Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

Need to implement progressive laws: CIC

News:

Chief Information Commissioner of India Rajiv Mathur on Monday called for immediate implementation of the Whistleblowers’ Protection Act, the Lokpal Act and the Lokayukta Act, which would strengthen governance systems further.

Beyond News:

Whistle Blowers Protection Act, 2011 is an Act in the Parliament of India which provides a mechanism to investigate alleged corruption and misuse of power by public servants and also protect anyone who exposes alleged wrongdoing in government bodies, projects and offices. The wrongdoing might take the form of fraud, corruption or mismanagement. The Act will also ensure punishment for false or frivolous complaints

The Lokpal and Lokayukta Act, 2013 seeks to provide for the establishment of Lokpal for the Union and Lokayukta for States to inquire into allegations. According to the act, the Lokpal would constitute an Inquiry Wing, which is to be headed by Director of Inquiry. Its function is to conduct the prelim

LIMITATIONS OF LOKPAL & LOKAYUKTA ACT

• No protection to whistle blowers: This was one of the main demands in the Janlokpal Bill. The recently passed act has not at all provisions for whistle blower protection. We have to have a separate law for that.
• There is only one section on Lokayukta in the act which says that within one year, the states shall enact the Lokayukta act. However, there is nothing regarding their composition, powers etc. In fact, states are free to define how their own Lokayuktas would be appointed, how they would work and under what circumstances they would serve.
• The Lokpal act brings the PM under its jurisdiction, yet the Judiciary has been left. Judiciary is NOT subject to Lokpal jurisdiction.
• The provisions of the act have become anomalous because of Lokpal’s relations with the CBI. Under the provisions of the act, Lokpal has been vested with all powers related to only tose cases which it refers to CBI. Instead, there was a long demand that CBI should be merged with Lokpal. The current provisions are open to misuse.
• There are no provisions related to Citizen’s charter.
• There are no adequate provisions to appeal against the Lokpal. Lokpal cannot conduct inquiry against itself.

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Italian PM’s visit to mark a new start

News:

• Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni will travel to India to meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on October 30

Beyond news:

• Expected to put to rest more than 5 years of tensions over the marines case
• The visit, the first by any Prime Minister on either side since 2007

BACKGROUND:

• Diplomatic ties between India and Italy virtually came to a standstill over the m.v. Enrica Lexie case, the ship on which two Italian marines were on guard duty in February 2012, when two Indian fishermen were shot and killed off the coast of Kerala.
• The marines, Latorre Massimiliano and Salvatore Girone, were suspected of shooting the fishermen, and taken into custody, although Italy claimed the ship was in international waters and hence only subject to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
• As the case moved to the Supreme Court, India refused to hand over the Italian marines, except giving them furlough to travel to Italy on a few occasions, which became a major campaign issue in Italy.

Current scenario:

The decision to release the marines in 2016 bore fruit as India and Italy re-engaged. The current visit will enhance relation to new levels.

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{Op-Ed}Out of UNESCO

Key aspect: Opinion deals with the USA’s decision to quit UNESCO.

The U.S.’s decision to quit UNESCO is an attempt to reassert geopolitical influence in West Asia.

BACK GROUND:

• Washington, was opposing the admission of Palestine to world bodies for a long time.
• The UNESCO, which designates world heritage spots, accorded recognition in 2011 to Palestine as its 195th member.
• Ever since, controversies over the historical status of the region’s religious symbols, that have divided the Palestinian Authority and Israel, have come into sharp focus.
• Then onwards, US promptly slashed funding, amounting to about a quarter of UNESCO’s annual budge.
• The 2012 elevation to a non-member observer status at the UN came as a shot in the arm for Palestinians demanding separate statehood.

While Israel has also followed the U.S. lead, it would nevertheless be hasty to view Washington’s exit from the UNESCO as a point of no return.

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Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

Boosting horticulture through remote sensing

News:

Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Monday announced March 2018 as the deadline to complete the ambitious project of developing the horticulture sector using remote sensing technology and geo-informatics.

Beyond News:

• India is the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world and the biggest producer of fruits such as banana, mango, papaya and lemon among others.
• In 2015, the Modi government started project CHAMAN — acronym for Coordinated Horticulture Assessment and Management using geo-informatics — to prepare a comprehensive horticultural plan.
• Using remote sensing technology to study soil conditions, land use, weather and cropping patter, the Centre has chosen 185 districts across the country where seven selected crops are being promoted.

Different states have been divided into different groups to grow:

1. banana,
2. mango,
3. citrus fruits,
4. potato,
5. tomato,
6. onion
7. chilli.

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{Op-Ed}Avoid the adventurous path

Key aspect: Opinion revolves round the fiscal deficit issue & solutions.

Proposed solutions:

• Policy initiatives must be directed towards raising private investment.
• A strong fiscal stimulus through an increase in public investment by relaxing the fiscal deficit.
• It is also suggested that what is relevant is revenue deficit and that there is no rationale for having a fiscal deficit target.

problems with this arguments:

First, the focus on fiscal deficit is mainly to ensure that the private sector has sufficient borrowing space.. The argument in the TFC was that when the transferable saving of the household sector relative to GDP is 10% and an acceptable level of current account deficit 1.5%, containing the aggregate deficit of the Centre and States at 6% and providing 1.5% to the public sector enterprises would leave 4% borrowing space to the private sector.

Second, over 60% of the estimated fiscal deficit at the Centre in 2017-18 (1.9% out of 3.2%) is revenue deficit. At the State level, when the impact of loan waivers, additional interest payments on account of Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) and possible impact of pay revision is considered, the revenue deficit may increase by 1% of GDP. Thus, the problem of proliferation in revenue deficit continues.

Shortfalls in Centre and States

TO CENTRE

• Adhering to the fiscal deficit targets set out in the Budgets is going to be challenging.
• There will be a sharp reduction in the dividends from banking and financial institutions.
• The RBI has announced that against the expected Rs. 58,000 crore, the actual dividend will be Rs. 36,905 crore, and given the difficulties in the public sector banks, there will be shortfalls in the dividends from them as well.
• There will be a shortfall in disinvestment and tax revenue collection, if current trends persist.

TO STATES

At the State level, the combined fiscal deficit for 26 States is budgeted at 2.2% of GDP excluding the deficit arising from taking over the power distribution companies (discoms) loans.

• The expenditure on account of loan waivers is estimated at about 0.5% of GDP.
• Following pay revision at the Centre, some of the States may revise their pay scales which could add to the fiscal pressure.
• There could be a slippage of about 1% GDP in fiscal deficits.

WAY AHEAD:

• Reviving private investment, recapitalizing banks to enable them to lend more, and speedy completion of stalled projects.
• Fiscal policy can at best play a role in creating the appropriate climate.
• Fiscal prudence is one of the elements in sustaining growth over an extended period

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