Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Malabar Exercise, Quad
Mains level: Paper 2- Defining the roles and relations between Malabar and the Quad
While highlighting the importance of navy for India, the article examines the need to define the role and relation between the Quad and Malabar.
The salience of navy for India
- It took confrontation in the Himalayas to bring focus on India’s maritime domain clearly indicates that the salience of maritime power is not yet understood in India.
- On its northern and western fronts, India faces a formidable challenge and can at best hope for stalemate due to two factors :
- 1) Economic, military and technological asymmetry between China and India.
- 2) Active China-Pakistan nexus.
- Attention has, therefore, been focused on the maritime domain, where it is believed that India may have some cards to play.
- While preparing to fight its own battles with determination, it is time for India to seek external balancing (read Quad) — best done via the maritime domain.
Evolution of Malabar Exercise
- Above is the backdrop against which one must see the progressive evolution of Exercise “Malabar”,
- At beginning, it was a bilateral event involving just the Indian and US navies.
- It became tri-lateral with the inclusion of Japan in 2015.
- And now it has transformed into a four-cornered naval drill that will also include Australia.
- Apart from its geo-political significance for the Indo-Pacific, this development poses two conundrums.
- Firstly, given the same composition, what is the distinction, now, between “Malabar” and the “Quad”?
- Secondly, does Malabar 2020 mark the release of Australia from China’s thralldom?
Defining the roles and relation betwee Malabar and Quad
- The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue or Quad has its roots in the Core Group of four senior diplomats representing the US, India, Japan and Australia.
- The group was formed to coordinate relief efforts after the Great Asian Tsunami of December 26, 2004.
- The present Quad has obviously retained this tradition and its members have neither created a charter nor invested it with any substance.
- The Quad is 16 years old now, and Malabar 28.
- Both have served a useful purpose, and a reappraisal of the roles and relationship of the Quad-Malabar concepts is, therefore, overdue.
- Since it is India which faces a “clear and present danger”, it should boldly take the initiative to do so.
Need for the Indo-Pacific Concord
- In order to rein in China’s hegemonic urges, there is need for affected nations to come together to show their solidarity and determination in a common cause.
- In this context, there is need to create a broad-based “Indo-Pacific Concord”, of like-minded regional democracies.
- This should be an organisation with a maritime security charter, which has no offensive or provocative connotations.
- Using the Quad and Malabar templates, a shore-based secretariat can be established in a central location like Port Blair, in the Andaman Islands, which would schedule and conduct periodic multinational naval exercises.
- The exercises could be structured to hone the skills of participating navies in specialisations like humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, countering non-traditional threats, undertaking search-and-rescue operations and establishing networked maritime domain awareness.
- The Concord could also designate forces to uphold maritime security or “good order at sea”.
What Australia joining Quad means
- The prospect of Australia belatedly joining the Quad is expected to reinforce the Quad and enhance its credibility.
- But there are reasons for India to be circumspect it.
- Memories are still alive of its past political ambivalence towards India, its criticism of our naval expansion and its vociferous condemnation of the 1998 nuclear tests.
- Nor should one overlook Beijing’s recent influence on Australia’s foreign policy.
- This influence on Australia’s foreing policy caused it to flip-flop over the sale of uranium to India as well as its peremptory withdrawal from the Quad in 2008.
Implications of singing of BECA with the U.S.
- India signing the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) with the US last of the four “foundational agreements” would enhance interoperability between the respective militaries.
- However, there is need to pay heed to two valid concerns:
- 1) Regarding the possible compromise of information impinging on India’s security.
- 2) Whether these agreements will barter away the last vestiges of India’s strategic autonomy.
Consider the question “The changing geopolitical equations has necessitated the formation of Indo-Pacific Concord by the democracies of the region.” In light of this, elaborate on India’s role in Quad and its implications for the region”
Conclusion
Indians, given our history, should never lose sight of the truism in international relations, that it is the unerring pursuit of national interests that guides the actions and policies of every nation.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/indias-un-journey-from-outlier-to-the-high-table/article32932905.ece
Mains level: Paper 2- India's journey at United Nations
The article examines India’s journey at the UN as it enters it 75year. It also analyses the challenges India faced at the UN and tracks India’s transformation from being an outlier to the high table.
Three phases of India’s presence at the UN
- Seven and a half decades of India at the UN may be viewed with reference to roughly three distinct phases.
First phase: From independence to 1989
- The first phase lasted until the end of Cold War in 1989.
- During this phase, India had learnt to explore and enhance its diplomatic influence in easing armed conflicts in Asia and Africa by disentangling them from the superpower rivalry.
- India also leaned that the UN could not be relied upon to impartially resolve vital security disputes such as Jammu and Kashmir.
- India strove to utilise the UN only to focus on common causes such as anti-colonialism, anti-racism, nuclear disarmament, environment conservation and equitable economic development.
- India seemed to claim the moral high ground by proposing, in 1988 three-phase plan to eliminate nuclear weapons from the surface of earth.
- But it resisted attempts by neighbouring countries to raise bilateral problems.
- Defeat in 1962 war against China meant a definitive redesign of the country’s diplomatic style to privilege bilateral contacts over the third party role by the UN.
Second phase: 1990s
- The 1990s were the most difficult decade for India in the UN.
- The 1990s were marked by the sudden end of the Cold War, the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of the United States as the unrivalled power.
- Besides, the uncertain political climate along with the balance of payments crisis constrained the country’s capability to be active in various bodies, especially in the Security Council (UNSC) and the General Assembly.
- There was a change in India’s foreign policy: At the UN as India showed pragmatism in enabling the toughest terms on Iraq even after Gulf War or in reversing position on Zionism as racism.
- At the same time, growing militancy in Kashmir in the early 1990s helped Pakistan to internationalise the dispute with accusations about gross human rights violations by India.
- India to seek favours from Iran and China in the Human Rights Commission to checkmate Pakistan.
- The violation of the sovereignty principle by NATO intervention against Yugoslavia in 1999 without the authorisation of the UNSC deeply disturbed India.
- At the same time call for an end to aerial attacks on Yugoslavia did not garner much support in the UNSC.
- India’s diplomatic difficulties was exposed when it suffered a defeat in the hands of Japan in the 1996 contest for a non-permanent seat in the UNSC.
- India resolutely stood against indefinite extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1995.
- India strongly rejected the backdoor introduction for adoption of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996.
- It is against this background that India surprised the world in 1998 with its Pokhran nuclear weapon tests, ignoring the likely adverse reaction from the nuclear club.
Third phase: Rise in influence in 21st century
- The impressive economic performance in the first decade of the 21st century due to economic liberalisation and globalisation policies, helped a great deal in strengthening profile.
- This is only aided by its reliable and substantial troop contributions to several peacekeeping operations in African conflict theatres.
- India has emerged as a responsible stakeholder in non-traditional security issue areas such as the spread of small and light weapons, the threat of non-state actors acquiring weapons of mass destruction, and the impact of climate change.
- India has scaled up its contributions to development and humanitarian agencies, while India’s share to the UN assessed budget has registered a hike from 0.34% to 0.83%.
- India’s successful electoral contests for various prestigious slots in the UNSC, the Human Rights Council, the World Court, and functional commissions of the Economic and Social Council indicates its growing popularity
Major unsuccessful initiatives by India
- Two major initiatives India has heavily invested in are stuck:
- 1) The draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism it drafted and revised with the hope of helping consensus.
- It encountered reservations on provisions regarding definition of terrorist and the convention’s application to state armed forces.
- 2) Second is the question of equitable expansion of the UNSC to enable India to attain permanent membership along with other claimants from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
- The move has been stuck for more than 25 years because of a lack of unity among the regional formations.
- It also includes opposition from some 30 middle powers such as Italy and Pakistan which fear losing out to regional rivals in the event of an addition of permanent seats.
- The only realistic possibility seems to settle for a compromise, i.e. a new category of members elected for a longer duration than the present non-permanent members without veto power.
Priorities at the UNSC as a non-permanent member
- India’s future role will depend on its ability to deal economic slowdown and a troubled relationship with China.
- This is pertinent as India will soon begin its two-year term as a non-permanent UNSC member (January 1, 2021).
- Its areas of priority will continue to be the upholding of Charter principles, act against those who support, finance and sponsor terrorists, besides striving for securing due say to the troop contributing countries in the management of peace operations.
- It is reasonable to assume (based on earlier patterns) that India will work for and join in consensus on key questions wherever possible.
- But it may opt to abstain along with other members including one or two permanent members.
Consider the question “Elaborate on the transformation in India’s role at UN. What are the challenges India may face as a non-permanent member of the UNSC”
Conclusion
As a non-permanent UNSC member now, India needs to uphold the Charter principles in the backdrop of a turbulent world.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CPI, WPI, Base Year
Mains level: Inflation management
The Labour and Employment Ministry has revised the base year of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW) from 2001 to 2016.
Why such a move?
- This revision reflects the changing consumption pattern, giving more weightage to spending on health, education, recreation and other miscellaneous expenses while reducing the weight of food and beverages.
What is the Consumer Price Index (CPI)?
- The CPI is a measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food, and medical care.
- It is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them. Changes in the CPI are used to assess price changes associated with the cost of living.
- The CPI is one of the most frequently used statistics for identifying periods of inflation or deflation.
- Essentially it attempts to quantify the aggregate price level in an economy and thus measure the purchasing power of a country’s unit of currency.
Types of CPI in India
- CPI in India comprises multiple series classified based on different economic groups.
- There are four series, viz the CPI UNME (Urban Non-Manual Employee), CPI AL (Agricultural Labourer), CPI RL (Rural Labourer) and CPI IW (Industrial Worker).
- While the CPI UNME series is published by the Central Statistical Organisation, the others are published by the Department of Labour.
- From February 2011 the CPI (UNME) released by CSO is replaced as CPI (urban), CPI (rural) and CPI (combined).
How it is different from WPI?
- CPI is different from WPI, or Wholesale Price Index, which measures inflation at the wholesale level.
- While WPI keeps track of the wholesale price of goods, the CPI measures the average price that households pay for a basket of different goods and services.
- WPI measures and tracks the changes in the price of goods before they reach consumers; goods that are sold in bulk and traded between entities or businesses (rather than consumers).
- Even as the WPI is used as a key measure of inflation in some economies, the RBI no longer uses it for policy purposes, including setting repo rates.
- The central bank currently uses CPI or retail inflation as a key measure of inflation to set the monetary and credit policy.
Major components of WPI
- Primary articles are a major component of WPI, further subdivided into Food Articles and Non-Food Articles.
- Food Articles include items such as Cereals, Paddy, Wheat, Pulses, Vegetables, Fruits, Milk, Eggs, Meat & Fish, etc.
- Non-Food Articles include Oil Seeds, Minerals and Crude Petroleum
- The next major basket in WPI is Fuel & Power, which tracks price movements in Petrol, Diesel and LPG
- The biggest basket is Manufactured Goods. It spans across a variety of manufactured products such as Textiles, Apparels, Paper, Chemicals, Plastic, Cement, Metals, and more.
- Manufactured Goods basket also includes manufactured food products such as Sugar, Tobacco Products, Vegetable and Animal Oils, and Fats.
Note: WPI has a sub-index called WPI Food Index, which is a combination of the Food Articles from the Primary Articles basket, and the food products from the Manufactured Products basket.
Now try this PYQ from 2014 CSP:
Q.With reference to India, consider the following statements:
- The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) in India is available on a monthly basis only
- As compared to the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI (IW)), the WPI gives less weight to food articles.
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
Back2Basics: Base Year
- A base year is the first of a series of years in an economic or financial index. It is typically set to an arbitrary level of 100.
- Any year can serve as a base year, but analysts typically choose recent years. They are periodically revised to keep data current in a particular index.
- A base year is used for comparison in the measure of business activity or economic index.
- For example, to find the rate of inflation between 2013 and 2018, 2013 is the base year or the first year in the time set.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Components of forex reserves
Mains level: Not Much
India’s foreign exchange reserves touched a lifetime high of $555.12 billion, according to RBI data.
Aspirants must make a note here:
- Authority managing FOREX in India
- Components of FOREX
- IMF’s SDRs
- Emergency use of FOREX
What are Forex Reserves?
- Reserve Bank of India Act and the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 set the legal provisions for governing the foreign exchange reserves.
- RBI accumulates foreign currency reserves by purchasing from authorized dealers in open market operations.
- The Forex reserves of India consist of below four categories:
- Foreign Currency Assets
- Gold
- Special Drawing Rights (SDRs)
- Reserve Tranche Position
- The IMF says official Forex reserves are held in support of a range of objectives like supporting and maintaining confidence in the policies for monetary and exchange rate management including the capacity to intervene in support of the national or union currency.
- It will also limit external vulnerability by maintaining foreign currency liquidity to absorb shocks during times of crisis or when access to borrowing is curtailed.
Where are India’s forex reserves kept?
- The RBI Act, 1934 provides the overarching legal framework for the deployment of reserves in different foreign currency assets and gold within the broad parameters of currencies, instruments, issuers and counterparties.
- As much as 64 per cent of the foreign currency reserves is held in the securities like Treasury bills of foreign countries, mainly the US.
- 28 per cent is deposited in foreign central banks and 7.4 per cent is also deposited in commercial banks abroad.
- In value terms, the share of gold in the total foreign exchange reserves increased from about 6.14 per cent as at end-September 2019 to about 6.40 per cent as at end-March 2020.
Try this PYQ:
Q. Gold tranche(Reserve tranche) refers to (CSP 2020)-
(a) A loan system of World bank
(b) One of the operations of a central bank
(c) A credit system of WTO granted to its members
(d) A credit system granted by IMF to its members
Rising above the 1991 crisis
- Unlike in 1991, when India had to pledge its gold reserves to stave off a major financial crisis, the country can now depend on its soaring Forex reserves to tackle any crisis on the economic front.
- The level of Forex reserves has steadily increased by 8,400 per cent from $5.8 billion as of March 1991 to the current level.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vultures
Mains level: Not Much
Uttar Pradesh, Tripura, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu will get a vulture conservation and breeding centre each, according to the Action Plan for Vulture Conservation 2020-2025.
Action Plan for Vulture Conservation
- The action plan was approved by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) October 5, 2020. An earlier one was formulated in 2006 for three years.
- The new plan has laid out strategies and actions to stem the decline in vulture population, especially of the three Gyps species:
- Oriental white-backed vulture (Gyps bengalensis)
- Slender-billed vulture (Gyps tenuirostris)
- Long-billed vulture (Gyps indicus)
Note: These three vulture species were listed by IUCN, in 2000 as ‘Critically Endangered’, which is the highest category of endangerment.
- This would be done through both ex-situ and in-situ conservation.
- The plan has also suggested that new veterinary non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS) be tested on vultures before their commercial release. NSAIDS often poisons cattle whose carcasses the birds pray on.
Highlights of the new plan
- A system to automatically remove a drug from veterinary use if it is found to be toxic to vultures, with the help of the Drugs Controller General of India.
- Conservation breeding of red-Headed vultures and Egyptian vultures and the establishment at least one vulture-safe zone in each state for the conservation of the remnant populations in that state.
- Coordinated nation-wide vulture counting, involving forest departments, the Bombay Natural History Society, research institutes, non-profits and members of the public.
- A database on emerging threats to vulture conservation, including collision and electrocution, unintentional poisoning, etc.
Why protect vultures?
- Vultures are often overlooked and perceived as lowly scavengers, but they play a crucial role in the environments in which they live.
- The scavenging lifestyle that gives them a bad reputation is, in fact, that makes them so important for the environment, nature and society.
- Vultures, also known as nature’s cleanup crew, do the dirty work of cleaning up after death, helping to keep ecosystems healthy as they act as natural carcass recyclers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ILO
Mains level: India and ILO
After 35 years, India has assumed the Chairmanship of the Governing Body of International Labour Organization (ILO).
Try this PYQ:
Q.The Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), a UN mechanism to assist countries transition towards a greener and more inclusive economies, emerged at:
(a) The Earth Summit on Sustainable Development 2002, Johannesburg
(b) The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development 2012, Rio de Janeiro
(c) The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 2015, Paris
(d) The World Sustainable Development Summit 2016, New Delhi
About the International Labour Organization
- The ILO is a UN agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice through setting international labour standards.
- Founded in 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and oldest specialised agency of the UN.
- The ILO has 187 member states: 186 out of 193 UN member states plus the Cook Islands.
- The ILO’s international labour standards are broadly aimed at ensuring accessible, productive, and sustainable work worldwide in conditions of freedom, equity, security and dignity.
About its Governing Body
- The Governing body is the apex executive body of the ILO which decides policies, programmes, agenda, budget and elects the Director-General.
- It meets three times a year, in March, June and November.
Significance for India
- India will be presiding over the upcoming meeting of the Governing Body to be held in November 2020.
- India would have the opportunity to interact with the senior officials and social partners of the member states.
- It will also provide a platform to apprise participants of the transformational initiatives taken by the Government in removing the rigidities of the labour market.
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