The Hindu Editorial Analysis | 25th Jan’20

Table of Contents

Justice for Rohingya

International Court of Justice
Unanimous ruling: prevention of alleged acts of genocide against Rohingya Muslims
Pinned legal responsibility on Myanmar’s government for the military’s large-scale excesses of 2017.
ICJ: an estimated 600,000 Rohingya resident in Myanmar still remained highly vulnerable to attacks from the security forces.
Brutalities by the defence services amounted to crimes of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention.

Ms. Suu Kyi: 2017 violence was proportionate to the threat of insurgency.
1. Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army
She even questioned the Gambia’s standing to bring the suit, saying that there was no bilateral dispute.
Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry rejected ICJ’s ruling
Ruling empowers the UN Security Council to prevail upon Myanmar to take appropriate measures for the rehabilitation and repatriation of displaced communities.

It’s not yet Howdy, Modi!

Mr. Trump is scheduled to make this first visit to India next month.
Mr. Modi and Mr. Trump are shaking up the bilateral ties between the two countries, and the resultant flux could outlive their tenures.
Both leaders continuously reiterate that their predecessors were incapable of protecting national interest.
Both have a cultural and an economic agenda.
They are now leading a national reawakening, and working hard for the hard-working people, they point out.
Both believe that national borders need to be strengthened by stricter monitoring and setting new bars for entry.
JOBS has been the loudest promise of both of them.
The notion of shared values of India and the U.S. has acquired a whole new meaning under Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi.
Mr. Modi commanded the wholehearted support of the Indian military and security establishment for his disruptive security and strategic steps at home and abroad.
India under Mr. Modi continues to push for more space for itself in global affairs by seeking a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Mr. Trump has wrecked treaties such as the Paris climate agreement + WTO etc
India’s ties with the U.S. are impacted by America’s ties with India’s adversaries and neighbours, China and Pakistan.
Mr. Modi asked his audience in Houston which included President Mr. Trump: “Whether it is 9/11 in America or 26/11 in Mumbai, where were the conspirators found?”
Mr. Trump has bracketed India and China as two countries that have duped his predecessors to gain undue advantage.
Trump finds little value in Mr. Modi’s climate policy.
He has followed it up with restrictions on H-1B visa, ending of India’s status under the World Trade Organization’s Generalized System of Preferences and other punitive actions.
By increasing hydrocarbon imports from the U.S., the Modi government is trying to reduce India’s trade surplus.
The U.S. President’s India visit scheduled for next month will be part of an ongoing exploration of a new equilibrium in ties.

The long and the short of Uttar Pradesh

UN Human Development Index Report for 2017 (published in 2018)
1. U.P. and Bihar scored the worst among all the States of India.
State Bank of India Research report of March 2019 showed that U.P. had not bettered its human development index over the last 27 years.
MoSPI’s “Household Social Consumption” and NITI Aayog’s “School Education Quality Index”
1. U.P. came last in both
The clichés about U.P. are true.
A good part of its poor leads a sub-human life as migrant labour in urban India and outside.
NCRB “Crime in India Report” for the year 2017: U.P. topped the list with 10% of India’s total crime and three lakh registered First Information Reports (FIRs).
Home Ministry: State authorised gun licences for 12.77 lakh people.

An outcome of independence from Britain resulted in Partition, in Ceylon/Sri Lanka it vented the simmering rage of Sinhala nationalism against minority Tamils, the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 provided new fuel to the Sunni-Shia fires.
Clearly, “democratisation” and “modernisation” are suspect.
In the ‘Report of the States Reorganisation Commission’, first published in 1955, the historian K.M. Panikkar, who was one of its panel members, added a 10-page note on the disproportionate size of U.P.

NEWS

Travel advisory extended to 12 more airports
How to crack TNPSC: use disappearing ink, re-marked answer sheets
Aspirants with criminal past should not get ticket, EC tells SC
1. Appearing before a Bench led by Justice Rohinton F. Nariman, senior advocate Vikas Singh said 46% of Members of Parliament have criminal records.
‘Indian scientists must try to work on interesting subjects’
1. Young scientists in India should work on doing “important and interesting” science and it was possible to be based in India and do groundbreaking work without “lowering the level” of the science attempted, Nobel Laureate and President of the Royal Society Venkatraman ‘Venki’ Ramakrishnan, said at a lecture here.
CJI wants speedy resolution of cases
1. Lower pendency of cases inspires public faith in the judiciary, and the use of technology, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), in the judicial work can help in speedy justice, but it can never replace human discretion in just decision-making, Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde said on Friday.
2. He said speedy resolution of tax disputes would act as an incentive to taxpayers and free the funds locked in litigation.