5 Key Points on India’s Act Far East Policy

1. PM Modi unveiled the "Act Far East" policy to boost India's engagement with Russia's Far East region.
2. For the development of Far East, India will give line of credit worth $ 1 billion.
3. Ahead of the PM’s trip, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal led a delegation of four BJP chief ministers and 140 businessmen last month to the Russian Far East in a bid to stamp India’s presence in a region currently dominated by China.
4. In many ways India’s presence and involvement in sparsely populated Russian Far East as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy will balance Chinese presence in this region of Russia on the Pacific coast.
5. India's connection to Russia's Far East go back a long way. India was the first country to open a Consulate in Vladivostok.

5 Points on Spiraling Tension between USA-IRAN

1. US Withdrawal from Nuclear Deal: In May 2018, the U.S. withdrew from the 2015 nuclear agreement reached between the P5+1 countries, the European Union, and Iran, which Mr. Trump once derided as the “the worst ever deal”. That move was in disregard of the opinions of the International Atomic Energy Agency and Mr. Trump’s own top advisers that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action had proved effective.
2. There has not been any let-up from the U.S. strategy of exerting “maximum pressure” on Iran so far. In August 2019, the administration imposed sanctions against Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif.
3. In April 2019, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was designated a terrorist organisation.
4. Iran’s Economic Isolation: Tehran’s crude exports are said to have plummeted to 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) or less since April 2018 levels (more than 2.5 million bpd), according to estimates. Corporations that continue to do business with Iran face the risk of being cut off from the dollar system.
5. Rising Tension in West Asia: In retaliation to these measures, Iran demonstrated its ability to paralyse Western maritime operations by seizing oil tankers off the Gulf of Hormuz. While Mr. Trump held back from a counter-offensive following the downing of a U.S. drone, the missile attack amplified the risk of conflict in the region.

8 Reasons Why PSB Merger is not a Great Idea

1. Merger will not by itself create a globally large bank: Even if you take the largest of the mergers that have been proposed, which is PNB combining with two other entities, it’s going to give you a bank which is about one third the size of the 50th largest bank in the world, which is not saying much.
2. There is no correlation between size and efficiency: Second, the correlation between size and efficiency is suspect beyond a certain minimum size. And that size is quite low: say $10 billion in assets or so you get the necessary scale of economy. Beyond that, the empirical evidence does not suggest there are many great advantages to simply growing bigger. The classic comparison is between HDFC Bank and the consolidated State Bank of India, which is many times its size. The price to book value ratio of HDFC Bank is close to 4, whereas the price to book value of SBI is around 1.25. Therefore, the suggestion that getting bigger is going to, in itself, give you some benefits is not validated by experience, either internationally or within India.
3. Timing of merger amidst slowdown is not good: From a timing point of view, this does not seem an ideal time for going ahead with these mergers. Because, as all of us are aware, the economy is clearly going through a major slowdown. And it requires all hands on the deck. And whenever a merger of such scale happens, I think the senior management gets distracted in terms of trying to make sure who gets what.
4. Prerequisite for Merger success may not be there: In order to make a success of a merger, you need two conditions to be satisfied — you need a very high degree of managerial ability, and at least one of the entities in the merger must be financially strong — I’m afraid I can’t see either condition being satisfied in the mergers that are being proposed.
5. Big bank need not mean better performance: If you’re not able to make a success of your operations and deliver the performance of your existing level of assets, how does the management propose to make a success of a much bigger and more complex entity? The question is not answered simply by citing the theoretical scale economy.
6. No thematic specialization of merged entities proposed: I don’t think there’s any identity which they have tried to create for each of these merged entities in terms of trying to say, one will be focusing on Corporate, one will be on Small and Medium Enterprises, one will be Retail. There’s been no thinking in terms of any or each of these banks’ focus on a particular theme, particular skill-set and developing expertise in a space which is important as far as the overall economy is concerned.
7. Can’t layoff employees even after merger: Here, even if you rationalise the branches, a commitment has been given that people will not be laid off. That is one of the assurances given by the Ministry. And therefore, it’s not clear how any cost economies will be effected... if people are to be retained and yet be redeployed for other purposes.
8. Small SMEs may be impacted: From a lending perspective, the impact will be felt more for the SMEs and small businesses, who have a lot to gain from the personal contact they have with a local person. And as that becomes a lot weaker, that can impact... That is something which we will know only as we go along.

5 Reasons Why PSB Bank Merger is a Good Idea

1. NPA Resolution May get Quicker: Resolution of NPAs becomes difficult when you have so many banks trying to arrive at an understanding amongst themselves. So, to the extent that the discussion is happening among fewer banks, I think the resolution of NPAs will be facilitated.
2. Easy for Government to handle Management Issues: The most important rationale is that the multiplicity of banks was making enormous demands on the bandwidth of the Finance Ministry in terms of appointments of chairmen, managing directors, executive directors, independent directors. Even though they have the banks board bureau to advise them on appointments, the process is extremely time-consuming. There were long delays in making the senior appointments, as a result of which these banks have been incurring substantial costs. And so, collapsing the number of banks makes it easier for the Ministry to monitor the banks on its watch. I think that is probably one argument for the merger which I can sort of relate to.
3. Big Ticket Loans possible by Merged Entity: Having bigger entities enables people to make bigger loans, which would give them a degree of pricing power vis-a-vis corporates because corporates have been playing one bank off against the other under the multiple banking system. To the extent that you combine banks and they do a bigger amount of funding, it does improve the bargaining position of the bank.
4. Increased Income Possibility: Fee income that the banks get from selling mutual funds and insurance products can go up, because now the banks can command a much larger network and therefore demand a bigger commission from the people whose products they’re selling.
5. Trigger Private Sector Consolidation: The other thing which it can trigger is some consolidation in private sector banks. Because the private sector banks would now be falling behind in terms of scale compared to some of these banks. And therefore, to some extent, this can force the private sector banks to think of a similar consolidation.

5 Reasons Why Teaching Quality is Poor in India

Introduction: The Indian teacher, once a foot soldier in the freedom struggle and a contributor to nation building in the early years after Independence, now stands relegated to the margins of public life.

1. Poor Quality Graduates: Graduates whose college education is of poor quality cannot be expected to overcome their learning backlog at a training institute.
2. National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) Failed as a Regulator: The teacher-training sector became so afflicted by fraudulent institutions and practices that internal mechanisms of correction proved inadequate. Hundreds of cases against bogus institutions reached the Supreme Court, which appointed a commission chaired by late Justice J.S. Verma. For a few years after 2012, when its report was published, an attempt was made to implement its recommendations, but the momentum slowed down before long.
3. Difficult to Sustain Idealism: In a consumption-oriented environment, the kind of idealism school teaching requires is not easy for a young person to cultivate and sustain. The working conditions and ethos at their respective schools erode the stamina of the few who start with a sense of dedication.
4. Family’s cooperation to teachers has receded: Many parents now treat their progeny’s school life as an ‘investment’ for which they demand the best ‘value’, often by relentlessly criticising the teacher and the principal. They don’t know the burden teachers carry on their fragile, ill-equipped professional shoulders. This burden includes the weight of family and community life, and the pressure coming from officialdom.
5. Lure of the Coaching Industry: Para-professionals have been growing in number and influence. They are known by various names in different States, but they also exist in vast numbers outside the system — as providers of home tuition and coaching. This underbelly of the education system suffers no interference from state norms. In the world of coaching, we see the utopia of free enterprise and the demise of teaching as noble work.

5 Points on Hepatitis B Virus in India

1. Morbidity and Mortality Statistics: Despite the introduction of hepatitis B vaccine in the Universal Immunisation Programme in 2002 and scaling-up nationwide in 2011, about one million people in India become chronically infected with the virus every year. According to the Health Ministry, as on February 2019, an estimated 40 million people in India were infected. Hepatitis B infection at a young age turns chronic, causing over 1,00,000 premature deaths annually from liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.
2. Vaccination Coverage Increased; Disease Uncontrolled: According to the WHO, the coverage of hepatitis B third dose had reached 86% in 2015. However, despite the high vaccination coverage, disease prevalence in children aged less than five years has not dropped below 1%.
3. First 24 Hour Period Crucial: One of the reasons for this is the sub-optimal coverage of birth dose in all infants within 24 hours of birth. Even seven years after the Health Ministry approved the birth dose in 2008, its coverage remained low — 45% in 2015 and 60% in 2016 — according to a 2019 Health Ministry report.
4. Awareness and Training of Health Workers: One of the reasons for the low coverage is the fear of wastage of vaccine when a 10-dose vial is used. Unfortunately, health-care workers are very often unaware of the WHO recommendation that allows hepatitis B open-vial policy. Opened vials of hepatitis B vaccine can be kept for a maximum duration of 28 days for use in other children if the vaccine meets certain conditions.
5. Conclusion: Awareness and Achievement: There is also a need to increase public awareness about the merits of the birth dose. On September 3, 2019, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal and Thailand became the first four countries in the World Health Organization’s southeast Asia region to have successfully controlled hepatitis B. India must follow suit.

10 Steps to Make Indian Cities Liveable

1. Empower cities: More financial power should be delegated to cities in proportion to their responsibilities.
2. National level support: It is important to realize urban issues are not the responsibility of local government alone.
3. Integrate new migrants and other vulnerable populations into the urban fabric: These people are often systematically discriminated against by cities’ bureaucracies. Adopt a people-centred approach to urbanization.
4. Beyond city limits: Ensure policies and management decisions at the city level take into account the regional and global context and interactions.
5. Coordinated long-term vision: As cities grow and new cities emerge, we need a coordinated long-term vision of urban development.
6. Prepare for future risks: Cities need to be prepared not only for the risks arising from global phenomena such as climate change, but also those arising from local processes. For example, numerous cities sit on deltas, and many of the world’s deltas are sinking as a result of extraction and the concentration of high-rise buildings.
7. Implementation and accountability: Many cities suffer from air and water pollution, where local officials prioritize economic development over environmental quality; or worse, corruption is rife and officials are bribed to ignore regulations. Enhancing implementation of environmental regulation and reducing corruption will have a dramatic effect on the liveability of cities.
8. More science in planning and decision-making: We do not have a full grasp of how cities as a complex system behave and respond to intervention. For example, decisions about transport can affect housing, industry, energy consumption and health in unexpected ways. Unintended adverse consequences can be minimized through closer collaboration on science and urban policies.
9. Nurture cultural innovation: Cities are centres of rapid cultural innovation. Evidence shows that cultural shifts in cities, e.g. “Cycling is cool” or “Wasting food is a shame”, have the potential to deliver significant sustainability outcomes within and beyond cities.
10. Facilitate city-to-city learning: Cities learn from each other more than from anything else.

5 Improvements Required in MV Act 2019

1. Compensation Calculation Formula Needs to be Reformed: First, closer attention needs to be paid to the formula used to calculate the quantum of compensation. In the case of Arun Kumar Agarwal & Anr v. National Insurance Co. Ltd & Ors (2010), the deceased was a homemaker. The Accident Claim Tribunal reduced the amount of compensation from the calculated sum of ₹6 lakh to a sum of ₹2,60,000, stating that she was unemployed. In light of the same, on appeal, the Supreme Court commented that: “The time has come for the Parliament to have a rethink on properly assessing homemakers’ and householders’ work and suitably amending he provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act… for giving compensation when the victims are women and homemakers.” The amended Act, however, does not account for such nuances.
2. Suggestions of SC Overlooked: Second, many of the problems with the Motor Vehicles Act highlighted by the apex court in the case of Jai Prakash v. M/S. National Insurance Co. & Ors (2009) either remain unaddressed or are inadequately addressed by the amended version. For instance, though vehicle users who don’t give passage to emergency ambulance vehicle are liable to be punished with fines, such punitive measures are likely to remain ineffective in the absence of an effective implementation mechanism.
3. Justice Delivery Speed: Another problem highlighted by the apex court for which the new Act does not provided any remedy is that of procedural delays on the part of tribunals in claims settlement.
4. Disbursal of Compensation in Installments: An absence of in-built safeguards in the compensation mechanism allows for the money to be frittered away by unscrupulous relatives, touts and agents, especially in cases where the victim or his nearest kin are poor and illiterate. It is to address this concern that the Supreme Court in Jai Prakash suggested payment in the form of monthly disbursements of smaller amounts over a longer period of time to victims or their kin, as against a lump-sum award. This has been overlooked by the new Act.
5. Victim Profiling: The fact that the National Crime Records Bureau does not collate data pertaining to the socio-economic and demographic profile of victims of traffic accidents is a testament to the relative apathy shown by the state machinery.

5 Ways How Motor Vehicle Amendment Act 2019 Helps Accident Victims

1. Enhanced Compensation: The amended Act gives the victims some respite as it provides for an enhanced insurance compensation of ₹5 lakh in case of death of a person in a traffic accident and ₹2.5 lakh where there is “grievous hurt”. The compensation to be awarded following hit-and-run accidents has also been raised to ₹2 lakh when a victim dies and ₹50,000 when he/she suffers a grievous injury.
2. Treatment during Golden Hour: Additionally, the Act now requires insurance companies and the government to notify schemes relating to cashless treatment during the ‘Golden Hour’ — the period of first 60 minutes from the occurrence of an accident when the risk of fatality can be minimised to the greatest extent.
3. Compulsory Insurance: It mandates compulsory insurance of all road users, including pedestrians, who will be covered through a ‘Motor Vehicle Accident Fund’.
4. Interim Relief: It also provides for interim relief to be provided to the claimants.
5. Passage to Ambulance: Vehicle users who don’t give passage to emergency ambulance vehicle are liable to be punished with fines

5 Steps India should take to tackle Climate Change

1. Switch from Fossils to Renewables: India ought to switch rapidly from polluting fossil fuels to cleaner renewable energy.
2. India must invest in building much stronger coastal and inland defences against climatic damage.
3. Economic Resilience: It also needs to do more to build resilience in the sectors of agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing, energy, transport, health, and education.
4. Adequate Finance Allocation: The priority for spending at the national and State levels for disaster management needs to rise. Adequate resources must also be allocated for implementing climate action plans that most States have now prepared.
5. Build Global Consensus for Action: Indeed, India should be alarmed at ecological destruction even in faraway places like Amazon. As the country that is most at risk for climate damage, it should lead in pressing the global community to take sweeping climate action.

5 Reason Why Climate Change Hurts India More

1. HSBC Report: A new report from HSBC has categorized India as being the country most vulnerable to climate change — that is, the country most vulnerable to climatic changes, future extreme weather events, response options, and energy transition risks.
2. Tropical Location: A number of Indian States have experienced extreme heatwaves in the past three years, and the nation’s capital recently recorded a temperature of 48°C, its hottest day in 21 years.
3. Long Coastline: India’s exposure to climate hazards is heightened by the location of its vast coastline in the eye of the storm, across the Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea.
4. Population Distribution: It also has a high population density located in harm’s way. For instance, Kerala, which experienced intense floods and landslides in 2018 and 2019, is among the States with the highest density.
5. Monsoon Dependent Economy: Increasing temperatures and changing seasonal rainfall patterns are aggravating droughts and hurting agriculture across the country.

5 Points on India's CVD Burden

1. CVD Burden in India: In low-income countries, including India, however, CVD is still the top killer, with death three times more frequent than that due to cancer.
2. Poor Quality Healthcare: Higher mortality in poorer countries was likely due to other factors, including ‘lower quality and less health care’. Access to affordable, quality health care is still a dream in many pockets in India.
3. High OoP Expenditure Deters Treatment: A great amount of out-of-pocket expenditure (according to Health Ministry data for 2014-15, nearly 62.6 % of India’s total health expenditure) often frustrates continuation of treatment, or adherence to drug regimens.
4. Prominent Causes of High CVD Mortality: It is significant that the single largest risk factor is a low education level. It is no doubt part of the job description of the National Programme to modify this risk factor. However, governments will have to muscle up to tackle a rather startling finding — ambient air pollution and indoor air pollution have an impact on CVD and mortality. Household air pollution is the third top risk factor in low-income countries, according to the study.
5. Solution: National and State schemes running on mission mode, including the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, CVD and Stroke will have to step up efforts to target people at risk with life-saving interventions. While some States have shown limited successes with government-sponsored health insurance schemes, the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Yojana will have to take much of the burden of hospitalisation for complications of non-communicable diseases.

5 Steps by Govt Agency to Curb Plastic Use

1. Policy Making & Implementation: The nodal Ministry for the scheme would be the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, which has been asked not just to ensure and enforce the ban on single use plastics but also finalise the pending policy for Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), especially on milk packets.
2. Plastic as Fuel: Department of Industrial Promotion is to ensure that all cement factories use plastic as fuel.
3. Plastic in Road Construction: National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has been asked to ensure that not only is plastic waste collected and transported responsibly along National Highways but also all collected plastic waste is used for road construction. Gram panchayats have been asked to mobilise shramdaan on October 2 to ensure that all roads under the Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana are built using plastic waste and segregate waste in rural areas. According to studies quoted by officials, roads constructed using water plastic are durable against extreme weather conditions and are also cost-effective.
4. Recycling of Plastic: Since 70% of the total plastic waste in India is from urban areas, all 4,378 urban local bodies have been tasked with massive shramdaan for plastic collection and to collect and segregate waste into recyclable and non-recyclable categories.
5. Alternative and Awareness: Ministries of Tourism and Textiles have also been roped in for the campaign, including pushing for greater production of jute bags etc. to replace plastic bags. The Tourism Ministry has been asked to ensure awareness on SUPs at iconic tourist spots. Railways Ministry will organise massive shramdaans (voluntary work) on October 2 for collection of plastic waste at railway stations and along rail tracks and will run advertising radio spots on all trains.

5 Points on UAPA 2019

1. UAPA 2019 in News: Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, Hafiz Saeed of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), his deputy Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim who planned and executed the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts are the first four persons designated as “terrorists” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Act, 2019.
2. Targeting individual ierrorists: UAPA 2019 empowers the government to designate individuals as terrorists. Previously, only an organisation could be designated as one.
3. Faster seizure of property: UAPA 2019 empowers the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to seize properties, which previously required permission from the Director General of Police.
4. Increases investigative resource personnel: UAPA 2019 allows NIA officers, of the rank of inspector or above, to investigate cases. Before, only Deputy Superintendent or Assistant Commissioner of Police or above, could do so.
5. Concerns over UAPA 2019: Opposition parties have raised concern over the law, saying it could also be used against political opponents and civil society activists who spoke against the government may be branded as “terrorists.”

5 Benefits of One Nation One Ration Card

1. Beneficial for Migrants: The system, once introduced, would enable beneficiaries to get their quota of grains from any ration shop of their own choice across the country. The ONORC system is of considerable utility to migrants.
2. Reduce Costs for Migrants: Identification of beneficiaries is transaction-cost heavy and is fraught with several inclusion and exclusion errors. If a household moves, to become eligible, the costs must be incurred all over again. Given the quintessential low bargaining power associated with the fact of being a migrant, the costs are generally steeper for migrant families. ONORC, by doing away with duplication and eligibility-related cost escalations, will benefit them significantly.
3. May lead to divisibility of entitlements: Also, as partial migration is a common phenomenon, ONORC, if combined with divisibility in entitlements, can benefit households even more. The migrant member can pick up grains at his location while the family staying back in rural areas pick their share there.
4. Choice of Dealer Open: ONORC will give the beneficiaries the opportunity to opt for the dealer of their choice. If any dealer misbehaves or mis-allocates, the beneficiary can switch to another FPS shop instantly.
5. Strengthen entire PDS Network: Finally, combined with a rating system based on the experiences akin to the Uber/Ola system, the government can improve PDS by closer monitoring and control. Those PDS dealers who perform better could be rewarded. But for the system to work, there needs to be a unified structure like in app-based cabs.

10 Points on boosting Fintech Sector

Steering Committee on Fintech Recommendations:

1. Virtual Banking System: Department of Financial Services and the Reserve Bank of India may examine the suitability of virtual banking system’ in the Indian context, costs and benefits regarding allowing virtual banks and prepare for a possible future scenario where banks do not need to set up branches and yet deliver the full-scale retail banking services ranging from extending loans, savings accounts, issuing cards and offering payment services through their app or website.
2. Level Playing Field: The panel had also urged the government and the RBI to take steps to eliminate any discrimination in access to payment infrastructure to non-banks as compared to banks, with a view to enhance competition and innovation.
3. Fintech for Security: The committee recommends the use of fintech, especially by PSE [public sector enterprise] financial service companies to bolster cybersecurity, fraud control and anti-money laundering.
4. Encourage Private Players: The committee also recommends that fintech firms specialising in this field should be encouraged to set up their businesses in India.
5. NBFC for Farms: NBFCs had made significant progress in leveraging fintech to increase their outreach, such companies should be incentivised to “work in the agricultural space by including them in credit guarantee schemes.”
6. Ease KYC Compliance: In a bid to ease the KYC process, the committee recommended that various options, including video-based KYC, making available validated electronic versions of KYC-related documents through a DigiLocker, and making these available for verification by service providers with customer consent, be considered early.
7. Harness Tech for Insurance: The Committee recommends that insurance companies and lending agencies in the agri sector should be encouraged to use drone and remote sensing technology, directly or using services of fintech companies, to assess discrepancies in self-reported cropping patterns and crop cutting experiment processes, enabling more efficient delivery of both credit and insurance products and reduce credit/insurance risks.
8. Digitisation of Land Records: Committee said the government should take up “on a war footing” was the digitisation of land records and also recommended a deadline of three years within which this must be completed.
9. Consumer Protection Framework: Committee said that a legal framework for consumer protection should be put in place early keeping in mind the rise of fintech and digital services, and also said a law must also be enacted for this.
10. Ease Access to Social Schemes: To further ease access to pension schemes and small savings schemes, the committee recommended that a common digital platform be created for all micro-pension schemes and Government pension schemes through which pension subscribers can subscribe to specific schemes seamlessly and reduce access barriers by allowing payments through various modes such as Jan Dhan Yojana accounts, debit cards, credit cards, internet banking, mobile wallets, etc.

5 Points on Hunger & Malnutrition in India

1. Statistics: Food and Agriculture Report, 2018 stated that India houses 195.9 million of the 821 million undernourished people in the world, accounting for approximately 24% of the world’s hungry. Prevalence of undernourishment in India is 14.8%, higher than both the global and Asian average.
2. Statistics: It has been “reported in 2017 by the National Health Survey (NHS) that approximately 19 crore people in the country were compelled to sleep on an empty stomach every night. Moreover, the most alarming figure revealed is that approximately 4500 children die every day under the age of five years in our country resulting from hunger and malnutrition, amounting to over three lakh deaths every year owing to hunger, of children alone”.
3. Solution 1: State-funded community kitchen: Tamil Nadu's Amma Unavagam had become a roaring success by involving peers in self-help groups, employing the poor to serve hygienic food to eradicate the gnawing problem of hunger on the streets. Rajasthan's Annapurna Rasoi, Indira Canteens in Karnataka, Delhi's Aam Aadmi Canteen, Anna Canteen in Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand Mukhyamantri Dal Bhat and Odisha's Ahaar Centre were combating starvation and malnutrition crisis.
4. Solution 2: Creation of a national food grid by the Centre that would be beyond the scope of the Public Distribution Scheme (PDS).
5. Conclusion: Starvation deaths continue to eat into the right to life and dignity of social fabric and a “radical” new measure like community kitchens need to be set up across the country to feed the poor and the hungry.

5 Points on Chief Minister Employment Generation Programme

1. The scheme aims to develop small and micro businesses and generate employment by setting up one lakh industries. The programme will be implemented through the Directorate of Industries and Khadi and Village Industry Commission.
2. The investment limit for projects in the service sector and the manufacturing sector is ₹10 lakh and ₹50 lakh respectively. The State government will be granting 15% to 35% of the project cost. The beneficiary will have to invest 5% to 10% of the cost, while 60% to 80% of it would be provided through a loan from nationalised or private banks. Under this scheme, industries won’t have to offer collateral as the government will guarantee to repay the loan.
3. The age-limit for beneficiaries has been set between 18 and 45 years for women, and 50 years for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
4. Women entrepreneurs will be eligible for 30% reservation in the scheme, while SCs/STs will get 20% reservation.
5. The State government has set apart ₹500 crore for the scheme this year.

5 Reasons Why Ladakh is Happy With UT Status

1. Long Term Demand: Ladakh as a region had been demanding for such a separate administrative setup. Around a year back the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC) of both Leh and Kargil had unanimously passed a resolution, demanding "complete autonomy from Kashmir's administrative setup
2. Dominance: Dominance of Kashmir Valley-based political parties in State politics has resulted in discrimination against Ladakh.
3. Discrimination: Leh has always received less funds than required and has not seen development in years. People complained that Kashmir would take 90% of the funds and leave us with just 10%. Now that won’t happen.
4. Special Provisions: The Consitution makes special provisions for the administration of tribal-dominated areas in four States: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Locals are confident the Central government will fulfil Ladakh’s dream.
5. Distinct cultural identity: Leh has predominantly been Buddhist population.

5 Reasons Why RBI Transferring Rs 1.76 Lakh Crore Surplus to GoI is OK

1. Sovereign Guarantee: The central bank is a unique institution; it is backed by the faith reposed on it by the the Central government, and therefore, a huge amount of reserves with the central bank is in the nature of idle cash which could have been utilised more productively in the economy.
2. RBI most capitalized central bank in world: The Economic Survey of 2016-17 found that the RBI is one of the most capitalised central banks in the world and noted, “There is no particular reason why this extra capital should be kept with the RBI”. Later, the former Chief Economic Adviser, Arvind Subramanian in his book Of Counsel: The Challenges of the Modi-Jaitley Economy (2018) has caricatured the syndrome of treating the government’s capital at the RBI by RBI officials as “prudence or paranoia”.
3. Based on Jalan Committee Reco: Jalan committee does not seem to have compromised on arriving at the economic capital framework of the RBI and has calculated the extent of excess capital of the RBI under a set of fairly standard and conservative assumptions.
4. Helpful for Recapitalisation: When the spectre of a slowdown is looming large and when channels of credit disbursements are choked because of a lack of capital with the commercial banks — a transfer of such additional money to the government could enable the government to go in for bank recapitalisation in a big way and would be good for the economy.
5. Help maintain budget discipline: The transfer of the additional surplus from the RBI could enable the government to pursue efforts towards stimulating the economy while maintaining budget discipline. Remember, in pursuing the fiscal stimulus of 2007-08, fiscal deficit went up from 2.5% to 6%.

5 Concerns Around PSB Mergers

1. Are mergers driven by synergies — in products, costs, business, geographies or technology and the most important, cost synergies?
2. Public sector banks are over-staffed. Will they realise cost synergies through branch and staff rationalisation?
3. Narasimham Committee in the late 1990s recommended shutting down weaker banks. Is that ever going to happen, or we just going to saddle strong banks with weaker banks?
4. Will there be adequate reforms in governance and management of these banks? Key reforms to be made are at the board level, including in appointments, especially of government nominees.
5. Will the government be able to manage the fallout of unleashing four mergers simultaneously which is bound to cause upheaval in the industry?

5 Reasons Why India's Growth Collapsed

1. Manufacturing Slowdown: There is a dramatic slowdown in the manufacturing sector. The data show that the manufacturing sector grew at an anaemic two-year low of 0.6% in the first quarter of 2019-20, down from 12.1% in the same quarter of the previous year.
2. Exogenous factors: The impact comes, especially, from global headwinds due to the deceleration in developed economies, the Sino-American trade conflict, etc.
3. Farm crisis: The agriculture sector also saw a dramatic slowdown in growth to 2% from 5.1% over the same period.
4. Real estate in dumps: The plight of the real estate sector was also highlighted by the slowdown in its growth rate to 5.7% in the first quarter of this financial year, compared with 9.6% in the same quarter of 2018-19.
5. Demand collapse: The growth slowdown was led by private final consumption expenditure, which grew 3.1% only (18 quarter low). Investment demand also remained lacklustre and fixed capital formation grew 4%.

5 Reasons why PSBs have been merged

1. These bank mergers, and the ones already carried out, will lead to the creation of big banks with an enhanced capacity to give credit.
2. These big banks would also be able to compete globally.
3. Merged banks will increase their operational efficiency by reducing their cost of lending.
4. The banks that are being merged with each other run the same or very similar platforms, and so there will be no disruption in their activities.
5. The merger also has the potential to lead to large cost reductions due to network overlaps.

5 Benefits of 100% FDI in Coal Mining

1. This step will also lead to energy security of the country as 70 per cent of India’s electricity is generated from thermal power plants. This will help provide power to all 24x7.
2. Influx of international players will create an efficient and competitive coal market in India.
3. It is expected to bring state of the art coal mining technology to the country & will help in environmentally sustainable mining.
4. This decision will also create direct and indirect employment in coal bearing areas and will have a positive impact in the economic development of these regions.
5. Reform is likely to help the coal bearing states get more revenue.

5 Characteristics of New India: PM Modi

1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the New India is about participative democracy, a citizen-centric government and proactive citizenry.
2. Thousands of talented youngsters are creating fantastic platforms, showcasing their spirit of enterprise. India is now excelling in new arenas where we hardly present earlier.
3. We will be a nation free of corruption and we make good governance a mass movement.
4. New India is not about the voice of a selected a few, it is about each and every Indian.
5. Our vision for New India includes not only caring for those living in the nation but also outside. Our diaspora is our pride, contributes to India's economic growth.

5 Steps taken to Ameliorate NBFC Crisis

1. Government nudges PSBs: The government has nudged public-sector banks to give a helping hand to the NBFCs in a bid to ease the liquidity crunch.
2. Partial Credit Gaurantee by GoI: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s plan is that the government will provide one-time six months partial credit guarantee to public sector banks for purchase of assets of financially sound NBFCs, amounting to a total of Rs1 lakh crore, during the current financial year. This is for first loss of up to 10 per cent. As per the scheme, the guarantee will be valid for 24 months from the date of purchase. The assets will need to have a minimum AA credit rating, the eligible NBFCs should have made a profit in at least one of the past two years and their NPAs should not be more than 6 per cent.
3. Additional Liquidity: The RBI has announced additional liquidity facility to banks for purchase of assets from and on-lending to NBFCs and HFCs, which would help banks avail an additional liquidity of Rs1.34 lakh crore.
4. Relaxation in ECB Norms: RBI also relaxed end-use restrictions on external commercial borrowings (ECB). Eligible borrowers will now be able to raise ECB with a minimum average maturity period of 10 years for working capital purposes and general corporate purposes, and ECB with a minimum average maturity of seven years for repayment of rupee loans availed domestically for capital expenditure.
5. Continuous Monitoring: RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said NBFCs were being monitored intensively on a regular basis to ensure that a situation of an institution collapsing would not arise.

5 Reasons Why NBFC Sector is Important

1. One-fifth credit share in economy: Credit rating agency Fitch estimates that NBFCs now account for 20 per cent of credit to India’s economy, compared with 15 per cent five years ago.
2. Critical lenders for housing and auto: They accounted for 30 per cent of auto loans in 2018, and, along with housing financing companies, for 44 per cent of home loans. The automobile and residential real estate segments have been hit by the crisis in the NBFC sector.
3. Important for jobs: Most vehicle makers have cut down production, and ancillary units have fired many employees owing to the slow demand. The liquidity crisis is the major factor preventing completion of more than 5.6 lakh stalled housing units across top seven cities
4. Key for FMCG Growth: Many fast moving consumer goods makers have seen their growth slowing down over the last few quarters. NBFCs play an important role in driving consumption pattern and fund important sectors that drive Indian economy.
5. Important for $5T target: Any slowdown in lending to these crucial sectors will adversely hamper our country’s plan to become a $5 trillion economy.

5 Causes of NBFC Crisis in India

1. Asset-Liability Mismatch: Many non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) relied on raising short-term funds by issuing commercial papers to provide long-term loans. When the commercial papers matured, they would simply raise fresh short-term debt. Thus the cycle continued, but then the IL&FS crisis happened. The NBFCs’ over-reliance on short-term funds seems to have led to a huge asset-liability mismatch.
2. Small Debt Market: As India does not have a big debt market, banks and mutual funds are the major sources of funds for the NBFCs.
3. Banks Cautious: Banks, which are fighting their own battle of reining in non-performing assets, reduced the funding to NBFCs 
4. Mutual Funds Shy Away: Debt mutual funds, which were hit by their exposure to IL&FS and a few other troubled entities, also started cutting their exposure to the NBFC sector. 
5. Drop in Management Standards: Availability of easy money from banks, drop in lending standards, ineffective risk management, lack of appropriate checks and balances, improper regulatory norms, and non-transparent and complex business procedures.

5 Challenges in Afghan Peace Process

1. Rise of IS: Despite the Afghan government’s claims of cracking down on militants, threats from the IS and Taliban have only grown both of which have a goal to destabilize the state that and throw the country into further chaos.
2. Failure of USA’s strategy: USA has failed to evolve a cohesive strategy regarding military aid to Pakistan, troop presence in Afghanistan, indiscriminate use of airpower or infrastructure building in the country.
3. Role of Pakistan: Pakistan has direct links with the Taliban and its allies in the Haqqani network and provides safe havens to terrorist groups within it territory. Pakistan would hamper the democratic process in Afghanistan, as it loses strategic depth to India due to that.
4. Legitimacy of the National Unity Government (NUG) seems eroded due to conflict between Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and President Ashraf Ghani, corruption, lack of implementation of Electoral reforms and refusal of Taliban to talk to Afghan government which it thinks as artificial, foreign imposed and not representative of Afghan people.
5. Conflicts between different stakeholders: There seems to be a ‘Great Game’ for influence in Afghanistan. U.S.-Russia tensions are creating space for proxies for both on Afghan soil. China is trying to build a rival military base in Afghanistan. All these factors have contributed to regrouping and strengthening of Taliban which controls more than half of territory in the country.

5 Significance of Afghan Peace Process for India

1. Peace in the region- is needed so that trade and prosperity could be ushered among the countries.
2. Strategic Depth- India has invested heavily in capacity building of the Afghan forces, administration among other domains. If a settlement is achieved, India will have a strategic partner in Afghanistan, which can be used as a tool against Pakistan.
3. Economic Markets- for Indian agricultural products, electrical machinery, rubber products, pharmaceuticals among others. During April-December 2016-17, the bilateral trade was to the tune of $590.1 million with India’s exports to Afghanistan being $377.2 million and imports from Afghanistan worth $212.9 million.
4. Connectivity- to Iran and Central Asia through highways.
5. Spread of terror- If the terror groups operating from and around Afghanistan-Pakistan border are not neutralized now and US withdrawal takes place in haste, it could have dangerous effects for Indian security.

5 Points on India's Stand on Afghan Peace Process

1. Legitimately elected government in Afghanistan should be a part of any peace initiative. In the past, the Afghan government was often sidelined by international interlocutors when they engaged with the Taliban.
2. All initiatives and processes must include all sections of the Afghan society. There is acceptability in India about talking to the Taliban, since they represent a “section of the Afghan society”.
3. The achievement of establishing democratic processes and human rights, including women’s rights, should be respected.
4. Any process should not lead to any ungoverned spaces where terrorists and their proxies can relocate.
5. Also, the Pakistan-based terrorist groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, and Jaish-e-Mohammed must not be allowed to relocate.

5 Solutions for India's RCEP Apprehensions

1. Protect & Promote domestic industry: Given the costs and benefits in RCEP, it is important for India to strike a balance between domestic and external interests to minimise the adverse effects of RCEP on its domestic engineering industry. If domestic industry has to thrive, it needs protection as also the enabling conditions created by factor and product market reforms.
2. Use of skilled labour: India has been insisting on capitalising on its pool of 'skilled' labour force to gain from improved access to employment opportunities in these economies. This has been expected to come about by increasing the ease of movement of professionals through the liberalisation of what is called Mode 4 in services trade.
3. Protect tariff structure: India should continue to maintain its position of proposed dual tariff structure in the RCEP as it will help India to protect its tariff lines which are more vulnerable to cheap Chinese imports. It must emphasise on a special and differential treatment based on stages of economic development.
4. Restrict Rules of Origin (RoO): It can be used as a strong instrument in RCEP to curb the free flow of Chinese goods into the domestic market. India should restrict RoO to high value-addition to prevent the imports of cheap Chinese goods, which may come to India through our existing FTA partners. Strict RoO in RCEP will provide a safety wall to domestic producers against cheap Chinese goods.
5. Placing suitable safeguards: Within the FTA, provision should be made for safeguard measures like antidumping etc which should be invoked if a volume or price trigger for the concerned products is reached.

5 Benefits of India Enterprise Architecture Framework

1. Provide a ONE Government Experience to the citizens and businesses, by offering integrated services through multiple channels, in a contactless, frictionless manner.
2. Enhance the efficiency of delivery of services, by defining and enforcing service levels of a very high order.
3. Improve the effectiveness of implementation of the developmental and welfare schemes through a holistic performance management.
4. Enhance the productivity of employees and agencies through easy access to information.
5. Provide integrated and cross cutting services through seamless interoperability across the Whole-of-Government.

5 Principles of India Enterprise Architecture Framework

1. SDG Linkage: Performance Mangement Systems are aligned to Sustainable Development Goals prioritized by the Government
2. Integrated Services: That cut across agency-silos are identified, designed and delivered to realize the vision of ONE Government.
3. Sharing and Resuability: All coomonly required applications are abstracted to be built once and deployed across the whole of government through reuse and sharing.
4. Data sharing across the government, subject to rights and priviliges, so as to prevent deployment and use of duplicative sets of data by different agencies.
5. Mobile Channels are Mandatory: For delivery of all services, among all delivery channels

10 Points of Shillong Declaration

1. Improve the citizen’s experience with Government services by promoting timely implementation of India Enterprise Architecture (IndEA) and implementing a single sign-on for interoperability and integration among e-Government applications throughout the country
2. Consolidate the plethora of successful State level e-Governance projects and domain-based projects with a focus to replicate them as a common application software with configurable features
3. Ensure improvement in ease of living and ease of doing business by making a big shift in the role of government from Service Provider to Service Enabler, thus moving from development of applications to making available public digital platforms where multiple competitive applications can be developed
4. Take steps to further improve connectivity in North Eastern States by addressing the issues and challenges of telecommunications connectivity at grassroot level and formulate and implement a comprehensive telecom development plan
5. Take steps to enhance the activities of Electronics Sector Skill Council in North Eastern States and explore the possibility for opening an electronics skill center in Shillong
6. Promote use of e-Office and move towards less paper State Secretariats in the North-Eastern States and in the District level offices
7. Improve the quality of delivery of e-Services in the North East to fulfil the vision of improved citizen experience
8. Develop India as a global cloud hub and facilitate development of Government applications and databases on Cloud by default
9. Adopt emerging technologies for finding e-Governance solutions
10. Promote the Digital India Projects with focus on Smart Cities and Smart Villages through Startups and Smart Entrepreneurship

5 Apprehensions of India Regarding RCEP

1. Trade deficit: India’s trade deficits have always widened with nations after signing free-trade-agreements (FTAs) with them. India’s merchandise trade deficit with the RCEP grouping hit $105 billion in FY19 (60% of its total deficit).
2. Threat to domestic market: RCEP members, particularly China, are demanding zero tariffs over 90 per cent tariff lines which is a major concern for India as low cost Chinese manufacturing goods will swamp its domestic market by dumping cheaper goods. A large number of Indian industry including iron and steel, dairy, marine products, electronic products, chemicals and pharmaceuticals and textiles have expressed concerns that proposed tariff elimination under RCEP would render them uncompetitive
3. Low labour productivity: Despite low relative labour cost, labour productivity in India in manufacturing is still one of the lowest in the world, and spatially fragmented labour laws escalate costs of transaction. Under such circumstances, the Indian industry is hardly in a position to compete in a level playing ground in a freetrade region.
4. Strict IPR policy: The “stringent IP provisions” have been stumbling blocks for a while, with India arguing for these to be taken out of the agreement. The provisions, if adopted, would lead to domestic pharma companies not being able to launch or export affordable life-saving drugs across the world. While in the agriculture sector, farmers would lose the right to save or sell seeds or the harvested produce from plant varieties that have been granted intellectual property.
5. Competition from China: It is evident that the size and scale of Chinese manufacturing industry backed with extensive financial and non-financial support provide a clear edge to Chinese manufacturing producers.

5 Benefits of RCEP to India

1. Market Access: Owing to its size, it is expected to provide market access for India’s goods and services exports and encourage greater investments and technology into India.
2. Alternative to APEC: RCEP offers alternative to Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) on economic front in which India has been attempting to join APEC since 1993, but still has not got the membership.
3. FDI gains: The arrangement is expected to harmonise the trade-related rules, investment and competition regimes of India with those of other countries in the group. There would be a boost to inward and outward foreign direct investment, particularly export-oriented FDI.
4. Aligned with India’s initiative: India wants its ‘Make in India’ to become a global success, it must participate positively to become a part of the Asian value and supply chain which either begins or ends in India. It also aligns with Act East Policy which make both economic and strategic sense for India to be the part of the agreement.
5. Growth of supply chains: Signing the RCEP treaty will enable India to enter the global supply chain as it will be helped by frictionless movement between 16 members.

5 Implications of Scrapping of A.370

1. Article 356 under which the President’s Rule can be imposed in any state, will also be applicable to the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
2. The central quota laws in school-college admissions and state government jobs will apply.
3. People from other states may be able to acquire property and residency rights.
4. RTI would be made applicable.
5. Certain provisions of the J&K Constitution which denied property rights to native women who marry a person from outside the State may stand invalidated.

5 Constitutional Problems in Scrapping Article 370

1. Legality of the Presidential order: Article 370 itself cannot be amended by a Presidential Order. Even though the Order amends Article 367, the content of those amendments, however, do amend Article 370. And as the Supreme Court has held on multiple occasions, you cannot do indirectly what you cannot do directly. Therefore, legality of the order – insofar as it amends Article 370 – is questionable.
2. Misusing the President Rule and Making Governor as a substitute for the elected assembly: The governor is the representative of the Union Government in the State. In effect, the Union Government has consulted itself.
3. Decision of Permanent Character taken by Governor: Also, President’s Rule is temporary and is meant to be a stand-in until the elected government is restored. Consequently, decisions of a permanent character – such as changing the entire status of a state- taken without the elected legislative assembly, but by the Governor, are inherently problematic.
4. Equating state assembly with constituent assembly: The difference is that the one has to exercise its powers as per the constitution, while the other develops the constitution. This distinction that is at the heart of India’s basic structure doctrine that prevents certain constitutional amendments on the ground that Parliament, which exercises representative authority, is limited and cannot create a new constitution and thereby exercise sovereign authority.
5. Going against the Jammu and Kashmir’s Constitutional position: Presidential order has assumed that legislative assembly has power to scrap Article 370. But Article 147 of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution prohibits such a move. The Article makes it clear that any changes to the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution needs the approval of two-thirds of the members of the legislative assembly.

5 Alternatives to Local Job Reservation

1. Tackle Core Issues of Unemployment by more job creation and industrialisation rather than such moves. Government should provide incentives to industries for more investments and create an enabling environment for it.
2. Government should focus on making the youth of a state employable with proper investments in education, health and skill development.
3. Need to promote labour intensive industries, sunrise sectors (hi-tech companies) to absorb all kinds of job seekers.
4. Promote Self-employment: So that people create opportunities for themselves. E.g.: MUDRA; STAND UP INDIA
5. Promote services sectors such as tourism with high positive spillover on other sectors.

5 Difficulties in Implementing Local Job Reservation

1. May not pass legal scrutiny: Article 16 does not empower the state government to provide for such reservation, rather the Parliament is empowered to do so.
2. Politically Motivated Move: Rather than addressing the core concerns like structural reforms, infrastructure development and so on, states are using reservation as a tool to capture votes in the short term.
3. Dangerous for unity of the country: Such moves could lead to opening of a Pandora’s Box where other states start implementing such policies, which result in fractures in unity of India.
4. Concerns of the industry: Factories may be employing labour migrating in from different states. It may be difficult/expensive to find locals for the jobs and consequently their ease of doing business will be hampered.
5. Polarisation and Communal Strife: Such a move may disturb social harmony as many workers and their families may get uprooted because of disruption of their income source.

5 Reasons Why Local Job Reservation is Demanded

1. Agrarian Distress: Agrarian sector is under tremendous stress across the country, and young people are desperate to move out of the sector.
2. Lack of jobs: There is a serious dearth of jobs (private and government). Mot only are the jobs too few, they are precarious and do not pay well.
3. Displacement of Landowners: Since most of the land requirement is met by acquiring private agricultural lands, the landowners are being displaced and deprived of their occupation and thereby loss of income.
4. Discrimination: Several reports like the State of Working India 2018 released by the Centre for Sustainable Employment of the Azim Premji University have shown that discrimination is one of the reasons for under representations of Dalits and Muslims in the corporate sector.
5. Sentiment against workers migrating from distressed regions and ‘stealing’ limited local opportunities have created pressure upon regional politicians to take some steps.

5 Views on State Funding of Elections

1. Indrajit Gupta Committee (1998) endorsed state funding of elections, seeing “full justification constitutional, legal as well as on ground of  public  interest” in order to establish a fair playing field for parties with less money. The Committee recommended two limitations to state funding. Firstly, that state funds should  be given only to national and state parties allotted a symbol and not to independent candidates. Secondly, that in the short-term state funding should only be given in kind, in the form of certain facilities to the recognised political parties and their candidates. The Committee noted that at the time of the report the economic situation of the country only suited partial and not full state funding of elections.
2. 1999 Law Commission of India report concluded that total state funding of elections is “desirable” so long as political parties are prohibited from taking funds from other sources. The Commission concurred with the Indrajit Gupta Committee that only partial state funding was possible given the economic conditions of the country at that time. Additionally, it strongly recommended that the appropriate regulatory framework be put in place with regard to political parties (provisions ensuring internal  democracy,  internal structures and maintenance of accounts, their auditing and submission to Election Commission) before state funding of elections is attempted.
3. “Ethics in Governance”, a report of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2008) also recommended partial state funding of elections for the purpose of reducing “illegitimate and unnecessary funding” of elections expenses.
4. National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution, 2001, did not endorse state funding of elections but concurred with the 1999 Law Commission report that the appropriate framework for regulation of political parties would need to be implemented before state funding is considered.
5. View of Election Commission: The Election Commission has told a parliamentary committee that it does not support state funding of elections but instead seeks radical reforms in the way funds are spent by political parties.

5 Arguments Against State Funding of Elections

1. State funding increases the distance between political leaders and ordinary citizens as they do not depend on citizens for mobilization of party funds.
2. If all or substantial amount of the party income comes directly from the State rather than from voluntary sources, political parties risk losing their independence and become organs of the State, thereby losing their ties to the civil society.
3. State funding would encourage non-serious candidates to enter into political arena merely to avail of state funds.
4. Many experts believe that state funding of election will not stop parties from lobbying and getting undisclosed additional funds.
5. State funding of elections will increase burden on the exchequer with no guarantee that black money will stop playing a role in the electoral process.

5 Arguments in Favour of State Funding of Elections

1. It creates a level playing field for parties and candidates with fewer resources.
2. It helps to reduce the dependency on corporate or private money.
3. By providing floor level fund” to everyone, state fund scheme can be very helpful for smaller and newer political entrants.
4. Candidates who are elected through a fair electoral process would be transparent and accountable in providing governance.
5. Through state funding the demand for internal democracy in party, women representations, representations of weaker section can be encouraged.

5 Arguments against RTI Amendments

1. Incorrect Rational given: Experts have rejected the justifications of government on the rationalisation of status. The decisions of all authorities including those of the President and prime minister are challenged before high courts and that their status does not prevent or debar such challenges. The genesis of the RTI comes from Supreme Court rulings on how right to information is a precondition for informed voting and therefore, parity between information and election commissioners is not an anomaly.
2. Dilutes the independence of CICs and ICs: As the Central government may determine the term and salaries of CICs and ICs. Uncertain term and salary changeable by executive notification reduces CIC to an obedient subordinate. This also hampers accountability as it calls people’s right to information under question. A situation could arise where different commissioners will have different tenures and salaries. If salaries and tenures are downgraded, eminent people may not apply for the vacant posts.
3. Dilutes the status of CICs: Chief Information Commissioner and Chief Election Commissioner (and the state level officers) were kept at the same footing, as according to the Supreme Court of India RTI and Right to vote are equally important fundamental rights. However, the amendments tend to change this scenario.
4. Encroaches upon the state jurisdiction: As the Central government will prescribe the term, status and salary of State Information Commissioners.
5. Lack of consultation: With the civil society and the state Governments, which amounts to undemocratic imposition. It was not put in the public domain and the amendment did not undergo much scrutiny.

5 Success Stories of NHRC

1. NHRC opened the state to judicial and moral scrutiny: One example is the consistent watch the Commission has kept on incidences of ‘encounter killings’ and deaths in custody. It has issued guidelines wherein every death in police action has to be reported to the NHRC within 48 hours of the incident.
2. Vocal in its opinion against laws such as the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act (TADA) and Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (POTA) – which had scope for misuse and possible human rights violations.
3. Expanding Reach: Over the years, as awareness about the NHRC’s existence and work increased, so has its reach among the people. According to the Commission’s estimate, from 169 complaints received in 1993-94, the NHRC went on to receive 68,713 complaints in 2002-2003 to one lakh in 2007-2008 and 1,17,808 in 2015-16.
4. Suo motu cognisance of human rights violations, based on media reports or other sources of information and investigates them. For example, the NHRC issued a notice to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs over the planned deportation of about 40,000 Rohingya immigrants, and asked the ministry to submit a detailed report within four weeks.
5. Enlarging its ambit/mandate: The Commission has also gone beyond the physical violation of human rights to protect the economic, social and cultural rights of people Example - being assigned to look into the extreme poverty, starvation in Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput regions of Odisha etc.

5 Problems in NHRC Working

1. Lack of infrastructure: In 2017, NHRC admitted that despite a 1,455 per cent increase in complaints between 1995 and 2015, its staff strength had decreased by 16.94 per cent in the same period. Commission officials have admitted in Supreme Court that with its current staff capacity, it cannot investigate more than 100 cases a year.
2. Conflict of interest: Almost 50 per cent of the NHRC’s staff is on deputation from other services who keeps changing, leaving the commission constantly short-staffed. Also, the officers conducting investigations are usually on deputation from the same forces that have been accused of violations and will have to inevitably go back to them, creating a conflict of interest.
3. Limiting its ambit of work: In terms of action against excess police action, the NHRC has limited itself to custodial death, rape and torture by police and has refrained from venturing into torture cases related to terrorism and insurgency. Civil society groups argue that NHRC has refrained from asserting its independence by not taking up cases with high political stakes.
4. Questions of independence and govt interference: The very nature of formation of the NHRC – by an Act of Parliament and where the chairperson and the members of the Commission are appointed by the President, on the recommendations of a committee that includes the Prime Minister – which has raised doubts in the minds of many about its ability to function independently. Additionally, the recommendations of the NHRC are not binding on the governments.
5. No power of granting punishment to the accused: While in over 90 per cent of cases financial compensation recommended by the NHRC is paid to the victims by the concerned authorities, the Commission has had very little success in getting the guilty punished. The NHRC may, however, move to SC if its recommendations are not accepted. For example: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted to investigate some of the serious cases of 2002 Godhra riots of Gujarat. The NHRC has no powers to investigate human rights violations involving the armed forces. NHRC on receiving a complaint or while taking suo motu cognisance of a violation, can only send queries to the Defence Ministry and make recommendations based on it.