08 Feb 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Protests sweep across Myanmar, Internet access restored partially

Context:

Tens of thousands of protesters have taken to streets across Myanmar in the biggest anti-coup rallies yet.

This topic has been covered in 3^rd February 2021 and 5^th February 2021 Comprehensive News Analysis.

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. An India-EU trade pact may still remain elusive

The article throws light upon how COVID-19, Brexit and international tensions have unsettled the European Union and exacerbated its internal discords.

Challenges facing the European Union:

• Before COVID-19 and Brexit, the EU had the same GDP as the United States and was one of India’s major trade and investment partners.
• Being the largest democracies and unions of linguistically, culturally and ethnically diverse States, both the EU and India are well suited for a special relationship.
• The reality is that the current status lacks mutual chemistry.
• Also, the EU now finds itself in an unusually turbulent situation.
  • The crises of 2020 made the structural lack of unity in the EU apparent.
  • Despite its desire for greater integration, it faces obstacles from adherence to the rule of law to a strategy for dealing with China, Russia, Turkey and Iran.
  • After months of tortuous negotiation over Hungary and Poland’s objections, member States finally agreed on a long-term budget and a COVID-19 recovery package of $2 trillion.
  • The two countries had opposed anti-COVID-19 support being linked to good governance, in particular, to accusations of suppression of human rights and lack of independence in the judiciary.
• The Trump presidency forced Europe to reassess its relationship with America.
  • This stimulated the EU’s drive for greater self-reliance in security, economics, supply chains and climate change, and an attempt to emerge as a major global pillar alongside the United States and China.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced divisive vaccine nationalism into the Union.

Shadow of Euroscepticism:

• Euroscepticism is criticism of the European Union and European integration. It is the opposition to increasing the powers of the European Union.
• The EU’s attempt to condition its budget on the rule of law during the pandemic and recession only sharpened the emphasis on the veto power to which every member state is entitled.
• It was not only Britain that spawned a populist movement agitating to leave the EU. Europe’s many Eurosceptic parties now focus on preventing closer unity.
• Elections are due in many EU states, including Germany and the Netherlands, both of which have strong Eurosceptic movements.

India-EU trade pact:

• India plans to start negotiations on investment and trade agreements with the European Union (EU).
• These are likely to run into the same problems as the discussions that began on a comprehensive free trade agreement in 2007. It was aborted due to differences on:
  • Movement of professionals, labour, human rights and environmental issues.
  • India’s high tariffs, inconsistent tax regime and non-payment of arbitral awards.

Conclusion:

For the EU to resolve these innumerable and diverse problems without further widening existing ruptures will require enormous political will and polished skill. Trade agreements with India will be the least of its problems.

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. The cost of Internet shutdowns

Context:

Farmer protests calling for the withdrawal of farm laws introduced by the government has become a part of our national and international discourse. Also, plenty of concerns have been raised on the manner in which the Centre introduced the Bills and its actions towards countering the movement have raised plenty of concerns.

Details:

• A principal concern among these has been the recurrent shutdowns of Internet services around many border areas of NCR ordered by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• For India, unfortunately, internet blockages are not new.
• India shuts down Internet services more than any other democracy in the world.
  • The past four years have seen over 400 such shutdowns.
• Jammu and Kashmir saw the longest Internet shutdown across the world since the abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile State.
  • Digital services were partially restored after a long period of 223 days.

Concerns:

• Many, including UN rights groups, termed the internet shutdowns as
  • a form of collective punishment for people.
  • an overreach of governments on citizens’ rights and liberties.
• Currently, Indian laws have vague provisions for suspending telecommunication services, including the Internet, during times of public emergencies, or, if required, for protecting the public interest.

Impact of Internet shutdown:

Impact during the pandemic:

• The impact of shutdowns becomes even more pronounced during a pandemic.
  • During the COVID-19 outbreak, the ones with good connectivity and know-how of digital tools were able to carry on with their lives with relatively fewer disruptions.
  • The ones without digital literacy or connectivity found themselves completely left out of all social and economic systems.
• Blanket bans on digital connectivity during the COVID-19 crisis may breed deep-rooted societal difficulties.
  • The most vulnerable among us may be cut off from health and welfare alerts.
  • There could be breaks in vital digital services, including those currently being used by hospitals to monitor the well-being of their patients at risk of infection, including the elderly, and pregnant women.
  • Students may lose access to avenues of learning as classes shift online.
  • Journalists may find it impossible to do ground-reporting from already volatile areas.

Massive Losses:

• Internet shutdowns will freeze economic activity in affected areas and cause large-scale disruptions in economic output.
• Today, almost all white-collar employment sectors are encouraging their employees to work from home.
• India is estimated to have lost over ₹20,000 crore in 2020 because of Internet shutdowns.

Supreme Court ruling:

• In 2020, the Supreme Court had declared that the right to access the Internet is one of our fundamental rights, alongside the freedom to carry on any trade, business or occupation over the medium of the Internet, under Article 19 of the Constitution.

Conclusion and Way Forward:

• Despite the costs and inconveniences involved, the shutdowns, on very rare occasions, do become necessary evils. However, it is hard to classify the ones initiated by the Central government in recent years under those categories.
• As the pace of globalisation, digitisation and connectivity accelerate, balancing civil liberties with security concerns will become an increasingly difficult task.
• Governments must find a way other than digital curbs to balance civil liberties and security.
• Internet bans should be a last resort and must be enforced following well-formulated protocols.
• Emergency response and relief systems for the vulnerable have to then work in parallel.
• Upgrading cyber divisions of law enforcement agencies with new-age innovations may offer several alternatives.
  • The use of some of these technologies, including mass surveillance systems and communication interceptors, also presents its own ethical dilemmas.
• Governments, especially in democracies, will have to create modern, independent institutions that have the authority and expertise to create frameworks that meet these challenges, without falling back on measures that result in state overreach.

Category: ECONOMY

1. Staying watchful

Context:

• The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has yet again left benchmark interest rates unchanged.
• It has reiterated that it will continue with its accommodative stance in order to secure a sustained economic recovery.

This topic has been covered in 6^th February 2021 Comprehensive News Analysis.

Details:

• The MPC has reasoned that while there are promising signs, the ongoing recovery is yet to gather firm traction making it crucial to provide continued policy support for restoring growth.
• The sharp deceleration in retail inflation in December 2020, when headline CPI inflation eased to 4.6% after being stuck above the RBI’s upper tolerance threshold of 6% for six straight months, proved to be a relief for the MPC.
• The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination programme as well as the Union Budget’s proposals to give a boost to infrastructure, and innovation and research, among other things, have been recognised as factors likely to restore confidence and lend a fillip to the growth momentum, respectively.
• Rural demand’s persistent resilience is what the MPC sees supporting the demand recovery.
• However, while overall Rabi sowing has been 2.9% higher year-on-year, the farmers’ agitation is a cause for concern as it has the potential to disrupt farm output threatening both growth and inflation dynamics.

Measures taken:

• RBI has sought to privilege its role as the government’s debt manager through a clutch of regulatory announcements accompanying the latest monetary policy.
• The two main measures involve:
  • Extending the enhanced ‘held-to-maturity’ dispensation for banks buying debt issued by the Centre and States by a year up to March 31, 2023.
  • Allowing retail investors to make direct online purchases of government securities via a ‘Retail Direct’ gilt securities account held with the RBI.

Way forward:

• Interest rates are being held at near-record lows, inflation is still above the RBI’s benchmark repo rate of 4% – resulting in negative real returns for savers. At this point, RBI cannot afford to drop its guard on vigilance over prices.
• With the Centre alone targeting to borrow as much as ₹12-lakh crore at the gross level in FY-22, the debt manager faces the unenviable task of ensuring two things:
  • The flood of debt finds takers at a price that does not push up borrowing costs for the rest of the real economy.
  • Trying and preventing the debt from crowding out demand for private investment credit.