Comprehensive News Analysis - 16 February 2016

Table of Contents:

A. GS1 Related:

1. Transgender Sub-Inspector ready to take charge

B. GS2 Related:

1. Mysuru raja again

2. Nepal PM Oli says India visit aimed at normalizing ties

3. Despite threats 1000s join anti-polio drive in Pakistan

4. Djibouti,Myanmar,Sri Lanka anchor Silk Road

5. SC refuses to disclose data on pending verdicts

C. GS3 Related:

1. Not desirable to use exchange rate to spur economic growth, says Rajan

2. Policy for capital goods introduced

D. GS4 Related:
E. Important Editorials: A Quick Glance

1. Owning without interfering

2. An ominous operetta

3. India must enhance its trade diplomacy

F. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn
G. Practice Questions
H. Archives

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Useful News Articles

A. GS1 Related:

1. Transgender Sub-Inspector ready to take charge

Topic:Society

Category:gender issues

Location:The Hindu,Page 9

Key Points:

• a transgender,PrithikaYashini has received her appointment order as SI of police in TN

• her application was initially rejected by the Tamil Nadu Uniformed Services Recruitment Board(TNUSRB) over her gender choice

• The Madras HC had passed orders allowing her to take the written test, physical endurance test and vivavoce.

B. GS2 Related:

1.Mysuru raja again

Topic:Polity

Category: Governance-sanitation

Location:The Hindu, Page 1,9

Key Points:

• Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah

Naidu announcedthe results ofthe SwachhSarvekshan Survey, conducted by the Quality Council of India

• the survey was carried out in 73 cities, including 51 cities that have a population of over 10 lakh each and 22 capitals

• the survey ranks cities based on cleanliness, availability of dustbins, regularity of waste collection, availability of toilet facilities and their maintenance and count of households with toilets

• Cities from the south and west continued to do well.

• Score card:Chennai (36), Hyderabad(19), Greater Mumbai(10),Bangalore(38) New Delhi corporation (4)

• Mysuru came first and Dhanbad last

2.Nepal PM Oli says India visit aimed at normalizing ties

Topic:International Relations

Category: India’s neighbours

Location:The Hindu,Page 14

nepal PM

Key Points:

• Nepal PM, K.P. Sharma Oli is to make his maiden visit to India this week on the invitation of PM Modi

• Agenda quoted:”to correct the misunderstanding and bring back the relations on track”

• Protests and blockade(at Indo-Nepal border from 23 Sept 2015 ) were ended by the Madhesis a few days ago on 4 Feb 2016

3. Despite threats 1000s join anti-polio drive in Pakistan

Topic:International Relations

Category: Effect of policies of countries on India’s interests.

Location:The Hindu,Page 14

Key Points:

• despite continuing militant threats to vaccination teams,1 lakh health workers fanned out across Pakistan in a drive to eliminate the polio virus this year

• Pakistan accounts for more than 70 per cent of the world’s cases of polio

• Polio is now endemic in only 2 countries- Pakistan and Afghanistan.

• Polio workers have faced attacks by militants who say they are Western spies, or that the vaccines administered are intended to sterilize children.

• With 2 of her neighboursharbouring the virus, India is not completely insulated from the threat of the disease

4. Djibouti,Myanmar,Sri Lanka anchor Silk Road

Topic:International Relations

Category: Effect of policies of countries on India’s interests..

Location:The Hindu,Page 14

Djibouti,Myanmar

Key Points:

• A military base in Djibouti along with major port development projects in Myanmar and Sri Lanka are touted as part of China’s Maritime Silk Road Project

• The naval facility will be established at Doraleh Multi-Purpose Port –a $590 million project steered by a Chinese state owned company

• Djibouti is strategically located on the junction of the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea—a gateway to the Suez Canal

• China is also goingto build a new Free Trade Zone(FTZ) in Djibouti, whose first phase would open later this year

• China has signed a deal to develop an Industrial Park and a deep water port in Kyaukphyu(Bay of Bengal) in Myanmar

• In Sri Lanka there are prospects of the revival of the stalled Colombo port city project under new conditions

• China seems to be adding more nodes to her Indian Ocean Profile

5. SC refuses to disclose data on pending verdicts

Topic:Polity

Category: judiciary,RTI

Location:The Hindu, Page 13

Key Points:

• The SC dismissed a plea to maintain data on its pending judgments and make the information public under the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

• the Central Information Commission’s (CIC) decision to disclose the number of pending judgments wasopposed by the SC

• The CIC’s decision was based on the SC’s 2001 judgment in Anil Rai vs. State of Bihar.

• The ruling had pointed out that “the confidence of the litigants in the results of the litigation is shaken if there is an unreasonable delay in rendering a judgment after reserving the same”

• The Commission’s decision was upheld by a single judge of the Delhi High Court

• The single judge’s order was set aside by a Division Bench following an appeal by the Registrar representing the Supreme Court.

C. GS3 Related:

1. Not desirable to use exchange rate to spur economic growth, says Rajan

Topic:Economic Development

Category:State of Indian Economy

Location:The Hindu,Page 15

Mr.Rajan

Key Points:

• The Indian rupee is one of Asia’s worst performing currencies against the U.S. dollar this year

• Mr.Rajan said the RBI and the government don’t favour undervaluation of the exchange rate as a means to spur economic growth

• He said the central bank’s policy is to minimize situations of extreme volatility and intervene when the exchange rate becomes extremely volatile.

• Indian industry is to grow based on capabilities, cost-effectiveness and innovative ideas rather than from undervaluation according to the governor.

2.Policy for capital goods introduced

Topic:Economic Development

Category:State of Indian Economy

Location: The Hindu, Page 15

Key Points:

• The government introduced a National Capital Goods Policy

• Minister of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprise unveiled the policy during the Make in India Week programme

• Objectives:

• to increase production of capital goods from Rs. 2.30 lakh crore in 2014-15 to Rs. 7.50 lakh crore in 2025

• raising direct and indirect employment from the current 8.4 million to 30 million

• making India a net exporter of capital goods

• improving technology across sub-sectors of heavy industry

• increasing skill availability

• ensuring mandatory standards

• promoting growth and capacity building of MSMEs

• Plan of action:

• Budgetary allocation to Heavy Industry Export and Market Development Assistance Scheme (HIEMDA)
andTechnology Development Fund

• setting up a new testing and certification facility

• providing more opportunities to local manufacturing units

• Scheme for skill development for capital goods sector.

D. GS4 Related:
E. Important Editorials: A Quick Glance

1. Owning without interfering

Topic:Economic Development

Category:State of Indian Economy

Location:The Hindu,Page 10

Key Points:

• The Indian banking system is in crisis at the moment

• Banks are reporting hefty losses in the face of mounting bad loans.

• The FM says that the country had not reached a stage where the government could pull out of the banking system altogether

• In the last 3 to 4 decades, state-owned banks have played an important role in reaching out to unbanked areas, he said.

• It seems that this fact has been conveniently used by govts to perpetuate their hold over the banking system.

• Reducing financial stake in state-owned banks would only help fill government coffers

• The problem of conflict of interest remains

• Ring-fencing the government’s equity stakes in banks in an independent, professionally-managed holding company is something to begin with

• Financial decision-making has become an increasingly complex process involving dynamic variables.

• It’s time to break new ground in the banking field by doing away with governmental interference

• Only then can banks take financially viable decisions determined by prudent economics rather than populist considerations

2. An ominous operetta

Topic:Polity

Category:governance

Location:The Indian Express, Page 14

Key Points:

• the writer wonders whether:

• the Indian state is becoming a fascist state by throttling the freedom of college students to shout slogans

• street violence(ABVP,Bajrang Dal) and compliant police administration have been used to silence dissent in an institution(university) where critical examination is to be fostered

• the hysteria in hunting the ‘anti national’ is emerging from the pathological fear of ideas manifested by the ‘nationalists’

• The writer says that the public university is the space to throw up ideas often contentious and even wrong

• But if deprived of it these ideas can go underground and mutate and become truly dangerous(violent)

3. India must enhance its trade diplomacy

Topic:Economic Development

Category:State of Indian Economy

Location:The Economic Times,Page 24

Key Points:

• India is keen to ratify the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) on goods of the WTO according to reports

• But the TFA would come into force only after 2/3rds of the 162 WTO member countries formally accept it; only 63 nations have done so.

• Meanwhile tariff and non-tariff walls are hurting Indian initiativeslike ‘Make in India’

• Therefore we need to explore heightened engagement on trade while keeping WTO-TFA as the ultimate target

• What is to be done immediately:

• The EU-India free trade agreement needs to be concluded

• India needs to seek membership of the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) forum

• Apec membership could make it possible for us to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a work in progress

F. Concepts-in-News: Related Concepts to Revise/Learn:

i. China’s string of pearls

ii. Constitutional development in Nepal

iii. Swachch Bharat

iv. Horn of Africa

v. RTI

vi. RBI

vii.Undervaluation of currency

viii.CIC

ix. APEC

x. Trans-Pacific Partnership

G. Fun with Practice Questions 🙂
To be Updated

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