DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

14^th December 2021

No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	About the Krishna River Water Dispute	Prelims & Mains
2.	Details of the Excise Duty	Prelims & Mains
3.	What is Inflation	Prelims & Mains
4.	About the Supersonic Missile Assisted Torpedo System	Prelims & Mains
5.	Details of the Vegetable Oil Imports in India	Prelims & Mains

 

1 – ABOUT THE KRISHNA RIVER WATER DISPUTE:

GS II

Topic – Centre & States/Federalism

• Context:
• Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have complained to the Supreme Court that Karnataka has not provided any information on how much Krishna river water it has diverted in the last 14 years.
• Karnataka, on the other hand, contended that a lot of water is wasted — “streaming down into the ocean” — and that it is necessary to use it for cultivation and to replenish parched areas.
• Karnataka’s demands:
• Karnataka has asked the Supreme Court to vacate an order from November 16, 2011 that prevented the Centre from publishing in the Official Gazette the final order of the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal II (KWDT) issued in December 2010, allocating river water to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
• On November 29, 2013, the KWDT modified its final order and report to distribute surplus water to Karnataka, Maharashtra, and the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh while preserving the 2130 TMC originally allocated to them.
• What exactly is the problem now:
• The publishing of the Tribunal’s order is a necessary requirement for its implementation. Following Andhra Pradesh’s bifurcation, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court disputing the KWDT’s share allotment.
• What should be done right now:
• Karnataka has argued that the Supreme Court’s 2011 order not to publish the KWDT decisions in the Official Gazette under Section 6(1) of the Inter-State Water Disputes Act of 1956 has caused its dam and irrigation projects worth thousands of crores to be stalled for years, preventing it from providing water to its parched northern areas.
• Karnataka has stated that the conflict between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana is between the two states and does not affect it.
• Karnataka has the following challenges:
• The KWDT’s ruling was only valid until 2050, after which it had to be revisited or altered. Since 2010, ten years have passed in the courtroom. Several irrigation projects in Karnataka took at least ten years to complete, with a total cost of 60,000 crore in 2014-15.
• The costs would rise by 10% to 15% per year. Even if the irrigation projects are completed in ten years, getting approval from the Central Water Commission will take time.
• What exactly is the point of contention:
• The conflict originated with the former republics of Hyderabad and Mysore, and has now spread to successor states Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh.
• Under the Inter-State River Water Dispute Act, 1956, the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT) was established in 1969 and published its report in 1973.
• The research, which was published in 1976, divided the 2060 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of Krishna water into three segments based on 75% dependability:
• Maharashtra will receive 560 TMC.
• Karnataka will receive 700 TMC.
• Andhra Pradesh will receive 800 TMC.
• Order has been changed:
• The second KWDT was established in 2004 when fresh complaints between the states surfaced.
• It issued a report in 2010 that made the following allocations of Krishna water with a 65 percent reliability and for surplus flows:
• Maharashtra has 81 TMC, Karnataka has 177 TMC, while Andhra Pradesh has 190 TMC.
• Andhra Pradesh is requesting that Telangana be included as a distinct party at the KWDT and that the allocation of Krishna waters be split among four states instead of three, following the formation of Telangana as a separate state in 2014.

• Source – The Hindu – 14/12/21 – Page Number 5

2 – DETAILS OF THE EXCISE DUTY:

GS III

Topic – Indian Economy

• What is Excise Duty, and how does it work:
• Excise duty is a type of tax levied on goods for their manufacture, distribution, and sale.
• It is the polar opposite of Customs duty in that it applies to things manufactured in the country, whereas Customs is imposed on goods arriving from outside the country.
• Previously, excise tax was levied at the federal level as Central Excise Duty, Additional Excise Duty, and so forth.
• Excise duty was imposed on manufactured items at the time of removal, whereas GST was imposed on the supply of goods and services.
• Excise duty’s jurisdiction:
• The GST, which went into effect in July 2017, absorbed a variety of excise taxes.
• Excise duty is currently exclusively applied on gasoline and alcoholic beverages.
• As a result of a constitutionally mandated exclusion, alcohol is not subject to GST.
• States continue to tax alcohol in the same way they did prior to the implementation of the GST.
• Excise duty was replaced by central GST with the introduction of GST because excise was levied by the central government. The CGST money is directed to the federal government.
• In India, there are several different types of excise duties.
• There were three types of excise charges in India before to the implementation of GST.
• Basic Excise Duty:
• The Central Value Added Tax is another name for basic excise charge (CENVAT). This excise duty was imposed on items that fell under the first schedule of the Central Excise Tariff Act of 1985.
• The Central Excise Act of 1944, Section 3 (1) (a), imposed this charge. Except for salt, this charge was imposed on all items.
• Excise Duty Surcharge:
• The Additional Excise under Additional Duties of Excise (Commodities of Special Importance) Act, 1957, imposed an additional excise levy on high-value goods.
• This duty was imposed on a certain type of product.
• Special Excise Duty:
• Special items listed under the Second Schedule of the Central Excise Tariff Act of 1985 were subject to this sort of excise charge.
• On car fuels, the central excise duty is currently divided into three categories: Basic Excise Duty, Special Additional Excise Duty, and Additional Excise Duty (Road and Infrastructure Cess).
• Source – The Hindu – 14/12/21 – Page Number 2

3 – WHAT IS INFLATION:

GS III

Topic – Indian Economy

• What is Inflation:
• Inflation is defined as an increase in the price of most everyday or common goods and services, such as food, clothing, housing, recreation, transportation, consumer staples, and so on. Inflation is defined as the average change in the price of a basket of goods and services over time. Deflation is the opposite and uncommon reduction in the price index of this bundle of items. Inflation is defined as a drop in the purchasing power of a country’s currency unit. This is expressed as a percentage.
• Various forms of Inflation:
• Demand Pull Inflation: When aggregate demand in the economy exceeds aggregate supply, demand pull inflation occurs.
• Cost-push inflation occurs when the aggregate supply of goods and services decreases, resulting in an increase in the cost of production.
• Inflation’s Impact on the Indian Economy:
• As commodities and services become more expensive, a currency unit’s purchasing power declines.
• This has an effect on a country’s cost of living. When inflation is strong, the cost of living rises along with it, resulting in a slowdown in economic growth.
• In order for spending to be encouraged and saving to be discouraged, a certain degree of inflation is essential in the economy.
• India’s Inflation Targeting:
• Inflation is tracked by a central government agency that is in charge of implementing policies to keep the economy running smoothly. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in India keeps track on inflation.
• With its tools to restrict money supply in the market, the RBI’s Monitory Policy Committee controls inflation.
• The Central Government has set a target of 4% Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation from August 5, 2016, to March 31, 2021, with a 6% upper tolerance limit and a 2% lower tolerance limit.
• Inflationary trends in the economy at the moment:
• For the first time since 2010, wholesale pricing index (WPI)-linked inflation reached double digits in April 2021, at 10.5 percent year on year (up from 7.4 percent in March).
• Inflation in the consumer price index (CPI) fell to 4.3 percent in April from 5.5 percent in March, owing to a high base from the previous year (it had spiked to 7.2 per cent in April 2020).
• The trend of inflation should be examined in the ECONOMIC SURVEY of the relevant year, where a dedicated chapter provides a comprehensive picture.
• Source – The Hindu – 14/12/21 – Page Number 1

4 – ABOUT THE SUPERSONIC MISSILE ASSISTED TORPEDO SYSTEM:

Prelims Specific Topic

• SMART is a lightweight anti-submarine torpedo system with missile assisted release for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) activities far beyond torpedo range.
• When launched from a warship or a truck-based coastal battery, SMART operates similarly to a regular supersonic missile.
• With a two-way data link from the warship or an airborne submarine target detection system, it covers the majority of its flight in the air at lower altitudes and delivers the exact location of the hostile submarine to correct its flight path midway.
• The missile will eject the torpedo system into the water when it approaches the submerged submarine, and the autonomous torpedo will begin travelling towards its target to destroy the submarine.
• Torpedoes are self-propelled underwater weapons that can be launched from a submarine, a surface vessel, or an aeroplane and are designed to explode when they come into contact with the hulls of surface boats and submarines.
• Varunastra is the first indigenously built heavyweight ship to fire an anti-submarine torpedo.
• Importance:
• Enhances the country’s strategic marine capabilities.
• A huge development in anti-submarine warfare stand-off capability.
• Project 28, a class of anti-submarine warfare corvettes now in service with the Indian Navy, was approved in 2003. INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan, and INS Kavaratti are among them.
• The Indian Navy’s Project 75 involves the construction of six Scorpene-class assault submarines (Kalvari, Khanderi, Karanj, Vela, Vagir and Vagsheer).
• Source – The Hindu – 14/12/21 – Page Number 12

5 – DETAILS OF THE VEGETABLE OIL IMPORTS IN INDIA

Prelims Specific Topic

• What exactly is the problem:
• In both volume and value terms, Indian vegetable oil imports have increased dramatically.
• To protect domestic manufacturers, the Union government must take appropriate actions.
• In this aspect, how reliant is India on imports:
• India imports about 14 million tonnes of vegetable oil.
• This is worth around $11 billion (around Rs. 70,000 crore).
• Imports of vegetable oil are only second to crude and gold in terms of value.
• It is the highest price for any food item.
• India’s reliance on imports has increased to more than 70%.
• What are the issues at hand:
• Farmers – India’s oilseed growers are suffering as a result of rising imports.
• The planted acreage has remained constant, while yields have remained abysmally low.
• This is due to the fact that growers have no financial incentive to enhance their agronomic practises.
• The marketability of the crop grown is also low due to the lack of a price support mechanism.
• Market – Over the previous 25 years, liberal policies such as zero or low duty rates and free market activities have contributed to unrestricted imports.
• This has operated against the protection of domestic growers’ interests.
• Speculation accounts for about 10-15% of current import volume.
• It frequently denotes the transportation of stock from Indonesia and Malaysia to India.
• In India, huge stocks of up to 2 million tonnes have frequently piled up, hurting the domestic market.

• Source – The Hindu – 14/12/21 – Page Number 12