Policy Pause; Preserving Press; Bhutan Bonhomie
Opinion Watch
Policy Pause
The growing concerns over the financial stability in Europe and the US may have been a context for the Reserve Bank of India to hit the policy pause button after its monthly meeting, argued The Indian Express in its Editorial. The daily also turned spotlight on views of some of the economists that inflation is headed for a sharp fall solely on account of high base effect.
The Noida-based daily also reasoned that there could be space for an extended pause for policy rates, with the RBI assessing that inflation may average 5.2 per cent for full year. It also stated that there are expectations, noted by RBI and the World Bank also, of marginal growth expansion.
After 250 basis point hike in the Repo Rate, the RBI had been accused of blindly copying the US Federal Reserve to scorch the disposable income to crush domestic consumption. RBI Governor Shaktikant Das has, however, warned that the policy pause may not be taken as the direction going forward.
Preserving Press
Several dailies have lauded the Supreme Court coming to the rescue of the press by asking the Central government to renew the license of Kerala-based Media One. The Asian Age has said in its Editorial that the apex court has justified its status of being the ‘North Star’ of Indian democratic voyage.
The daily, while noting the observations of the Supreme Court, flagged that crushing free press would only leave space for homogenized views on critical issues. It also lent weight to the apex court slamming the government for acting against the news channel for being “anti-establishment”.
For those who are not initiated into journalism, it must be known that touchstone of free press is seen in its “anti-establishment” reportage. Press is not meant to be propaganda outlet. But the trend is disturbing, as the Ministry of IT has now rules which mandate the social media platforms to take down contents on government labelled ‘fake news’ by the Press Information Bureau, a department of the Ministry of I&B.
The government in a reply to the Lok Sabha failed to answer if the PIB has competence to label ‘fake news’ to contents. Squeezed space for checks and balances is simply dangerous.
Bhutan Bonhomie
The Hindu has said in its Editorial that the visit of Bhutan’s fifth king Jigme Khesar Namgyel to India was substantive. India reiterated commitment to hydel projects in Bhutan, besides patronizing a new internet gateway, STEM education and startup ecosystem for the Himalayan nation.
But the visit of the Bhutan king, noted the Chennai-based daily, had the clear context of China-Bhutan border talks amid indications that there could be definite movement in the next 1-2 meetings over the northern border, including the Doklam tri-junction, overlooking the Siliguri chicken neck.
In Xi Jinping’s third term as ruler of China, Beijing is according top priority to its well-documented deceitful land-grabbing tactics. India must show agility in its diplomacy to defeat Chinese agenda.
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