Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: China's scramble for Africa and challenges for India
This op-ed analyses the future of India-Africa cooperation in agriculture amid the looming Chinese involvement in African countries.
Agricultural significance of Africa
- With 65% of the world’s uncultivated arable land, employing over 60% of the workforce, and accounting for almost 20% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP, agriculture is critical to Africa’s economy.
China factor behind
- As this relationship enters the post-pandemic world, it is vital to prioritize and channel resources into augmenting partnerships in agriculture.
- This is crucial given its unexplored potential, centrality to global food security, business prospects and to provide credible alternatives to the increasing involvement of Chinese stakeholders in the sector.
Analyzing Chinese engagement
Chinese corporations, small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs adopt has provided a layered perspective of the sociopolitical, economic and environmental impact of Chinese engagement.
- Trade: China is among Africa’s largest trading partners.
- Credit facility: It is also Africa’s single biggest creditor.
- Infrastructure: Its corporations dominate the region’s infrastructure market and are now entering the agri-infra sector.
- Strategic support: While access to Africa’s natural resources, its untapped markets and support for ‘One China Policy’ are primary drivers of Chinese engagement with the region, there are other factors at play.
China is going strategic in the guise of agriculture
- Increasingly critical to China’s global aspirations, its engagement in African agriculture is taking on a strategic quality.
- Chinese-built industrial parks and economic zones in Africa are attracting low-cost, labour-intensive manufacturing units that are relocating from China.
- Chinese engineers interviewed spoke of how their operations in Africa are important to accumulate global experience in management, risk and capital investments.
- Not only are they willing to overlook short-term profits in order to build a ‘brand China’, but they want to dominate the market in the long term, which includes pushing Chinese standards in host countries.
- Chinese tech companies are laying critical telecommunications infrastructure, venture capital funds are investing in African fintech firms, while other smaller enterprises are expanding across the region.
Agricultural landscape
- While many Chinese entities have been active in Africa’s agriculture for decades now, the nature, form and actors involved have undergone substantial change.
- In Zambia, Chinese firms are introducing agri-tech to combat traditional challenges, such as using drone technology to control the fall armyworm infestation.
- They have set up over Agricultural Technology Demonstration Centers (ATDCS) in the continent where Chinese agronomists work on developing new crop varieties and increasing crop yields.
- This ATDCs partner with local universities, conduct workshops and classes for officials and provide training and lease equipment to small holder farmers.
- Chinese companies with no prior experience in agriculture are setting out to build futuristic ecological parks while others are purchasing large-scale commercial farms.
Inducing their soft power
- The exponential growth in the China-Africa economic ties and the emergence of Beijing as an alternative to traditional western powers have motivated change in perceptions across groups.
- Governments and heads of state are recalibrating approaches, media houses are investing more resources for on-the-ground reporting.
Dark Side of the Sino-Africa ties
- Simultaneously, Africa-China relations are becoming complex with a growing, insular diaspora, lopsided trade, looming debt, competition with local businesses and a negative perception accompanied by greater political and socioeconomic interlinkages.
- On occasion, there seems to be a gap between skills transferred in China and the ground realities in Africa.
- In some cases, the technology taught in China is not available locally and in others, there is inability to implement lessons learnt due to the absence of supporting resources.
- Larger commercial farms run by Mandarin-speaking managers and the presence of small-scale Chinese farmers in local markets aggravates socio-cultural stresses.
India’s agricultural engagement
- Diverse portfolios: India-Africa agricultural cooperation currently includes institutional and individual capacity-building initiatives, an extension of soft loans, supply of machinery, acquisition of farmlands and the presence of Indian entrepreneurs in the African agricultural ecosystem.
- Land acquisition: Indian farmers have purchased over 6,00,000 hectares of land for commercial farming in Africa.
- States cooperation: Sub-national actors are providing another model of cooperation in agriculture. Consider the case of the Kerala government trying to meet its requirement for cashew nuts with imports from countries in Africa.
- Civil society: Similar ideas could encourage State governments and civil society organizations to identify opportunities and invest directly.
- Agri-business: There is also promise in incentivizing Indian industries to tap into African agri-business value chains and connecting Indian technology firms and startups with partners in Africa.
- Investment: In the past year, despite the pandemic, the sector witnessed a record increase in investments.
Way forward
- A thorough impact assessment needs to be conducted of the existing capacity-building initiatives in agriculture for India to stand in good stead.
- This could include detailed surveys of participants who have returned to their home countries.
- Country-specific and localized curriculum can be drawn up, making skill development demand-led.
- In all senses, India has consistently chosen well to underline the development partnership to be in line with African priorities.
- It is pertinent, therefore, that we collectively craft a unique modern partnership with Africa.
Conclusion
- While India’s Africa strategy exists independently, it is important to be cognizant of China’s increasing footprint in the region.
- Beijing’s model, if successful here, could be heralded as a replica for the larger global south.
- It is important to note, however, that prominent African voices have emphasized that their own agency is often overlooked in the global discourse on the subject.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Turkey's rising space in geopolitical arena
As a new round of geopolitical jousting begins on India’s north-western frontiers, Delhi must deal with a number of new actors that have carved out a role for themselves in the region.
Overambitious Turkey
- Our focus today is on Turkey’s regional ambitions (particularly in Afghanistan) and their implications for India.
- Ankara is in negotiations with the US on taking charge of the Kabul airport which is critical for an international presence in Afghanistan that is coming under the Taliban’s control.
- Turkey has been running Kabul airport security for a while, but doing so after the US pullout will be quite demanding.
- Taking a longer view, though, Turkey is not a new regional actor in India’s northwest.
Turkey and Afghanistan
- Ankara and Kabul have recently celebrated the centennial of the establishment of diplomatic relations.
- Through this century, Turkey has engaged purposefully with Afghanistan over a wide domain.
- While it joined the NATO military mission in Afghanistan after the ouster of the Taliban at the end of 2001, Turkey avoided any combat role and differentiated itself from the Western powers.
- Ankara has contributed to the training of the Afghan military and police forces.
- It has also undertaken much independent humanitarian and developmental work.
Affinity with Pakistan
- Turkey’s good relations with both Afghanistan and Pakistan have also given space for Ankara to present itself as a mediator between the warring South Asian neighbours.
- Turkey’s “Heart of Asia” conference or the Istanbul Process has been a major diplomatic vehicle for attempted Afghan reconciliation in the last few years.
- Widespread goodwill for Turkey in Afghanistan has now come in handy for the US in managing some elements of the post-withdrawal phase.
- In Pakistan, PM Imran Khan has rallied behind Erdogan’s ambition to seize the leadership of the Islamic world from Saudi Arabia.
- Pakistan’s Army Chief had to step in to limit the damage with Saudi Arabia, which has long been Pakistan’s major economic benefactor.
Challenges for India
- Turkey’s growing role in Afghanistan opens a more difficult phase in relations between Delhi and Ankara.
- India’s opposition to alliances and Turkey’s alignments reflected divergent international orientations of Delhi and Ankara after the Second World War.
- And Turkey’s deepening bilateral military-security cooperation with Pakistan made it even harder for Delhi to take a positive view of Ankara.
- Turkey and Pakistan were part of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO) that was set up in 1955 by the British.
- Although CENTO eventually wound up in 1979, Turkey and Pakistan remained close partners in a number of regional organizations and international forums like the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
Pre-Erdogan era Turkey
- The shared secular values between Delhi and Ankara in the pre-Erdogan era were not enough to overcome the strategic differences between the two in the Cold War.
- To make matters more complicated, the positive legacy of the Subcontinent’s solidarity with the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic, emerged out of its ruins in the early 20th century, accrued mostly to Pakistan.
- There were moments — during the tenures of PM Rajiv Gandhi and Mr Vajpayee, when India and Turkey seemed poised for a more productive relationship.
- But those have been rather few and far between.
Turkey’s departure from Secularism
- Meanwhile, Turkey’s Islamist internationalism under Recep Tayyip Erdogan has inevitably led to its deeper alliance with Pakistan, greater meddling in South Asia, and a sharper contraction with India.
- The Pakistani prism through which Delhi has long seen Ankara, however, has prevented it from fully appreciating the growing strategic salience of Turkey.
- Erdogan’s active claim for leadership of the Islamic world has seen a more intensive Turkish political, religious, and cultural outreach to the Subcontinent’s 600 million Muslims.
Self-goals on Kashmir
- Turkey has become the most active international supporter of Pakistan on the Kashmir question.
- Delhi is aware of Erdogan’s hypocrisy on minority rights.
- While pitching for self-determination in Kashmir, Erdogan actively tramples on the rights of its Kurdish minority at home and confronts them across Turkey’s border in Syria and Iraq.
Other ambitions in Asia
- Erdogan was quick to condemn the Bangladesh government’s hanging of a senior extremist leader in 2016.
- But in a reflection of his strategic suppleness, Erdogan also offered strong political support for Dhaka on the Rohingya refugee crisis.
- As Bangladesh emerges as an attractive economy, Ankara is now stepping up its commercial cooperation with Dhaka.
- Turkey, which hosted the Caliphate in the Ottoman era, had natural spiritual resonance among the South Asian Muslims.
Riving the Caliphate
- With the abolition of the Caliphate in 1924, Turkey’s Westernization under Ataturk reduced its religious significance.
- Erdogan’s Islamist politics are about regaining that salience.
- Erdogan’s strategy marks the declining relevance of the old antinomies — between alliances and autonomy, East and West, North and South, Islam and the West, Arabs and the Jews — that so resonate with the traditional Indian foreign policy discourse.
Stance on Israel
- Turkey was the first Muslim-majority nation that established full diplomatic relations with Israel.
- Erdogan now actively mobilizes the Arab and Islamic world against Israel without breaking relations with Tel Aviv.
- Erdogan’s outrage on Israel is about presenting himself as a better champion of Palestine than his Arab rivals.
India’s option against Turkey
- India, which has been at the receiving end of Erdogan’s internationalism, has multiple options in pushing back.
- The recent naval exercise between India and Greece in the Mediterranean offers a small hint of India’s possibilities in Turkey’s neighbourhood.
- Many Arab leaders reject Erdogan’s policies that remind them of Ottoman imperialism.
- They resent Erdogan’s support of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood that seek to overthrow moderate governments in the Middle East.
- There is much that India can do to up its game in the Arab world.
Lessons for India
- The new fluidity in geopolitics in India’s extended neighbourhood to the west.
- Agency for regional powers is growing as the influence of great power weakens.
- Religious ideology, like the more secular ones, is a cover for the pursuit of power.
- Finally, Erdogan has carefully modulated his confrontation with major powers by avoiding a breakdown in relations.
Conclusion
- For Erdogan, the choices are not between black and white. That should be a good guide for India’s own relations with Turkey.
- Delhi needs to vigorously challenge Turkey’s positions where it must, seize the opportunities opened by regional resentments against Erdogan’s adventurism, and at the same time prepare for a more intensive bilateral engagement with Ankara.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Draft Anti-trafficking Bill 2021
The Ministry of Women and Child Welfare has invited suggestions and comments for its Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021 which it has released.
A re-attempted legislation
- A previous draft had been introduced in 2018 and had been passed by Lok Sabha despite stiff opposition from both parliamentarians as well as experts.
- It was later never introduced in Rajya Sabha.
- Experts say that nearly all the concerns raised in 2018 have been addressed in this new draft Bill.
Draft Anti-trafficking Bill 2021
The Bill has increased the scope of the nature of offences of trafficking as well as the kind of victims of these offences, with stringent penalties including life imprisonment, and even the death penalty in cases of an extreme nature.
Types of offenders
- The scope of the Bill vis offenders will also include defence personnel and government servants, doctors and paramedical staff or anyone in a position of authority.
Penalty
- In most cases of child trafficking, especially in the case of the trafficking of more than one child, the penalty is now life imprisonment.
- While the penalty will hold a minimum of seven years which can go up to an imprisonment of 10 years and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.
- In certain cases, even the death penalty can be sought.
Definition of exploitation
- Exploitation has been defined to include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation including pornography.
- It also includes any act of physical exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or forced removal of organs, illegal clinical drug trials or illegal bio-medical research.
Victims covered
- The Bill also extends beyond the protection of women and children as victims to now include transgenders as well as any person who may be a victim of trafficking.
- It also does away with the provision that a victim necessarily needs to be transported from one place to another to be defined as a victim.
Investigation Agency
- The National Investigation Agency (NIA) shall act as the national investigating and coordinating agency responsible for the prevention and combating of trafficking in persons.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair
Mains level: Not Much
A noted filmmaker has recently announced his decision to produce the biopic of Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair, an acclaimed lawyer and judge in the Madras High Court and one of the early builders of the Indian National Congress.
Sir Chettur Sankaran Nair
- Nair was born in the year 1857 in Mankara village of Malabar’s Palakkad district.
- He belonged to an aristocratic family and his great grandfather was employed by the East India Company to enforce peace in the Malabar region.
- His grandfather was employed as the chief officer under the Civilian Divisional Officer.
His legal career
- Nair was drawn towards Law while he was completing his graduation from Presidency College in Madras.
- After completing his degree in Law, he was hired by Sir Horatio Shepherd who later became the Chief Justice of the Madras High Court.
- Since his early days as a lawyer, Nair was known for his defiant attitude.
- He went against a resolution passed by Indian vakils (advocates) of Madras stating that no Indian vakil would work as a junior to an English barrister.
- His stance on the issue made him so unpopular that he was boycotted by the other vakils, but he refused to let that bother him.
Legacy
- Nair was known for being a passionate advocate for social reforms and a firm believer in the self-determination of India.
- But what really stood out in his long glorious career is a courtroom battle he fought against the Lieutenant-Governor of Punjab, Michael O’Dwyer.
- Nair had accused O’Dwyer in his book, ‘Gandhi and anarchy’ for being responsible for the atrocities at the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.
- Consequently, he was fighting against an Englishman, in an English court that was presided over by an English jury.
- In all senses, the case was bound to make history.
- When the 1908 Montague-Chelmsford reforms were being discussed, he wrote an article in the Contemporary Review criticizing the English jury for being partial towards Englishmen.
- This infuriated the Anglo-Indian community who petitioned the Viceroy and the Secretary of State for India objecting to his appointment as high court judge the first time.
- He was once described by Edwin Montague, the secretary of state for India as an ‘impossible person’.
Key positions held
- In 1897 he became the youngest president of the INC in the history of the party till then, and the only Malayali to hold the post ever.
- By 1908 he was appointed as a permanent judge in the Madras High Court. In 1902 Lord Curzon appointed him a member of the Raleigh University Commission.
- In 1904 he was appointed as Companion of the Indian Empire by the King-Emperor and in 1912 he was knighted.
- In 1915 he became part of the Viceroy’s Council, put in charge of the education portfolio.
Career as judge
- As a Madras High Court judge, his best-known judgments clearly indicate his commitment to social reforms.
- In Budasna v Fatima (1914), he passed a radical judgement when he ruled that those who converted to Hinduism cannot be treated as outcasts.
- In a few other cases, he upheld inter-caste and inter-religious marriages.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Last Ice Area
Mains level: Climate Change
A part of the Arctic’s ice called the “Last Ice Area”, located north of Greenland, has melted before expected. Scientists had believed this area was strong enough to withstand global warming.
What is the Last Ice Area?
- In an article published in 2015, National Geographic noted that climate projections forecast the total disappearance of summer ice in the Arctic by the year 2040.
- However, the only place that would be able to withstand a warming climate would be this area of ice called the “Last Ice Area”.
- But while this piece of ice above northern Canada and Greenland was expected to last the longest time, it is now showing signs of melting.
- WWF claims that WWF-Canada was the first to call this area the‘ Last Ice Area’.
Why is the area important?
- The area is important because it was thought to be able to help ice-dependent species as ice in the surrounding areas melted away.
- The area is used by polar bears to hunt for seals who use ice to build dens for their offspring.
- Walruses too, use the surface of the ice for food search.
When did the area start changing?
- The first sign of change in LIA was observed in 2018.
- Further, in August last year, sea ice showed its “vulnerability” to the long-term effects of climate change.
- The ice in LIA has been thinning gradually over the years much like other parts of the Arctic Ocean.
What are the reasons that explain the change?
- About 80 per cent of thinning can be attributed to weather-related factors such as winds that break up and move the ice around.
- The remaining 20 per cent can be attributed to the longer-term thinning of the ice due to global warming.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: World History: India's contribution in two World Wars
During his four-day visit to the UK and Italy, the Indian Army Chief will inaugurate the Indian Army Memorial at Cassino in Italy, about 140 km away from Rome.
What is the memorial about?
- The memorial commemorates over 3,100 Commonwealth servicemen who took part in the effort to liberate Italy in World War II.
- Apart from this, 900 Indian soldiers were also commemorated on this memorial.
What was happening in Italy in WWII?
- Under Benito Mussolini, Italy had joined Nazi Germany in 1936 and in 1940 it entered WWII (1939-1945) against the Allies.
- But in 1943, Mussolini was overthrown and instead, Italy declared war on Germany.
- The invasion of Italy by the Allies coincided with an armistice that was made with the Italians.
- Even so, the UK’s National Army Museum notes that for two years during WWII, Italy became one of the war’s most “exhausting campaigns” because they were facing a skilled and resolute enemy.
What was India’s involvement in World War II?
- In the first half of the 1940s, India was still under British rule and the Indian Army fought in both the world wars.
- It comprised both Indian and European soldiers.
- Apart from this, there was the East India Company Army that also recruited both Indian and European soldiers and the British Army, which was also present in India.
India the largest volunteer
- Indian Army was the largest volunteer force during WWII, with over 2.5 million (more than 20 lakh) Indians participating.
- These troops fought the Axis powers (Germany, Italy and Japan) as part of the Allies.
- By 1945, the Allies had won, Italy had been liberated, Adolf Hitler was dead and India was barely a couple of years short of independence.
- However, while millions of Indians participated, their efforts are not always recognized.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NIPUN Bharat
Mains level: Not Much
Union Minister for Education has launched a National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with Understanding and Numeracy (NIPUN Bharat).
NIPUN Bharat
- This scheme aims for ensuring that every child in the country necessarily attains foundational literacy.
- It has been launched under the aegis of the centrally sponsored scheme of Samagra Shiksha.
- It would cover the learning needs of children in the age group of 3 to 9 years.
- The unique feature is that the goals of the Mission are set in the form of Lakshya Soochi or Targets for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy.
- The Lakshyas are based on the learning outcomes developed by the NCERT and international research and ORF studies.
Envisaged outcomes
- Foundational skills enable to keep children in class thereby reducing the dropouts and improve transition rate from primary to upper primary and secondary stages.
- Activity-based learning and a conducive learning environment will improve the quality of education.
- Innovative pedagogies such as toy-based and experiential learning will be used in classroom transactions thereby making learning a joyful and engaging activity.
- Intensive capacity building of teachers
- Since almost every child attends early grades, therefore, focus at that stage will also benefit the socio-economic disadvantageous group thus ensuring access to equitable and inclusive quality education.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Climate proofing
Mains level: Paper 3- Decentralised model of solar power generation
Power regulatory body in Rajasthan recently ordered discoms to solarise unelectrified public schools. The move has several benefits and therefore can be emulated by the other states as well.
Expanded electricity access in rural areas and shortcomings in it
- Estimates suggest that India has doubled the electrified rural households, from 55% in 2010 to 96% in 2020.
- However, the measure of access to power supply has been the number of households that have been connected to the electricity grid.
- This measure discounts large areas of essential and productive human activities such as public schools and primary health centres.
- And despite greater electrification, power supply is often unreliable in rural areas.
Solar energy: Solution to electrification in remote parts
- To address the above problems, the Rajasthan Electricity Regulatory Commission (RERC) has ordered the State’s discoms to solarise unelectrified public schools.
- The RERC has also suggested installation of batteries to ensure storage of power.
- Apart from enabling education, this ruling would benefit several other crucial aspects of rural life.
- The RERC order also directed discoms to seek corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds for the solarising drive and allows schools ownership of the power systems in a phased manner.
- This removes the burden of infrastructure development expenses on discoms, while also ensuring clean energy for the schools.
- The power that is generated could also be counted towards the discoms’ Renewable Purchase Obligations (RPO).
- Large-scale projects are generally financed by companies that wish to profit from economies of scale.
- They are less interested in investing in rural electricity as it is not as lucrative.
- Large-grid based projects add to the supply of power in urban areas, and therefore, only marginally further greater energy access goals.
The decentralised model of power generation
- While Rajasthan has land mass with vast, sparsely populated tracts available to install solar parks, bulk infrastructure of this scale is susceptible to extreme weather events.
- With climate change increasing the possibility of such events, a decentralised model of power generation would prove to be more climate resilient.
- With battery storage, the susceptibility of grid infrastructure to extreme weather events could be mitigated.
- This is called climate proofing.
- As solar installations become inexpensive and with rapidly advancing battery storage technologies, decentralised solar power generation has become a reality.
Conclusion
The ruling by Rajasthan’s power regulator not only helps in increasing access to electricity, achieving targets of renewable energy but also suggests solutions that other States could emulate.
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