Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNSC
Mains level: Paper 2- India's vote at the UN on Ukraine
Context
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has placed considerable moral responsibility on India. However, at the United Nations (UN), India has refused to condemn the violation of the rights of the Ukrainians.
Issues involved in India’s vote
1] Commitment to principles
- National interest: One of the arguments justifying India’s stance is that in international affairs, a country must be guided by its national interest and not some abstract principles.
- It is pointed out that due to the very high dependence of India on the Soviet Union for defence equipment and the likely need of support on the Pakistan issue in the Security Council, India must not offend Russia by condemning the invasion.
- Why India should condemn Russia: If a people’s principles are their most deeply held beliefs about how the world must be ordered, then their interest lies in ensuring that their principles prevail in international relations.
- Thus, if India does not want to see itself to be the victim of territorial aggression in the future, it must communicate strongly on the world stage that it condemns the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
2] India-West relations
- In the 1950s the West was clearly unsympathetic to India, playing its card openly on the Kashmir issue at the UN as early as 1947.
- On the other hand, the Soviet Union, the precursor to the present-day Russian state, had rescued India several times by exercising its veto in the UN Security Council.
- Now, close to 75 years later, the situation has changed.
- Public opinion in the West does not favour unconditional support of Pakistan vis-à-vis India while Russia encourages Pakistan.
- Moreover, we know by now that some limited support at the UN matters little, as taking the Kashmir issue to the UN Security Council has not got Pakistan to withdraw from the territory it occupied.
3] India’s dependence on Russia for defence supplies
- It is indeed correct that India relies on the Russians for such equipment and their spare parts.
- At the same time there is a global market for arms. It is not evident that anything withheld by the Russians cannot be sourced from that market.
- For India to base its public stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the assured supply of armaments is to really drag ourselves down to the bottom of the pit in terms of ethics.
4] East-West conflict argument
- Another argument is that this is a conflict between the east and the west, and India should stay out of it.
- To say that this is just another east-west conflict from which India should stay out is tantamount to seeing the Russian invasion and the brave defence of their country by the Ukrainians as a mere marital squabble.
- India had refused in 1956 to condemn the Soviet invasion of Hungary, its action today is much worse.
Conclusion
India must take a long view of how it wants to engage with it. Its actions so far leave it in the company of Russia and China.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Geneva Conventions
Mains level: Read the attached story
As the evidence of casualties in the civilian population continues to mount, the world will increasingly look to the Geneva Conventions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Geneva Conventions Guidelines for Wartime
- These are a set of four treaties, formalized in 1949, and three additional protocols, which codify widely accepted ethical and legal international standards for humanitarian treatment of those impacted by war.
- The focus of the Conventions is the:
- Treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war, and
- Not the use of conventional or biological and chemical weapons
What are the four Geneva Conventions?
(1) First Geneva Convention: Health and Medical Issues
- It protects wounded and sick soldiers on land during war.
- This convention extends to medical and religious personnel, medical units, and medical transport.
- It has two annexes containing a draft agreement relating to hospital zones and a model identity card for medical and religious personnel.
(2) Second Geneva Convention: Offshore Protection
- It protects wounded, sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war.
- This convention also extends to hospital ships and medical transports by sea, with specific commentary on the treatment and protections for their personnel.
(3) Third Geneva Convention: Treatment of Prisoners of War (PoW)
It applies to prisoners of war, including a wide range of general protections such as humane treatment, maintenance and equality across prisoners, conditions of captivity, questioning and evacuation of prisoners, transit camps, food, clothing, medicines, hygiene and right to religious, intellectual, and physical activities of prisoners.
(4) Fourth Geneva Convention: Civilian protection of occupied territory ***
- It particularly applies to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces.
- It protects civilians, including those in occupied territory.
- Comprising 159 articles, it outlines the norms for this critical dimension of conflict.
Extent of the Fourth Geneva Convention amid the Ukraine-Russia War
- Along with the Additional Protocols of 1977, the Fourth Convention expounds upon the:
- General protection of populations against certain consequences of war
- Conduct of hostilities and the status and
- Treatment of protected persons
- Distinguishing between the situation of foreigners on the territory of one of the parties to the conflict and that of civilians in occupied territory
- This convention also spells out the obligations of the occupying power vis-à-vis the civilian population and outlines detailed provisions on humanitarian relief for populations in occupied territory.
Which countries are signatories?
- The Geneva Conventions have been ratified by 196 states, including all UN member states.
- The three Protocols have been ratified by 174, 169 and 79 states respectively.
Russia and these conventions
- In 2019, perhaps anticipating the possibility of its invading Ukraine in the near future, Russia withdrew its declaration under Article 90 of Protocol 1.
- By withdrawing this declaration, Russia has pre-emptively left itself with the option to refuse access by any international fact-finding missions to Russian entities.
- Not withdrawing could have find Russia responsible for violations of the Geneva Conventions standards.
- Further, the four conventions and first two protocols of the Geneva Conventions were ratified by the Soviet Union, not Russia.
- Hence there is a risk of the Russian government of the day disavowing any responsibility under the Conventions.
What would be the steps for potential prosecution under the Conventions?
- Under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, it is the ICC that has jurisdiction in respect of war crimes, in particular “when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.”
To what extent have Geneva Conventions been upheld worldwide in recent years?
- Amnesty International notes that there has been a blatant disregard for civilian protection and international humanitarian law in armed conflicts where four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are parties.
- Specifically, Amnesty cited:
- US-led coalition’s bombing of Raqqa in Syria, which left more than 1,600 civilians dead
- Destruction of civilian infrastructure and lives in Aleppo and Idlib by Russian forces
- Leading to mass displacement of millions
- War in Yemen where the Saudi Arabia and the UAE-led coalition, backed by the West, killed and injured thousands of civilians, fuelling a full-blown humanitarian crisis
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Blockchain technology, NFTs
Mains level: Blockchain gaming
Many Indian gaming companies have expressed their interest in introducing elements of Blockchain technology into their games in the near future.
What is Blockchain?
- Blockchain is a decentralised database that stores information.
- It relies on technology that allows for the storage of identical copies of this information on multiple computers in a network.
What are blockchain games?
- To revisit our definition of blockchain games: they are online video games that are developed by integrating blockchain technology into them.
- It can be diversified into the following components-
(1) Non-fungible tokens
- NFTs represent in-game virtual assets that can be owned by players, such as maps, armour or land.
- These NFTs act as asset tags, identifying ownership of the in-game assets, and are stored on the blockchain.
- Being on the blockchain allows the player to have a secure record of ownership of the in-game assets and also gives the assets the ability to outlive the game itself.
- Based on the manner in which the games are designed, it also allows for the in-game assets to be transferred from one game to another.
- It also creates transparency, since ownership records can independently be verified by any third party as well.
- In doing so, it makes in-game assets marketable and creates a decentralized market, where they can be bought and sold by people.
(2) Cryptocurrency
- Cryptocurrency, such as tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain, may be used for the purchase of in-game assets.
- These in-game purchases usually enable gamers to buy items like extra lives, coins and so on directly from the game.
(3) Gaming coins
- Gaming coins, such as Axie Infinity (ACS) and Enjin Coin (ENJ), are in-game cryptocurrency which may be acquired and then used for the purchase of in-game assets.
- These gaming coins may be purchased from crypto exchanges (and eventually be traded on these crypto exchanges as well) or, in certain cases, be acquired as winnings in games that have adopted the ‘play-to-earn’ model.
- In such games, gamers are rewarded for dedicating their time and skill to play the game with gaming coins and in-game assets.
Need to regulate such games
- By making in-game assets available for purchase, developers and publishers stand to earn revenue from the sale of such assets.
- They may also embed certain rules when implementing the code for in-game assets such that a fee is paid to them every time a certain action is taken,
- It also involves transfers of assets from one player to another.
- It needs to be ensured that if it is permissible to offer such games in the Indian Territory and also offers protection in the form of intellectual property rights.
- Other concerns, such as privacy and cyber security, along with how financial regulations would apply to blockchain games, would also need to be addressed.
Regulatory aspects in India
Most of the gaming laws were brought into effect prior to the internet era and, therefore, only contemplate regulation of gaming activities taking place in physical premises.
(A) Legality Check
- Since blockchain is merely the underlying technology, there is no express regulation in India.
- It would, however, be relevant to explore the legality of the games from the lens of existing Indian gaming regulation.
- Most Indian states regulate gaming on the basis of a distinction in law between ‘games of skill’ and ‘games of chance’.
- Staking money or property on the outcome of a ‘game of chance’ is prohibited and subjects the guilty parties to criminal sanctions.
- However, placing any stakes on the outcome of a ‘game of skill’ is not illegal per se and may be permissible.
- As per two seminal judgments of the Supreme Court on this aspect, the Supreme Court recognized that no game is purely a ‘game of skill’ and almost all games have an element of chance.
(B) Dominant Element Test
- As such, a ‘dominant element’ test is to be utilized to determine whether chance or skill is the dominating element in determining the result of the game.
- This ‘dominant element’ may be determined by examining whether factors such as superior knowledge, training, experience, expertise or attention of a player have a material impact on the outcome of the game.
- While the outcomes of any ‘games of skill’ are affected by these factors, outcomes of ‘games of chance’ are premised on luck and are largely independent of the skills of the players involved.
(C) Gaming house regulations
- The Delhi District Court has, in the past, held that a gaming portal would be covered within the definition of a ‘common gaming house’.
- This would be subjected to conditions where the gaming developers were to take commission / earn revenue from the game offered.
- This is because such portals merely seek to replace the brick and mortar common gaming houses that Indian law currently envisages and has outlawed.
Where does blockchain gaming lie within this framework?
- There is currently a lacuna in gaming law and there are lingering question marks on its interpretation and applicability to online gaming.
- As the law currently stands, each blockchain game must first pass muster as a ‘game of skill’, as against a ‘game of chance’, to legally be made available in most Indian states.
- In the past, the Supreme Court has rejected the notion of video games being ‘games of skill’.
Possible protections available to blockchain games
(a) Patents:
- For a blockchain game or any of its elements to be patented in India if it meets the requirements of novelty, involving an inventive step, and industrial application.
- In terms of Section 3(k) of the Patent Act, 1970, computer programs are per se not inventions and hence, cannot be patented.
- However, judicial pronouncements in the past have clarified that if an invention has a technical contribution or a technical effect and is not merely a computer program per se, then it would be patentable.
(b) Trademarks:
- A trademark is used as an identifying mark to determine the source of a particular good or service, and is obtained to protect the goodwill and reputation of the brand.
- Any distinguishing mark in a blockchain game or NFT that would allow consumers to identify the source of that particular game or NFT may be trademarked.
(c) Copyrights:
- In India, artistic work, musical work, cinematographic films, dramatic works, sound recordings and computer software are capable being of being protected under copyright law.
- Although there is no specific provision in the Copyright Act that deals with video games, copyright protection of video games may be sought under the category of ‘multimedia products’.
- Similar to the position with trademarks, the process of obtaining a copyright for a blockchain game would be the same as any other online video game.
Future roadmap
- The Finance Ministry had announced in late-2021 that The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 would seek to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies.
- If the legislature does indeed successfully, then, to the extent that existing blockchain games rely on cryptocurrencies, they would be considered illegal in India.
- Independent of this, the Budget announced that the income from the transfer of any ‘virtual digital assets’ (which include cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens) would be subject to income tax at the rate of 30%.
- Policy pronouncements of this nature would need to be carefully considered by publishers of blockchain games while designing their pricing models.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MFN status
Mains level: Global sanctions on Russia
The United States, the European Union, Britain, Canada and Japan are to move jointly to revoke Russia’s “most favoured nation” (MFN) status over its invasion of Ukraine.
What is MFN status?
- The World Trade Organization’s 164 members commit to treating other members equally so they can all benefit from each other’s lowest tariffs, highest import quotas and fewest trade barriers.
- This principle of non-discrimination is known as most favoured nation (MFN) treatment.
- There are some exceptions, such as when members strike bilateral trade agreements or when members offer developing countries special access to their markets.
- For countries outside the WTO, such as Iran, North Korea, Syria or Russian ally Belarus, WTO members can impose whatever trade measures they wish without flouting global trading rules.
Removal of MFN status
- There is no formal procedure for suspending MFN treatment and it is not clear whether members are obliged to inform the WTO if they do so.
- India suspended Pakistan’s MFN status in 2019 after a suicide attack by a Pakistan-sponsored group.
- Pakistan never applied MFN status to India.
What does losing MFN status mean?
- Revoking Russia’s MFN status sends a strong signal that the US and its Western allies do not consider Russia a economic partner in any way, but it does not in itself change conditions for trade.
- It does formally allow the Western allies to increase import tariffs or impose quotas on Russian goods, or even ban them, and to restrict services out of the country.
- They could also overlook Russian intellectual property rights.
- Ahead of MFN status removal, the United States had already announced a ban on imports of Russian oil and gas.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ISS
Mains level: Decommissioning of ISS
Western sanctions against Russia could cause the International Space Station (ISS) to crash, the head of Russian space agency Roscosmos has warned.
What is the ISS?
- The ISS was launched in 1998 as part of joint efforts by the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.
- The idea of a space station originated in the 1984 State of the Union address by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
- The space station was assembled over many years, and it operates in low-earth orbit.
- Since its inception, it has served as a laboratory suspended in space and has aided multiple scientific and technological developments.
- The ISS was originally built to operate for 15 years.
Why was ISS launched?
- A space station permits quantum leaps in research in science, communications, and in metals and lifesaving medicines which could be manufactured only in space.
- ISS has consistently maintained human presence for the past 21 years, providing astronauts with sophisticated technologies for scientific research.
What is Russia’s role in maintaining the ISS?
- The ISS is built with the co-operation of scientists from five international space agencies — NASA of the U.S., Roscosmos of Russia, JAXA of Japan, Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
- Each agency has a role to play and a share in the upkeep of the ISS.
- Both in terms of expense and effort, it is not a feat that a single country can support.
- Russia’s part in the collaboration is the module responsible for making course corrections to the orbit of the ISS.
- They also ferry astronauts to the ISS from the Earth and back.
- Until SpaceX’s dragon spacecraft came into the picture the Russian spacecrafts were the only way of reaching the ISS and returning.
Why does the orbit of the ISS need to be corrected?
- Due to its enormous weight and the ensuing drag, the ISS tends to sink from its orbit at a height of about 250 miles above the Earth.
- It has to be pushed up to its original line of motion every now and then.
- This is rather routine, even for smaller satellites.
- Approximately once a month this effort has to be made.
- The other reason for altering the path of the ISS is to avoid its collision with space debris, which can damage the station.
What is the extent of effort and expense involved in this?
- Manoeuvring the ISS is expensive.
- In a year, 7-8 tonnes of fuel may need to be spent, with each manoeuvre costing nearly a tonne of fuel.
- If a manoeuvre is put off for later, the ISS may sink a little more and the delayed operation would cost more as a larger correction needs to be made.
Risks of crashing
- The orbit of the ISS does not fly over the Russian territory mostly.
- Places that are closer to the equator run a greater risk of it falling in their domain.
- The orbit is at about 50 degrees and so most probably, the ISS will fall in that level.
- But this is only a probability, as it can move or disintegrate.
- But in case of this eventuality, people in the ISS will be brought back, modules can be detached thereby making it much smaller which will ensure that it disintegrates before touching the earth.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vibrant Village Programme
Mains level: Critical border infrastructures
The Union government plans to open the villages along the Chinese border for tourists under the Vibrant Village programme announced in the Union Budget 2022-23.
Vibrant Village Programme
- The program aims to improve infrastructure in villages along India’s border with China.
- Infrastructure will be improved in states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Under the programme, residential and tourist centres will be constructed.
- It will also provide for improvement in road connectivity and development of decentralized renewable energy sources.
- Apart from that, direct access of Doordarshan and education related channels will be provided. Support will be provided for livelihood.
Key focus areas
- It focuses livelihood generation, road connectivity, housing, rural infrastructure, renewable energy, television and broadband connections.
- This objective will be met by strengthening infrastructure across villages located near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Why need such scheme?
- The programme is a counter to China’s model villages but the name has been carefully chosen so as to not cause any consternation in the neighbouring country.
- China has established new villages along the LAC in the past few years particularly across the Arunachal Pradesh border.
- While China has been settling new residents in border areas, villages on the Indian side of the frontier have seen unprecedented out-migration.
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