Euthanasia

Section 309 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 has been repealed. The Supreme Court, in P. Rathinam (1994), stated that the right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution included the “right not to live a forced life”, thus holding the provision unconstitutional. But subsequently, in Gian Kaur (1996), a five-judge bench overruled P. Rathinam, upholding the validity of Section 309. Gian Kaur stated that sanctity of life was a significant aspect of Article 21, and “by no stretch of imagination can extinction of life be read to be included in protection of life”. Similarly, the Law Commission of India in its 42nd Report (1971) recommended the repeal of Section 309, while in the 156th Report (1997) recommended retention, based on Gian Kaur. The Commission’s 210th Report (2008) again recommended a repeal of the law, which was favourably reiterated in Parliament and decided upon recently.

NITI Aayog

National Institution for Transforming India. 

Cons of PC: Non-constitutional,non-statutory body,Domination of Prime Minister, bypassing the cabinet,it overshadowed the role of Finance Commission, there was no direct accountability.

Do we still need planning then?Sustainable development; balanced regional development.

This new economic think-tank, manned by domain experts, has been constituted to provide strategic and technical advice to the Centre and the State governments on key policy matters. The Planning Commission also did this but allegedly in a heavily centralised, big-brother way suited to a command economy. It hopes to replace the one way Centre-to-State flow of policy with ‘cooperative federalism’ making development a process based on partnership of states. Importantly, unlike the Planning Commission, the NITI Aayog does not have the power of allocating central funds to States. This will now be done by the finance ministry.After the scrapping of PC, the role of formulating annual plans and fund allocation is being currently undertaken by the Finance Ministry.The governing council of the NITI Aayog has on board the chief ministers of all the States and lieutenant governors of the Union Territories. This council, in its first meeting, decided to undertake a review of centrally sponsored schemes — whether they should be continued, transferred to States or scrapped.It will also develop mechanisms for village-level plans.

Structure of NITI Aayog-Prime Minister of India as the Chairperson,Governing Council,Regional Councils,Experts,Vice-Chairperson(Arvind Panagariya): To be appointed by the Prime Minister.

Cons of NITI: Lack of clarity regarding the ongoing plans and the fate of Centrally Sponsored Schemes,After getting fiscal discretion,states may not spend on social sector.Some of the newly formed states who at this moment might not be financially viable and are dependent on the Union govt. for guidance and monitoring.The opposition parties has labelled it as a mere "name-change" exercise!

Planning Commission was seen as a vestige of the socialist era.The new body, conceived more in the nature of a think-tank will provide strategic and technical advice.The NITI Aayog seeks substitute centralised planning with a ‘bottom-up’ approach where the body will support formulation of plans at the village level and aggregate them at higher levels of government. In short, the new body is envisaged to follow the norm of cooperative federalism, giving room to States to tailor schemes to suit their unique needs rather than be dictated to by the Centre. This is meant to be a recognition of the country’s diversity. The needs of a State such as Kerala with its highly developed social indicators may not be the same as that of, say, Jharkhand, which scores relatively low on this count.

Under the NITI Aayog, the Govt. plans to adopt a ‘Bharatiya’ approach to development.The maturing of our institutions and polity also entails a diminished role for centralised planning, which itself needed to be redefined. NITI Aayog would comprise of Governing Council and regional councils in place of the NDC of the Planning Commission. States do not want to be mere appendages of the Centre… They seek a decisive say in determining the architecture of economic growth and development.India no longer seeks the alleviation of poverty, states the resolution, but rather its elimination. Non-Resident Indian community spread across more than 200 countries is a significant geo-economic and geo-political strength. “Future national policies must incorporate this strength in order to broaden their participation in the new India beyond just their financial support.”Policy-making must focus on providing necessary support to the more than 50 million small businesses, which are a major source of employment creation, in terms of skill and knowledge upgrades and access to financial capital and relevant technology. 

Eurozone Crisis

The ongoing Eurozone Debt Crisis started in Greece in May 2010. Greece became the first developed country to default on the IMF as it failed to transfer 1.55 bilion pounds? For a country of the EU to enter the Eurozone, it must meet the criterion of the 1992 Maastricht Treaty. In Greece, the primary drivers of the initial impressive growth rates were easy,credit-fuelled government spending. Unfortunately, a significant portion of the credit-fuelled government spending was for non-productive purposes such as the 2004 Athens Olympics and military needs, notably on German ships and tanks, which was about 3 per cent of the GDP in the period — the highest in Europe. Then came the Great Recession in the United States, which lasted from January 2007 to June 2009. Further, in June 2007, the ongoing Global Financial Crisis hit the U.S. When Lehman collapsed in September 2008, both the financial crisis and Great Recession became global. Under these conditions, the private capital flow surge that started in 2002 from the centre to the periphery suddenly reversed in 2008. Both these events adversely affected not only the Greek economy, but also its ability to roll over its debts. Unlike non-eurozone peripheral countries with their own domestic currencies, Greece was unable to devalue its currency and raise the interest rates to weather the storm. Soon, Greece found itself in trouble. Greece has gone through two “bailout” programmes. Greece has been in depression since the beginning of 2009. Currently, youth unemployment is above 60 per cent, and the Greek debt to GDP ratio is about 180 per cent. In return for these programmes, the Troika demanded a variety of austerity measures including cuts in social benefits. Some ardent believers of the neoclassical economic orthodoxy argue that despite that the government and households spending less, the economy can pick up the slack, because production may become more profitable under austerity and labour market flexibility — that is, there will be an obedient work force. Since, under the euro, Greece lacks a central bank that can provide liquidity to its banks independently of the ECB, Greece’s banks are in the hands of the Troika.

Sugar Crisis

Sugar prices had been declining while the price of sugarcane had been steadily increasing rendering the operations of sugar mills unviable.Ethanol, which is a plentiful product in the sugar manufacturing process and is blended with petrol, can be a vital revenue earner for the mills.Currently ethanol blending is only at around 3 per cent. It could easily be raised to 10 per cent which would reduce sugar surplus and reduce sugar prices.he government should buy 3 million tonnes of sugar at cost of production to reduce supply and store it as a buffer. The sugar industry feels that increasing the import duty on sugar from the current 25 per cent to 40 per cent will be a solution for the longer-term.Decreasing import and promoting export of sugar is the key to curb supply.

To help resolve the sugar crisis, Centre has asked states to reschedule the repayment of interest-free loans by the industry to seven years instead of five and extend financial assistance from the Sugar Development Fund to industry for modernisation and ethanol blending, apart from raising the import duty to 40 per cent. Create a buffer stock to absorb the surplus sugar which has resulted in price fall. The States were divided on this issue: some of them wanted financial assistance to be given to mills to enable them to clear arrears, while some others wanted the farmers to be assisted directly by the government.

Union Cabinet decided to hike the import duty on sugar to 40 per cent from the current 25 per cent to check the slide in domestic prices of the sweetener and enable the industry to clear cane arrear.

Social Inequality

The two fundamental axes of social inequality in India are caste and gender.
A major challenge to religious discrimination was the bhakti movement.
Gandhi and Ambedkar conducted their own heroic struggle against caste discrimination.
Constitutional provisions regarding affirmative action, reservation for women in local bodies.

Recent Event:
Tragic suicide of Rohith Vemula.

Way ahead:
However, gender discrimination persists in the domain of family and personal law. India desperately needs a gender-sensitive common civil code.
Indians need to press the managements of the country’s temples, mosques, churches and gurdwaras towards less discriminatory practices, so that women can enter and worship in any part of a shrine.

Tax reforms

• Easwar Committee report recommends that tax regime must be made simpler, more friendly to taxpayers, especially for start-ups. 
• Predictability must be brought in the tax regime.
• The committee has recommended raising the threshold for Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) and reduction of TDS rates from 10 per cent to 5 per cent for individuals. 
• Do changes in law to avoid delay in the issue of tax refunds. 
• Encouragement of electronic filing and measures to reduce the compliance burden. 
• Tax to GDP ratio is still a tad over 10 per cent.
• Make sure the GST kicks in.

Smart City

Challenges:The key issue is whether our cities will be empowered with finances and capacity by the state governments and helped by the government of India. Without this, private funds will not come forth to supplement the limited funds of the government and the hope of public-private partnership will not materialise.

We need to provide greater autonomy to the elected urban local governments in the running of city affairs.
We need reforms in Urban planning. City govts. should be permitted to raise service charges without approval from the state governments. Assign the function of town planning to urban local bodies which has been retained by state govts. till date. The state finance commissions have not followed the high standards set by the Central Finance Commission. Property tax is a major source of revenue for municipalities, but both the rates and exemptions are set by the state government.


Smart Solutions:

E-Governance and Citizen Services:
Public Information, Grievance Redressal.
Electronic Service Delivery
Video Crime Monitoring.

Waste Management:
Waste to energy and fuel.
Recycling of waste.

Water Management:
Smart meters
Water Quality Monitoring.

Energy Management:
Smart meters.
Renewable energy sources.
Energy efficient and green buildings.

Urban Mobility:
Pedestrian friendly roadway.
Smart Parking.

Others:
Tele-medicine.
Smart Maps.
Digitised land titles.

Depreciation of Rupee

Meaning of Depreciation of rupee:
When the rupee moves from 45 per US dollar to 52 per US dollar, why do we call it ‘rupee depreciation’ and not ‘rupee appreciation’ given that the rupee has risen against the dollar?Let’s replace rupee with eggs. Today, one USD can buy 45 eggs. Tomorrow, 1 USD can buy 52 eggs. Doesn’t this means that eggs have become cheaper since you can buy more eggs for the same one USD? Alternatively, it means that eggs have depreciated in value.The same is true for the rupee. When one USD can buy 45 rupees today and 52 rupees tomorrow, it means that the value of the rupee has depreciated.
When the economy is performing well and stock market is performing better than other countries, overseas investors will become heavy investors here. To invest here, they require rupee. This will increase the demand for rupee and will result in higher value for rupee. On the other hand, when these investors are pulling money out of Indian stock market, rupee will be depreciated.
Reasons for the depreciation of Rupee(INR) in India:
Continued Global uncertainty: Owing to uncertainty prevailing in Europe and slump in international market, investors prefer to stay away from risky investments (flight to security). This has significantly affected the portfolio investment in India. Credit rating agency’s downgrade of India to BBB- with a negative outlook, the last of the investment grade has not helped the cause. Any outward flow of currency or decrease in investment will put a downward pressure on exchange rate.
Capital Account Outflows: India needs dollars to finance its current account deficit. Institutional investors investing in India are directly impacted by the global market uncertainty . A volatile currency is never good for a foreign investor as it increases the transaction risk. Thus the relation becomes a vicious cycle, thereby further magnifying the volatility.
Interest Rate Difference: Higher real interest rates generally attract foreign investment but due to slowdown in growth there is increasing pressure on RBI to decrease the policy rates. Under such conditions foreign investors tend to stay away from investing.
Lack of reforms: Key policy reforms like Direct Tax Code (DTC) and Goods and Service Tax (GST) have been in the pipe line for years. A retrospective tax law (GAAR) has already earned a lot of flak from the business community. Attempts are being made to control the subsidy bills but fiscal deficit continues to hover around 5% of GDP. The government announced FDI in retail but had to hold back amidst huge furore from both opposition and allies. This has further made investors sentiment negative over the Indian economy.
Effects of Depreciation:
For the consumer:Depreciation leads to imports becoming costlier.Since India is structurally an import intensive country(Either directly imported like crude oil,fertilisers or imported components), as reflected in the high and persistent CAD month after month, the domestic costs will rise.
For the borrower: Companies or individuals who have taken foreign currency loans (for example, students with loans for studying abroad) may find their repayment obligation swelling as the rupee depreciates. For instance, if a borrower borrows $100 when the exchange rate was Rs 45 to a $, his original borrowing stands at Rs 4,500. After rupee depreciation to Rs 48 to a $, the same loan amounts to Rs 4,800.
For the investor: A depreciating rupee makes imports of component, capital goods and raw materials more expensive. As inputs and other equipment that are imported get costlier, margins get reduced to that extent. Companies with a high import component and those with foreign currency borrowings may be marked down in the stock market as the rupee depreciates.
If you are working abroad and is earning in dollars, you will get more rupees for the same dollar. So this is good for those, who are posted abroad and is earning in dollars. You have seen, there is rush from NRIs to send money to India now to take advantage.
If you are planning for a foreign vacation, postpone it, otherwise it will cost you more now.But we can expect lot of foreign tourists to India this season, because, their travel cost have come down with a depreciating rupee!
A depreciating rupee also reduces the returns that foreign investors earn from investing in Indian companies. Therefore a depreciating currency may be a trigger for FII outflows.
On the other hand, companies that are export-driven may benefit in the form of better prices for the products and services sold.But for a country such as India that imports essentials such as crude oil, natural resources and many capital goods, this results in a bigger current account deficit in the near term.However, a weaker rupee does make exports more competitive globally and higher exports may eventually help make up for the trade deficit.
For Information Technology companies, services are billed mainly in dollars or in other foreign currencies.So it helps companies like Infosys to expand profit margin.

Steps to curtail the depreciation of INR:
Measures by RBI:
Using Forex Reserves: RBI can sell forex reserves and buy Indian Rupees leading to demand for rupee. But using forex reserves poses risk also, as using them up in large quantities to prevent depreciation may result in a deterioration of confidence in the economy's ability to meet even its short-term external obligations
Raising Interest Rates:It will help in encouraging foreign investments into India.
Measures by Government: Government should take some measures to liberalise cap ie limit on FDI and create a healthy environment for economic growth. Key policy reforms that should be initiated includes rolling of Goods and Services Tax (GST), Direct Tax Code (DTC), FDI in aviation and retail, Companies Bill and diesel decontrol. The government should take steps to loosen rules for portfolio investment in the Indian market, indicating its desire to sustain external inflows.

Note:Higher interest rates attract foreign capital and cause the exchange rate to rise.(Initially 1 INR=(1/45)$ and now 1 INR=(1/55)$.That means the exchange rate has become lower,reason being lower interest rates.)

Indo-US Relations

Climate change.
Securing the global commons — outer space, the oceans, transportation and communication networks, and cyber-space.
India and the United States also share a common interest in dismantling the infrastructure of terrorism in Pakistan.
Reforming the United Nations and Breton Woods institutions.
The nearly three million persons of Indian origin who contribute significantly to American economy, and 100,000 Indian students on U.S. campuses, symbolise strong people-to-people ties.

At the same time, U.S. business and government representatives complain about India’s nuclear liability law, tax regime and intellectual property rights protection.
India continues to have concerns about U.S. protectionism, changes in immigration laws affecting movement of India’s skilled workers, and the absence of a response on concluding a totalisation agreement exempting temporary Indian workers from paying U.S. social security taxes, which amount now to $1 billion annually.
There is consonance in their concern about the consequences of the rise of China. China and the United States have adversarial relations with each other. So do China and India.

Taking stock of the Judiciary

A large number of cases pending,excessive delays,enormous vacancies,lacking strength. Fast track courts being set up. Parliament amended the CrPC Code in 2005 making provision for settlement of criminal cases through the “plea bargaining” process. Similarly, on the civil side, alternate dispute resolution methods are being employed through the now well known indigenous institutions of “Lok Adalat”(Peoples’ Court) organized under judicial supervision particularly during week ends.Court annexed mediation centres being setup.Enable judges to attempt settlement at the first hearing itself. The Government should set up infrastructure for court computerization.

Judicial activism and public interest litigation have had a good success.The system expects people to know their rights and assert their claims according to the legally prescribed procedures which indeed is beyond the capacity of the one-third population being poor and illiterate. It is in this context, the Indian judiciary invoked “activism”. Of course, it disturbed the pre-existing balance of powers and raised sharp criticism both from the executive and the legislature. One can highlight several instances where the Court interpreted fundamental rights expansively. Again, the anti-defection law which gave power to Speakers of legislatures to determine “defection cases” invited judicial interventions raising the wrath of legislatures and political parties. judicial accountability is inseparable from judicial independence. The challenge before the Nation is how to secure judicial accountability without impairing judicial independence.

The issue of having a fixed tenure for the CJI arises owing to the short tenures that Chief Justices have on average. In the last 20 years, there have been 16 Chief Justices of India.  The limited length of such tenures, in turn, is directly attributable to the rigid adherence to the seniority convention, by which, at the time a vacancy in the Chief Justice’s post arises, the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court is appointed irrespective of the length of tenure remaining before his retirement. It is well accepted that excessively frequent transitions lead to systemic inefficiencies, increase incoherence in strategies to deal with ongoing problems.

Judges need to evolve self-correction mechanism.The credibility of the judiciary is so high in the public eye.Judiciary should be cautious about delivering perception-driven verdicts, especially when perceptions were sourced from "five-star activists".Need to improve court's infrastructure.Is the existence of over 100 tribunals that eat into financial resources necessary?Currently, judge to population ratio is 1:61000.Archaic laws contribute to backlog as courts take years to interpret these poorly drafted laws.

Reality Check for the realty sector

Rising urbanisation and an expanding middle class have led to proliferation of slums and have surged the demands for affordable housing. Unaffordable land management policies remain prevalent along with Floor Space Index (FSI) ceilings in different cities. Floor Area Ratio/ FSI ratios have led to horizontal expansion and need to be doubled to bring about a vertical expansion.The issue of titling and the lack of property rights information add to the problem.Under Indian law, registration of sale of land is compulsory but the registration authority is not required to verify from the seller either the history or the ownership of the land.This weakens buyer protection.Regulatory approvals remain a complex process for developers.Gathering initial funding for any real state project is a daunting task given the bank's reluctance to advance loans to this sector.


The Modi government has promised Housing for all by 2022.
A land pooling policy may be helpful in increasing affordability.Implementation of the IT-enabled "single-window approval system" must be expedited.Granting infrastructure status to real estate, especially to affordable housing would provide tax incentives.Stamp duties should be rationalised. Introduction of Benami Transactions prohibition and the Black Money Bill would curb the flow of black money into real estate, improving the overall affordability of the sector.

India-South Korea relations

South Korea and India have similar historical trajectories.They had to undergo post-independence horrors of partition. Both continue to face hostile nuclear siblings: Pakistan and North Korea, respectively. The emergence of South Korea as an Asian Tiger compelled India to look at it as a source of investment and technology. The end of the Cold War and former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s ‘Look East Policy’ opened the doors for a rapid economic engagement with South Korea. Investment by the Korean steelmaker POSCO in Odisha has been stuck since 2005. The impressive industrial miracle of South Korea is based on its trained and dedicated manpower.In the shipbuilding sector, South Korea has world class technology.

Achieving Excellence in Sports

Sports federations are run by politicians. Real talent is not recognised at local levels. Politics interferes in the selection process. We in India celebrate mediocrity. China had introduced self imposed moratorium (i.e. did not participate in Olympics for quite some time). Then there is issue of sports infrastructure. Talent is rewarded only after success and before that there is hardly any state support. Span of a sportsman career is 5-10 years. Govt. should come out with National Sports Policy with clearly laid out objectives. Identify areas where Indians can excel.

Access to Justice

Access to justice is one of the most basic human rights. Right to free legal aid is enshrined in the DPSP under Article 39-A. It is a part of personal liberty under Article 21 as per the SC observation in M.H.Hoskot vs. State of Maharashtra. In pursuance of the Article 39-A, Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987 was enacted. In 1995, NALSA, a statutory body came into existence. CJI is the Patron-in-Chief and a serving or retired Judge of the SC of India shall be nominated as Executive Chairman of the NALSA. State Legal Services Authority conducts Lok Adalats in the state for Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Uniform Civil Code

Muslim backwardness is often attributed to the religion's personal law. However, several Muslim countries have made radical changes in Muslim law but they are still backward.

Arguments in favor: It will lead to national integration and draw minorities into the mainstream, encourage communal harmony and work towards improving the status of women. But the question is whether the Hindu law reformation has resulted in the upliftment of Hindu women? In the absence of a blueprint (content of UCC), ignorance over the matter is being used by fundamentalists to spread rumors. The Muslim law has been reformed in several countries. Muslims in India should realise that inspite of uniform family laws in the West, Islam is growing at a very fast pace. Thus a UCC is not a great threat to the religion as it is perceived by many.

Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan

Swachha Bharat Abhiyaan aims to make India open defecation free by Oct. 2, 2019. Gandhi's deep involvement with the issue of sanitation was not merely a question of personal hygiene. He believed that merely talking about sanitation would be meaningless unless the stigma and social exclusion associated with it is not challenged. Related issues are urban waste management, construction of toilets, public education on the issue of hygiene. Sanitation workers work at very low wages and suffer inhuman conditions at work. It is shocking that 90% of India's sanitation workers die before they turn 60 after contracting various infectious diseases.

We need to put an end to the practice of manual scavenging.

Tourism Industry

Tourism is a sunrise industry. SWADESH DARSHAN for integrated development of theme based circuits.

E-initiatives include Mobile App for list of Approved Tour Operators and classified hotels. Tourism in India has shown a phenomenal growth in the past decade contributing 6 % to India's GDP. Tourism serves as an important employment generator, source of foreign exchange. India is richly endowed with unique culture and traditional hospitality. Recent introduction of visa on arrival. Multiple entry should be allowed. We need to resolve issues relating to e-Tourist Visa. Tourism industry demands for a liberalised visa regime. India has an ideology of Atithi Devo Bhav.

Taking stock of the Manufacturing Sector

National Manufacturing Policy aims at enhancing the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% withing a decade and creating 100 million jobs. It will create National Investment Manufacturing Zones whose ownership will be with the state governments. We need to simplify and digitize procedures, develop robust infrastructure, relax labour laws. Achievement of manufacturing competitiveness necessitates constant innovation. R&D expenditure as a % of GDP is often used as an indicator of the state of innovation. India has a huge problem of jobs-skill mismatch. Vocational training is required. We need job creation at the bottom of the pyramid. Right time to launch a National Entrepreneurship Policy. Importance of a strong IPR regime. We need to sort out environment and regulatory issues. Tax incentives for small investors. Ensure that there is no cascading of taxes.

Ailing Fertiliser sector

Fertilizer sector with the exception of urea manufacturers has found itself at a crossroads. Some of the factors that have led to low interest and lack of investment in the sector include the excess focus and usage of urea, delayed subsidy payments , inconsistent Government policy. However urea has been highly subsidized. Prices of decontrolled Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium (NPK) fertilizers are three-to-four times higher. This has led to their reduced consumption. The excess usage of urea and low usage of complex fertilizer is leading to soil imbalance, thereby impacting the farm productivity of the farmers. Fertilizer companies are facing severe problem in getting domestic gas, the main feedstock for production of fertilizer. Soil Health Cards are now being issued.

Europe reeling under migrant crisis

Possible solutions:
Each country going by its own rules for asylum complicates matters. Effective common rules will mean sharing information on migrants, like fingerprints, so that their movements can be tracked. This calls for the reform of Dublin rules. Refugees from some countries like Kosovo and Serbia flee poverty and are not technically asylum seekers. Setting up reception centres in Africa and West Asia for asylum applications could reduce dangerous illegal journeys across the seas. Plan should be made to curb people's smuggling across borders. Migrants crossed into Austria from Hungary in recent weeks.

Tackling ISIS and radical ideology

Give counselling to radicalised youths. Rope in NGOs, civil society to curb stigma of alienation among minority communties. NTRO will prepare a training module for State police forces to track social media. Government will rope in “moderate Muslims” and “learned people” from the community and give them a presence in cyberspace. The erudite Muslim leaders would provide a counter to the extreme ideologies of Islam.

Media

Technology has made State censorship of Media an exercise in futility. Mr. Jaitley urged the media to introspect as media trials of high-profile cases undertaken in television studios bring “tremendous pressure” on courts. He disclosed the government’s plans to soon introduce some limitations on live media coverage of security operations such as those carried out during the Mumbai terror attack.
Media trials influence court decisions.

Curbing Tobacco Use

Using the brand name of a tobacco product to market a non-tobacco product is a ploy that is routinely resorted to by companies to get round the ban on tobacco product advertising.
Ban the showcasing of tobacco products at the entrance to or inside a shop or a school.
Ban the sale of cigarettes or bidis in the loose. Since ensuring that users are forced to notice the pictorial warning and message on the packets is one of the main reasons for banning the sale of tobacco products except as a whole packet.
Clamp down on illegal cigarettes smuggled into the country so that tobacco farmers are spared declining demand.
Step up R&D to find uses for tobacco such as in pesticides and weedicides.
The need for prominent pictorial warnings is even greater in India due to low levels of literacy.The govt. has increased the taxes on tobacco products. 

Freedom of Expression under threat

M. F. Husain: Noted artist M. F. Husain was forced to spend the last few years of his life in exile as Hindutva groups strongly opposed his depiction of Hindu Gods. Muslim fundamentalists have not shied away from issuing fatwas. Narendra Dabholkar: In 2013, Narendra Dabholkar, prominent rationalist and social activist, was shot to death in broad daylight by alleged Hindutva groups for his stance against superstition. Then there are the recent cases of Charlie Hebdo, Perumal Murugan( Madhorubhagan Novel), MSG and PK.
What is offensive is a matter of subjective feelings, and therefore, cannot be a reason for restricting an individual’s freedom of expression, which must be absolute.
Tolerance has to be one of the foundations of a true democracy. Intolerance will lead to violence, so we must learn to give space to all cultures.Immigrant-receiving societies are increasingly multicultural.
In India, the fundamental right to free speech and expression is not an absolute right, unlike in the West, but restricted by public order, decency and morality. Section 66A of the Information Technology Act, 2000 has a chilling effect on free expression.

Smart Traffic Mangement

Reasons:

High influx of migrants in search of employment to urban cities.

Way to go:

• Mass Transit / Public Transport.
• Charging peak hour tolls and congestion charges.
• Real time Traffic Monitoring- providing traffic information to drivers.
• Limited car licenses on basis of lottery as seen in China should be tried on a pilot basis.
• Build flyovers and widen roads.
• Charge for vehicles on the basis of area used for parking.

Set stringent emissions standards for trucks entering the city.

Kashmir

"Kashmir is an integral part of India. It faces certain challenges and hence is treated specially by the constitution and the central government. The government's policy towards Kashmir is -

Political
a) Special powers and certain autonomy is given to J&K according to Article 370 of the constitution.
b) Serious talks have been initiated with the Hurriyat and other separatists.

Economic
a) Economic development of Kashmir and its people is a top priority. Construction of power plants, upgrading tourism facilities and provision of basic infrastructure have been taken up.
b) Schemes like UDAAN would reduce the inclination of the youth towards extremist movements.

Military
a) Pakistan is looking to destabilize Kashmir for its own vested interests. India hence is firm and right in protecting its territory.
b) The government through AFSPA is trying to bring peace and stability by removing terrorist elements.

Social
a) Inter-connecting through the rest of the country to create psychological bonding.
b) Relocating Kashmiri pundits to neutralize the religious extremism.

Challenges Ahead
a) Need to address the trust deficit in certain areas.
b) Rapid development, creation of job opportunities can incentivize rejection of extremism.
c) Promise state government to create local PRIs.
d) Violations by armed forces has created resentment. So, confine the military presence to mainly the LoC region.
e) Restart dialogue with separatist groups and Pakistan to find a permanent solution."

Unfortunately, rather than pursuing a political solution in Kashmir, successive governments in New Delhi have pursued a militaristic policy on Kashmir.  If the Kashmir issue is resolved, not only would this costly arms race come to an end, it would open up the multipliers of economic cooperation and trade.Today, Kashmir stands as a potential nuclear flashpoint which could consume the lives of millions of people in an instant. Widespread human rights abuses have taken place and grave injustices have been carried out against our people. Furthermore, any lasting solution must be a just one, and that necessarily means recognising and upholding the Kashmiri people’s aspirations and right to self-determination. The solution will have to be acceptable to all parties – India, Pakistan and the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The entire region is waiting for India to come forward for peace. 

State of Agriculture

Concerns:
Depleted groundwater levels.
Unseasonal rains result in Crop failure.
Land Fragmentation.
Unfinished agenda in land reform.

Steps taken:
Kishan Vikas Kendras.
Soil health cards.


Way to go:

• Climate resilient agricultural practices must be brought in.
• Investment into agricultural research needs to be stepped up.
• Provide remunerative marketing of horticulture crops.
• To increase demand, awareness regarding Spot and Future trading of agricultural commodities needs to be spread.
• Reforms in APMC Act is needed to protect farmers from being exploited by middlemen.
• Swaminathan Report recommended reduction of rate of interest for crop loans to 4 per cent, with government support and MSP should be at least 50% more than the weighted average cost of production.
• Crop insurance schemes must ask for reasonable premium rates. Remote sensing technology must be used to estimate crop loss property so that fair compensation could be awarded.
• Technical upgradation.
• Crop Diversification
• Integrated Farming
• Drip Irrigation.
• Organic Farming.
• Taxes on agricultural machinery should be removed.
• Agro-based industries should be fostered and commodity parks created at the district level.

Ailing Health Sector of India

Poor state of Health results in economic loss due to lower productivity.

Way Ahead:

• Government responsibility of providing health services should be limited to primary sector, while for tertiary sector the Govt.'s role should be limited to regulation.
• Success in Polio.
• Technology enabled primary health workers can transform health sector. ANMs and ASHA, AYUSH workers should be deployed but the move is opposed by IMA lobby.
• Social Determinants like Kerala and Public Health System like Tamil Nadu is desired.
• Carry out social Audit of health facilities.

Indian govt. is moving towards universal health coverage. Better health contributes immensely to improved productivity. The govt. has regulated price of drugs, especially life saving drugs so that they are accessible to majority of the population. Health is a state subject. The Centre has a responsibility to correct uneven development and provide more resources where vulnerability is more. ICDS is govt.'s main weapon to combat child malnutrition. Generic drugs will be given a push through a renewed Jan Aushadi programme. Raise the level of nutrition to curb maternal mortality. Bring more people into the fold of insurance cover. Benefits of Electronic Health Record to reduce costs through decreased paperwork. Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana aims to set up 6 AIIMS-like institutions. We need to provide accessible, affordable and quality health care. We need to strive towards community owned, decentralised health delivery system. Safe Drinking water, Sanitation, awareness are equally important. We need to provide institutional, free and cashless deliveries. IMR, MMR, TFR. Mission Indradhanush, an initiative to vaccinate all unvaccinated and partially vaccinated children under Universal Immunization Programme by 2020.

National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is an independent body responsible for price control of essential and life saving drugs. Drug Price Control Order and National List of Essential Medicines is required due to the limited outreach of government schemes. Also the health insurance schemes are focused on in-patient health care. Out-patient healthcare cost is largely met by the patients themselves by way of out-of-pocket expenses.

World Health Day- 7th April.

Yoga is a spiritual discipline which focuses on bringing harmony between mind and body. It is an art and science for healthy living. Incorporating Yoga into the curriculum of medical education is a much needed intervention.

AYUSH- Ayurveda,Yoga,Naturopathy,Unani,Siddha,Hoemopathy.Ayurveda roots in the ancient Hindu texts-Atharva Veda,Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita.It has now been proven that turmeric has anti-cancer properties.However ancient texts were written a long time ago and the environment has changed a lot since.Allopathic treatments are unaffordable to many and has terrible side-effects.The draft National Health Policy2015 suggests greater integration of AYUSH with modern medicine.
National Health Policy (NHP) recommendations -make health a fundamental and justiciable right; increase public expenditure on health from 1 per cent of GDP to 2.5 per cent of GDP; raise revenues mainly through general taxation while exploring the possibility of sin taxes (mainly taxes on tobacco and alcohol), and earmarks for health (akin to the education cess),patient-centred health care paradigm, regulations against medical malpractice and counterfeit medicines.

Funds of NRHM remain unspent.Chronic absenteeism of staff.

Centralisation of PMO

Why PMs have a tendency to centralise?

• The first president of the Congress party post-Independence, J.B. Kripalani, believed that, as the party head, he was entitled to a seat at the power table within the government. The question of where power resides was only settled by Nehru’s decision to combine the functions of Prime Minister and party president in himself.
• To avoid turf war with the party president. Eg. Indira Gandhi had to do away with the Syndicate to strengthen her own position.
• To avoid Corruption scandals.

Issues:

• While decentralisation causes havoc, political centralisation, too, comes at a cost. Indira’s centralisation unified the opposition and denigrated the Congress party’s institutions, leading to its weakening over time.
• Congress party’s high command culture even today keeps its central leadership disconnected from the various local organisations.

China's long game in West Asia

Previously, Chinese didn’t want to get swamped in the complex geopolitics of the region at a time when its primary focus was on economic development. There’s a growing consensus in Beijing that the passive foreign policy of the rising years has to be upgraded to a pro-active approach that suits the country’s big power ambitions.

Now China is moving its pivot to Persia because of following factors:

• China is the largest importer of oil.
• Iran and West Asia holds the key for China's One Belt, One Road initiative.
• US has no influence in Iran.
• Even when complying with international sanctions, it expanded ties with Iran so that it would be better placed than any other power in a post-sanctions Iran. (India did the opposite, and failed to retain the balance between Western pressure and ties with Iran during the sanctions era.)

Delayed monetary transmission

Banks are quick to decrease deposit rates in the face of rate cuts, but not too eager to reduce lending rates. Causes for delayed monetary transmission are:

• The largest firms in the economy raise finance in very competitive markets. If the State Bank of India does not reduce interest rates for, say, Reliance Industries Ltd. following the RBI rate cut, the company will quickly shift its borrowing either to the commercial paper market or to another bank, say ICICI. This is already happening. There is an increase in issuance of commercial paper and bonds by large corporates. Small borrowers and households, on the other hand, do not have access to alternative sources of finance and so the banks do have some monopoly power over them — at least in the short run. Hence, they do not immediately benefit from the rate cut.

• There is pressure on banks to increase equity financing and reduce their reliance on risky debt financing. This is a new focus for regulators following the financial crisis in the U.S. which highlighted the dangers of an over-reliance on debt financing. By not aggressively cutting loan rates, banks may lose some of their best customers. In the current environment, Indian banks welcome that because it slows loan growth and the need to raise more equity. 

• Banks are not well capitalised and face pressure from regulators to increase their capital buffer. 
• Government's ownership of large banks. A government bank’s ability to increase equity is dependent on the government’s disinvestment programme and its decision to infuse equity in the banks. Since banks do not control the decision to raise equity, they move the levers under their control, which is to increase interest margin and slow loan growth.

Negotiating with the Taliban

Pakistan has remained nostalgic about the Taliban period when Afghanistan’s isolation had made it dependent on Pakistan. The Indian Embassy and other cooperation projects became targets of LeT. The Taliban is no longer the simple monolithic group under a single leader, subject to the ISI’s control. Some offshoots are hostile to the Pakistani establishment. 
New Delhi has had a frosty relationship with the Taliban due to a number of reasons:

• Deep links between the Taliban and Pakistan’s ISI and the latter’s use of Afghan territory to train terrorists to fight in Kashmir.
• Highly unhelpful behaviour of the Taliban during the IC-814 hijack in 1999. 

There is today a need for New Delhi to play a more proactive role vis-à-vis the Afghan reconciliation process. India should subtly engage all stakeholders there.

Professional Tax

Background:
Municipalities are starved of funds.
Under Article 276 of the Indian Constitution, professional tax is levied by state governments or municipalities themselves. The constitution fixes a ceiling of Rs. 2500 per taxpayer per annum.

Way forward:

• Subsequent reports of Finance Commission have recommended for increase upto Rs. 12000 per taxpayer per annum.
• Requirement of Constitutional Amendment for revising ceiling tax rates to be replaced with parliament approval.
• Parliament should devolve the power of legislation on the subject to state legislatures which in turn should delegate it to municipalities.

President's rule in India

Issues:
President's rule is anti-democratic and is a threat to the federal system.
Many a times, it has been used as a pretext to dissolve state governments ruled by political opponents.

While sending a report to the Centre, the Governor is not supposed to go by the advice of the state cabinet i.e. Governor exercises his or her own discretion. However, the President has to go by the advice of the Union Cabinet.
In the SR Bommai case, the SC ruled that the courts can't question the Union Cabinet's advice to the President. But they can question the material behind the satisfaction of the President regarding breakdown of Constitutional machinery.

India France Relations

France supplied fighters to the IAF that helped in the liberation of Goa in 1961.
France refused to sermonize India after the 1998 nuclear tests, and publicly opposed US sanctions. Our relationship has been strategic ever since.
India still launches many missiles from French Guinea.
Both the nations have extensive space cooperation. Ariane remains India's preferred launch vehicle for geostationary satellites.

India to purchase Rafale fighter jets from France.
French major Areva to construct nuclear power plant at Jaitapur, Maharashtra.

India and France to co-develop naval missile under Project Maitri.

Way Ahead:
Cooperation in Defence indigenisation.

Is AMU a minority institution?

Article 30 (1)- Religious and linguistic minorities can set up and run educational institutions.
In Azeez Basha vs. Union of India case, SC held that since AMU was set up by the Indian Legislature and not by Muslims, AMU is not a minority institution.
In 1981, Parliament reversed SC judgement and stated that the University was indeed set up by Muslims and thus was a minority institution.
Recently, Centre stated that AMU is not a minority institution.

AMU does not provide reservation to Muslims and was pro Muslim League.
JMI provides reservation to Muslims and was pro Congress.

Human Impact on Oceans

Climate Change (Ocean Acidification, changing salinity, depleting oxygen content)
Fisheries and Aquaculture : Destruction of mangroves, Antibiotic resistance.
Marine Pollution- Radioactive substances, plastics, thermal pollution, nutrients, persistent toxins.
Sea bed mining
Underwater Noise ,Shipping noise, Oil spills, offshore mining, Turbine collision affects marine population.
Introduction of exotic species
Desalination plants lead to generation of green house gases.
Dredging (Desiltation) alters sea bed, reduction in the variety of species.
Brine- 10% aqueous solution of NaCl.

National Green Mission

Enhance carbon sinks.
Adaptation of vulnerable species and forest dependent communities.
Introduction of non-native species.
Promote alternative fuel. Discourage firewood.
Bar on grazing.
Criticisms:
Could impact livelihood.
Are all stakeholders onboard?

China and the Financial System

AIIB could rival Bretton woods institutions.
China recently inducted in EBRD (European Bank for Recostruction and Development) which is a testimony to the growing economic clout of China.
NDB (New Development Bank)
21st Century Maritime Silk Route- One Belt One Road Initiative.
Global Financial crisis exposed the fault lines of the exisiting multilateral institutions.

Endosulfan

Insecticide being phased out globally. Toxic. Bioaccumulation. Endocrine disruptor. SC banned production, distribution and use in 2011. Stockholm Convention (India promised phase out of Endosulfan by 2017).

Police Reforms

None of the recommendations of National Police Commission, 1979 were implemented. 

Problems:

1. Faulty performance appraisal system: Hence, less no. of cases registered by SHOs –> reluctance to register FIR.
2. Communication gap between police and political leadership.
3. Overburdened Police. Population-Policemen ratio India 658:1, Ideal is 20:1.
4. Continuation of Police Act 1861, enacted after Sepoy Mutiny which was authoritarian in nature.
5. Corruption.
6. Untrained policemen equipped with age-old rusted arms cannot fight the super equipped militants.

In 1996, PIL was filled and SC came out with directives in Prakash Singh and others vs UOI, 2006.

1. Establishment of State Security commission which would work as watchdog and scientifically appraise the police.
2. Separation of investigation from law and order.
3. 4 operational post (SHO, SP, DIG, IG) terms should be fixed ie, 2 years. (reducing frequent transfer)
4. Appointment of DGP; (UPSC to prepare the list of 3-4 Senior most police officers; CM to choose; Length of service; range of exp; service record); Once appointed tenure fixed for 2 years.
5. Police Establishment Board to deal with transfer, posting and promotion to be done. State can’t victimize now.
6. National Police Complaint Authority.
7. National Security Commissions for selecting the heads of CAPFs.
8. Community Policing.

Terrorism

Terrorism:

1. Marginalization + Deprivation (with exceptions) –> Frustration and alienation –> Aggression + Terrorism
2. To achieve ideological goals and inculcating fear in the minds of people to fulfill the purpose.

Types of Terrorism:

1. Nationalist terrorism: not satisfied by the regime by resorting to terrorism. eg. Khalistan
2. State Terrorism: To suppress its own people (rebels); eg. Nazism and in china (during cold war)
3. State Sponsored terrorism. Eg. Pakistan; Nonstate actors (Jamat-ud-dawa; Jaish-e-Mohammad etc.) funded by state agencies

Why terrorist target Urban areas?

1. Maximum damage (human+economic)
2. Media attention
3. Ease in absconding
4. Availability of logistics

To tackle terrorism:

1. Malayan Model: Use of ground force not air force (Isolating area; eliminating the terrorists; sanitizing the area- removing sleeper cells; handing over of area); Eg. J&K
2. Grievance detection model: Directly IB intervenes- Preparedness (gathering local intelligence; reducing the riots)
3. Counter-proxy war model: Insurgencies

Corrective Measures:

1. NATGRID: Common database; (RAW- IB – NIA); IT in policing
2. Intra-institutional synergy
3. Eyes and ear scheme: as followed in US since 9/11; making public aware (guards, chowkidars, security personals, parking attendants, vendors and general public)
4. Freezing of the finances of terrorists
5. Human intelligence coupled with Technical Intelligence (Eyes and Ears + IT)
6. Requires international co-operation

Organized crime: Profit driven activities (smuggling-arms, drugs, human traficking), don’t crave for media attention where as terrorism is ideological war.

India and Arab League

Arab League

1. group of Arabic-speaking nations (22 including Palestine)
2. formed to counter Axis powers, led by British; freeing from colonial rule
3. Bolster ties, coordinate policies for common good
4. preventing Jewish communities from creating Jewish state in Palestine

Issues in the Arab world

1. Sectarian Conflict: Shia-Sunni
2. Terrorism – ISIS
3. foul relations between GCC (Saudi Arabia) and Iran
4. Israel-Palestine

India- Arab Relations

1. Trade, Culture and Social relations since ancient times
2. India supports Palestine cause
3. FDI, Remittance

Recent Developments

1. Manama Declaration
2. Supports UNSC reforms
3. Supports Nuclear Disarmament
4. Conveyed concerns over Syria
5. Condemns terrorism and association with religion
6. People to people relations; Science and tech.

Crisis in Nepal

Why are Madheshis/People Protesting?

1. State demarcation in the new constitution disregards proportional representation
2. it has been made on geographical and economic lines and not on ethnic.
3. Identity of Madhesis under threat
4. Nepal adopted a secular constitution despite being Hindu majority nation
5. People in plains discriminated by elites of hills

India’s Opposition in Nepal:

1. Nepali communists allege interference of India in domestic affairs (Big brother attitude)
2. Ideological similarity of Communist party of Nepal with China
3. India being held responsible for the economic blockade

Why India should interfere?

1. Strategic location of Nepal, porous borders, closness with china
2. Narcotics, Counterfiet currency, arms
3. Instibility of neighbours affects India’s economic prospects

Present amendments

1. Proportional representation were provided to Madhesis.
2. Electoral constituencies not demarcated on the basis of population

4th Industrial Revolution

Background

1. 1st IR:
   1. steam power
   2. Textile
   3. factories
2. 2nd IR
   1. Electricity
   2. Aeroplanes
   3. Moving Pictures
3. 3rd IR
   1. Telecommunication
   2. Internet
   3. Mass Communication
4. 4th IR
   1. Driverless Cars
   2. Smart Robotics
   3. Big Data, Augmented Reality, IoT

Challenges with 4th IR

1. Inequality, Unemployment will increase with increasing automation
2. will harm the developing economies
3. will increase social tensions

Power Sector

Aim : 24/7 affordable power by 2022. Budget 2016-17 aims to achieve 100 percent rural electrification by 2018.  100GW of solar capacity by 2022.
Problems plaguing power sector:

• Production- Power shortage (Demand Supply mismatch). Power plants are starved of coal. Inadequate linkage between mines and power plants. Higher ash content in coal, Lacking coal washeries. Land Acquisition hurdles. Ex- Nuclear plant
• Transmission and Distribution: Inefficient transmission. High Transmission & Distribution losses. Power theft.
• Growing subsidies by the State governments.
• Lack of transparency in State Electricity Regulatory Commissions.
• Improper audit of the finances of Electricity boards.
• Tariff revisions are not commensurate with increase in costs, which, coupled with system inefficiencies, contribute to losses.

Way forward:

• Promote transparency while bidding for projects.
• Hassle free land acquisition. Sale of surplus power.Lower domestic source requirement for solar panels to increase FDI. 
• UDAY scheme to improve finances of Power distributing companies: State to take upto 75% of their debts.
•  Commercialisation of the utilities is the ultimate solution, with day-to-day operations turned over to professional managers.
• Let users decide from which distribution companies they want to buy electricity.
• Under the separate carriage and content model, one company would own the network while electricity supply would be done by different entities. At present in India, power discoms supply as well as manage network that provides electricity for residential and commercial purposes.