Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Importance of middle powers in Arab Gulf
Context
On December 19, Pakistan hosted a special session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to address the crisis in Afghanistan.
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and how regional countries are responding to it
- The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is peaking with no basic amenities available for its population and a harsh winter ahead.
- While Pakistan hosted the OIC, India played host to foreign ministers of Central Asian states where Afghanistan topped the agenda as well.
- All the attending countries — Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Kyrgyzstan — also OIC members, chose to prioritise deliberations with New Delhi.
Qatar’s growing influence in Afghanistan and implications for the region
- Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Pakistan were the only three countries that had officially recognised the previous Taliban government in 1996, until its fall in 2001.
- Fast forward to the 2010s, and it was the small but rich state of Qatar that became the mediating force on Afghanistan.
- Doha hosted the official Taliban political office from 2013 to allow negotiations with the U.S.
- Qatar’s new role on Afghanistan gave it significant diplomatic and political visibility the world over.
- In West Asia, Qatar’s growing influence was causing unease in the traditional power centres in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, specifically on issues such as the Qatari leadership’s support for political Islam and organisations such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Fundamental changes
- Economic blockade: In 2017 the UAE and Saudi Arabia initiated an economic blockade against Doha in the hope of reigning the Kingdom in and disallowing it from pursuing its geopolitical designs that were challenging the long-held power status quos.
- This four-year long impasse ended in 2021.
- These four years created fundamental changes within the larger Arab Gulf construct.
- Qatar mitigated risk and moved closer towards Turkey and Iran.
- Today, both Qatar and Turkey are bidding to operate a landlocked Afghanistan’s airports under the Taliban regime.
- For the Gulf specifically, Qatar’s punching-above-its-weight approach in geopolitics was also making it more powerful and influential with Washington D.C.
- To mitigate this, the Saudis played a central role during the recent OIC special session.
- They repaired their broken relationship with Pakistan.
Way forward for India
- Over the past decade, India has recognised the importance of middle powers in the Arab Gulf to a fast-evolving global order, from fighting against terrorism to newer diplomacy challenges such as Afghanistan.
Conclusion
The Arab Gulf is poised to become an important player once again in Afghanistan under the shadow of the Taliban.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Dealing with Covid
Context
The Government must make COVID-19 data including that for vaccine regulatory approvals and policy available.
Kay decisions
- On December 25, the Prime Minister of India announced two key decisions.
- Vaccination of children: All children in the 15-17 age bracket will be eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines from January 3, 2022.
- Third shot: All health-care workers, frontline workers and the people aged 60 years and above (with co-morbidities and on the advice of a medical doctor) can get a third shot, or ‘precaution dose’.
- The eligibility for the precaution dose will be on the completion of nine months or 39 weeks after the second dose.
- Teenage children whose birth year is 2007 or before will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines.
- Children will receive Covaxin, the reason being (according to the note) it is the only emergency use listed (EUL) World Health Organization vaccine available for use in this age group in India.
Issues with the decision
- Lack of scientific evidence: The decision is said to be based on ‘advice of the scientific community’.
- A few members of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI) in India, have written or spoken publicly about not having enough scientific evidence to administer booster doses and vaccinate children in India.
- Successive national and State-level sero-surveys have reported that a majority of children in India had got natural infection, while staying at home and thus developed antibodies.
- The studies have shown that children rarely develop moderate to severe COVID-19 disease.
- Targeted vaccination approach not adopted: Most public health and vaccine experts favour a ‘targeted vaccination approach’ by prioritising high-risk children for COVID-19 vaccination.
- However, such an approach is likely to face an operational challenge in the identification of the eligible children.
- Consultation cost: A majority of the elderly have one or other comorbidities. Of the 14 crore elderly population in India, an estimated 7 to 10 crore people could have co-morbidities.
- If they have to seek advice from a physician, in order to get vaccinated, this essentially means that there would be up to 10 crore of medical consultations, which would come at a cost — all of which is avoidable.
Suggestions
- Do away with prescription: The conditionality of comorbidities and the need for advice/prescription by a doctor for ‘the precaution shot’ in the elderly should be done away with.
- Third dose to all immunocompromised adults: There is scientific evidence and consensus on administering the third dose for immunocompromised adults.
- The Indian government should urgently consider administering a third dose for all immunocompromised adults, irrespective of age.
- Third dose on a different vaccine platform: Studies have found that a heterologous prime-boost approach — third shot on a different vaccine platform — is a better approach.
- Identify policy questions: Various pending policy questions on COVID-19 vaccine need to be identified urgently.
- The technical expert should be given complete access to COVID-19 data for analysis and to find answers to those scientific and policy questions.
- Vaccine supply and stock management: Vaccination for teenage children, exclusively with Covaxin (which means 15 crore doses for this sub-group) has other implications.
- Covaxin will also be needed for people coming for their first shot, returning for their second shot, and then for their ‘precaution dose’ if a third shot of the same vaccine is allowed.
- Focus on primary vaccination: The precaution dose and vaccination for children should not divert attention from the task of primary vaccination, which continues to be an unfinished task in India; 46 crore doses are still needed for the first and second shots.
- Make data public: It is time the Union and State governments in India make COVID-19 data — this includes clinical outcomes, testing, genomic sequencing as well as vaccination — available in the public domain.
- This would help in formulating and updating COVID-19 policy and strategies and also assess the impact of ‘precaution dose’ as well as vaccination of children.
Conclusion
The Indian government urgently needs to make COVID-19 data available, including the one used for regulatory approvals of vaccines and for vaccine policy decisions. This will bring transparency in decision making and increase the trust of the citizen in the process.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Judicial Reforms
At least two Supreme Court judges have in the past few months openly expressed the need to “Indianize” the legal system.
What is the news?
- This week, Justice S. Abdul Nazeer underscored the need to embrace the great legal traditions as per Manu, Kautilya, Katyayana, Brihaspati, Narada, Parashara, Yajnavalkya and other legal giants of ancient India.
- Continued neglect of their great knowledge and adherence to alien colonial legal system is detrimental to the goals of our Constitution and against our national interests, he said.
- He emphasized the need for Indianization of the legal system to decolonize the Indian legal system.
- He concluded that this colonial legal system is not suitable for the Indian population.
Background of the case
Then CJI P.N. Bhagwati in the M.C. Mehta Case way back in 1986 has said that-
- We cannot allow our judicial thinking to be constricted by reference to the law as it prevails in England or for the matter of that in any other foreign country.
- We no longer need the crutches of a foreign legal order.
- We are certainly prepared to receive light from whatever source it comes from, but we have to build up our own jurisprudence.
Indianization of Judiciary
- Last month, CJI N.V. Ramana called for the “Indianization” of the legal system to provide greater access to justice to the poor as the “need of the hour”.
- CJI emphasized this as an adaptation to the practical realities of our society and localize our justice delivery systems.
- For example, parties from a rural place fighting a family dispute are usually made to feel out of place in the court, the CJI clarified.
Major suggestions by CJI:
(A) Simplification
- The simplification of justice delivery should be our pressing concern.
- It is crucial to make justice delivery more transparent, accessible and effective.
- Procedural barriers often undermine access to justice.
- The Chief Justice said both judges and lawyers have to create an environment which is comforting for the litigants and other stakeholders.
(B) Alternate dispute mechanisms
- The CJI said alternate dispute mechanisms like mediation and conciliation would go a long way in reducing pendency, unnecessary litigation and save resources.
Major suggestions by CJI:
(A) Simplification
- The simplification of justice delivery should be our pressing concern.
- It is crucial to make justice delivery more transparent, accessible and effective.
- Procedural barriers often undermine access to justice.
- The Chief Justice said both judges and lawyers have to create an environment that is comforting for the litigants and other stakeholders.
(B) Alternate dispute mechanisms
- The CJI said alternate dispute mechanisms like mediation and conciliation would go a long way in reducing pendency, unnecessary litigation and save resources.
Recent moves of Indianization
- Supreme Court judgments show that the Indian legal system had made an early start at consciously getting rid of the “crutches” of colonial influence.
(1) General principles laid by the SC
- The evolution of laws in India has been through legislation and the binding precedents of the Supreme Court under Article 141 of the Constitution.
- Article 142 of the Constitution of India deals with the Enforcement of decrees and orders of the Supreme Court.
(2) Public Interest Litigation
- The public interest litigation mechanism is truly Indian.
(3) Reference to Indian texts
- Several judgments since the 1980s refer to the works of Manu and Kautilya.
- In the privacy judgment, Justice S.A. Bobde (retired), referred to how “even in the ancient and religious texts of India, a well-developed sense of privacy is evident”.
- He mentions that Kautilya’s “Arthashastra prohibits entry into another’s house, without the owner’s consent”.
Issues with Ancient Texts
- In the Sabarimala Case, the court pointed to the Manusmriti to observe that in these “ancient religious texts and customs, menstruating women have been considered as polluting the surroundings”.
- It went on to hold that practices that legitimize menstrual taboos, due to notions of purity and pollution, limit the ability of menstruating women to attain the freedom of movement and the right of entry to places of worship.
Way forward
- It is time for courts to wake up from their colonial stupor and face the practical realities of Indian society.
- Rules and procedures of justice delivery should be made simple.
- The ordinary, poor, and rural Indian should not be scared of judges or the courts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IPO
Mains level: Not Much
The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved amendments to a slew of regulations to tighten the Initial Public Offering (IPO) process and norms governing the utilization of IPO proceeds by promoters.
What is an IPO?
- Every company needs money to grow and expand.
- They do this by borrowing or by issuing shares.
- If the company decides to opt for the second route of issuing shares, it must invite public investors to buy its shares.
- This is its first public invitation in the stock market and is called the Initial Public Offering (IPO).
What does it mean for investors to buy shares?
- When one buys such shares, he/she makes an IPO investment.
- He/she gets ownership in the company, proportionate to the value of your shares.
- These shares then get listed on the stock exchange.
- The stock exchange is where you can sell your existing shares in the company or buy more.
How does an IPO work?
- The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) regulates the entire process of investment via an IPO in India.
- A company intending to issue shares through IPOs first registers with SEBI.
- SEBI scrutinizes the documents submitted, and only then approves them.
Who can hold IPOs?
- It could be a new, young company or an old company that decides to be listed on an exchange and hence goes public.
What are the recent regulations?
- In its board meeting, SEBI approved conditions for sale of shares by significant shareholders in the Offer-For-Sale (OFS) process via an IPO and has extended the lock-in period for anchor investors to 90 days.
- Shares offered for sale by shareholders with more than 20% of pre-issue shareholding of the issuer, should not exceed 50% of their holding.
- If they hold less than 20%, then the offer for sale should not exceed 10% of their holding of the issue.
- These changes are as per proposals recommended by SEBI’s Primary Market Advisory Committee.
Also read:
[Sansad TV] The IPO Boom
Try this question from CSP 2019:
Q.In India, which of the following review the independent regulators in sectors like telecommunications, insurance, electricity, etc.?
- Ad Hoc Committees set up by the Parliament
- Parliamentary Department Related Standing Committees
- Finance Commission
- Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission
- NITI Aayog
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2
(b) 1, 3 and 4
(c) 3, 4 and 5
(d) 2 and 5
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Read the attached storyd
Mains level: Issues with role of Governor
Maharashtra Governor and the incumbent government are locked in a tussle over the election of the Speaker of the Assembly. The Governor has not given his consent to the election program decided by the Cabinet.
Election of Speakers to the Assembly
- Article 178 of the Constitution provides for every Legislative Assembly to choose two members of the Assembly to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
- The Constitution does not specify the process of holding these elections; that is left to the state legislatures.
- It also does not set a timeframe other than to say the elections should be held “as soon as maybe”.
Some states lay down timeframes
- In Haryana, the election of the Speaker must be held as soon as possible after the Assembly election, and the Deputy Speaker must be elected within another seven days.
- In UP, the Speaker’s election is required to be held within 15 days if the post falls vacant during the term of the Assembly.
- The date for the Speaker’s election is notified by the Governor.
A crucial case in Maharashtra
- As per Rule 6 of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Rules, “The Governor shall fix a date for the holding of the election and the Secretary shall send to every member notice of the date so fixed.”
- A former Secretary of the state Assembly said the election of the Speaker can take place only after the Governor fixes the date for it.
What are the recent amendments?
- The govt has moved a motion in the Assembly seeking amendments to Rules 6 (election of Assembly Speaker) and 7 (election of Deputy Assembly Speaker) by voice vote instead of a secret ballot.
- The amendments excluded the words “holding of the election” and included the words “to elect the Speaker on the recommendation of the Chief Minister” in Rule 6 of Maharashtra Assembly Rules.
What are the objections to these amendments?
- The Opposition accused the govt of running the “most insecure government” that does not trust its MLAs and fears there would be cross-voting in the election of the Speaker.
- It argued that the Rules cannot be amended in the absence of the Speaker.
What is the government’s position?
- The government has argued that the amendments are in line with the Rules that are in practice in Lok Sabha, the Upper House of the state legislature, and in the Assemblies of several others states.
- It has also been said that the amendments would put an end to horse trading.
What is the way ahead?
- The govt can explore legal options to see whether the election of the Speaker could be held without the consent of the Governor.
- However, the situation is very odd.
- While Rule 6 mandates that the Governor should fix the date for the election, the amendment says that the Governor should fix the date on the advice on the CM.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Konark Sun Temple
Mains level: Kalinga and other temple architecture
The Archaeological Survey of India is working on a preliminary roadmap to safely remove sand from the interiors of Odisha’s Sun Temple, which was filled up by the British 118 years ago to prevent it from collapsing.
Konark Sun Temple
- Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century CE Sun temple at Konark about 36 kilometres northeast from Puri on the coastline of Odisha, India.
- The temple is attributed to king Narasinga Deva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty about 1250 CE.
- Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1984 it remains a major pilgrimage site for Hindus, who gather here every year for the Chandrabhaga Mela around the month of February.
Its architecture
- Dedicated to the Hindu Sun God Surya, what remains of the temple complex has the appearance of a 100-foot (30 m) high chariot with immense wheels and horses, all carved from stone.
- Its architecture has all the defining elements of the Kalinga architecture – it includes Shikhara (crown), Jagmohana (audience hall), Natmandir (dance hall), and Vimana (tower).
- Also called the Surya Devalaya, it is a classic illustration of the Odisha style of Architecture or Kalinga Architecture.
- Once over 200 feet (61 m) high, much of the temple is now in ruins, in particular the large shikara tower over the sanctuary; at one time this rose much higher than the mandapa that remains.
- The structures and elements that have survived are famed for their intricate artwork, iconography, and themes, including erotic kama and mithuna scenes.
- The Jagamohan is the only structure that is fully intact now.
Earlier restoration efforts
- It had been filled with sand and sealed by the British authorities in 1903 in order to stabilize the structure, a/c to ASI.
- The sand filled in over 100 years ago had settled, leading to a gap of about 17 feet.
- However, the structure was found to be stable.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Apatani textile, GI tags
Mains level: Not Much
An application seeking a Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the Arunachal Pradesh Apatani textile product has been filed by a firm.
Apatani textile
- The Apatani weave comes from the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh living at Ziro, the headquarters of lower Subansiri district.
- The woven fabric of this tribe is known for its geometric and zigzag patterns and also for its angular designs.
- The community weaves its own textiles for various occasions, including rituals and cultural festivals.
- The tribe predominantly weaves shawls known as jig-jiro and jilan or jackets called supuntarii.
- The traditional handloom of this tribe is a type of loin loom, which is called Chichin, and is similar to the traditional handloom of the Nyishi tribe.
What makes it special?
- The people here use different leaves and plant resources for organic dying the cotton yarns in their traditional ways.
- Only women folk are engaged in weaving.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which of the following has/have been accorded ‘Geographical Indication’ status?
- Banaras Brocades and Sarees
- Rajasthani Daal-Bati-Churma
- Tirupathi Laddu
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
About Geographical Indication
- A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
- Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
- India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
- GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
- GI is granted for a term of 10 years in India. As of today, more than 300 GI tags has been allocated so far in India (*Wikipedia).
- The tag stands valid for 10 years.
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