9 August 2024

• Economy: the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the ninth consecutive time. GDP growth projection for 2024-25 remained at 7.2 per cent.
• Governance: the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2024 was in parliamentary committee. About 40 amendments were proposed. The Bill would rename the Act and allow non-Muslim members on state Waqf Boards.
• Health: India recorded 18,378 organ transplants in 2023, its highest ever. Women constitute 63 per cent of living donors despite being a minority of deceased donors.
• Infrastructure: Maharashtra approved the Wainganga-Nalganga river linking project at Rs 87,000 crore to irrigate four lakh hectares in Vidarbha.

GS area: Economy, Monetary Policy

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Reserve Bank of India voted to hold the policy repo rate at 6.5 per cent at its August 2024 meeting, the ninth consecutive hold:

• Repo rate: the rate at which the RBI lends overnight money to commercial banks. It is the primary monetary policy instrument. Raising the repo rate increases borrowing costs and reduces money supply; cutting it does the opposite.
• Standing Deposit Facility (SDF): fixed at 6.25 per cent. The SDF replaced the reverse repo rate as the floor of the interest rate corridor. Banks park excess liquidity with the RBI at this rate.
• Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) and Bank Rate: both at 6.75 per cent. These are the ceiling rates at which banks can borrow emergency funds.
• GDP projection: 7.2 per cent for 2024-25. Unchanged from the previous meeting.
• CPI inflation forecast: 4.5 per cent for 2024-25. Food prices were elevated at 5.1 per cent. Core inflation was moderate.
• MPC composition: six members. Three are RBI officials (Governor chairs). Three are external members appointed by the government. Decisions require a majority.
• Statutory target: the RBI Act mandates a CPI inflation target of 4 per cent with a tolerance band of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Breaching the 6 per cent upper band for three consecutive quarters requires the MPC to send a report to the government explaining the failure.

Static linkage: monetary policy tools, MPC structure, inflation targeting framework.

GS area: Polity, Governance, Social Justice

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill proposed approximately 40 changes to the Waqf Act 1995:

• Current scale: India has approximately 8,72,292 registered Waqf properties generating about Rs 200 crore in annual revenue. Total estimated value of Waqf assets runs into trillions of rupees.
• Proposed new name: "Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency and Development Act, 1995" (UWMEE Act).
• Waqf by use: the Bill removes the "Waqf by use" provision, which allowed oral or implied dedication of property to religious purpose without a formal deed. Critics say this would invalidate many historic mosques and dargahs where formal deeds were never created.
• Waqfnama requirement: a valid Waqfnama (formal dedication document) would be required. Properties without one could lose Waqf status.
• Board composition: the Bill allows non-Muslim members, including women, to sit on state Waqf Boards. Sections 9 and 14 are amended for gender diversity.
• Non-Muslim CEO: a state government may appoint a non-Muslim as CEO of a state Waqf Board.
• Constitutional questions: opponents argued the Bill interferes with Muslim personal law and minority rights under Articles 25-26 and 29-30.

Static linkage: minority rights, constitutional provisions for religious endowments, governance of religious trusts.

GS area: Society, Governance, Law

India achieved a record 18,378 organ transplants in 2023:

• Living donors: 9,784 women versus 5,651 men among living donors. The gap is a significant gender equity concern. Most living donations are kidneys, where a healthy person can donate one.
• Deceased donors: 844 men and only 255 women. The disparity partly reflects cultural attitudes where families more readily consent to male relatives' posthumous donation.
• Donation rate: less than one per million population. India's rate is very low compared to Spain (over 40 per million) or the United States.
• Telangana: leads in cadaveric (deceased donor) donations among Indian states.
• Governing law: the Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act 1994 (THOA) governs organ transplants, the National Organ and Tissue Transplant Organisation (NOTTO) coordinates the national registry, and state-level registries sit under SOTTOs.
• Waiting list: an estimated 1.5 to 2 lakh patients await organ transplants annually. Kidneys are the largest category.

Static linkage: public health, healthcare legislation, social equity.

• Wainganga-Nalganga river linking: Maharashtra approved the project at Rs 87,000 crore, transferring water from the Godavari River basin to the Wainganga project. It aims to irrigate four lakh hectares across 15 talukas in Vidarbha. River interlinking in India is managed under the National Water Development Agency and the National Perspective Plan (1980).
• e-Sankhyiki Portal: launched by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on National Statistics Day (29 June) 2024. Catalogues over 2,300 datasets including the Consumer Price Index and National Accounts Statistics. Provides a single government data access point.
• Tribo-Electric Nanogenerator (TENG): developed by IIT Indore in footwear format. Converts the mechanical energy of walking into electricity. Powers small sensors and incorporates GPS and RFID tracking. Applications include military, athletic and industrial monitoring.
• Lake Turkana: Africa's fourth-largest lake and the world's largest desert lake. Located in the Omo-Turkana basin spanning Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda. UNESCO and WFP conducted its first comprehensive survey in 50 years. The greenish-blue lake has a high fish potential that remains underutilised.