August 1 to 15, 2017: Other Short Questions & Answers

Why the Biofuels related work has been taken away from Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and given to Oil Ministry?

In a recent approval by the newly appointed President Ram Nath Kovind, the work related to biofuels has been shifted from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. This move has been made with the intention to push the biofuel sector further to achieve goals of energy security.

Biofuel is an environment friendly source of energy and they can play a major role in cutting the rates of carbon emission which is a global concern. It has been felt that the Oil Ministry can best control and coordinate its distribution. Further, a main reason for the shift may be the potential of biofuels to act as a substitute for other forms of oil taken from fossil fuels. This has become a necessary step owing to the increased level of air pollution being caused by vehicle emissions. Biofuels can reduce the release of carbon to a great extent from vehicle emissions. A National Biofuel Development Board has also been set up to look into the formulation of policies for promoting biofuel related work.

Mumbai has seen one of its biggest rallies as the Maratha community from across the state converged at Azad Maidan. What are their demands? What is state government’s response so far?

Since August Maratha community are holding silent rallies and recently Mumbai has seen one of the biggest rally of around 8 lakh people. There demands are multi-dimensional and young girls also voiced their demands. It all started when Maratha community started protesting against the alleged gang-rape and murder of a minor girl from the community by few Dalit men in Kopardi. The following are the few demands of Maratha community:

• Reservation in education and jobs
• Amendments to SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act which is being misused by Dalit community against Marathas
• Minimum support prices for farm production
• Building of hostels for Maratha students in districts
• Land for Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute.

During the rally the Marathas took care that their issue and demands does not get politicised as they did not allowed any political party to welcome them. The Maharashtra government accepted the demands when a delegation of Maratha leaders submitted a Memorandum to CM along with all party delegation.

How Nepal Tea is creating problems for India’s Darjeeling tea?

Due to ongoing protests for Ghorkhaland in and around Darjeeling the tea supply has been badly hit. Due to the shortage or lower supply of Darjeeling tea the prices rose four times this made it easier for Nepalese tea enter into Indian market and Nepalese tea is being sold as Darjeeling tea at such higher prices.

The Nepalese traders or tea sellers are able to sell their tea in India because the lower supply or shortage of Darjeeling tea and India-Nepal has Free Trade Agreement so the Nepalese Sellers does not have to pay import duty. These sellers are appointing one local trader/dealer who has GST number and then they just have to pay 5% GST to the traders/dealers here. This tea is making up for the short supply of Darjeeling tea as both the teas looks very similar and it is hard to differentiate. Even the packers and blenders are unable to differentiate. The differentiation can only happen when the tea is brewed.

Due to the influx of Nepalese tea, it is hurting Darjeeling tea and its quality and its reputation.

What are Diamond Systematic Investment Plans (SIP)? How do they work?

The Diamond Systematic Investment Plan (SIP) may be referred to as the world’s first diamond trading bourse that has been launched by the Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX). The plan is mainly aimed at helping the retail buyers to buy high quality diamonds with investment as little as Rs 900 per month. The diamond can be owned for a period of 2 and half years.

Manner of working

• The buyer of diamond under this scheme is required to open an account with a broker of the ICEX. Then a Know your client process needs to be completed and some money has to be deposited with the broker. The exact date of each month on which the diamond has to be bought by the broker has to be mentioned by buyer.
• Diamond contracts of three different sizes are available-30 cents, 50 cents and 100 cents. These diamonds will be traded in ICEX in the same manner as securities are traded in the stock exchanges. It shall be done in electronic formed known as demat. Even one cent of diamonds can be purchased but the physical form can be obtained only after obtaining 30 cents.
• The buyer can also sell the held diamond within the period of holding in the SIP and at the prevailing market price.

The diamonds that are certified by global major De Beers on the basis of genuineness, cut, polish, quality etc. are only available for trade. The depository and transporter is Malca, the world’s largest courier of diamonds. It is doing this through its Indian subsidiary Malca Amit.

What math played role in recent Rajya Sabha elections? What can be the political meanings of recent Rajya Sabha win for Congress in Gujarat? Aren’t they too little and too late for Congress? How EC was ultimate winner?

In the recent Rajya Sabha elections from Gujarat the figures or numbers of votes have played a very significant role. In order to win each of the three seats in the House a candidate had to secure 47 votes. It is calculated on the basis of (total strength of House divided by number of Rajya Sabha seats + 1) plus one more vote.  There were allegations that the BJP aimed at reducing the number of Congress MLAs supporting the Congress candidate Ahmed Patel below this figure so that BJP could win through second or third preference. These allegations were also based on certain figures that were witnessed. 6 Congress MLAs had quit owing to certain differences in the party and this reduced the number of votes to win to 45 as the strength became 176 now. There were also 8 Congress MLAs voting for BJP, so for securing first preference vote Patel was left with 43 party MLAs plus one vote which amounted to 44. But the first preference vote could nevertheless be won owing to the 2 votes being declared invalid which brought down the number of votes to be won to 44.

The winning of Ahmed Patel was very important for the Congress Party in order to restore confidence in the party in Gujarat. This was specifically needed as the Legislative Assembly elections are approaching in December. If Congress would have lost this seat it would have resulted in BJP moving closer to the 150 plus target in the Assembly elections out of total 182 seats, throwing the Congress out of competition. Ahmed Patel being one of the most popular leaders could serve the purpose of boosting the party’s confidence.

After the question of secret ballot in the Gujarat elections was raised, that is two Congress MLAs disclosed their votes to persons other than the authorized persons. After the complaint was taken to the Election Commission, there were speculations that the EC was not independent as both the office bearers were BJP appointed. Both the parties also sent delegations to the EC putting their own points. The BJP also claimed that the EC had no power over the Returning Officer after the votes were cast. But the EC in this case emerged as the winner as it won the confidence of Indians by impartially deciding the matter. They held both the votes to be invalid despite the claims of lack of independence from the ruling party. This is one of the first cases of this type and the EC has proved its Constitutional position well.

On what basis, RBI pays dividend to Government? Why the dividend this year was halved?

The RBI gives dividend to the government based on the earnings it has in every fiscal year. This is mainly to help the government to deal with the revival of the Indian economy. Till date the amount was almost Rs 66,000 crore which constituted a major chunk of government’s non tax receipts. But it has now been halved to Rs 30,569 crore.

The dividend paid to the government by the RBI has been halved this year owing to huge amount of expenses that the apex bank has borne by way of payment of interest to the banks through its liquidity management exercise and in the printing of notes after demonetization. The cost of printing new notes for the RBI has increased three-fold due to demonetization.   The RBI has undertaken reverse repo transactions with the banks wherein it borrows from the banks. There has also been an appreciation in the Indian currency as compared to US dollar which has reduced the returns in terms of rupees.

The latest Khel Ratna awards set a new trend? How they break the glass ceiling?

Devendra Jhajharia was just another differently abled boy years ago but his determination, self-belief and support of the loved ones made the pride of the nation. After his arm got amputated due to electrocution at the age of 8 many believed that there is not much he can achieve in life. But soon in his coming days he carved his first ‘bhalla’ and started his training in Javelin Throw. He carved his first javelin out of wood back then and then trained with the best equipment and athlete. After winning the Gold Medal in Javelin Throw at the 2004 Athens Paralympics he became the only individual Paralympic athlete of India to win a gold medal at the Paralympics.

He repeated the same feat after 12 years at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games when usually many athletes call it a quit and again clinched the Gold Medal in the same event. The government recognized his achievement and awarded him the Khel Ratna award in 2017. This not just shows that hard work can take person places but even that hard work and excellence is awarded by the government too. This is an achievement which has brown the glass ceiling and awarded athletes with both able and differently abled bodies.

Many examples such as Dipa Karmakar who is excelling in gymnastics was also awarded for her achievements. Hockey player Sardar Singh was also nominated for Khel Ratna this year. It is a very encouraging trend which will motivate thousands of athletes to work harder and achieve something for the nation at highest platforms and make the country proud.

What is the recently launched cooperation forum for development of India’s north-east between India and Japan?

In a bid to increase ties with Japan, India has formed a Cooperation Forum with Japan, wherein Japan has agreed to assist India in developing its north-eastern region.  Some of the major development projects that have drawn Japanese help in the north-east are infrastructure like roads, electricity, water supply and sewage, forest development and biodiversity management.  The Cooperation or Coordination programme is aimed at exploring many other opportunities where cooperative investment by the two countries is possible

There are two main reasons for Japan’s assistance:

• Being a partner of India in enhancing its Look East Policy (where Japan also has a stake), it has been realized that the development of the north-east forms a crucial part of the policy.
• The north-eastern states and Japan has a lot of cultural ties which can be further boosted through people-to-people exchange if the scheme is adopted.

This cooperation has a great geo-political significance owing to the fact that India has chosen to ignore the OBOR Initiative of China as a part of its China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) even if it is hampering India’s sovereignty in the light of this cooperation. Moreover, this is only a small move by both the countries who have agreed to develop more such projects of significance in their bilateral relation like development of the Chahbahar port of Iran.

Why the Onion prices are high up this time? Why the Price Stabilization Fund created for prices of onion, potatoes and pulses does not work well?

In August 2017, after sudden rise in prices of tomatoes there was sudden rise in prices of onions also. The following are the reasons of rise in onions prices this time:

• Though there is normal monsoon season this year, Karnataka, Marathwada and Vidarbha region of Maharashtra are facing drought like conditions while Gujarat and Rajasthan as facing flood like situation. This has led to delayed sowing or re-sowing of onion in top onion producing states.
• Another reason can be the demand and supply factor. During Shravan month there is less onion consumption in north India and as this month will be over by 7^th August, the traders are expecting the rise in demand of onion and due to late sowing in Karnataka the supply will not rise anytime soon.
• Post demonetisation, the farmers are getting un-remunerative prices for their produce as a result the farmers are decreasing the production.

These reasons are responsible for the rise in prices of onion.

The Price Stabilisation Fund (PSF) was created to regulate the volatility in the prices of onion, potatoes and pulses. This fund is used to maintain a strategic buffer stock of those agri-horticultural commodities to counter price volatility and keep a check on hoarding. But last year PSF was unable to handle the rising prices of pulses due to its absence of direct say for using the fund and intervene in market at right time. So, this year the PSF is being shifted from agriculture ministry to consumer affairs ministry for effective price control.

What are the key recommendatons of Justice Srikrishna committee on Institutionalization of Arbitration Mechanism?

With the vision of Prime Minister to make India as an International hub of Arbitration and a centre of robust Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism for International and domestic arbitration and speedy resolution of disputes with international standards, the Justice Srikrishna committee was set up on Institutionalization of Arbitration Mechanism. The key recommendations of this committee are as follows:

• Setting up of Arbitration Promotion Council of India (APCI), an autonomous body which will represent all stakeholders and grade arbitral institutes of India.
• It will also give recognition to professional institutes providing for accreditations of arbitrators.
• It recommended to create special Arbitration bench to address commercial disputes.
• APCI will train advocates with the help of law firms and law schools to create dedicated advocates in this domain.
• Changes in Arbitration and Conciliation Act to make arbitration speedier and incorporate best international practices.
• It supported the National Litigation Policy and promotion of arbitration in government contracts.
• Creating a post of International Law Officer to deal with the disputes related to Bilateral Treaties.

These recommendations aims to lower the burden of the judiciary and strengthen the financial state of the country.