17 April 2024, The Hindu
A referendum on India’s future
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Prelims syllabus: Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.
- Even as campaigning gathers pace for the 2024 general election, distant seem the days when the world hailed our elections as a wondrous and clamorous affair that reaffirmed our greatest achievement: being the world’s largest democracy.
- But the past decade has diminished us in the eyes of the world, and to some extent our own, to an "electoral autocracy".
- There is a palpable sense that in this election, we are fighting to save our democracy itself.
- It is impossible to escape the widespread perception that our elections increasingly sustain only the bare bones of democracy, even as its sinews — the legislature, judiciary, media, “autonomous” watchdogs such as the Election Commission of India and the Reserve Bank of India, and agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate and the Central Bureau of Investigation — are either hollowed out or hijacked.
RBI survey shows why livelihood issues are in focus in 2024 polls
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GS 1: Society: population and associated issues
- In a country the size and diversity of India, voter choices can be a bundle of contradictions that require careful parsing to unpack and understand.
- On the one hand, the CSDS-Lokniti pre-poll survey 2024 findings, that unemployment and price rise are the issues of most concern to prospective voters, come as no surprise.
- In a country with a large youth population and a relatively low per capita income, the lack of sufficient jobs and the persistence of high inflation should be major issues of concern.
- The survey also reveals that more than half the respondents felt that corruption had increased in the last five years.
- In its 10-year term, the performance of the Narendra Modi led Bharatiya Janta party (BJP) government on the economic front has been rather mediocre, with little being done to lower unemployment even as it has pursued policies that have significantly benefited the elite over the masses.
- Even as the BJP seeks to emphasise issues such as the inauguration of the Ram temple and Hindutva at high decibel level in its campaigning, the survey reveals that these two issues do not have a high resonance in comparison to livelihood concerns.
- But the survey also shows that the BJP and its allies have a comfortable 12 percentage point lead over the INDIA bloc, with "leadership" and socio-cultural issues determining higher preference for the ruling party.
Reforms needed in the voting process
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GS 2: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act (RPA)
- The Supreme Court has decided to hear petitions seeking 100% cross-verification of the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) slips with the vote count as per Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
- In the first two general elections of 1952 and 1957, a separate box was placed for each candidate with their election symbol. Voters had to drop a blank ballot paper into the box of the candidate whom they wanted to vote for.
- Thereafter from the third election, the ballot paper with names of candidate and their symbols was introduced with voters putting a stamp on the candidate of their choice.
Why has India allowed FIIs to invest in its green bonds?
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GS 3: Indian Economy - Investment models (PPP etc)
- On April 5 the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) green lighted investments in the country’s Sovereign Green Bonds (SGrBs) by Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIS) — investors such as insurance companies, pension funds and nation-states’ sovereign wealth funds. SGrBs are a kind of government debt that specifically funds projects attempting to accelerate India’s transition to a low carbon economy.
- Allowing FIIs to invest in India’s green projects widens the pool of capital available to fund the country’s ambitious 2070 net zero goals, ensuring 50% of India’s energy comes from non-fossil fuel based sources and to reduce the carbon intensity of the nation’s economy by 45%, as pledged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26 in Glasgow 2021.
Imported inflation: how import costs can increase the prices of goods and services
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GS 3: Indian Economy (Inflation)
- Imported inflation refers to the rise in the prices of goods and services in a country that is caused by an increase in the price or the cost of imports into the country.
- It is believed that a rise in input costs pushes producers to raise the price they charge from their local customers, thus boosting inflation.
- A depreciation in the value of a country’s currency is generally seen as the most important reason behind imported inflation in an economy.
- This is because when a country’s currency depreciates, people in the country will have to shell out more of their local currency to purchase the necessary foreign currency required to buy any foreign goods or services, which in turn means that they will effectively be paying more for anything that they import.
- The Asian Development Bank recently warned that India could face imported inflation as the rupee could depreciate amid the rise in interest rates in the West.
- A rise in interest rates in the West tends to cause the currencies of developing countries to depreciate against western currencies, which in turns can lead to higher import costs for these countries.
New panel to address issues of LGBTQ+ community
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GS 2: mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections
- The Ministry of Law and Justice on Tuesday notified a six-member committee to address issues related to the queer community.
- The committee, to be headed by the Cabinet Secretary, will suggest measures to ensure that the queer community does not encounter any discrimination in accessing goods and services, social welfare schemes, or face threat of violence among others.
- Last October, while hearing the petition on same-sex marriage, the Supreme Court had directed that such a panel be set up to address the challenges faced by the community in accordance with the statement made by the Centre in the court.
- Other members of the panel include Secretaries of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Ministry of Law and Justice, Ministry of Women and Child Development, and the Ministry of Health and Family Development.
IMF forecasts India’s economy to grow 6.8% this fiscal year
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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment
- The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday raised its growth projection for India’s GDP in the current fiscal year 2024/25 to 6.8%, and forecast a 6.5% expansion next year.
- The latest FY25 forecast is a 0.3 percentage point upward revision from January’s projection, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook April 2024, released on Tuesday to kick off the World Bank IMF Spring Meetings.
Three new fish species spotted using tools in the Laccadive Sea
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance
- Three fish species that live in the Laccadive Sea, off the southwest corner of the Indian coast, are capable of using tools, we recently found.
- All three species used live or dead coral structures as anvils to break the hard shells of sea urchins so they could get to the edible bits inside.
- The Jansen’s wrasse (Thalassoma jansenii) and the checkerboard wrasse (Halichoeres hortulanus) have never been reported using tools before, and this is the first documented instance of the moon wrasse (Thalassoma lunare) using tools in the wild.
