26 May 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
ART AND CULTURE
1. Karnataka govt. takes efforts to solve mystery over birthplace of Purandara Dasa
B. GS 2 Related
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Deliberations on to end LAC tensions
2. China warns U.S. of retaliation if punished for Hong Kong law
C. GS 3 Related
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. With wheat harvest over, Punjab registers spike in stubble burning
ECONOMY
1. ILO urges PM not to dilute labour laws
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
1. Bengal, Odisha get promised ₹1,500 cr.
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
ECONOMY
1. The problem with the liquidity push
2. A well-balanced stimulus package
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Moving beyond geopolitics
F. Prelims Facts
1. Puntius sanctus
2. Heatwave sweeps North India
G. Tidbits
1. Crude processing sees biggest drop since 2003
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

2. China warns U.S. of retaliation if punished for Hong Kong law

Context:

China has threatened counter-measures against the U.S. if it was punished for plans to impose a sedition law on Hong Kong. Hong Kong has become the latest flashpoint in soaring tensions between the world’s two super powers which China has likened to “the brink of a new Cold War”.

Background:

• China has introduced a proposal to impose a security law in Hong Kong to suppress the semi-autonomous city’s pro-democracy movement.
• Beijing plans to pass a new security law for Hong Kong that bans treason, subversion and sedition after months of massive, often-violent pro-democracy protests in 2019.
• The business hub’s security chief hailed it as a new tool that would defeat “terrorism”.

Details:

• Beijing portrays the city’s protests as a foreign-backed plot to destabilise the motherland and says other nations have no right to interfere in how the international business hub is run.
• Protesters say they are motivated by years of Beijing chipping away at the city’s freedoms since it was handed back to China by Britain in 1997.
• Hong Kong enjoys liberties unseen on the mainland, as well as its own legal system and trade status.

Hong Kong’s Concerns:

• Of particular concern is a provision allowing Chinese security agents to operate in Hong Kong, with fears it could spark a crackdown on those voicing dissent against China’s communist rulers.
• The proposed law would also bypass Hong Kong’s own legislature.

U.S. sanctions:

• Meanwhile, in a separate development that signals rising tensions between China and the U.S., Beijing vowed to shield a Chinese government institute and eight companies sanctioned by the U.S. over alleged human rights violations in the restive Xinjiang region, where China is accused of mass repression of mostly Muslim minorities.
• The U.S. Department of Commerce announced the sanctions saying they were triggered by human rights abuses against Uighurs and other minority groups in Xinjiang in China’s far northwest.
• Beijing urged Washington to reverse the decision, saying the Commerce Department had stretched the concept of national security to meddle in China’s affairs and harm China’s interests.

This issue has been covered in 23^rd May 2020 and 25^th May 2020 Comprehensive News analysis.

Category: ECONOMY

1. ILO urges PM not to dilute labour laws

Context:

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has informed trade unions of India that its Director-General has expressed concern and urged the Prime Minister to send a clear message to the Central and State governments to uphold international labour laws after the recent dilution of laws by some States.

Background:

• A group of 10 Central trade unions had written to the ILO in Geneva, seeking its intervention to protect workers’ rights and international labour standards.
• They sent the representation to the ILO after Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and some other States either suspended a large number of labour laws for two-three years or diluted them in an attempt to woo industry in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This issue has been covered in 9^th May 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis. Click here to read.

Category: DISASTER MANAGEMENT

1. Bengal, Odisha get promised ₹1,500 cr.

Context:

• Relief of ₹1,000 crore and ₹500 crore have been released to West Bengal and Odisha, respectively, in the wake of the damage and destruction caused by Cyclone Amphan.
• The relief amount has been disbursed from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

Cyclone Amphan has been covered in 22^nd May 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis. Click here to read.

2. A well-balanced stimulus package

Context:

• The author of the article, the current Vice Chairman of the NITI Aayog argues in favour of the economic stimulus package.

Details:

• The author argues that the stimulus package is a well-balanced and bold package that will help revive economic activity in India.

Limitations of a developing economy:

• The author argues that developed countries, like the U.S. bestowed with unlimited resources, have the luxury to issue debt without any thought of its consequences on their macroeconomic balances.
• India does not have these many degrees of freedom. Cognisant of its constraints and compulsions, the government has come up with its stimulus package.

Structural reforms:

• The announced measures aim to convert this crisis into an opportunity by implementing bold structural reforms, which have been pending for a while.

Substantial amount:

• The size of the stimulus being around 10% of the GDP compares favourably with packages announced by other emerging economies.

Lifting demand and supply:

• The stimulus package effectively addresses both the supply and demand side of the economy as against concerns expressed by some sections, of the package being heavily focussed on reviving only supply.

Demand creation:

• Several measures have been announced to lift the sagging demand in the economy.
• As against the conventional argument, that increasing the cash in hand of consumers is the sole means for reversing the declining demand in the economy, the additional credit lines provided to micro, small and medium enterprises or to street vendors or to farmers (additional credit of Rs. 2 trillion) will contribute to the strengthening of aggregate demand in the economy.
  • The total effective demand is made up of demand for consumption, investment and intermediate goods.
• Measures announced for ramping up consumption demand directly include:
  • Rs.1.73 lakh crore for improving the incomes and welfare of the most vulnerable, including the 20 crore female Jan Dhan account holders who will be receiving money directly into their bank accounts.
  • The reduction of TDS and TCS by 25% would lead to Rs. 50,000 crore additional incomes in the hands of the people.
  • Rs.40,000 crore additional allocation for MNREGA will provide jobs to the migrant labourers returning to their villages from metros and cities.
• These measures will trigger demand, which could trigger recovery in economic activity.

Supply stabilization:

• The package has guaranteed the survival of existing production capacities and laid strong grounds for attracting fresh investment to bolster growth.

Agriculture:

• The government declared agriculture and all related activities as essential services immediately upon announcing the lockdown. This permitted the successful harvesting and efficient procurement of the critical Rabi crop. Procurement operations also pumped in Rs. 78,000 crore into the crucial sector.
• The measures aimed at aiding the farmers will help ensure the nation’s food security.
• Indian farmers will get the much-needed freedom, flexibility and financial strength to propel India’s economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 period.

Addressing liquidity crunch:

• The governmental measures will help prevent the liquidity crunch from converting to insolvencies and bankruptcies.
  • Moratorium measures have been announced for businesses for their debt servicing obligations to commercial banks.
  • Additional credit line of Rs. 3 trillion has been given to MSMEs without any fresh collateral.
  • New equity fund for MSMEs via the Rs. 50,000 crore fund of funds.
  • Rs.90,000 crore credit package has been extended to state electricity utilities to enable them to clear their dues to private sector power producers.

Higher self-reliance:

• The measures would significantly help improve the ecosystem for private producers and investors, both in agriculture and manufacturing.
  • The liberalization of regulations like the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and liberalisation in the defence production sector will help India achieve higher self-reliance in this strategic sector and also emerge as an exporter.
  • The opening up of business opportunity to the private businesses via the Public Sector Enterprise Policy will help revive investment sentiments.
• The stimulus package will help the Indian firms operate in an ecosystem that will help them become ‘Glocal’, thereby helping Indian brands command a larger share in the global markets and participate successfully in global value chains.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Moving beyond geopolitics

Context:

• The authors of the article analyze the trends in the domain of technology and data, and evaluate the scenario in a post-COVID phase.

Significance of technology and data:

• National governments, policymakers and healthcare researchers are using technology and data to plan and improve economic activities, social development and treat deadly diseases.

Recent trends:

Interdependence between technology and geopolitics:

• Issues relating to technologies such as biotechnology, genetic engineering and information technology will have a long-term impact on geopolitics.
• Technology and data are becoming inherently geopolitical.
  • Proper data related to the COVID-19 outbreak were not shared in time, and that is why there is so much anger towards the World Health Organization and China.
  • The nature of technology and data has placed tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon in a commanding position. Given their global reach, governments are becoming increasingly dependent on them.
  • Tech giants are taking a leading role in geopolitics, at times playing on their own and sometimes as proxies of nation states to influence policymaking and national regulations.
    • The U.S.-China trade war, the position of governments on Huawei 5G technology, and Facebook’s attempt to implement internet.org are a few examples.

Changing idea of privacy:

• The pandemic has brought a change in perception on issues like privacy.
• During the current pandemic, people across the globe have accepted the idea of their live locations being traced and shared with governments. In India, more than 90 million people have downloaded Aarogya Setu despite concerns raised with respect to the right to privacy.

Concerns:

Increasing restrictions on data:

• Restrictions on the flow of data have increased significantly in the recent past.
  • World over, data protection laws, requirements of data localisation, laws related to weakening of encryption keys and data retention requirements are increasing.

Lack of proper framework:

• The proposed frameworks on data are not interoperable between different jurisdictions and only focus on protection of personal data and privacy and give little thought to the broader impact of data on mobility and social aspects.
  • Data protection frameworks such as the General Data Protection Regulation of the EU and the CLOUD Act of the U.S. are aimed at putting users in control of their data. But they have issues relating to data localisation, cross-border flow of information and issue of data sharing.
• The global body, UN has also not succeeded in bringing consensus in the preparation of an acceptable framework.

Way forward:

Sharing data:

• In the post-COVID world, countries and tech giants should be obligated to share data in the larger interest of mankind.
• The unprecedented amount of data being collected by tech giants need to be used towards the welfare of society.

Privacy aspects:

• The current human rights framework cannot be extrapolated to human rights in the digital and biological domain. The current concept of privacy may require significant change.
• There is a need to distinguish individual data from large global data sets.

Need for a framework:

• In the post-COVID-19 world, the need for digital equity will require frameworks relating to governance of technology and data that look beyond geopolitical considerations.
• With data flow set to become more important over time, we need government regulations and standard and inter-operable frameworks to govern issues and address risks emerging from these technological innovations.
• The framework must focus on leveraging data to solve problems and ensure consistency, interoperability, privacy and security.

2. Heatwave sweeps North India

What’s in News?

Several parts of north India reeled under an intense heatwave with many districts in Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh posting temperatures over 45 degrees Celsius or five degrees above what is normal.

Details:

• The India Meteorological Department had forecast “heatwave to severe heatwave conditions” over northwest, central and adjoining peninsular India for most of the week along with heavy rain over northeast India.
  • Churu in Rajasthan registered 47° C.
  • Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh recorded 46° C.
• The heat was due to dry northwesterly winds prevailing over northwest and central India.
• High summer temperatures in North India are one of the factors important for drawing in the monsoon rain into Kerala.

Heat waves:

The World Meteorological Organization defines a heat wave as five or more consecutive days during which the daily maximum temperature exceeds the average maximum temperature by five degrees Celsius.  If the maximum temperature of the affected region continues to be more than 45° C consecutively for two days, it will be declared a heat wave affected area.

Read more about Heat Waves.

Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Purandara Dasa:

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to National Disaster Response 
Fund (NDRF):

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to International Labour 
Organisation:

Q4. Which of the following countries form the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue 
(QSD) or Quad?

Read the previous CNA here.

26 May 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here