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Syllabus subtopic: Statutory, regulatory and various quasi-judicial bodies

Prelims and Mains focus: about the stewardship code and its significance; about mutual funds, AIFs, SEBI and its functions

News: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Tuesday announced Stewardship Code for all mutual funds (MFs) and all categories of alternative investment funds (AIFs).

About the Stewardship Code

• Under the Stewardship Code, the market regulator has asked fund houses and AIFs to formulate a comprehensive policy on the discharge of their stewardship responsibilities and how institutional investors should monitor their investments in listed companies. Sebi also said that institutional investors should have a clear policy on voting and disclosure of voting activity and they should report periodically on their stewardship activities.
• The code has laid down six principles which institutional investors will have to follow for their investments in listed securities.
• The six principles laid down by SEBI are intended to strengthen the role of fund houses as stewards on behalf of the investors.
• Under stewardship responsibilities, institutional investors are expected to have greater responsibility towards their beneficiaries by enhancing monitoring and engagement with their investee companies.
• Such increased engagement is also seen as an important step towards improved corporate governance in the investee companies and gives a greater fillip to the protection of the interest of investors in such companies.
• The Stewardship Code shall come into effect from the April 1, 2020.

Way ahead

Sebi said every institutional investor should formulate a policy on how it intends to fulfill the aforesaid stewardship responsibilities and disclose it publicly and have a clear policy on how they manage conflicts of interest in fulfilling their stewardship responsibilities and publicly disclose it.

About SEBI

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) was established in 1988, however, it got statutory mandate and powers under the SEBI Act, 1992. Its objective is to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote the development and regulation of securities market.

Functions:

• Regulating stock exchanges and other securities markets
• Registering and regulating the working of intermediaries who are associated with securities markets in any manner.
• Registering and regulating the working of venture capital funds and collective investment schemes including mutual funds
• promoting and regulating self-regulatory organizations and prohibiting fraudulent and unfair trade practices relating to securities markets.

Merger of FMC with SEBI

In 2015, the Forward Market Commission was merged with SEBI. With this, the regulation of commodity derivatives market has shifted to SEBI under Securities Contracts Regulation Act (SCRA) 1956. The Forward Contracts Regulation Act (FCRA), 1952 got repealed and FMA ceased to exist. With this merger, all three national and six regional commodity exchanges have come under the ambit of national capital market regulator SEBI. This merger has created SEBI has a unified regulator for commodities and capital markets in India.

Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs)

• As defined in Securities and Exchange Board of India (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012, AIFs refer to any privately pooled investment fund, (whether from Indian or foreign sources), in the form of a trust or a company or a body corporate or a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
• AIF does not include funds covered under the SEBI (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, SEBI (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999 or any other regulations of the Board to regulate fund management activities.
• Hence, in India, AIFs are private funds which are otherwise not coming under the jurisdiction of any regulatory agency in India.

Categories:

As per SEBI (AIF) Regulations, 2012, AIFs shall seek registration in one of the three categories:

Category I: Mainly invests in start- ups, SME’s or any other sector which Govt. considers economically and socially viable.

Category II: These include Alternative Investment Funds such as private equity funds or debt funds for which no specific incentives or concessions are given by the government or any other Regulator

Category III : Alternative Investment Funds such as hedge funds or funds which trade with a view to make short term returns or such other funds which are open ended and for which no specific incentives or concessions are given by the government or any other Regulator.

About Mutual Funds

A mutual fund collects money from investors and invests the money on their behalf. It charges a small fee for managing the money. Mutual funds are an ideal investment vehicle for regular investors who do not know much about investing. Investors can choose a mutual fund scheme based on their financial goal and start investing to achieve the goal.

Syllabus subtopic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections

Prelims and Mains focus: About Atal Bhujal Yojana, its key features and significance ; the rohtang tunnel and its significance

News: On the eve of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s birth anniversary, the Union cabinet on Tuesday approved the World Bank-funded Atal Bhujal Yojana (Atal Jal), which aims to improve ground water management in seven states.

About Atal Jal (Atal Bhujal Yojana)

Objective: Since, groundwater contributes nearly 65% of India’s total irrigated area, with ABY, the Central Government seeks to promote Panchayat led ground water management and behavioural change with primary focus on demand side management. The scheme will also help in supplying water to every house hold by 2024.

Nodal Agency: Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti.

Implementation: The scheme will be implemented in identified areas covering 8,350 villages in 78 districts of 7 states- Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The implementation period for plan is over a period of five years from 2020 to 2025.

Two major components of Atal Jal Yojana:         

(1) Institutional Strengthening and Capacity Building Component- for strengthening institutional arrangements for sustainable ground water management in States. It envisages active participation of communities in various activities such as-

• Water budgeting- water management tool that assists communities for the proper management of water resources, by estimating the amount of water a landscape will require.
• Monitoring and disseminating ground water data
• Formation of Water User Associations
• Preparation/ implementation of gram panchayat-wise water security plans
• Information, Education and communication (IEC) activities, relating to sustainable ground water management.

(2) Incentive Component for incentivising the States– for achievements in improved groundwater management practices such as implementation of management interventions through convergence of ongoing schemes, adopting demand side management practices among others.

• The Atal Jal scheme had been approved by the World Bank board in June 2018. It was waiting for the Union cabinet’s approval for the last several months.
• The total budget of the scheme will be Rs 6,000 crore, of which Rs 3,000 crore will be contributed by the World Bank.

Other decisions taken by the Cabinet

1. Strategic tunnel under Rohtang Pass

• The Union cabinet also approved the strategic tunnel under Rohtang Pass to be renamed after Vajpayee.
• The historic decision to construct a strategic tunnel below the Rohtang Pass was taken on June 3, 2000, when late Atal Bihari Vajpayee was the Prime Minister. The foundation stone for the access road to the south portal of the tunnel was laid on May 26, 2002.
• The tunnel is now nearing completion and is a step in the direction of providing all-weather connectivity to remote border areas of Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh, which otherwise remained cut-off from the rest of the country for about six months during winters.
• The 8.8-km tunnel is the world’s longest tunnel above an altitude of 3,000 metres. It will reduce the distance between Manali and Leh by 46 km and save crores of rupees in transport costs.

2. In another decision, the cabinet approved the Promulgation of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019, which seeks to remove certain ambiguities in the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and ensure smooth implementation of the code.

3. The cabinet also granted ex-post facto approval to amend Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 (BEFR). The amendment will extend BEFR to the state of Manipur to give its indigenous people protection from the provisions of Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019, and make necessary changes in the said regulation.

Syllabus subtopic: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Prelims and Mains focus: about the recent amendments made in IBC; IBC and its significance

News: The Union Cabinet on Tuesday approved the Ordinance to amend the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, under which a corporate debtor would not be held liable for any offences committed by the erstwhile management, before the start of the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP).

Background

The amendments to the Bill came after successful bidders of certain debt-ridden companies expressed apprehension of taking over the new company, fearing action from investigative agencies. These actions, the new bidders had said, were mostly based on the actions of the former promoters of these corporate debtors.

What is it aimed at?

• This ring fencing of successful bidders under the CIRP process is aimed at protecting them from the risk of any criminal proceedings against them, arising from cases filed by various investigative agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate or the Economic Offences Wing.

About Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016

• The Code provides a time-bound process for resolving insolvency in companies and among individuals.  Insolvency is a situation where individuals or companies are unable to repay their outstanding debt.
• Under the Code, a financial creditor may file an application before the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for initiating the insolvency resolution process. The NCLT must find the existence of default within 14 days.  Thereafter, a Committee of Creditors (CoC) consisting of financial creditors will be constituted for taking decisions regarding insolvency resolution.  The CoC may either decide to restructure the debtor’s debt by preparing a resolution plan or liquidate the debtor’s assets.
• The CoC will appoint a resolution professional who will present a resolution plan to the CoC. The CoC must approve a resolution plan, and the resolution process must be completed within 180 days.  This may be extended by a period of up to 90 days if the extension is approved by NCLT.
• If the resolution plan is rejected by the CoC, the debtor will go into liquidation. The Code provides an order of priority for the distribution of assets in case of liquidation of the debtor.  This order places financial creditors ahead of operational creditors (e.g., suppliers).  In a 2018 Amendment, home-buyers who paid advances to a developer were to be considered as financial creditors.  They would be represented by an insolvency professional appointed by NCLT.  

The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill, 2019

• The Bill to amend the IBC was introduced in the Lok Sabha during the recently passed Winter Session of Parliament. It has since been referred to the Standing Committee on Finance headed by former Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha. The committee also has former Prime Minister and Rajya Sabha member Manmohan Singh as its member.
• The committee will examine the Bill and present its report within three months, the Lok Sabha Secretariat said.
• The Bill addresses three issues. First, it strengthens provisions related to time-limits.  Second, it specifies the minimum payouts to operational creditors in any resolution plan.  Third, it specifies the manner in which the representative of a group of financial creditors (such as home-buyers) should vote. 

Syllabus subtopic: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

Prelims and Mains focus: about the remarks made in IMF’s report on India’s economic slowdown and ways to address it; about IMF, its structure and mandate

News: India is now in the midst of a significant economic slowdown, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said, urging the government to take urgent policy actions to address the current prolonged downturn.

Remarks made in IMF’s report

• In its report released on Monday, the IMF Directors noted that India’s rapid economic expansion in recent years has lifted millions of people out of poverty. However, in the first half of 2019, a combination of factors led to subdued economic growth in India.
• The issue in India is the growth slowdown which is mostly cyclical, not structural because of the financial sector issues.
• With risks to the outlook tilted to the downside, the IMF Directors called for continued sound macroeconomic management. They saw an opportunity with the strong mandate of the new government to reinvigorate the reform agenda to boost inclusive and sustainable growth, the report said.
• The staff report was done in August when the IMF was not fully aware of India’s current economic slowdown.

Economic slowdown

Growth in the second quarter of FY 2019­20 came in at a six­year low of 4.5% (year­on­year), and the composition of growth indicates that private domestic demand expanded by only 1% in the quarter. Most high­frequency indicators suggest that weak economic activity has continued into December.

Reason :  The abrupt reduction in non­banking financial companies’ credit expansion and the associated broad­based tightening of credit conditions appears to be an important factor and weak income growth, especially rural, has been affecting private consumption. Private investment has been hindered by financial sector difficulties (including in public sector banks) and insufficient business confidence. Some implementation issues with important and appropriate structural reforms, such as the nation­wide Goods and Services Tax, may also have played a role.

Green shoots

By other measures, India still is doing well:

• Reserves have risen to record level.
• The current account deficit has narrowed.
• Inflation, has been under control for the last few years.

Conclusion

Therefore, by other measures, India is doing quite well. The issue is primarily how to address the growth slowdown. The IMF had been taken by surprise by India’s slowdown though this slowdown cannot be described as an economic crisis. The short term, the most critical thing is carrying out reforms in the financial sector.

Syllabus subtopic: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Prelims and Mains focus: about NPR and its significance; concerns raised and challenges in implementation; Citizenship Act

News: The Union Cabinet chaired by PM Modi, on Tuesday approved over Rs. 3,941.35 crore for updating the National Population Register (NPR) across the country, barring Assam, and Rs. 8,754.23 crore for conducting the Census of India, 2021.

Background

• The announcement comes after more than 20 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh, Assam and Karnataka in violence related to protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) and the NRC.
• The CAA allows citizenship on the basis of religion to undocumented non-Muslim communities from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh who entered India on or before December 31, 2014.
• There are apprehensions that the Act, followed by a country-wide NRC, will benefit non-Muslims excluded from the citizens’ register, while excluded Muslims will have to prove their citizenship.

About NPR

• The NPR exercise, which is to commence from April 2020, aims to collect biometric and demographic details of the “usual resident,” who is defined as a person who has resided in an area for the past six months or more, or a person who intends to reside in that area for the next six months or more. It is mandatory for every "usual resident" of India to register in the NPR.

• The NPR was updated in 2010 and 2015. The data for NPR was collected in 2010 along with the house-listing phase of Census of India 2011. The 2015 update was done by conducting door-to-door surveys. The digitisation of the updated information has been completed.

• The Citizenship Rules, 2003, state that the Centre, by issuing an order, can decide a date to prepare the NPR. It also provides for the creation of a National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC), or the NRC, which is being bitterly opposed by people across the country, that will flow from data gathered in the NPR.

• According to the Rules, a person’s citizenship status will be decided by local officials – whether or not the person will figure in the NRIC or not. No new law or rules are needed to conduct this exercise across the country.

• The NRC has so far only been prepared in Assam under the directions of the Supreme Court. Assam’s final NRC, published on August 31, excluded more than 19 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants. It was the culmination of the Assam Accord signed in 1985 after six-year-long agitation, spearheaded by the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) and All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad (AAGSP) for detection, disenfranchisement and deportation of foreigners who entered the State after March 24, 1971. Both the Centre and the State government have said the NRC will be repeated in Assam due to huge errors that have crept in.
• The NPR will be prepared at the local (village/sub-Town), sub-district, district, State and national level under provisions of the Citizenship Act 1955 and the Citizenship (Registration of Citizens and issue of National Identity Cards) Rules, 2003.

• The objective of the NPR is to create a comprehensive identity database of every "usual resident" in the country.

• The decennial Census exercise will be conducted in two phases

Syllabus subtopic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

Prelims and Mains focus: about GST and its significance; Why is GST still a contentious issue?

News: Fifteenth Finance Commission (FFC) chairman N.K. Singh has said GST should be redrafted. Too many changes to GST rules and several items being exempted could be blamed for the Rs. 63,200 crore shortfall in compensation cess for FY20.

What is the Finance Commission saying?

According to data compiled by the Fifteenth Finance Commission, more than 38 changes have been carried out in GST in the two years since it was rolled out. The frequent changes have made the tax unstable and cluttered it too much, making compliance difficult for businesses. The commission has held that the cumbersomeness of compliance and the frequency with which rates have been changed are the important factors for the revenue realization from GST falling short of targets. Therefore, GST should be returned to the drawing board for redrafting from scratch, Singh has said.

What is the root cause of the problems?

In case of revenue shortfalls during the first five years after GST’s introduction, the Centre has guaranteed compensations to states. GST revenue is falling short of the revenue growth of 14% on the FY16 base guaranteed to states under the GST compensation law. The compensation guarantee has created a perverse incentive. States are not sweating to plug leakages, increase compliance or simplify GST. Even states with good growth rates have not seen commensurate growth in GST revenue. Nor have consuming states such as Bihar or Uttar Pradesh made the kind of gains as was expected.

Are integrated GST (IGST) refunds a problem too?

In a pre-budget consultation, states have sought immediate release of arrears of IGST collected on the interstate supply of goods and services and imports. They alleged that the Centre resorted to incorrect accounting for IGST in 2017-18. Earlier, the CAG said devolution of unallocated IGST to states did not happen for 2017-18 according to law.

What is the way forward on this?

The best way to tackle revenue shortfalls is by removing all the infirmities in GST. States should get incentives to reduce leakages and compliance burden. Revenue neutrality should be a medium- term goal. The Thirteenth Finance Commission and a panel headed by then chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian had shown the average GST rate ought to be 16-17% to make it revenue neutral. Today, the average is 11.6% because a large number of items are at 0%, although indirect taxes are by definition regressive.

Should India go for a single-rate GST?

Given low state capacity, the best option for India is a single-rate GST. Eighty percent of countries that introduced GST after 1995 opted for a single rate. If the rate is kept low and exemptions at a minimum, the revenue collection will be good. It will reduce the scope of evasion and leakage. States can impose sin taxes over and above GST on luxury and demerit goods: some may decide to do so for alcohol and others for vehicles that run on fossil fuels.

Syllabus subtopic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.

Prelims and Mains focus: About the RBI report and its significance; concerns raised by the report

News: In its Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2018-19, released on Tuesday, the central bank said banks need to restart lending to industries in order to stimulate the capex and investment cycle.

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) wants banks to resume lending to large industries instead of restricting themselves to the low-risk retail sector.
• According to RBI, there has been a shift of focus toward retail loans due to subdued profitability of corporates, low interest coverage ratio, and deleveraging by corporates along with risk aversion of banks.

Background

The latest in a series of bad news came earlier last month as India’s economic growth fell to 4.5% in the September quarter. Moreover, the core sector, comprising eight infrastructure industries, contracted 5.8% in October, the second consecutive month of contraction.

Figures supporting RBI’s argument

• Outstanding bank loans to industries increased 5.6% year-on-year (y-o-y) to ?33.04 trillion in FY19, but declined 3.95% between March and September 2019. At the end of September, it stood at ?31.74 trillion. Retail loans, on the other hand, grew 18.5% y-o-y to ?23.02 trillion in FY19 and 18.1% between March and September 2019 to ?24.64 trillion, albeit on a smaller base. ‘The need of the hour is to kick-start industrial credit and use the impetus therefrom to regenerate a virtuous cycle of capex, investment and growth,’ said RBI.

Concerns raised in the RBI report

• The central bank’s report said while diversifying from industrial loans to retail acts as a risk mitigation tool, it has its own limitations. For instance, the slowdown in consumption and overall economic growth, RBI said, may affect the demand for and the quality of retail loans.
• Moreover, household leverage and indebtedness need to be kept in focus in the context of overall financial stability.
• The regulator also cautioned that banks must follow proper risk pricing so that the health of the banking sector is not compromised, while ensuring adequate credit to these sectors.
• On capital raising, RBI said in the coming years the financial health of public sector banks (PSBs) should increasingly be assessed by their ability to access capital markets instead of the tendency to depend excessively on the government.
• The central bank also raised the issue of corporate governance practices in banks and other financial institutions. Without naming them, it said the recent governance failures in some financial entities have highlighted the impact of the quality of corporate governance on efficiency in allocation of resources as well as on financial stability. RBI said it is in the process of issuing draft guidelines on corporate governance for regulated entities and the objective is to align the current regulatory framework with global best practices.

Status of Banks

• RBI said PSBs led the recovery in capital ratios for the banking sector in FY19. They were recapitalized with ?90,000 crore in FY18 and another ?1.06 trillion in FY19. This bolstered their capital position, even as they battled with the overhang of impaired assets.
• Private banks and foreign banks remained well-capitalized and above the regulatory minimum of 10.875% of risk-weighted assets in March 2019. However, private banks experienced a marginal decline in capital adequacy ratio in FY19 after the reclassification of IDBI Bank as a private bank.

Syllabus subtopic: Various Security forces and agencies and their mandate

Prelims and Mains focus:  about the newly created  post of CDS and its significance

News: The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister, on Tuesday approved the creation of the post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and the charter of duties.

Background

• PM Modi, in his Independence Day address this year, announced the appointment of a CDS. Following this, the Implementation Committee was constituted to determine and finalise the ``exact responsibilities, an enabling framework`` for this new post.
• As part of higher level military reforms, a number of committees, the Kargil Review Committee, the Group of Ministers (GoM) Report, the Task Force on National Security and the Lt. Gen. (retd.) D.B. Shekatkar Committee have studied and recommended the creation of CDS or Permanent Chairman, COSC.
• In 2012, the Naresh Chandra Committee recommended the  appointment of a Permanent Chairman as a midway to allay apprehensions over the CDS.
• Currently, the most senior of the three Chiefs functions as the Chairman of the COSC but in an additional role and the tenures have been very short.
• The CDS was also one of the 99 recommendations made by the Shekatkar panel, which submitted its report in December 2016 and had 34 recommendations pertaining to tri-Service integration.
• The issue of a single point military adviser and the creation of theatre commands have been on the agenda of the government in the previous term as well. This was emphasised by Mr. Modi in discussion with the Combined Commanders Conference at Dehradun in 2017.
• A pointer to the impending announcement was made by Mr. Modi in his speech on Kargil Vijay Diwas this year where he stressed on ``jointness``. He said it was time to connect among three Services in terms of ``action and system.``

About the post of CDS

• The post of CDS will be in the rank of a four-star General with salary and perquisites equivalent to a Service Chief.
• The CDS will also head the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) to be created within the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and function as its Secretary.
• The creation of a CDS, who will be above the three Service Chiefs, has been a long pending demand as part of higher level military reforms for a single point military advisor to the government.
• The government also recently informed Parliament that the CDS would come in the ambit of ‘Right to Information Act, in accordance with the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005.
• The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), which discussed the issue, had approved the recommendations of the Implementation Committee headed by the National Security Adviser (NSA) on the role and charter of the CDS. Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat, who is set to superannuate on December 31, is the front runner for the post. Vice Chief of the Army Staff Lt. Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane has already been appointed as the next Chief of the Army Staff (COAS).

Role and responsibilities of CDS

• The armed forces will be brought under the ambit of the DMA and will deal with works relating to the three Services and procurement exclusive to the Services except capital acquisitions, as per prevalent rules and procedures.
• The broad mandate of the CDS includes bringing about jointness in `operations, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance of the three Services, within three years of the first CDS assuming office.`
• He will act as the Principal Military Adviser to Defence Minister on all tri-Services matters.
• However, the three Chiefs will continue to advise the Minister on matters exclusively concerning their respective Services.
• The CDS would not exercise any military command, including over the three Service Chiefs, so as to be able to provide impartial advice to the political leadership.
• In his capacity as the Permanent Chairman, COSC (Chiefs of Staff Committee), the CDS would administer tri-Services organisations, agencies and commands related to Cyber and Space.
• The CDS will also be a member of the Defence Acquisition Council chaired by the Defence Minister and Defence Planning Committee chaired by the NSA.
• In the strategic domain, the CDS would function as the ``Military Adviser to the Nuclear Command Authority`` chaired by the Prime Minister.
• The recently created specialised tri-Service divisions, special operations, cyber and space will come under the ambit of the CDS. The government recently named two star officers from the Services, who will now oversee the setting up of the organisations.

Composition of tri-Service divisions

• While each of the division will draw personnel from all three Services, the Special Operations Division, headquartered in Agra, will be headed by the Army. The Defence Cyber Agency (DCA), based in Delhi, will be headed by the Navy and Defence Space Agency, based in Bengaluru,by the Indian Air Force.
• Following Mr. Modi’s announcement, the recent Army Commanders Conference debated the need for creating arrangements and structures to synergise and pave the way for effective integration and discussed the ``requirement of a Joint Services Act.`` Currently, each Service has individual Act passed by Parliament.