06 Nov 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. ‘Producing suspects before media violates their rights’

Context:

Observation of the Gwalior Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court with respect to producing suspects before media.

• The court was examining whether the State government through an executive order could violate the privacy of an accused by publishing his face in the media or by parading them.

Details:

• It has observed that producing suspects before the media violates their fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution and encourages media trials.
• Media Trial has lately become a trend to increase the circulation and TRP of newspapers and news channels.
• The court observed that although the general public was entitled to know about the progress of an investigation, producing suspects or victims before the media had no foundation under any statutory provision of the law, including the Code of Criminal Procedure.
• The privacy of a citizen is an integral part of Article 21 and cannot be infringed unless a reasonable restriction was imposed under the law.
• The justice observed: “Even if a person is a hardcore criminal, but still his details/history sheet/surveillance has to be kept discreet and there is no question of posting the photographs of history sheeters even at police stations”.
• In addition, the court noted that the police must concentrate on ensuring the timely appearance of the police witnesses before the trial court, so that the guilt of a person could be established.

E. Editorials

Category: ECONOMY

1. Do recent indicators hint at a real economic revival?

Background:

• After India’s economy shrunk by around 24% in the first quarter of 2020-21 following the nationwide lockdown, an uptick in economic indicators from September and October, normalized power consumption patterns and improved GST collections have been indicative of an economic recovery.
• The article analyzes whether this is indicative of a sustainable recovery or just an expression of pent-up demand combined with India’s festive-season spending.

Details:

Mixed growth:

• Sectors such as pharmaceuticals and chemicals, food and beverages, tractors, two-wheelers, consumer durables have performed well, with many firms in these sectors even reporting growth on last year’s average numbers.
• Sectors like travel and tourism, construction and real estate, retail sector are still struggling.
  • The capacity utilisation factor for the travel and tourism sector continues to be very low lying between 10% and 30%.
  • Though there has been some improvement in the retail sector, mostly owing to the run-up to the festival season, this has been mostly limited to high-street stores and not the regular shops which account for a very large share of retail business.
• There is this very differential performance between sectors.

Employment issue:

• The three very employment-intensive sectors — travel and tourism, construction and real estate, and retail — are struggling to cope with the disruption caused by the pandemic induced lockdowns. This has had a detrimental impact on the employment numbers in these sectors.
• The loss of work or reduction in salaries/incomes would have a negative impact on the disposable income of the people and would lead to a vicious economic cycle which does not augur well for economic recovery.
  • CMIE data suggests that the unemployment rate rose again in October, while MGNREGA claims also rose in rural India.

Uncertainty surrounding the pandemic:

• India continues to register very high COVID cases on a daily basis. We still do not have complete control over the virus, and until we do, there will not be any certainty or complete confidence regarding the normalization of the economy.
• Cities like New Delhi have witnessed a recent uptick in the number of cases. This would necessitate the re-imposition of lockdown and restrictions on movement. The lack of a clear-cut government policy regarding this aspect will only add to the existing uncertainty.

Pre-existing economic challenges:

• The economy had already been slowing down when the lockdown was announced, and investments had been coming down. There was also the issue of the financial crisis in the economy given that banks were not willing to lend due to the high NPAs.
• The pre-existent signs of weakness in the economy would have a marked impact on the economic recovery process.

Fiscal hesitancy:

• The current circumstances call for a fiscal stimulus. However, given the limited fiscal space available and the government’s intent of maintaining fiscal prudence, the expectation of a good fiscal package has remained unfulfilled.
• There has been very little support for stressed sectors by the government. The RBI’s [Reserve Bank of India] one-time restructuring for stressed firms may not be sufficient for the distressed companies. These stressed sectors can have a substantial impact on the economy in the longer run.

Way forward:

Reducing taxes:

• Most of the construction material — whether it is cement or steel or paint — are all subject to 28% GST, despite them not being sin goods. Similarly, vehicles too are taxed at the rate of 28% GST-plus-cess.
• The government should reduce the tax rates on these commodities to help the economy. Though the low demand may not be due to high tax rates, reducing the tax rate may help increase demand. Additionally, it also provides an opportunity to reform the discrepancies in the GST system.

Settling pending dues by the government:

• The government should settle its large outstanding dues to small and large companies, including from public sector companies and state governments. The paying off of dues would be a very direct and immediate way to put liquidity into the economy.

Fiscal stimulus:

• The government should shed its fear of credit rating agencies and must come out with a substantial spending plan, particularly for the stressed sectors. This spending should help generate demand through cash transfers. This could be operationalized by expediting disinvestment.

Prioritizing investments:

• Investment in the infrastructure sector should be prioritized. Though these investments may not show an immediate impact on the ground, it can definitely prove to be productive in triggering long-term growth.
• Similarly, investment in public health systems should be focussed upon as such investments apart from helping meet the immediate health sector needs, will also benefit society in the long run.

Addressing structural issues:

• The structural issues need to be addressed quickly. This could involve easing the financial sector issues, reforming the power sector and optimizing government regulation to incentivize entrepreneurship.

Category: INTERNAL SECURITY

1. Vienna’s woes

Context:

• The terror attacks in Vienna, Austria.

Background:

• The Vienna attack follows the beheading incident of a schoolteacher in a Paris suburb and a knife attack in Nice. These incidents point to the transnational threat European countries face from terrorist attacks.

Steps to be taken:

Security aspects:

• The fact that the person involved in the Vienna incident had been previously convicted in a terrorism case and was still able to slip off the security radar and launch an attack in the capital city at a time when Europe was on high alert poses serious questions on the security apparatus.
• Austria will also have to plug the security loopholes.
• It should clamp down on terror networks, isolate and punish the jihadists.

Social aspects:

• The larger challenge in countering the threat of terrorism is how to address the issue of radicalisation among youth and counter attempts to disrupt the social cohesion.
• Given that jihadists use violence to create social discord, there is a need for unity in the fight against terrorism. While stopping terror, authorities should build on values of pluralism, secularism, democracy and equality to counter the ideology of jihadists.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Consider the following statements with respect to Guru Nanak Dev:

1. He founded the holy city of Amritsar.
2. He started the institution of Guru ka Langar.
3. He was a contemporary of Mughal emperor Akbar.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

1. 1 and 3 only
2. 2 and 3 only
3. 2 only
4. 1, 2 and 3

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

• Guru Nanak Dev, first of the 10 gurus, founded the Sikh faith.
• He started the institution of Guru ka Langar.
• He was a contemporary of Mughal emperor Babur.
• The Holy City of Amritsar was founded by the 4^th Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das.

Q2. “Tigray” recently seen in news is located in:

1. Ethiopia
2. Sudan
3. Yemen
4. Kenya

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: a

Explanation:

The Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine regions (kililat) of Ethiopia.

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to the Organization for Security 
and Co-operation in Europe:

1. It is the largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization in the world.
2. Its areas of work include arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press and fair elections.
3. Its decisions are legally binding on the participating states.

Which of the given statement/s is/are INCORRECT?

1. 1 and 3 only
2. 3 only
3. 2 and 3 only
4. None of the above

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: b

Explanation:

• The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world’s largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization.
• Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections.
• It has 57 States from Europe, Central Asia and North America.
• All 57 participating States enjoy equal status, and decisions are taken by consensus on a politically, but not legally binding basis.

Q4. Which of these countries do not border Austria?

1. Hungary
2. Croatia
3. Serbia
4. Germany
5. Albania

Choose the correct option:

1. 1 and 4 only
2. 1, 3 and 4 only
3. 2, 3 and 5 only
4. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

CHECK ANSWERS:-

Answer: c

Explanation:

Austria is bordered by Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, Slovenia, Slovakia, Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic.