UPSC 2017: Comprehensive News Analysis - Sept 02

A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

In news:

• The Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed the implementation of a Haryana law providing reservation to Jats and five other communities, till March next year.
• Court also directed the State Backward Classes Commission to determine the quota in government jobs and education institutions to be given to these communities after studying relevant data and submit a report by March 2018. 

In News:

• The Supreme Court order: trial against Greyhound police force personnel allegedly involved in the gang rape of 11 women belonging to a vulnerable Adivasi tribe in Visakhapatnam be expedited and concluded in six months.
• Fact: the criminal trial had not moved in the past one decade (the victims have been waiting for justice since 2007).

In news:

• The panel for revision of wages under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has recommended that there is no need to ensure parity with minimum wages paid by various states
• It states that wages under the rural employment guarantee scheme were last aligned to minimum wages in 2009, and that “there is no compelling reason to align MGNREGA and states minimum wages again”.
• The panel had earlier found that MGNREGA wages were lower than the minimum agricultural wages paid in 17 states and Union Territories
• In 2014, a seven-member expert committee, headed by Professor Mahendra Dev, had held that MGNREGA workers should be paid at least the minimum wages paid to agricultural workers in the states, if not more, to meet basic needs.
• The report, was accepted by MoRD but rejected by the Finance Ministry citing the fiscal burden involved.
• The ministry panel has agreed to the 2nd recommendation of the Mahendra Dev committee, that the Consumer Price Index for Rural (CPI-R), which reflects the present consumption pattern, should be the basis for annual revision of MGNREGA wage rates, and not CPI- Agricultural Labourers (CPI-AL), which is based on the consumption pattern of 1983

Divergence in pay:

• There has been a divergence because several states have arbitrarily increased their minimum wages without following any scientific principles.
• There is no reason why the Centre should go by that

MGNREGA budget and Wage revision

• Union government had claimed that this year’s MGNREGA budget of Rs 48,000 crore is the highest ever
• But the wage revision this year was at a mere 2.7 percent, the lowest in the scheme’s ten-year legacy leading to a mere Rs 1-3 per day hike in several states.
• The MGNREGA wages are far lower than minimum wages in states such as Karnataka, Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana, and Jharkhand

Context:

• Indian government’s proposal to deport 40,000-strong Rohingya Muslim refugee community back to their native Myanmar, where discrimination and possibly summary executions await them.
• An urgent plea was made by two Rohingya Muslim immigrants against the government’s proposed move.

In news:

• The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the plea.
• Petitioners contention:
  • The Centre’s move to deport them violated the constitutional guarantee that the Indian state should “protect the life and liberty of every human being, whether citizen or not.”
  • The proposed deportation is contrary to the constitutional protections of Article 14 (equality), Article 21 (right to life) and Article 51(c) (respect for international law and treaty obligations) of the Constitution.

In news:

• Indivior assertion: the proposed generic version of Suboxon. Inte (buprenorphine and naloxone) sublingual film by Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories infringes the patent.
• S. District Court ruling:
  • Ruled in favor of Reddy’s laboratory- does not infringe any patents.
  • Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories statement: The judgment reiterates our commitment to providing affordable and innovative medicines that address the unmet and under-met needs of patients around the world.

• BRICS summit discussion: focus on global economic issues, national security, and development-related issues
• Plenary session discussion focus: practical cooperation and cultural exchange.
• Guests at Xiamen summit: Thailand, Mexico, Egypt, Guinea and Tajikistan

Context:

• External Affairs Minister visit to Sri Lanka, to participate in the Indian Ocean Conference organised by the India Foundation.

In news:

Discussed Issues:

• The delay in the Constitution making process: Sri Lanka urged New Delhi to use its good offices to support the government see the process through.
• Delay in implementing India​-backed projects in the island​.
• India assured continued and fullest support to the Sri Lankan government: The national unity government led by President Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe — from the rival parties SLFP and UNP — is under pressure. It faces large scale corruption allegations in addition to a challenge from the SLFP faction led by former strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa, who has vowed to topple the government.

India’s project:

• Joint development of a World War-era oil tank in the strategically located eastern port town of Trincomalee.
• India has expressed its interest to operate Sri Lanka’s second international airport in Mattala.

C. GS3 Related

In news:

• Merge immediately: The Centre wrote a letter to public sector banks asking them to start the merger process immediately and their respective boards to take up the issue.
• The government wants the proposal for the merger to come from the bank itself.
• Approval requirement of Competition Commission to expedite mergers among PSBs had been done away with.
• Move based on the Narasimham committee report, which had highlighted the need for large-sized bank that could fund the huge infrastructure need of the country.
• Procedure:
  • Once the board approves the merger plan, it has to be sent to the ‘alternative mechanism’ approved by the Union Cabinet.
  • Banks have also been asked to seek the banking regulator’s view regarding their proposal.
• Key Fact:
  • Public sector that controls 70% of the market, are reeling under the pressure of asset quality which has depleted capital
  • Gross non-performing asset ratio in the banking system was 9.6% and stressed asset ratio at 12%.

In news:

• Visiting President of Switzerland Doris Leuthard said: early conclusion of the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) as well as an investment protection framework would boost economic ties between the two sides.
• Negotiations have been running since 2008.
• European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members: Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein. 

Context: demonetisation was failure because RBI’s annual report showed that 98.96% of the demonetised currency had returned to the central bank.

Aims& Objectives:

• November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to the nation that ₹500 and ₹1,000 currency noteswould cease to be legal tender.
• It was aimed at breaking the grip of corruption and black money
• The notes hoarded by anti-national and anti-social elements will become just worthless pieces of paper.
• Sizeable part of the ₹15.44 lakh crore of the two high-value banknotes would remain in the hands of the holders.
• This demonetised money would not be tendered back into the banking system due to fear of punitive government action

Result:

• RBI’s annual report, showed that as much as 98.96% of the demonetised currency had returned to the central bank as of June 30
• RBI circular setting a ₹5,000 limit on deposits of withdrawn notes unless done under the government’s amnesty scheme, was a measure intended to dissuade bank customers from returning the demonetised currency.
• Finance Minister to now claim that the “confiscation of money” had not been an objective, and the government had expected all the SBNs [specified bank notes] to come back to the banking system to become effectively usable currency
• Despite the large amounts that were deposited in banks post-demonetisation, it is doubtful whether the Income Tax authorities have the necessary resources to track down and penalise the corrupt.

Demonetisation –Some benefits

• Fostering greater compliance with the tax laws
• Reducing the economy’s reliance on cash through increased adoption of digital payments.
• But such gains could have been achieved by other and less self-defeating ways.

In news:

Study revelations:

• Extreme global warming event 56 million years ago was driven by massive carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from volcanoes, during the formation of the North Atlantic Ocean.
• Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) was associated with a geologically rapid doubling of atmospheric CO2 in less than 25 thousand years — with volcanoes squarely to blame.
• Palaeocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) event: is the most rapid and extreme natural global warming event of the last 66 million years. It lasted for around 150 thousand years and global temperatures increased by at least five degrees Celsius. PETM roughly coincided with the formation of massive ‘flood basalts’ — large stretches of ocean floor coated in lava, resulting from of a series of huge eruptions.
• Believed till now: PETM event was caused by the injection of carbon into the ocean and atmosphere; the ultimate trigger, the source of this carbon, and the total amount released, have up to now all remained elusive.

Land drifts:

• Greenland first started separating from north-western Europe, thereby creating the North Atlantic Ocean.
• There was a total input of more than 10,000 petagrammes of carbon from a predominantly volcanic source.
• This is a vast amount of carbon — some 30 times larger than all the fossil fuels burned to date and equivalent to all current conventional and unconventional fossil fuel reserves.

In news:

• New research findings: An increase of just 1-2 degrees Celsius in shallow waters on the West Antarctic Peninsula has radically reduced marine diversity.
• In an area like Australia, differences in ocean temperatures are likely to change around 10-20 degrees throughout the year; however, species in Antarctica have evolved in an environment where there is very little variation in temperature. It’s certainly a concern, when the temperature changes just by one or two degree Celsius here in the Antarctic region.

D. GS4 Related

E. PRELIMS FACT

F. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam

G. UPSC Mains Practice Questions