The Hindu Editorials Short Notes ( 6th June 2019) (Arora IAS)

Editorials Summary 

• Question : Promotion of Hindi in New Draft Education Policy is merely comparing oranges with apples . comment ( 200 words)
• प्रश्न: नई मसौदा शिक्षा नीति में हिंदी का प्रचार केवल सेब के साथ संतरे की तुलना है। टिप्पणी (200 शब्द)

• QUESTION : Cheaper Chinese imports have cut India’s ambition to develop it’s own solar technology suppliers . critically analyse .( 200 words)
• प्रश्न: सस्ते चीनी आयात ने भारत के अपने सौर प्रौद्योगिकी आपूर्तिकर्ताओं को विकसित करने की महत्वाकांक्षा में कटौती की है। गंभीर रूप से विश्लेषण करें।(200 शब्द)

 

• to remove English from India remains misplaced and dangerous to development and integration
• Tamil Nadu – once again stood up against attempts to ‘promote’ Hindi in non-Hindi States –pity if dismissed as regionalism or separatism
• three-language formula (TLF) under NEP, –mother tongue + English compulsory everywhere till class X, Hindi in non-Hindi States and non-Hindi languages in Hindi States to be taught.
• seen as a Trojan horse to smuggle Hindi into non-Hindi States.
• Old TLF — Official Language Resolution of Parliament in 1968 never implemented full
• Hindi-speaking States never bothered to promote non-Hindi (esp .Southern languages), non-Hindi states continue to teach Hindi (except TN).
• irony of TLF – Indian one must have fluency in two Indian languages+ English
• unless amended Part XVII of the Constitution (which deals with the language policy) to be in sync with the global trend of mother tongue plus English) – controversial.
• language policy based on a honourable objective – decolonising all walks of our national life. progressive replacement of English with Hindi – a sound beginning. didn’t work out ( hoped in 1950)
• remove English has become redundant.
• language of colonialism, English transformed itself into a global language of culture, science and technology, and world politics.
• intent to replace English with Hindi is erroneous understanding that all languages are similar.
• All Indian languages are languages of identity and cultural expression ; English is a language of mobility and empowerment
• Where 3^rd language unlikely to use?
• sensible if the policy replaced the third language and allowed students to choose a subject or a skill?
• TLF in any form is unconstitutional.
• Supreme Court ruled in 2014 (in Karnataka v. Recognised-Unaided Schools) that imposition of even the mother tongue as the medium of instruction is violative of one’s fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression Article 19(1)(a).government can’t even force students to learn in their own mother tongue,
• where does it obtain the right to make language(s) teaching compulsory?

Article 344(3) -language must “have due regard to the industrial, cultural and scientific advancement of India,”.English in subjects of higher education for which only English books are available – direct bearing and impact on determination of standards of education.

• TLF – irrational , impractical.

Bihar- opts for Telugu – hardly used and not many teachers proficient in that language.

India ought to introduce English throughout school and college – all Indians will be conversant — mother tongue and English.

Demographic trends by 2060, non-Hindi States, especially in the south, are projected to experience demographic decline and attendant labour shortage.

In north — opposite, English as 2nd language – promote mobility & economic development esp north, make India a more legible place to its citizens. Instead of mere opposition of Hindi imposition, build a better case for English as the second language throughout the country.

 

 

Topic-  NIPAH VIRUS OUTBREAK (GS PAPER II)

 

• Kerala – Nipah outbreak.
• Basic about Nipah virus – Can spread from animals to humans and humans to humans
• Virus is in circulation in fruit bats.
• A year after Kerala’s prompt action quickly brought the deadly Nipah virus infection outbreak under check in two districts (Kozhikode and Malappuram)
• A case of nipah positive have come up (awaiting confirmation ) steps had been taken to prevent the spread of the disease by tracing the contacts, setting up isolation wards and public engagement.
• Containing spread of the Nipah virus is important ; mortality rate – 89% last year
• Source in this case (student) remains unknown.
• 7-100% similarity between the virus in humans and bats.
• reason for failure could be the absence of a public health protection agency,.
• Known for high health indicators, Kerala cannot lag behind on the infectious diseases front

 

 

Topic – HELPING STRANGERS (GS II, IV)

 

• Only by cultivating a strong sense of citizenship and respect for the rights of all can philanthropy in India grow.
• ‘Everyday Giving in India Report 2019’ conducted by the Bengaluru-based Sattva : Indians donate ₹34,000 crore every year to help others, mostly strangers.
• According to World Giving Index of 2018, by the U.K.-based Charities Aid Foundation, India tops the list of countries in the number of people donating money (89th for participation rate as a proportion of the population) followed by the U.S. and China.
• 90% – religion and community
• 10% -social purpose organisations.
• India’s freedom struggle inaugurated practice of donating for larger social causes & for welfare of underprivileged communities without religious or caste considerations.
• some decline immediately after Independence,re-emerged over the last few decades.
• Example – Child Rights and You (CRY), org founded in the 1979 by Rippan Kapur, an airline purser who in his spare time sold greeting cards to raise money for disadvantaged children.
• benefited millions of children- small donations from lakhs of supporters.
• big role to be played by rich. they can help to plug – funding shortfall – Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
• India needs “a billion givers rather than a billion dollars by a single giver”.
• NGOs commitment to citizenship receive a small fraction of everyday giving.
• Religious and community-based institutions – recipients of large-scale everyday giving need to expand beyond welfare programmes directed at their ‘own’ congregations to include work that cultivates respect for constitutional guarantees — right to dignity for all

 

 

 Topic- Solar manufacturing strategy (GS III)

 

Context- India still relies on China for equipment – despite significant progress creating capacity for solar energy generation in the last few years.

 

• PM’s emphasis – 2014 has given a new fillip to solar power installation.
•  unit cost – solar power have fallen, solar energy — increasingly competitive with alternative sources of energy.
•  Also expanded solar generation capacity
•  Eight times from 2,650 MW on may 26, 2014 to
• initial target of 20 GW of solar capacity by 2022,  achieved four years ahead .
•  In 2015, the target was raised to 100 GW of solar capacity by 2022.

Relying on imports

• India – energy deficien , but  blessed with sunlight for most of the year.
• Despite the new policy focus on solar plant installation, India is still not a solar panel manufacturer.
• India has had no overall industrial policy since economic reforms began, there is no real plan in place to ensure solar panel manufacture.
• The share of all manufacturing in GDP was 16% in 1991; it remained the same in 2017.
• The solar power potential offers a manufacturing opportunity.
• Low-cost Chinese imports  , Imports, mostly from China, accounted for 90% of 2017 sales, up from 86% in 2014.

Substituting for imports requires

3. Human capabilities,
4. Technological capabilities and
5. Capital in the form of finance.

 

• Most Indian companies – engaged in only module assembly or wafer manufacturing and module assembly- No Indian company is involved in silicon production,
• According to the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (2018), India’s solar cell manufacturing capacity = 3 GW ;demand = 20 GW
• The shortfall is met by imports of solar panels , the safeguard duty now puts locally made panels on par with imported ones in terms of cost, the domestic sector – to be effective.

China

 cost advantage derives from capabilities on three fronts.

•  core competence . in semiconductors before turning to solar cells at the turn of the century- put in action new technologies- Chinese companies already possessed the know-how.
• Indian companies – no learning background in semiconductors when the solar industry in India began to grow from 2011.
• source of cost advantage for China comes from government policy

3. Subsidised land acquisition
4. Raw material,
5. Labour and export etc.

 

• cost of capital- The cost of debt in India (11%) is highest in the Asia-Pacific region, while in China it is about 5%.
• India needs a solar manufacturing strategy,(make in India)
• This would also be a jobs-generating strategy for an increasingly better educated youth, both rural and urban.

 

Source – The Hindu 9th june Newspaper