© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd
Tags:
Journalism of Courage
🚨 Attention: UPSC Key is now all 7 Days a Week!🚨
Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for August 24, 2024. If you missed the August 23rd, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here.
FRONT PAGE
India lends Ukraine a shoulder
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: International Relations
What’s the ongoing story- Marking a historic milestone in India’s diplomacy in Europe which has been roiled by the Russia-Ukraine war, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv Friday and asked him to sit with Russian President Vladimir Putin to find a way out of the crisis.
Prerequisites:
— What is the Russia-Ukraine war all about and what have been the key events?
— How was Ukraine created?
— Map work: Important places in news with reference to Russia and Ukraine
— How has been the global support for Ukraine and what peace efforts have been made so far.
Key takeaways:
— PM Modi: “We have stayed away from the war, but we are not neutral, we are in favour of peace. We come from the land of Buddha and (Mahatma) Gandhi with a message of peace. I had told President Putin on his face that this is not the era of war. I told him last month that solutions can’t be found on the battlefield.”
— Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy : In a post later, Zelenskyy said, “Today, history was made. The Prime Minister of India @narendramodi made his first visit to Ukraine since our country’s independence, on the eve of our Independence Day.” “India supports Ukraine’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity. And this is critical because everyone in the world must equally respect the UN Charter,” he said.
— External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on India’s energy trade with Russia: He said it came up during the discussions and it was explained to the Ukrainian side about the “tight energy market”. “India is a big oil consumer. It’s a big oil importer because we don’t produce oil. So, it’s not like there is a political strategy to buy oil. There is an oil strategy to buy oil. There’s a market strategy to buy oil… The fact that the market is tight, that today big suppliers like Iran and Venezuela, who used to supply India, are constrained from operating freely in the markets… This factor needs to be taken into account,” he said.
— India on Friday took a remarkable step to proactively offer New Delhi’s help — at the highest level by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself — to any “active role” that will help end the Russia-Ukraine war.
— This is the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine since it became independent in December 1991, and diplomatic ties were established between the two countries in January 1992.
— The fact that Modi visited Moscow on July 8-9 to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin and followed it up six weeks later with a visit to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — puts him in an unique position of developing direct contact between the leaders of the two warring sides.
— India chose to distance itself from the US-led Western bloc’s position of imposing sanctions on Russia, but it also expressed “heartbreaking” concern at the killing of innocent children. Modi conveyed to the Russian President Putin that “this is not the era of war”.
— New Delhi has stayed away from contributing to the war efforts on both sides directly, and instead, sent humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
— The Indian position of abstaining from the UN resolutions over the past two-and-half years, and making it clear that “dialogue and diplomacy” is the way forward projects Delhi as a player working towards peace.
— The important element of India asking Putin and Zelenskyy to sit together — means that Delhi is ready to nudge both to have a direct conversation, instead of peace summits which are unrepresented by one side — Russia was not part of the Ukraine summit in Switzerland’s Burgenstock in June this year.
— India has been part of several multilateral summits which have talked about the process to resolve the conflict, but there has not been any headway so far.
— Soon after reaching the Ukrainian capital here from Poland, Modi was greeted by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the multimedia Martyrologist Exposition on children at the National Museum of History of Ukraine here.
— After watching the multimedia presentations — that gave information about scores of children who died during the conflict — as part of the Exposition, Modi and Zelenskyy both stood in front of a wall-like structure, which already had a lot of toys placed in the memory of the children and honoured the memory of the fallen young Ukrainians with a moment of silence. The multimedia project ‘Children’ was created in June 2022 on the Day of Remembrance of Children Killed by Russia’s Armed Aggression against Ukraine, the statement from Zelenskyy’s office said.
— In May 2024, UNICEF said that nearly 2,000 children have been killed since the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia war.
MUST-READ:
Raja Mohan writes: “It took the tragic and a globally disruptive war to bring Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kyiv, the first such visit since Ukraine re-established itself as an independent nation amid the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
But by showing up in Ukraine and lending a shoulder to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is leading a badly battered nation to defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty, Modi has initiated three important processes: insert India into Europe’s quest for peace; expand Delhi’s room for manoeuvre in the global geopolitical churn triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine; and reclaim Delhi’s lost bonds with Kyiv in the post-Soviet era.”
For Your Information:
Assessing Ukraine’s deep incursion in Russia from Explained page
—President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said Ukrainian troops continue to capture territory and Russian soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Oblast since the launch of Ukraine’s surprise incursion into the region more than two weeks ago.
— Russia on its part said that it had foiled a Ukrainian attempt to seize land in the neighbouring Bryansk Oblast, about 240 km away from the site of the incursion into Kursk.
— Ukraine’s attack in Kursk, which began early on August 6, came after months of steady gains by Russia on the battlefield.
— Many experts see the incursion as a major moment in the war that is now in its third year — a success that has helped Kyiv change the narrative that had taken root following its losses and setbacks suffered elsewhere.
— Observers have listed three probable objectives of the incursion:
A BARGAINING CHIP: Ukraine wants to use the captured territory as a bargaining chip for any future negotiation with Russia. If Donald Trump returns to the White House early next year, he could force Kyiv to negotiate by withdrawing American military-technical assistance.
TO BOOST MORALE: It has been suggested that Ukraine wanted to boost the morale of its people and troops after failing to stop the Russian advance in the east. Ukraine also wanted to display to the West that helping it with arms and funds is not yet a lost cause.
BATTLEFIELD TACTIC: The incursion could be a tactic to force Russia to divert its forces from the hottest battlefields in eastern Ukraine, where they are coming close to fulfilling their goal of capturing all of the Donetsk region.
BHISHM from GOVT & POLITICS Page
— After his bilateral talks with President Volodymr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi gifted four BHISHM cubes — compact, mobile medical units aimed at providing emergency care — to his government.
— Bharat Health Initiative for Sahyog Hita & Maitri (BHISHM) cubes have been developed under the government’s Project Aarogya Maitri, a programme to provide essential medical supplies to developing countries as humanitarian assistance.
Points to Ponder:
— Delhi firmly believes Moscow and Kyiv need to talk to each other, and not talk at each other — to put an end to the war. That’s easier said than done. Discuss.
— Has Ukraine may have made a mistake in going deep into Kursk?
— What has been India’s stand on the Russia-Ukraine war?
Post Read Question:
1. With reference to PM Modi’s recent visit to Ukraine, consider the following statements:
1. India gifted four BHISHM cubes to Ukraine which have been developed under the government’s Project Ayushman Bharat.
2. This was the first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine since it became independent.
Which of the following statements is not true?
(a) Only 1
(b) Only 2
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Two years on, global support for Ukraine won’t falter
Why Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Ukraine is significant
Ukraine: A short history of its creation
India, US sign key defence supply pact as Rajnath begins 4-day visit
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: GS-II: International relations
What’s the ongoing story- As Defence Minister Rajnath Singh reached Washington DC on a four-day official visit, India and US on Thursday signed two key pacts — a non-binding Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) and a Memorandum of Agreement regarding Assignment of Liaison Officers.
Prerequisites:
Bilateral relations between India-US
What are the 4 Defence agreements between India and the United States?
Key takeaways:
— The Security of Supply Arrangement (SOSA) will mandate the US and India to provide reciprocal priority support for goods and services that promote national defence.
— “The arrangement will enable both countries to acquire the industrial resources they need from one another to resolve unanticipated supply chain disruptions to meet national security needs,” said a statement issued by the US Department of Defence.
— The SOSA signed in Washington DC encourages the defence industrial ecosystems of both countries to work together, and enhances the supply chain resilience.
— India is the 18th SOSA partner of the US after Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and the UK.
For Your Information:
— The SOSA represents a pivotal moment in the US-India major defence partner relationship and will be a key factor in strengthening the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI) between the two countries.
— Under the Arrangement, the US and India have committed to support one another’s priority delivery requests for procurement of critical national defence resources, the statement said.
— It said the US will provide India assurances under the US Defense Priorities and Allocations System (DPAS), with programme determinations by DoD and rating authorisation by the Department of Commerce (DoC).
— India will in turn establish a government-industry Code of Conduct with its industrial base, where Indian firms will voluntarily agree to make every reasonable effort to provide the US priority support.
— The US industrial base policy states that the SOSA is conducted under overarching Declarations of Principles for Enhanced Cooperation in matters of defence equipment and industry that have been signed with select nations.
Points to Ponder:
— Which other countries are involved in SOSA with the United States?
— Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement
— Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement
Post Read Question:
2. Consider the following:
1. Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET)
2. Global semiconductor supply chains
3. Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement
On how many of the above does India have signed Memorandum of Agreement with the United States?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
India-US together can ensure global peace, prosperity, stability: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh
Insult an offence under SC/ST Act only if based on caste: SC
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance
Mains Examination: GS-II: Indian polity and governance
What’s the ongoing story- The Supreme Court on Friday reiterated that “insults or intimidations” of a member of Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST) are not an offence under the SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, unless it is on the ground that the victim belongs to an SC or ST.
Prerequisites:
— Read about SC and ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
— Read constitutional provisions for Scheduled Castes (SC) or Scheduled Tribes (ST)
Key takeaways:
— In its ruling, a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra also said that Section 18 of the Act does not impose an absolute fetter on the power of the courts to examine whether a prima facie case attracting the provisions of the 1989 Act is made out or not.
— “The courts should not shy away from conducting a preliminary inquiry to determine if the narration of facts in the complaint/FIR in fact discloses the essential ingredients required to constitute an offence under the Act, 1989,” the bench said.
— The court’s ruling came as it granted anticipatory bail to Shajan Skaria, the editor of the Malayalam YouTube news channel ‘Marunadan Malayalee’ who was booked by Kerala Police for making alleged derogatory remarks against CPI(M) MLA PV Sreenijan.
For Your Information:
— The court said that the phrase “intent to humiliate” under the Act’s Section 3(1)(r) (intentional insult or intimidation with intent to humiliate a member of a SC/ST within public view) is “closely linked to the caste identity of the person subjected to intentional insult or intimidation”.
— “It is not the purport of the Act, 1989 that every act of intentional insult or intimidation meted by a person who is not a member of a SC or ST to a person who belongs to a SC or ST would attract Section 3(1)(r) of the Act, 1989 merely because it is committed against a person who happens to be a member of a SC or ST. On the contrary, Section 3(1)(r) of the Act, 1989 is attracted where the reason for the intentional insult or intimidation is that the person who is subjected to it belongs to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe,” the court said.
— However, the judgement said, “if the necessary ingredients to constitute the offence under the Act, 1989 are not disclosed on the prima facie reading of the allegations levelled in the complaint or FIR, then in such circumstances, as per the consistent exposition by various decisions of this court, the bar of Section 18 would not apply and the courts would not be absolutely precluded from granting pre-arrest bail to the accused persons”.
Points to Ponder:
— Section 18 of the Act, 1989
— Section 438 of CrPC
Post Read Question:
Mains
Discuss the Supreme Court’s recent clarification on the applicability of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, in the context of the intention to humiliate and the necessity of proof.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Explained: Supreme Court’s verdict on sub-classification of SCs and STs
ISRO: Chandrayaan-4 design final, samples from Moon by 2027
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance
Mains Examination: GS-III: Science and Technology
What’s the ongoing story- The designs of India’s next mission to the Moon, Chandrayaan-4 — which will bring rock and soil samples back to the Earth — has been finalised, and will most likely happen in 2027, said ISRO chairman S Somanath said on Friday on the occasion of National Space Day.
Prerequisites:
— Read about Chandrayaan-3 and its recent findings
— What is the key difference between Chandrayaan-3 and Chandrayaan-4?
Key takeaways:
— The Chandrayaan-4 spacecraft will have five separate modules, officials said. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which made a historic landing near the South Pole of the Moon, had three modules — the propulsion module (or the engine), a lander and a rover.
— The Chandrayaan-4 sample return mission would be a complex mission involving several stages. After getting into lunar orbit, two of the modules will detach from the main spacecraft and make a landing on the Moon. They will help each other in collecting samples from the lunar surface. One of the modules will launch itself from the Moon’s surface and travel back to the main spacecraft in the lunar orbit. The samples will be transferred, and then flown back to an Earth re-entry vehicle that will be launched separately from the ground. The samples will be transferred again, and it is this re-entry vehicle that will bring them back to the Earth.
— ISRO has also finalised designs for the next Moon mission, Chandrayaan-5, but did not specify the objective or timeline of the mission.
— Chandrayaan-4 would involve docking of space modules twice during the Mission — when the modules fly back from the Moon to unite with the main spacecraft, and when the samples are transferred to the re-entry vehicle. ISRO has never docked spacecraft earlier. This capability will be demonstrated for the first time later this year, with the Spadex mission. Docking is a process where two spacecraft moving at extremely high speeds are aligned in a precise orbit and joined together.
For Your Information:
— On the occasion of National Space Day on Friday, President Droupadi Murmu appreciated India for its commitment to conduct debris-free space missions by 2030. Speaking at the celebration of the maiden National Space Day celebrations to mark the first anniversary of the landing of India’s Chandrayaan-3 project, Murmu said that research conducted to solve issues during space exploration accelerates the development of Science and improves human life, with sectors like health, transportation, security, energy, environment and information technology — all benefiting from it.
— According to senior ISRO scientists, two key capabilities required for the Chandrayaan-4 success had been demonstrated during the Chandrayaan-3 mission. “The hop experiment that was performed on the last day of Chandrayaan-3 mission (lander of Chandrayaan-3 was made to jump about 40 cm from the lunar surface and land 30-40 cm away) was done to understand whether we can lift off from the lunar soil. There were concerns about the legs of the lander getting deep inside the lunar surface, which would have made the ‘hop’ difficult to execute. But Chandrayaan-3 did that exceedingly well. There were no problems, and the results were according to our expectations.”
Points to Ponder:
— Read about recent ISRO missions
— Read about SSLVs
— What is the difference between lunar orbit and halo orbit?
Post Read Question:
3. Consider the following pairs:
1. Shiv Shakti Point – The point where the Chandrayaan-3 lander touched down on the lunar surface.
2. Jawahar Sthal – The point where Chandrayaan-2 crashed in 2019.
3. Tiranga – The point where the Probe strikes the lunar surface during India’s first lunar orbiter mission Chandrayaan-1
How many of the statements given above are correct?
(a) Only one
(b) Only two
(c) All three
(d) None
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Chandrayaan-4 parts to be sent in 2 launches, assembled in space: ISRO chief
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination:
What’s the ongoing story- Suranjali Tandon writes: “The inexplicably low rates of tax paid by multinationals stirred a row after the global financial crisis. In response, the G20 mobilised the OECD’s technical wherewithal to address some of the concerns. The last decade was dedicated to the cause and the OECD anchored the work of creating a profit-shifting programme. Fifteen action points to ensure transparency in cross-border income reporting and anti-avoidance measures were recommended. The organisation opened its gates to low-income countries to participate on an “equal footing” with its developed peers at the Inclusive Framework (IF). The seat at the table was made available not only because the world was changing and markets mattered, but also because tax competition among developed countries had intensified. They competed to offer low tax hubs while bilaterally negotiating treaties with preferential terms with developing countries.”
Prerequisites:
— What are OECD and Inclusive Framework (IF)?
Key takeaways: International Oragnaisations, Economy
— Redistribution of taxing rights: “ Questions were raised about where large tech companies should be paying taxes — the country of residence (predominantly US) or markets such as India? To forge consensus, the OECD kept going back to the drawing board to only come up with more complex solutions. More efforts were made to live up to the ideal of inclusivity, officials from developing countries such as Jamaica co-chaired the IF and many, including from India, voiced their concerns. Yet, this anonymised process of consensus building began to tire members. Disillusioned countries and regional groups demanded a shift. They proposed it was time for an intergovernmental tax body at the UN.”
— UN global tax convention in 2023: “In a momentous move, 125 countries, including India, voted in favour of a UN global tax convention in 2023. However, 48 countries, including the UK and US, rejected the proposal. Despite resistance from developed countries, the UN proceeded to work on the terms of reference. The final version, released on August 15, was rejected by only eight countries but still included the US and UK. EU countries that initially opposed and remained divided on the agenda, abstained from voting on the final draft of terms of reference.”
— Fate of UN’s prominence in international tax negotiations: “There is no doubt that the UN is poised to assume prominence in international tax negotiations. However, two aspects will determine its fate. First, time and money have been invested in building institutional frameworks at the OECD that have ensured exchange of information, quick adoption of anti-abuse measures in treaties and cross-country information sharing. Would it be wise to duplicate this work unless the current system is riddled with flaws — an issue that EU countries have raised? The convention also acknowledges this overlap and recommends that the committee consider synergies. It remains to be seen how this is managed. Second, economic interests between and within groups of countries will continue to diverge. Forging consensus on cross-border matters can be difficult, especially if the sovereignty of countries in tax policy-making is to be preserved.”
Points to Ponder:
— The UN is poised to assume prominence in international tax negotiations. Which critical aspects will determine its fate?
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and governance
Mains Examination: Governance and social justice
What’s the ongoing story- Sudheendra Kulkarni writes “A confused BJP that lacks a majority in Parliament, a weakened Prime Minister who lacks the courage of conviction, and a Congress-led Opposition that lacks a long-term plan for India’s inclusive development but only seeks short-term electoral gains have combined to kill a key administrative reform. The lateral entry scheme meant to revitalise a moribund babudom is dead. It will be long before a strong and visionary PM arrives on the scene with a resolve to infuse life into it.”
Prerequisites:
— What do we understand by the term ‘social justice’?
— What is lateral entry and what are the major debates revolving around it?
— What is the process for the recruitment of a civil servant?
— What is the scheme for the appointment of lateral entry?
Key takeaways:
— “Why does India need a certain number of external professionals to join the administration, especially at the middle and senior levels? And why is it necessary to exempt such lateral entry from the provision of reservation? The answer is obvious to all who know the glaring shortcomings in our system of governance at the Centre and in states and municipal corporations. For India to overcome the gigantic challenges in development and meet the rising aspirations of its 1.45 billion people, especially those belonging to poor and neglected communities, nothing is more crucial than efficient, responsive and results-oriented governance. Which caste or religion public servants belong to is immaterial. What should matter is whether they are competent, pro-people and can deliver outcomes that benefit the nation as a whole and, particularly, the disadvantaged citizenry.”
— “There is also a second compelling reason. Challenges in development and governance are becoming highly complex in the modern world. Therefore, higher echelons of administration require professionals with deep domain knowledge and expertise, rather than generalists like most job-secure IAS officers who hop from one domain to another in relatively short stints with little people-monitored accountability. The traditional public service system does not produce enough of such specialists.”
—“Should India remain blind to international experience? All rich countries, and many developing countries, offer public service opportunities to highly competent and interested professionals. In the US and China, it is routine for specialists in universities and private sector companies to be called upon to work in government departments, including in foreign service.
Post Read Question
“Institutional quality is a crucial driver of economic performance”. In this context suggest reforms in the Civil Service for strengthening democracy. (UPSC CSE 2020)
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
UPSC Essentials | Expert talk : Is lateral entry a disadvantage for Civil Services?
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance
Mains Examination: GS-III: Indian Economy
What’s the ongoing story- The Indian rupee follows a managed floating exchange rate regime. This means that the central bank intervenes in the foreign exchange market to buy or sell dollars in order to stabilise the value of the rupee. In recent times, however, the RBI seems to be using its regulatory powers to gain greater control over the rupee. We argue that currency management must not entail the use of regulations.
Prerequisites:
— Read about RBI
— What is a floating exchange rate regime?
— Functions and responsibilities of RBI
Key takeaways:
— The purpose of regulations is to address market failures. Currency volatility is not a market failure — it is the fluctuation of the currency in response to demand and supply forces.
— The use of regulatory powers for currency management introduces uncertainty in the central bank’s currency policy, and also increases the cost of doing business in RBI-regulated sectors.
— Rajeswari Sengupta and Bhargavi Zaveri Shah discuss three such regulatory measures and the problems associated with them:
(i) Prohibiting speculative trades on exchanges: This exacerbates the difficulties of taking rupee exposure in India. In 2008, the RBI allowed Indian exchanges to launch a currency derivatives segment. At that time, the RBI’s guidelines on currency Futures and Options allowed Indian residents to participate in this market “to hedge an exposure to foreign exchange rate risk or otherwise”.
— However, the RBI explicitly mandated exchanges to inform users that they “should be in a position to establish the existence of a valid underlying contracted exposure, if required”. This warning compelled the bulk of retail traders to wind up their positions as a result of which trading volumes collapsed by about 80 per cent across all exchanges.
— This move is an irreversible blow to a reasonably liquid market, which allowed hedgers to take positions on the rupee at low costs. It is likely to drive away volumes to the offshore currency derivatives market.
(ii) Regulating offshore trading platforms: The RBI proposed to regulate offshore electronic trading platforms (ETPs), which facilitate rupee-linked derivative transactions. Published on its website in April 2024, this proposal seeks to empower the RBI to oversee the offshore currency forwards market, commonly called the non-deliverable forwards (NDF) market.
— The NDF market allows people to trade in the rupee without undertaking any physical delivery of the currency, thereby reducing the cost of trading.
(iii) The RBI’s instructions to banks: Earlier this month, when the rupee-dollar exchange rate depreciated close to the 84 mark in the spot market, the RBI is reported to have orally instructed some large commercial banks to not add to their existing trading positions against the rupee. This step seems to have been taken to stem further rupee depreciation.
For Your Information:
— The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which was established on April 1, 1935, is responsible for monetary stability, currency management, inflation targeting, regulating the banking system, and setting interest rates.
— The first Governor of the RBI was the Australian Sir Osborne Arkell Smith, one of the two managing governors of the Imperial Bank of India. Sir C D Deshmukh was the first Indian to become Governor.
Points to Ponder:
— What are the advantages of using own currency for international transactions?
— What is IMF’s SDR (special drawing rights)?
— India’s foreign exchange reserves
Post Read Question:
Mains
Discuss the potential adverse consequences of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) interventions in controlling the value of the Indian rupee.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Express View on internationalisation of Indian currency: The rupee challenge
RBI’s attempt to manage currency could prove to be a costly mistake
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: International Relations, Economy
What’s the ongoing story- Jerome Powell, the head of the US central bank, on Friday said that “the time has come for [monetary] policy to adjust”, setting the stage for interest rate cuts in the near future.
— In his keynote address at the annual Economic Policy Symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Powell said “the direction of travel is clear,…timing and pace of rate cuts will depend on incoming data, the evolving outlook, and the balance of risks”.
Prerequisites:
— Who is Jerome Powell?
— Link between Federal bank and RBI
— What is the Jackson Hole symposium?
Key takeaways:
— The impacts of Powell’s observation will not be limited to the US alone, and it can be expected that stock markets around the world will jump when they open next.
What is the Jackson Hole symposium?
— Every year since 1978, the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City has hosted a symposium to explore a specific issue confronting the US and global economy.
— The symposium brings together central bankers, finance ministers, researchers, and financial market participants from all around the world to examine economic issues, consequences, and policy alternatives related to the year’s theme. Symposium proceedings consist of papers, commentary, and discussions.
— Since 1982, the symposium has been held at the Jackson Lake Lodge in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
— The symposium, particularly the comments made by the Federal Reserve’s chairman, are closely monitored by policymakers and market participants throughout the world because they provide insight into what is going on in the global economy and where things might go.
— “Reassessing the Effectiveness and Transmission of Monetary Policy” is the theme for this year. According to the website for the symposium: “This year’s theme will explore lessons learnt from the response of monetary policy to both the pandemic and the subsequent surge in inflation.”
— The theme also includes the term “effectiveness,” which relates to how successful monetary policy has been in managing inflation.
For Your Information:
Does the statement find an echo in RBI?
— There are several points of divergence between the US Fed and RBI:
(i) The target inflation rate is 2% for the US and 4% for India.
(ii) In the last few years, the quantum of increase in the policy interest rate in the US has been almost double that of India, partly because US interest rates were close to zero before the rate cycle.
(iii) In terms of percentage points, inflation has fallen more in the US than in India.
— The RBI hasn’t cut rates yet but as the minutes of the latest Monetary Policy Committee show, there is a growing sense among members that interest rates may be too high. At least two out of the six members of the MPC voted for a cut.
Points to Ponder:
— India’s Monetary Policy
— What are the different types of rates?
— Monetary Policy Committee
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
RBI targets inflation at 4% for sustainable economic growth
UPSC Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: Indian History and culture
What’s the ongoing story- Earlier this year, when the saalu mantapa, a pavilion at the Virupaksha temple in Hampi, collapsed in torrential rainfall, questions were raised about the alleged neglect of the World Heritage Site. Monuments are everywhere in Hampi. Some stand tall and elegant against the backdrop of giant granite boulders, others lie low and truncated. There are sculptures of elephants with missing trunks, court musicians with an amputated limb or nose – reminding the visitor of the devastation caused by a 16th century war to this once thriving metropolis that was at the centre of the Vijayanagara Empire. Then there are the other monuments – those that peek out from behind thick foliage and debris, waiting to be rescued through the exploration and conservation efforts that have been on since the 18th century.
Prerequisites:
— Map work: Hampi, Tungabhadra river and some important sites monuments like Virupaksha temple, Vitthala temple
— What was the Hampi National Project in 1976?
Key takeaways:
— A variegated list of around 1,600 monuments, spread across an area of 250 square kilometres, makes Hampi one of the largest such sites in India to receive a UNESCO World Heritage tag.
— Known to be the last great Hindu medieval kingdom, the Vijayanagara empire was established in 1336 by brothers Harihara-I and Bukka Raya-I of the Sangama dynasty. At its peak, the empire is known to have extended across almost all of southern India.
— The spectacular city of Vijayanagara — or what we today know as Hampi — was the empire’s capital. Its magnificence was noted by several foreign travellers visiting the region, among them Portuguese Domingo Paes, who visited Vijayanagara in 1520 and wrote about the city that was “as large and beautiful as Rome”.
— The glorious days of Vijayanagara, though, came to an end in 1565 when the combined armies of the Deccan Sultanates are said to have ransacked the capital after defeating Rama Raya, the de facto ruler of the empire then.
— Although historians say that the nature and scale of destruction carried out at Hampi after the Battle of Talikota is debatable, everyone agrees that the site was practically untouched and largely forgotten till the end of the 18th century when the British first began exploring it.
— The British antiquarian Colin Mackenzie, who went on to become the first surveyor-general of India, made the first map of Hampi in 1799. He also produced a number of watercolour paintings of the monuments in the city.
— It is only in the 1970s, though, that the first concentrated effort to excavate and conserve Hampi began under the directions of Saiyid Nurul Hasan, then Union minister of state of education, social welfare and culture. What followed was the Hampi National Project in 1976, which threw up some of the most extraordinary remnants of the 14th century metropolis that had hitherto been hidden under thick piles of debris and vegetation.
For Your Information:
— An immediate impact of the 1986 World Heritage tag for Hampi was that both the ASI and the State Department of Archaeology intensified their conservation efforts.
— A part of the conservation was directed at repairing the destruction caused by the war centuries ago. The chariot at the centre of the Vitthala temple, for instance, shows remnants of a pair of horse sculptures that was in all probability destroyed. Ali informs that the ASI replaced the horses with two elephants plucked out from some other part of the monument.
— With Hampi’s UNESCO tag bringing in tourists, the inhabitants of the 30 villages that constitute the heritage site saw opportunities for themselves. The economy and infrastructure of the region improved as visitors streamed into the site, bedazzled by the monuments. Last year, Hampi attracted more than 83,000 Indian tourists and over 20,000 foreigners. “At present, there are 175 tourist guides approved by the Department of Tourism in Hampi and about 300 autorickshaws that run in the World Heritage area,” says Das.
— But in 1999, Hampi had a scare when UNESCO put the site on the ‘World Heritage in Danger List’. The whip had followed the Karnataka government’s attempt to construct a bridge across the Tungabhadra, a violation of UNESCO’s policies for a protected archaeological area. Consequently, the government halted work on the bridge and set up an overarching body, the Hampi World Heritage Area Management Authority (HWHAMA), tasked with providing an integrated solution to the protection of Hampi.
Points to Ponder:
— What does it take to conserve one of India’s largest World Heritage sites: Hampi?
— How is the restoration of collapsed monuments done and why is it important to be restored?
— What is the Virupaksha temple’s historical significance?
Post Read Question:
4. Which of the following temples is not situated at Hampi?
(a) Virupaksha temple
(b) Airavatesvara Temple
(c) Vitthla temple
(d) Pattabhirama temple
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
Portion of Hampi’s Virupaksha temple collapses: What is its history and the threats it faces today?
|
ALSO IN NEWS |
|
| CAG report subject to Parliament scrutiny: Supreme Court | Reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) are “subject to scrutiny by Parliament and the Government can always offer its views on the said report”, the Supreme Court said on Friday while setting aside a Delhi court order framing charges against a Karnataka-based private firm accused of facilitating illegal sale of coal rejects.
The court referred to Article 151(1), which says that the reports of the CAG are required to be submitted to the President, who shall cause them to be laid before each House of Parliament, and Article 151(2), which says that in the case of states, the reports are submitted to the Governor, who shall cause them to be laid before the legislature of the state. |
| India takes up issue of seized copies of Sikh scripture with Qatar | India has taken up the issue of reported seizure of the two Swaroops (copies) of Holy Guru Granth Sahib with Qatar on high priority. The two copies were taken by Qatar authorities from two individuals, accused of running a religious establishment without approval of the government.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have seen reports regarding the Guru Granth Sahib seized by the Qatari authorities and the demand for their release by the Sikh community. The government has already taken up the matter with the Qatar side and our Embassy in Doha has kept the Sikh community abreast of developments in this regard.” |
|
Answer Key |
| 1. (a) 2. (c) 3. (a) 4. (b) |
Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.
Stay updated with the latest UPSC articles by joining our Telegram channel – Indian Express UPSC Hub, and follow us on Instagram and X.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhtsI_VXavI?si=ie5mbin3c2vIwtdA
