RBI on prioritising economic growth

Present Stance of RBI

• The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has expectedly yet again left benchmark interest rates unchanged and reiterated that it will continue with its accommodative stance (cheap money policy), at least into the next fiscal year, in order to secure a sustained economic recovery.
• The central bank’s rate setting panel has reasoned that while there are promising signs in the welter of data that it has looked at, the ongoing recovery is “still to gather firm traction” making it crucial to provide continued policy support for restoring growth.

Retail inflation in India

• The sharp deceleration in retail inflation in December, when headline CPI inflation eased to 4.6% after being stuck above the RBI’s upper tolerance threshold of 6% (nominal anchor rate) for six straight months, clearly appears to have smoothed the brow for the six members of the committee and provided them the space to stay focused in the near term on prioritising growth.

Parameters restoring confidence on India’s economic growth:

• The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme as well as the Union Budget’s proposals to give a boost to infrastructure, and innovation and research, among other things, have been recognised as factors likely to restore confidence and lend a fillip to the growth momentum, respectively.

Impact due to farmer’s protest

• While overall rabi sowing has been 2.9% higher year-on-year as on January 29, the farmers’ agitation involving cultivators from key crop-growing States including Punjab, Haryana and U.P. is a cause for concern as a protracted impasse has the potential to disrupt farm output threatening both growth and inflation dynamics.

Recent measures taken by RBI

• The two main measures involve extending the enhanced ‘held-to-maturity’ dispensation for banks buying debt issued by the Centre and States by a year up to March 31, 2023, and allowing retail investors to make direct online purchases of government securities via a ‘Retail Direct’ gilt securities account held with the RBI.

Impact of government borrowing on economy

• With the Centre alone targeting to borrow as much as ?12-lakh crore at the gross level in the coming financial year, the debt manager faces the unenviable task of ensuring that the flood of debt not only finds takers at a price that does not push up borrowing costs for the rest of the real economy but also of trying and preventing it from crowding out demand for private investment credit.

Conclusion

• With interest rates being held at near record lows and inflation still persisting above the RBI’s benchmark repo rate of 4% resulting in negative real returns for savers, the RBI can ill afford to drop its guard on vigilance over prices.

Russia to launch around 40 satellites from 18 countries in 2021

Russia is set to put into orbit around 40 satellites from over a dozen different countries all over the world using the Soyuz-2 carrier rocket in March 2021. Soyuz-2.1, a carrier rocket with the Fregat booster will blast off with the South Korean CAS500-1 (Compact Advanced Satellite 500) space vehicle from the Baikonur space centre in March 2021.

Nanda Devi Glacial Burst in Uttarakhand: Important PT Points

The glacial burst at the Nanda Devi glacier caused flash floods in Dhauliganga & Rishiganga rivers.

• The tapovan-Vishnugad project located on the Dhauliganga river was washed away.

• While Rishiganga hydel project was located on Rishiganga River.

• Originating at Vasudhara Tal, a glacial lake in Uttarakhand, the Dhauliganga flows in a meandering course, which takes it through the Nanda Devi National Park.

Additional Info About these River Systems:

• Dhauliganga river meets River Alaknanda at Vishnuprayag.
• Dhauliganga is joined by Rishiganga river at Raini.
• Pindari River meets Alaknanda River at Karnaprayag.
• Mandakini River meets Alaknanda ar Rudraprayag.
• Bhagirathi River meets Alaknanda at Devprayag to form the holy river Ganga.

Safe Internet Day

• It is organised by the Insafe/INHOPE network of awareness centres, which is spread across 30 countries and is funded by the Connecting Europe Facility program (CEF) of the EU.
• It aims to increase awareness about emerging online issues, such as cyberbullying, and chooses a topic reflecting current concerns

Kurubas demanding ST category in Karnataka

The Kuruba community has been demanding the Schedule Tribe tag and held a massive rally in the outskirts of Bengaluru

• The Kurubas of Karnataka are a traditional sheep-rearing community.
• They are known by different names in other states, such as Kuruma in Andhra Pradesh, Golla in southern Karnataka, Dhangar in Maharashtra, Pal in Rajasthan, and Maldhari/Gadariya in Gujarat.
• They subscribe to the teachings of Kanakadasa who was a renowned composer of Carnatic music, poet, philosopher, and saint.

Floods in Dhauliganga River Attributed to Climate Change

• Glacier retreat and permafrost thaw are being touted as possible reasons for the flooding of the Dhauliganga river
• Environmental experts attributed the Nanda Devi glacial melt to global warming.
• Glacier retreat and permafrost thaw are projected to decrease the stability of the mountain slopes and increase the number and area of glacier lakes
• The number and area of glacier lakes will continue to increase and develop closer to steep and unstable mountain walls, where lake outbursts can be more easily triggered.

Clemency Power of the President & the Governor

TN Governor Banwarilal Purohit has decided that only the President can decide the issue of granting remission to the seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.

What does the constitution say?

• Under the Constitution of India (Article 72), the President of India can grant a pardon or reduce the sentence of a convicted person, particularly in cases involving capital punishment.
• A similar and parallel power vests in the governors of each state under Article 161.

I. President

1. Article 72 says that the president shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence.
2. There are five different types of pardoning which are mandated by law.

• Pardon: means completely absolving the person of the crime and letting him go free. The pardoned criminal will be like a normal citizen.
• Commutation: means changing the type of punishment given to the guilty into a less harsh one, for example, a death penalty commuted to a life sentence.
• Reprieve: means a delay allowed in the execution of a sentence, usually a death sentence, for a guilty person to allow him some time to apply for Presidential Pardon or some other legal remedy to prove his innocence or successful rehabilitation.
• Respite: means reducing the quantum or degree of the punishment to a criminal in view of some special circumstances, like pregnancy, mental condition etc.
• Remission: means changing the quantum of the punishment without changing its nature, for example reducing twenty years of rigorous imprisonment to ten years.

Cases as specified by art. 72

• in all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court martial;
• in all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends;
• in all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death.

II. Governor

• Similarly, as per article 161 Governor of a State has the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law.
• It must be relating to a matter to which the executive power of the state extends.
• Please note that President can grant pardon to a person awarded a death sentence. But a governor of a state does not enjoy this power.

Some Conventions:

• It is important to note that India has a unitary legal system and there is no separate body of state law.
• All crimes are crimes against the Union of India.
• Therefore, a convention has developed that the governor’s powers are exercised for only minor offences.
• While requests for pardons and reprieves for major offences and offenses committed in the UTs are deferred to the President.