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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 10 April 2020 (It’s time for the Red Berets (The Hindu))

It’s time for the Red Berets (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International 
Prelims level:UN Security Council
Mains level:Important international organisations and their utilisations 

Context:

  • The World Health Organisation (WHO) is not equipped to fight a pandemic of this proportion. Its responsibility is to monitor threats to public health and inform and advise the member states. 
  • The fight against COVID-19 has to be on a war footing. For this we need a composite force that has the capabilities of massive sanitisation, testing, hospitalisation and providing support systems. 
  • Even the most powerful nations are not able to cope with the effort and there are signs of conflict on account of shortages of equipment and trained personnel. 
  • The only UN body which has the training for assembling fighting forces for emergencies is the Department of Peace Operations.

A force under chapter VII:

  • The UN Security Council (UNSC) stands paralysed because of petty battles on the name of the pandemic, its origin and the need for transparency. 
  • It should hold an emergency meeting and authorise the UN Secretary General to put together a force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter. 
  • The mandate of the Charter should be interpreted to emphasise that this is the greatest threat to international peace and security. 

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Deployment of forces:

  • In war situations, the Secretary General is able to put together a force in about four months. This operation requires greater emergency. 
  • There is some delicacy about deploying the army internally in different political systems, but UN forces have been acceptable in most countries. 
  • As for the cost, the responsibility for the deployment of forces for peacekeeping, peace building and peace enforcement is that of the permanent members. 
  • Instead of competing with each other for leadership of the post-COVID-19 world, let them help create a post-COVID-19 world.

UNSC Resolution:

  • So far COVID-19 has spread in relatively prosperous regions of the world, which have stable infrastructure and health systems. 
  • We cannot trust that it will not spread to less equipped states, in which the devastation will be much more. 
  • Only a UN force which can enforce social distancing and lockdowns can prevent a catastrophe.
  • Most Chapter VII resolutions determine the existence of a threat to the peace, a breach of the peace, or an act of aggression in accordance with Article 39, and make a decision explicitly under Chapter VII. 

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Many resolutions:

  • Chapter VII resolutions are very rarely isolated measures. Often the first response to a crisis is a resolution demanding the crisis be ended. 
  • This is later followed by an actual resolution detailing the measures required to secure compliance with the first resolution. 
  • Sometimes dozens of resolutions are passed over time to modify and extend the mandate of the first Chapter VII resolution.
  • The UN stands discredited today as the UNSC has not been able to meet. It may take place, now that China has vacated the Security Council chair and Dominican Republic has taken over. Several resolutions are in circulation, but none under Chapter VII. 
  • The first step will be to pass a resolution to take action to end the crisis and authorise the Secretary General to request member states to make personnel available. Meanwhile, another resolution must spell out the modalities of the operation.

Conclusion:

  • The UN peacekeeping forces are called Blue Berets because of the colour of the caps that they wear. 
  • The health force can have caps of another colour, probably red. The launch of the Red Berets will be a historic action to be taken at a critical moment. 
  • The UN’s relevance will be established and there will be concrete action taken to end the pandemic.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 10 April 2020 (No lockdown for abuse (The Hindu)

No lockdown for abuse (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 1:Society 
Prelims level:National Commission for Women
Mains level:Development of women organisations 

Context:

  • In the first week of the lockdown, one of the 257 complaint calls that the National Commission for Women (NCW) received was from a father in Rajasthan who said his daughter was being beaten by her husband and had not been provided food since the lockdown began. 
  • The call helps to highlights the plight of many silent sufferers of domestic violence across the world in these times. 
  • In China, France, the U.K. and other countries, there have been reports of a significant increase in domestic violence cases since the imposition of lockdowns. 
  • These reports highlight the need for Indian authorities to take this issue seriously too.

Women-victims:

  • The literature on domestic violence suggests that when men and/or women get employed, domestic violence tends to fall as interactions between couples reduce. 
  • Under a lockdown, interaction time has increased and families have been left without access to the outside world. 
  • The literature also suggests that violence is a way for the man to assert his notion of masculinity. 
  • The current atmosphere of fear, uncertainty, food insecurity, and unemployment may create feelings of inadequacy in men. 

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Violence against women in India:

  • The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) data show that 24% of women faced domestic violence in 2015-16 not seeing any reduction since 2005-06. 
  • Compared to the survey results, the actual reports of domestic violence to the police are negligible at 58.8/ one lakh women. 
  • The disparity between the crimes reported in a survey and registered with the police highlights how women are unlikely to seek help. 
  • The more telling statistic from the NFHS data is perhaps that 52% of the surveyed women and 42% of the surveyed men think there is at least one valid reason for wife-beating. 
  • This attitude highlights how ingrained and normalised the idea is such that an abused woman should not expect support from others. 
  • The NFHS data also highlight how the proportion of women reporting violence is increasing among families with lower wealth. 
  • The lockdown due to the pandemic is leading to a substantial negative income shock for everyone. 
  • In our interviews with unorganised sector workers, we often heard that women suffered domestic violence coupled with the husband’s alcoholism. 
  • The NFHS data also show a high correlation between alcohol intake and domestic violence. Keeping in mind that access to alcohol may be limited in these times, frustration could also lead to abuse.

What need to be done?

  • The most important thing that we can do is to acknowledge and accept that domestic violence happens and work to reduce the stigma attached to the victims of such violence. 
  • Such support may prompt abused women to seek at least informal means to redress their issues. 
  • The NCW has appealed to women to reach out to their nearest police stations or call the State Women’s Commission for support. 
  • While this is the least that can be done, there are some other formal means by which we can extend help to women right now. 
  • The provision of cash transfers and ration support are likely to sustain the family and also reduce stress in the household leading to lower violence against women. 
  • Since the lockdown began, the amount of TV viewing, particularly of news, has increased. Coupled with a lack of other activity, this is an opportune time to improve messaging. 

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Case study:

  • The French government has extended monetary support to organisations fighting this crime. 
  • British activists have requested their government to release emergency funds to support organisations that are dealing with domestic violence-related issues. 

Way forward:

  • The Indian government should also extend monetary support to such organisations in India rather than rely entirely on ASHA workers on whom the burden of community welfare is already very high. 
  • The staff of such organisations should be allowed to travel without being stopped by the police.
  • Studies show that women more than men tend to be affected adversely during epidemics. We need to take these advisories seriously to prevent further widening of the rift between men and women in our society.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 10 April 2020 (Prolonged injustice : On Mehbooba Mufti’s detention (The Hindu))

Prolonged injustice : On Mehbooba Mufti’s detention (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Polity 
Prelims level:Public Safety Act
Mains level:Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions

Context:

  • It has been eight months since the Centre revoked the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir and downgraded and divided it into two Union Territories in August 2019. 
  • Several political leaders imprisoned in the wake of the abrupt decision continue to be in detention even now, the most prominent among them being the former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti. 
  • Two other former CMs — Farooq Abdullah and Omar Abdullah — were released last month. 

Public Safety Act:

  • Freedom for Ms. Mufti is still not near, the administration indicated on Tuesday as it shifted her from a guesthouse-turned-jail to her official residence that has been designated as a subsidiary jail. 
  • She will not be allowed to move out of here or receive visitors, and remains in detention under the controversial Public Safety Act (PSA). 
  • Hundreds of others including veteran Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Naeem Akhtar and IAS-officer-turned politician Shah Faesal continue to languish in jail. 
  • The manner in which the Centre hollowed out Article 370 and dismantled a State set an inglorious precedent in the history of Indian federalism. 

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Incarceration: 

  • Ms. Mufti’s home imprisonment, at a time when the entire population is expected to lock themselves up in their own homes, is the theatre of the absurd. 
  • Her continuing incarceration even after two other former CMs have been freed is inexplicable. 
  • What is it that makes her an exceptional suspect under the PSA? The change in the status of Jammu and Kashmir and the massive deployment of force to deal with its aftermath were spectacles of a new national resolve, according to the supporters of those decisions. 
  • The unfolding tragedy of the pandemic bespeaks the pitfalls of lopsided priorities, by laying bare the country’s inadequate health-care infrastructure. 
  • Jammu and Kashmir is badly hit by the disease, with a fightback restricted by the absence of an elected government. 

Conclusion:

  • The havoc by the virus should not be used as a facade to trample upon civil rights or to criminalise expression of opinion. 
  • If anything, this unprecedented crisis should spur fresh thinking on finding solutions to intractable political problems. 
  • The BJP’s view on Kashmir is as old the party itself. But that by itself is no reason to avoid revisiting the issue. 
  • The very least it can do, however, is to immediately free Ms. Mufti. That will be a good signal to the people of Jammu and Kashmir during these tough times.
  • Mehbooba Mufti’s continued detention in Jammu and Kashmir is hard to defend morally and politically.

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(E-Book) KURUKSHETRA MAGAZINE PDF - APR 2020

 (E-Book) KURUKSHETRA MAGAZINE PDF - APR 2020

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 10 April 2020 (For better use : On MPLADS funds(The Hindu))

For better use : On MPLADS funds(The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Polity 
Prelims level:MPLADS funds
Mains level:Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States

Context:

  • The suspension of the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) for two years to boost the funding available for the COVID-19 fight is a step in the right direction. 
  • While taking over MPLADS funds to fight the virus, Centre must allocate judiciously.
  • It may appear at first blush that the decision may undermine the decentralised manner of funding local area development. 
  • However, past experience has been that some members do not utilise their full entitlement and that there is a gap between recommendation made by members and implementation by the administration under this scheme. 

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Key highlights of the benefit from suspension:

  • The immediate benefit now is the freeing up of about ₹7,900 crore over a two-year period so that it can be spent on boosting the health infrastructure needed to combat the pandemic. 
  • This is the second announcement regarding MPLADS that the Centre has made after the disease outbreak. 
  • Last month, it allowed utilisation of MPLADS funds to the extent of at least ₹5lakh by each MP to purchase medical equipment for government hospitals in their constituencies. 
  • Many members made immediate use of the one-time dispensation to recommend the procurement of N95 masks, personal protective equipment, and ventilators. 
  • Now that the entire scheme has been suspended, the government should ensure that recommendations already made are acted upon immediately. 
  • The transfer of these sums to the Consolidated Fund of India would help judicious deployment anywhere in the country, based on an assessment of the varying needs in different regions.

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Major loopholes of the scheme:

  • Political reactions indicate that there is considerable disenchantment over the suspension — the ₹5-crore corpus available to each member is a source of much goodwill for elected representatives. 
  • Better performing MPs identify and fulfil local development needs with empathy and alacrity. 
  • However, there has also been persistent criticism about the scheme’s very nature. A conceptual flaw pointed out by experts is that it goes against the separation of powers. 
  • It allows individual legislators to encroach on the planning and implementation duties of the administration. 
  • Jurists have pointed out that the Constitution does not confer the power to spend public money on an individual legislator. 
  • Experts have called it out for weak monitoring. The Supreme Court, while declining to strike down the scheme, called for a robust accountability regime. 

Conclusion:

  • MPLADS gives scope for MPs to utilise the funds as a source of patronage that they can dispense at will. 
  • The CAG has flagged instances of financial mismanagement and inflation of amounts spent. 
  • The Second Administrative Reforms Commission recommended its abrogation altogether, highlighting the problems of the legislator stepping into the shoes of the executive. 
  • The current suspension gives some scope for a reconsideration of the scheme in its totality.

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Gist of The Hindu: APRIL 2020

Gist of The Hindu: APRIL 2020

 

VP claims next 10 years to be decade of youth in India

  • Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has said the next ten years would be the decade of the youth in India. He gave an extramural lecture in the IIT, Madras on the topic, 'India 2020 to 2030: GenY's Vision for the Decade,' this evening.
  • In his address, he said, India’s population is among the youngest in an ageing world. He said the strategy and vision for the education of the youth will decide how successful India will be in converting the country’s demographic advantage into a rich dividend.
  • The Vice President said a resurgent India is being witnessed today, driven by the dreams and aspirations of the youth. He expressed confidence that through their collective efforts, the dream of an India that is prosperous, inclusive, peaceful and harmonious can be realised.
  • He said India’s greatest asset is its tremendous diversity, adding, the time-tested bonds of unity are deeply rooted in it. He observed that there is a growing tendency to use technology irresponsibly to spread fake information or hate messages.
  • The Vice President stressed that the nation's timeless values of empathy with the people, harmony with nature, tolerance, non-violence and peaceful co-existence must be promoted.
  • He highlighted that the pursuit of excellence and utmost dedication and devotion to one’s duties and responsibilities are the highest forms of patriotism.
    Experts suggests need of protocol for introduction of wild animals
  • Days after the Supreme Court green-lighted the introduction of cheetahs in India, the top scientist at the laboratory for saving extinct species says it will be a challenge.
  • The court recently gave the nod to the National Tiger Conservation Authority to re-introduce African cheetahs, nearly 10 years after the plea was made.
  • “The background extinction rates are over 100 to 1,000 times due to reasons like hunting, destruction of habitat and human intervention. Species die out naturally but when a species becomes extinct unnaturally, it is like murder,” said Mr. Vasudevan,an expert.
  • Mr. Vasudevan said India would need a protocol to introduce wild animals in the country. “The International Union for Conservation of Nature has a protocol. It has reintroduction specialist groups. It has template guidelines, but we need to adapt them to our needs and we have to develop for our own species,” he said.
  • There is a need to create provisions under the Wildlife Protection Act for a policy on introduction of wild animals. Otherwise, citing this [cheetah introduction], many things can be done. We need to safeguard the interests of other species,” he said.
  • One of the successful efforts of Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered Species(LACONES) has been the reintroduction of mouse deer in the wild with its captive breeding programme in collaboration with the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad.

In terms of invoicing, India is amongst the most dollarized countries

  • India is among the most dollarised countries as far as invoicing is concerned, and by all these measures of internationalisation, the dollar is largely ahead of other currencies with euro as a distant second, Professor Hélène Rey, Lord Bagri Professor of Economics, London Business School, said.
  • Ms. Rey was speaking at the Export-Import (EXIM) Bank of India’s 35th Commencement Day Annual Lecture in Mumbai on ‘financial globalisation and international financial markets’.
  • “One can also see the U.S. as an insurer, since the value of its external dollar liabilities such as Treasury bills and U.S. government bonds held by the rest of the world tend to appreciate in bad times, thereby insuring the people holding them,” she said.
  • As a result, the U.S. gets seigniorage as people from different countries use dollars, she said, adding that India was one of the most dollarised countries in the world, following Brazil, Pakistan and Indonesia, in the share of imports and exports invoiced in dollars.
  • Ms. Rey said that according to a survey by the European Central Bank, the dollar dominated 62.2% international debt, 56.3% international loan and 62.7% global exchange reserves, whereas the euro had acquired much less global market.
  • “The dollar is becoming more unstable over time as the relative size of the U.S. shrinks in the world economy while the stock of dollar liabilities in the rest of the world keep growing,” she added.

New Zealand to expand trade with India if the latter does not join RCEP

  • New Zealand on Thursday said it will look forward to a bilateral trade agreement with India in case New Delhi does not join the China-backed mega trade deal RCEP.
  • The Narendra Modi-led government in November decided not to join Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal as negotiations failed to satisfactorily address New Delhi's "outstanding issues and concerns".
  • However, the possibility of India joining the trade pact is open provided its concerns are addressed by the member nations.
  • Responding to issues concerning the opening of the domestic dairy sector, he said New Zealand appreciates the concerns of the Indian dairy industry but expressed hope that some solutions could be arrived at through negotiations.
  • Observing that New Zealand was disappointed after India did not join the conclusion of the RCEP negotiations, Parker said the disappointment was not only for lost bilateral opportunities but also because the nation believes there is a strategic benefit for India of being on the table when the regional trade rules are made.
  • The RCEP negotiations were launched by leaders from 10 ASEAN member states and six other countries -- India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand during the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in November 2012.

Evidence of colistin resistant bacteria in the gut found in Indian patients

  • A small study involving 65 stool samples taken from patients from a single hospital in Chennai found 51% of them harbour colistin-resistant bacteria. This reflects the presence of such bacteria in the gut as stool samples represent gut colonisation.
  • This is the first study from India which has found indirect evidence of colistin-resistant bacteria in the gut and was published in the journal Diagnostic Microbiology & Infectious Disease.
  • Colistin is the last-resort antibiotic used to treat highly drug-resistant bacterial infections.
  • Colistin-resistant bacteria can be of hospital origin or food origin. Colistin-resistant bacteria of hospital origin do not respond to any of the antibiotics, including carbapenem while colistin-resistant bacteria of food origin will respond to carbapenem.
  • The main cause of colistin resistance in food is due to the rampant use of colistin in poultry. Since poultry litter is used as manure to grow vegetables, colistin-resistant bacteria are found in vegetables as well.
  • In clinical practice, it is the mutation in the mgrB gene or other chromosomal genes that confers colistin resistance to Klebsiella bacteria. In their 2018 study, the authors found mgrB gene mutation in food Klebsiella bacteria.
  • Till date, there is no evidence to suggest that the mgrB gene mutation spreads from food to human Klebsiella bacteria. The only colistin resistance mechanism that is known to spread from food to human Klebsiella bacteria is through mcr gene transfer.
  • In light of that, the finding that a large number of individuals carry colistin-resistant bacteria of food origin in the gut is therefore worrying.

India’s fastest women clinches  gold in Khelo India university games

  • India's fastest woman Dutee Chand clinched gold in 100 meters dash while long distance runner Narendra Pratap Singh bagged his second title at Khelo India University Games in Bhubaneswar today.
  • The 24-year-old sprinter, representing Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), raced ahead to take a massive lead within no time. With her competitors nowhere close to Dutee, the national record holder bagged gold with a timing of 11.49 seconds.
  • The second best, S. Dhanalakshmi from Mangalore University, clocked 11.99 seconds and S.S. Sneha from Mahatma Gandhi University clinched the bronze with a timing of 12.08 seconds.

Centre launches campaign for empowerment of women & girls through education

  • The government has launched a special campaign to take forward the momentum of empowerment of girls and women through education. Human Resource Development Minister Ramesh Pokhrial Nishank has said the ministry will celebrate the international women's day in schools and colleges across the country.
  • He said the week-long special theme-based campaign begins from today in the run up to the International Women's Day on 8th of March. The Minister further said, as a tribute to women, the celebration by HRD Ministry will continue throughout the year.
  • The Minister said the government has taken several initiatives since 2014 for the education of the girl child. This is one of the reasons for the success of the scheme of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao whereby the Gross Enrollment Ratio of girls across all levels of education is now higher than boys.
  • The Minister said that a self-defence Olympiad will be organized for girls at school-level on the lines of Yoga Olympiad.
  • He said to ensure safety and security of girls, self-defence training is imparted to girls of class 6 and 12 belonging to Government Schools.

Centre to review monuments under ASI

  • The number of monuments under the Centre’s protection could increase as the government is planning to conduct a review of those under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and the ones protected by the State governments, Union Minister for Culture Prahlad Singh Patel has said.
  • At present, 3,691 monuments nationwide are protected by the ASI, with the highest number, 745, in Uttar Pradesh, according to his reply in the Lok Sabha on February 10.
  • The list of the Centrally protected monuments had not seen a substantial increase in many years, and important sites under the State governments could be added to the list, the Minister said. On the other hand, he added, there were some monuments that could be removed from the Central list and placed under the State governments.
  • “The list of centrally protected monuments can go up to 10,000. In Tamil Nadu alone, there are about 7,000 temples, many of which are hundreds of years old. On the other hand, there are some monuments under the ASI that can be shifted to the State list,” he said.
  • The Minister said there were some sites that could be moved from the Central list allowing development works in their vicinity. He was referring to the ban on construction within 100 metres of a Centrally protected monument and regulated construction within 100-200 metres under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 09 April 2020 (Ten questions posed by the virus (The Hindu))

Ten questions posed by the virus (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 1:Society 
Prelims level:Not much
Mains level:Questions posed by COVID-19 pandemic

Context:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic is reopening several questions that were considered resolved by the end of the last century. 
  • It is upending our familir world that was built over the last century, challenging certitudes that held our sanity. 
  • Our life after the pandemic will be defined by at least 10 questions on the prevailing organising principles of humankind.

Utilitarian Question:

  • The virus has resurrected the classic utilitarian question in an immediate life and death situation: whether or not, how many, and whose deaths will be acceptable for a greater common good. 
  • “I’m sorry, some people will die… that’s life,” declared Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. “You can’t stop a car factory because of traffic deaths,” he said. 
  • That an ageing population is an economic burden on society has long become our common sense. 
  • There is indeed an incentive in their dying — social Darwinism, the survival of the fittest principle has never been tested this close to the bone. 
  • Data will be harvested to debate the relative net utility of different responses to the virus. 
  • Was Kerala rational in saving the lives of a nonagenarian couple? What is the balance between economic and social goals?

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National Power:

  • What is national power? “We need to have more ‘germ games’ like we have war games,” Bill Gates said some years ago. The U.S. is the pre-eminent military and economic superpower. 
  • The diminishing potency of military hardware has been constantly demonstrated since 26/11, but that has not reduced the global appetite for weaponry. 
  • Strategies for expanding national power involve extracting and transferring public wealth to global corporations while the accompanying politics deludes the masses into a faux sense of power. The paradox of power is global. 
  • India is in a particularly pitiful situation. Hindutva nationalism’s celebration of militarism has correspondingly reduced the attention on social infrastructure. 
  • Its middle class speaks about India’s dubious military prowess but an unwanted encounter with the country’s healthcare infrastructure may have disrupted their fantasy. 
  • Will there be a new understanding of power and security?

Whither globalisation:

  • All countries have tried to enforce border controls to stop the virus, which ironically also demonstrated their futility. 
  • Global cooperation and multinational governance can be jettisoned only at the world’s peril as we know now. 
  • A more serious threat to humanity, climate change, has always appeared distant, but this one is urgent. Hence, the question is not whether we have more or less globalisation but about its character. 
  • It is now a profiteering expedition of soulless greed. Can there be a new globalisation where humanity and environment take precedence?

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Democratic or progressively authoritarian: 

  • Will this expanding state be increasingly democratic or progressively authoritarian? 
  • China and Singapore showed that authoritarian measures work; Germany showed that democratic and inclusive methods work too. 
  • But Italy and the U.S. showed that individualism and markets can impede collective goals. 
  • India, which has deployed a hybrid of democratic and authoritarian measures, remains an open test case.

Neoliberal wisdom:  

  • What will happen to the neoliberal wisdom that unbridled competition of all against all improves efficiency and brings progress? 
  • “This is not the way to do it. I’m competing with other States, I’m bidding up prices,” New York Governor Andrew Coumo lamented. It is not that competition is universal — the poorer undercut one another while the richer cartelize in a neoliberal world. 
  • Cuba, considered inefficient, has sent healthcare professionals to many countries. The virus tells us that competition is risky; cooperation could be redeeming. 

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Populism: 

  • What will happen to populism? Populists have shown remarkable resilience in the face of crises, not necessarily by resolving them, but usually by blaming other countries, communities and political opponents. 
  • All populists around the world will have a virus-mutated version; they will use the new context to advance their pre-existing agendas. 
  • Which of them will tighten their grip over their countries? Will anyone face public wrath triggered by the pandemic and wilt?

Inhuman exploitation of labour:

  • The inhuman exploitation of labour under globalisation, labelled ‘efficiency’ and ‘competitiveness’, has been concealed by the glitz of globalisation and consumerist seduction. 
  • Reports on sweatshops in the developing world have occasionally explored the exploitation of labour, but the virus has brought the lives of labourers out into the spotlight, in a parade of shame — working 16-hour days but unable to get paid leave or healthcare in the U.S; migrant labourers in India walking several days to go home; and the wretched labour camps in West Asia.
  • The ninth question is whether we need to travel as much as we do. At the end of 2019, when the virus was just about launching its global tour, some were travelling for no better reason than keeping their frequent flier status. 
  • In October, a report commissioned by the U.K.’s Committee on Climate Change had called for “a ban on air miles and frequent flier loyalty schemes that incentivize excessive flying.” An emergent no-fly movement still struggles to get attention but now it might. 
  • “May be we can save a few business trips now that we know that these digital tools work well,” Ola Källenius, CEO of Daimler/Mercedes-Benz, told BBC. The travel of the privileged has a parallel parody too: the large-scale forced relocation of people.

Idea of community: 

  • The tenth is how our idea of community and boundaries has changed. The COVID-19 crisis has let loose contradictory forces.
  • On the one hand everyone is confined within the tiniest spaces, but on the other, the crisis has also urged us to community action. 
  • Neoliberalism had made all human interactions transactional, and each transaction standalone. Such short-termism delinked the current quarter from the next; the current generation from the future — the prevailing approach to climate change being instructive.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 09 April 2020 (Preparing for exit : On lifting the lockdown (The Hindu))

Preparing for exit : On lifting the lockdown (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:National 
Prelims level:21-day lockdown
Mains level:Post lockdown challenges

Context:

  • As the world watches, India must plan its strategy for a calibrated exit, possibly in a week, from the most aggressive lockdown anywhere to contain the novel coronavirus. 
  • The government faces the challenge of normalising some level of daily life and oiling the wheels of the economy, without causing a surge in cases that could follow wrong steps. 
  • It is wholly welcome that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought the views of the States on the way forward beyond the 21-day lockdown, and mandated his Ministers to come up with a set of priority actions under a business continuity plan. 

Considering all dimensions:

  • The strategy will have to take into account the exodus of migrant labour from cities to their home towns or to camps set up along inter-State corridors. 
  • Given that this is harvest season, cessation of activity due to labour issues can trigger food deficits and high prices. 
  • On the medical front, States are monitoring those under isolation or in quarantine and straining to trace the contacts of those who attended the Nizamuddin congregation, many of whom are now found in distinct clusters in some districts. 
  • The States must also scale up testing, as part of the latest ICMR advisory for clusters and migration centres, and going forward, as part of the exit strategy. 

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Enhanced testing:

  • These countries opted for enhanced testing, isolation of the infected, tracing of patient contacts and strict quarantine. 
  • After three weeks or more of lockdown, India, where 284 districts have so far been affected, should institute a system of testing that includes not just indicative cases but surveillance samples to determine the extent of spread. 
  • This will enable targeting and containment to specific areas. With high emphasis on social distancing, universal mask use and hand washing, it should be possible to open up some activity and release the pressures building up under the lockdown. 
  • Needless to say, free and widely available testing, and support systems for those infected, will encourage universal adoption. 

Way forward:

  • The identification of hotspots, where a virtual lockdown could be in force even if the nationwide curbs are relaxed, would require planned, humane measures to ensure availability of food, other essentials and medicines. 
  • Mass gatherings, long-distance travel and leisure activity would have to wait. Urban mobility for workers in the absence of public transport could be made possible by encouraging bicycle use where feasible, avoiding congestion.
  • Overall relaxation of lockdown needs massive testing and support for infection clusters

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(E-Book) YOJANA MAGAZINE HINDI PDF - MAY 2020 (HINDI)

 (E-Book) YOJANA MAGAZINE PDF - MAY 2020 (HINDI)

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Content Table:

  • राज्य स्वास्थ्य प्रणालियों का मानक प्रदर्शन (आलोक कुमार, शीना छाबड़ा)
  • कोविड-19: नए तरह का खतरा (डॉ स्मिता वातवे)
  • तनाव प्रबंधन के लिए योग (डॉ गंगाधर बीएन एवं निमहंस टीम)
  • स्वास्थ्य प्रणाली को मजबूत करना जरूरी (कविता सिंह)
  • स्वास्थ्य क्षेत्र में कृत्रिम मेधा (योगेश के द्विवेदी एवं अन्य)
  • स्वास्थ्य देखभाल में इंटरनेट ऑफ थिंग्स की भूमिका (डॉ अशोक जी मतानी)
  • सार्वजनिक स्वास्थ्य सेवा (डॉ केलासुर शिवन्ना राजशेखर)
  • लचीलापन और राष्ट्रीय भावना (दुर्गा शंकर मिश्रा)
  • मन की बात
  • 'कोविड 19' के प्रभाव से निपटने और अर्थव्यवस्था में नई जान फूंकने के लिए अहम कदमों की घोषणा 
  • 'कोविड इंडिया सेवा' प्लेटफॉर्म
  • अर्थव्यवस्था के पुनरुद्धार पर श्वेत पत्र
  • डीआरडीओ के कोविड-19 कीटाणुशोधन प्रक्रिया के लिए दो नए उत्पाद,
  • जी 20 के स्वास्थ्य मंत्रियों की बैठक
  • मानव संसाधन का ऑनलाइन डाटा पूल
  • डिजिटल लर्निंग में बढ़ोत्तरी..
  • आईजीओटी ई लर्निंग प्लेटफार्म 
  • कोविड-19 का मुकाबला करने में भारत की पहल,
  • अवसरवादी अधिग्रहण को रोकने के लिए एफडीआई नीति में संशोधन,
  • महामारी रोग अधिनियम 1897 में संशोधन

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 09 April 2020 (Hydroxychloroquine: The drug everyone is looking at(Indian Express))

Hydroxychloroquine: The drug everyone is looking at(Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2:Health 
Prelims level:Hydroxychloroquine
Mains level:Uses of hydroxychloroquine

Context:

  • The government has decided to ease its ban on the export of hydroxychloroquine, a drug that has garnered global interest in the treatment and prevention of COVID-19.

What is hydroxychloroquine?

  • It is an antimalarial drug option.
  • It is considered less toxic than chloroquine.
  • It is also prescribed for patients of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus.

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Who makes this drug in India?

  • Hydroxychloroquine had a market size of only around Rs 152.80 crore. 
  • However, several countries source the drug from India.
  • Mumbai based Ipca Laboratories has nearly 82% of the market, with its brands HCQS and HYQ. 
  • Around 80% of the volumes produced by Ipca are exported. 
  • Ahmedabad-headquartered Cadila Healthcare has 8% of the market. 

Why has hydroxychloroquine gained attention?

  • The International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents (IJAA), reported that Azithromycin (antibiotic) added to hydroxychloroquine was significantly more efficient for COVID-19 elimination.
  • However, the study was flagged as being too small to draw a definitive conclusion. 
  • However, by late March, Trump had begun to call the drug a “game changer”, and has since been pushing it.
  • At the end of last month, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) issued an advisory recommending the use of hydroxychloroquine in asymptomatic healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients.
  • ICMR also allowed doctors to prescribe it for household contacts of confirmed COVID-19 patients. 
  • However, the government has stressed that the drug can only be used in COVID-19 treatment on prescription, and that it should not instill a sense of “false security”.
  • In March, Following the ICMR’s advisory on the drug, various patients and healthcare professionals are learnt to have stocked up on hydroxychloroquine. 
  • The drug was then moved to a Schedule H1 status, which means patients who need the drug would have to get a fresh prescription every time they needed to purchase it.

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Why did India ban the exporting of the drug?

  • Trump’s statement promoting the drug not only led to panic buying in the US, but also impacted stocks in India. 
  • So, the government banned export of hydroxycloroquine, with immediate effect to ensure sufficient availability of the medicine in the domestic market on April 4. 
  • India decided to ban exports of the drug. On Tuesday, the government decided to ease the ban.

Why did India life the ban now?

  • The US President warned about “retaliation” if India did not heed his request for the drug. 
  • India clarified that it would supply to countries that needed it the most, and to neighbours who were “dependent on India’s capabilities”.
  • Following this India partially lifted a ban on the.
  • Exports of hydroxychloroquine and paracetamol will be allowed depending on availability of stock after meeting domestic requirements and existing orders. 
  • Shipments will be restricted and permission will be on humanitarian ground.
  • This move was from the recommendation of an expert panel led by drug pricing regulator Shubhra Singh.
  • The panel got enough evidence from the companies that we have enough stocks available in the country.

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(E-Book) YOJANA MAGAZINE PDF - APR 2020

 (E-Book) YOJANA MAGAZINE PDF - APR 2020

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Content Table

  • Safeguarding Human Rights (Jaideep Govind)
  • Balancing Fundamental Rights and Duties (Dr Ranbir Singh, Dr Ritu Gupta)
  • Objectives and Challenges (Anubhav Kumar)
  • Drafting of the Constitution of India (Dr RS Bawa)
  • Mending Court Judgments: The First Constitutional Amendment (NL Rajah)
  • The Indian Parliament: Performance and Challenges (MR Madhavan)
  • Constituent Assembly and Framing of the Constitution 
  • Panchayati Raj System (Dr M R Sreenivasa Murthy Surabhi Singh)
  • Checks and Balances (SN Tripathi, C Sheela Reddy)
  • Foreign Relations and Indian Constitution (Manoj Kumar Sinha)
  • Gender Rights: Reflection, Commitment and Action (Dr K Syamala)
  • A Living Document (Mahima Singh)

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 08 April 2020 (Preparing for SAARC 2.0 (Mint))

Preparing for SAARC 2.0 (Mint)

Mains Paper 2:International Relations 
Prelims level:SAARC 2.0 
Mains level:India and its neighbourhood relations 

Context:

  • India has shown diplomatic resilience and leadership by forging unity in the neighbourhood in the war against COVID-19. 
  • A tweet by Prime Minister Narendra Modi resulted in the first-ever virtual summit of SAARC leaders on March 15.
  • Their deliberations reflected a recognition of the serious menace posed by COVID-19 and the need for robust regional cooperation to overcome it. 

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What has happened to this innovative exercise in health diplomacy since then?

  • Considering that SAARC has been dormant for several years due to regional tensions, it is worth stressing that the fight against COVID-19 has been taken up in right earnestthrough a series of tangible measures. 
  • All the eight member-states were represented at the video conference — all at the level of head of state or government, except Pakistan. 
  • The Secretary General of SAARC participated. They readily agreed to work together to contain the virus, and shared their experiences and perspectives. 
  • India’s proposal to launch a COVID-19 Emergency Fund was given positive reception. Within days, all the countries, except Pakistan, contributed to it voluntarily, bringing the total contributions to $18.8 million. Although it is a modest amount, the spirit of readily expressed solidarity behind it matters.
  • The fund has already been operationalised. It is controlled neither by India nor by the Secretariat. It is learnt that each contributing member-state is responsible for approval and disbursement of funds in response to requests received from others. 

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Key challenges: 

  • SAARC members have committed rather limited resources for a grave threat have a point. But they need to study the latest figures which reveal an interesting picture. 
  • So far, South Asia has not exactly borne the brunt of the pandemic. Of the total confirmed cases in the world that stood at 12,89,380 on April 6 (according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resources Center), SAARC countries reported only 8,292 cases, representing 0.64%. 
  • Whether the low share is due to limited testing, a peculiarity of the strain of the virus, people’s unique immunity, South Asia’s climate, decisive measures by governments, or just good fortune is difficult to say. But it is evident that India’s imaginative diplomacy has leveraged the crisis to create a new mechanism for workable cooperation. 
  • It will become stronger if the crisis deepens and if member-states see advantages in working together. Seven of the eight members already do.

A new SAARC?

  • SAARC is now returning to an active phase on a broad front may, however, be premature. 
  • In the backdrop of political capital invested by New Delhi in strengthening BIMSTEC and the urgings it received recently from Nepal and Sri Lanka to resuscitate SAARC.
  • External Affairs Minister of India said that, India had no preference for a specific platform, but it was fully committed to the cause of regional cooperation and connectivity. 
  • The challenge facing the region is how to relate to a country which claims to favour regional cooperation, while working against it. 
  • India has little difficulty in cooperating with like-minded neighbours, as it showed by forging unity in the war against COVID-19. This is diplomatic resilience and leadership at its best.

Conclusion:

  • A thought for consideration of ‘SAARC purists’ who maintain that all proposals for cooperation should be routed through the Secretariat and activities should be piloted by the incumbent chair. 
  • Given what Pakistan has done to harm India’s interests since the terrorist attack on the Uri Army base in 2016 and its continuing resistance to cooperation against COVID-19, the purists’ scenario is unrealistic. 
  • Both New Delhi and its friendly neighbours need to start preparing themselves for SAARC 2.0.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 08 April 2020 (Do no harm : on safety of health care workers)

Do no harm : on safety of health care workers

Mains Paper 2:Health 
Prelims level:Result of paranoia
Mains level:Health infrastructure and safety measures for health workers 

Context:

  • ‘Primum non nocere’ is the primary, guiding principle of bioethics. Every health-care worker is oriented on the principle of ‘First, do no harm’ during their training. 
  • All medical training is based on this idea, but very little in what they learn prepares them for the reverse: When harm is inflicted upon them. 

Attack on doctors: 

  • Over the past week, chilling stories of assaults on health-care workers, on COVID-19 duty, have been reported. 
  • Visuals beamed in of angry locals who threw stones at doctors, health-care workers and civic officials who went to screen people in Indore, Madhya Pradesh. 
  • Two women doctors were injured. Earlier, there were reports of locals in Ranipura allegedly spitting at officials as they took up screening. 
  • Last week, doctors at Hyderabad’s Gandhi Hospital were attacked after a patient with multiple co-morbidities died of COVID-19. 
  • Doctors there even sought police protection. ASHA workers were reportedly attacked in Bengaluru, Karnataka, when they went to collect data on COVID-19 symptoms. Locals grabbed their bags and cellphones, and the police finally had to rescue them. 

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Result of paranoia:

  • These attacks are a result of paranoia and are completely unmindful of the many risks health-care workers take on, merely doing their work in a pandemic situation such as this. 
  • In Wockhardt, doctors and workers have tested positive while treating patients. If these helpers are looked upon as the enemy, it only allows the true foe — the virus — to gather strength.
  • WHO too has developed guidelines for addressing workplace violence in the health sector to support the development of violence prevention policies in non-emergency settings. Their applicability in this situation must be examined. 
  • Baskut Tuncak, UN Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, hailed health-care workers as heroes who must be protected. 
  • Stating that the tireless work and self-sacrifice of these workers show the best of humanity, he also went on to emphasise that unacceptable shortages in critical protective equipment that can stop them from being infected, continue to plague nearly all nations battling COVID-19. 

Conclusion: 

  • The responsibility of restoring order and ensuring the safety of all health workers, whether with personal protective equipment, or against attacks from the public ultimately rests with the government, and in equal measure, the people.
  • The safety of health-care workers on COVID-19 duty is paramount.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 08 April 2020 (Cash less Indians, the new normal, and survival (The Hindu))

Cash less Indians, the new normal, and survival (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:National 
Prelims level:Generalised Entropy Index
Mains level:Welfare scheme for the vulnerable sections in India

Context:

  • On April 15, when the 21-day national lockdown imposed by the government ends, it is very likely that the bottom 47 percentile of India’s population will run out of cash. 
  • Estimates are based on the World Bank’s poverty line of $3.2 a day for a lower middle-income country such as India, assuming people are spending just to survive. 
  • It is also likely that the population between the 47th percentile and up to 87th percentile will have only half the cash they had before the lockdown began.
  • What this means, in real terms, is that the poorest 500 million Indians would be out of cash reserves completely by April 15 and another 500 million will be left with just half their reserves. 
  • These findings are part of my ongoing research on mapping inequality in India using demonetisation data.

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Bad impact:

  • My findings reveal that the top 1% in India held 62% of all the currency in circulation, whereas the top 0.1% held 33%, a third of ₹17-lakh crore in circulation at the time of demonetisation.
  • In order to estimate cash inequality, I have created a model combining demonetisation and National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data to which a generalised Pareto interpolation technique was applied to arrive at the cash held by each population group.
  • Many Indians have managed to deal with political and social inequality with their ability to negotiate their freedom using money. 
  • For poor Indians, having cash to pay back money lenders or landlords has meant having the choice between freedom and slavery. Money gives them choice; the freedom not to have their labour exploited.
  • Inequality of cash, a basic economic instrument, gives us a picture of how unequal our society is. The Gini coefficient, a common measure of inequality, of cash holding in India is as high as 0.71, where 0 indicates perfect equality and 1 indicates perfect inequality. 

Cash inequality:

  • Other measurements of inequality such as the Atkinson Index [A(1)=0.624] and the Generalised Entropy Index [GE(1)=3.108] also show a very high inequality of cash holding. This means that in India, cash is heavily concentrated at the top.
  • Even inter-district and intra-district cash inequality is very high. The top 10% districts held 764 times more currency than the bottom 10% districts. It is unsurprising then that the districts at the top are situated in Tier I and II cities. 
  • In fact, the bottom 60 districts, mostly comprising hill and tribal districts, held only 0.2% of all the cash.
  • Also, 60% of all districts analysed, i.e. 359 out of 607 districts in India, reported a Gini coefficient greater than or equal to 0.7, which means that even within districts, cash is concentrated very unequally. 
  • In absolute numbers, there are 10.9 million cash-rich Indians in the top 1%, that is almost equal to the population of Belgium.

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Remonetise India:

  • When India begins to pick its pieces together, it will be looking at a grim situation where roughly a whopping one billion people of a population of 1.3 billion will be starting with zero or near zero cash. 
  • Much of this population is engaged in the informal economy; along with cash, they will also lose agency to negotiate for fair wages, decent working conditions, and basic human rights. 
  • Even for the struggling corporate sector, there is no good news. When their operations restart, nearly 50% of consumers will have no money to spend. The Indian economy is very likely to experience multidimensional pressures.
  • Given the dire economic situation, what I would like to propose is this: a social and economic argument to remonetise India. This would mean a direct cash transfer of ₹2.5-lakh crore just to replenish people’s exhausted cash coffers.
  • Previous research has established that up to the 77th percentile population, Indians just consume what they earn. 
  • This also coincides with the findings in the 2016 Economic Survey (which also introduced the concept of Universal Basic Income) that population up to the 77th percentile does not have access to formal loans.
  • The ₹1.7-lakh crore stimulus package announced in India by the Finance Minister is well intentioned but poorly thought out. 
  • The increased entitlements of ration and the supply of free gas cylinders will help to bolster food security. 
  • However, if we consider the cash components such as the increase of ₹20 in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act wages or the transfer of ₹1,500 over three months via Jan Dhan accounts, it will barely compensate for the forced loss of jobs. 
  • The stimulus package then in no way addresses the imminent liquidity crisis forced upon one billion people.

Why remonetise needed?

  • Inequality reproduces more inequality. If a majority of Indians lose their cash reserves, they will fall into income traps where real wages will diminish and lost wages can only be recovered by longer working hours. 
  • Economist Joseph Stiglitz has argued that that it is not the differences in saving that cause the difference in income but the other way around, where incomes cause the difference in saving.
  • A targeted ₹2.5-lakh crore cash transfer will put money directly in the pockets and purses of the population up to the 87th percentile; ₹1.34 lakh crore will be for the poorest 500 million Indians, whereas ₹1.2-lakh crore will replenish the reduced cash reserves of the rest of the population up till the 87th percentile.
  • Now is the right time for the government to remonetise and make cash available through banks, automated teller machines and treasuries.

Way forward:

  • The government has to overlook its focus on cashless payments because the need of the hour is to allay people’s anxieties. It should remember that in India, we still rely heavily on physical transactions and not cashless payments. 
  • As political philosopher G.A. Cohen said, “Lack of money induces lack of freedom, even if accept the identification of freedom with the absence of interference…money provides freedom because it extinguishes interference with access to goods and services.”

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 08 April 2020 (Democracy should not permit a trade-off (The Hindu))

Democracy should not permit a trade-off (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Polity 
Prelims level:Epidemic Diseases Act
Mains level:Functions and responsibilities for both union and states 

Context:

  • Independent India inherited a legal system which was designed to control the colonised. Caught in the relentless grip of COVID-19, several State governments have invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, first drafted to deal with bubonic plague that swept Maharashtra in 1897. 
  • The Act prohibited public gatherings, and regulated travel, routine screening, segregation, and quarantine. 

Historical precedent:

  • The government was given enormous powers to control public opinion. Bal Gangadhar Tilak, described as the ‘father of Indian unrest’ by Valentine Chirol of The Times (London) was imprisoned for 18 months. 
  • His newspaper, Kesari, had criticised measures adopted by the government to tackle the epidemic. The law was stark. 
  • It did not establish the right of affected populations to medical treatment, or to care and consideration in times of great stress, anxiety and panic.
  • Silence on these crucial issues bore expected results. In June 1897, the brothers, Damodar Hari Chapekar and Balkrishna Hari Chapekar, assassinated W.C. Rand, the plague commissioner of Poona, and Lieutenant Charles Egerton Ayerst, an officer of the administration. 
  • Both were considered guilty of invading private spaces, and disregarding taboos on entry into the inner domain of households. The two brothers were hanged in the summer of 1899. 
  • The assassination heralded a storm of revolutionary violence that shook the country at the turn of the twentieth century.

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Current scenario:

  • Today our world should have been different. 
  • The government could have paid attention to migrant labour when it declared a lockdown on economic activities, roads, public spaces, transport, neighbourhoods and zones in which the unorganised working class ekes out bare subsistence. The result of this slip-up was tragic. 
  • Thousands of workers and their families were forced to exit the city, and begin an onerous trek to their villages. 
  • The unnerving spectacle of a mass of people trudging across State borders carrying pitiful bundles on their heads and little babies in their arms, without food or money, shocked the conscience of humankind. 
  • The neglect of workers upon whose shoulders the Indian economy rests, exposed the class bias of regulations. 
  • Confronted with the unexpected sight of people defying the lockdown, State governments and the Central government rushed to announce remedial measures. The afterthought came too late and gave too little.

Dispensing with rights:

  • On March 31, at a hearing of the Supreme Court of India on two petitions relating to the welfare of migrants, the Central government demanded that the Court should allow the imposition of censorship over media reports on measures adopted by the state. 
  • The government claimed that panic over the migration of thousands of bare-footed people was based on fake news, and that the scale of migration was over-estimated. 
  • Therefore, the Court should support rules that no news will be published or telecast without checking with the Central government. 
  • The plea was rejected, and the Court suggested that responsible journalism should rely on daily official bulletins. Witness the irony. 
  • The government is concerned about reports of involuntary migrations. It is not concerned with the reason why people were forced to walk out of the city in the first place.
  • The issue at hand is not the lockdown or other measures taken by the government. We recognise with great unease that governments easily dispense with basic human rights in the name of managing pandemics. 

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Overreach of power:

  • There is another cause for unease. Admittedly in emergencies governments have to adopt extraordinary measures. 
  • Yet, reports of authoritarian leaders across the world, giving to themselves unprecedented power at the expense of legislatures, judiciaries, the media, civil society, and civil liberties have set off ripples of doubt. 
  • When the disease has run its course, will these leaders abdicate the power they have amassed in the time of the coronavirus? 
  • Will they restore institutions that inspire public confidence, because they act as brakes on the exercise of unbridled power?
  • The prospect seems remote. If democratic India continues to invoke draconian colonial laws that were drafted in another time and for another purpose, why should we expect anything different in the future?
  • On March 16, United Nations human rights experts issued a statement expressing deep concern with the way leaders were amassing power ostensibly for dealing with the pandemic. 
  • The statement urged governments to avoid an ‘overreach’ of security measures when they respond to the coronavirus outbreak. 
  • Emergency powers, the experts insisted, should not be used to quash dissent. More significantly, these measures have to be proportionate, necessary and non-discriminatory. 
  • Some states and security institutions, continued the statement, will find the use of emergency powers attractive because it offers shortcuts. 

Protection of rights:

  • There is need to ensure that excessive powers are not hardwired into legal and political systems. 
  • Care should be taken to see that restrictions are narrowly tailored. Governments should deploy the least intrusive method to protects public health. 
  • “We encourage States,” concluded the statement, “to remain steadfast in maintaining a human rights-based approach to regulating this pandemic, in order to facilitate the emergence of healthy societies with rule of law and human rights protections.”
  • The rights experts have good reasons to issue this warning. Around the world, we witness the sorry spectacle of leaders — not precisely known for their commitment to democracy or human rights — steadily unravelling every check on the use of unmitigated power by the executive. 
  • In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is facing court cases for corruption and breach of trust, has closed the judiciary and postponed his own trial. 
  • The government has been given immense powers of surveillance. And a newly constituted Parliament, or Knesset, is not allowed to meet.

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No counter-balancing steps:

  • States are the product of history, composed of layers of meaning some of which have been fashioned for another time. 
  • The nature of the state is historically specific. Yet modern states share a common determination; a ruthless ambition to control the minds and bodies of citizens. 
  • Epidemics provide an opportunity to accomplish precisely this, to do away with inconvenient checks and balances institutionalised in the media, the judiciary, and civil society. The dismantling of constitutions and institutions will have a major impact on societies. 
  • Do decisions to control the pandemic have to be at the expense of human rights and democracy? 
  • On March 6, Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, advised governments to ensure that the measures they adopt to control the virus do not adversely impact people’s lives. 
  • “The most vulnerable and neglected people in society,” she recommended, “must be protected both medically and economically.” She gave sage advice, democracy does not permit trade-offs.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 07 April 2020 (Learn from Singapore (Indian Express))

Learn from Singapore (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3:Environment 
Prelims level: Singapore’s National Water Agency
Mains level:Water conservations issues and challenges in India 

Context:

  • At the time of its independence, Singapore faced lack of perennial surface water sources, flooding and polluted water ways, limited groundwater availability with a risk of seawater intrusion and dependence on a neighbouring country for drinking water.
  • Turn this vulnerability:
  • Today, Singapore’s diverse water portfolio—four national taps comprising of surface water, recycled water, harnessed rainwater and desalinated water, ensure that the country’s water needs are met sustainably.
  • Indian cities have witnessed unprecedented growth over the past few decades that, in turn, has had a drastic impact on water availability. 

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Key lessons for India:

  • Singapore’ water story offers many valuable lessons that can be learned, contextualised and implemented in Indian cities.
  • Indian cities need to diversify their water resources portfolio. For instance, harnessed rainwater at the catchment scale, collected through a drainage network and stored in 17 reservoirs before being treated and supplied, is one of the four water sources of Singapore. 
  • Few Indian cities have bye-laws that mandate rainwater harvesting. This will need strong legislation and engineering interventions.
  • Recycled water presents itself as an important component of the water portfolio. It is a climate-change resilient water resource, which can be reliably produced using advanced treatment technologies. 
  • In Singapore, recycled water is called NEWater, wherein used water is treated using advanced treatment technologies (combination of micro and ultra-filtration followed by reverse osmosis and UV disinfection) to ensure that the recycled water complies with the highest water quality standards, and is fit for human consumption. 
  • NEWater has a high demand among industries. Additionally, NEWater is also blended with surface water source to augment water supply during droughts.

Uses of sea water:

  • Singapore utilises desalinated sea water as its third source of water. India too has some desalination plants across few coastal cities, and can capitalise Singapore’s strong experience in seawater desalination in bringing down per unit cost of water and developing seawater as a sustainable water source.
  • A long-term Water Master Plan should gain higher importance within the Master Plan of cities. Integrated and long-term water resources’ planning has been Singapore’s strength. 
  • Supported by strong governance, Singapore’s National Water Agency (NWA) judiciously manages the price for its water services, and proactively invests in planning for the future next drop of water. 
  • This is supported by strong public outreach and stakeholder engagement programmes, to bolster the value of water. Indian cities often fail to anticipate water-related issues and are left to react to these.
  • With ageing assets, water theft and non-revenue water, our cities cannot continue to dole out water subsidies, which eventually lead to paucity of funds that could have helped upgrade the water infrastructure.
  • Such cost recovery will help us integrate digital technology into water management. 

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Conclusion: 

  • Indian cities can learn a lot from Singapore, but there is no point blaming them without giving them a fair chance to fight. 
  • If we have any hesitation taking this decision, we can always go back to the wise words of the founding father of Singapore, the late Lee Kuan Yew, ‘Water dominated every other policy. Every other policy had to bend at the knees for water survival’.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 07 April 2020 (Why everyone should wear masks (The Hindu))

Why everyone should wear masks (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Health 
Prelims level: COVID-19 pandemic
Mains level:Universal uses of masks and its significance 

Context:

  • Flattening the epidemic curve (case distribution curve) is the need of the day. On the curve, Y axis and X axis represent case numbers and time, respectively. 
  • A normal epidemic curve is bell-shaped, with an early ascending slope (first phase), a peak (second phase) and a declining slope (third phase). 

Cases in India:

  • The area under the curve represents the total number of cases. India is now in the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • A rapid increase in cases will demand far more healthcare facilities than now available. Healthcare facilities were not created in anticipation of a pandemic and are grossly inadequate for India to tackle the first phase. 
  • A flattening of the curve will reduce the demand on beds in intensive care units, respirators, and specialists to manage acute respiratory distress syndrome. 
  • The peak will be dwarfed and come after some breathing time; the pressure will be eased. However, the area under the curve, the total number of cases, whether the curve is bell-shaped or flattened, will be the same. 
  • This crucial information in the epidemiology of the epidemic must be taken into account for planning a response.

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Flattening the curve:

  • There are two ways of flattening the curve: imposing a strict lockdown for a number of weeks or use of face masks all the time when outside our homes. 
  • A lockdown physically distances families from each other. The disadvantage is that family members may not be able to keep a physical distance of two meters from one another all the time. 
  • As a result, intra-familial spread occurs and more people are infected at the end of the lockdown than at the beginning. But during a lockdown community transmission is prevented.

Key reasons:

  • There are four reasons for the universal use of masks. 
  • First, any infected person will not infect others because the droplets of fluids that we let out during conversations, coughing or sneezing will be blocked by the mask. 
  • Remember, most infectious people don’t have symptoms, or have mild symptoms, and are unaware that they are infected. 
  • Second, uninfected people will have some protection from droplet infection during interactions with others. For those who wear eyeglasses, there is additional protection from droplets falling on the conjunctiva. When both parties wear masks, the probability of transmission is virtually zero. 
  • Third, the mask-wearers will avoid inserting their fingertips into their nostrils or mouths. 
  • Viruses deposited on surfaces may be carried by hand if we touch such surfaces; if we do not touch our eyes, nostrils or mouth, this mode of transmission is prevented. Fourth, everyone will be reminded all the time that these are abnormal days.

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Making your own mask:

  • Taiwan and the Czech Republic depended primarily on universal mask use and slowed down the epidemic. 
  • In the Czech Republic, people made their own masks. Cotton pieces, preferably coarse, three layers, stitched with two straps, make masks of sufficient quality. These masks should cover the nose from just below the eye level and reach and cover the chin. 
  • All adults, and children who are old enough to wear masks, should wear them. At the end of the day, cotton masks can be washed in soapy water and hung to dry for re-use.

Conclusion: 

  • COVID-19 mortality is due to three reasons. Virus virulence is the given and cannot be altered. Co-morbidity (diabetes, chronic diseases) is already prevalent. 
  • Then there is low-quality healthcare. Slowing down the epidemic by imposing a lockdown and ensuring universal mask use gives us the chance to protect people from infection and improve healthcare quality; wherever that was done, the mortality was less than 1%.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 07 April 2020 (Reducing farm distress during a pandemic (The Hindu))

Reducing farm distress during a pandemic (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3:Economy 
Prelims level: PM-KISAN scheme
Mains level:Farm distress impact on agricultural income 

Context:

  • Social distancing and living under a lockdown appear to be the only effective ways of dealing with the pandemic. 
  • As India lacks the resources to significantly ramp up testing, imposing a lockdown was the government’s preferred option. 
  • Although there is limited evidence to suggest that this strategy may be working in containing the spread of the virus, its after-effects on thousands of migrant workers is already out in the open. 
  • Distrustful of the government’s promise of providing support, most migrant workers decided to walk back to their home States despite efforts by the state machinery to prevent them from moving out.

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Impact on agricultural income:

  • Migrants are not the only ones who are facing the after-effects of the lockdown. With the economy coming to a complete halt in most of the informal and formal enterprises in urban areas, the lockdown is also likely to affect the large population in rural areas, a majority of whom are dependent on agriculture.
  • At a time when the rural economy was witnessing declining incomes, both for casual workers and self-employed workers, even before the pandemic broke out, this lockdown is only going to hurt the agricultural economy further. 
  • Even before the lockdown, rural wages were declining in real terms but there were hopes for agricultural incomes rising with food prices rising until January 2020. 
  • However, recent data on prices suggest that the trend is reversing with the decline in agricultural prices in most markets.
  • In the short run, we will likely witness a breakdown of supply chains of agricultural produce with no facilities for transportation of produce. 
  • This is likely to hurt those engaged in the production of fruits and vegetables, which are perishable goods and cannot be stored. With horticultural production exceeding foodgrain production in the last decade, many farmers are likely to face uncertain or no markets for their produce. 
  • Media reports have already confirmed that farmers are finding it difficult to dispose horticultural produce. Some of them have taken the extreme step of destroying their produce.

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Short-term impact:

  • Some of the short-term impacts may affect price realisation by farmers but the real worry for farmers is going to be the decline in prices for the majority of agricultural produce. There are already signs of a collapse in agricultural prices, which predates the outbreak of the pandemic.
  • The food price index of the Food and Agricultural Organization, which was showing a rising trend in food prices until January 2020, reported a 1% decline in prices month-on-month in February 2020. This is likely to worsen further, particularly for cash crops. 
  • It is well-known that commercial crop prices follow a similar pattern as other primary commodities, particularly petroleum prices. With the sharp decline in petroleum prices, most of the commercial crops have seen a downward pressure on prices, which is likely to worsen in the coming months. 
  • But even for food grains and other crops, there is likely to be downward pressure on prices due to declining demand. The slowdown in the economy domestically and the expected recession worldwide will contribute to lower demand for agricultural commodities. 
  • At a time when the agricultural sector was already battling declining demand and lower prices, the faint hope of better prices appears unlikely to materialize. 
  • It is the decline in prices which is likely to hurt the income of farmers in the long run more than the short-run supply disruptions and labour shortages.

What the government can do?

  • While it is clear that agriculture will be affected due to short-term disruptions and the long-term economic impact of the pandemic, there is an opportunity for the government to help farmers through state support. 
  • Political expediency and fiscal concerns led the government to stock up food grains, with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) reporting 77 million tonnes of cereals in stocks as against the buffer requirement of 21 million tonnes as on April 1. 
  • However, with the lockdown forcing a humanitarian crisis and with most migrants heading back to the rural areas, it is also time for the government to release the food stocks through the public distribution system. 
  • The Central government has already announced that for the next three months, 5 kg of free grains will be distributed in addition to what people are entitled to under the National Food Security Act, but this has not yet reached the State governments due to the lockdown. 

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Major schemes:

  • One way of ensuring this is to reduce the input costs through existing schemes of subsidies such as the fertilizer subsidy and through price reduction in petrol/diesel meant for agricultural purposes. 
  • But for the immediate short-term, farmers need to be compensated for the loss of income and the best way to do it is through the PM-KISAN scheme. 
  • Unfortunately, the only announcement in this regard is the disbursal of the first installment of the transfer which is due in April. 
  • However, the scheme only used two-thirds of its budget allocation for 2019, so efforts should be made to not only enhance the coverage monetarily but also include tenant farmers and wage labourers who are as much dependent on agriculture as the land-owning cultivators. 

Conclusion:

  • Such a step is necessary not just for the survival of the agricultural sector but also for the overall economy which is expected to see a sharp slowdown and decline in demand. 
  • While income transfers may not be the best way of supporting the agricultural sector at times like these, they are the best available instruments to raise rural incomes and create demand.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 07 April 2020 (Mockery of justice : On Daniel Pearl murder case acquittals(The Hindu))

Mockery of justice : On Daniel Pearl murder case acquittals(The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:International 
Prelims level:Daniel Pearl murder case
Mains level:Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure

Context:

  • Thursday’s ruling by the Sindh High Court that overturned the conviction of Omar Saeed Sheikh, and three others, of murdering American journalist Daniel Pearl, for lack of evidence is scandalous in its utter disregard for criminal jurisprudence. 
  • The court observed that no evidence had been brought before it by the prosecution to link any of the four — the others being Fahad Saleem, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Muhammad Adil, whose convictions were similarly overturned — to the killing of Pearl.
  • Pakistan’s commitment to punishing those involved in terror acts remains suspect.

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Killing of Pearl:

  • This is sophistry at its best and speaks eloquently of the systematic way the case has been diluted from the beginning. 
  • Pearl, then South Asian Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal, was abducted in Karachi in January 2002, in an operation managed by Omar Sheikh, who had demonstrated links to, among others, Pakistani militant groups as well as to al-Qaeda. 
  • Pearl had been baited while investigating links between al-Qaeda and the British ‘Shoe Bomber’ Richard Reid, who tried, in mid-air on a flight, to light explosives in his shoes on December 21, 2001, just two months previously. 
  • Many ransom demands later, a video was handed over on February 21, 2002, wherein Pearl was shown being methodically beheaded with a knife. 
  • When the Americans began to squeeze Pakistan to go after the perpetrators, Omar Sheikh ‘surrendered’ to Ijaz Shah, a former Intelligence Chief, then Home Secretary of Punjab; he is now the country’s Interior Minister. Even more curiously, it was after many days that Sheikh’s arrest was shown.

Pakistan’s record of leniency: 

  • The Sindh government has extended Sheikh’s detention and the provincial prosecutor has said that the High Court ruling will be appealed in the Supreme Court. 
  • But these moves could be aimed at blunting growing international opprobrium, including at the FATF, the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, that has already put Pakistan on its ‘grey list’, and where India has said it will bring this matter for discussion. 
  • It is likely that once the pressure eases, Sheikh and his cohorts will be let off as has happened with others before them. 
  • Pakistan’s record of leniency on this has been as consistent as it has been alarming. 

IC 814:

  • In 2015, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, who supervised the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, was released from detention, and remains free. 
  • Just last month, Pakistan’s Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar revealed that Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar had conveniently gone “missing” along with his family. 
  • Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar had been released in exchange for hostages of Flight IC 814 in December 1999 into Taliban/ISI custody in Kandahar. 

Conclusion:

  • Pakistan needs to be persuaded to move beyond tokenism and demonstrate a much higher order of commitment to deal with such terrorists than it has hitherto shown.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 07 April 2020 (Enemy at the gates : On Kerala-Karnataka border row (The Hindu))

Enemy at the gates : On Kerala-Karnataka border row (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2:Governance 
Prelims level:Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020
Mains level:Inter states disputes relating to health pandemic 

Context:

  • Kerala’s grievance over Karnataka sealing its border to prevent the spread of COVID-19 has brought under focus the extent and the possible limits, of restrictions that may be imposed by the government to deal with a public health emergency. 
  • Kerala High Court directed the Centre to ensure free vehicular movement for those requiring urgent medical treatment on the national highway that connects Kasaragod in Kerala to Mangaluru in Karnataka. 
  • Post it, the Supreme Court too has directed the Centre to confer with the States and formulate the norms for creating a passage at Talapadi, the border. 

Need to open the border:

  • An amicable solution is possibly round the corner, as there are reports of Kasaragod district suffering due to the highway closure. 
  • Many here depend on medical facilities in Mangaluru for emergencies, while others rely on inter-State movement for essential medicines to reach them. These include those battling endosulfan poisoning for many years. 
  • Karnataka’s objection is based on the fact that Kasaragod has Kerala’s largest number of positive cases. It has a reasonable apprehension that allowing vehicles might result in the disease spreading to its territory. 
  • It is clear that those who may travel across the border for urgent medical needs are patients other than those who are pandemic victims. 

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Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance 2020:

  • The Kerala Governor promulgated the ‘Kerala Epidemic Diseases Ordinance, 2020’ to arm itself with extraordinary powers to deal with the pandemic. 
  • One of its clauses says the State can seal its borders for such period as necessary, while another empowers it to restrict the duration of essential or emergency services, including health, food supply and fuel. 
  • Karnataka may have reason to believe that it is equally entitled to seal its borders and restrict essential services. 
  • It is a moot question whether Kerala’s new law would weaken its case that its neighbour cannot shut down its border and deny medical access to its residents. 

Conclusion: 

  • Inter-State migration and quarantine are under the Union List, while the prevention of infectious diseases moving from one State to another is under the Concurrent List. 
  • This can only mean that while States have the power to impose border restrictions, the responsibility to prevent a breakdown of inter-State relations over such disputes is on the Centre.

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