Daily Analysis of 'The Hindu' - 18th May, 2020 | Additional Study Material for UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


Peaking 
Farm gate in focus 
Getting India back to the Afghan 
high table 
Licensed to beat, abuse and kill 
Where is health in the stimulus 
package? 
Page 2


Peaking 
Farm gate in focus 
Getting India back to the Afghan 
high table 
Licensed to beat, abuse and kill 
Where is health in the stimulus 
package? 
Peaking 
?May 15: India had over 85,500 cases and the death toll stood 
at 2,752. 
?There are only 10 other countries that have more cases than 
India. 
?Despite the country being under lockdown since almost end-
March, the number of fresh cases and deaths reported each 
day has continued to rise steadily. 
?On average, over 3,600 cases have been reported daily since May 8. 
?India has not fully utilised the precious lockdown period to 
increase manifold the number of tests carried out daily while 
simultaneously tracing, isolating and treating COVID-19 
patients. 
Page 3


Peaking 
Farm gate in focus 
Getting India back to the Afghan 
high table 
Licensed to beat, abuse and kill 
Where is health in the stimulus 
package? 
Peaking 
?May 15: India had over 85,500 cases and the death toll stood 
at 2,752. 
?There are only 10 other countries that have more cases than 
India. 
?Despite the country being under lockdown since almost end-
March, the number of fresh cases and deaths reported each 
day has continued to rise steadily. 
?On average, over 3,600 cases have been reported daily since May 8. 
?India has not fully utilised the precious lockdown period to 
increase manifold the number of tests carried out daily while 
simultaneously tracing, isolating and treating COVID-19 
patients. 
?India is yet to begin investigating community 
transmission. 
?Given the high rate of asymptomatic 
transmission, high viral resurgence is inevitable 
when the lockdown is lifted.  
?It is not the States that report more cases that is 
a cause for concern, but those that have reported 
fewer. 
?If the latter be the case, India can expect huge 
numbers to be reported in the coming weeks.  
Page 4


Peaking 
Farm gate in focus 
Getting India back to the Afghan 
high table 
Licensed to beat, abuse and kill 
Where is health in the stimulus 
package? 
Peaking 
?May 15: India had over 85,500 cases and the death toll stood 
at 2,752. 
?There are only 10 other countries that have more cases than 
India. 
?Despite the country being under lockdown since almost end-
March, the number of fresh cases and deaths reported each 
day has continued to rise steadily. 
?On average, over 3,600 cases have been reported daily since May 8. 
?India has not fully utilised the precious lockdown period to 
increase manifold the number of tests carried out daily while 
simultaneously tracing, isolating and treating COVID-19 
patients. 
?India is yet to begin investigating community 
transmission. 
?Given the high rate of asymptomatic 
transmission, high viral resurgence is inevitable 
when the lockdown is lifted.  
?It is not the States that report more cases that is 
a cause for concern, but those that have reported 
fewer. 
?If the latter be the case, India can expect huge 
numbers to be reported in the coming weeks.  
Farm gate in focus 
?The decision to channel the funds to agricultural 
cooperatives, farmer producer organisations, rural 
entrepreneurs and start-ups is also encouraging as it 
lays the onus of creating the appropriate 
infrastructure or logistics solution largely on the 
principal beneficiaries, the farmers themselves. 
?Two proposals: one seeks to bypass the APMC regime 
through a central law. 
?The other proposes a framework for farmers to enter 
into pre-sowing contracts that would purportedly help 
assure them of offtake volumes and prices. 
Page 5


Peaking 
Farm gate in focus 
Getting India back to the Afghan 
high table 
Licensed to beat, abuse and kill 
Where is health in the stimulus 
package? 
Peaking 
?May 15: India had over 85,500 cases and the death toll stood 
at 2,752. 
?There are only 10 other countries that have more cases than 
India. 
?Despite the country being under lockdown since almost end-
March, the number of fresh cases and deaths reported each 
day has continued to rise steadily. 
?On average, over 3,600 cases have been reported daily since May 8. 
?India has not fully utilised the precious lockdown period to 
increase manifold the number of tests carried out daily while 
simultaneously tracing, isolating and treating COVID-19 
patients. 
?India is yet to begin investigating community 
transmission. 
?Given the high rate of asymptomatic 
transmission, high viral resurgence is inevitable 
when the lockdown is lifted.  
?It is not the States that report more cases that is 
a cause for concern, but those that have reported 
fewer. 
?If the latter be the case, India can expect huge 
numbers to be reported in the coming weeks.  
Farm gate in focus 
?The decision to channel the funds to agricultural 
cooperatives, farmer producer organisations, rural 
entrepreneurs and start-ups is also encouraging as it 
lays the onus of creating the appropriate 
infrastructure or logistics solution largely on the 
principal beneficiaries, the farmers themselves. 
?Two proposals: one seeks to bypass the APMC regime 
through a central law. 
?The other proposes a framework for farmers to enter 
into pre-sowing contracts that would purportedly help 
assure them of offtake volumes and prices. 
Getting India back to the Afghan high table 
? I n d i a ’ s foreign and security policy planners have not 
pursued nimble approaches. 
?Rigidly clinged to Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. 
?The United Nations Secretariat organised a meeting on 
Afghanistan [6+2+1]. 
?Ghani government did not condition its participation on 
I n d ia ’ s inclusion.  
?Since 2001-02, India has played a constructive role in 
Afghan. 
?Mr Zalmay Khalilzad: U.S. wants India to have a more 
active role in the peace process.