News & Editorial Analysis 24 May 2023

The Hindu News Analysis

1 – Withdrawal of Rs 2000 Notes:

GS III

Topic à Indian Economy:

Context:

The RBI has decided to stop issuing banknotes with a value of Rs 2000.

What year did the Rs 2000 banknotes debut?

Demonetization, or the removal from circulation with immediate effect of two banknotes (Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000), was announced by the Indian Prime Minister on November 8, 2016.

The introduction of the Rs 2000 and the new Rs 500 notes was authorised by Section 26 of the RBI Act of 1934, principally with the aim of swiftly addressing the economy’s need for money.

Demonetisation:

Meaning:

The process of withdrawing existing forms of currency from circulation and replacing them with new currency aims to remove a monetary unit’s legal accepted status.

Need:

Demonetization is a rare occurrence, but governments have used it to combat hyperinflation, fake money, terrorism, tax fraud, and in some cases, to institute a new monetary system.

Advantages:

Ban tax evasion and other financial crimes, control criminal activity, and promote a paperless financial system

Disadvantages:

The costs of creating fresh money and minting coins can be costly, illicit activities won’t be completely eliminated, and it could lead to turmoil among people.

The main causes of demonetisation in India in 2016 were:

to detect phoney cash and to free the country from the influence of corruption and illicit money.

Why did the RBI remove the Rs. 2000 notes?

The printing of Rs 2000 notes was discontinued in 2018–19 once the goal was achieved.

Prior to March 2017, the RBI issued the majority of the Rs 2000 notes, which are currently nearing the end of their anticipated 4-5 year lifespan.

Therefore, it has been decided to remove the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation in accordance with the RBI’s Clean Note Policy.

The Clean Note Policy:

Bimal Jalan, who was the governor of the RBI at the time, introduced the policy in 1999.

With stronger security measures, it aims to provide the public with high-quality currency notes and coins while taking dirty notes out of circulation.

As part of the policy, the RBI had already decided to stop accepting any banknotes produced before 2005 because of their lack of security safeguards.

Will the Rs. 2000 banknotes remain valid forms of payment?

The general public is still permitted to conduct transactions with and accept payment in Rs 2000 banknotes.

They are urged to deposit or exchange these banknotes, nonetheless, before September 30, 2023, at the latest. The fate of these notes beyond September 30 has not been made clear by the RBI.

Could the pandemonium caused by demonetization in 2016 happen again?

Given that the printing of Rs 2000 notes was discontinued in 2018–19 and that they now make up just 10.8% of the notes in circulation, it is improbable.

Additionally, the decision to withdraw the Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 notes was unexpectedly revealed, shocking the populace.

Source à The Hindu

2 – India’s Women in Science:

GS I

Topic à Women Empowerment:

Context:

The complex interaction between science and gender in India is highlighted in two works, Lilavati’s Daughters (2008) and Lab Hopping (2023).

Anandibai Joshi, India’s first female physician, Iravati Karve, Anna Mani, Dr. N. Kalaiselvi, who is currently in charge of the CSIR, and V. R. Lalithambika, who is in charge of the Gaganyaan mission, are some noteworthy women scientists from India.

Information on women in science in India: According to the Department of Science and Technology’s (DST) most recent “Research and Development Statistics 2019-20,” 16.6% of women researchers in India are actively involved in R&D activities.

Women face a variety of challenges, including:

Unrepresentative and strongly established patriarchy.

institutional indifference.

a hostile work environment, sexual harassment.

Family-related problems include marriage, parenthood (the double burdens of home and work), moving because of a spouse’s transferrable job, etc.

Impact: Dropping out of graduate school, taking a career sabbatical, being too old for scientific professions, being absent from work for an extended period of time, or even quitting your job.

The government has made a number of improvements:

Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN) Scheme: Developed to support female researchers in science and technology.

professional prospects are offered via the Women Scientist Scheme (WOS) within KIRAN, particularly for those who have taken a professional sabbatical.

The KIRAN Mobility Scheme offers support in project mode for two to five years and solves the relocation concerns of working women scientists.

Innovation and Excellence in Women’s Universities (CURIE) Programme: Consolidation of Academic Research.

The Indo-US Fellowship for Women in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics & Medicine) promotes the conduct of international collaborative research by Indian women scientists.

Encourages female students in classes 9 through 12 to pursue careers and studies in science and technology (S&T).

The Department of Biotechnology’s (DBT’s) Biotechnology Career Advancement and Reorientation Programme (BioCARe).

National Prize for Women in Science: in order to acknowledge the contribution that women have made to the field of earth system sciences.

In support with Start-up India-Stand up India, DST has developed a number of programmes, including the Women Entrepreneur’s Quest (WEQ) Programme.

Conclusion:

The main forces behind national prosperity and the development of an independent India are STEMM. Thus, if men and women participate equally in STEMM, India will be able to realise “Amrit Kaal” in its truest form.

Source à The Hindu

3 – Globalization and Climate Change:

GS I

Topic à Globalization related issues:

Context:

According to studies by the McKinsey Global Institute and the WTO, globalisation is essential for achieving sustainability and lessening the effects of climate change.

What exactly does globalisation mean in terms of the environment?

In terms of the environment, globalisation is the connectivity and interdependence of economies and societies around the world, which has resulted in the interchange of commodities, services, information, and ideas on a global scale. It has both favourable and unfavourable effects on the environment.

Why is globalisation essential for reducing carbon emissions?

Resource Allocation:

Resources and supplies are not dispersed equally around the world. The effective sourcing and trade of resources from regions with a plentiful supply to regions with a high demand is made possible by globalisation. For instance, lithium is mostly obtained from Australia and Chile, and its accessibility on a global scale is crucial for the widespread use of electric vehicles.

Innovation in Technology:

Globalisation encourages cross-border interchange of information, concepts, and technical innovations. For instance, the sharing of R&D in renewable energy technology like solar panels and wind turbines has sped up their global adoption and cut costs.

Financing Availability:

Cross-border financial flows are made possible by globalisation, making it simpler for nations to obtain the money and investment needed for decarbonization initiatives.

Consider the international system for exchanging carbon credits.

Scalability and Scale-Based Economies:

Global supply chains can be created as a result of globalisation, enabling the production and distribution of renewable energy technology on an industrial scale. For instance, the Giga plant operated by the Tesla Company makes EV batteries in China, Australia, and the USA.

Knowledge Exchange and Policy Coordination:

The sharing of best practises, knowledge, and policy frameworks between nations is made easier by globalisation. For instance, the Paris Agreement and the International Solar Alliance.

How globalisation affects the environment negatively:

Emissions of carbon:

The carbon emissions produced by shipping, flying, and long-distance product transportation rise as a result of globalised trade. For instance, bringing in merchandise from far-off nations to satisfy consumer demand increases transportation-related emissions.

Loss of Habitat and Deforestation:

Deforestation and habitat loss are caused by the global demand for goods like timber, soy, and palm oil in areas with a diverse range of wildlife. For instance, the growth of palm oil plantations in Southeast Asia has resulted in significant deforestation and the destruction of important ecosystems.

Contaminant and waste:

For instance, the recycling of electronic trash exported from industrialised to underdeveloped nations frequently results in inappropriate disposal and pollution.

The overuse of resources:

A culture of consumerism has been driven by globalisation and expanded trade, which has boosted resource consumption.

Cultural Diversity Loss:

The uniformity of cultures that might result from globalisation can erode customs and knowledge that are frequently environmentally sustainable.

Corporate Sustainability Initiatives, the transition to a circular economy, Sustainable Trade Initiatives (WTO), and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a few of the important initiatives towards sustainable globalisation.

Conclusion:

Globalisation must be carefully considered and implemented of policies and practises that minimise its negative consequences while maximising its beneficial contributions to decarbonization and environmental protection in order to balance its advantages with environmental sustainability.

Source à The Hindu

4 – Single Teacher Schools in Jharkhand:

GS II

Topic à Education related issues:

Context:

A single teacher school is one where one instructor is in charge of instructing all the pupils in various grade levels. Even though the Right to Education Act requires a minimum of two teachers for schools with up to 60 children, a sizable portion of government schools in Jharkhand only have one.

Reasons:

The predominance of single-teacher schools is attributed to a lack of recruitment over time and the government’s disregard for education in underserved areas.

Impact:

Single-teacher schools present a number of difficulties for teachers, including a high workload, little resources, and administrative duties. Students have difficulty learning and get instruction that is not age-appropriate. Communities on the margins are most impacted. Additionally, the schools are plagued by inadequate infrastructure and support systems.

Source à The Hindu

5 – Stars Program:

GS II

Topic à Government Policies and Interventions:

Context:

A workshop on school-to-work transition was organised by the World Bank and the Ministry of Education as part of the STARS Programme.

Aim:

The workshop’s objectives included discussing skill gap analyses in the six STARS states and enhancing vocational education.

STARS Programme Information:

Through the Samagra Shiksha, the Strengthening Teaching-Learning and Results for States (STARS) Programme, a project supported by the World Bank, aims to enhance the quality and administration of school education in the six Indian states of Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Rajasthan.

Kind of scheme:

It would be implemented as a brand-new centrally sponsored programme run by the ministry of education’s department of school education and literacy.

Objectives:

Enhance learning evaluation methods, improve classroom instruction and remediation, ease the transfer from school to the workplace, and increase decentralised management and control.

Beneficiaries:

This USD 500 million plan will assist approximately 10 million teachers, 250 million pupils (between the ages of 6 and 17), and 1.5 million schools.

Vision:

The initiative strengthens public education and aids India’s pursuit of “Education for All.”

The Project’s Components:

Contingency Emergency Response Component (CERC):

The programme can respond to any natural, man-made, or health crises thanks to this component. It enables the government to respond to circumstances that prevent students from learning, such as school closings, infrastructure damage, and insufficient facilities.

PARAKH:

The National Assessment Centre is PARAKH. It establishes standards for student evaluation and assessment across all school boards in the nation. Additionally, it directs the use of standardised tests to track national and state-level learning results.

Success Cases:

India has effectively attained gender parity in elementary school enrollment, but not in secondary school. Access to education has considerably improved throughout India.

Source à The Hindu

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The Hindu Editorial Analysis

EDITORIAL ANALYSIS à 24 MAY 2023 à THE HINDU

SLOW WITHDRAWAL:

Context:

Just over seven and a half years after the economically damaging demonetisation of the 500 and 1,000 note, the Reserve Bank of India’s announcement on May 19 that 2,000 banknotes would be taken from circulation has sparked a sense of déjà vu.

Motives behind the withdrawal:

The printing of Rs 2000 notes was discontinued in 2018–19 once the goal was achieved.

Prior to March 2017, the RBI issued the majority of the Rs 2000 notes, which are currently nearing the end of their anticipated 4-5 year lifespan.

Therefore, it has been decided to remove the Rs 2000 denomination banknotes from circulation in accordance with the RBI’s Clean Note Policy.

Clean Note Guidelines:

Bimal Jalan, who was the governor of the RBI at the time, introduced the policy in 1999.

With stronger security measures, it aims to provide the public with high-quality currency notes and coins while taking dirty notes out of circulation.

As part of the policy, the RBI had already decided to stop accepting any banknotes produced before 2005 because of their lack of security safeguards.

Status of Legal Tender:

The Rs 2000 banknotes will continue to be accepted as legal money despite the withdrawal. They can still be used by people for transactions and paid out to them. The RBI does advise customers to deposit or exchange these notes at bank locations before September 30, 2023, or sooner.

Depositing and Trading:

People are encouraged to visit bank branches in order to exchange and deposit Rs 2000 bills. For both account holders and non-account holders, there is a restriction of Rs 20,000 for exchanging these notes at once. The ability to deposit money into a bank account is unrestricted, provided that the relevant Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines and legal procedures are followed.

Results from the withdrawal:

Liquidity in the short-term banking system will be increased as the withdrawn notes are deposited with banks, creating excess liquidity that will be used for:

Banks often choose to investing their extra cash in government assets.

The overnight interbank (call) rate is typically higher than the repo-rate in the overnight money (Call money) market. However, this could alter if the supply of short-term funds suddenly increases.

Reduced short-term interest rates: Government bond rates will be reduced, initially for t-bills and probably subsequently for 3 and 5 year bonds as well.

Treasury bills are in more demand, which will drive up the price of government bonds at auctions.

Cut the bond yield, i.e. Bond yield is the implicit rate at which the face value of the bond is reduced to obtain the current price, which drives up bond prices.

Cash in circulation will decline since all of the 2000-rupee notes will be redeposited into banks, which will increase the liquidity of those systems.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to phase out 2000 rupee notes is in line with the goals of the “Clean Note Policy.” While the economy may experience short-term repercussions, the availability of smaller denominations and the expansion of digital transactions are anticipated to lessen the impact of the decrease in cash circulation.

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The Indian Express Editorial Analysis

EDITORIAL ANALYSIS à 24 MAY 2023 à THE INDIAN EXPRESS

THE NEW BARE WORLD:

Context:

Japan and India were invited to the 49th G7 summit, which took place from May 19 to May 21, 2023, in Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture.

Important occurrences demonstrating the global order:

The Russian-Ukrainian War showed that geography is still important.

Despite being hyper-globalized, we are also more locally focused than ever. India acknowledges the challenges facing Europe, but it places greater importance on Chinese aggression, the Wuhan virus, and Kabul’s surrender.

Only national interests are important, the UN’s decision on the Ukraine war demonstrated.

Today’s sanctions against Russia are being imposed by those who not only won World War II but achieved globalisation and progress.

The recent flurry of trips by European politicians to China demonstrates the unviability of value-based frameworks and the importance of lucrative business ties.

Despite India’s confrontation with the Chinese on the Himalayan peaks, trade is unaffected.

Only self-centeredness, not greatness, rules during times of stress.

During the Covid-19 outbreak, there were rising treatment capacity gaps as well as the overt theft of medical supplies and vaccination availability.

Those nations providing the biggest farmer subsidies under the Doha Agreement on Agriculture never actually implemented it.

Similar to this, the Afghan people were duped and left behind since it was convenient for higher powers to leave the nation at a specific time.

Chinese territorial incursions have sparked a variety of self-serving reactions from various individuals who would otherwise be eager to support democracy.

India’s significance for the G7:

India’s economy is larger than the economies of three G-7 members, France, Italy, and Canada, with a GDP of $2.66 trillion.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects that India’s economy would develop at a rate of 5.9 percent between 2023 and 2024, making it one of the fastest-growing in the world.

In Asia, India’s economy is expanding at the quickest rate.

According to the World Bank, India has the greatest growth rate among the seven largest emerging-market and developing economies.

India may be a major economic force that uses trade, investment, and consumer spending to propel global growth.

India continues to be a desirable investment location because of things like market potential, affordable manufacturing, business reforms, and a good business climate.

India recently overtaken China as the world’s most populous nation.

India has a young and plentiful trained and semi-skilled labour force with 68 percent of the population in working age (15-64 years) and 65 percent under the age of 35.

India is one of the G20’s most important members and the seventh-largest country by geographical area, taking the shape of a subcontinent, as well as the most populous democracy in the world.

India has a continuous history of civilization.

India has nearly four hotspots for biodiversity and is a demographically extremely varied nation.

India spends a lot of money on its military and is a responsible nuclear power.

European nations are eager to take advantage of the economic prospects the Indo-Pacific region provides as the global geopolitical and economic epicentre shifts there.

The Indo-Pacific, however, faces its own difficulties as a combative China expands its political and economic influence.

India has become an important strategic partner for the Western nations in their efforts to restrict China, particularly in the Indo-Pacific region’s Indian Ocean sector.

India has strategic alliances with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Japan among the G-7 members. The strategic sphere of India’s relations with Italy is quickly developing.

Energy Security for Europe: Unexpectedly, India has emerged as a transit nation to address the European energy dilemma brought on by the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

About 40% of Europe’s oil and gas supply came from Russia before the war began.

For its part, Russia made a special offer to India for oil in order to make up for the loss experienced when European nations stopped purchasing Russian oil.

India has developed into a backdoor for the European nations to buy Russian oil after going through the refinement process there.

In April, India overtook the United States as Europe’s top supplier of refined fuels.

India is one of the few countries that enjoys friendly relations with both the West and Russia diplomatically. The conflict in Ukraine is nearing a deadlock.

Many Western nations’ businesses and supply systems have already been impacted by the war. In the near future, India might provide a face-saving option to both parties of the conflict through direct or indirect mediation.

India’s strategy of balancing connections may aid in diplomatic negotiations to put an end to the conflict.

What are India’s current interests?

The rise of China poses a threat to established great powers like the U.S. US presence there.

The US has faced a challenge from the Russia-China axis, which indirectly pulled India into the US fold.

The Belt and Road Initiative is China’s attempt to increase its regional influence.

Another strategy for gaining influence is debt trap diplomacy.

The friendship between China and Pakistan is a problem for India in its neighbourhood.

Due to the growing threat posed by the Taliban in Afghanistan, drug trafficking, non-conventional threats, cyberwarfare, Fourth Generation Warfare or proxy warfare, etc., West Asia is crucial to maintaining security in the South Asia region.

Its investment, energy security, and crucial diaspora interests will all be protected as a result.

In order to lead the world and act as the “vishwaguru” in promoting peace and development, India is vying for a permanent seat on the UNSC.

According to the current realities of the international order in the twenty-first century, it will result in reforms in the international institutions.

Once Pakistan gains India’s trust and stops using terror as a tactic in its foreign and security strategy, India-Pakistan relations would improve. Through the United States and other international organisations, India must continue to put pressure on Pakistan to change its ways while maintaining a dialogue channel through Track 2 diplomacy.

Conclusion:

The G7 may be an important venue for India to demonstrate its potential for global leadership and to develop practical solutions to global problems by forging alliances and taking action. India may use the G7 as a worldwide forum in the new world order to push for crucial changes to the international financial and security institutions.