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Jatin Verma’s IAS Academy

DAILY HINDU ANALYSIS 3rd August, 2019

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Important News Articles (Taking Delhi/Noida edition as the base)

Page 1: DU among institutions named for eminence tag

Page 1: UAPA Bill gets Rajya Sabha approval

Page 9: Census may skip caste count

Page 9: Giving voice sample does not violate privacy, says SC

Page 10: Explaining the Asian rate cuts wave

Page 12: Cong. chief out of Jallianwala Bagh Trust

Page 15: ‘Too much of reforms has led to slowdown’

Pagec15: Elected directors in PSBs will be appointed by board: RBI

Page 1: DU among institutions named for eminence tag

[GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.]

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) announced names of another 14 institutions out of the 24 recommended by the government’s Empowered Expert Committee (EEC), selected for Institutions of Eminence (IoE) status.

• Aligarh Muslim University, Ashoka University, KREA University and Azim Premji University are among those that failed to make into the list..

• Under the public institutions category, UGC picked IIT-Madras, IIT-Kharagpur, Delhi University, Central University of Hyderabad, Jadavpur University, Anna University and Banaras Hindu University.

• This is in addition to IIT-Delhi, IIT-Bombay and IISc already announced last year.

• Under the private category, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, VIT Vellore, Jamia Hamdard, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology, O P Jindal University and Shiv Nadar University will be awarded IoE status.

• The proposed Satya Bharti University, backed by Satya Bharti Foundation of Bharti Airtel group, has been selected under the controversial greenfield category.

• This is in addition to BITS-Pilani, Manipal Academy of Higher Education and Reliance Foundation’s yet-to-be-established Jio Institute announced last year.

Institutions of Eminence scheme:

• The institutes of eminence scheme under the Union human resource development (HRD) ministry aims to project Indian institutes to global recognition.

• The selected institutes will enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy.

• The government will run 10 of these and they will receive special funding.

• The selection shall be made through challenge method mode by the Empowered Expert Committee constituted for the purpose.

• Eligibility: Only higher education institutions currently placed in the top 500 of global rankings or top 50 of the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) are eligible to apply for the eminence tag.

• The private Institutions of Eminence can also come up as greenfield ventures provided the sponsoring organisation submits a convincing perspective plan for 15 years.

The University Grants Commission (UGC)

• The University Grants Commission (UGC) of India is a statutory body set up in 1956, and is charged with coordination, determination and maintenance of standards of higher education.

• Important functions performed by the commission:

 It provides recognition to universities in India.

 It oversees distribution of grants to universities and colleges in India.

 It provides scholarships/fellowships to beneficiaries.

 It monitors conformity to its regulations by universities and colleges.

Probable Mains Question: The union government is seeking to change the bad situation in higher education sector by establishing world-class “institutions of eminence” around the country. How can India build such institutions? What should be the nature of these institutions? Examine.

Page 1: UAPA Bill gets Rajya Sabha approval

[GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.]

• The Rajya Sabha approved crucial amendments to the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, allowing the Centre and States to designate individuals as terrorists and seize their property.

• It is to empower the Central Government to add and remove the name of an individual.

• Opposition has been criticizing the bill.

• According to the National Crime Records Bureau under UAPA, in the year 2014, there were 1,144 pending cases, of which 106 were tried and 33 cases completed. Of the total 33 completed, only nine people were convicted. The percentage of acquittals was 73 per cent.

The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967

• The UAPA, an upgrade on the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act TADA (lapsed in 1995) and the Prevention of Terrorism Act - POTA (repealed in 2004) was originally passed in the year 1967.

• Till the year 2004, “unlawful" activities referred to actions related to secession and cession of territory. Following the 2004 amendment, “terrorist act" was added to the list of offences.

• The Act assigns absolute power to the central government, by way of which if the Centre deems an activity as unlawful then it may, by way of an Official Gazette, declare it so.

Probable Mains Question: The ambiguous nature of Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) gives unreasonable power to authorities. Examine. The Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967

Page 9: Census may skip caste count

GS 2: (Governance, Constitution, Polity, Social Justice and International relations)

• Census 2021 is unlikely to collect “caste wise” data as a similar exercise conducted in 2011 by another ministry threw up about 40 lakh caste names that were difficult to tabulate.

• The Census data would be available by the year 2024-25 as the entire process would be conducted digitally

• The 2011 caste data, collected as part of the Socio Economic Caste Census (SECC), is yet to be released by the Centre.

• As per the National Commission for Backward Classes, there are 2,479 entries in the Central list of the Other Backward Classes (OBC).

• The Census would restrict itself to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes data.

What is the census?

• Census is a process of collecting, compiling, analyzing, evaluating, publishing and disseminating statistical data regarding the population. When was the first census in India held?

• The celebrated 'Arthashastr' by 'Kautilya' written in the 3rd Century BC prescribed the collection of population statistics as a measure of state policy for taxation.

• During the regime of the Mughal king Akbar, the administrative report 'Ain-e-Akbari' included comprehensive data pertaining to population, industry, wealth and many other characteristics.

• India first conducted in 1872 during the viceroy ship of lord mayo but this census was unofficial.

• India’s first official census was conducted in 1881. During the Viceroyship of lord Ripan.

Census Act of India 1948

• India also has the Census Act of India 1948.

• This act empowers Central Government to notify the date for the census and to appoint a Census Commissioner and Superintendents of Census Operations in States.

• The Indian Census is the most credible source of information on Demography (Population characteristics), Economic Activity, Literacy and Education, Housing & Household Amenities, Urbanisation, Fertility and Mortality, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Language, Religion, Migration, Disability and many other socio-cultural and demographic data since 1872.

The Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC)

• In June 2011, the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) was conducted through a comprehensive door to door survey across India for generating data on a large number of social and economic indicators relating to households in both rural and urban areas.

• It was the first ever caste census post-Independence in India.

• SECC was conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Urban Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, The Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner and the State Governments.

• The SECC 2011 was not conducted under the Census Act of 1948 and hence, the information was collected on ‘self-declaration by the respondents’ model.

Prelims 2018

Question. As per the NSSO 70th Round “Situation Assessment Survey of Agriculture Household”, consider the following statements: 1. Rajasthan has the highest percentage share of agricultural household among its rural household. 2. Out of the total agricultural household in the country, a little over 60 percent belong to OBCs. 3. In Kerala, a little over 60 percent of agricultural household reported to have received maximum income from sources other than agricultural activities. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 2 and 3 only (b) 2 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3

Page 9: Giving voice sample does not violate privacy, says SC

[GS2: Indian Constitution- historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.]

• The Supreme Court on Friday held that a judicial magistrate is empowered to order a person to give a sample of his voice for the purpose of investigation.

• Directing a person to part with his voice sample to police was not a violation of his fundamental right to privacy as it is not an absolute right.

• Also giving voice sample to an investigating agency was not a violation of the fundamental right against self-incrimination.

• Article 20 (3) of the Constitution mandated that “no person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself”.

• What is Right to Privacy?

• Right to Privacy refers to respecting and ensuring the privacy of the individual. It is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. The apex court ruled that right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution.

Prelims 2018

Question. Right to vote and to be elected in India is a a) Fundamental Right b) Natural Right c) Constitutional Right d) Legal Right

Page 10: Explaining the Asian rate cuts wave [GS3 : Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. • The IMF has downgraded global growth multiple times since October 2018 and now projects it to be 3.2% compared to 3.6% in 2018. • The China factor in global slowdown • China is facing slowdown because of the supply-side reforms, including dealing with financial risks (reining in of shadow banking and hidden debt of local governments), as well as the negative effects of escalating tariffs and their consequent impact on its exports and investment. • China is expected to continue to decelerate into 2020 (along with Japan which is faced with acutely unfavourable demographics and persistent deflationary pressures).

Page 10: Explaining the Asian rate cuts wave • MNCs are looking to reconfigure their China-centric supply chains. Most of their production happen in China. • They are doing this due to the uncertainties and rising protectionist sentiments in USA. • Many export-dependent Asian economies that are a part of the intricate production networks have also inevitably been hard hit. • There are short-term beneficiaries of the export and trade diversion from China to countries such as Vietnam. • Singapore is a small size and very open economy, it has often acted as a recession barometer for the rest of Asia. • Exports from the city state have collapsed and the Singapore economy is expected to face stagnation in 2019.

Asian banks to the rescue? • Many Asian central banks (India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea) have begun to ease monetary policy. • There are recent signals from the U.S. Federal Bank that it is set for rate cuts in response to the slowdown in the United States and the rest of the world.

• Research shows that emerging economies tend to be cautious about lowering interest rates when the base country (usually the U.S.) does not do so as they are concerned about potential capital flight and sharp currency depreciations. • Capital flight, in economics, occurs when assets or money rapidly flow out of a country, due to an event of economic consequence. • It can negative repercussions on domestic firms and other entities with unhedged external borrowings in foreign currencies. • Because if local currency fall with respect to dollars, then local debtors have to shell out more to repay. • Hedging is an investment mechanism to cut the risk of adverse price movements in an asset. Usually, a hedge involves taking an offsetting position in a related security. • ECBs are commercial loans – bank loans, securitised instruments (eg. floating rate notes and fixed rate bonds, etc – raised by eligible resident entities from recognised non-resident entities. • If the emerging economies are themselves faced with an economic slowdown, they are comfortable lowering their interest rates along with the base country, as is the case currently in Asia

RBI’s monetary policy stance • Since India has not been well-integrated with the Asian and global supply chains, it has not been as impacted directly by the China-U.S. trade war. • Due to existing acute domestic bottlenecks, policy missteps and ongoing structural challenges, India has not been able to reap significant benefits as an alternative production and export platform to China. • The IMF has downgraded projected growth for India to 7% in 2019 • It is well below the country’s likely potential growth of 7.5% and 8%. • In view of this “growth recession” and subdued inflation RBI has cut rate multiple times by 25 basis points since October 2018 to a nine-year low in nominal terms. • Despite the rapid interest rate cuts, India’s real interest rates are still higher than most other countries. • One concern for India is that interest rate policy transmission to bank rates tends to be rather slow and limited. • This is likely due to a combination of factors: the banking system has been faced with a deterioration in asset quality and remains saddled with bad debts; there has been and anaemic deposit growth; and there is limited scope to reduce deposit rates.

Indian crisis • Lack of price competitiveness boost (Competitive pricing is the process of selecting strategic price points to best take advantage of a product or service based market relative to competition.)

• Low external demand • Regional currencies may themselves face depreciations pressures following the dovish policy stances by their central banks • It then can cuase REER appreciation in the rupee. • Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) is the weighted average of bilateral nominal exchange rates of the rupee in terms of foreign currencies. It is simple and direct for example:- one US Dollar as per NEER will be, say 66 rupees. • Where as Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER)is the weighted average of nominal exchange rates, adjusted for inflation. • The indices of Nominal Effective Exchange Rate (NEER) and Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) are used as indicators of external competitiveness by RBI.

NEER vs REER • If a domestic currency increases against a basket of other currencies inside a floating exchange rate regime, NEER is said to appreciate. If the domestic currency falls against the basket, the NEER depreciates. • The NEER only describes relative value; it cannot definitively show whether a currency is strong or gaining strength in real terms. It only describes whether a currency is weak or strong, or weakening or strengthening, compared to foreign currencies. • The real effective exchange rate (REER) is used to measure the value of a specific currency in relation to an average group of major currencies. • A country's REER is an important measure when assessing its trade capabilities. • REER captures inflation differentials between India and its major trading partners. • REER reflects the degree of external competitiveness of Indian products • REER captures movements in cross-currency exchange rates.

Sovereign bond issue • The recent Union Budget 2019 proposed funding the fiscal deficit partially by borrowing from international markets in foreign currency. • A sovereign bond is a specific debt instrument issued by the government. • They can be denominated in both foreign and domestic currency. • Just like other bonds, these also promise to pay the buyer a certain amount of interest for a stipulated number of years and repay the face value on maturity. • The proposed $10 billion sovereign issuance of Indian government is manageable due to stock of forex reserves and modest sovereign external debt –GDP ratio (68.4%). • However, increases in external borrowings adds risk to the economy. • Also any adverse exchange rate movements will lead to a ballooning of interest payments on government debt which is already eating up around a quarter of budgetary spending. • It is not clear that the current policy mix is ideal for India.

Prelims 2013 Question. An increase in the Bank Rate generally indicates that the: (a) Market rate of interest is likely to fall (b) Central Bank is no longer making loans to commercial banks (c) Central Bank is following an easy money policy (d) Central Bank is following a tight money policy

Page 12: Cong. chief out of Jallianwala Bagh Trust. [GS1: The Freedom Struggle – its various stages and important contributors /contributions from different parts of the country.]

• The Lok Sabha on Friday amended the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Bill to remove the Congress president as a permanent trustee. • The Bill amends the Jallianwala Bagh National Memorial Act, 1951 — seeks to remove the president of the Congress party as a permanent trustee to the Jallianwala Bagh Trust, • The 1951 Act provides was enacted for the erection and management of a national memorial for those who lost their lives or were injured in the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre of 13 April, 1919. • In addition, it creates a Trust to manage the National Memorial and entails rules for the composition of the trust, including nominating trustees and their tenure.

Page 12: Cong. chief out of Jallianwala Bagh Trust • The current Amendment seeks "to delete the President of the Indian National Congress” as a trustee and to have the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha as a trustee. • The bill mentions that in the case there is no Leader of Opposition, then the Leader of the single largest Opposition Party will be made the trustee. • The Bill also seeks to empower the Central government to terminate a nominated trustee before the expiry of his/her term. • The move comes in during the centenary commemoration of the massacre — in which the British Army opened fire at a peaceful gathering of unarmed people in Amritsar under the command of General Reginald Dyer.

How Events Unfolded: Some History • Both Extremists and the moderate faction of the Indian National Congress supported the British efforts during World War 1 in hope that, British will grant self-government to India after the war. • The Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1919 proved to be a mere eyewash in the name of self- government. Revolutionaries opposed it. • The government now armed itself with extraordinary powers to suppress any voice against the reforms and passed Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act.

Rowlatt Act • This act was passed on the recommendations of Sedition Committee chaired by Sir Sidney Rowlatt. • This act had been hurriedly passed in the Imperial Legislative Council despite the united opposition of the Indian members. • It gave the government enormous powers to repress political activities and allowed detention of political prisoners without trial for two years.

Response to Gandhi's Call • Mahatma Gandhi wanted non-violent civil disobedience against such unjust laws, which would start with a hartal on 6 April 1919. • In Punjab, the situation became explosive due to wartime repression, forcible recruitments, and ravages of disease. • On April 9, 1919, two nationalist leaders, Saifuddin Kitchlew and Dr. Satyapal, were arrested by the British officials

How Events Unfolded • To curb any future protest government put martial law in place and law and order in Punjab was handed over to Brigadier-General Dyer. • On 13th April, Baisakhi day, a large crowd of people mostly from neighboring villages, unaware of the prohibitory orders in the Amritsar gathered in the Jallianwala Bagh. • Brigadier- General Dyer arrived on the scene with his men. • The troops surrounded the gathering under orders from General Dyer and blocked the only exit point and opened fire on the unarmed crowd killing more than 1000 unarmed men, women, and children.

Hunter Commission • The government formed a committee of inquiry to investigate the Jallianwala Bagh shootings. • On October 14, 1919, the Government of India announced the formation of the Disorders Inquiry Committee. • The committee was commonly known as Hunter Commission after the name of chairman, Lord William Hunter. It also had Indian members. • In the final report submitted in March 1920, the committee unanimously condemned Dyer’s actions. • However, the Hunter Committee did not impose any penal or disciplinary action against General Dyer.

Nationalist Response • Rabindranath Tagore renounced his knighthood in protest. • Mahatma Gandhi gave up the title of Kaiser-i-Hind, bestowed by the British for his work during the Boer War. • Gandhi was overwhelmed by the atmosphere of total violence and withdrew the movement on April 18, 1919. • The Indian National Congress appointed its own non-official committee that included Motilal Nehru, C.R. Das, Abbas Tyabji, M.R. Jayakar, and Gandhi to look into the shootings. • Congress put forward its own view. This view criticized Dyer’s act as inhuman and also said that there was no justification in the introduction of the martial law in Punjab. • Britain has never officially apologized for the massacre.

Prelims 2015

Question. With reference to Rowlatt Satyagraha, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. The Rowlatt Act was based on the recommendations of the ‘Sedition Committee’ 2. In Rowlatt Satyagraha Gandhiji tried to use the Home Rule League 3. Demonstrations against the Simon Commission coincided with the Rowlatt Satyagraha Select the correct answer using the code given below. a) 1 only b) 1 and 2 only c) 2 and 3 only d) 1, 2 and 3

Page 15: ‘Too much of reforms has led to slowdown’ GS3 : Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

• CEO of NITI Aayog attributes economic slowdown to spate of measures including GST, RERA and IBC • What he said? • We need greater levels of liquidity. • Should revive the animal spirit of the private sector, you can never create wealth without the private sector. • The government needs to get out of business in a range of areas and you need to recycle a lot of government assets such as roads. We have done this with airports. Gas grids, gas pipelines, transmission lines should be privately-owned. NITI Aayog has recommended a vast range of public sector for privatisation. • Once we have private sector coming in, bank credit will start flowing in and this is critical. We must push for major structural reforms as we did earlier.

Page 15: ‘Too much of reforms has led to slowdown’ • One of the reasons for the slowdown is that it has had too much of reforms — GST, IBC, RERA. • The next round of reforms must revolve around sectors like oil and gas, mining, coal. • We must commercialise coal mining, railways and they will really drive the growth in India. • We have lost out on the mobile revolution, photo-voltaic revolution, telecom equipment revolution. • We are a nation of massive domestic demand, but all this demand we import. We will not allow that to happen in the Electric vehicles. • Bloomberg released a report on the future of mobility in India and has forecast that India may become the fourth-largest passenger EV market by 2040 with 26 lakh vehicles. China, U.S. and Germany will top the table.

How are the principles followed by the NITI Aayog different from those followed by the erstwhile Planning Commission in India? (250 words, 15 marks, GSM3-2018) Page 15: Elected directors in PSBs will be appointed by board: RBI GS3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has mandated that the elected directors of public sector banks (PSBs) are to be appointed by the nomination and remuneration committee of the board of the respective banks.

• The RBI has come out with guidelines on ‘fit and proper’ criteria of elected directors in PSBs. • All these banks were required to constitute a nomination and remuneration committee consisting of a minimum of three non-executive directors from the board, out of which not less than one-half will be independent directors and should include at least one member from the risk management committee of the board. • The non-executive chairperson of the bank may be appointed as a member of the committee but shall not chair such a committee.

Page15: Elected directors in PSBs will be appointed by board: RBI • On the tenure, the RBI said an elected director can be appointed for three years and could be re-elected but cannot hold office for than six years. • “The candidate should not be holding the position of a Member of Parliament or State Legislature or municipal corporation or municipality or other local bodies

Prelims 2018 Question. With reference to the governance of public sector banking in India, consider the following statements (Pre18 Set-D) 1. Capital infusion into public sector banks by the Government of India has steadily increased in the last decade. 2. To put the public sector banks in order, the merger of associate banks with the parent State Bank of India has been affected. 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