The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
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The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
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1) On Substance across the Arabian Sea
Even by its volatile standards, our Southwest Asian sub-region has lately
been unusually turbulent, as reflected in issues ranging from India-
Pakistan tensions to the approaching denouements of crises in Yemen,
Syria and Afghanistan.
The oil market, too, has been inclement. Against this disorderly
context, it is no small wonder that India-Saudi Arabia relations have not
only remained steady, but kept their positive trajectory.
Acknowledging core interests: Politically, New Delhi and Riyadh
acknowledged each other’s core interests and accommodated them.
Thus, Saudi Arabia showed an “understanding” of recent Indian
actions in Jammu and Kashmir and India “strongly condemned” the
various attacks on Saudi civilian facilities.
Their bilateral defence, security and anti-terror cooperation has
intensified and the first naval exercise is to be held soon.
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The Riyadh Summit acquired added importance as it coincidentally
preceded two domestic developments in India with considerable traction
in the Islamic world: the conversion of Jammu and Kashmir into two
Union Territories that happened on Thursday and the Supreme Court
verdict on the Ayodhya dispute.
Despite vigorous efforts, the bilateral commercial and economic ties
have still remained range-bound. Trade has drifted downwards largely
due to lower crude prices.
According to the latest Indian data, the bilateral trade in the first nine
months of 2019 stood at $22,416 million, having fallen by 9.2% over the
corresponding figure in 2018.
It was 5:1 in kingdom’s favour and was dominated by the traditional
commodities, revealing the need for greater Indian export promotion
efforts.
The Saudi investment in India, too, remains far below potential. The
kingdom’s cumulative investments in India are only $229 million, or
0.05% of the total inbound FDI.
Though the kingdom’s Indian community has come down marginally to
2.6 million, they, nevertheless, are still the largest foreign community
and their annual homeward remittances remain steady at $11 billion.
There is growing room for optimism, however. The kingdom’s Vision
2030, a strategic document, lists eight major partner countries including
India, the world’s third largest oil importer.
Saudi Aramco is to be one of the two strategic partners in the proposed
$44 billion, 1.2 mbpd PSU refineries at Raigarh on India’s west coast. It
is also to acquire a fifth of the Reliance refinery at Jamnagar and to
participate in India’s Strategic Petroleum Reserves.
If realised, these investments could total nearly $30 billion, catapulting
the kingdom to fourth position among countries investing in India.
Earlier, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had committed
to investing $100 billion in India.
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November 2019
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As the 12 bilateral documents signed in Riyadh Summit show, India and
Saudi Arabia have already commenced leveraging opportunities across a
vast eco-space, from energy to agriculture and from fintech to skilling.
New bilateral council: Setting up of a bilateral Strategic Partnership
Council (SPC) to be co-chaired by the Indian Prime Minister and the
Saudi Crown Prince is a defining development.
Given the centralised nature of executive at both ends, it would, hopefully,
expedite the decision-making process. The SPC would be a permanent
bilateral platform with two verticals jointly serviced by the two
Foreign and Trade & Industry Ministries.
Among the potential areas for next stage of bilateral cooperation could be
greater bilateral synergy in Indian infrastructure, agriculture, start-ups,
skilling and IT.
Shifting some labour-intensive establishments from Saudi Arabia to
India would serve the respective national priorities by reducing the
kingdom’s expatriate population and boosting ‘Make in India’.
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2) On deciphering Greta’s climate message
She is being looked at as an emotionally charged icon of environmental
struggles, but there is more to Greta Thunberg’s point of view than
mere emotion and passionate commitment.
If we decipher all the issues raised in her brief presentation at the UN
General Assembly, we can notice how it expands the familiar contours of
the discussion over climate change.
Some of the issues she raised were a regular feature in many debates
over natural resources, but there were other, new issues as well.
One well-recognised issue is the direct connection between economic
growth and the state of the environment. Devotees of speedy and high
economic growth have been indifferent to the limits that nature imposes on
the theoretical scope of growth.
Nearly half a century has passed since the idea of ‘limits to growth’
was recognised and proposed as a ground for change in development
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November 2019
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policies. Apparently, political leaders and the civil servants who serve them
do not feel constrained by that idea.
The younger ones may not be acquainted with the 1972 report wherein the
paradox of economic development was examined.
Victims of indifference (speech): “All you can talk about is money and
fairy tales of economic growth,” Ms. Thunberg told her audience at the
UN headquarters in New York.
She accused world leaders of ignoring or deliberately looking away
from the responsibility they have towards the young today and in the
future.
Her argument would have pleased Mahatma Gandhi. He too thought
that economics concerned solely with wealth undermines ethical
responsibilities. It ignores justice as a primary human yearning and, in
today’s terminology, a right.
This was also the underlying theme of Ms. Thunberg’s presentation to the
leaders and representatives of different countries. She presented herself as
a victim of their indifference to climate change. “You have stolen my
childhood with your empty words,” she said.
As an activist-teenager, she had reasons to feel that way. Her campaign on
climate change had cost her more than just school attendance.
Being young implies being part of a future. Ms. Thunberg was referring to
the collective future of those who are young today and also to future
generations.
These futures are bleak - not in the context in which economic slowdown
affect prospects of prosperity and comfort. Ms. Thunberg’s focus was on
climate change, a composite idea that imparts bleakness to everybody’s
future.
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November 2019
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She suggested that higher income or status would not help to avoid the
consequences of climate change. That is an important point, and not
everyone today is convinced about its correctness.
Not only the richer nations, but also the richer people in every nation
continue to believe that they can buy relief and escape from the
consequences of climate change for their progeny.
Childhoods stymied: Parents invest huge amounts of money in their
children’s education to make sure that they lead better lives. So do
nations. Their leaders talk eloquently about the younger generation taking
the nation forward.
It is easy to miss her message or misconstrue it because her
presentation was strident. While she was so visibly emotional during her
brief speech, her message was that we must stop being emotional about our
children.
Although she was addressing an audience of political leaders, she wanted
all of us to recognise and accept the bitter truth that we - and those who
represent us -have compromised the future of our children.
It is not the distant generations that will face the consequences of
climate change. No, the crisis is already upon us. It will unfold in the
lives of those who are growing up today.
The steps currently under consideration for containing the
consequences of climate change are far too inadequate to cope with the
crisis. And even these modest steps are being taken with great
reluctance, which proves Ms. Thunberg’s point was that we are not
mentally ready to accept the challenge.
It is the adults and older people today who might feel rattled by Ms.
Thunberg’s speech. When she spoke in the UN General Assembly, many
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November 2019
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in the audience could be heard laughing. They saw her more as a
spectacle than as a real person. They were accustomed to routine
expressions of concern about climate change.
Many such leaders are quite pleased with the efforts by the UN and its
various bodies to pursue the policies related to sustainable
development. They find long, comfortable targets for reduction of carbon
emissions quite sufficient and satisfactory.
We can hardly imagine that Ms. Thunberg woke them up. If that were
possible, we wouldn’t be where we are in our encounter with nature’s fury
for which we have coined the euphemism of ‘climate change’.
3) On core sector output: From bad to worse
Hopes of a quick turnaround in the economy have turned out to be
quite premature in light of the latest set of economic data released on
Friday.
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November 2019
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The Commerce and Industry Ministry reported that core sector
output, which is measured by tracking the performance of eight major
industries including cement, steel, and crude oil, contracted by a sharp
5.2% in September.
This is its worst fall in 14 years. Seven out of the eight core industries
witnessed a contraction, with the coal sector being the worst hit,
shrinking by over 20%.
The latest figures are in stark contrast to core sector growth of 4.3%
reported during the same month last year. Given that core
sector contraction was only 0.5% in August, the recent trend points
towards a worsening of the economic situation.
At the moment, it seems quite likely that gloomy core sector performance
will affect GDP growth in the second quarter as well as the full financial
year.
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November 2019
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It is worth noting that while a few high-frequency data points had shown
some signs of a nascent revival in the economy in September, most still
remain mired in a slump.
Plus, the present contraction in the core sector, which represents the
capital base of the economy, suggests that the negative effects of the fall
in consumption are spreading across the entire production chain.
In further bad news, data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian
Economy showed that unemployment in October rose to a three-year
high of 8.5% in October.
This (unemployment) marks a sharp jump from 7.2% in September. If
growth fails to pick up, the unemployment scene could get ugly and
further contribute to the demand slowdown.
What is even more worrying is the fact that the current slowdown
comes in the midst of a spree of aggressive rate cuts amounting to 135
basis points by the Reserve Bank of India since February this year.
Lending in the festival season has picked up with banks extending over
₹1 lakh crore in the period between mid-September and mid-
October. Yet, growth in credit this financial year till now is a flat 0.2%
only.
Festival season sales have shown an uptick with increase in sales of
automobiles and also consumer durables. But it remains to be seen if this
trend sustains.
The government at the Centre is clearly in an unenviable position with
very little fiscal leeway to boost growth by increasing its
spending. Some of the reforms announced in the last few months may
show some positive results with time.
But without more meaningful structural reforms to address long-term
problems such as the private sector’s reluctance to invest,
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November 2019
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It is unlikely that India will move towards the heady days of 8%-plus
growth any time soon.
4) On need for decongestion: Cramped prisons
With an average occupancy rate of 115% of their capacity, Indian jails
continue to remain congested and overcrowded, numbers in the National
Crime Records Bureau’s “Prison Statistics India – 2017” report have
revealed.
In 16 of the 28 States covered in the report, occupancy rate was higher
than 100% with States and Union Territories such as Uttar Pradesh
(165%), Chhattisgarh (157.2%), Delhi (151.2%) and Sikkim (140.7%)
faring the worst.
Despite the Supreme Court and other institutions regularly raising the
issue of prison reforms and decongestion in jails, it is evident that
the measures taken have been piecemeal in most States.
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November 2019
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While overall occupancy rates have come down from 140% in 2007 to
115% in 2017, only a few States have, in this period, gone about
building more jails or increasing capacity in prisons in line with the
changes in inmate population.
Some States such as Tamil Nadu have reduced their prison occupancy
rate (to 61.3%) by increasing the number of jails and their capacity
besides reducing arrests for actions unless there is a cognisable
offence made out.
Rajasthan and Maharashtra have not managed to augment jail
capacity to fit in the increased inmate population in the past decade, while
States such as U.P. continue to have high occupancy rates because of
increased inmate population despite a relative increase in prison
capacity.
More than 68% of those incarcerated were under trials, indicating that
a majority were poor and were unable to execute bail bonds or provide
sureties.
There were a series of recommendations made by the Law Commission
of India in its 268th report in May 2017 that highlighted the
inconsistencies in the bail system as one of the key reasons for
overcrowding in prisons.
Clearly, expediting the trial process for such prisoners is the most
important endeavour, but short of this there are ways to decongest
prisons by granting relief to under trials.
The Commission recommended that those detained for offences that
come with a punishment of up to seven years of imprisonment should
be released on completing one-third of that period and for
those charged with offences that attract a longer jail term, after they
complete half of that period.
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November 2019
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For those who have spent the whole period as under trials, the period
undergone should be considered for remission. It also recommended
that the police should avoid needless arrests, while magistrates should
refrain from mechanical remand orders.
It is imperative that these recommendations are incorporated into law
soonest. A system of holding under trials for too long without a just trial
process in overcrowded prisons that suffer problems of hygiene,
management and discipline, is one that is ripe for recidivism.
There is a greater chance of prisoners hardening as criminals rather
than of them reforming and getting rehabilitated in such jail
conditions.
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November 2019
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5) On WhatsApp snooping scandal: Pegasus misadventure
The Government’s reaction to messaging platform WhatsApp’s revelation
that Indian journalists and human rights activists were among some
1,400 people globally spied upon using a surveillance technology
developed by Israel-based NSO Group is inadequate and, more
unfortunately, far from reassuring.
Thursday’s disclosure by Facebook-owned WhatsApp, which is suing the
Israeli company in a California federal court for the hack, is a chilling
reminder that nothing is private in the digital world, given the right tools.
In this case, a malicious code, named Pegasus, exploited a bug in the
call function of WhatsApp to make its way into the phones of those
select users, where it would potentially have had access to every bit of
information.
But the disclosure raises a more worrying question: on whose directions
were the Indian journalists and human rights activists spied upon?
There are a few reasons why this question is important.
this was not done with money in mind. as the NSO says on its website,
“NSO products are used exclusively by government intelligence and
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November 2019
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law enforcement agencies to fight crime and terror.” The NSO, by its
own admission, sells its service only to government agencies.
Those targeted include civil rights activists, lawyers, and
journalists. Notably, some of them have legally represented activists
arrested in the case related to the violence in Bhima Koregaon in 2018.
Lawyer Nihalsing Rathod, academic Anand Teltumbde, Dalit activist Vivek
Sundara, and human rights lawyer Jagdish Meshram are some of those who
have been targeted by Pegasus. Who would have wanted to snoop on them?
It is, therefore, extremely important for the Government to clear the
air on this issue in no uncertain terms especially when WhatsApp had
given information to CERT-IN, a government agency, in May, even if
without any mention of Pegasus or the extent of breach.
It is all right to ask WhatsApp, as the Government has done, as to why
the breach happened and what it is doing to safeguard the privacy of
its users in India, estimated to be around 400 million.
In separate statements, Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad and the Ministry of Home Affairs have expressed concern about
privacy breaches while at the same time hinting that this issue is being
politicised and an attempt is being made to malign the Government.
This is hardly a trivial issue, as it concerns the digital well-being of
citizens, the very thing this Government says it wants to promote.
In a country where data protection and privacy laws are still in a
nascent stage, incidents such as this highlight the big dangers to
privacy and freedom in an increasingly digital society.
It is thus imperative that the Government sends a strong message on
privacy, something that the Supreme Court in 2017 declared to be
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November 2019
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intrinsic to life and liberty and therefore an inherent part of the
fundamental rights.
The first thing it could do is to answer categorically if any of the
governmental agencies used NSO’s services. The government must
clarify whether it deployed spyware to snoop on its critics.
6) On perilous use of Manja: String of deaths
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November 2019
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The perilous use of manja, a synthetic kite string coated with powdered
glass, remains pervasive, endangering human lives and making a
mockery of the multiple bans on its manufacture and sale.
Three-year-old Abhinayu of Chennai, who died on Sunday after a
dangling manja slit his neck while he was seated on a motorcycle his
father rode, is the latest victim.
Only in August, a man in Delhi bled to death after being entangled by a
manja. Actually, the earliest recorded instance of a death caused by a kite
string in Chennai was in October 1975 in the wake of which 197 people
were arrested.
Kite flying is not just a pastime but also an organised festival in States such
as Gujarat and Rajasthan. During this year’s Makar Sankranti, three
persons were killed in Gujarat and over a 100 injured in different
States.
Birds, including the White Rumped Vulture, get frequently entangled in
manja strings as well. An estimate cited by the Animal Welfare Board of
India said that at least 2,000 birds are injured at the annual kite flying
event in Ahmedabad of which 500 eventually die.
What has turned the once-harmless activity of kite flying into a bloody
societal menace is the substitution of the traditional cotton thread with
the nylon or single plastic fiber string made of monofilament fishing
line coated with powdered glass.
Dubbed Chinese manja (though locally manufactured), the transparent
and light-coloured string is not easily visible. While the cotton thread too
is coated with finely powdered glass, its sharpness is blunted when
mixed with boiled rice, flour, egg white and tree gum.
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November 2019
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The factory-scale manufacture of Chinese manja and its pricing at just
one-third of the rate of a cotton spool, coupled with the thrill of cutting
off another kite, has led to its widespread use.
The nylon string is also non-biodegradable, making it an environmental
hazard. When dangling from high-tension overhead electricity cables,
it has also led to electrical accidents.
Taking these into account, in July 2017, the National Green Tribunal
banned synthetic manja across India. It directed the authorities to
book violators not only under the provisions of the IPC - Indian Penal
Code but also invoke the EPA - Environment (Protection) Act, PCA -
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and WPA - Wildlife (Protection)
Act as the case would warrant.
The cases of people being convicted for manufacturing, selling or using
manja are rare. Unless the authorities get their act together, the list of
casualties could only get bigger with another Makar Sankranti around in
two months’ time.
Multiple State governments have banned the manja. But what is
lacking is enforcement. The police seize spools of manja and arrest a
few persons each time a human life is lost. There is no sustained
endeavour to end the menace.
7) On Delhi's air pollution: Clearing the air
Delhi is once again in the grip of its annual, winter pollution crisis. The
city’s tryst with air pollution crises isn’t new. The rising prominence of
particulate matter (PM) from various sources has long been a public
health scourge.
What differentiates the prevalent PM crisis from earlier ones is the
public’s ability to monitor pollution levels for themselves. The
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November 2019
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measurement of pollution, which used to be the domain of weather agencies
or pollution control boards, can now be done with consumer appliances.
However, increased public awareness and social media angst haven’t
translated into meaningful public action.
The Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi, which provides for
a ratcheting slew of measures - from stopping construction work to
halting private vehicles - isn’t effective when air quality reaches its nadir.
It recommends action only after pollutants soar.
A Task Force - which comprises top officials of Delhi and the Centre -
advises the EPCA - Environmental Pollution Control Authority, which is
in charge of enforcing the GRAP. Rarely does it recommend tough pre-
emptive action and when it does, there’s no real pressure on municipal
bodies and police to ensure that polluters are punished.
There is a sense of resignation among both the Centre and the Delhi
government about tackling the pollution crisis. Meteorology and
Delhi’s geography render the city vulnerable to a certain amount of
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November 2019
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winter pollution, particularly when wind speeds drop to less than 10
kmph.
However, preventing local sources of pollution from worsening air
quality will require both the State and the Centre to implement
unpopular decisions.
This would include an outright ban on two wheelers, three wheelers and
cars when air quality starts to deteriorate, a halt on construction,
shutting down power plants in the vicinity of Delhi and a substantial
spike in parking rates. And, of course, getting the farmers of Punjab
and Haryana to not burn stubble at all.
Even if this confluence of miracles were to occur, it wouldn’t guarantee
blue skies on a windless day and, therefore, political brownie points. This
makes it convenient for governments to engage in theatre such as having
Ministers bicycle to work and blaming farmers for burning rice chaff.
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November 2019
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The Delhi government and the Centre routinely cite pollution figures
averaged for the entire year to claim success of some piecemeal
measure or the other but hide the lows of October and November.
Tackling Delhi’s winter air requires tough steps that need to be in
place at least a couple of months before the plummet.
At the very least it requires a truly empowered, independent agency
that can implement measures while negotiating the tricky relationship
between the Centre and Delhi. Else, beyond the momentary outrage, the
fight against pollution will remain on a prayer, and the wind.
8) On India opting out of RCEP: Safe, for now
India eventually decided to play it safe by pulling out at the last minute
from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership
(RCEP) which was finalised by 15 countries in Bangkok on Monday.
The pressure mounted on the government and the Prime Minister by
interest groups, ranging from farmers, small industries and traders, to
political parties across the board, surely played a major role in the
decision to stay out of the grouping.
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The country had little choice but to exit after its safeguard requests
were not conceded. On the one side was the looming figure of China in the
group and that country’s desperate need to find newer markets for its
products in the backdrop of its trade dispute with the U.S.
India runs a massive bilateral trade deficit of $53 billion with
China and the fact that China has not taken satisfactory efforts to
whittle down the deficit certainly were major inputs in India’s decision.
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Second, India’s experience with countries with which it has signed free
trade agreements till now is not exactly a happy one. Though trade has
increased post-FTA with South Korea, ASEAN and Japan, imports have
risen faster than exports from India.
According to a paper published by NITI Aayog, India has a bilateral
trade deficit with most of the member countries of RCEP.
More importantly, while exports to RCEP countries account for just
15% of India’s total exports, imports from RCEP countries make up
35% of the country’s total imports.
Given this, it is obvious that in the immediate context the country had
more to lose than gain from joining RCEP.
India’s request for country-specific tariff schedules was rejected early
in the negotiations. So was its suggestion of an auto-trigger mechanism to
check a sudden surge in imports from particular partner countries.
India also argued for stricter rules of origin, and rightly so too, but this
too failed to pass muster. Movement of professionals was another area
that saw an impasse. Given these, there was little chance of the political
leadership agreeing to join the bloc.
Policymakers must have reasoned that India has active FTAs with
most members of the RCEP except China, Australia and New Zealand
and there will be no economic impact.
However, the fallout of India’s decision is that it has burnished its
image as a protectionist nation with high tariff walls. With a market of
1.3 billion people, there is bound to be more pressure on India to open
its gates.
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The smart way to handle this is to initiate reforms on the export front,
bring down costs in the economy and, simultaneously, increase
efficiencies.
India cannot miss out on being a part of global supply chains and this
can happen only if tariff barriers are reduced. And the best way to
balance the effect of rising imports is by promoting exports. Tariff walls
cannot be permanent.
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November 2019
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9) On NEET crisis: Back to the blackboard
Acting out of sheer pique cannot be the ideal response to any crisis. Recent
data from Tamil Nadu that became available through the Madras High
Court showed a clear link between coaching classes and securing a
medical seat.
Some have already given in to the temptation of a knee-jerk response
and called for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) to be
cancelled; shunning the need for a calibrated response to what
is undoubtedly a worrisome situation.
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November 2019
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As per data submitted to the Madras High Court by the government of
Tamil Nadu, the bulk of the students who secured MBBS seats in the
State in 2019 had taken coaching classes to prepare for the exam.
Only 1.6 % of all students who joined the government medical colleges
had managed to get a seat without undergoing any preparatory
coaching Programme.
Significantly, even in private medical colleges, only a marginally higher
percentage (3.2) had got through without coaching classes.
Data also showed that a significant percentage of students in
both government (66.2) and private colleges (64.4) had to take multiple
attempts at NEET to score a seat.
Given that the costs of coaching classes are huge, running into lakhs of
rupees, it clearly puts medical education out of the reach of the poorer
sections.
The prohibitive cost factor has been in Tamil Nadu’s list of arguments
against NEET right from the beginning of its spirited opposition to the
common entrance test.
That it would keep a segment of students out of the race was the point
posited by the State, citing the example set by the IIT-Joint Entrance
Examination. The State argued that coaching classes would determine entry
to courses, and ergo, put out of the race students who were poor, or hailed
from rural areas.
The question at the root of it all, however, is the quality of education
being imparted to students, in urban and rural areas. It is the
shortcoming in this sector that makes expensive coaching classes the
norm.
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November 2019
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Independent of students’ performance in the medical entrance test,
qualitative surveys, including the Annual Status of Education Report,
have revealed sad neglect of a key nation-building function - school
education.
Ensuring that quality education is imparted at schools by well-trained
teachers would obviate the need for coaching outside of classes.
NEET, as the equivalent of a quality control test, hopes to choose the best
students in a given pool for a career in medicine, remaining value neutral in
every other way.
While ensuring such benefits of NEET continue to accrue, States should
put in place a series of steps that would make learning meaningful, and
fun for children, and in the interim, provide free NEET coaching
classes to help disadvantaged students make that leap.
Indeed, emptying out dirty bathwater periodically is essential, but to throw
the baby out too would be disastrous.
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November 2019
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10) On clash with police: Judges for lawyers
The siege of the Delhi police headquarters by its personnel on
Tuesday and the disruption of courts on Wednesday constituted a
spectacular breakdown of governance in the national capital.
The police headquarters were being guarded by the CRPF on
Wednesday, apparently from the ranks. The personnel were outraged
over attacks on them by lawyers at two city courts on Saturday and
Monday, and the intervention by the Delhi High Court that appeared to
be shielding the lawyers while being harsh on the police.
Overworked and often used as tools by political masters, police forces
are far from professional in any part of India. The outburst of the
constables in Delhi is also the result of their accumulated resentment
against senior officers.
Last year, a Delhi IPS officer slapped a constable for stopping his private
vehicle that was on the wrong carriageway. Under the direct supervision of
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November 2019
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the Home Ministry, the Delhi police is often caught in the crossfire of many
political battles, and junior personnel are often made the scapegoats.
Commanding respect from the lower ranks by creating an
environment for them to act lawfully and without fear or favour is the
paramount job of the leadership in any force. On that count, the senior
police officers are wanting.
At a broader and deeper level, the ugly scuffle between the police and
lawyers in the capital is an alarming sign of an increasingly
debilitating governance deficit and collapse of the rule of law.
This takes many forms, such as police support for mobs and legal
processes that victimises victims of crimes further. In 2016, JNU
students and journalists were attacked in a Delhi court by a group of
lawyers who got off scot-free - a severe transgression by the lawyers and a
failure of the police.
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Lawyers and the police are critical to law enforcement and their
unfailing fealty to the law and the legal process is an essential attribute that
a society counts on. Judges should not reflexively take the side of lawyers
who clash with police.
Far from adhering to the principles of their respective professions,
when they take the law into their own hands, it is a case of the fence
eating the crop; it is the sign of a dysfunctional society turning on itself.
The higher judiciary has often been a beacon of hope for the rule of law,
but that confidence is not as strong as before. The judicial intervention in
the clash between lawyers and the police must not only be impartial
and fair but also be seen as such.
To restore public confidence in policing and judicial process, strict
action must be taken against those who indulged in violence - an
example must be made of them. That is essential also to restore the
majesty of the law and its enforcement.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 31
11) On norms against food rich in fat, sugar and salt: Junking
fast food
In a welcome step, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India -
FSSAI has notified a draft regulation aimed at prohibiting the sale and
advertisement of food rich in fat, sugar and salt to schoolchildren
inside the school premises and within 50 m around it.
It comes in response to the 2015 order from the Delhi High
Court directing the central agency to frame norms to promote healthy diets
in schools.
Besides prohibiting the sale of junk food, the FSSAI requires schools to
simultaneously encourage and promote a safe and balanced diet.
In a bid to shield the children from consuming unhealthy food items
and snacks, the FSSAI prohibits food companies that manufacture
such items from advertising or offering for free such foods in school
premises and within 50 m of the campus.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 32
To thwart food companies from luring children to consume foods rich
in fat, sugar and salt, the companies are prohibited from using their
logos, brand names and product names on books and other educational
materials, as well as on school property such as buildings, buses, and
athletic fields.
As a general guidance to provide wholesome food, the agency recommends
the use of a combination of whole grains, milk, eggs, and millets; it also
listed a set of general guidelines for selection of food products that can
be offered in schools.
Even as malnutrition accounted for over seven lakh (68%) deaths in
children under the age of five years in 2017 in India, there is rising
obesity in schoolchildren in many States.
According to a July 2017 study, India, with 14.4 million, had the second
most number of obese children among 195 countries. A recent study
found 23 States to have child overweight prevalence more than the national
average, with six States having a prevalence of over 20%.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 33
Several studies have shown how a western diet affects the composition
and diversity of gut bacteria and sets the stage for many metabolic
diseases.
Hence, any attempt to reduce and discourage the intake of unhealthy foods,
which is a major cause of unhealthy weight gain in children, should be
welcomed.
The challenge will be in enforcement, particularly in preventing the sale
and promotion of unhealthy food near schools. For instance, despite the
sale and advertisement of tobacco products within 100 yards of a school
being prohibited, violation is more the norm than the exception.
Shops that sell tobacco products very often also sell many of the
packaged unhealthy foods that the FSSAI now wants to ban. The onus
of inculcating healthy eating habits also starts at home.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 34
Besides taking steps to reduce the intake of unhealthy food, both
schools and parents should ensure children get adequate physical
activity, which is increasingly being neglected for various reasons.
It is a combination of healthy food and regular physical activity that
will go a long way in bringing up healthier children.
12) On Alternative Investment Fund: Real estate shelter
From first looks, the long-awaited package to support the real estate sector,
cleared by the Cabinet on Wednesday, appears well-designed. The ₹25,000
crore Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) announced by Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has expanded in both size and scope from the
earlier one announced in September. And the variables are clear such as the
unit sizes that will be supported.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 35
The AIF will provide funds to bail out stalled real estate projects with
unit size of less than ₹2 crore a unit in metros and ₹1 crore in other
places.
The Centre will contribute ₹10,000 crore, with the State Bank of India
and Life Insurance Corporation of India providing the balance.
The fund, to be managed by SBICAP Ventures, will offer support to viable
projects with a positive net worth and registered with the Real Estate
Regulatory Authority.
What makes the scheme good is that it will also apply to projects that
have been declared as non-performing assets by banks and to those
lined up before the insolvency court.
Apart from real estate promoters, this will also aid lenders, mainly
finance companies and banks, whose funds are locked up in these
projects.
According to Ms. Sitharaman, over 1,600 projects involving some 4.58
lakh housing units are stalled for want of funds. There are also unsold
units across the country with one market estimate putting their value
at over ₹4 lakh crore.
Most of the stalled projects are solvent but stuck for liquidity and with
support from the AIF, can be completed, unlocking value not just for
buyers but also precious cash for the project promoters and their
lenders.
The real estate sector is not only one of the biggest providers of jobs
but also has a huge multiplier effect in the economy. Industries ranging
from cement and steel to paints and sanitary ware stand to reap the benefits
of a healthy real estate sector.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 36
This is apart from banks and financial institutions. While the AIF is a good
idea, it is important that it is implemented without glitches. Too many
good ideas have suffered due to bad implementation.
The critical part will be identifying the genuine projects in need of
support and ensuring that biases do not creep in. Also important will be
attracting more investors into the AIF.
The Finance Minister said that sovereign funds and other private
investors have shown interest. These need to be followed upon quickly
and money should be released from the AIF right away so that the trickle-
down effect is felt before the end of this financial year.
Along with private money in the AIF will also come return expectations
that need to be managed. The government, through its latest move, and
the Reserve Bank of India with successive rate cuts and liquidity
infusion, have set the stage.
The Alternative Investment Fund could help revive the stressed
sector. The real estate industry now has to do its part.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 37
14) On Moody’s negative rating: Thumbs down
Ratings agency Moody’s has reacted predictably to the turbulence in the
economy by revising the outlook on its sovereign rating for India from
stable to negative.
Moody’s India rating is a notch higher than that of Standard & Poor’s and
the outlook revision now may well be to compensate for its past optimism
on India.
Yet, the outlook revision has to be seen for what it is: a warning that if the
economy fails to bounce back soon enough, the sovereign rating could
be up for an unfavourable review.
With due respect to Moody’s, none of the issues that it has highlighted is
unknown. The growth slowdown and its effects on the fiscal deficit and
borrowings are the main worries.
On the one hand, tax revenue growth is nowhere near budgeted levels
and with the slowdown extending into the third quarter, it is clear that
tax revenues will undershoot by a wide margin.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 38
On the other, the government has been forced to spend more to give a
leg up to the economy. Apart from pushing expenditure on capital
projects, the government last month gave away corporate tax
concessions amounting to a whopping ₹1.45 lakh crore.
Even with the boost from the ₹1.76 lakh crore dividend payout from
the Reserve Bank of India, the budget arithmetic is optimistic and it now
appears certain that the government will miss the fiscal deficit target of
3.3% of GDP.
The only question is: by how much? Moody’s has projected that the
deficit will slip to 3.7% of GDP this fiscal.
Ratings agencies are ultra-sensitive to fiscal deficit overruns but the
positive factor here is that India’s borrowings are almost wholly
domestic. External debt to GDP is just 20% but the ratings do have an
impact on investor sentiment.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 39
But the Moody’s outlook revision comes when there are faint signs of a
revival in the economy. To be sure, it may be another quarter or two
before growth picks up - the second quarter numbers due later this month
may show GDP growing at less than 5%.
But the festive season uptick in sales of automobiles and white goods
does point to the return of the consumer to the market. Of course, the
possibility that it was an artificial boost driven by the big discounts that
were on offer cannot be ruled out.
But there are other positive signals such as the increase in bank credit
offtake reported by the RBI for the second successive fortnight.
The government needs to press the pedal harder on reforms and in
debugging GST. It may also have little option than to go big on
disinvestment in the remaining four months of this fiscal.
The target of ₹1.05 lakh crore that it set for itself in the budget has to be
bested by a wide margin if the fiscal deficit slippage is to be
contained. The supportive measures announced in the last two months
should be closely monitored for implementation.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 40
15) On Ayodhya verdict: Peace and justice
There comes a time when the need for peace and closure is greater than
the need for undoing an injustice. In allowing a temple to come up
through a government-appointed trust at the disputed site in Ayodhya,
the Supreme Court has apparently chosen a path most conducive to
social harmony.
To compensate the Muslim litigants, who were deprived of the centuries-
old Babri Masjid through an illegal act of demolition, the court has asked
for the allotment of a five-acre plot of land elsewhere in Ayodhya that
may be used for building a new mosque.
That this is more of moral consolation by way of a political
compromise and less of adjudication in recognition of their religious
rights is obvious.
The final award will always be a source of discomfiture for those to whom
closure goes beyond ensuring peace in a communally polarised
environment.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 41
But what is most welcome about the 1,045-page verdict of a Bench of five
judges is its unanimity. For, it sends out a message that the judiciary
has, with a single mind, ventured to give legal burial to a prolonged
dispute that began as a minor litigation, expanded into a divisive political
cause, and became a festering wound on the body-politic for years.
The fact that the case is over at last must come as great relief to all peace-
loving people. This sense of relief masks the bitter truth that the fear of a
Hindu backlash if there was an adverse verdict was genuine.
After nearly three decades of unrelenting pursuit of communal polarisation,
the majoritarian, revanchist forces in the country have fatigued their secular
adversaries into passive acquiescence.
The Bench indeed has done well to record its revulsion at two incidents
that represented an onslaught on the psyche of secular India: the
desecration of the masjid in 1949 when Hindu idols were planted
surreptitiously under its central dome, and the planned destruction of the
whole structure by the foot soldiers of Hindutva on December 6, 1992.
But what is most disappointing about it is that the relief spelt out by the
Bench may amount to legitimising the very demolition it unequivocally
condemns. Having declared that the suits are representative of the two
communities, organised violence by one party ought not to have been
ignored.
It is common knowledge that the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which
spearheaded the temple movement with the active backing of the Bharatiya
Janata Party and organised the demolition of the mosque, got a foothold in
the litigation through an individual who represented the deity, Ram Lalla,
as “a next friend” in a fresh suit filed in 1989.
A reading of the judgment reveals that the outcome is not wholly in
line with the evidentiary conclusions the court itself reaches.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 42
It notes that archaeological evidence - procured only because excavation
was made possible by the demolition and as such not available to the
parties at the time of institution of the suits - only shows the existence of a
12th century Hindu religious structure underneath, but does not prove
any demolition or explain what happened in the intervening centuries.
It acknowledges that namaz was offered at the mosque between 1857
and 1949, and declares that Muslims did not abandon it, but offers no
relief even though their religious rights stand proved.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 43
The entire disputed area covering both the inner and outer courtyards
are awarded to one side contrary to its own conclusion that Muslims
had a right, albeit a contested one, in the inner courtyard.
While it holds that Hindus had possessory right over the entire outer
courtyard to the exclusion of Muslims, it does not decide whether they
had exclusive title; on the other hand, it rejects the Muslim claim solely
on the ground that they failed to prove “exclusive title”.
Also, the court says evidence of Hindu worship was available for a
period prior to 1857, while there was proof of namaz only after 1857,
without accounting for the fact that it was in that year that a massive riot
took place that led to the British administration putting up a railing to
divide the mosque from the Hindu shrines in the outer courtyard.
The case has been decided on the balance of probabilities that Hindus
have proved a better title than Muslims. While it is true that
“preponderance of probabilities” is the standard of proof in civil law, it is
doubtful whether this can be invoked to the exclusion of an acknowledged
right belonging to the other side.
It will be disappointing to the country as a whole if the judgment in favour
of Hindu litigants does not end the belligerence of Hindu organisations that
ran the movement to build a temple at the very spot on which the Babri
Masjid stood until that fateful day in 1992.
For none can deny that the politicisation and communalisation of the
Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute left in its wake a trail of
violence and led to terrible loss of lives and property across the
country.
To the toxic effect of the sectarian strife set off by the temple
movement through processions and the infamous ‘rath yatra’ of BJP leader
L.K. Advani, one can attribute many deadly riots and a wave of
retaliatory bombings by Islamists since the late 1980s.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 44
In paving the way for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Supreme Court
prioritised communal harmony over all else. But there would be a real
sense of justice only if those who plotted and executed the demolition
are convicted in the ongoing trial in Lucknow.
The rulers of the day owe this much to the nation. And in the spirit of the
‘new India’ put forward by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it would be in
the fitness of things if the VHP and other organisations which participated
in the demolition are expressly excluded from the proposed trust to build
the temple.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 45
In paving the way for the building of a temple for Ram on the spot
believed to be his janmasthan, the Supreme Court held up the faith of
millions of Hindus. But it cannot allow the judgment to be perceived as
an endorsement of any challenge to the rule of law in the name of faith.
17) On Kerala plan for free Internet roll-out: Casting the Net wide
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 46
If things go as per plan, Kerala could have near-universal Internet access in
a little over a year’s time. Last week’s nod by the State Cabinet for the
Kerala Fibre Optic Network project clears the path for a Kerala-wide
optical fibre network by December 2020.
At ₹1,548 crore, it is, without doubt, an ambitious project. But what
makes it commendable is its recognition that Internet access is a basic
human right.
No other Indian State has recognised Internet access in this manner till
now. This is also in sync with what the UN has been articulating in
recent years, based on the Internet’s role in enabling freedom of speech
and reducing inequality, among other things.
And so, embedded in this plan to touch every household in Kerala is a
provision to deliver free Internet access to over two million BPL
families. The idea is to charge affordable rates for other families.
The network, to be set up by the Kerala State Electricity Board Ltd.
and the Kerala State IT Infrastructure Ltd., will also connect 30,000
government offices and educational institutions.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 47
When complete, Kerala, a State that already tops in human
development indicators in the country, will be ready for a steep digital
evolution.
Kerala’s plan for Internet roll-out, therefore, is also worthy of emulation by
other States, given that Internet have-nots still exist in the millions. There is
no doubt that India has made huge leaps in providing Internet access to its
people in recent years.
To be sure, a good part of the growth till now can be attributed to cheap
data plans, triggered in no small measure by the advent of Reliance Jio.
According to a recent study by the Internet and Mobile Association of
India and Nielsen, the country has 451 million active Internet users.
But this number masks huge access gaps. Internet penetration is
significantly higher in urban areas than it is in rural areas; it is also
significantly higher for men than it is for women.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 48
The best-performing State, Delhi-NCR, has an Internet penetration of
69%. The second-best is Kerala, with just 54%. Global technology
companies have in recent years eyed the huge population of Internet have-
nots as an opportunity.
Some, like Facebook, even came up with an idea of free access to a list of
chosen sites, a severely skewed version of the Internet which endangered its
basic values. While such ideas were thankfully rejected by the government,
the gaps are there nonetheless.
There is no doubt that governments need to play an interventionist role
in plugging this gap. Kerala could set a healthy example. It’s plan for
providing free Internet access to the poor is worthy of emulation by others.
18) On Kartarpur corridor: The extra mile
For millions of Sikhs worldwide, the inauguration of the Kartarpur
corridor was a dream seven decades in the making.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 49
Ever since India and Pakistan were partitioned with an arbitrary
line drawn through Punjab, the placement of Kartarpur, where Guru
Nanak spent his last years, meant that while a majority of his devotees
were left on one side of the border, his last resting place was left just
four kilometres on the other side.
Unlike the other major Sikh shrine at Guru Nanak’s birthplace Nankana
Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib was off Pakistan’s highways and therefore fell
into disuse. Those keen to see it were restricted to peering through
binoculars at a border check post.
Saturday’s inauguration of the renovated shrine in Kartarpur by Prime
Minister Imran Khan, and the access to the corridor from Sultanpur
Lodhi on the Indian side by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saw the
fervent hopes of all those people being granted, timed with the 550th
birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 50
The corridor, which will allow 5,000 Indian pilgrims a day to walk
visa-free into Pakistan, pay obeisance and then return to India, is
unique. If both governments are willing, it could lend itself to other
cross-border connections for Hindus and Sikhs to visit shrines in Pakistan,
and for Muslims and Sufism followers to visit shrines just across the
border in Gujarat and Rajasthan.
That it was completed from start to finish in a year that saw relations
between the two countries plumb new depths, is also nothing short of a
miracle: from the Pulwama terror attack and the Balakot strikes.
The slugfest over the government’s moves on Kashmir; the recall of
High Commissioners; and even Pakistan’s repeated denial of overflight
rights to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aircraft on foreign visits etc. it
was a downward spiral. Each event was accompanied by sharp rhetoric
and recriminations, yet the Kartarpur process was not derailed.
In that sense, the Kartarpur shrine has fulfilled the promise it held out
to the devout, but hasn’t lived up to its potential for diplomacy.
It had been hoped, when Pakistan’s Army Chief General Qamar Javed
Bajwa first conveyed Islamabad’s acceptance of India’s long-pending
demand for the corridor, that this would lead to a new sense of
understanding between the two governments as well.
Instead, Pakistan’s encouragement of Khalistani separatist groups to
use Kartarpur as a platform has been a constant cause for suspicion
for India. On the other side, India’s misgivings have been seen as a
churlish response to Pakistan’s efforts on building the corridor.
The fact is that neither side has been able to build on the goodwill for
the project in both countries to create an atmosphere for talks on other
issues.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 51
This failure was most evident when both Mr. Modi and Mr. Khan
carried out separate inauguration ceremonies, but failed to come
together at the border for the launch of the project, though both leaders
likened it to the “coming down of the Berlin wall”.
Kartarpur corridor has realised the dream of devout Sikhs, but done
little for India-Pak. Ties. For that promise to be realised, leaders will
need to walk the extra mile, both literally and figuratively.
19) On Maharashtra politics: Betrayal of the mandate
The political play in Maharashtra that continued unabated because the
Assembly election results in October 24 was brought to a conclusion, albeit
briefly, from the imposition of President's rule.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 52
The Maharashtra verdict was and also in favour of this BJP-Shiv Sena pre-
poll alliance, but the spouses couldn't agree on the conditions of energy
consumption, resulting in prolonged haggling between these.
The Sena is that the BJP's oldest ally and the two are bound with a
competitive adherence to Hindutva. The Sena's claim was not justified from
the verdict - it obtained 56 chairs of this 288, although the BJP won almost
twice that figure.
Even the BJP, ensconced in the Centre and willing to utilize power to
curtail its adversaries, didn't relent.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 53
The Sena overplayed its hand by parting with all the BJP and stopping the
Union authorities. It miscalculated the other situation of directing a State
authorities with the aid of this Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party
(NCP).
The notion of a Congress-NCP-Sena coalition authorities is poisonous.
Post-poll coalitions are a valid path to government formation once the
legislature is suspended however, the scenario in Maharashtra is far out of
it.
There were just two pre-poll alliances, one obtained a clear majority and
another clearly dropped. In the event the Congress and NCP wish to keep
the BJP out of power for sectarian reasons, handing over power to a
virulent strain of Hindutva will be disingenuous.
The creation of an NCP-Congress-Sena authorities, whatever might be its
own facade, won't just be a betrayal of their mandate but also be
indefensible in ideological terms apart from being suicidal tactically.
This kind of alliance, even if at all organized, wouldn't be sustainable or
stable. These parties will be blamed to be devoid of political convictions.
The BJP is going to be the sole beneficiary of this type of comprehensive
delegitimisation of the full Opposition spectrum in Maharashtra. From the
inescapable mid-term election which will occur sooner rather than later,
opportunists will pay a cost.
The Congress and the NCP will be better off dropping this chance and
leave the birds of the exact same feather to possibly float together.
Nevertheless it was inexcusable of the Army to never offer the Sena or the
NCP sufficient time to explore the prospect of an alternate government.
The BJP has to be expecting to stress the Sena back to the alliance, but the
best route today appears a brand new election.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 54
20) On Anarchy in Bolivia: Evo Morales exit
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 55
The forced resignation of Bolivian President Evo Morales has thrown into
the weakest country in South America to its biggest political crisis in 13
decades.
Since Bolivia's first indigenous President, that climbed to the very best
office during left-wing unionism, he presided over one of their most stable
governments.
But cracks started to show up in his Movement for Socialism celebration
when he sought a fourth successive term earlier this season. However, the
Opposition contested the results and started widespread protests,
demanding a new election.
Following the Organization of American States alleged widespread survey
fraud in an audit file, the army forced Mr. Morales and his allies to resign.
In asylum in Mexico, he's pledged to combat the"coup".
The minds of the Senate and chamber of deputies would be the other
leaders at the hierarchy who might presume acting presidency. But in this
situation, all four officers, all Socialists, have resigned. And it's left a
vacuum, which the army could exploit.
Underneath his fairly good history, Bolivia has witnessed a fall in poverty,
from 33 percent of the populace in 2006 to 15 percent this past year. The
market has also witnessed a steady growth rate.
Mr. Morales created some significant political mistakes too. Mostly, he
neglected to deliver up a second-rung leadership at the Movement for
Socialism to whom he would pass the baton of the"21st century socialist
revolution".
In 2016, his drive to end presidential term limits via a referendum failed.
He said he accepted that the verdict. But after, a constitutional court raised
the word limitations, allowing the President to look for re-election.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 56
This had galvanised the Opposition, which asserted the President's electoral
involvement itself was unconstitutional. Facing protests, Mr. Morales had
provided another election.
That ought to have been the way ahead. A fair and free election being held
under the oversight of international electoral monitors could have enabled
the Bolivians to pick their legitimate leader.
Nevertheless, the violent protesters who insisted Mr. Morales's resignation,
the police forces that rebelled against the authorities, and ultimately the
generals who compelled the President to move all ruined the potential for a
peaceful transition.
Both Morales and his opponents failed to ensure a Calm, orderly transition.
They threw Bolivia to anarchy and chaos. And much more violence could
be anticipating the nation.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 57
21) On shrinking industrial output: Gloom deepens
Another set of economic data from the National Statistical Office has
reaffirmed both the depth and all-pervasive width of the ongoing
economic slowdown.
The latest index of industrial production (IIP) estimates from the NSO
show that output shrank by 4.3% in September, with all three
component sectors in the index - manufacturing, mining and electricity,
posting contractions.
This was the sharpest contraction in output since at least April 2012,
before which the data was referenced to a different base year. Also, five of
the six categories on the IIP’s use-based classification of goods
registered declines, with only intermediate goods bucking the trend.
Disconcertingly, the prolonged slump in the output of capital goods, a
proxy for investment activity by businesses, extended into a ninth
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 58
straight month as production contracted by about 21% for the second
month in a row.
Consumer durables also posted a fourth straight contraction, with the
9.9% decline appearing in stark contrast to September 2018’s 5.4%
growth.
Clearly, manufacturers of white goods are struggling to find demand for
their wares and the sliding production points to an absence of the traditional
festival-eve restocking bump.
The second successive shrinkage in infrastructure and construction
goods of 6.4% - reflects the challenges besetting the two eponymous
primary sectors.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 59
Here, the Centre’s announcement of a funding initiative to help stalled
housing projects ought to provide some fillip in the coming months. But
a stretched fiscal situation is likely to keep government spending on other
big-ticket infrastructure projects muted for the foreseeable future.
From an industry perspective, 17 of the 23 industry groups that comprise
the manufacturing sector contracted. And leading the slump, predictably,
was the motor vehicles industry, which posted a 25% contraction.
If the wholesale data from the Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM) is any indicator of trends for this industry, there is
certainly more pain ahead as overall shipments fell almost 13% from a
year earlier in October.
Demand for newly introduced utility vehicles was the saving grace, as
it propelled a marginal uptick in passenger vehicle deliveries.
SIAM’s figures on commercial vehicles, which show a 23% year-on-
year decline, particularly underscore the demand vacuum in the rural
hinterland and the wariness on the part of fleet operators to invest in new
haulage capacity. With manufacturing having a weight of almost 78% in
the IIP, the latest report from IHS Markit gives little room for
optimism.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 60
The survey-based Purchasing Managers’ Index revealed continuing
manufacturing sector weakness in October as weakening demand hurt
new orders and business sentiment.
In fact, business confidence had slipped last month to its lowest level in
more than two-and-a-half years, according to the private economic
research group.
All signs now point to the central bank cutting interest rates again at
its next meeting, in order to help spur a revival.
22) On Karnataka rebel MLAs: Disqualified, yet qualified
It is not often that an adverse order brings relief along with it. Even while
upholding the Karnataka Speaker’s orders disqualifying 17 defectors
this year, the Supreme Court has allowed the former legislators to
contest the December 5 by-elections to 15 Assembly seats.
The former Janata Dal (S) and Congress MLAs are now free not only to
contest the polls, but may reap the benefits of their amoral crossover by
getting a ticket from the ruling BJP.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 61
Most of them had tried to resign from their respective parties in July,
but the move was seen as a transparent ploy to bring down the JD(S)-
Congress regime of H.D. Kumaraswamy.
The suspicion, not unfounded, was that they would get ministerial
positions as soon as BJP leader B.S. Yediyurappa formed a BJP
government.
The then Speaker, K.R. Ramesh Kumar, kept them at bay for days by
refusing to act on their resignations. Ultimately, he disqualified all of
them in orders passed on July 25 and 28 and said the disqualification
would go on till 2023 - the end of the current Assembly’s term.
The Speaker’s stance was quite controversial as it appeared to create a
conflict between resignation and disqualification. He now stands
partially vindicated as his argument that resignation could not be a ruse to
evade an impending disqualification has been accepted.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 62
The Speaker was also hoping to keep the defectors out of any alternative
regime as members disqualified for defection are barred from
becoming ministers until they get re-elected.
The court’s exposition of the law relating to the interplay between
resignation and defection is quite welcome. On the one hand, resignation
does not take away the effect of a prior act that amounts to disqualification.
On the other, Speakers are not given a free pass to sit on resignation letters
indefinitely. Under Article 190(3), a provision under which the Speaker
has to ascertain the “voluntary” and “genuine” nature of a resignation
before accepting it, the court is clear that it is a limited inquiry, only to
see if the letter is authentic and if the intent to quit is based on free will.
“Once it is demonstrated that a member is willing to resign out of his
free will, the Speaker has no option but to accept the resignation,” the
court has said.
This effectively ends the argument that the Speaker is empowered to
consider the motives and circumstances whenever a resignation is
submitted.
The verdict bemoans the fact that Speakers sometimes tend not to be
neutral and that change of loyalty for the lure of office continues despite
the anti-defection law. Identifying its weak aspects and strengthening
the law may be the answer.
23) On CJI office and RTI Act: Open, all the same
The adage, “sunlight is the best disinfectant” is often used to delineate the
need for disclosure of matters related to public interest through the Right to
Information mechanism.
The declaration of assets by ministers and legislators, besides electoral
candidates, has gone a long way in shedding light on public
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 63
authorities and provided the citizenry more relevant information about
their representatives.
Yet, judges of the Supreme Court had so far refused to share
information on their personal assets, citing the express lack of public
interest.
The welcome ruling by a five-member Constitution Bench of the
Supreme Court that the office of the Chief Justice of India is a “public
authority” under the RTI Act, as much as the apex court itself, now
enables the disclosure of information such as the judges’ personal assets.
The judgment’s majority opinion, written by Justice Sanjiv Khanna,
emphasised the need for transparency and accountability and that
“disclosure is a facet of public interest”.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 64
In concurring opinions, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud asserted that judicial
independence was not secured by secrecy while Justice N.V. Ramana
argued for the need of a proper calibration of transparency in light of the
importance of judicial independence.
The Bench unanimously argued that the right to know under the RTI Act
was not absolute and this had to be balanced with the right of privacy of
judges. But the key take away from the judgment is that disclosure of
details of serving judges’ personal assets was not a violation of their
right to privacy.
The main opinion also argued that information related to issues such as
judicial appointments will also be subject to the test of public interest
and procedures mandated in the RTI Act that specify that views of third
parties (in this case, judges) must be sought.
While laying out the importance of the assessment of public interest in any
RTI query besides bringing the office of the CJI under the purview of
the Act, the decision has gone on to uphold the Delhi High Court
verdict in 2010.
The RTI Act is a strong weapon that enhances accountability, citizen
activism and, consequently, participative democracy, even if its
implementation has come under strain in recent years due mainly to the
Central government’s apathy and disregard for the nuts and bolts of the
Act.
Yet, despite this, the Supreme Court judgment paves the way for
greater transparency and could now impinge upon issues such as
disclosure, under the RTI Act, by other institutions such as registered
political parties.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 65
This is vital as political party financing is a murky area today, marked by
opacity and exacerbated by the issue of electoral bonds, precluding
citizens from being fully informed on sources of party incomes.
24) On Sabarimala review pleas: Review and reference
Ordinarily, a reference to a seven-judge Bench for an authoritative
pronouncement on the entire gamut of issues arising from Article 25 and
26 of the Constitution, which protect the religious freedoms of
individuals and denominations, would have been welcome.
However, the order of a Constitution Bench in making such a reference,
while delivering the verdict on petitions seeking review of last year’s
judgment allowing women in the 10-50 age group to offer worship at
the Sabarimala temple, is problematic.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 66
The order, passed by a narrow majority of three judges, with two
dissenting, means that the review petition, as well as fresh writ petitions,
on the issue will be kept pending until there is clarity on the nature of
religious rights.
The majority, headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, held that the petitions
against the 2018 verdict, which laid down that the practice of keeping
women of ovulating age out of the shrine is discriminatory and
violative of the right to equality, have revived the question whether an
individual’s right to worship can outweigh a religious group’s right to
manage the affairs of its religion.
An issue resolved by a 4:1 majority is sought to be reconsidered by
formulating fresh questions on the interplay between religious freedom and
other fundamental rights, especially the right to equality.
The majority anticipates that similar basic questions on the conflict
between individual freedom and constitutionally-protected religious
beliefs may arise in other situations too.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 67
It cites pending petitions concerning the entry of women into a dargah,
the entry of Parsi women married to non-Parsis into an agyari, and the
practice of female genital mutilation among Dawoodi Bohras. It is shocking
that the Bench includes the abhorrent practice of female genital mutilation
in this genre.
It is well-established that freedom of religion, under Article 25, is subject
to public order, morality and health, and it may not be difficult for any
court to test the validity of the practice against the restriction on
grounds of a woman’s health, and this may not require an exalted panel of
seven judges.
In keeping the petitions on Sabarimala pending further, the court has
displayed a disquieting inability to stand by its previous transformative
judgment.
Further, it may lead to a repeat of the unsavoury incidents of last year
when religious groups and political activists blocked and attacked
women devotees.
Justices Fali Nariman and D.Y. Chandrachud, in their dissent, rightly call
out such transgressions against the rule of law and, while rejecting the need
for review, want all authorities to remember their constitutional duty to
work in aid of the Supreme Court and the law laid down by it.
An omnibus reconsideration of all issues related to religious freedom
was not the way out of the serious issues posed by the Sabarimala
judgment.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 68
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 69
25) On telecom industry crisis: Crossed wires
Two leading and important players in the telecom industry -
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone (Idea Merged) - have reported historic losses
in the second quarter of this fiscal.
Vodafone has declared a loss of ₹50,922 crore while Bharti Airtel has
reported a loss of ₹22,830 crore. The losses were due to provisions that
the two companies had to make following an adverse verdict in their
Supreme Court battle with the government over the definition of
‘aggregate gross revenue’.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 70
The two companies have also warned that if the government does not
offer them relief on the demand to pay arrears of revenue share along
with interest and penalty, adding up to about ₹80,000 crore between
them, their very existence as a going concern will be in doubt - in short,
what the companies are saying is that they would collapse.
Vodafone, in particular, has said that it will have no option but to exit
India. It is true that the industry in general - minus Reliance Jio - and
Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea in particular, are under severe stress and
do deserve a helping hand from the government.
But the question to ask here is: why did they not provide for the liability in
their balance sheets over the years?
Conservative accounting demands that contingent liabilities be provided
for. The sudden pressure on their financials could have been avoided if they
had made a provision in their balance sheet for the liability stemming from
a possible adverse verdict in the case.
That said, it is clear that it is now time for the government to step in. A
Committee of Secretaries headed by Cabinet Secretary Rajeev Gauba
is studying ways in which the telecom industry can be bailed out.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 71
While one waits for what this committee will come up with, the fact is that
the industry needs another round of reforms right away. The government,
which appropriates about 30% of the revenues of each player through
various levies and taxes, needs to revisit some of the policies framed by
it earlier.
The most important issue is addressing the validity of a licence fee in
the form of revenue share. This was set when spectrum was allotted and
not auctioned.
With the government now collecting revenues upfront in the form of
spectrum auction fees - which some feel are unjustifiably high - there is
little justification for a licence fee as well.
There is also the issue of interconnect usage charges to be settled. The
telecom regulator is adjudicating this dispute right now.
Talking of the regulator, the government also needs to look into the
fairness of regulatory policies and approaches and ensure that they are
unbiased.
The telecom industry is crucial to India’s next wave of growth through
digitalisation and the government should not be blinded by short-term
revenue considerations that imperil long-term prospects.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 72
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 73
26) On the report of Ministry of Consumer Affairs: Quality on tap
The report of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public
Distribution red-flagging tap water quality in major Indian cities comes
as no surprise, given that many official water distribution agencies
routinely advise consumers to consume only boiled water.
Going by the matrix of tests carried out by the Bureau of Indian
Standards for the Ministry, Delhi has abysmal water quality, Chennai
and Kolkata rank very low, and Mumbai is the only city with
acceptable results.
City water systems are normatively required to comply with the
national standard for drinking water, IS 10500:2012, but most
obviously feel no compulsion to do so.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 74
Their lack of initiative could be attributed partly to the expanding
footprint of packaged drinking water, especially in populous
cities, coupled with the high dependence on groundwater in fast-
growing urban clusters where State provision of piped water systems
does not exist.
On paper, the Indian standard has a plethora of quality requirements,
including absence o/f viruses, parasites and microscopic organisms, and
control over levels of toxic substances.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 75
But in practice, municipal water fails these tests due to the lack of
accountability of the official agencies, and the absence of robust data in
the public domain on quality testing.
The Centre’s approach to the issue relies on naming and shaming
through a system of ranking, but this is unlikely to yield results, going
by similar attempts to benchmark other urban services.
Making it legally binding on agencies to achieve standards and
empowering consumers with rights is essential, because State
governments would then take an integrated view of housing, water supply,
sanitation and waste management.
A scientific approach to water management is vital, considering that 21
cities - including many of those found to have unclean tap water - could
run out of groundwater as early as 2020, as per a NITI Aayog report.
Moreover, the Central Ground Water Board estimates that nearly a
fifth of the urban local bodies are already facing a water crisis due to
excessive extraction, failed monsoons, and unplanned development.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 76
On the issue of regular testing, there is a case to entrust a separate agency
with the task in each State, rather than relying on the same agency that
provides water to also perform this function.
If data on water are made public on the same lines as air quality, it
would ratchet up pressure on governments to act.
For too long, the response of water departments to the challenge has
been to chlorinate the supply, as this removes pathogens, ignoring such
aspects as appearance, smell and taste. It is time to move beyond this
and make tap water genuinely desirable.
27) On apex court ruling on Essar Steel: A precedent
The Supreme Court’s judgment on Friday in the matter of Essar Steel’s
bankruptcy is a landmark in the short history of insolvency and
bankruptcy resolution in India.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 77
Apart from clearing the way for eventual sale of Essar Steel to Arcelor
Mittal, the verdict has clarified on important aspects of insolvency
resolution that had been interpreted variously by the National Company
Law Tribunal and the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal
(NCLAT).
First off, the apex court has upheld the primacy of financial creditors
over operational creditors in the repayments waterfall, and rightly so
too. It is the financial creditors who provide capital to an enterprise and
their interests are secured in the form of collaterals on the firm’s assets.
Operational creditors, who are largely suppliers of goods and services, are
unsecured creditors and they cannot claim equality or precedence over
financial creditors.
Second, the Supreme Court has shown the NCLAT, which was attempting
to appropriate the role of the Committee of Creditors (CoC) in an
insolvency resolution, its place.
The ruling made it clear that the Committee of Creditors - is supreme
when it comes to deciding on commercial issues, including the repayment
waterfall, in an insolvency resolution.
These two clarifications should alone help in quickening a number of
other cases, big and small, that are stuck in the insolvency courts
across the country.
The apex court has also held that the 330-day limit for resolution is not
sacrosanct. This will ensure that creditors are not pressured to accept a
below-par deal due to paucity of time.
With critical aspects of the law clarified, there may also not be reason to
fear that entrenched promoter-defaulters can misuse the unlimited time now
available to them.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 78
With the go-ahead given to the sale of Essar Steel, it is expected that
banks will recover over 90% of the over ₹40,000 crore that the
company owes them. Operational creditors are set to receive close to
₹1,200 crore.
This should clearly help improve the financial position of weak public
sector banks and bolster profitability as the Essar dues were fully written
off by them. Shares of banks such as State Bank of India, and Punjab
National Bank rallied following the verdict.
More importantly, the decision, it is believed, will serve as a useful
precedent when it comes to deciding on future bankruptcy cases.
The insolvency and bankruptcy process is still young in India. There is a
long way to go yet, especially in the matter of recovery percentages.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 79
The Essar Steel resolution has raised the bar but the overall recovery
in all cases that have been adjudicated is less than 50%. This has to
improve, along with the time taken for resolution, because significant
capital is locked up in bankrupt companies.
29) On nationwide protests: Iran on the boil
Nationwide protests that broke out over the weekend are the latest
challenge to the Iranian regime that’s already struggling to fix a
battered economy, hostile ties with the U.S. and waning influence in
West Asia.
The trigger was the government’s decision to raise the price of rationed
fuel. Thousands of people took to the streets, reminiscent of recent protests
in Hong Kong, Chile, Lebanon and neighbouring Iraq.
The protesters chanted slogans against the Islamic regime, carried
“Death to Khamenei” posters, in a direct challenge to the country’s
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and burned down banks and stores.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 80
Security personnel reportedly unleashed violence on the protesters,
while the government shut down the Internet. According to Iranian
media, at least 12 people were killed, including security personnel, and
some 1,000 protesters were arrested.
Both President Hassan Rouhani and Ayatollah Khamenei, the real ruler of
Iran, have condemned the protests, while the Islamic Revolutionary Guard
Corps, the country’s top paramilitary force, has threatened to crack
down on the demonstrations, raising the prospects of more violence.
Iran still has one of the lowest fuel prices in the world. But the rise was
enough for a people reeling under high inflation, joblessness and a
collapsing economy to take to the streets.
President Donald Trump’s decision last year to pull the U.S. out of the
2015 nuclear deal and reimpose sanctions has dealt a blow to Iran’s
economy. Inflation has risen to 40%. A quarter of Iran’s youth are
unemployed.
And according to the IMF, the country’s economy is expected to
contract by 9.5% this year, while the currency, the rial, has plunged to
record lows against the dollar.
It is now evident that the collapse of the nuclear deal has cost the Iranian
economy dearly. And the protests broke out at a time when Iran’s influence
in Lebanon and Iraq is being challenged by protesters.
In Iraq, protesters burned an Iranian consulate and turned their anger
against Iran-trained militias. In Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah is a
key pillar of the government, protesters demand the resignation of the entire
political class.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 81
And now in Iran, the protesters challenge the regime itself. In recent years,
Iran has seen many protests and labour agitations. And the regime’s
response has always been typical.
It branded the protesters as counter-revolutionaries and blamed foreign
hands. The economic woes have weakened the delicate balance between
the regime and its angry youth.
The latest round of protests might die down. But Iran needs a lasting
solution to address its revolting underbelly. It can’t violently suppress
the protesters forever and needs to get the nuclear deal back on track.
30) On detention of elected representatives: House not in order
More than 1,300 people who were detained around the Centre’s abrupt
move on August 5 that downgraded and bifurcated Jammu and Kashmir
(J&K) continue to be so 15 weeks later.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 82
In detention are dozens of elected representatives including a member
of the Lok Sabha, Farooq Abdullah, who also happens to be a former
Chief Minister.
Senior functionaries of the government have repeatedly said the situation is
normal in J&K, but indefinite preventive detention of people is difficult to
justify under any circumstances.
With continuing restrictions on communication, gauging the mood of the
people may be tricky, but some signs of normalcy are visible as more
businesses open and vehicular traffic increases in the Valley.
Now that the first Lieutenant Governor has also taken charge in J&K,
immediate steps must be taken to open up political and civil
society space. Instead of trying to hard sell an improbable portrait to the
outside world
The Centre would do well by engaging with those most affected by its
decisions - the people of J&K. The government cannot possibly see merit in
undermining mainstream political leaders in J&K.
The paradox of continuing detentions and restrictions in J&K was
stark when Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the
forthcoming Constitution Day and the role of the Rajya Sabha in
sustaining India’s federal structure on the first day of the winter session
of Parliament.
As the PM rightly indicated, Parliament is for giving meaningful voice to
the people, not to make disruptive noise. But those prevented from
attending the House are denied the right to speak for the people they are
elected to represent.
The PM’s call for frank discussions and dialogues in the current
session would ring hollow when some of them remain in detention.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 83
The government has refused to make any commitment on Mr.
Abdullah’s release, while a member of Rajya Sabha, Congress leader
P. Chidambaram remains in judicial custody as government agencies
and law officers show an alacrity that they reserve exclusively for pursuing
Opposition leaders.
The PM’s appreciation of the Rajya Sabha’s role in the hollowing out
of Article 370 through a hurried resolution in the last session was
disingenuous. The non-deliberative manner in which a full-fledged State
was reduced into two UTs in one stroke was an unprecedented assault on
federalism.
Disruption by the Opposition is a marginal challenge to the role of
Parliament at present. The real and graver trial of the legislature is the
executive’s refusal to be scrutinised by it.
By undermining parliamentary committees and brazenly labelling any
Bill as a money Bill in order to bypass the Rajya Sabha, the
government has shown scant regard for parliamentary precedents and
processes. A course correction is in order.
31) On Nationwide NRC: Senseless
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 84
Home Minister Amit Shah’s announcement of a proposal for a
nationwide National Register of Citizens (NRC) is worrisome on several
counts, not the least of which is the apparent inability to learn from the
experience of carrying out the humongous exercise in Assam.
The government, he said, would also re-introduce the Citizenship
Amendment Bill (CAB) in Parliament that envisages the grant of
Indian citizenship to all refugees from minority communities in
Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
In all three nations Muslims are in a majority, and therefore, the Bill
effectively denies benefit to Muslim minorities from other
neighbouring countries, including Myanmar where Rohingya Muslims
face persecution.
Along with the promised combination of the NRC and CAB, the Home
Minister announced that the NRC process would “naturally” be
conducted in Assam again with the rest of the country.
Interestingly, this comes just days after Ranjan Gogoi, who supervised the
NRC process, demitted office as Chief Justice of India. Clearly, the Assam
proposal will be in defiance of the Supreme Court, which directed the entire
NRC registration specific to Assam through all its tortuous details.
There is still no clarity on what the end results mean for the 19 lakh
plus people who find themselves outside the NRC, potentially stateless
and at risk of “deportation” to Bangladesh, which refuses to acknowledge,
let alone accept, them.
Given that the NRC process in Assam was rooted in the specificities of
the 1985 Assam Accord, and as the government never tires of saying, a
court-mandated process, extending it to the entire country is both
illogical and bizarre.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 85
Flawed it might have been, but the NRC exercise, overseen by the
Supreme Court, involved the active participation of the Central and
State governments.
For the government to repeat the exercise merely because the numbers
thrown up are politically inconvenient for the ruling BJP, makes no sense at
all. If there is a lesson from Assam, it is that there is no right way of
going through a process such as the NRC.
Like the CAB, which pointedly discriminates against Muslims, and is
loaded against the right to equality and equal protection before the law
as enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution, there are genuine fears
that a nationwide NRC will target Muslims.
Details of how such an exercise will be carried out are, of course, not yet
known. In the case of Assam, there was a cut-off date - March 25, 1971 -
after which all foreigners as per the Assam Accord were to be “detected,
deleted and expelled in accordance with law”.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 86
Presumably, the Centre will come out with a cut-off for the nationwide
NRC, but it will be an arbitrary one. Given the dangers that lurk within
such exercises, the government would do well to abandon the
nationwide NRC-CAB combination. Indians can certainly be spared this
pain.
32) On PSU Disinvestment: Expedient Exit
The Cabinet’s latest decision to approve strategic disinvestment of the
government’s shareholding in five public sector enterprises including
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Shipping Corporation of India and
the Container Corporation of India can at best be described as an expedient
exit.
Faced with a massive shortfall in revenue and capital receipts - as of
September 30, net tax revenue had only reached 36.8% of the budget
estimate of ₹16.5 lakh crore for the full year.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 87
While non-debt capital receipts were at 17.2% of the fiscal’s target of
about ₹1.2 lakh crore according to the Controller General of Accounts - the
share sale is aimed at helping the government narrow the yawning
fiscal gap.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had made clear in July’s Budget
speech that select and strategic disinvestment would “remain a priority” and
the Cabinet’s decision to sell the Centre’s entire 53.29% ownership in
BPCL, all of its 63.75% holding in SCI and 30.8% of its stake in
CONCOR is an attempt at ensuring the actualisation of this policy
approach.
Still, the underlying rationale behind this government’s disinvestment
programme remains hazy. It would be perfectly understandable if the aim
was to exit unprofitable, non-strategic businesses.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 88
BPCL, however, is a profitable refiner and oil marketing company that
has consistently paid a healthy dividend. It has also made investments in
upstream energy resources and holds interests in overseas hydrocarbon
blocks. To that extent, a full sale now deprives the government of all
upside potential.
While the BPCL stake could fetch the exchequer about ₹59,000
crore based on Thursday’s closing price on the BSE, the Cabinet’s
decision to carve out and exclude the company’s 62% holding in
Assam’s 3-million metric tonnes per annum Numaligarh refinery
would surely pare the price it could get from a prospective buyer.
And the lack of an explanation for the logic behind the move also hints
at politics taking precedence over any economic interest, especially
given the ruling party’s keenness to strengthen its newfound sway in the
restive northeastern States.
With just a little over four months left in the financial year, how the
government intends to actually complete the transaction - from
appointment of advisers, to deciding on the pricing mechanism and
initiating a transparent bidding process before finalising a buyer - this
fiscal is another big question.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 89
While the transfer of the government’s stakes in THDC India Limited and
North Eastern Electric Power Corporation to the captive buyer, state-owned
NTPC, will obviously go through in time, it is the market sale of the bigger-
ticket stakes that could pose a challenge.
With just ₹17,364 crore of the ₹1.05 lakh crore disinvestment target
realised so far, the Centre has little choice but to expedite these
strategic sale proposals in double-quick time.
33) On Maharashtra government formation: Midnight coup
The surreptitious manner in which Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar
were sworn in as Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister,
respectively, of Maharashtra on Saturday morning was admission by the
troupe itself that this drama was beyond the pale.
If the coming together of the Shiv Sena, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)
and the Congress in an attempt to form a majority in the hung State
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 90
Assembly was disrespectful of the mandate, the skullduggery by the dead
of night was an outright mockery of democratic norms and established
procedure.
Pursuit of power often involves amoral ingredients, but the surreal
birthing of the new government was nothing short of sheer depravity.
The BJP has not set any inspiring ethical bar when it achieved power
without winning a popular mandate in several States, but this new low
leaves the nation’s political ‘conscience’ with a sinking feeling.
In one stroke, the President, the Prime Minister, and the Governor, all
appear to be not as guardians of the constitutional order but
collaborators in a clandestine, nocturnal scheme.
Politically indefensible as the Sena-Congress-NCP alliance might be,
its claim to form a government is technically unimpeachable, and
cannot be denied.
Political realignments in an existing legislature are often triggered by splits
in alliances or parties. In Maharashtra it appears that the NCP legislature
party leader is himself the leading defector - a unique situation.
A more consequential betrayal is that of democracy itself. A series of
unprecedented actions by the Centre and the Governor, and several
unresolved questions that are associated with their actions, throw up
multiple legal and constitutional issues.
The top court might in due course adjudicate them, but the legitimacy
of the Fadnavis government needs to be tested at once.
That has been the precedent set by the court in comparable situations in
which governments with dubious claims of numbers sought to delay the
floor test and horse trading was suspected.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 91
The Governor administered the oath of office to the same person who
had declined his invitation to form a government earlier. And this just
as an alliance with sufficient numbers had taken shape.
The Supreme Court has acted with alacrity that this seeming infraction
of constitutionalism calls for. In a rare event, the SC heard a petition by
the Sena and the NCP on a Sunday, which it said was its duty.
It has called for records regarding material facts and circumstances
that led the Centre and the Governor to act as they did on the
intervening night of Friday-Saturday to be submitted to it on Monday
morning.
The BJP sought to stonewall or slow down the case during arguments,
but if it is so confident of the numbers, as it claims, it should submit
itself to a floor test immediately, Fadnavis should be asked to seek a
confidence vote immediately.
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November 2019
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34) On Helping 10-year-olds to read by 2030
For most children, turning 10 is an exciting moment. They are learning
more about the world and expanding their horizons. But too many children
- more than half of all 10 year olds in low- and middle-income
countries - cannot read and understand a simple story.
We are in the middle of a global learning crisis that stifles opportunities
and aspirations of hundreds of millions of children. That is
unacceptable. In October, we (World Bank) released data to support a new
learning target: by 2030, we want to cut, by at least half, the global level
of learning poverty.
Missing possibilities: Learning to read is an especially critical skill: it
opens a world of possibilities, and it is the foundation on which other
essential learning is built - including numeracy and science.
Wiping out learning poverty (defined as the percentage of children who
cannot read and understand a simple story by age 10) is an urgent matter.
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It is key to eliminating poverty in general and boosting shared
prosperity. It is key to helping children achieve their potential.
But over the last several years, progress in reducing learning poverty
has been stagnant. Globally between 2000 and 2017, there has only
been a 10% improvement in learning outcomes for primary school-
aged children. If this pace continues, 43% of 10-year-olds will not be
able to read in 2030.
The good news is, the children who will turn 10 in 2030 will be born
next year. If we work urgently, there is an opportunity to reverse this
trend.
The target we have set is ambitious but achievable - and should galvanise
action toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) - ensuring
quality education for all. Several countries are showing that it is
possible.
It will require nearly tripling the rate of progress worldwide, which
can be done if every country can match the performance of the
countries that made the most progress between 2000 and 2015.
The India example: In India, the Right-to-Education Act has been
successful in increasing coverage and access to school education but
now there is an urgent need to shift the focus to quality.
The decision of India to join the Programme for International Student
Assessment and the merger of schemes under Samagra Shiksha are
encouraging signs that India is moving in this direction.
In Kenya, the government’s national reading programme has more
than tripled the percentage of grade two students reading at an
appropriate level. This was accomplished through technology-enabled
teacher coaching, teacher guides, and delivering one book per child.
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November 2019
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In Vietnam, a lean, effective curriculum ensures that the basics are
covered, there is deep learning of fundamental skills, and all children
have reading materials. Learning outcomes of Vietnamese students in the
bottom 40% of the income ladder are as high, or higher, than the average
student in high-income countries.
The challenges of reducing learning poverty will differ between
countries and regions. In some countries, access to school remains an
enormous problem - 258 million young people were out of school
globally, in 2018. In other countries, children are in classrooms but are
not learning.
By setting a global target, the World Bank can work with countries to
define their own national learning targets. Cutting learning poverty in
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half by 2030 is only an intermediate goal. Our ambition is to work with
governments and development partners to bring that number to zero.
As the largest financier of education in low-and middle-income
countries, the World Bank will work with countries to promote reading
proficiency in primary schools. Policies include providing detailed
guidance and practical training for teachers, ensuring access to more
and better age-appropriate texts, and teaching children in the language
they use at home.
Creating the right classroom: The World Bank is also working with
governments and development partners to improve entire education
systems, so advancements in literacy can be sustained and scaled up.
That means making sure children come to school prepared and
motivated to learn; teachers are effective and valued and have access to
technology; classrooms provide a well-equipped space for learning; schools
are safe and inclusive; and education systems are well-managed.
An ambitious measurement and research agenda supports these efforts and
includes measurement of both learning outcomes and their drivers,
continued research and innovation, and the smart use of new technologies
on how to build foundation skills.
The learning crisis not only wastes the children’s potential, it hurts
entire economies. It will negatively impact future workforces and
economic competitiveness - as the World Bank’s Human Capital Index
shows that, globally, the productivity of the average child born today is
expected to be only 56% of what it would be if countries invested
enough in health and education.
Eliminating learning poverty must be a priority, just like ending
hunger and extreme poverty. It will not be easy, but we cannot back
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down from the challenge. We owe it to the children all over the world to set
our sights high, so they can too.
35) On sanitation goals: Not so swachh
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
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India’s high-profile Swachh Bharat programme has won it plaudits
globally for its goal of providing sanitation to all, but as new survey data
from the National Statistical Office (NSO) show, it remains a work in
progress.
The quest to equip houses in the countryside with a toilet has led to an
expansion, but there was a deficit of about 28% as of October last year
and not 5% as the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Gramin) had claimed.
The declaration that the country has ended open defecation in its rural
areas, made to international acclaim on Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth
anniversary by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, must return to the wish list,
going by this survey.
It is extraordinary that many States that were declared to be free of
open defecation simply did not qualify for the status, according to the
NSO data. The Centre has disputed the survey results, but it should
ideally treat it as a fresh assessment of how much ground is yet to be
covered.
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November 2019
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The data could help it review performance in States such as
Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, where the lack of toilets is
reported to be higher than the national average.
More fundamentally, the survey provides an opportunity to review
other social determinants such as education, housing and water supply
which have a strong influence on adoption of sanitation.
It would be pointless to pursue sanitation as a separate ideal, if
communities are unable to see its benefits due to overall deprivation.
The Central government has been reiterating its claims on rural India
becoming entirely open defecation-free (ODF) on the basis of declarations
made by States. Just last week, the Ministry of Jal Shakti said the
coverage in 5,99,963 villages had risen from 38.7% in 2014, to 100%
this year.
It is indisputable that the number of toilets has gone up significantly,
and for which taxpayers remitted about ₹20,600 crore as a cess since
2015, until the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax.
Yet, there is evidence to show that this has not translated into use
everywhere. The NSO survey results add a new dimension, since they
controvert data relied upon by the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan on ODF.
It will take a marathon programme to bring all-round development to
India’s villages, which have not really benefited from years of fast-paced
economic growth.
Rural housing and water supply are key to bringing toilet access to
all, and it is doubtful whether the 2.95 crore subsidised dwellings targeted
to be built by 2022 under the government’s flagship housing programme
can bridge the shortfall.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
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It is well-recognised that development indices are low in some States,
and local bodies lack the capacity and resources to bring universal
sanitation even where political will is present.
Sustained work to eliminate black spots in coverage and a massive urban
programme are critical to ending open defecation and universalising toilet
access. Sanitation cannot be a separate ideal without reference to other
forms of deprivation.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 100
36) On Fadnavis exit: Constitution day
After slinking in by the dead of night as Chief Minister of Maharashtra,
Devendra Fadnavis quit three days later on Tuesday, unable to withstand
the test by the light of day.
He claimed the moral high ground as he resigned ahead of imminent
ouster in a floor test in the State Assembly. The BJP’s brazen usurpation
of power left a trail of vandalised norms and precedents, and will continue
to rankle, but the fact that it was not allowed to stand is a tribute to India’s
constitutional order, despite its inadequacies.
The Supreme Court acted with the deserving urgency, to “protect
democratic values” as it said. It laid down the rules and timelines; ring-
fenced the floor test and pre-empted manipulation.
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It observed that when “there is a possibility of horse trading, it becomes
incumbent upon the Court to act”. There is no grace in Mr. Fadnavis’s exit;
only relief that the nation has been spared more ugly spectacles.
The Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress alliance will now test
its majority after forming the government. NCP leader Ajit Pawar’s
dramatic return to the fold after a scandalous short-lived dalliance with the
BJP probably will never be satisfactorily explained.
The top court’s order is interim and substantive questions thrown up by the
series of events leading up to the swearing-in of Mr. Fadnavis will be
adjudicated later. The tactics the BJP employed to seize power in the State
were breathtaking in their insolence, though not entirely unprecedented.
The Governor used his discretion in a blatantly partisan manner to foist a
government based on dubious claims of numbers, while denying the
opportunity to the coalition.
The Centre, scripting and acting out the drama, rushed through the
procedure to withdraw President’s rule - all done in a cloak-and-dagger
manner. The Governor is constitutionally authorised to appoint a Chief
Minister.
The assumed limits of this authority are being breached with alarming
frequency and extent by partisan Governors, acting merely as tools in
political schemes. Given this context, there is a need to define in clearer
terms the boundaries of the Governor’s use of discretion in inviting a party
to form a government.
President Ram Nath Kovind’s call for constitutional morality among all
organs of the state and persons holding constitutional posts, during
Constitution Day celebrations in Parliament on Tuesday, was appropriate.
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November 2019
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It was also ironic, as it followed the court’s order which called into question
the propriety and intention of the Centre and the Governor. Constitutional
morality was violated by those entrusted to guard it.
The BJP’s nocturnal capture of power in Maharashtra was a dispiriting
episode in Indian democracy. The court order and the subsequent
resignation of Mr. Fadnavis offer hope that India’s constitutional order will
force its caretakers to behave.
37) On why ISRO should go commercial: More bang for the buck
The Indian Space Research Organisation - ISRO’s successful launch on
Wednesday of Cartosat-3, along with 13 other small U.S. satellites,
marks a major technological milestone for India.
Cartosat-3 is capable of unprecedented image resolution of nearly 25
cm on the ground as against the best global military-grade satellites
that can provide a 10 cm resolution.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
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The best satellite images commercially available are between 25-30 cm.
Thus, as a commercial satellite, Cartosat-3 creates a wealth of
applications. Military espionage is the lowest hanging fruit.
It is believed that surveillance by the earlier Cartosat-2 satellite series -
with a resolution, though coarser, of about 65 cm - was used to plan and
execute military operations such as ‘surgical strikes’ across the Line of
Control in 2016 and the Manipur-Myanmar border in 2015.
For the government, such resolution can help monitor progress of road
construction, coastal land-erosion, forest conservation, oceanic changes
and infrastructure development.
Image resolution is good to have but secondary to image processing. That
means unless and until there is sophisticated technology available to
analyse the generated images, it is less valued, than coarser
images scanned by better processing-software.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
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While satellite launches make for a good spectacle, they are meaningful
only in so far as they aid commerce and generate revenue and
jobs. Indian regulations restrict access to satellite images sharper than
one metre to the government. Other than for transponders, there is a long
way to go for Indian private companies sending innovative payloads aboard
ISRO launch vehicles.
ISRO recently launched a company called New Space India Limited
(NSIL), a competitor to Antrix, but like it, is another public enterprise
meant to commercialise space products and satellite development deals
with private entities.
The deal for the U.S. satellites launched along with Cartosat-3 was
formally inked by the NSIL. A good beginning, it should not be shackled
by bureaucratic encumbrances, à la Antrix.
The host of interesting electronics aboard Cartosat-3 should ideally
inspire ISRO to explore collaboration with the private sector in
improving high-technology manufacturing.
While ISRO’s key capability still lies in developing and launching
small- and medium-sized satellites, it ought to be able to market the
technology aboard Cartosat-3 globally and induce the farming out of
satellite development projects to ISRO or its subsidiaries.
While ISRO’s credentials as a poster child for India’s technological
abilities have been fortified, it still has a long way to go in terms of its
reputation as an enabler of local business.
38) On Transgender Persons Act: Caught in the Act
It is inconceivable that any effort to ostensibly ameliorate the fortunes of a
particular group should be completely impervious to the entreaties of
intended beneficiaries.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 105
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, passed in the
Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, and seeking to ensure the fundamental rights
of those who do not conform to the binary notions of gender identity,
has disappointed the community.
The Act’s long history traces back to the judgment in NALSA vs Union of
India of April 2014, which directed the Centre and State to grant legal
recognition for the third gender, ensure there is no
discrimination against them, and construct specific social welfare
programmes.
In August 2016, the government introduced the Transgender Bill in the
Lok Sabha and this was referred to the Standing Committee on Social
Justice and Empowerment, which submitted its report in less than a
year.
But that Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok
Sabha. The current Act arose out of a Bill that the government
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introduced in the Lok Sabha in July 2019, and was passed there on
August 5 this year, the same day the Centre revoked the special status
of Jammu and Kashmir.
In its passage through the Upper House, more recently, a motion to refer it
to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha was defeated.
The Act is progressive in that it allows self perception of gender identity,
but regresses by mandating that each person would have to be
recognised as ‘transgender’ on the basis of a certificate of identity
issued by a district magistrate, rejecting the recommendation from the
2016 Standing Committee to have a screening committee.
There are no avenues open either for appeal in the event a magistrate
refuses to hand out such a certificate.
India’s vocal LGBTQI community had problems with the Bill’s basics -
right from the nomenclature. Calling it a ‘Transgender Persons’
Bill would not give adequate play to the diversity the non-binaries included,
it argued, instead calling for a more broad-based definition.
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November 2019
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Activists have slammed it for its ‘narrow understanding’ of gender
identities and for offering woefully inadequate mainstreaming
opportunities. They remain unhappy with the silence on unnecessary and
non-consensual sex selective or reassignment surgeries, despite the plea
that it be made an offence.
Elaborate detailing of the anti-discriminatory clause in the Bill might have
gone a long way in ensuring implementation and legal recourse, they argue.
With the Bill becoming law, unaltered in any significant form, in the face
of such strident opposition, the community is seething at being ignored.
Its only hope is that the National Council for Transgender Persons,
which is supposed to provide the institutional framework for
implementing the Act, might allow more latitude for incorporating
genuine demands.
Otherwise, this Act might well be a glove that ill fits the hand it was
tailored for. The Transgender Persons Act should have factored in
suggestions from the community.
The Hindu Editorial Summary
November 2019
www.chahalacademy.com Page 108
39) On UN's Emissions Gap Report: Widening gap
The UN’s Emissions Gap Report comes as a sharp warning to countries
preparing to meet in Madrid in December, under the aegis of the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Every year of inaction is jeopardising the main goal of the Paris
Agreement: to keep the rise in global temperature over pre-industrial
times well below 2°C, and ideally at 1.5°C. Emissions gap represents the
difference between current actions to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) and
what is needed to meet the target.
In quantitative terms, the UN report estimates that there would have to
be a 2.7% average annual cut in emissions from 2020 to 2030 for
temperature rise to be contained at 2°C, while the more ambitious 1.5° C
target would require a 7.6% reduction.
But countries with large emissions, such as the U.S., China, the
European Union nations & India, will face more challenging demands
if corrective measures to decarbonise are not implemented now.
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November 2019
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Climate warnings issued over the years have failed to impress most
politicians, but the EU is considering an emergency declaration, and the
British Parliament adopted a resolution earlier this year.
What the emissions gap findings make clear, however, is that symbolism
can do little to mitigate the effects of dangerous climate change.
Hundreds of millions of people could face the extreme impacts.
In the U.S., the Trump administration has initiated the process of
withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, but there is considerable sub-
national support for climate action.
The EU, where public pressure to act on climate change is high, is
working on legislation to bring about net zero emissions. The U.K.,
responsible for a large share of historical emissions, has turned its net
zero 2050 goal into a legal requirement.
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November 2019
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For these rich nations, the road to lower emissions is mainly through
innovation and higher efficiencies in energy use.
China and India, on the other hand, have to reconcile growing
emissions with development needs. Their best options are a scaling up of
investments in renewable energy, leapfrogging to clean technologies in
buildings and transport, and greater carbon sequestration.
Here, as the UN report points out, India could do much more. It needs
to provide more consistent support for renewable energy, have a long-
term plan to retire coal power plants, enhance ambition on air quality,
adopt an economy-wide green industrialisation strategy, and expand
mass transport.
In the key area of buildings, the energy conservation code of 2018 needs to
be implemented under close scrutiny. With a clear vision, India could use
green technologies to galvanise its faltering economy, create new jobs
and become a climate leader.
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