 Greetings dear aspirants, welcome to today's current affairs session on civil speedia. Today we will be discussing about world economic outlook update and about scat form project to be implemented in the state of tripura under our prelims topic and about the fought lines of recrimination, the huawei episode and why evm's must go which both editorials that appeared in the Hindu newspaper under our main topic. So let's move on to a first prelims topic of the day world economic outlook update. So this has been in recent news across all the major newspapers with regards to the global growth trend that has been predicted by the IMF for the next two years. So with regards to this topic try to know about this particular world economic outlook and about IMF, the growth forecast which has been given by IMF for the entirety of the world and specially for India and some of the other reports that are published by IMF. So let's move to the topic. So this particular world economic outlook is published by the international monetary fund or the IMF. So it is published twice in a year. So in a half yearly, every half yearly it is being published especially it comes in the months of April and October every year and apart from this it is also being updated twice a year in the months of January and July. So we'll get update with regards to the world economic outlook every three months. So it provides IMF's economist analysis of the global economic developments during the short term and the medium term. So institution as IMF what you need to know is that it is an organization of 189 countries which is collectively managed by those countries which it works towards fostering the global monetary cooperation and also securing the financial stability of the world. And it also facilitates international trade between the countries and it promotes high employment among all the countries of the world and it also promotes sustainable economic growth between the nations of the world. Finally it will help towards reducing the poverty in the entirety of the world. And with regards to other reports that is being published by IMF it is the global financial stability report. So this was asked in one of our problems exam before two years. So this is all you need to know about IMF. So let's move on to the world economic outlook update that has been published in the month of Jan 2019 very recently. So if you see the global growth trend as a whole that the IMF is predicted that the global growth is likely to reduce largely because of the ongoing trade war between the US and China. So this is a major implication and second thing is the German nation or the Germany has come up with its new automobile fuel emission standards. So because of this the growth in that particular nation is also reduced. And if you see UK is going to come up with a no deal Brexit so it is going to exit from the European Union and there till now no deal has been reached by the UK government. This is one major issue and the next issue is the sovereign and the financial markets in Italy are in a very weak state and also the markets which are contracting in the country of Turkey. There is also a very visible market slow down in China which is which was the fastest growing economy in the world. Right now India will take over China as the fastest growing economy in the world. So all this is affecting the global growth trend as a whole. So the IMF has reduced the global growth trend for the entirety of the world for the next two years. But if you see country as India we have a very positive trend that has been shared by the IMF along with Brazil and UK as well. So it tells that if UK exits from the EU it's more likely to grow and there'll be a positive growth trend and also Brazil and India. So why India's economy will pick up because it will benefit largely from the oil prices. So if the oil prices are going to go low then our country's economy will grow at a very faster pace and if also the monetary tightening policy by the central banking authority the RBA. So that will also aid our faster growth and plus the financial pressure. So if the inflation pressures if they are likely to ease then we'll have a larger growth. So it has given the estimates for majority of the advanced nations and the developing economies and also for the world. So if you see in 2017-18 data world output is 3.8 and 3.7 growth trend which has been given by the IMF. If you see for China it has reduced from 6.9 to 6.6 in the year 2018. But for India it has grown from 6.7 to 7.3 and it is also likely to grow by 0.2 percentage points in the next two years which means 2019 and 20. If you see as for the entirety of the world it will grow. There'll be a growth but it'll be less than what is it as of 2018. So it'll grow at 3.5 percentage by 19 and 3.6 percentage by 2020. And for China it has reduced the growth trends to 6.2 percentage in the next two years. So this is all about the world economic outlook update that you need to know from prelims point of view. And all this data will be helpful for you from mains point of view and also the reasons for why the IMF has downgraded the global growth forecast will be helpful for the mains preparation. So let's move on to our next topic, the SCAT form project which is going to be implemented in the state of Tripura by the Tripura government. So with regards to this particular topic, what are the keywords that you need to keep it in mind about this SCAT form project in which state as I told it's going to be implemented in the state of Tripura and who is the target population that will be benefited by this project because this is a project that is being implemented by the government and what is the impact of this particular project. So this news was in recent news, this particular topic was in recent news in business standard newspaper. So let's see what is SCAT form project. So it's full form is sustainable catchment forest management project. Sustainable catchment forest management process. So a project, so it has three components. It should be sustainable, it's a sustainable project. It will involve developing the catchment areas and also managing the forest on hold. So both will go together and should be sustainable in the long run. So who are the target populations under this particular project is all those local communities living in and around the forest area in the state of Tripura. So what problems they are facing right now, there is a huge amount of soil erosion that is occurring in the forests of Tripura because of that the water is also running off, the soil is also running off. That way they are not able to get the maximum from the forest in terms of produce in terms of water. So they are largely poor, especially those people living in the forest areas. So this particular project aims to overcome that. So with regards to funds, 80% of the funds will be given by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which is the largest bilateral donor agency. And the remaining 20% would be funded by the government of India, which shares between central and state governments. What are the likely project impacts because of this particular project? So it would improve the forest in the targeted catchment areas. How? By constructing the check dams. So it has planned to construct around 1600 plus check dams. So once checks, check dams are constructed, it will conserve the particular ecosystem in the particular local forest area. And it would create livelihood for the people living in and around the forest areas. Because once the check dams are constructed, enough water is there. And also the government will take care of managing the forest by forestation and stuff. So the overall livelihood of that particular area would be improved. And plus it will also boost agriculture, fisheries in that particular forest area. And also tourism in that particular area. Because once check dams are constructed, they'll be able to construct some parks and tourism related activities near that particular area. So the tourism will also flourish in the state of Tripura. So this is all you need to know about the SCAT form project, the prelims point of view. Just remember in what which state is going to be implemented. So we'll move on to our main topic, the fault lines of diplomatic recrimination. So you need to know the meaning of recrimination. So this was in today's editorial in the Hindu newspaper. So recrimination is mutual accusation or counter accusation. Say if I'm going to accuse you of your wrongdoings, you will accuse me back of my wrongdoings. So what happens between US and China to be very precise? So it is mutual accusation. So the author largely discusses about the Huawei episode. So he tells that the Huawei episode raises serious concerns over issues that are relevant to international business and trade. So the three issues that he touches are the first one is the Huawei episode. And second one is those issues. What are the issues? So he has discussed three issues under this particular editorial and how it will impact the international business and trade. So this is the crux of today's editorial that has been discussed by the author. So you need to know something about the Huawei episode. Before that you need to know Huawei as a company. So it is a Chinese multinational company which is largely focused on manufacturing of hardware for the computers. So it has seen a tremendous growth plus it also manufactures smartphones. And it has overtaken the Apple company which was once the leading manufacturer of smartphones across the world. But now Huawei is the largest maker of smartphones. Along with this, it has also invested huge amounts in towards research and development of its particular hardware development. So the Huawei's growth is something which irks all the western nations, especially the US countries because Huawei is largely occupying the US market share. So it is seen as a threat to US hardware company. So the government itself has weighed in and is against Huawei. Plus along with this, there are also some issues that are happening with respect to Huawei. Let's see what it is. So the first thing is US has imposed sanctions on Iran, but it has arrested the chief financial officer of this particular Huawei company, Sabrina Meng Wanzhou, who also happens to be the daughter of the owner of the Huawei company. So on grounds of breaking human sanctions on Iran by way of bank frauds, which means they have arrested her in Vancouver, Canada when she was on transit and she has been arrested by the Canadian government for alleging bank frauds with respect to Iran. So the Canadian court has granted her bail, but she could face extradition to the US. Now Canada is being entangled between the broil between the US government and the Chinese government. If you see in retaliation to this or say the recrimination, which I told the mutual accusation, China has also taken some measures. It has convicted a Canadian national to death for drug trafficking. So this case was closed, but again it went for retrials and it has convicted a particular nation for and it has convicted for death. So Canada calls this as a political move. And if you see in the country of Canada, even if this particular national is being extradited to Canada by the Chinese government, there is no death sentence in its statute books, especially in the country of Canada. So there are some contradictions in the international laws. And if you also see along with this two more nationals, Canadian nationals have been arrested by the Chinese government on national security grounds. So one of them is a diplomat who was on leave. So this has further complexity matters. So this was a Chinese retaliation. So the author has called for three issues. As I told the Huawei episode raises serious concern over issues. So entire world governments or entire major corporations of the world cannot deny the wrongdoings of Huawei company because it is largely seen as a company that is close with the Chinese government. So everybody acknowledges these issues of Huawei, but those measures taken by the US government and the Canadian government is very worse and that's why China is retaliating very hardly at both of these nations. So the author has discussed three issues. The first issue is he has stressed for a need for protocol. So he has taken this China-West conflict. So he has very commonly told that China-West conflict, but it is especially a Chinese-US conflict. But the other nations of West are also involved in this particular conflict. So he has cautioned against exercising long-arm jurisdiction. It is nothing but a particular code in a particular nation exercising this jurisdiction over the foreigners to that particular country. Say India exercising this jurisdiction over some country, say Italy or UK national. And it will impact on the troubled state of the international relations and international law that operates in such cases. So I discussed the case here that if that particular Canadian national is being extradited from China to Canada, there is no proper law in Canada for him to give a death sentence. So the laws are quite arbitrary and the actions taken by these governments, especially the Chinese government is very unethical. So the author calls for a need for a protocol between nations in area of criminal justice. So this is the first issue that he has discussed. And the second topic that the second issue that he has touched is the cyber security. So China along with Russia has long been suspected by the Western nations that they are involved in cyber threats by spying with proven instances of online attacks and breaching the computer systems of the Western nations, especially US and UK. As you can see, there were many reports in the previous year, 2018 that data breaches were there in the government's software systems. And Huawei is also considered close to the Chinese establishment. If you see the owner of Huawei, Mr. Ren Zheng Fai, as links with the People Liberation Army of China. So there were some specific charges that were made by the West towards Huawei that there are microchips and devices in every hardware that provides substantial information to the Chinese authorities. But there was no evidence to back up by these Western nations. But for a long time the Western nations are very suspicious about Huawei's activities. So the second issue that the author has discussed is the cyber security. But Huawei is strongly defending that it is not involved in any such activities. And the third issue is the continued fragility of cyber security even for the common citizens. So as a common citizens who use your smartphones or we use our desktops, we put antivirus protection software and all. But even beyond that, even beyond the best software, there are some data breaches and there are some hacks happening which are being taken by those unethical hackers. So for an average computer user, the breaches are quite evident in highly protected environments as well. So growing reluctance can be seen among all those major multinational companies where they have now started investing less in areas of cyber security. So they don't want to focus more on cyber security. And they have emerged with some philosophy that security can never be 100%. So this is the third issue that the continued fragility of cyber security that has been discussed by the author. And the final one is the role of Huawei in the upcoming 5G network. Because this 5G network project is being taken up by many multinational corporations of the world and Huawei is having a major stake in that particular 5G development project. So it would be a game-changing project and it is to be released in the upcoming years. So China may be expected to up the ante if any western nation actually goes to the extent of banning Huawei from a role in the 5G upgradation. Because whatever moves that are being taken by the west in the recent days is being seen by China that Huawei is being targeted by the western nations. And China suspects handy Huawei campaign by the west, especially in terms of reducing its leading role. As we already discussed that Huawei has now overtaken Apple and it has now become the leading manufacturer of smartphones, which is being seen as a threat by the western nations, especially US. And now US wants to take a control over this and that's why they are targeting at large the Huawei company, but it has gone to a very worst extent of arresting this particular chief financial officer of Huawei. So this has become a big political broil between the western nations, especially US, Canada and with China. So this is all about this particular topic, the Fort lines of diplomatic recrimination. And the next topic that we will be discussing is why EVMs must go. So the author has discussed at large about the disadvantages of the electronic voting missions that are being used in the Indian elections. So he has taken the essence of the 2009 German top court ruling, where it has ruled that paper ballots will stay and EVMs will be banned in the country of Germany. So in its judgment it has given some three principles which the author has discussed at large. So let's see this. First, the author has discussed about the legitimacy of the paper ballots. So in a democracy, it will provide a legal moral legitimacy to the government. So democracy provides a moral legitimacy to the government. So this legitimacy is nothing but the people's will to elect their representatives in order to be a part of the government, to govern the people. So this thoughts or the wills of the people can be expressed one day by the vote. And this vote has to be anonymous, nothing but a secret ballot. So it should not be known to anyone of a person of an individual to whom he is voting. So it has to be a secret ballot. So for this to be a successful one, it has to pass the three tests of the free and fair elections. So the author describes what are those three pillars or three tests for conducting free and fair elections. The first principle is the transparency. And second thing is the verifiability. And the third thing is the secrecy. So the author at large discusses the difference between the paper ballot versus the electronic voting machines. And he largely gives the advantages of this EVM versus the advantages of the paper ballots based on these three pillars. So let us discuss these three pillars in detail in the later slides. So with respect to paper ballot. Now the voter can visually confirm that his or her selection has been registered. So once he or she is voting in a paper ballot, only he punches to a particular candidate. So he or she knows to whom he or she is voting. So this brings in transparency. And the second thing is the voting happens in a secret mode. So secrecy. And the counting happens in front of the representative's eyes. So verifiability is there. So all these three pillars can be seen in a paper ballot. But in case of EVMs, this is not the case. And yes, explain at large. So in case of EVMs, he tells that neither can the voter see a vote being recorded, nor it can be verified later whether the vote was recorded correctly. Because if he's going to punch against a particular candidate, he or she will know that they'll get only a beep sound. So what he or she sees might be voting for a particular candidate A, but the vote can also go for a candidate B or C. So we do not know. And the electronic display of the voter selection may not be the same as the votes stored electronically in the machine's memory, which I have explained. And to overcome this, this VVPAD came, the voter verifiable paper audit trial. Nothing but so now I vote to a candidate A. And now I'll get a paper sheet confirming that I voted to candidate A. But that sheet will not be available to me. It will go for counting, for physical checking by the election commission. So in order to address this particular gap, the VVPAD came. But there are again some issues with respect to transparency, verifiability, and also with respect to secrecy. So only the voting part has been taken care by introducing VVPAD in EVMs. So with respect to counting part, the operation still remains opaque. So if anyone is going to suspect a counting error, there is no recourse for an electronic recount is by definition an observed. So if there is some counting error in paper ballots, they'll again recount. So there is a possibility that there are some course corrections, but it is not possible in an electronic voting. What comes once it is again going to be the same. And with respect to verifiability, at presence, this particular auditing happens like only per polling booth per constituency. Here the sample size is too low, which has also been suggested by an IS officer as mentioned in the editorial. Because it is not going to give a proper picture that the EVMs have played a proper role in free and fair elections. So VVPADs can be an effective deterrent to fraud only on the condition that detection of even one faulty EVM in a constituency must entail the VVPAD hand counting of all the EVMs. What he comes to tell is that so if there is a fraud detected or a counting mismatch detected in a particular EVM with the help of VVPAD. So with this rule now, one polling booth per constituency, then the entire VVPADs has to be checked in that particular constituency. But there are many logistical challenges because it will again become equivalent to paper ballot counting. So there are some logistical challenges with respect to this verifiability component of VVPADs. And the author has also given one more dimension for secrecy. So in case of paper ballots, now the EC could, the election commission could mix the ballot papers from different booths before counting. So the voting preferences of that particular constituency cannot be connected to the particular locality. But as of now that is not the case with respect to the EVMs. So this is another dimension of secrecy where the voting patterns will be discerned to the candidates or to the political parties where they will take actions based on this particular voting patterns. And it might also go to a condition or an extent that it will render the marginalized communities vulnerable to pressure. So once a political parties come to know that the particular voters of their constituency have not voted for their party, they are more likely to be against those people of the particular area. So this is another dimension of secrecy that has been discussed by the author. And post this the author has discussed given some advantages of EVMs. But again he tells that EVMs are disadvantageous. So let's see what advantages that he has jotted down. First thing is he tells that the EVMs provide quicker results and nobody can deny that. And also this particular voting process is very cheaper and nobody can deny that. And the logistical challenges are equally less. And it also eliminates malpractices which can be seen in your paper polling like boot capturing and ballot box stuffing. So this cannot be seen with respect to EVMs. But author again puts term unjustified suspicions. So this was also discussed in that particular 2009 German top court ruling. So the election commission cannot work with an unjustified suspicion. Now that the people are not able to detect any frauds in this electronic voting machines, one cannot tell that the electronic voting machines are 100% foolproof. So the election commission has to come forward which has been stressed by the author towards justifying itself that EVMs are not good and it has to go back again to paper polling. So EC insists that the Indian EVMs are tamper proof unlike the western ones which has been quoted by the author. But the author stresses on the matter of trust. So the election commission has to work with a trust factor by going to paper ballot system by discarding this particular EVM system. Because as of now it is impossible to detect EVM tampering. But there are also some suspicions that have been raised by many sections of society that say that could be rigging in this EVM poll process even if a particular court for that particular mission is changed with respect to that particular polling booth. So it is possible. But as of now it has not been, there has been no evidence that has been properly given by those section of people. And if you also see there was a recent current affairs that there was some conference being held in Europe that and there was an Indian speaker who was against EVMs which the government has totally refused. And absence of proven fraud might save the EVM for now. But its survival comes at a dangerous cost. So the author tells that the corrosion of people's faith in the electoral process is bound to happen if the particular election commission is working with unjustified suspicions. So it has to self-justify itself and go towards paper ballot system is what the news or the message that has been stressed by the author. So with this we are winding up our today's topic. Please do like, comment and share the video and please subscribe to Shankar IAS Academy channel for latest videos and updates. Stay focused and motivated friends. Thank you.