The Hindu Editorial Analysis | 1st July ’20

Table of Contents

Butchery in Karachi (The Statesman)

Terror attack by Balochistan Liberation Army on Pakistan Stock Exchange in Karachi.
Its an attack on Pakistan’s economic nerve centre.
Now there are few agencies who are saying that withou RAW’s help this incident could not have taken place.
In 2018, BLA carried out an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi.
BLA is extending its tentacles from the rugged terrain to Pak’s commerical hubs.
Pak Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi: India was involved.
Pak Govt. is using India as a punching bag.
Clear intelligence failure. They are trying to distract people’s attention from their agencies failure.
This attack was carrioud out in a security tight area. This indicates Pakistan’s vulnerability.

Imposing costs on China (Hindustan Times)

59 Chinese apps banned by India.
India has also restricted telecom hardware and mobile handsets.
Data streams and digital technology are a new currency of global power.
Most nations recognise that the next source of economic growth lies in the digital economy.
- Data is new oil or raw material
- Whichever nation builds the electronic backbone, will have an influence on rules and standards, and apparently will have enormous advantages over everyone else.
China long ago drove out most foreign apps and software.
Western countries have stated banning Chinese products over security and privacy concerns.

e-commerce and digital payment restrictions
Data movement regulations
Bans on 5G telecom equipment

India has warned China of “consequences” if the status quo ante is not restored on the border.
Multiple points of pressure need to be applied on many levels and over a long period of time.
Chinese finance is presently essential to sustaining India’s start-up economy.
Much of the present telecom infrastructure of the country is from China and cannot be replaced without enormous disruption.
Our actions must be weighed on scales of both smartness and strength.

It can no longer be business-as-usual (Hindustan Times)

Biggest difference in Summer 2020 and earlier stand-offs is that this time PLA has come in strength.
Several divisions of PLA have been deployed in the depth areas.
Indian Army has also made a matching build-up in the areas.
Inclusion of armour and artillery indicates that PLA is planned and prepared.
They want to unilaterally define and determine LAC.
PLA has violated all the principles, norms, standard procedures which have evolved over the past 25 years to maintain peace and tranquillity in the border areas.
Signal: China is number one power in Asia
The 21st Century is not an Asian century but a Chinese century.
Indian action: ends China the very clear message that India does not accept Chinese hegemony and will not tolerate its bullying and pushing.
We cannot let the rest of the India-China relationship continue as normal.
No peace on border, no normal relations.
Strong indication of New Delhi’s mindset.
Strengthen partnerships with democracies such as the United States, Japan, France, South Korea and, perhaps, Indonesia.
Expand relations with Taiwan.
Indian soldiers have done this on our borders; now it is time for ordinary Indians to show that they are willing to do so too.
We shall have to accept some pain, if we are to convey that we are a strong, united nation which China has made the mistake of riling.

Reviving SAARC to deal with China

India’s interests in South Asia.
China’s proximity to Pakistan is well known.
Nepal is moving closer to China.
China is wooing Bangladesh by offering tariff exemption for 97% of Bangladeshi products, and has intensified its ties with Sri Lanka through massive investments.
Brookings India: despite geographical proximity to India, most South Asian nations are dependent on China for imports.

Reinvigorate SAARC
Due to Pakistan, India’s political interest in SAARC dipped significantly.
BIMSTEC cannot replace SAARC: lack of a common identity and history
South Asian economic integration
According to the World Bank, trade in South Asia stands at $23 billion of an estimated value of $67 billion.
Slash the tariff and non-tariff barriers.
UN Conference on Trade and Development: intra-ASEAN investments constitute around 19% of the total investments in the region.

Domestic challenges

Anti-Pakistan rhetoric and Islamophobia on the Indian soil
Bangladeshi migrant
It’s unclear what the slogans of Atma Nirbharta (self-reliance) and ‘vocal for local’ mean.

States hold the key + Sticky Lockdowns

Home Ministry’s orders relaxing the lockdown in the Unlock 2 phase until July 31.
Prohibition on mass gatherings.
Capacity of individual State decides
- Testing, tracing, quarantining and treating sicker patients
India’s current case total, including 3,47,326 people who recovered and 17,403 who died, is in excess of half-a-million.
States are empowered to impose additional restrictions outside containment zones without impeding inter- and intra-State movement of people and goods.
Within India, regulations that do not aid working from home need to be modified: they treat electronic equipment as non-essential and unavailable from e-commerce channels because of delivery restrictions in some cities
Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Karnataka and Manipur figure among states that have imposed lockdowns with stringent measures directed at major cities like Mumbai, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Guwahati.
An expert committee of epidemiologists had advised the TN government to focus on raising awareness, increasing testing, tracking and isolation of positive cases instead of lockdowns.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, yesterday, repeatedly cautioned against carelessness and called for steadfast adherence to wearing masks and social distancing measures while extending the free supplementary food grains scheme till November.
Indeed, citizens have a central role to play in the alt-lockdown strategy by wearing masks, washing hands frequently, avoiding close contact and crowded, indoor spaces.
Countries that bent the Covid curve have consistently kept test positivity rates below 1%.
Masks, not lockdowns, will save time, effort, lives and livelihoods.

NEWS

PM addressing the nation last evening
- Prime Minister Gareeb Kalyan Anna Yojana: Free food grains to 80 crore people across the country for five more months.
- 5 kg free wheat or rice along with 1 kg whole chana will be provided to each member of a family per month
- Its extension will cost over 90 thousand crore rupees.
- Mr. Modi noted that in the last three months, 31 thousand crore rupees have been transferred to the Jan Dhan accounts of almost 20 crore poor families, 18 thousand crore rupees have been transferred to the bank accounts of more than 9 crore farmers and 50 thousand crore rupees are being spent on PM Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan, which has been started to provide employment opportunities.
- He stressed that the country is moving towards the institution of ‘one nation, one ration card’, which will be of immense benefit to the poor who travel to other states in search of work.
- Mr. Modi said, if one looks at the death rate due to corona, India is still in a very stable situation as compared to other countries.
- The Prime Minister said that in the coming times, the government will continue to take further steps to empower the poor and the needy. Economic activities will also be enhanced, with due precautions in place.
- He reiterated the pledge to work towards Atmanirbhar Bharat and to be vocal for local, while also asking people to be careful, use mask and face cover and continue following the mantra of maintaining do gaz doori.
New guidelines for Unlock-2 to open up more activities in areas outside the Containment Zones will come into effect today.
Odisha government has announced complete lockdown in ten districts on weekends in view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the state.
In Ladakh, the restrictions on movement of private vehicles and business establishments have been lifted in Kargil district, after unlock -2.
- Kargil District Magistrate Baseer Ul Haq Chowdhary said, the relaxations in the SOPs were formed after due consultations with stakeholders and permissions from the UT Administration.
- Char Dham Yatra begins today in Uttarakhand with restrictions.
- State government has issued ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ for pilgrimage to the four revered shrines – Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
- No pilgrim from outside Uttarakhand will be allowed.
- The SOP mentioned that every pilgrim must carry identification and address proof.
- Anyone from containment zone or buffer zone will not be allowed to travel to any of the four shrines.
National Doctor’s Day is being celebrated today.
- The day is celebrated on July 1 every year to thank the doctors for their relentless service to the humanity.
- The theme of this year’s Doctors Day is ‘Lessen the mortality of COVID 19’.
- The first National Doctor’s day was celebrated in July 1991.
- In India, this day marks the birth as well as the death anniversary of Dr. Bidhan Chandra Roy.
- He was one of the most renowned physicians in India and former Chief Minister of West Bengal.