17 Jan 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

E. Editorials

Category: SOCIAL ISSUES

1. Preventing mob lynching

Context:

Though no data has been compiled by the NCRB of the number of cases of lynching in the country since 2015 for reasons unknown, the figures reported by various sections of the media are troubling.

Details:

• 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 and laid down certain guidelines to be incorporated in these laws including fast-track trials, compensation to victims, and disciplinary action against lax law-enforcers.

State laws:

• In this backdrop, the Manipur government came up first with its Bill against lynching in 2018, incorporating some logical and relevant clauses.
  • The Bill specified that there would be nodal officers in each district to control such crimes.
  • 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.
  • Additionally, no concurrence of the State government is required to prosecute them for dereliction of duty.
• It devolves upon the State to protect victims of mob violence and witnesses from any inducement or coercion apart from initiating schemes for rehabilitation and setting up relief camps where a community is displaced.
• The law provides for adequate monetary compensation to the victims or their immediate kin.
• The Rajasthan government passed a bill against lynching in August 2019.
  • “After 2014, 86% cases of mob lynching reported in the country happened in Rajasthan.”
  • However, not only has the government accepted only a few guidelines issued by the apex court, it is also silent on any action to be initiated against police officers who may be accused of dereliction of duty.
• West Bengal came up with a more stringent Bill against lynching.
  • Punishment for lynching to death is punishable with the death penalty or life imprisonment and a fine of up to ₹5 lakh.
  • Most other guidelines of the Supreme Court have been adopted by the State.

Way forward:

• While adopting the guidelines, the 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 mob violence, or submitting false reports without carrying out a proper and thorough medical examination of the victims, either under coercion by the police or due to their own prejudice against the community or religion of the 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 or collective fines be imposed on the villagers where the lynching takes place.
• While framing the laws, the Centre could provide for punitive action against political leaders found guilty of inciting mobs.
• Until a zero-tolerance attitude is adopted in dealing with mob lynching, this crime will continue to show a rising trend.

Punitive action to be taken against police officers accused of dereliction of duty, as incorporated in the law enacted by the Manipur government, could be replicated in the Central law too as it would deter police officials acting in a partisan manner in favour of the lynch mob.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Talking of Kashmir

Context:

For the second time since the government’s decision on Article 370 in August 2019, China has raised the issue of Kashmir at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), prompting a protest from New Delhi.

Details:

• In its response, the Government of India said that Beijing should “refrain” from bringing a bilateral issue into the UNSC, and accused China of working at Pakistan’s behest.
• India’s response also pointed to the overwhelming majority of Security Council members being opposed to the Chinese reference on conditions in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), which resulted in a lack of consensus for any kind of statement at the end of the meeting.
• India’s case rests on the 1972 Shimla accord, where India and Pakistan agreed to resolve the Kashmir issue bilaterally.
• China’s repeated raising of Kashmir, is unconstructive and will impact the India-China bilateral relationship if it continues.
• It is also unlikely to push the government, which has already defied several international calls from friendly countries, into lifting restrictions or rolling back its measures in Kashmir.
• Given that New Delhi has refrained from raising similar issues over Tibet, Xinjiang or Hong Kong, it is unfair on the part of Beijing to take its concerns to the international stage, especially since President Xi Jinping didn’t officially raise such concerns while visiting India.

Way forward:

• While China’s move may be unwarranted, it is yet another reason for New Delhi to take heed of the continuing and unprecedented criticism of its actions in Kashmir.
• Prior to August, the last time Kashmir was raised at the UNSC format was in 1971; it has since been raised twice within a period of five months.
• China may have found no takers for a statement, but the fact that it was allowed to raise the issue at the UNSC cannot be brushed away. Nor can India maintain the duality of insisting, on the one hand, that Kashmir is a bilateral issue and, on the other hand, rejecting all bilateral talks with Pakistan.
• At some point, the government must push for the normalisation of ties with Pakistan as well as for the lifting of restrictions in Jammu and Kashmir.

Recent developments:

In the past few days, it seems the government has decided to review some of its decisions taken in August:

• It has released political prisoners and restored 2G connectivity to select places.
• It has also taken one group of envoys to Srinagar and Jammu, and is making plans for 36 Cabinet Ministers, who have not visited the region yet, to travel there.

These measures, however, must be comprehensive. Only when all communications are restored, all political prisoners freed and added security restrictions removed can the real task of healing in J&K even begin.

Category: ECONOMY

1. The perils of RBI’s fixation on inflation

 Context:

Inflation is back in the news and attention has turned on the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

• The National Statistical Office released data that showed annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation for December 2019 at 7.35%, which was the highest since the 7.39% of July 2014, and also more than the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper target limit of 6%.
• But the real shocker was retail food inflation, which soared to a more than six-year high of 14.12%.

Recognising the Central Bank’s mandate:

• The establishment of some of the world’s oldest central banks was inspired by the goal of maintaining financial stability.
• It was recognised that when private commercial banks fail, whether due to malfeasance or misjudgment, they not only harm their trusting depositors, they can also take down with them the rest of the financial system. The latter can take place when banks have lent to one another, which is not uncommon.
• In the crisis that ensues, there is a collapse of credit which, in turn, leads to a downturn in economic activity.
• To avoid this, the central bank was conceived of as the lender of last resort, one that could pre-empt a run on banks and give them time to put their books back in order.
• 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. This was necessary as the knowledge that they could always rely on the lender-of-last-resort facility may leave banks less than diligent or even make them indulge in plain dishonesty.
• However, 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. They came to be primarily mandated with inflation control.
• It is hardly the case that central banks were unconcerned with inflation earlier, but they were at the same time concerned with financial stability and the level of economic activity.

Moving the goal post:

• In India, the RBI had earlier pursued a ‘multiple indicators approach’, implying concern for outcomes other than inflation, including even the balance of payments. But, developments in economic theory discouraged such acceptance by arguing that having economic activity as an objective of monetary policy leads to higher inflation
• It should be noted that this argument privileged low inflation over low unemployment, favouring owners of financial wealth over workers. But, not to be left behind in the race to adopt the architecture of the West, the Indian government also instituted inflation targeting as the sole objective of the monetary policy.
• The RBI was permitted to exceed or fall short of a targeted inflation rate of 4% by a margin of 2 percentage points. This was hailed by the government as the adoption of the ‘modern monetary policy framework’ by India, and came into effect from the year 2016-17.

But have all the objectives of the RBI’s original mandate as a central bank been met as a result?

• 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.
  • It defaulted on several of its obligations, including repayment of bank loans and the redemption of commercial paper.
  • The IL&FS was not just another ‘shadow bank’; it operated over 100 subsidiaries and was sitting on a debt of Rs. 94,000 crore.
  • Given this, its default had a chilling effect on the investors, banks and mutual funds associated with it both directly or indirectly.
• Since then, in 2019, a run on the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank had to be averted by imposing withdrawal limits.
  • It was discovered that fictitious accounts, reportedly over 21,000 of them, had been created so that the books would tally, even as deposits were siphoned off as loans to the promoters.
  • 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.
  • In early 2020, curbs have had to be placed on withdrawals from the Bengaluru-based Sri Guru Raghavendra Sahakara Bank.

Issues:

• Further, even apart from regulatory infirmity, it is not as if the RBI is doing spectacularly on the inflation targeting front either. At over 7%, the inflation rate in December is the highest in five years. It raises a question on the efficacy of inflation targeting as a means of inflation control.
• Inflation led by rising prices of foodstuff cannot quickly or easily be contained by the mode of control underlying inflation targeting. It requires enhancing supplies which, in turn, would mean raising imports in the short run.
• The extent of the failure of inflation targeting right now is substantial indeed; the inflation rate has exceeded the permissible range of error by 65%.
• The central bank has a monopoly on the issue of notes. Yet, there is an absolute shortage of small denomination notes?.
• The RBI and the government showed themselves to be entirely out of touch with reality when, in 2016, the 1,000-rupee note was replaced with a 2,000-rupee note.
  • Small denomination notes are mostly unavailable.
  • In this department, India’s central bank has failed substantially.

This issue has been covered in 15^th January 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis. Click here to read.

F. Tidbits

1. India-Pakistan situation has impacted Afghanistan, says Hamid Karzai

• We are the best of friends with India, but how do we convey to Pakistan that we can be the best of brothers at the same time, asks the former Afghan President at the Raisina Dialogue.
• The unfortunate situation between India and Pakistan had impacted Afghanistan “tremendously”, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai said.
• Speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, he said there was no other way for Afghanistan, “we need the peace process to be successful.”
• Terming Iran and Pakistan the most consequential relationships for Afghanistan, he said, “We cannot have peace in Afghanistan, unless we have the best of relationships in Pakistan.”
• On the issue of continued U.S. military presence in Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai said a vast majority of people would agree with a U.S. presence in Afghanistan as long as the Afghan people are given the legitimacy to live in a dignified way, and politics and institutions in Afghanistan are not interfered with.

G. Prelims Facts

1. Myeloma

• Multiple myeloma is a type of cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell.
• Plasma cells help the body fight infections by making antibodies that recognize and attack germs.
• Multiple myeloma causes cancer cells to accumulate in the bone marrow, where they crowd out healthy blood cells.
• A cancerous or malignant plasma cell is called a myeloma cell. Myeloma is called “multiple” because there are frequently multiple patches or areas in the bone where it grows.
• It is a type of blood cancer that affects the bones, most of the cases reaching tertiary care centres are in the advanced stage in which complications in kidney failure set in and bone marrow function gets completely affected.
• Many factors have been implicated in the development of multiple myeloma.
• Exposure to toxic chemicals, atomic radiation, anything that interferes with the immune system, or infection with cancer-causing viruses have all been implicated as causes or triggers of myeloma.
• Toxic chemicals that have been identified include: benzene, dioxins (such as those found in Agent Orange), agricultural chemicals (such as defoliants and pesticides), solvents, fuels, engine exhausts and cleansing materials.
• Myeloma can also be hereditary.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Multiple myeloma:

1. It is a cancer that forms in a type of white blood cell called a plasma cell.
2. It causes cancer cells to accumulate in the bone marrow.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

See

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO):

1. SCO is a Eurasian Economic, Political and Security organization.
2. It has eight member nations.
3. India, Pakistan and Iran are among the permanent members of SCO.

Which of the given statement/s is/are incorrect?

1. 1 only
2. 3 only
3. 1 and 3 only
4. 1 and 2 only

See

Q3. Consider the following statements:

1. Bru tribals inhabit parts of Assam, Mizoram and Tripura.
2. They are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG).

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 2 only
3. Both 1 and 2
4. Neither 1 nor 2

See

Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to Regional Antiterrorism Structure (RATS):

1. RATS was established at the Asthana Summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
2. RATS is a permanent organ of the SCO.
3. It is engaged in furthering cooperation between member countries on concerns of terrorism, security, drug trafficking and cyber warfare.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

1. 1 only
2. 1 and 2 only
3. 2 and 3 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

See

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. Recent laws passed with respect to mob lynching in some statesprovide a good start yet fall short in adhering to the criteria laid down by the Supreme Court. Discuss. (15 Marks, 250 Words).
2. Discuss the challenges associated with addressing the issue of Bru refugees to be settled in Tripura. What are the features of the tripartite agreement signed in this regard? (10 Marks, 150 Words).