Front Page / NATIONAL [The Hindu]
[1] India seeks access to Jadhav
[2] BHIM-Aadhaar will be an economic giant
[3] New UGC vice-chairman soon
[4] Allahabad HC becomes ‘pilot project’ for case backlog study
Editorial/OPINION [The Hindu]
[1] Cross signals across the Himalayas
[2] Doctors under siege
Economy
[1] Maintain EPFO interest rate at 8.65%
[2] RBI, banks trade charges over cash crunch
[3] Digital trade zooms 23 times
Indian Express
[1] Sinking Valley
[2] Many a slip
The Hindu
Front Page / NATIONAL
[1] India seeks access to Jadhav
Context
Former Indian Navy official Kulbhushan Jadhav now facing death sentence in Pakistan
What has happened?
India again sought consular access to former Navy official Kulbhushan Jadhav now facing the gallows in Pakistan, which has not addressed 13 earlier requests for the same.
India
No swap plan: Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan denied knowledge of any plan to exchange Mr. Jadhav for a Pakistani intelligence official in Indian custody and sought more information from Pakistan about the charges against him
Request for Charge Sheet: Have not been informed of the charges against him yet so India requested to see the charge sheet atleast
Pakistan
No positive sign: However, Pakistan has not indicated that it would give a positive response to the latest request
Admission of Guilt: A press release from the office of the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan claimed that Mr. Jadhav has admitted to his involvement in subversive activities
Tit for Tat: Pakistanis incarcerated in Indian prisons have not been provided consular access for years, despite repeated requests and follow-up by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi according to Pakistani press release
Right to Appeal for Mercy: Mr. Jadhav has the right to appeal for mercy
As per the Pakistani law:
- He has the right to appeal within 40 days to an Appellate Court
- He may lodge a mercy petition to the COAS (Chief of Army Staff) within 60 days of the decision by the appellate court
- He may lodge a mercy petition to the President of Pakistan within 90 days after the decision of COAS on the mercy petition
No Response from India:
- According to Pakistan, India had not responded to a Pakistan request on the case
- Letter of Assistance requesting specific information and access to certain key witnesses was shared with the Government of India on 23 January, 2017
- There has been no response from the Indian side so far
Serving Official:
Pakistan also claimed that Mr. Jadhav is a serving official of the Indian Navy and conducted a series of attacks against Pakistan since 2014-15, especially in Balochistan
Sponsored explosions: Of gas pipelines and electric pylons in Sibi and Sui areas in Balochistan
[2] BHIM-Aadhaar will be an economic giant
Context
The Prime Minister inaugurates various development works here to mark the birth anniversary of B.R. Ambedkar
What has happened?
Prime Minister launched the BHIM-Aadhaar (a digital payment platform that uses the Aadhaar number) in Nagpur on the occasion of the 126th birth anniversary of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, and hoped that the digital platform would be an “economic giant” like the Constitution, through which Dr. Ambedkar empowered the common man
Under DigiDhan
- Now you don’t even need a mobile phone [for digital transactions]
- If your Aadhaar number is linked with your bank accounts, then your thumb impression is enough to carry out a digital transaction. You don’t need to carry a single rupee with you
- Even the most advanced technologies in the world don’t have this system
[3] New UGC vice-chairman soon
Context
What has happened?
A search-cum-selection committee interacts with candidates
The post had fallen vacant some months ago
Candidates
The candidates who were short-listed for the interaction, included:
- JNU professor Ashwini Mahapatra
- UGC secretary Jaspal Singh Sandhu
- Delhi University professor Bidyut Chakrabarty, among others
Front runner
Present UGC secretary Jaspal Sandhu is being seen as the front runner for the post, though the decision is likely to take some days.
Faces flak
TSR Subramanian Committee
The law that created the UGC be allowed to lapse
Ineffective: The committee’s report, submitted recently to the Ministry of Human Resource Development, said the UGC had been unable to effectively implement its regulations aimed at ensuring the quality of higher education over the years
Not Adequate number: The report had itself cited the earlier Hari Gautam Committee report, saying that the report was understood to have concluded that the UGC did not have adequate number of personnel of requisite quality to be an effective regulatory force in the higher education sector
NAAC grades irrelevant
The MHRD has also made the NAAC grades of educational institutions certifying quality almost irrelevant by devising the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) to rank institutions. NAAC is an autonomous body under the UGC
[4] Allahabad HC becomes ‘pilot project’ for case backlog study
Context
SC refers to delay in disposal of cases at the cost of gross human rights violations
What has happened?
The Supreme Court has asked itself why numerous orders over the decades suggesting “action plans” to combat staggering backlog of cases in High Courts and trial courts have literally produced no answers and hardly any results
The Backdrop:
A Bail Plea
SC hearing bail plea by a convict in a murder case which was pending in the Allahabad HC for over a decade without a hearing
SC Observed
How the judiciary has been, in a sense, inadvertently responsible for violation of the fundamental right to speedy trial and disposal of criminal appeals under Article 21 of the Constitution
First of a kind move
- The Supreme Court decided to put the Allahabad HC under the microscope as a “pilot project” to investigate how High Courts deal with pendency
- The SC said this was a “target-specific” exercise to study how criminal appeals face years of delay as appellants face “inhuman compulsions” inside jails
- SC called for real-time statistics from the Allahabad HC and roped in senior advocates to assist the Supreme Court
Particulars sought
The Bench directed the HC Registrar to hand over particulars of the criminal appeals, category-wise and year-wise, for the study in four weeks:
It sought the High Court to produce details of the institution and disposal statistics of last 10 years, average disposal time of the appeals, identified causes for the delay, steps already taken and in contemplation for tackling and accelerating disposals, mechanism in place to oversee the process and progress recorded
Not questioning the HC
The Supreme Court said the selection of the Allahabad High Court, one of the oldest High Courts in the country, should not be construed as a comment on its functioning or any deficiency thereof.
Editorial/OPINION
[1] Cross signals across the Himalayas
Context
India must realise that China is no longer willing to remain a status quo power
What has happened?
- Visit of The 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, to Arunachal Pradesh recently
- The prolonged stay of His Holiness in the Tawang Monastery greatly ruffled China’s feathers
- The mild-mannered Dalai Lama spoke with unusual candour (the quality of being open and honest; frankness) during his visit to Arunachal Pradesh, his statements should, therefore, have come as a surprise to China
Choice of words
“I’ve long forgiven China’s Communist Government for occupying Tibet”; we support a ‘One China policy’, “all we want is the right to preserve our culture, language and identity”; “the 1.4 billion Chinese people have every right to know the reality (of Tibet)”, “once they know the reality they will be able to judge”, “until now there has been only one-sided, wrong information” — had the effect of a whiplash and was bound to irk China
More Provocation
What should have provoked the Chinese even more is that at one point, reacting to Chinese objections to his Arunachal Pradesh visit, the Dalai Lama said, “I am the messenger of ancient Indian thoughts and values. I thank the Government of India for the support.”
China’s Reaction Predictable but severe this time
- Would cause “deep damage” to Sino-Indian ties
- That New Delhi would need to make ‘a choice’ in its dealings with the Tibetan spiritual leader
- That India had breached its commitment on the Tibet issue
Statement of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister
Taking particular umbrage (offence or annoyance) at the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister’s statement that the State did not share its borders with China but with Tibet and asking India to stick to its ‘political pledges’ and not hurt China-India relations
Increasing political instability in China
China has certain deep-seated concerns about increasing political instability in areas such as Tibet, apart from the happenings in Xinjiang as well as other security problems. The Dalai Lama’s visit to Tawang at this time could, hence, look like a provocation
Integrated National Security Concept
China had floated the idea of an Integrated National Security Concept, reflecting the extent of its prevailing insecurities
This has introduced certain ‘redlines’, that China would never compromise its legitimate rights and interests, or sacrifice its “core national interests”
Direct bearing on China’s Core Interests
On more than one occasion during the current exchanges, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokespersons had referred to issues concerning Tibet (and Southern Tibet) as having a direct bearing on China’s “core interests”.
Stakes high for China
- The stakes for China are, greater today, as it seeks to emerge as a global leader
- China would like to ensure that its ‘rear’ remains quiescent (in a state or period of inactivity or dormancy), rather than troubled, so as to devote its energies to attain its goals
The Tawang factor
During several rounds of discussions on the Sino-Indian border, the Chinese Special Representative for boundary talks, Dai Bingguo, made it amply clear that Tawang was non-negotiable
Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principle
In 2005, China signed an Agreement on the Political Parameters and Guiding Principles for the Settlement of the India-China Boundary Question which stipulated that areas with settled populations would not be affected in any exchange
Most Indianised
Tawang is the most ‘Indianised’ place in the entire Northeast which leaves little scope for compromise with regard to areas like Tawang
The Chinese Way
- Chinese assertiveness is often rooted in strategic insecurity and a perceived sensitivity to domestic tensions
- China constantly flaunts its ‘exceptionalism’ and its ‘uniqueness’
- Chinese exceptionalism tends today to be largely historical and revivalist
- A combination of Mao’s utopianism and Deng Xiaoping’s realism has left China in a kind of philosophical vacuum
- It has led to an excess of nationalism and nationalistic fervour, making China’s objectives clear-cut.
China’s policymakers
- China’s policymakers are cautious by temperament but are known to take risks
- They are skilled at morphing the gains favoured by each past civilisation and adjusting these to modern conditions
- They prefer attrition (the process of reducing something’s strength or effectiveness through sustained attack or pressure) to forceful intervention, a protracted campaign to gain a relative advantage.
No longer willing to remain a status quo power
Buoyed by its military muscle, and with a defence budget of $151.5 billion (2017) which is much larger than that of all other nations with the exception of the U.S., China is no longer willing to remain a status quo power, or play by existing rules governing the international order
India should remain vigilant
India must realise this, and avoid being caught unawares
The OBOR outlier
OBOR has the backing of most countries in the region except India, the only major Asian nation that has not yet endorsed the concept
If as China anticipates that OBOR has the potential to alter the status quo across the region with most nations accepting a long-term commitment to China, India could find itself friendless in Asia and beyond
[2] Doctors under siege
Context
Workplace violence against health-care workers can only be checked in the backdrop of improved infrastructure
What has happened?
- There have been numerous media reports of instances of violence against doctors and health-care institutions across India
- In most cases, the proximate cause is the death of a patient
Doctors easy target
- All reports suggest that most of these patients could not have been saved with the infrastructure available in the institution, yet their deaths have been seen as a case of neglect by medical personnel
- Doctors have responded to these attacks with anger and anguish, by striking work, demanding more security and even taking to social media with messages about how the profession is seen as an easy target
Growing violence
- The World Health Organisation published guidelines on handling workplace violence in 2002
- However, the incidence and intensity of violence against medical professionals in India is on the rise
The Causes of this Rise in Violence
It appears that these attacks are symptomatic of a larger malaise (a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or unease whose exact cause is difficult to identify), manifested in a general increase in violence:
- As a method of demonstrating power
- Loss of faith in institutions
- Anger against perceived marginalization
- Lack of understanding of science and society
State has failed
The state has failed to stand firm on the rule of law
Civil society has been complicit
- Each group in our fractured society becomes vocal only when its interests are affected
- Thus doctors, pillars of the establishment, have failed to ensure the security of the established society by standing up against violence as a method of settling differences
Inequity in the Heatlh-Care System
- The demand by medical professionals for better pay is seen as selfish
- It has to be coupled with demands for patient care such as better access, better facilities, and more personnel so that individual attention can be given
Public sector health care is a favour and not a right
- At present, most doctors are not advocates for patients
- They play along with governments unwilling to spend on health care and accept the prevalent view that providing public sector health care is a favour and not a right
Doctors seen as part of the Power Structure
So when they are attacked, public support and empathy is lacking
A divide
- Increasing privatisation, corporatisation and commercialisation of medical care have ensured that many procedures cannot be accessed by the general public
- Money needed Examples of the privileged having access to extremely expensive care in the private sector, though many of these interventions are usually futile, propagates the idea that modern medicine can salvage even the most critically ill provided enough money is spent
Failure to establish good understanding of modern science
There is also a failure to establish and propagate a good understanding of modern science in India
Many situations in which no intervention will succeed
Such understanding would encompass the knowledge that although medicine in the modern world has greatly improved the chances of survival in many serious conditions, there are also many situations in which no intervention will succeed
Suspicion Remains: Otherwise, there remains a suspicion that all was not done to save the patient and that much more would have been done had the patient paid more for an expensive hospital and doctor
Effect
The frustration against their own position in society is vented by attacking the doctor and the facility
A way out
What can be done?
Exemplary Action
An immediate step is to ensure exemplary action against violence as a means of settling issues
Improvement in Infrastructure
More long-term measures require vastly improved health infrastructure, fewer patients per doctor in line with international norms so that care can not only be given but seen to be given.
Doctors should participate
Doctors should participate in spreading understanding of science and society
Help Public Understand
At present, the public often does not understand the deeper structural problems underlying the apparent failures of the doctors. Medical practitioners should help highlight these
Peoples’ committees
Peoples’ committees in hospitals will be a welcome step
Constant Audit of the Working Hours
- There must be a constant audit of the working hours of medical personnel
- The fatigued doctor should not be left in the front line to deal with an emotionally charged public
Social Workers Presence
Social workers in crucial departments such as accident and emergency wards to handle anxious crowds will certainly reduce the stress of already overburdened postgraduates and house surgeons.
Conclusion
Civil society and the medical community must come together to demand better health care for our population. We cannot falter now
Economy
[1] Maintain EPFO interest rate at 8.65%
Context
Finance Ministry’s suggestion to cut rate to help retain enough surplus opposed by Labour Minister
What has happened?
- Labour Minister has opposed the Finance Ministry’s request to cut the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) interest rate to 8.6%, from the 8.65% recommended by the fund’s central board of trustees
- This is the second straight year that North Block has urged the Labour Ministry to cut the EPFO interest rate to keep adequate surplus
Delay in interest credit
The latest tussle between the Finance Ministry and the Labour Ministry has led to a delay in crediting interest amount for 2016-17 to about four crore active subscribers
Earlier
The EPFO’s central board of trustees, had approved an interest rate of 8.65% for 2016-17 in a meeting held on December 19. However, the Labour Ministry is yet to notify the interest rate due to pending in-principle approval of the finance ministry.
Finance Ministry
The Finance Ministry told the Labour Ministry in a missive in February that EPFO needed to keep adequate surplus, failing which the government will be liable to compensate for the losses caused by EPFO in case of “mismanagement” of funds due to its investments
Every year, the EPFO keeps a portion of its income as surplus over its liability.
Advice to Labour MInistry
- Amend the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act : The Finance Ministry advised the Labour Ministry to amend the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act to absolve the government of India from the conduct of business by the Board of Trustees in managing the fund
- The EPFO later took up the Finance Ministry’s suggestions for discussion in its finance, investment and audit committee (FIAC) meeting held on March 27, 2017
Clear interference
- EPFO’s income projections in December 2016 showed the recommended interest rate of 8.65% would fetch Rs. 295 crore as surplus
- Lowering the interest rate to Finance Ministry’s recommended 8.6% would leave EPFO with a surplus of Rs. 522 crore
- Never asked the Govt. for help: The central board has never asked for any financial support from the government for managing the funds of EPF subscribers. This is clear interference in the functioning of EPFO’s central board and is not acceptable. The central board is competent to manage EPF funds and government should stay away BMS General Secretary said
Last Year
- The Finance Ministry had pressed for similar arguments last year to overrule the central board of trustees’ proposed interest rate of 8.8% for 2015-16
- It had asked the Labour Ministry to keep the interest rate at 8.7% “to facilitate maintaining a reasonable rate of interest in case of decline in the returns on investment in the coming year
- However, the EPFO’s interest rate remained unchanged at 8.8% for 2015-16 after the Labour Minister held several rounds of deliberation with the Finance Minister following protests from central trade unions
[2] RBI, banks trade charges over cash crunch
Context
While banks say cash supply is skewed, RBI asks them to improve logistics
What has happened?
- The cash shortage in the automated teller machines has led to banks and the regulator at loggerheads with banks pointing out supply shortages though the central bank thinks its a logistical issue for the banks
- While currency in circulation has been increasing since January but bankers said distribution is skewed (biased or distorted in a way that is regarded as inaccurate, unfair, or misleading) towards northern and eastern states
Banks View
- Slower pace: While currency in circulation has definitely increased but the pace has slowed down since the last week of March
- Skewed distribution: Banker said the distribution of currency was skewed towards the states that went to polls in February-March and the situation has not been corrected even after polls are over
- Logistical Problems: Not possible for banks to move the excess currency notes from one part of the country to another
RBI View
- Currency in circulation increased: As on 7 April, Rs 13.61 lakh Crore as compared to Rs 12.45 lakh Crore as on March 10
- More Funds in Branches than ATMs: Quiet possible banks are keeping proportionately more funds in branches and less in ATMs
- More Cash Withdrawals: Typically people withdraw more cash during the last and first few days of a month, after which money started come back to the system again
Concerns
Steady Increase in Withdrawals
- One of the aim of the recent demonetization exercise was to move to a less cash society and encourage digital modes of payment
- Cash withdrawals from automated teller machines (ATM) has continued its upward journey which further increased in February 2017 to Rs 1.93 lakh Crore from Rs 1.52 lakh Crore in January and believed to be on track to reach the pre-demonetisation levels
- Digital modes of payment gained acceptance but cash transactions are also coming back
[3] Digital trade zooms 23 times
Context
Post-demonetisation, 15,000 institutions have gone cashless, says NITI Aayog
What has happened?
- About 15,000 institutions have become cashless, following its digi dhan mela initiative held across 100 cities in the country with an aim to create awareness about digital payments
- At least 15,000 institutions have gone cashless in these 100 rural and urban cities
The NITI Aayog data
Volume of all digital transactions increased by about 23 times:
After De-monetisation:
- 63,80,000 digital transactions for a value of Rs. 2,425 crore in March 2017 (since demonetisation)
Before De-monetisation:
- 2,80,000 digital transactions worth Rs. 101 crore till November 2016 (January-November)
- Aadhaar-enabled payments have increased from 2.5 crore in November 2016 to more than 5 crore in March 2017
- Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) transactions have gone up from 3.6 crore to 6.7 crore during the same period
- BHIM App has already created a new world record by registering 1.9 crore downloads in just four months since its launch in December, 2016
- More than 15 lakh people from cities, small towns and villages attended the melas, which helped enable lakhs to open new bank accounts as well as create new Aadhaar cards
Indian Express
[1] Sinking Valley
Context
New Delhi’s strategy of containment by force has failed, there is a deepening death wish in Kashmir
Kashmir Policy in tatters (irregularly torn pieces of cloth, paper, or other material)
- Security Forces Helpless: Security forces with no means to restore order other than by inflicting death
- Showing Machismo: Indian nationalism now more interested in showing machismo than solving real problems Increasingly radicalised militancy with almost a touch of apocalyptic disregard for life
- Foreign Powers effect: foreign powers fishing in troubled waters
- Scores of young men and children even, are making a statement that courting death seems a better option than what they regard as suffocating oppression
Failed Efforts
Single-digit turnout in the Srinagar by-polls
- Fear of violence and threats by militants contributed to this stunning debacle but it shows that Indian Government’s strategy is not working
- It has not been able to protect the people of Kashmir and instil a sense of security in them
- Legitimacy of almost all conventional political actors dipping
No one in Delhi wants to face this truth squarely
UPA government was criticized but no one dares question our Prime Minister now.
Engaging in a politics of diversion
The way we talk about Kashmir does more harm to India’s cause in Kashmir which desperately requires breaking the cycle of othering (view or treat (a person or group of people) as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself) and humiliation that has marked this conflict
Core issue is not holding territory, it is giving people confidence in the Indian project
Public Gullible enough to buy diversionary tactics
- At the height of this unfolding catastrophe, what was most of Delhi discussing: Were some stone pelters paid to throw stones?
- Completely obscured the larger question of why our Kashmir strategy is a failure, pushing us to new lows
Quality of Indian democracy
- The quality of Indian democracy may not be sufficient to enable an opening in Kashmir, But it is a necessary condition
- It is difficult to shake off the sense that as Indian politics continues on its pathway of jeopardising individual liberty, and finding proxies for targeting minorities, whatever toehold Indian democracy hopes to have in Kashmir will erode even further
The international environment is turning against India
- China is more aggressive
- Our obsessive desire to get aligned with the American military industrial complex will not yield dividends on Pakistan
- In short, Pakistan’s strategic space has increased, not decreased
Conclusion
But we are looking at a situation where our strategy of containment by force has failed, our political instruments are hollow, and there is a deepening death wish in the state. Kashmir is looking at an abyss
[2] Many a slip
Context
Systemic glitches impede government attempts to rid economy of black money
What has happened?
The Central government has taken several steps in the last three years to reform the Indian economy and taken many steps to eradicating black money
But
The results of the government’s endeavours have not always been up to expectations
The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015
Expectation: To bring back a few lakh crore of unaccounted money parked as overseas assets
Results:
- Only 644 declarations were received, and just Rs 2,428 crore was collected in taxes
- Ninety per cent of the collections came from just five per cent of those who declared their assets
- This meant that the act could accomplish only 5 to 10 per cent of what was expected of it
Income Declaration Scheme
Expectation:
- It gave an opportunity to people with unaccounted income or assets to come clean by paying 45 per cent tax on such wealth
- This scheme pertained to unaccounted assets in the country
- It was expected that a few lakh crore of unaccounted wealth would be declared, but the government could get declarations amounting to only Rs 55,000 crore
Results: The government could get declarations amounting to only Rs 55,000 crore
De-monetisation
Expectation:
- Large economic gains expected
- The government’s idea was that counterfeit notes of Rs 500 and 1,000 as well as black money will remain undeposited and thus would go out of circulation
- It was expected that around three lakh crore of unaccounted notes would not be deposited in banks
Results:
But these hopes weren’t fulfilled
- The RBI has not yet declared the final figure of the deposits it has received
- It is busy segregating the counterfeit notes and trying to trace the banks which accepted these
- The expectation, that the parallel economy of black money will be wiped out, has been belied
- The defunct notes deposited in third-party bank accounts are now being withdrawn and the parallel economy of black money seems to be back
Seen from the perspective of the digitisation of payment systems, demonetisation was not justified
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY), 2016
After it announced demonetisation, the government launched the PMGKY, 2016
Expectation: The scheme was launched to enable people who had deposited unaccounted cash in their own bank accounts or the accounts of third parties to make a declaration
Results:
- Only about Rs 12,000 crore of declarations were received — a very small amount compared to what was expected
- Emails were sent to around 1.8 million people asking for explanations of the source of deposits of defunct notes in their bank accounts, But this step was not of much help
The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act 2016
- Was passed with a view to curb deposits of black money in third party accounts
- Under the Act, benami transaction means “where a property is transferred to, or is held by, a person and the consideration for such property have provided, or paid by, another person and the property is held by for the immediate or future benefit of the person who has provided the consideration
Implementation Problems
- People exploited the loopholes in the system to foil moves to demonetise the economy
- People allegedly took the help of bankers and also used others’ bank accounts to deposit their unaccounted money
- Banks did not make proper arrangements to detect counterfeit currency
Positives
The steps taken by the government in the last three years will surely yield positive results
- The stringent provisions of the foreign assets declaration scheme will discourage people from parking unaccounted money in overseas assets and investments
- Stringent provisions under other laws and the Income Tax Act will discourage people from generating more unaccounted money
Conclusion
Bold steps are not enough in themselves; they must be preceded by proper planning
The loopholes in the system have to be plugged before any major reform is undertaken
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