Analysis of The Hindu, 13th April 2017

What’s Inside:

• News Analysis

• News Editorials

• Map Study

• MCQs

• Descriptive Question

Page 1:Pilot Scheme to Revise Petrol, Diesel prices on a Daily basis.

• It will be first implemented in Puducherry, Visakhapatnam in Udaipur, Jamshedpur & Chandigarh.

• They currently revise rates on the 1st & 16th of every month based on-

Average international price in the preceding fortnight Plus the currency exchange rate.

• While petrol price was freed from government control in June 2010, diesel rates were deregulated only in October 2014.

• Brent crude price; West Texas Intermediate, Dubai/Oman

Page 1 Somali forces free Indian ship crew from pirates

IOR-ARC countries

Page 1 India has breached its Tibet commitment, says Beijing.

• Panchsheel Principles:- Formal codification in treaty form was in an agreement between China and India in 1954. They were enunciated in the preamble to the "Agreement on trade and intercourse between Tibet Region of China and India", which was signed on 29 April 1954.This agreement stated the five principles as:

1. Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

2. Mutual non-aggression.

3. Mutual non-interference in each other's internal affairs.

4. Equality and cooperation for mutual benefit.

5. Peaceful co-existence.

Page 7: PSLV News.

• Last 5 PSLV Launches?

• PSLV first launch?

• ISRO commerical arm-

‘ANTRIX’

Page 7: NALSA: National Legal Services Authority.

• Lok Adalats settle dispute through conciliation and compromise.

• The First Lok Adalat was held in Una city in Junagarh district of Gujarat in 1982.

• Generally, Lok Adalat accepts the cases pending in the normal courts within their jurisdiction.

• The decision of the Lok Adalat is binding on the parties to the dispute and its order is capable of execution through legal process.

• No appeal lies against the order of the Lok Adalat.

Moreover, settlement of a pending court case in a Lok

Adalat comes with an added incentive of refund of court fee

to the party involved in the litigation.

‘Culture of settlement’ Pendency in subordinate courts is a

whopping over 2.7 crore cases.

Constitution 123rd (Amendment) bill

Or 102nd Amendment Act Referred to

Select Committee [Page 10]

Page 11: Aadhar.

Under Section 7 of the Act, no poor person shall be denied

the benefit of subsidy at all. The only thing is that the

person either should have an Aadhaar or should have

applied for one; Also, alternative means of identification

will be available and acceptable through which the person

can access all benefit.

The government has saved ₹49,000 crore under various

schemes by plugging leakages.

Under Section 29 (2), no core biometric information under this Act shall be shared with anyone for any reason whatsoever.

If anyone uses it for unauthorised purposes, they can be punished for three years, and if a company violates this law, ₹10 lakh in compensation is to be awarded to the aggrieved.

what is the needfor linking Aadhaar with PAN cards or tax returns?

Finance Minister said that out of a population of 125 crore, only 1.72 lakh file returns above ₹50 lakh, and shockingly only 25 lakh people show their income above ₹10 lakh.

Page 11: AFSPA

Page 12: U.S. gives mixed signals on Involvement in Syria

Russian leader meets visiting American Secretary Rex

Tillerson.

James Mattis, U.S. Defence Secrtary- Our priority is ISIS.

2. Colombo‟s seafront makes way for China-backed

Financial city

• Northern end of Galle Face, Colombo’s iconic seafront

Given Colombo’s strategic geographic location in the Indian

Ocean, investors see the potential for a major financial hub

in the city, filling the void of financial cities between Dubai

and Singapore.

• Project developer hopes investments to the tune of $13

billion will start coming in from 2018; targets major

investors from south Asia, particularly India

Business: FRBM Review Committee: N.K. Singh Panel

The FRBM law enacted in 2003 had originally envisaged attaining a fiscal deficit of 3% of GDP by 2008-09,

but amendments over the years had revised the year

for achieving the same target to 2017-18.

Definition: The difference between total revenue and total expenditure of the government is termed as fiscal deficit.

It is an indication of the total borrowings needed by the government. While calculating the total revenue, borrowings are not included.

Escape clause allows the government to skip the fiscal

deficit target for a particular year, in situations that include:

(i) National security concerns,

(ii) Acts of war,

(iii) National calamities,

(iv) a collapse of the agriculture sector and

(v) Far reaching structural reforms with unanticipated fiscal

implications (GST).

Deviations from the stipulated fiscal targets should not be

more than 0.5%

The panel has advocated reaching a fiscal deficit to GDP ratio

of:

(i) 2.8% in 2020-21,

(ii) 2.6% in 2021-22 and

(iii) 2.5% in 2022-23.

For now, the Centre can take a pause on the fiscal

consolidation front over the next three years by maintaining a

fiscal deficit to GDP ratio of 3% till 2019-20.

Editorial 1: Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill.

The changes proposed to the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 are:

1. The Centre assumes a direct role in the reforms, since it

will introduce guidelines that bind State governments in

several areas, notably in-

(i) creating a framework for taxi-cab aggregators,

(ii) financing insurance to treat the injured and

(iii) to compensate families of dead in hit-and-run cases,

(iii) prescribing standards for electronically monitoring

highways and urban roads for enforcement and

(iv) modernising driver licensing.

There is some concern that the move to amend the MV Act overly emphasises the concurrent jurisdiction of the Centre at the cost of State powers. [Article 254 of the Constitution and Entry- Which List].

But the proposed changes come after a long consultation exercise.

A group of State Transport Ministers went into the reform question last year,

The comprehensive recommendations of the Sundar Committee on road safety have not been implemented so far.

It may appear counter-intuitive, but research shows that imposing stricter penalties tends to reduce the level of enforcement of road rules.

Critical Analysis of Higher Penalties

• IIT Delhi’s Road Safety in India report of 2015 points out, the deterrent effect of law depends on the severity and swiftness of penalties, but also the perception that the possibility of being caught for violations is high.

• The amendments to the MV Act set enhanced penalties for several offences, notably drunken driving, speeding, jumping red lights and so on, but periodic and ineffective enforcement, which is the norm, makes it less likely that these will be uniformly applied.

On another front:

State governments must prepare for an early roll-out of administrative reforms prescribed in the amended law,

such as issuing learner’s licences online, recording address changes through an online application,

Electronic service delivery with set deadlines. [To eliminate corruption, all applications should be accepted by transport departments online, rather than merely computerising them.]

Protection from harassment for good samaritans who help accident victims is something the amended law provides, and this needs to be in place.

Editorial 2: Nepal Amendments to Constitution.

• Madhesi parties deciding to boycott local polls scheduled for May 14another political crisis.

• The boycott decision came after the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Centre)-led government tabled fresh amendments to the Constitution in Parliament.

• The country adopted the new post-monarchy Constitution in September 2015,

Madhesi parties have been demanding a redrawing of federal boundaries to reflect the fact that: Madhesi community residents of the Terai area, and other minority groups are in a majority in some new provinces.

The government led by CPN(M-C) chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal Plus the Nepali Congress part of the coalition, came to power in 2016 on the promise of accommodating these demands to the extent possible.

The government had also initiated amendments that in some way addressed Madhesi concerns, such as: (I) the formation of a Federal Commission to look into a redrawing of federal boundaries, and

(II) the recognition of local languages as national ones.

These amendments were, however, rejected by Madhesi parties, which stuck to a maximalist position.

The opposition Communist Party of Nepal (Unified-

Marxist-Leninist) also rejected them, though for being too

giving.

• Nine years have passed since elections to the first

Constituent Assembly were held. Beyond Nepal’s

transition from a constitutional monarchy to a republic, the

lack of consensus on other issues pushed the finalisation of

the Constitution far.

The impasse on the state restructuring issue has given rise to

disturbing trends —

(a) Jingoism, that sees Madhesi concerns as reflecting the

interests of external actors such as India, and

(b) Voices of secessionism among Madhesi forces who suggest

that the Nepali polity is incapable of addressing the plain-

dwellers’ concerns.

This political battle of wits has taken away much- needed

focus from the dire state of the economy, which is yet to

recover from the shock of the devastating earthquake of

2015.

Powering Nepal India Ties February 14

An important step in promoting electricity trade between India and

Nepal took place on February 14 when

Energy Secretary-level talks — Joint Steering Committee (JSC)

meeting — concluded in Kathmandu.

Decided to endorse the Detailed Project Report of the 400

kV Butwal-Gorakhpur cross-border transmission line.

Give and Take: In the years to come, it can fruitfully import

flexible Hydropower from Nepal to balance its fast growing

renewable generation and also provide a market for Nepal’s

electricity.

In 2014, India & Nepal signed a Power Trade Agreement -

Nepal developers/traders to access the Indian power

market.

Nepal‟s Doubt:

At first, Nepal was apprehensive that it would not get a fair

deal trading with a large neighbour,

But power is now traded in India on exchanges

transparently and the price is known to all, thus assuaging

some of Nepal’s doubts.

Huge Potential in Nepal for Hydro Power: Out of an

economically viable and technically feasible potential of

43.5 GW, only 0.8 GW had been developed by March 2016.

By selling power to India, Nepal could have developed its

economy at a faster rate. Bhutan has reaped the benefit of

power export to India.

In 2015, Nepal faced load-shedding of up to 16 hours a day

during the dry season, when the available capacity of

Nepal’s hydropower decreases to a third of installed

capacity.

• Per capita electricity consumption in Nepal is one of the

world’s lowest, at 119 kWh in 2012.

• It has an ambitious target of reaching 16,500 MW of hydro

capacity by 2030, which includes the joint project with

India at Pancheshwar.

Pancheswar Project:

• India will provide fund of Rs 1500 crore to Nepal’s Pancheshwar

multi-purpose project on Mahakali river for countering the Kheri

floods in Uttar Pradesh.

• It is located at Narayan Ghat of Dharchula on Mahakali River(

also known as Kali Ganga in Uttarakhand ) in Nepal.

• After completion dam will be the second largest dam in the world

with a capacity of 6720 Mega Watt (MW) power production.

• This project will regulate and control the free flow of Karnali and

Mohana rivers which cause floods in Kheri, Pilibhit of Uttar

Pradesh and other Terai districts of northern India.

Energy study: Integrated Research and Action for

Development (IRADe):

- Win-Win Situation for Both India &Nepal-

- Till 2025, Nepal can import.

- After 2025, India can import electricity from Nepal.

- The construction of transmission lines to import electricity

become lines to export electricity by 2025.

- Trade also benefits India. Meeting the evening peak in India

when its large solar PV capacity would not be available

becomes easier and cheaper. The gains in monetary terms are

comparable for both Nepal and India.

• Steps taken by India:

Recently, the Indian government issued guidelines and draft

notification on cross-border electricity trade (CBET)

policy to enable Indian/Nepal producers/traders to

seamlessly exchange power with neighbouring nations.

Oped Page 9

The Budget session of Parliament

- Lok Sabha clocked in 108% of the originally scheduled hours, Rajya Sabha- 86%.

- The Budget dates were advanced to February 1.

[Vote on Account- Article 116].

Parliament failed to perform its role in scrutinising Bills before passing them.

This Session, 20 Bills were introduced

None of these have been referred to standing committees of Parliament;

One Bill — the constitutional amendment to create a

national commission for backward classes — was passed by

Lok Sabha and then referred by Rajya Sabha to a select

committee.

Bypassing the Committee System:-

In the last three years, just 29% of Bills have been referred

to parliamentary committees.

This is in contrast to the 60% and 71% of bills examined by

committees in the 14th and 15th Lok Sabhas, respectively.

Contribution of Committee System:-

The important contribution of committees is evident in the

progress of the Bills referred to them.

The Mental Healthcare Bill passed this session and the

Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill passed by Lok Sabha

incorporated most of the changes recommended by the

committees.

Some problematic Bills:Three Bills passed by Parliament may face

constitutional challenges.

1. The Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Bill follows

up on the demonetisation exercise.

Nov. 9, 2016 31 March,2017 but later on, 31st Decemebr 2016.

This is akin to expropriation of property without any compensation

and may violate Article 300A of the Constitution.

Also, if holding the notes is made a criminal offence on December

30, and a person having them that day cannot deposit or exchange

them, then this is effectively making an action an offence with

retrospective effect.

2. Finance Bill: It’s primary purpose is amending tax rates.

But it allowed the process of appointment, removal and service conditions of members of appellate tribunals to be determined by rules.

That is, the terms of of quasi-judicial bodies will be determined by the Central government by notification instead of being specified in the Act.

Article 50: This provision may contravene several judgments that lay out the independence of the judiciary as a basic feature of the Constitution.

-Another provision of the Finance Bill permits income tax officers to refuse to disclose to any court or tribunal the information that formed the basis for a raid{against the principle of judicial review of executive action}

3rd Bill Enemy Bill:

1. It vests the rights over enemy property with the Central

government.

2. This amendment has been made with retrospective effect

(going back four decades), and will affect all property that

may have been sold (and resold) since then.

3. The Bill also bars any court from hearing cases related to

enemy property. These provisions may not adhere to

principles of due process and judicial review.

What is the Point:-

[A] Except the Enemy Property Bill, the other three were not referred to committees and were passed as Money Bills.

[B] The Enemy Property Bill was examined by a select committee of Rajya Sabha, and a note of dissent signed by six of its 23 members pointed out constitutional issues, but the suggested changes were not incorporated!!!

Adopt system of British Parliament where every Bill goes through the committee stage in each House. That may take more time to pass a Bill but will ensure that there is adequate deliberation by parliamentarians before they pass a Bill.

MCQs Dated 12th April 2017

Q1.The SEZ Act, 2005 which came into effect in February

2006 has certain objectives. In this context, consider the

following

1. Development of infrastructure facilities.

2. Promotion of investment from foreign sources.

3. Promotion of exports of services only.

Which of the above are the objectives of this Act ?

(a) 1 and 2 only. (b) 3 only

(c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1,2 and 3

Q2.Which of the following terms indicates a

mechanism used by commercial banks for providing

credit to the government ?

(a) Cash Credit Ratio

(b) Debt Service Obligation

(c) Liquidity Adjustment Facility

(d) Statutory Liquidity Ratio

Q3. Which one of the following was not stipulated in the

Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003 ?

Elimination of revenue deficit by the end of the fiscal year

2007-08

(b) Non-borrowing by the central government from Reserve

Bank of India except under certain circumstances

(c) Elimination of primary deficit by the end of the fiscal

year 2008-09

(d) Fixing government guarantees in any financial year as a

percentage of GDP

Q4. A great deal of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to India

comes from Mauritius than from many major and mature

economies like UK and France. Why?

(a) India has preference, for certain countries as regards receiving

FDI

(b) India has double taxation avoidance agreement with

Mauritius

(c) Most citizens of Mauritius have ethnic identity with India and

so they feel secure to invest in India.

(d) Impending dangers of global climatic change prompt

Mauritius to make huge investments in India.

Q5. In the parlance of financial investments, the term „bear‟

denotes:

(a) An investor who feels that the price of a particular security is

going to fall.

(b) An investor who expects the price of particular shares to rise.

(c) A shareholder or a bondholder who has’ an interest in a

company, financial or otherwise.

(d) Any lender, whether by making a loan or buying a bond.

Descriptive Question. 12 April

Question. How to overcome the trend of Disruptions in the Parliament. Is disruption the only way left to register the Opposition’s dissent?

[Constitutional Provisions, Provisions in the Rules of Lok Sabha]

Answer. (i)The Standing Committee process should be made mandatory;

(ii) The Chair of Speaker should be Neutral [Money bill]

(iii) A pre-legislative protocol- Govt should place the outline of all the legislative proposals in the public domain.

(iv) British Parliament- LoP decides the agenda for 20 days.

MCQs Dated 13th April 2017

Question.1 Widespread resistance of malarial parasite to drugs

like chloroquine has prompted attempts to develop a malarial

vaccine to combat malaria. Why is it difficult to develop an

effective malaria vaccine ?

(a) Malaria is caused by several species of Plasmodium

(b) Man does not develop, immunity to malaria during

natural infection

(c) Vaccines can be developed only against bacteria

(d) Man is only an intermediate host and not the definitive

host

Question 2. Consider the following statements: 1. The boundaries of a National Park are defined by legislation. 2. A Biosphere Reserve is declared to conserve a few specific species of flora and fauna. 3. In a Wildlife Sanctuary, limited „ biotic interference is permitted.

Which of the statements given above is /are correct ? (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

Q3 .In the context of the affairs of which of the following is

the phrase “Special Safeguard Mechanisms” mentioned in

the news frequently ?

(a) United Nations Environment Programme

(b) World Trade Organisation

(c) ASEAN-India Free Trade Agreement

(d) G-20 Summits

Q4. Consider the following statements :

1. Biodiversity hotspots are located only in tropical regions.

2. India has four biodiversity hotspots i.e., Eastern

Himalayas, Western Himalayas, Western Ghats and

Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct ?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2.

Descriptive Question. 13th April

Analyse the achievements under FRBM Act 2003 of the

Centre on one hand and the states on the other hand. Also cite

the related articles governng the borrowing power of the State

Govts?