Current Affairs of 17th January

1. The death of Hyderabad’s last nizam, Mukarram Jah Bahadur.

Last Nizam of Hyderabad Dies Mukarram Jah Bahadur, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, died on Saturday night in Turkey. He will be buried in the family vault in the courtyard of the Mecca Masjid. Representatives of the Nizam Trust supervised the preparation of the vault in which other members of the Nizam family, who ruled Hyderabad beginning in 1724, were buried.

 

Mukarram Jah Bahadur’s Biography: 

 

The last Nizam of Hyderabad Mukarram Jah, also known as Nawab Mir Barket Ali Khan Walashan Mukarram Jah Bahadur, was connected to two of the most illustrious dynasties in Muslim history.

 

His mother, Durrushehvar, was the only child of Abdul Majid, the last Caliph of Islam, who was driven out of his country by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk after the Caliphate was abolished.

Azam Jah, Nizam Mir Osman Ali Khan’s oldest son, was his father. On September 18, 1948, his kingdom merged with India.

 

Mukarram Jah became Nizam VIII following the inauguration ceremony on April 6, 1967, long after the dominion was combined with India and the family had only a few scattered properties remaining. This was due to the pulls and demands that came from the enormous family, relatives, and entourage of servants.

In February 1967, just a few weeks earlier, his grandpa, Nizam Osman Ali Khan, passed away.

 

Personal Property of the Last Nizam of Hyderabad Following Police Action The family only owns the Chowmahalla and Falaknuma. The Indian government acknowledged Nizam’s ownership of three palaces and jewellery following the Police Action. The Falaknuma is now a luxury palace resort run by the Taj Group, while the Chowmahalla is a ticketed heritage monument with some areas, like the library, under the family’s control. The Nazri Bagh palace, where Nizam Osman Ali Khan spent his final days, has also been purchased by real estate agents.

 

In a statement, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao expressed his condolences to the Mukarram Jah family, who lost a loved one on Saturday night in Istanbul. He also announced a state funeral. The Chief Minister has instructed Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari to perform Mukarram Jah’s final rites with full State honours in honour of his dedication to the disadvantaged and in need in the fields of education and healthcare as the Nizams’ successor.

 

Government Advisor A.K. Khan has been given the task of determining the funeral date and location in accordance with Mukarram Jah’s family’s wishes once the body arrives in Hyderabad.

 

2. According to the RBI, states’ gross fiscal deficits will decrease in 2022 and 2023.

 

According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the consolidated gross fiscal deficit to gross domestic product ratio is expected to decrease from 4.1% in the previous year to 3.4% in 2022-23, indicating that state finances will improve. As a result of a broad-based economic recovery and the resulting high revenue collections, the states’ fiscal health has improved from a sharp decline in 2020-21 caused by the pandemic. Due to rising expenses and limited revenue growth during the pandemic, states’ finances were under pressure.

 

An Advance in the Right Direction:

 

States’ debt is expected to fall from 31.1 per cent of GDP in 2020–21 to 29.5 per cent in 2022–23, but it is still higher than the 20 per cent the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Review Committee recommended in 2018. 

 

Long-Term Capital Expenditure Buffer Fund:

When revenue collection is strong, the central bank advised governments to establish a fund for longer-term expenditures.

 

The central bank added that in good times, it might be worthwhile to think about creating a CAPEX buffer fund to smooth and maintain expenditure quality and flow throughout the economic cycle.

 

The report found that state capital spending only increased by 0.9% between April and October of the previous year, despite a significant increase in federal government capital expenditures, which have an effect on economic growth.

 

In the current fiscal year, states are spending more money on current expenses like wages, interest, and subsidies than they are spending on infrastructure projects that will last longer.

 

It also said that switching to renewable energy and increasing funding for infrastructure, health, education, and other areas can help increase production capacity in the future. While revenue flows are strong, it is prudent to think about setting up a CAPEX buffer fund.

 

In order for states to reap the full benefits of the spillover effects of state CAPEX across the nation, the report added that states must also encourage and facilitate increased interstate trade and businesses.

 

In addition, it stated that the state had a net market borrowing of Rs 3.02 lakh crore as of the end of December 2022. Between January and March of 2023, they are expected to raise Rs 3.41 lakh crore (gross).

 

The actual market borrowings of states were significantly lower than the indicative calendar during the first nine months of this fiscal year. The amount of monthly tax devolution, the release of the pending GST compensation, the distribution of interest-free capital expenditure loans to states, and actual capital spending are likely to have an impact on the amount of issuance by states for the remainder of the year.

 

State governments may continue to focus on creating a favourable environment for the private sector to thrive in order to attract private investment.

 

Act on Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management, or FRBM:

 

The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act of 2003 mandates that the Indian government establish monetary limits for the economy. It also lowers the rate of fiscal deficit and helps to improve the management of public funds. An escape clause can also be used in times of disaster or national security under the FRBM Act. The government may deviate from its intended annual deficit in such instances.

 

Important aspects of the FRBM Act:

 

• Every year, the FRBM is required to maintain and include items in a union budget document presented to parliament.

 

• Specifications of Fiscal Policy Strategy Statement, Specifications of Macroeconomic Framework Statement, and Specifications of Medium Term Fiscal Policy Statement are documents that the government should keep in addition to the budget documents.

 

• In the statement of medium-term fiscal policy, it was suggested that all four fiscal indices—revenue deficit as a percentage of GDP, fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP, tax revenue as a percentage of GDP, and total remaining due as a percentage of GDP—be displayed.

 

3. China experiences its first population decline since 1961.

 

China’s population fell for the first time in six decades last year, a historic turn that is expected to signal the beginning of a long period of citizen population decline with significant repercussions for the country’s economy. Predictions that India will become the world’s most populous nation this year are supported by the worst drop since the Great Famine in 1961. At the end of 2022, the population had decreased by approximately 850,000 to 1.41175 billion. UN experts predict that China’s population will fall by 109 million people by 2050, more than three times as much as they predicted in 2019.

 

More Details About the Change:

 

The birth rate in the previous year, which was 6.77 births for every 1,000 people, was the lowest on record, falling from 7.52 births in 2021. In addition, the numbers recorded the highest death rate since 1974, with 7.37 deaths per 1000 people compared to 7.18 deaths per 1000 people in 2021.

 

The Autocratic Decisions’ Result:

 

China’s one-child policy, which was in place from 1980 to 2015, as well as the skyrocketing cost of education, have discouraged many Chinese from having more than one child or any at all, contributing to a significant portion of the demographic decline.

 

According to population experts, Beijing’s stringent zero-COVID policies, which were in place for three years, have further harmed the grim demographic outlook. According to researchers, Beijing’s estimate of 60,000 COVID deaths over the weekend was probably less than a tenth of the actual numbers. Based on current infection rates of approximately 65% of the population, their modelling predicted between 1.2 and 1.6 million COVID deaths by 2023’s end.

 

4. MFIs, or microfinance institutions, will lead India’s economic growth.

 

The Association of Microfinance Institutions of India and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) conducted a study that also highlighted the following:

 

In recent years, about 6 crore borrowers from low-income households received credit from MFIs.

 

MFIs face the following problems: a variety of customer segments, including farmers, vendors, and laborers in small farms; dependence on physical interactions, among other things.

 

Microfinance is a type of financial service that gives low- and middle-class households small loans and other financial services.

 

The Malegam Committee of 2011 was instrumental in establishing microfinance as an actual asset class.

 

India’s microfinance delivery model includes:

 

scheduled commercial banks lend money to business correspondents (BCs) and self-help groups, as well as directly.

 

Banking cooperatives

 

Financial institutions were other than banks (NBFCs).

MFIs are registered in various forms, including NBFCs.

 

Significance:

 

• Empowerment of women by giving credit to women directly, raising their status in their families, communities, and society as a whole.

 

• Credit given to the poor without the need for collateral.

 

• Encourage employment and financial inclusion.

 

Challenges: Borrowers’ excessive debt, a comparable high-interest rate, and excessive reliance on commercial banks for funding availability

 

5. According to Chairman IWAI, India wants 35 million dollars in investments by 2047 to create a waterways network.

 

According to the Chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), the plan will include building waterways and jetties to make Indian rivers more navigable.

 

India has a lot of inland waterways in the form of rivers, canals, backwaters, and creeks. 

 

These waterways could help supplement overcrowded railways and crowded roads.

 

Under the National Waterways Act of 2016, 111 waterways have been designated as 

National Waterways (NWs) to encourage Inland Water Transport (IWT).

 

13 NWs are currently operational.

 

Advantages of IWT: 

 

eco-friendly, less expensive (less fuel used per tonne-kilometre), have better connections to the hinterland, need less upkeep, etc.

 

Obstacles encountered in IWT: 

 

Inadequate water channel depth, excessive siltation, low technology adaption, and other factors contribute to decreased water flow.

 

Other initiatives PANI, which stands for “Portal for Asset & Navigation Information,” provides comprehensive data on numerous waterways.

 

A web-based portal for all NWs’ cargo and cruise movement data is the CAR-D (Cargo Data) Portal.

 

Service for Ro-Ro and Ro-Pax began in various NWs.

 

In a related development, the Prime Minister launched the World’s Longest River Cruise, the MV Ganga Vilas, from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, to Dibrugarh, Assam, via Bangladesh, with the intention of increasing river cruise tourism.