Daily Hindu Editorials

👉There is very little for the BJP to cheer in the latest round of by-elections, and a lot to learn👈 Of all the Lok Sabha by-elections in this round, Kairana in Uttar Pradesh evoked special interest because of the coming together of the opposition parties against the Bharatiya Janata Party. The candidate of the Rashtriya Lok Dal, a party with a base consisting largely of the Jats, was a Muslim woman, Tabassum Hasan, and she won as a representative of a broad-based coalition, which included the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress. That the RLD chose a Muslim candidate was significant as the party had suffered an erosion in its support base after the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013 involving Jats and Muslims. To try to win back his core constituency of Jats with a Muslim candidate was a bold strategy, but RLD leader Ajit Singh was encouraged not only by the process of rapprochement on the ground over the last few months, but also by the backing of the three major o...

👉President Macri’s reformist credentials are on the line as Argentina faces economic crisis👈 Argentina is not alone among major emerging economies in trying to weather the current run on currencies due to the rallying U.S. dollar and rising interest rates. But with a history of recurrent defaults and devaluation of the peso, Buenos Aires has greater cause for concern. President Mauricio Macri, whose market-friendly image ensured Argentina’s return to the global capital markets in 2016 after a decade, has a special stake in ensuring that his reforms remain on track. Following a record sovereign debt issue that year, Argentina became the second Latin American state after Mexico to launch a 100-year maturity bond in 2017. The new optimistic narrative was based on the former businessman’s commitment to reducing the fiscal deficit, building on the prevailing reasonable ratio of public borrowing to GDP. Nevertheless, Mr. Macri’s poll promise to make Argentina a “normal country” has bee...

👉Pre-litigation mediation is an important step to improve the ease of doing business👈 Mandatory pre-litigation mediation in commercial disputes has been introduced by the recent Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, which amends the Commercial Courts Act of 2015. This amendment is expected to alter parties’ sense of responsibility in resolving disputes. Mandatory pre-litigation mediation puts the ball in the court of the parties involved, rather than looking at external agencies like courts, and urges them to engage with and resolve disputes. 👉The meaning of mediation The Commercial Courts Act was legislated to improve the enforcement of contracts, as part of improving the ease of doing business. The law defines “commercial disputes” to include regular commercial and business contracts, construction contracts, shareholder agreements, licensing agreements, etc. The law makes changes for reduction...

YES 👉Be it in the economic, social or educational front, this government has strived to meet expectations👈 Four years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge of transforming the lives of more than a billion Indians. That day marked the beginning of a new dawn for the people of India who gave the mandate to him to not only take charge of the government but also to transform their lives in a ‘new India’. 👉Meeting expectations In 48 months, the Modi government has been able to achieve what could not be achieved in 48 years by the dynasty in power. Be it the economic, social, educational, or any other front, this government has strived to meet the expectations of people. The decisive and bold decisions taken by the Prime Minister, without consideration of the political outcomes, have stood the test of time. Demonetisation and the goods and services tax (GST) are testimony to this. Demonetisation brought unaccounted money back into the legitimate economy. More t...

👉Cleanliness will only follow an attitudinal change👈 In the spirit of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, the Goan government promised to make the State garbage-free by 2020. With a population of 18.2 lakhs and an economy geared for tourists, is Goa prepared to reach this milestone? Quite possibly not. In Candolim beach, for example, plastic and glass bottles are ubiquitous. This shows that tourists and beachgoers lack basic civic sense. The apparent dichotomy between their desire to enjoy a beach and their garbage-related attitude can be explained in terms of people equating the beach to revelry and not to nature’s beauty. Nevertheless, it is uncertain whether concern for nature would prevent littering. Perversely, tourists coming to imbibe the much-marketed carefree spirit of Goa have no qualms in pretending that waste disposal has nothing to do with collective enjoyment of this public good. Their ability to add to the litter and enjoy a dirty beach is something unique to this part of the w...

The Brick Kiln Initiative in Nepal ( Env) The Brick Kiln Initiative, launched by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, found a way to redesign the ovens and stack the bricks differently so that less toxic soot is produced. Details:  There are more than 150,000 kilns in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nepal belching out thousands of tonnes of soot — known as black carbon — a major air pollutant and the second largest contributor to warming after carbon dioxide. By stacking the bricks inside the kilns in a zigzag pattern, the heat snakes through the gaps more efficiently, ensuring coal is completely burned so less soot is produced. Emissions are cut by 60%. But more importantly for the kiln owners, it nearly halves coal consumption. The environmental factor does not necessarily motivate most kiln owners, but the zigzag method has an economic benefit. Despite the availability of clean technology, the majority of the 1,500 billion bricks used each y...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 2  from editorial  -Berth pangs: on the Karnataka coalition impasse 💥 pang (noun/verb) – pain, ache, hurt. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Berth pangs: on the Karnataka coalition impasse impasse (noun) – deadlock, stalemate, stand-off. Hindu Editorial usage  :  Berth pangs: on the Karnataka coalition impasse portfolio (noun) – the position/duties of a minister/secretary of state. Hindu Editorial usage  :  The Congress and the JD(S) need to quickly resolve their differences over portfolio sharing relative (adjective) – reasonable, a fair degree of, considerable. Hindu Editorial usage  :   Quick and bold decisions are more often made during moments of crises than during periods of relative calm and quiet.   contour (noun) – outline, shape, form. Hindu Editorial usage  :   Kumaraswamy of the JD(S) as the Chief Minister and G. Parameshwara of the Congress as the Deputy Chief Minister, the t...

💥 Daily Word Bytes - 1  from editorial  -Paper chase: the need to review use of VVPATs 💥 paper trail (noun) – document log; a series of documents that used as an evidence for activities by an organization (from beginning to end). Hindu Editorial usage  :  The Election Commission must review the use of paper trail machines in the polling process glitch (noun) – problem, difficulty, issue/complication. Hindu Editorial usage  :   The high incidence of glitches in the Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines in Monday’s by-elections should be a major cause of concern for the Election Commission of India. Voter-Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)  – it is a method of providing feedback to voters using a ballot-less voting system. it consists of physical paper records of voter ballots as voters have cast them on an electronic voting system. Hindu Editorial usage  :   The high incidence of glitches in the Voter Verifiable ...