. No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	About the Estimates Committee	Prelims & Mains
2.	Details of the Wholesale Price Index	Prelims & Mains
3.	About the Super Vasuki	Prelims Specific Topic
4.	Details of the LCA Tejas	Prelims Specific Topic

 

1 – About the Estimates Committee:GS II

Topic à Parliament related issues

 

·       Historical Context:

·       This committee originated from the standing financial committee, which was created in the years leading up to the declaration of independence in 1921.

·       As stated in the statement given by the then-finance minister John Mathai when he unveiled the 1950–51 budget, the first estimate committee in the post–independence era was constituted in 1950 on his advice.

 

·       Members of the Estimates Committee:

·       The Estimate Committee had 25 members at first; by 1956, that number had increased to 30.

·       The 30 members are all Loksabha members.

·       This committee is devoid of Rajya Sabha representatives.

·       According to the proportional representation theory, each year representatives are chosen from among the Loksabha members using a single transferable vote. As a result, each party is adequately represented on the committee.

·       Ministers are not permitted to serve on the estimates committee.

·       The chairman of the Estimates committee is chosen by the Loksabha’s Speaker from among its members.

·       Always a member of the ruling party, the chosen chairman.

 

·       Responsibilities of the estimate committee:

·       The Estimate Committee’s responsibility is to examine the projected expenditures in the budget and make financial recommendations regarding public spending. It is also known as the Committee for Continuous Economy as a result.

 

·       The duties specific to the Estimates Committee are as follows:

·       The kind of economies that are reported may change in response to progressive organisational, operational, and administrative improvements that are consistent with the estimations’ underlying policy.

·       to develop alternative policy suggestions that will increase the efficiency and economy of the administration.

·       to assess whether the funds are distributed appropriately within the constraints of the policy that the estimations propose.

·       to offer suggestions regarding how to deliver the estimates to Parliament.

·       The Committee on Public Undertakings does not have jurisdiction over a Government undertaking that has been referred to it. The committee may also review the estimates during the fiscal year on an as-needed basis and submit its findings to the house.

·       The committee periodically selects estimates for a ministry or department of the federal government as well as for other statutory and non-governmental organisations that it deems suitable.

·       In addition, while it works or when expressly raised by the speaker or the house, the committee looks into subjects of particular concern.

·       For use by committee members, the committee requests background information on the issues being discussed from relevant organisations as well as opinions from non-officials who are familiar with the problems.

 

·       Effectiveness Obstacles for Estimates Committees:

·       The estimates committee does not review the budget until it has been passed by the parliament. As a result, the Estimate committee becomes useless.

·       It does not have the power to challenge the policy.

·       Post-mortem is the focus of its work.

·       Its recommendations are only meant to be guidance.

·       It would take years to cover all of the ministries as it only examines a few selected departments and ministries each year.

·       The CAG does not offer enough specialised assistance.

 

·       Techniques for solving the challenges:

·       Examining the government’s expected spending before the election would help to somewhat cut costs.

·       The estimates committee should have the ability to confront the government as it carefully evaluates the budgeted spending. It would contribute to making the budget more transparent overall.

·       As the committee evaluates whether the funds are effectively allocated, its recommendations ought to be legally binding.

·       Subcommittees of the Estimate committee might be established to address all the ministries and departments at once.

·       A different cadre of qualified staff should be added to help the estimates committee thoroughly evaluate the budget. The information and expertise of the CAG should also be made available to the committee.

 

·       Conclusion:

·       The estimates committee should be given more current responsibilities rather than post-mortem work because it is one of the most important financial panels. By closely analysing the government expenditures that have been proposed in the budget, the estimates committee may keep a better check on the public coffers and make the government more accountable and open with regard to the people’s money.

 

Source à The Indian Express

 

 

 

2 – Details of the Wholesale Price Index:GS III

Topic à Economy related issues

 

·       About:

·       The wholesale price index is an index that tracks and evaluates price changes for goods in the phases before retail.

·       The WPI is sometimes used as a measure of inflation.

·       Three sections make up the WPI:

·       items produced in factories: 64.2%

·       22.6% of the things are simple.

·       Fuel and energy: 13.1%

·       Instead of the earlier 2004-05, the foundation year for the WPI will be 2011-2012.

·       The WPI’s new series now contains 697 items as opposed to the prior 676.

 

·       Which issues does WPI face?

·       The Urjit Patel Committee’s recommendations led to changes to the RBI Act, which now employs flexible inflation targeting (FIT) with CPI inflation serving as the nominal anchor.

·       Since the RBI is now mandated to achieve price stability as measured by CPI inflation, the use of WPI inflation has been completely discontinued under the FIT.

·       All current inflation forecasts are based on the CPI.

·       The main purpose of WPI today is to convert GDP/GVA at current prices to the same at constant prices.

·       The WPI inflation really closely resembles the GDP deflator, which is calculated as the ratio of GDP at current prices to GDP at constant prices multiplied by 100. This metric is occasionally thought to be the true barometer of inflation.

·       Both the sharp dip in the GDP deflator and the dramatic drop in WPI inflation happened at the same period. The actual GDP growth in India is significantly impacted by this.

·       Additional input/output price indices are also required to reduce the GDP of the services sector, for which the WPI is currently insufficient.

·       One of the interesting features of the new WPI series is the use of geometric mean for item level averaging. This complies with best practises around the world.

·       The geometric mean alone has significantly decreased WPI inflation, together with additional factors such as changes in the composition of the basket.

·       Real GDP has significantly increased in recent years as a result of the WPI’s moderation in comparison to the updated base.

·       Excise tax has been excluded from the WPI calculation in recent years, which has contributed to a limited extent to an increase in real GDP.

 

·       What options are there?

·       A more precise way to calculate GDP is to doubly deflate input and output prices using separate indices.

·       When output prices vary comparably more fast than input prices, and vice versa, the single deflation technique overestimates GDP/GVA.

·       It is past time to stop using WPI as a deflator in a single deflation approach to measuring GDP/GVA in order to ensure accuracy.

Source à The Hindu

 

3 – About the Super Vasuki:

Prelims Specific Topic

·       The South-East Central Railways (SECR) zone in Chhattisgarh surpasses its own previous record by operating the longest freight train ever, which consists of five rakes of cargo trains united into one unit measuring approximately 3.5 kilometres.

·       Its name was “Vasuki,” and it travelled the 224 kilometres between the railway stations of Bhilai and Korba in just under seven hours.

·       300 long-distance waggons from five different freight trains made up the “Vasuki,” which was operated by a pilot, an assistant loco pilot, and a guard.

·       There have also recently been two freight trains operating in the South East Central Railway (SECR) zone.

·       These freight trains garnered attention because of their length.

·       The two freight trains had the designations Sesh Naag and Super Anaconda. Super Anaconda was a fully loaded combination freight train with three rakes.

·       The 2.8 km long “Sesh Naag” train was made up of four empty BOXN rakes.

 

Source à The Indian Express

 

4 – Details of the LCA Tejas:

Prelims Specific Topic

 

·       About:

·       In 1984, the Indian government established the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) to manage the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme.

·       It replaced the antiquated Mig 21 fighter aircraft.

·       Aeronautical Development Agency of the Department of Defence Research and Development

 

·       It was constructed by:

·       State-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

 

·       Features:

·       the smallest, lightest, and tailless multi-role fighter aircraft in its class.

·       to carry a variety of precision-guided, air-to-air, and air-to-surface weapons.

·       the ability to refuel other aircraft in the air.

·       The maximum payload capacity is 4000 kg.

·       It can go as fast as Mach 1.8 at its top speed.

·       The plane’s range is 3,000 kilometres.

 

Source à The Hindu