Friday, 24 July 2020

Solving the puzzle: COVID-19 and School-College Fees!!

15 April 2020

AICTE and the University Grants Commission (UGC) will also issue a revised academic calendar soon and Prof. Kumar directed colleges to continue online classes for the current semester under the extended lockdown. UGC has constituted a committee to make recommendations on the conduct of semester examinations, award of marks and passing criteria, the letter said.

News: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/coronavirus-students-need-not-pay-college-fees-till-lockdown-is-lifted-says-aicte/article31350558.ece

21 April 2020


News: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/tamil-nadu-tells-private-schools-and-colleges-not-to-compel-students-to-pay-fees-during-lockdown/article31394451.ece

08 May 2020

The Supreme Court on Friday (May 8) disposed of petition of students from private colleges seeking fee rebate in the wake of coronavirus lockdown that led to loss of jobs and salary deduction of many parents.

The apex court asked the petitioners' advocate how the colleges will run if it failed to receive fees. From where will the colleges give salary to their employees, the court asked.

News: https://zeenews.india.com/india/supreme-court-disposes-of-plea-of-private-college-students-to-get-fee-relief-amid-covid-19-lockdown-2282031.html

14 May 2020


News: https://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/india-news-covid-19-and-college-fee-conundrum-why-students-can-demand-refund/352770

25 June 2020

//The University of Mumbai (MU) on Monday issued a notice to all its affiliated colleges, asking them not hike fees for the academic session of 2020-21. The notice is in line with the directions of the University Grants Commission (UGC). The apex body had written to universities and colleges last month, asking them to not compel students to pay fees immediately.//

 News: https://m.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/relief-for-students-as-mu-asks-colleges-not-to-hike-fees/story-8A6CVGfdOhwxd0oXgGNzNI_amp.html

 02 July 2020

The court was hearing public interest litigation against private schools demanding fees during lockdown. The petitioner had sought action against schools demanding fees from parents during the lockdown.

The counsel representing the state government informed the court that the state government is considering the plea made by the private school and colleges and the decision will be informed by 
July 6.


Digital surveillance of call-centre workers or other such ‘cyber coolies’ is a well-known management strategy to control workers, labour processes and material practices. Now, the COVID-19 pandemic has given fertile ground to create this ‘panopticon’ in the education sector, as well. Managements are using the digital video call technologies to ‘observe’ without being ‘observed’.

Anita, a primary school teacher, spoke of how her supervisor would join the virtual class at the behest of the management to oversee her teaching performance. “The supervisor’s intention was not merely to evaluate the online teaching, but to monitor and control the process. Later, the supervisor’s spying became a daily affair. This then went to the extent of demanding recording of the teaching sessions, and sending reports to the administrators post each session,” said Anita.

Sanjay, another school teacher, talked about how management mandated compulsory conduct of 4-5 teaching sessions per day, without providing technological infrastructure. The teachers were supposed to have or make their own arrangements.

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Thursday, 16 July 2020

Report Card: Problem of Street Vendors and ...


30, Jan, 2020

The Director-General office of the Urban Local Bodies sent out letters to the municipal corporations of Haryana instructing the commissioners, city magistrates and executive officers of all municipalities of the state to implement the Street Vendors Act in their regions with immediate effect. The letter specifically read that no street vendors are to be evicted, therefore causing loss of livelihood.

News: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/no-vendor-to-be-evicted-before-allotment-of-space-ulb-sends-letter-to-states-mcs-6242309/
 16, June 2020

A report — prepared by the Delhi-based policy think tank, Centre for Civil Society (CCS), with the assistance of the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA), says: Haryana has identified over 1 lakh street vendors but has distributed identity cards to only 1,000. "It could only score 32.48 points out of 100, since it has hardly implemented four out of the 11 steps under the Street Vendors Act, 2014, analysed by the study. Haryana has seen a fall in its score on the compliance index recorded at 45 last year. No vendor has been issued a vending certificate till no. ULBs in Haryana are yet to submit vending plans, demarcate vending zones and constitute grievance redressal committes," report pointed out.

News: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/hry-fares-poorly-in-welfare-of-street-vendors-report/articleshow/76394781.cms


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Friday, 10 July 2020

Solving the Puzzle: India's Energy Sector and Price Regulation.

25 June 2020

//The development assumes significance as India's energy demand is poised to grow from the present per capita of around 1,149 kilowatt-hour (kWh).

This is among the lowest in the world as compared to per capita consumption of 3,600 kWh globally.

The strategies discussed at the meeting included ways to erect tariff barriers and other hurdles such as subsidising finance to encourage local power equipment manufacturers, and prior-permission conditions for imports from nations India is in conflict with.//

News: https://www.businesstoday.in/sectors/energy/india-china-conflict-indian-govt-power-sector-companies-exit-chinese-contracts/story/407977.html
02 July 2020
//"Adani Electricity AEML has undertaken various measures such as virtual help desk, EMI facility as well a proactive awareness initiative to increase clarity on the billing process amongst the consumers. The consumers will be receiving bills on the basis of their actual consumption with applicable tariff slab benefits. All necessary actions have been undertaken which are in accordance with the rules and regulations laid down by the State Government and MERC," an AEML spokesperson said.//

News: https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/power/adani-electricity-issues-clarification-after-uproar-over-exorbitant-electricity-bills-in-mumbai/76740800

02 July 2020

//India has put in place stringent quality control measures and planned higher tariffs on goods from China to boost domestic manufacturing, the minister said.”We have reports that malware and Trojan horse can be installed which can be activated remotely to bring down the power sector and the economy,”

India’s power sector had faced cyberattacks, a majority of which reportedly originated from China, Singapore, Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries. Singh had also said that a committee was set up under the Central Electricity Authority to examine the cyber threat and the panel had said “it is a real live threat.”

It drew flak from some corners with claims that it would infringe upon the rights of states, encourage privatisation and would not be in interest of consumers. However dismissing these claims, Singh had said last week that these are canards and reforms in power sector is the last challenge left. The meeting would also discuss about the Renwable Purchase Obligation (RPO) for clean energy. The performance of Rs 90,000 crore liquidity infusion package would also be taken up in the meeting.//

News: https://www.financialexpress.com/economy/chinese-imports-uday-2-top-on-agenda-of-state-power-ministers-meet-on-friday/2011591/

03 July 2020

//“Countries should have as much renewable energy as possible, but it cannot be your base power supply. We should dispel the myth that we can accelerate the world’s move into renewables, that we can go from dependence from coal, hydroelectric and nuclear into only renewables," said Vandana Hari, founder and CEO of Vanda Insights Pte Ltd, a commodity market analysis firm..

  “We need a complementary source of power for renewables and gas is a flexible source of generation, in that gas-based power is more competitive than storage at current prices and can provide a neat solution for round-the-clock power. Right now, many (developers) are choosing to go with hydel and coal rather than gas. As penetration of renewables increases from the current 10% to 12-14% in the energy mix, there will be grid-balancing issues, like we are already seeing in some southern states. India has 24GW of stranded natural gas-based power capacity. Given the current LNG prices, there is need for a solar-natural gas hybrid policy," //

 News: https://www.livemint.com/industry/energy/thermal-power-will-continue-to-meet-india-s-energy-needs-11593736851547.html

08 July 2020

//The Ministry has proposed to issue a National Renewable Energy Policy periodically to promote renewable power generation in the country and to prescribe renewable purchase obligation (RPO) targets.
L&T Financial Services (LTFS), an Indian non-banking financial services company (NBFC), has recommended that the central government should notify the new policy within six months from the implementation of the Act and push out a revised version with any changes, if necessary, once every five years after that.

Adding to this, Subrahmanyam Pulipaka, Chief Executive at the National Solar Energy Federation of India (NSEFI), said: “We also want the national renewable energy policy to cover the entire gambit of storage as well because today you’re talking about renewable energy purely from the generation standpoint, but later, there will be a point where storage will also be an integral part of it.”

The provisions of this centralized tariff policy propose to reduce cross-subsidy surcharges based on a centralized mechanism. Currently, state electricity regulatory commissions are responsible for determining these charges.

The Ministry of Power also proposed to establish the Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority (ECEA) to decide on matters regarding the enforcement of contractual obligations on purchase or transmission of electricity.//
 News: https://mercomindia.com/electricity-act-invigorate-renewable-energy/

10 July 2020

//Prime Minister Narendra Modi has today dedicated Asia’s largest solar power project, the Rewa solar power project in Madhya Pradesh, to the nation. The new 750 MW Solar Power plant Project has been set up at Rewa, in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

It is India’s first such solar project to break the grid parity barrier. In comparison to the tariffs of prevailing solar project in early 2017 of around Rs 4.50 per unit, the Solar project in Rewa achieved the first year tariff of Rs 2.97 per unit. Moreover, it showed a tariff escalation of Rs 0.05 per unit over the period 15 years and a levelized rate of Rs 3.30 per unit over a period of 25 years.

It exemplifies the commitment of the nation to achieve the 175 GW target of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022. This includes 100 GW of solar installed capacity.//

News: https://www.financialexpress.com/infrastructure/rewa-solar-power-project-asia-largest-solar-power-plant-pm-modi-inauguration-madhya-pradesh/2019361/#:~:text=social%20distancing%20device-,Rewa%20solar%20power%20project%20inauguration%20by%20PM%20Modi%3A%20Prime%20Minister,the%20state%20of%20Madhya%20Pradesh.

//

//
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Thursday, 9 July 2020

Introspect: Competing the Chinese Supply

05 Feb 2019

//Sixty-five per cent of country's mobile phones are manufactured now in Noida alone, said Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma Monday, claiming that UP has a strong potential to surpass the growth of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. UP emergence as a hub of mobile phone production has also stopped its youths' exodus to other states for jobs.

"The UP government is soon going to establish an Electronics City. In state capital Lucknow, land has been acquired in Nadarganj area for IT City. Apart from this, IT parks will be set up in Meerut, Agra, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Varanasi, Lucknow and Bareilly," he said.//


31 Jan 2020
// India is making rapid strides in electronics production and has emerged as the second largest mobile phone manufacturing hub globally, President Ram Nath Kovind said on Friday. Addressing a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament, Kovind said the value of electronic equipment manufactured in the country has increased to Rs 4.58 lakh crore in 2018-19 from Rs 1.90 lakh crore in 2014-15.

Over the last few years, the government has been bullish on making India a manufacturing base for the world and has set a target to promote domestic manufacturing in the entire value-chain of ESDM (electronic system design and manufacturing) to achieve a turnover of USD 400 billion (Rs 26 lakh crore) by 2025.//


16 June 2020

//On June 12, Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co Ltd (STEC) emerged as the lowest bidder for the construction of 5.6km-underground section between New Ashok Nagar and Sahibabad -- part of the Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor.

 The project is being managed by the National Capital Region Transport Corporation or NCRTC. The corporation had opened online financial bids submitted by five bidders last week.

 Even before the opposition could train its guns on the government over the success of the Chinese bid, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, has demanded the Narendra Modi government to cancel the bid.//

 News: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/chinese-firm-delhi-meerut-project-rss-modi-govt-stec-sjm-1689438-2020-06-16

18 Jun 2020

//SJM co-convener Ashwani Mahajan tweeted that the need of the hour was to “boycott Chinese products, stop endorsing Chinese brands, govt stops Chinese imports, Chinese investment and tenders to Chinese companies for infrastructure including proposed tender to Tunnel Eng Co”. An MoHUA official said the construction of the 5.6 km tunnel was an ADB-funded project – the bids were invited in November 2019 and opened on March 16, 2020 – and STEC emerged as the lowest bidder on June 12; he said that while the tender was “under process” and “yet to be finalised”, “ADB/World Bank/Multi-lateral procurement guidelines do not allow discrimination among firms/ countries”.//


20 Jun 2020

//Sources said that under the 'Make in India' clause equipment and manpower can be sourced locally providing opportunities to Indian companies. This would also fill in shortage of key personel in metro industry.

It is learnt that the June 23 meeting will discuss Action Taken Report pertaining too "Atmanirbhar Bharat". Since Finance Minister has also announced that global bids shall not be invited in government tenders up to Rs.200 crore, the meeting would focus on various requirements of Central Government entities which should be sourced from local or domestic suppliers only. These include metro companies and smart cities.//


22 Jun 2020

//Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is expected to finance $800 million for the 4th corridor of phase-II of Chennai Metro, the govt should add the ‘Make in India’ clause in the tender report, officials urged.

As Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. (STEC) appeared as the lowest bidder for the New Ashok Nagar and Sahibabad of Delhi-Meerut RRTS corridor construction having a distance of 5.6 km underground section. According to the sources, it is just to understand the ‘Make in India’ if included in the tender report will require limitations on Chinese bidders.//

News: https://www.metrorailnews.in/aiib-is-likely-to-fund-800-million-for-the-4th-corridor-of-chennai-metro-phase-ii/

03 Jul 2020

//Following the instructions, the western state of Maharashtra has put on hold three deals worth over Rs5,000 crore ($670 million) that were signed with Chinese companies at a recently held investor meet.

Similarly, the future of the semi-high speed rail corridor, Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), is in limbo because China’s Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co (STEC) had emerged as the lowest bidder for an underground stretch of the project.

Between 2014 and 2018, India ranked 31st in the list of countries where China invested. Infrastructure has been a sweet spot for China in India, as per policy think tank Brookings India.
Report: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/China-Inc%E2%80%99s-growing-stake-in-India-China-relations_F.pdf

The only dependence on Chinese players would be to the extent of construction equipment supply or the rolling stock for which there are other alternatives available across the globe, though, at a higher cost, Burla said. ”India awarded some rolling stock supply contracts to Beijing-based China Railway Rolling Stock Corporation. It should explore options from South Korea and Europe,” he added.//


07 Jul 2020

// The National Capital Region Transport Corporation Limited (NCRTC) has today opened financial bids of contract package 4 of the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor. A total of five national and multinational bidders participated in the tender process. As per the results of financial bids disclosed by NCRTC, the position of all bidders are as under:
L-1: Shanghai Tunnel Engineering Co. Ltd (STEC) - Rs.1126 crore.
L-2: Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) - Rs.1170 crore.
L-3: Gulermak Agir Sanayi Insaat ve Taahhut A.S(Gulermak) - Rs. 1,326 crore.
L-4: Tata Projects Ltd. -SKEC JV: Rs.1,346 crore.
L-5: Afcons Infrastrcture Ltd: Rs.1,400 crore

NCRTC has invited global bids for the first underground civil construciton package in Novermber last year (2019) and the Technical bids for this contract package were opened on 16 March 2020.//

News: https://www.urbantransportnews.com/stec-bags-rs-1126-crore-civil-contract-package-4-of-delhi-meerut-rrts-line/


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Tuesday, 7 July 2020

Indian Economic Development: Assignment -5

As we have seen, the financial programming process consists of seven steps and rests on a number of characteristics. Recognizing that we have participants in this course from all over the world with a range of experience, let’s take this first discussion opportunity to explore the following:

  1. List one or two key economic problems that your country is experiencing and the main causes;
  2. Identify the main economic policy objectives of your country; 
  3. List some policy measures that your country has used in recent years to address these problems; and 
  4. Explain whether these policies belong under the heading demand management, expenditure switching, or structural policies. 

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In consideration of the content in this section, the questions, and the provided reading from the European Central Bank, please consider the following questions:

  1. Describe the monetary and exchange rate regime in your country.
  2. What are the objectives of monetary policy?
  3. How is monetary policy implemented?
  4. How would you assess the success of your monetary authority in achieving its targets?
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Monday, 29 June 2020

Solving the puzzle: Migrant Labour and Unorganized Sector.

28/May/2020

//The perennial problems of migrant workers entail lack of proper accommodation, low standard of living, low wages, inaccessibility to state given services due to lack of identity proof and other documents. The global pandemic has become the immediate reason for the abrupt palpability of the migrant workers’ deplorable condition on the national scene. However, the vital reason behind their plight is deeply entrenched in the structure of India’s economic system itself. Their precarious condition is the culmination of a prolonged existence of the capitalist mode of production coterminous with the neo-liberal policies.

The migrant conundrum is thus a culmination of prolonged structural denial of basic economic rights by neo-liberal state machinery in concurrent with the social and moral apathy towards the marginalised sections who constitute the majority of the migrant workers in India. They are dispossessed by both the state and society. The mere transportation facilities to their homes or mere labour reforms are not an all-time panacea for their problems. The change in the discriminatory social behaviour and public attitude towards workers, the inclusion of affirmative policies and a transformation in the nature of state from a neoliberal establishment to a more welfare entity can advance an egalitarian social and economic realm in which rights, dignity and respect of the workers from socially marginalised sections are assured and protected.//


29/ May/ 2020

//‘India’ was full aware that millions from ‘Bharat’ had populated their cities and this ‘India’ had become so addicted to their help that life was unimaginable without them.

So deep had they entered our mind-space that stereotypes became embedded — like the farm labourer from Bihar, the domestic maid from West Bengal, the sturdy foundry worker from Jharkhand, the indefatigable ones from Uttar Pradesh and others from Odisha or Rajasthan.

Unless we can know and reach benefits to each such worker — which is not impossible in a digital age — the present fiasco will be repeated. To locate the only positive step taken to protect migrant labour we have to go back by 51 years, to the heydays of socialist hopes, 1979.

The Janata party government passed the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act. It mandated that labour contractors who export workers to other states have to register at both ends and take licences. Those who employ more than five migrant labourers are duty bound to provide proper wages, housing, medical facilities, pass-books, displacement allowance and anything else that the government of dreamers could cobble together.
The Act is to be implemented by the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) or the CLC (C), who is also supposed to implement 14 other equally demanding laws. These include many that are under the hawk-eyes of powerful trade union leaders.

 Though it promises to give more rights to migrant workers than the earlier law, we must remember that everything depends on implementation and not on desires. In this digital age, we may stress more on block-chained digital administrative techniques, like smart cards for inter-state workers.//

//The State Government has decided to conduct skill mapping of migrant returnees to provide them employment opportunities.

The Council of Ministers also approved establishment of a textile park at Dhamra. The project to be set up under the Centre’s Mega Textile Parks Scheme will provide employment opportunities for 20,000 people. //

News:

04/June/2020

//UP govt survey says 77% of these 23.5 lakh migrant workers want to stay back and work in the state, as of 2 June. Of the total, 16.6 lakh are unskilled labourers.

Siddharth Nath Singh, the minister for MSME, Investment & Export, Textile, Khadi & Gram Udyog in the UP government, said millions of new jobs can be created through MSMEs. The Yogi Adityanath government’s ‘One District One Product’ scheme, which is for the production and promotion of famous items, might be the best for workers in their native districts. For instance, native workers can be linked with chikankari work in Lucknow, or with perfume manufacturing in Kannauj.//

News:

04/June/2020

//The Covid-19 triggered exodus is a sudden reversal of this cumulative migration of seven decades. The resulting churning is an opportunity for India’s socioeconomic renaissance.

Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha face a multiple disaster scenario and are scrambling to provide healthcare, sustenance and employment for returnees. The major host states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Delhi and Kerala are trying to minimise the loss of labour and skills and prime for ‘unlocking’ of economic activity.

UP and Bihar, with largest returnee loads, have realised their shramiks’ asset value. They are establishing data bases, skills directory and migration institutions. Yogi Adityanath and Nitish Kumar are working to secure better economic and social security bargains for them and MoUs with host states. Home states will draw upon the Centre’s Mig rant Workers Welfare Fund and other poverty eradication and economic empowerment schemes, including enhanced MGNREGA.

The samudra manthan (great churning) of the Indian economy by Covid-19 pandemic has spewed the poison of a major economic and human development setback for India. If we use the migrant labour crisis as an opportunity to transform our economy and society, the churning may yet bring up the amrit (nectar) of immortal progress – the demographic dividend – a key goal of PM Modi’s Atma Nirbhar Bharat.//

News: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/view-india-should-use-migrant-labour-crisis-to-transform-economy-society/articleshow/76184723.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

10/June/2020

//The skill mapping of 2.5 lakh out of the five lakh migrant workers who returned to Jharkhand from different states has revealed that most are skilled and majority of them were engaged in construction, automotive and electronics sectors, government officials said.

In the first round of skill mapping, Jharkhand government has mapped the skills of 2,50,056 inbound migrant workers till now. Of those surveyed, 1,77,186 or 70% returnees are skilled labourers, while the rest 72,871 are unskilled workers, according to the state government’s assessment.//


20/June/2020

//The hotspot of these relief shelters and camps were in the cities of Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, etc. The southern states have handled the situation relatively well as compared to the capital, Delhi and western states; eastern India being the labour supply hub in the country.

 There are several estimates from the governments surveys (census, national sample surveys, and other national level surveys) and others rough estimates currently floating around about the number of migrants who have left from the destinations (mostly urban places) and reached their native places. Some of those estimates are://

News:
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/red-button-day-light/estimation-and-skill-mapping-of-migrant-workers/

28/June/2020

//SAMPARKA (Software Application for Migrated Person to Assam for Rejuvenating Karma Abhiyan), launched by the P&RD department, has so far registered about 17,000 migrant workers eligible for the facilities, including job cards under MGNREGA.//


29/June/2020

//Jharkhand has just concluded a survey of 3.61 lakh migrant workers ( 3,35,221 men and 25,699 women), who returned to the state in the wake of the lockdown. The findings have been both significant and surprising. Conducted by the Department of Rural Development, with assistance from the Help Desk set up by the Congress

The survey for the first time has identified the skill-set of the workers in the state, their employers outside the state and the potential areas where they could work in the state.//

News:
https://www.nationalheraldindia.com/india/jharkhand-survey-maps-skill-sets-and-find-most-migrant-workers-outside-central-schemes

 Other steps to solve the riddle:

 1. Tracking Internal Migration

 //Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday went for the jugular on the National Population Register and dismissed the contentious additional questions as an ordinary administrative process.

 The Prime Minister justified the need for certain categories of information, dwelling on mother tongues. This has never been such a big issue as it is today given the internal migration, he said.//

 News: 07/Feb/2020
https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/narendra-modi-defends-national-population-register-new-questions/cid/1743067

 2. Pan-India Ration card portability

 3. Registry of workers in Unorganized sector

 //The new look 'Unorganised Worker Identification Number (U-WIN)' will be seeded with Aadhaar and have expanded coverage. Besides, it would include other information such as qualifications and skill set of the worker.

 In 2014 the labour ministry had launched a pilot for Unorganised Worker Identification Number (U-WIN) in Gujarat, but the project was stalled on the grounds that it was a duplication of Aadhaar that was conceived as a single identification number for individuals.//

 News: 31/May/2020
https://m.economictimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/unorganised-sector-workers-may-get-ids/articleshow/76124747.cms

 4. Need for Central Legislation/Parliamentary Law

 //We have to think beyond the reflex paranoia about Aadhaar cards and privacy violations so as to come up with a really well thought out scheme for this class that has suffered such an unprecedented current crisis. We just have to devise a digital multi-purpose benefit smart-card, that can be used anywhere, to draw money without queuing at remote banks and this improved DBT has to work at ATMs and other points and also entitle these devastated sections to draw their rations from wherever.

 Article 217 read together with ‘list 1’, under the seventh schedule clearly mentions ‘item 81’, namely, “inter-state migration and inter-state quarantine” to be a power of the centre. The central government alone is empowered to deal with this in general, and inter-state migrant workers are surely a part of the ‘power’ and the responsibility. The list of states’ powers and responsibilities clearly do not mention ‘inter state migrants’ but that does not absolve them totally, as they are both recipients of such labour and exporters as well.
The Concurrent List of powers on which the centre and states can both legislate and administer has quite a few relevant entries. Item 22 mentions “trade unions, industrial and labour disputes” while item 24 cites “welfare of labour” and allied issues.
Frankly, these have helped organised labour to a large extent, but the unorganised sector was always a pitch black area under the lamp. It is a hard fact that trade unions were more bothered about their own fee-paying members and in getting further gains for them. They are partly to blame for ignoring the great bulk of the amorphous informal workforce.//

 News: 29/May/2020
https://thewire.in/labour/lockdown-migrant-workers-policy-analysis
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Wednesday, 24 June 2020

Do really our PM CARES??

23 June 2020

//Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had announced last month that the Trust has decided to allocate Rs 3,100 core for the fight against Covid-19. Out of the Rs 3100 crore for which allocation was made, a sum of approximately Rs 2,000 crore was earmarked for the purchase of ventilators, Rs 1,000 crores will be used for care of migrant labourers and Rs 100 crores will be given to support vaccine development.//

https://swarajyamag.com/insta/covid-19-50000-made-in-india-ventilators-under-pm-cares-fund-14000-to-be-delivered-to-states-by-june-end

//10 May 2020
It is not clear whether the fund comes under the ambit of the RTI Act or oversight by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, although independent auditors will audit the fund.

The decision to allow uncapped corporate donations to the fund to count as CSR expenditure — a facility not provided to PMNRF or the CM’s Relief Funds — goes against previous guidelines stating that CSR should not be used to fund government schemes. A government panel had previously advised against allowing CSR contributions to the PMNRF on the grounds that the double benefit of tax exemption would be a “regressive incentive”.//

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Saturday, 20 June 2020

Indian Economy and Development - Assignment 4

Find the analytic balance sheet of the central bank of your country, either from the IMF International Financial Statistics or the website of your country’s central bank.
  • How much is base money in your country? Express this both in units of national currency and in percent of GDP.
  • How much of base money is currency in circulation? How much are bank reserves?
  • How much did base money grow in the past five years?
  • How did the central bank use the expansion of base money? That is, what were the developments in NFA and NDA?
  • How much has inflation been in your country in the past five years? (the reason for this question will become clear later in the module--we promise).
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Find the depository corporation survey of your country. 
·         How much is broad money? Express this both in units of national currency and in percent of GDP.
·         How large are NFA and NDA? How large is credit to the private sector? How much is credit to the government
·         How much has broad money grown in the past five years? What changes happened at the same time in NFA and NDA?
·         Can you associate the developments described above with any other developments in the economy?
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    How does the central bank of your country conduct monetary policy? What are the anchors and the targets? Under what type of regime does the exchange rate of your country operate? You may find out from the web site of the central bank of your country or from the IMF Annual Report on Exchange Arrangements and Exchange Restrictions, a publication that the IMF produces each year and that classifies the exchange rate regime and monetary policy of each member country. 

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Wednesday, 3 June 2020

Indian Economy and Development - Assignment 3

Find the fiscal accounts of your country (summary tables will suffice). The ministry of finance generally reports them. 
  • What is the coverage of these accounts in your country: does the definition of the Public Sector include Public Corporations, or only General Government?
  • On which basis are these recorded? Cash or accrual?
Save these accounts and keep them for the next activity.
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Look again at the fiscal accounts of your country, which you used in the first activity of this module. Also, look at the fiscal accounts presented in the Government Finance Statistics Yearbook 2012, which you may also find in the Key Info of this module, or in Handouts and Resources. 
Compare the fiscal accounts in these two presentations.
·         What are the major differences?
·         Are revenue and expense the same? How about the net acquisition of nonfinancial asset?

·        In case the two presentations are different, are you able to map items in one presentations into items in the other presentation?
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Look at the fiscal accounts that you found about your country, including those presented in the Government Finance Statistics Yearbook 2012. 
·         Compute the major balances (Net Operating Balance, Net Lending/Borrowing, Overall Balance, and Primary Balance) in percent of GDP. How have these evolved over time in the past 6 years? What explains these developments?
  •   How do the balances that you found above compare to those of comparable (peer) countries?
  •   Has fiscal policy changed in 2008-2009 in response to the global financial crisis? In case it did change, has it gone back to pre-crisis levels? For this question you may also want to use the IMF World Economic Outlook Database, which present a series on the structural balance, a concept that is very similar in construction to the cyclically adjusted balance.
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Look at the fiscal accounts that you found about your country, including those presented in the Government Finance Statistics Yearbook 2012. 
·         Compute the major stock indicators in percent of GDP (debt, assets, liabilities, net worth, net financial worth). How have these evolved over time in the past 6 years? What explains these developments?
  •   How do these indicators compare to those of comparable (peer) countries?
  •   In case fiscal policy changed in 2008-2009 in response to the global financial crisis, what was the impact on the stock aggregates? Are these raising concern in your country?
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Monday, 11 May 2020

Introspect: Understanding the Labour Issues in India


//14 Oct 2017
Migrant workers are not leaving Kerala because they fear for their safety. They have been departing because November’s demonetisation decision and the Goods and Services Tax, rolled out in July, have reduced the number of jobs on offer, according to fellow workers and trade union leaders.

Media reports early this week suggested that workers from northern and eastern India had received a series of WhatsApp audio messages in Hindi, urging them to leave Kerala to escape from the “locals who kill Hindi-speaking labourers with the support of the state government”. Pictures of the purported victims of such violence had also been circulated. The rumours gained credence after hundreds of migrant labourers were spotted at railway stations across the state. In reality, they were heading home for Diwali.

Kerala has nearly 25 lakh migrant workers, with 2.35 lakh workers coming every year, according to a 2013 study by the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, an autonomous body that provides fiscal and social policy inputs to the state government. Nearly 20% of the workers came from West Bengal, 18% from Bihar, 17% from Assam and 15% from Uttar Pradesh.//

https://scroll.in/article/853884/loss-of-jobs-not-fear-for-safety-why-migrant-workers-are-leaving-kerala

//29 Mar 2020
Some are finding their own villages in Bihar blocking their entry; a few had to make trees their temporary homes in West Bengal; hundreds left relief camps and hit the roads in Kerala in protest. And thousands of migrant workers are still walking on highways and railway tracks even at the risk of getting quarantined.

State governments also appealed to the migrant workers to stay put and announced special measures for providing food and other facilities to them, while a few arranged special buses to ferry them to their native places.//

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/migrant-labourers-in-time-of-corona-jobless-homeless-and-miles-to-go-to-return-home/articleshow/74875506.cms
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Thursday, 7 May 2020

Industrial Accidents: Are we ill-Equipped?

//07 May 2020
But the company management did not bother to take care of proper maintenance of the plant during the lockdown though it had secured as many as 45 passes for its staff for the purpose.

It had stored about 2000 metric tonnes of styrene but had failed to maintain the temperature under 20 degrees Celsius resulting in the accident. When the temperatures rose, styrene gas leaked and fire broke out. The gas spread quickly taking around ten lives and causing sickness to nearly 200.//

https://telanganatoday.com/what-caused-gas-leak-in-vishakapatnam

//07 May 2020

The NDRF team reached at the spot in time and gas has been neutralised, the CP said. Visakhapatnam District Collector Vinay Chand visited King George Hospital where people affected by gas leak are being treated. The prime minister has already spoken to the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and assured all possible support to the state. At least seven people have been killed, including a child, and about 120 have been admitted to hospital after a styrene gas leak.//

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/videos/city/hyderabad/vizag-gas-leak-ndrf-leads-rescue-operations-styrene-gas-has-been-neutralised-says-cp/videoshow/75593713.cms

//07 May 2020

Indian Navy teams with about 50 breathing sets and associated portable air compressor rushed to help villagers affected by the gas leak near the LG Polymers Industry in Vizag.

The Indian Navy has provided five Portable Multifeed Oxygen Manifolds sets to the King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh to help the medical administration in tendering the villagers affected due to gas leak.

Director-General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) SN Pradhan said, "The incident was reported by locals around 2:30 in the morning, it was because of throat irritation and skin irritation and toxic smell. They informed the local administration. The administration officials and fire tenders reached the location. The NDRF unit of Visakhapatnam was informed at 5 am in the morning; they reached the site in half an hour and started rescue operations."//

https://www.livemint.com/news/india/andhra-pradesh-chemical-plant-gas-leak-live-updates-6-died-200-reportedly-in-hospital-11588826050031.html

//07 May 2020

Styrene can cause harm to humans by ingestion and inhalation. Irritation in throat, can lead to breathing difficulty, wheezing and respirator distress. It affects the brain, leading to headache, nausea, vomiting, unsteadiness, problems in walking, in high exposure can lead to coma and irregular heart beat. Effect on skin is mild, can also affect eyes, says Dr. Randeep Guleria, AIIMS.

There is no specific antidote, no treatment to reserve, it is mostly supportive, says Dr. Guleria.

Clothes are to be removed, exposed eyes can be washed with water, tissue and tower to clean the skin, individuals have to be monitored for breathing difficulty, some will have to be put on ventilators. Many will require oxygen facility. Nebulization can also be given. In serious cases steroids have been given. This is a illness that is not universally fatal. Depending on degree of exposure, effect can be higher, he adds.//

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/many-fall-sick-after-gas-leak-at-lg-polymers-plant-in-visakhapatnam/article31523178.ece

//07 May 2020

The management of a chemical plant near here where a gas leak left 11 people dead and hundreds hospitalised on Thursday was booked on charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder and causing death by negligence police said.

In a related development, the Andhra Pradesh High Court took cognizance of the styrene gas leak and issued notices to the state and the Central governments, while observing how such a plant was allowed to operate in the midst of human habitations.


The Centre on Thursday allowed airlifting of a special chemical from Gujarat to avoid any further damage at the factory in Vishakhapatnam, where the gas leak took place, officials said.

The move came after LG Polymers India Pvt. Ltd requested the central government for airlifting 500 kg of chemical PTBC from Daman airport to Vishakapatnam which would be useful in avoiding any further damage due to the leakage of Styrene gas.//

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/many-fall-sick-after-gas-leak-at-lg-polymers-plant-in-visakhapatnam/article31523178.ece/amp/

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Indian Economy and Development - Assignment 2

Find the balance of payments of your country in the IMF BOP Statistical Yearbook 2012 (use the standard presentation of the BOP, do not use the analytic presentation yet, the difference will be explained later on, in the first video of “The Basics of External Sector Analysis”). Also, find the balance of payments of your country published by either the central bank, or some other statistical agency. Compare the current account across different presentations.

Are they structured in the same way? Are they presented in the same currency?

Do they show the same numbers (after converting to the same currency if needed)? Is the current account balance the same? How about the financial account, or reserve assets? Are errors and omissions the same?

At this stage of the course we have not started yet to discuss how to analyze external sector developments. Becoming familiar with broad BOP developments is a preliminary step towards a fully fledged analysis. The next few questions will help you build such familiarity.

Is balance on goods and services in surplus or deficit? How about the primary and secondary balance?

How much does your country export and import relative to GDP?

How do the balance on goods and services, and the primary and secondary balances contribute to the overall current account balance?

How has this contribution changed over the past 5 years?

You may want to take note of your observations as they will become useful later in the course. Also, please save your sources of data as you will use them for other activities.

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Compare the capital and financial accounts across different presentations of the balance of payments of your country (for example, from the IMF BOP Statistical Yearbook 2012 or from the central bank of your country; possibly using the same sources of data that you used in the previous activity--use the standard presentation of the BOP, do not use the analytic presentation yet, the difference will be explained later on, in the first video of “The Basics of External Sector Analysis”).

· Are they structured in the same way?

· Do they show the same numbers? Are the balances on the capital and the financial accounts the same? Are reserve assets the same? Are net errors and omissions the same?

Let us now keep building familiarity with external sector developments in your country.

· Look at the most recent year. In case the current account was in deficit, how has your country financed such a deficit, by selling assets or by borrowing, or both? In case your country experienced a current account surplus, how has it used such surplus, to acquire assets or reduce liabilities? How has this changed over time, say in the past five years?

· Is your country receiving direct investment flows? That is, how large is direct investment, net incurrence of liabilities? How about portfolio investment, net incurrence of liabilities?

· Has your country accumulated reserves or lost reserves in the most recent year? How about over the past five years?

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Look again at the BOP of your country, preferably an analytic presentation. Find or compute the all the balances (on goods and services, primary and secondary, current, etc.) as a percent of GDP (the IMF Data Mapper likely has most of these data—a video in the Introduction explains how to access and use this tool). As discussed, this provides a better sense of your country external position relative to the size of the economy. Can you describe the external sector developments of your country?

· Has the current account improved or deteriorated in the past 5 years? What balance (within the current account) has contributed most to this development?

· Has the country been a net lender or borrower? Have your country accumulated or lost reserves over time?

Now, turn back to real sector data for your country, specifically saving and investment.

· Can you reconcile the developments in savings and investments to the development in the current account? (you will have to compute saving and investment in percent of GDP)

Finally, find data about the current account balance of countries similar to yours (the IMF Data Mapper will be very useful to this purpose). To find countries similar to yours, you may look at neighboring countries, or countries of a similar income level, or countries the economy of which has a similar structure (for example, if your country is an exporter of oil or other commodities you may want to look at other exporters of oil or commodities; if your country is a small open economy you may want to look at other small open economies).

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Using the IIP and BOP of your country construct the following indicators, if data are available (the IMF Data Mapper likely has most of these data):

· Total external assets and liabilities in percent of GDP

· Total external debt in percent of GDP (possibly, divided by private and public or government debt)

· Reserves in months of imports of goods and services (for the most recent year you may use the imports of goods and services of the same year)

· Reserves in percent of short term debt at remaining maturity

Consider now the evolution of these indicators over time.

· How have these indicators evolved over the past five years?

· Is any of these developments suggesting a build up or attenuation of external risks and vulnerabilities?

Finally, look again at the group of countries that you considered in the previous ACTIVITY.

· How does your country compare to other countries?

· Has your country experienced changes that are different from those experienced by other countries?

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Using the IMF Data Mapper or any other source of data, find the exchange rate of your country vis-à-vis the US dollar (or vis-à-vis some other currency that is relevant for your country) and the real effective exchange rate.

· Has your national currency appreciated or depreciated over time in nominal terms? How about in real terms?

· What explains the real appreciation/depreciation? How high is inflation in your country?

· Is there any link between exchange rate developments and the external sector developments in your country?
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