The Hindu Editorial : The Manufacturing Muddle

Title: The Manufacturing Muddle 

(Without closing the loop of consumer demand and supply, neither GDP growth nor job growth will quicken.) 

Inverted duty structure is a situation where import duty on finished goods is low compared to the import duty on raw materials that are used in the production of such finished goods. For example, suppose the tariff (import tax) on the import of tyres is 10% and the tariff on the imports of natural rubber which is used in the production of tyres is 20%; this is a case of inverted duty structure. 

• The Union Budget has reinforced the correction of the inverted duty structure (IDS) which has adversely impacted manufacturing for decades. 

• Chinese/other imports have swamped India’s small- and medium-sized enterprises and large manufacturing companies, raising the import-intensity of manufacturing as well as dampening job growth by raising capital intensity. So it is no surprise that the share of manufacturing in GDP and employment has not risen since 1991.
Advantage China 

• China had labour-intensive manufacturing exports. But India’s policy structure failed to utilise its labour advantage to grow labour-intensive manufacturing exports. 

• China reduced the absolute numbers and percentage of the poor in the population by absorbing surplus labour in manufacturing, India’s poverty reduction was much slower.
• China’s agricultural and rural income growth was much higher. 

It also generated industrial jobs much faster. While India grew construction jobs very fast since 2000, all the way to 2011-12, manufacturing output and employment growth left much to be desired. 

• Between 2011-12 and 2015-16, the growth of manufacturing jobs not only first slowed after 2011-12 but also became negative, due to raised customs duties, thanks to the Budget. 

• In the early 2000s, free trade agreements with much of East/South-east Asia reduced tariffs, flooding Indian markets with Chinese and other country products – consumer (durable and non-durable) and capital goods.

Looking ahead 

• The GST, especially its inter-State component, has resulted in a neutralisation of the IDS, which had come to prevail. 

• The resolution of the twin balance sheet problems (of companies being over-leveraged and banks unable to lend due to mounting non-performing assets), together with the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, should now open the floodgates for new manufacturing investment. 

• Without closing the loop of consumer demand and supply, neither GDP growth nor job growth will quicken. 

• Title: A roster of questions
• (Collective decision-making must inform the
• allocation of cases in the Supreme Court) 

CONTEXT 

• The four senior-most judges — Justice J Chelameswar, Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justice MB Lokur and Justice Kurian Joseph — in their 12 January press conference had questioned the allocation of sensitive PILs (public interest litigation) and important cases to judges junior in seniority and sought transparency. 

• Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra put in place a new roster system for allocation of cases in the Supreme Court. 

In consultation? 

• Was this roster prepared in consultation with senior judges of the Supreme Court? 

• Have the cases been allocated according to a particular judge’s expertise in a subject matter? 

• Has the allocation been done in keeping with principles and procedures that have been accepted globally as necessary for transparency, fairness and accountability? 

• A just and fair roster must be one that is divided subject-wise among judges according to their experience and expertise in those subjects. 

• The allocation of individual cases must be by random computer allocation not by the individual decision of any human. 

 Vocabulary words: 

• Muddle (noun) = Disorganised state of collection (गड़बड़ी)

• Reinforce (verb) = Strengthen, support (प्रबलित करना)

• Concessional (adj) = Constituting a concession (रिआयती)

• Swamp (verb) = Flood, overwhelm (सैलाब करना)

• Cede (verb) = To give up power or territory (सौंपना)

• Erode (verb) = Gradually destroy or to be destroyed (खत्म होना)

• Intensive (adj) = Very thorough or vigorous (गहन)

• Surplus (noun) = Overabundance (अतिरिक्त)

• Steel a march on (idiom) = Gain an advantage over

• Fillip (noun) = Stimulation, encouragement (प्रोत्साहन)

• Onslaught (noun) = A fierce or destructive attack (हमला)

• Decimate (noun) = Kill, destroy or remove (नाश करना)

• Fortuitous (adj) = Happening by chance rather than intention (आकस्मिक)

• Cohort (noun) = A unit, force (समूह)

• Retrogressive (adj) = Passing from higher to a lower level of organisation (पतनशील)

• Precipitously (adv) = Hastily, without careful consideration

• Sheer (adj) = Absolute, perfect (परिपूर्ण)

• Prevail (verb) = Prove more powerful or superior (प्रबल)

STATE: NAGALAND 

(1) Who is the Chief Minister of Nagaland? - T. R. Zeliang 

(2) Who is the Governor of Nagaland? – Padmanabha Balakrishna Acharya 

(3) When did Nagaland become a state? - 1963 

(4) Name the capital of Nagaland. – Kohima 

(5) What is the State Bird of Nagaland? - Blyth’s tragopan 

(6) What is the State Flower of Nagaland? - Rhododendron

(7) Important Rivers in Nagaland? – Doyang, Diphu, Barak 

(8) Highest Peak in Nagaland. - Mount Saramati 

(9) It is known as ‘Falcon Capital of the World’. 

(10) Nagaland is also famous for ‘Hornbill Festival’. 

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