001 census.
Why has the median age increased?
- Due to mobility and migration
- This increase is there because people have become more mobile and work has become migratory.
- Since a lot of people are migrating for work, there are no more living in the traditional set up which demands early marriage.
- Also this migration has changed the mindset of the people, where they first want to focus on having a secure job and livelihood and then marry
- Due to higher enrolments in schools
- School enrolments have grown massively, almost 90% enrolments across all castes have been observed and even in case of dalits, around 80% school enrolments are noticed.
- Since more and more children are being sent to school, the instances of marriage at an early age has declined which has pushed up the median age of marriage.
Conclusion
This trend is expected to continue in future as well as the mobile nature of work and enrolments in schools and colleges is bound to increase further.
GS PAPER 2
[1]Parched Panchayati Raj Ministry on verge of closure
Context
The Panchayati Raj Ministry is all set to face a closure. It will in all probabilities be converted into a department under the Ministry of Rural Development.
Why the threat of closure looms on Panchayati Raj Ministry?
- There has been a huge budget cut for the ministry from Rs 7000 crore last year to Rs 96 crore this year. This signals that the govt. is not in favour of having a separate ministry of Panchayati Raj.
- Also the govt has closed two of its major programs – Backward Regions Grants Fund (BRGF) and Rajiv Gandhi Panchayat Sashaktikaran Abhiyan (RGPSA), thus, making it lose its relevance.
Conclusion
By slapping a major budget cut and stopping the major programs under the ministry, the intent of the govt is clear- it wants to make it unviable to run the Panchayati Raj ministry as a separate ministry.
However, the govt must make sure that this does not affect the effective functioning and empowerment of the grass root institutions.
[2]Ministries can approve up to Rs. 500 cr. of non-Plan spending
What happened?
- The spending autonomy of Ministries has gone up with the threshold of non-Plan project expenditure that can be approved by them raised from Rs. 150 crore to Rs. 500 crore.
Key points:-
- The Finance Ministry’s nod will be needed for expenditure between Rs. 500 crore and Rs. 1,000 crore, beyond which Cabinet approval would be required.
- This step is expected to expedite the appraisal and approval process in the Central government Ministries/ departments and it makes it easier to implement non-plan projects.
- The independence given to the ministries with regard to project appraisal means that projects that have been budgeted or committed to will not need to be delayed by a long formal approval process
- The government has also altered the rules with regard to the approval of revised cost estimated of projects.
[3]Flaws in a flagship programme
Issue
- Critical analysis of the Smart Cities Mission.
- For background refer to What are Smart Cities?
Why there is a need to analyse Smart cities Mission?
- For the first time since Independence, the growth in total urban population is higher than the absolute rural population growth.
- It is in this context that a close scrutiny of the Smart Cities Mission, as this government’s articulation of what it thinks of India’s urbanisation, is warranted.
Analysis of the plans proposed by the cities
- In January, 20 from a pool of 100 cities were selected by the Central government under the Smart Cities Mission.
- The 20 cities were selected on the basis of a “Smart City Proposal” which was submitted by the city.
- Proposals from a majority of cities have financially prioritised developing a small area rather than the entire city.
- 71 per cent of the funding from the mission will be spent on area-based development, the beneficiaries of which are about 4 per cent of the city’s population on average.
How area based development differs from city based development?
- Under area-based development, cities have proposed redevelopment of old and creation of new central business districts, retrofitting infrastructure such as water supply, sewerage, and creation of public spaces apart from reinventing landscape.
- The proposal for the entire city, however, has been limited to IT-based services like CCTV-monitored central command system, “smart” education portals and “intelligent” water and traffic management systems.
Criticism of the Mission
- To to present a land monetisation plan in the garb of national urban policy and encourage it as a model for the entire city is inappropriate and deeply worrying.
- The mission also fails to articulate an institutional framework for urban development — a sustainable blueprint for governance for our cities on the issue of convergence and governance.
Convergence:-
- There are multiple policies for urban India: the Swachh Bharat Mission, Housing for All, National Urban Livelihoods Mission; the National Urban Information System; and the Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY),etc. The Smart Cities Mission’s convergence with all these schemes is not known.
Governance:-
- 74th constitutional amendment had envisioned an elected local government with neighbourhood committees and mohalla sabhas as an institutional architecture vis-à-vis the functional, financial and legislative domain of city governments.
- This mission buries this arrangement and at the same time fails to provide an alternative.
- In the guidelines for the mission, the role of the local governments was significantly cut short — delegating the decision-making powers to a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), a body to be set up and which would implement the mission.
Conclusion
- Bypassing political chaos and employing participation shortcuts to produce aggrandising structures of glass and steel, thinking that our cities would become inclusive and sustainable, is clearly not a very smart idea.
GS PAPER 3
[1]Bank NPAs may hit 8.5 % by March
Issue
- Projections of the Non-Performing Assets (NPA) by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its Financial Stability Report.
Key points:-
- Gross bad loans at commercial banks could increase to 8.5 per cent of total advances by March 2017, from 7.6 per cent in March 2016.
- And if the macro situation deteriorates in the future, the gross NPA ratio may increase further to 9.3 per cent by March 2017.
- There was an almost 80 per cent jump in gross bad loans in 2015-16.
- The rise in gross NPA is mainly because of the Asset Quality Review (AQR).
Asset Quality Review (AQR)
- The central bank has been pushing lenders to review the classification of loans given by them as part of an Asset Quality Review (AQR).
- The AQR conducted by the banking regulator found several restructured advances, which were standard in the banks’ books, that needed to be reclassified as non-performing.
- Since a large proportion of standard restructured advances slipped into the NPA category, the overall stressed assets ratio also increased.
Private sector banks vs Public sector banks
- Public sector banks’ net NPA was 6.1 per cent, while the ratio for private sector banks was 4.6 per cent.
- For public sector banks, loans grew at 4 per cent while it was 24.6 per cent for private banks. Deposits of state-run banks grew by 5.2 per cent, while for private banks it was 17.3 per cent.
- The relative performance of bank groups reflect their respective strengths amidst on-going industry-wise balance sheet repair and also sluggish growth in private capital expenditure.
- The stress in the banking sector, which mirrors the stress in the corporate sector, has to be dealt with in order to revive credit growth.
Silver lining
- The only silver lining is the housing sector, according to the financial stability report, which said with gross NPAs of the retail housing segment at 1.3 per cent, it does not pose any significant systemic risks in the Indian context (as it was the major reason for sub-prime crisis)
[2]Talks soon on new Plan blueprint
Issue
- As the practice of five year plans have been scrapped, so the Centre will soon discuss with state chief ministers its strategy to shift from the five-year plan approach to a new system.
Key points:-
- The practice of five-year plans, being followed for over six decades, will end after the ongoing XIIth Plan that concludes in 2016-17.
- Niti Aayog’s Governing Council that includes leaders of all states and union territories and chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will discuss the issue.
- The new system would consist of an overarching 15-year vision document supplemented by a seven-year strategy and three-year action plans.
- The 15-year vision document to be prepared by the Aayog will also cover internal security and defence that have traditionally not been part of the planning process.
[3]Another chance for India’s textile industry
Issue
- Special package for revival of textiles sector
For background, refer to following articles in the same order:-
About Indian Textile Sector
- Cotton and silk trade from India made East India Company one of the richest and most powerful corporations in the 18th century.
- The textile industry is the second largest employer in the country after agriculture.
- Today, despite India being the second largest manufacturing capacity in textiles globally and accounting for 13% of the world’s production of textile, fibre and yarn, it lags in terms of competitiveness and productivity.
What prevented India from reaping the benefits when the Multi Fibre Agreement imposed by developed countries on the developing world was phased out?
- Rigidities in the labour market
- Import restrictions on competing man-made fibres
- Export quotas on cotton and logistics costs
Textiles sector must capitalise on the another chance given by the government
- Factor cost in China has increased due to rise in wages.
- Vietnam and Bangladesh are already securing better terms for themselves via free trade agreements with major markets. India should start doing the same.
- The issues of productivity suffered by an industry largely restricted to the small scale and unorganized sectors needs to be addressed.
- The government should lay emphasis on promotion and marketing of textiles and designs that are indigenous to India.(take lessons from success of Fab India brand)
- Geographical indications could prove to be an effective means of securing a niche market for Indian handloom in foreign markets.
- e-commerce could also be used to the advantage of the textile industry—to eliminate layers of middlemen and improve access.
Conclusion
- To successfully reap the benefits of this opportunity, it is important to diversify and embrace new innovations.
- We should promoting traditional industries as well as the emerging industries based on synthetic fibre.
- It is expected that this package will boost exports, increase investment and make the textile industry an integral part of the Make in India programme.
- Any allocation to textiles sector will have a multiplier effect on the economy at large.
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