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Friday, October 28, 2022

Indian Polity Handwriting Notes In English PDF

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Daily Current Affairs, 28th October 2022

19:23

 


1)  International Animation Day 2022 observed on 28th October

•International Animation Day is celebrated on 28 October every year. It was in this year when the International Animated Film Association (ASIFA) declared International Animation Day (IAD) as a worldwide occasion to commend the speciality of animation. This day is celebrated in more than 50 distinct nations throughout the world. IAD was started by ASIFA, an individual from UNESCO.


2)  Smt Droupadi Murmu presents Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard

•The President of India, Smt Droupadi Murmu, presented the Silver Trumpet and Trumpet Banner to the President’s Bodyguard (PBG) at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi. The President appreciated PBG for their excellent military traditions, professionalism and discipline in all their tasks. She said that the nation is proud of them. She expressed confidence that they will strive with dedication, discipline and valour, to maintain the highest traditions of Rashtrapati Bhavan and be an ideal role model for other Regiments of the Indian Army.


3)  Delhi LG Vinai Kumar Saxena launched property tax amnesty scheme SAMRIDDHI

•Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has launched a one-time property tax amnesty scheme “SAMRIDDHI 2022-23”, which will provide a major relief to lakhs of residential and commercial property owners in the city. SAMRIDDHI, an acronym for Strengthening and Augmentation of Municipal Revenue for Infrastructure Development in Delhi, will start on October 26 and end on March 31, 2023, with no further extensions.


4)  Shaurya Diwas celebrated in Srinagar

•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh celebrated Shaurya Diwas at Old Air Field, Srinagar. The Shaurya Diwas marks the 75th year of induction of the Indian Army to save the state of Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan’s invasion in 1947. The Shaurya Diwas is celebrated as a part of celebrations for Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and the 75th year of Air landed operations of the Indian Army at Budgam Airport.


5)  Dehradun to host 3-day “Akash for Life” Space Conference in November

•The “Akash for Life” a 3-day space conference will showcase the blending of traditional and modern knowledge through an extended integration of all schools of thought. The decision was taken by the Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science and Technology, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences, MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, and Dr. Jitendra Singh. The event is scheduled to be held at Dehradun from 5th November to 7th November 2022.


6)  NIA to establish offices in every state by 2024: Amit Shah

•NIA to establish offices in every state: Amit Shah, the Union Minister of Housing and Cooperation, spoke today at the start of a two-day “Chintan Shivir” in Surajkund, Haryana. The Chintan Shivir is being attended by Chief Ministers of the States, Home Ministers of States, Lieutenant Governors, and Administrators of Union Territories. Utilizing all internal security resources to their fullest potential is necessary in order to combat the issues facing the country.


7)  Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik launches Safal common credit portal for farmers

•Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik has launched a common credit portal SAFAL’ (Simplified Application for Agricultural Loans) for the welfare of farmers. SAFAL is an abridged application for agricultural loans that will enable farmers and agri-entrepreneurs to access over 300 term loan products from more than 40 partner banks. It has also been integrated with Krushak Odisha and will have access to 70-plus model project reports. The application can revolutionise credit provisions for farmers and agri-entrepreneurs.


8)  United States Appoints Elizabeth Jones To Serve As Chargé d’Affaires At US Embassy in New Delhi

•The Biden administration has now named a senior US diplomat, who had worked on NATO’s role in Europe vis-a-vis Russia as the US Assistant Secretary of State for Europe and Eurasia, as the next Charge d’Affaires ad interim in New Delhi — until a full-time Ambassador is sent to India.


9)  UNSC’s Counter-Terror Meet in India to Focus on Key Issues

•The United Nation Security Council’s (UNSC) two-day meeting in India on counter-terrorism will focus on dealing with use of internet, new payment mechanism and drones by terrorists. The meetings will be hosted in Mumbai and Delhi on 28 and 29 October, respectively.
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Geography Handwritten Notes Pdf Download

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The HINDU Notes – 28th October 2022

14:39

 


📰 States should have a uniform policy on law and order: Shah

Home Minister calls for centralisation of data on terror and other crimes; each State to have a National Investigation Agency office by 2024 with powers to confiscate property in terror cases

•Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that States should have a uniform law and order policy as certain crimes such as cross-border terrorism and cybercrimes transcend regional and international boundaries.

•Mr. Shah said that by 2024, to counter terror activities, each State would have a National Investigation Agency (NIA) office as the agency had been given “extra territorial jurisdiction” and additional powers to confiscate property in terror-related cases. He called for centralisation of data on terror and other crimes and said that following the principle of “one data, one entry,” the NIA had been entrusted with the task of maintaining a national terror database, the Enforcement Directorate a dataset on financial crimes and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on narco crimes.

•The Minister urged the States to utilise the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) that was operational now. The NATGRID brings datasets of 11 agencies on a common platform.

•Mr. Shah said, “The nature of crimes is changing, and they are becoming borderless, that is why all States will have to battle these by having a common strategy. To formulate and implement this under the spirit of ‘cooperative federalism’, cooperation, coordination and collaboration between the Centre and the States is required.”

•Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla said though law and order was a State subject, the Constitution provided that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) could intervene in matters concerning national security and the Ministry from time to time sent advisories to States.

•Mr. Shah was addressing State Home Ministers, Home Secretaries and Directors-General of Police and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) at the two-day Chintan Shivir (brainstorming session) on various internal security issues in Haryana’s Faridabad on the outskirts of Delhi.

📰 The dismal case of slashing schemes and cutting funds

•Over the past three years, over 50% of existing central government-sponsored schemes have been discontinued, subsumed, revamped or rationalised into other schemes. The impact has been varied across Ministries. For example, for the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development, there are just three schemes now out of 19 schemes, i.e., Mission Shakti, Mission Vatsalya, Saksham Anganwadi and Poshan 2.0. Mission Shakti itself replaced 14 schemes which included the ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ scheme.

•In the case of the Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairy, just two schemes remain out of 12. Additionally, the Ministry has ended three schemes which include Dairying through Cooperatives, National Dairy Plan-II, etc. For the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, there are now three out of 20 (Krishonnati Yojana, Integrated Scheme on Agricultural Cooperatives and the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana), while there is little information on the National Project on Organic Farming or the National Agroforestry Policy. There may be some who believe that a reduction in government schemes is a notable achievement. But does this lead to better governance, through less government? Are we reducing the state to the bare bones?

•For schemes that exist, there are challenges such as funding cuts, disbursement and utilisation of funds. As of June 2022, ₹1.2 lakh crore of funds meant for central government-sponsored schemes are with banks which earn interest income for the Centre.

•The Nirbhaya fund (2013) with its focus on funding projects to improve the public safety of women in public spaces and encourage their participation in economic and social activities is an interesting case; ₹1,000 crore was allocated to the fund annually (2013-16), and remained largely unspent. As of FY21-22, approximately ₹6,214 crore was allocated to the fund since its launch, but only ₹4,138 crore was disbursed. Of this, just ₹2,922 crore was utilised; ₹660 crore was disbursed to the Ministry of Women and Child Development, but only ₹181 crore was utilised as of July 2021. Yet, a variety of women-focused development schemes across States are being turned down or ended. Meanwhile, women continue to face significant risks while in public spaces.

•Farmers have not been spared either with fertilizer subsidies having been in decline over the last few years; actual government spending on fertilizers in FY20-21 reached ₹1,27,921 crore. In the FY21-22 Budget, the allocation was ₹79,529 crore (later revised to ₹1,40,122 crore amidst the COVID-19 pandemic). In the FY22-23 Budget, the allocation was ₹1,05,222 crore. Allocation for NPK fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium) was 35% lower than revised estimates in FY21-22. Such budgetary cuts, when fertilizer prices have risen sharply after the Ukraine war, have led to fertilizer shortages and farmer anguish. How will we incentivise farmers to continue agricultural operations?

Employment programmes

•It is the same story with the rural poor. The allocation for the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) went down by approximately 25% in the FY22-23 Budget earlier this year, with the allocated budget at ₹73,000 crore when compared to the FY21-22 revised estimates of ₹98,000 crore. The Economic Survey 2022-23 has highlighted that demand for the scheme was higher than pre-pandemic levels as rural distress continues. Anecdotal cases show that actual funding disbursal for MGNREGA has often been delayed, leading to a decline in confidence in the scheme. The Garib Kalyan Rojgar Abhiyaan (June 2020, for a period of 125 days) sought to provide immediate employment and livelihood opportunities to the rural poor; approximately 50.78 crore person days of employment were provided at an expenditure of approximately ₹39,293 crore (against an announced budget of ₹50,000 crore, Ministry for Rural Development). One must also note that the scheme subsumed 15 other schemes. With between 60 million to 100 million migrant workers who seek informal jobs, such a scheme should have been expanded.

In health care too

•Now to health-care workers. For Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA), who are the first responders, there have been delays in salaries for up to six months. Regularisation of their jobs continues to be a struggle, with wages and honorariums stuck at minimum levels.

•There is one more example. Biodiversity has also been ignored. Funding for wildlife habitat development under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has declined: from ₹165 crore ( FY18-19), to ₹124.5 crore (FY19-20), to ₹87.6 crore (FY20-21). Allocations for Project Tiger have been slashed — ₹323 crore ( FY18-19) to ₹194.5 crore ( FY20-21). A pertinent question is about meeting climate change obligations in the face of funding cuts.

•Rather than downsizing government schemes and cutting funding, one should right size the government. After the Goods and Services Tax reform, the Centre-State relationship has been transformed, with fiscal firepower skewed towards the Centre. Our public services require more doctors, teachers, engineers and fewer data entry clerks. We need to build capacity for an efficient civil service to meet today’s challenges, i.e., providing a corruption-free welfare system, running a modern economy and providing better public goods. Rather than having a target of fewer government schemes, we should raise our aspirations towards better public service delivery.

📰 Should governments sell liquor and run lotteries?

•Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan recently criticised the State government for relying heavily on liquor and lottery to generate revenue. He said the State government was making poor people spend their earnings on lottery tickets and getting them addicted to alcohol. Should governments sell liquor and run lotteries? Nimai Mehta and Jayan Jose Thomas discuss the question in a conversation moderated by Prashanth Perumal J. Edited excerpts:

Should the government sell sin goods?

•Nimai Mehta: I don’t believe the government should be in sin business or in any business. But there are specific reasons why the government should not be involved in providing goods like alcohol. First, the role of the state is to provide public goods. The consumption of sin goods is instead linked with ‘public bad’. The negative effects of these sin goods disproportionately impact the weaker sections of society.

•Second, the role of the state needs to be considered not just from the supply side, but from the demand side as well, because the rising demand for alcohol is a public health concern. The Indian state, at least since Independence, has regulated all aspects of alcohol on the supply side. Despite that, there is a rapidly growing demand for alcohol. This needs to be brought into the picture when you want to assess the proper role of the state.

•Finally, historically, the state’s involvement in sin goods has been motivated by the desire to raise revenue. So, we’ve got this problem where the revenue-maximising objective takes precedence over public interest. Many States are heavily dependent on alcohol-based revenues. It’s not a healthy position for any state to be so dependent on a single commodity.

•Jayan Jose Thomas: I have a slightly different view. The state can play a positive role in regulating the sale and consumption of sin goods. An important instrument is taxes. Studies have shown that raising the tax rates on, and thereby the prices of, sin goods will discourage people from consuming them, at least in the long run. At the same time, the taxes collected form a significant source of financial resources for the state, which can be used for development programmes. So, some argue that such sin taxes create a win-win situation.

•Taxes on the sale of alcohol do form a considerable part of the revenues in several States. But this situation must be viewed against the larger context of Centre-State financial resources and responsibilities. In 2019-20, own tax revenues, collected by the States, accounted for only 43.5% of the total revenues of all States and Union Territories combined. State governments are heavily dependent on the financial devolutions from the Centre. At the same time, they have a greater responsibility for expenditure on social sectors. With the introduction of GST, there are only a limited number of goods and services — mainly alcohol and petroleum products — on which the State governments can independently set tax rates. So, if State finances are increasingly dependent on taxes from alcohol, it has mainly to do with the limited autonomy that the States enjoy in raising financial resources.

Can government monopoly in liquor and lottery lead to adverse consequences in terms of the product’s quality and price?

•NM: There is a lot of variation in the structure of state control over the alcohol industry in India. There are forms of direct and indirect control. These vary across States and from vary year to year, especially in the way excise and license fees are being set. But, yes, in principle, when you have a monopoly and the intention is to restrict supply, you should expect an increase in prices. You should also expect to see new entrants in the market, who could compete on quality, being discouraged. In the U.S., some 15 out of the 50 States have some form of direct control in the supply of spirits. If you look at the price of alcohol in those States, it is higher than in States with no controls. In States where the liquor trade was privatised, prices have come down, but they have not come down by much because price also depends on other factors such as indirect controls (for example, licensing policies and taxes) and/or consumer demand.

•Does government intervention increase the risk of capture of sin goods industries by special interest groups? For instance, some have argued that special interest groups in India have discouraged the consumption of low-alcohol beverages like toddy.

•NM: Among economists, there is a consensus that public goods such as health ought to be a primary concern of the state. But when it comes to practice, we should be taking into account the role of special interest groups. Legislators, politicians, bureaucrats, regulators, experts in the enforcement side... each of them has their own interests. Once we recognise that these special interest groups exist, the net effect is uncertain. Like in the case of toddy, you could have special interest groups coming together in a way that goes against true public interest. In the U.S., the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) decided to ban the sale of e-cigarettes by Juul, a multinational company. Many in the scientific community recognise that as a regressive step because vaping is less harmful than smoking tobacco. In this case, there was a mix of internal interests (in the form of the preferences of FDA regulators) and external interests (in the form of the interests of advocacy groups which were against e-cigarettes).

•JJT: I agree that the concerns of all stakeholders must be looked into while formulating policy interventions to restrict the consumption of sin goods. Consider, for instance, the tobacco industry. In 2017-18, it provided employment to 3.4 million Indians, 3 million of whom were women. Measures to limit the consumption of tobacco should go hand in hand with steps for providing alternative livelihood opportunities for those engaged in tobacco farming and processing.

What is the specific impact of governments selling sin goods on the poor compared to other classes?

•JJT: There are limitations to using taxes or high prices as the only instrument to restrict the consumption of sin goods. If a person addicted to alcohol is unable to let go of that habit despite high prices, his household will suffer. So, it is important to deploy other instruments too, such as public campaigns against the abuse of intoxicants. In any case, there is some reason for cheer. The proportion of men who drink alcohol in India decreased from 29% in 2015-16 to 22% in 2019-21 (NFHS data).

•NM: If you go back in time, you can see how the Temperance movement that began in the 1880s later transformed itself and fuelled the Independence movement. The concern has always been about drinking habits and the impact they have had on the vulnerable sections in society. During the Temperance movement, it was the lower castes and tribes that ended up joining the movement in large numbers. All those movements were directed against the role of the British Imperial state in encouraging the sale of alcohol. So, the poor have always had to bear a disproportionate burden of alcohol consumption. Now fast forward to 2016, when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar introduced a draconian prohibition law. He too was responding to the poor housewives in Bihar who had suffered as a result of excessive drinking by their husbands. India still has a large share of abstainers, but the drinking habits among the poor stand out. The poor tend to drink liquor that has higher alcohol content relative to upper- and middle-class individuals.

•Sin taxes can discourage consumption, but there is a regressive effect on the poor. This is because such taxes don’t work directly through a price effect, but rather through an income effect on the poor. So, while the middle and upper-middle classes may continue to consume their favourite alcohol, the poor may tend to switch to the consumption of illicit, lower quality alcohol that is cheaper but dangerous to health. Also, over the last two decades, there is a rise in demand for alcohol, as preferences are shifting. So, irrespective of what the sin tax is, if the demand itself is shifting outwards, there is a limit to which we can control demand simply through sin taxes. So, we need to take lessons from the Temperance movement.

Is the real problem then that alcohol consumption is becoming more socially acceptable?

•NM: Yes. The increase in consumption is on the part of women, and the middle and upper-middle classes. A rising aspirational demand is fuelling the rise in alcohol consumption. Also, norms of abstinence have been falling. Cultural and religious norms are no longer as effective as they may have been earlier. We have to rethink how this rising demand can be influenced by some form of intervention on the demand side by the state, but also in terms of individuals taking more responsibility for the social impact of their drinking.

•JJT: The fight against alcohol abuse, gambling, and so on must be long-term and multi-pronged. Taxing these goods alone will not help us win this fight. There have to be public education programmes to wean people away from, and thereby reduce the demand for, sin goods.

📰 Limits of pleasure
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THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 28.10.2022

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Thursday, October 27, 2022

Daily Current Affairs, 27th October 2022

19:44

 


1)  World Day for Audiovisual Heritage celebrates on 27 October

•World Day for Audiovisual Heritage (WDAH) is celebrated on October 27 every year to highlight and promote the importance of such preservation. Audiovisual heritage refers to documents like film, sounds, radio, television programmes and other audio and video that are of socio-cultural importance and need preservation for posterity. Such documentations help us observe and understand the past, protects our memories and culture.


World Day for Audiovisual Heritage 2022: Theme


•“Enlisting documentary heritage to promote inclusive, just and peaceful societies” is the theme for WDAH this year. It refers to the importance of archiving visual and sonic information to preserve history for society’s benefit and progress.


2)  Indian Army Celebrates 76th Infantry Day On 27 October

•Indian Army Infantry Day is celebrated on October 27 every year to pay homage to the soldiers who fought for the country and laid down their lives in the line of duty. To celebrate the 76th Infantry Day this year on October 27, soldiers are organising four simultaneous bike rallies from all cardinal directions, Wellington (Tamil Nadu), Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir), Shillong (Meghalaya), and Ahmedabad (Gujarat). The rally started on October 16 and will cover the travel across the country, culminating at the National War Memorial on Infantry Day.


•Each group will have 10 bikers and will cover a cumulative journey of 8,000 km. The groups are spearheaded by the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment from Ahmedabad, Assam Regiment from Shillong, Madras Regiment from Wellington and Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment from Udhampur.


3)  Union Territory of J&K celebrates its Accession Day on 26th October

•The Accession Day of Jammu and Kashmir on 26th October with the Union of India is being celebrated across the Union Territory. Accession Day carries great significance as it was on this day in 1947 that the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to become part of the greatest democracy of the world. Several functions are being organized to mark the day. Accession Day is a public holiday in the Union Territory.


4)  National Statistical Office(NSO) Released the Employment Outlook of India

•The National Statistical Office (NSO), under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, released a press note on Employment Outlook of the country covering the period September, 2017 to June, 2022. This data is based on the administrative records available with selected government agencies to assess the progress in certain dimensions, the release stated.


5)  Ladakh MP launched “Main Bhi Subhash” campaign

•Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal launched the ‘Main Bhi Subhash’ campaign from Leh. The ‘Main Bhi Subhash’ campaign is a series of events which is organized by the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose INA Trust in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture. The ‘Main Bhi Subhash’ campaign is going to be organized on the occasion of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Netaji on 23rd January next year. The ‘Main Bhi Subhash’ campaign begins in Mumbai and Kolkata.


6)  India Suffered Income Loss of 5.4% of GDP Due To Heatwave In 2021: Report

•India suffered an income loss of 5.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the highest among the G20 nations in 2021, according to the new report of Climate Transparency. The report highlighted that India witnessed a record heatwave that greatly affected workers, labour migrants, low-income households, and the homeless, and reduced the yields of wheat crops.
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The HINDU Notes – 27th October 2022

19:30

 


📰 Bats evicted from Manipur cave for tourism, says study

•A colony of bats was evicted from a Manipur cave system with a Palaeolithic past to make it tourist-friendly, a zoological study that recorded new fauna in the State has said.

•The Khangkhui, locally called Khangkhui Mangsor, is a natural limestone cave about 15 km from Ukhrul, the headquarters of Ukhrul district. Excavations carried out by Manipur’s archaeologists had revealed the cave was home to Stone Age communities.

•The cave was also used as a shelter by the local people during the Second World War after the Japanese forces advanced to Manipur and the adjoining Nagaland. More importantly for conservationists, the cave housed large roosting populations of bats belonging to the Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae families.

•A study published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa by researchers from the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) cited local guides as saying that the bats were killed and evicted from the Khangkhui cave after 2016-17 purportedly to make it “more tourist-friendly”.

•The researchers — Uttam Saikia and A.B. Meetei, both from ZSI’s North East Research Centre in Shillong — recorded Blyth’s horseshoe bat in the Khangkhui cave during two extensive field surveys covering nine districts of Manipur in 2019 and 2021.

•This bat was one of 12 new species added to Manipur’s mammalian fauna. The others included the ashy roundleaf bat, the intermediate horseshoe bat, the northern woolly horseshoe bat, the greater false vampire bat, the hairy-faced bat, Hodgson’s bat, Hutton’s tube-nosed bat and the round-eared tube-nosed bat.

•Shanngam Shaliwo, Divisional Forest Officer, denied any planned extermination of the flying mammals. “No such killing of bats has been reported in our office,” he told The Hindu. He said the cave has been steeped in the folklore of the dominant Tangkhul community, whose ancestors believed it was the abode of a protective deity.

•The study mentions places in Manipur where bats are eaten for “supposed medicinal properties or as a supplementary source of protein”.

•“In Wailou village in Chandel district, we were informed that people do occasionally hunt bats in a cave though this practice is not widespread throughout the State. Another serious threat we noticed is the death of bats as unintended victims of illegal bird traps,” the study said.

📰 Colonialism and its discontents today

•A popular theme at seminars this autumn is de-colonisation. The concept notes explaining the theme treat it like a new deodorant — much required, of course, and expected to cure a chronic problem for good. Not that earlier generations had ignored it, but perhaps they lacked determination and propitious circumstances. The urge to undo the various legacies of colonisation was always there. Why the previous struggles failed arouses little curiosity in today’s crusaders against the colonial mindset. There is something about the idea of fighting colonialism that it excites each time the call is made.

•As an ideology, colonialism has an inbuilt device to deal with reactive moods of the colonised. These moods vary according to economic and political seasons. Citizens of former colonies typically feel more comfortable when they are passing through a good phase of their collective economic life. Conversely, they get twitchy when growth slows down. Another mood swinger is politics. The colonial phase of history is a great political resource. In a multi-party system, it is easy to invoke the ghost of colonial legacy. Once aroused, the ghost performs reliable tricks to attract public attention.

Stances and politics

•The young often wonder why the freedom struggle did not suffice to de-colonise. Good history teachers know how to explain that the legacies of colonial rule include the strategies that helped attain freedom and some of the rights we enjoy today. It is a complex idea and its absorption depends on whether history is taught in order to develop historical sense rather than to demarcate periods. In a recent official presentation at an international forum, India tried to make a distinction between foreign attacks and colonisation. Though it is probably the first time that India took this position, the idea itself is not new. The temptation to privilege one historical phase over another is part of an urge to use the past as a political resource. And this urge is not confined to the colonised nations. India’s coloniser, Britain, has been doing this quite avidly in the recent years.

•De-colonisation received a major official push in several African colonies after they attained freedom. In education, language was a focus area, but the choice did not prove wise. Entrenched social inequalities came in the way of ideal goals. In India, we have experienced this trajectory several times over, but the fascination of radical stances has not diminished. Removal of English is a big draw among political parties which promise to exorcise India’s mind, body and soul from the ghost of colonialism. Alas, among the youth, English shows no sign of becoming unpopular. As Snigdha Poonam has documented in her remarkable study of provincial youth culture, ‘spoken English’ has emerged as a major component of the coaching industry.

Macaulay’s ghost

•Several years ago, a colleague wrote an article, ‘De-Macaulaying Indian Education’ and asked me to comment on it. The title was a bit awkward, but that was hardly a problem, I assured him. What he did not appreciate was the critical point that Macaulay contributed little to the British policy on education in India. It would have been just the same even if Macaulay had not written his poisonous note. My colleague was not amused. Most people feel quite disappointed when they learn that the history of education in colonial India was not much affected by Macaulay’s famous minute. His racist ideas and the policies implied in his analysis of the Indian situation were far too flat to be of much use for British administrators in charge of education in different regions. Nevertheless, it is a fact that Macaulay resides in the hearts of examination paper setters for the B.Ed. degree. Take him out, and the syllabus of colonial education loses its favourite sting. Not just students, all lovers of simplified history depend on Macaulay to show off their shooting skills.

•Colonisation was experienced differently across regions, classes and castes. That is a prime reason why de-colonisation remains so elusive. The various Indian discourses of the latter half of the 19th century show why it is difficult to paint colonial education in any single colour. Majoritarian nationalism has picked up English as a de-colonisation plank. Phule’s appreciation of English education was grounded in its potential to wipe out discrimination against the lower castes.

•Nationalism is a fine guiding spirit of progress, but seldom proves accommodative enough to denounce the diverse legacies of colonialism. They evolved regionally in different time frames, creating complex contours of public perception. When a clarion call is made to overcome the ‘colonial mindset’, it seems inspired by colonialism itself.

•Since Independence, enormous change has occurred in every social sphere, and some of it demonstrates the continued legacy of colonial history. No one-dimensional theory of colonialism and modernity can explain the changes that have occurred in different regions. Within education too, anti-colonial voices have taken so many twisted turns that a school-going child’s parent or teacher does not quite know whom to believe or follow. This is certainly one reason why valid, sincere calls to abandon English receive little attention from young parents.

Its stamp remains

•Colonial rule is a faint collective memory now. Though many of its icons have been removed or replaced, its stamp on governance remains intact. The colonial citizen was an object of suspicion. The core pedagogy of colonial rule consisted of reaching out to the citizen with the state’s moral rhetoric. Colonial civics assumed that average citizens are docile and ignorant, that it is the state’s job to enlighten — and not just serve — them. That they must participate is a popular political and official rhetoric. It has become a lot louder in the digital age, without making much of an impact on the everyday reality of the citizenry.

•It is never a good idea to fight with the past, no matter how old it is. Maturity lies in learning to live with the past, not in it — under the illusion that it can be changed. The past is the past, therefore inaccessible for human intervention. To study it with curiosity is a preferable option to quarrelling with it or harming the few tangible relics it has left behind. Colonised societies suffered similar consequences, such as drainage of wealth and the emergence of a state apparatus that the common people found difficult to identify with. Their fear of the state and the state’s distrust of the citizen ought to be the prime agenda for anyone pursuing de-colonisation.

📰 Improving access to entertainment content

•As a cricket fan, I was eager to “watch” the film 83. I am blind since birth. When the movie became available on a streaming platform, I was disappointed to learn that it did not have audio description, thus making the movie inaccessible to me. As a blind Indian citizen, I have often been shut out from many life activities, including consuming entertainment content. Going to the movies helps us de-stress. But what happens when entertainment content is not designed with the needs of the disabled in mind?

Untapped potential

•Two important tools that help make entertainment content disabled friendly are audio description and subtitling. Audio description refers to the visual aspects of the content being spoken out for the benefit of those who cannot see. Subtitling refers to the auditory components of the content being displayed in textual form for the benefit of those who cannot hear. In India, the potential of these two tools to make entertainment content disabled friendly has largely remained untapped.

•The Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act provides guidance to remedy this issue. Section 29(h) of the Act requires the appropriate government to take measures to ensure that “persons with hearing impairment can have access to television programmes with sign language interpretation or sub-titles.” Further, Section 42(ii) requires the appropriate government to take measures to ensure that “persons with disabilities have access to electronic media by providing audio description, sign language interpretation and close captioning.”

•In October 2019, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B Ministry) issued a letter to the Central Board for Film Certification (CBFC) requesting the Board to motivate and persuade its associated members to make audio description part of the production and distribution of a film. In a panel discussion co-hosted by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy and the Billion Readers Initiative that I moderated recently, Sonali Rai from the Royal National Institute of Blind People, U.K., and Dipendra Minocha from Saksham spoke about the practical roadblocks they face in pushing for greater audio description. They would know. Saksham has pioneered audio description for films in India. It has developed an app called XL Cinema which syncs audio-described tracks with movies. On buying an audio ticket for a movie that has been audio described, a user can hear the audio description of the movie in a theatre at the same time when the movie is being showcased. Movies that have been audio described this way include Sanju, Andhadun and Romeo Akbar Walter. Saksham started audio description with the film Black. Yet, “most production houses are not convinced about the need for this,” said Deepti Prasad, XL Cinema’s co-founder.

Steps towards inclusivity

•First, as Mr. Minocha said, film producers do not think there is a large demand for audio description in India. The voice of users with disabilities asking for audio description is still muted. Until a critical mass of users puts pressure on platforms to provide audio description and subtitling, this issue will get pushed down the priority list of the powers that be. Even if production houses are inclusive in intent, their behaviour excludes the disabled in effect. When it is time to release a movie, amidst all the responsibilities that film studios have to discharge, accessibility for the disabled takes a back seat. Studios must realise that making disabled-friendly content is the right thing to do — morally, legally and commercially.

•Second, production houses may lack the know-how, human resources or adequate lead time before the launch of any new content to make it disabled friendly. User organisations must undertake targeted interventions to sensitise filmmakers and engage in capacity-building initiatives.

•Third, civil society groups must draw on the court system to translate written legal guarantees into improved real-world outcomes. The principal authority for grievance redressal set up under the RPwD Act at the central level is the court of Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD). On perusing the recommendations issued by the CCPD in the last 12 months, I could not find a single recommendation that relates to making entertainment content disabled friendly. Citizens with disabilities must demand accountability from the government, filmmakers, streaming platforms and others in the entertainment ecosystem through the judicial process. We need legal precedents underscoring the proposition that not accounting for the disabled when making entertainment content is unacceptable.

•Finally, the I&B Ministry has been dragging its feet on notifying the Accessibility Standards for Television Programmes for Hearing Impaired for three years. These must be notified promptly, and similar standards must be framed for the visually impaired. Every disabled citizen must be able to enjoy entertainment content on their platform of choice on equal terms as their able-bodied counterparts.

📰 The FM’s call for industrial investment

•Why did the Union Finance Minister urge industry giants to invest in manufacturing? Is private sector financing at an all-time low? Has government intervention to boost and spend aggressively on infrastructure come at an opportune time?

•Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked captains of industry what was holding them back from investing in manufacturing. She said that, “This is the time for India… We cannot miss the bus”.

•In an article in The Hindu, Pulapre Balakrishnan, argued that capital expenditure by the government is a precursor to private investment but that it would take a sustained trend in public spending, for about half a decade at least, to help kindle enthusiasm in the private sector.

•Private companies invest when they are able to estimate profits, and that comes from demand. CMIE’s consumer sentiment index is still below pre-pandemic levels but is far higher than what was seen 12-18 months ago.

The story so far:

•Last month, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman asked captains of industry what was holding them back from investing in manufacturing. She likened industry to Lord Hanuman from the Ramayana by stating that industry did not realise its own strength and that it should forge ahead with confidence. She said, “This is the time for India… We cannot miss the bus”.

Why did she urge them thus?

•Clearly, the Finance Minister did not see investments happening at a pace she would have liked. In the hope of revitalising private investment, the government had in September 2019 cut the tax rate for domestic companies from 30% to 22% if they stopped availing of any other tax SOP (standard operating procedure).

•Niranjan Rajadhyaksha, CEO of Artha Global, says that Indian private sector investment has been weak for almost a decade now. “If we look at drivers of economic growth right now, there are amber lights flashing. The export story will be under threat because of the global slowdown, the government’s ability to support domestic demand would also be limited as the fiscal deficit comes down. Because of the K-shaped recovery, private consumption is only concentrated in some parts of the income pyramid.”

What is the current scenario?

•Let’s look at some indicators over the past few months; generally, changes in numbers are with respect to year-earlier figures, but when we have been through something as sudden and life-changing as a pandemic for at least two years, it is useful to see how figures from quarter to quarter or month to month have changed. This gives us an idea of how well or poorly we are recovering. In the GDP figures for the quarter ended June, gross fixed capital formation (GFCF) at 2011-12 prices rose 9.6% to ₹12.77 lakh crore, from ₹11.66 lakh crore in Q1 of FY20, which was the pre-pandemic period. This is in context of the overall GDP growth of 2.8% to ₹36.85 lakh crore in Q1 FY23 from ₹35.85 lakh crore in Q1 of FY20. Manufacturing GVA (gross value added) also rose 6.5% to ₹6,05,104 in Q1 FY23 from ₹5,68,104 in Q1, FY20. However, when one observes manufacturing growth from the immediately preceding quarter April-June vs January-March, we see that the sector has suffered a 10.5% contraction. While private final consumption expenditure, an essential pillar of our economy, climbed 26% year-on-year for the June quarter, the ₹22.08 lakh crore of private spending in April-June 2022 was a significant ₹54,000 crore, or 2.4%, less than that spent in the preceding quarter. And GFCF, which is viewed as a proxy for private investment, shrank quarter-on-quarter by 6.8%.

•Industrial production has shown growth in each of the first five months of this fiscal year starting April, compared with a year earlier; but worryingly, monthly numbers as seen on the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and the S&P Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for Manufacturing have progressed in fits and starts. In an article in The Hindu, Pulapre Balakrishnan, argued that capital expenditure by the government is a precursor to private investment but that it would take a sustained trend in public spending, for about half a decade at least, to help kindle enthusiasm in the private sector. While the government’s intent to spend aggressively on infrastructure in its Budget for this fiscal is encouraging, he says this cycle should have started a few years ago. With the government having now announced intent, he says it must now focus on a couple of priorities; one that it must identify the right projects — investments must be made in productivity-enhancing infrastructure. Two, he warns that inflation could derail the best designed public spending programmes, and urges a step up in agricultural produce to help rein in food inflation.

What is happening to demand?

•Private companies invest when they are able to estimate profits, and that comes from demand. The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy’s (CMIE) consumer sentiment index is still below pre-pandemic levels but is far higher than what was seen 12-18 months ago. RBI’s Monetary policy report dated September 30 says, “Data for Q2 [ended Sept] indicate that aggregate demand remained buoyant, supported by the ongoing recovery in private consumption and investment demand.” It shows that seasonally adjusted capacity utilisation rose to 74.3% in Q1 — the highest in the last three years.

•And this, along with household savings intentions remaining high, might hold the key to the investment cycle kicking in.

📰 GEAC gives its nod for commercial cultivation of GM mustard yet again
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