Essay Tips

14 November 2019 17:14

• Types of Essay
○ Question based (eg. - is gender based budgeting important for India?)
 Introduction - What is gender budgeting?
 Body
□ Why is it important? (more words to this part - as per topic of essay)
□ How to implement? (skip this part - not demanded by topic)
□ Challenges
 Conclusion - Solution
○ Statement based (eg. - gender budgeting in India) - equal weightage to all parts
 Introduction - what?
 Body
□ Why important?
□ How to implement?
□ Challenges
 Conclusion - Solution

• Structure
○ Introduction
○ Body
 2-3 paragraphs
○ Conclusion

• WWHCS Framework
○ What (What is it?)
○ Why (Need and advantages)
○ How (Implementation and impact)
○ Challenges
○ Solution

 Points to keep in mind

○ First do rough work
○ Balance approach - positive and negative
○ Give more weightage to the demand of the topic
○ Enrich essay - Facts, Reports, Economic Survey, Budget, Index, RBI, Banking sector,
Keywords

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Essay Topics
14 November 2019 12:16

1. $5 trillion economy by 2025

2. Ayushman Bharat
3. Doubling farmers’ income by 2022
4. NBFC Crisis
5. Corporate Bond market
6. Ease of Doing Business
7. Farm loan waiver
8. Cashless economy
9. Universal Basic Income (UBI)
10. Artificial Intelligence
11. Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
12. NPA problem in banks
13. GST (Goods and Services Tax)
14. Plastic ban advantages
15. Financial inclusion
16. 100% FDI in e-commerce
17. Climate change
18. Economic capital framework
19. Merger of public sector banks (PSB)
20. Banking Ombudsman
21. Gender Discrimination
22. MSMEs
23. Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC)
24. Electric Vehicles
25. Draft National Education Policy
26. Poverty
27. Jobless Growth

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$5 Trillion Economy by 2025
12 November 2019 13:22

Introduction
 Honourable Prime Minister of India has announced his intention to make India $5 trillion economy by 2024

Facts
 Present size is $2.8 trillion and would require sustained 8% real annual growth rate
 As per IMF, gender parity in workforce can boost India's GDP by 27%
 As per Economic Survey, India has logistics cost of 13% of GDP while US has 8% only)

Issues and challenges

 Agriculture distress - low income and yield
 Chakravyuh problem (ease of doing business)
 Twin balance sheet problem (NPA, IL&FS crisis)
 Middle income trap
 Regulatory Cholesterol
 Informalization of economy
 Low women labour force participation
 Slow growth in manufacturing sector
 Skilling of youth (demographic dividend)
 Widening trade deficit
 Rigid and complex labour laws
 Poor infrastructure (logistics cost in India is 13% of GDP while US has 8% only)
 Low private investment
 Slowdown of global economy (trade war, protectionism, currency manipulation)
 Poor HDIs as compared to BRICS countries
 Low domestic savings rate

Measures
 Agriculture reforms - production centric to income centric; APMC, infrastructure, DBT, etc.
 Manufacturing - promote labour intensive sectors, coastal employment zone
 Export led growth strategy - diversify export destinations, labour intensive sector (Economic Survey)
 Ease of doing business measures to promote investment - reforms in labour laws and taxation laws
 Asset recycling (sell brownfield projects and invest the proceeds in greenfield projects)
 Reduce policy uncertainty through economic policy uncertainty index, documentation (Economic Survey)
 Promoting Champion Services sector (IT & ITES, transport, tourism, legal services)
 Use of behavioural economics - nudge using religious beliefs (Economic Survey)
 Public investment in technology, infrastructure , skilled workforce, entrepreneurial spirit, inclusive growth
 Promotion of MSMEs which have large-scale impact on growth, job and local development
 Banking sector reforms - autonomy (PJ Nayak Committee)
 Employment generation - coastal employment zone, fixed employment
 Skilling - Sharda panel recommendations
 Role of emerging technologies - IoT, AI, Big Data, etc.
 Environmental conservation along with development

Opportunities
 Natural resources (rivers, agriculture land, minerals)
 Human resources (demographic dividend - 65% population below 35 years of age)
 Technological advantage (IT & ITES, 2nd largest number of doctors and engineers)
 Economic advantage (high demand due to population, growing middle class)
 Political advantage (stable Government and democratic system)

International Case Study - As per economic survey, as Chinese economy started growing, saving and investment
also picked up

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also picked up

Conclusion
 Looking at India's existing strength in natural, human and technological resources, India has a potential to
reach target of $5 trillion economy by 2024 through sustained efforts in right direction

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Ayushman Bharat
14 November 2019 13:09

Introduction
• Ayushman Bharat was launched by honourable Prime Minister of India on 23rd September, 2018 to achieve
the vision of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as per National Health Policy, 2017
• It underlines the commitment of "leaving no one behind" and inclusive development
• It is a centrally sponsored scheme under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
• It is renamed to PM Jan Arogya Yojana

Fact - public spending of only 1.4% and out of pocket expenditure on healthcare sector is more than 60%

Scheme consists of two parts

• National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS)
○ Government sponsored health insurance scheme
○ Benefit cover of INR 5 lakh per family for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization (10.74 crore
households and 50 crore population)
○ Replace RSBY which provided only INR 30,000 insurance cover
• Health and Wellness Centre
○ Upgraded form of Primary Health Centres (PHC) with focus on non-communicable diseases
○ Creation of 1.5 lakh such Centres

Advantages
1. Wider beneficiaries (World largest healthcare scheme)
2. Help in reducing the out of pocket expenditure of poor citizens, thus, reducing poverty
3. National Health Authority and Jan Arogya Mitras - smooth implementation
4. Facilitate fulfilment of sustainable development goal 3 (Good health and well-bring for all)
5. Choice with beneficiaries to choose between Government or empanelled private hospital
6. Allows national portability
7. Address universality and accessibility of health care
8. Paperless process of availing the service in empanelled hospitals

Disadvantages
1. Existing State schemes overlap with Ayushman Bharat
2. Implementation - private hospitals are found to exploit loopholes (inflated bills)
3. Funding structure of 60:40 between Centre and State (fiscal challenges)
4. Supply side constraints (hospitals and professionals)

International Best Practice - Thailand's Social Health Insurance (SHI)

Solution
1. Converge state schemes with PM Jan Arogya Scheme to streamline efforts
2. Cess can be introduced to augment funding
3. Digitization and use of National Health Data Repository
4. Long term - increase public spending to 2.5% of GDP as per National Health Policy, 2017

Conclusion
• Ayushman Bharat is a paradigm shift from fragmented approach of service delivery through national and
state schemes to a bigger and comprehensive service delivery of secondary and tertiary care
• Effective coordination between Centre and State would help to achieve targets of "Universal Health
Coverage" and SDG - 3 (promote well-being of all)

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Electric Vehicles
29 December 2018 13:08

Introduction
 World is facing the challenge of global warming due to increased emission of GHGs such as CO2
 Transport sector is one of the major source of such emission
 In this context, electric vehicles provide an alternative towards a sustainable future

Definition - Electric vehicles are those which are powered by electrical energy stored in rechargeable batteries
 EVs include road and rail vehicles, surface and underwater vessels, aircraft, etc.
 Economic Survey has pointed out that Indian cities could become Detroit of EVs in the future
 Fact - If most vehicles on road are converted to electric vehicles by 2030, then, air pollution would reduce by
80-90%
 Benefits
• Low operating cost
• Low maintenance cost
• Environment friendly
• Lower risk of fire and explosion
• Reduce oil import (energy security)
• Save foreign exchange reserve by reducing import
• Tackle the issue of air pollution
• Creation of job opportunities
 Opportunities
• Abundance of renewable energy resources
• Skilled manpower - demographic dividend
• Enabling startup eco-system
• Political stability - democracy
• High demand - population
 Challenges
• High initial investment
• Need for huge investment
• Lack of adequate Infrastructure - Setting up charging stations
• Not well suited for heavy-duty vehicles
• Takes 6-8 hours to fully charge the battery
• Regulatory uncertainty
• Largely depend on import from China
• Low level of domestic R&D
• 70% of electricity is generated from coal power plants
 Government initiatives
• National e-Mobility Programme
• National electric mobility mission plan - sales of 60-70 lakh EVs by 2020 annually
• FAME India Scheme for Hybrid and Electric vehicles - announced subsidies
• National Mission on Transformative Mobility and Battery Storage
• Vision to sell only electric vehicle by 2030
• Tax incentives and reduction in GST (from 12% to 5%)
• Green urban transport policy
• Promoting private participation in charging infrastructure
 Solution
• Creation of enabling ecosystem for e-vehicles
• Comprehensive regulatory framework to remove confusion
• Investment in developing charging infrastructure
• Private participation to facilitate investment into the sector
• Incentivize e-mobility sector through tax benefits and subsidies
• More spending on R&D
• Explore option of solar with EVs as used in Railways

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 • Explore option of solar with EVs as used in Railways
 Conclusion
• NITI Aayog report has suggested shifting to electric vehicle would lead to enormous saving and reduced
carbon emission
• Achieve INDC targets and SDG goals
• Fulfill its commitment towards "Clean and Green" India

FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacture of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles) Scheme
 Aim - to incentivize the production and promotion of eco-friendly vehicles
Features
 Main thrust of FAME is to encourage electric vehicles through subsidies
 It also focuses on charging infrastructure and technology development

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NBFC Crisis
Saturday, July 6, 2019 6:55 PM

Introduction
• NBFC is a company registered under Companies Act engaged in the business of loans, acquisition of shares/ bonds/
securities and other marketable securities
• Unlike commercial banks, NBFCs cannot accept demand deposits
• IL&FS crisis
o It is systematically important non-deposit core investment company
o Reasons – NPAs, lapse in Corp. Governance, poor regulation, CRA issues, global slowdown, etc.

Banks NBFC
Can accept demand and time deposits Some can accept only time deposits
CRR applies CRR does not apply
Higher SLR applies Lower SLR applies
Can issue cheques Cannot issue cheques
Part of payment and settlement system Not part of payment and settlement system
License under Banking Regulation Act License under Companies Act
Deposit insurance facility available Deposit insurance facility not available

Significance of NBFC
• Mobilization of funds and resources - private sector growth
• Alternative source of long-term investment eg. infrastructure projects
• Reduce burden on banking system (TBS problem)
• Employment generation
• Development of financial markets
• Money multiplier effect
• Important source of funding for MSMEs
• Capital formation and affect manufacturing sector (eg. – automobile sector)
• Attracting foreign investment
Issues with NBFC
• Multiple regulatory bodies (RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, NHB, etc.) - lack of clear regulations
• Liquidity crunch post IL&FS crisis
• Asset-liability mismatch - leading to high financial leverage ratio - impacting their net income
• Stalled infrastructure projects funded by NBFCs
• Poor corporate governance
• Deposit insurance facility not available, thus, lead to more defaults
Impact of NBFC crisis on economy
• Reduced funding to real estate sectors - employment generation
• Adverse impact of priority sector lending
• Increased burden on banking system (already suffering from twin balance sheet problem)
• Reduced investment, leading to economic slowdown
Recent steps taken
• IL&FS crisis
o Change in management of the company
o Investigation ordered by SFIO
• Liquidity in NBFC sector
o Open market operation undertaken by RBI
o Relaxation of liquidity coverage ratio by 2%
o Relaxed norms for asset securitization
• NBFC brought under ambit of RBI
• Budget announced partial credit guarantee provisions for NBFC
• Shifting housing Bank regulation from NHB to RBI
• Allocation of funds towards infrastructure sector

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• Allocation of funds towards infrastructure sector
• Participation on TReDS platform
• Parity with public sector banks on tax treatment of bad loans

Suggestions
• FSLRC recommended creation of single unified agency for regulation
• Single window clearances for infrastructure projects
• Promote ease of doing business (contract enforcement - Rank 163)
• Credit rating system needs to be improved to restore confidence of financial market
• Improve norms of corporate governance by implementing Uday Kotak panel suggestions
• Strengthen corporate bond market in India
• Leveraging National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA) for enforcement of auditing standards

Conclusion
• NBFCs has penetrated in various sectors of economy and thus, play an important role in achieving $5 trillion economy
• Thus, comprehensively addressing various challenges before NBFC would go a long way in ensuring consistent economic
growth

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Doubling Farmer Income*
Friday, February 1, 2019 10:00 AM

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 Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN)

 National Agriculture Policy, 2000

o Aim for 4% annual growth rate
o Greater private player participation through contract farming & land leasing agreements
o Price protection for farmers
o National agriculture insurance scheme
o Remove restrictions on agricultural marketing
o Rational utilization of water resources in irrigation
o High priority to development of animal husbandry, poultry, dairy and aquaculture
o Setting up of agro-processing units
o Adequate and timely supply of quality inputs to farmers
o Focus on rural electrification

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Ease of Doing Business
23 August 2019 21:54

 India improved its ranking from 100 to 63 in Ease of Doing Business 2019 in 2 years
 Present Government came to power with the slogan “min. Govt. max. Governance”

Steps taken
 GST implementation
 Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
 Self-certification for startups
 Relaxed FDI norms
 Abolition of FIPB
 Simplification of process of paying tax
 eBiz portal
 Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA)
 Online auction of coal mines and procurement
 Reduction of documents to 3 for export and import
 Reduced corporate tax

Challenges
 Rigid and complex labor laws
 India ranks 163 in contract enforcement in Ease of Doing Business Index
 Regulatory cholesterol
 High logistics cost (14% of GDP as compared to 7% in US)
 Delay in judiciary lead to time and cost overrun of projects
 Weak bond market

Suggestions
 Labor law reforms - simplification and flexibility
 Contract enforcement
 Grievance redressal mechanism
 Technological intervention - reduced interface between business and officials
 Single Window Clearance for projects
 Revamp PPP projects using Hybrid Annuity Model (HAB)
 Alternative Dispute Redressal (ADR) mechanism

Conclusion
 Ease of doing business could help to boost private investment in the economy and help to achieve the target of $5
trillion economy by 2025

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Farm Loan Waiver
14 November 2019 17:31

News - Many states such as UP, Maharashtra, etc. have announced loan waiver due to
agriculture distress and farmer suicide

Challenges before farmers

1. fragmented land holding (more than 80% is small and marginal)
2. deteriorating soil quality due to excessive use of fertilizers
3. rising cost of input due to inflation
4. low productivity (poor access to extension services)
5. low irrigation facility (only 50%)
6. inefficient market - low returns
7. Excessive production lead to price crashes
8. Reducing soil fertility due to overuse of chemical fertilizers

Pros
1. short term solution as farmers are unable to repay their debts
2. Farmer distress need urgent attention (reduce farmer suicide)
3. Drive farmers away from moneylenders towards banks (formal credit system)
4. Structural changes would take time before effect is visible
5. Promote financial inclusion

Cons
1. Affect credit culture among farmers (moral hazard)
2. Demands from other states (domino effect)
3. Not all farmers will benefit (exclusion of farmers)
4. Benefits will be cornered by rich farmers who are capable of repaying the loan
5. Economists such as former RBI Govervor Mr. Raghuram Rajan said loan waiver should be
avoided
6. Increase fiscal burden on Government (against FRBM provisions) - inflationary pressure
7. Lower profitability of public sector banks (Twin Balance Sheet problem)

Recommendations
1. Infrastructure and investment into irrigation
2. Expand the reach of credit system and loans at 4% interest
3. Awareness about MSP to be improved
4. Provide affordable healthcare system and social security net
5. Promote farm technology through extension services
6. Agro processing for better returns to farmers
7. Promoting Farmer Producer Organization (FPO)
8. Creation of jobs in non-farm sector
9. Better long term solution are
1. restructuring of loans
2. efficient agriculture market (e-NAM)
3. protection through insurance schemes
4. implementing recommendations of MS Swaminathan Committee
recommendations

4R strategy - remunerative prices, raise productivity, reform land policy, relief measures

Case Study
• KALIA scheme by Odisha which gives cash assistance to all farmers
• Rythu Bandhu scheme by Telangana

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Conclusion
1. Loan waiver is just a short term solution and may hurt in the long term
2. Alternative - Direct Benefit Transfer to farmer accounts
3. Thus focus should be on making agricultural sector profitable and sustainable

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Corporate Bond Market
30 June 2019 13:49

Introduction
• Bond Market is a financial market where participants can issue new debt (Primary market) or buy and sell debt
securities (secondary market), primarily for long-term funding
• Bond is a financial debt instrument issued by a public or private organization to raise financing from the market to
fund business needs
• In India, large corporations have access to limited sources for borrowing

Reasons for underdeveloped bond market in India

• Lower interest rates of bank loans - competition to bond market
• Limitation on pension and insurance funds investment in bond market
• Dominated by private placements (> 95%)
• Lack of credit risk protection instruments like Credit Default Swaps
• Different stamp duty in different states
• IL&FS crisis has further dampened the investor confidence

Significance
• Reduce the burden on banking system
• Helps in the diversification of risk in the financial system
• Alternative source of fund for long-term investment needs
• Reduce foreign currency exposure of domestic firms (exchange rate fluctuation issues)
• Weak corporate bond market is one of the reasons for default of IL&FS
• Circulation of money in economy (money multiplier effect)
• Give boost to industrial and services sector growth (impact on trade competitiveness)
• In international markets, trading volumes in debt market is higher than stock market

Steps taken
• NSE introduced repo in corporate bond market (Tri-party Repo Market platform)
• Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) to boost investor confidence
• SEBI proposed that large corporations should raise 25% of their borrowings from the bond market
• SEBI has asked Credit Rating Agencies to disclose liquidity of firms (tightened regulation of CRAs)
• Government has announced setting up of Credit Guarantee Enhancement Corporation
• FPI will be allowed to invest in infrastructure debt securities

HR Khan Committee Recommendations

• Necessary amendments to FEMA regulations to allow investment
• Uniform valuation method by different regulatory bodies
• Transparency in functioning of Credit Rating Agencies to boost investor confidence
• Centralized database for corporate bonds

Other Recommendations
• Allow credit default swaps
• Allow insurance and pension funds to invest in corporate bonds

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Universal Basic Income (UBI)
14 November 2019 17:31

Introduction
 Universal Basic Income is unconditional cash transfer to all citizens of the country.
 Economic Survey 2017 suggests UBI with following variations:-
o Limit to bottom 75% population
o Income basis of selecting beneficiaries

Benefits
 Alleviation of poverty (SDG-1)
 Redistribution of wealth from rich to the poor as economic inequality is high in India
 Increase productivity - UNICEF study in MP showed better productivity of people
 Increase bargaining power of individual in labor market
 Direct transfer will reduce wastage and misappropriation
 Direct transfer to women account would help in women empowerment
 Increase in disposable income to promote economic activities (multiplier effect)

Challenges
 High financial burden - ~5% of GDP
 Implementation challenges - inclusive/ exclusion error, last mile delivery, etc.
 Conspicuous Spending - People might use this cash in alcohol or tobacco, etc.
 Moral hazard - make people lazy and opt out of labor market
 Which existing schemes to be replaced?
 Impact on labor market
 No shield against inflation
 It reduces the role of State to simply providing cash transfer
 It will replace the existing schemes such as subsidized food grains

Case Study - Study by UNICEF and SEWA in Madhya Pradesh showed improved productivity of people

Suggestion
 Limit to bottom 40% only (Economic Survey)
 Pilot launch starting with women beneficiaries (pilot launch)
 Improve financial inclusion and generate additional income from wealth tax
 Give choice of citizens between UBI and welfare schemes
 Even if the scheme is costly, the cost of persistent poverty is even higher

Alternative - universal basic capital (UBC) such as Grameen bank and SEWA where people have stake in
community enterprises

Conclusion
 UBI is a novel idea but strategies need to be evaluated for its efficient implementation in a country as huge and
diverse as India.
 UBI could help to achieve various SDG goals such as 1, 5, etc.
 Therefore, pilot project would be the first logic step in this direction.

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Cashless Economy
14 November 2019 17:31

What is cashless economy?

• Economy where most of the transactions are conducted through electronic channel while use of cash in
minimal

Facts
• Cash is the king in India as 95% of transactions in India still based on cash

Benefits of cashless economy

• Lower transaction cost and financial inclusion (reduce poverty)
• Good governance - Increase efficiency in welfare programmes
• Prevent money laundering
• Increase tax base and compliance
• Curb on corruption
• Formalization of economy
• Inclusive growth - wider reach to people
• Greater convenience to people
• Eliminate the need for intermediaries (informal moneylenders)

Challenges
• Digital divide (rural and urban)
• Digital and financial illiteracy
• Security concerns (cyber attack)
• Poor digital infrastructure

Government steps
• PM Jan Dhan Yojana
• Digital India
• Direct Benefit Transfer (PAHAL and Ujjawala Scheme)
• Demonetization
• GST implementation
• Vittiya Saksharta Abhiyan
• PMGDISHA
• Bharat Net to provide broadband service in 2.5 lakh gram panchayats

Suggestions
• Deepak Mohanty Committee
○ Digitization of land records
○ USSD technology
○ Utilize CSR funding
• Reduction in charges on cash transactions

Best Practice - Panchayat Banks at village level in Jharkhand to promote financial inclusion

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Artificial Intelligence
18 January 2019 20:55

Artificial Intelligence and unemployment

 SpaceX CEO Elon Musk warned about dangers of AI while Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said there is nothing to panic about
 Yes, artificial intelligence would impact routine and manual jobs (especially middle level jobs)
 Support
o Routine jobs are expected to decline
o Most danger to manufacturing, telemarketing, accounting, toll booth operations, etc. jobs
 Against
o Every machine that replaces a job also creates new work
 Example – 1st industrial revolution created job of machine designing and operating
 Example – ATM reduced bank clerks but increased bank branches
 Example – textile led to reduction in price and increase in demand
 It is natural transition to different type of work
o AI would help to improve productivity and efficiency and they will augment capabilities
 Example – in past, industries with automation actually created more employment
o AI could be used in areas which are not conducive for humans like mining, etc.
 Thus, there are arguments on both side and there is need to be prepared
 Those who don’t participate or take adequate measures, will lag behind in the race
 Thus, there is need for active measures to stay ahead in the race
 Solution
o Need for cognitively flexible population is critical and promotion of life-long learning - adaptability
o Reforming education curriculum with focus on STEM
o Promotion of research and innovation in emerging fields
o Re-skilling of existing skilled labor in skills that will be in-demand (through Govt. policy)
 To be done by companies now and govt. training colleges in future
 Example, Science, Engineering, Data Analytics, cyber security,
o Possibility of universal basic income
o Those who don’t participate or take adequate measures, will lag behind in the race
o Thus, there is need for active measures to stay ahead in the race
o Government can tax robots to use it for social security measures
 Applications
o Image recognition
o Robotics
o Language processing and translation
o Speech processing
o Detecting credit card fraud
o Medical diagnosis
o Driverless car
o Space exploration (Mars Rover)
o Targeted marketing (customer profiling)
o Gaming/ simulation
o Help banks in efficiently targeting potential customers
 Additional Information
o Machine Learning is a subset of Artificial Intelligence
o Deep Learning is a subset of Machine learning
o AI>ML>DL
 Government measures
o National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence (NITI Aayog)
o Centre for 4th Industrial Revolution by WEF
o Creation of National Research Foundation announced
o National AI Portal announced in Budget
o V Kamakoti Committee set up
 Fact – As per “Future of Jobs in India” study by FICCI and NASSCOM, 9% of India’s estimated workforce would be deployed in new
jobs that do not exist today, while 37% would be in jobs that have radically changed skill sets by 2022
 Case Study - Companies like TCS, Infosys, Amazon have announced re-skilling of their workers due to 4th IR disruption

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Plastic Pollution*
18 January 2019 20:56

 India was praised by UN for setting example on the world stage by committing to "beat plastic pollution" on 5th
June, 2018 when India hosted World Environment Day
 Issues
o Environment
 Impacts biodiversity adversely
 Does not degrade easily
 Proliferation of smaller particles (micro-plastics)
 Air and water pollution
 Imbalance in natural food chain
o Animals
 Bio accumulation and bio magnification
 Animals die due to eating plastic and lead to disease
 Ocean animals and cows
o Human health
 Chemicals used are cancerous in nature
 Birth and genetic defect
 Causes
o Urbanization and growing population
o Plastics are cheap and affordable
o Slow decomposition rate or non-biodegradable
o Failure to recycle
o Improper disposal due to poor awareness
 Government steps
o Plastic waste management rules, 2016
o Hosted Environment Day 2018 with theme "beat plastic pollution"
o Banning of plastic in multiple metro cities such as Mumbai
o India is signatory of Stockholm convention for POP
o India joined CleanSeas Campaign by UNEP
 Solution
o PWM Rules (>50 microns)
 Enforcement of rules
 Integration of unorganized rag-pickers into the process
 Extended producer responsibility (EPR)
 Responsibility given to local bodies, gram panchayat, waste generators and retailers
o Awareness
 Information, Education and Communication - IEC
 Include in school curriculum
o Recycling and reuse
 Recycling of plastics is low (9-10%), thus, promote recycling
 Incentivize waste segregation and collection
o Alternatives
 Removing plastics altogether is not feasible, thus, biodegradable plastics should be developed
through major effort in R&D
 Alternatives such as glass bottles
 Use in road construction and others
o International Relations
 Global and binding convention exclusively for plastic (eg. Basel)
o Awareness, Enforcement and Alternative

 Way Forward
o Government alone is not responsible but individual responsibility -> need to make it mass movement
o There is need for a personal war on plastic
 Keywords – Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 (Min. of Environment, Forest & Climate Change)

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  Keywords – Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 (Min. of Environment, Forest & Climate Change)
 News – China has banned import of used plastic for recycling; Great pacific garbage patch; Clean Seas Campaign
 Case study – Kannur (Kerala) became India’s first plastic-free district
 Facts – Delhi is among top 10 biggest plastic waste generator in the world

 Additional information
o CleanSeas Campaign by UNEP
o Stockholm Convention
o Alliance to end plastic waste

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IBC
02 January 2019 23:32

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code

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• "Socialism with limited entry to marketism without exit" - Economic Survey
• Section 29A - prevent wilful defaulter's to submit a resolution plan
• Sectio 12A - more priority to financial creditors than operational creditors
• India was known as "defaulter's paradise" for delay in insolvency resolution
• Example - Essar steel and Bhushan steel

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Performance evaluation
Positives
• Helped in settlement of claims of financial creditors totalling INR 1.7 trillion
• Threat of promoter losing control has forced them to pay off the loans
• Large number of firms have opted for voluntary liquidation
• Many cases has helped in reducing NPA of public sector banks
• Number of cases admitted in on rise
• Earlier recovery was 23% but with IBC it has been 43%
Negatives

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Negatives
• Article 29A - restriction on promoters will reduce recovery value
• Most of the cases have crossed the limit of 330 days
• Lack of capacity building in Insolvency Professionals
• Increased workload in NCLT
• Strict eligibility criteria, thus, lack of sufficient bidders

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NPA
Friday, December 28, 2018 5:40 PM

 India’s banking sector has been under stress from a considerable amount of time (Twin Balance Sheet Problem)
 In order to ensure healthy economic growth, need to improve condition of banking sector.

Additional Information
 Definition
o When the borrower stops paying interest or principal on a loan, the lender will lose money. Such a loan is
known as Non-Performing Asset (NPA)
o NPA is a loan or advance for which the principal or interest payment remained overdue for a period of 90 days
 Current Status of NPA
o Stressed assets across all banks has crossed INR 10 lakh crore (9.1%)
o However, as per EASE Index Report, NPA has reduced over the years
 Impact of NPA on economy and banks
o NPA eats into the profitability of banks (twin balance sheet problem)
o It effects competitive position of banks
o Increased burden on banks due to requirement of Capital Adequacy Ratio as per BASEL norms
o It would adversely affect economy as bank would not be able to lend capital for business
o Rising in NPAs could lead to a crisis of confidence in the market (bank run)
o Reduced bank lending - impact investment and infrastructure projects
 Reasons for NPA
o High investment during the boom period but economic downturn post Global Economic Crisis 2008
o Due diligence not done before sanctioning the loan (moral hazard)
o Weak asset recovery mechanism
o Political interference in working of banks (farmer loan waivers)
o Evergreening of loans to save NPAs
o Loan sanctioned to Willful defaulters (Eg. Kingfisher Airlines)
o Staling and delay of infrastructure projects
o Crony Capitalism is also to be blamed
o Power distribution sector (DISCOMs) going into losses
 Steps taken by Govt. and RBI
o Asset quality review conducted by RBI
o 5/25 scheme – flexible structuring for long-term loans to infrastructure
o Sustainable Structuring of Stressed Assets (S4A)
o Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) Scheme
o Amendment to Banking Regulation Act to give more power to RBI
o Amendment to SARFAESI Act for stricter NPA recovery rules
o UDAY Scheme to make power distribution sector financially viable
o Re-capitalization of banks (Mission Indradhanush)
o Operation Sashakt
o Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
 Case study - China
o China’s NPA was higher than India’s NPA problem today
o Steps taken were
 Improve bank management and autonomy
 Creation of asset management companies (AMCs)
 Infusion of capital
 Incentive to banks such as Tax breaks
 Suggestion to strengthen banking sector
o Robust evaluation of loans by the banks – fundamental reason for rising NPAs
o Capital infusion by Government (Rs. 3.15 lakh crore in last 10 years)
o Strong Asset Recovery Mechanism – DRT, SARFAESI Act and ARCs have not been effective (ADR)
o Prevent political interference and give management autonomy to banks (competitive populism)
o Establishment of Public Sector Asset Rehabilitation Agency (PARA)
o Reduce ownership of govt. in public sector banks
o Bank merger to create few large banks to compete globally (Narsimhan Committee)
o Management of PSBs – implement PJ Nayak Committee recommendations giving autonomy to banks and ability to run
as commercial enterprise without govt. interference
o 4R strategy - recognition, recapitalization, resolution, reform

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 Operation Sashakt (Aim - faster resolution of stressed assets)
o Sunil Mehta Committee suggested 5 point approach
o Outline SME resolution approach
o Bank led resolution approach
o AMC led resolution approach
o IBC approach
o Asset trading platform

Impact of reforms
o NPA of banks have come down as per EASE (Enhanced Access and Service Excellence) Index Report
o Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) is enabling recovery
o Flow of bank credit has improved

Conclusion
o 4R strategy - Recognition, resolution, recapitalization, reform
o More needs to be done for reform in PSBs as per PJ Nayak Committee
o Merging of banks as per Narsimhan Committee
o Banking sector is a lifeline of modern economy, thus, Government has rightly given priority to solving NPA problem to
boost economic growth and sustainability

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Poverty
29 December 2018 13:22

 75 years of Quit India Movement

 5 years between Quit India Movement and getting independence were crucial
 Similarly, 5 years from 2017 to 2022 can be crucial to solve major problems of India (New India)
 One of them is Poverty (“Poverty Quit India Movement”)
 Goal 1 of SDG – End poverty in all its forms everywhere by 2030

 Government Steps
• Subsidy based - Targeted PDS, NSAP
• Self-employment initiatives - Garibi Hatao, NRLM
• Entitlement based - MGNREGA
 Performance
• Success
○ As per World Bank, BPL population declined from 39% in 2004 to 22% in 2011
○ Decline in child, infant and maternal mortality rate
• Failure
○ Fact - As per World Bank, India has one-third of world’s poor population
○ Currently, 22% individual live below poverty line as per Census 2011
 Need
• Unable to reap demographic dividend
• Preventing contribute to growth of nation
• Against Constitutional objectives of social welfare
• High poverty has created adverse image of India at international platform
• Important to become a superpower
• Part of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG-1)
 Challenges
• Lack of proper implementation of govt. programmes (leakages and loopholes)
• Method of measuring poverty – Rangarajan, Tendulkar, Lakadwala Committee, etc.
• Inclusion and exclusion error (corruption)
• Rise in unemployed youth
• Not given enough focus on agriculture sector, post liberalization in 1991 leading to
agriculture distress and rural indebtedness
 Solution
• Need for multipronged strategy
• Method of measuring poverty should include parameters other than just food
• Policies to be reviewed and framed accordingly
• Improvement in administrative efficiency to prevent leakages
• Create jobs in the economy, especially manufacturing sector
• Skill development initiatives
• Family planning and population control would also go long way in eradicating poverty
• Focus on inclusive development rather than economic growth
• Reduce healthcare expenditure as high out of pocket expenditure push many families
above poverty line to below poverty line
• Focus towards agriculture which can help eradicate poverty to large extent
• Need for debate on Universal Basic Income on its feasibility
• Increased investment in public services (United Nations report)
• Move towards decentralized planning process
 Conclusion
• Task of alleviating poverty in next 5 years seems very ambitious looking at the past data,
however, concerted efforts from State and non-State actors could make it happen
• Govt. has already announced efforts to double farmers income by 2022
• Eradicating poverty would be the best tribute to Gandhiji on his 150th birth anniversary

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MSME
Friday, December 28, 2018 5:42 PM

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 Introduction
• MSME plays an important role in the socio-economic development of India
• This sector emloyees 11 crore of workforce and contribute to export significantly
• It is also called the "silent engine of growth"

Facts
• Workforce = 11 crore (40%)
• Export = 40%
• GDP share = 38%
• Manufacturing share = 45%

Current criteria
• Investment in plant and machinery <INR 25 lakh - micro
• Investment in plant and machinery INR 25 lakh to INR 5 crore - small
• Investment in plant and machinery INR 5 crore to INR 10 crore - medium

New criteria
• Annual turnover < INR 5 crore - Micro
• Annual turnover INR 5 crore to INR 75 crore - Small
• Annual turnover INR 75 crore to INR 250 crore - Medium

Challenges
• Access to adequate and timely credit (collateral, TBS problem, digital divide, paper work)
• Peter Pan Syndrome - High regulatory compliance cost (stringent labour laws)
• Technological fatigue - Limited access to modern technology
• Lack marketing and branding strategy (managerial and entrepreneurial skills)

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• Lack marketing and branding strategy (managerial and entrepreneurial skills)
• Lack access to global markets
• Lack of skilled manpower at affordable price
• Infastrucural constraints impact competitiveness

(Factors of production - land, labour, capital, entrepreneur)

Impact of MSME
• Social - poverty alleviation, women empowerment, inclusive growth
• Cultural - preservation of traditional handicraft and art
• Economic - employment generation, export promotion, forex reserve augmentation
• Environment - lesser carbon footprint compared to capital intensive
• Geographical - reduce regional disparity and promote rural development

Government measures
• MUDRA Bank
• 59 minute Loan portal (upto Rs. 1 crore)
• Trade Receivables Discounting System (TReDS)
• ASPIRE - to promote rural entrepreneurship
• SFURTI - regeneration of traditional industries
• Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) - credit linked subsidy for self-employment
• Credit linked capital subsidy scheme
• MSME Cluster Development
• PSU to compulsarily procure 25% of total purchase
• Technology upgradation hub
• Entrepreneurship Development Programme
• Management Development Programme
• National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme - quality management
• Certification Reimbursement Scheme
• Credit guarantee scheme for MSME
• Priority Sector Lending by RBI
• Composition Scheme in GST

Suggestions
• Increased and easy access to credit
• Digitization to promote financial inclusion
• Cash flow based lending system for MSMEs (due to lack of collateral)
• Economic survey has suggested "sunset clause" of 5-7 years for MSME incentives - this would help them move out of
Peter Pan Syndrome problem
• Simplification of labour laws and reduce compliance cost (ease of doing business)
• Address infrastructural constraints to improve their competitiveness
• Passing of MSME Development Amendment Bill to change classification on the basis of turnover
• Integrate GeM platform with TReDS
• Expanding role of SIDBI to increase reach
• Technology and marketing support schemes

UK Sinha Committee Recommendations

• Stressed asset fund of Rs. 5000 crore for MSMEs to support during liquidiy crunch
• Creation of fund of fund (Rs. 10000 crore) to support venture capital
• Creation of loan portal for faster disbursal of loans
• Greater adoption of technology related solution
• Collateral free loan upto Rs. 20 lakh

Conclusion
• Thus, promotion of MSMEs would go a long way in boosting socio-economic development in the country

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Jobless Growth*
28 December 2018 17:27

Types of Unemployment
○ Structural - skills become redundant
○ Cyclical - slowing of economy
○ Frictional - looking for jobs
○ Seasonal - seasonal unemployment because job is seasonal, eg. agriculture
○ Disguised - labor is working in redundant manner or labor productivity is zero
○ Underemployment - highly skilled workers working in low paying jobs

Focus areas in employment

• Triple job deficit (women related jobs)
• Changing technology (AI, Big Data, etc.)
• Informalization of economy
• Farm to non-farm sector jobs (structural changes)
• Demographic dividend (to prevent from turning into demographic disaster)
• Mismatch between skills provided and needed

Introduction
• As per Government statistics, even though India is world's fastest growing large economy in terms of GDP,
however, unemployment rate has remained high

Facts
• Lakhs of engineers, MBA and PhD students applied for 300 posts of peon in UP
• As per Labour Ministry Data, India is facing its worst employment crisis in 45 years
• Economic Survey points towards triple deficit - less jobs, poor quality jobs, less jobs for women
• As per “Future of Jobs in India” study by FICCI and NASSCOM, 37% of India's workforce would be in jobs that have
radically changed skill sets by 2022

Reasons
1. share of employment declined in agriculture
2. service and manufacturing not able to absorb
3. rise in employment opportunities in informal sector
4. low ease of doing business - MSMEs remain small
5. quality of job-oriented education
6. Withdrawal of public sector
7. Investment slowdown (private and public)
8. Global economic slowdown
9. Post 2008 GFC - new normal
10. Trade protectionism in recent times

Government Steps
• Skill India Mission
• Improved rank of India is ease of doing business - rank 77
• Make in India
• Skill India Mission
• PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana
• PM Rojgar Protsahan Yojana
• Start Up India
• Stand Up India
• Apprenticeship promotion scheme
• Fixed employment rules

Suggestion
1. growth of smaller business (MSMEs) - reform in labor laws, incentives, sunset clause, etc.
2. Education reforms (market-oriented curriculum)

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 2. Education reforms (market-oriented curriculum)
3. promote export oriented labour-intensive industries (Economic Survey)
4. skill development and entrepreneurship promotion
5. remove infrastructural bottlenecks
6. Coastal employment zones (NITI Aayog Action Agenda)
7. Labour law reforms (ease of doing business)
8. Incentive corporate to generate more jobs through tax incentives
9. Promote champion services sector (IT & ITES, tourism, transport, legal services)
10. Promote women labourforce participation
11. Labour market information system (LMIS)

Conclusion
1. Need for National Employment Policy for creation of jobs along with growth

Q. Discuss opportunities to create jobs to tackle high unemployment rate in India.

 Structural Changes needed
o Increase non-agricultural employment to absorb workforce from agriculture
o Boost manufacturing sector to promote jobs
o Shift from informal sector employment to formal sector employment
 Opportunities to create jobs
o Promote labor intensive industries such as apparel, as suggested in Economic Survey
o MSME has tremendous potential for job creation, thus, support through credit facility, improved labor
laws and regulation
o Give impetus to tourism industry as it is under utilized
o Promote entrepreneurship which leads to job creation
o Incentivize corporates to generate more employment through tax exemptions, etc.
o Establishment of more vocational training institutions to provide skilling
o Modernization of agriculture could help to relieve farm distress, thus, attract youth
o Education system reform with focus on market needs
o Improve ease of doing business to promote investment
o Amend labor laws
 Govt. initiatives
o Skill India Mission
o PM Kaushal Vikas Yojana
o PM Rojgar Protsahan Yojana
o Start Up India
o Stand Up India
o Ease of doing business to attract investment
o Make in India
o Apprenticeship promotion scheme

Conclusion
 Focus should be on rapid economic growth which would help to generate more jobs. But equally important is
generation of formal jobs to ensure social security of population.

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Swachh Bharat Mission
18 January 2019 19:49

Performance Appraisal
• SBM is a nation-wide campaign from 2014 to 2019 to clean up the streets, roads and infrastructure
of India's cities, towns and rural areas
• The mission aims to achieve Open Defecation Free (ODF) India by 2nd October, 2019 (150th birth
anniversary of Gandhiji) by constructing 90 million toilets in rural India
• Other objectives
○ Eradication of manual scavenging
○ Behavioural change regarding healthy sanitation practices
○ Modern and scientific municipal solid waste management
• Facts
○ Sikkim became the first state to be declared ODF
○ As per World Bank, India loose equivalent to 6.4% of GDP due to inadequate sanitation
• Positive Performance
○ Sanitation coverage in rural area has increased from 39% in 2014 to 76% in 2018
○ Increased awareness levels among public through campaigns such as "Darwaza Band"
○ Various states declared ODF
• Negative Performance
○ Manual scavenging still continuing in disguise manner
○ Absence of effective sewage infrastructure in rural areas
○ Half of the household not using toilet for its intended purpose (need for behavioural change)
○ Large amount of funds remains unused
• Conclusion
○ Double pit septic tank
○ Increased use of technology to reduce manual scavenging
○ Sustained campaign as changing behavior is a long term process
○ Collaboration with NGOs such as Sulabh International which has constructed over 15 lakh
toilets in household

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GST
29 December 2018 13:03

What is GST?
○ GST is indirect tax across India to replace various indirect taxes levied by Central and State Govt.
○ Under GST, taxes slabs are 0%, 5%, 12%, 18%, 28%
○ There is additional cess on sin goods like cigarette

Features of GST
○ Single tax on goods and services from manufacturer to consumer
○ Destination based tax
○ Input tax credit – credit to be available in subsequent stages
○ three components – Central GST, State GST and Integrated GST
○ GSTN – non profit non govt. company to provide IT infrastructure
○ Taxes subsumed are Central Excise Tax, Service Tax, State VAT, Octroi Tax, etc.
○ National Anti-profiteering Authority - to ensure benefits are passed to end consumer

Pros
○ Elimination of multiple taxation and cascading effect
○ Reduce tax disputes
○ Simplification of tax administration
○ Increase availability of credit across the value chain
○ Increase tax base and tax compliance
○ Overall reduction in cost of goods
○ Expected to boost GDP by 1-2%
○ Prevent tax evasion due to dual monitoring structure (center and state) and online system
○ Seamless inter-state flow of goods (removal of check posts)
○ Same price of goods and services across India (one nation one market)

Cons
○ Dual control in business (Centre and State both)
○ Loss to manufacturing states (eg. Gujarat and Maharashtra)
○ Some items excluded such as petroleum and liquor
○ High rate will lead to inflation
○ Services will become more expensive
○ Loss of State autonomy is levying sales tax (against fiscal federalism)
○ It would lead to additional compliance tax for smaller merchants
○ Glitches in the software (GSTN)
○ CAG report - government did not try out GST system before rollout

Performance Analysis
○ Industry
○ Government
○ Consumer
○ CAG report - government did not try out GST system before rollout

Impact on Government Revenue

○ total revenue collection expected to increase
○ resistance from States that GST would take away constitutional revenue sources
○ But, dual of system of GST allows state to levy tax
○ It will allow states to tax not only services but also imports
○ Reduction in tax would increase demand for goods and services
○ Lead to better compliance of income tax return due to better administration

Q) What are the criticisms made against rolling out of GST? Examine.
 GST is being seen as the single largest economic reform since economic liberalization in 1991.

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 GST is being seen as the single largest economic reform since economic liberalization in 1991.

Arguments against GST

 Some of the commodities have experienced increase in tax rate
 There are 4 slabs in tax while purpose was to have single tax rate across India
 Some of the articles such as real estate, electricity have been kept out
 Success of GST would depend on successful participation of merchants where small merchants lack digital literacy
 It would lead to additional compliance tax for smaller merchants
 Tax collected at Source (TCS) introduced in e-commerce would adversely impact retailers
 There has been increase in cyber attacks in recent times, security of GSTN is doubted
 Lack of trained staff

Advantages of GST
 Abolish cascading of taxes
 Create common market across states
 Simplification of tax administration
 Increase availability of credit across the value chain
 Increase tax base and tax compliance

Thus, GST could prove to be game changer but need to address issues of small merchants

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 Financial inclusion
Saturday, January 26, 2019 12:23 PM

Definition - ensuring access to banking services at affordable cost to the vulnerable section

Facts - As per World Bank Financial Inclusion Survey, only 35% of adults in India had access to formal
bank account in 2012

Constraints to Financial Inclusion

• Inability to provide collateral security
• Inadequate reach of institutions
• High cost to provide service in hinterlands
• Inclusion and exclusion error
• First mile and last mile delivery
• Poor digital infrastructure in rural and remote areas
• Easy access to informal moneylenders
• Poor financial literacy
• Private players focus in urban areas only

Government Steps
• JAM Trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile)
• Direct Benefit Transfer (PAHAL and Ujjawala Scheme)
• Demonetization
• GST implementation
• RRB, small banks, payment banks, SHGs, priority sector lending, lead bank scheme
• Bharat Net to provide broadband service in 2.5 lakh gram panchayats in India
• Vittiya Saksharta Abhiyan
• PM Digital Saksharta Abhiyan
• UPI and BHIM
• MUDRA Yojana

Committee
• Deepak Mohanty Committee
• Use USSD technology to deliver mobile banking services to people with non-smart phones (mobile
banking without smartphone)
• Use CSR funding to nurture self-help group
• Digitization of land records
• Sukanya Siksha Scheme - lead bank to open account for poor girl enrolling in middle school

Best Practice - Panchayat Banks at village level in Jharkhand to promote financial inclusion

Suggestion
• Implement recommendations of Deepak Mohanty Committee and Nachiket Mor Committee
• Faster implementation of Bharat Net
• Use CSR funding (Eg. E-choupal)
• Banks should offer diverse products to meet different needs (micro products)
• Decentralized approach (role of local level bodies)
• Promotion of SHGs and cooperatives
• Financial inclusion as part of course curriculum in high schools
• Innovative strategies - infrastructure sharing among banks to reduce cost
• Awareness campaigns through NGO support
• Panchayat Banks (Jharkhand)

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Climate Change
28 December 2018 17:17

Climate Change Conference

• Cop24 in Katowice, Poland

• India is performing well (goal 1 and 2 of INDC) as per reports
• Fact - India secured 11th ranking in Climate Change Performance Index
• Developed countries are backing off on climate finance and equity (developed economies to lead)
• IPCC report warns of dangerous consequences due to 1.5 degree change by 2030 as many countries are off the target
• India spoke on behalf of BASIC countries that countries should not back off

Positive outcomes
1. New finance goal post 2020 higher than $100 billion
2. Urges developed countries for more grant than loans

India's INDC
• To reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 level.
• To achieve about 40 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel based energy resources by 2030
• To create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO 2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030

• Renewable Energy (Target - 175GW by 2022)

○ Wind - 28GW | 60GW
○ Solar - 9GW | 100GW
○ Biomass - 5GW | 10GW
○ Small Hydel - 4GW | 5GW

Impact of climate change

• Urban heat island
• Urban flooding
• Rising non-communicable disease due to environmental stress
• Rising sea level
• Increased frequencies of extreme events
• Rise global temperature
• Destruction of wetlands
• Reduced agricultural yield
• Rise in forest fire (eg. Uttarakhand)
• Destruction of marine ecosystem due to rising CO2 absorption (ocean acidification)
• Rising temperature of oceans (coral reefs under threat)
• Indirect impact
○ Tourism will reduce (color change of Taj Mahal)
○ Rise in poverty and inequality
○ Tribal communities are under threat
○ Climate refugee to rise with growing global warming

Mitigation measures
• Afforestation and drought-proofing through MGNREGA
• Use of crop diversification
• Climate insurance

Adaptation measures
• Inter-linking of rivers
• Climate smart agriculture - GM crops which are drought resistant, etc.
• More resilient infrastructure
• Research and development on possible calamities

Individual measures
• Reduce individual carbon footprint

Climate Engineering solutions

• Sunlight reflection methods
• Stratospheric aerosol injection
• Cirrus cloud manipulation
• Marine cloud brightening
• Space sunshade

Fact - Bramble Cay Meloms of Australia became the first mammal to get extinguish due to climate change

Conclusion
• Climate change is a global phenomenon, thus, need for timely action from all nations of the world

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 • Climate change is a global phenomenon, thus, need for timely action from all nations of the world

Q) The Paris Climate Agreement recognizes that all countries have responsibilities. Despite this recognition, do you think de veloped countries
owe more to mitigate climate change effects? Discuss critically.
 Global warming is the result of massive emission of CO2 and other GHGs from burning of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution in 18th century.
 Thus, many blame developed countries for this emission
 Developed countries owe more because
o Emission by developed countries is 2/3 of total emission
o Developed countries have reached high development level due to these emission
o Developing countries have limited financial resources and technical know how
o Developing countries like India are stills struggling with poverty and other social issues
o Developing countries are still trying to grow
o Unless, developed countries help, it would lead to greater inequality
 Developed countries don’t owe more because
o Developed countries did not have knowledge of global warming right from the beginning – became conscious only after 1980s
o Once they became dependent on fossil fuel, it was not possible to stop it
o It would risk participation of developed countries – Eg. US announced to pull out from agreement
o Moral responsibility of all countries
 Conclusion
o Paris agreement follows “Common but Differentiated Responsibility”
o Climate change is global problem, thus, need for effort from all countries as per their capacity

Fact - Green skill development programme

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Draft National Education Policy
12 June 2019 11:53

Introduction
• MHRD has come up with draft of NEP to replace existing NEP, 1986
• Committee was formed under the Chairman Dr. K Kasturirangan
• Aims to address access, equity, quality, affordability and accountability challenges of
education system

3A - accessibility, affordability and quality

Provisions
• Rename MHRD to Min. of Education
• School
○ Early childhood care and education as an integral part of school education
○ Reduce content load in school education curriculum
○ Focus on cognitive and socio-emotional development of child
○ Extension of RTE to cover children of age 3 to 18 (currently, 6 to 14 years)
○ Transformation is teacher education
• Higher education
○ Single regulator for higher education - National Higher Education Regulatory Authority
○ Restructuring of higher education institutions
• Others
○ Implementation of three-language formula across the country - later provision was
dropped
○ Promotion of Indian and classical languages
○ Increased use of ICT (smart classes, tele education)

Positives
• Focus on socio-emotional development of child
• Reduced burden of books
• Promotion of Indian languages

Negatives
• Three-language formula
• Moving early childhood care from Min. WCD to MHRD after 4 decades

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Precis Writing
14 November 2019 18:48

• Sentences should be written in own words (do not copy words/ sentences directly)
• Write the main points/ central idea from passage
• There must be logical inter-connection between sentences (use further, however, etc.)
• No new information should be provided
• Avoid idioms, phrases, quotations, illustrations, examples, proverbs, etc.
• Precis must be written in past tense, indirect speech and third person (he, she, it, they)
• Avoid using phrases like "According to me", "I think", etc. (No first person - I, me, my, we, us,
our)
• Use synonym of words from passage
• Maintain the opinion of author (don't add your opinion)
• Do not write in points
• Do not use brackets
• Do not insert questions
• Write in one paragraph (maximum 2 paragraphs)
• Write within the word limit (+- 10 words)
• Topic
○ Short
○ Central idea of passage
○ Start with capital letter
○ No verb
• Steps in precis writing
○ Read passage 2-3 times to understand the core theme of the passage
○ Extract main points (avoid examples, comments, etc.)
○ Think of suitable title for the precis (reflect GIST of entire passage)
○ Arrange the main points in logical order
○ Write in own language

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Reading Comprehension
15 November 2019 10:58

• Direct questions
○ Answer can be found in the passage
○ However, answer can be found in different paragraphs (not necessarily in single
paragraph)
• Indirect/ implied questions
○ Need to extrapolate the information given in passage
○ Important to locate the paragraph from where information is provided for the question

Steps to be followed
• Read the questions before reading the comprehension
• Try to locate the answer or paragraph linked to questions
• Answer can be in multiple paragraphs (not necessarily in single paragraph)
• Write answers in your own words
• Add some details to the answer

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Facts and figures
Tuesday, January 8, 2019 9:04 AM

• Around 70% of India's defence requirements are met through imports

• India was ranked 47th in Inclusive Internet Index 2019 out of 100 countries
• Cyber attacks cost around 1% of global GDP annually
• As per World Bank, India ranks 120 out of 131 countries in female labor force participation
• As per ILO, India has the lowest female labour force participation in Asia-Pacific region
• India is having highest number of stunted children in the world
• India also has the highest number of children who are wasted
• HAM projects accounted for 63% of total value of highway projects awarded in 2017-18
• India's e-commerce industry is expected to reach $200 billion by 2026
• As per Ease of Doing Business report, India ranks 163 out of 190 countries in Contract Enforcement
• 2/3rd of the listed companies in India are family owned - most in any stock exchange
• 44 Indians come out of extreme poverty every minute, one of the fastest rates of poverty reduction in the world
• Groundwater statistics
• Tube well & well – 60%; Canal – 30%; Tank – 5%; Others – 5%
• Agriculture – 89%; Domestic use – 9%; Industrial use – 2%
• Urban requirement by GW – 50%; Rural requirement by GW – 85%
• GW – 60%; Surface – 30%
• Recent study have shown that climate change could lead to thousands of malaria infection in cooler region
• India's Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) reduced from 34% in 2012 to 29% in 2018
• India ranks 44th in World Logistics Performance Index by World Bank
• India's logistics cost stands at 13% of GDP while developed countries have 7-8% of GDP
• As per International IP ranking, India was placed at 44th place out of 50 countries released by US chamber of
commerce
• 95% of trade by volume and 70% by value moves through oceanic route
• According to Census 2011, internal migrants constitute about 37% of India's population (~46 crores)
• As per Government, Aadhaar helped to expose 5 crore ghost accounts in 2017
• India has 43% children malnourished of which 30% are undernourished and 13% are obese
• Global Innovation Index rank improved from 81 in 2015 to 57 in 2018

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Women
 Positive
o Adult sex ratio improved from 933 in 2001 to 940 in 2011
o As per IMF, gender parity in workforce can boost India's GDP by 27%
o 2019 Lok Sabha has the highest share of women even at 14%
o Nordic countries have more than 40% women representation in Legislature
 Negative
o Child sex ratio(0-6 years) declined from 927 in 2001 to 919 in 2011
o Women dies every 2 hours in India due to unsafe condition of abortion
o Strength of women in Parliament has never been more than 15%
o Depression and anxiety are twice as prevalent among women than men
o Gender Inequality Index (by UNDP) – India ranks 130 out of 155 countries
o Women account for ~21.9% of workforce in India
o Women contribute just 18% to India’s GDP

Education
 Positive
o Literacy rate increased from 11% during independence to ~75% today
o Skill India Mission to train 40 crore people by 2022
o India ranks 5th in global research publication output
o India has 2nd largest number of doctors and engineers in the World
 Negative
o Globally, average spending is 5% of GDP but India spends around 3.3%
o No Indian University or college in Top 100 global ranking
o Reference to Indian research paper is less than 1% which shows low quality of research study

Health
 Positive
o Life expectancy rose from 32 years in 1947 to 68 years in 2015
o As per UNICEF, right nutrition to children in first 1000 days could boost country’s GDP by as much as 12%
 Negative
o Globally, average spending is 3% but govt. spends around 1.4% while it loses 6% every year
o India has world’s highest Maternal Mortality Rate and Infant Mortality Rate
o India is having highest number of stunted and wasted children in the world
o As per WHO, alcohol consumption is third largest risk factor for disease and disability in the World and
biggest reason for vehicular accidents in India
o Due to hospitalization, every year many people go below poverty line equivalent to 3% of GDP
o 65% of total out of pocket expenditure of Indians is spent on healthcare

Technology
 Positive
o Internet penetration growth in India has been 4 times than global average in last few years
o Total internet penetration in India has jumped to ~34%
o India crossed 1 billion mobile subscribers milestone in 2018
o India improved its position from 81 to 52 in last 4 years - Global Innovation Index (GII)
o India ranks 23rd in Global Cybersecurity Index which measures the commitment of countries
 Negative
o India faced 350% increase in cyber-attacks in last 3 years – ASSOCHAM report
o As per Intellectual Property Index by US Chamber of Commerce, India ranks 44 out of 50 countries
o India spends less than 1% of its GDP in R&D while Israel spends 4.3%
o As per NSSO survey, only 6% of rural households have a computer
o India’s internet penetration is 34% while that of China is 54%

Governance and Polity

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 Governance and Polity
 Positive
o Government at a Glance report by OECD shows that 73% of Indians trust the Government which is 3rd
highest in the world
 Negative
o India is among the poorest counties in Corruption Perceptions Index 2018 in which honesty and integrity of
leader of country is an important factor (Rank 78 out of 176)
o Nearly 50% of MPs in 2019 Lok Sabha have criminal records
o As per Economic Survey 2017, rural local government gets 95% of its funds from the State

Economy
 Positive
o India improved its ranking from 130 to 77 in Ease of Doing Business in last 2 years
o India has third largest number of startups in the World after US and UK
o India has been one of the fastest growing major economy in last 3 years
o Primary (17%), Secondary (25%), Tertiary (58%)
 Negative
o India ranks 3rd in Global Fraud Report which measures the corruption level
o India has highest bribery rate among 16 Asia Pacific as per Transparency International
o India imports around 80% of its oil requirement
o India is 3rd largest oil consuming economy after US and China
o Total retail transaction in cash in India still remains more than 90%
o Borrowing and Other Liabilities form largest chunk of Budget (21%)
o Government contribution (Budget to GDP) in India is around 13% while OECD countries have >30%
o As per International Labor Organization, India has the lower rates of women’s participation in labor force in
Asia (~22%)
o Indian economy’s logistics cost stand at 13% of GDP while that of US is 7%

Judiciary
 Negative
o As per Law Commission, around 60,000 judges are required in India
o More than 2 crore cases pending in lower judiciary with more than 50,000 pending in SC
o Till 2015, insolvency resolution in India takes 4.3 years on average while US is 1.5 years

Environment
 Negative
o India ranks 4th in largest polluter (GHG emitter) of the World after China, US and EU
o Mumbai and Kolkata are among top 3 cities which are most vulnerable to flooding
o As per The Lancet, 2 lives in India are lost every minute due to air pollution
o As WHO report, 15 out of 20 most polluted cities in the World are from India
o As per Indian Nitrogen Assessment report, NOx emission in India grew at 69% from 2001 to 2011

Water
 As per NITI Aayog, about 54% of India is water stressed
 As per NITI Aayog report, India is facing its worst water crisis in history and demand for portable water will
outstrip supply by 2030 if steps are not taken
 India has 17% of world population but only 4% fresh water
 Water crisis could lead to 6% loss in GDP by 2050 if steps are not taken
 Upto 70% of India’s surface water is contaminated

Social Sector
 As per census 2011, there are around 10 crore elderly (60+ years) in India and expected to triple by 2050
 Scheduled Caste comprise ~16.6% of population as per 2011 census
 Bihar reported only 11 manual scavengers and Haryana reported 0
 Scheduled Tribe comprise ~8.6% of population as per 2011 census
 ~2.2% suffer from one or the other kind of disability
 Victims of substance abuse are estimated to be 1% of population
 Negative
India has the highest number of people in the world trapped in modern day slavery

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 o India has the highest number of people in the world trapped in modern day slavery
o India has highest number of people practicing open defecation in the world

Youth
 More than 65% of India’s population lies below 35 years of age (demographic dividend)

Military
 Around 70% of India's defence requirements are met through imports
 As per SIPRI, India is 4th largest country in terms of military spending and 2 nd largest importer in the world after
Saudi Arabia

Others
 Positive
o India's e-commerce industry is expected to reach $200 billion by 2026
o As per Economics Survey, 22% of total startup funding went to Fintech startup companies
o As per reports, 5G will have cumulative economic impact of $1 trillion in India by 2035
 Negative
o As per Oxfam Report, top 1% richest people of the World hold wealth equal to remaining 99%
o As per Oxfam Report, top 1% richest people of India hold 58% of total wealth
o As per UNDP Human Development Index, India ranks 130 out of 188 countries
o India won only 2 medals in Olympics 2016 with 117 largest ever delegation
o More than 50% of working class in India is stressed with women more stressed than men
o India has 20% (highest share) of world’s livestock on 2.4% of land
o India ranks 140 out of 156 countries in World Happiness Report
o There has been decline in child labour from 5% in 2001 to 3.9% in 2011
o As per Census 2011, around 33 lakh child labour between 1 to 18 years

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Railway
 Positive
o India Railways carry 23 million passengers daily equivalent to moving entire population of Australia
o Number of injuries per lakh population is one of the lowest in the World
 Negative
o More than 100 major and minor accidents takes place every year
o 18 out of 21 accidents occur due to human error
o For past 20-25 years, India Railways is carrying 15 times more people that its capacity
o 15,000 out of 50,000 crossings in India are unmanned

Money Laundering
 Positive
o SEBI has blacklisted 331 companies
 Negative
o Out of 15 lakh registered companies, only 6 lakh are filing return
o Government studies estimated black economy at 70-80% of GDP

Cyber attack
 Positive
o India ranks 23rd in Global Cybersecurity Index which measures the commitment of countries
 Negative
o 350% rise in cybercrime in India in 3 years
o India was third largest hit by WannaCry ransomware in the world
o Cyber attacks cost around 1% of global GDP annually

Anti-Microbial Resistance
 Negative
o India is the largest antibiotic consumer in the World
o As per WTO report, AMR is a bigger challenge in developing countries like India, Brazil, etc.
o As per recent study, MDR TB will make upto 12% of total TB cases in India by 2040

Healthcare
 Positive
o Government of India recently launched World’s biggest healthcare scheme – National Health Protection
Scheme
o National Health Policy aims to increase public investment upto 2.5% of GDP
 Negative
o As per WHO Report, 57% of those who claimed to be allopathic doctors in 2001 in India did not have any
medical qualification (quacks)
o India has 36 doctors per lakh population while China has 130
o Around 52% of married women in India have Anaemia
o India has highest number of children stunted due to malnutrition
o Non Communicable Disease cause 53% of all deaths in India and is increasing
o Insurance penetration in India is 3.4% while global average is 6.2%
o Only 10% of Indians have some form of health insurance
o As per WHO, 7.5% of Indians suffer from major or minor mental disorder which require expert intervention
and 4.5% of Indians suffer from depression
o Alcohol consumption is third largest reason for death and disability in the world
o As per Global Hunger Index by IFPRI, India ranks 103 rd out of 119 countries

Population
 As per UN report, India’s population is expected to surpass China by 2024

Urbanization
 As per McKinsey report, India’s city population will nearly double by 2030

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 As per McKinsey report, India’s city population will nearly double by 2030
 India cities account for 1/3 of the population but contribute to 3/5 of the country’s GDP
 As per census 2011, 17% of urban households live in slums

Poverty
 Around one-third of World’s poor population live in India
 As per World Bank, BPL population declined from 39% in 2004 to 22% in 2011
 22% population of India lies below poverty line (BPL) as per Census 2011
 As per Oxfam Report, top 1% richest people of India hold 58% of total wealth

Indian Diaspora
 Positive
o As per UN report, India has largest diaspora population in the World with more than 30 million Indians living
abroad
o India was World’s largest recipient of remittances in 2015 and 2016

Agriculture
 It provides livelihood support to nearly 55% workforce
 It contributes 14% to national GDP
 Only 46% of sown area in India is irrigated
 As per UN FAO estimates, 40% of India’s fresh fruit & vegetable perishes before reaching consumers
 As per Census 2011, Tubewells (45%), Canals (26%), Wells (19%), Tanks (3%)
 As per NCRB, more than 12000 farmers commit suicide annually
 As per NSSO, almost 70% of agricultural households spend more than they earn
 Agriculture sector account for 85% of total water use, mostly groundwater

Polity
 Positive
o Winning percentage of women in 2014 General Election was 9% while men was 6%
o 2019 General Election saw highest ever voter turnout in India with 67.1%
 Negative
o 2014 General Election saw participation of 464 political parties

Economy
 As per Ease of Doing Business report, India ranks 163 out of 190 countries in Contract Enforcement
 As per Ease of Doing Business ranking, India improved from 130 to 77
 As per World Logistics Performance Index, India ranks 44 out of 160 countries
 As per Global Services Location Index, India ranks number 1
 Study have shown that GST could lead to additional GDP growth rate of 1-2 per cent
 Rural consumption expenditure is accounted for around 60% of country’s total expenditure
 India ranks 130 in Index of Economic Freedom
 44 Indians come out of extreme poverty every minute, one of the fastest rates of poverty reduction in the world
 India's Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GFCF) reduced from 34% in 2012 to 29% in 2018
 As per NITI Aayog, India needs to increase investment to 36% by 2022 to achieve 8% growth rate

Export-Import
 Textile sector accounts for more than 14% of India’s total exports
 Foreign Trade Policy 2015-20 indents to increase share of India’s export from 2% to 3.5%

Press
 As per World Press Freedom Index, India’s rank dropped to 140 out of 180 countries

Terrorism
 As per Global Terrorism Index, India is 7th most affected country by terrorism out of 163 countries

Tourism
 India ranks 34th in Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index by WEF which shows the untapped potential of the
country
 It is second largest foreign exchange earner for India and contributes to ~10% of GDP

Corruption

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 Corruption
 India ranks 3rd in Global Fraud Report – includes theft, corruption, bribery
 As per Corruption Perception Index, India ranks 78 out of 176 countries

Digital Economy
 As per Network Readiness Index, India ranks 91 out of 139 countries
 More than 90% of retail transactions in India are still cash based
 Credit Suisse projects that India’s digital payments space to be $1 trillion by 2023

Employment
 Less than one third of Indian Engineering graduates and about 5% from other streams are found to be employable
 More than 90% of workforce in India comes under informal sector
 As per estimates, half of India’s workforce is self-employed
 As per Labour Ministry Data, India is facing its worst employment crisis in 45 years
 As per “Future of Jobs in India” study by FICCI and NASSCOM, 37% of India's workforce would be in jobs that have
radically changed skill sets by 2022

Infrastructure
 Road
o Construction of national highway hit an all-time high of 28 km per day
o As per NCRB, 400 people are killed daily in road accidents in India
 Energy
o Thorium is estimated to be more abundant than Uranium in the Earth’s crust
 PPP
o HAM projects accounted for 63% of total value of highway projects awarded in 2017-18

Financial Inclusion
 Proportion of Indian adults with bank accounts has increased from 53% in 2014 to 80% in 2017
 Stressed assets across all banks has crossed INR 10 lakh crore

Disaster Management
 As per seismic zone map, around 60% of India’s land area is under threat of moderate to severe seismic hazard
 12% of land is prone to flooding and river erosion
 1/3rd of districts in India are affected by severe drought
 3/4th of the coastline is prone to cyclone and tsunami
 97% deficiency in fire stations and 96% in fire-fighting personnel as per NDMA

Manufacturing
 Manufacturing contributed to 25% to India’s GDP
 MSME (workforce – 11 crore, export – 40%, GDP share – 38%, manufacturing share – 45%)

Tax Collection
 India’s tax to GDP ratio is 16.6% while OECD countries have average 33%
 As per NITI Aayog, only 7 out of 100 voters pay tax in India

Environment
 Developed countries are responsible for 75% of total historical carbon emission and 2/3rd of carbon has been used
so far
 India is third largest greenhouse gases emitter in the world after China and US
 As per Greenpeace India report, India overtook China is number of deaths due to air pollution
 As many as 95% of Indians breathe air quality that is worse than WHO recommended standards
 It is estimated that health cost due to particulate pollution is 3% of GDP while its mitigation would cost only 1%
 India ranks 177th out of 180 countries in Global Environment Performance Index
 India ranks 11th in terms of Climate Change Performance Index 2019
 As per Desertification and Land Degradation Atlas by ISRO, India's land degradation area stood at around 30%
 As per India State of Forest Report, 2017 there has been increase 1% increase in forest cover & area to 24%

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