The Hindu Editorial Analysis In English | Free PDF Download

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Table of Contents

Retrograde move

• Punjab Cabinet’s decision: acts of sacrilege against the holy books of major religions punishable with life imprisonment.

• Punjab Assembly in 2016: amendments were passed

• At that time Centre returned the bill as it was just about 1 book. This was termed as discriminatory and anti-secular.

• Using religious sensitivities to score political points.

• Section 295-A of Indian Penal Code: ‘blasphemy law’

• Upholding its constitutional validity in 1957, the Supreme Court had clarified that the section “punishes the aggravated form of insult to religion when it is perpetrated with the deliberate and malicious intention of outraging religious feelings”.

• 3 years behind bars

• There is a history of misuse of laws

Pulling back from the brink

• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: planet might move into a high temperature “hothouse earth” pathway from where there would be no return.

• Technology trends and decisions taken in the next decade or two will determine the path of the earth system over the next hundreds of thousands of years.

• Crossing a threshold (roughly determined to be about 2º Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times) would lead to the tumbling of a series of tipping points, like a set of dominoes.

• Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 (now over 400 ppm) are responsible for global average temperatures that are about a degree Celsius higher than at pre-industrial times.

• Some 3-4 million years to the mid-Pliocene, when sea levels were 10-22 m higher.

• In the mid-Miocene (about 15-17 million years ago), CO2 concentrations were 300-500 ppm and sea levels were 10-60 m higher than today.

• Even if the Paris Agreement of 2015 is implemented and we managed to keep warming below 2º C or even 1.5º C, the risk of a cascade of feedbacks that pushes the earth into the hothouse path may be unavoidable.

• Technological solutions alone are insufficient. Fundamental shifts in social values and economic mores are essential.

In search of greatness

• The Fields Medal, popularly seen as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize, is awarded once in four years to two-four mathematicians below the age of 40.

• In its long history, no woman had won this medal until 2014 when an Iranian, Maryam Mirzakhani, won it for the first time.

• No Indian has yet won it although it was also in 2014 that for the first time an Indian-origin Canadian-American mathematician, Manjul Bhargava, was awarded.

• In the recently announced prize for 2018, an Australian mathematician, Akshay Venkatesh, was awarded. He too happens to be of Indian origin.

• Some Indians might take pride in the ancestry of these latter two winners, but has the country contributed anything to their growth as mathematicians?

• Indian-origin scientists have won the Nobel in physics, chemistry and medicine, but post-Independence, work done in India has not led to a science Nobel.

• What really is the problem?

• If Indians studying and working abroad can have a great impact, then obviously the problem has to do with our systems of education and research.

• In contrast, we can look at other fields in which we have produced world beaters.

• Chess and badminton are paradigmatic examples of how a whole generation of youngsters not only took to these sports, but under intense, and many time brutal, competition succeeded in coming to the top.

• Similarly, we have global leaders in music, arts and literature.

• How is it that we have managed to be so original, creative and productive in the global domain in fields which have had very little support either from the government or the corporate sector? Reasons for mediocrity

• The revolution in chess and badminton was possible through great personal sacrifices of the players and their families.

1. Nature of school education,

2. The state of science administration,

3. Our cultural response to the idea of excellence

• Great work in any domain is not produced in isolation. Greatness is deeply cultural and arises from a particular attitude and not subject competence alone.

• There is no monthly salary, provident fund and pension for some of the greatest artists, performers, writers and others, yet they continue to produce work of greater quality than the average academic institutions in India.

• Great science will only arise in a culture which celebrates great music, art, literature, philosophy, sports and so on.

Tilting at windmills

• Tariff approach of Mr. Trump simply ignores the complexity of global supply chains.

• Non-Chinese owned companies account for almost 60% of Chinese exports to the U.S. Much of this consists of very specialised parts required by U.S. factories to make a variety of products ranging from out-board motors for boats to computer routers.

• The net result is that the burden of the tariffs will be felt by consumers in the U.S.

• The Peterson Institute for International Economics estimates that 87% of computers and electronics, which constitute the largest share of Chinese exports to the U.S., includes parts and financing from other countries like South Korea, Japan, and the U.S. itself.

• The retaliatory tariffs China has imposed on U.S. products have also had a negative impact on German car producers in the U.S. where BMW has its largest factory in Spartanburg, South Carolina rather than in its home country.

• When computers and numerically controlled machines are progressively inducted into production, constant upgrading of labour skills is vital to preserve well-paying jobs. Washington has made no systematic effort to upgrade skills.

• Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, constantly emphasises that his company has shifted production to China not because labour is cheaper there but because it has a much wider pool of skilled labour than does the U.S.

Important News

• Accept ₹700 cr. UAE offer or compensate us, says Kerala

• India-Pakistan ties key to regional stability: China

• ‘Visited Pakistan as a goodwill ambassador’

• Four killed, 23 hurt in Mumbai high-rise fire

• Violent incidents mar Id festivities in J&K

• NGT asks for action plan on e-waste in three months

• – Govt. will meet Kerala’s needs through domestic efforts: MEA

• India has said a polite ‘no’ to offers of foreign assistance to the Kerala flood victims. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in a statement said India will rely on domestic resources for the State’s ongoing flood relief efforts.

• “In line with the existing policy, the Government is committed to meeting the requirements for relief and rehabilitation through domestic efforts,” the MEA’s official spokesperson said on Wednesday.

• It was the first time, since the floods struck Kerala, that the MEA clearly indicated India’s preference for domestic resources over foreign assistance.

• “Contributions to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund from NRIs, PIOs and international entities such as foundations would, however, be welcome.” Quad countries discuss ocean security

• The Quad grouping is one of the many avenues for interaction

• “We should not really regard Quad in any comparative or in an exclusive context. This four-country meeting is an important modality. There are various modalities where India, Australia, Japan and the U.S. interact, including on a bilateral and trilateral basis…,” said Hideki Asari, Minister and Deputy Chief of Mission of the Embassy of Japan.

• He was speaking at the launch of a report on the policy recommendations on Indian Ocean security by four think tanks from the Quad countries at the Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF).

• One of the recommendations is that the four countries should work to oppose “the establishment of permanent Chinese military bases” in the IOR and demonstrate to China that security needs can be met through cooperation with other nations.

• ISRO awaits advanced materials

• A national effort is needed to develop and produce advanced materials to drive the future space programme, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Sivan has said.

• Along with high propulsion systems for its launch vehicles, the ISRO is pursuing materials that have extraordinary properties, such as aluminium and beryllium alloys and carbon nanotubes.

• Curbing open urination is next step

• Accessible, clean toilets will lead to behaviour change, says Swachh Bharat official