La Excellence IAS

My Notes 05 Dec 2016

The Hindu editorials

Notes for a cashless economy

Important objectives of demonetizations are to create a cashless economy, fight counterfeit currency, corruption and terror financing. It is part of the larger agenda of JAM trinity to benefit the poor. In this scenario, temporary discomfort will give way for larger benefits soon. An institutional mechanism is Being put in place for the same. These include Unified Payments Interface (UIP), Bank Card, prepaid cards, using various cards at any PoS (point of sale)/ ATM, Unstructured SupplementaryService Data (USSD) based mobile banking,Aadhaarenabled payment system (AEPS)and e-wallet or digital wallet.

As publicized by the opposition, it is not a sudden decision. The Government of the day has cone to power on the promise of clean governance and to fight all the stated objectives above. MB shah committee was appointed to look in to the issue of black money. At G20 summit at Brisbane Prime Minister pitched for fight against black money.

Later,

  1. the Black Money (UndisclosedForeign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015 came into force on July 1, 2015for disclosure of foreign black money within three months by paying 60 per cent tax.
  2. constitution ofaMulti-Agency Group (MAG) on the Panama Paper leaks and the
  3. passage of the Benami Transaction Bill, 2015, an anti-black money measure, in the Lok Sabha.
  4. India also inked agreements with many countries, including the U.S. to add new provisions for sharing banking information.
  5. Double TaxationAvoidance Agreements (DTAA) were also signed with countries which were considered safe tax havens such as Mauritius and Cyprus.
  6. India also joined the MultilateralCompetent Authority Agreement on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account In-formation (AEOI) to combat tax evasion and unearth black money.
  7. Later the Income Declaration Scheme was announced.

Indian Express

Demonetizes Dilemma

The costs of cash are very high in india for the govt and to the consumer.But, demonetisaoiton can not happen at a sudden stroke. Two important factors that determine the spread of a cashless economy are

  1. Establishment of digital infrastructure
  2. Establishing a threshold of trust in the system.

With out doing this is, initiation of demonetization is like placing a horse before cart. Europe, Singapore and South Korea have initiated demonetization after preparing a strong ground for the same.

Heart of Asia conference

India and Afghanistan gas raised the issue of state sponsored terrorism at the heart of Asoa conference in Amritsar.

India need a consistent and creative strategy to deal with Pakistan. Disengagement, kite engagement will give little results if it is not part of the creative strategy.

Perspective / ideas page

Aroad map for the CBI

Any institution needs a strong leadership to realize its vision. CBI now and often suffers forum the lack of this leadership. It is compounding the problems of political interference, lack of personnel and territorial limitations for its actions. For this,

  1. CBI shall resist the political pressures
  2. It has to sped up the investigative procedures
  3. CBIs vital infrastructure, its manpower need to be improved through dirt etc recruitment.
  4. A separate law shall define the investigative powers of the CBI officers outside CrPC. It will keep them out of the mercy of state Government.

Unbuilding our cities

Vulnerabilities of our cities are increasing. Chennai floods is a stark reminder for the same. If reasons are highlighted, unregulated growth, encroachments of flood plains, disappearance of wetlands can be cited as the reasons.

Added to this, urban migration and growth in population is creating an undue pressure on Urban ecosystem. It is leading to the growth of informal settlements in vulnerable areas. 11th plan has marked a policy shift from rural development to urban renewal. India needs unbuilding of existing encroachments to make it resilient to climate change.

Kashmiris hidden uprising

Root of the problem is the alienation of the Kashmiri problem form India. Human rights violations and acts of oppression are making the things worse. So, the status quo has to change and process need to be initiated. There are no simple solutions for the Kashmiri problem.

Sagarmala project

Sagarmala project of India - building a network of seaports across the coast line in india could deepen Trade and investment ties with China.

Question of the day

A move towards cashless economy or achieving JAM trinity, cash transfers need to address the basic issues of digital divide in the country. Elaborate.