09 Dec 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. Britain, EU strike deal on Ireland border 2. Pakistan, China violate religious freedom: U.S. 3. Sri Lanka to get $300 mn Chinese tyre factory C. GS 3 Related DEFENCE 1. ‘COVID-19 won’t delay Rafale delivery’ D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials ECONOMY 1. The dangers of misplaced optimism SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 1. The rise of Artificial Intelligence economy INTERNAL SECURITY 1. Constant vigilance F. Prelims Facts 1. Mt. Everest ‘grows’ taller as China, Nepal announce new height G. Tidbits 1. We won’t order any step that will hobble economy: SC H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Britain, EU strike deal on Ireland border
Context:
Britain has embraced a deal with the European Union over how to manage the Ireland-Northern Ireland border.
Background:
- Britain left the European Union on January 31, 2020, and entered a transition period to allow negotiations to establish a trade relationship with zero tariffs and zero quotas.
- The trade negotiations were on between Britain and the EU for a post-exit trade relation between the two.
Details:
- It is an agreement in principle on all issues, in particular with regard to the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.
- Britain will drop clauses in draft domestic legislation that breached the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
- It covers issues such as what export declarations are needed, supply rules for medicines and food to supermarkets, and the process for border checks on animals and plants.
Way Forward:
- A consensus has not yet been reached to find a solution on how to manage the nearly $1 trillion of annual trade between Britain and the EU, which must happen before the temporary arrangements expire.
2. Pakistan, China violate religious freedom: U.S.
Context:
The US has designated Pakistan and China among eight other countries that are of particular concern for violation of religious freedom.
Details:
- Pakistan and China along with Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were placed in the list for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.
- The State Department has placed the Comoros, Cuba, Nicaragua and Russia on a Special Watch List (SWL) for governments that have engaged in or tolerated severe violations of religious freedom.
- Sudan and Uzbekistan have been removed from the Special Watch List based on significant, concrete progress undertaken by their respective governments.
- The US also designated al-Shabaab, al-Qaida, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Taliban as ‘Entities of Particular Concern’.
United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF)
- The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) is a bipartisan, independent federal government commission in the US.
- It was created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.
- USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.
- The Commission on International Religious Freedom issues an annual report that includes policy recommendations to the U.S. government based on the report’s evaluation of the facts and circumstances of religious freedom violations worldwide.
- In its Annual Report, USCIRF unflinchingly describes threats to religious freedom around the world and recommends to the State Department countries for designation as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations.”
- USCIRF also recommends to the State Department that non-state actors cited for similarly severe violations be designated as “entities of particular concern” (EPCs).
3. Sri Lanka to get $300 mn Chinese tyre factory
Context:
Sri Lanka announced the first large-scale Chinese investment in manufacturing in the country.
Details:
- Sri Lanka’s Cabinet has approved the setting up of a tyre plant under legislation that allows generous tax concessions.
- The Chinese investment is in a $300-million tyre factory near a strategic deep-sea port.
- The factory will be adjacent to the Hambantota port, which was leased to a Chinese company in 2017 after Sri Lanka failed to service the $1.4-billion debt from Beijing used to build it.
Concerns:
- Western nations, as well as India, have long been concerned about Chinese influence in Sri Lanka through projects under its gargantuan Belt and Road infrastructure initiative.
- Between 2005 and 2015, Sri Lanka borrowed billions from China, accumulating a mountain of debt for a string of infrastructure projects.
- This includes an international airport dubbed “the world’s emptiest” by media for its lack of flights.
- The Colombo Port City, a $1.4 billion land reclamation project which started in 2014 — has doubled the size of Sri Lanka’s current financial district. Read more on this covered in 18th November 2020 CNA.
- Also, the pandemic has boosted China’s influence in Sri Lanka.
C. GS 3 Related
1. ‘COVID-19 won’t delay Rafale delivery’
Context:
French Ambassador to India said that France would deliver all 36 Rafale fighter aircraft to India by 2022 despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown on the French defence industry.
Read more on Rafale covered in 15th October 2019 Comprehensive News Analysis.
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
1. The dangers of misplaced optimism
Context: The recent Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) for the second quarter has given mixed signals.
Details:
- The news that GDP contracted by 7.5% in the second quarter has been seen with optimism by Government as there is an improvement when compared to the first quarter where the GDP contracted by 23.9%.
- However, several economists refuse to buy this argument pointing out that the second-quarter contraction is high both in itself and in comparison with similarly placed countries.
V-shaped recovery
- The government claims the difference in GDP figures between the two quarters is a sign of recovery in the economy.
- The unlocking of the economy has led to an uptick in economic activity, reflective of “the resilience and robustness of Indian economy”.
- However, this is just the beginning of the long path ahead to recovery and not the end of it.
No time for fiscal conservatism
- Lockdown meant production ceased and inventories were cutback.
- The unlocking of the economy with the lifting of lockdown restrictions led to a resumption in production, this could be explained by the expansion of industrial output by 0.6% in the second quarter.
- Production must theoretically rise to meet the demand in the economy and to restore the inventories. It is observed that there is a positive correlation between inventories restoring and demand in the economy, this, in turn, leads to a rise in production.
- The lockdown has made the businesses cut down on jobs, contributing to unemployment and also trimming their wage bills, leading to cut in wages.
- The above-mentioned factors have put people and businesses in the perils of indebtedness and bankruptcy.
- Therefore, it is not wise to assume that lifting lockdown restrictions will alone be sufficient to revive production and demand in the economy.
- Lifting of lockdown restrictions is not a magic wand to return to the pre-COVID era, it requires providing safety nets to the vulnerable sections of the society, reviving employment and taking adequate steps to spur the demand in the economy.
- The role of the state becomes prominent in these circumstances, the public expenditure becomes a major force in trying to get the economy back on its feet.
- This would thus require the Government to deploy financial resources of higher magnitude and this is a challenge especially when the revenues are declining in the times of recession.
- The government thus has to finance the economy by borrowing, and this appears to be a very popular way for governments around the world trying to overcome the pandemic challenges.
Promising performance metrics of the Indian economy
- Private final consumption expenditure
- The Private final consumption expenditure (PFCE) is defined as the expenditure incurred by the resident households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) on the final consumption of goods and services, whether made within or outside the economic territory.
- Private final consumption expenditure at constant prices that accounts for over half of the GDP has had a recovery of sorts by moving from -27% in the first quarter to -11% in the second quarter, signalling a short recovery.
- This signals a recuperation in private consumption demand owing to lockdown restrictions being eased.
- Inventory stocking
- With production resuming, the inventories are getting stocked up. The numbers show a marked increase in change in stock levels.
- Fixed capital formation
- Gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) refers to the net increase in physical assets (investment minus disposals). It does not account for the consumption (depreciation) of fixed capital. It is a component of the expenditure approach to calculating Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
- The fixed capital formation decline has been less concerning in the second quarter, though it is still far away from the desirable range.
Predicament of states
- The Controller General of Accounts data indicates that the first seven months of the financial year 2020-21 has had a total expenditure of 55% of what was provided in the Budget for 2020-21 from the central government.
- The total expenditure is inadequate but what is disturbing is that the expenditure is less than the 2019-20 figures for the same period. The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated more spending from the government, something that the government has so far failed to do.
- The fall in demand has further pushed down the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection, this has hurt the revenue of states and states have not been compensated by the centre for the shortfall. The centre has used the “Act of God” clause to move away from its responsibility.
- States have resorted to borrowing from the market, borrowing at high-interest rates, which would place higher interest burden in the future.
Government final expenditure
- The expenditure method is a system for calculating gross domestic product (GDP) that combines consumption, investment, government spending, and net exports.
- Another startling data was that the public consumption expenditure in the first half of the year of the pandemic was less than what it was in 2019-20, in what was a normal year.
- The government consumption expenditure has fallen in the second quarter, this puts welfare expenditures, social security net at risk. The pandemic has made welfare expenditures more important than ever.
- The programmes such as employment guarantee schemes, foodgrain allocation and other welfare initiatives will be squeezed.
- This has other incidental costs, like extending the recession, as the government expenditure shrinks, wages are down, unemployment is rising, demand is dipping.
Conclusion
- As there are signs of V-shaped recovery, it is important that the Government identifies the grains of recovery and take immediate steps to provide more impetus.
- The pandemic necessitates more social security expenditure from the government. The problem ahead is not just an economic one, it is a social issue as well. Inclusive growth requires no one to be left behind and one way to go about it is by raising the government consumption expenditure.
Category: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
1. The rise of Artificial Intelligence economy
Context: The COVID-19 pandemic has created an Artificial Intelligence (AI) moment that India has to capitalize.
Details:
- One of the positives to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an increased understanding of the budding nature of technologies like Artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).
- The public health authorities and local administrations in monitoring and predicting trends were aided by AI/ML algorithms and also the work of the healthcare professionals, medical researchers were supplemented by AI/ML algorithms.
India’s rising eminence in AI
- Government initiatives like the national knowledge portal and ‘Responsible AI for youth’ programme and the private sector investments have propelled the AI capability-building in the past few years.
- NITI Aayog’s report on AI contemplates democratising AI, its agenda is ‘AI for all’ for inclusive growth.
- There is an eye on deploying AI for social sector issues. AI-led solutions are looked at for issues in healthcare, agriculture, education, infrastructure, smart mobility, etc.
- A few state governments like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu have taken a lead in notifying policies and drafting a vision plan for AI adoption.
- The private companies have begun investing in AI technologies and AI centres of excellence have been set up to look into solutions for global clients.
India’s talent resources
- India has an opportunity on its hands – targeted Government policy initiatives, a proactive private sector and an ambitious youth can create a synergy for the growth of AI.
- India has a vibrant start-up ecosystem with cutting edge solutions being evolved in diverse areas such as cancer screening, smart farming, conversational AI for the use of enterprises.
- India’s vast number of technical institutes, incubation centres, close to half a million people involved in AI/ML means that India establishes itself as a potent AI hub in the world.
Boost to economy
- Data and AI are expected to take India’s growth trajectory higher, this optimism is substantiated with Nasscom estimates that state, data and AI will contribute close to half a billion to India’s GDP by 2025.
- Three key sectors have been identified, such as consumer goods and retail, agriculture, and banking and insurance.
- There is a debate if AI will lead to loss of jobs leading to higher levels of unemployment, but a growing AI economy is estimated to create over 20 million technical roles alone.
Applications
- AI is expected to unravel itself with time, its abilities are not deciphered yet. AI is more than creating niche solutions to specific problems, like for example in the case of banks, it will help in speeding up loan applications, and in areas like service providing, AI will aid in enhancing customer services.
- AI has been appreciated for giving solutions for better governance and social impact. An example being AI-enabled automated number plate recognition software to catch violations.
Priorities for India
Some areas require attention to ensure India harnesses its potential in the AI domain such as:
- Talent Development
- India has a vast talent pool with encouraging demography. India can utilize it to strengthen its AI workforce.
- The trend has been positive, the 2019 data shows that AI workforce has reached 72,000.
- However, the demand is on an exponential rise, therefore there is a need to develop talent and also develop it at a pace that meets the demand.
- Policies on data usage, governance and security
- Data and AI are intertwined. Thus, data usage needs a robust policy framework that lays a safeguard against any unethical use of AI.
- A data protection policy should be put in place after consultation with all stakeholders.
- Digitisation
- The extent of digitization is low in India, this affects the data collection by organisations.
- The organisations require a stream of data to feed its AI/ML algorithms.
- Availability of clean data sets is prerequisite for the thriving of AI economy.
- Data cleaning refers to preparing data for analysis by removing or modifying data that is incomplete, irrelevant, duplicated, or improperly formatted.
- Organisations need to invest in data management frameworks that will clean the data which is ready to be analysed, leading to a better outcome.
Reason for optimism
Over half (58%) of the companies using AI in the country work at scale, beyond pilot and test projects.
Conclusion
- Currently, India has roughly $ 50.3 bn of investments in AI’s R&D. With the Government of India steering AI and its applications on a national scale, we can expect to witness an increase in the flow of investments into advanced technologies like IoT, Blockchain, Data Analytics and, Machine Learning.
- The future of AI is inevitable, India needs to seize the opportunity given its vast talent pool.
Context: The arrest of five terror suspects in New Delhi has brought back attention on the Khalistan movement.
Details:
- The Delhi police have hinted at the role of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) in stoking up pro-Khalistani elements and also aiming to establish a connection between terror outfits in Kashmir and pro-Khalistani groups, a theory that cannot be ruled out.
Revival?
- The Khalistan movement is a Sikh separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān (‘Land of the Khalsa’), in the Punjab region.
- The movement has been long forgotten, especially with the end of the insurgency in Punjab in the early 90s and also with the weaning away of support to the movement both within India and from abroad.
- However, there have been attempts now and then to give a fresh lease of energy to the moribund movement, in the form of incidences like the killing of Shaurya Chakra awardee Balwinder Singh.
- However, there appears to be no truth in the attempts to link farmer protests over the recently enacted farm acts to the Khalistan movement revival.
- ISI has been for years trying to encourage insurgency in the region.
Terrorism in Kashmir
- Terror incidents and killings have been on the rise, especially post the abrogation of the special status and revoking statehood.
- The state-sponsored terrorism pursued by Pakistan has been the prime reason for increasing terror incidents and this has overlapped with a rise in ceasefire violations on the Line of Control and the international border.
- The current situation may not be similar to the height of terrorist activities during the 1990s and the early 2000s but the numbers are still high enough to make the period of peace between 2011-2015 seem a very distant memory.
- The reason cited by many experts has been the lack of engagement by the Central Government with the people of Kashmir before taking major reforms. The lack of consultation and not being kept in the loop have alienated the local people.
Conclusion
- Territorial integrity and sovereignty are an integral part of any country’s security policy. India has borne the brunt of Pakistan’s state-sponsored terrorism policy.
- India has to invest in border infrastructure, especially on the Pakistan border and also ensure sufficient diplomatic capital is expended in maintaining pressure on Pakistan on various global forums.
F. Prelims Facts
1. Mt. Everest ‘grows’ taller as China, Nepal announce new height
What’s in News?
Nepal and China have jointly announced the revised height of Mount Everest based on the International Height Reference System.
- The new height replaces the long-associated 8,848 metre-height, which is a legacy from 1954, and a measurement carried out by the Survey of India.
- The new height of Mount Everest is 8,848.86 metres.
Note:
- Everest is known as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Mount Qomolangma in China.
- The mountain lies on the border between Nepal and Tibet and the summit can be accessed from both sides. (Nepal route being more popular).
G. Tidbits
1. We won’t order any step that will hobble economy: SC
What’s in News?
The Supreme Court said that it would not pass any order that would risk the economy going haywire after the Union government revealed that a blanket waiver of interest on debts incurred by all classes and categories of borrowers for the moratorium period would mean forgoing an estimated over ₹6 lakh crore.
- The Supreme Court is hearing the government’s response to separate pleas made by industry, real estate and power sectors and others for debt relief, including waiver of interest, during the moratorium.
- The government argues that if the banks were to bear the burden of interest waiver, it would wipe out a substantial and a major part of their net worth, rendering most of the banks unviable.
- For every loan account, there are about 8.5 deposit accounts in the Indian banking system. The Centre has said that it is necessary for it to rationalise any kind of financial relief.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Dibru-Saikhowa National Park:
- It is situated in the south bank of the river Brahmaputra.
- It is bound by Dibru River in the south.
- The Park is renowned for the natural regeneration of Salix trees.
- It is a designated biosphere reserve.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1, 2 and 3 only
- 3 and 4 only
- 2, 3 and 4 only
- 1, 2, 3 and 4
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
All the statements are correct.
Q2. Consider the following statements:
- Uttar Pradesh has the longest network of National Highways in India.
- National Highway 44 (NH 44) is the longest-running National Highway in India.
- NH 44 passes through Uttar Pradesh.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
- None of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- National Highway 44 (NH 44) is the longest-running major north-south National Highway in India.
- It passes through the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, in addition to the states of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu.
- Uttar Pradesh has the longest network of National Highways in India.
Q3. Which of these airports was tagged the “World’s emptiest airport”?
- Ratmalana International Airport
- Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport
- Bandaranaike International Airport
- Batticaloa International Airport
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: b
Explanation:
Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in southern Sri Lanka holds the dubious tag of being the world’s emptiest airport due to lack of flights to and from this airport.
Q4. Consider the following pairs:
- Burevi – Iran
- Gati – India
- Amphan – Bangladesh
- Nivar – Maldives
Which of these are correctly matched?
- 2 only
- 2, 3 and 4 only
- 1 and 2 only
- 3 and 4 only
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: a
Explanation:
Cyclone Burevi was named by the Maldives, Gati by India, Amphan by Thailand and Nivar by Iran.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- The future of AI looks promising, but to convert potential to reality requires sound strategies. Explain the steps taken by India so far to harness AI. (15 marks, 250 words) [GS-3 Science and Technology]
- Explain the challenges faced by India in dealing with infiltration along the borders. Mention the steps taken by the government in tackling this menace. (15 marks, 250 words) [GS-3 Internal Security]
Read the previous CNA here.
09 Dec 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
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