Front Page / NATIONAL [The Hindu]
[1]. SC calls for out-of-court settlement in Ayodhya case
[2]. Aadhaar to be must for IT returns
[3]. Note ban: SC questions Centre
[4]. India slips in human development index
Editorial/OPINION [The Hindu]
[1]. What goes around must come around
[2]. To eschew isolationism
Economy [The Hindu]
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Indian Express
[1]. Why EVMs are win-win
Live Mint
[1]. Why India needs a new logistics network
Front Page / NATIONAL
[1]. SC calls for out-of-court settlement in Ayodhya case
Context
Chief Justice counsels negotiations for consensus instead of legal battle.
What has happened?
Suggesting an out-of-court approchement among rival parties in the 68-year-old Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute, Chief Justice of India advised peace negotiations instead of a pitched court battle, even offering help to settle the fight amicably
Court’s View
- Parties should understand that these are sensitive issues involving religious sentiments. They should adopt a give and take approach to arrive at a consensus
- Must choose a mediator to end the dispute
Delay:
- A large part of the delay in the Supreme Court owes to the fact that the litigation has records dating back to the 16th Century and written in several languages, including Arabic and Persian. They all have to be translated into English for the court
- The High Court judgment itself run into 8,000 pages
Give the article a light read
[2]. Aadhaar to be must for IT returns
Context
Earlier this week, the Centre made it mandatory for beneficiaries to quote their Aadhaar number to avail themselves of benefits under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana for skill development, and the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers.
What has happened?
- Centre has made it mandatory for beneficiaries to quote their Aadhaar number to avail themselves of benefits under the Pradhan MantriKaushalVikasYojana for skill development, and the Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers
- Finance, Defence and Corporate Affairs Minister ArunJaitley moved an amendment to this effect in the draft Finance Bill 2017
- The Centre identified 31 schemes in which the Aadhaar could be made mandatory
- Notifications have been issued in recent months by departments to make Aadhaar compulsory:
- For getting subsidised grains under the National Food Security Act
- Jobs under the MGNREGA
- Pension benefits under the Employees’ Pension Scheme
[3]. Note ban: SC questions Centre
Context
The Supreme Court on Tuesday said the Centre had left the “people in the lurch” by closing all options for them to deposit demonetised notes beyond the cut-off date of December 30, 2016
What has happened?
The Supreme Court said the Centre had left the “people in the lurch” by closing all options for them to deposit demonetised notes beyond the cut-off date of December 30, 2016
Observations of the Court
Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance of 2016
- The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance of 2016 allows Indian citizens abroad and “any other class of persons specified by the Central government” to deposit their old notes beyond the cut-off date of December 31, 2016
- However, the Centre restricted the grace period till March 31, 2017 only to Indian citizens who were abroad during the period between November 9 and December 30, 2016
- False Hope:
- Prime Minister’s speech on demonetisation on November 8, 2016, clearly mentions about extending the grace period till March 31, 2017
- Then the RBI notification then, which also talked clearly about extending the time
- Could have widened the list of people included via an ordinance
- People believed in the PM’s words that they would be offered a grace period to deposit the old notes till March 31
- These may have been people who were hospitalised for the entire duration between November 9 and December 30, 2016
- The government cannot arbitrarily close its window to people in genuine difficulty
The Government
The Prime Minister’s assurances had been overridden by the parliamentary law. “There was no cause for another window. Just because the law gave me a discretion does not mean I will allow everybody to deposit their old notes
What Now?
The court has directed the Centre to file an affidavit explaining why it chose not to extend the deadline post December 30, 2016 despite Parliament giving it the discretion to do so
[4]. India slips in human development index
Context
Among SAARC nations, it’s third behind Sri Lanka, Maldives
What has happened?
UNDP has released its Human Development Report (HDR) 2016. India has slipped 1 place to 131 from 130 amongst 188 countries
What is HDI?
The HDI is a measure for assessing progress in three basic dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, access to knowledge, and access to a decent standard of living
Report
- Medium development category: India’s human development index (HDI) value of 0.624 puts it in the “medium human development” category, alongside countries such as Congo, Namibia and Pakistan
- It is ranked third among the SAARC countries, behind Sri Lanka (73) and the Maldives (105), both of which figure in the “high human development” category
- The world’s top three countries in HDI are Norway (0.949), Australia (0.939) and Switzerland (0.939)
- Rising inequalities: 1.5 million people worldwide still live in multidimensional poverty, 54% of them concentrated in South Asia. While poverty fell significantly from 1990 to 2015, inequalities sharpened in the region
- Malnutrition: South Asia also had the highest levels of malnutrition in the world, at 38%, and the lowest public health expenditure as a percentage of the GDP (1.6%, 2014).
- India’s public health expenditure was even lower, at 1.4% of the GDP
- Gains made by India: India made some gains between 1990 and 201
- Improved life expectancy: India has improved life expectancy by 10.4 years in this period
- Decline in child malnutrition:Child malnutrition also declined by 10 percentage points from 2015
- There was a modest gain in infant and under-five mortality rates
- Positives of India’s reservation policy: The report praised India’s reservation policy, observing that even though it “has not remedied caste-based exclusions”, it has “had substantial positive effects”
- It pointed out that “in 1965, for example, Dalits held fewer than 2% of senior civil service positions, but the share had grown to 11% by 2001”
- Praise for MGNREGS: The HDR also hailed the national rural employment guarantee programme as a “prime example” of “combining social protection with appropriate employment strategies”
- Progressive Indian laws hailed: The report noted with approval India’s progressive laws, especially the Right to Information, National Food Security, and Right to Education Acts
- MKSS commended: It commended the Indian grassroots group MazdoorKisan Shakti Sanghatan for popularizing social audits of government schemes
- Gender disparity: The largest gender disparity in development exists in South Asia, where the female HDI value is 20% lower than the male value
- Loss due to gender gap:In South Asia, gender gaps in entrepreneurship and labour force participation caused an estimated income loss of 19%
- Gains made by India: India made some gains between 1990 and 201
- India’s public health expenditure was even lower, at 1.4% of the GDP
Editorial/OPINION
[1]. What goes around must come around
Context
Wastewater management receives too little social or political attention
Issue: Wastewater Management
What has happened?
United Nations Water Development Programme has released World Water Development Report (WWDR) – Wastewater: The Untapped Resource on 22nd Mar 2017
Occasion: World Water Day – 22nd Mar
Observations made
- Waste is released untreated: More than 80% of the world’s wastewater is released into the environment untreated
Examples:In Thailand, 77% of wastewater was untreated in 2012; it was 81% in Vietnam the same year and 82% in Pakistan in 2011
- Urban shift in the Asia-Pacific region is straining its already limited infrastructure and capacity to treat waste water
- Slums – Urban dwellers residing in the region live in slums, low-income areas, where wastewater is often discharged into the nearest surface drain or informal drainage channel
- City–based hospitals and small- and medium-sized enterprises discharge medical & toxic wastes directly into wastewater systems
- Limited access: Socioeconomic factors determine the access to efficient wastewater management services
- Wealthier neighbourhoods are usually better served than slum areas, which are more likely to face the risk of contracting cholera, dysentery, typhoid and polio due to consuming faeces-contaminated water
- Economic stakes: Along with the human cost, there are enormous economic stakes involved in the effective management of wastewater
- Estimate by WWDR: The report estimates that for every $1 spent on sanitation, society benefits by an estimated $5.5
- Untapped potential of wastewater: When safely treated, wastewater can be a source of water, energy, nutrients and other recoverable materials that is both affordable and sustainable
- Manufacturing Fertilizers:In Southeast Asia, revenues from fertilizer have paid for the operational costs of the systems to extract them several times over
No attention
Author laments that while water scarcity receives due attention, wastewater management is frequently overlooked as a potentially effective means of addressing the global water crisis
Singapore example
- NEWater: Singapore, for example, is using reclaimed water, branded “NEWater”, to serve up to 30% of its needs
- Potable water: While largely used for industrial purposes, the water is potable (safe to drink). The largely industrial use of NEWater also points to wastewater’s potential benefits for food production and industrial development
Author suggests
Municipalities and local governments should be strengthened by providing them adequate financial and human resources to enforce environmental rules and improve infrastructure and services
Sustainable Development Goals
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 specifically focusses on water and sanitation, with Target 3 addressing water quality
Conclusion
Water is life, and without a sustained commitment to improving and benefiting from effective wastewater management, that precious resource, and the billions of lives it nourishes, are in danger
[2]. To eschew isolationism
Context
G20 states must play by the multilateral rule book even when President Trump regards trade as a zero-sum game
Give it a light read.
Economy
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Indian Express
[1]. Why EVMs are win-win
Context
Data shows electronic voting machines provide fair elections, which helps improve public utility provisions, reduces crime
Why electoral fraud is dangerous in a democracy?
Electoral fraud not only undermines public trust in democratic institutions, it also adversely affects the provision of public goods. With electoral fraud, there are no checks on politicians to stop them from spending disproportionately on private goods, at the expense of public goods, to buy the loyalty of a small fraction of people, with whose support they commit fraud
Enter the EVM
Electronic Voting Machines were introduced by Election Commission of India in the late 1990s
- An important feature of EVMs was that these could register only five votes per minute: This had significant adverse implications for electoral fraud as polling booths had to be captured for a longer period to rig elections, thereby increasing the cost of electoral fraud
Impact of the EVM
Rest of the article makes a simple point that EVMs have had impacts on the electoral system of the country. These are,
- Introduction of EVMs led to a significant decline in electoral fraud
- Use of voting machines significantly increased the provision of electricity in a constituency
- There is a very strong link between the introduction of EVMs and decline in crime. In particular, we found a great decline in crimes related to murder and rape. Furthermore, this effect is stronger in states where a large proportion of legislators have criminal record
Live Mint
[1]. Why India needs a new logistics network
Context
An integrated multi-modal approach is necessary for reaping the benefits of GST and Make In India
Issue: A robust Logistics network
Programme
In the last Budget speech, Union FM said that
- A specific programme for development of multi-modal logistics parks, together with multi-modal transport facilities, will be drawn up and implemented
- This will entail setting up 35 multi-modal logistics parks at a cost of Rs50,000 crore, developing 50 economic corridors and inviting investment from the states and private sector
Why that is necessary?
An effective multi-modal logistics and transport sector will make our economy more competitive
- Improving competitiveness: Efficient transportation and logistics are important for boosting India’s competitiveness. They reduce transport time and costs, of course—but they also reduce cost of production by minimizing the need for large inventories. This means less capital required for warehouses, insurance etc
- Creation of demand of other goods: Growth in transport and logistics enterprises can create markets for other goods
- Efficient logistics networks can reduce divergence in regional growth
- As the last Economic Survey points out, inter-state trade flows in India stand at a healthy 54% of GDP. Reducing friction via improved logistics could boost this
- While the demand for transport grew at around 10% annually in the 1990s, it has accelerated since. Failing to keep pace will hamstring everything from the manufacturing push and attempts to boost farmer earnings to the benefits of urban agglomeration economies
Major hurdle
The main hurdle so far has been that India’s logistics and transport sector has developed in isolation
- This has resulted in overly complex regulation and administrative procedures
Ground level situation
As of 2008, the mix was 50% of total freight flow via roads, 36% by rail, 7.5% by pipelines, 6% by coastal shipping, 0.2% by inland waterways and 0.01% by airways
- Optimum situation: Transport by rail and inland waterways is far more cost- and time-efficient than transport by roads, for instance, and should account for high proportions of the freight flow
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