The Hindu Editorial Analysis | 29th August ’20

Table of Contents

Rebuilding a sustainable economy post Covid | ToI

Great Depression of 1929 & Global Financial Crisis (GFC) of 2007
The global economy is in recession and it is going to be more destructive this time.
Indian Economy: may shrink by 4-9% in 2020-21
In 1979, India witnessed once in a century type drought, which made our economy shrink by -5%.
Morarji Desai’s and Charan Singh’s governments fell
Mid-term elections brought Indira Gandhi back into power.
I believe that the India in which we live in today was in many ways created in 1979.
What kind of India will the 2020 economic recession create?
Unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus packages.
IMF: the total stimulus package for G20 countries averaged 12.1% of GDP.
A quick analysis of the stimulus packages shows that they are primarily targeted to revive the current economy; hardly any country has thought about the long-term transition.
In India too, the focus is on the existing ‘brown economy’ and shovel-ready projects.
Climate and environmental concerns are relegated.
Short-term injection is required, but not at the cost of long-term loss.
Strategy to transition to a sustainable society.
Make agriculture sustainable
1. 50% land
2. 85% water
3. Massive amount of chemicals
4. Low-income livelihood to 50% of the population
5. Agriculture is central to building a sustainable society.
Transform the energy sector
1. Stimulus
2. R&D
3. Renewable electricity
4. Battery storage
5. Smart grids
6. Hydrogen fuel for industries
Build resilient infrastructure
1. Build roads, airports, buildings
2. We must make them ‘green’.
3. Instead of roads, we should prioritise railways
4. Instead of concrete jungles, we must build sustainable cities
Invest in nature
1. Reversing deforestation
2. Reversing desertification
3. Enhancing soil, wetlands and forests
4. Massive livelihood opportunities
Support local and small businesses
1. For jobs, sustainability and resilience of the supply chain, local small businesses are going to be the key.
2. Government policies must support the development of efficient and green small businesses.
Invest in social capital and governance
1. educated + healthy society and good governance
The New Deal enacted by Franklin Roosevelt to respond to the Great Depression lasted for seven years (1933-39).
Rebuilding in India will also need time and money.
Think and spend

Targeting Hezbollah | TH

Israeli attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah is a Shia militia-cum-political party in Lebanon
Tensions began after Israel’s targeting of Iranian weapons and supplies within Syria.
In July, a Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli raid in Syria for which the group had vowed retaliation.

Hezbollah has been a tough target for Israel.
In 2000, after 18 years of occupation of southern Lebanon, Israel was forced to withdraw mainly due to the fighting of Hezbollah.
In 2006, Israel invaded Lebanon, aimed at destroying Hezbollah’s military capabilities.
Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis

Hezbollah can push Lebanon into a wider war.
Both sides should avert such an outcome and stick to the ceasefire.

National well-being and the counts that matter

What proportion of pregnancies in India start off without the consent of the woman?
Underage marriage of girls must become history.
Ensuring secondary school completion of every child has far-reaching impact, and needs to be pursued single-mindedly.
Not every pregnancy ends up in a live birth
1. Hemingway novel: “For sale: baby shoes, never worn”.
A desired pregnancy is to be supported by a fully functional health-care system, able to anticipate complications before time and facilitating a safe delivery.
Pregnancies in India still are familial events
A young, short and under-schooled woman is more likely to have a bad pregnancy outcome, or, a smaller than expected baby.
A birth weight is much more than a number — it is a complex outcome, telling of how well the woman and her family eats, her status among them, and also of any particular condition that the individual mother or newborn child has.
Born more equal than others?
A good start is a great advantage.
Mother’s breast milk
Locally available weaning and complementary foods
Repeated bouts of vaccine preventable or easily treatable illnesses
Correlate of birthweight and five-year height-weight needs to be reviewed at the highest political levels regularly.
Deworming, school toilets, sanitary pads and bicycles for girls are progressive policy steps in the right direction.
Improved learning should translate into better completion rates at post-secondary and baccalaureate levels but need not necessarily correspond to universal, meaningful employment.
Stigma erodes self-worth and kills silently.
Together, these measurements will tell us far more about where we are, and where we as a nation will go.
The tools to get these measurements exist; we just have to see them in real time to be able to take corrective actions where needed.
Public health is about people, their continued well-being, and not just about controlling disease outbreaks.

NEWS

PM Modi to inaugurate new building of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University in Jhansi through video conferencing
Government launches contest “Chunauti” to promote startups in small towns
Centre to develop three Bamboo Clusters in Jammu, Katra and Samba areas of J&K
Jharkhand govt extends current lockdown in Corona containment zones till September 30
President Ram Nath Kovind to confer National Sports and Adventure Awards 2020 today
Veteran Athletics coach Purshottam Rai dies at 79
1. He was to be conferred the prestigious Dronacharya Award in the lifetime category today.
2. India co-sponsors UN security council resolution on women peacekeepers
French Prez urges European neighbors to better coordinate cross-border virus restrictions
Beximco Pharma to cooperate with Serum Institute of India for supply of COVID 19 Vaccine in Bangladesh
Dr. Harsh Vardhan invites stakeholders in country and abroad to participate in formulating STIP 2020
Bangladesh remembers its national poet Nazrul on his death anniversary
August records highest rainfall in 44 years with 25 per cent excess downpour
RBI may not extend moratorium on repayment of bank loans beyond August 31
Prahlad Joshi assures States of all Central assistance in restarting pending projects
Food and Public Distribution Secretary chairs key meeting on schemes for PDS reforms
Congress MP Harikrishnan Vasanthakumar passes away due to COVID-19