The Hindu Editorial notes 31 Aug 2019

UPSC current affairs-

Every year RBI transfers a specified amount of surplus to the government treasury and this augments the non tax revenue of government
This year RBI transferred a huge amount of 1.76 lakh crore surplus to government and has got quite a lot of media attention
Those opposing this huge tranche of transfer are worried about the independence of RBI ,
Those who support the surplus transfer claim RBI remains as one of the overcapitalized central banks in the world and that money lies idle with RBI instead could put to use for improving economic productivity.
Hence to assess the quantum of economic capital of RBI ,RBI in consultation with government appointed Bimal Jalan expert committee (Nov 2018) ,it recommended a Cash Reserve Buffer of 5.5 to 6.5 % of RBI balance sheet to meet emergency situations as RBI remains the lender of last resort

The Jalan committee have also provided for periodic review mechanism and contingency measures
The recent surplus trasnsfer was carried out according to those recommendation
When the country is facing credit crisis and economic slowdown , the RBI surplus fund if used wisely will help to turnaround the situation ,
As a one time move ,it is wise but continued reliance over RBI surplus in the future may threaten the Independent existence of RBI

Russia's President Putin in an interview claimed that "Liberalism had become obsolete" and liberal ideas about refugees,migration and LGBTq are opposed by majority of the population
Many world leaders refuted his claim saying that whoever saying liberal democracy is obsolete are in fact denying human rights and rule of law
Liberalism broadly encompasses three definition - economic liberalism (free market) ,political liberalism (progressive , civil rights oriented) ,social liberalism(protection of minority ,lgbtq and all other placing individual choices over society)
Liberalism used to be the dominant narrative in the west since world war 2,but lately it has come under severe strain

Incidents such as Brexit,Trump's xenophobic and protectionist rhetoric ,rise of far right parties in Europe all point to a fall in liberal ideas
Many believe that mishandling of refugee crisis in Europe based on lines of liberalism has led to this change
Similar is the case with rise of anti-gay movements
Putin position is that in his country "Sovereignty trumps democracy and stability trumps human rights" and regards western style liberalism as a challenge to his form of Government.This view is also endorsed by China
No country has found the fine line between free range liberalism and state authoritarianism

Brexit ,the term denotes Britain(UK) exiting the European union, many felt Britain's sovereignty got undermined by being part of EU and so a referendum (a people's vote) was conducted in 2016 to know the people's choice
Those who wanted to leave EU won a slim majority of 52-48,the government responded triggering article 50 of Lisbon treaty which deals with withdrawal of a country from EU
The complexities around Brexit increased by Irish Backstop .Irish backstop is about a scenario When Britain leaves EU ,its border customs will be restored ,this is fine with all parts of Britain except Northern Ireland which share an open border with an independent country Republic of Ireland (an EU member) owing to its historic relations ,people living across both sides of border do no want a separation

This thorny issue came as a hurdle in negotiation of withdrawal deal between EU and UK
Theresa May the former PM tried her best to get a deal but disagreements within her own party to her deal meant her deal failed in parliament
She was succeeded by current PM Boris Johnson who resolved to solve this issue and deliver Brexit
The EU has already granted sufficient time to negotiate deal by oct 31 failing which Britain may have to depart EU without a deal ,which is seen as disruption for overall UK economy
PM Boris Johnson is keen to get Brexit done ,he recently made the queen to prorogue the parliament ,by this move he has virtually made a time crunch for people who would disagree with deal thereby putting them in a position either to fall in line with his deal or face a no deal Brexit

The mega bank merger move by FM Nirmala Sitharaman holds high significance for banking sector in India
The move to merge loss making bank with profit making ones is a good step ,this will improve the economies scale of bank as well as their balance sheet
The bank merger was recommended by Narasimham commitee in late1990s

The recent merger will be successful only if structural reforms such as government nominations of professional to bank boards instead of current practice of nominating political appointees who have little expertise in banking
Similarly Branch and staff rationalization should be carried out to ensure efficiency