Current Affair 1:

Women's Reservation Bill 2023

 

Women's Reservation Bill 2023

It was recently passed by the Parliament.

Read History of Bill:

Bills amending the Constitution to reserve seats for women in Parliament and state legislative assemblies have been introduced in 1996, 1998, 1999, and 2008.

The first three Bills lapsed with dissolution of their respective Lok Sabhas.  The 2008 Bill was introduced in and passed by Rajya Sabha but it also lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha. 

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2023 was introduced in Lok Sabha on September 19, 2023.   The Bill seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats in Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies for women.

Key features:

Reservation for women:

The Bill reserves, as nearly as may be, one-third of all seats for women in Lok Sabha, state legislative assemblies, and the Legislative Assembly of the National Capital Territory of Delhi.  This will also apply to the seats reserved for SCs and STs in Lok Sabha and states legislatures. 

Commencement of reservation:

The reservation will be effective after the census conducted after the commencement of this Bill has been published. Based on the census, delimitation will be undertaken to reserve seats for women. The reservation will be provided for a period of 15 years. However, it shall continue till such date as determined by a law made by Parliament.

Rotation of seats:

Seats reserved for women will be rotated after each delimitation, as determined by a law made by Parliament.  This implies rotation approximately every 10 years as after 2026 delimitation is mandated to take place after every census. Rotation of reserved seats may reduce the incentive for MPs to work for their constituencies as they could be ineligible to seek re-election from that constituency.

Purpose of reservation

1. If a group is not represented proportionately in the political system, its ability to influence policy-making is limited.
2. The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women provides that discrimination against women must be eliminated in political and public life. While India is a signatory to the Convention, discrimination in matters of representation of women in decision-making bodies has continued.
3. The number of women MPs has increased from 5% in the first Lok Sabha to 15% in the 17th Lok Sabha; but the number continues to be quite low. 

 

Current Affair 2:

Narayana Guru

 

On his death anniversary, we will see read some important points in respect to Prelims exam.

Current Affair 3:

Pay Commission in India

 

Several states in India have shifted back to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for their employees. There have been concerns that this may prove to be very expensive for governments as they will have to spend a larger proportion of their revenues in just paying pensions. We may be underestimating the full fiscal burden as we may not be considering the impact of future increases in salaries and pensions owing to the next pay commission recommendations.

At retirement, a government employee typically gets a defined benefit pension of about 50 per cent of last wage as per OPS.

There are two ways in which Pay Commissions impact the value of the pension a government employee enjoys.

First, if the pay escalation is such that the employee gets a huge wage hike in the last few years of employment, thus making the initial pension automatically much higher. Second, escalation of the dearness relief as well as changes in the pay structure can significantly increase benefits of retirees.

For example, the dearness relief for Union government employees was increased from 38 per cent to 43 per cent of the basic pension from 1 January 2023. These rates are revised every six months based on All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AICPI-IW).

About Pay Commission:

1. The Pay Commission is a body set up by the Central Government that reviews and recommends changes to the salary structure of employees.
2. The composition of the Pay Commission comes under the Department of Expenditure (Ministry of Finance).
3. Pay commissions are usually constituted every 10 years and the first pay commission was set up in 1946. Since Independence, a total of seven pay commissions have been formed.
4. The latest pay commission was set up in 2014 and its recommendations came into effect in 2016. Currently, central government employees and pensioners get salaries based on the recommendations of the 7th pay commission.
5. It is not mandatory for the government to accept the recommendations of the pay commission. The government may choose to accept or reject the recommendations.

Composition of Last Pay Commission:

 

Current Affair 4:

JP Morgan included in Govt. of India's bond in its 'Global Bond Market Index'

 

The JPMorgan Government Bond Index-Emerging Markets (GBI-EM) indices are comprehensive emerging market debt benchmarks that track local currency bonds issued by Emerging market governments.

India will be included into the JPM GBI-EM Global Diversified Index as of 28 June 2024.

India’s yield is around the average for the index, but amongst the highest in EM Asia:

Presently if Govt. has to raise money (debt) from abroad, then there are two ways:

1. Govt. will borrow from foreign countries (bilateral) or from foreign institutions like World Bank, IMF (multilateral)
2. Foreign Portfolio Investors purchase Govt. of India bonds from the Indian market as these Govt. bonds are listed in Indian markets (G-Secs) or Capital markets.

But as per the news above, If JP Morgan will include Govt. of India's bond in its 'Global Bond Market Index' then Govt. of India will be able to list its bonds abroad and can raise money from abroad market from institutional/retail investors abroad in foreign currency.

The following are its benefits/challenges:

1. As there will be more investors willing to purchase Govt. of India bonds, so interest rate on these bonds will come down i.e., Govt.'s cost of borrowing will come down
2. If India has Current Account Deficit (CAD), then it needs to be financed. So, money raised through Govt. bonds from abroad (capital account in Balance of Payment) will fund CAD.
3. Right now, banks and financial institutions purchase Govt. bonds (and keep under SLR or otherwise). If Govt. will raise money from abroad then Indian banks and financial institutions can lend to private sector (better/more productive allocation of financial resources)
4. Raising money from abroad through Govt. bonds will lead to currency appreciation and may negatively impact our trade competitiveness. And can also lead currency volatility but overall positives are more.

 

<< Previous Next >>