6 Feb 2024

#GS3 –01. Indian Economy

With its inherent resilience and the enabling structural reform measures announced in the last decade, we are confident that the Indian economy will be able to reach the $ 7 trillion GDP mark before 2030, the official timeline indicated by the government.
– FM Sitharaman

#GS4–#GS2 — 02. Regulatory Compliances

RBI imposed restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank because of persistent non-compliance, insisting that it resorted to such measures only after prolonged engagement with the entities involved.

– Commentary in News

#GS3 –03. MPC & Inflation

Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) monetary Policy committee(MPC) kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged for the sixth straight time, citing persistent risks from food inflation and incomplete transmission of monetary policy, pouring cold water on hopes of a nearly rate cut.
– Commentary in News

The MPC will carefully monitor any signs of generalization of food price pressures that can fritter away the gains in easing of core inflation.Monetary policy must continue to be actively dis-inflationary to align inflation to the target of 4% on a durable basis.The MPC will remain resolute in this commitment. The MPC also decided to remain focused on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure fuller transmission and anchoring of inflation Expectations.
– RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das

#GS2 — 04. Libel

Recent ruling by Delhi high court that re-posting or sharing libellous content constitutes criminal defamation,has broad implications for freedom of expression on social media Platforms.

After the Delhi high court ruling,merely stating that the content represents the original poster’s views when re-posting it won’t protect someone from liability under Section 499 (defamation) of the Indian Penal Code. Therefore,the freedom of expression in re-sharing such content on social media is now subject to reasonable restrictions, which was previously applicable to print and other media platforms.
-Commentary in News

#Essay — 05. Inequality and Humanity

There is always more Misery among the lower classes than there is humanity in the higher.

-VICTOR HUGO

#GS3 –06. Unreliable Economic Data?

While we have no survey data on Incomes since 2011-12,multiple data sources suggest a decline or at best a deceleration in the money earned by working Indians in the last five years.

The fact that we don’t have consumption expenditure data after 2011-12 makes it difficult to arrive at any estimate based on consumption poverty in the country.

These grim readings maybe at variance with claims made in the interim budget speech but the reality of mass distress warrants a more realistic approach to policy making.
– JNU Professor Himanshu

#GS3 –07. India should not go for Carbon Capture

Decades of promoting the technology,also known as CCS—which filters carbon dioxide from smoke stacks and injects the pollution deep underground—have failed to produce more than a handful of operating plants.So plans by India’s government think-tank Niti Aayog to capture as much of 70% of the country’s power-sector emissions should be seen as wishful thinking at best and a dangerous form of short-sightedness at worst.

That sounds a lot like what China said About its energy planning about15 years ago—but the technological revolution since then has opened up new,cheaper and clean eroptions and India would do well to follow that path.

For CCS to work anywhere, two challenging conditions must be met.One,there Must be ample underground reservoirs to store the waste gas that’s produced; and two, the cost of fossil power plus that of CCS itself must be lower than any alternative technology.India fails on both counts.

Wind and solar are already cheaper than new coal generation in India, and even adding a four-hour battery to ensure power is available after sunset leaves them Less expensive than coal with carbon capture.

Hydroelectricity is another under-exploited resource.India, like China,benefits from its proximity to the fast-flowing waters of the Himalayas.While China has been busy developing this resource that dam-building is now approaching its geological limits, India has neglected the sector.More than 17 gigawatts of projects have been abandoned due to bureaucratic tangles and local opposition.The country is at only about 29% of its capacity for hydro-power,with a further 10% under construction. Lifting that ratio would provide tera-watt-hours of electricity to India’s cities and control flood waters that periodically devastate the country’s rural areas.

If renewable energy Falls short, coal is going to make up the difference. Rather than depending on an unrealistic and unproven new technology to lock away carbon pollution, India must give zero-carbon developers the certainty and policy backing to stop the soot from getting burnt in the first place. The best way to decarbonize India’s coal sector is not to bury its emissions—it’s to bury the industry as a whole.