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Outcomes versus promises

In a month we saw Putin & 2+2
2005: Putin + Singh signed protocol for annual summit.
Summits have been successful: 2009, Russian aircraft carrier, Gorshkov (since renamed Vikramaditya), in 2018 $5.4 billion S-400 Triumf missile defence system
India still fancies a close relationship with Russia, one of its and most dependable allies.
India and Russia signed on to a document to expand civil nuclear energy cooperation and agreed on a second site for Russian nuclear reactors.
Indian astronauts to be trained in Russia
Security to all countries in Asia
2+2 seems an attempt by USA to bring India in its orbit.
U.S. had renamed the Asia-Pacific as the IndoPacific
It had blocked more than $1.5 billion in U.S. security aid to Pakistan, allotting a mere $150 million in 2019.

U.S.-India economic cooperation was stated to have grown exponentially within two decades, with the total goods and services trade between India and U.S. increasing from $11.2 billion in 1995 to $126.2 billion in 2017.
U.S. foreign direct investment into India substantially increased during this period.
The most important bait was India being accorded the status of a ‘major defence partner’.
The abortive U.S. “pivot to Asia” is a stark reminder of the limitation of U.S. capabilities today.
The rise of China’s economic power and its growing military might, and the re-emergence of Russia are significant pointers to this situation.
The U.S., hence, no longer holds all the cards.
The threat to the rules-based international order today comes as much from within existing democracies.
India needs to ponder deeply on what is in its best interests.
Strategic integrity and autonomy, and mature strategic judgment are required in a world where disruption is the order of the day.

CBI registered a First Information Report against its own Special Director.
A big rot at the very heart of the premier investigating agency.
Director Alok Verma and Special Director Rakesh Asthana
Clearly, the existing procedure for the appointment of CBI Directors, which is made by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of the Opposition, has not stripped the office of controversy.
Ranjit Sinha
A.P. Singh
CBI was set up in 1963 by a resolution of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

The establishment of the CBI was recommended by the Santhanam Committee on Prevention of Corruption (1962-1964).
The Special Police Establishment (which looked into vigilance cases) setup in 1941 was also merged with the CBI.
It derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
CBI is headed by a Director & is assisted by a Special Director.

The steps taken by the Union government over the last few years to widen its tax base may finally be yielding some rewards.
Central Board of Direct Taxes: 80% rise
3.79 crores in 2013-14 to 6.85 crores in 2017-18
Further, the direct tax to GDP ratio rose to 5.98% in 2017-18, the highest it has been in the last 10 years.
The total direct tax collection is estimated to be over ₹10 lakh crore in 2017-18, an increase of about 18% from the previous year.
This rise in tax compliance has been attributed to the various measures taken by the Union government to increase compliance, including better gathering of information about sources of income, ease of getting refunds, and lowering of various other tax compliance costs.
But the contribution of direct taxes to the total amount of taxes collected by the government, which is currently 52.29%, is still below what it was when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister.
Most of the rise in the total tax collection in the last few years has come from indirect tax collections.

Since the scheme was announced, we have 79,000-plus beneficiary admissions and empanelled hospitals from across the country. We have issued more than a lakh PM-JAY e-cards to beneficiaries.
When you bring in a scheme of this nature and at the scale that we have launched, there are bound to be some problems.
In India, each State has a different system — like a mixed model (private/government), trust, insurance… each of them has a different flow.
Here I would like to state that not just software but also the training of people is a very vital portion of the scheme.
One important aspect of Ayushman Bharat is health and wellness centres which actually look at prevention and the primary healthcare sector.

SC moves to make festivals less noisy
The Supreme Court on Tuesday struck a balance between the interests of the firecracker industry and the right to public health, allowing the manufacture and sale of only “green” and reduced-emission or “improved” crackers, while banning those that are loud and toxic to man, animal and the environment

Imran vows to hold talks with India
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday vowed to hold peace talks with India after elections in the neighbouring country.
He made the announcement in a speech at an investment conference, where he launched a charm offensive targeting investors as Pakistan seeks to secure funds amid a balance of payment crisis.
Talks if terror ends: Rajnath
India issues demarche to Pakistan
India summoned a senior diplomat from the Pakistan High Commission here on Tuesday and issued a diplomatic note of protest regarding the military casualties suffered on October 21 during a cross-border infiltration attempt from the Pakistani side.
Behave like a true State, CJI tells Assam, Centre
The State of Assam and the Centre should behave like a “true State” in the Aristotlian sense, said Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi while hearing the Assam NRC case on Tuesday.
The oral observation came on a hearing whether five documents — names in NRC, 1951; names in electoral roll up to March 24, 1971; citizenship certificate and refugee registration certificate; certified copies of pre-1971 electoral roll, particularly those issued from the State of Tripura; and ration card — can be used as proof by 40 lakh people excluded from the draft NRC to establish their Indian legacy during the ongoing claims and objections stage.
U.S. warships sail through Taiwan Strait
Xi opens world’s longest sea bridge
U.S. will quit N-treaty with Russia: Bolton

CAG questions RBI’s role when NPA crisis was brewing
Comptroller and Auditor General of India Rajiv Mehrishi on Tuesday questioned the role of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) during the time when the banks were “going berserk with their lending”, leading to the high levels of NPAs, saying that there was no public discourse on the role of the central bank during this period.
“In the present banking crisis, we all have a narrative about how it can be sorted out,” Mr. Mehrishi said while speaking at the launch of the Indian School of Public Policy in Delhi. “But nobody is asking the real question that what actually the regulator [the Reserve Bank of India] was doing. What is its role, what is its responsibility?”
“If the banks were going berserk with their lending, then what was the regulator doing,” the CAG added.
Centre’s refusal to provide IGST refund hurts exporters
While exporters are saying that a large part of their working capital is tied up in the Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) they have paid on inputs, the government in a recent circular said that it would not be refunding this amount to them since it has already paid them a drawback on the taxes they have paid.