15 April 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
When Musk lands in India, the red carpet for Tesla- and a few red flags
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GS3- Changes in Industrial Policy and their Effects on Industrial Growth
- When Tesla chief Elon Musk is expected to land in india later this month to announce his electric vehicle (EV) investment plans, he will wish for a red carpet no doubt — but there will also be a few red flags in the wings.
- Under pressure in China where local players have outsmarted him, facing tech disruptions in the industry, and a general demand slowdown, for Musk, the India story is as important as the EV story is for India.
Amid anxiety for Indians in Israel, Delhi to wait and watch before sending next batch of workers
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GS2- Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora
- As Iran’s drone and missile strikes put Indians living in Israel on high alert, India has decided not to send a second batch of construction workers to the country until the situation is brought under control, The Indian Express has learnt.
- India had on April 2 sent a first batch of 65 citizens to Israel as part of an agreement between the two countries for a total of 1,500 Indian citizens to be flown to the country this month to be employed as construction workers.
- More than 18,000 Indians already work in Israel, mostly as caregivers and agricultural workers.
Navy Chief: Situation in Red Sea, Gulf of Aden fragile, monitoring
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GS3- Security Challenges and their Management in Border Areas
- A day after Iran attacked Israel leading to escalation of hostilities between the two countries, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar Sunday said the situation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden region remains “fragile”.
- Speaking at the Naval Investiture Ceremony at the INS Hansa base in Goa, he said, “If you ask about the situation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, it is fragile. We saw the drone attacks on merchant ships and now piracy has resurfaced.
- The lesson to be learnt here is that whenever some disorder happens in one part, people are waiting to create more disturbance and benefit from it.”
Food for reform
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GS3- Issues of Buffer Stocks and Food Security
- As the election campaign in India hits fever pitch despite rising temperatures, most pollsters are predicting a continuation of the incumbent government.
- Interestingly, the Narendra Modi government has already asked various ministries to prepare plans that they would like to announce in the first 100 days of their third term.
- The ministries are contacting various experts to help them frame the right policy framework that is in sync with the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047.
- Here are some of our suggestions for the agri-food space.
- They are based on our interactions with experts during the four-day forum organised by the Asian Development Bank on food security in the wake of climate change. Learning from the experiences of other countries is always useful.
Lamps to lotus, Two Bullocks to hand: a story of symbols
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GS2- Salient Features of the Representation of People’s Act.
- Election symbols are a critical component of elections. They are a party’s identity, and help voters recognise candidates.
- When parties split, a battle is fought for its election symbol.
- What is the history of the iconic election symbols of the country’s oldest and largest parties, the Congress’ ‘Hand’, and the BJP’s ‘Lotus’?
- Before the first Lok Sabha election of 1951-52, the Election Commission of India (ECI) realised that election symbols were critical in a country where the literacy rate was less than 20%.
- It was decided that symbols should be familiar and easily recognisable, and should not show any object with a religious or sentimental association, such as cow, temple, the National Flag, spinning wheel, etc.
India’s Hepatitis headache
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GS2- Issues Relating to Development and Management
- According to the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) Global Hapatitis Report 2024, India has among the highest burdens of viral hepatitistied with tuberculosis (TB) as the second largest infectious killer globally — in the world.
- Covid-19 was the number one infectious killer, according to the report which used data from 2022.
- Globally, an estimated 1.3 million people died of viral hepatitis in 2022 (as compared to 1.1 million in 2019), even as its incidence — number of new cases in a year — went down to 2.2 million in 2022 (as compared to 2.5 million in 2019).
- Even more concerning is the fact that diagnosis and treatment for viral hepatitis remained extremely low.
Banks to see moderation in NIM in Q4 on tight liquidity condition
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GS3- Indian Economy
- Banks are likely to see pressure on their net interest margins (NIM) in the quarter ended March 2024 on account of tight liquidity conditions and higher funding cost.
- However, the quarter-on-quarter (QoQ) decline in the NIM – the difference between the interest earned and the interest paid by a bank — will be lesser when compared to the previous two quarters, analysts said.
- Most of the lenders are likely to see around 5-15 basis points (bps) compression in NIM, which an indicator of banks profitability and growth, on a sequential basis, experts said.
