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GS Paper: GS3

  • Taxing interest on Provident Fund

    Following its Budget announcement in February, the Finance Ministry has now notified the rules for taxing interest income on contributions made to the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) beyond Rs 2.5 lakh (for private-sector employees) and Rs 5 lakh (for government sector employees).

    What is Provident Fund?

    • Provident Fund is a government-managed retirement savings scheme for employees, who can contribute a part of their savings towards their pension fund, every month.
    • These monthly savings get accumulated every month and can be accessed as a lump sum amount at the time of retirement, or end of employment.
    • Since the provident fund money consists of a large chunk of savings, it can be used to grow your retirement corpus easily.

    Types of provident funds

    There are mainly three different types of PFs, which are as follows:

    1. General provident fund: It is a type of PF which is maintained by governmental bodies, including local authorities, the Railways, and other such bodies. Thus, these types of PFs are mainly defined by government bodies.
    2. Recognized provident fund: It is the one that applies to all privately-owned organizations that contain more than 20 employees. Moreover, holding a rightful claim to the PF associated with your organization, you will be given a UAN or Universal Account Number. This enables you to transfer your PF funds from one employer to another whenever you move from one occupation to another.
    3. Public provident fund: It is defined by the voluntary nature of investment on the part of the employee. The PPF is also associated with a minimum deposit of Rs. 50 and a maximum amount of Rs. 1.5 lakhs. The PPF has a lock-in period of 15 years.

    What is the tax on EPF contributions?

    • In February, the Budget proposed that tax exemption will not be available on interest income on PF contributions exceeding Rs 2.5 lakh in a year.
    • Although this has been a concern for salaried individuals contributing to EPF, it will impact only those who contribute more than Rs 2.5 lakh in a year.
    • It will not affect their existing corpus or the aggregate annual interest on that.
    • In March, the government proposed to double the cap on contribution from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for tax-exempt interest income where there is no contribution by the employer.
    • With this, the government provided relief for contributions made to the General Provident Fund that is available only to government employees and there is no contribution by the employer.

    Why tax the PF?

    • There have been instances where some employees are contributing huge amounts to these funds and are getting the benefit of tax exemption at all stages — contribution, interest accumulation, and withdrawal.
    • With an aim to exclude high net-worth individuals (HNIs) from the benefit of high tax-free interest income on their large contributions, the government has proposed to impose a threshold limit for tax exemption.
    • This will be applicable for all contributions beginning April 1, 2021.

    How will it get taxed?

    • For an individual in the higher tax bracket of 30%, the interest income on contribution above Rs 2.5 lakh would get taxed at the same marginal tax rate.
    • What this means is that if an individual contributes Rs 3 lakh every year to the provident fund (including the voluntary PF contribution) then the interest on his contribution above Rs 2.5 lakh —that is, Rs 50,000 — will be taxed.
    • So, the interest income of Rs 4,250 (8.5% on Rs 50,000) will be taxed at the marginal rate. If the individual falls in the 30% tax bracket, he/ she will have to pay a tax of Rs 1,325.
    • For an individual contributing Rs 12 lakh in a year, the tax will be applicable on interest income on Rs 9.5 lakh (Rs 12 lakh minus Rs 2.5 lakh). In this case, the tax liability would amount to Rs 25,200.

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  • [pib] Formation of Blue Straggler

    Carrying out the first-ever comprehensive analysis of blue stragglers, Indian researchers found that half of the blue stragglers in their sample are formed through mass transfer from a close binary companion star.

    What are Blue Stragglers?

    • A blue straggler is a main-sequence star in an open or globular cluster that is more luminous and bluer than stars at the main sequence turnoff point for the cluster.
    • The most likely explanation is that blue stragglers are the result of stars that come too close to another star or similar mass object and collide.
    • The newly-formed star has thus a higher mass and occupies a position on the HR diagram which would be populated by genuinely young stars.
    • One-third of them are likely formed through collisions of 2 stars, and the remaining are formed through interactions of more than 2 stars.

    How are they formed?

    • A bunch of stars born at the same time from the same cloud form a star cluster.
    • As time passes, each star evolves differently depending on its mass.
    • The most massive and bright stars evolve and move off the main sequence creating a bend in their track, known as the turnoff.
    • Stars above this bend or brighter and hotter stars are not expected in a cluster, as they leave the main sequence to become red giants.
    • But in 1953, Allan Sandage found that some stars seem to be hotter than the turnoff of the parent cluster.

    Behind the nomenclature

    • Initially, these blue stars still straggling above the turnoff were not part of these clusters.
    • However, later studies confirmed that these stars are indeed cluster members, and they were termed “Blue Stragglers”.
    • The only probable way these stars can still be present in these clusters is if they have somehow acquired extra mass along the way while on the main sequence.
    • Confirming the mechanisms of the mass gain required a study using a large sample of blue-straggler stars and estimates of the mass they have gained.

    What have Indian researchers found?

    • Research showed that these stars are primarily present in the older and massive star clusters. And due to their large mass, they are segregated towards the centre of the clusters.
    • The researchers compared the mass of the blue stragglers to the mass of the turnoff stars (which are the most massive ‘normal’ stars in the cluster) and predicted the formation mechanisms.
    • The study will help improve understanding of these stellar systems to uncover exciting results in studies of large stellar populations, including galaxies.
    • Following these findings, the researchers are conducting detailed analyses of individual blue stragglers in the catalog to obtain their stellar properties.

  • Behler Turtle Conservation Award

    Indian biologist Shailendra Singh has been awarded the Behler Turtle Conservation Award for bringing three critically endangered turtle conservation species back from the brink of extinction.

    Behler Turtle Conservation Award

    • The Award is a major annual international award honoring excellence in the field of tortoise and freshwater turtle conservation and biology, and leadership in the chelonian conservation and biology community.
    • It is co-presented by the Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA), the IUCN/SSC Tortoise and Freshwater Turtle Specialist Group (TFTSG) among others.
    • It is widely considered the “Nobel Prize” of turtle conservation and biology.

    Citation for the 2021 Award

    • For some species, such as the Red-crowned Roofed Turtle (Batagur kachuga), Northern River Terrapin (Batagur Baska), and Black Softshell Turtle (Nilssonia nigricans) Dr. Singh and his team’s efforts are the last hope for their wild survival in the country.
    • In just 15 years, there are few individuals that have made such monumental contributions to turtle conservation.

    Turtles in India

    • The Northern River Terrapin (Batagur Baska) is being conserved at the Sunderbans; the Red-crowned Roofed Turtle (Batagur kachuga) at Chambal; and the Black Softshell Turtle (Nilssonia nigricans) at different temples in Assam.
    • These critically endangered turtles are being conserved as a part of TSA India’s research, conservation breeding and education programme in different parts of the country.
    • There are 29 species of freshwater turtles and tortoises in the country.

    About Turtle Survival Alliance (TSA)

    • The TSA was formed in 2001 as an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) partnership for sustainable captive management of freshwater turtles and tortoises.
    • This alliance arose in response to the rampant and unsustainable harvest of Asian turtle populations to supply Chinese markets, a situation known as the Asian Turtle Crisis.

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  • Our banks are mispricing capital

    Context

    We have a situation in India today where the policy repo rate has been kept low. Banks are just about managing their non-performing assets (NPAs) and there is uncertainty in the air.

    Mispricing of capital by banks

    • There are different components of the cost of funds for banks, which are captured by the MCLR or marginal cost of funds-based lending rate.
    • For every ₹100 deposits that enter the banking system, there are different accompanying costs for the system.
    • These are deposit costs, provisioning for NPAs, return on assets (ROA or minimum profit), and the regulatory cost of cash reserve and statutory liquidity ratio balances (CRR and SLR) that perforce have to be held.
    • Adding these components, the basic cost works out to be 8.9%, which should be the rate at which incremental lending should take place.
    • By offering loans at a much lower rate of 7.23%, the system is actually mispricing capital.
    • It may be noted that deposit rates have been compressed to a very large degree and so this cost of 4% is very low.
    • Banks do have the advantage of getting free demand deposits and the right to offer differential rates on saving accounts.
    • Clearly, deposit-holders are subsidizing borrowers quite significantly.

    Issue of NPA provisioning in India

    • In the past couple of years, provisions as a proportion of NPAs have averaged 30-40%.
    • As NPAs increase, ideally, banks should load this cost onto their borrowers.
    • But that rarely happens in India. Instead, it is taken on banks’ books and gets reflected in their balance sheets.
    • If NPAs were kept in the region of, say, 4-5% of assets, it would have been possible to bring the cost down to 1.5% (from 3%), which would then have justified the present MCLR.

    Low return on assets (ROA)

    • The ideal return norm is 1%, which should be derived from all assets.
    • This does not happen for banks’ investment portfolios, and the value imputed here is only for loans.
    • The ROA for banks is abysmally low, as this aspect does not go into the pricing of products on the asset side.
    • Deposit costs have been driven down as savers don’t have a choice.
    • But a commensurate return does not materialize in the loan books of banks.

    Cost of regulations

    • The CRR component gets no compensation, while the SLR part earns around 6%, which is the average cost of fresh borrowing for the Union government.
    • While these numbers vary across banks, the minimum rate of 8.9% would hold for the system, which will vary by the level of NPAs.
    • The concept of linking benchmarks to certain loans further misprices fresh lending, as those loans are not ideal anchors to use, for they are being manually driven downwards by a deluge of liquidity in the system after the pandemic.
    • Excess liquidity of ₹4-7 trillion a day since April 2020 has meant banks have been placing funds costing them 8.9% with the central bank which gives them just 3.35%.
    • This is eventually borne by bank shareholders.

    Implications

    • With rather rigid policies on corporate lending to avert possible NPAs, banks have preferred lending to the retail segment, which is less risky, and small businesses, backed by the Centre’s credit guarantee.
    • The central bank’s government-bond buying programme to provide liquidity has been successful.
    • But in the absence of fructification of lending and a continuous rollover of funds at the reverse-repo window, Indian banks are bearing a negative carry trade, with a 6% return traded for just 3.35%.

    Conclusion

    Banks must price capital appropriately and not get overly influenced by arguments in favor of cheap credit or the fact that loans are cheaper in the West. We need to get practical on this issue.

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    Back2Basics: CRR and SLR

    • Cash Reserve Ratio, or popularly known as CRR is a compulsory reserve that must be maintained with the Reserve Bank of India.
    • Every bank is required to maintain a specific percentage of their net demand and time liabilities as cash balance with the RBI.
    •  The banks are not allowed to use that money, kept with RBI, for economic and commercial purposes.
    • It is a tool used by the apex bank to regulate the liquidity in the economy and control the flow of money in the country.
    • Statutory Liquidity Ratio, shortly called as SLR also an obligatory reserve to be kept by the banks, as prescribed securities, based on a certain percentage of net demand and time liabilities.
    •  It is used to maintain the stability of banks by limiting the credit facility offered to its customers.
    • CRR is maintained in the form of cash while the SLR is to be maintained in the form of gold, cash, and government-approved securities.

  • India must commit to net zero emissions

    Context

    The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November in Glasgow is shaping up to be the most important climate meeting since the Paris Agreement in 2015.

    What are net-zero emissions?

    Carbon neutrality refers to achieving net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be done by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal or by eliminating emissions from society.

    Increase in pace and scale of climate action

    • Over 50% of the global economy is already committed to net zero emissions by 2050.
    • Over 100 countries have already committed to net zero emissions by 2050, with more expected at COP26.
    • The pace and scale of climate action are only set to increase, with the recent IPCC report unequivocal on the need for urgent and stronger responses.
    • It is not only governments that are increasing climate action. The business world is too, not just to protect themselves against the risks of climate change but also to take advantage of the massive opportunities arising as the global economy shifts to net-zero emissions.

    Why India should commit to a net-zero target

    • National interest due to vulnerability: India itself has a national interest in ambitious global and national climate action.
    • It is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change and, therefore, should be among the more active against the threats.
    • Influence as a rising power: Second, as a rising power, India naturally seeks stronger influence globally.
    • Being an outlier on the global challenge facing our generation does not support this aim.
    • Drag on international diplomacy: India’s reluctance to commit to net-zero will become a significant drag on India’s international diplomacy.
    • This applies not just to key relationships like with the U.S., but also with much of the Group of 77 (G77) states, who are increasingly concerned to see climate action, and in multilateral groupings such as the United Nations and ASEAN-APEC.
    • Interconnected with the economy: There is no longer a trade-off between reducing emissions and economic growth.
    • For example, the U.K. has reduced emissions by over 40% and grown its economy by over 70% since 1990.
    • Solar energy costs have fallen 90% in recent years, providing the cheapest electricity in India ever seen.
    • Also, given the negative impacts, addressing climate change in India’s economic development is now central to success, not an added luxury to consider.
    • The transition of the global economy to net zero emissions is the biggest commercial opportunity in history.
    • In just the energy sector alone, an estimated $1.6 to $3.8 trillion of investment is required every year until 2050.

    India’s climate actions

    • India is set to significantly exceed its Paris Agreement commitment of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35% below 2005 levels by 2030.
    • Emphasis on renewable: India is impressing the world with its leading roll-out of renewable energy and target for 450GW by 2030, linked to its leadership on the International Solar Alliance and recent national hydrogen strategy.
    • Corporates: Indian corporates are also stepping up, with the Tata Group winning awards on sustainability, Mahindra committing to net-zero by 2040, and Reliance by 2035.
    • Notwithstanding reasonable arguments about historical responsibility, per capita emissions, and equity, India’s national interests in climate action are now engaged in ways that go significantly beyond waiting for donor support to drive ambition.

    The way forward: International cooperation

    • The world needs to work together for success in the form of stronger political engagement, policy support in areas of mutual challenge such as energy policy, carbon markets, and economic recovery.
    • Practical support and cooperation in areas like renewable energy and integrating it with the national grid, zero-emissions transport, decarbonising hard to abate sectors like steel, cement, and chemicals, and decarbonising agriculture offer significant scope to raise ambition.
    • As does working with India on innovative green financing for decarbonizing investment.

    Conclusion

    India’s tryst with destiny rests in its own remarkable hands, as it always has been. In a land where the earth is called mother, and Mahatma Gandhi, major religions, and the Constitution enshrine environmental care, commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 should almost be foretold.

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  • Gauging household income key for microfinance clients

    Context

    The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) recently released a Consultative Document on Regulation of Microfinance in June 2021.

    Consultative document makes household income a critical variable

    • Following the Malegam Committee Report, which is a decade old now, the current document looks to reassess and realign the priorities of the sector.
    • Some of the key regulatory changes proposed in the document take household income as a critical variable for loan assessment
    • Definition of microfinance: The definition of microfinance itself is proposed to mean collateral-free loans to households with annual household incomes of up to ₹1,25,000 and ₹2,00,000 for rural and urban areas respectively.
    • Household income assessment: The document requires all Regulated Entities to have a board-approved policy for household income assessment.
    • Cap on repayment: It caps loan repayment (principal and interest) for all outstanding loans of the household at 50% of household income.
    • Therefore, measuring household income accurately becomes critical for the effective implementation of these norms.

    Challenges in measuring the income of Low-Income-Household (LIH)

    • Seasonal and volatile: Low-Income Households (LIHs), who typically form the customer base for Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), often also have seasonal and volatile income flows. 
    • Measuring expenditure doesn’t reflect their income: Since income for LIHs is seasonal and volatile, there have been attempts to understand their inflows by measuring their expenditure.
    • But, given the rotational debts they avail to fund a consumption expenditure here and a loan repayment obligation there, expenditure also does not truly reflect the household’s income.
    • Not separate personal expenditure: Moreover, for most LIHs, their expenditure on income-related activity is not separate from their personal expenses.
    • Therefore, it is difficult to separate the household’s personal expenses from that of their occupational pursuits.
    • Given these complexities, we need to understand and accept that for the bulk of LIHs, household finance is not just personal family finance, but their business finance as well.

    3 ways to measure household income for microfinance client

    • Structured survey approach: A structured survey-based approach could be used by Financial Service Providers (FSPs) to assess a household’s expenses, debt position and income from various sources of occupation and seasonality of income.
    • Template-based approach: A template-based approach could be used wherein FSPs could create various templates for different categories of households (as per location, occupation type, family characteristics, etc.).
    • These templates could then be used to gauge the household income of a client matching a particular template.
    • Centralised database: FSPs could also form a consortium to collect and maintain household income data through a centralised database.
    • This would allow for uniformity in data collection across all FSPs and, over time, can be used to validate the credibility of any new client’s reported income.
    • Such a database would also enable FSPs to track the changes in household income over time.

    Way forward

    • Use technology: Finding cost-effective yet accurate ways of capturing this information becomes crucial.
    • Creating new technology to document and analyze cash flows of LIHs would not only facilitate credit underwriting but also innovation in the standard microcredit contracts through customized repayment schedules and risk-based pricing, depending on a household’s cash flows.

    Conclusion

    Eventually, an accurate assessment of household-level incomes would avoid instances of over-indebtedness and ensure the long-term stability of the ecosystem.

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  • Govt. tells utilities to ship in coal as demand surges

    The govt. has urged utilities to import coal despite having the world’s fourth-largest reserves, with several power plants on the verge of running out of fuel due to a surge in power demand.

    Coal Mining in India

    • Coal in India has been mined since 1774 and is now the second fastest mined in the world, producing 716 million metric tons (789 million short tons) in 2018.
    • Due to high demand and poor average quality, India imports coking coal to meet the requirements of its steel plants.
    • Dhanbad city is the largest coal-producing city and is called the Coal Capital of India.
    • State-owned Coal India had a monopoly on coal mining between its nationalization in 1973 and 2018.

    Consumption

    • Coal-fired power accounts for more than 70% of India’s electricity generation. Electricity generation makes up three-fourths of India’s coal consumption.

    Quality of coal

    • The ash chemistry of Indian coal is such that it is high in silica and alumina.
    • The ash is also highly abrasive because of its high quartz content, which can lead to erosion of the syngas cooling system when it gets fused.
    • Indian coal’s sulfur content is low, about 0.5 percent.
    • So, from a gas clean-up perspective, the flue gas desulphurization (removal of SOx gases) and NOx removal system is not economically justifiable and, therefore, not important.
    • Also, in the Indian context, this is unnecessary to meet emission norms.

    Coal reserves

    • India has the fourth-largest coal reserves in the world. It is the second-largest producer of coal in the world, after China.
    • Coal deposits are primarily found in eastern and south-central India.
    • Jharkhand, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Maharashtra accounted for 98.09% of the total known coal reserves in India.
    • As of 31 March 2019, Jharkhand and Odisha had the largest coal deposits of 25.88% and 24.76% respectively.

    Imports

    • Coking Coal is being imported by the Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) and other Steel manufacturing units mainly to bridge the gap between the requirement and indigenous availability and to improve the quality.
    • Coal-based power plants, cement plants, captive power plants, sponge iron plants, industrial consumers, and coal traders are importing non-coking coal.
    • Coke is imported mainly by Pig-Iron manufacturers and Iron & Steel sector consumers using mini-blast furnaces.

    Try answering this PYQ:

    Which of the following is/are the characteristics/ characteristics of Indian coal?

    1. High ash content
    2. Low Sulphur content
    3. Low ash fusion temperature

    Select the correct option using the codes given below:

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”0tm49llrlj” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

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  • Ladakh adopts State Animal and Bird

    Ladakh has adopted two endangered species, snow leopard and black-necked crane, as State animal and State bird, two years after it was carved out as a separate Union Territory (UT) from the erstwhile State of J&K.

    Snow Leopard

    • The snow leopard (Panther unica) and black-necked crane (Grus nicricollis).
    • Snow leopard, whose numbers are dwindling worldwide, has been categorized as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.
    • In total, there are about 7,500 snow leopards left in the world, out of which 500 are in India.
    • However, experts state that the population of snow leopards is between 200-300 in Ladakh alone.

    Black-necked Crane

    • The black-necked crane is found in eastern Ladakh’s high-altitude wetlands and marshes.
    • It is mostly listed as Near Threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) red list.
    • Considered loyal couples, they are only found in Ladakh’s Changthang region. They arrive in March for breeding and migrate by October end or early November.
    • It was the State bird of J&K before August 5, 2019.

    About Ladakh

    • Ladakh was established as a union territory of India on 31 October 2019, following the passage of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act.
    • Prior to that, it was part of the Jammu and Kashmir state. Ladakh is the largest and the second least populous union territory of India.
    • It extends from the Siachen Glacier in the Karakoram range to the north to the main Great Himalayas to the south.
    • The eastern end, consisting of the uninhabited Aksai Chin plains, is claimed by the Indian Government as part of Ladakh and has been under Chinese control since 1962.
    • The largest town in Ladakh is Leh, followed by Kargil, each of which headquarters is a district.
    • The Leh district contains the Indus, Shyok and Nubra river valleys. The Kargil district contains the Suru, Dras and Zanskar river valleys.

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  • Exercise ZAPAD 2021

    A contingent of 200 Army personnel will participate in the multinational Exercise ZAPAD 2021 being held at Nizhniy, Russia.

    ZAPAD 2021

    • ZAPAD is one of the theatre-level exercises of Russian armed forces and will focus primarily on operations against terrorists.
    • The NAGA Battalion group participating in the exercise will feature an all arms combined task force.
    • The exercise aims to enhance military and strategic ties amongst the participating nations while they plan and execute this exercise.
    • In all, 17 countries have been invited by Russia for the exercise. Of these nine are Participating countries which include Mongolia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Russia, India, and Belarus.
    • The other eight countries are Observers which include Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka.

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    Must read:

    [Prelims Spotlight] Various Defence Exercises in News

  • Managing natural resources

    Context

    A project in Meghalaya empowers communities to take informed action pertaining to their environment.

    Depletion of natural resources in Meghalaya

    • In recent years, many parts of Meghalaya have witnessed the loss of forest cover and natural resources have rapidly deteriorated.
    • The State, known to have spots designated as the ‘wettest places’ on earth, is now facing a severe water crisis.
    • Natural resource management becomes critical in this context.

    Challenges in natural resource management

    • Traditional practices on sustainable use of natural resources have been passed down from one generation to another.
    • Overexploitation: This indigenous knowledge began to slowly fade, however, owing to population growth,  the quest for unsustainable developmental activities, and indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources.
    • Inaccessibility of knowledge: Another roadblock to natural resource management was knowledge inaccessibility among rural communities.

    Providing knowledge: Landscape Management Project

    • The government wanted to see if, when provided with the correct knowledge, solutions to problems can be devised and even implemented by community members themselves.
    • The World Bank-supported Meghalaya Community-Led Landscape Management Project seeks to reactivating the community’s connection to natural resources and enabling them to tackle the resource crisis.
    • How the project worked: cross-functional teams with diverse expertise were set up.
    • The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme became the main scheme channelizing resources to impact poor households so that there was systematic convergence of all line departments such as agriculture, horticulture, soil, and water conservation.
    • The programme leverages technology and the youth population.
    • Leveraging technology, more than 2,000 village community facilitators have already been trained and are working towards climate change reversal.
    • Autonomy: To build autonomy, simple tools are used.
    • They have been designed keeping in mind many things: creating community agency, building the capacities of all persons in the programme, and ensuring frequent interactions among them.
    • Leveraging technology: Technology empowers them with real-time data, which in turn results in better programme governance, transparency, and accountability.
    • Communities are now able to articulate the complexities of their problems through a scientific lens and create their own natural resource management plans.
    • To carry forward this momentum, there is a plan to launch a Centre of Excellence in Meghalaya, a one-stop centre for natural resources management.

    Conclusion

    The project intends to empower thousands of village community facilitators and enable them to articulate the complexities of their problems through a scientific lens and create their own natural resource management plans.

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