Front Page / NATIONAL [The Hindu]
- Decision on Bench soon, SC tells Delhi:
- Nod for road widening in wildlife sanctuary opposed
- Record olive ridley nesting baffles wildlife experts
- India, Israel to develop missile for Army
Editorial/OPINION [The Hindu]
Economy
Indian Express
Live Mint
Front Page / NATIONAL
Decision on Bench soon, SC tells Delhi:
Context
Appeal against HC verdict on L-G’s powers.
What has happened?
The Supreme Court would set up a Constitution Bench for hearing appeals filed by Delhi government against the High Court judgment which held Lieutenant Governor as the administrative head of Delhi.
Questions Raised
- Several questions of law need to be interpreted and settled by a Constitutional Bench.
- Whether the matter deserves to be referred to a larger Bench.
- Refraining from framing questions for the Constitutional Bench to hear.
What are Special Leave Petitions?
- Special leave petition means that one can take special permission to be heard in appeal against any High Court/tribunal verdict.
- Usually any issue decided by the State High Court is considered as final, but if there exist any constitutional issue or legal issue which can only be clarified by the Supreme Court of India then, this leave is granted by the Supreme Court & this is heard as a Civil or Criminal appeal as the case may be.
Conclusion
The batch of seven special leave petitions filed by Delhi government has challenged the Delhi High Court’sjudgment which upheld the Lieutenant Governor’s power in “services.”
Nod for road widening in wildlife sanctuary opposed:
Context
Roads create barriers to movement, impacting animal population in many ways.
Issue
Criticism of the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) for granting permission to the widening of a road that falls in the buffer zone of the Nagarjuna Sagar- Srisailam Tiger Reserve and also the Ecologically Sensitive Zone of the Gundla Brahmeswaram Wildlife Sanctuary.
Threat
There is a Displacement threat.
- Roads create barriers to movement, impacting animal population.
- When a road runs through a forest, it creates an edge habitat along the portion of the forest that is on the fringe of the road.
- Roads not only fragment the habitat but also alter them, leading to displacement of some species.
- Animals with large home ranges, such as panthers, have a high chance of encountering roads.
- Turtles often perceive vehicles as a threat and draw themselves into their shell, which puts them at risk of getting struck because they stay on the road longer.
- Snakes might also become immobilized when approached by a car and remain so for a minute after a car passes.
- Some bigger birds that normally fly away from predators may be unable to initiate flight quickly enough when approached by a fast-moving vehicle.
- The way in which animals naturally respond to threats may increase their risk of being struck by vehicles.
- The Nagarjuna Sagar – Srisailam Tiger Reserve is home to a dazzling array of wild animals. In addition to the Bengal Tiger, which is the apex predator, many other species like leopard, rusty-spotted cat, sloth bear, wild dog, pangolin, mouse deer, Chausingha, Mugger Crocodiles, Indian Rock Python, and innumerable varieties of birds are found here.
- It is unfortunate that decision-makers are showing complete disregard to the ecological values of the forests and the fate of many wild animals and precious natural resources hangs in the balance.
Risks
- Reptiles like snakes and turtles sometimes bask on the warm surface of the road to regulate body temperatures.
- Many scavengers prey on the carcasses of animals that have been killed.
- This behavior increases the risk of mortality as they cause animals to spend more time around the road.
Record Olive Ridley nesting baffles wildlife experts
Context
Authorities studying how turtles detect salinity levels before laying eggs
A record-breaking mass nesting by 3.8 lakh endangered olive ridley turtles (Lepidochelysolivacea) took place at the Rushikulya rookery coast in Ganjam district
While no mass nesting had taken place at the site a year ago.
What could have prompted nesting this year?
- Chemical factors like salinity of the beach and the sea near the coast
- A sandbar emerged at the mouth of Rushikulya river near Purunabandha this year
- This prevented fresh water from the river from entering the sea directly.
- This must’ve decreased the salinity of sea water near the coast towards north of the river mouth
- Mass nesting takes place between Gokharkuda and new Podampeta, where the effect of fresh river water diverted by the sandbar may be high.
- Low salinity also means more small fish and insects, which are food for the turtles near the coast during mating and mass nesting seasons.
- High sand salinity may damage eggshells, while low salinity will minimise the corrosive effect.
- It’s possible the olive ridleys took the salinity factor into account while nesting at Rushikulya rookery coast this year.
India, Israel to jointly develop missile for Army
India has approved a deal to jointly develop a medium range surface-to-air missile (MR-SAM) system for the Army in a Rs. 17,000-crore deal.
Importance:-
- This is the latest in a series of other variants of SAM systems for the Navy and the Air Force being jointly developed with Israeli help.
- The deal is for 200 missiles for five regiments, each getting 40 units. The missile has a range of 50-70 km.
- The system will be based on the older Barak system of Israel, which is in use in India.
- The systems will be manufactured in India and would have an 80% indigenous content.
- The two countries are also in an advanced stage of negotiations for the purchase of two more long-range Phalcon Airborne Warning And Control System (AWACS).
Russian partnership
- India now operates three Phalcon AWACS with Israeli radars mounted on Russian IL-76 transport aircraft, under a $1-billion tripartite deal with Russia, signed in 2003.
- Russian officials said at the recent Aero India that India had ordered two IL-76 aircraft to be converted to AWACS.
Editorial/OPINION
Context – Recently seven Earth-size extra-solar planets, or exoplanets, orbiting a dwarf star about 40 light years away has been discovered.
Importance
Less than a year after scientists announced the discovery of three planets orbiting the dwarf star, the team found four more exoplanets using NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope.
This is by far the largest collection of Earth-like planets in the habitable ‘Goldilocks’ zone of a star — neither too close nor too far from a star.
Unlike earlier discoveries of exoplanets, all seven planets could possibly have liquid water.
This exoplanet system is called TRAPPIST-1.
Why it is easier to detect them?
Since the dwarf star is much cooler than the Sun, the dimming of light each time a planet passes or transits before the star could be easily recorded from Earth unlike in cases when planets transit a Sun-like bright star.
How these are different to our solar system?
Another major difference in comparison with the solar system is the tight packing of the seven planets around the star.
The closest planet in the TRAPPIST-1 system takes just 1.5 days to complete an orbit.
What scientists are looking to find now?
Scientists are keen to know if the planets are Earth-like, by ruling out the presence of hydrogen gas enveloping the
The composition of the atmosphere can be identified by measuring the wavelength characteristics of light.
Basic income and mental health gains
Context
Innovative interventions such as unconditional cash transfers could work wonders for millions.
Survey on Mental Health
- National Mental Health Survey conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, estimated that approximately 150 million people in India experience one or the other mental health condition.
- Concerted attacks on inequality through innovative social interventions that build social capital and decrease the experience of relative poverty and discrimination could influence trajectories of well-being and mental ill health, especially among families living in poverty.
Gender-poverty-caste nexus
- The gender-poverty-caste nexus underestimates the impact of structural barriers on mental ill health.
- We fare poorly (130/150) on the gender inequality index.
- Depression and anxiety are twice as prevalent among women than men, and inordinately high among the poor.
Budget Allocation on Mental Health
- in the 2017 Union Budget, growth in health and disability budgets remains marginal.
- Unimaginative allocations primarily assigned towards upgradation of premium institutes leave scarce resources to address challenges in mental hospitals.
Solution
Direct bank transfers would eliminate middlemen, corruption, subsidy leakages and related administrative costs.
Conclusion
The influence between mental ill health and poverty is clear as is the need to make meaningful investments and pursue inclusive development.
Context
Air quality continues to deteriorate, but there is no pressure on the government to take action.
What is Air Quality?
- Air quality is the degree to which the air in a particular place is pollution-free.
- Good air quality refers to clean, clear, unpolluted air.
- Clean air is essential to maintaining the delicate balance of life on this planet — not just for humans, but wildlife, vegetation, water and soil.
- Poor air quality is a result of a number of factors, including emissions from various sources, both natural and “human-caused.”
- Poor air quality occurs when pollutants reach high enough concentrations to endanger human health and/or the environment. Our everyday choices, such as driving cars and burning wood, can have a significant impact on air quality.
What is Air Quality Index?
- Air quality index(AQI) is a number used by government agencies to communicate to the public how polluted the air currently is or how polluted it is forecast to become.
- As the AQI increases, an increasingly large percentage of the population is likely to experience increasingly severe adverse health effects.
Report on Air Pollution
A report from The Lancet estimated that two lives in India are lost every minute due to ambient air pollution. Government would come out with its own study to understand the effects of air pollution on human health.
Valuing cars over lungs
- Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) have a direct link to pollution.
- The National Health Profile 2015 reported a 30% increase in ARIs since 2010.
Conclusion
This baffling lack of personal awareness about the real impact of air pollution is part of the reason why there is no pressure on the government to take action.
Economy
‘Legally vetted’ pact on services tabled at WTO
Objective
- It aims to ease norms for movement of skilled workers across borders for short-term work.
- Proposed pact also aims to ensure portability of social security contributions.
- Social security contribution is a single window mechanism for foreign investment approvals and cross-border insurance coverage to boost medical tourism.
- The proposed TFS pact is also about ‘facilitation’ that is “making market access ‘effective’ and commercially meaningful and not about ‘new’ (or greater) market access.
- TFA in Goods aims to streamline, simplify and standardise customs procedures. By doing so, it will help to cut trade costs around the world, he said in a statement.
Benefits of TFA pact
- By 2030 the (TFA in Goods) Agreement could add 2.7% points per year to world trade growth and more than half a percentage point per year to world GDP growth.
- This impact would be greater than the elimination of all existing tariffs around the world
Indian Express
Context
Defence establishment must restructure itself, develop indigenous manufacturing.
Issues that needs attention
- Restructuring of the Higher Defence Organisation (HDO), characterized by demand for a Chief of Defence Staff linked with theatre commands, and now China. Clinical analysis necessary to tackle this issue.
- Need to develop an indigenous defence manufacturing base.
- The narrative for an HDO revamp must start at the top.
- Discussions revolve only around how the three services can be re-structured.
- The second issue for the political executive is of creating an indigenous defence industrial base.
Way Forward
- Modernisation must be effected in the shortest possible time while indigenisation requires decades as it involves R&D and infrastructure accretion.
- Strategic partners from the private sector must be appointed and a procurement executive mandated to equip the soldier, formed outside the structure of MoD.
Live Mint
The reality of the India-China strategic dialogue
Issue – Assessment of India and China relationship
Introduction
India and China have had a strategic partnership, specifically, a strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity, since 2005.
But there are, as of now, no true areas of strategic convergence between India and China.
The bilateral focus has largely been on the settlement of the boundary question, followed by the strengthening of economic and trade ties.
Areas of strategic competition
Instead of cooperation, there are several areas of strategic competition:-
- The Indo-Pacific region
- Hostility with regard to the border issue
- Afghanistan is increasingly proving to be a fault line.
- the evolution of Beijing’s stance on terrorism in and emanating from Pakistan
- China is investing around $50 billion to build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (Cpec), starting in Xinjiang province and winding its way south through Pakistan to terminate in Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea coast.
- CPEC is an integral part of Beijing’s “One Belt, One Road” vision—important for the economic integration of the restive Xinjiang province
- China has been successful in exerting pressure on Pakistan for crackdown on terrorists when it’s own interests are threatened
- But there seems no possibility of doing the same to favor India
The GST: so far so good, but not good enough:
Context
The proposal departs from the expert view that an ideal GST should have a few exempted commodities and a single rate for all commodities.
What is GST tax?
The GST is a Value added Tax (VAT) is proposed to be a comprehensive indirect tax levy on manufacture, sale and consumption of goods as well as services at the national level. It will replace all indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the Indian Central and state governments.
GST Council
- GST council is a body constituted in September 2016 by the president of India, under the Constitution, it is chaired by the Union finance minister and clutched by various ministers in charge of finance or taxation for each state government.
- According to its mandate under the Constitution, the GST Council shall be guided by the need for a harmonised structure of GST and for the development of a harmonized national market for goods and services.
Is the GST good enough?
- A good GST was expected to yield major economic benefits, adding 2 percentage points to the growth rate.
- Currently, It does achieve the objective of creating an indirect-tax system in which both the Central and the state tax on any single commodity will be levied on the same base, and at the same rate throughout the country, while observing the value-added tax (VAT) principle of full set-off for earlier-stage taxes and zero-rating for exports.
- Other taxes like the Central sales tax, octroi, entry tax, etc., will be abolished.
- The GST being proposed departs from the expert view that an ideal GST should have a few exempted commodities and a single rate for all commodities.
Way Forward
- The GST council could announce that it is open to considering changes based on suggestions that may be made when the law is debated in Parliament.
- The views of tax practitioners on the details of the law should be considered carefully to ensure that the GST law does not contradict the objective of improving the ease of doing business.
- The GST council is a new innovation, reflecting the move to cooperative federalism.
- Announcement of the establishment of a permanent secretariat as part of the GST law would send a major signal of seriousness in the tax-reform effort.
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