11 July 2023 : Indian Express
Indian Express
11-July–2023
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1. AMID THE DOWNPOUR
Syllabus – GS III
Context – After delayed onset, the monsoon has picked up. But worries about the skewed spatial distribution and dry spells remain.
Monsoon this year
- The delayed onset had sparked concerns about farmers having to possibly plant short-duration varieties, as against those grown and yielding more over a longer period subject to the timely arrival of rains.
- The surge from the second half of June has largely addressed that worry.
- The monsoon’s pick-up has meant that the total area sown under Kharif crops reported till last Friday was only 8.7 per cent below last year’s for the same period.
Cause of Concern
- Given that the window for planting extends right up to the month-end, any significant acreage gaps should be covered within the next few weeks.
- But two crops are still cause for concern.
- The first is rice, where public stocks and wheat stocks are just about comfortable, and the progressive area covered is 23.9 per cent lower compared to last year.
- Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand are major rice-producing and consuming states. In contrast to Northwest India, they are not getting much rain, which can pose problems down the line.
- The second potential pain point is pulses, whose acreage is down 25.8 per cent due to deficient rainfall in Karnataka and Maharashtra.
- It’s unclear how much of these shortfalls can be offset by Punjab, Haryana (in rice), and Rajasthan (in pulses).
- The skewed spatial distribution apart, there’s uncertainty over the monsoon’s behaviour in the rest of the season.
- This is more so with most global forecasters — the World Meteorological Organisation being the latest—declaring the onset of El Niño, known to suppress rainfall in India.
- The effects of it, if at all, could be felt after mid-July.
- Crops need rain not just during sowing but also for growing roots, stems, leaves and flowers.
- The current downpour that has wreaked havoc in cities and towns across North India shouldn’t lead to policymakers assuming that the fears of a deficient monsoon have been overblown.
- They must watch out for dry spells that can impact the standing Kharif and ensuing Rabi season crops.
2. Quota, diversity, adversity
Syllabus – GS II
Context – US Supreme Court order against affirmative action in admissions will resonate beyond campuses.
Students for Fair Admissions vs President and Fellows of Harvard College
- The United States Supreme Court barred universities like Harvard from using affirmative action policies in college admissions.
- The case, Students for Fair Admissions vs President and Fellows of Harvard College, struck down more than 50 years of affirmative action policies in American higher education.
- The US Supreme Court first upheld affirmative action in 1978 in Regents of the University of California vs Bakke, justifying these policies in the name of “diversity”.
- The diversity justification makes affirmative action under American law starkly different from reservation under the Indian Constitution, which locates reservation firmly within a rights framework. Diversity is a benefit enjoyed by an employer or a university, whereas reservation is a fundamental right guaranteed to citizens.
- By contrast, while the Indian Constitution prohibits discrimination on the grounds of race, caste, religion and sex, it also allows the state to pass laws benefitting women, children, socially and educationally backward classes, and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
- It specifically permits reservations, including quotas. Issues of equality in education in America are closely connected to the country’s history of segregation between whites and persons of colour.
- The American Constitution’s Equality Clause was introduced in 1868 after the Civil War ended slavery in the South.
Way Ahead
- In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, President Joe Biden has advised universities to adopt “adversity” criteria to ensure diversity in admissions.
- Predictably, Indian-origin politicians gave statements on party lines — Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat, condemned the judgment, while Republican Nikki Halley said it protects individual freedom.
- Affirmative action will be crucial when the US goes to the polls next year.
- While SFFA succeeded by clubbing Asian Americans together with whites, Asian Americans should remain cautious as its arguments play on stereotypes that they are “model minorities” and pit them against other minority groups.
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