The Hindu Editorial Analysis In English | Free PDF Download

All for one, one for all?

Hot topic: integrated military theatre commands
3 integrated military Theatre Commands, covering the Northern, Eastern and Southern territory, that would subsume all operational functions of the existing 19 predominantly single-service commands in their respective geographical areas.
Former Chief of Air Staff S. Krishnaswamy: would seriously hamper the effective application of air power, particularly because of the limited resources available with the Air Force.
The real problem lies in the fact that all three services have their own vision of how future conflicts could unfold and the primacy of their own arm in winning wars.
The start point is therefore a common understanding between the services on the nature and character of wars that India could fight in the future.
The nature of war does not change, it is the character of war that undergoes transformation. –

Carl von Clausewitz

The enduring elements of the nature of war are its violent character, a clash of wills between two opponents, and political primacy. There is no war without these elements.
The character of war, on the other hand, is related to how a war will be fought. This depends on our military capabilities, economy, technology, political considerations, civil-military relations, and the opponent’s aim and strategy.

26/11 Mumbai attack:

“The simple answer to why India did not immediately attack Pakistan is that after examining the options at the highest levels of government, the decision-makers concluded that more was to be gained from not attacking Pakistan than from attacking it.”

The importance of a military force lies in its utility to achieve the national aims, and not in the numbers of divisions, ships and aircraft squadrons.
Our focus is on defending our territory and we need to structure our forces and strategy accordingly.
We must be prepared for a whole range of options from non-contact warfare to a full-scale war

. • – Steps to stop the rot

India stores about 30.52 million tonnes of rice, wheat, maize, gram and sorghum.
Stored using the CAP, or cover and plinth method.
In other parts of the world, grain is stored in silos. Here, stored grain is kept dry and aired so as to prevent fungal and insect attacks.
When the North American mid-west came under the plough during the 19th and 20th centuries, the first thing that was done was to build large grain silos and a railway system to export the grain.
Around 18,00,000 tonnes is lost in storage in India
World Health Organisation: mouldy grain causes a variety of illnesses
The mycotoxins which we seek to prevent by keeping food dry are already present from the time the flour was stored in the form of grain.
When there is an abundance of steel, cement and other building materials, money and the technological know-how, why is the government not moving on a war footing to store food grains in the proper manner?

What’s in a name?

The advisory from the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry to the media saying they “may” refrain from using the term ‘Dalit’ while referring to members of Scheduled Castes is unnecessary, intrusive and issued with little application of the mind.
‘Dalit’ literally means ‘downtrodden’ or ‘broken’, but it is a word pregnant with meaning, reflecting the struggle of a community to reassert its identity and lay claim to the rights that were denied to them for centuries.
In the past, Dalits were referred to as ‘untouchables’, but the official term during British rule was ‘depressed classes’. Mahatma Gandhi sought to remove the stigma of ‘pollution’ by using the term ‘Harijans’, or ‘children of god’.

CAATSA, a sticking point

Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement
India had made it clear that it would go ahead with the S-400 Triumf missile system deal with Russia even as U.S. sanctions loom large. Earlier, when U.S. officials expressed concern over the S-400 sale, they had assured India that a way would be found by the Trump administration to shield friends and allies from sanctions.
The U.S.’s change in tone and expectations directly impinge on India’s core national interests and interfere in its policymaking. • July 2018: Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said, “We have made it clear that CAATSA is a U.S. law and not a UN law.” Asked if the law applied to India, she said, “Of course it does not.”

An assault on the right to privacy

A search warrant in Marathi, a language that Professor K. Satyanarayana neither speaks nor understands.
When he finally got access to a Marathi translator around 5 p.m., Mr. Satyanarayana realised that the warrant had nothing to do with him.
The police knew they did not have the legal grounds or the authority to enter or/and monitor his movements.
In the case of Mr. Satyanarayana then, there has been a gross violation of the sanctity of the home, marriage, expressive and cognitive freedoms, and bodily integrity through the assaultive gaze of the police even at private moments in daily routines.
This violation was through surveillance, through deliberate public humiliation on the campus of an intellectual, a Dalit intellectual.

Privacy judgment

Justice A.M. Sapre says in the privacy judgment: “The expression ‘Dignity’ carried with it moral and spiritual imports. It also implied an obligation on the part of the Union to respect the personality of every citizen and create the conditions in which every citizen would be left free to find himself/herself and attain self-fulfilment… Dignity of the individual was, therefore, always considered the prime constituent of fraternity, which assures the dignity to every individual… Unity and integrity of the Nation cannot survive unless the dignity of every individual citizen is guaranteed.”
Justice J. Chelameswar: “right to privacy consists of three facets i.e. repose, sanctuary and intimate decision” and includes “the freedom of certain groups to determine their appearance and apparel.”
Justice R.F. Nariman: “the privacy of choice, which protects an individual’s autonomy over fundamental personal choices”
Justice S.A. Bobde: “Privacy must also mean the effective guarantee of a zone of internal freedom in which to think… the vigour and vitality of the various expressive freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution depends on the existence of a corresponding guarantee of cognitive freedom.”
Earlier cases reaffirmed by the Supreme Court in 2017 have held that the right to privacy includes the right to safeguard personal intimacies of the home, the family, marriage, child rearing and education.
– Important News Trade talks stuck as U.S. presses gas, aircraft sales to India
Donald Trump administration sought a formal commitment of additional purchases of $10 billion annually for the next three years, as part of a trade agreement under negotiation.
India has a surplus of $23 billion in trade with America, and the U.S. wants to wipe that off by forcing more imports by New Delhi.
American interlocutors took Indian officials by surprise last month with a draft agreement that committed additional imports by India, in civilian aircraft and natural gas.
“Trade between countries is determined by competitive advantage and notions of enterprise of private parties. In democracies like India and the U.S., both governments have limited abilities to commit a trade value for future years…,” another Indian official said in Delhi. SC throws out plea to ban Malayalam novel Meesha
The Supreme Court on Wednesday threw out a petition seeking a ban on the Malayalam novel Meesha (Moustache), written by S. Hareesh, as it was perceived to be ‘derogatory’ to temple-going Hindu women.
Court nod for new proof to enter NRC
SC ruling today on Section 377
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will pronounce on Thursday its judgment on the constitutionality of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a colonial-era provision which criminalises private consensual sexual acts between same-sex adults.
Mumbai could get Uber air taxis by 2023
Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing (e-VTOL) vehicles • SC refuses to give NRC report copy to Centre
No need to panic on rupee fall: Jaitley
“…there are virtually no domestic reasons attributable to it [the weakening of the rupee]. The reasons are global. We must bear in mind that in the last few months, dollar has strengthened against almost every currency.”
Govt is Not Against Petrol or Diesel, Says Gadkari
The emphasis is to increase the share of alternative fuels such as ethanol and methanol, which cost lower and are environment friendly, Union road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said.
Stating that the cost of waterways is much lower than air and road transport, Gadkari said lower logistics cost will help beef up marketing budget and economic viability will improve as cost of shipping goods is far lower than that of roads and rail.
India Proposes Stricter Country of Origin Norms in RCEP Pact
India has mooted stricter rules of origin in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement to prevent Chinese goods from indirectly flooding the country.
Rules of origin are the criteria needed to determine the source country of a product, based on which they get tariff concessions or are subjected to duties.
India has said the last country from which a product is exported should do the highest value addition with the help of indigenous inputs.
RCEP is a proposed comprehensive regional economic integration agreement amongst the 10-Asean countries and its six free-trade agreement partners— Australia, New Zealand, Japan, China, Korea and India.
The grouping comprises 45% of the world’s population with a combined GDP of about $21 trillion.
The RCEP negotiations were launched in November 2012 and the first round of negotiations was held in 2013.