Daily Current Affairs : Date 28/12/2018

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR UPSC CIVIL SERVICES EXAM

Topics Covered

1. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018
2. Re-capitalisation of Banks
3. Karmapa
4. India-Bhutan Relationship
5. Second Delta Report

1 . The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018 – Triple Talaq Bill

Context : The Lok Sabha passed The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2018, after a heated debate.

About the Bill

• The Bill makes all declaration of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void (i.e. not enforceable in law) and illegal. It defines talaq as talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq pronounced by a Muslim man resulting in instant and irrevocable divorce.  Talaq-e-biddat refers to the practice underT Muslim personal laws where pronouncement of the word ‘talaq’ thrice in one sitting by a Muslim man to his wife results in an instant and irrevocable divorce.
   
• Offence and penalty: The Bill makes declaration of talaq a cognizable offence, attracting up to three years’ imprisonment with a fine.  (A cognizable offence is one for which a police officer may arrest an accused person without warrant.)  The offence will be cognizable only if information relating to the offence is given by: (i) the married woman (against whom talaq has been declared), or (ii) any person related to her by blood or marriage. 
   
• The Bill provides that the Magistrate may grant bail to the accused. The bail may be granted only after hearing the woman (against whom talaq has been pronounced), and if the Magistrate is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for granting bail.
   
• The offence may be compounded by the Magistrate upon the request of the woman (against whom talaq has been declared). Compounding refers to the procedure where the two sides agree to stop legal proceedings, and settle the dispute.  The terms and conditions of the compounding of the offence will be determined by the Magistrate.  
   
• Allowance: A Muslim woman against whom talaq has been declared, is entitled to seek subsistence allowance from her husband for herself and for her dependent children.  The amount of the allowance will be determined by the Magistrate.
   
• Custody: A Muslim woman against whom such talaq has been declared, is entitled to seek custody of her minor children. The manner of custody will be determined by the Magistrate.

Criticism

• Main criticism is regarding imprisonment for three years in case of triple talaq. It is alleged the provision is against Muslim Men

Infographics

2 . Re-capitalisation of banks

Context : The government is likely to infuse Rs. 28,615 crore into seven public sector banks (PSBs) through recapitalisation bonds by the end of this month, sources said.

What is Bank recapitalisation

• Bank recapitalisation means recapitalising banks with new capital to improve their balance sheet. The government, using different instruments, infuses capital into banks undergoing credit crunch.
• Capital is the money invested by shareholders in the business. Since the government is the biggest shareholder in public sector banks, the responsibility of infusing capital majorly lies with the government.

Reasons for bank Recapitalisation

• The recapitalisation plan comes into action when banks get caught in a situation where their liabilities are comparatively higher than their assets. The liquidity with banks is a liability as it is the money deposited by customers, which needs to be paid sooner or later. Due to this their balance-sheet weakens and banks find it difficult to raise capital from the open market. The government, which is also the biggest shareholder, can infuse capital in banks by either buying new shares or by issuing bonds.
• Basel III norms – These are common set of global standards to be implemented by banks across countries. In India, lenders have to adhere to these regulations from 2019. After the 2008 financial crisis, need arose to strengthen the banking system further so that they could meet further risks. To meet these dangers, banks were asked to maintain a certain minimum level of capital and not lend all the money they receive from deposits. This acts as a buffer during hard times. The Basel III norms also consider liquidity risks

Must Read Capital Adequacy under Basel III

What are recapitalisation bonds

• A government bond is an instrument to raise money from the market with a promise to pay to repay the face value of the maturity date and a periodic interest. A bond issued for the purpose of recapitalisation is called recapitalisation bonds.

How will recapitalisation bonds work

• The government will issue recapitalisation bonds, which banks will subscribe and enter it as an investment in their books. The banks will lend money to the government for subscribing the bonds. This money raised by the government through these bonds will go back to banks as capital. This will immediately strengthen the balance-sheet of the banks and show capital-adequacy. Since the government is always solvent, the money lent to the government for subscribing recap bonds is free from becoming a bad loan.

Fiscal Deficit and Recapitalisation Bonds

• Since the government is not infusing money from the state coffers, it does not have an immediate impact on the fiscal deficit.
• However, it also depends on how it is being accounted in the books of the government. According to Arvind Subramanian, under IMF accounting, it does not add to the fiscal deficit, but under India’s accounting, it does as sooner or later, the government would be liable to pay the interest and face value of the bonds.
• However, since it is a long-term debt, it provides time to banks to improve their balance-sheets by increasing their credit and private investment. The government, then, can retire the debt from the proceeds by selling the bank equities purchased earlier, once banks’ situation gets better.

3 . Karmapa

Context : India was not informed by Ogyen Trinley Dorje before he took the passport of another country (the Commonwealth of Dominica), government sources said on Thursday, indicating a rift with the Lama who claims to be the Karmapa, who had travelled to the United States last year and has not returned despite saying on several occasions that he would do so

Background

• The Karmapa lineage is the most ancient tulku lineage in Tibetan Buddhism, predating the Dalai Lama lineage by more than two centuries. The lineage is an important one as the Karmapa is traditionally the head of the Karma Kagyu school.
• Rumtek Monestry in Sikkim is the Seat of Karmapa.
• The recognition of the Seventeenth Karmapa, the head of the Karma Kagyu sect of Tibetan Buddhism, has been the subject of controversy.
• Since the death of the sixteenth Karmapa, Rangjung Rigpe Dorje, in 1981, two candidates have been put forward: Ogyen Trinley Dorje and Trinley Thaye Dorje 
• Both have already been enthroned as 17th Karmapa, and both independently have been performing ceremonial duties in the role of a Karmapa.
• As one academic expert in the field testified in court, while the recognition of Ogyen Trinley “appears to have been accepted by a majority of Karma Kagyu monasteries and lamas, there remains a substantial minority of monasteries and lamas who have not accepted Ogyen Trinley as Karmapa.
• In particular, these include the Shamar Rinpoche, who historically has been the person most directly involved in the process of recognition.” It is difficult to produce an objective description of the events because the most important developments are known only from conflicting accounts by those involved.
• The Karmapa lineage is the most ancient tulku lineage in Tibetan Buddhism, predating the Dalai Lama lineage by more than two centuries. The lineage is an important one as the Karmapa is traditionally the head of the Karma Kagyu school.
• In October 2018, after many years of discussion, both Karmapa claimants finally met in a rural location in France and issued a joint statement, urging their followers to join in efforts to help preserve the Karma Kagyu tradition

India’s Stand

• India maintains a neutral position on the issue
• The Dalai Lama as well as the Chinese government had, in 1992, recognised Ogyen Trinley Dorje as the rightful heir to the position, but India has not accepted that.

Recent Issue

• Ogyen Trinley Dorje, the Buddhist monk left India in May 2017 on a three-month visa to Europe. While continuing his stay abroad, he obtained citizenship in Dominica through investment in Jungle Bay.
• Now Karmapa wants to return to India but India’s only condition is that he cannot return on the Residential Certificate (RC) issued by India to Tibetan refugees, but by applying for visa at the Indian consulate or mission since he has acquired citizenship of another country

4 . India -Bhutan Relationship

Context : New Bhutan PM Dr Tshering is on his first visit to India

Background of India-Bhutan Relationship

• India and Bhutan share uniquely warm and special relations founded on mutual trust and understanding. The India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty signed and ratified by the two countries in 2007 forms the basic framework of our relations.
• It not only reflects the contemporary nature of our bilateral relations but also lays foundation for their development in the 21st century.
• India and Bhutan share a common perception of their strategic interests and cooperate closely on security issues and border management.
• Development of hydropower in Bhutan has been the centre-piece of the bilateral cooperation.
• India is Bhutan’s largest trade and development partner, and source of supplies of most of the essential commodities imported by Bhutan. As Bhutan prepares its people for the information technology age, it is reaching out beyond its traditional sectors of agriculture and hydropower to expansion in tourism, IT, and education, and it offers considerable potential for mutually beneficial economic and business partnership.
• Government of India also provides monetary assistance to Five year Plan’s of Bhutan

About the Visit

• Dr. Tshering led his party Druk Nyamrup Tshogpa to victory in the October 18 election The victorious party had presented an agenda of development during the poll that is the agenda of the government in Thimphu.
• The visit by Prime Minister of Bhutan is primarily to discuss on how India can contribute to the 12th five year plan of Bhutan and also to discuss about hydroelectricity projects.

5 . Second Delta Report

Context : Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar showed the most improvement, between June and October, among the country’s 111 most underdeveloped districts, while Jharkhand’s Pakur reflected the least improvement, according to a survey by the Niti Aayog.

About Second Delta Report

• NITI Aayog released the second ‘delta’ ranking of districts that measures the incremental progress made by them across areas such as health and nutrition, education, agriculture and water resources, financial inclusion, skill development, and basic infrastructure.

Result

• Tamil Nadu’s Virudhunagar showed the most improvement, between June and October, among the country’s 111 most underdeveloped districts, while Jharkhand’s Pakur reflected the least improvement
• Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara topped the list for ‘fast movers’ for showing initiative and displaying a qualitative jump in scores between June and October 2018. In the first delta ranking, Kupwara had topped the list for ‘least improved aspirational districts’.