APSC Mains GS’s International Relation & Security Section Study Materials & Notes
International Relation between India and Japan
International Relation between India and Israel
International Relation between India and ASEAN
International Relation between India and US
International Relation between India and China
International Relation between India and Bangladesh
Highlights of Union Budget 2018-19 - Analysis & Important points
Download Union Budget 2018-19 Highlights PDF
Union Budget is the annual report of the Government’s finances in which revenues from all sources and outlays for all activities are consolidated. It also contains estimates of the Govt’s accounts for the next fiscal year.
On 1st February 2018, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget 2018, his 5th and the last full budget of this NDA government. This budget was also special because it is the first budget after big-ticket economic reforms like the Goods and Services Tax (GST), Demonetisation, Dynamic Fuel Pricing etc.
Major Highlights
Fiscal Situation
India’s growth story
Sector-wise Analysis
Personal Tax
For Senior citizens
Corporate Tax
Custom Duty/Cess
Telecom
Textile
MSME Sector
Banking
Startups
Railways
Agriculture
Health
Infrastructure
Connecting India– Road/Air
Education
Skill Development & Training
Science & Tech
Women
Poor, backward and vulnerable section
Other Important proposals
Key Focus Areas Agriculture, Health, Education and Employment are the main focussed areas of the Union budget 2018-19.
Important Glossary
Fiscal Deficit -When the government’s non-borrowed receipts fall short of its entire expenditure, it has to borrow money form the public to meet the shortfall. The excess of total expenditure over total non-borrowed receipts is called the scal decit.
Revenue Deficit -The difference between revenue expenditure and revenue receipt is known as revenue deficit. It shows the shortfall of government’s current receipts over current expenditure.
Primary Deficit -The primary deficit is the fiscal decit minus interest payments. It tells how much of the Government’s borrowings are going towards meeting expenses other than interest payments.
Capital Budget – The Capital Budget consists of capital receipts and payments. It includes investments in shares, loans and advances granted by the central Government to State Governments, Government companies, corporations and other parties
Revenue Budget – The revenue budget consists of revenue receipts of the Government and it expenditure. Revenue receipts are divided into tax and non-tax revenue.
Tax revenues constitute taxes like income tax, corporate tax, excise, customs, service and other duties that the Government levies.
Non-tax revenue sources include interest on loans, dividend on investments.
Budget Estimates – Amount of money allocated in the Budget to any ministry or scheme for the coming financial year.
Guillotine – Parliament, unfortunately, has very limited time for scrutinising the expenditure demands of all the Ministries. So, once the prescribed period for the discussion on Demands for Grants is over, the Speaker of Lok Sabha puts all the outstanding Demands for Grants, Whether discussed or not, to the vote of the House.
Download Union Budget 2018-19 Highlights PDF
“This Right to Privacy issue came to the fore mainly due to the Aadhar enrolment drive, which requires citizens personal information including bio-metric data like iris scanning and finger prints, which resulted in controversy regarding its potential to be mis-used. As Cyber space is a vulnerable space and very prone to theft and threat, so the cyber security issue is inbuilt. Aadhar lacks any statutory back up and is executed on an executive order, which also raises many doubts and the right of privacy is being sought to relieve people from this state-run initiative.“
It refers to respecting and ensuring the privacy of the individual but it is not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. The nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in a landmark unanimous decision has declared right to privacy a fundamental right will be protected as intrinsic part of Right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the constitution of India.
Right to Privacy does not find any mention in the Constitution. This right has been picked from Article 19 and 21 which deals with right to life and liberty. In the absence of clarity, it has been defined only by a string of judgements. As early as 1954, the apex court observed in a ruling that right to privacy is not a recognised right listed under Article 19 of the Constitution.
The apex court on August 28, 2017, ruled that right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the constitution. The court also had voiced concern over the possible misuse of personal information in the public domain.
It held that privacy is a natural & inherent right available to all humans and the constitutional recognition is only to make it explicit. But the court also clarified that it is not an absolute right.
Reasonable Restrictions – It is pertinent at this juncture to note that the judges have referred to the reasonable restrictions and limitations that privacy would be subject to. The verdict also elaborated that such restriction should be based on compelling state interest and on a fair procedure that is free from arbitrariness, selective targeting or profiling.
The judgement finally reconcile Indian laws with the spirit of Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) and Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), 1966, which legally protects persons against the arbitrary interference with one’s privacy, honour and reputation, family, home and correspondence.
In the name of Right to Privacy outright stalling of Aadhar doesn’t fare well for social security programs of the government and also in its zeal to aggregate data in electronic form and target subsidies better, the government cannot ignore its responsibility to protect citizens from the perils of the cyber era. So, government initiative to use data for improving governance should be continued in tandem with protection of privacy of the citizens.
