World News -Foreign Diplomacy-TechNews-Artificial_Intelligence-BurningIssues

Privatization of Railways -Economic Development 1. Of the Rs 50 lakh crores planned to be infused for development of Indian railways, only a part can be financed through the Budget 2020 and the rest to be met by Private players. 2.  So, GoI (Government of India) decided to open some of the busiest passenger train routes to private players. Why are Private players required? 1. During normal times, demand for train seats is more than the supply. This leads to huge wait-lists, overcrowding of trains and loosing of business to other modes like road and air. 2. The Indian Railways (IR) passenger segment is a loss-making business as only 57% of cost is met through sale of tickets and the rest is cross-subsidized through freight operations. 3. There is stiff competition between passenger trains and freight trains on the overcrowded IR network. 4. The opening up of Dedicated Freight Corridor will easen the IR network for passenger train segments and will be an opportunity to engage private pla

1. T he current global scenario provides greater maneuverability for a ‘middle power’ like India. 2. As the US is not as assertive as it was in the past, many countries also started acting autonomously. Critical Analysis 1. As India was never a part of an alliance system, India maintained its strategic autonomy even in the post cold war era. 2. So, India is expected to take a more proactive stance on issues like terrorism, maritime security, connectivity and climate change. 3. India cannot be fully autonomous unless it becomes a self-sustaining economic power, not dependent on FDI and military supplies from other powers. 4. In the cold war era, India focussed more on the nation’s security and political interests damaging relations with the US and other powers. 5. But India moved closer to the US in the post-Cold War era due to large-scale privatization and globalization. 6. India should also be open to the inclusion of the European Indian ocean powers like France to be a part of the Qu