Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
- GS PAPER 1
- Caste matters everywhere: schools, jobs and life at large – {Indian Society – Casteism}
- GS PAPER 2
- Centre hand-picks 20 smart cities for first phase of plan – {Government Schemes}
- Uday to be modified to include states without discoms – {Government Schemes}
- IMF reforms: India. China, Brazil get more voting rights – {International Organisation}
- China’s long game in West Asia – {International Affairs}
- GS PAPER 3
- We should be careful about how we measure GDP: Rajan – {Indian Economy – National Income Accounting}
- Who benefits when RBI cuts rates – {Indian Economy – Banking}
- Negotiating with the Taliban – {Terrorism}
- Livestock protection vital to boost farmers’ economy – {Agriculture and allied sectors}
- Block level forecasts soon – {Climate Change}
- Zika could infect 4 mn people: WHO– {Science & Technology }
GS PAPER 1
[1]. Caste matters everywhere: schools, jobs and life at large
Context: Recent death of Rohith Vemula has triggered a heated debate on caste discrimination in Indian society.
Does Inequality exist?
According to author there are enough factual evidence in terms of asset holding, education and employment that reflects existence of caste based inequalities.
But there are various works of research in economics which tends to prove that caste based discrimination exists in many aspects of life in India
Certain Studies:
A) Teachers might discriminate in grading students on the basis of caste – A study conducted by Rema N.Hanna and Leig
h L. Linden found that students who were assigned a lower caste tag were given a score which was 0.084 standard deviations lower than the ones who were assigned a higher caste tag. The authors also found that the probability of getting a lower score on account of different attributes such as age or gender was not significant
B) Identifying yourself as a member of a lower caste can reduce your chances of getting a job – A study by S.K. Thorat and Paul Attewell found that the chances of a Dalit or Muslim being called for a job interview were significantly lower in comparison with an upper-caste Hindu. Further evidence show that even an overqualified Dalit applicant had a lower chance of being called for an interview than a qualified upper-caste Hindu.
C) For the same level of education and employment, lower castes report a lower level of life satisfaction – The author finds that life satisfaction levels increase with asset holdings and education levels, but caste-wise differences remain for a given level of
asset-holding or education.
GS PAPER 2
[1]. Centre hand picks 20 smart cities for first phase of plan
Context: Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday announced the list of 20 cities that have qualified to build smart infrastructure.
Relevance: This is the first concrete step towards Smart City Mission launched by Union Government last year.
What is Smart City?
There is no universally accepted definition. . In the imagination of any city dweller in India, the picture of a smart city contains a wish list of infrastructure and services that describes his or her level of aspiration.
Smart Cities Mission:
The government of India launched smart cities mission in 2015 with a vision of developing 100 smart cities as satellite towns of larger cities and by modernizing the existing mid-sized cities. The cities to be covered under smart cities mission was to be selected through two tier selection process.
The News:
- 20 cities that have qualified the two tier selection process for building smart infrastructure will be funded Rs. 200 crores each by the government of India.
- Bhubaneswar, capital of Orissa has been given top rating for its robust smart city plan.
- There is a proposal of credit rating system for cities which will help them attract foreign investors.
- Rs. 1000 crore to be provided for building smart infrastructure to a city will be split between Centre and concerned state on 50:50 basis.
- The government plans to integrate Swachh Bharat Mission and Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban transformation to implement its Smart City Plan.
Professional Expertise & Accountability:
Government has created an outside agency Special Purpose Vehicle to headed by a CEO to be given executive powers to implement proposed developments and projects. The SPV has to see that projects are cost effective, timely implemented and a good standard of quality is maintained.
[2]. UDAY to be modified to include states without discoms
Context: There are 12 states that don’t have discoms whose debts are being taken over by state through UDAY scheme. To accommodate the provisions for these 12 states the scheme is being modified .
Importance of UDAY:
The power ministry is stressing on securing fuel-supply agreements and contracts for power generation, tackling the impending problem of loss-making discoms, and increasing power transmission lines in the country.
[3]. IMF reforms: India. China, Brazil get more voting rights
Context: Long awaited reforms in International Monetary Fund.
What has happened?
India’s share in voting rights has increase to 2.6% from 2.3%, China to 6% from 3.8%. More than 6% of quotas has shifted to emerging countries from US and Europe.
The reforms bring India and Brazil to the list of the top 10 members of the IMF, along with the U.S, Japan, France, Germany, Italy, the U.K., China and Russia.
For the first time, the Executive Board will consist entirely of elected executive directors, ending the category of appointed executive directors. Currently, the members with the five largest quotas appoint an executive director, a position that will cease to exist.
Why it took so longs for reforms?
Time it took the U.S Congress to approve the changes.
Voting Right in IMF:
Voting power in the IMF is based on a quota system. Each member has a number of basic votes (each member’s number of basic votes equals 5.502% of the total votes),plus one additional vote for each Special Drawing Right (SDR) of 100,000 of a member country’s quota.
[4]. China’s long game in West Asia
Context:- China’s recent engagement with Iran
China’s Policy towards West Asia:
Earlier China had focused on its economic development, so it kept itself away from the geo-politics of West Asia and it had only focus on three principles – secure energy supplies, expand market of finished goods and find investment opportunities. But, now China has changed its policy towards west Asia and it has shown its presence in the form of
- Increased involvement in Iran nuclear deal
- Veto on Syria in UN
- Flexing its muscles in Mediterranean by carrying military exercise with Russia. Why China maintains good relations with all West Asian Countries?
China is dependent on West Asia for oil. So, it maintains equidistant from Saudi Arabia, Iran and Egypt (three most powerful countries of this region.)
Improving ties between China and Iran:
China was the first country to visit Iran, when sanctions were removed from Tehran. And they agreed to increase two-way trade to $600 billion over next decade. They also agreed to enhance security cooperation through intelligence sharing, counter-terror measures, military exchanges and co-ordination. China has also agreed for the full membership of Iran in Shanghai Co-operation Organization.
Why China improving relations which Iran:
- Iran is vital for China’s continued rise.
- To reduce dependency on Saudi Arabia for Oil.
- Iran’s strategic location connecting West Asia and Central Asia is key to One Belt One Road initiative.
- Iran offers immense investment opportunities for Chinese companies.
- It is the only country in west Asia where US impact is significantly low.
Conclusion:
China is actually playing a long game in West Asia. Even when complying with international sanctions, it expanded ties with Iran so that it would be better placed than any other power in a post-sanctions Iran. And, present visit of Chinese premier to Tehran is a step to achieve that goal.
GS PAPER 3
[1]. We should be careful about how we measure GDP: Rajan
Context: Doubts raised by RBI governor Raghuram Rajan on the methodology of GDP calculation.
What is wrong in the methodology?
The GDP numbers does not corroborate real economic activities such as corporate profitability or bank loan growth.
The New Methodology:
Revision in base year – 2011-12 from the earlier 2004-05. New methodology takes GDP at market prices into account, which includes indirect taxes and excludes subsidies.
Other Aspects:
Country should move towards policy of incentivising job creation rather than current trend of providing capital subsidies
Capital is subsidized in many ways in India which are following:
- tax benefits for investment
- interest subventions for loans
If similar thing can be done to incentivise employment of labour.
[2]. Who benefits when RBI cuts rates
Context: The lowering of interest in repo rate has not reflected in the interest rate being given to consumer by banks.
The study:
Interest rate transmission in India, that in recent years, changes in RBI rates have resulted in slow changes in bank deposit and lending rates. Banks are quick to decrease deposit rates in the face of rate cuts, but not too eager to reduce lending rates.
The case is exactly opposite in the case of raise in transmission. The Monetary Policy Report of the RBI confirms the same.
What is supposed to happen when RBI cuts rates?
Money is a bank raw material. An RBI rate cut is like a fall in raw material prices from an important supplier. Others should thus follow the suit.
Issues in Monetary Transmission:
- US financial crisis has reflected the downside of over reliance on debt financing. This creates a pressure on banks to increase equity financing. When faced with a rate cut, decreasing deposit rates and not reducing loan rates is an easy way for banks to increase their interest margin, and hence their profits.
- Secondly, the government ownership of large banks. A government bank’s ability to increase equity is dependent on the government’s disinvestment programme and its decision to infuse equity in the banks. Since banks do not control the decision to raise equity, they move the levers under their control, which is to increase interest margin and slow loan growth
[3]. Negotiating with the Taliban
Context:-
Recently concluded Doha Dialogue on ‘Peace and Security in Afghanistan’, which brought Taliban on the table to discuss about peace and stability in Afghanistan.
Doha Dialogue Process:-
Unofficial Doha Dialogue was organized by the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs with the support from the state of Qatar. This dialogue process was not recognized by Afghan government.
What is the need to negotiate with Taliban
- 1/3rd districts in control of Taliban: Taliban has more than 60, 000 heavily armed men in their ranks, and they have control of around 30% of country’s districts. When, they have control of approx 1/3rd districts of Afghanistan, then negotiations with Taliban is essential to establish peace.
- Removal of NATO Forces: NATO with approx 1.5 lakh forces, could not restrict growth of Taliban in Afghanistan. Now NATO forces would be removed gradually. Therefore, it is essential to negotiate with Taliban.
- Question on Legitimacy of Afghan Government: Widespread electoral fraud during the 2014 presidential election, and Washington’s involvement in making an agreement between the two contenders on the electoral outcome, has dented the legitimacy of the Afghan government.
- Afghan Government very weak without US support: It is essential to negotiate with Taliban as US can withdraw support anytime.
- Taliban leadership ready to share Power: Taliban leadership repeatedly hinted at possible power-sharing arrangements with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
Challenges in inclusion of Taliban:-
- They propose to establish a state based on the sharia law: Taliban refer themselves as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”. And they still continue to be unwilling to submit themselves to the Afghan Constitution.
- Non-commitment on democracy: They are non committal on the question of democracy, partly due to their interpretation of Islam and partly due to their fear whether the Afghan people would accept them if they fought an open and transparent election without the might of the gun.
Indian Perspective:-
- Deep links between Taliban and Pakistan’s ISI: India has concern as ISI uses Afghan territory to train terrorists to fight in Kashmir.
- Extremely objectionable policies followed by the Taliban regime until its fall in 2001.
- Highly unhelpful behavior of the Taliban during the IC-814 hijack in 1999.
[4]. Livestock protection vital to boost farmers’ economy
Context: Centre emphasis on new research and development works through Rashtriya Gokul Mission and National Livestock Policy.
The News:
Mechanisation is essential for the development of agricultural field and importance of livestock cannot be denied in this perspective. If it is developed in a balanced way, it will be beneficial for both farmers and agronomic field.
Under the National Livestock Policy, the government is promoting to increase animal strength so that environment-related balance may be maintained along with the continuity of livelihood of the people related to livestock.
Importance of Livestock:
The livestock has become all the more important due to enhancement of income, urbanisation, altered lifestyle and food preservation resources
Rashtriya Gokul Mission:
Objectives:
- development and conservation of indigenous breeds
- undertake breed improvement programme for indigenous cattle breeds so as to improve the genetic makeup and increase the stock;
- enhance milk production and productivity;
- upgrade nondescript cattle using elite indigenous breeds like Gir, Sahiwal, Rathi, Deoni, Tharparkar, Red Sindhi
- distribute disease free high genetic merit bulls for natural service.
National Livestock Policy:
The National Livestock Policy aims at increasing livestock productivity and production in a sustainable manner, while protecting the environment, preserving animal bio-diversity, ensuring bio-security and farmers’ livelihood.
[5]. Block level forecasts soon
Context: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will begin to issue weather forecasts at the block level later this year.
Relevance: The meteorological department will be able to warn farmers three to four days in advance if any potential anomaly in weather is predicted which can lead to loss of crops in the farms.
Present Model:
At present IMD short term forecasts in 100 districts across all states, they are known as agro-climatic zones.
Why the need?
India saw consecutive droughts in 2014 and 2015, a rare event partly due to climate change. This in turn is said to induce changes in the monsoon that also makes local weather even more unpredictable. The farmers have been committing suicides and are debt ridden because of failure of crops due to anomaly in weather condition.
[6]. Zika could infect 4 mn people: WHO
Context: WHO has upgraded Zika Virus from mild threat to alarming one with a chance to affect 3 to 4 million people.
Zika Virus:
It is mosquito borne disease. Said to be close cousin of dieases like dengue and chikungunya.
Initially, in Brazil in november 2015, ZIKA was linked to foetal deformation known as microcephaly, in which infants are born with abnormally small heads.
But according to WHO direct causal relationship between Zika virus infection and birth malformations has not yet been established, and is suspected one.
The disease has no symptoms making it hard for person to know whether they are infected or not.
By: ForumIAS Editorial Team
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