Context: Should India have a national language? And if not, then why not. The article discusses the reasons as to why India is better off without any national language and why it must not try and impose Hindi on non-hindi speakers. Global examples In theory, a national language is a nice idea, but imposing it… Continue reading English-Vinglish, Hindi-Shindi: India doesn’t need a national language. Plus, Hindi is growing & English is no longer elitist
Category: 9 PM Daily Articles
Finger in every pie: Regular theft of biometric data shows how lax information storage is and why we need a strong law
News: Hyderabad police recently caught a man with around 2,000 fingerprints of separate individuals that were being used to purchase SIM cards, create bank accounts, and then engineer more frauds. Widespread use of biometrics Smaller public and private entities have now taken to biometrics with passion. Bengaluru Metro is mulling a facial recognition-based pass and… Continue reading Finger in every pie: Regular theft of biometric data shows how lax information storage is and why we need a strong law
Controlling the hard sell
News: ‘Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022’ have been notified by the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA). These guidelines have been long overdue. Contents1 What are the key provisions under the new rules?2 Why the new guidelines were necessary?3 What are the challenges involved?4 What is the way forward?… Continue reading Controlling the hard sell
The FATF and Pakistan’s position on its ‘grey list’
Context: Ahead of the plenary session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), in Berlin, Pakistan is hoping for a removal of its name from the FATF’s ‘grey list’ or the list of countries presenting a risk to the global financial system. In its last plenary meeting in March, the FATF had retained Pakistan’s listing,… Continue reading The FATF and Pakistan’s position on its ‘grey list’
What has Rajya Sabha achieved that a stand-alone Lok Sabha has not, or would not?
News: Constituent Assembly was divided on the opinion on establishing Rajya Sabha. That debate still holds relevance even after so many years. What are the arguments against the establishment and functioning of the Rajya Sabha? Lokanath Misra in the Constituent Assembly was of the opinion that, a) It will not serve any useful purpose, b)… Continue reading What has Rajya Sabha achieved that a stand-alone Lok Sabha has not, or would not?
NSS, CMIE are surveys not comparable. Studies should not relate them
News: Recently, policy advisors and researchers at the IMF and World Bank have also attempted to estimate headcount ratios under various assumptions. Contents1 About the recent poverty measurements by IMF and World Bank2 How does India calculate poverty estimations?3 Why does the NSS and CMIE surveys are not comparable?4 What should be done to measure… Continue reading NSS, CMIE are surveys not comparable. Studies should not relate them
Misery Index
Misery index is a simple sum of a nation’s annual inflation rate and its unemployment rate. The higher the index, the more the misery felt by average citizens. The first Misery Index was constructed by economist Art Okun in the 1960s. The Index has been modified several times, first by Robert Barro of Harvard and… Continue reading Misery Index
How India Got Her Top Guns
Context: In 1940/50s Indian Air Force (IAF) undertook air combat tactics and training through the Royal Air Force. Contents1 Evolution of IAF Training2 Measures Taken to develop tactics and training more suited to Indian needs3 Outcomes4 What are the challenges? Evolution of IAF Training In the post-independent India, The Indian Air Force (IAF) has sent… Continue reading How India Got Her Top Guns
‘Microbes cause Earth to function — from plants to humans, we all live due to microbial activity’
Contents1 What is the News?2 Why are Microbes essential to Earth’s species?3 Do microbes cause diseases?4 What is the significance of the Geosime molecule? What is the News? This article talks about why microbes are essential to life and the threat it faces from climate change. Why are Microbes essential to Earth’s species? Source: TOI… Continue reading ‘Microbes cause Earth to function — from plants to humans, we all live due to microbial activity’
India is not the fastest growing big economy
News: Recently, the Provisional Estimates of Annual National Income in 2021-22 was released. It showed that India’s GDP grew 8.7% in real terms and 19.5% in nominal terms (including inflation) which made India the fastest growing major economy in the world. Contents1 What are the problematic areas in the present GDP estimation?2 What are the… Continue reading India is not the fastest growing big economy
