The Hindu Editorial Analysis

Table of Contents

Financial Pokhran: Its fundamental aims were many.
Govt.: The measure was directed at corruption and black money — the terminology which the masses easily understood — and asked them to bear with him for 50 days.
Election results in favor of BJP:
Local body elections in Chandigarh, Mumbai, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Odisha
Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur
High denomination notes(HDNs, Rs1,000/Rs500)
47% in 2004
78% in 2004-10
Fuelled unprecedented asset price rise — gold, stock and land prices rose by 10 times in the six years over the previous five years (1999-2004).
Rise in private consumption: 60%
directly sourced in the rise of 69% in finance and real estate in that period
High growth of 8.5% created only 2.7 million jobs
Moderate growth of 5.4% created 60 million jobs

By 2021, HDNs could have touched as high as Rs 36-40 lakh crore
Had the government aligned demonetisation with the Income Declaration Scheme, 2016, it would have fetched a minimum of Rs 2-3 lakh crore as tax upfront.
By unintelligently separating them, it is now chasing demonetisation depositors for tax.
Black money of Rs 45,000 crore
Rs 2.9 lakh crore of cash deposits are under tax probe
56 lakh more assesses
Advance tax receipts have gone up by 42%
Self-assessment tax risen by 34%
50% drop in hawala-related calls
2.24 lakh shell companies
The currency to GDP ratio is down from 13% to 9%
Interest rates are down
Digital payments have accelerated by 93% (Jan-Jun 2017)
The RBI expects growth to improve in the second half of (calendar year) 2017.
The rise of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) by 4.5% in August 2017 over August 2016 and 8 core sector IIP (this consists of eight core industries data) for September by 5.2% seem to signal high growth ahead, though the intervention of the goods and services tax may delay it for a while.

Demonetisation has robbed the informal sector of non-formal credit; the formal credit assured to them through the Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA) formula has not been fulfilled as yet.

Demonetisation’s initial objectives remain unmet.
Black money did not stay out of the banking system, terrorism continues, and counterfeit currency is still in circulation.
Informality became a dirty word while anything digital was feted.
Informal: supports livelihoods for 80-90% of Indian workers and accounts for an estimated 40-50% of GDP
The persistence of the informal economy is a global phenomenon, and the “shadow economy” is estimated to be approximately 23% of world GDP.
In many countries, employment in the informal sector is growing faster than in the formal sector.
In India, according to the 2015-16 Economic Survey: “Of the 10.5 million new manufacturing jobs created between 1989 and 2010, only 3.7 million — about 35% — were in the formal sector.”
Steps need till all is sorted out.
Strengthening government schools and health facilities.
Creating awareness of good business practices and prevailing market conditions.
Reducing the threat of coercive government regulation and action.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said he bows to the people for steadfastly supporting several measures taken by the government to eradicate corruption and black money.
Termed the move as historic and a multi-dimensional success.
23 lakh bank accounts with 3.6 lakh crore rupees are under suspicion.
Led to increase in number of new tax payers.
Digital transactions stands at 138 crore against 87 crore in August last year.
Share your feedback on demonetization on the Narendra Modi App.
Government is in the process of cleansing and transforming the country through demonetization and digitization.
Dr.Manmohan Singh that BJP was indulging in legalized loot.
Stone pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir had been erased totally after the demonetisation announcement.

37 thousand shell companies through which the Black Money used to be converted into white.
2 lakh shell companies have been de-registered.
Mr. Gandhi said that demonetization has broken the back of farmers, workers and poor people in the country.
Income Tax department has registered 38 percent hike in the identification of undisclosed income during its searches and 41 percent increase during surveys
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley says, the positive indications have started emerging in the formal economy after a year of demonetisation.
Mr. Jaitley said, the demonetisation was one of the measures taken to formalise and alter the excessive cash dominated economy.
On the GST, Mr. Jaitley said it has been a smooth switch over of the system, but said, there is a need for a simplification of procedure and rationalisation of rates.
GST Council, which meets in Guwahati tomorrow and day after, is likely to take up the issue of benami properties.
GST Council will deliberate to bring the real estate under its purview for fixing standard rates in the entire country.
Large swathes of north India in the grip of a suffocating smog
Public health emergency in the capital, with the air quality index touching extremely hazardous levels in some parts.
State governments that can make it easier for millions to breathe do not act with any sense of urgency.

The smog that envelops the region is exacerbated by the burning of biomass in Punjab and Haryana, and the winter atmosphere is marked by weak ventilation.
PM2.5
Sustainable residue removal cannot be achieved by the farmers alone, and requires help from the state machinery.

IIT-Kanpur: construction dust (also unpaved surfaces) vehicular pollution, and domestic and industrial emissions as other major factors.
ban on Deepavali crackers, compressed natural gas for commercial vehicles, odd and even
A comprehensive solution demands that the governments of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, assisted by the Centre, address farm residue burning and construction dust.
There is every reason to think that even the Ministry of Environment’s orders issued in 2015 under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 to comprehensively green Delhi’s road margins and open spaces were not pursued seriously.
Many such initiatives were taken up by China in its cities to reduce exposure to PM2.5 that produces morbidity from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and leads to premature death.
The smog situation in Delhi and adjoining areas is expected to improve after two days.
Met official Devendra Pradhan said, the city will continue to witness dense smog for the next two days.
Mr Pradhan said, the pollution is an important factor behind this problem which is causing breathing and eye problems.
Delhi government announced that all schools in the national capital will remain closed till Sunday in view of the unbearable air pollution.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to his Haryana and Punjab counterparts asking for a meeting to resolve the crop burning and pollution issue.
With a petition filed in Kenya’s Supreme Court against the October 26 rerun of the presidential election, the country risks an intensification of political turmoil.
The challenge is the second since the initial elections in August

The sense of intimidation was palpable when most of the judges failed to show up to hear a plea for the postponement of the vote.
Both Mr. Kenyatta and Mr. Odinga bear much moral responsibility for the current stalemate and the violence.
It is time they negotiated a lasting settlement to restore credibility to Kenya’s democracy.
That requires them, especially Mr. Kenyatta, to play by the rules laid down under the 2010 constitution, which provides for greater devolution of powers.
Kikuyu and the Kalenjin ethnic communities
African Union must exert political pressure on Kenya
The forecast for GDP growth to below 5%
The social cost of this upheaval would be incalculable.
Strengthening the election mechanism against political interference would be an important first step.

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is cited as adequate punishment for defaulting borrower companies.
Recovery rate from defaulting companies has so far been merely 15-20%
Meanwhile, there is no attempt so far by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to issue guidance to PSBs to blacklist these entities from getting further loans or prevent their managements from retaining a majority equity stake during the resolution process as penalty for the huge haircuts being taken by banks.
result is that banks have been continually reporting losses
According to the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Peer Review Report August 2016, 63% of the financial investments ordinary Indians make are within the banking system
PSBs account for 63% of the market share while private banks control 18%
Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill, 2017
The ‘bail-in’ clause changes the nature of relationship between the customer and the bank.

This week in Bangkok, FAO and other UN partners are bringing together experts on nutrition and major players in the food systems sector from across Asia and the Pacific.
The outcomes of the Asia-Pacific Symposium on Sustainable Food Systems for Healthy Diets and Improved Nutrition will provide further support to the aims of the United Nations Decade of Action on Nutrition (2016-2025).

Schoolmate held for Ryan murder

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday night apprehended a 16-year-old Class XI student of Gurugram Ryan International School in connection with the killing of seven-year-old Pradyuman Thakur, a Class II student, of the same school.
CBI spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said on Wednesday: “We have come to this conclusion on the basis of CCTV footage besides forensic and scientific evidence and interview of a number of people. A student from the same school has been apprehended and he remains our prime suspect. The parents were kept in the loop and the weapon used in the crime has been seized.”

SC recalls order to take up delay in MoP

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra, heading a three-judge Bench, on Wednesday openly disagreed with the decision of a two-judge Bench to publicly hear, on the judicial side, the reasons for the government’s delay in finalising the norms for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts, and appointment of regular High Court Chief Justices.
That Bench observed in a written order that it is going to be about two years since a five-judge Constitution Bench, after striking down the government’s NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission) law, tasked the Centre in December 2015 with the job of drafting a fresh MoP to replace the current one with the objective of making judicial appointments transparent.
The CJI’s refusal to plunge headlong into a collision course with the government is a marked departure from the open-court confrontations his predecessor T.S. Thakur used to have last year with the government over the MoP and the rising vacancies in the higher judiciary.

Mary Kom wins gold

Star Indian boxer M.C. Mary Kom overcame Hyang Mi Kim of North Korea 5-0 in a unanimous verdict to clinch gold in the women’s 48kg category at the Asian boxing championship here on Wednesday.
It was the Manipuri pugilist’s fifth gold in the continental event.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore tweeted their congratulations.