The Hindu Daily Editorial Discussion 2/3/19 By - Ashish Singh
plus Teaching live on Unacademy Plus Unlimited access to all plus courses . Structured live courses . Learn from experienced educators Learn more Yunacademy Environment And NEWS Ecoloagy By Ashish Singh By Ashish Singh By Ashish Singh (Hindi) 100 MCQ's on Environment and Hindi) February, 2019 The Hindu Daily February 2019: The Hindu Daily Editorial and Prelims Based.. Ecology Editorial and Prelims 9 Lessons 60 Lessons 59 Lessons
Page 8 Page 9 Ensure a minimum income for all ."Changing the stripes of conservatiorn .Was the 'man-eating' tigress Avni that .A basic income scheme will deliver benefits to the poor only if it comes on top of public services was killed in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district a casualty of rising man-animal conflict, or was some other dynamic at play? Serish Nanisetti on how development projects in tiger habitats and the fragmentation of migration corridors call for a rethink of conservation policies .The mixed signals from Pakistan .One can get a fair idea of the Pakistani military's thinking by analysing the politicians' statements and actions The Akali factor . With its alliance in Punjab, the BJP admits the need to take a back seat in some States Hanoi hiccup Despite the collapse of talks, the U.S. and North Korea must persist with CBMs
Ensure a minimum income for all GS PAPER 2 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. MINIMUM INCOME STANDARD CE
The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) is gaining ground globally. It has supporters among the political left and right, and among proponents as well as opponents of the free-market economy. A UBI requires the government to pay every citizen a fixed amount of money on a regular basls and without any conditionalities Crucial to the appeal for such a demand - for a UBI is that millions of people remain unemployed and are extremely poor, despite rapid economic growth in the last three decades. auBtat despite ed ke eale remai unempayed amd
The National Democratic Alliance government has already unfolded a limited version of the UBI in the form of the Pradhanmantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yoiana (PM-KISAN) which promises 6,000 per annum to farmers who own less than 2 hectares of land. Going by media reports, the election manifesto of the Congress Party may announce an even more ambitious version of the scheme
Where it will work The UBI is neither an antidote to the vagaries of market forces nor a substitute for basic public services, especially health and education. *Besides, there is no need to transfer money to middle- and high-income earners as well as large landowners. . However, there is a strong case for direct income transfers to some groups: landless labourers, agricultural workers and marginal farmers who suffer from multi-dimensional poverty. These groups have not benefited from economic growth. They were and still are the poorest Indians. Various welfare schemes have also failed to bring them out of penury.
A case in point is the access to institutional credit issued by banks and cooperative societies. According to National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data from the 70th round, institutional credits account for less than 15% of the total borrowing by landless agricultural workers; the figure for marginal and small farmers is only 30%. These groups have to borrow from moneylenders and adhatiyas at exorbitant interest rates ranging from 24 to 60%. As a result, they do not stand to benefit much from the interest rate subsidy for the agriculture sector.
Likewise, the benefits of subsidised fertilizers and power enjoyed largely by big farmers, In urban areas, contract workers and those in the informal sector face a similar problem. The rapid pace of automation of low-skill jobs and formalisation of the retail sector mean the prospects of these groups are even bleaker.
An income support of, say, 15,000 per annum can be a good supplement to their livelihoods - an amount worth more than a third of the average consumption of the poorest 25% households, and more than a fourth of the annual income of marginal farmers. This additional income can reduce the incidence of indebtedness among marginal farmers, thereby helping them escape moneylenders and adhatiyas. Besides, it can go a long way in helping the poor to make ends meet. Several studies have shown that at high levels of impoverishment, even a small income supplement can improve nutrient intake, and increase enrolment and school attendance for students coming from poor households.
Better productivity In other words, income transfers to the poor will lead to improved health and educational outcomes, which in turn would lead to a more productive workforce. It seems to be a good idea to transfer the money into the bank accounts of women of the beneficiary households. Women tend to spend more of their income on health and the Dir education of children.
The effect of an income transfer scheme on unemployment is a moot point. In principle, cash transfers can result in withdrawal of beneficiaries from the labour force. However, the income support suggested above is not too large to discourage beneficiaries from seeking work In fact, it can promote employment and economic activities. For instance, income receipts can come in handy as interest-free working capital for several categories of beneficiaries (fruit and vegetable vendors and small artisans), thereby promoting their business and employment in the process.
. This means that direct transfers should not be at the expense of public services for primary health and education. .If anything, budgetary allocation for these services should be raised significantly. Programmes such as the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme should also stay. With direct income support, the demand for the programmes will come down naturalwireen the peorest in However, in the interim, it will serve to screen the poorest in the country and give them a crucial safety net.
As an approximation, the number of eligible households is 10 crore. That is, even in its basic form, the scheme will require approximately 1.5 lakh crore per annum The PM-KISAN Yojana can be aligned to meet a part of the cost. Moreover, the tax kitty can be expanded by reintroducing wealth tax. Nonetheless, the required amount is beyond the Centre's fiscal capacity at the moment. Therefore, the cost will have to be shared by States. States such as Telangana and Odisha are already providing direct income support to their farmers.
Now that the first round of military tit-for-tats is over, it is important that New Delhi settles down to parsing the mixed signals coming out of Pakistan. that hew Deshi etde dioasikimor . While keeping all options open, it is important for the government to make a definitive assessment regarding Pakistan's intentions before taking the next step in both the military and diplomatic spheres. . This is a difficult job, among other things because the real decision- makers in Pakistan are not the Prime Minister and his cabinet but the top generals ensconced in General Headquarters in Rawalpindi.
Nonetheless, one can get a fair idea of the thinking by Pakistani decision-makers by analysing the statements and actions of politicians because they are often orchestrated by the military high command. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's pronouncements are, therefore, worth following closely. His most recent statement in the Pakistan Parliament betrays the internal conflict in both his and his generals' assessment of the current India-Pakistan standoff and its impact on the standing of the Pakistani military in the eyes of the country's population.
Mr. Khan has, on the one hand, emphasised his desire for de- escalation without accepting blame for the initial action, the Pulwama terrorist attack, that triggered the present crisis. llt . While ostensibly addressing the Indian government, he has attempted to present a reasonable face to the international community by expressing his yearning for peace in the subcontinent. He has especially emphasised the fact that both countries are nuclear powers and, therefore, any further escalation could lead to disastrous results.
In the same speech, Mr. Khan warned the Indian leadership, "Do not take this confrontation further", saying otherwise Pakistan will be forced to retaliate". . He also made no apologies for the terrorist acts committed by jihadi groups spawned by Pakistan's military intelligence. Instead, he once again asked New Delhi for proof that the Pulwama attack could be traced to Pakistan despite the Bahawalpur-based Jaish-e-Mohammad's acknowledgement, immediately after the suicide bombing, that it was responsible for the incident. elle
There are various reasons one can decipher for Pakistan's double-speak. Mr. Khan's de-escalatory rhetoric is in part the result of external pressure, especially from the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Foreign Minister made a dash to Islamabad to advise the Pakistan government not to let the crisis get out of hand. Tnie It was also clear from U.S. President Donald Trump's statement in Hanoi, in which he suggested that good news was about to emanate from South Asia, that Washington had put pressure on Islamabad and possibly on New Delhi not to engage in further military action.
On the other hand, the Indian nuclear doctrine does not make a distinction between tactical and strategic nuclear strikes and implies that India will respond through massive retaliation even if a tactical weapon use does only a limited amount of damage. It is, therefore, difficult to predict in this context where the escalatory process, if left unchecked, would end.
The need for care These facts make any future escalatory scenario look very scary. For, if pushed to the wall and in danger of losing control of the state, the Pakistani military can employ a highly reckless strategy that would unleash an unprecedented catastrophe in the Indian subcontinent. It is no wonder that Mr. Khan has to speak with both sides of his mouth in a desperate attempt to preserve the military's honour while attempting to get off the escalatory ladder that can lead to unpredictable consequences.
Hanoi hiccup GS PAPER 2 Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India's interests
The abrupt end of talks between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi is clearly a setback to attempts to find a peaceful solution to the Korean nuclear crisis Both sides cut short a two-day summit on the second day on Thursday without even signing a joint communiqu . They also gave conflicting versions on why the talks collapsed. Mr. Trump said Mr. Kim insisted on a full withdrawal of American sanctions in return for the closure of only one nuclear facility
However, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho later said Pyongyang had sought only partial sanctions relief in return for dismantling the Yongbyon nuclear site, the North's main facility. Whatever the actual reason, one thing is clear: the bonhomie between the two leaders after last year's Singapore summit was missing in Hanoi After the Singapore meet, both sides had agreed to have "new U.S DPRK INorth Koreal relations" and establish a "lasting and stable peace regime" on the Korean peninsula. Pyongyang had also promised to work toward "complete denuclearisation".
A part of the problem was the failure of both Washington and Pyongyang in following up on commitments made in Singapore. A few weeks ahead of that summit in June, North Korea had announced a complete freeze on nuclear and missile tests as a reconciliatory gesture. e It had asked the U.S. to reciprocate-its main demand was a formal declaration of an end to the 1950-53 Korean War, but the Trump administration refused to do so. Lack of confidence-building measures too blunted the momentum created in Singapore. When U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo first visited Pyongyang, Mr. Kim refused to meet him.
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