Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3-Potentials of UPI in increasing digital payments.
Context
UPI has brought digital payments to the common man and it has immense scope for growth.
Zero MDR rate
- Recently the finance minister made the announcement of the zero merchant discount rate (MDR) policy for payments through RuPay debit cards and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) instruments.
- What does it mean? This policy dictates that when a consumer pays a merchant using RuPay or UPI, the bank may not charge the merchant a commission on the sale value that it usually charges a merchant.
- Criticism of the move: Critics of this policy lament that it would begin to reverse the progress India has made in recent years to expand the digital payments network.
Some facts and figures
- Setting up of NPCI: In 2008 the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) was set up as an umbrella organization for operating retail payments and settlements in India.
- UPI: In 2016, NPCI introduced UPI.
- UPI has since registered 100 million users.
- UPI now clocks more than 1 billion transactions every month.
- Growth prospects for mobile payments: According to the NITI Aayog, mobile payments in India are expected to grow nearly 20-fold to $190 billion in the next three years.
- Digital payment for the common man: There are 1 billion mobile phone users in India.
- 420 million users have a feature phone, these users can use the *99# USSD service to dial into 13 different languages.
- Which would connect them to UPI and brings digital payments to the common man.
Need for innovation
- We are far behind: India is far behind china, where 55% of spending is done digitally, compared to only 11% in India.
- The outlook for future growth is mind-boggling.
- There is a need for innovation at three levels.
- First level-Adoption
- A better understanding of human behaviour, technology, use cases and dis-use cases will facilitate the 10x growth necessary in adoption rates to cover the entire population.
- Second level-Policy
- The government has the rare opportunity to develop a data-centric understanding of how the economy conducts itself and uses money, and can set taxes accordingly.
- Third level-Technology
- Voice for authentication: At the technology level, there is an opportunity to use voice as a means for authentication and conduct transactions across multiple local languages.
- Data analysis: Copious amounts of data from payment transactions can be analysed to understand user needs and develop personalized loans and financial solutions at scale.
Taking UPI to Global Level
- UPI in Singapore and UAE: The NCPI is gearing up to take UPI to other countries, beginning with Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.
- NCPI is working with its counterpart in Singapore, the Network for Electronic Transfers for Singapore, to bring UPI live in Singapore.
- The low hanging fruit is to provide payment solutions to Indians travelling abroad.
- Competition with global peers: The bigger and tougher game is to increase its usage among local people in countries outside India.
- This would put UPI in competition with the likes of PayPal and Skrill.
Conclusion
We have seen just the tip, albeit a very substantial tip, of the digital payments iceberg. In the coming years, young business leaders of today must learn to uncover the iceberg itself.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3- Reforms in banking sector and financial stability, Deposit Insurance and its significance.
Context
The amendments to the FRDI Bill, 2017—now renamed the Financial Sector Development and Regulation (Resolution) Bill, 2019—are being worked out.
Three crucial issues
- Specifics are being worked out in the bill on three crucial issues.
- First issue: The first issue is regarding the increase in the deposit insurance cover of customers.
- Second issue: To iron out the contentious issues related to the bail-in clause
- Third issue: To decide whether this resolution framework should apply to the public sector banks.
- Advantages of the move: At a time when the public sector banks have come under the stress of bad loans, increasing the deposit insurance coverage limit would be a welcome approach.
- Increasing the depositor’s confidence: The move will reinforce depositors’ confidence in the banking system in general, and the public sector banks in particular.
The issue of the government “ownership” of the banks and financial stability
- Ownership of government: The role of the “ownership” of banks towards financial stability is a much-debated issue in the country.
- RBI is positive about govt. ownership: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has attributed a positive role to the government ownership of banks in attaining financial stability.
- The issue of competitive neutrality: Committee to Draft Code on the Resolution of Financial Firms has blamed govt. ownership for causing a “lack of competitive neutrality” in the financial sector.
- Need of level playing field: Committee argued for the need of a “level playing field” for both the public and private sector financial firms for the sake of competitive neutrality.
- The concept of an overarching resolution framework for all financial firms gained traction.
Would the all-encompassing Resolution Corporation be efficacious?
- The FRDI Bill, 2017 sought to amend as many as 20 legislations for the diverse financial sector in this country, which is regulated by various institutions, like-
- RBI for the banks and the non-banking financial corporations.
- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) for the insurance markets,
- Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for securities markets and mutual funds.
- The Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority for pension funds.
- The pertinent question
- The pertinent question is whether an all-encompassing resolution corporation can be really efficacious for the much-discussed financial stability of this country.
Fundamental issues
- Neutrality of ownership
- Different motives behind operations: While private financial institutions are predominantly governed by profit motives, for the public sector agencies, various social obligations, such as “financial inclusion,” assume primacy.
- Reason for commoner’s confidence: It is the sense of the government’s involvement (or ownership) that has forged commoners’ confidence to park their financial savings with them.
- The move may end up destabilising the financial sector: If the sovereign guarantee and resolving power are taken away from the government domain to some resolution corporation, it may destabilise the financial system.
- The Bail-in clause
- Deposit over 1 lakh included in bail-in mechanism: The FRDI Bill 2017 suggests that deposit amounts over and above the cover limit (which currently is at one lakh) will be included in the bail-in mechanism.
- Further, despite the RBI’s caution against financial instability, short-term debts and uncategorised client assets are also currently under this mechanism.
- The falling growth rate of deposits: These provisions and the bill per se came against the backdrop of the Financial Stability Report, 2017 that revealed a 3.3% drop in the year-on-year growth rate of deposits for all scheduled banks in the country.
Conclusion
In the context of decelerating financial stability, the government needs to undertake these resolution reforms with caution that the reforms do not end-up eroding depositors’ faith in the domestic financial institutions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Relations with Pakistan and need to resume the talks to resolve the issues.
Context
India announced that it will invite all heads of government of Shanghai Co-operation Organisation member countries, including Pakistan.
Significance of the invitation
- First since 2014: The summit will assume significance should Pakistan Prime Minister accept the invitation.
- As it will be the first by a head of government or state of that country to India since former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attended the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister in 2014.
- Hopes belied: Nothing came from that meeting and hopes created by the invitation were belied.
- Failed attempts to engage: Attempts to engage after that failed, including at a previous SCO summit at Ufa in 2015.
Latest events that further reduced the engagement
- Pulwama attack: First, there was the February 2019 Pulwama attack, India’s Balakot response, and Pakistan’s counter-response.
- Article 370: After India did away with Jammu & Kashmir’s special status, India and Pakistan have downgraded even their diplomatic presence in each other’s countries.
- Both the countries withdrew their high commissioners after the Article 370 issue.
- Trade stopped completely: Bilateral trade, which had managed to survive earlier shocks to relations, has stopped completely.
Opportunities presented by SCO summit
- “Inputs of all stakeholders”: In deciding whether to accept the invitation, the Pakistan PM will have to take into consideration “inputs of all stakeholders”.
- A polite way of saying that the final yes or no will rest with the Pakistan Army.
- A chance for a high-level meeting: Even if Imran Khan stays away and sends a minister instead, it would still be a chance for a high-level bilateral meeting.
- The world wants India and Pakistan to engage: The world wants India and Pakistan to engage, and this was evident in the way the UNSC refused to take up the Kashmir issue, saying it was not the forum for it.
- Opportunity for India to make a start: India has declared several times recently that it wants to peel away from historical foreign policy baggage.
- India should make a start with Pakistan by making it possible for such a meeting to take place.
- Making acceptance of invitation easier: India can make it easier for the Pakistan Prime Minister to accept the invitation.
- Resuming trade: A start could be made by resuming trade, which has ground to a dead halt
- Sending High Commissioner back: India can start by sending India’s High Commissioner back to his office in Islamabad.
Conclusion
The SCO summit presents an opportunity for both the countries to end the long hiatus in the relations which is essential for both the countries to resolve the long-standing issues and progress of both the countries.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Monsoon: Its onset and retreat
Mains level: Various factors causing uncertainty in monsoon predictions
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had decided to revise the normal onset and withdrawal dates for the monsoon in some parts of the country from this year.
Onset of Monsoon
- The four-month southwest monsoon season, which brings as much as 70 per cent of the country’s annual rainfall, officially begins on June 1, with the onset over Kerala, and ends on September 30.
- It takes about a month and half after onset on the Kerala coast to cover the entire country; and about a month, beginning from the northwestern parts of the country on Sept. 1 to withdraw completely.
- Although the June 1 date for the onset of the monsoon on the Kerala coast is unlikely to be changed, the dates for onset in many other parts of the country are expected to be revised.
- Mumbai, for example, expects to start getting rain from June 10 the revision is likely to push this date back by a few days.
- Effectively, the monsoon is now expected to have later arrival and withdrawal dates in most parts of the country.
Why was this revision needed?
- The main reason for the revision in the normal dates is the changes in precipitation patterns that have been taking place over the last many years.
- In the last 13 years, for example, only once has the onset over the Kerala coast happened on June 1.
- While two or three days of earlier or later onset falls within the yearly variability in several years the onset happened five to seven days late.
- Similarly, the commencement of withdrawal has happened in the first week of September only twice during this period, and last year, the withdrawal started as late as October 9 — and was completed in around just a week.
Recent peculiarity with the exam
- One of the significant changes being noticed is that rainfall is getting increasingly concentrated within a narrow band of days within the monsoon season.
- So, there are extremely wet days followed by prolonged periods of dry days.
- IMD data show that over several previous years, nearly 95 per cent of monsoon precipitation in 22 major cities of the country had happened over a period of just three to 27 days.
- Delhi, for example, had received almost 95 per cent of its monsoon rainfall over just 99 hours. And half of Mumbai’s monsoon rain had fallen over just 134 hours, or five and a half days, on average.
Regional variations
- Patterns of regional variations in rainfall are also changing
- Areas that have traditionally received plenty of rainfall are often remaining dry, while places that are not expected to get a lot of monsoon rain have sometimes been getting flooded.
- Climate change could be one of the factors driving these changes, but there could be other reasons as well.
What will be the impact of IMD’s move?
For Farmers
- The revisions are meant to reflect the changes in precipitation patterns in recent years.
- New dates will likely nudge farmers in some parts of the country to make slight adjustments in the time of sowing their crops.
- It would definitely have an impact on our agriculture practices — when to start sowing, when to harvest.
- So, even if there is a delay in the arrival of monsoon by three to four days over a region, it would not matter much if there is a fairly good rainfall distribution thereafter.
- The change in dates would affect water management practices as well.
For Industries
- The planning that goes to beat the heat — several cities execute heat action plans — just ahead of the monsoon would have to factor in the need to be prepared for longer periods of heat.
- Rajeevan said many other activities including industrial operations, the power sector, or those using cooling systems, would also need to change their behaviour.
- The power grid can, for example, have more realistic planning for peak periods of electricity consumption in certain months.
Way Forward
- The changed dates are expected to be announced in April, when the IMD makes its first forecast for the monsoon.
- Agro-meteorologists, however, agree that more than the onset, it is the information about the spatio-temporal distribution of rainfall that will be more helpful for farmers.
- Ultimately, the change in normal dates of the onset and withdrawal of the monsoon would help people understand when to expect rains, and to plan their activities accordingly.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Project 39A
Mains level: Capital Punishment and its justification
Trial courts in India delivered 102 death sentences in 2019, over 60% fewer than the 162 death sentences passed in 2018.
Highlights of the Report
- In 2019, fewer death sentences overall were delivered.
- 1 out of 2 sentences for sexual violence-murder; in 3 out of 4 sexual violence-murder death sentences, children were the killer’s victims.
- The courts were, however, especially unforgiving of murders that involved sexual violence — the proportion of death sentences imposed for murders involving sexual offences was at a four-year high in 2019 at 52.94%.
- 2019 also saw the highest number of confirmations by High Courts in four years; 17 out of the 26 confirmations (65.38%) were in offences of murder involving sexual violence.
- The Supreme Court, primarily during the tenure of the previous CJI Gogoi, listed and heard 27 capital cases, the most in a year since 2001.
Project 39A
- These are the headline findings in the fourth edition of The Death Penalty in India: Annual Statistics, published by Project 39A at the National Law University (NLU), Delhi.
- Project 39A is a research and litigation initiative focussed on the criminal justice system, and especially issues of legal aid, torture, death penalty, and mental health in prisons.
- The report tracked news of death sentences awarded by trial courts published online by news organisations in English and Hindi.
- It checked these numbers against judgments uploaded to websites of High Court and district courts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National E-Mobility Mission Plan, 2020
Mains level: FAME Scheme and its progress
The Supreme Court has sought the response of the government on a petition that alleges the non-implementation of the National E-Mobility Mission Plan, 2020 (NEMMP), which came out in 2012.
National Electric Mobility Mission Plan (NEMMP) 2020
- The plan was launched by the Government of India in 2013 with the objective of achieving national fuel security by promoting electric and hybrid vehicles.
- It had set a target of achieving a sale of seven million EVs by 2020 and thereby aimed to cut total carbon dioxide emissions by three per cent from the ‘do nothing’ scenario.
- The government would provide fiscal and monetary incentives for this industry.
- The plan had made several recommendations for the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), including electric-powered government fleets and public transportation and subsidies for those who opt for EVs.
What was the petition about?
- The petition contended that the governmental apathy has violated the fundamental rights of citizens to health and clean environment guaranteed under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.
- The government had failed in its obligation to mitigate the impact of climate change and air pollution partly attributable to emissions from vehicles that burn fossil fuels.
- Government’s failure to suitably implement these recommendations is the direct cause of air pollution levels that have turned our cities into virtual ‘gas chambers’.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: nCoV
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has been closely monitoring the situation after the reports of 41 confirmed cases of novel Corona virus (nCoV) including one death from Wuhan, China, 2020.
About Novel Corona Virus
- Corona viruses are large family of viruses, which cause illnesses to people and also circulate in animals including camels, cats and bats.
- They cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome.
- 2019-nCoV is a new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.
- Much remains to be understood about the new coronavirus, which was first identified in China earlier this month.
- Not enough is known about 2019-nCoV to draw definitive conclusions about how it is transmitted, clinical features of disease, or the extent to which it has spread. The source also remains unknown.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: APNA UREA - SonaUgle
Mains level: Not Much
APNA UREA – SonaUgle
- The Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers launched the “APNA UREA – SonaUgle” brand of Hindustan Urvarak & Rasayan Limited (HURL).
- HURL is Joint Venture Company promoted by the three Maharatna Companies i.e. Coal India Limited (CIL), NTPC Limited (NTPC) and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) as the lead promoters with FCIL and HFCL as other two partners.
- The commissioning of the HURL’s three Units in the states of UP, Bihar and Jharkhand will open forward and backward linkages for business activity in the Eastern part of India.
- It will be instrumental in opening new avenues for the generation of income and employment in the Eastern part of our country.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: TrueNat
Mains level: Menace of TB and its elimination measures
The WHO has endorsed TrueNat, an Indian indigenous molecular diagnostic tool for tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis.
TrueNat
- The TrueNat TB test is a new molecular test that can diagnosis TB in one hour as well as testing for resistance to the drug rifampicin.
- The TrueNat MTB and MTB Plus assays also show comparable accuracy to the TB-LAMP assay as replacement tests for sputum smear microscopy.
- The data for TrueNat MTB-Rif shows similar accuracy to WHO-approved commercial line probe assays.
- It is developed by the Goa-based Molbio Diagnostics.
- The company was provided with technical assistance and resources by the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND) to help commercialise Truenat.
- ICMR had assessed and validated the diagnostic tool. It has high diagnostic accuracy as initial test to diagnose TB.
- It will be used as an initial test thus replacing sputum smear microscopy.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: TCEPF, TRAI
Mains level: Telecom regulation in India
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has informed that telecom service providers will need to deposit all unclaimed money of consumers, including excess charges and security deposit, in the Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund (TCEPF).
Telecommunication Consumers Education and Protection Fund (TCEPF)
- The TCEPF Regulations, 2007 have been amended to provide the basic framework for depositing unclaimed money of consumers by service providers, maintenance of the TCEPF and other related aspects.
- Any unclaimed / unrefundable amount belonging to consumers in the TCEP fund will be utilized for the welfare measures of the consumers.
- With this amendment, service providers will deposit any unclaimed consumer money of any form such as excess charges, security deposit, plan charges of failed activations, or any amount belonging to a consumer, which service providers are unable to refund to consumers.
Why such move?
- The TRAI observed that there is a need to bring clarity among service providers in depositing money which they are unable to refund to the consumers.
- While some service providers were depositing money only on account of excess billing revealed in the audit, others were depositing unclaimed money such as security deposits and plan charges of failed activations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Yada Yada
Mains level: NA
A new virus detected in Australian mosquitoes has been provisionally named the Yada Yada virus (YYV).
Yada Yada
- It is an alphavirus, a group of viruses that the researchers described as small, single-stranded positive-sense RNA viruses.
- It includes species important to human and animal health, such as Chikungunya virus and Eastern equine encephalitis virus.
- They are transmitted primarily by mosquitoes and (are) pathogenic in their vertebrate hosts.
- Unlike some other alphaviruses, Yada Yada does not pose a threat to human beings.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 2-Protection of vulnerable section and mob lynching.
Context
The spate of incidents of lynching over the past few years has led to a heightened sense of insecurity among the marginalised communities. The Centre should specify penal action against officials and doctors accused of dereliction of duty.
2018 Supreme Court Judgement
- In 2018, the Supreme Court described lynching as a “horrendous act of mobocracy”.
- The Court exhorted the Centre and State governments to frame laws specifically to deal with the crime of lynching.
- The SC laid down certain guidelines to be incorporated in these laws including
- Fast-track trials.
- Compensation to victims, and
- Disciplinary action against lax law-enforcers.
The State laws
- Manipur bill for the law against lynching: The Manipur government came up first with its Bill against lynching in 2018, incorporating some logical and relevant clauses.
- Provision of nodal officer: The Bill specified that there would be nodal officers in each district to control such crimes.
- Compensation to the victim: The law provides for adequate monetary compensation to the victims or their immediate kin.
- Punishment for failure to enforce the law: Police officers who fail to prevent the crime of lynching in their jurisdiction are liable to be imprisoned for a term that may extend from one to three years with a fine limit of ₹50,000.
- No concurrence of state for the prosecution of the police: No concurrence of the State government is required to prosecute them for dereliction of duty.
- Rajasthan bill: The government has accepted only a few guidelines issued by the apex court.
- No action against police officers: The bill is also silent on any action to be initiated against police officers who may be accused of dereliction of duty.
- West Bengal bill: Most other guidelines of the Supreme Court have been adopted by the State.
- Stringent punishment: Punishment for lynching to death is punishable with the death penalty or life imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh.
What the Centre can do
- Adoption of the SC guidelines: The Centre should adopt the guidelines provided by the SC to deal with the crime.
- Action against doctors: Centre would do well to incorporate sections in the law for penal action against doctors who stand accused of-
- Dereliction of duty.
- For delay in attending to victims of lynching.
- For submitting false reports without carrying out a proper and thorough medical examination of the victims.
- The compensation scheme for victims: Under the compensation scheme for the victims, the amount to be paid to the victims should be recovered from the perpetrators of the crime.
- Collective fines: Collective fines should be imposed on the villagers where the lynching takes place.
- Punishment for a political leader for inciting the mob: Centre could even provide for punitive action against political leaders found guilty of inciting mobs.
- Punitive action against police: Punitive action to be taken against police officers accused of dereliction of duty, as incorporated in the law enacted by Manipur government, could be replicated in the Central law too.
- Punitive action as a deterrent: It would deter police officials acting in a partisan manner in favour of the lynch mob.
Conclusion
Until a zero-tolerance attitude is adopted in dealing with mob lynching, this crime will continue to show a rising trend.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3- Threat of Left Wing Extremism and ways to deal with it.
Context
When much is made of peace talks with rebels in Northeast India, avoidance of peace talks with Maoist rebels is strange.
States left to deal with the Maoists
- Scale and extent of the problem: Officially in 2019, there are 11 states and 90 affected districts.
- State subject: This is because policing and maintaining law and order are matters devolved to states.
- The approach adopted to deal with the problem: According to MHA-
- Capacity building: Primarily by capacity building of the state governments.
- Areas of capacity building: Capacity building is to be carried out in areas of security and development. This will continue with the-
- Better police training.
- Better intelligence gathering.
- Reinforcing police stations in conflict zones.
- And recruiting locals into auxiliary forces.
- Support by MHA: MHA will continue to provide the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and other paramilitaries under its command.
- Support of NTRO: Intelligence gathering outfits such as the National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO).
- NTRO has in the past year increased drone surveillance over the densely forested Abujhmad area in southwest Chhattisgarh, which remains the main rebel hub.
The success achieved so far
- Influence reduced to 90 districts: The policies so far has certainly contained the rebels across 90 affected districts.
- Surrender and rehabilitation policy: Most Maoist-affected states in India have a surrender and rehabilitation policy.
- Surrender policy along with search and destroy : Surrender policy rides in tandem with search-and-destroy missions that police and paramilitaries provide.
- This pincer has massively depleted rebel leadership and ranks with regular killings, arrests, and surrender of its leaders and cadres.
Return of conflict displaced people
- It is crucial for the conflict-displaced to return to their homes.
- Issues related to return of displaced: Agencies discourage those returning from going back to their old home and instead are offered state-mandated enclaves.
- No or little economic imperatives: Those returning are offered little economic imperative besides daily wage labour and scrambling for government handouts.
- Some government jobs: For some, jobs are offered in
- That is, in any case, the present for much of the 50,000 or so who did not manage to escape to Telangana and elsewhere.
Conclusion
- The central government would do well to focus here and in beginning negotiations for peace.
- The Left-wing rebellion, a reality for over 50 years, is difficult to end until poor governance is improved.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much.
Mains level: Paper 3- Inflation targeting by RBI, and other mandates of RBI.
Context
The RBI’s responsibility to regulate the financial sector may have taken a back seat after the adoption of inflation targeting as the main objective. Has a fixation with inflation rate made the RBI take its eyes off the loan books of the banks?
Evolution of the role of the Central Banks
- Maintaining financial stability: The establishment of some of the world’s oldest central banks was inspired by the goal of maintaining financial stability.
- Harm to the depositors: It was recognised that when private commercial banks fail, whether due to malfeasance or misjudgement, they harm their trusting depositors.
- Harm to the entire system: But when banks fail they not only harm the depositors they can also take down with them the rest of the financial system.
- Banks lending to one another: The entire financial system also gets harmed when banks have lent to one another, which is not uncommon.
- The collapse of credit: In the crisis that ensues, there is a collapse of credit which, in turn, leads to a downturn in economic activity.
- Lender of last resort: To avoid this, the central bank was conceived of as the lender of last resort.
- Prevention of run on the banks: Lender of last resort is the one that could pre-empt a run on banks and give them time to put their books back in order.
- Regulation of banks: However, this was to be accompanied by the adoption of a tough regulatory stance.
- Whereby the central bank would stay hawk-eyed towards the activities of banks, particularly risky lending.
- Rise of neo-liberalism and change in a role: With the rise of neoliberalism, the central tenet of which is that markets should be given free play, the regulatory role of central banks took a back seat.
- Inflation control as primary role: The Central banks came to be primarily mandated with inflation control.
Inflation targeting and regulation of the financial market by RBI
- Multiple indicator approach: In India, the RBI had earlier pursued a ‘multiple indicators approach’.
- What was the multiple indicator approach: The approach involves concern for outcomes other than inflation, including even the balance of payments.
- Discouraging the approach: Developments in economic theory discouraged ‘multiple indicators approach’.
- It was argued that having economic activity as an objective of monetary policy leads to higher inflation.
- Favouring low inflation over lower unemployment: Discouraging the ‘multiple indicator approach’ encouraged low inflation over low unemployment.
- Inflation targeting as the sole objective of monetary policy: The Indian government also instituted inflation targeting as the sole objective of monetary policy.
- The fixed target for the RBI: The RBI was permitted to exceed or fall short of a targeted inflation rate of 4% by a margin of 2 percentage points.
- But have the RBI’s original mandate as a central bank been met?
- IL&FS crisis: In 2018, within three years of the adoption of inflation targeting goal, a crisis engulfed IL&FS, a non-banking financial company in the infrastructure space.
- Not a small player: It operated over 100 subsidiaries and was sitting on a debt of ₹94,000 crores.
- Effects of default: Given this, IL&FS default had a chilling effect on the investors, banks and mutual funds associated with it both directly or indirectly.
- PMC bank crisis: In 2019, a run on the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank had to be averted by imposing withdrawal limits.
- Outright fraud in PMC case: While in the case of IL&FS, some part of the problem may have been caused by a slowing economy, outright fraud underlay the crisis at PMC Bank.
- Raghavendra Sahakara Bank case: In early 2020, curbs have had to be placed on withdrawals from the Bengaluru-based Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank.
- Pertinent question
- Regulatory sector at the backseat? It is not too early to ask if the RBI’s responsibility to regulate the financial sector may have taken a back seat after the adoption of inflation targeting as the main objective.
- Has a fixation with inflation rate made the RBI take its eyes off the loan books of the banks?
The recent rise in inflation and shortfall of currency notes
- Inflation at 7%: At over 7%, the inflation rate in December is the highest in five years.
- Not cause of concern: This may not be the reason to panic, for the price rise could be seasonal and may well abate.
- Question on inflation targeting: But it does raise a question on the efficacy of inflation targeting as a means of inflation control.
- Reason for moderate inflation so far: If the inflation rate was within the intended range so far, that may have been due to both declining food prices and, for a phase, oil prices.
- The shortfall of notes: The central bank has a monopoly on the issue of notes.
- There is an absolute shortage of small denomination notes in the bazaars of India.
- Small-denomination notes are mostly unavailable.
Conclusion
While focusing on the inflation, the Central bank also needs to keep the other mandates especially the regulation of the finance sector in check.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bru/Reangs
Mains level: Tribal issues in the NE
The Ministry of Home Affairs has presided over the signing of an agreement between Union Government, Governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives to end the 23-year old Bru-Reang refugee crisis.
Who are the Brus?
- Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram.
- Their exodus in 1997 was spurred by violent clashes in Mamith subdivision, a Reang-dominated area, when they demanded creation of an autonomous council that was vehemently opposed by Mizo groups.
- Around 34,000 people were forced to live in sub-human conditions in tents in Tripura. No solution could be reached all these years.
- These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur, in North Tripura.
Highlights of the Quadripartite Agreement
- Under the new agreement around 34,000 Bru refugees will be settled in Tripura and would be given aid from the Centre to help with their rehabilitation and all round development.
- These people would get all the rights that normal residents of the States get and they would now be able to enjoy the benefits of social welfare schemes of Centre and State governments.
- Under the new arrangement, each of the displaced families would be given 40×30 sq.ft. residential plots.
- This would be in addition to the aid under earlier agreement of a fixed deposit of Rs. 4 lakhs, Rs. 5,000 cash aid per month for 2 years, free ration for 2 years and Rs. 1.5 lakhs aid to build their house.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Relevant sections of the CrPC and the Telegraph Act
Mains level: Right to internet access and various issues
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WBL index
Mains level: India's poor performance and reasons behind
The Women Business and the Law (WBL) 2020 index to measure the economic empowerment of women was recently published.
WBL Index
- The WBL report released by the World Bank.
- It is based on the countries’ formal laws and regulations that have a bearing on women’s economic participation, covering eight areas (eg, parenthood, equality of pay).
- It tracks how laws affect women at different stages in their working lives and focusing on those laws applicable in the main business city.
India’s poor performance
- India placed 117th among 190 countries on the index.
- India, the world’s most populous democracy scored 74.4 on a par with Benin and Gambia and way below least developed countries like Rwanda and Lesotho.
- The global average was 75.2 — a slight increase from 73.9 in the previous index released in 2017.
Global Performance
- Only eight economies scored a perfect 100 — Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Latvia, Luxembourg, and Sweden.
- Those countries have ensured equal legal standing to men and women on all the eight indicators of the index.
- No economy in ‘East Asia and the Pacific’, ‘Europe and Central Asia’, or ‘Latin America and the Caribbean’ were among top reformers, the report claimed.
- Countries in ‘Middle East and North Africa’ and ‘Sub-Saharan Africa’ accounted for nine of the 10 top progressing countries on the WBL Index:
- Saudi Arabia
- The United Arab Emirates
- Nepal
- South Sudan
- São Tomé and Príncipe
- Bahrain
- The Democratic Republic of Congo
- Djibouti
- Jordan
- Tunisia
Significance of the Index
- Legal rights for women are both the right thing to do and good from an economic perspective.
- When women can move more freely, work outside the home and manage assets, they are more likely to join the workforce and help strengthen their country’s economies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Right to Business
Mains level: Various mover for the MSME sector
The Punjab Cabinet this week gave its approval to a Punjab Right to Business Bill, 2020, a law aimed at ensuring ease of doing business for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector.
Punjab Right to Business Bill, 2020
- Under the law, an MSME unit can be set up after ‘In-Principle’ approval from the District Bureau of Enterprise, headed by the Deputy Commissioner, working under the guidance of the State Nodal Agency, headed by the Director, Industries.
- Approval for units in approved Industrial Parks will be given in three working days.
- For new enterprises outside approved Industrial Parks, the decision on the Certificate shall be taken by the District Level Nodal Agency within 15 working days, as per the recommendations of the Scrutiny Committee.
What is the timeframe for unit owners to comply?
- Unit owners will have three and a half years after setting up the unit to obtain seven approvals from three departments: the sanction of building plans; issuance of completion/occupation certificate for buildings; registration of new trade licences.
- The industries involving hazardous processes will have to obtain a Fire NOC and get approval for the factory building plan before setting up the unit.
- All units will have to get environmental clearance from the Pollution Control Board beforehand.
Why was a law needed, rather than an executive order?
- According to the government, the Act will have overriding powers over various Acts of different departments that make approvals necessary before the setting up of small and medium units.
- This purpose could not have been achieved by an executive order.
- How the law actually works on the ground remains to be seen, however.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GSAT-30 and its applications
Mains level: Not Much
India’s first satellite of 2020, the GSAT-30 was successfully launched. The launch vehicle Ariane 5 VA-251 lifted off from Kourou Launch Base, French Guiana.
GSAT-30
- GSAT-30 derives its heritage from ISRO’s earlier INSAT/GSAT satellite series and will replace INSAT-4A in
- In the days ahead, orbit-raising manoeuvres will be performed to place the satellite in Geostationary Orbit (36,000 km above the equator) by using its onboard propulsion
- During the final stages of its orbit raising operations, the two solar arrays and the antenna reflectors of GSAT-30 will be
- Following this, the satellite will be put in its final orbital . The satellite will be operational after the successful completion of all in-orbit tests.
Utility of the satellite
- GSAT-30 will provide DTH Television Services, connectivity to VSATs for ATM, Stock-exchange, Television unlinking and Teleport Services, Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) and e-governance applications.
- The satellite will also be used for bulk data transfer for a host of an emerging telecommunication
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Assam Inland Water Transport Project
Mains level: Inland water transport in India
India and the World Bank signed a loan agreement of $88 million for Assam Inland Water Transport Project.
Assam Inland Water Transport Project
- A majority of Assam’s more than 361 ferry routes cross the Brahmaputra or serve its islands, providing a crucial means of transport to thousands of commuters in both the urban and rural areas of the Brahmaputra Valley.
- The project will draw guidance from ‘working with nature’ principles that aim to design new infrastructure or rehabilitate existing infrastructure in a way that works with natural river processes.
- The terminals will have better access, lighting and signage while the new vessels will allow for individual seats, and separate toilets. Moreover, a strengthened regulatory regime will ensure reduction in overloading, adherence to time schedule and better crew standards.
- The Project will help Assam improve the passenger ferry infrastructure and its services and strengthen the capacity of the institutions running the inland water transport.
Significance
- Inland Water Transport is also a more sustainable mode of transport. And Assam has the largest network of navigable waterways in India.
- It provides low-carbon and low-cost options when compared to the cost of constructing and maintaining flood-resilient roads and bridges across the long stretches of the Brahmaputra river.
- Technically better-designed terminals and energy-efficient vessels (both new and retrofitted) will make the ferry services more sustainable with least disruption to nature.
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