Upsc mains essay paper: important topics.
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C hina’S giant economy faces an equally giant crisis of confidence—and a growing deficit of accurate information is only making things worse. Even as the country wrestles with a property crash, the services sector slowed by one measure in August. Consumers are fed up. Multinational firms are taking money out of China at a record pace and foreign China-watchers are trimming their forecasts for economic growth.
The gloom reflects real problems, from half-built houses to bad debts. But it also reflects growing mistrust of information about China. The government is widely believed to be massaging data, suppressing sensitive facts and sometimes offering delusional prescriptions for the economy. This void feeds on itself: the more fragile the economy is, the more knowledge is suppressed and the more nerves fray. This is not just a cyclical problem of confidence . By backtracking on the decades-long policy of partially liberalising the flow of information, China will find it harder to complete its ambition of restructuring the economy around new industries. Like the Soviet Union, it risks instead becoming an example of how autocratic rule is not just illiberal but also inefficient.
The tightening of censorship under President Xi Jinping is well known. Social-media accounts are ever more strictly policed. Officials are warier of candid debate with outsiders. Scholars fear they are watched and business people mouth Communist Party slogans. Less familiar is the parallel disappearance of technical data, especially if it is awkward or embarrassing for the party. Figures for youth unemployment, a huge problem, have been “improved and optimised”—and lowered. Balance-of-payments statistics have become so murky that even America’s Treasury is baffled. On August 19th stock exchanges stopped publishing daily numbers on dwindling foreign-investment inflows. As the economic dashboard dims , the private sector is finding it harder to make good decisions. Officials probably are, too.
To understand the significance of this shift, look back to the mid-20th century. Witnessing the totalitarianism of the 1930s and 1940s, liberal thinkers such as Karl Popper and Friedrich Hayek argued that political freedom and economic success go hand in hand: decentralised power and information prevent tyranny and allow millions of firms and consumers to make better decisions and live better lives. The collapse of the Soviet Union proved them right. In order to maintain political dominance, its rulers ruthlessly controlled information. But that required brutal repression, starved the economy of price signals and created an edifice of lies. By the end, even the Soviet leadership was deprived of an accurate picture.
As China grew more open in the late 1990s and 2000s, its leaders hoped to maintain control while avoiding the Soviet Union’s mistakes. For many years they allowed technical information in business, the economy and science to flow far more freely. Think of Chinese firms with listed share prices disclosing information to investors in New York, or scientists sharing new research with groups abroad. Technology seemed to offer a more surgical way to censor mass opinion. The internet was intensively policed, but it was not banned.
China’s top leadership also redoubled its efforts to know what was going on. For decades, it has run a system known as neican , or internal reference, in which journalists and officials compile private reports. During the Tiananmen Square protests, for example, the leadership received constant updates. Techno-utopian party loyalists reckoned that big data and artificial intelligence could improve this system, creating a high-tech panopticon for the supreme leader that would allow the kind of enlightened central planning the Soviets failed at.
It is this vision of a partially open, hyper-efficient China that is now in doubt. Amid a widening culture of fear and a determination to put national security before the economy, the party has proved unable or unwilling to limit the scope of its interference in information flows. Monetary-policy documents and the annual reports of China’s mega-banks now invoke Xi Jinping Thought. Deadly-dull foreign management consultants are treated as spies. This is happening despite the fact that China’s increasingly sophisticated economy requires more fluid and complex decision-making.
An obvious result is the retreat of individual liberty. In a reversal of its partial opening, China has become a more repressive place . Many Chinese still have liberal views and enjoy debate but stick to private gatherings. They present no immediate danger to the party.
The information void’s other effects pose more of a threat. As price signals dim, the allocation of capital is getting harder. This comes at a delicate moment. As its workforce shrinks, China must rely more on boosting productivity to grow. That is all about using resources well. The country needs to pivot away from cheap credit and construction to innovative industries and supplying consumers. That is why capital spending is pouring into electric vehicles, semiconductors and more. Yet if investment is based on erroneous calculations of demand and supply, or if data on subsidies and profits are suppressed, then the odds of a successful transition are low.
China’s admirers might retort that the country’s key decision-makers still have good information with which to steer the economy. But nobody really knows what data and reports Mr Xi sees. Moreover, as the public square empties it is a good bet that the flow of private information is becoming more distorted and less subject to scrutiny. No one wants to sign a memo that says one of Mr Xi’s signature policies is failing.
After the horrors of the mid-20th century, liberal thinkers understood that free-flowing information improves decision-making, reduces the odds of grave mistakes and makes it easier for societies to evolve. But when information is suppressed, it turns into a source of power and corruption. Over time, the distortions and inefficiencies mount. China has big opportunities but it also faces immense problems. A fully informed citizenry, private sector and government would be far better equipped to take on the challenges ahead. ■
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This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “China’s looking-glass economy”
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Welcome to the mirror world
By Jared Richards
By Velvet Winter
ABC Entertainment
Topic: Popular Culture
Linkin Park's new vocalist Emily Armstrong has come under criticism for previously supporting disgraced That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson. ( Getty Images/Sam Morris )
Welcome to ICYMI, where we recap the pop culture and entertainment news that you might have missed over the last few days.
Let us get you caught up.
Just hours after Linkin Park announced they were reforming with new vocalist Emily Armstrong , the singer was criticised by peers and fans for supporting disgraced That '70s Show actor Danny Masterson.
Masterson was charged with three counts of rape in June 2020 for incidents from the early 00s, when he was at the height of his fame. Last September, Masterson was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison for two of the three alleged rapes.
Masterson met his victims through the Church of Scientology. The victims claimed the church discouraged them from contacting authorities following the rapes.
Following Masterson's conviction, backlash grew towards his former That '70s Show co-stars Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis, who wrote character letters in support of the actor.
Armstrong's connection to Masterson was spotlighted last week following her debut performance with Linkin Park, thanks to a resurfaced comment from Mars Volta singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala.
"Do your fans know about your friend Danny Masterson? Your rapist friend," Bixler-Zavala wrote in a comment on a post on Armstrong's band's Instagram page last year.
Emily Armstrong and Cedric Bixler-Zavala attending the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre 44th Anniversary Gala in 2013. ( Getty Images: Ava Clithero/CoS )
Bixler-Zavala, who is a former member of the Church of Scientology, went on to suggest Armstrong and people from the Church supported Masterson in court, and harassed victims.
Bixler-Zavala's wife, Chrissie Carnell Bixler, was one of the multiple women who accused Masterson of assault, but he was not convicted on the charges related to her allegations.
Without mentioning Masterson by name, Armstrong denied any ongoing friendship with the actor in an Instagram story on Friday.
"Hi, I'm Emily, I'm new to so many of you, and I wanted to clear the air about something that happened a while back," she wrote.
"Several years ago, I was asked to support someone I considered a friend at a court appearance, and went to one early hearing as an observer. Soon after, I realised I shouldn't have. I always try to see the good in people, and I misjudged him. I have never spoken with him since.
"To say it as clearly as possible: I do not condone abuse or violence against women, and I empathise with the victims of these crimes."
Linkin Park is set to kick off a world tour in support of their upcoming album From Zero in September.
Even if you don't follow US football, the Super Bowl halftime spectacular remains an international show stopper, attracting every artist from Prince to Katy Perry.
Now, it's Kendrick Lamar's turn to helm the halftime entertainment show, which regularly attracts more than 100 million viewers.
The Humble rapper announced he'd be headlining next year's event with a very patriotic IG Reel.
"You know there's only one opportunity to win a championship, no round twos," Lamar says, as he feeds footballs through a throwing machine.
"I wouldn't want you to miss it. Meet me in New Orleans, February 9, 2025. Wear your best dress too, even if you're watching from home."
While this will be Lamar's first go at headlining the big game, he featured in Dr Dre's 2022 halftime show alongside Snoop Dogg, Eminem, 50 Cent and Mary J. Blige. The production went on to win three Emmys, including Outstanding Variety Special (Live) — a first-ever for the show.
Lamar's audiovisual production company pgLang — which helmed the artist's We Cry Together music video , as well as his last live tour film — will provide creative direction for his halftime show.
This show will be the culmination of a massive year for the rapper, after his Drake diss track 'Not Like Us' debuted atop the Billboard 100 back in May, and broke multiple streaming records (and you know, also won the beef).
"Rap music is still the most impactful genre to date," Lamar said in a statement announcing his upcoming Super Bowl gig.
"And I'll be there to remind the world why. They got the right one."
The Australian team behind Love on the Spectrum US has won two Emmy awards for the show's second season at this year's Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
The Northern Pictures team at the 2024 Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards on September 7. ( Supplied )
Co-created by Karina Holden and Cian O'Clery and produced by Australia's Northern Pictures, Love on the Spectrum U.S. won both Outstanding Casting for a Reality Program and Outstanding Directing for a Reality Program. This brings the show's total Emmy count to five, after winning three trophies for its first season in 2022.
The Netflix show echoes the format of the original Australian version created for ABC TV, following people on the autism spectrum as they approach dating and relationships.
In a statement, Holden said, "It's an incredible feeling for our cast and crew to be acknowledged by the Academy here in Hollywood." The show's third season is currently in production.
The Creative Arts Emmys continue Monday afternoon Australian time, celebrating technical and behind-the-scenes work.
The Primetime Emmy Awards will be held Monday September 16, with The Morning Show and The Bear leading with 11 and nine nominations, respectively.
Spanish filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar has taken out the top honour at the 81st Venice International Film Festival with his first English-language drama.
The Room Next Door, starring Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, won the Golden Lion (best film) over the weekend.
The movie — which is an adaptation of What Are You Going Through, a 2020 novel by Sigrid Nunez — focuses on friends who reconnect after one (Swinton) is diagnosed with stage-three cervical cancer and considers euthanasia.
Pedro Almodóvar, 74, poses with his Golden Lion award. ( Getty Images: Andreas Rentz )
At Venice it debuted to a 17-minute-long standing ovation, among the longest of the festival's recent history. It is Almodóvar's second Golden Lion, after receiving an honorary one in 2019 for his body of work, which features more than 20 movies including All About My Mother and Volver.
This year's Grand Jury Prize, the runner-up award, went to Italian director Maura Delpero's Vermiglio, a drama about an affair, set against the backdrop of World War II.
Other In Competition awards include: the Silver Lion for best director, going to Brady Corbet for his three-and-a-half-hour epic The Brutalist, starring Adrien Brody and Guy Pearce; the Special Jury Prize, awarded to Georgian filmmaker Dea Kulumbegashvili for abortion drama April; and best screenplay, going to writing duo Murilo Hauser and Heitor Lorega for Brazilian drama I'm Still Here.
Nicole Kidman won best actress for her performance in Babygirl, an erotic thriller where she plays an e-commerce CEO who has an affair with a young intern (Harris Dickinson, The Iron Claw ). Kidman was unable to accept the award on Saturday night due to her mother's sudden death, with film director Halina Reijn taking the stage in her place.
Best actor went to French actor Vincent Lindon for The Quiet Son, while best young actor went to 22-year-old French actor Paul Kircher for And Their Children After Them.
As previously announced, Australian filmmaker Peter Weir (Dead Poets Society, Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Truman Show) was awarded a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, alongside actor Sigourney Weaver.
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After a prolific, chart-topping year thanks to his beef with Drake, Kendrick Lamar has his sights set on the Super Bowl halftime show. (Getty Images: Ricardo Rubio/Europa Press)