TOWARDS A NEW WORLD ORDER
Why in news? The latest Oxfam Report presented at Davos points out that 2,153 billionaires have more wealth than 4.6 billion people. The emergence of billionaires and oligarchs in different parts of the world coincides with increased poverty among the already poor people, especially children. Excess consumption Egregious consumption of energy by the developed world […]
BALANCING THE NEEDS: 15th FC
The interim report of 15th FC has left some uncomfortable issues unanswered, which need to be resolved First Under the current arrangement, states were supposed to be compensated for any shortfall in their GST collections for a five-year period. Lack of clarity about Centre’s obligation to compensate states if collections from the compensation cess fall […]
SHUNNING FISCAL ADVENTURISM
In the run-up to the budget, there was enormous pressure on the finance minister to launch a fiscal stimulus so as to pump-prime the economy There is already considerable stimulus in the system. The finance minister took a step towards transparency by admitting to off-balance sheet borrowings of 0.8 per cent of GDP for both […]
LOWER RATE OF EPF SUBSCRIPTION WITH EPFO NOTIFIED
Why in news? The reduction in statutory rate of contributions from 12% to 10% for wage months May, 2020, June, 2020 and July, 2020 for all class of establishments covered under the EPF & MP Act, 1952 was announced on 13th May 2020. Details The above reduction of rate of contribution is not applicable to establishments like Central and State […]
THE HIGH COST OF RAISING TRADE WALLS
Finance Minister in her Budget speech said that, imports under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are on the rise. Undue claims of FTA benefits have posed threat to domestic industry. Such imports require stringent checks,” adding that the government will ensure that all FTAs “are aligned to the conscious direction of our policy”. The case of […]
AIMING A BILLION TRANSACTIONS A DAY: DAWN OF DIGITAL PAYMENT
Digital payment transactions on the Universal Payment Interface (UPI) platform rising from 0.1 million in October 2016 to 1.3 billion in January 2020 represents the magic of entrepreneurs, nonprofits and policymakers working together India was long a financially excluded nation — only 17 per cent of Indians had a bank account in 2011 The World […]
LISTENING TO THE CALL OF THE INFORMAL
Context and Details: The key question here is: Who benefits from formalisation of informal firms? Formalisation does reduce the last-mile costs for banks. The state finds it easier to monitor and to tax the firms that adopt its version of formality. However, the process can also produce adverse outcomes for the informal sector firms themselves […]
ON THE FRONT FOOT
Why in news? The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided at a meeting to keep the interest rates unchanged in the wake of a rise in inflation, but emphasised that there would be space for rate reduction The introduction of one- and three-year term repos at policy rate of 5.15% […]
FASHIONING THE FRAMEWORK OF A NEW INDIA
Why in news? The Indian economy is going through a severe crisis: a slowdown as well as a structural crisis. In the words of the former Chief Economic Adviser, Arvind Subramanian, it is headed towards the ICU. Almost all sectors of the economy are in decline: the rate of growth of the national GDP has […]
A NUTRITION RICH INDIA CAN DO MORE, AND DO IT BETTER
Context: The wasting of millions of young children, owing to malnutrition, is a key imbalance Details: The next decade is going to be decisive to irrevocably rid ourselves of deficiencies One critical imbalance to eliminate is that of inequalities of opportunity Due to malnutrition- we are wasting of millions of our young children and the inability […]