15 October 2022

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – Global Hunger Index: GS III – Topic Health-related issues

Context:

• war-torn In South Asia, only Afghanistan is ranked lower than India on the Global Hunger Index. India is in 107th place out of 121 countries.
• The goal of World Food Day, which is observed every year on October 16 (Sunday), is to increase public awareness of the need of a healthy diet. According to the UN, undernutrition affects about 10% of the world’s population. One in five young children will have stunted growth by 2020, which is often brought on by inadequate nutrition. These figures demonstrate how important it is to maintain a steady supply of food grains to ensure that people are nourished around the globe. India was ranked 107th overall out of 121 countries in the 2022 Global Hunger Index. In view of this acute hunger issue, India needs to use World Food Day to encourage a balanced diet and guarantee that its inhabitants have access to enough food.

India’s Lack of Wheat:

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India could, if necessary, supply other countries with foodgrain supplies at a conference in April of this year. If the WTO agrees, the PM claims that we have enough food grains to feed everyone on Earth.

Recent changes that have taken place:

• It appears as though things have altered since six months ago. According to government data, the availability of food grains has declined and is currently at a 5-year low. According to the FCI, the food grain inventories are only barely above the necessary level. The Indian Express reports that the amount of rice and wheat available to the FCI has decreased to 511.36 lakh tonnes. The stock was greater than 816 lakh tonnes the year before. 227.5 tonnes of wheat are available.
• But there was roughly 2.8 times too much rice in the stores (including grain from unmilled paddy). Because of this, the general position of the cereal supply remained rather stable even though FCI warehouses were carrying less grain than they did even four years earlier.
• At a conference earlier this year in April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated that India could, if necessary, supply other nations with foodgrain supplies. According to the PM, we have enough foodgrains to feed everyone on Earth if the WTO agrees.
• However, it appears that after six months, things have changed. Government reports indicate that the availability of food grains has decreased and is currently at a 5-year low. The food grain inventories are just slightly above the required level, according to the FCI. The FCI stock of rice and wheat has been decreased to 511.36 lakh tonnes, according to The Indian Express. The stock was greater than 816 lakh tonnes the year before. Stocks of wheat are at 227.5.
• But stocks of rice were almost 2.8 times higher than they should have been (including grain from unmilled paddy). As a result, the general position of the cereal supply remained rather consistent even though FCI warehouses were carrying less grain than they did even four years before.

Source The Hindu

 2 – INS Arihant: GS III – Topic Defence-related issues

Context:

• India’s second strike nuclear capability was confirmed on Friday with the successful launch of a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) by the nation’s first ballistic missile nuclear submarine (INS Arihant).

About:

• The first ballistic missile submarine with nuclear propulsion was the INS Arihant, which was entirely developed and constructed in India.
• In 1998, the development project, which had its beginnings in the 1990s, received formal recognition.
• Its design was influenced by the Russian Akula-1 class submarine.
• It was put into service in 2016 after its nuclear reactor reached criticality in 2013. In that year, it was published.
• As a part of the Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) programme, it was developed over a 20-year period with Russian help. It directly answers to the Prime Minister’s Nuclear Command Authority.
• The INS Arihant is a 6,000-ton, 110-meter-long submarine with an 11-meter beam.
• An 83 MW pressurised light water reactor that uses enriched uranium as fuel powers it.

What makes INS Arihant important?

• India may now attack either of its neighbours, China or Pakistan, from 300 metres below the surface thanks to the Arihant.
• The Sagarika, which has a range of 750 km, and the K-4, which has a range of 3500 km, are two sea-based missiles designed for this purpose.
• A deterrent based on a submarine is often safe from missile attacks, unlike land-based missile systems, which can be targeted and destroyed.
• India is the only nation to do so without simultaneously having a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

Source The Hindu

3 – Electoral Bonds: GS III – Topic Election-related issues

Context:

• On Friday, the Supreme Court will hear several petitions challenging the rule permitting political parties to raise money under the electoral bond scheme.

About:

• The Finance Bill of 2017 and the Electoral Bond Scheme were both unveiled on January 29, 2018.
• An electoral bond may be purchased by any Indian person, any commercial company established or incorporated in India, or both.
• Election-related bonds can be purchased individually or in large quantities.
• The bonds perform similarly to cash in that the holder has the option of an immediate redemption and no interest is charged.
• To be eligible to receive Electoral Bonds, a political party must be registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act (RPA), 1951 (43 of 1951), and it must have received at least one percent of the votes cast in the most recent general election for the House of the People or the State’s Legislative Assembly.

When and why were election bonds first introduced?

• The amount of cash contributions from unidentified sources that a political party may take was cut by an amendment to the Income Tax (IT) Act from Rs 20,000 to Rs 2,000.
• The administration unveiled a brand-new programme for issuing electoral bonds in the 2017 Budget.
• Openness: The main goal of the electoral bonds programme was to increase the financial transparency of Indian elections.
• The method makes sure that a donor’s identity is kept confidential.
• Ordinary people can easily donate money to the political parties of their choice thanks to election bonds.

Advantages of electoral bonds:

• Higher Transparency It enables political parties to communicate openly and truthfully with the electoral board, regulatory agencies, and the general public.
• Only contributions made with election bond money will be credited to the party bank account that was made available to the ECI in order to ensure accountability. Each political party is expected to explain how the entire amount collected was spent because every donation is redeemed through the banking system.
• delaying payment The Purchase will only be accessible to a select number of banks that have been told, and even then, only checks and electronic payments will be allowed. You won’t be compensated in any way.

Why are electoral bonds controversial?

• The anonymity of electoral bonds, according to opponents, benefits only the general public and rival political parties.
• By selling the bonds through a government-owned bank, the government is able to identify the precise source of money for its opponents (SBI).
• Privacy is jeopardised because the bank will be aware of the donor’s identity.
• Unjust benefit: As a result, the ruling party has the authority to demand money from large corporations and to punish them if they refuse.
• Over 75% of all electoral bonds were given to the center-right party overall.
• Links to political parties and businesses with ties to elections open up a new route for their malicious cooperation.

Position of the Supreme Court about electoral bonds

• Even though these transactions merely took place through conventional banking channels, the Supreme Court (SC) determined that the method hides the names of election bond purchasers.
• All political parties are required to report to the ECI any contributions collected through the use of electoral bonds under a 2019 Supreme Court decision. Additionally, it requested that the 10-day window for buying electoral bonds be shortened to five days by the Finance Ministry.

Source The Hindu

4 – Wholesale Inflation: GS III –  Topic Economy-related issues

Context:

• India’s wholesale price inflation decreased from 12.4% in August to 10.7% in September, the lowest level in 1.5 years, despite significant price rises for vegetables and cereals. Food prices grew by less than 10% from one month before.

What does the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) actually mean?

• This approach is most frequently used in India to determine inflation rates. The index used to determine wholesale inflation is the wholesale price index (WPI).
• The term “headline inflation” is frequently used to describe this inflation rate. The WPI is published by the Office of Economic Advisor within the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The base year for CPI is 2012, or 100.
• The RBI used WPI to inform the majority of its policy choices up until 2014. The WPI-based inflation calculation, however, provided strong support. The WPI lists the average prices for 697 different commodities.
• The RBI started basing its policy decisions in 2014 on the CPI.

What problems does WPI encounter?

• The RBI Act was modified in response to the Urjit Patel Committee’s recommendations, and it now uses flexible inflation targeting (FIT), with CPI inflation acting as the nominal anchor.
• The RBI is no longer allowed to employ WPI inflation because the FIT mandates that price stability be evaluated by CPI inflation.
• The CPI is the foundation for all current inflation estimates.
• Converting GDP/GVA at current prices to the same at constant prices is the major goal of WPI today.

What choices are available?

• By using distinct indices to double deflate input and output prices, one can calculate GDP with greater accuracy.
• The single deflation method overestimates GDP/GVA when output price fluctuations are comparable to faster than input price variations and vice versa.

Source The Hindu