Insights Daily Current Affairs + PIB: 08 November 2019

insightsonindia.com/2019/11/08/insights-daily-current-affairs-pib-08-november-2019

November 8,
2019

Insights Daily Current Affairs + PIB: 08 November 2019

Table of contents:

GS Paper 2:

1. What next in Maharashtra?

2. Why govt is encouraging ethanol production?
3. India Justice Report (IJR).
4. Feni river and it’s significance.

GS Paper 3:

1. Moody’s ratings.
2. Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009.
3. Brus of Mizo.

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered:

Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers &
privileges and issues arising out of these.

What next in Maharashtra?

What to study?

For Prelims: Role if governor in case of a hung assembly.

For Mains: Implications and challenges involved.

Context: Term of current government in Maharashtra ends tomorrow.

It has been two weeks since the results of the Assembly election were announced, but no
party has staked claim yet to form a government. While the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance has
a clear majority, they have been wrangling over power-sharing and the Chief Minister’s
post.

What next?
1/11
While the existing Legislative Assembly will cease to exist post November 9, legal experts
noted that there is no binding that the government should be in place by that day.

What is the Governor’s role in such circumstances?

The Governor would be expected to go as per an order of preference set out in the
Sarkaria Commission recommendations, which have also been ratified by the Supreme
Court. By the order of preference, the Governor can invite:

1. A pre-poll alliance of parties.

2. Invite the single largest party which stakes a claim to form government.
3. Invite a post-poll alliance of parties, with all the partner in the coalition joining the
government.
4. Invite a post-poll alliances of parties, with some becoming part of the government
and some supporting from outside.

The Governor can only summon the new House for the first sitting only after a new
government is sworn in and the Cabinet has suggested a suitable date. The process of
swearing-in of the newly elected members and appointment of the new Speaker can be
held thereafter.

What after swearing in?

1. Once any formation is sworn in, it will need to pass the floor test, which will reveal
whether the executive enjoys the confidence of the legislature as mandated by the
Constitution.
2. In the floor test, the person sworn in as the CM has to prove that s/he enjoys the
confidence of the House. If the confidence motion fails, the Chief Minister has to
resign.
3. If more than one person stake claim to form the government and the majority is
not clear, the Governor has the powers to call a special session to assess who has
the majority.
4. The date for the floor test is decided by the Governor in consultation with the new
government.

If no government can be formed, is President’s rule likely?

Article 356 of the Constitution provides for the imposition of President’s Rule in a state in
“case of failure of the constitutional machinery in the state” .

As per the constitutional stipulation, it can be imposed in cases where the President, on
receipt of report from the Governor of the state or otherwise, is satisfied that a situation
has arisen in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with
the provisions of the Constitution.

In Maharashtra‘s case, if the Governor is satisfied that no party or alliance can form a
stable government would he recommend imposition of President’s rule.
2/11
Sources: Indian Express.

Topics Covered:

Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues
arising out of their design and implementation.

Why govt is encouraging ethanol production?

What to study?

For Prelims: ethanol- production and benefits.

For Mains: Need for blending and the demand for increased production?

Context: The Ministry of Environment and Forests announced that mills would not
require separate environmental clearance to produce additional ethanol from B-heavy
molasses.

The proposals to undertake additional ethanol production from B-heavy

molasses/sugarcane juice/sugar syrup/sugar would be considered under the
provisions of the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) notification, 2006, by an
expert appraisal committee for granting environmental clearance.

What are ethanol and molasses?

Ethanol, or ethyl alcohol, is a liquid that has several uses. At 95% purity, it is called
rectified spirit and is used as the intoxicating ingredient in alcoholic beverages. At 99%-
plus purity, ethanol is used for blending with petrol.

Both products are made from molasses, a byproduct of sugar manufacturing. For
making sugar, mills crush sugarcane which typically has a total fermentable sugars
(TFS) content of 14%.
The TFS component consists of sucrose along with the reducing sugars glucose and
fructose. Most of this TFS component gets crystallised into sugar, and the
remaining part is called molasses.

Molasses stages:

The molasses go through three stages — A, B, and C, the last one being where the
molasses are most un-crystallised and non-recoverable.

The ‘C’ molasses roughly constitute 4.5% of the cane, and have a remaining TFS of
40%.
After C-molasses are sent to the distillery, ethanol is extracted from them. Every
100 kg of TFS yields 60 litres of ethanol.

3/11
 Thus, from one tonne of cane, mills can produce 115 kg of sugar (at 11.5%
recovery) and 45 kg of molasses (18 kg TFS) that gives 10.8 litres of ethanol.

How more ethanol can be produced?

Mills can also produce only ethanol from sugarcane, without producing sugar at all. In
this case, the entire 14% TFS in the cane is fermented. Here, a mill can make 84 litres of
ethanol and zero kg of sugar.

In between the two extreme cases, there are intermediate options as well, where
the cane juice does not have to be crystallised right till the final ‘C’ molasses
stage. The molasses can, instead, be diverted after the earlier ‘A’ and ‘B’ stages of
sugar crystal formation. Mills, then, would produce some sugar, as opposed to
fermenting the whole sugarcane juice into ethanol.
If ethanol is manufactured using ‘B’ heavy molasses (7.25% of cane and with TFS of
50%), around 21.75 litres will get produced along with 95 kg of sugar from every 1
tonne of cane.

Why focus on more ethanol?

Mills currently have all-time-high stocks of sugar, and they have been at loggerheads
with farmers over non-payment of dues.

Mill owners insist that the reason behind their woes is excess production of sugar and
fall in its price.

Under the circumstances, ethanol is the only real saviour — both for mills and cane
growers.

1. In September this year, the government approved an increase in the price of

ethanol to be procured by public sector oil marketing companies from sugar mills
for blending with petrol for the 2019-20 supply year from December 1.
2. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs also allowed conversion of old sugar
into ethanol, which again is expected to help mills deal with the current
overproduction in the sweetener and make timely payments to farmers for the
cane delivered by them.
3. Ethanol production has been additionally facilitated with the government
mandating 10% blending of petrol with ethanol.

Sources: Indian Express.

Topics Covered:

Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance-

applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency
& accountability and institutional and other measures.
4/11
India Justice Report (IJR)

What to study?

For Prelims and mains: Key findings and concerns expressed by he report and ways to
address them.

Context: India Justice Report (IJR) has been released.

It has been prepared by Tata Trusts in collaboration with Centre for social Justice,
Common Cause, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, Daksh, TISS-Prayas and Vidhi
Centre for Legal Policy.

It is India’s first-ever ranking of states on justice delivery.

Performance of various states:

1. The list is topped by Maharashtra.

2. Maharashtra is followed by Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Key Issues highlighted:

1. Vacancy was an issue across the pillars of the police, prisons, and the judiciary,
with only about half the states having made the effort to reduce these over a five-
year period.
2. The country as a whole has about 18,200 judges with about 23 per cent sanctioned
posts vacant.
3. By 2017, women are also poorly represented in these pillars.
4. The prisons in the country were over occupied at 114 per cent, where 68 per cent
are undertrials awaiting investigation, inquiry or trial.
5. Nationally, high vacancies in the justice system.
6. Only two states have met the 80 per cent of SC/ST/OBC reservation required to be
followed and that there are high vacancies in prison staff.

Sources: the Hindu.

Topics Covered:

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

Feni river and it’s significance

What to study?

For Prelims: Feni river, origin and tributaries.

For Mains: Significance and the need for MoU.

5/11
Context: The Union Cabinet has given its ex-post facto approval for a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) between India and Bangladesh on the withdrawal of 1.82 cusecs
(cubic feet per second) of water from the Feni river by India for a drinking water supply
scheme for Sabroom town in Tripura.

Feni river:

The Feni river forms part of the India-Bangladesh border.

It originates in the South Tripura district, passes through Sabroom town on the Indian
side, and meets the Bay of Bengal after it flows into Bangladesh.

The dispute:

There has been no water-sharing agreement between the countries on the Feni
previously.

The dispute over the sharing of the river water has been long-standing. It was taken up
between India and Pakistan (before the independence of Bangladesh) in 1958 during a
Secretary-level meeting in New Delhi.

Recent developments and significance of the MoU:

In August 2019, India and Bangladesh held a water secretary-level meeting of the Joint
Rivers Commission (JRC) in Dhaka, where it was agreed to collect data and prepare
water-sharing agreements for seven rivers — Manu, Muhuri, Khowai, Gumti, Dharla,
Dudhkumar, and Feni.

The MoU stands to benefit Sabroom town on the southern tip of Tripura. The present
supply of drinking water to Sabroom town is inadequate. The groundwater in this region
has high iron content. Implementation of this scheme would benefit over 7000
population of Sabroom town.

Sources: Indian Express.

GS Paper 3:

Topics Covered:

Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth,

development and employment.

Moody’s ratings

What to study?

For Prelims and mains: What does the downgrade mean for India? Implications and
what needs to be done?
6/11
Context: Global ratings agency Moody’s Investors Service has cut its outlook on the
Government of India’s ratings to negative from stable, but affirmed the Baa2 foreign-
currency and local-currency long-term issuer ratings.

Moody’s also affirmed India’s Baa2 local-currency senior unsecured rating and its P-2
other short-term local-currency rating.

What this means for India?

1. The decision to change the outlook to negative reflects increasing risks that
economic growth will remain materially lower than in the past, partly reflecting
lower government and policy effectiveness at addressing long-standing economic
and institutional weaknesses than Moody’s had previously estimated, leading to a
gradual rise in the debt burden from already high levels.
2. Reduction in outlook is the first step towards an investment downgrade, as India
is now just a notch above the investment grade country rating. An actual
downgrade in country ratings can lead to massive foreign fund outflows.

Why has Moody’s cut rating?

1. Moody’s projected fiscal deficit of 3.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in
the year through March 2020, a breach of the government’s target of 3.3 per cent,
as slower growth and a surprise corporate-tax cut curbs revenue.
2. India’s growth outlook has deteriorated sharply this year, with a crunch that started
out in the non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) spreading to retail businesses,
car makers, home sales and heavy industries.
3. Moody’s said the outlook partly reflects government and policy ineffectiveness in
addressing economic weakness, which led to an increase in debt burden which is
already at high levels.
4. India’s economy grew by 5 per cent between April and June, its weakest pace since
2013, as consumer demand and government spending slowed amid global trade
frictions.

What does the government say?

Noting Moody’s concerns, the Finance Ministry said that India continues to be among the
fastest growing major economies in the world, and India’s relative standing remains
unaffected.

The Government said it has undertaken series of financial sector and other reforms to
strengthen the economy as a whole.

It has also proactively taken policy decisions in response to the global slowdown. These
measures would lead to a positive outlook on India and would attract capital flows and
stimulate investments.

7/11
The fundamentals of the economy remain quite robust with inflation under check and
bond yields low. India continues to offer strong prospects of growth in near and medium
term.

What are different general credit ratings?

AAA: Highest credit quality that denotes the lowest expectations of default risk.

AA+/AA/AA-: Very high credit quality. ‘AA’ ratings denote expectations of very low default
risk. They indicate very strong capacity for payment of financial commitments.

A+/A/A-: High credit quality that denotes expectations of low default risk. The capacity
for payment of financial commitments is considered strong, however, vulnerability to
adverse business or economic conditions exists.

BBB+/BBB/BBB-: Good credit quality that indicates that expectations of default risk are
currently low. The capacity for payment of financial commitments is considered
adequate, but adverse business or economic conditions are more likely to impair this
capacity.

BB+/BB/BB-: This rating indicates an elevated vulnerability to default risk, particularly in

the event of adverse changes in business or economic conditions over time; however,
business or financial flexibility exists that supports the servicing of financial
commitments.

B+/B/B-: This rating indicates that material default risk is present, but a limited margin of
safety remains. Financial commitments are currently being met; however, capacity for
continued payment is vulnerable to deterioration in the business and economic
environment.

CCC+/CCC/CCC-: Substantial credit risk exists in this rating, where the default is a real
possibility.

CC: This rating shows a very high level of credit risk with a possibility of defaults.

C: This rating shows that a default or default-like process has begun, or the issuer is in a
standstill.

DDD/RD/SD/DD/D: This indicates that the issuer has entered into bankruptcy filings,
administration, receivership, liquidation or other formal winding-up procedure or has
ceased business.

Sources: Indian Express.

Topics Covered:

Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

8/11
Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009

What to study?

For Prelims: Key features and significance of the act.

For Mains: Role in increasing air pollution in the capital and surrounding.

Context: The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009 is being blamed for
contributing to the air pollution over Delhi and surrounding areas.

Why?

The law led to the sowing and transplantation of the summer paddy crop to be delayed
by about a fortnight, and moved the harvesting season to end-October and early
November — a time when the moist air and largely inactive wind systems cause
particulate matter and gases from burning paddy stubble to hang in the atmosphere.
This air is carried by northwesterly winds towards Delhi, which lies to the southeast of
Punjab.

What is The Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act, 2009?

The law aimed at conserving groundwater by mandatorily delaying the transplanting of

paddy to beyond June 10, when the most severe phase of evapotranspiration (transfer
of water from land to the atmosphere through evaporation from the soil and plant
transpiration) is over. Farmers were forbidden from sowing paddy before May 10, and
transplanting it before June 10.

Why was the law enacted?

There has been serious concern over the drastic fall in the water table in Punjab and the
cultivation of paddy leads to over-exploitation of underground aquifers, as a very large
number of tubewells (more than 14 lakh in 2015-16) running on free power pump out
virtually endless amounts of water.

It was believed that early transplanting of rice (before mid-June) resulted in

unsustainable withdrawals of groundwater with the monsoon still far, temperatures
very high, and the evapotranspiration rate (ETR) at its peak. And hence this law was put
in place.

What is the law’s link with air pollution?

Farmers’ organisations say late sowing and transplanting delays the harvesting as well
(it is end-October by the time operations end), and they are left with a very small
window to prepare their fields for the next (wheat) crop.

9/11
In this situation, setting the stubble ablaze is a quick-fix solution. By this time,
temperatures have started to fall, and a combination of atmospheric and meteorological
conditions ensure that the smoke cannot disperse easily.

A part of the smoke from the farm fires is carried by westerly winds towards the NCR
and further down the Indo-Gangetic plain.

But does the Act really help conserve groundwater?

A study has reported a robust effect of the 2009 Act on reducing groundwater depletion.
Between 2008-09 and 2012-13, the average annual rate of decline of groundwater in
Punjab was 0.7 metres, less than the 0.9 m during the period 2000-01 to 2008-09, the
study found.

What is Punjab’s underground water situation currently?

According to a report in May 2019 by the Central Ground Water Board under the Ministry
of Jal Shakti, 105 out of 138 blocks are in the dark zone. At current rates of depletion,
good quality water in the first aquifer up to a depth of 100 m shall be exhausted in 10
years, and the entire subsurface water resource could be finished in the next 22 years.

Sources: Indian Express.

Topics Covered:

Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security.

Brus of Mizo

What to study?

For Prelims: Who are Brus and issues associated.

For Mains: Agreement in this regard and the recent demands for relaxation of the
norms in the agreement.

Context: Nearly 32,000 Brus living in Tripura camps since 1997 have been affected after
the government decided to stop food supplies and cash dole.

The Tripura government recently announced that it would restore food supplies, leading
to the Brus withdrawing a road blockade they had set up for eight days. The restoration
of supplies, however, is only until a deadline of November 30, within which the Brus have
to decide whether they will accept a package for repatriation to Mizoram.

Who are Brus?

The Brus, also referred to as the Reangs, are spread across the northeastern states of
Tripura, Assam, Manipur, and Mizoram.
10/11
In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group. In Mizoram,
they have been targeted by groups that do not consider them indigenous to the state.

What’s the issue?

1. A bout of ethnic violence forced thousands of people from the Bru tribe to leave
their homes in Mizoram. As many as 32,876 people are living in the refugee camps
in the Jampui Hills of Tripura.
2. The displaced Bru people from Mizoram have been living in various camps in
Tripura since 1997. In 1997, the murder of a Mizo forest guard at the Dampa Tiger
Reserve in Mizoram’s Mamit district allegedly by Bru militants led to a violent
backlash against the community, forcing several thousand people to flee to
neighbouring Tripura.
3. The Bru militancy was a reactionary movement against Mizo nationalist groups
who had demanded in the mid-1990s that the Brus be left out of the state’s
electoral rolls, contending that the tribe was not indigenous to Mizoram.

Sources: Indian Express.

11/11