TOPIC-1: Bolivia’s
Morales transformation.
It may be tempting to decry Bolivia’s referendum
vote on February 21 as being illustrative of a drift towards autocracy by popularly elected leaders. The charismatic Evo Morales sought a mandate to run
for a fourth presidential term in 2019, but it was denied
in a close vote. Whatever the moral merit underlying such a judgment, the truth
is that in the absence of a constitutionally stipulated
limit on the President’s term in office, unlike in France or in the United
States, strong and popular figures tend to seek successive re-election. As
regards the countries of Latin America, attempts to get around the
constitutional process in this respect cut across the ideological divide. There
is a common thread that runs through the contemporary experience of countries
as diverse as Venezuela and Colombia.
This is the memory of political volatility, U.S.-backed military dictatorships and armed insurgency, and the consequent shadow of institutional instability
that often remains well after the installation of directly elected governments.
In fact, Mr. Morales’s bid for his current third term was similarly secured
through a constitutional sanction, one that eventually culminated in his record
second-best electoral performance.
That said, judging from the public
mood of rejection of another electoral contest for the once near-invincible, and
first indigenous, President, the outcome must seem not inconsiderable a victory
for democracy, especially since the persona of Mr. Morales has been almost indistinguishable from his political rhetoric and policy initiatives. The
nationalisation of natural resources and utilities matched his anti-imperialist
stance. His cash-transfer schemes transformed one of Latin America’s poorest
countries into one of the region’s fast-growing economies and in the process
halved levels of extreme poverty. Cumulatively,
the political stability and macroeconomic performance of the recent years are a
comparison in contrast with the marginalisation
of the majority indigenous population during the 1964-1982 military rule
and the crippling impact of structural
adjustment in the years immediately thereafter. But the result in the
referendum may have put Bolivia’s evolving democratic ethos at a crossroads in
so far as it reflects a shift away from the large peasantry
that once constituted the support base of the Movement Toward Socialism
(MAS). A bulk of this segment is today an assertive,
ambitious and perhaps anxious middle
class that has seen much of the optimism of the boom in commodity prices and
consumer spending evaporate following the slump
in the global demand for oil. While there were as many incumbents in office
in the five years preceding President Morales’s ascent to power in 2006, MAS
has apparently not thrown up the next line of leadership in the period it has
been in office. Moreover, Opposition parties in Bolivia today seem to have coalesced solely on the issue of denying another
term for the incumbent President. From
now until the end of the Morales era, is a time for introspection.
VOCABULARY:
1.decry : publicly
denounce.
2.referendum : a
general vote by the electorate on a single political question which has been
referred to them for a direct decision.
3.autocracy : a
system of government by one person with absolute power.
4.charismatic :
exercising a compelling charm which inspires devotion in others.
5.denied : state
that one refuses to admit the truth or existence of.
6.stipulated : demand
or specify (a requirement), typically as part of an agreement.
7.diverse : showing
a great deal of variety; very different.
8.dictatorships
: a social situation where one person makes all the rules and decisions without
input from anyone else.
9.consequent : as
a result, effect, or outcome.
10.invincible :
too powerful to be defeated or overcome.
11.indistinguishable : not able to be identified as different or distinct.
12.rhetoric : the
art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation
of figures of speech and other compositional techniques.
13.Cumulatively :
Increasing or enlarging by successive addition. 2. Acquired by or resulting
from accumulation.
14.marginalisation : The process whereby something or someone is pushed to the edge of a
group and accorded lesser importance.
15.crippling :
cause (someone) to become unable to walk or move properly.
16.peasantry : a
member of a class of small farmers or farm laborers of low social rank.
17.anxious : feeling or showing worry, nervousness,
or unease about something with an uncertain outcome.
18.assertive :
having or showing a confident and forceful personality.
19.slump : sit,
lean, or fall heavily and limply.
20.coalesced :
come together to form one mass or whole.
21.incumbent :
necessary for (someone) as a duty or responsibility.
22.introspection :
the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes.
TOPIC-2: Cautious
optimism.
The Economic Survey presented in
Parliament by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reaffirms
the positive growth numbers that have been projected by many global agencies,
including the International Monetary Fund. Coming just a couple of days ahead
of the Union Budget, the larger picture detailed by the Economic Survey should
provide Mr. Jaitley a measure of confidence to show the business-friendly side
of the BJP-led NDA government with a reform-oriented road map. The Survey
indicates the possibility of India posting 7-plus per cent GDP (gross domestic
product) growth for the third year in a row. A 7.2 per cent growth rate in
2014-15 and a possible 7.6 per cent expansion in 2015-16 must be read
favourably in the context of the global slowdown and domestic concerns about
the farm sector after insufficient monsoon rains followed by a warm winter. The
Survey is quite optimistic about 7 to 7.75 per cent growth in the coming fiscal
year — in fact, the claim is made that “conditions do exist for raising the
economy’s growth momentum to 8 per cent or more in the next couple of years’’.
Liberally lauding the government for its
initiatives on the fiscal front, the Survey indicates that the Centre should be
in a position to adhere to its fiscal deficit target of 3.9 per cent of GDP. A robust expansion in the service sector, accelerated growth in industry and a pick-up in
IIP (Index of Industrial Production) have all, according to the Survey, created
a climate of optimism. Still, given the extremely uncertain external
environment, the Survey warns that “India’s growth will face considerable
headwinds”.
Also
read:
Only 5.5% who earn are tax payers: Economic Survey
It is in offering a prescription to deal with this malady of becalmed
global demand that the Survey makes bold. It makes a strong and valid case for
giving a big push to agriculture, health and education. It repeats the widely articulated industry demand for addressing the
“exit problem” that is hurting the economy. Calling it a “Chakravyuha
challenge’’, the Survey lists the enormous fiscal, economic and political costs
involved in sustaining incapacitated ventures. Another meaningful suggestion is
that India move from a pro-industry approach to one that is “genuinely
pro-competition”. The growth momentum, it is felt, could well be sustained by
“activating domestic sources of demand’’. Interestingly, the Survey sees in the
implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission recommendations a demand-booster.
The Reserve Bank of India, however, has chosen to view the pay panel-induced
payout from the prism of inflation. The Survey has rightly called for a quick
resolution to the twin balance sheet challenges — the impaired finances of
public sector banks and corporate houses. Indeed, this requires a holistic and fair solution. Suggestions such as plugging leakages in subsidy payouts, bringing
more income-earners into the tax net, phasing out tax exemptions, not raising
exemption threshold limits, introducing differential power tariff and imposing
higher property taxes are all resource-raising options listed to deal with the
resource crunch. How much of this purposefulness will in fact inform the new
Budget will be ascertained on Monday.
Also
read:
VOCABULARY:
1.reaffirms :
state again strongly.
2.lauding : praise
(a person or their achievements) highly.
3.adhere : believe
in and follow the practices of.
4.deficit : the
amount by which something, especially a sum of money, is too small.
5.robust : (of an
object) sturdy in construction.
6.accelerated :
(especially of a vehicle) begin to move more quickly.
7.prescription :
an instruction written by a medical practitioner that authorizes a patient to
be issued with a medicine or treatment.
8.malady : a
serious problem.
9.becalmed :(of a
sailing ship) unable to move through lack of wind.
10.articulated
:having two or more sections connected by a flexible joint.
11.holistic :
characterized by the belief that the parts of something are intimately
interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole.
12.plugging :
block or fill in (a hole or cavity).
13.ascertained :
find (something) out for certain; make sure of.
