Daily Reads-57 (Level-1)

Reading Suggestion-1

Article Name:Mandsaur, the farmers’ story
Author Name:Varghese K. George
Source: The Hindu
Category: Politics

Summary for this article:

In this article, the author talks about the conditions of the farmers across India especially in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh. He blames this condition to the ignorance and lack of understanding any problem sociologically by the BJP.

He then talks about the Madhya Pradesh CM’s response to this, blaming him for not handling this situation wisely and not seeing this as an agricultural crisis.

The author then says how ethnographies at ground level in the villages around Mandsaur reveal four disastrous decisions. One, the procurement price of crop. Two, the disastrous effect of the demonetisation. Three, government’s refusal to promote export of crops. And Lastly, the farm holdings in many cases are so small that it makes survival difficult.

In his concluding paragraph, the author wishes that Mr. Chouhan and Mr. Singh had learnt something if they had visited the National Seed Diversity Festival at Anna University, Chennai, earlier this month. It was literally a festival of Agriculture. The author emphasises on treating Agriculture holistically not just in terms of the silos of the mind.

Words to learn from this article:

Poignant: Something that evokes a sharp feeling of sadness
Slew: A violent or uncontrollable sliding movement
Groping: To search blindly or uncertainly by feeling with your hands
Fetishizing: To be excessively or irrationally devote to something
Axiomatics: The study of axioms

Reading Suggestion-1: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-2

Article Name: Just throw the bums out: An anti-incumbency revolt is sweeping the world
Author name: Ruchir Sharma
Source: Times of India
Category: Politics

Summary for this article:

The article says, how the confusing pattern of the election results in recent times explains that people are not carried away by ideology; rather they look for politicians who promise something new and want to see a change.

The election results in France, South Korea, Britain, Netherlands and Holland shows how weakly the incumbent party had performed. In some suffering defeats, in some merely managing to hold the grip while in others barely surviving with a diminishing mandate.

Right wing reformers are rising where the nation witnessed left-wing rulers; progressives are climbing the ladder where once the conservatives were seen at the top and unconventional populists are winning where we see the traditional parties going weak.

This confusing pattern in politics shows that people are no longer carried away by Ideologies rather, they seem to follow the notion of throwing an ineffective politician out when you have an option of a better one.

Words to learn from this article:

Incumbent: Someone who holds the office or a position
Dodged: To avoid something by quickly moving away
Resounding: Characterised by a resonant sound
Upend: To overturn
Undermine: To gradually make something weaker or less powerful
Slump: To fall heavily

Reading Suggestion-2: Click to read full article

Reading Suggestion-3

Article Name: For governments, loan waivers are the easy way out
Author name: R. Sukumar
Source: Hindustan Times
Category: Economics

Summary for this article:

In this article, the author says how the Indian government is currently facing a huge debt of dollar one forty-six billion and hence has gained the theme of debt.

Three problems are to carry the blame. The non-performing asset problem that contributes around Rs. two lakh crore or Rs. Two trillion of debt. The author, believes that this problem is the easiest to solve. With the right regulatory regime, some hard calls and the courage to take write-downs these NPAs could be viable and profitable.

Secondly, the debt on the books of the telecom companies poses a more difficult problem carrying a debt of 4.85 trillion as of 31 December 2016 and an addition debt of three trillion rupees for the spectrum they have already bought. The government forces should wait for the market forces to play out and watch the ensuing consolidation, but it should also push for these telecom companies to do certain changes.

Lastly, the most difficult problem is the agricultural situation in India; which is seeing the Farmer protests demanding loan waivers and better prices for their crops. The governments here are simply not resorting to push through some good agricultural reforms that would build the agriculture infrastructure and make farming a viable business, as the challenges and the complexity to achieve this makes loan waivers an easier option.

Words to learn from this article:

Waiver: Giving up the right of receiving the amount receivable or letting go off the amount receivable.
Non-Performing assets: The assets (loans and advances) of the banks which the bank might not be able to recover