9 PM Daily Brief -15 June 2016

Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation

What is 9 PM brief?

• GS PAPER 2
  1. Navy’s woman power reaches Mauritius shores {Society}
  2. Is the appointment of Parliamentary Secretary unconstitutional? {Polity}
  3. The language itch {Governance}
  4. India warned against pitfalls in ASEAN trade agreement {Foreign Policy}
  5. No takers for MEA-funded Nelson Mandela Chair {Foreign Policy}
  6. A shrug instead of outrage {Governance}
  7. Chennai-Kunming direct flights likely {Foreign Policy}
  8. India’s strategic gambit in Vietnam {Foreign Policy}
• GS PAPER 3
  1. E-commerce transactions in GST net {Economy}
  2. Retrospective policies will hit foreign flows: SEBI {Economy}
  3. High food prices drive WPI inflation {Economy}

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GS PAPER 2

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[1] Navy’s woman power reaches Mauritius shores

The Hindu

Context

• Indian Navy’s sail training boat INSV Mhadei steered by 6 all women crew members sailed into Port Louis Mauritius, successfully completing the first ever open ocean voyage. The vessel had set sail from Goa port on May 24, 2016.
• These women crew members will also circumnavigate the world in 2017.

Analysis

• This opean ocean voyage by all-women crew members is the first in the maritime history of India.
• The crew covered a distance of 2100 nautical miles in 20 days and had to pass through rough weather.
• The timing of the voyage was specifically chosen so as to make the crew face the rough weather which they are most likely to face as they attempt to circumnavigate the world in 2017.
• The crew will begin its return journey on June 24th and is expected to touch Goa port in early July.

Conclusion

• This open ocean voyage can be considered as a mock drill of sorts to prepare the all women crew for their circumnavigation around the globe in 2017.
• However, the circumnavigation will take place using a new vessel which is under construction and is expected to be delivered by Feb 2017.

[2] Is the appointment of Parliamentary Secretary unconstitutional?

The Hindu

Context

President Pranab Mukherjee refuse to give assent to the bill by Delhi government which aimed to exclude the post of Parliamentary Secretaries from the office of profit. 21 MLAs of Aam Aadmi Party who were appointed as Parliamentary Secretaries might now face disqualification.

What is the whole issue regarding Parliamentary secretaries about?

The issue regarding the Parliamentary secretaries is two fold:

1. The constitution specifies that any person holding an office of profit under state or central govt,will be disqualified from the post of MP, MLA, member of Panchayats or Municipality.This is done so that their in no conflict between the duties and interests of an elected member.
   Now since the post of parliamentary secretary comes under the office of profit, the elected members must be disqualified. This is the reason why the fate of 21 MLAs of AAP is hanging.

What constitutes an office of profit? Five conditions have been laid down: (i) Whether the government makes the appointment (ii) Whether the government has the right to remove or dismiss the holder (iii) Whether the government pays remuneration (iv) What the functions of the holder are (v) Does the government exercise any control over the performance of these functions.

The Delhi government however says that since Parliamentary Secretaries do not take any remuneration or perks from the government the post should not fall under the office of profit.

1. Under Article 164(1A) the constitution puts a limit that the number of ministers including the chief minister cannot exceed 15% of the total strength of the assembly (It is 10% in case of Delhi). Now, since the parliamentary secretary hold the rank of minister of state, they also fall under the limit of 10% for Delhi govt. Hence, appointing 21 MLAs as parliamentary secretary is unconstitutional.

Have there been controversies earlier?

Yes, there have been controversies earlier as well:

• A Telangana government order appointing Parliamentary Secretaries was stuck down in 2015 by the High Court in Hyderabad.
• In 2009, such appointments were held unconstitutional in Goa, and in 2005 in Himachal Pradesh.

The common thread in the judgments was that Parliamentary Secretaries had the rank and status of government Ministers.

[3] The language itch

Indian Express

Context

• Karunanidhi (DMK Chief) has warned the centre that there would be an anti-Sanskrit agitation if the centre tries to impose it on Tamil Nadu.

Analysis

• This move by the DMK Chief might be a step to re-energize his party using the backdrop of language agitation. The same was done by M. Karunanidhi almost 50 years ago when he lead an anti-Hindi agitation which lead to his party coming in power.
• However, it can not be ignored that language still continue to be a big issue in many parts of India.
• The centre must also learn that by forcing language earlier Hindi and now Sanskrit as well, especially on the people in south India and East India it is only going to breed discontent. Centre must learn from India’s history that how language imposition lead to mass mobilisations and violence.

Conclusion

• There is no point in spending huge chunks of money for promoting a language. It should be people who themselves should choose the language rather the thrusting the language on the people. Developing a language and imposing it are two different things and centre must sort out this confusion about both among themselves.

[4] India warned against pitfalls in ASEAN trade agreement

The Hindu

Context

• Civil society organisations are pushing for the removal of harmful intellectual property provisions that could potentially increase drug costs by creating new monopolies and delaying the entry of affordable generics in the market.

Harmful provisions in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)

• Japan and South Korea have made several “alarming” proposals that go beyond the World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
• ‘Data Exclusivity’ and ‘Patent Term Extensions’ are the two of the most worrying demands.

Data exclusivity

• It  is a form of legal monopoly protection for a drug, over and above the patent protections.
• It  is given expressly to compensate for the investment made during clinical trials.
• It implied that regulators cannot approve a similar drug with similar data for the next five years, delaying the entry of generic, affordable versions.

Patent term extensions

• These are given to compensate the company for delays in processing patent applications.
• A patent term extension will give another five-year monopoly to the innovator company, again delaying the entry of generic drugs in the market.

Warning to India

• India will no more remain ‘the pharmacy of the developing world’ if the above proposals in the pact are adopted.

[5] No takers for MEA-funded Nelson Mandela Chair

The Hindu

Issue

• Because of lack of funds, there has not been many applicants for Nelson Mandela Chair.

About Nelson Mandela Chair

• The Nelson Mandela Chair was created in 1992 after the earlier Chair funded by the UGC named after Kwame Nkrumah was discontinued after eight years.
• It is created to promote ties between academics of India and Africa.
• Under the terms of the Chair, JNU provides office, support staff and accommodation to the visiting academic.
• and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) provides a consolidated monthly payment of Rs. 1 lakh.

Why there has not been many applicants for such a reputed post?

• The position offers just Rs. 1 lakh to the visiting academic which is really meagre.
• The honorarium for the Chair has not been revised in years whereas a revision should normally take place once in five years.
• The terms and conditions of the position had become outdated and African scholars find these humiliating.

[6] A shrug instead of outrage

The Hindu

Context

• According to a report, around 1.5 lakhs people died due to accident last year, that means on average, around 400 people die every day on Indian roads.

Analysis

• But like always, these statistics merely remains some abstract number and nothing is done to better the conditions.
• It has been aptly said that “One death is a tragedy and one million is a statistic”.
• When such data is released, there is a standard response from the administration or public servants, first they mourn the increase in casualties.
• And then they promise instant action and remedy in the form of speed bumps, speed traps, ambulances and CCTVs to bring down such statistics.
• Road deaths are often seen as isolated events when they are actually a collaboration between engineering, poor policing, bad planning and poor civics.

Need to understand the dynamics of Road

• Technically, it is just a distance between two points.
• A road is not just a physical entity, but is also a civic space.
• A road in the developing world is more than just a road.
• It is a way of life.
• Road users have to take into account hawkers, pedlars, beggars and even stray animals.
• For some, it is a site for livelihood.
• In a sociological sense, a road is community.
• But when roads become a uniformity of grids, and speed becomes a dominant form of life, deaths become an outcome of such an attitude.
• Psychologically, it spells freedom; a space where one misuses this to speed, indulge in drunken, reckless and dangerous behaviour, and even “serial killing”.

Safety Concerns

• When we will think of road as a social community, then only we will began to realise its safety concerns for the larger good of the society.
• Road safety is very much a part of the sustainability of the city.
• For ensuring safety, we need to punish those who thinks they are above the law and can get away after ‘causing’ an accident.

[7] Chennai-Kunming direct flights likely

The Hindu

Context

• To bolster sub-regional cooperation,  Chinese Provinces and Indian States are emerging as the primary movers of India-China ties.

Key points:-

• Kunming, the capital of Yunnan Province,will  have direct flights to Chennai.
• A  new Chinese consulate is going to be open soon in Chennai.
• Chennai and Kolkata are the two poles of Beijing’s effort to invest along the Bay of Bengal coastline.
• Kolkata; Dhaka and Sylhet in Bangladesh; Mandalay in Myanmar; and Kunming, are the focal points of the proposed Bangladesh-China-India and Myanmar (BCIM) land corridor.
• Chinese companies are also looking at establishing a fibre-optic cable network along the BCIM corridor as a major hardware undertaking that will result in the emergence of smart cities and an Internet-driven economy.

[8] India’s strategic gambit in Vietnam

Livemint

Context:

• India is now ready to sell the supersonic BrahMos missile, to Vietnam.
• This step would antagonize China.
• Government has directed BrahMos Aerospace, to expedite the sale to Vietnam along with other four other countries—Indonesia, South Africa, Chile and Brazil.
• There are many positive steps taken in different fields by India to build relations with states like Vietnam that can act as strategic points against China.
• The two countries India and Vietnam also share a common friend—the US.
• As all these states are working to manage china’s rise, because of which they have been drawn closer.

Conclusion:

• India seems to be ready to challenge China on its own domain.
• And the stance is welcomed by states like Vietnam, which fear from China.
• A more engaged India will lead a more stable power in the region.

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GS PAPER 3

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[1] E-commerce transactions in GST net

The Hindu

News:

• Model GST law announced by the Centre.

Issue:

• All e commerce transaction will be under GST according to new law.
• The tax will be collected by service operator.
• This law will be applicable for those with an annual turnover of Rs.10 lakh or more. This limit is Rs. five lakh in the north-eastern state.
• There will be a composition levy which means a person with above 50 lakhs turnover in a year will have to pay a tax of above one percent.

As of now it will make operations more complicated for the e-commerce platform, because many of them working with thousands of vendors. And companies need to keep statements of all transaction which is drudgery.

The new proposed GST also provides for appellate authority in every state, comparing one central and one state GST member.

[2] Retrospective policies will hit foreign flows: SEBI

The Hindu

News:

• U.K. Sinha, chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is in view that Foreign investors look for 2-3 key assurances, any policy change with retrospective effect will adversely affect foreign flows and it should be avoided by Indian regulatory frameworks. And foreign investors should also get protection equals to domestic investors.
• The SEBI chairman also applauded for the fact that india moved in the direction of equality because in most segments foreign investors enjoy the same benefits as enjoyed by the domestic ones in terms of exposure limits and margins. But there is much to do in terms of laws related to taxation or anti-money laundering.

[3] High food prices drive WPI inflation

The Hindu

Bad News:

• Wholesale price inflation rose to 0.8 per cent in May.
• Mainly because of higher food prices.
• Making it difficult for the Reserve Bank of India to cut interest rates shortly.

• Policymakers need to address the problem through supply-side responses.
• If we the fuel and power segment in the WPI, which contracted to 6.1 per cent in May and 4.8 per cent in April. This is because of mineral oil segment, which contracted 9.6 per cent in May and 7.9 per cent in April.
• Inflation in manufactured goods rose to 0.9 per cent only in May.

Conclusion:

• Rising inflation with poor industrial growth is a worrying trend.