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With inflation remaining at ‘elevated levels’, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India unanimously decided to raise the policy repo rate by 50 basis points (bps) to 5.4%.
Inflation is projected to remain above the upper tolerance level of 6% through the first three quarters of 2022-23, entailing the risk of destabilising inflation expectations and triggering second round effects,” the MPC said in a statement, explaining the rationale for its decision.
Given the elevated level of inflation and resilience in domestic economic activity further calibrated monetary policy action is needed to contain inflationary pressures, pull back headline inflation within the tolerance band closer to the target, and keep inflation expectations anchored so as to ensure that growth is sustained.
The MPC also said it would remain focused on “withdrawal of accommodation” to ensure that inflation remains within the target, while supporting growth.
The RBI retained its inflation and GDP growth projections for the current fiscal year ending in March 2023 at 6.7% and 7.2%, respectively.
Consequently, the standing deposit facility (SDF) rate stands adjusted to 5.15%; and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 5.65%.
Addressing a press conference, Governor Shaktikanta Das said the RBI would use a “whatever-it-takes” approach to ensure a safe and soft landing for the economy despite the uncertainties.
Supreme Court moots verdict to help unmarried women gain ‘bodily autonomy’ under MTP Act (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court said it may loosen the restrictive grip of a 51-year-old abortion law which bars unmarried women from terminating pregnancies which are up to 24 weeks old, saying the prohibition was “manifestly arbitrary and violative of women’s right to bodily autonomy and dignity.
A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and J.B. Pardiwala considered pronouncing a judgment, which would put these unmarried women on par with anguished women with less than 20-week-old pregnancies who run the danger of suffering a mental breakdown because they had conceived due to the failure of “family planning devices or methods.
The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act of 1971 and its Rules of 2003 prohibit unmarried women who are between 20 weeks to 24 weeks pregnant to abort with the help of registered medical practitioners.
An unmarried woman suffers an unwanted pregnancy, why should she be excluded from termination up to 24 weeks if a married woman is allowed it.
The danger to life is as much in the case of an unmarried woman as in the case of a married woman,” Justice Chandrachud, asked the Centre, represented by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati.
The court noted that the Rules permit termination of pregnancies of up to 24 weeks in seven specific categories, including survivors of rape or sexual assault, minors, in case of physical disabilities and fetal malformation.
Ms. Bhati said these seven categories represent women who were “extremely vulnerable”. The intention of the law is “not to allow abortion freely to all, not to liberalise”.
But Justice Chandrachud said an unmarried woman whose pregnancy is over 20 weeks may have also conceived in a similarly vulnerable situation. “Such an unmarried woman may have been exploited.
The source of her pregnancy may also be the same vulnerability that applies to other women. You must have a forward-looking interpretation of the law,” Justice Chandrachud responded to Ms. Bhati.
Ultimately what does the legislature intend… The legislature has not just used the word ‘husband’. It has also used the word ‘partner’.
So the legislature is not just concerned about women who undergo pregnancy within marriage, but outside marriage too. Medical risk is the same for both married and unmarried women.
Editorial
Lessons for India from the Taiwan standoff (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The brief visit by the United States House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan, against stern warnings issued by China, has the potential to increase the already deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and China, with major implications for Taiwan.
For China, its claims about a rising superpower might ring hollow if it is unable to unify its claimed territories, in particular Taiwan.
For the U.S., it is about re-establishing steadily-diminishing American credibility in the eyes of its friends and foes. For Taiwan, it is about standing up to Chinese bullying and making its red lines clear to Beijing.
The crisis that began with the visit of Ms. Pelosi to Taipei is still unfolding and there is little clarity today on how it will wind down even though it is unlikely to lead to a full-scale invasion of Taiwan or a war between China and the U.S.
For those of us in India watching the events as they unfold around Taiwan, there are valuable lessons to be learnt. To begin with, consider this.
A small island of 23 million people has decided to stand up to one of the strongest military and economic powers on the planet, braving existential consequences.
India is a far more powerful nation armed with nuclear weapons and with a 1.4 million standing military against whom China has only marginal territorial claims. And yet, India continues to be hesitant about calling China’s bluff.
To be fair, there is growing recognition in New Delhi that it is important to meet the challenge posed by a belligerent China, but there appears to be a lack of clarity on how to meet this challenge. To that extent, the Taiwan crisis offers New Delhi three lessons, at the very least.
The most important lesson from the Taiwan standoff for policymakers in New Delhi is the importance of articulating red lines and sovereign positions in an unambiguous manner.
New Delhi needs to unambiguously highlight the threat from China and the sources of such a threat. Any absence of such clarity will be cleverly utilised by Beijing to push Indian limits, as we have already seen. More pertinently, Beijing, like everyone else analysing the Indian reactions to the standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in 2020, realises that one of the major reasons behind New Delhi’s rather muddled articulation of the Chinese aggression two years ago is domestic political calculations.
Addressing the challenges in new-age digital commerce (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Government Policies)
India’s consumer behaviour has experienced a radical transformation at the most fundamental levels. The rise in smartphone use fuelled by affordable data plans has catalysed an online revolution in the country.
The novel coronavirus pandemic has further accelerated the process of digital inclusion, and it is now not only routine to transact online and have food, personal care items or anything else delivered at the one’s doorstep, but it is also common to learn online, have medical consultations online, and even resolve disputes online.
These realisations have given India the opportunity to disrupt the status quo with its innovative abilities.
Systems such as the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Aadhaar, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission have reengineered markets.
Despite the rapid advancement of digital platforms on the one hand and the pervasiveness of the Internet-enabled phone on the other, small enterprises such as local kirana stores have not gained from this.
Online purchases from “near and now” inventory from the local store remain in a digital vacuum. This is because, to sell on numerous platforms, sellers must maintain a separate infrastructure, which only adds costs and limits participation. The distinct terms and conditions of each platform further limit the sellers’ flexibility.
Consequently, small and medium-sized businesses have lost their freedom to choose and participate in the country’s e-commerce system at their will and on their terms. Alarmingly, centralising digital commerce transactions on a single platform creates a single point of failure.
Given this objective, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Government of India established the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) to level the playing field by developing open e-commerce and enabling access to small businesses and dealers. The ONDC network makes it possible for products and services from all participating e-commerce platforms to be displayed in search results across all network apps.
For instance, a consumer shopping for a product on an e-commerce app named “X” would also receive results from e-commerce app named “Y”, if both X and Y integrated their platforms with the ONDC.
This achieves the dual objective of wider choice for consumers on the one hand and access to a wider consumer base for sellers on the other.
Sticking to commitments (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Ahead of the 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27), in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, in November, the Union Cabinet has approved India’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), a formal statement detailing its action plan to address climate change.
The 2015 Paris Agreement requires countries to spell out a pathway to ensure the globe does not heat beyond 2°C, and endeavour to keep it below 1.5°C by 2100.
The subsequent COPs are a quibbling arena where countries coax, cajole and make compromises on the cuts they can undertake over multi-decadal timelines with the least impact on their developmental priorities.
While the end product of the COP is a joint agreement, signed by all member countries, the real business begins after, where countries must submit NDCs every five years, mapping what will be done post 2020 to stem fossil-fuel emissions.
India’s first NDC, in 2015, specified eight targets, the most salient of them being reducing the emissions intensity of GDP by 33%-35% (of 2005 levels) by 2030, having 40% of its installed electricity capacity sourced from renewable energy, and creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through forest and tree cover by 2030. Being a large, populous country, India has high net emissions but low per-capita emissions.
It has also, by participating in COPs for decades, made the case that the existing climate crisis is largely due to industrialisation by the U.S. and developed European countries since 1850.
However, years of negotiations, international pressure and clearer evidence of the multi-dimensional impact from climate change have seen India agree to move away from fossil fuels over time.
At COP 26 in Glasgow in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid out five commitments, or ‘Panchamrit’, as the Government references it, which included India increasing its non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW by 2030 and achieving “Net Zero” by 2070, or no net carbon dioxide emitted from energy sources.
However, the press statement on the Cabinet decision was silent on whether India would cut emissions by a billion tons and on creating carbon sinks.
News
Privilege of MPs does not extend to criminal cases, says Venkaiah (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Rajya Sabha Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Friday, that members have a wrong notion that they have a privilege from action by investigating agencies, while the session is on.
Congress has been protesting against the alleged misuse of agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax department (IT) by the government to frame political rivals.
A day ago, Congress members forced adjournments in the Upper House when Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge said he had received a summon from ED to appear before the agency even while the House was in session.
Shiv Sena’s Priyanka Chaturvedi too raised the issue of arrest of member Sanjay Raut by ED saying the Chairman should have been apprised.
As the House assembled on Friday, Mr. Naidu said, “Going by what has happened in the last few days, I want to clarify one thing that there is a wrong notion among the Members that they have a privilege from action by agencies while the Session is on.”
He said he has examined all the precedents and under Article 105 of the Constitution, Members of Parliament enjoy certain privileges so that they can perform their parliamentary duties without any hindrance.
One of the privileges is that a Member of Parliament cannot be arrested in a civil case, 40 days before the commencement of the session or Committee meeting, and 40 days thereafter. This privilege is already incorporated under Section 135A of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908.