FUTURE TALKS

Protein that prevents spread of cancer cells in liver discovered

2018-03-28T11:46:00.001-07:00

Context

Researchers have discovered a new protein that prevents the uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells in the liver.
The protein, called LHPP, can serve as a biomarker for the diagnosis and prognosis of liver cancer

Details

The researchers show that the loss of LHPP promotes tumour growth and reduces the chance of survival of cancer patients.
The incidence of liver cancer, also known as hepatocellular carcinoma, is steadily increasing
Hepatocellular carcinoma is usually diagnosed at a very late stage when the liver is already severely damaged and hence overall prognosis is poor.
Detection of the anti-cancer protein LHPP as a biomarker may allow clinicians to provide better treatment options.

Markets go BEARISH!

2018-02-07T21:39:00.001-08:00

A plunge in US stocks on Monday cut the fortunes of the world's 500 richest people by $114 billion. The US Dow suffered its deepest fall in history, erasing all its 2018 gains. The BSE Sensex cracked below the 34,000 - mark by plunging about 1,275 points, or 3.6 per cent in opening trade.

WHY INDIAN MARKETS TUMBLED?

Market sentiment took a beating following sharp losses in other Asian markets which was driven by a record- loss on Wall Street.
Inversors also turned cautious, ahead of the RBI policy meet this week as they felt that repo rate might be increased amid inflation concerns. Repo rate is the rate at which the central bank lends short-term money to commercial banks.
The rupee depreciating by 29 paise to 64.36 against dollar too dampened the sentiment.

India’s de-hyphenated policy

2018-02-06T12:24:00.001-08:00

Context

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Plans to go on a tri-nation trip covering Palestine, Oman and the UAE.
It is going to be a continuation of an orchestrated re-visit of India’s longstanding policies on West Asia.

How is it managed?

Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel, breaking a decades-long self-inflicted embargo of Indian foreign policy.
Modi also hosted Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in a balancing act to reaffirm India’s commitments towards the cause of the Palestinians, a historic stance that has stood the test of time and survived multiple governments.

India’s interests and ambitions in West Asia are protected via a web of diplomacy

Indian engagement revolves around protecting a demographic base of more than seven million of the country’s citizens working in the region, responsible for sending over $60 billion in remittances every year into the Indian economy
It largely steers clear of taking sides in the political and sectarian quagmire that regularly engulfs the region

So as India moves towards becoming a larger player in global politics and economics, these pre-existing policies need review, and de-hyphenating Israel and Palestine was due.

So how will this de-hyphenation help?

Modi’s visit to Ramallah is important not only to reaffirm his own government’s commitment towards a legacy policy, but also to re-establish to the Palestinians and, perhaps more importantly to the Arab states in the region that India does value the relationship of Arab and Palestine.
From an Indian point of view, its policies towards Israel and Palestine are shifting from mere symbolism towards one driven by substantial outcomes for its interests on a global level.�
- India went against the US in a vote at the UN to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, with New Delhi backing its decision by highlighting that its views on the issue are independent and do not coincide with anyone else.
On the other side of the spectrum, it also pulled up Ramallah when the Palestinian ambassador to Pakistan was photographed sharing the stage with terrorist Hafiz Saeed, forcing Ramallah to recall their diplomat.

Israel realizes this fact that India has to maintain a certain posture regarding Palestine, and the same is accepted by the Palestinians with regard to India’s developing relations with Israel.

Issue Area

The political history of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Hamas and its military wing the al-Qassam Brigades today would stand at uncomfortable odds with India’s global stance against the idea of distinguishing between good terrorism and bad terrorism, specifically when the leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniya, has now made it to the US blacklist of global terrorists.
This is despite India seeing “high legitimacy” of an elected Palestinian government, even if led by actors such as Hamas.

However this de-hyphenation does not delegitimize New Delhi-Ramallah relations—India’s former president Pranab Mukherjee, in fact, visited both Israel and Palestine in 2015—and is aimed at maximizing the advantages of the unique power-play in the larger West Asian region and to link Israel directly with India’s national interests.

Long-Term Capital Gains.

2018-02-06T12:15:00.001-08:00

LTCG or long-term capital gains refer to the gains made on any class of asset held for a particular period of time. In case of equity shares, it refers to the gains made on stocks held for more than one year.
In other words, if the shares are bought and held for more than a year before selling, then the gains, if any, on the said sale are referred to as long term capital gains or LTCG.

Why is LTCG tax in the news?

The Centre’s decision to bring back the long-term capital gains tax (LTCG) on equities, which was scrapped in 2004-05
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley re-introduced LTCG tax on equity shares. Investors have to pay 10% LTCG tax on gains exceeding ₹one lakh on the sale of shares or equity mutual funds held for more than one year.
Previously, Short-Term Capital Gains (STCG) tax of 15% was levied.

Advantages

One, it corrects, somewhat, the prevailing imbalance on market investments because though investment instruments are taxed gains from holding shares for long are not. Even short-term capital gains – money made by selling shares after holding for less than a year – are taxed at 15%.
Two, investors who park wealth in the stock markets would be encourage to deploy the capital in ways that are more economically productive, say, in manufacturing activities.
Three, it makes the government seem a little less pro-rich, little more benevolent towards the no-so-rich as much of the capital gains are collected by corporates, not individuals.

Issues

The introduction of LTCG tax can only increase the cost of trading stocks at a time when various market participants have been highlighting the ‘export of capital’ to other countries due to lower transaction costs in those nations.
It will hit the average middle class investor. This might serve to improve liquidity in Indian markets and add to the government’s revenue, it is also likely to discourage to some extent the growing culture of investing in equities for the long run
The Securities Transaction Tax (STT), which was introduced in lieu of the LTCG in 2004 and penalises the buying of stocks for purposes other than just intra-day trading, has been left untouched by the government.
The double whammy of the STT and LTCG will further privilege short-term trading in stocks over long-term investment. Being the only country in the world to impose both the STT and LTCG, India is also likely to become a little less attractive to foreign investors when compared to its peers.

Indians don’t want free toilets, they want sewage systems.

2018-02-06T12:06:00.002-08:00

Stats

India has far higher levels of open defecation than other countries of the same GDP (gross domestic product) per capita.
For example, India has a higher GDP per capita than Bangladesh, but in Bangladesh only 8.4% households defecate in the open, compared to 55% in India.

Basic latrines are not that expensive, and people in countries far poorer than India build inexpensive latrines to avoid defecating in the open. Typically, as nations get wealthier, open defecation decreases. Despite increases in GDP per capita, and increase in latrine availability through the SBA, India has witnessed little decrease in open defecation.

Why do Indians, even with accessible toilets, go in the open?

The latrines provided by governments are often used for storage, washing clothes, and as play areas—everything except the intended use.

The key reason for this is that basic latrines that need to be emptied out manually or pumped by simple machines are unacceptable to higher caste Hindus.
It is considered polluting to the individual and the home, and historically associated with untouchability.

Solutions

Indian policymakers need to rethink the solution to this problem. It is not just a matter of access but a problem of perceptions of pollution, ritual purity, and caste.

India needs to change perceptions of ritual purity through education and awareness in rural areas.
To change the SBA from a scheme providing free toilets, to one encouraging and enabling local governments to construct sewage systems.

So if there is a functional sewage system, it is relatively low cost for households to build a toilet in every home that is connected to the sewage system.

Why is it difficult to build Sewage System?

It takes years to build sewage systems, and local politicians face all the costs upfront, and the benefits are far in the future.
Disgruntled citizens and voters complain about the digging of neighbourhoods for years, causing much nuisance to their daily lives

So the government needs to rethink the solution to the problem of open defecation and focus on providing public goods like sewage systems instead of free toilets.

When two adults have mutual consent others cannot interfere.

2018-02-06T11:57:00.001-08:00

MP's salaries to be revised automatically after every five years

2018-02-03T12:15:00.001-08:00

Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said that their salaries will be automatically revised every five years indexed to inflation.
He also said that the government would bring in a new policy on salaries of lawmakers, effective April 1.

Under the present system, a Parliamentary committee having members from both Houses of Parliament makes its recommendations on the salaries and allowances of MP's and the government takes appropriate decision and brings an amendment bill. Such amendment proposals are usually approved with consensus in parliament.

Union Budget 2018

2018-02-03T11:04:00.000-08:00

Senior Citizens welfare in Budget

An effort would be made to ease the cash flows of senior citizens that are largely dependent on interest income. The exemption limit on interest income on bank and post office has been raised from ₹10,000 to ₹50,000 a year.
The deduction available for health insurance premium and medical expenditure has been raised from ₹30,000 to ₹50,000.
Deductions for medical expenditure on certain critical illness have been hiked to ₹1 lakh for all senior citizens, up from the prevailing levels of ₹60,000 for senior citizens and ₹80,000 for very senior citizens.
While these concessions are worth ₹4,000 crore, the government also extended the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana up to March 2020, which assures an 8% return, and raised the investment cap from ₹7.5 lakh to ₹15 lakh.