Have a question?
Message sent Close

Blog

TOPIC: GS 3 Effects of Liberalization on the Economy, Changes in Industrial Policy and their Effects on Industrial Growth.

Policy creep

What is the news?

  • Barely months after the Government notified the Consumer Protection (Ecommerce) Rules, 2020, the Department of Consumer Affairs has mooted a set of sweeping amendments
  • It will apparently to protect the interests of consumers and encourage free and fair competition in the market.

Norms For Compliance

  • Norm stipulating the appointment of a chief compliance officer, a nodal contact person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies
  • Requiring e­commerce entities offering imported goods or services to ‘incorporate a filter mechanism to identify goods based on country of origin and suggest alternatives to ensure a fair opportunity to domestic goods’.
  • A third mandates a fall­back liability on online market places in the event of non­delivery of goods or services to the consumer.
  • Registration has also been made mandatory for all e­commerce
  • Specific ‘flash sales’, including ‘back­to­back’ ones, are set to be banned.
  • All entities must provide information within 72 hours on any request made by an authorised government agency probing any breach of law including cyber security issues.
  • While on the face of it none of these new rules appears exceptionable, especially e­commerce tops the National Consumer Helpline’s complaints chart.
  • There is still a distinctly discernible pattern to the changes.

Following on the heels of the recent IT Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code Rules, the draft e­commerce amendments show the Government’s increasing keenness to exercise greater oversight over all online platforms.

Online Platform Regulation Oversight

  • The Centre also appears to be signalling its intent to dig in its heels in an intensifying stand­off with Walmart’s unit Flipkart, and Amazon, which are both now in court battling an attempt by the Competition Commission of India to reopen a probe into their business practices.
  • The two large e­commerce players have had to contend with accusations that their pricing practice are skewed to favour select sellers
  • The price skewers on their platforms and that their discounting policies have hurt offline retailers.
  • The fact that the latest changes expressly seek to ensure that none of an e­commerce entity’s ‘related parties and associated enterprises is enlisted as a seller for sale to consumers directly’ could also impact several platforms that retail products supplied by vendors with arm’s length ties.
  • The enforcement of many of these norms is bound to spur protracted legal fights.

Way Forward

  • Asserting that the amendments were not aimed at conventional flash
  • The Government said it was only targeting certain entities engaged in limiting consumer choice by indulging in ‘back­to­back’ sales wherein a seller does not have the capability to meet an order
  • In trying to address shortcomings in its rules from last year, the Government appears to be harking back to an era of tight controls.
  • Overregulation with scope for interpretative ambiguity risks retarding growth and job creation in the previously expanding e­commerce sector.

Mains Question

Overregulation risks retarding growth and job creation in the e-commerce sector. Explain

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/editorial/policy-creep-the-hindu-editorial-on-e-commerce-and-overregulation-risks/article34918839.ece

PRELIMS PUNCHERS

  1. The Indira Gandhi Canal

It was originally called Rajasthan Canal is the longest canal of India. It starts from the Harike Barrage at Harike, a few kilometers below the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in the Indian state of Punjab and terminates in irrigation facilities in the Thar Desert in the north west of Rajasthan state. Previously known as the Rajasthan Canal, it was renamed the Indira Gandhi Canal on following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The Canal is a major step in reclaiming the Thar Desert and checking desertification of fertile areas. There is a planting programme for greening the desert in areas near the Indira Gandhi Canal which was started in 1965. This consists of the planting of shelter belts along roads and canals, blocks of plantations and sand dune stabilization. It has transformed the barren deserts of this district into fertile and good fields. Crops of mustard, cotton, and wheat now grow in this semi-arid north-western region replacing the soil there previously.

Sources: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/indira-gandhi-canal-repair-accomplished-in-record-time/article34895956.ece

  1. The Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Armed Forces (CDS)

It is the head of the military staff of the Indian Armed Forces and the chief executive of the Department of Military Affairs. As the highest-ranking serving officer in the Indian Armed Forces, the CDS is the commanding officer and chairperson of the Joint Commanders and Staff Committee – making them the chief military adviser to the government of India and the Ministry of Defence. As the professional head of the armed forces, the Chief of Defence Staff is also aided by the newly formed office of Vice Chief of Defence Staff, the nation’s second highest ranking military officer, and the three chiefs of staff of the army, navy and air force, who are the leaders of each respective branch. The first and current CDS is General Bipin Rawat, who took office on 1 January 2020.

The position was first officially suggested in 1999 following the Kargil War through the recommendations of the Kargil Review Committee.  The Defence Secretary, a civil servant, remains as the main defence adviser, whilst the CDS has been sanctioned the role of being the main military adviser, acting as the single-point military adviser to the government and Defence Minister

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/chief-of-defence-staff-bipin-rawat-to-chair-key-meet-on-theatre-commands-on-tuesday/article34894147.ece

  1. 3. Green Hydrogen Initiative

India is all set to host a summit on Green Hydrogen initiatives involving the BRICS nations. The prestigious event offers a platform to share their respective Green Hydrogen initiatives and views on to take it to the next level in their own countries. Hydrogen when produced by electrolysis using renewable energy is known as Green Hydrogen which has no carbon footprint. This gives Hydrogen the edge over other fuels to unlock various avenues of green usage. However, challenges lie in terms of technology, efficiency, financial viability and scaling up

Green hydrogen has innumerable applications. Green Chemicals like ammonia and methanol can directly be utilized in existing applications like fertilizers, mobility, power, chemicals, shipping etc. Green Hydrogen blending up to 10% may be adopted in CGD networks to gain widespread acceptance.  Further scaling up with greening of hard to abate sectors like steel and cement through hydrogen is  to be explored. Many countries have brought out their strategies and defined targets and roadmaps based on their resources and strengths.

Sources : https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=1728743

  1. Kunduz

It is a city in northern Afghanistan, which serves as the capital of Kunduz Province. It is largest city in the northeastern section of the country. Kunduz is located in the historical Tokharistan region of Bactria, near the confluence of the Kunduz River with the Khanabad River. Kunduz is linked by highways with Kabul to the south, Mazar-i-Sharif to the west, and Badakhshan to the east. Kunduz is also linked with Dushanbe in Tajikistan to the north, via the Afghan dry port of Sherkhan Bandar.

Kunduz is located at a strategic location, on the main north–south highway linking Kabul to Tajikistan, and east–west Mazar-i-Sharif to Taloqan and Fayzabad. Ethnic Pashtuns comprise the largest segment, followed by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Arabs and a few others.

Sources : https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/taliban-afghan-forces-clash-near-kunduz-city/article34894576.ece

PRELIMS QUESTIONS

  1. Consider the following statement regarding to The Indira Gandhi Canal
  2. It is on the confluence of Luni and Beas rivers
  3. It will terminates in irrigation facilities in the semi-arid areas of Punjab

Select the correct statement using code given below.

(a). 1only                                 (b) 2 only

(c). Both of them                 (d). None of the above

Answer: D

It was originally called Rajasthan Canal is the longest canal of India. It starts from the Harike Barrage at Harike, a few kilometers below the confluence of the Satluj and Beas rivers in the Indian state of Punjab and terminates in irrigation facilities in the Thar Desert in the north west of Rajasthan state. Previously known as the Rajasthan Canal, it was renamed the Indira Gandhi Canal on following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The Canal is a major step in reclaiming the Thar Desert and checking desertification of fertile areas. There is a planting programme for greening the desert in areas near the Indira Gandhi Canal which was started in 1965. This consists of the planting of shelter belts along roads and canals, blocks of plantations and sand dune stabilization. It has transformed the barren deserts of this district into fertile and good fields. Crops of mustard, cotton, and wheat now grow in this semi-arid north-western region replacing the soil there previously.

  1. Kunduz province recently in news is found in which of the following state
  2. Afghanistan
  3. Iran
  4. Iraq
  5. Syria

Answer : A

It is a city in northern Afghanistan, which serves as the capital of Kunduz Province. It is largest city in the northeastern section of the country. Kunduz is located in the historical Tokharistan region of Bactria, near the confluence of the Kunduz River with the Khanabad River. Kunduz is linked by highways with Kabul to the south, Mazar-i-Sharif to the west, and Badakhshan to the east. Kunduz is also linked with Dushanbe in Tajikistan to the north, via the Afghan dry port of Sherkhan Bandar.

Kunduz is located at a strategic location, on the main north–south highway linking Kabul to Tajikistan, and east–west Mazar-i-Sharif to Taloqan and Fayzabad. Ethnic Pashtuns comprise the largest segment, followed by Uzbeks, Tajiks, Arabs and a few others