29th August 2017

Economic Times

Ø  World's 1st diamond futures bourse opens in India
Ø  Promoters may take part in Infosys share buyback 
Ø  Greenko eyes R-Infra's Mumbai power biz for $2 bn
Ø  Govt sanctions over 2.17 lakh houses for urban poor
Ø  EPFO diverting money to riskier bonds to earn more
Ø  Trai seeks views on sale of 5G services spectrum
Ø  The cost of clean water is $150 bn a year: World Bank

Business Standard

Ø  Tata Teleservices plans to invest Rs 4,000 cr in listed arm
Ø  Centre to divest up to 10% stake in NTPC for Rs 13,800 cr
Ø  IDBI Bank looks to exit early from NSE
Ø  GST to have positive impact on states' finances: Ind-Ra
Ø  Lenders of Jaypee Power seek bids for 30% stake dilution to recover debts
Ø  Reliance Capital shareholders to get 1:1 stock of home finance arm

Business Line

Ø  L&T Construction bags orders worth Rs. 1,975 cr
Ø  NSE now eyes mega Rs.10,000-cr IPO by Feb-Mar next year
Ø  ACC, BoB & Tata Power to move out of Nifty 50 wef Sept 29 
Ø  Despite sharp cuts by PSU banks, foreign banks command lowest MCLR
Ø  Dr Reddy’s faces class action suit in US court

Mint

Ø  Iron ore stockpiles swell on imposition of export duty
Ø  RBI may consider linking bank loans to repo rate
Ø  NSE adds Bajaj Finance, HPCL, UPL Ltd to Nifty 50, removes 4 stocks
Ø  Insolvency case: IRP verifies claims of over Rs44,498 crore against Bhushan Steel
Ø  SSG Capital Management in talks to buy stake in Emco Ltd
Ø  L&T Finance among India’s five most valuable NBFC firms
Ø  Gilead to buy Kite Pharma for promising cancer therapies in $12 billion deal

Financial Express

Ø  Over 36 lakh businesses file GST returns so far
Ø  Fringe benefits availed by employees liable to GST
Ø  DLF looking at Mumbai, Bengaluru to build commercial assets
Ø  Appetite for telecom spectrum only by early 2019, says COAI

Financial Chronicle

Ø  Brexit talks face 'very big gap' as new round begins
Ø  Sensex makes 155-pt gain on easing Indo-China tension
Ø  Startups can raise 100% funds from foreign investors
Ø  Essar Steel lenders want to bring in new investors; Tata, JSW keen

Digital Roadmap

What's the fastest shark in the sea ?

The shortfin mako shark has been clocked at a sustained speed of 20 mph, but it can double or triple that speed for short periods of time.
Shortfin makos can reliably accelerate to 46 mph, and some individuals may even reach 60 mph. Their torpedo-shaped bodies enable them to surge through the water at such a rapid speed. Mako sharks also have tiny, flexibile scales covering their body, allowing them to control the flow of water over their skin and minimize drag. And shortfin makos aren't just fast; they can also change direction in a split second. Their remarkable speed and maneuverability make them lethal predators.

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Do you think privacy is a fundamental right ? Discuss in the context of recent Judgment of the Supreme court. (20 Marks/250 Words)

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Model Answer :

"Right to Privacy is an integral part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty guaranteed in Article 21 of the Constitution," the SC ruled unanimously. It added that the right to privacy is intrinsic to the entire fundamental rights chapter of the Constitution. It also spoke of the right to marriage, procreation, privacy of home and the right to be left alone as other facets of privacy.

The broad implication is that the government cannot frame any policy or law that completely takes away the citizen's right to privacy. It can only place reasonable restrictions on limited grounds such as national sovereignty and security, public order, decency, etc, as specified in Article 19 (2) of the Constitution.

The right to privacy broadly encompasses physical privacy, informational privacy and decisional autonomy. The interplay of technological advances and the right to privacy in the digital age needs to be closely scrutinised. Digital privacy is a subset of the right to privacy, which can be fully exercised only if a good data protection system is in place. After Right to Privacy Ruling, Focus Must Now Be on Creating Robust Data Protection Laws.

This unanimous verdict has rejected the claim of the Union of India that the citizens of India did not have a fundamental right to privacy and that there was, at best, a common law right. This startling claim was based on two judgments of the Supreme Court, one in 1954 by an eight-judge bench and the other, in 1962, by a six-judge bench.

http://www.insightsonindia.com/2017/07/04/motivation-toppers-strategy-upsc-ias-topper-nandini-k-r-rank-1-cse-2016-insights-offline-student/
Motivation & Topper's Strategy: UPSC IAS Topper NANDINI K R, Rank - 1, CSE - 2016, Insights Offline Student

Why does Japan get so many earthquakes ?

Japan is located along the Pacific “ring of fire”, on the edges of several continental and oceanic tectonic plates. This is an area of high seismic and volcanic activity from New Zealand, up through Japan, across to Alaska, and down the west coasts of North and South America.

Explain with appropriate illustrations the interface between political culture and bureaucratic culture in contemporary India. (25 Marks/250 Words)

Model Answer :

 In India political culture is identified with generalist approach. It represents the dynamic aspiration of the society and creates a framework for political change. On the other hand bureaucratic culture is technical and specialist in nature because bureaucracy is instrumental in carrying out all public activities in legal manner with standard procedure. In India bureaucratic culture is more developed rather than political one, so it is the main reason of rift between the two. Administrative culture is more hierarchical and political one is more democratic. In theory they have to work in smooth and frictionless manner but in practice, there are many instances of friction between the two.

In case of General VK Singh age controversy then the Defense Minister AK Antony blamed army for the whole issue stating that age discrepancy was noticed by the army in 2006.

In Coalgate scam involving illegal allocation of coal blocks to several firms,Chairman of Screening Committee PC Parakh held that during allocation Coal Secretary makes the recommendation while the final approval is given by Minister.

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Durga Shakti Nagpal , a young civil servant found herself amid huge media attention ,political debate and row between federal and state government, after she was suspended allegedly for her ordering the destruction of a wall that was to form the part of a mosque.

These instances show that though political representatives as well as administrators are both known to be meant for the service of the society and nation, there is huge difference between political and bureaucratic culture in India.

Discuss the challenges before newly launched Skill India mission. Comment

Model Answer:

Discuss the challenges before newly launched Skill India mission

Following are the challenges :

1) Human resources challenges: Lack of knowledge professionals, especially in the vocational sector .

2) Infrastructure related challenges: Lacks in vocational infrastructure, especially ITIs and life training institutes.

3) Standardization challenges:To match with the global counterparts and operates

according to world standards.

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Remedies:

These challenges have to be addressed before the start of the mission so that the people benefitting from this scheme are trained by competent and professional trainers.

Tie ups with corporate and industrial houses for infrastructural and investment related issue.

Reform of the localized and haphazard standardization system is imperative. NCVT (national council of vocational training) can be roped in as a nodal agency to ensure country wide uniform standards for vocational courses.

Awareness should be fostered in the minds of the people regarding the advantages of being a skilled
workforce member and opportunities.

Qestion : Good Economics and Bad Politics cannot coexist in a sound budgetary process." Discuss. (30 Marks/350 Words)

Model Answer :

 The Government of the day has a vision at the beginning of the year to play the role of a welfare state and by means of its budget allocate expenditure to the various departments and simultaneously ensure adequate revenue so as to not land in an undesirable deficit. Good Economics would aim high revenue which can meet the expenditure of the State. Maintenance of fiscal deficit under 3% of GDP, to meet its expenditure (FRBM Act 2004) and not incurring any form of revenue deficit. Bad politics is one that can interfere in the process of meeting these goals.

An example is when the UPA Government was trying to pass the Food Security Ordinance it faced severe opposition from the parliamentarians on grounds of increasing the fiscal deficit beyond the benchmark since it would lead to expenditures over and above the budgeted amounts. Another example of bad politics is where the ruling government routes the allocated money to meet their personal aspirations and hence lead to high expenditures, yet not meeting the developmental goals e.g. indulgence in Fodder Scam and embezzlement of close to 940 Crores. In a competitive political situation like in our country, the opposition party would not leave such an event unnoticed and will ensure that the responsible minister gets due punishment.

Another example of a competitive political environment is in the United States where the Republican party is at loggerheads with the Democrats for passing the Affordable Care Act. Good Economics is applied here where the government revenue/borrowings is being invested in ensuring a healthy human capital that can contribute towards the development of the country. However the ideological differences in political factions led to non approval of budgetary expenditure from the Senate. This brought a stop to all budgeted government activities in the United States and 8,00,000 employees remained unemployed for over 2 weeks.

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The objectives of good economics can be sanctified with an equally stable political environment which can ratify the budgetary process and ensure its effective execution.

Questions on World History (source - Norman Lowe, Jain and Mathur) and Post Independence (source - NCERT, Current Affairs)

1. European integration post the second world war comprises of many integrations. Explain the statement while discussing why Europe integrated. Also shed some light on the future of EU.

2. Colonialism has had various impacts on not only the colonised but also on the colonisers. Discuss while also discussing the present day repercussions of colonial past across the globe.

3. The First World War freed the Russia, the Second World War built it. Do you agree. Elaborate.

4. Germany was united not by Blood and Iron but by Coal and Iron. Justify.

5. Why was NATO formed. How did USSR respond to it. Also mention if these organisations are relevant in present era.


6. What are the reasons that have impeded the integration of North-Eastern India with the rest of the country.

7. What were the reasons that led to rise of regional parties in India.

8. Popular movements in post-independence India have a diverse range of aims. Explain.

9. The Indian Democracy has passed through various tests and has become resilient with time. Analyse the statement with examples.

10. As much as India was in favour of Non-Alignment internationally, it implicitly favoured the socialistic ideals. Critically analyse.

What is RNA?

Ribonucleic acid, a nucleic acid present in all living cells. Its principal role is to act as a messenger carrying instructions from DNA for controlling the synthesis of proteins, although in some viruses RNA rather than DNA carries the genetic information.

Microsoft will come to the aid of farmers in Karnataka for prize prediction

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If all goes according to plan, software giant Microsoft will come to the aid of farmers in Karnataka who constantly struggle with an unpredictable market.The Agriculture Department has signed MoU with Microsoft India to develop an unique ‘farm price forecasting model’ using the latest IT tools in a bid to help farmers, administrators and other stakeholders understand the market behaviour in advance.The proposed initiative is said to be the first-of-its-kind in the country, as it is a ‘multi-variate’ one that takes into consideration various factors beyond the conventional supply-demand equation.It will examine a slew of related factors, including weather, rainfall and external factors, that impact market behaviour.On the other hand, the forecast would help the government prepare in advance for market intervention if there is an indication of price crash, he pointed out. The model is expected to be in place for the next kharif crop.Microsoft has already taken up a 100-day study on the price pattern of onion and toor dal. Depending upon the outcome, the price forecasting model would be applied to other crops later, Dr. Prakash said.The initiative appears to have caught the attention of the Centre, which has sought suggestions from the KAPC on the importance of price forecasting for its initiative to double farmers’ incomes. Microsoft would also develop a software for providing sowing advisory services to farmers.

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Model Answer:

What is Cripps mission and how it gives encouragement to the separatist forces in India?

The Cripps mission was an attempt in late March 1942 by the British government to secure full Indian cooperation and support for their efforts in World War II.

Cripps was sent to negotiate an agreement ,,,,,,,with the nationalist leaders, speaking for the majority Hindu population, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah, speaking for the minority Muslim population. Cripps worked to keep India loyal to the British war effort in exchange for a promise of full self-government after the war. Cripps promised to give dominion status after the war as well as elections to be held after the war. Cripps discussed the proposals with the Indian leaders and published them. Both the major parties, the Congress and the League rejected his proposals and the mission proved a failure. 

The feature of its:

a) Attainment of dominion status.

b) Right to frame constitution by the Indians

c) Any province or state would have the right to reject the constitution.

The third point was a major flaw . Muslims politicians were happy with this which later gave the idea of Pakistan.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a three-day visit to China
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A day after the resolution of the Doklam standoff, India announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a three-day visit to China, even as Bhutan welcomed the diplomatic end of the border crisis.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also announced that Mr. Modi’s visit to China for the BRICS summit will be followed by his visit to Myanmar.India declared de-escalation of the two-month-long standoff on the Doklam plateau that had led to dramatic rise in tensions.Trip is likely to include a one-on-one meeting between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi Jinping on September 4.The meeting between the two leaders will be the first since they exchanged courtesies during the July 7-8 G20 summit meeting in Hamburg.

Govt considering the creation of a secure communications ecosystem for defence

The Centre is considering the creation of a secure communications ecosystem for its officials, especially those working in the defence sector.One of the proposals is mandating the use of mobile phones manufactured by Indian companies for official communication. The government will also be providing a secure email service to its officials.The Army now uses secure landline phones to communicate.

Usain Bolt and Jamaica stripped of 2008 Olympic 4x100m gold medal, Why ?

The IOC have disqualified Jamaica's Nesta Carter from 2008 Olympic Games.
Sprinter Carter won gold in the 4x100m relay in Beijing alongside Usain Bolt.
Re-analysis gave a positive test for prohibited substance methylhexaneamine.
Jamaica have now been stripped of their medals - with Bolt and Co disqualified.
The decision means Bolt's triple-triple of Olympic gold medals is no more.

What is the real name of a hashtag ?

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Its myriad names and its appearance are intertwined. The # symbol is commonly called the pound sign, number sign and more recently the hashtag. It is called the pound sign because the symbol comes from the abbreviation for weight, lb, or “libra pondo” literally “pound by weight” in Latin.

Model Answer:

Discuss the reason for giving more autonomy to IIMs by the central government ?

Recently Lok Sabha Passes a bill for more autonomy to IIMs.

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Provision:

a) To grant degrees instead of PG Diplomas.

b) Allows students to acquire Ph.D degrees from IIM.

c) The Bill confers on the 20 IIMs the status of institutions of national importance and also grants them greater functional autonomy by restricting the role of the government in them. (At present, the Centre has a role in the functioning of the IIMs, including the appointment of the chairpersons to the Boards of the IIMs, their directors and fixing the pay of the directors.)

d) As per the IIM Bill, 2017, a Board of Governors will appoint the director of each IIM. A search-cum-selection-committee will recommend the names. And the director will be eligible for variable pay determined by the Board.

Reason:

a) Because the fellowships of IIMs were not regarded by many as Ph.Ds that there were less students for Ph.Ds to become Fellows.

b) They used to go to foreign countries and do research. Now research will be (done) here.”

PUBLIC ADMINISTRAtion

Question : Discuss the performance of Indian Parliament after independence.(20 Marks/250 Words)

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Model Answer :

The scholars have categorized Indian Parliament as a reactive institution as it reacts to the policy proposed by executives. The performance of Parliament can be gauged by quality & quantity of decisions during a given time period. It can also be evaluated on the basis of the conduct of the houses in the formative period under various leaders.

The performance of the Parliament from being an ideal platform to express dissent and adequate participation of both the Government and opposition during Nehru’s times has slowly degenerated over a period of time. The initial parliamentarians were all scholars and experts in their domains and hence brought qualitative discussions to the table. Over time, the Members of Parliament are predominantly Generalists who lack technical knowledge needed in the domain of policy making and hence mostly stay quiet.

During Indira Gandhi’s time, the Indian Parliament reach a plummet, where to confront an uneasy opposition an emergency was declared, many opposition members were arrested and basic fundamental rights were curtailed. In the years following there has always been stiff resentment by the opposition that reduces the pace of functioning of the parliament. In the current scenario, the parliament is known for its inefficiency, to the extent that the Executive has started to bypass the legislative process in order to operate schemes. In such a situation, there needs to be greater accountability of the Executive to the Parliament and of the MP’s to the people.(Total Words- 240)

New consumer law to make consumer king

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The famous 1992 McDonald’s Coffee Case, where the fast food chain had to cough up $640,000 as compensation to 79-year-old Stella Liebeck for “unreasonably dangerous” and “defectively manufactured” coffee, could soon repeat itself in India.The new Consumer Protection Bill 2016 that seeks to replace a 31-year-old archaic law, has provisions to sue a manufacturer for not “giving adequate instructions of correct usage to prevent any harm or any warning regarding improper or incorrect usage.”“So if a fast food chain does not serve coffee with adequate warning, then a lawsuit can be filed against them,” a senior official at the Department of Consumer Affairs said.The Bill, which has been languishing for the last two years will soon come up for Cabinet approval.The Bill replaces the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The new law has provisions for Product Liability, which was unheard in India. The Bill was first introduced on August 10, 2015 and referred to the standing committee on August 26.The panel submitted its report in August 2016, suggesting 80 amendments. This sent the government back to the drawing board, to rewrite the law.Under the new draft, even the service providers like airlines can face liability action. “A flyer can sue an airline seeking not just reimbursement for a missed flight but also compensation for any important event or meeting he or she missed because the flight was cancelled at last minute,” the senior official added.The consumer can lodge a complaint from anywhere unlike the existing law under which a consumer had to register the complaint at the same place from where she purchased the product.Further, unlike the 1986 law, the complainant need not be accompanied by a lawyer. At any point, if the manufacturer and the complainant arrive at compromise through mediation process, the latter can withdraw the complaint.The Bill proposes an investigative body, the Central Consumer Protection Authority, on the lines of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.
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