Daily Current Affairs for TNPSC Group Exams, Upsc Exams, SSC, RRB, BANK & All Government Exams – The Hindu – 11 July 2022
1. No resolution to Sri Lanka crisis
- Front Page.
- IR.
- Political parties in Sri Lanka are scrambling to form an all-party government, a day after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged to resign in the wake of a historic citizens’ protest.
2. What ails the current approach to Ayurveda
- Page 6.
- Ancient History, Health, Growth and Development.
- Ayurveda, India’s traditional medicine, has been in practice for close to three millennia. Even today, this ancient system serves the healthcare needs of millions of Indians. The adaptation of a traditional knowledge system for current use comes with its challenges, which, if dealt with lackadaisically, can endanger the welfare of its users. A few challenges that the Ayurveda establishment has for long failed to skilfully address is discussed in the editorial.
3. The road to productivity
- Page 7.
- Economy, Growth and Development.
- Our progress towards a $5 trillion economy could be stifled, reason is the pandemic ¬induced lockdowns in cities which play an important role in realising national and macroeconomic growth targets. Even as early in the pandemic as April 2020, a Barclays report found that “the absolute economic loss was likely the largest from the shutdown of Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Delhi and Mumbai, ranging from $1 billion¬$1.7 billion per week.”
4. Twitter’s petition on Section 69A of the IT Act
- Page 8.
- Fundamental Rights, Growth and Development.
- Twitter moved the Karnataka HC seeking to set aside multiple blocking orders of the Central government as well as to alter their directions to identify specific violative content than imposing a blanket ban on individual accounts. Section 69A of the IT Act empowers the government to restrict access to any content in the interest of sovereignty and integrity of the country. Twitter holds that the government has allegedly not shown why the restrictions were necessary in the interest of public order or for any other reason. The disparity in assessment of what constitutes ‘free expression’ and harm to public order among the two entities is the premise of the entire contestation.
5. The ongoing dialogue between Pakistan and the TTP
- Page 8.
- IR.
- The TTP announced an “indefinite ceasefire” given the “substantial progress” made in talks with the Pakistan government during a round of meetings. The latest round of talks began in 2021 after Pakistan President Dr. Arif Alvi suggested that the government could consider giving amnesty to those members of the TTP who have not remained involved in “criminal activities” and who lay down their weapons and agree to adhere to the Constitution. The Afghan Taliban has played the role of a mediator in the ongoing negotiations. They have maintained that they will not act against the TTP and that if a deal was to be made with the group, Islamabad would have to make significant concessions.
Daily Current Affairs for TNPSC Group Exams, Upsc Exams, SSC, RRB, BANK & All Government Exams – The Hindu – 11 July 2022
6. The ground beneath the President’s feet
- Page 9.
- IR.
- Soon after Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed office, he launched a programme of restoring Sri Lanka’s personalised model of executive authoritarianism. In October 2020, Mr. Rajapaksa used the newly gained two thirds parliamentary majority to abolish the 19th Amendment. Sri Lanka was thus brought back to executive presidentialism. Having been persuaded by nativist ideologues and local conspiracy theorists, President Rajapaksa initially de-emphasised the urgency of launching a rapid vaccination programme. It is only after the pandemic had reached crisis proportions by middle of this year that President Rajapaksa turned to vaccination. Amidst economic and healthcare failures, what baffles critics and supporters alike of President Rajapaksa is the degree of insensitivity he and his government display to the consequences of his policy failures and crisis of governance for people’s lives and their survival.
7. ‘Renewable energy to reduce revenues’
- Page 12.
- Energy, Resources, Growth and Development.
- The global transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources could trigger financial challenges for India and major developing countries such as Russia, Brazil and China because of their high dependence on revenues from fossil fuel, according to a study by the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD).
8. BRICS media groups look to boost synergy
- Page 13.
- IR.
- Prominent media groups from the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries on Friday committed to stepping up dialogue and finding ways to generate strong synergies as they confront new common challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic to the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.