IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs Analysis

IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs (Prelims + Mains Focus)- 24th November 2017

(PRELIMS+MAINS FOCUS)

Poor Reach of ATMs in Rural Areas

Part of: Main GS Paper III – Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, growth, development, investment.

The latest RBI figures reveal that the number of ATMs in rural areas has shrunk by a little over 1,000 in past one year. India’s rural areas were the worst hit during demonetisation. The RBI’s remonetisation drive has not resolved the cash supply to ATMs in rural areas, forcing the shutdown of many ATMs.

Issue:

Public sector banks operate only about 20 per cent of their ATMs in rural areas.
The reach of private banks in the hinterland is far poorer, with just 8 per cent of their machines functioning in these areas.

White-label ATMs

The RBI took this initiative so as to grant licences to non-bank entities to set up white-label ATMs (WLAs), with the aim of expanding reach of ATMs in semi-urban and rural areas.
Under the RBI’s guidelines, a minimum number of WLAs have to be installed in Tier-III to -VI centres. Hence, about 42 per cent of WLAs operate in rural areas.
However, since the total number of WLAs itself is significantly smaller than bank-operated ATMs, access to money still remains a challenge.
Owing to regulatory constraints and the number of transactions failing to scale up in remote areas, WLA operators have found it difficult to generate revenues and hence expand further. Cash supply issues have made matters worse.

Article link: Click here

Bamboo: No more a tree as per Indian law

Part of: Main GS Paper II – Environment related laws, Social issue, Welfare, government schemes and policies.

Key PT pointers:

The government amended the Indian Forest Act and removing the bamboo – taxonomically a grass – from a list of plants that also included palms, skumps, brush-wood and canes.
After 90 years, the bamboo has legally ceased to be a tree.
Bamboo grown in the forest areas would continue to be governed by the provisions of the Indian Forest Act.
The current demand for bamboo in India is estimated at 28 million tonnes. Though the country has 19% share of the world’s area under bamboo cultivation, its market share in the sector is only 6%.

Central focus:

For several years now, the classification of the bamboo as a tree meant that it couldn’t be easily ferried across State borders. It also required permits from village councils and couldn’t be cultivated in non-forest areas.
The government hoped to promote cultivation of bamboo in non-forest areas to achieve the “twin objectives” of increasing the income of farmers and also increasing the green cover of the country.

Article link: Click here

PM Modi at the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS)

Part of: Main GS Paper III – Cyber Security and related policies.

Key pointers:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for sharing of information and coordination among nations to ensure that “digital space does not become a playground for the dark forces of terrorism and radicalisation”.
He pitched for creating “cyberwarriors” to keep the digital space safe.
Alertness towards cybersecurity concerns should become a way of life.
We need to ensure that cyberprotection becomes an attractive and viable career option for the youth.

Note: Above points can be mentioned while writing an essay on topics related to cybersecurity.

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UMANG mobile app

Part of: Main GS Paper II – Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation

Key PT pointers:

A unified app to serve e-governance through mobile devices.
Called Umang (Unified Mobile Application for New-age Governance), the app is developed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and National e-Governance Division (NeGD) to offer services of the central, state, local bodies, and various government agencies right on Android and iOS based mobile devices.
The new offering had emerged on the sidelines of the fifth Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS) in New Delhi.
It has multilingual support with as many as 10 Indian languages in addition to Hindi and English and includes a payment-based transaction access.

Central focus:

It will provide over a hundred citizen-centric services. At the back-end, these services will be catered for by different departments of the Union and State Governments. This integrated approach will add an automatic layer of ‘peer performance pressure’, in the working of these departments.
The Umang app bundles a list of Digital India services, including Aadhaar, DigiLocker, and PayGov.
In terms of e-governance, citizens can use the Umang app to access their income tax filing, LPG cylinder bookings, and Provident Fund account. Parents can also use the Umang app to access CBSE results.
Also, the Umang app has social media integration that allows you to connect your Facebook, Google, and Twitter accounts and enable one-touch login process.

Article link: Click here

Amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

Part of: Main GS Paper III – Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, growth, development, investment.

President recently gave his assent to the ordinance approved by the Union Cabinet to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to strengthen the regime.

Key pointers:

Prohibits wilful defaulters, those associated with non-performing assets (NPAs), and the habitually non-compliant, from regaining control of the defaulting company or stressed assets through the back door in the garb of being a ‘resolution applicant’.
The sale of property to a person who is ineligible to be a resolution applicant has been barred.
It also provide for fine ranging from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 2 crore for those violating these norms.
A new section has been introduced in the IBC that makes certain persons ineligible to be a ‘resolution applicant’.
Those being made ineligible include “wilful defaulters, those who have their accounts classified as NPAs for one year or more and are unable to settle their overdue amounts including interest thereon.
The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India (IBBI) has also been given additional powers.

Article link: Click here

(MAINS EXCLUSIVE)

INTERNATIONAL

TOPIC: General studies 2:

Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests

Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora

Important International institutions

Comparison of SAARC with ASEAN

Introduction:

Comparing SAARC with ASEAN we can notice that ASEAN is much more effective regional organization.

ASEAN is a good example for SAARC, particularly for India and Pakistan, to realise the value of cooperation and benefits resulting from a larger common market despite diversity in politics and religion.

(Below article compares and provides crucial inputs about the success formula of ASEAN and how ASEAN model can help SAARC to become an effective regional organization.)

History (Basics):

SAARC

The South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is an economic and geopolitical organization of eight countries that are primarily located in South Asia or Indian subcontinent. The SAARC Secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
It came into being in 1985, with founding members Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Afghanistan joined in 2007.

ASEAN

Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was founded in 1967.
ASEAN started with founding members Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand; then added Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam in later years.

Same but Different: (Similarities and Differences)

(Case 1) Common concerns led to their foundations

When the ASEAN was founded in 1967, its members existed in a state of mutual suspicion and uncertainty. As new nation-states, its founding members were also concerned with protecting their sovereignty and political and economic development.

Nevertheless, over time, ASEAN developed informal diplomatic mechanisms to manage their bilateral tensions. While tensions continue to flare up between neighbours, ASEAN states appear to have successfully avoided the outbreak of armed conflict between states in the region.

Similarly, when the SAARC was founded in 1985, its founding members had long running disputes with each other. However, unlike ASEAN, SAARC’s record at managing regional conflicts has not been as successful.

Both ASEAN and SAARC were set up because the members were involved in serious disputes. Perhaps ASEAN was more troubled because of its conglomeration of islands and unclear laws dealing with maritime frontiers. Yet, while ASEAN was able to avoid conflict, SAARC was not.

(Case 2) Trade and economic cooperation

ASEAN nations signed the treaty of amity and cooperation, adopted the principles of refraining or avoiding of threat or use of force and settlement of disputes by peaceful means.

The shared conviction of creating an economically win-win situation mobilised the nations in forming an interdependent regional economy. Therefore, since its inception, the ASEAN countries have become more integrated through enhanced intraregional trade and connectivity.

SAARC started its journey with similar aspirations but over time has failed to deliver. It has been unable to integrate the region through trade and connectivity and continues to be stuck in an awkward/complex mix-up of regional politics and rivalry and stagnates from historical distrust and old animosity.

(Case 3) Great potential but stalled projects

Association of Southeast Asian Nations ASEAN is among the world’s largest regional intergovernmental organisations.

Trade in ASEAN has grown rapidly and it has focussed on promoting rapid economic growth and modernisation. It has created the Comprehensive Investment Agreement (ACIA), which ensures liberalisation and protection of cross-border investments operations, together with best practices for the treatment of foreign investors and investments.

On the other hand, trade amongst the SAARC members stands at 3.5% of their total volume of trade. Initiatives under the South Asian Free Trade Association have failed to make much headway. Subregional initiatives like the Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor Vehicle Agreement also have stalled.

(Case 4) Travel and Connectivity

The Federation of ASEAN Travel Associations (FATA) has called on the ASEAN nations to waive entry requirements amongst the member states.

A feasibility study has been conducted on the development of a rail link from Singapore to Kunming in southern China to enhance seamless connectivity among the ASEAN nations to boost intraregional trade and people-to-people connectivity. Projects aimed at promoting the region as a tourist destination have also been undertaken.

On the other hand, the SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme only allows certain categories of dignitaries to be exempt from visas, excluding ordinary citizens from accessing unimpeded travel in the region. It is difficult for Indians to enter Pakistan and vice versa. Even citizens of other SAARC countries who have visited either India or Pakistan before and now wish to travel to the other face hassles during visa issuance by either country. And SAARC infrastructural problems plague connectivity.

(Case 5) Domination of subregional initiatives

As the biggest country of SAARC, India is trying to exert leadership by forming subregional initiatives like the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). Another objective is to isolate Pakistan. Such attempts to forge sub-regional ties at the cost of jeopardising the regional vision for unity have not been witnessed in ASEAN.

When ASEAN was criticised for taking in Myanmar in spite of its military rule, the grouping emphasised the importance of keeping open the channels of communication and engagement as a better means to influence the regime. Bilateral arguments or disagreements never got in the way of trade and travel.

(Case 6) India and Pakistan

In its first two decades, ASEAN focussed on a limited range of issues, but over time its mandate expanded and now includes climate change, disaster management, counterterrorism, drugs and human trafficking.

ASEAN’s greatest success has been its ability to deftly resolve disputes.

In the early years, for instance, its unity was challenged by the Philippines-Malaysia dispute over Sabah, but the founding members found a peaceful mechanism to mitigate opposing claims.

In the case of SAARC, political squabbles, deep mistrust and military conflict between India and Pakistan have frustrated regional cooperation. The whole region is suffering from lost potential due to India-Pakistan hostility which hit a new low when India boycotted the 19th SAARC summit as a result of the Uri terrorist attack, with Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Bhutan following suit, eventually resulting in cancellation of the summit.

(Case 7) Lack of broad regional vision

ASEAN members have avoided showing outward hostility against each other and have tried to resolve differences through dialogue, engagement and cooperation. Politicians in SAARC have mostly catered to their domestic constituents without having any broad regional vision, so that it takes years to sign agreements and even more time to implement them.

As a regional organisation, while ASEAN has grown from strength to strength. Unless there is a serious and concerted effort by the political leadership of SAARC, led primarily by India and Pakistan, to revitalise the regional body, it will continue to be what it always has been: a utopian idea existing only in summit documents.

The way ahead: (IASbaba’s views)

With abundant natural resources and more than 1.5 billion people, SAARC has the potential to become the world’s largest economy after the United States and China and is perceived as the next largest consumer market buoyed by steady economic growth and a booming middle class.

Yet, SAARC is failing to harvest the benefit with intra-SAARC trade of only 5%, compared to ASEAN’s 32%, the EU’s 50% and NAFTA’s 65%.

From regional stability and security ASEAN has now moved to regional economic integration and cooperation which is another step of their success. Neither in terms of economic co-operation nor in terms of promotion of peace and understanding there have been no signs of regional co-operation in SAARC. Because of India and Pakistan’s suspicion and mistrust of each other SAARC continues to stagnate and will never be as successful as ASEAN.

In simple words, the rivalry between India and Pakistan continues to frustrate efforts to integrate South Asia.

To pave the way for SAARC’s integration India-Pakistan rivalry has to stop and this calls for bold leadership.
Given that India occupies 70% of the SAARC region, both geographically and economically, India has the onus to bring SAARC nations together.
For SAARC to progress, it must first capitalise on less contentious issues. Short-term success will create the momentum to work on long-term goals of regional connectivity, resource sharing, and investment.
A good start can be adopting a ‘South Asia First’ policy, making SAARC countries import products first from within the region. For example, major garment-manufacturing countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka import more than 80% of raw materials from outside SAARC, even though India and Pakistan are net exporters in this sector.

With the flow of multilateralism and regionalism ASEAN is going forward SAARC is still in same position and unsuccessful. SAARC member states should follow ASEAN as a model for regionalism and for the regional prospects and prosperity.

Connecting the dots:

Can SAARC be next ASEAN? Discuss the initiatives to be taken by regional members and especially India for greater economic integration.
SAARC member states should follow ASEAN as a model for regionalism and for the regional prospects and prosperity. Do you agree? Critically evaluate.

NATIONAL

TOPIC:General studies 2:

Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Need of Anti-Superstition law: A debate

Background:

The Maharashtra government has enacted an anti-superstition law. And another such law is in process in Karnataka.

Superstition in India:

Over recent decades, around 800 women in Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Odisha have been killed for practising witchcraft.
Faith healers, on occasion, inflict physical injury to exercise spirits or cure ailments.
Practices like branding children with heated objects and using spurious surgical methods to change the sex of a foetus are common.
Made-snana, a ritual where devotees from across castes roll over the leftover food of Brahmins in certain temples to cure themselves of skin diseases
In Maharashtra, there were several cases where people murdered or brutally injured others and held them responsible for some deaths in their families, merely on suspicion.

Maharashtra:

Maharashtra has implemented the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013.

The Maharashtra legislation has stopped the act of human sacrifice.
Before this law, acts involving human sacrifice could not be stopped as they were preceded by some puja and offerings — not banned under any law.

The anti-superstition law also makes it possible to curtail activities of so-called godmen before they become too powerful. A section in the legislation specifically addresses and checks claims made by ‘godmen’ who say they have supernatural powers.

Constitutional angle:

Anti-superstition law can be seen as a reasonable restriction on the right to practise and propagate one’s religion under Article 25 of the Constitution. As long as these restrictions are in the interest of public order, morality and health, the law may withstand the test of constitutionality.

A separate law is not needed:

The question of whether we need a separate law to curb superstitious practices has to be debated.

Legal framework exists to address such crimes. For instance, throwing a child on thorns is an offence under Sections 307 and 323 of the IPC. Similarly, parading a woman naked can also be addressed specifically by Section 354B of the IPC.
It is hard to make a case for retaining harmful religious practices. Everything that appears irrational to the less believing cannot be prohibited by law.

A separate law is needed:

Present IPC not equipped-

The cognisance of human sacrifice is in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) only after the murder is committed.
The present IPC is not equipped to take care of crimes committed on account of black magic and other superstitious practices.
A separate law is necessary because the relationship between a devotee and so-called godman is of a peculiar nature, often marked by violence.
Example- The Prevention of Domestic Violence Act, 2005. There are provisions in the IPC to punish violence, but the peculiar nature of the violence faced by women within the family needed a separate law.
Legislation has a capacity to act as a deterrent.

Way forward:

Curbing superstitious practices requires effective implementation and enforcement of existing laws as punishment curbs the rate of crime and not the type or the quantum of punishment.
The enforcement machinery needs a major overhaul to make criminal justice more accessible. Enacting special laws for each set of crimes is no solution and makes the problem worse.
A discussion can be initiated between the temple authorities and devotees on alternative rituals which are not harmful.

Conclusion:

India needs legislation on superstition. Superstitious practices that are utterly dehumanising, brutal and exploitative need to be dealt with by a law that specifically addresses them.

However, it is education and awareness that can truly liberate a society from superstition, blind faith and abominable practices in the name of faith. Until then, the law will have to continue to identify and punish acts that violate the people’s right to life, health and dignity.

Connecting the dots: