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Wilful on defaulters?

CIC has directed RBI Governor to show cause ““why maximum penalty should not be imposed on him for defiance” of SC order.
SC order: disclose names of willful defaulters.
Bad Loans are at the core of the matter
Mr. Acharyulu has justifiably asked the Finance Ministry why it should not explain to the people the action taken, or contemplated, to recover dues from willful defaulters, who owe banks more than ₹50 crore, and, where warranted, the criminal proceedings initiated.
RBI has initiated steps to set up a digital Public Credit Registry that would include details of all borrowers including wilful defaulters.
November 16 deadline for furnishing the information sought about those owing ₹1,000 crore or more.

In defence of Urjit Patel

Government Vs. RBI
Section 7: never used before since it came in 83 years ago.

The disagreements relate to the RBI’s stringent restrictions on government-run banks whose nonperforming assets (NPAs) have grown so much, that the only way of preventing risk spilling from them into the whole financial system is to quarantine their lending.
A second source of friction is government’s insistence that the RBI go soft on power companies defaulting on loan repayments.

The third dispute is seigniorage, an eternal conflict.
The RBI generates surpluses in the various money markets operations it runs.
The RBI transfers part of the surpluses to the government, and with the rest it maintains various reserves to draw from in times of financial instability or contingencies.
The Finance Ministry wants the RBI to reset the formulae so that larger surpluses become free for transfer to the government.
Mr. Patel was of the view that after decades of relying on public-sector banking background profiles, the job should be opened to a wider, global field of expertise.
Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister returned the shortlist, with a demand for more names, forcing re-advertisement of the vacancy and restarting of the process afresh.

The forgotten million

Sacrifice and contributions of well over a million soldiers of undivided India in WW-1 are being incrementally recognised and memorialised the world over.
Armistice Day on November 11: France
2002, Menin Gate in Ypres, Belgium: The first such memorial abroad was formalized.
10k/130,000 Indian soldiers died
– Menin Gate in Ypres

11 soldiers from India won Victoria Cross
In the early days of the War, troops of the Indian Army, backed by the political bourgeoisie, were enthusiastic in responding to the British government’s call for military support from India.
Even Mahatma Gandhi was open to Indians enlisting and learning to defend themselves using arms, as were leaders such as Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
WWI also influenced the collective psyche of the government of independent India.
India is at present, third-largest contributor of military and police personnel to UN peacekeeping missions.

Preserving the taboo

Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty: 1987
Europe breathed a sigh of relief.
It was a bilateral treaty and it cannot restrict other nations to go ahead with such weapons.
INF does not represent the reality of today’s multipolar nuclear armed world.
2014, U.S. President Barack Obama formally accused Russia of violating the INF Treaty.
Novator 9M729 missile tests of 2008
Russia is voicing against Tomahawk missiles of USA
Even more worrisome are developments that blur the line between nuclear and conventional weapons.
Standalone approach is not possible today.
The most important achievement of nuclear arms control is that the taboo against use of nuclear weapons has held since 1945.
Preserving the taboo is critical but this needs realisation that existing nuclear arms control has to be brought into line with today’s political realities.

What’s in a name?

After nearly four centuries, Allahabad is now being renamed Prayagraj.
Ajmer is famous for the Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti’s dargah to which millions from all faiths, not just Islam, are drawn.
Partition profoundly changed the religious demography of India.
What should matter to us most today is the astonishing survival of India as a secular state.

No respite from poverty for Muslims
National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) labour force survey
Economic condition of Muslims does not show any signs of improvement despite India being the fastestgrowing large economy.
NSSO’s 68th round (2011-12): education levels and job market indicators
The educational attainment of Muslims is the least among all these communities.
male Muslim postgraduates: 15 per 1,000
male graduates: 71 per 1,000
The Central and State governments could take concerted steps to help Indian Muslims escape this vicious circle of poverty.
One way to improve their situation is to provide a special incentive and subsidy system for higher education.
That will ensure that school going students continue to higher levels of schooling and higher education.
Similarly, students who don’t wish to continue in general academic education must have access to vocational education from Class 9 onwards.

Important News

‘Rajapaksa not PM till he clears floor test’
Speaker Karu Jayasuriya on Monday indicated that he would not accept former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as Prime Minister until his majority is proven in Parliament.
Citing the opinion of a majority of lawmakers that the recent changes were “undemocratic” and “inconsistent with the traditions of Parliament”, the Speaker said in a media statement: “I wish to emphasise that I am compelled to accept the status that existed previously until such time that they and the new political alliance prove their majority in Parliament.”

- Iran oil: India, China get relief
- Mr. Pompeo said, “We have decided to issue temporary allotments to a handful of countries, responsible to the specific circumstances and to ensure a well supplied oil market.
- China and India, in that order, are the top two importers of Iranian oil. All payments for Iranian oil will be held in Foreign Accounts, Mr Pompeo said. Tehran can use the money to purchase non-sanctioned goods and for humanitarian purposes, including food, medicines and medical devices.
- ‘Iran will proudly bypass sanctions’
- Described by Washington as “the toughest sanctions ever”, they come six months after U.S. President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to abandon the multination nuclear deal with Tehran.
- “I announce that we will proudly bypass your illegal, unjust sanctions because it’s against international regulations,” Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech.
- “We are in a situation of economic war, confronting a bullying power. I don’t think that in the history of America, someone has entered the White House who is so against law and international conventions,” he added.
- India declares nuclear triad operational
- India on Monday declared that its nuclear triad, stated in its nuclear doctrine, is operational after indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarine INS Arihant achieved a milestone by conducting its first deterrence patrol.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi received today [Monday] the crew of ship submersible ballistic nuclear (SSBN) INS Arihant. The submarine recently returned from its first deterrence patrol, completing the establishment of the country’s survivable nuclear triad,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.
“This places India in the league of the few countries that can design, construct and operate SSBN,” Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted on the development.
Air quality plunges in Delhi again
Centre eyes seaplanes in UDAN 3
regional connectivity scheme (RCS)
Tibetan monks’ meet creates a flutter
Mr. Doval is expected to head to China towards the end of November for the Special Representative (SR) talks with State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
Mr. Doval had convened a meeting of the Tibet Study Group last week.
Ozone layer is recovering, says UN
The ozone layer that shields life from cancer-causing solar rays is recovering at a rate of one to three percent per decade, reversing years of dangerous depletion caused by the release of harmful chemicals, a UN study said on Monday.
The four-yearly review of the Montreal Protocol, a 1987 ban on man-made gases that damage the fragile high-altitude ozone layer, found long-term decreases in the atmospheric abundance of controlled ozone-depleting substances and the ongoing recovery of stratospheric ozone.
The Antarctic ozone hole was expected to gradually close, returning to 1980 levels in the 2060s, the report said. The UN had already hailed the success of the Protocol, which banned or phased out ozone depleting chemicals, including chlorofluorocarbons once used in refrigerators and spray cans, but the report said it was the first time that there were emerging indications that the Antarctic ozone hole had diminished in size and depth since 2000.