The Hindu Editorial Analysis In English | Free PDF Download

Table of Contents

Accepting help

• Domestic efforts are enough

• Put out in 2016, the Plan states that India will not appeal for foreign aid in the wake of a disaster. But it goes on to say: “… if the national government of another country voluntarily offers assistance as a goodwill gesture in solidarity with the disaster victims, the Central Government may accept the offer.”

• Clarity about existing policy is missing in the Central government’s National Disaster Management.

• India has a longstanding tradition of rushing help elsewhere.

Get over the superpower syndrome

• Foreign Aid YES/NO: distraction at a time of grave crisis.

• Seeing ghosts of spies, interventionists and terrorists will not help us recover and be productive once again.

• Since permanent membership of the Security Council entails additional financial commitment on its part, India’s low level of mandatory contribution to the UN, calculated based on its capacity to pay, was also a matter of concern at that time.

NEWS: Kerala blames T.N. for floods

• In an affidavit, Kerala slammed Tamil Nadu for allegedly ignoring its repeated entreaties for controlled release of water from the reservoir to facilitate the evacuation of thousands living downstream.

Why history matters so much

• Why the subject of History does not receive the importance it deserves? Answer: History cannot compete with science subjects in the market that shapes and controls education today.

• History syllabus and textbooks have been at the heart of a deep political controversy in India.

• Visible discomfort: Hiroshima and USA, Britain and Gandhiji

• Textbooks are viewed as officially approved documents.

• Textbooks do shape the perceptions of the young because children are impressionable.

• Children introduced to a certain version of the past at school acquire a disposition which can be politically mobilised in the future.

• The new history textbooks brought out by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) from 2006 onwards are a case in point.

• They have survived the change of government. One reason for their longevity is their professional quality. They have no single authors.

• Teams of eminent historians worked through deliberation and dialogue, first drafting a new syllabus and then the text itself.

• They represent the spirit of the National Curriculum Framework, 2005, which is still in place, which gives precedence to inquiry through direct exposure to evidence.

• History teacher at school is often someone who has not studied history or enjoyed it.

• As public institutions, schools carry many burdens the society is not always aware of.

• Although history has no place in the competitive culture of education, its importance in shaping the larger political ethos of the country remains undiminished.

• Children depend on adults to learn about the past, and that is what makes history the most challenging school subject.

• Ironically, poorly taught history matters even more than welltaught history, simply because when history does not arouse curiosity or impart the tools of analysis, it creates an emotional barrier for further inquiry.

Should Article 35A be scrapped?

• Article 35A was born through a Presidential Order, the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order of 1954.

• Therefore, it was added to the Constitution without undergoing the procedure for constitutional amendments as laid down in Article 368.

• The Presidential Order was issued in exercise of the power conferred under Article 370 (1) (d) of the Constitution.

• Article 368: which empowers only Parliament to amend the Constitution.

• Whether such power also extends to inserting a new Article in the Constitution is contentious. • Does it treat non-permanent residents of J&K as ‘second-class’ citizens.

Important News

Centre wants Supreme Court to get tough with FB, YouTube

• Jaitley back as Finance Minister

• WhatsApp bats for user privacy

• The Centre and WhatsApp appear to be at loggerheads over tracing the origin of fake messages.

• The messaging platform has said it will not comply with the government’s demand as the move will undermine the privacy of WhatsApp users. “Building traceability would undermine end-to-end encryption,” the firm said.

• Own house for every Indian family by 2022, says Modi

• 2 killed in Paris knife attack

• MHA Scraps Al Jazeera’s Security Clearance