Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Pune tops quality of governance list

News

• Pune, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram and Bhubaneswar have the best quality of governance among Indian cities in 2017, a study has found.

Beyond News

• The fifth edition of the Annual Survey of India’s City-Systems (ASICS) by Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy spans 23 Indian cities and factors in answers to 89 questions.
• The cities were scored based on the quality of laws, policies, institutions and institutional processes that together help govern them.

ASICS groups questions into four categories: urban planning & design; urban capacities & resources; transparency, accountability & participation; and empowered & legitimate political representation.

• Pune scored 5.1 out of 10 (all questions are scored on a scale of 0-10). This is in stark contrast to cities in developed countries for instance, London and New York scored 8.8 on the same scale.
• The report addresses five major issues, and suggests solutions at the local body, State and Central government levels.
• Indian cities have a weak urban planning framework, and the problem can be addressed by a well-made and executed spatial development plan something which is difficult to do, considering there is only one urban planner in Indian cities for every 4 lakh citizens (This number is 48 in the U.S. and 148 in the U.K.).
• Another problem is stability of finances. On average, the cities assessed generated only 39% of the funds they spent, with several cities unable to even cover staff salaries.
• A third major issue is the lack of skilled staff and poor management of human resources. Fragmentation of governance and low levels of empowerment of mayors and councillors is another key roadblock to good governance.
• One of the most important takeaways for citizens from the report is the absence of platforms where citizens can participate in civic matters in their neighbourhoods.

This can be remedied by enacting public disclosure and community participation laws, adopting open data standards and ensuring transparency in finances and operations.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

India’s growth to speed to 7.3%: World Bank

News

• The World Bank in its India Economic Update has predicted India’s economy to grow at 6.7% in the current financial year, which is set to accelerate to 7.3% in 2018-19 and 7.5% in 2019-20.

Beyond News

• The Central Statistics Office predicted GDP growth to be 6.6% in the current financial year.
• The report divides India’s economic growth history since 1970 into four segments.
• The first is from 1970 to 1990, when the economy maintained an average growth rate of 4.4%.
• This subsequently accelerated in the 1991-2003 period to an average of 5.4%. Thereafter, growth accelerated sharply for a short period from 2004 to 2008, where it averaged 8.8%, which then slowed down to a “still impressive” average of 7.1% in the 2009-17 period.
• The report did highlight several challenges facing the Indian economy that needed prioritised attention.
• These included the poor state of private sector investments which needed to be enhanced through measures “that assure a favourable investment climate while reducing policy uncertainty”.

T.N. has second highest salary, pension expenditure

News

• Tamil Nadu has the second highest expenditure on salaries and pensions among comparable peer States.

Beyond News

• The government’s spending on salaries and pensions, as a percentage of its revenue expenditure, was estimated to be 40% between FY2016 and FY2018, according to data from ICRA, making it the second largest after Maharashtra.
• As per the Budget estimates for 2017-18, the State’s salary and pension expenditure is pegged at ₹66,908.59 crore, excluding the impact of the Seventh Pay Commission’s recommendations.
• The State spends roughly ₹72,000 crore or 25% of its expenses annually on social welfare measures — one of the highest in the country. The higher spending on salaries, pensions and freebies means the State has little leeway to spend on infrastructure projects.

Rare meteorite may hold clue to life’s origin

News

• A study of two meteorites which fell in Assam and Rajasthan over a span of 13 hours in 2017, by the Geological Survey of India (GSI), has concluded that they may contain “significant clues to the origins of life.

Beyond News

• Experts from GSI’s Meteorite and Planetary Science Division (the custodian of meteorites) studied both objects for over 10 months.
• The Mukundpura one is a carbonaceous meteorite, one of the most primitive types. They contain grains of calcium and iron which date to a time before the sun came into existence.
• The impact of the meteorite, which fell on sandy farmland, created a hole six inches deep, with a diameter of nearly 43 cm. The GSI now refers to the object as ‘Mukundpura carbonaceous meteorite.’
• The GSI says this is a rare type, since carbonaceous meteorites constitute only 3%-5% of all meteorite falls. Analysis revealed the presence of water-bearing minerals in the meteorite.
• Meteorites mostly originate from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

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