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India’s rupee value has fallen precipitously against the dollar. Among the BRICS nations after the Russian Ruble, the Indian rupee depreciated the most in this period.  Causes of the Rupee depreciation :-  Spike in oil prices has pulled down the rupee, by pushing up dollar demand.  ▪ Increase in the demand of crude oil will be followed by the increasing import bill in the form of payment of more dollars to oil exporting countries. Hence the demand of dollar will increase in the Indian market which will reduce the value of Indian rupee.  Global Trade war fears triggered by the US and China’s retaliatory import tariffs have also weakened the Rupee.  ▪ So due to this war the price of the imported commodities will go up which will further increase the outflow of dollar from the Indian market.  Increasing Trade Deficit of India:  ▪ Outflow of foreign currency is more from Indian market as compared to inflow of foreign currency. As per the law of demand; if...

India’s GDP is estimated to have increased 7.2 per cent in 2017-18 and 7 per cent in 2018-19. Its performance has been quite stable in last 6-7 years after recovery from impact of global financial recession. Similarly, the Indian economy has witnessed a gradual transition from a period of high and variable inflation to a more stable and low level of inflation in the past five years, according to the Economic Survey. The current phase of low inflation is marked by a reduction in both urban and rural inflation. Based on this the survey argued that amidst the gloomy landscape of unusual volatility in the international economic environment, India stands as a haven of stability and an outpost of opportunity.  Importance of Macro-economic stability  •Investors like macro-economic stability. If the economy is not well-managed, financial markets react negatively, at times even disproportionately, making economic management a lot more difficult, which can lead to a full-blown crisis....

IFS is a farming practice meant for all-round development of agriculture with animal husbandry and other occupations related to core agricultural practices. Integrated Farming System (IFS) is an interdependent, interrelated often interlocking production systems based on few crops, animals and related subsidiary enterprises in such a way that maximizes the utilization of nutrients of each system.  • The IFS approach has multiple objectives of sustainability, food security, farmer security and poverty reduction. It involves use of outputs of one enterprise component as inputs for other related enterprises wherever feasible, for example, cattle dung mixed with crop residues and farm waste can be converted into nutrient-rich vermi-compost.  • use of local resources, effective recycling of farm waste for productive purposes, community-led local systems for water conservation, organic farming, and developing a judicious mix of income-generating activities, such as dairy, poultry, fi...

GST is an indirect tax which has replaced many extant indirect taxes in India. The Goods and Service Tax Act was passed in the Parliament on 29th March, 2017. The Act came into effect on 1st July, 2017; Goods & Services Tax Law in India is a comprehensive, multistage, destination-based tax that is levied on every value addition.  Under the GST regime, the tax is levied at every point of sale. In the case of intrastate sales, Central GST and State GST are charged. Inter-state sales are chargeable to Integrated GST. In the earlier indirect tax regime, there were many indirect taxes levied by both state and centre. States mainly collected taxes in the form of Value Added Tax (VAT). Every state had a different set of rules and regulations. Inter-state sale of goods was taxed by the Centre. CST (Central State Tax) was applicable in case of inter-state sale of goods. Other than above, there were many indirect taxes like entertainment tax, octroi and local tax that was levied by state...

The term ‘separation of powers’ was coined by Montesquieu in his book “Spirit of Laws”. Separation of powers, refers to the division of government responsibilities into distinct branches to limit any one branch from exercising the core functions of another. The intent is to prevent the concentration of power and provide for checks and balances.  According to Wade and Philips, the concept of separation of power means three different things:  •Same person should not form part of more than one of the three organs of the government. Example: Ministers should not be made to sit in the Parliament.  •One organ of the government should not control or interfere with the exercise of its functions by another organ. Example: Judiciary should be independent or the Ministers should not be made responsible to the Parliament.  •One organ of the government should not exercise the functions of another. Example: Ministers not to have legislative powers.  Democratic government is c...

Creating an efficient transport infrastructure in the country is one of the chief factors responsible for the takeoff of accelerated growth in the country. On account of poor quality of transport infrastructure, progress made in efficient and affordable urban mass transport would have a key role on taking India to double digit growth.  Need of efficient and affordable urban mass transport  • Nearly 31% of India’s current population lives in urban areas contributing to 63% of India’s GDP (Census 2011) and with increasing urbanization, urban areas are expected to house 40% of India’s population and contribute to 75% of India’s GDP by 2030.  • India’s urban growth is largely concentrated in large cities which increased from 35% in 2001 to 53% in 2011, accounting for 43% of India’s urban population, and is expected to be 87% by 2030.  Efficient and affordable urban mass transport key to the rapid economic development of India  • Efficient urban mass transport system...