Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: APMC reforms
Farmers in Punjab and Haryana have been protesting against three ordinances promulgated by the Centre back in June this year. After the Monsoon Session of Parliament began this week, the government has introduced three Bills to replace these ordinances.
Try this PYQ:
The economic cost of food grains to the Food Corporation of India is Minimum Support Price and bonus (if any) paid to the farmers plus:
(a) Transportation cost only
(b) Interest cost only
(c) Procurement incidentals and distribution cost
(d) Procurement incidentals and charges for godowns
What are these ordinances?
The ordinances included:
- The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020;
- The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Ordinance, 2020; and
- The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 (It is the Bill replacing the third that has been passed in Lok Sabha)
The cause of discontent
- While farmers are protesting against all three ordinances, their objections are mostly against the provisions of the first.
- Their concerns are mainly about sections relating to “trade area”, “trader”, “dispute resolution” and “market fee” in the first ordinance.
What is a ‘trade area’, as mentioned in the Bill?
- Section 2(m) of The Farmers Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Ordinance, 2020 defines “trade area” as any area or location, place of production, collection and aggregation.
- It includes (a) farm gates; (b) factory premises; (c) warehouses; (d) silos; (e) cold storages; or (f) any other structures or places, from where the trade of farmers’ produce may be undertaken in the territory of India.
- In effect, existing mandis established under APMC Acts have been excluded from the definition of trade area under the new legislation.
- The government says the creation of an additional trade area outside of mandis will provide farmers with the freedom of choice to conduct trade in their produce.
Why are farmers protesting?
- The protesters say this provision will confine APMC mandis to their physical boundaries and give a free hand to big corporate buyers.
- The APMC mandi system has developed very well as every mandi caters to 200-300 villages.
- But the new ordinance has confined the mandis to their physical boundaries.
What is ‘trader’ and how is it linked to the protests?
- Section 2(n) of the first ordinance defines a “trader” as “a person who buys farmers’ produce by way of inter-State trade or intra-State trade or a combination thereof.
- Thus, it includes processor, exporter, wholesaler, miller, and retailer.
- According to the Ministry of the Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, “Any trader with a PAN card can buy the farmers’ produce in the trade area.”
- In the present mandi system, arhatiyas (commission agents) have to get a licence to trade in a mandi.
- The protesters say arhatiyas have credibility as their financial status is verified during the licence approval process.
Why does the provision on ‘market fee’ worry protesters?
- Section 6 states that no market fee or cess or levy, by whatever name called, under any State APMC Act or any other State law, shall be levied in a trade area.
- Government officials say this provision will reduce the cost of the transaction and will benefit both the farmers and the traders.
- Under the existing system, such charges in states like Punjab come to around 8.5% — a market fee of 3%, a rural development charge of 3% and the arhatiya’s commission of about 2.5%.
- By removing the fee on trade, the government is indirectly incentivizing big corporates.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Agreement
Mains level: Maritime Security of India
India has joined the Djibouti Code of Conduct/ Jeddah Amendment (DCOC/JA) as Observer, following the high-level virtual meeting.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The Djibouti Code of Conduct is related to:
(a) International trade in precious stones (b) Maritime Security (c) Data sharing on Terrorism related activities (d) Data Localization
Djibouti Code of Conduct
- DCOC/JA is a grouping on maritime matters comprising 18 member states adjoining the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, the East coast of Africa and Island countries in the IOR.
- The DCOC, established in January 2009, is aimed at the repression of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Western Indian Ocean Region, the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
Provisions of the code
- The Code provides a framework for capacity building in the Gulf of Aden and Western Indian Ocean to combat the threat of piracy.
- It is a partnership of the willing and continues to both deliver against its aims as well as attract increasing membership.
- The Code was signed on January 29 by the representatives of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Seychelles, Somalia, the United Republic of Tanzania and Yemen.
- Since the meeting, further countries have signed bringing the total to 18 countries from the 21 eligible.
Significance for India
- India joins Japan, Norway, the UK and the US as Observers to the DCOC/JA.
- As an Observer at the DCOC/JA, India looks forward to working together with DCOC/JA member states towards coordinating and contributing to enhanced maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region.
- Delhi has been steadily increasing its strategic footprints in Western and Eastern Indian Ocean besides Eastern African coastal states.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 115, 116
Mains level: Supplementary Grants
Finance Minister has tabled the first batch of Supplementary Demands for Grants for this financial year in the Lok Sabha.
Supplementary Demand for Grants
- Article 115 of the constitution provides for Supplementary, additional or excess grants. (Note: Article 116 provides for Votes on account, votes of credit and exceptional grants.)
- They are additional grants which are required to meet the expenditure of the government
- Their demand is presented when the authorized amounts are insufficient and need for additional expenditure has arisen.
Why need supplementary grants?
- When actual expenditure incurred exceeds the approved grants of the Parliament, the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Railways presents a Demand for Excess Grant.
- It is needed for government expenditure over and above the amount for which Parliamentary approval was already obtained during the Budget session.
- When grants, authorised by the Parliament, fall short of the required expenditure, an estimate is presented before the Parliament for Supplementary or Additional grants.
- These grants are presented and passed by the Parliament before the end of the financial year.
Who notices such grants?
- The Comptroller and Auditor General of India bring such excesses to the notice of the Parliament.
- The Public Accounts Committee examines these excesses and gives recommendations to the Parliament.
What are other grants?
- Excess Grant: It is the grant in excess of the approved grants for meeting the requisite expenses of the government.
- Additional Grant: It is granted when a need has arisen during the current financial year for supplementary or additional expenditure upon some new service not contemplated in the Budget for that year.
- Token Grant: When funds to meet proposed expenditure on a new service can be made available by re-appropriation, demand for the grant of a token sum may be submitted to the vote of the House and, if the House assents to the demand, funds may be so made available.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National Hispanic Heritage Month
Mains level: NA
The National Hispanic Heritage Month has begun in the US.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The event National Hispanic Heritage Month recently seen in news is primarily celebrated in which of the following countries?
(a) US (b) Spain (c) Mexico (d) Cuba
National Hispanic Heritage Month
- The annual event honours the history, culture and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors hailed from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.
- It is marked every year from September 15 to October 15.
- The observation was started by President Lyndon Johnson in 1968 as Hispanic Heritage Week and was extended to an entire month by President Ronald Reagan in 1988, the year it was enacted into law.
Hispanics in the US
- With a population of over 5.7 crores, Hispanic Americans are currently the largest minority group in the US, making up a fifth of the total US population.
- More than half– 3.5 crore– are of Mexican origin, followed by Puerto Rican (53 lakh), and about 10 lakh each of Salvadorans, Cubans, Dominicans, Guatemalans and Colombians.
- The community is referred to as Hispanic, Latino or Latinx– terms that refer to a person’s origin or culture, without considering their race.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SWAMIH Investment Fund
Mains level: Not Much
In order to give relief to homebuyers of stalled projects, a Special Window for Completion of Affordable and Mid-Income Housing (SWAMIH investment fund) has been created for funding stalled projects.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The SWAMIH Fund recently seen in news is related to:
(a) Higher Education (b) MSMEs (c) Housing (d) Highways
SWAMIH Investment Fund
- SWAMIH investment fund is an alternative investment fund which aims to provide last-mile funding to the stressed affordable and middle-income housing projects in the country.
- It is expected to fund the projects which are net-worth positive, including those projects that have been declared as NPAs or are pending proceedings before the National Company Law Tribunal under the IBC.
Why need such funds?
- Several real estate projects have suffered due to a combined effect of two changes in the real estate sector.
- On one hand, incremental launches and slow sales have increased unsold inventory in each project.
- While the effect has then got compounded by the fact that consumer preference is now towards completed projects rather than under-construction projects.
- This preference has developed as consumers are largely avoiding taking project completion risk and instead are more inclined to completed projects.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Parliamentary committees.
Mains level: Paper 2- Department related committees
The article analyses the issue of tenure of the members of the Department related committees and suggest the changes to the rules about the tenure.
Context
- There was speculation in the media that the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, M. Venkaiah Naidu, is keen on amending the rules to give them a fixed tenure of two years.
Why 2-year tenure?
- According to the Rajya Sabha Rules, the term of office of the “members” of the committees shall not exceed one year.
- Thus, it is the term of office of the members and not that of the committees per se that is one year.
- The tenurial issue has to be looked at against the backdrop of the fact that the Rajya Sabha itself undergoes partial biennial renewal.
- While Lok Sabha has a fixed tenure of five years, unless sooner dissolved.
- Given these facts,2-year tenure suggestion is in consonance with the biennial partial reconstitution of the Rajya Sabha.
Need to rethink the tenurial prescription
- In case of Lok Sabha, the major reconstitution takes place when a new Lok Sabha is elected, that is normally after five years.
- Since Rajya Sabha elects new member every two years and the Lok Sabha after every five years, it is only once in 10 years that the requirement of major reshuffle of the Standing Committees in both the Houses is expected to coincide.
- Given the different election schedules of the two Houses, there is perhaps no need to mandate the same term for the members of both the Houses.
Way forward
- There are 24 Department-related Standing Committees, each with a membership of 31 (10 of the Rajya Sabha and 21 of the Lok Sabha).
- They can accommodate 240 members of the Rajya Sabha and 504 members of the Lok Sabha.
- Therefore, once a member is nominated to a committee, he should be allowed to continue till he retires or otherwise discontinues the membership in order that the committee is able to benefit from his experience and expertise.
- The Standing Committees are permanent. Hence, there should be no difficulty if the terms of the members of the two Houses on these committees are different, in consonance with the tenure of the Houses themselves.
- Given these facts, it would stand to reason if the tenure of Department-related Standing Committees is prescribed differently for the two Houses.
- The Rules could also provide that casual vacancies may be filled in by the Presiding Officers.
Conclusion
While making changes to the rules the Chairman and the Speaker should consider the different tenure for the members of the two Houses on the Department-related committees.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Basic Structure doctrine
Mains level: Paper 2- Basic Structure and essential feature doctrine
The article revisits the impact and significance of the case for the democracy in India.
Understanding the Basic Structure doctrine
- Basic Structure and essential features doctrine was expounded in the Kesavananda Bharati case.
- In the case, the validity of the 29th amendment which immunised, in the Ninth Schedule Kerala’s takeover of the religious mutt’s property was challenged.
- Basic structure is the power of judicial review and essential features are what the Court identifies as such in the exercise of that power.
- Justice Bhagwati remarkably enunciated as an essential feature the “harmony” between fundamental rights and directive principles.
- The crucial message though is that the apex court has, in the rarest of rare cases, the constituent power to pronounce a constitutional amendment invalid.
Limits on the powers of Supreme Court
- The Court is bound by the “golden triangle” of rights created by Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
- Court must derive the “spirit” of the Constitution by reference to the provisions of the Constitution.
- Since 1973, the evidence shows the Apex Court has shown utmost democratic responsibility and rectitude in interpreting the doctrine of BSEF.
Consider the question asked by the UPSC in 2019 “Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution is limited power and it cannot be enlarged into absolute power”. In light of this statement explain whether parliament under article 368 of the constitution can destroy the Basic Structure of the Constitution by expanding its amending power? “
Conclusion
The ultimate message of BSEF doctrine is not merely to set limits to the power of the managers of people, but to make little by little the tasks of emancipation less onerous.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Art. 239AA
Mains level: Special provisions for NCT
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is likely to introduce legislation in the ongoing Parliament session to amend a 1991 Act pertaining to the powers and function of the Delhi government and the Lieutenant Governor.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Consider the following statements
- Union territories are not represented in the Rajya Sabha.
- It is within the purview of the Chief Election Commissioner to adjudicate the election disputes.
- According to the constitution of India, the Parliament consists of the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha only.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
(a) Only 1
(b) 2 and 3
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) None
Key propositions of the Bill
- The Bill proposes to clearly spell out the functions of the Council of Ministers and the Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) by giving more discretionary powers to the L-G.
- As per the Bill, the L-G could act in his discretion in any matter that is beyond the purview of the powers of the Legislative Assembly of Delhi in matters related to the All India (Civil) Services and the Anti Corruption Branch.
- It will also give more teeth to the L-G, and the validity of any decision taken as per such discretion shall not be questioned.
Back2Basics: Special provisions for New Delhi
- The Union Territory of Delhi with a Legislative Assembly came into being in 1991 under Article 239AA of the Constitution inserted by ‘the Constitution (Sixty-ninth Amendment) Act, 1991’.
- It said that the UT of Delhi shall be called the National Capital Territory of Delhi.
- The administrator thereof appointed under Article 239 shall be designated as the Lieutenant-Governor.
- According to the existing Act, the Legislative Assembly of Delhi has the power to make laws in all matters except public order, police, and land.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MPLADS
Mains level: MPLADS and its implementation
While extending support to the move for salary-cut, most Members of Parliament have demanded that the MPLADS funds, meant for development work in constituencies, be restored immediately.
Try this PYQ:
Q.With reference to the Parliament of India, consider the following statements:
- A private member’s bill is a bill presented by a Member of Parliament who is not elected but only nominated by the President of India.
- Recently, a private member’s bill has been passed in the Parliament of India for the first time in its history.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
What is the MPLAD scheme?
- The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a programme first launched during the Narasimha Rao Government in 1993.
- It was aimed towards providing funds for developmental works recommended by individual MPs.
Funds available
- The MPs then were entitled to recommend works to the tune of Rs 1 crore annually between 1994-95 and 1997-98, after which the annual entitlement was enhanced to Rs 2 crore.
- The UPA government in 2011-12 raised the annual entitlement to Rs 5 crore per MP.
Implementation
- To implement their plans in an area, MPs have to recommend them to the District Authority of the respective Nodal District.
- The District Authorities then identify Implementing Agencies which execute the projects.
- The respective District Authority is supposed to oversee the implementation and has to submit monthly reports, audit reports, and work completion reports to the Nodal District Authority.
- The MPLADS funds can be merged with other schemes such as MGNREGA and Khelo India.
Guidelines for MPLADS implementation
- The document ‘Guidelines on MPLADS’ was published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in June 2016 in this regard.
- It stated the objective of the scheme to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets based on the locally felt needs in their Constituencies.
- Right from the inception of the Scheme, durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation and roads, etc. should be created.
- It recommended MPs to works costing at least 15 per cent of their entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 per cent for areas inhabited by ST population.
- It lays down a number of development works including construction of railway halt stations, providing financial assistance to recognised bodies, cooperative societies, installing CCTV cameras etc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Himalayan orogeny
Mains level: NA
China and Nepal are expected to announce the latest official height of Mt. Everest.
Try this PYQ:
Q.When you travel to the Himalayas, you will see the following:
- Deep gorges
- U-turn river courses
- Parallel mountain ranges
- Steep gradients causing land-sliding
Which of the above can be said to be the evidences for the Himalayas being young fold mountains?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 2 and 4 only
(c) 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Mt. Everest
- Mount Everest or Sagarmatha, Earth’s highest mountain above sea level, is located in the Himalayas between China and Nepal -– the border between them running across its summit point.
- Its current official elevation – 8,848m – places it more than 200m above the world’s second-highest mountain, K2, which is 8,611m tall and located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
- The mountain gets its English name from Sir George Everest, a colonial-era geographer who served as the Surveyor General of India in the mid-19th century.
- Considered an elite climbing destination, Everest was first scaled in 1953 by the Indian-Nepalese Tenzing Norgay and New Zealander Edmund Hillary.
Everest’s first survey
- The mission to measure the world’s highest peak was taken up on a serious note in 1847 and culminated with the finding of a team led by Andrew Waugh of the Royal Surveyor General of India.
- The team discovered that ‘Peak 15’ — as Mt Everest was referred to then — was the highest mountain, contrary to the then-prevailing belief that Mt Kanchenjunga (8,582 m) was the highest peak in the world.
- Another belief, prevailing even today, is that 8,840 m is not the height that was actually determined by the 19th-century team.
- That survey, based on trigonometric calculations, is known as the Great Trigonometric Survey of India.
Why is the height being measured again?
- Everest’s current official height– 8,848m– has been widely accepted since 1956, when the figure was measured by the Survey of India.
- The height of the summit, however, is known to change because of tectonic activity, such as the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
- Its measurement over the decades has also depended on who was surveying.
- Another debate is whether the height should be based on the highest rock point or the highest snow point.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Foreign portfolio investment (FPI)
Mains level: Not Much
The RBI has proposed allowing foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to undertake exchange-traded rupee interest rate derivatives transactions subject to an overall ceiling of ₹5,000 crores.
Every year, there is a question on a capital market instruments. Make note of all such separately. Also, try this PYQ:
Q. Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly? (CSP 2019)
(a) Certificate of Deposit
(b) Commercial Paper
(c) Promissory Note
(d) Participatory Note
Interest Rate Derivatives (IRDs)
- An IDR is a financial instrument with a value that is linked to the movements of an interest rate or rates.
- These may include futures, options, or swaps contracts.
- They are often used by institutional investors, banks, companies, and individuals to protect themselves against changes in market interest rates.
- The proposed directions by RBI are aimed at encouraging higher non-resident participation, enhance the role of domestic market makers in the offshore market, improve transparency, and achieve better regulatory oversight, according to the central bank.
Back2Basics: Foreign portfolio investment (FPI)
- FPI involves holding financial assets from a country outside of the investor’s own.
- FPI holdings can include stocks, ADRs, GDRs, bonds, mutual funds, and exchange-traded funds.
- Along with foreign direct investment (FDI), FPI is one of the common ways for investors to participate in an overseas economy, especially retail investors.
- Unlike FDI, FPI consists of passive ownership; investors have no control over ventures or direct ownership of property or a stake in a company.
FPI vs FDI
- With FPI—as with portfolio investment in general—an investor does not actively manage the investments or the companies that issue the investments.
- They do not have direct control over the assets or the businesses.
- In contrast, foreign direct investment (FDI) lets an investor purchase a direct business interest in a foreign country.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Etosha Salt Pan and its location
Mains level: NA
NASA has recently captured images depicting the wet and dry cycles of Etosha Pan in Africa’s Namibia through the year.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which of the following has/have shrunk immensely/ dried up in the recent past due to human activities?
- Aral Sea
- Black Sea
- Lake Baikal
Select the correct option using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1 and 3 only
Etosha Salt Pan
- The Etosha pan is hollow in the ground, wherein water may collect or in which a deposit of salt remains after the water has evaporated.
- The 120-kilometre-long dry lakebed and its surroundings are protected as Etosha National Park, Namibia’s second-largest wildlife park.
- The pan is mostly dry, but after a heavy rain, it acquires a thin layer of water that is heavily salted by the mineral deposits on the surface.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Issue of employment in India
The article discusses the issue of vulnerability of informal jobs in India and suggests the steps to address the problem.
The urban unemployment in India crept up to 9.83% in August as against 9.15% in July, according to monthly unemployment data released Tuesday by the Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). In other words, roughly one in every 10 person in urban areas cannot find work
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2-National Education Policy
The article analyses the missing focus on the rural youth in the National Education Policy 2020 and its implications.
Education in rural India and NEP
- Poor quality education marks and mars the lives of rural citizens.
- The NEP fails to address the growing school differentiation in which government schools are now primarily attended by children of disadvantaged castes and Adivasi groups.
- The mushrooming of private schools caters to the aspirations of the more advantaged castes and classes.
- The NEP overlooks the complexity of contemporary rural India, which is marked by a sharp deceleration of its economy, extant forms of distress, and widespread poverty.
- Rural candidates are finding it increasingly difficult to gain entry into professional education.
- The lack of fit between their degrees and the job market means that several lakhs of them find themselves both “unemployable” and unemployed.
What the NEP misses
- NEP overlooks the general adverse integration of the rural into the larger macroeconomy and into poor quality mass higher education.
- The report calls for the “establishment of large, multi-discipline universities and colleges” and places emphasis on online and distance learning (ODL).
- However, correspondence courses and distance education degrees have become a source of revenue generation for universities.
- The possibility of forging and promoting environmental studies for local ecological restoration and conservation are missing.
- Emphasis on local health and healing traditions from the vast repertoire of medical knowledge is missing.
- Vernacular architectural traditions and craftsmanship to use local resources find no mention at all in the NEP.
Neoliberal ideas in NEP
- The NEP moots the possibility of establishing “Special Education Zones” in disadvantaged areas and in “aspirational districts”.
- But the report provides no details as to how such SEZs will function and who will be the beneficiaries of such institutions.
Conclusion
The NEP fails to cater to the needs of rural India’s marginalised majority, who in so many ways are rendered into being subjects rather than citizens.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Peace in the Middle East
Realignment of relations is taking place in the Middle East with wider implications for the future of the region. India needs to reconsider its framework based on the non-involvement.
Recent geopolitical developments
- India-China tensions have soared over the border issue.
- The Afghan peace process is underway with the first direct talks between Kabul and the Taliban insurgents at Doha, in Qatar.
- The normalisation of the relations between Israel and Arab countries began with the UAE and Bahrain normalising the relations.
Issues with the development
- The chances of failure in Afghanistan are real.
- The momentum behind the normalisation of ties between Israel and the Gulf kingdoms, may not necessarily lead to broader peace in the Middle East.
- The US initiatives in Afghanistan and Arabia are driven by President Donald Trump’s quest for diplomatic victories.
Why it matters to India
1) The vulnerability of the peace process
- Because of competing interests, the peace process in Afghanistan and the Middle East remain vulnerable.
- The unfolding dynamic will alter the geopolitical landscape in both places.
- Whether peace breaks out in Afghanistan or not, the Taliban is here to stay.
- As UAE and Bahrain join Egypt and Jordan in having formal relationships with Israel, the contradiction between Arabs and Israelis is no longer the dominant one in the region.
2) India should recognise the importance of Arabia
- India’s strategic community tends to take too narrow a view of the Arabian salience.
- The focus is mostly on ensuring oil supplies, promoting manpower exports, and managing the Pakistan problem.
- We should consider that the Afghan peace talks are taking place in Qatar, a tiny Gulf Kingdom.
- The UAE and Saudi Arabia were the only countries to recognise the Taliban government in the late 1990s.
- This time around, they appear to have taken a backseat.
- Delhi will need to pay more attention to the unfolding realignments between the Arabs and non-Arab states like Iran, Turkey and Israel.
3) Paradox of American power
- The U.S. is being seen as a declining power in the matters of the Middle East and Afghanistan.
- But the reality remains that the US is the one forcing a change in both the places.
4) Implications of strategic vacuum created by the U.S. exit
- As the US steps back from the region, the resulting strategic vacuum is likely to be filled by Russia and China.
- Russia and China are quite active in both the Middle East and Afghanistan.
- China’s future role in Afghanistan, in partnership with Pakistan, could be quite significant and will be of some concern for India.
- Regional powers have already acquired much say in the new geopolitics of the Middle East.
- Qatar and UAE punch way above their weight, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey are locked in a major contest for regional influence.
5) Domestic politics in the country
- Religious radicalism, sectarian and ethnic divisions, and the clamour for more representative governments are sharpening conflicts within and between countries.
- The collapse of the oil market is undermining the region’s economic fortunes.
- Collapsing oil market is also making it harder for political elites to address the emerging political challenges.
Consider the question “Middle East is going through the major realignment of relations. What are its implications for India?.
Conclusion
As the old order begins to crumble in the greater Middle East, the question is no longer whether India should join the geopolitical jousting there; but when, how and in partnership with whom.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Phosphine, Venus
Mains level: Quest for extraterrestrial life
Scientists have detected in the harshly acidic clouds of Venus a gas called phosphine that indicates microbes may inhabit Earth’s inhospitable neighbour, a sign of potential life beyond Earth.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which phenomenon has Venusian winds rotating 60 times faster than the planet below on the dark side?
(a) Super rotation
(b) Monrotation
(c) Dual rotation
(d) Macrrotation
Phosphine
- Phosphine – a phosphorus atom with three hydrogen atoms attached – is highly toxic to people.
- It is known to be produced only through a biological process, and not through any naturally occurring chemical process.
- Phosphine was seen at 20 parts-per-billion in the Venusian atmosphere, a trace concentration.
- Researchers examined potential non-biological sources such as volcanism, meteorites, lightning and various types of chemical reactions, but none appeared viable.
- There are some other ways in which this chemical might be produced, for example, in the underbelly of volcanoes or meteorite activity, but that would have shown in much lower concentrations.
Why study Venus?
- Venus is Earth’s closest planetary neighbour. Similar in structure but slightly smaller than Earth, it is the second planet from the sun. Earth is the third.
- Venus is wrapped in a thick, toxic atmosphere that traps in heat. Surface temperatures reach a scorching 880 degrees Fahrenheit (471 degrees Celsius), hot enough to melt lead.
- Existence of phosphine is the most credible evidence yet for the possibility of life away from Earth.
Hosting life on Venus
- There are several things that we know about Venus that make life, as we know it, unsustainable on that planet.
- The temperature of Venus is too high, and its atmosphere is highly acidic, just two of the things that would make life impossible.
- It is too early to consider this as evidence for extraterrestrial life.
Paving way for future mission
- Missions to Venus are not new. The finding can further ignite interest in space missions to Venus.
- Spacecraft have been going near the planet since the 1960s, and some of them have even made a landing.
- In fact, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is also planning a mission to Venus, tentatively called Shukrayaan, in the near future.
- As of now, the plan is still on the drawing board. All future missions to Venus would now be attuned to investigating further evidence of the presence of life.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UN Commission on Status of Women, ECOSOC
Mains level: Not Much
India has been elected as a member of the United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women (UN-CSW), a body of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Try this PYQ:
Q.Democracy’s superior virtue lies in the fact that it calls into activity:
(a) The intelligence and character of ordinary men and women
(b) The methods for strengthening executive leadership
(c) A superior individual with dynamism and vision
(d) A band of dedicated party workers
UN Commission on Status of Women
- The Commission on the Status of Women (CSW or UNCSW) is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), one of the main organs within the United Nations.
- CSW has been described as the UN organ promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.
- Every year, representatives gather at UN Headquarters in New York to evaluate progress gender equality, identify challenges, set global standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and advancement of women worldwide.
- India will be a member of United Nation’s Commission on Status of Women for four years, 2021 to ‘25.
- This year is the 25th anniversary of the famous Beijing World Conference on Women (1995).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Subramania Bharati and his works
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from an article originally published in TH.
Try this question from CSP 2016:
Q.A recent movie titled The Man Who Knew Infinity is based on the biography of-
(a) S. Ramanujan
(b) S. Chandrasekhar
(c) S. N. Bose
(d) C. V. Raman
Subramania Bharati
- Bharati was a Tamil writer, poet, journalist, Indian independence activist, social reformer and polyglot.
- Popularly known as “Mahakavi Bharathi”, he was a pioneer of modern Tamil poetry and is considered one of the greatest Tamil literary figures of all time.
- His numerous works included fiery songs kindling patriotism during the Indian Independence movement.
Literary works
- As a working journalist, Bharati necessarily employed prose to communicate, and his writings in Swadesamitran and India made an important contribution to Tamil political vocabulary.
- He wrote stories, commentaries, and was also the pioneer of column writing in Tamil.
- Active participation in the day-to-day politics of the nationalist movement notwithstanding, Bharati never lost sight of the future, the dream of how a free India should look like.
- Aspects of this dream form part of his fantasy story, Gnanaratham (The Chariot of Wisdom), written when he was still in his late 20s.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Panama disease
Mains level: NA
The scientists of Indian Council of Agriculture Research or ICAR have found a cure for one of the most dreaded diseases on Banana.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Recently, our scientists have discovered a new and distinct species of banana plant which attains a height of about 11 metres and has orange-coloured fruit pulp. In which part of India has it been discovered?
(a) Andaman Islands
(b) Anamalai Forests
(c) Maikala Hills
(d) Tropical rain forests of northeast
Panama Disease
- The fungal disease, called Fusarium Wilt, is popularly known as the ‘Panama Disease’ and afflicts banana plants.
- For the first time, Indian scientists have brought out a biopesticide that can control the disease. This biopesticide has been made using another fungus.
- For a long time, banana cultivators have been struggling with the Panama Disease.
- This disease affects the Cavendish variety or the G9 Banana cultivar, which is the most widely grown banana in the world.
Spread in India
- In India, more than 60 per cent of bananas are of the G9 variety.
- They go by names like ‘Grand Naine’, ‘Robusta’, ‘Bhusaval’, ‘Basrai’ and ‘Shrimanth’.
- Farmers in at least four Indian states — Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh — have been badly affected by this disease.
- All these are areas where the Cavendish variety is grown.
Why is the disease so deadly?
- Panama Disease is caused by a fungus with a long and complicated name called Fusarium oxysporum f. Sp cubense.
- One of its strains which is called ‘Tropical Race 4’ or ‘TR4’ is creating the most havoc, threatening almost 80 per cent of the global banana production.
- The disease is so deadly that it is sometimes referred to as ‘banana cancer’.
- The fungus resides below ground and infects the plant through its roots. The infection then stops water and essential nutrients from being transported to the rest of the plant.
- The leaves begin to wilt, and the stem of the plant starts turning dark brownish before the plant dies. If one plant gets it, then it is most likely that an entire plantation can be wiped out.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Inter-state water dispute
Mains level: Inter-state water dispute
At present, the Mahanadi dispute is under adjudication in the Tribunal under Section 5 (2) of Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956
Note the interrelation between the Article 262 and 253.They contain provisions related to international and interstate water sharing.
Mahanadi Tribunal
- The Central Government has constituted Mahanadi Water Disputes Tribunal in 2018 under Section 4 of the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
- It is set to adjudicate on water disputes between the riparian States of Odisha and Chhattisgarh
- The tribunal is expected to give its verdict within a period of three years.
- Provided that if the decision cannot be given for an unavoidable reason, within a period of three years, the Central Government may extend the period for a further period not exceeding two years.
What is the dispute about?
- Chhattisgarh has been constructing dams and weirs (small dams) upstream the Mahanadi. This is being allegedly carried on without consulting Odisha.
- It would affect the flow of the river downstream and affect drinking water supply. Also, it would impact the irrigation facilities in Odisha and adversely affect the interests of the farmers.
- Moreover, the weirs and other projects would impact the flow of water in the Hirakud reservoir, a multipurpose river valley project, which is a lifeline for many in the state.
Back2Basics: Water Disputes Resolution in India
- The Interstate River Water Disputes Act, 1956 (IRWD Act) is an Act of the Parliament of India enacted under Article 262 of Constitution of India on the eve of the reorganization of states on the linguistic basis to resolve the water disputes that would arise in the use, control and distribution of an interstate river[1] or river valley.
- Article 262 of the Indian Constitution provides a role for the Central government in adjudicating conflicts surrounding inter-state rivers that arise among the state/regional governments.
- This Act further has undergone amendments subsequently and its most recent amendment took place in the year 2002.
- A/c to art 262, the Parliament may by law provide for the adjudication of any dispute or complaint with respect to the use, distribution or control of the waters of, or in, any inter-State river or river valley.
- Parliament may by law provide that neither the Supreme Court nor any other court shall exercise jurisdiction in respect of any such dispute or complaint.
Note: Any river water sharing treaty made with other countries, has to be ratified by the Parliament as per Article 253 after deciding the share of the Indian riparian states per Article 262 to make the treaty constitutionally valid or enforceable by the judiciary. The government has signed Indus Waters Treaty with Pakistan, Ganga water-sharing treaty with Bangladesh, etc. without the ratification by the Parliament and the consent of concerned riparian states per Article 252.
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