SCORE

'PRELIMS 2017'
Current Affairs

Com mittees &

Reports
For Civil Services Examination

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COMMITTEES/COMMISSIONS/PANELS
Committee/Commission/Panel
Madhukar Gupta Committee
Inter-disciplinary Standing
Committee on Cyber Security
Defence Procurement
Organisation (DPO)
Seven member committee
Amitabh Kant committee
Amitabh Kant committee
to review e-commerce rules
Committee on Digital Payments
Deepak Mohanty Committee
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Chandrababu Naidu Committee
Sub-committee of Chief
Ministers over Demonetization
High Level Committee (HLC)
Insolvency and Bankruptcy
High-level task force on
Indus Water Treaty
Special Committee for
Inter-Linking of Rivers
Parliamentary panel
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IN NEWS
Chairperson Area of Work
Madhukar Gupta Strengthening border protection and addressing
the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border
fencing along India-Pakistan Border
RBI Executive Director To review the threats emerging from the use
Meena Hemchandra. of technology, study adoption of new
technology standards and suggest appropriate
policy interventions to strengthen cyber
security and resilience.
Dr. Pritam Singh To integrate and streamline the long and
complex process of defence acquisitions
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T.V.S.N. Prasad To find alternative to the Pellet guns
OR
Amitabh Kant, NITI To develop a digital payments option for the
Aayog CEO payment of all government-citizen transactions
to flush out black money and corruption from
the country.
Amitabh Kant, NITI Look at easing the policy regime for
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Aayog CEO e-commerce players, including the rules for
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
Ratan P. Watal To review existing payment systems in the
country and recommend appropriate measures
for encouraging Digital Payments.
Deepak Mohanty To working out a 5 year measurable action plan
for financial inclusion.
Chandrababu Naidu To promote cashless society and digital
economy
Chandrababu Naidu Suggest measures to normalise the situation
arise due to demonetization.
Justice B N Srikrishna To review institutionalisation of arbitration
mechanism in India.
Madhusudan Sahoo To regulate the functioning of Board of India
insolvency professionals, insolvency
professional agencies and information utilities
under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
2016.
Principal Secretary To take all important strategic and policy
Nripendra Mishra decisions on Indus Water Treaty
Committee will be responsible for the
monitoring of the precious Inter-linking of
River Projects to be carried out under National
Perspective Plan 1980 of Government of India.
Veerappa Moily To review the disinvestment policy, banking
sector, To review the all budgetary reforms
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Inter-Departmental Task Force
Empowered Committee of
State Finance Ministers on
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
National Committee on
Trade Facilitation (NCTF)
Fiscal Responsibility and
Budget Management
(FRBM) Committee
Amitabh Chaudhry committee
Mata Prasad committee
AyyapanCommitttee
AkhileshRanjan committee
Vijay Kelkar Committee on PPP
Bibek Debroy Committee
Companies Law Committee
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R V Easwar Committee
Shah committee
Shanta Kumar Committee
Mihir Shah Committee
Shyam Benegal committee
One-man judicial committee
Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Science and
Technology
Kang committtee
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Revenue Secretary To monitor & review the functioning of shell
Hasmukh Adhia and companies to prevent their misuse for money
the Corporate Affairs laundering and tax-evasion
Secretary Tapan Rayto
Amit Mitra To frame rules for rolling out of the ambitious
GST regime in the country
P.K. Sinha To facilitate domestic co-ordination and
implementation of TFA provisions.
N.K. Singh Review the working of the FRBM Act over last
12 years to suggest the way forward
Amitabh Chaudhry To analysis the existing framework of IRDA-
linked and non-linked insuranceproduct
regulations
Mata Prasad To overhaul in transmission planning to
facilitate transfer of power on economic
principles.
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S. Ayyapan To prepare a draft national policy on marine
fishery
OR
AkhileshRanjan To examine the business models for
e-commerce, identify the direct tax issues
inrelation to e-commerce transactions
andprovide suggestions.
Vijay Kelkar On Revisiting and Revitalizing the Public
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Private Partnership (PPP) Model of
Infrastructure Development .
Bibek Debroy On the restructuring of Indian Railways
Tapan Roy To examining and making recommendations
on changing of the Companies Act, 2013.
R V Easwar To simplify Income-tax Act, 1961
A P Shah To resolve the issue of MAT (Minimum
Alternate Tax).
Shanta Kumar On Restructuring of Food Corporation of India
(FCI)
Mihir Shah (7 member) To restructure water agencies
Shyam Benegal To look holistically into the functioning of the
censor board and revamp the film certification
nuances by Central Board of Film Certification
(CBFC)
Justice L arasimha To look into the anomalies, if any, on One
Reddy Rank One Pension arising out of
implementation of OROP
Renuka Choudhary Prevent the fires in the Himalayan forests
spread across Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh,
and Jammu and Kashmir.
N.S. Kang To frame uniform rules for the states toavoid
delay in proper implementation ofthe Rights
of Persons with Disabilities(RPD) Act across
the country.

R M Lodha panel
Sports Code committee
T.S.R Subramanian Committee
Expert committee of UPSC
Sub-Panel of CABE
Six-member committee
8-member inter-ministerial
committee
Recommendations of Important Committees/Panels/Commissions
a) TVSN Prasad Committee on use of Pellet Guns
Term of Reference
Background
Recommendations
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b) Ratan P. Watal Committee on Digital Payments
Introduction
Term of Reference
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Justice R M Lodha For reforms in BCCI
Injeti Srinivas To suggest improvements in the National
Sports Development Code functioning of sports
federations.
T S R Subramanian To evolve the New Education Policy.
BS Baswan To examine various issues related to age
relaxation, eligibility, syllabus and pattern of
civil services examination
Kadiyam Srihari To look into issues related to girls education
Jeddah, To look into the matter of how to improve the
Afzal Amanullah Haj Poilcy of India
Ashok Dalwai To prepare a blueprint for doubling farmers’
income by 2022.
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A seven-member Expert Committee under the chairmanship of Shri T V S
Weapons. OR
N Prasad, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs was constituted for
exploring the other possible alternatives to Pellet Guns as Non-lethal
The recommendation comes after global criticism over the use of pellet
guns against the Kashmiri protesters that have killed at least three and
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maimed or blinded thousands of civilians.
• The pellet guns should be used in rarest of rare cases.
• It recommended for use of Pelargonic Acid Vanillyl Amide (PAVA),
containing an irritant chemical found in natural chilli and other nonlethal
ammunition like ‘stun lac cells’ to be used against protesters in Kashmir.
• It suggests for use of other non-lethal weapons, like chilli grenade
shells, for crowd control.
• It calls for use of Long Range Acoustic Device (LARD), which create
deafening noise to paralyse people, in rural areas as it could prove
dangerous for old buildings in downtown Srinagar.
• It suggests that tear gas shells should be made of plastic so that it may
melt on being fired and cannot be picked up by the protests to throw
them back at forces.
• It also suggests for change of the gas in tear gas shell to make it more
effective.
The Committee on Digital Payments constituted by the Ministry of Finance,
Department of Economic Affairs under the Chairmanship of Shri. Ratan P.
Watal, Principal Advisor, NITI Aayog and former Finance Secretary to the
Government of India to review the payment systems in the country and to
recommend appropriate measures for encouraging Digital Payments.
• To study and recommend need for charges, if any, in the regulatory
mechanism and any legislation, relevant for the purpose of promotion
of payments by digital modes
• To study and recommend ways for leveraging Unique Identification
Number or any other proof of identity for authentication of card/digital
transactions and setting up of a Centralised KYC Registry;
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• To study introduction of single window system of Payment Gateway
to accept all types of Cards/ Digital Payments of Government receipts;
• To study global best practices in payments including initiatives taken
by various Governments/ Government Agencies.
• To identify regulatory bottlenecks, if any, and suggest changes to
promote payment by card/ digital means.
Recommendations • It recommended for a medium term strategy for accelerating growth
of Digital Payments in India with a regulatory regime which is
conducive to bridging the Digital divide by promoting competition,
open access & interoperability in payments.
• It also recommends inclusion of financially and socially excluded
groups and assimilation of emerging technologies in the market.
• It calls for need of safeguarding security of Digital Transactions and
providing level playing to all stakeholders and new players who will
enter this new transaction space.
• It has suggested inter-operability of payments system between banks
and non-banks, up-gradation of digital payment infrastructure and
institutions.

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• It also recommends a framework to reward innovations for leading
efforts in enabling digital payments.
OR
• Make regulation of payments independent from the function of central
banking.
• Promote digital payments and receipts within Government.
• Create a fund proposed as DIPAYAN from savings generated from
cash-less transactions to expand digital payments.
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• Consider outsourcing the function of operation of payment systems

like Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and National Electronic Fund
Transfer (NEFT).
• Greater use of Aadhaar and mobile numbers for making digital
payments as easy as cash.
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• Give Board for Regulation and Supervision of Payment and Settlement

Systems (BPSS) independent statutory status within overall structure
of RBI.
• Called for amendments to the Payments and Settlement Systems Act,
2007 to provide BPSS explicit mandate for competition and innovation,
consumer protection, open access and interoperability, regulations on
systemic risks and data protection.
• Providing disincentives for usage of cash
• Creating awareness and transparency on cost of cash
c) Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee
Introduction The Government had constituted a Committee in May, 2016 to review the
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act under the
Chairmanship of Shri N.K. Singh, former Revenue and Expenditure
Secretary and former Member of Parliament.
Term of Reference • To comprehensively review the existing FRBM Act in the light of
contemporary changes, past outcomes, global economic developments,
best international practices and to recommend the future fiscal
framework and roadmap for the country.
• It was also tasked to examine the need and feasibility of having a
‘fiscal deficit range’ as the target in place of the existing fixed numbers
(percentage of GDP) as fiscal deficit target.

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• Subsequently, the Terms of Reference were enlarged to seek the
Committee’s views on certain recommendations of the Fourteenth
Finance Commission and the Expenditure Management Commission.
These primarily related to strengthening the institutional framework
on fiscal matters as well as certain issues connected with new capital
expenditures in the budget.
Recommendations The N K Singh-headed panel submitted its four-volume report on modifying
the 13-year old Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM).
• The first volume of the report addresses the issue of the fiscal policy,
fiscal roadmap, international experience and recommendations therein.
• The second volume refers to international experience especially from
a lot of international organisations particularly OECD, the World Bank,
ILO.
• The third volume deals with Centre-State issues. The fourth volume
deals with views of domain experts both from national and international
appropriate for fiscal policy.

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• Volume four incorporates paper by lot of experts both national and
international. It deals with their own views — what they believe the
appropriate fiscal policy would be
d) Vijay Kelkar Committee on PPP
Introduction OR
Government constituted a Committee on Revisiting & Revitalising the PPP
model of Infrastructure Development which was chaired by Dr. Vijay Kelkar.
Term of Reference To review the experience of PPP Policy and suggest measures to improve
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capacity building in Government for their effective implementation.
Recommendations Committee presents a simple definition of PPP : “A PPP is a large project in
which the government, or a subordinate authority of the government, has
not more than a minority share; which provides a public good or service;
which is operated for a defined time period - usually medium term - by a
private firm, under a “concession”, which defines contractual, mutually
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binding obligations and provides to the concessionaire a market-determined

revenue stream to ensure commercially viability.”
• Contracts need to focus more on service delivery instead of fiscal
benefits
• Better identification and allocation of risks between stakeholders
• Prudent utilization of viability gap funds where user charges cannot
guarantee a robust revenue stream.
• Strengthening of 3 main pillars of the PPP framework viz. Governance,
Institutions and Capacity. The report endorsed setting up of a 3PI (a
PPP institute of excellence) which can, in addition to functioning as a
centre of excellence in PPPs, enable research, review and roll out
activities to build capacity, etc.
• Independent regulators should be set up with a unified mandate that
encompasses activities in different infrastructure sub sectors to ensure
harmonized performance by the regulators.
• Model concession agreements be issued only when 80 per cent of the
land for a project has been acquired.
• The Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 should be amended at the
earliest to punish corrupt practices while saving those who made
genuine mistakes in decision-making.

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• Swiss Challenge Method of awarding contracts should be avoided as
it discourages transparency. Unsolicited Proposals encourages unequal
treatment of potential bidders in the procurement process, so they
should be discouraged.
• Since state owned entities SoEs/PSUs are essentially Government
entities and work within the government framework, they should not
be allowed to bid for PPP projects.
• The Committee recommended the government to notify comprehensive
guidelines on the applicability and scope of access to, under RTI and
Art 12 of the Constitution, and auditing of financial related matters in
order to avoid any delays in public asset provision.
• Banks and financial institution should be encouraged to issue Deep
Discount Bonds or Zero Coupon Bonds (ZCB) to mobilise long term
capital at low cost. This will reduce the debt servicing charges during
the initial period of the project.
• After successful completion of the projects, equity in the project may
be offered to long-term investors including overseas institutional buyers.
The divestment amount would be utilised for new infrastructure
projects.

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• Independent sectoral regulators should be set up as and when a new
sector is declared to adopt PPP model. The regulators should follow a
OR
unified approach. Without the independent regulators, the projects
would be subjected to bureaucratic and political pressure.
• For rational allocation of risks among various stakeholders, the Model
Concession Agreement (MCA) should be revisited. The “One-size-
fits-all” approach should be avoided and project-specific risk
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assessment should be undertaken.

• It should be explored for extension of PPP into new sectors such as
health, other social sectors, and urban transport.
• Government may develop a PPP law with endorsement from
Parliament. It gives an authoritative framework to implementing
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executives along with an oversight responsibility to legislature and

regulatory agencies.
• Infrastructure PPP Project Review Committee (IPRC) should be set up
for evaluating and sending recommendations in time-bound manner
for a stress in projects under PPP model.
• An Infrastructure PPP Adjudication Tribunal (IPAT) should be set up
and its benches will be constituted by the Chairperson as per needs of
the matter in question.
• The state owned enterprises and public sector undertakings should not
be allowed to bid for PPP projects. The PPP model meant for leveraging
the managerial and operational efficiency of private sector.
• The committee advised against adopting PPP structures for very small
projects, since the benefits of delivering small PPP projects may not be
commensurate with the resulting costs and the complexity of managing
such partnerships over a long period.
e) Shanta Kumar Committee on Restructuring of Food Corporation of India (FCI)
Introduction Government of India (GoI) set up a High Level Committee (HLC) in August
2014 with Shri Shanta Kumar as the Chairman on Restructuring of Food
Corporation of India (FCI).
Term of Reference • To suggest restructuring or unbundling of FCI with a view to improve
its operational efficiency and financial management.

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• To suggest measures for overall improvement in management of
foodgrains by FCI;
• To suggest reorienting the role and functions of FCI in MSP operations,
storage and distribution of foodgrains and food security systems of
the country;
• To suggest cost effective models for storage and movement of grains
and integration of supply chain of foodgrains in the country.
Recommendations On procurement related issues: HLC recommends that FCI hand over all
procurement operations of wheat, paddy and rice to states that have gained
sufficient experience in this regard and have created reasonable infrastructure
for procurement. These states are Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Haryana,
Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Punjab. FCI will accept only the surplus from
these state governments to be moved to deficit states.
FCI should move on to help those states where farmers suffer from distress
sales at prices much below MSP, and which are dominated by small holdings,
like Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, etc. This is the belt
from where second green revolution is expected, and where FCI needs to
be pro-active, mobilizing state and other agencies to provide benefits of

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MSP and procurement to larger number of farmers, especially small and
marginal ones.

• OR
On PDS and NFSA related issues:
The coverage of NFSA should be brought down from 67% population
to 40%.
• The targeted beneficiaries must be given 6 months ration in advance,
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right after the procurement season draws to a close.
• Gradual introduction of cash transfers in PDS.
On stocking and movement related issues:
• FCI should outsource its stocking operations to various agencies such
as Central Warehousing Corporation, State Warehousing Corporation,
Private Sector under Private Entrepreneur Guarantee (PEG) scheme.
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• Movement of grains needs to be gradually containerized which will

help reduce transit losses, and have faster turn-around-time by having
more mechanized facilities at railway sidings.
On Buffer Stocking Operations and Liquidation Policy:
• DFPD/FCI have to work in tandem to liquidate stocks in OMSS or in
export markets, whenever stocks go beyond the buffer stock norms.
• A transparent liquidation policy is the need of hour, which should
automatically kick-in when FCI is faced with surplus stocks than buffer
norms. Greater flexibility to FCI with business orientation to operate
in OMSS and export markets is needed.
On direct subsidy to farmers:
• Farmers be given direct cash subsidy (of about Rs 7000/ha) and fertilizer
sector can then be deregulated. This would help plug diversion of urea
to non-agricultural uses as well as to neighbouring countries, and help
raise the efficiency of fertilizer use.
On end to end computerization:
• HLC recommends total end to end computerization of the entire food
management system, starting from procurement from farmers, to
stocking, movement and finally distribution through TPDS. It can be
done on real time basis, and some states have done a commendable
job on computerizing the procurement operations.

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On the new face of FCI:
• The new face of FCI will be akin to an agency for innovations in Food
Management System with a primary focus to create competition in
every segment of foodgrain supply chain, from procurement to stocking
to movement and finally distribution in TPDS, so that overall costs of
the system are substantially reduced, leakages plugged, and it serves
larger number of farmers and consumers.
f) R M Lodha Committee on Reforms in BCCI
Introduction The Lodha committee was formed in January, 2015 by the Supreme Court
after the Mudgal committee report on IPL.
Term of Reference To recommend reforms in the working of the Board of Control for Cricket
in India (BCCI) to make its functioning transparent.
Recommendations The Lodha Committee has suggested sweeping reforms in the structuring
and governance of cricket in the country.
• BCCI to come under RTI Act
• Lodha panel recommends legalisation of betting; The panel
recommends players and BCCI officials should disclose their assets to
the board in a measure to ensure they do not bet.
•

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Lodha panel proposes one state, one vote. Also no proxy voting of
individuals;
OR
• The committee recommended that a 9-member apex council replace
the 14-member BCCI working committee. No BCCI office-bearer can
have more than two consecutive terms; The Lodha panel recommends
a maximum of three terms for office bearers with no more than two
consecutive terms. It further says there should be a cooling period
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after each term.

• The Lodha Committee also calls for dividing the governance into two
parts: cricketing and non-cricketing. The non-cricketing management
will be handled by 6 professional managers headed by a CEO, and the
cricket matters like selection, coaching and performance evaluation
should be left to the players.
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• No BCCI office-bearer can be Minister or government servant, In no

case President will hold post for more than 2 years.
• Panel recommends separate governing bodies for the IPL and BCCI.
• The committee said that match-and spot-fixing should be made a
criminal offence.
• A former High Court judge should be appointed as ethics officer by
the BCCI to administer issues relating to conflict of interest,
misdemeanour and corruption.
• A former Supreme Court judge should be appointed ombudsman to
resolve internal disputes.
• It recommended the setting up of a Players’ Association to safeguard
the interests of the cricketers.
g) T.S.R Subramanian Committee for evolution of New Education Policy
Introduction The Committee was constituted under the Ministry of Human Resource
Development (MHRD) in October, 2015.
Term of Reference Committee was entrusted with the task of formulating a Draft National
Education Policy.
Recommendations • An Indian Education Service (IES) should be established as an all India
service.

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• The outlay on education should be raised to at least 6% of GDP without
further loss of time.
• There should be minimum eligibility condition with 50% marks at
graduate level for entry to existing B.Ed courses. Teacher Entrance
Tests (TET) should be made compulsory for recruitment of all teachers.
The Centre and states should jointly lay down norms and standards for
TET.
• Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) for children from four to
five years of age be declared as a right. This would facilitate pre-school
education by the government instead of the private sector until children
reach six years of age.
• The Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 should be amended to provide
uniform norms ( infrastructure and quality) for recognition of both,
government and private schools.
• The Committee recommended the usage of scaled scores and percentiles
instead of the traditional marking scheme.
• To reduce the stress levels of students, the Committee proposed online

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on-demand board exams as opposed to year end exams.
• Setting up of an Autonomous Teacher Recruitment Board. It also

•
be implemented.OR
recommended that teaching license should be subject to renewal every
10 years. For teacher training, a four year integrated B.Ed. course should

The Committee recommended scaling up the existing National Skills

Qualification Framework to include more students.
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• It recommends expanding and revising the choice of vocational courses
in accordance with local opportunities and resources.
• It also emphasised the need for formal certification by the various
Boards of Education for vocational education at par with conventional
education.
h) 14th Finance Commission
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Introduction Article 280 of the Constitution of India requires the Constitution of a Finance
Commission every five years, or earlier. For the period from 1st April,
2015 to 31st March, 2020, the 14th Finance Commission (FFC) was
constituted under chairmanship of Y. V. Reddy by the orders of President
on 2nd January, 2013 and submitted its report on 15th December, 2014.
Term of Reference • The Finance Commission is required to recommend the distribution of
the net proceeds of taxes of the Union between the Union and the
States (commonly referred to as vertical devolution);
• The allocation between the States of the respective shares of such
proceeds (commonly known as horizontal devolution).
• To recommend on ‘the measures needed to augment the Consolidated
Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats and
Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made
by the Finance Commission of the State’
Recommendations • With regard to vertical distribution, FFC has recommended that the
States’ share in the net proceeds of the Union tax revenues be 42%, a
huge jump from the 32% recommended by the 13th Finance
Commission.
• FFC has taken the view that tax devolution should be primary route of
transfer of resources to States. It may be noted that in reckoning the
requirements of the States, the FFC has ignored the Plan and Non-Plan
distinction.

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• In recommending horizontal distribution, the FFC has used broad
parameters of population (1971) and changes of population since,
income distance, forest cover and area. FFC has recommended
distribution of grants to States for local bodies using 2011 population
data with weight of 90% and area with weight of 10%.
• FFC has recommended grants in two parts; a basic grant, and a
performance grant, for duly constituted Gram Panchayats and
municipalities. The ratio of basic to performance grant is 90:10 with
respect to Panchayats and 80:20 with respect to Municipalities.
• FFC has recommended out a total grant of Rs 2,87,436 crore for five
year period from 1.4.2015 to 31.3.2020. Of this the grant recommended
to Panchayatas is Rs 2,00,292.20 crores and that to municipalities is
Rs 87,143.80 crores.
• Revenue deficit to be progressively reduced and eliminated.
• Fiscal deficit to be reduced to 3% of the GDP by 2017-18.
• A target of 62% of GDP for the combined debt of centre and states.
• The Medium Term Fiscal Plan (MTFP) should be reformed and made

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the statement of commitment rather than a statement of intent.
• FRBM Act need to be amended to mention the nature of shocks which
OR
shall require targets relaxation.
• Both centre and states should conclude ‘Grand Bargain’ to implement
the model Goods and Services Act (GST).
• Initiatives to reduce the number of Central Sponsored Schemes (CSS)
and to restore the predominance of formula based plan grants.
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• States need to address the problem of losses in the power sector in

time bound manner.
i) 7th Central Pay Commission
Introduction Government of India appointed Seventh Central Pay Commission under
chairmanship of Justice Shri Ashok Kumar Mathur in 2014.
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Term of Reference • To examine, review, evolve and recommend changes that are desirable
and feasible regarding the principles that should govern the
emoluments structure including pay, allowances and other facilities/
benefits, in cash or kind, having regard to rationalization and
simplification therein as well as the specialized needs of various
Departments, agencies and services of Centre.
• To work out the framework for an emoluments structure linked with
the need to attract the most suitable talent to Government service,
promote efficiency, accountability and responsibility in the work
culture, and foster excellence in the public governance.
• To make recommendations on bonus, incentives and pensions.
Recommendations • 3.55 per cent increase in pay and allowances recommended,
Recommendations to be implemented from January 1, 2016.
• Minimum pay fixed at Rs 18,000 per month; maximum pay at Rs 2.25
lakh, the rate of annual increment retained at 3per cent and 24 per cent
hike in pensions.
• One Rank One Pension proposed for civilian government employees
on line of OROP for armed forces.
• Ceiling of gratuity enhanced from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh; ceiling on
gratuity to be raised by 25 per cent whenever DA rises by 50 per cent.

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• The present system of Pay Bands and Grade Pay has been dispensed
with and a new Pay Matrix is recommended by the Commission. The
status of the employee, hitherto determined by grade pay, will now be
determined by the level in the Pay Matrix. Separate Pay Matrices have
been drawn up for Civilians, Defence Personnel and for Military Nursing
Service. The principle and rationale behind these matrices are the same.
• Existing Performance benchmarks for MODIFIED ASSURED CAREER
PROGRESSION (MACP) is “Good”. 7th Pay Commission proposes
that it should be “Very Good”. 10 years, 20 years and 30 years Slab
continues.
• The Commission has also proposed that annual increments not be
granted in the case of those employees who are not able to meet the
benchmark either for MACP or for a regular promotion in the first 20
years of their service.
• Military Service Pay (MSP), which is a compensation for the various
aspects of military service, will be admissible to the defence forces
personnel only.
• Short service commissioned officers will be allowed to exit the armed

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forces at any point in time between 7 to 10 years of service
• Commission recommends abolishing 52 allowances; another 36

allowances.
OR
allowances subsumed in existing allowances or in newly proposed

Recommendations will impact 47 lakh serving govt employees, 52 lakh

pensioners, including defence personnel. Financial impact of implementing
recommendations will be Rs 1.02 lakh crore – Rs 73,650 crore to be borne
by Central Budget and Rs 28,450 crore by Railway Budget. Total impact
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of Commission’s recommendation to raise the ratio of expenditure on salary
and wages to GDP by 0.65 percentage points to 0.7 per cent
j) Rangarajan Committee on Poverty Estimation
Introduction The Expert Group under the Chairmanship of Dr. C. Rangarajan on Poverty
estimation in the country constituted by the Planning Commission in June
2012.
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Term of Reference
Recommendations
• To Review the Methodology for Measurement of Poverty in the country.
• To examine whether the poverty line should be fixed solely in terms
of a consumption basket or whether other criteria.
• To examine the issue of divergence between the consumption estimates
based on the NSSO methodology and those emerging from the National
Accounts aggregates.
• To recommend how the estimates, as evolved above, should be linked
to eligibility and entitlements for schemes and programmes under the
Government of India.
• Reverts to the practice of having separate all-India rural and urban
poverty basket lines and deriving state-level rural and urban estimates
from these unlike Tendulkar committee which used the all-India urban
poverty line basket as the reference to derive state-level rural and urban
poverty.
• The Expert Group (Rangarajan) uses the Modified Mixed Recall Period
consumption expenditure data of the NSSO as these are considered to
be more precise compared to the MRP, which was used by the Expert
Group (Tendulkar) and the URP, which was used by earlier estimations.
• The Expert Group (Rangarajan) computed the average requirements
of calories, proteins and fats based on ICMR norms differentiated by
age, gender and activity for all-India rural and urban regions to derive
the normative levels of nourishment.

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• The methods also include on certain normative levels of adequate
nourishment, clothing, house rent, conveyance, education and also
behavioral determination of non-food expenses.
• Accordingly, the energy requirement works out to 2,155 kcal per person
per day in rural areas and 2,090 kcal per person per day in urban
areas.
• The protein and fat requirements have been estimated on the same
lines as for energy. These requirements are 48 gms and 28 gms per
capita per day, respectively, in rural areas; and 50 gms and 26 gms per
capita per day in urban areas.
• The Expert Group estimates that the 30.9% of the rural population and
26.4% of the urban population was below the poverty line in 2011-12.
The all-India ratio was 29.5%. In rural India, 260.5 million individuals
were below poverty and in urban India 102.5 million were under
poverty. Totally, 363 million were below poverty in 2011-12.
• The new poverty line work out to monthly per capita consumption
expenditure of Rs. 972 in rural areas and Rs. 1,407 in urban areas in
2011-12. For a family of five, this translates into a monthly consumption

E
expenditure of Rs. 4,860 in rural areas and Rs. 7,035 in urban areas.
• The poverty ratio has declined from 39.6% in 2009-10 to 30.9% in
OR
2011-12 in rural India and from 35.1% to 26.4% in urban India. The
decline was thus a uniform 8.7 percentage points over the two years.
The all-India poverty ratio fell from 38.2% to 29.5%. Totally, 91.6
million individuals were lifted out of poverty during this period.
• The Expert Group (Rangarajan) recommends the updation of the
SC

poverty line in the future using the Fisher Index. The weighting diagram
for this effort can be drawn from the NSSO’s Consumer Expenditure
Survey.
GS

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REPORTS AND INDICES

Report Organization Indicators Top 3 India’ status
Global World Economic The GCI measures 12 Switzerland 39/138 India improved
Competitiveness Forum (Cologny, pillars which include Singapore 16 places to 39, making
Report 2016-17 Geneva) institutions, macro- US it the fastest riser up the
economic environment, ranks among 138
infrastructure, health and countries surveyed.
primary education, higher
education and training,
labour market efficiency,
goods and market
efficiency among others.
World Economic Centre for Civil It measures the degree of Hong Kong 112/159a slip of 10

E
Freedom Index Society, a public economic freedom in Singapore positions from previous
policy think tank countries in five broad New Zealand year

OR
along with areas They are
Canada’s Fraser • Size of government:
Institute. expenditure, taxes and
enterprises
• legal structure and
security of property
SC
rights
• access to sound money
• freedom to trade
internationally and
• Regulation of credit,
labour, and business.
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World UNCTAD US 10th in FDI (Foreign

Investment Hong Kong Direct Investment)
Report, 2016 China inflows
Global Business Grant Thornton • The report was Indonesia 2/36
Optimism Index International prepared on the basis India
Business Report of a quarterly Philippines
conducted global
business survey of
2,500 businesses
across 36 economies.
Human Capital WEF • The Human Capital Finland 105/130
Index 2016 Index measures (1st position), • India has got better
countries’ ability to Norway (2nd), rankings HCI’s
nurture, develop and Switzerland indicators such as
deploy talent for (3rd) quality of education
economic growth. system (39th), staff
• It is based on 46 training (46th) and
indicators about how ease of finding
well countries are skilled employees
developing and (45th).
deploying their human • India is the second
capital, focusing on largest country in the
education, skills and global distribution of
employment. tertiary degree

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holders share at
nearly 78 million
after China (2.5
million) in STEM
subjects (science,
technology,
engineering and
mathematics).
Global Joint work of It  assesses the regulatory • Colombia 3/55; India has fared well
Microscope Multilateral environment for financial and Peru in financial inclusion
Report Investment Fund inclusion across 12 jointly at thanks to the steps taken in
(MIF); the Center indicators and 55 countries first the past 10 years to
for Financial • India and modernize the financial
Inclusion at Philippines sector. One of the major
Accion, and the jointly at catalysts for financial
MetLife 3rd place inclusion recently has been
Foundation. the Pradhan Mantri Jan
Dhan Yojana.
World Logistics World Bank Measures international Germany Ranked India at 35th in

E
Performance supply chain efficiency Luxemburg 2016, jumping from 54th in
Index (6 components namely Switzerland 2014. It is published as a
Customs, Infrastructure, biennial report ‘Connecting
OR
International Shipments, to Compete 2016: Trade
Logistics Quality and Logistics in the Global
Competence, Tracking Economy’
and Tracing, and
Timeliness
SC

Ease of Doing World Bank 10 indicators- New Zealand 130/190 India is placed last
Business, 2017 • Starting a business Singapore among BRICS countries
• Dealing with Denmark Russia-40, South Africa-
construction permits 74, China-78, Brazil- 123
• Getting electricity
• Registering property
GS

• Protecting minority
investors
• Paying taxes
• Trading across borders
• Enforcing contracts
• Resolving insolvency
Global Gender WEF Measures the gender gap Iceland 87/144 Moving from 108
Gap Report 2016 index of the countries by Finland in 2015 to 87 in 2016
taking four factors into Norway In this edition India has
account-Economy overtaken China which is
Equality, health equality, ranked 99th.
education equality and
political representation to
women
World Giving Charities Aid Measure on the basis of Myanmar 91/140 India received a
Index Foundations 3 parameters- US 29% overall score in the
(CAF) • Helping a stranger Australia world giving index
• Donating money
• Volunteering time
Corruption Transparency The CPI scores and ranks Denmark 79/168
Perception International, countries/territories based New Zealand
Index (CPI) Berlin on how corrupt a country’s Finland

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public sector is perceived
to be. It is a composite
index, a combination of
surveys and assessments
of corruption, collected
by a variety of reputable
institutions
Global Co-published by Since inception in 2007, Switzerland India currently ranks 66th
Innovation World- it has been ranking world Sweden out of 128 countries on the
Index Intellectual economies according to UK Global innovation Index
Property their innovation capabilities (GII) 2016. In this edition,
Organization and outcomes using 82 India has jumped up by 15
(WIPO), Cornell indicators among a host of spots from 81st position in
University and other important parameters 2015 GII. India’s better
INSEAD with performance in the 2016
CII as a GII readings was due to its
Knowledge strengths in tertiary
Partner education, corporate R&D,
software export and market

E
sophistication.
Global Nutrition United Nations The vision of the GNR is Stunting-114/132
Report, 2016
OR
“From Promise to Impact-
Ending malnutrition by
2030” It uses 6 parameters-
• Stunting
Wasting-35/38
Anemia-170/185
22% of adults are either
overweight or obese
• Wasting 9.5% suffer from diabetes
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• Overweight 48% women are anemic
• Anemia in women
• Exclusive
breastfeeding
• Adult overweight/
obesity
• Adult diabetes
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ICT United Nations The ICT Development South Korea, 138/175

Development International Index is based on 11 ICT Denmark,
Index (IDI) Telecommuni- indicators, grouped in Sweden
cation Union three clusters: access,
use and skills.
Network WEF It measures countries’ Singapore • 89
Readiness Index success in creating the Finaland • India’s position on the
necessary conditions for Sweden list has come down for
a transition to a digitised the fourth consecutive
economy and society. year in a row, from
89th in 2015, 83rd in
2014 and 68th in 2013.
Global Peace Institute for GPI uses 22 indicators to Iceland 141/163
Index Economics and measure levels of world Denmark India has moved up two
Peace (IEP), peace. Indicators range Austria positions from 143rd rank
Sydney from a nation's level of in 2015 GPI.
military expenditure to its
relations with neighboring
nations, the percentage of
prison population, safety
and security in society,
extent of domestic and
international conflict ext.

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Sustainable Sustainable The SDI assesses countries Sweden 110/149
Development Development where they stand with Denmark
Index Solutions regard to achieving the Norway
Network (SDSN) Sustainable Development
and the Goals (SDGs) also their
Bertelsmann progress and ensuring
Stiftung accountability
World Press Reporters The index ranks the Finland • 133/180
Freedom Without Borders performance of countries Netherland • The report has
Index, 2016 (RSF)/ Reporters according to index Norway highlighted that there
Sans Frontières calculated based upon has been a deep and
(RSF)- France various parameters. Some disturbing decline in
of these parameters respect for media
include media pluralism freedom at both the
and independence, respect regional and global
for the safety and freedom levels.
of journalists, and the
legislative, institutional and

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infrastructural environment
in which the media operate.
OR
Global Hunger International The GHI is calculated by • 97/118
Index Food Policy taking into account four • It is behind Nepal, Sri
Research indicator parameters. Lanka, Bangladesh,
Institute (IFPRI) They are among others, but
• Undernourished ahead of Pakistan and
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population three other Asian

(1/3rd weight) countries.
• Child wasting • It was positioned at 80
(1/6th weight) out of 104 countries
• Child stunting (1/6th the previous year
GS

weight) and • In 2016 GHI, India

• Infant mortality rate has scored low 28.5 on
(1/3rd weight) a 0-100 point scale of
the index.
• It describes India’s
hunger situation as
“serious”
International US Chamber of • The index started in US 43/45
Intellectual Commerce’s 2012 by USGIPC UK
Property Index Global ranks countries based Germany
Intellectual upon 35 parameters
Property Centre each having one point
(GIPC) weightage.
• Some of the
parameters are
patents, copyrights,
trademarks, trade
secrets and market
access, enforcement,
and ratification of
international treaties.

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Living Planet World Wide Fund • It measures the Biodiversity population in the world
Report • Biodiversity population is expected to fall 67 percent by 2020, if
the current situation persists.
• Rivers and lakes are the worst hit with animal population down by
81 percent since 1970.
• The report points out we have ushered in the era of Anthropocene
– a geological period dominated by humans.
• The report warns that increased human pressure could trigger
human-nature conflicts.
• It can increase the risk of water and food insecurity and competition
over natural resources.
Ease of Living World Bank • The index is being launched keeping in mind that as cities grow
Index and expand, the ease of living becomes an important parameter.
• The index could include categories on social inclusion, cost of living,
public transport, housing, education, health, environment-
friendliness, crime/safety, governance and corruption.

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School Education Niti Aayog • SEQI is divided into two categories: 1. Outcomes and 2. Governance
Quality Index Management.
(SEQI) • These are further divided into three domains of Outcomes (Learning,

•
OR
Access and Equity) and two domains of Governance & Management
(Governance Processes and Structural Reforms).
Currently the index has 34 indicators and 1000 points, with the
highest weightage given to learning outcomes (600 out of 1000
points).
SC
Asia Pacific ESCAP • India’s international and intra-regional trade cost remained higher
Trade and (United Nation) although a declining trend has been observed since 2009.
Investment • FDI flow in country may increase because of various initiatives of
Report, 2016 Government like “Make in India” and easing of FDI regulations
• Trend towards FDI diversion by Indian business community is
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observed as overseas investment from India contracted by 36%

reflecting Indian investors’ confidence more in Indian market than
abroad.
• FDI inflow in India during 2010-15 expanded at the rate of 10% on
an average while in 2015 alone FDI flow expanded at staggering
27.8% which was significantly higher than Asia-Pacific region avg
of 5.6%.
• Services, Construction development, Computer software and
hardware and Telecommunications sectors attracted highest
investment.
• In 2015, Indian goods exports shrank by 17.2 per cent, which was
close to twice as much as the Asia-Pacific region decline of 9.7
per cent.
• India also emerged largest trading partner with South Asian countries
like Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan.
National Index Niti Aayog • It will help rank the states on the basis of their performance on
for Performance (technical assistance measurable health parameters.
of Health from World Bank) • It comprises of a set of indicators grouped into relevant domains
Outcomes and sub-domains such as Health outcomes, Governance &
Information and Key inputs/processes.
• The maximum weightage is awarded to measurable Health
outcomes.

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• It will rank various States on the basis of their performance on
measurable health indicators like infant mortality rate, sex ratio at
birth and functional 24x7 public health centers.
• Monitorable indicators that form a part of Sustainable Development
Goal in Health have been included in order to align these initiatives.
World International Labour • It predicts that the number of jobless in India will increase from
Employment and Organization 17.7 million in 2016 to 18 million by 2018.
Social Outlook • It also predicts the employment rate to go down from 3.5% to 3.4%
Report in 2017
• Its predictions related to ‘vulnerable employment’ are:
– It may fall by less than 0.2% per year for the next two years,
showing only marginal improvements.
– It is expected to remain above 42% of the total employment
in 2017 and account for 1.4 billion people all over the world.
– In emerging countries like India, one in two workers fit this
category while in developing countries it is four out of five
workers.
– South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are the most affected areas

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by vulnerable employment.
India Responsible Collaborative effort It ranks the top 100 BSE-listed companies on their performance on five
OR
Business Index of non-profits-Oxfam parameters:
India, Corporate • Inclusiveness in supply chain
Responsibility • Community as business stakeholders
Watch, Praxis and • Community development
Partners in Change. • Respecting employee dignity and human rights
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• Non-discrimination at the workplace

Report on Income International NGO • Inequality is rising over time. For Eg. Thomas Piketty’s Capital in
Disparity, 2017 OXFAM the 21st Century, says that income growth of the bottom 50% has
(An Economy for been zero compared to 300% growth of the top 1%.
the 1%’) • Wealth of the world’s top-eight billionaires (six from USA) together
is more than that of the bottom 50% of the world’s population.
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• Bottom 50% of the world’s population has just 0.2% of the world’s
wealth.
• India’s richest 1% holds 58% of the country’s total wealth - higher
than the global figure of about 50 per cent.
• CEO of India’s top information firms earns 416 times the salary of
a typical employee in his company.
• Reasons for this inequality are-
– Tax avoidance and tax evasion
– Wage discrimination
– Existence of parallel Economy
– Presence of crony capitalism
Global Economic World Bank • India will grow at a 7.9 per cent growth in the next two years 2017
Prospects and 2018.
Report, 2016 • India’s stock markets and currency have been largely resilient
during bouts of volatility in global financial markets over the past
year.
• Among BRICS nations: China will grow at 6.7 per cent in the year
2016 and 6.5 per cent each in next two years 2017 and 2018. Brazil
and Russia are expected to remain in recession during the year
2016 among the major developing economies.

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• South Asia Region has been projected to be a bright spot in the
emerging and developing economies, with growth rate up to 7.3
per cent in 2016
World Economic IMF • In its update to the World Economic Outlook (WEO), IMF said
Outlook India is likely to grow 6.6% in 2016-17, against its earlier estimate
Report, 2017 of 7.6%.
• IMF said the Chinese economy grew by 6.7% in 2016 as against
the previously projected 6.6%. China’s growth forecast in 2017
was raised to 6.5% from 6.2% projected in October due to “expected
policy stimulus
• IMF said it sees world growth of 3.4% this year and 3.6 % in 2018.
• IMF also expects India’s growth to pick up at a slower pace in
2017-18, at 7.2%, against its earlier estimate of 7.6%.
• “In India, the growth forecast for the current (2016-17) and next
fiscal year were trimmed by one percentage point and 0.4 percentage
point, respectively, primarily due to the temporary negative
consumption shock induced by cash shortages and payment

E
disruptions associated with the recent currency note withdrawal and
exchange initiative,” IMF said
Global Financial
Stability
Report, 2016
IMF (The report
usually published in
the month of April)
•

•
OR
The Indian government should consider further recapitalization of
state-run banks reeling under high non-performing loan levels
India is implementing policies to improve its macroeconomic stability
to ensure that the impact of global external shocks is minimized
• Risks to global financial stability have increased since last year
SC
(2015), the IMF warned, as a weak global macroeconomic outlook
and the impact of China’s slowdown on other economies increased
the vulnerability of both advanced and emerging market economies
to global shocks.
• In its global financial stability report, the IMF also said rising non-
performing loans and corporate leverage—the twin balance sheet
GS

problem faced by India as well—need to be effectively addressed

to minimize the impact of such shocks.
• It also stressed on the need for more coordinated policy action
among countries.

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