Insights into Editorial: Why government must hire more + MINDMAPS on Current Issues

Insights into Editorial: Why government must hire more + MINDMAPS on Current Issues 01 December 2015 In the midst of the voices being raised against the recommendations made by the seventh pay commission, there are few people who have wholeheartedly welcomed the recommendations made. It’s true that these recommendations will have a fiscal impact, but …

Insights into Editorial: Managing a great epidemic + MINDMAPS on Current Issues

Insights into Editorial: Managing a great epidemic + MINDMAPS on Current Issues 30 November 2015 Today, Diabetes has become a major public health concern in India. According to the International Diabetes Federation, over 66 million people in India live with this metabolic disease; an almost equal number has pre-diabetes which is an immediate precursor to …

Insights Into Editorial: Solar power: make hay while the sun shines + MINDMAPS on Issues

Insights Into Editorial: Solar power: make hay while the sun shines + MINDMAPS on Issues 28 November 2015 When the union government, in 2014, proposed five-fold increase in targeted installed solar power capacity from 20 GW to 100 GW by 2022, it seemed an overambitious target. The nation producing the highest amount of solar energy …

Insights into Editorial: Way Of The Parliament Committees + MINDMAPS on Issues

Insights into Editorial: Way Of The Parliament Committees + MINDMAPS on Issues 27 November 2015 To address various challenges faced by the parliament, departmentally related parliamentary standing committees were set up in 1993 in India. Currently, there are 24 such committees, organized on the lines of departments and ministries. As a legislative and oversight institution, …

Insights into Editorial: Cash transfers: Look before you leap + MINDMAPS on Issues

Insights into Editorial: Cash transfers: Look before you leap + MINDMAPS on Issues 26 November 2015 The Union Government has launched the Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) programme to give benefits like scholarships, pensions, NREGA wages, etc. directly to the bank or post office accounts of beneficiaries. There are also talks of direct transfer of subsidies …

Insights into Editorial: The need for unifying agricultural markets + MINDMAPS on Issues

Insights into Editorial: The need for unifying agricultural markets + MINDMAPS on IssuesArchives 25 November 2015 Persistent food inflation in India has forced the policymakers to think about unifying all agricultural markets in the country. When the food inflation is high in the country, the government resorts to practices like export bans or raids on …

Insights into Editorial: Why we Must not Grudge them a Pay Hike + MINDMAPS on Issues

Insights into Editorial: Why we Must not Grudge them a Pay Hike + MINDMAPS on Issues 24 November 2015 Archives Many sections of the society are unhappy with the recommendations of the seventh pay commission. They are opposed to the increases in pay for Central government employees. But, when compared to pay increases and bonuses …

Insights into Editorial: Moving Back to a Regressive Tax System + MINDMAPS on Issues

Insights into Editorial: Moving Back to a Regressive Tax System + MINDMAPS on Issues Archives 23 November 2015 The union government has decided to impose a 0.5% Swacchh bharat cess on all services. The proceeds from swachh Barat cess will be used for Swachh Bharat initiatives. A provision for levying a Swachh Bharat cess on …

Insights into Editorial: Planning for the Next Flood + Mindmaps on Current Issues

Insights into Editorial: Planning for the Next Flood + Mindmaps on Current Issues Archives 20 November 2015   Record amounts of rain have hit Chennai and other parts of northern Tamil Nadu. A low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal has meant that Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra Pradesh and parts of Sri Lanka have been …

Insights into Editorial: The case for the Rajya Sabha + Mindmaps on Issues

Insights into Editorial: The case for the Rajya Sabha + Mindmaps on Issues Archives 19 November 2015   Both the government and opposition are bracing for a stormy winter session. Since the new government took over in May 2014, Parliamentary logjams have been common for it. With its minority tag in Rajya Sabha, the government …

Insights into Editorial: A clean-up act with a short sweep + Mindmaps on Issues

Insights into Editorial: A clean-up act with a short sweep + Mindmaps on Issues 18 November 2015 The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), in its recently released report, has indicated that respirable particulate matter in the national capital has crossed hazardous limits. As per the analysis of data for last three years, PM10 has exceeded …

Insights into Editorial: Making the Transition to a Cashless Economy + Mindmaps on Issues

Insights into Editorial: Making the Transition to a Cashless Economy + Mindmaps on Issues 17 November 2015 India continues to be driven by the use of cash; less than 5% of all payments happen electronically. Various studies have shown that India uses too much cash for transactions. The ratio of cash to gross domestic product …

Insights into Editorial: Fighting terror from Mumbai to Paris + Mindampas on Issues

Insights into Editorial: Fighting terror from Mumbai to Paris + Mindampas on Issues 16 November 2015 Archives Paper 3 Topic: Security challenges and their management, linkages of organized crime with terrorism. Fighting terror from Mumbai to Paris France has become victim of two ghastly terrorist attacks this year, this time with even more damage and loss …

Insights into Editorial: Does India really need a Start-up Act? + Mindmaps on Issues

Insights into Editorial: Does India really need a Start-up Act? + Mindmaps on Issues 14 November 2015 Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Start-up India and Stand up India campaign, announced in his Independence Day speech in August 2015, the central government has decided to introduce a policy framework aimed at easing the regulatory environment for …

Insights into Editorial: The Sum of Three New Gold Schemes + Mindmaps on Issues

Insights into Editorial: The Sum of Three New Gold Schemes + Mindmaps on Issues TO reduce India’s gold imports and mobilize the gold held by public, the union government recently launched three new gold schemes. The government has also periodically sought to limit gold imports by increasing the import duty on the yellow metal, but …

Insights into Editorial: Don’t Dismantle MGNREGA, Reform it + Mindmaps

Insights into Editorial: Don’t Dismantle MGNREGA, Reform it + Mindmaps The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) aims at enhancing the livelihood security of people in rural areas by guaranteeing hundred days of wage-employment in a financial year to a rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work. It guarantees …

Insights into Editorial: BoP Crisis and Rupee Devaluation + Mindmaps on Issues

Insights into Editorial: BoP Crisis and Rupee Devaluation + Mindmaps on Issues 11 November 2015 Source 1991 BoP crisis was one of the worst crises that India had to face. The then government was close to default, as RBI had refused new credit and foreign exchange reserves had been reduced to such a point that …

Insights into Editorial: Beyond UDAY Scheme + Mindmaps on Issues

Insights into Editorial: Beyond UDAY Scheme + Mindmaps on Issues 09 November 2015 The government of India recently unveiled its Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY). UDAY provides for the financial turnaround and revival of Power Distribution companies (DISCOMs), and importantly also ensures a sustainable permanent solution to the financial mess that the power distribution is …

Insights into Editorial + Mind Maps

Insights into Editorial: China, India, and Closely Connected Dreams 06 November 2015 Historically, India and China have had relations for more than 2,000 years. Throughout history, the Chinese and Indian civilizations have maintained exchanges and learned from each other. The two nations have jointly erected powerful pillars for the civilization of the East, and contributed …

Insights into Editorials: Regulate, don’t Eliminate

Insights into Editorials: Regulate, don’t Eliminate 05 November 2015 The government’s recent proposal to ban commercial surrogacy in India has sparked a heated debate in the country. Why, according to some such move would be disastrous? Over the years, the surrogacy industry in India has grown into a multi-crore industry. Such move would not just …