Download `8`, 2017 `<250 words`

JANUARY ‘8’, 2017
‘<250 words’ summary of articles of The Hindu & Indian express relevant for UPSC
GS:2—IR
IndiaMyanmar
Source—The Hindu (pg9 India-Myanmar border trade hit)
1. Issue: -Border trade between India and Myanmar, legalised in 1995, has
virtually come to a halt.
2. Because of:  recurring blockades, recently the ongoing economic blockade imposed by the
United Naga Council since November 1 is no different, bringing trade almost
to a standstill.
3. Other reason for halt:  general strike
 other forms of disturbances.
 highway robberies and
 rampant extortion by militant outfits
GS:2—IR
IndiaPortugal
Source—The Hindu (pg12 India, Portugal sign defence agreement)
1. News: -In a bid to boost joint production and development of niche weapons
systems, India and Portugal entered into a defence agreement.
2. Apart from the agreements on defence, visa-free travel for diplomats and
marine research, both sides also issued a separate declaration for cooperation
in third country.
3. Why India needs Portuguese: Underscoring the substantial opportunities in India’s defence sector and the niche
technological competencies of the Portuguese defence industry, India invited
Portuguese companies to ‘Make in India’ and set up joint ventures and commercial
partnerships based on joint production and technology transfer
GS:3—ECONOMY
International
Business
Report
(IBR)
survey
Source—The Hindu (pg16 Indian companies optimistic of economic recovery in
2017)
1. India continues to stand out as the one economy which has huge
potential to continue to grow and this is reflected in the survey where
Indian businesses are most optimistic and high on expectations of
increasing revenue, employment, profitability.
2. Requires that the policy makers to look at (Reform needed in):  unleashing the next generation of reforms i.e. GST
 mostly focussed on ease of doing business
 minimum government, maximum governance
 requires a change in mind-set among the policy makers
 implementing reforms in the legal system and contract enforcement
(India’s poorest ranking is in contract enforcement in the doing business
ranking).
 increase in investment in R&D activities.
3.





Challenges to Indian Businesses: lack of strong ICT infrastructure
shortage of orders
unavailability of workforce
shortage of finance
regulations and red tape as a constraint on growth.
GS:2—HEALTH
Issue
Related
to health
data
Source—The Hindu (pg10 Health-care data is ailing)
1. Data pertaining to health care in India, evidence shows, is significantly
compromised in terms of its quality, its periodicity and coverage.
2. For example: -If you want to know the proportion of births that were
delivered by caesarian section in a private health facility of Andhra Pradesh,
National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-4 will say it is 57 per cent but the
Health Information System of the National Rural Health Mission 2015-16 pegs
it at around 42 per cent.
3. Reason:  there is a lack of data at the sub-State or the district level, making it difficult
to plan for targeted interventions.
 data is collected at irregular intervals, which doesn’t allow for mid-course
policy correction. For example, the fourth round of NFHS was conducted after
a gap of nine years.
 data remains incomplete in many surveys and tools, especially in
administrative data at hospitals and nursing centres in smaller towns and
districts.
 Lack of health-care data from the private sector is another major caveat.
4. Way forward:  the definitions for various indicators need to be standardised across surveys,
even if conducted by different organisations.
 the best way to data is to ensure routine capturing of disaggregated data,
without duplication of forms and formats to reduce the efforts of data
producers.
 stakeholders and decision- makers will have to place a positive value on data
in order to use it in decision-making. This can be generated by building a
positive experience using information to support a decision and through
proper training.
 the capacity building of staff needs to be a focus area, providing them with
necessary skills.
GS:2—IR
Source—The Hindu (pg20 China setting up highest altitude telescopes close to LAC)
1. China is setting up the world’s highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes
in a Tibet prefecture close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India.
2. About project:  Telescope is code-named as Ngari.
 The telescope, located 5,250 meters above sea level, will detect and gather
precise data on primordial gravitational waves in the Northern Hemisphere.
3. Gravitational waves were first proposed by Albert Einstein’s theory of
general relativity 100 years ago, but it wasn’t until 2016 that scientists with
the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory announced proof
of the waves’ existence, spurring fresh research interest among the world’s
scientists.
4. Other projects: - Last September, China commissioned the world’s largest
radio telescope in a mountainous region of southwest China’s Guizhou
Province to search for more strange objects space, gain better understand
the origin of the universe and to boost the global hunt for extraterrestrial
life.
GS:3—ECONOMY
RBI
Source—The Indian Express (pg15 Across the aisle: Whither RBI’s autonomy?)
Role
1. Why RBI formed during british regime?
analysed A need was felt to ‘regulate the issue of bank notes and the keeping of reserves with a
view to securing monetary stability’. However, in 1929, the world had been hit by an
unprecedented economic crisis — the Great Depression. The monetary systems of the
world were in disarray. No one was sure what kind of monetary system would be
suitable for India. Hence, it was decided to make a ‘temporary provision’ and that
temporary provision was the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934! (the ‘Act’). The RBI’s
main objectives in 1934 was to issue bank notes and to keep the reserves.
2. Development made so far: Under the Act and through numerous amendments, vast powers were conferred on
the RBI. The word ‘autonomous’ does not occur in the Act but, over the years, the
principle of Central Bank autonomy has been raised to the level of an immutable law.
Under Section 7 of the Act, the Central government may give such directions to the RBI
as it may consider necessary in the public interest, but the power has never been
exercised in the 83 years of the Act.
Overall, however, the RBI and the Central government respected each other’s
jurisdiction and learnt to work with each other.
3. Doubt raised over decision of demonetisation:  The government has claimed that demonetisation was announced on the
recommendation of the RBI. On the contrary, the government’s and the BJP’s
spokespersons boasted that it was entirely Mr Narendra Modi’s brainchild.
 The decision-making process at the RBI was opaque and dubious. The RBI’s
Board of Directors should have 10 directors regarded as independent. Seven
vacancies in that category have not been filled by the NDA government.
 Dr Urjit Patel, the Governor, justified demonetisation as a policy action to ‘turn
around’ the economy. None of the governors before him since 1978 had
advocated demonetisation even when the economy faced grave challenges. Dr
Patel embraced the idea, barely 65 days after he took office, when the
economy was growing, reportedly, at about 7 per cent!
 The RBI is believed to have told a parliamentary committee that the Central
government had recommended to the RBI (on November 7) that high
denomination notes may be demonetised. Acting in haste, the RBI
recommended to the government (on November 8) that high denomination
notes may be demonetised! It was an unusual role reversal. The RBI has
refused to release the agenda note for the meeting or the minutes. The RBI
has refused to answer questions if any director had demanded more
information or dissented.

The RBI has a Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) that was constituted recently
after years of deliberation. Money supply is an integral aspect of monetary
policy. The MPC was totally excluded from the decision-making process.
4. Analysis:  In his speech on December 31, Mr Modi ventured into territory where no
prime minister or finance minister before him had gone. He directed banks to
increase the credit limit for small industry from 20 per cent to 25 per cent of
turnover and the working capital limit from 20 per cent to 30 per cent of
turnover. He directed banks to provide 8 per cent interest on 10-year fixed
deposits of senior citizens. On Saturday, the Prime Minister nudged the banks
to reduce the lending rates and, on Sunday, State Bank of India led the pack
and announced a cut in interest rates! Every announcement by the Prime
Minister scuttled the independence and credibility of the RBI.
 The RBI has come under severe criticism both within India and abroad. I would
like to believe that the RBI has not fallen victim to ‘institutional capture’ by the
current regime. I would like to believe that years of nurturing the autonomy of
the RBI have not gone to waste.