Daily Analysis of 'The Hindu' - 13th May, 2020 | Additional Study Material for UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


Perilous state
Indelicate imbalance
Italy, India and a common thread in partnership
Getting cash transfers out of a JAM
COVID-19 and the path ahead
Riding roughshod over State governments
Page 2


Perilous state
Indelicate imbalance
Italy, India and a common thread in partnership
Getting cash transfers out of a JAM
COVID-19 and the path ahead
Riding roughshod over State governments
The 26th session of the Conference of the 
Parties (COP26) in 2021 will be co-hosted by 
which 2 nations?
A. UK and Italy
B. UK and Germany
C. Italy and Germany
D. France and Italy
Page 3


Perilous state
Indelicate imbalance
Italy, India and a common thread in partnership
Getting cash transfers out of a JAM
COVID-19 and the path ahead
Riding roughshod over State governments
The 26th session of the Conference of the 
Parties (COP26) in 2021 will be co-hosted by 
which 2 nations?
A. UK and Italy
B. UK and Germany
C. Italy and Germany
D. France and Italy
Perilous state
?State finances are in a shambles.
?Their own revenue sources — mainly from liquor
sales, stamp duty from property transactions and
sales tax on petroleum products — that account for
half their total revenues, have collapsed.
?And their expenditure such as on interest payments,
social sector schemes and staff salaries remains
unchanged.
?Worse, they are now called upon to spend more on
beefing up their health infrastructure and on COVID-19
measures, including testing, treatment and
quarantining.
Page 4


Perilous state
Indelicate imbalance
Italy, India and a common thread in partnership
Getting cash transfers out of a JAM
COVID-19 and the path ahead
Riding roughshod over State governments
The 26th session of the Conference of the 
Parties (COP26) in 2021 will be co-hosted by 
which 2 nations?
A. UK and Italy
B. UK and Germany
C. Italy and Germany
D. France and Italy
Perilous state
?State finances are in a shambles.
?Their own revenue sources — mainly from liquor
sales, stamp duty from property transactions and
sales tax on petroleum products — that account for
half their total revenues, have collapsed.
?And their expenditure such as on interest payments,
social sector schemes and staff salaries remains
unchanged.
?Worse, they are now called upon to spend more on
beefing up their health infrastructure and on COVID-19
measures, including testing, treatment and
quarantining.
?States are now pleading for funding support from
the Centre and relaxation in borrowing rules by
the RBI.
?The Centre is itself not in a happy place
financially.
?It recently announced an increase in its borrowing by
half for this fiscal.
?it appropriated almost all of the benefit of falling oil
prices through increase in duties — ?13 a litre on petrol
and ?16 a litre on diesel — in two tranches in March and
again, last week.
?It should seriously consider relaxing the fiscal
deficit levels of the States from the current 3%
level to at least 4.5%, just as it should relax its
own level too.
Page 5


Perilous state
Indelicate imbalance
Italy, India and a common thread in partnership
Getting cash transfers out of a JAM
COVID-19 and the path ahead
Riding roughshod over State governments
The 26th session of the Conference of the 
Parties (COP26) in 2021 will be co-hosted by 
which 2 nations?
A. UK and Italy
B. UK and Germany
C. Italy and Germany
D. France and Italy
Perilous state
?State finances are in a shambles.
?Their own revenue sources — mainly from liquor
sales, stamp duty from property transactions and
sales tax on petroleum products — that account for
half their total revenues, have collapsed.
?And their expenditure such as on interest payments,
social sector schemes and staff salaries remains
unchanged.
?Worse, they are now called upon to spend more on
beefing up their health infrastructure and on COVID-19
measures, including testing, treatment and
quarantining.
?States are now pleading for funding support from
the Centre and relaxation in borrowing rules by
the RBI.
?The Centre is itself not in a happy place
financially.
?It recently announced an increase in its borrowing by
half for this fiscal.
?it appropriated almost all of the benefit of falling oil
prices through increase in duties — ?13 a litre on petrol
and ?16 a litre on diesel — in two tranches in March and
again, last week.
?It should seriously consider relaxing the fiscal
deficit levels of the States from the current 3%
level to at least 4.5%, just as it should relax its
own level too.
?The States should at least be able to borrow
more.
?The Centre should also give States the freedom to
restart economic activity based on their own
assessment.
?Not all States are in the same virus-spread position
and within each State, not all districts are the
same