Current Affairs search results for: "world economic report"
By admin: Dec. 9, 2021
1. India amongst the most unequal countries in the world
Tags: International News
As per the 'World Inequality Report 2022' by World Inequality Lab, which aims to promote research on global inequality dynamics., India is among the most unequal countries in the world, with rising poverty and an 'affluent elite'.
Highlights of the report:
- Distribution of Wealth:
- The average national income of the Indian adult population is Rs 2,04,200. Here, the bottom 50% earns Rs 53,610 while the top 10% earns Rs 11,66,520, over 20 times more. In India, the top 10% and top 1% hold 57% and 22% of the total national income respectively while the share of the bottom 50% has gone down to 13%.
- The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are the most unequal regions in the world, whereas Europe has the lowest inequality levels.
- Gender inequality:
- in India is also considerably on the higher end of the spectrum. The share of female labour income share in India is equal to 18% which is significantly lower than the average in Asia (21%, excluding China) & is among the lowest in the world. Although, the number is slightly higher than the average share in the Middle East (15%).
- Women’s share of total incomes from work (labour income) was about 30% in 1990 and is less than 35% now
- Wealthy Countries Poor Governments:
- Countries across the world have become richer over the past 40 years, but their governments have become significantly poorer.
- Impact of COVID crisis:
- The Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis that followed hit all world regions, but it hit them with varying intensity.
- Europe, Latin America, and South and Southeast Asia recorded the largest drops in national income in 2020 (between -6% and -7.6%) while East Asia (where the pandemic began) succeeded in stabilizing its 2020 income at the level of 2019.
World Inequality Lab
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By admin: Dec. 9, 2021
2. Cabinet Nod for Ken-Betwa River Linking Project
Tags: National News
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the funding and implementation of the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project. It is the first out of the 30 projects of the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers.
Highlights-
- Benefit Water Starved Districts of the Bundelkhand region of MP and UP like Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh, and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh,
- The total cost of the project Rs 44,605 crore at the 2020-21 price level. The Centre would fund Rs 39,317 crore for the project, with Rs 36,290 crore as a grant and Rs 3,027 crore as a loan.
- The project involves transferring surplus water from the Ken river to the Betwa river through the construction of the Daudhan dam and a canal linking the two rivers, the Lower Orr Project, Kotha Barrage, and the Bina Complex Multipurpose Project
- The project is slated to irrigate 10.62 lakh hectares annually, provide drinking water supply to 62 lakh people and generate 103 MW of hydropower and 27 MW of solar power.
- The project is proposed to be completed in eight years.
- The project is expected to boost socio-economic prosperity in the backward Bundelkhand region on account of increased agricultural activities and employment generation.
- It would also help in arresting distress migration from this region
- The project will partly submerge the Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and affect the habitat of vultures and jackals, which is the major environmental and wildlife concern hindering the progress of the project for all these years.
- The two states signed a tripartite agreement with the Centre on World Water Day (22nd March) to finally implement this ambitious project.
- After years of protests, it was finally cleared by the apex wildlife regulator, the National Board for Wildlife, in 2016
Ken and Betwa Rivers
Benefits of river interlinking:
National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers:
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By admin: Nov. 25, 2021
3. Cabinet approves Farm Laws Repeal Bill after 1 year of protest by farmers
Tags:
The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal to repeal three contentious farm laws that resulted in tens of thousands of farmers protesting for over a year.
Highlights:
- In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that his government will repeal the three farm bills.
- He also requested farmers who are protesting, to return back to their homes.
- The decision to repeal the farm laws was taken one year after farmers started their protest against it, across the country.
- These laws will be repealed in the Winter Session of Parliament.
What were those three farm laws
- Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020:
- The law aimed at giving freedom to the farmer to sell their produce outside APMC(Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee) mandis.
- The farmer can sell their product to anybody and anywhere in India.
- It removed all barriers on the Inter-state trade barrier and barred the state government from interfering in it.
- Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020:
- The Essential Commodities Act 1955 enabled the state governments to impose stock limits and restrict movement of essential commodities. The 2020 Amendment removes restrictions on stocking of certain essential commodities.
- It provides that the central government can regulate the supply of food stuff only under extraordinary circumstances such as war, famine, exceptional price rise and grave natural calamities.
- It further specifies that stock limit can only be imposed if there is 50 per cent rise in retail price of non-perishable agricultural foodstuff over the price prevailing in the preceding 12 months or average retail price of the last five years, whichever is lower.
- Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020: This law creates a national framework for contract farming through an agreement between a farmer and a buyer before the production or rearing of any farm produces.
Background to the issue
The New Economic Policy of the Narasimha Rao government in 1991 has brought a structural reform in the Indian economy. The New Economic Policy emphasized the increased participation of the private sector in the economy ,integration with the world economy and gradually scaling down of the role of the state in the Indian economy .
Significant changes has been made in the Industrial, financial and external sectors but the agriculture sector and labour sector has remained almost untouched.
To reform the agriculture sector and attract private investment, the Modi government announced major economic reform in the agriculture sector by passing three laws.
It was opposed by the farmer organisation.
They feared that :
- Government will close the existing mandis and they will not get MSP(Minimum Support Price) on their produce if they sell to private buyers.
- It will lead to discontinuation of MSP in future.
- Contract farming will lead to loss of the land by the farmers if they fail to deliver the crops as per the agreement .
- Some state governments opposed it as Agriculture was a state subject and these laws were interference in the power of the state government.
- Middle men who benefit from the mandi system fear that they will lose their business.
Supreme Court Intervention
- Numerous petitions were filed in the Supreme Court seeking the removal of protesting farmers at the Delhi borders.
- The Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, S.A.Bobde ordered the suspension of the farm law on 11 January 2021,and set up a Committee to study the three farm laws.
- The members of the committee were Anil Ghanvat, Ashok Gulati, and Pramod Joshi. Bhupinder Singh Mann, president, Bharatiya Kisan Union, and All India Kisan Coordination Committee was also initially part of the committee but resigned later.
- The committee submitted its report on March 19 ,2021.
