Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
- GS PAPER 1
- This reform must begin within {Society}
- Apathy towards antiquities { Art & Culture}
- GS PAPER 2
- Govt. cautions judiciary on NCA {Judiciary}
- A drought of action {Drought}
- U.S. challeneged India, China on sea freedom {International Affairs}
- Buck stops at Bench {Judiciary}
- NPA clean-up should not become a witch hunt {NPA}
- China’s water hegemony in Asia {International Affairs}
- GS PAPER 3
GS PAPER 1
[1] This reform must begin within
Issue
Reforms in the Islamic laws which impinge upon the rights of muslim women.
Why in news?
Recently, Shayara Bano, a 35-year-old woman from Uttarakhand, has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Supreme Court.
The PIL seeks to declare the practice of triple talaq, nikah halala (bar against remarriage with divorced husband without an intervening marriage with another man) and polygamy under Muslim personal laws as illegal, unconstitutional, and violative of the rights to equality, dignity, life and freedom of religion under the Constitution.
Who is in support of this PIL?
Women’s groups, Muslim and non-Muslim, are meeting to discuss the strategy to support the Supreme Court’s intervention in getting Muslim women their rights under the Constitution.
Who is against this PIL?
Some Muslim organisations, ulemas and maulanas through their legal counsels have argued that the court’s intervention would be tantamount to violation of their constitutional rights.
Arguments of orthodox Muslim Organisations to prevent any reforms within the society
- They state that Islamic law is divine and should not be interfered with.
- Any interference in Muslim personal law is against the fundamental right of freedom of religion which has been given to all citizens by the Constitution of India.
- They declared that Muslim women are satisfied with their rights under the Sharia and feel more protected than women of other faiths.
Why we need reforms?
- Women who practice Muslim faith are still subjected to grave social evils that find sanction in the Shariat law and as a consequence, proliferates discrimination against the Muslim women in society.
- Because of laws like triple talaq it has become extremely easy for a man to divorce muslim women. Divorces are happening on Skype and messages.
- These laws are against the right to equality of Muslim women and they promote discrimination on the basis of gender and religion.
- Muslim women faces double disadvantage:- (1) Abject Poverty and (2) Harsh Personal Laws.
- Reforms should be undertaken to show the world the true face of Islam so far as gender was concerned.
Two Extreme Forces
On one side, there is orthodox Muslim organisations and on the other side, there is the confrontational approach of the ‘secular’ groups in making a claim for state-based intervention might belittle the efforts the community is making towards self-democratisation.
Results of this ugly fight
- The open fight between the two groups will turn hostile.
- It will provide masala to the electronic and social media, and stereotypical images of Muslim women and Muslim men will be flashed as the backdrop to sharply divided panels who will engage in mutual acrimony.
- At the same time, it might bring to the fore the fundamental fact that Muslims are not a monolithic group, they do not think in one voice, and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) is less representative of Muslims than it imagines.
A viable middle path
- For this middle path, the AIMPLB has a key role because it has many followers.
- They should step off the old track and project before the world the true spirit of Islam which is avowedly most gender-friendly and gender-sensitive regardless of its heinous distortion by groups like the Islamic State.
- In addition, without being defensive, they should show how over the years there has been an effort to liberalise the Sharia in light of the various schools of Fiqh (jurisprudence).
- They should say that women are free to use whichever school suits them best. Certain Islamic schools completely prohibit triple talaq.
- There must be a greater understanding of the fact that the fight is not against the laws prescribed in Koran but against the ease with which these laws can be misused that cause immense mental and emotional sufferings to women.
Internal Reforms
- Muslim leaders should speak about their efforts at internal democratisation, and move much faster to bring the practice of Islam closer to its spirit.
- They can themselves ban triple talaq, polygamy and introduce other gender-friendly reform.
- By reforming itself in full public view, it will make the Supreme Court’s intervention infructuous, and thereby they would have done exactly what was intended when Islam was revealed.
[2] Apathy towards antiquities
Issue
- India is highly ignorant of its antiquities
- Proposed very weak case for acquisition of Kohinoor from UK to UNESCO
- India’s laws and police force is also incapable of bringing these cases (stealing and smuggling of artifacts) to light.
- It goes unnoticed many times in India.
- Reasons behind this: poor documentation of existing and stolen artefacts, outdated laws, and unqualified investigative agencies.
- As compared to Italian force India registered very less cases on antiquities.
- India should improve its legal measures and investigative agencies If the government is serious about the future of Indian antiquities.
GS PAPER 2
[1] Govt. cautions judiciary on NCA
Issue
- National Court of Appeal (NCA)
Already discussed, refer the following articles in the same sequence:-
Additional Points
Why NCA is a good idea:
1. The Supreme Court will maintain its place as the apex court of land and – like England, Wales and the US – only rule on matters that are of constitutional importance or set new legal precedent. This will allow the Court to dedicate more time to develop the law.
2. It will make geographical sense to have different benches to hear appeals. As of now, all appeals have to be heard in New Delhi, inconvenient for cases originating in other parts of the country.
3. A court of appeal can work as an excellent mechanism to sieve cases. If there are areas of law that are particularly unsettled and need clarification, the court of appeal can club them together and send these forward to the Supreme Court. Not only can a number of individual cases be disposed of but areas of law can also be settled and a clear precedent set.
4. If the Supreme Court only deals with crucial cases, the process will become streamlined and will save a lot of time and expense, for both litigants and the courts.
Why is it a bad idea:
- It will not reduce the litigation.Apex courts are not clogged but subordinate courts are.
- It will merely add another layer of adjudication.
- It is constitutionally impossible because hearing of appeals is a basic structure (which will be affected)
- It would be a boon only for advocates.
Stand of the Government
- NCA will add one more level of adjudication and will not help decrease litigation. It will only end up being a boon to advocates. It will mean more hardship to the litigant.
Stand of the Supreme Court
- It has sent a clear signal to the government that it intended to push hard and pronounce a judgment on the constitutional viability of having an NCA.
Conclusion:
Establishing the NCA is a policy decision.The court cannot give direction to the central government from the top court to establish NCA as it would “tantamount to direction from (the top) court to the government to enact a law”.
[2] A drought of action
Context
- Recent droughts in the country have brought hardships for the people and the government schemes like PDS and MGNREGS are also not helping
How drought was dealt in the past
- Large scale public works were organised, employing 1 lakh of workers across one district at times
- Food was distributed who were unable to work
- Debt relief, cattle relief and water was supplied
- This manner was the basic framework of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan
How it is dealt today
- The ability of the people to withstand such calamities has increased.
- People rely more on measures such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), the Public Distribution System (PDS), midday meals and social security pensions.
What MGNREGS is going through
- MGNREGS arrears are more than Rs.12,000 crore, end of 2015-16, but the budget allocation is more or less constant in money terms year after year
- Govt needs to spend Rs.60,000 crore if previous year’s employment is to be maintained( owing to the reason that workers have a right to be paid in 15 days)
- Still the allocation is Rs.38,500 crore
- Unless the Central government accepts the need for a large injection of funds, MGNREGS employment is all set to contract again, or wage payments will be postponed — both would be a disaster in a drought year as well as a violation of people’s entitlements under the law.
Story about PDS
- PDS covers much larger fraction of the rural population, it is safeguard against hunger and starvation
- Uttar Pradesh will benefit from the scheme than any other state, before National Food Security Act came into force, only ¼ the of the Below poverty line (BPL) category benefitted from the scheme, the food was sold out in open by corrupt middlemen.
- NFSA rations cards are yet to be distributed and many are not even aware of the Act, although the CM of Uttar Pradesh had said that they have “implemented” the act
- In other States, the status of the NFSA varies a great deal, from dismal (e.g. in Rajasthan) to reasonably promising (in many of the eastern States).
- In Rajasthan Aadhar has caused havoc in Rajasthan, now government plan for Aadhaar-based biometric authentication of PDS beneficiaries will make it worse.
- This again affects people more in time of droughts and calamities.
National Food Security Act, 2013
- The National Food Security Act, 2013 (also Right to Food Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India which aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people
- The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA 2013) converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the Government of India. It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services scheme and the Public Distribution System.
- Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries of the Public Distribution System (or, PDS) are entitled to 5 kilograms per person per month of cereals at the following prices:
Rice at Rs.3 per kg
Wheat at Rs.2 per kg
Coarse grains (millet) at Rs.1 per kg.
Conclusion
- The simplest way of preventing starvation in a drought situation today is to intensify the permanent income support measures mentioned earlier, for instance by expanding employment under MGNREGS, providing special food rations under the PDS, and arranging for improved school meals.
[3] U.S. challeneged India, China on sea freedom
Issue
- The U.S. military conducted “freedom of navigation” operations against 13 countries last year, including several in dispute of China’s claims in the South and East China seas, according to an annual Pentagon report.
- The operations were against China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Libya, Malaysia, the Maldives, Oman, the Philippines and Vietnam.
- The freedom of navigation operations involve sending U.S. Navy ships and military aircraft into areas where other countries have tried to limit access.
Aim
- To demonstrate that the international community does not accept such restrictions.
- U.S. would step up the freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea this year despite China’s denunciation of the patrols.
- U.S. freedom of navigation operations last year also challenged China’s claims of jurisdiction in the airspace above its maritime Exclusive Economic Zone as well as restrictions it has tried to impose on aircraft flying through an Air Defence Identification Zone over the East China Sea.
- Iran and the Philippines have been the most frequently challenged countries by these patrols over the years, mainly because they sit astride heavily traveled sea lanes whose use they have tried to limit or govern.
What is patrol?
- A patrol is commonly a group of personnel, such as law enforcement officers or military personnel, that are assigned to monitor a specific geographic area.
[4] Buck stops at Bench
For Earlier article Click here
Issue
- Understaffed judiciary
- India must have at least two to four times the current sanctioned strength of judges.
- The government is considering fast-track special courts for commercial disputes.
- This shows minimal concern for the poor who may be innocent but are rotting in prisons as undertrials.
Analysing data of number of cases pending
- It destroys the myth that the backlog is growing at a rapid pace.
- The total number of pending cases each year on January 1, 2009 to 2014 has just grown by a few lakhs. This shows that the backlog is not growing at a galloping pace which is commonly believed.
- In 2014, the Law Commission, looked at this problem using data. They took the average number of cases decided by each judge and reasoned that if an increase was made in the number of judges, these additional judges would also dispose of cases at the same average rate.
- This was the first rational attempt to arrive at the number of judges required to overcome the problem of case pendency.
- They came to the conclusion that a very significant increase would have to be made in the number of judges
- They made an assumption that the backlog should be cleared in a maximum of three years. This is flawed. There is no logic why the backlog that we have built up over decades cannot be cleared at a slower pace.
Filling the positions of judges
- Not a single instance when all the judicial posts being filled.
- Average vacancy in the Supreme Court, high courts and lower courts is about 10, 30 and 20 per cent, respectively.
- In fact number of sanctioned judicial positions is adequate, but these are not filled.
- One argument for not filling the positions is that it is not possible to find good judges.
- The total number of sanctioned positions was 21,542 in September 2015.
- 22,000 good and suitable people cannot be found to take up judges’ positions in India, it is the insult of the nation.
- Both the judiciary and the government is responsible for this situation.
- Judiciary side: There are 462 vacancies for high court judges, only 170 names have been recommended by the collegium.
- Government side: Not accepting the names expeditiously
- If the judiciary wishes to shift the blame to the government, it would not be right.
- Recently, the Supreme Court ordered the government to appoint information commissioners to fill up the vacancies in the sanctioned strength.
- Judiciary does not have any justification for not filling all judicial positions.
Conclusion
- The judiciary and the government must immediately take steps to address this issue.
[5] NPA clean-up should not become a witch hunt
Context
NPA of Banks is on the rise and at the same time the bankers are scared to make decisions to bring this down.Fear to take Decisions on lending. RBIs decision not to make public list of defaulters.
Should bank defaulters’ list be made public?.
Already discussed, cleared here.
What are Non-Performing Assets?
- The assets of the banks which don’t perform (that is – don’t bring any return) are called Non Performing Assets (NPA) or bad loans.
- Bank’s assets are the loans and advances given to customers. If customers don’t pay either interest or part of principal or both, the loan turns into bad loan.
- According to RBI, terms loans on which interest or installment of principal remain overdue for a period of more than 90 days from the end of a particular quarter is called a Non-performing Asset.
- However, in terms of Agriculture / Farm Loans; the NPA is defined as under
- For short duration crop agriculture loans such as paddy, Jowar, Bajra etc. if the loan (installment / interest) is not paid for 2 crop seasons , it would be termed as a NPA.
- For Long Duration Crops, the NPA would be 1 Crop season from the due date.
Warnings
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan, finance minister Arun Jaitley and Vinod Rai of the recently constituted Banks Board Bureau matter, these all have warned that not all defaulters are wilful defaulters who deserve to be treated harshly.
Fear is not good for Business
- It is important that every loan default should not be seen as a scam and that every realistic decision by bankers to resolve the problem in their loan books does not invite the attention of investigative agencies. A witch-hunt is the last thing we need.
- Judgmental errors in business are not unusual—as they are not in the world of banking. However, in the current environment, some bankers are not willing to take decisions because of the fear that they could be subjected to enquiry if the loan goes bad at a later date.
- This can affect the flow of credit even to sound and good businesses, which, in turn, can affect overall economic activity.
- If an act of default is put out for public consumption without understanding the severity or reasons,it may result in a loss of business as well as undue anxiety and panic and therefore chill business activity.
Need to understand State of Mind of Decision Makers
- It is possible that some entrepreneurs are unable to pay back simply because the business has suffered due to wider macroeconomic conditions, or there have been delays in regulatory approvals—all beyond their control.
- Even if some entrepreneurs borrowed on the basis of flawed assumptions and business decisions have gone wrong, there are ways to deal with such situations and every defaulter should not be seen with suspicion.
- Every default is not a consequence of diversion of funds or corporate fraud.
Conclusion
- RBI has done the right thing by opposing the idea of making the defaulters’ list public as it will not solve the problem.
- RBI has taken several steps to empower banks so that they can deal with NPAs more effectively, but putting the names in public will negatively affect the business environment.
[6] China’s water hegemony in Asia
Issue
- Severe drought has occurred in south east asia and the main reason for this is rapid construction of dam by China at upstreams. Now Beijing is trying to legitimatise it by releasing water to drought hit nation in Lower Mekong river basin i.e. China is touting the utility of its upstream structures in fighting droughts and floods.
Analysis
It shows China’s newfound power to control the flow of a life-sustaining resource and thus increasing lower basin Nation’s dependence on China’s goodwill and charity.
Moreover with a further 14 dams being built or planned by China on the Mekong, this dependence on Chinese goodwill is set to deepen.
This has given edge to China to push its Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) initiative as an alternative to the lower-basin states’ Mekong River Commission.
What is Mekong River Commission?
- The Mekong River Commission (MRC) is an intergovernmental body concerned with the Mekong River basin and charged “to promote and co-ordinate sustainable management and development of water and related resources for the countries’ mutual benefit and the people’s well-being by implementing strategic programmes and activities and providing scientific information and policy advice.
- But China has spurned it over the years. China is only dialogue partner and not member of it whish shows its intention to take part in discussions but not to take on any legal obligations.
- China’s refusal to join the 1995 Mekong treaty, which created the commission, has stunted the development of an inclusive, rules-based basin community to deal with water- and environment-related challenges.
What is its Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) initiative?
LMC, a political initiative emphasizing Chinese “cooperation”, is intended to help marginalize the commission, an institution with legally binding rules and regulations.
The LMC project is also designed to overshadow the US-sponsored Lower Mekong Initiative, which seeks to overcome Chinese opposition to the Mekong treaty by promoting integrated cooperation among Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.
How China is in the process of establishing its hegemony?
- By forcibly absorbing the Tibetan plateau (the giant incubator of Asia’s main river systems) and Xinjiang (the starting point of the Irtysh and the Illy), China became the source of transboundary river flows to the largest number of countries in the world, extending from the Indo-China peninsula and South Asia to Kazakhstan and Russia.
- Along with this it is continuously constructing dams. Before the communists seized power, China had only 22 dams and now it has more than 90000 dams.
- Now, country’s dam builders, in fact, are shifting their focus from the dam-saturated internal rivers (some of which, like the Yellow, are dying) to the international rivers.
Conclusion
Despite its centrality in Asia’s water map, China has rebuffed the idea of a water-sharing treaty with any neighbour. Against this background, the concern growing among downstream neighbours is that China is seeking to turn water into a potential political weapon. After all, by controlling the spigot for much of Asia’s water, China is acquiring major leverage over its neighbours’ behaviour in a continent already reeling under very low freshwater availability.
Thus the only hope that could temper its dam frenzy is a prolonged economic slowdown at home and flattening demand for electricity due to China’s already-slowing economic growth
GS PAPER 3
[1] EU had offered India gradual, asymmetric elimination of tariffs
Context
Talks on the Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement—the official title of the free trade pact—started in 2007 but progress has been tardy and marked by flip-flops.
What EU wants?
The European Union has said that it offered India the possibility of asymmetric and gradual elimination of tariffs in the car and car parts (upto 100% import duties faced by EU exporters)and wines and spirits (upto 150% import duties faced by EU exporters) sectors as part of the negotiations on the BTIA.
What India wants?
- High on India’s priority list has been access to European markets for Indian service professionals (such as from the IT sector).
- India is keen to obtain ‘data secure’ nation status from the EU, a classification that is crucial for the development of its IT and ITES sectors in Europe.
- EU considers India insecure in keeping data secure. A ‘data secure’ status is needed by EU. This has hampered the progress of negotiations around the liberalization of trade in services in the BTIA.
India-EU Broad Based Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) negotiations
- On 28th June 2007, India and the EU began negotiations on a broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) in Brussels, Belgium.
Objective of BTIA
India and the EU expect to promote bilateral trade by removing barriers to trade in goods and services and investment across all sectors of the economy. Both parties believe that a comprehensive and ambitious agreement that is consistent with WTO rules and principles would open new markets and would expand opportunities for Indian and EU businesses.
Areas covered under BTIA
The negotiations cover Trade in Goods, Trade in Services, Investment, Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures, Technical Barriers to Trade, Trade Remedies, Rules of Origin, Customs and Trade Facilitation, Competition, Trade Defence, Government Procurement, Dispute Settlement, Intellectual Property Rights & Geographical Indications, Sustainable Development.
Will free trade with EU hampers India’s generic industries?
- Access to medicines is an essential pillar of the EU’s policy on intellectual property and this is fully taken into the negotiations with India.
- The trade agreement that EU want to establish with India will not undermine India’s right to produce generic medicines either for domestic or international purposes.
[2] Don’t give in
What happened?
Government has set aside the decision of the Central Board of Trustees (CBT) of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO), which had recommended that EPF would earn an interest 8.8 per cent.The Government has reduced it to 8.7%.
Why the Government has taken this step?
- The decision to cut EPF rates is in line with the decision to cut the interest earned from small savings schemes such as post office savings, the Kisan Vikas Patra (cut from 8.7 to 7.8 per cent ) as well as Public Provident Fund (from 8.7 to 8.1 per cent).
- The ministry had also announced that the rates on such small savings schemes would henceforth be revised every quarter.
- The persistently high lending rates have been a dampener for an investment-starved economy.
- By excluding the EPF, presumably due to lobbying by trade unions, the government would be doing great injustice to the common man who invests in, say, a PPF and has no one to lobby for his interests.
Government’s other moves regarding interest rate paid on the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) accumulations:-
- On March 8, it dropped the revised norms for taxation of EPF withdrawal announced in this year’s budget.
- On April 19, it cancelled a notification that tightened rules for the withdrawal of EPF accumulations till the age of 58.
[3] FDI inflows: short term gain, long-term pain?
News
- According to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, foreign direct investment (FDI) into India reached highest point during the current fiscal year.
- India needs large investments—foreign as well as domestic—to meet its vast requirements.
Issue
- Is Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) a secure financing (short term gain)or a long term pain?
FDI is virtually a secure financing why?
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) mostly goes into setting up of plants,equipments and factories which eventually produce tradable goods that generate foreign exch resources.
- Thus over a time the current account balance of the country stabilizes.
Practically it could be different from theories:
- FDI inflows could go after the domestic market, instead of being export-oriented
- Concentrate in the relatively more profitable, non-tradable sector, leading to little or no transfer of technology.
- It may boost consumption and imports which eventually leads to trade deficits instead of surpluses
- FDI-associated income and principal payments could rise over time.
- If export earnings are not enough to prevent any, or a combination of these features
- current account imbalance could actually worsen instead of improving.
What is FDI?
- Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India is the major monetary source for economic development in India.
- Foreign companies invest directly in fast growing private Indian businesses to take benefits of cheaper wages and changing business environment of India.
Positive impacts of FDI on home country:
- Improve both economic and political power of home country
- Increase profits thanks to the location advantages of the recipient country
- Enter new market, extend the product life cycle
- Overcome trade barriers and enjoy investment promotion
- Enhance diversification when the political situation at home is unstable
- Improve market structure and toward better international labor diversification
- Improve in the balance of payments as a result of the inward flow of foreign earnings ( repatriation or profits )
- FDI positively affects home-country export performance through direct effects on trade as well as indirect effects through various channels
- Positive employment effects when the foreign subsidiary creates demand for home-country exports
- Benefits from a reverse resource-transfer effect
- The outward FDI also leads to creation of new job market with great expertise and necessary skills
- The home country is exposed to create new market share and it is liable to create many in the future
1. The lead article of the day is covered under Editorial Today. Click here to read.
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