The Problems with Westphalian Nation-State System

-
Image
We all associate ourselves with various identities such as Indians, Chinese, Pakistani, Americans, Canadians, French, British and much more. Why do you think we all associate with all these more? Are there any other identities which people associate with?  The identities which I mentioned before are relatively new compared to other identities such as religion, language, caste, and various other identities. It is not to say that people never had such feelings towards nations or the state. But the idea of loyalty and love for the motherland was very important which offset various other identities. The question we are arriving at is what is the motherland, who made and how it formed.  What we refer to today as a Nation or Country refers to what we know in political science as a Nation-State. Today almost all the countries we know are categorised Nation-States and some even as State-Nations. International Relations and Political Science suggest that states are the most important a...
Post a Comment

Takeaways from Kerala Budget 2024

-

The budget speech was held on 5th April by the Financial Minister of Kerala K N Balagopal in the Kerala Legislative Assembly. The Economic Review report was presented in the Assembly on February 2, 2024. Mr Balagopal’s third Budget after taking over as Kerala’s Finance Minister.

National Budget Article 


Major Announcements from the Budget Speech 

  1. GSDP Growth rate- 2022-2023- 6.6% 
  2. Revenue Deficit- ₹27,846 crore- 2.4%
  3. Revenue- ₹1,38,655 crore
  4. Expenditure- ₹1,84,327 crore- 3.4%
  5. Fiscal Deficit- ₹44,529 crore
  6. Longest Budget speech 
  7. Political points 
  8. Building a Nava Keralam- New Kerala 
  9. "Kerala will not be shattered, Kerala will not tire, Kerala cannot be destroyed"
  10. Ignorance of the Central Government to the state 
  11. LSG Government- ₹8000 crore
  12. Infrastructure Sector- ₹34,530 crore
  13. Increase in Tax Revenue- ₹7804 crore
  14. Increase in Non-Tax Revenue- ₹1,503 crore
  15. Transport Infrastructure- ₹1,976.04 crore 
  16.  Capital Investment- ₹34,530 crore
Major Takeaways 
  • Financial Crisis taking centre stage Centre 
  • Centre-State conflicts on debt and borrowing
  • Attract ₹3 lakh crore worth of investment 
  • Kozhikode and Trivandrum light metro to be built 
  • Proceed with the K-Rail Silverline Project 
  • More support for the Kochi and Vizhinjam Project 
  • Vizhinjam port will begin functioning in May and will be transformed into a transport hub
  • River sand mining to be allowed in the state
  • Regulation of the Lottery System 
  • ₹5 lakh crore under LIFE Mission 
  • Special Packages for Wayanad, Idukki and Kasargod 
  • Make Kerala the Medical hub 
  • Masters graduates in Digital University can study for PhD at Oxford University 
  • 50 new branches for KSFE 
  • ₹73 crore Minority Welfare
  • ₹35 crore for Forward Communities 
  • ₹1000 crore for Nava Kerala Sadas
  • 2502.23 for Healthcare 
  • Keralayam to be continued 
  • Focus on privatisation 
  • Discontinuation of Contributory Pension 
  • ₹773.09 for MSMEs
  • ₹2,979.4 crore for Scheduled Caste sub-schemes 
  • ₹859.5 crore for Scheduled Caste Development
  • ₹170 crore for Art and Culture 
  • ₹265 crore for Kudumbashree mission

Increase in Cost 

  • Stamp Duty 
  • Electricity Tariff 
  • Foreign Liquor made in India 
  • Court Fees 
  • Land Tax 
Decrease in Cost 
  • Tourist Bus registration

Transportation and Urban Infrastructure 

  1. Urban Development Schemes- ₹961.14 crore
  2. Vizhinam Project 
  3. Kochi Port Development 
  4. 9 crore for Fishing ports 
  5. Kozhikode and Trivandrum light metro 
  6. K-Rail Silverline Project 
  7. ₹27.6 for Sabarimala Master Plan
  8. v100 crore for the Smart City Project 
  9. ₹57 cr was allocated for addressing the flooding situation in Alappuzha 
  10. ₹293 crore for Kochi Metro 
  11. Development of industrial corridors and IT and IT-enabled services (ITES)
Education 
  1. ₹23.51 crore for Kerala Digital University
  2. ₹1,736.63 crore for Public Education
  3. ₹456.71 crore for Higher Education 
Science, Technology and IT 
  1. ₹507.14 crore 
  2. ₹324 crore for Kinfra
  3. ₹6 crore for Startup Initiative 
  4. 2000 WiFi Hotspots 
  5. ₹35 crore for Life Science Parks
  6. ₹150.26 crore allocated for the modernization of the police

Criticisms 
Principal opposition party Congress criticised the budget as far-fetched and away from reality. They also flayed the ruling party for making it too political than substantial. BJP took shots at the budget and government for trying to borrow more just for its political mileage and wasteful expenditure. 

Analysis 
We can see a massive push for infrastructure, development, transportation etc. despite the financial crisis and the government trying to reduce its expenditure. A mix of old projects and new projects also got an elaborate mention. Also, there is enough push for education, agriculture, environment, IT, health and other sectors. Overall a lot of sectors were touched despite the challenge.  The state is still under the grip of cash crunch and borrowings. Unlike previous budgets, there is less focus on KIIFB. It was a politically charged budget with attacks on the central government and pushing the idea of Nava Keralam which can be compared with Amrit Kaal. 
 
This is an important push for the modernisation of education, infrastructure and transportation in recent years which is very different from classical LDF regime budgets. The controversial K-Rail project received a mention, but not much was said on that which will create a lot of confusion. IT sector and startups will get a big boost and can help reduce unemployment and reduce emmigration. Addressing flooding and coastal region challenges was focused on fighting climatic and environmental problems. An increase in court fees and stamp duty may stop people from using judicial services. Social welfare is not the core of the budget anymore, unlike typical LDF budgets. Overall it was a deviation from classical communism just like last year. 

Credits- Mathrubhumi, Asianet, TOI, Onmanorama, Manorama Online

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Do read out old posts and go to Medium and Vocal to read more posts. 

Follow us 



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

European Refugee Crisis- A Podcast

-
Image
Greetings to all listeners!! Human Rights have been the hot topic of the previous decade. It will continue to be a hot topic as we go ahead. But the main reason Human Rights came into the mainstream discussion was Refugee Crisis. It is not a new concept, but found relevance in the last decade due to a series of events starting from the Syrian Civil War in 2011, then war against terror in Iraq, Libya, Yemen, parts of Africa etc. Although the debate of Refugee crisis grabbed global attention only after it reached Europe. The first massive refugee crisis was soon after World War, after the massive destruction it created throughout Europe. That was when the 1951 Refugee Convention came into effect, later there was the 1967 Geneva Protocol. Now, we have seen another refugee crisis in Europe were refugees from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Africa etc came to the doorstep of Europe knocking the doors of the EU. Today we are decoding the events leading to that, how Europe reacted, it's...
Read more

Understanding the boycott of France by Islamic countries and the recent incidents in France and how it leaves us with countless lessons for us to think about

-
Image
//Islamic Countries referred here are the states of Organisation of Islamic Nations (OIC). This is purely factual and meant for education/awareness and not for hurting individual religious or political sentiments.//  On October 2nd, French President Emanuel Macron had informed that he will strengthen the Separation of Church and the State Law in France which was established in 1905. The French Secularism law is also known as  laïcité . The most controversial part of his speech was "Islamic Separatism" in France. Turkey, which also follows the same laws of secularism, but is now lead by an Islamic Nationalist dictatorial leader Erdogan was the first and strongest critic of these statements. Similar reactions followed in Bangladesh, Iran, Pakistan, etc where is freedom and democracy while the Arab states still continued the silence.  Recent incidents in France Was Macron right in making these statements? Everyone is divided over it. France is a country that supports ab...
Read more

Political Events to Watch for In 2024

-
Image
2023 ended with a hope for another year of normalcy. Everyone expects 2024 to be as good as 2023. Politically speaking, 2024 will be one of the most important years for world politics. Hence, this year is something that you should be surely watching this year. 2024 will have more elections than any year to date. Over 7 out of 10 most populous countries in the world are heading for polls this year. India, the most populous one, will have a two-month-long election process in the summer. Elections in India are like festivals.  CREDITS- WIKI More than 3 Billion voters will select their leaders which will affect the population of more than 4 Billion people. This is more than half the world that is heading for polls. It is not just full democracies electing but even semi-democracies, hybrid regimes and much more. Besides elections, there are two major conflicts happening- the Russia-Ukraine War and the Israel-Hamas conflict. There are other minor issues affecting people’s lives as well s...
Read more