Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ladakh and its topography
Mains level: India-China border disputes
This article from IE discusses this cold, dry, high altitude territory with its extremely scarce vegetation that makes it a point of disagreement between India and China.
Practice question for mains:
Q. India’s boundary disputes with its neighbourhood are the legacy of its colonial past. Analyse.
Ladakh: The Cold Desert of India
- Ladakh is the highest plateau in India with much of it being over 3,000 m.
- It extends from the Himalayan to the Kunlun Ranges and includes the upper Indus River valley.
- The importance of Ladakh is rooted in complicated historical processes that led to the territory becoming part of the state of J&K, and China’s interest in it post the occupation of Tibet in 1950.
Beginning of the Chinese claim
- In July 1958, an official monthly magazine in China published a map of the country that would in the next few months become a bone of contention between India and its East Asian neighbour.
- The map in question showed large parts of the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) and the Himalayan territory of Ladakh as part of China.
- Soon after ‘China pictorial’ came out with the new Chinese map, the leaders of both countries began writing to each other frequently regarding Ladakh.
- The exchange of letters between Jawaharlal Nehru and his Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai was followed by the Sino-Indian war of 1962.
- The war also led to the formation of the loosely demarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC) running through Ladakh.
The Integration of Ladakh into India
- Historically and culturally the state was intrinsically linked to neighbouring Tibet.
- Language and religion linked Ladakh and Tibet; politically too, they shared a common history.
- Ladakh was part of the Tibetan empire which broke up after the assassination of King Langdarma in 742 CE.
- Up until the Dogra invasion of 1834, Ladakh was an independent Himalayan state, much the same way as Bhutan and Sikkim.
- As the Sikhs acquired Kashmir in 1819, Emperor Ranjit Singh turned his ambition towards Ladakh.
- But it was Gulab Singh, the Dogra feudatory of the Sikhs in Jammu, who went ahead with the task of integrating Ladakh into Jammu and Kashmir.
British interests in Ladakh
- The British East India Company, which was by now steadily establishing itself in India, had lacked interest in Ladakh initially.
- However, it did show enthusiasm for the Dogra invasion of the area, with the hope that as a consequence, a large portion of Tibetan trade would be diverted to its holdings.
- The state of J&K was essentially a British creation, formed as a buffer zone where they could meet the Russians.
The Sino-Sikh War
- In May 1841, Tibet under the Qing dynasty of China invaded Ladakh with the hope of adding it to the imperial Chinese dominions, leading to the Sino-Sikh war.
- However, the Sino-Tibetan army was defeated, and the Treaty of Chushul was signed that agreed on no further transgressions or interference in the other country’s frontiers.
- After the first Anglo-Sikh war of 1845-46, the state of J&K, including Ladakh, was taken out of the Sikh empire and brought under British suzerainty.
Chinese interest in Ladakh after the occupation of Tibet in 1950
- The annexation of Tibet by China in 1950 sparked a newfound interest in Ladakh, and particularly so after the 1959 Tibetan uprising that erupted in Lhasa with Dalai Lama’s political asylum in India.
- In attempting to crush the Tibetan revolt while at the same time denying its existence, the Chinese have used methods which have brought China and India into sharp conflict.
- To begin with, the road that the Chinese built across Ladakh in 1956-57 was important for the maintenance of their control over Tibet.
- The building of the road through Ladakh upset Nehru’s government. The diplomatic negotiations failed, and the war of 1962 followed.
Why conflict has flared up again?
- There are two layers to this. First, up to 2013, India’s infrastructural development in that area was minimal.
- From 2013, India started pushing for infrastructure projects there and by 2015; it became a major defence priority.
- The second layer is the August 5, 2019 decision (to remove the special status of J&K and downgrade the state into two Union Territories).
- From the Chinese point of view, they would have assumed that if India makes Ladakh a Union Territory, they would be reasserting its control over the entire state.
- Moreover, it is also important to note that over time, Xinjiang which is part of Aksai Chin, has become very important to China for their internal reasons.
The dispute
- The British legacy of the map of the territory continued to remain the ground upon which India laid its claim on the area.
- India insisted that the border was, for the most part, recognised and assured by treaty and tradition; the Chinese argued it had never really been delimited.
- The claims of both governments rested in part on the legacy of imperialism; British imperialism (for India), and Chinese imperialism (over Tibet) for China.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNSC, NORMS
Mains level: Significance of UNSC membership for India
India gets re-elected as Non-permanent Members of UNSC with 184 out of the 192 valid votes polled in its favour.
Practice question for mains:
Q. United Nations is in need of structural reforms suiting to the needs of present times. Discuss.
What are ‘non-permanent seats’ at the UNSC?
- The UNSC is composed of 15 members: five permanent members — China, France, Russian Federation, the US, and the UK — and 10 non-permanent members who are elected by the General Assembly.
- The non-permanent members are elected for two-year terms — so every year, the General Assembly elects five non-permanent members out of the total 10.
- Even if a country is a “clean slate” candidate and has been endorsed by its group, it still needs to secure the votes of two-thirds of the members present and voting at the General Assembly session — which is a minimum of 129 votes, if all 193 member states participate.
Sharing of seats
- These 10 seats are distributed among the regions of the world: five seats for African and Asian countries; one for Eastern European countries; two for Latin American and Caribbean countries; and two for Western European and Other Countries.
- Of the five seats for Africa and Asia, three are for Africa and two for Asia.
- Also, there is an informal understanding between the two groups to reserve one seat for an Arab country.
- The Africa and Asia Pacific group takes turns every two years to put up an Arab candidate.
- Elections for terms beginning in even-numbered years select two African members, and one each within Eastern Europe, the Asia Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
- Terms beginning in odd-numbered years consist of two West European and Other members, and one each from the Asia Pacific, Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Current members as on today
- The current non-permanent members of the Security Council are Belgium, Dominican Republic, Germany, Indonesia, and South Africa, all of whose terms end this year; and Estonia, Niger, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, and Vietnam, whose terms end in 2021.
- India begins its term at the beginning of 2021 and will hold the position until the end of 2022.
Has India been in the UNSC earlier?
- India’s term on the 15-member Council will be it’s eighth.
- India has earlier been a non-permanent member of the Security Council in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, 1991-92 and 2011-12.
- For the 2011-12 terms, India won 187 of 190 votes after Kazakhstan stood down from its candidacy.
- Unlike Africa, which has formalized a system of rotation of its three seats, the Asia Pacific grouping has often seen contests for seats. In 2018, there was a contest between the Maldives and Indonesia.
- On the occasions when there is a contest, the elections for non-permanent seats can go on for several rounds.
- Back in 1975, there was a contest between India and Pakistan, which went into eight rounds, with Pakistan finally winning the seat. And in 1996, India lost a contest to Japan.
Significance
- Terming India’s winning of a non-permanent seat of the UN Security Council one of its best performances” ever, the Union government said.
- The strong support by almost the entire U.N. membership demonstrates the goodwill that India enjoys in the U.N. and the confidence that the international community has reposed in India.
- India’s EAM gave India’s overall objective during its forthcoming UNSC tenure as an acronym ‘NORMS’ — New Orientation for a Reformed Multilateral System.
- NORMS includes the push for expanding the UNSC permanent membership.
Back2Basics: United Nations Security Council
- The UNSC is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security.
- Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions.
- It is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
- The Security Council consists of fifteen members. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and the United States—serve as the body’s five permanent members.
- These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or candidates for Secretary-General.
- The Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve two-year terms. The body’s presidency rotates monthly among its members.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Civil Services Board and its functions
Mains level: Civil services reforms
Punjab government notifying Civil Services Board providing for a fixed tenure of IAS officers has left its leaders in the state upset.
Practice questions for mains:
Q. Discuss how fixed tenure for Civil Servants helps provide better administration.
What is the Civil Services Board (CSB)?
- Civil Services Board is responsible for the entry-level recruitment and subsequent job promotions below the rank of Joint Secretary.
- As per a state government notification dated June 2, CSB will be headed by Chief Secretary, with Personnel Secretary, and either Financial Commissioner (Revenue) or Home Secretary (who so ever is senior in the pecking order) as its members.
- The board provides for the state to follow the Centre’s guidelines on giving a fixed tenure of at least two years for cadre officers.
- They cannot be transferred before that and if anyone recommends their transfer then the board will examine and affect it.
- The final authority is the Chief Minister.
Why had the previous government in the state declined to follow the Centre’s guidelines?
- The previous government had refused to follow the guidelines on the argument that appointment and transfer of IAS officers are a prerogative of the state.
- If their term is fixed, it had argued, it will not only create functional and administrative problems but also overstep the authority and jurisdiction of the state government.
Why are the leaders upset?
- The political leadership of the ruling party in the state has usually always had a say in postings and transfers of district officials in the state.
- The opposition has been known to lend supremacy to its leadership over bureaucrats in the state.
- But ever since the ruling government has taken over, the grouse of its leaders has been that they do not get due respect in their own regime.
- This has led to several confrontations in the past.
- With the fixed tenure rule and Chief Secretary’s board having all power to examine a recommendation for a transfer, the leaders feel their influence has been reduced to nought and all power handed to the CS.
How do they see the board to be lending officer’s supremacy over them?
- If any officer is to be transferred before completing his minimum tenure, the board will record the reasons for the transfer.
- It will seek views from the concerned officer and then give a judgement on whether the tenure of the officer is to be ended mid-way.
- The final authority will be the CM.
What is the government’s argument in its favour?
- It says if the officials have a fixed tenure they will be able to provide better administration.
- They will also feel safe and try to stick to the rules instead of pleasing political bosses.
- It says every official requires 3-6 months to get into the groove at his new place of posting.
- If he stays there for two years, it would mean better delivery and stable tenure to people.
What do the officials say?
- They feel the rules will not be followed in letter and spirit unless a few officers go to the courts and ensure that the guidelines are followed.
- They say that neighbouring Haryana had the board in place but the guidelines were not followed.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rule of Law Index
Mains level: Rule of Law in India
The Supreme Court has asked the government to treat a writ petition for setting up expert panels to boost India’s prospects in the Rule of Law Index.
Note the various factors/sub-indices on which the index is measured. There can be a direct question on these in line with:
Q. Which one of the following is not a sub-index of the World Bank’s ‘Ease of Doing Business Index’? CSP 2019
(a) Maintenance of law and order
(b) Paying taxes
(c) Registering property
(d) Dealing with construction permits
Why in news again?
- The cause of action for the petition accrued when the World Justice Project ranked India in the 69th position in its Rule of Law Index.
- India has never been ranked even among top 50 in the Index, but successive governments did nothing to improve the international ranking of India, said the petition.
- Poor rule of law has a devastating effect on the right to life, liberty, economic justice, fraternity, individual dignity and national integration.
What is the Rule of Law Index?
- The Rule of Law Index is a quantitative assessment tool by the World Justice Project (WJP) designed to offer a detailed and comprehensive picture of the extent to which countries adhere to the rule of law in practice.
- It measures countries’ rule of law performance across eight factors:
(1) Constraints on Government Powers, (2) Absence of Corruption, (3) Open Government, (4) Fundamental Rights, (5) Order and Security, (6) Regulatory Enforcement, (7) Civil Justice, and (8) Criminal Justice
WJP definition of Rule of Law
The World Justice Project defines the rule of law system as one in which the following four universal principles are upheld:
- The government and its officials and agents are accountable under the law.
- The laws are clear, publicized, stable and fair, and protect fundamental rights, including the security of persons and property.
- The process by which the laws are enacted, administered, and enforced is accessible, efficient, and fair.
- Justice is delivered by competent, ethical, and independent representatives and neutrals who are of sufficient number, have adequate resources and reflect the makeup of the communities they serve.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Megaliths
Mains level: Not Much
The Kodumanal excavation in Erode Dist. of Tamil Nadu has threw light on burial rituals and the concept of afterlife in megalithic culture.
Must read:
Chapter 1 | Stone Age – Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic
About these sites
- The researchers have identified 250 cairn-circles at the village in Erode district.
- Earlier excavations revealed that the site served as a trade-cum-industrial centre from 5th century BCE to 1st century BCE.
- The rectangular chambered cists, each two metres long and six metres wide, are made of stone slabs, and the entire grave is surrounded by boulders that form a circle.
- The grave could be of a village head or the head of the community as the size of two boulders, each facing east and west, are bigger than other boulders.
- Believing that the deceased person will get a new life after death, pots and bowls filled with grains were placed outside the chambers.
What are Megaliths?
- Megaliths are the earliest surviving man-made monuments we know of—derived from the Latin mega (large) and lith (stone).
- Megaliths were constructed either as burial sites or commemorative (non-sepulchral) memorials.
- The former are sites with actual burial remains, such as dolmenoid cists (box-shaped stone burial chambers), cairn circles (stone circles with defined peripheries) and capstones (distinctive mushroom-shaped burial chambers found mainly in Kerala).
- The urn or the sarcophagus containing the mortal remains was usually made of terracotta.
- Non-sepulchral megaliths include memorial sites such as menhirs. (The line separating the two is a bit blurry, since remains have been discovered underneath otherwise non-sepulchral sites, and vice versa.)
- In India, archaeologists trace the majority of the megaliths to the Iron Age (1500 BC to 500 BC), though some sites precede the Iron Age, extending up to 2000 BC.
Megaliths in India
- Megaliths are spread across the Indian subcontinent, though the bulk of them are found in peninsular India, concentrated in the states of Maharashtra (mainly in Vidarbha), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
- According to archaeologists around 2,200 megalithic sites can be found in peninsular India itself, most of them unexcavated.
- Even today, a living megalithic culture endures among some tribes such as the Gonds of central India and the Khasis of Meghalaya.
Literary sources
- Megalithic culture finds several references in ancient Tamil Sangam literature. For instance, menhirs are referred to as nadukal.
- Ancient Sangam texts lay out, in detail, a step-by-step procedure for laying a memorial stone or nadukal in honour of a fallen hero.
- Manimekalai (5th century AD), the famous Sangam epic, refers to the various kinds of burials namely cremation (cuṭuvōr), post excarnation burial (iṭuvōr), burying the deceased in a pit (toṭukuḻip paṭuvōr), rock chamber or cist burial (tāḻvāyiṉ aṭaippōr), urn burial encapped with lid (tāḻiyiṟ kavippōr).
- Even in the Sangam age (when kingship and a well-ordained society had emerged) the above modes of burials survived.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Treaties with Nepal and Bhutan.
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China relations
In the changing circumstances, there is a need for recalibration of foreign policy when dealing with China. This article draws on a policy approach adopted by Nehru and suggests 4 areas to focus on while devising the foreign policy.
India must pay attention to “five fingers”
- The deadly clashes at Galwan and the ongoing standoff between India and China on the ridges or “fingers” around the Pangong Tso are a metaphor for the wider conflict between the two countries.
- The metaphor refers to all the areas that Chinese strategy refers to as the “five fingers of the Tibetan palm”.
- According to the construct, attributed to Mao and cited in the 1950s by Chinese officials, Xizang (Tibet) was China’s right palm, and it was its responsibility to “liberate” the fingers.
- Fiver fingers are defined as Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, and the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA, or Arunachal Pradesh).
- Sixty years ago, India began to set about ensuring that quite the reverse ensued, and all five fingers were more closely attached to India, not China.
- As the government of India grapples with its next steps at the Line of Actual Control (LAC), it must cast a similarly grand strategy, to renew its compact with each of those areas today.
Chines propaganda before 1962 War
- In the 1950s, even after India and China signed the Panchsheel agreement in 1954.
- And before the 1962 China-India war, the Nehru government had begun to worry about some of China’s proclamations.
- Especially after the flight of the Dalai Lama to India in 1959, China began to demand “self-determination in Kashmir”, wrote former Foreign Secretary T.N. Kaul in his memoirs.
- More importantly, school textbooks there began to depict the “five fingers” as a part of China.
India’s three-pronged foreign policy form past
- India’s defeat in the 1962 war has been studied in great detail, what is perhaps not so well understood is the three-pronged foreign policy New Delhi set into motion at the time, that provided an effective counter to Mao’s five finger policy over the course of the century.
Following are the 3 elements that also formed the part of past policy, with the addition of Jammu and Kashmir status change.
1. Focus on border infrastructure and governance
- The first was a push for building border infrastructure and governance.
- In the mid-1950s the government piloted a project to build the Indian Frontier Administrative Services (IFAS) for overseeing NEFA (Arunachal Pradesh) and other areas along the India-China frontier.
- The Foreign secretary was the Chair of the IFAS selection board.
- And many who enlisted in the cadre overlapped between the Indian Foreign Service, the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service, and rotated between postings in the most remote tribal areas and embassies in the region.
- A special desk was created in the Ministry of External Affairs for officers who would tour all the regions from NEFA to Ladakh in order to make suggestions for the rapid development of these areas.
- While India’s border infrastructure is only now catching up with the infrastructure China built in the course of the next few decades, its base was made during the brief period the IFAS existed, before it was wound up in 1968.
- An idea before its time, the IFAS’s role has since been transferred to the Indian Army and the Border Roads Organisation (BRO).
Idea worth revisiting: IFAS
- IFAS is an idea worth revisiting, especially as areas along the frontier continue to complain of neglect and a lack of focus from the Centre.
- In 2019, the Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram called for the resurrection of the IFAS.
2. Outreach and treaties
- The second prong were a series of treaties that were signed around that time with neighbours such as Nepal and Bhutan.
- And the consolidation of control, militarily and administratively, of other territories that acceded to India, including Ladakh as a part of Jammu and Kashmir (1947), and NEFA (1951).
- In 1950, India signed a treaty with Sikkim that made it a “protectorate”.
- By 1975 the Indira Gandhi Government had annexed Sikkim and made it the 22nd State of India.
- Each of these treaties built unique relationships with New Delhi, tying countries such as Nepal and Bhutan in ways that were seen as a “win-win” for both sides at the time.
Treaties outliving their utility
- Over time, the treaties have outlived their utility.
- And the benefits of unique ties with Nepal and Bhutan, including open borders and ease of movement, jobs and education for their youth as well as India’s influential support on the world stage, have waned in public memory.
What explains difference in Nepal and Bhutan for India
- One of the reasons that China has been able to make inroads into Nepal and not with Bhutan, is that the government renegotiated its 1949 Treaty of Perpetual Peace and Friendship with Bhutan.
- The India-Bhutan 1949 Treaty was replaced with the India-Bhutan Friendship Treaty in 2007.
- 2007 treaty dropped an article that had committed Bhutan “to beguided” by India on its external affairs policy.
- This has held India and Bhutan ties in good stead thus far, even during the Doklam stand-off between India and China in 2017 in the face of severe pressure from China.
- However, despite years of requests from Kathmandu, New Delhi has dragged its feet on reviewing its 1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendship between the Government of India and the Government of Nepal.
- and on accepting a report the Eminent Persons’ Group (EPG) on Nepal-India relations has produced that recommends a new treaty.
- New treaties may not, in themselves reduce India’s security threat from China in its neighbourhood.
- But they create space for a more mutually responsive diplomacy that is necessary to nurture special relationships.
3. Tibet strategy: India must chart a more prominent role
- For the third prong, India’s policy towards the “palm” or Tibet, itself should be looked at more closely as well.
- While New Delhi’s decision to shelter the Dalai Lama and lakhs of his followers since 1959 is a policy that is lauded.
- But it does not change the need for New Delhi to look into the future of its relationship, both with the Tibetan refugee community in India, which has lived here in limbo for decades, as well as with its future leadership.
- At present, the Dalai Lama has the loyalty of Tibetans worldwide, but in the future, the question over who will take up the political leadership of the community looms large.
- The Karmapa Lama, who lived in India after his flight from China in 2000, and was groomed as a possible political successor, has now taken the citizenship of another country and lives mostly in the United States.
- Meanwhile, China will, without doubt, try to force its own choice on the community as well.
- Given that it is home to so many Tibetans, India must chart a more prominent role in this discourse.
4. Introspection of reorganisation in Jammu and Kashmir
- Finally, it is necessary to introspect on how India’s own reorganisation of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019 has changed the security matrix and threat parameters for India, and its neighbours.
- While Pakistan’s extreme reaction to the move was expected, China’s reaction was perhaps not studied enough.
- Beijing issued a statement decrying the impact on Jammu and Kashmir, and another one specifically on Ladakh.
- In the statement, China called it an attempt to “undermine China’s territorial sovereignty by unilaterally changing its domestic law”.
- And warned that the move was “unacceptable and will not come into force”.
Consider the question “India’s relations with China has always had to factor in the border dispute. But the incidents in recent necessitated a relook at the foreign policy towards China.” In light of this, examine the factors that must form the basis of foreign policy.
Conclusion
The impact of the new map of Jammu and Kashmir on ties with Nepal as well, is no coincidence. There is proof enough that now more than ever, as the government readies its hand on dealing with China, it must not lose sight of every finger in play.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WIPO, UNIDO
Mains level: Paper 2-Multilateralism in the post-Covid world
What is the future of multilateralism? This is the question we have come across many times recently. Given the chaos that we are witnessing in the global order, multilateral seems to be headed for either collapse or capture by China. But, the author of this article suggests that it would be a mistake to consider the choice as binary. Between the collapse and the capture, there are many stakeholders working for its sustenance. So, multilateralism will endure.
International institutions performing below par
- The COVID-19 outbreak has placed all international institutions under a magnifying glass.
- By any measure, most have performed below par.
- Such is the caution espoused that multilateralism today seems to have reverted to its version 0.1.
- The General Assembly now passes resolutions through no-objection procedure.
- The Security Council has been found wanting in no small measure.
- The 75th session’s ‘leaders week’ runs the risk of being reduced to a video playback session.
Pursuit of change by threatening to leave
- It is true that functioning of multilateral institutions requires reform.
- They need to adapt to new realities.
- However, the pursuit of change by threatening to leave multilateral institutions is a phenomenon we witnessed only during the period of the League of Nations.
- One state followed another in bidding goodbye, until the League’s final demise.
Why post Second World War institutions survived departures
- The post Second World War multilateral institutions have survived such departures.
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in Paris and the Human Rights Council in Geneva have survived the departure of the U.S.
- The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna continues despite the withdrawal of the U.S. and many others.
- The World Health Organization (WHO), notwithstanding its visible shortcomings, will survive U.S. threats.
- The reasons are simple.
- Multilateral organisations serve desperately felt global needs of the vast membership.
- The pandemic has reinforced the desire for greater global cooperation amongst most states.
So, will the current multi-lateral order survive China’s onslaught?
- It is true that Chinese nationals head four multilateral organisations.
- It is also true that Chinese nationals have failed in campaigns to head UNESCO and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
- Despite contributing nearly 10% of the UN’s budget, Chinese nationals are not exactly over-represented in terms of staff positions.
- China has certainly risen up the multilateral pantheon and is able to better promote its interests.
- It has warded off attacks against it in multilateral fora, at times with the aid of the heads of these organisations.
- However, it is yet to display an ability to set the multilateral agenda and dominate the discourse on an array of issues, in the manner that the U.S. once indispensably did.
- China’s flagship venture, the Belt and Road Initiative, remains only on the fringes of multilateral fora.
- Neither in monetary terms nor in substantive inputs are there portents of a ‘Chinese takeover’.
- Amidst this, multilateral bodies are populated by a plethora of small and middle states quietly working to restore equilibrium, when the balance tends to shift.
- The capture of the existing multilateral order by a new hegemon is antithetical to the ethos of multilateralism.
- Multilateralism thrives on the notion of the Lilliputians tying up Gulliver — old or new.
Evolving multilateralism is not a choice between collapse and capture
- Between collapse and capture, there are other pathways.
- Multilateral architecture places a premium on structures over functions, processes over substance.
- It slows down the change of any sort.
- The same processes that have stalled change in the past will militate against a takeover in the future.
- Does that mean that multilateralism will meander meaninglessly?
- It will meander, but perhaps not meaninglessly.
- The ‘pluri-laterals’ and the emerging ‘mini-laterals’ each have their place in terms of international agenda-setting, but global norm-setting requires inclusivity that they lack.
Opportunity for India
- Being able to shape the discourse at an incipient stage is a good perch to be on.
- Issue-specific ‘coalitions of the willing’ are catalysts.
- As a growing power, India needs to avail of such avenues.
- However, by themselves, these will not do justice to the depth and variety of India’s interests and our stakes in global cooperation.
- Also, they are not holistic solutions in ensuring global acceptance of norms.
Understanding the essence of multilateralism
- Responses of states during the COVID-19 crisis point to more emphasis on sovereign decision making than before.
- The imprimatur for acting on behalf of the global community is not going to be available easily.
- On myriad issues, from sustainable development to the environment, from climate change to pandemics and cyberspace to outer space, the demands for ‘nothing about us without us’ are likely to increase.
- Since stakeholders perceive that their stakes have risen, they will call for enhanced engagement.
- Convening such stakeholders in pursuit of global goals is the essence of multilateralism.
Consider the question “In the world afflicted by Covid, multilateralism seems to be headed for collapse or capture by a hegemon. Critically examine.”
Conclusion
We need to patiently promote reforms while building partnerships to avail opportunities which may arise for more fundamental change. We need to bide our time without hiding our intent.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: DMZ, Armstice Agreement
Mains level: Read the attached story
North Korea blew up the joint liaison office with South Korea in Kaesong, an industrial township on its side of the border, becoming one of the most serious incidents to have occurred between the two countries, without them actually going to war.
Must read:
What is the Korean Armistice Agreement?
Practice question for mains:
Q. What is the Korean Armstice Agreement? Discuss the concept of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)?
What is this liaison office?
- In 2003, North Korea and South Korea jointly set up a liaison office at Kaesong in North Korea.
- It was set up in 2018 to facilitate communication between North Korea and South Korea.
- The Kaesong Industrial Complex is a joint industrial zone where factories are operated and run by both North Koreans and South Koreans.
- At its height, approximately 120 factories were operating in this industrial zone with more than 50,000 North Korean employees and several hundred managers.
Why did Pyongyang demolish it?
- Since the past week, tensions between the two countries had increased after Pyongyang objected to activists and defectors in South Korea sending anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets, rice and Bibles using balloons.
- Experts believe that these moves come after North Korea’s frustrations at South Korea’s inability to revive inter-Korean economic projects under pressure from the US, along with UN sanctions.
What’s next?
- The demolition occurred just days after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong had threatened to destroy the liaison office.
- Following the demolition, North Korean said that it would be deploying troops in demilitarized areas, including in the Kaesong industrial zone.
Are they heading towards war?
- Observers say that these actions by North Korea have been the most provocative in recent years.
- Experts believe these provocations may have occurred because Pyongyang is hoping to pressure Seoul into giving it more concessions that would be economically beneficial for North Korea that has been hit hard by sanctions.
- Experts believe these actions, however provocative, are not severe enough for Seoul to contemplate military aggression in retaliation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ECA, APMC Act
Mains level: Paper 3- Agri-marketing and issues with it
Following the announcement of reforms in the agri-sector, the government issued ordinances to make good on its promise. These ordinances deal with- ECA-1955, APMC Act and Contract farming. The author in this article examines whether these ordinances deliver on the promises made or not.
1) Ordinance for amendment of APMC Act
- ‘Farming Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Ordinance 2020.’ seek to address the problems farmers face in selling their produce.
- Due to the unionisation of middlemen (arhatias) and their financial clout, politicians in the states have been reluctant to amend agriculture marketing laws which are exploitative and don’t allow farmers to receive a fair price.
- Rather than coax the states financially to correct the markets, an unregulated marketplace has been created where 15 crore farmers will be exposed to the skulduggery of traders.
- Imagine the mayhem in stock markets if ROC and SEBI were similarly made redundant.
Issues and benefits
- Rather than replicate Punjab’s successful agriculture mandi model, now states will lose vital revenue to even upgrade and repair rural infrastructure.
- The ordinance may be challenged by the states for its constitutional overreach.
- But, on the flip side, over time, the largest informal sector in the country will begin to get formalised and new business models will develop.
- A different breed of aggregators will create the much-needed competition to the existing monopoly of local traders.
- Additionally, henceforth, when farmers sell agricultural produce outside of APMC market yards, they cannot legally be charged commission on the sale of farm produce.
- To survive, the APMCs across the nation will have to radically standardise and rationalise their mandi fee structure and limit the commission charged by traders on sale of farmers’ produce.
2) ECA 1955: Not enough has been done
- Here, the amendment was supposed to allay the genuine fears of traders emitting from the bureaucracy’s draconian powers to arbitrarily evoke stockholding limits etc.
- Rather than forego its own powers for the larger good, the amendment’s fine print makes it ambiguous and leaves space for whimsical interpretations as before.
- The trader’s uncertainty is compounded by the arbitrary import-export policy decisions which dilute the purpose of the amendment itself.
3) Ordinance on Contract farming
- “The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance 2020” tries to placate the fears of both the farmer and the contractor when they sign an agreement.
- For the farmer, the legal recourse is never a practical choice as the persuasive powers of the aggregators’ deep pockets cast a dark shadow over the redressal process.
- Likewise, the tediously stretched legal proceedings are dissuasion enough to either not seek redressal or settle for unfavourable terms.
- That produce derived from contract farming operations will not be subject to any obstructionist laws is a very good step.
- Farmer-producer organisations and new aggregators will get a boost with these laws, and become harbingers of prosperity in some small corners of the countryside.
- There are green shoots in the ordinances, but the downside dwarfs the upside.
So, what are the implications of these 3 reforms?
- The union of the three ordinances appears to be a precursor to implementing the Shanta Kumar Committee recommendations to dilute and dismantle FCI, MSP & PDS which will push farmers from the frying into the fire.
- It may also be interpreted to mean that now the sugar industry needn’t pay farmers the central government FRP or the state government SAP price for sugarcane.
Consider the question ” There was a mention of reforms related to agri-sector in the recently announced stimulus package. Examine the issues with segments of agri-sector which necessitated these reforms.”
Conclusion
The reforms in these 3 areas if carried out earnestly could go a long way in helping the farmers get out of the misery and help achieve the goal of doubling of farmers income in the set time frame.
Back2Basics: Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee Regulation (APMC) Act.
- All wholesale markets for agricultural produce in states that have adopted the Agricultural Produce Market Regulation Act (APMRA) are termed as “regulated markets”.
- With the exception of Kerala, J & K, and Manipur, all other states have enacted the APMC Act.
- It mandates that the sale/purchase of agricultural commodities notified under it are to be carried out in specified market areas, yards or sub-yards. These markets are required to have the proper infrastructure for the sale of farmers’ produce.
- Prices in them are to be determined by open auction, conducted in a transparent manner in the presence of an official of the market committee.
- Market charges for various agencies, such as commissions for commission agents (arhtiyas); statutory charges, such as market fees and taxes; and produce-handling charges, such as for cleaning of produce, and loading and unloading, are clearly defined, and no other deduction can be made from the sale proceeds of farmers.
- Market charges, costs, and taxes vary across states and commodities.
Essential Commodities Act 1955
- The ECA is an act which was established to ensure the delivery of certain commodities or products, the supply of which if obstructed owing to hoarding or black-marketing would affect the normal life of the people.
- The ECA was enacted in 1955. This includes foodstuff, drugs, fuel (petroleum products) etc.
- It has since been used by the Government to regulate the production, supply and distribution of a whole host of commodities it declares ‘essential’ in order to make them available to consumers at fair prices.
- Additionally, the government can also fix the maximum retail price (MRP) of any packaged product that it declares an “essential commodity”.
- The list of items under the Act includes drugs, fertilizers, pulses and edible oils, and petroleum and petroleum products.
- The Centre can include new commodities as and when the need arises, and takes them off the list once the situation improves.
How ECA works?
- If the Centre finds that a certain commodity is in short supply and its price is spiking, it can notify stock-holding limits on it for a specified period.
- The States act on this notification to specify limits and take steps to ensure that these are adhered to.
- Anybody trading or dealing in the commodity, be it wholesalers, retailers or even importers are prevented from stockpiling it beyond a certain quantity.
- A State can, however, choose not to impose any restrictions. But once it does, traders have to immediately sell into the market any stocks held beyond the mandated quantity.
- This improves supplies and brings down prices. As not all shopkeepers and traders comply, State agencies conduct raids to get everyone to toe the line and the errant are punished.
- The excess stocks are auctioned or sold through fair price shops.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Himlayan mountain ranges
Mains level: Landslides in India
This newscard talks about the city of Dharamshala where landslides occur frequently.
Practice question for mains:
Q.“Himalayan region is more susceptible to floods and flood induced landslides than the Western Ghats”. Discuss.
Why is Dharamshala more vulnerable to landslides?
- Dharamshala has a slope varying from gentle to steep, depending on different parts of the city.
- It is located in Zone V in the earthquake hazard zoning map of India.
- The large differences in slope between different parts of the city make it more susceptible to critical hazards like landslides.
- The vulnerability of the geologically young steep slopes of Dhauladhar has increased because of anthropogenic activities and illegal construction due to the lack of availability of land.
Why do landslides occur?
- Increasing urbanisation, deforestation and encroachment of areas at high hill slopes, unscientific road cutting and water-intensive agricultural practices contributed to the increase in intensity and frequency of landslides.
- The situation is worse during the monsoon when landslide-prone areas are washed away due to exposure.
- This is due to the demand for living within the city. It is not just the difference between slopes, but also anthropogenic causes that lead to the emergence of hazards like landslides.
Why tourist spots are more vulnerable?
1) Road traffic is high
- During the peak tourist season, the road is marred with traffic jams due to continuous sinking.
- Several factors have continuously contributed to an increase in the road’s vulnerability. The first is Illegal construction and uncontrolled levelling of hillocks along the roads.
- Hillocks are flattened to accommodate housing projects, commercial establishments, etc. The informal sector often starts residing in these areas which are more vulnerable to risks.
- These areas have comparatively lower land values and fewer people come to settle here.
2) Loss in green cover
- The second is a loss in green cover, something that occurs as more people reside within the city, increasing soil erosion, risking the further vulnerability to landslides.
- Due to the loss of green cover and steep gradient of the slope, water is not absorbed in the soil and washed away very quickly.
3) Damaged topography
- The third is the unscientific manner of cutting hills for widening roads and construction.
- This causes the sinking of roads, which affects road width and causes traffic interruptions.
4) Sewage failures
- The fourth is the absence of a sewerage system in the area. Due to unavailability of sewerage systems, people construct septic tanks that are unsafe for soil strata.
- Water from septic tanks drains to the upper layer of soil that has loose soil, making areas more vulnerable to damage from landslides.
Also read
The Northern and Northeastern Mountains | Part 1
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Vaccine nationalism
Hundreds of COVID-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed. Many countries are securing priority access to doses of COVID-19 vaccine.
Practice question for Mains:
Q. What is Vaccine Nationalism? Discuss various ethical issues involved and its impact on vulnerable populations across the globe.
Vaccine nationalism during COVID-19
- Vaccine nationalism occurs when a country manages to secure doses of vaccine for its own citizens or residents before they are made available in other countries.
- This is done through pre-purchase agreements between a government and a vaccine manufacturer.
- Vaccine nationalism is harmful to equitable access to vaccines.
US begins to secure
- In India, the privately held Serum Institute is developing one of the leading COVID-19 vaccine candidates.
- The Serum Institute signalled that, if the development of the vaccine succeeds, most of the initial batches of the vaccine will be distributed within India.
- At the same time, India, alongside the US and Russia, chose not to join the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator.
- This was a WHO moves to promote collaboration among countries in the development and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.
Vaccine nationalism is not new
- During the early stages of the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, some of the wealthiest countries entered into pre-purchase agreements with several pharmaceutical companies working on H1N1 vaccines.
- At that time, it was estimated that, in the best-case scenario, the maximum number of vaccine doses that could be produced globally was two billion.
- The US alone negotiated and obtained the right to buy 600,000 doses. All the countries that negotiated pre-purchase orders were developed economies.
- Only when the 2009 pandemic began to unwind and demand for a vaccine dropped did developed countries offer to donate vaccine doses to poorer economies.
Issues with such nationalism
- The most immediate effect of vaccine nationalism is that it further disadvantages countries with fewer resources and bargaining power.
- It deprives populations in the Global South from timely access to vital public health goods.
- Taken to its extreme, it allocates vaccines to moderately at-risk populations in wealthy countries over populations at higher risk in developing economies.
- Vaccine nationalism also runs against the fundamental principles of vaccine development and global public health.
Why it is unethical?
- Most vaccine development projects involve several parties from multiple countries.
- With modern vaccines, there are very few instances in which a single country can claim to be the sole developer of a vaccine.
- And even if that were possible, global public health is borderless. As COVID-19 is illustrating, viruses can travel the globe.
Its impacts
- If COVID-19 vaccines are not made available affordably to those who need them, the consequences will likely be disproportionately severe for poorer or otherwise vulnerable and marginalised populations.
- Without broad access to a vaccine, these populations will likely continue to suffer more than others, leading to unnecessary disease burden, continued economic problems and potential loss of life.
Conclusion
- Nationalism is at odds with global public health principles. Yet, there are no provisions in international laws that prevent pre-purchase agreements like the ones described above.
- There is nothing inherently wrong with pre-purchase agreements of pharmaceutical products.
- Vaccines typically do not generate as much in sales as other medical products.
- If used correctly, pre-purchase agreements can even be an incentive for companies to manufacture vaccines that otherwise would not be commercialized.
Way forward
- Equity entails both, affordability of vaccines and access opportunities for populations across the world, irrespective of geography and geopolitics.
- Contracts should not trump equitable access to global public health goods.
- Developed countries should pledge to refrain from reserving vaccines for their populations during public health crises.
- The WHO’s Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator is a starting point for countries to test collaborative approaches during the current pandemic.
- International institutions — including the WHO — should coordinate negotiations ahead of the next pandemic to produce a framework for equitable access to vaccines during public health crises.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Axone
Mains level: NA
A movie named Axone — also spelt akhuni —soya bean dish of Nagaland has been recently released.
The traditional ‘Axone’ dish is very unique in itself. However, one must note that it does NOT carry any GI tag. Still, there is a possibility of it being asked in match the pair type questions.
What is Axone?
- Axone — also spelt akhuni — is a fermented soya bean of Nagaland, known for its distinctive flavour and smell.
- As much an ingredient as it is a condiment, Axone used to make pickles and chutneys, or curries of pork, fish, chicken, beef etc.
- While it is called ‘axone’ in parts of Nagaland, fermented soya bean is cooked with, eaten and known by different names in different parts of Northeast India, including Meghalaya and Mizoram, Sikkim, Manipur as well in other South, Southeast and East Asian countries.
- Axone is prepared and eaten across Nagaland but is particularly popular among the Sumi (also Sema) tribe. They use it in every meal.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nathu La and Cho La
Mains level: Paper 2- India-China border dispute
This article chronicles the border dispute between the two countries. It began in 1914 and ever after more than a hundred years it still continues. But the latest clash was the deadliest after 1967. Let’s go through past incidents over the border issue.
1914: A border China never agreed to
- The conflict stretches back to at least 1914.
- In 2014 representatives from Britain, the Republic of China and Tibet gathered in Simla to negotiate a treaty that would determine the status of Tibet and effectively settle the borders between China and British India.
- The Chinese, unhappy at proposed terms that would have allowed Tibet to be autonomous and remain under Chinese control, refused to sign the deal.
- But Britain and Tibet signed a treaty establishing what would be called the McMahon Line, named after a British colonial official, Henry McMahon, who proposed the border.
- India maintains that the McMahon Line, a 550-mile frontier that extends through the Himalayas, is the official legal border between China and India.
- But China has never accepted it.
1962: India-China War and origin of LAC
- Tensions rose throughout the 1950s.
- The Chinese insisted that Tibet was never independent and could not have signed a treaty creating an international border.
- There were several failed attempts at peaceful negotiation.
- China sought to control critical roadways near its western frontier in Xinjiang.
- India and its Western allies saw any attempts at Chinese incursion as part of a wider plot to export Maoist-style Communism across the region.
- By 1962, war had broken out.
- Chinese troops crossed the McMahon Line and took up positions deep in Indian territory, capturing mountain passes and towns.
- By November China declared a cease-fire, unofficially redrawing the border near where Chinese troops had conquered territory.
- It was the so-called Line of Actual Control.
1967: In Sikkim, India pushes China back
- Tensions came to a head again in 1967 along two mountain passes, Nathu La and Cho La, that connected Sikkim — then a kingdom and a protectorate of India — and China’s Tibet Autonomous Region.
- A scuffle broke out when Indian troops began laying barbed wire along what they recognized as the border.
- The scuffles soon escalated when a Chinese military unit began firing artillery shells at the Indians.
- In the ensuing conflict, more than 150 Indians and 340 Chinese were killed.
- The clashes in September and October 1967 in those passes would later be considered the second all-out war between China and India.
- But India prevailed, destroying Chinese fortifications in Nathu La and pushing them farther back into their territory near Cho La.
- The change in positions, however, meant that China and India each had different and conflicting ideas about the location of the Line of Actual Control.
- The fighting was the last time that troops on either side would be killed. — until the skirmishes in the Galwan Valley on Tuesday.
1987: A crisis averted
- In 1987, the Indian military was conducting a training operation to see how fast it could move troops to the border.
- The large number of troops and material arriving next to Chinese outposts surprised Chinese commanders — who responded by advancing toward what they considered the Line of Actual Control.
- Realizing the potential to inadvertently start a war, both India and China de-escalated, and a crisis was averted.
2013: Stand-off at Daulat Beg Oldi
- After decades of patrolling the border, a Chinese platoon pitched a camp near Daulat Beg Oldi in April 2013.
- The Indians soon followed, setting up their own base fewer than 1,000 feet away.
- The camps were later fortified by troops and heavy equipment.
- By May, the sides had agreed to dismantle both encampments, but disputes about the location of the Line of Actual Control persisted.
2017: Doklam Stand-off
- In June 2017, the Chinese set to work building a road in the Doklam Plateau, an area of the Himalayas controlled not by India, but by its ally Bhutan.
- Indian troops carrying weapons and operating bulldozers confronted the Chinese with the intention of destroying the road.
- A standoff ensued, soldiers threw rocks at each other, and troops from both sides suffered injuries.
- In August, the countries agreed to withdraw from the area, and China stopped construction on the road.
2020: Ladakh stand-off
- In May, melees broke out several times.
- In one clash at the glacial lake Pangong Tso, Indian troops were badly injured and had to be evacuated by helicopter.
- China bolstered its forces with dump trucks, excavators, troop carriers, artillery and armored vehicles, Indian experts said.
- What was clear was that it was the most serious series of clashes between the two sides since 2017 — and a harbinger of the deadly confrontation to come.
Consider the question “Examine the elements that make the border dispute between India and China difficult to resolve.”
Conclusion
Border dispute in two giants could easily escalate into a full-blown war. India has to recalibrate the policy approach after the recent clash and take steps that would prepare it for such an eventuality.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian states sharing border with Nepal
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Nepal ties and border issue
Of late, India’s bilateral relations with Nepal has been going south. The latest trigger has been the changes made by Nepal in the map. This article explores the transformation of Nepal and its impact on India-Nepal relations. Despite the efforts by Nepal to explore the options beyond India, ties are still robust between the two countries and this is reflected in more than one ways.
Let’s map the changes in Nepal with one constant factor: nationalism
1. Democracy
- The obvious change in Nepal is that it is now a democratic republic after nearly 250 years of being a monarchy.
- The Nepali Congress and Maoist leader, Prachanda, claim democracy (1990) and the abolition of monarchy (2008) as their legacies.
2. Societal change due to exposure to globalisation
- More pervasive is the societal change from Nepal’s exposure to globalisation.
- Geography, too, stands to change, with the Chinese now having the potential to bore through the Himalayas and exhibiting their presence in Kathmandu in economics and politics.
3. Nationalism
- The constant in Nepal is nationalism which is really a mask for anti-India sentiment.
- Politicians use it for personal gain, and it is deeply ingrained in the bureaucracy, academia and the media.
- Today, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli is cementing his legacy as a nationalist by extending Nepal’s map into Indian territory.
- The cartographic aggression and the embedding of the new map in the country’s national emblem and Constitution are untenable and should have been avoided under all circumstances.
- In 2015, the Nepali Congress government adopted the new Constitution, ignoring India’s concerns.
4. Identity politics
- Identity politics with India is also visible within the country.
- Nepali citizens from the Terai (Madhesis) feel discriminated as being “Indian”.
To Nepal, their attitudes reflect the angst of a small state. To India, Nepal appears incorrigible.
Let’s understand how globalisation changed Nepal
- After democracy was restored in 1990, passports were more liberally issued, and Nepalis began looking for work opportunities globally, beyond just India.
- West Asia and South-East Asia specifically became major destinations for labour migration.
- Security uncertainties with the Maoist insurgency at home also propelled the trend of migration.
- Students and skilled personnel began moving to Europe, the United States, Australia, Thailand and even to Japan and South Korea.
- As of 2019, nearly a fifth of Nepal’s population, from all parts of the country, were reportedly overseas.
- At an estimated $8 billion, global remittances account for nearly 30% of Nepal’s nominal GDP.
- This makes Nepal one of the most remittance-dependent countries in the world.
- Leftist ideology and the prominent presence of international non-governmental organisations — ostensibly there to resolve conflict and alleviate poverty — have added to Nepal’s exposure to the world.
- Nepal’s 2011 Census shows that over 80% of its 28 million-strong population were Hindus, and since 1962, it had formally been a Hindu kingdom.
- The new Constitution in 2015 makes Nepal a secular country.
- The proliferation of communication technology has also spread a certain cosmopolitanism but without the accompanying metropolitanism.
Nepal exploring options beyond India
- Kathmandu has continued its long-standing efforts to spread Nepal’s options beyond India.
- Multilateral development banks are by far the biggest lenders and players in the country’s development efforts.
- And in fact, one of Nepal’s largest aid donors is the European Union.
- India and China are not the only players for big projects either.
- A long-delayed project to pipe water into Kathmandu was with an Italian company.
- Major investments in the telecom sector are coming from Malaysia, and the largest international carrier in Nepal is Qatar Airways.
Weakening of natural bond and responsible factors
- The outward movement of students, along with with the growth of institutions of higher learning at home, has meant that most young people in Nepal, including emerging contemporary leaders in politics, business or academics, have not studied in India.
- This lack of common collegiate roots removes a natural bond of previous generations that had provided for better understanding and even empathy.
- While most Nepalis understand Hindi, because of the popularity of Bollywood, articulation is quite another matter.
Robust ties with India, despite diversification
- Despite Nepal’s efforts to diversify its options globally, its linkages with India remain robust.
- Nepal’s trade with India has grown in absolute terms and continues to account for more than two-thirds of Nepal’s external trade of around $12 billion annually.
- This clearly reflects the advantages of geography, both physical and societal.
- India continues to be the largest aggregate investor in Nepal.
- The massive under-construction Arun-III 900 MW hydro-electric project is slated to singly produce as much power, when completed in five years, as Nepal produces today.
- Moreover, the peg with the Indian Rupee provides unique stability to the Nepali Rupee.
Unique advantage to Nepal
- Nepal’s per-capita income is just above $1,000.
- While the huge remittance economy has brought a semblance of well-being, the country has a long way to go in reaching prosperity.
- The relationship with India, with open borders and Nepalis being allowed to live and work freely, provides Nepal a unique advantage and an economic cushion.
- The latter is particularly important today with COVID-19-caused global contraction positioned to pop the remittance bubble.
- Neither the Chinese nor any others are likely to write blank cheques.
- India for its part should also focus on developing its border areas with Nepal, with better roads and amenities of interest (such as shopping malls) to the burgeoning Nepali middle class.
- This would have economic plusses for both sides and keep ties strong at the people’s level. It would also be an image makeover.
Consider the question “Despite intermittent disagreements over certain issues, India-Nepal ties remain robust. In light of this, elaborate on the ties between the two countries and suggest ways to find the solution to the latest border dispute between the two countries.”
Conclusion
It is important that we update the prism through which we view our relationship with our Himalayan neighbour. We must not forget the past nor turn away from it but, instead, must be mindful of the realities of a changing India and a changing Nepal.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Representative Concentration Pathway
Mains level: Climate change assessment for India
The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has released the “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region” Report.
This newscard discusses a very important concept: the Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP). Note its definition. It can be directly asked as a statement based on prelims MCQ.
Highlights of the report
- Average surface air temperatures over India could rise by up to 4.4 degrees Celsius by the end of the century as compared to the period between 1976 and 2005, according to the MoES report.
- The rise in temperatures will be even more pronounced in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region where the average could reach 5.2°C.
- The region is already highly vulnerable to climate-related variability in temperatures, rainfall and snowfall.
- By 2100, the frequency of warm days and warm nights might also increase by 55 per cent and 70 per cent respectively, as compared to the period 1976-2005 under the RCP 8.5 scenario.
- The incidences of heat waves over the country could also increase by three to four times. Their duration of occurrence might also increase which was already witnessed by the country in 2019.
A 100-year record
- Between 1900 and 2018, the average temperatures of India rose by 0.7°C.
- This rise in temperatures has been largely attributed to global warming due to GHG emissions and land use and land cover changes.
- But it has also been slightly reduced by the rising aerosol emissions in the atmosphere that have an overall cooling characteristic.
- The report predicts that monsoon rainfall could change by an average of 14 per cent by 2100 that could go as high as 22.5 per cent.
- The report does not mention if this change will be an increase or a decrease but still represents variability.
- It further says that the overall rainfall during the monsoon season has decreased by six per cent between 1950 and 2015.
Data on dry spells
- The assessment also says that in the past few decades, there has been an increased frequency of dry spells during the monsoon season that has increased by 27 per cent between 1981-2011, as compared to 1951-1980.
- The intensity of wet spells has also increased over the country, with central India receiving 75 per cent more extreme rainfall events between 1950 and 2015. This means that it either rains too little or too much.
- One of the primary examples of this was the monsoon seasons of 2018 and 2019 where dry spells were broken by extremely heavy rainfall spells, creating a flood and drought cycle in many regions in India.
What is Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP)?
- A Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) is a greenhouse gas concentration (not emissions) trajectory adopted by the IPCC.
- It is defined as a radiative force in watt per square metre due to the rising greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the atmosphere.
- Four pathways were used for climate modelling and research for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) in 2014.
- The pathways describe different climate futures, all of which are considered possible depending on the volume of greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted in the years to come.
- The RCPs – originally RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6, and RCP8.5 – are labelled after a possible range of radiative forcing values in the year 2100 (2.6, 4.5, 6, and 8.5 W/m2, respectively).
- Since AR5 the original pathways are being considered together with Shared Socioeconomic Pathways: as are new RCPs such as RCP1.9, RCP3.4 and RCP7.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: COVID Isolation Coaches
Mains level: Not Much
The Union govt. has declared that 500 COVID isolation coaches would be deployed in Delhi. So far, over 5,000 coaches have been converted into COVID isolation coaches across India.
Practice question for mains:
Q. Health infrastructure in India is hardly capable of handling any pandemic. Critically comment.
What are these COVID Isolation Coaches?
- In March, Railways was sounded out by the PMO and the government’s multi-ministerial outbreak-containment apparatus that train coaches could also be used as a last resort to keep isolated patients.
- So far, 5,321 non-AC sleeper class coaches of ICF variety (older design) have been converted by the 16 zonal railways through their workshops spread across India.
- These are developed as COVID Care Level 1 centres—as per the Health Ministry classification of COVID facilities—where suspected cases or those with mild symptoms are to be kept.
- Suspected and confirmed cases will be kept in separate coaches.
How were these coaches selected?
- Early into the pandemic, health experts were of the view that air-conditioned environments might aid the spread of the virus.
- Well-ventilated, airy environments were thought to be safer. India’s decision to use non-AC coaches for isolation has to be viewed in that context.
- As per targets given to the 16 zonal railways, 5,000 older coaches, surplus to Railways’ operational needs, were marked for conversion.
What were the challenges faced?
- The summer heat in the coach was always a matter of discussion.
- Several ideas were discussed, including erecting shamianas over the coaches or painting the roof with “solar reflective” paints.
- Another question was how to dispose of toilet waste if the coaches were in remote areas and whether such waste was potentially infectious.
- It was agreed that since chlorine tablets are placed in the chambers of the bio toilets, the risk was neutralised.
- In any case, bio-enzymes in the toilet tanks take care of human waste.
- Another question was the placement. The batteries of the coaches need to be charged and the water needs to be replenished. Not all areas in India might have such facilities.
- The idea was that being mobile units, they could be dispatched to any part of the country to pick up patients and come back to their bases.
Deployment of such train
- Each isolation train will be tied to the nearest hospital.
- The Centre will not deploy these coaches at will; states will have to request for them.
- At least 10 coaches, or one train, will have to be deployed in one place. States can request for more.
- Besides the 500 being deployed in Delhi, Telangana has requested for 60 coaches in three locations, and UP has requested in 24 locations.
- Many states are said to be informally enquiring about the coaches in zones.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CO2 assessment
Mains level: Not Much
Carbon dioxide was always essential for our planet. This newscard discusses when did it become too much.
Try this question from CSP 2017:
Q. In the context of mitigating the impending global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide, which of the following can be the potential sites for carbon sequestration?
- Abandoned and uneconomic coal seams
- Depleted oil and gas reservoirs
- Subterranean deep saline formations
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
GHGs in atmosphere
- The Earth’s atmosphere is made up of different gases. The temperature of the atmosphere depends on a balance between the incoming energy from the sun and the energy that bounces back into space.
- Greenhouse gases (GHG) such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide play an important role in the atmosphere.
- They absorb some of the sun’s heat and release it back in all directions, including back to the atmosphere.
- Through this process, CO2 and other GHGs keep the atmosphere warmer than it would be without them.
- However, fossil fuel-run industries and other human activities add GHGs to the atmosphere. This, in turn, increases atmospheric temperature, causing global warming.
Assessing the carbon level
- In 1958, American scientist Charles David Keeling calculated the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere.
- When he started his measurements in 1958, the CO2 levels were around 315 parts per million (PPM).
- When he died in 2005, the project was taken over by his son Ralph Keeling. By 2014, CO2 levels had increased to about 400 PPM.
- With his systematic study of atmospheric CO2, Keeling became the first person to alert the world about the increasing levels of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Reasons for rising CO2 levels
- Scientists first argued that the increasing release of methane and CO2 was due to agriculture and livestock.
- But, with the start of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, the use of fossil fuels and CO2 levels rose simultaneously.
- Nations that underwent the Industrial Revolution used huge amounts of fossil fuels and became centres of high CO2 emissions, while nations with an agrarian economy emitted less GHGs.
- Over the years, as CO2 levels increased, it sparked off debates and arguments between the GHG-emitting rich industrial nations and the victims of global warming — the poorer nations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hilsa Fish`
Mains level: NA
Fishermen in West Bengal are in for a pleasant surprise amid the COVID-19 gloom as they have exuded hope of a bumper yield of Hilsa, known as “maacher rani” (queen of fish).
Try this question from CSP 2019:
Q. Consider the following pairs:
| Wildlife |
Naturally found in |
| 1. Blue-finned Mahseer |
Cauvery River |
| 2. Irrawaddy Dolphin |
Chambal River |
| 3. Rusty-spotted Cat |
Eastern Ghats |
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1 and 3 only
d) 1, 2 and 3
Hilsa Fish
IUCN status: Least Concerned
- The Hilsa is a species of fish related to the herring, in the family Clupeidae.
- It is a very popular and sought-after food fish in the Indian Subcontinent.
- It is the national fish of Bangladesh and state symbol in the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura.
- The fish contributes about 12% of the total fish production and about 1.15% of GDP in Bangladesh.
What’s so special about Hilsa?
- Hilsa has a history of migrating to Allahabad in the Ganga river system from Bangladesh.
- Though it’s a saltwater fish, it migrates to sweet waters of the Ganges from the Bay of Bengal.
- It travels upstream of the river during the mating seasons and returns to its natural abode after spawning.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Yakshagana, Talamaddale
Mains level: NA
The traditional art of ‘Talamaddale’, a variant of Yakshagana theatre, has gone virtual in times of COVID-19.
Try this question from CSP 2017:
Q.With reference to Manipuri Sankirtana, consider the following statements:
- It is a song and dance performance.
- Cymbals are the only musical instruments used in the performance.
- It is performed to narrate the life and deeds of Lord Krishna.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1, 2 and 3.
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1 only
Talamaddale theatre
- Tala-Maddale is an ancient form of performance dialogue or debate performance in Southern India in the Karavali and Malnad regions of Karnataka and Kerala.
- The plot and content of the conversation is drawn from popular mythology but the performance mainly consists of an impromptu debate between characters involving sarcasm, puns, philosophy positions and humour.
- The main plot is sung from the same oral texts used for the Yakshgana form of dance- drama.
- Performers claim that this was a more intellectual rendition of the dance during the monsoon season.
How it is different from Yakshagana?
- Unlike the Yakshagana performance, in the conventional ‘talamaddale,’ the artists sit across in a place without any costumes and engage in testing their oratory skills based on the episode chosen.
- If music is common for both Yakshagana performance and ‘talamaddale’, the latter has only spoken word without any dance or costumes.
- Hence it is an art form minus dance, costumes and stage conventions.
- It has an ‘arthadhari’ who is an orator, a ‘bhagavatha’ (singer-cum-director), and a ‘maddale’ player.
Back2Basics: Yakshagana
- It is the oldest theatre form popular in Karnataka.
- It emerged in the Vijayanagara Empire and was performed by Jakkula Varu
- It is a descriptive dance drama.
- It is presented from dusk to dawn.
- The stories are drawn from Ramayana, Mahabharata and other epics from both Hindu and Jain tradition.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Forex reserves and exchange rates
Mains level: Paper 3- India's Forex reserves touched ceiling of half-trillion
At first, it seems almost contradictory. And so it is. Our foreign exchange reserves touched new high of $500 billion for the first time, but the time in which this has happened makes it paradoxical. At the time when economies around the world are touching new lows, this rise in the Forex seems all but usual. In this article, you’ll learn about the 4 factors that made it happen.
1. Decreased oil imports
- Usually, we import a lot of oil.
- But the payment here is dollar-denominated since very few countries are going to accept our currency (Rupee) as is.
- So, you have to expend dollars i.e. the foreign exchange reserves to keep the flow of crude oil intact.
- However, with the nationwide lockdown in place, our import bill has reduced drastically.
- We simply don’t need as much oil anymore.
- And considering oil prices have also taken a beating simultaneously, our Forex Reserves have been piling up.
- Less oil import. More Forex reserves.
2. Dollars coming with foreign investors
- Contrary to popular opinion, foreign investors have been pouring money into India of late.
- You could attribute a bulk of these inflows to Reliance Jio.
- They’ve been enticing investors all over the world and they’ve been doing it at a pace that belies all rational expectations.
- They’ve raised close to $15 Bn over the course of a few months and it doesn’t look like they’re stopping anytime soon.
- So technically, dollar inflows have spiked and therefore, Forex reserves get a boost once again.
3. RBI preparing itself for a bad time
- Another popular explanation is that the RBI is preparing a war chest to stave off future uncertainties.
- At a time when the world economy is reeling from an unprecedented crisis, it’s perhaps prudent to build up reserves for a rainy day.
- So the RBI buys gold and dollar-denominated assets using our national currency and builds up the foreign exchange reserves.
- Inadvertently, this increases the money supply within the economy.
- There will be more “Rupees” floating around.
- As more Indian currency keeps entering the ecosystem, the value of the rupee depreciates.
- And yes, the value of rupee has tumbled recently, but we are not in dire straits yet.
- But if India’s economy takes a turn for the worse, it becomes incumbent on the RBI to ensure price stability.
- Imagine the value of the rupee starts fluctuating wildly because of economic uncertainties.
- The RBI has to intervene.
- It has to exchange the foreign reserves for the Indian currency.
- If they keep mopping up the excess Rupees floating in the system, they could ensure the value of the rupee remains stable.
- So long as the value of the rupee remains stable, prices of commodities will follow the same cue, all things remaining equal that is.
- Now, there’s still no clear consensus on what kind of reserves we might need if things do go south.
- Although there have been recommendations made in the past about hoarding too much, it’s still the RBI’s call at the end of the day.
4. The RBI is doing it for the government
- The RBI can turn a profit if it wants to.
- And once it does turn a profit, it can transfer a part of the surplus to the government — as dividends.
- Now if the RBI wanted to offer the government a higher dividend, it has to simply turn a higher profit.
- One way to accomplish this is to simply let the value of the rupee depreciate. Do not intervene.
- Do not forego the reserves. Let the rupee tumble.
- And so long as you don’t intervene, all the dollar-denominated assets you own will be worth more in rupee terms.
- Consider the hypothetical example-suppose the exchange rate was 1$= Rs. 71 in March 2020, then the rupee loses value and you see the same line item once again in June 2020 will be 1$=Rs. 76.
- The extra ₹ 5 is treated as a profit. And this profit could be ploughed back to the government.
Consider the question “With the economy in the tailspin amid pandemic, the news of India’s Forex reserves touching the $500 billion mark for the first time provided the semblance of solace. Examine the factors that could explain this increase.”
Conclusion
Though there will always be the debate over the optimum value of the Forex reserves, the new level it reached in such an uncertain time for the economy is, nonetheless, a cause for celebration.
Reference Source : https://finshots.in/archive/india-foreign-exchange-reserves/
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