POLITY

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1. Partial cover: More needs to be done on the mother and child front

Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill

·       The Bill extends the period of paid maternity leave for women working in the organized sector to 26 weeks from the current 12.

·       This is applicable to all organizations that employ 10 or more people.

·       The enhancement of paid maternity leave for women in the organized sector through an amendment to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 is a progressive step.

·       This is in line with the World Health Organization, which recommends exclusive breastfeeding of children for the first 24 weeks.

·       It also gives some benefits to adoptive mothers and women who get children using embryo transfers as well.

Need to cover unorganized sector

·       It is expected to cover only 1.8 million women, which is a small subset of women in the workforce.

·       In the unorganized sector, the only support available is a small conditional cash benefit of ?6,000 during pregnancy and lactation offered under the Maternity Benefit Programme.

·       The reported move to restrict even this meagre benefit to the first child for budgetary reasons is retrograde and must be given up.

·       Providing benefits for women and children is a societal responsibility.

·       It can be funded through a combination of general taxation and contributory payments from those who have the means.

·       Health care should be treated as a right and deliveries handled without cost to women.

·       The income guarantees during the 26-week period can be ensured through a universal social insurance system.

·       Beneficiaries covered by the latest amendment must be protected from discrimination through clear provisions.

·       Mandating crèche facilities to help women workers under the changed law is a forward-looking move, but it will work well only with a good oversight mechanism.

·       Access to welfare support has become even more critical as workers migrate frequently due to economic changes.

o   The twin imperatives are, therefore, to create more jobs for women in a diversified economy,

o   To provide social opportunity through maternal and child welfare measures.

Limitations

·       It is likely to adversely impact women in the workplace.

·       The gender ratio in corporate India is already highly lopsided.

·        In 2015, women accounted for only 21% of the jobs at the entry level to managerial position, according to a report.

·        HR managers are wary about the added costs of hiring young, fertile women.

·       This extension of maternity leave to six months will effectively double these costs.

·       This is likely to result in much fewer women being employed in the corporate sector.

·       In progressive countries, at least a part of the maternity costs are borne by the government. In India, this is entirely passed on to companies.

·        when teams are small, the cost of the absentee employee is borne by other employees, not so much in money, but in terms of working additional hours to make up for the absence,”

·       Also, India’s leaking pipeline – the number of women who quit their jobs between junior and middle levels – is 50%, compared to the average of 29% in Asia.

·       This also implies that the number of women who avail their maternity benefits and yet do not resume their jobs is rather high, adding to the cost concerns of their recruiters.

Positives

·        Organizations which employ more than 30 women (or 50 people, whichever is less) will now have to provide a crèche.

·       The mother is allowed to visit the crèche four times during the day.

·       Also, mothers who adopt babies are entitled to 12 weeks of paid maternity leave.

2. Multi-phase polls are here to stay: Nasim Zaidi

·       Because of the use of Central police forces for the conduct of free and fair polls.

·       Preference for Central police forces by political parties, candidates and even voters that had led to this state of affairs.

3. Punjab varsity develops new Bt cotton varieties

·       Punjab Agricultural University in Ludhiana has developed the country’s first genetically-modified varieties of cotton.

·       The seeds of which could be reused by farmers with no commercial restrictions, resulting in savings on repeat purchases every season.

·       The price of these varieties will be much lower than current Bt cotton hybrid seed, and it can cut cultivation costs.

·       The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has identified three Bt cotton varieties – PAU Bt 1, F1861 and RS2013 – for cultivation in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

Cry1Ac gene at work

·       All three varieties carry the Cry1Ac gene imparting resistance against bollworm complex.

·       The genetic modification involves introduction of the Bt bacterial gene that codes for a protein which kills the bollworm cotton pest.

·       Cotton is the only GM crop allowed to be cultivated in India.

4. On computing ability, rural India is lost in the woods

·       The ability to use computers remains low in the country, an analysis of National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data reveals.

·       An estimated 8.8% of the rural population has computing ability. In urban areas, the figure is nearly four times higher, at 30.2%.

·       Computing ability was defined as an user’s ability to operate a desktop, laptop, palmtop, notebook, smartphone and tablets.

·       The study claimed that ‘computing ability’ is not linked to digital infrastructure or internet penetration.

·       It is about use of gadgets.But if any one of the gadgets — especially a smartphone — is taken out, then the measure of computing ability will go further down.

Kerala on top

·       Kerala has the highest computing ability at 32.3% in rural areas, while Chhattisgarh has the lowest, 2.9%.

·       In the urban areas, Kerala is in second position, after Delhi. Tamil Nadu and Punjab are in the middle of the table.

·       Computing ability  was found to be the lowest in the tribal population.

Cooking fuel gap

·       Data on access to gas, electricity or kerosene for clean cooking indicate a wide gap between rural and urban consumption.

·       While 14.9% of rural population has access to clean cooking, the figure goes up to 76.4% in urban areas.

5. Hot debate over Electronic Voting Machines

·       Indian EVMs are fully tamper-proof when used under complete administrative safeguards prescribed by the ECI.

·       Improvements are always possible and ECI has an open mind to consider all constructive suggestions.

Vulnerable to “dishonest display”

·       EVMs were vulnerable firstly to the so-called “dishonest display” attack whereby a microcontroller and a Bluetooth radio chip could be smuggled into the device using a genuine-looking display board.

·       Through the use of these devices the attacker could then signal which candidates should receive stolen votes via a Bluetooth smart phone.

Electronic booth capture

·       The Indian EVM was also susceptible to attack through the use of an electronic clip, which attached directly to the EVM chips and could rewrite the votes stored there.

·       But the secrecy of election data could also be violated as the clip would allow the attacker to copy out the votes stored.

·       The paper, wax and string seals used to protect EVMs had been “widely discredited” and were entirely vulnerable to tampering.

·       Machines [are] stored around the country in a variety of locations, from abandoned warehouses to schools, etc. [and it is] likely many of them could be accessed by criminals, especially with the aid of dishonest insiders.

·       Employees of Public Sector Undertakings and their technicians – responsible for manufacturing the EVMs – were a “huge potential source of fraud.

·       A large number of private players were involved in election operations including manufacturers, their agents, vendors of foreign companies, government officials and so on.

Claims denied

·       The uniqueness of the Indian EVM was that it had no operating system, could not be networked and no input was possible except from the ballot unit of the machine.

·       The claims EVMs had been corrupted with a Trojan programme were unfounded.

·        Most of the Indian courts including the Bombay, Karnataka, Kerala and Madras High Courts had refuted such claims and recorded their appreciation of the efficiency of EVMs.

·       The machines’ new security features include dynamic code hopping with encryption, an interconnecting cable that was crimped and moulded and a digital signature in the control unit.

6. Health policy wants public hospitals certified for quality

·       National Health Policy (NHP) proposes to raise public health expenditure as a percentage of the GDP from the current 1.15% to 2.5% by 2025.

·       The resource allocation to individual States will be linked with their development indicators, absorptive capacity and financial indicators.

·       There will be higher weightage given to States with poor health indicators and they will receive more resources.

·       The Policy aims to end inequity between States. But at the same time, States will be incentivised to increase public health expenditure.

·       Many of the goals listed in the Policy have a deadline of 2025, some of them even sooner.

·       The policy advocates a progressively incremental assurance-based approach to health care provision.

Preventive healthcare

·       The policy stresses preventive healthcare by engaging with the private sector to offer healthcare services and drugs that are affordable to all.

·       It wants to reduce out-of-pocket “catastrophic” health expenditure by households by 25% from current levels by 2025.

·       It wants to increase the utilisation of public health facilities by 50% from the current levels by 2025.

·       The Centre is working on introducing a health card, an electronic health record of individuals.

·       The health card will be for retrieving and sharing health data by lower [Primary Health Centre] and higher [secondary and tertiary] healthcare facilities.

·       It will be launched in six months to one year’s time in those States that show interest to roll it out in certain districts or across the State.

·       The Policy wants to reduce the incidence of new TB cases to reach elimination by 2025.

·       The policy has set 2017 as the deadline to eliminate kala-azar and lymphatic filariasis in endemic pockets, and 2018 in the case of leprosy.

·       In the case of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer and cardiovascular diseases, it envisages a 25% reduction in premature mortality by 2025.

Challenging Targets

·       The policy “aspires” to provide secondary care right at the district level and reduce the number of patients reaching tertiary hospitals.

·       For the first time, there is a mention of public hospitals and facilities being periodically measured and certified for quality.

·       But the most ambitious target is providing access to safe water and sanitation by all by 2020.

o   As per the January 2016 Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation’s country paper, sanitation coverage was only 48%.

·       Other challenging targets set by the Policy include reducing the infant mortality rate to 28 per 1,000 live births by 2019 and under five mortality to 23 per 1,000 live births by 2025.

o   According to the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4), IMR was 41 in 2015-16; it took 10 years to reduce IMR from 57 to 41.

o   As against 62% children 12-23 months old, who were fully immunised in 2015-16 according to the NFHS-4 data, the Policy has set a target of 90% by 2025.

7. The Governor’s options

Why in news?

·       The legal challenge of the Congress in the Supreme Court against the BJP’s claim to form the government in Goa brings to fore a vacuum in the Constitution.

·       The Manohar Parrikar government came to power on a first-come-first-appointed basis despite the fact that the BJP came second in the Assembly elections.

·       The Governor did not consult the single largest party, the Congress, before giving Mr. Parrikar the green signal.

·       The SC, in turn, said the Congress did wrong by not staking its claim to form the government. It had shown no proof to the Governor that it had the requisite numbers to prove a majority in the House.

·       The debacle exposes the fact that there are no specific guidelines in the Constitution on who the Governor should invite to form a government in a State where rival parties with narrow majorities engage in a face-off.

Sarkaria Commission

·       The constitutional convention of inviting the single largest party in the case of a fractured mandate has been outlined by the Sarkaria Commission recommendations, which were affirmed by a Constitution Bench of the SC in Rameshwar Prasad v Union of India in 2005.

·       The Commission report specifically dealt with the situation where no single party obtained absolute majority.

·       It provided the order of preference the Governor should follow in selecting a Chief Minister in such a fluid situation:

o   An alliance of parties that was formed prior to the elections.

o   The single largest party staking a claim to form the government with the support of others, including independents.

o   A post-electoral coalition of parties, with all the partners in the coalition joining the government.

o   A post-electoral alliance of parties, with some of the parties in the alliance forming a government and the remaining parties, including independents, supporting the government from outside.

8. The heckler’s veto

·       The heckler’s veto is a process by which socially powerful groups can shut down critical or inconvenient speech by threatening public disorder or disturbance.

Some examples

·       The plight of artist M.F. Husain and of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, the forced exile from writing for Perumal Murugan etc.

·       The threat to freedom of expression came from powerful sections who could use their proximity to administrative power and the lacunae judicial systems.

Supreme Court’s Judgments

·       Justice Krishna Iyer questioned in the Periyar Ramayana case the invocation of powers under Section 99A of the Code of Criminal Procedure by various state governments.

·       Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul delivered in the M.F. Husain case that a liberal tolerance of a different point of view causes no damage. It means only a greater self-restraint.

·        When the enabling environment for free speech gets vitiated, it undermines the redeeming features of democracy.

·       The lower courts in India, barring some notable exceptions, in contravention to the legal position taken by the apex court have repeatedly endorsed the heckler’s veto.   

·       by granting an ex parte injunction against publication or broadcast of news

9. ‘Legal services bodies ensure justice for all’

·       Justice Gogoi said there should be a debate on amendments to statutes to ensure access to justice through legal services authorities.

·        He said the Supreme Court Legal Services Authority was not short of funds and needed to be proactive with the best legal talents within its fold.

10. Centre is trying to decimate judiciary: SC

·       Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur on said the Union government did not keep its promise that filling up judicial vacancies is its “topmost priority”.

·       He said that no action was taken for the past nine months since a Constitution Bench scrapped the NJAC law and asked the government to frame a new Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for Judicial Appointments.

11. Ganga, Yamuna termed ‘living persons’

·       The HC said that to protect the recognition and the faith of society, rivers Ganga and Yamuna, all their tributaries, streams are required to be declared as legal persons [or] living persons.

·       On March 15, New Zealand river Whanganui became the first in the world to be granted a legal human status.

·       A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition filed by one Mohammad Salim in 2014.

In a state of neglect

·       Centre’s Namami Gange programme is aimed at restoring their health, but not much has been achieved yet.

·       The court ordered that the Director of the Namami Gange programme, the Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, and the Advocate-General of Uttarakhand would serve as “parents” for the rivers.

12. Aadhaar to be a must for filing IT returns, getting PAN card

·       From July 1 this year.

·       An amendment was moved in the draft Finance Bill 2017 for this.

·       The Centre had identified 31 schemes in which the Aadhaar could be made mandatory.

·       Aadhaar number has already been made mandatory for

o   Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana for skill development

o   Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers

o   Getting subsidised grains under the National Food Security Act, jobs under the MGNREGA and pension benefits under the Employees’ Pension Scheme.

ECONOMICS

1. Direct tax receipts climb 10.7%

·       Net direct tax collections up to February grew 10.7% as compared with the same period of the previous financial year,

·       Net indirect tax collections increased 22.2% during the same period.

 ‘Reflecting slowdown’

·       Now, domestic indirect taxes (excise duty and service tax) are also reflecting the slowdown in the economy.

·       This implies a poor performance in Q4 brought on largely by demonetisation, since January and February are already captured in the data.

2. MeitY upsets Apple cart, says tax sops not feasible

·       Ministry of Electronics and IT stated that it “may not be feasible” to grant the U.S.-based technology major exemptions from certain duties that it had sought.

·       Apple is seeking an exemption from Phased Manufacturing Programme (PMP), which means that

o   Chargers, batteries and headphones for manufacture of Apple phones be exempted from basic custom duty (BCD) and countervailing duty (CVD).

·       In a meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Apple CEO Tim Cook in May 2016, there was an agreement to work together for manufacture of iPhones in India

Current exemptions

·       Presently, all inputs for manufacture of mobile handsets, except chargers, batteries and headphones, are exempted from BCD and CVD.

·       Since Apple does not intend to source its components locally, it had asked for removal of all forms of duties, pre and post GST.

·       The government had introduced the Phased Manufacturing Programme for mobile handsets to increase domestic value addition.

o   Under PMP, headphones, chargers and batteries are subject to CVD of 12.5% on import since Budget 2016-17.

o   domestic manufacturers of these products are extended differential excise duty dispensation “by virtue of which all their imports are exempted from BCD and CVD and excise duty of 2% is levied on domestically manufactured headphones, chargers and batteries.”

·       MeitY had proposed that this be extended to five more sub-assemblies of mobile handsets in the budget 2017-18.

·       However, the proposal was not agreed to by the Department of Revenue in Budget 2017-18.

3. BRICS to discuss steps to boost investment

·       A proposal to frame ‘guiding principles’ for investment policymaking to boost investment as well as take steps to promote e-commerce among the five leading emerging economies.

·       BRICS Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) meeting – slated for early next week in Beijing – will also discuss

o   measures for closer cooperation among the BRICS countries for developing their respective national single window for trade facilitation.

·       China, the current BRICS chair, wants to push ‘investment facilitation’ and ‘e-commerce’–related issues.

o   Beijing’s proposed for ‘Guiding Principles for BRICS Investment Policymaking’.

o   It is similar to the‘G20 Guiding Principles for Global Investment Policymaking’, among other things, which states that, “Governments should avoid protectionism in relation to cross-border investment” and that “investment policies should establish open, non-discriminatory, transparent and predictable conditions for investment.”

o   China has also proposal for a global pact on ‘investment facilitation and promotion’ at the World Trade Organisation (WTO)-level

·       India had recently rejected a proposal by the European Union and Canada at the WTO-level for a global investment pact that incorporates the contentious Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism.

o   The ISDS mechanism allows firms to drag governments to international arbitration without waiting to exhaust the available local remedies and seek huge compensation.

Focus on e-commerce

·       China has been leading the discussions on e-commerce at the global level.

·       In November 2016, the WTO said China had proposed that discussions at WTO should focus on the promotion and facilitation of cross-border trade in goods enabled by the Internet.

·       Incidentally, there is a proposal for setting up a common payment gateway to promote e-commerce among BRICS.

4. Cruise ship damages coral reef

Why in News?            

·       A British-owned cruise ship has smashed into pristine coral reefs at low tide around Kri, one of hundreds of small islands in Raja Ampat, causing extensive damage in a remote corner of Indonesia known as one of the world’s most bio-diverse marine habitats.

·       The accident has damaged an estimated 13,500 sq metre of coral reef, which could cost up to $16.2 million to restore.

·       Even when (the reefs) grow back, they will not be as pristine as they were before.

·       The Indonesian government said it was assessing the impact and would seek compensation from the operator.

5. Centre unveils plan for export infra

·       The Centre unveiled a scheme to create export-related infrastructure and boost the competitiveness of India’s shipments.

·       The scheme would have a budgetary allocation of Rs. 600 crore, with an annual outlay of Rs. 200 crore per year.

·       It would be implemented from FY’18 till FY’20, according to a Commerce Ministry statement.

·       The objective of the proposed scheme, Trade Infrastructure for Export Scheme (TIES)  is

o   to enhance export competitiveness by bridging gaps in export infrastructure,

o   creating focused export infrastructure like border haats, land customs stations, quality testing and certification labs and cold chains,

o   first mile and last mile connectivity for export-oriented projects and

o   Addressing quality and certification measures.”

·       The scheme replaces a centrally sponsored scheme Assistance to States for creating Infrastructure for the Development and growth of Exports (ASIDE).

6. U.S. trade nominee for ‘aggressive’ steps on IP

IPRs have been a bone of contention between U.S., India

·       IPR protection has been a bone of contention between India and the U.S. for years now.

·       Several American companies and lawmakers have been pressing the administration for stricter measures.

·       The USTR annual report on IP rights has kept India on priority watch list for years now, even as U.S. companies have sought stricter measures.

·       The provision of 3(d) in the Indian Patents Act and CL provisions have worried international pharmaceutical companies since the amendment to the Indian Patent Act in 2005

·       Sec 3 (d) of India's Patent Act prevents pharmaceutical companies from continually extending patents by making minor changes in the product and American companies find India’s compulsory licensing provisions harsh.

·       American policy makers have problems with India’s copyrights laws too, but India maintains that its IPR regime is compliant with WTO standards.

·       Indian policy framework is driven by the needs of its people, while all its policies are within the framework of international treaties and agreements.

7. Start-up firms may soon find it easy to wind up

·       Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has written to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) to notify start-ups as ‘Fast Track firms.

o   To enable faster exit for start-ups and to bring the winding up process in line with global best practices

o   start-ups shall be able to wind up their business within a period of 90 days from making an application for the same.

·       The DIPP is the nodal Central government body for the Start-up India initiative, while the MCA is the concerned authority for notifications on winding up of companies.

·       Fast Track firms will be start-ups with simple debt structures or those meeting certain criteria that will be specified.

Notification

·       Expediting the company winding up process in India would require the notification of Sections 304-323 of the Companies Act, 2013, relating to voluntary winding up.

o   The benefits of voluntary winding up operations involve no court supervision.

·       Often the entrepreneur leaves from his previous venture and starts a new venture. There should be a provision to carry forward the losses of the failed venture to the new venture.

·       Therefore the unutilised losses of an eligible start-up, which is being wound up, should be allowed to be carried forward and set off by the founder of that start-up, against the profits of a new eligible start-up set up within a period of three years from date of winding up of the failed start-up.

8. Last gasp tasks

·       GST Council cleared all the requisite State and Central-level legislative measures to implement the indirect tax regime.

·       The State and Union Territories’ GST bills were approved along with necessary corrections to the three other GST Bills the Council had cleared previously for Central GST, Integrated GST and compensation to States through a cess.

·       This paves the way for State Assemblies and Parliament to ratify these laws quickly in order to meet the proposed July 1 rollout date for the system.

·       Though industry has indicated that it needs at least three months to prepare for the GST once it sees the fine print.

Unresolved Issues

·       But still the fitment of thousands of commodities and services into the five GST rate slabs (zero, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%) could prove to be among the trickiest for the Council.

·       The rate fitment process, unlike legislative nuances, is more susceptible to lobbying not just from different sections of industry, but also States.

o   The GST Council has now approved a ceiling on the cess that could be imposed over and above the highest GST rate of 28% on pan masala, chewing tobacco and cigarettes, luxury cars and aerated drinks.

o   For all such ‘sin goods’, the cess ceiling has been set higher under the GST than the level necessary to maintain the present level of taxation.

o   But beedis have been kept out of the cess net altogether in order to avoid friction with States that could delay the broader reform.

GST Council

·       The GST bill seeks to set up a GST Council. The GST Council aims to develop a harmonized national market of goods and services. According the GST Bill, the President must constitute a GST Council within sixty days of this Act coming into force. The composition of the GST Council includes:

The Union Finance Minister (as Chairman),

The Union Minister of State in charge of Revenue or Finance, and

The Minister in charge of Finance or Taxation or any other Minister, nominated by each state government.

·       The decisions of the GST Council will be made by three­fourth majority of the votes cast. The centre shall have one­third of the votes cast, and the states together shall have two­third of the votes cast.

·       The GST Council will make recommendations on:

o   Taxes, cesses, and surcharges to be subsumed under the GST;

o   Goods and services which may be subject to, or exempt from GST;

o   The threshold limit of turnover for application of GST;

o   Rates of GST;

o   Model GST laws, principles of levy, apportionment of IGST and principles related to place of supply;

o   Special provisions with respect to the eight north eastern states, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Uttarakhand; and other related matters.

·       The GST Council may decide the system of resolving disputes arising out of its recommendations. The GST Council will also decide when the GST would be levied on petroleum crude, natural gas, high speed diesel, aviation turbine fuel and motorspirit (petrol).

9. Centre eyes ways to open multi-brand retail

·       Centre is considering various options including allowing FDI in MBRT of certain non-food items such as health and wellness products, with a rider that they should be locally manufactured.

·       Food Processing Industries Ministry has proposed to allow FDI in MBRT of non-food items.

·       The consolidated FDI policy still retains the decision taken by the previous UPA government, which was to allow 51% FDI in MBRT through the approval route.

·       The policy stipulates many conditions including on a specified level of minimum investment and local sourcing.

·       This is not being implemented because several states through their respective Shops & Establishment Act, do not currently allow foreign-owned and controlled firms to open multi-brand retail outlets in their territory.

·       The NDA government has allowed 100% FDI under the government approval route for trading, including e-commerce, in respect of food products manufactured and/or produced in India.

·       FDI can be allowed in MBRT in non-food items also, given the potential benefits of such a decision including greater FDI inflows and transfer of technology.