From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G7, G12, G20
Mains level: India's presidentship of G20
PM unveiled the logo, theme and website of India’s G20 presidency.
What is G20?
The G20 was formed in 1999 in the backdrop of the financial crisis of the late 1990s that hit East Asia and Southeast Asia in particular.
The first G20 Summit took place in 2008 in Washington DC, US.
Its aim was to secure global financial stability by involving middle-income countries.
Its prominent members are: Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the UK, the US, and the EU.
Spain is invited as a permanent guest.
Presidency of G20
The presidency of the G20 rotates every year among members.
The country holding the presidency, together with the previous and next presidency-holder, forms the ‘Troika’ to ensure continuity of the G20 agenda.
During India’s presidency, India, Indonesia and Brazil will form the troika.
This would be the first time when the troika would consist of three developing countries and emerging economies.
How does the G20 work?
The G20 has no permanent secretariat.
The agenda and work are coordinated by representatives of the G20 countries, known as ‘Sherpas’, who work together with the finance ministers and governors of the central banks.
On the advice of the G7 Finance Ministers, the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors began holding meetings to discuss the response to the global financial crisis that occurred.
Since 1999, an annual meeting of finance ministers has taken place.
Economic significance of G20
G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation representing around-
85 per cent of the global GDP,
75 per cent of the global trade, and
Two-thirds of the world population
Significance of the G20 logo
The logo bears a lotus and the message of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam — One Earth, One Family, One Future’.
The lotus flower symbolises our Puranic heritage, our aastha (belief) and boddhikta (intellectualism).
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: COP 27
Mains level: Climate change related negotiations
The port city of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt is hosting the 27th edition of the UN-Conference of Parties (UN-COP).
Quick recap
Last year, PM Modi, at the 26th edition of the COP in Glasgow, Scotland, committed to India becoming net-zero, or in effect carbon neutral, by 2070 along with Panchamrita
Environment Minister will be leading the Indian delegation to COP-27 in Egypt.
India is determined to press developed countries into making good their unfulfilled commitment to deliver $100 billion a year of climate finance by 2020 and every year thereafter till 2025.
Conference of Parties (CoP): A Backgrounder
The CoP comes under the United Nations Climate Change Framework Convention (UNFCCC) which was formed in 1994.
The UNFCCC was established to work towards “stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere.”
It laid out a list of responsibilities for the member states which included:
Formulating measures to mitigate climate change
Cooperating in preparing for adaptation to the impact of climate change
Promoting education, training and public awareness related to climate change
The UNFCCC has 198 parties including India, China and the USA. COP members have been meeting every year since 1995.
COP1 to COP25: Key takeaways
COP1: The first conference was held in 1995 in Berlin.
COP3: It was held in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997, the famous Kyoto Protocol (wef 2005) was adopted. It commits the member states to pursue limitation or reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
COP8: India hosted the eighth COP in 2002 in New Delhi. It laid out several measures including, ‘strengthening of technology transfer… in all relevant sectors, including energy, transport and R&D, and the strengthening of institutions for sustainable development.
COP21: it is one of the most important that took place in 2015, in Paris, France. Here countries agreed to work together to ‘limit global warming to well below 2, preferably at 1.5 degrees Celsius, compared to pre-industrial levels.’
Significance of COP
The event will see leaders from more than 190 countries, thousands of negotiators, researchers and citizens coming together to strengthen a global response to the threat of climate change.
It is a pivotal movement for the world to come together and accelerate the climate action plan after several discussion.
Key agenda of the COP27
Ans. Loss and Damage Funding
The term ‘Loss and Damage’ refers to the economic and non-economic impacts of climate change, including extreme events in countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
Rich countries, historically responsible for the climate crisis, have bullied poorer nations to protect polluters from paying up for climate damages.
The term was brought up as a demand in 1991 by the island country of Vanuatu, which was representing the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).
Try this PYQ:
Q.With reference to the Agreement at the UNFCCC Meeting in Paris in 2015, which of the following statements is/are correct?
The Agreement was signed by all the member countries of the UN and it will go into effect in 2017.
The Agreement aims to limit the greenhouse gas emissions so that the rise in average global temperature by the end of this century does not exceed 2 degree Centigrade or even 5 degree Centigrade above pre-industrial levels.
Developed countries acknowledged their historical responsibility in global warming and committed to donate dollar 1000 billion a year from 2020 to help developing countries to cope with climate change.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Grain Initiaitve, Black Sea
Mains level: Implications of Russia-Ukraine War
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as Russia has agreed to resume its participation.
Black Sea Grain Initiative
The Initiative eased Russia’s naval blockade and saw the reopening of three key Ukrainian ports.
The agreement to create the sea corridor was negotiated by representatives from Ukraine, Russia, the UN and Turkey in July this year.
The agreement created procedures to safely export grain from certain ports to attempt to address the 2022 food crisis.
It provides a safe maritime humanitarian corridor for Ukrainian exports (particularly for food grains) from three of its key ports, namely, Chornomorsk, Odesa and Yuzhny/Pivdennyi in the Black Sea.
Outcomes of this deal
Approximately 9.8 million tonnes of grains have been shipped so far since the deal was brokered.
People hoarding the grain in the hope of selling it for a sizable profit owing to the supply crunch were now obligated to sell.
The initiative has also been credited for having made a huge difference to the global cost of living crisis.
What would suspension of the deal mean?
In a nutshell, the deal’s suspension was expected to re-introduce the price pressures on grain prices, especially that of wheat, with inventory being at historical lows.
It could particularly impact countries in the Middle East and Africa such as Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Sudan and Yemen which have benefitted from the resumption and are particularly dependent on Russian and Ukrainian exports
About Black Sea
The famed water body is bound by Ukraine to the north and northwest, Russia and Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south, and Bulgaria and Romania to the west.
It links to the Sea of Marmara through the Bosphorus and then to the Aegean through the Dardanelles.
Significance of Black Sea for Russia
Domination of the Black Sea region is a geostrategic imperative for Moscow.
Black Sea has traditionally been Russia’s warm water gateway to Europe.
For Russia, the Black Sea is both a stepping stone to the Mediterranean.
It acts as a strategic buffer between NATO and itself.
It showcases the Russian power in the Mediterranean and to secure the economic gateway to key markets in southern Europe.
Russia has been making efforts to gain complete control over the Black Sea since the Crimean crisis of 2014.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AIIB
Mains level: Not Much
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is scheduled to lend $500 million to Pakistan in this month.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia, began operations in January 2016.
It aims to stimulate growth and improve access to basic services by furthering interconnectivity and economic development in the region through advancements in infrastructure.
AIIB has now grown to 102 approved members worldwide.
The US & Japan are not its members.
It is a brainchild of China. It has invested in 13 member regions.
Capital and shareholding of AIIB
It has authorized capital of US 100 billion dollars and subscribed capital of USD 50 billion.
It offers sovereign and non-sovereign finance for projects in various sectors with an interest rate of London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) plus 1.15 % and a repayment period of 25 years with 5 years in grace period.
China is the largest shareholder in AIIB with a 26.06% voting power, followed by India with 7.62% and Russia with 5.92% voting power.
Try this question from CSP 2019
Q.With reference to Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), consider the following statements
AIIB has more than 80 member nations.
India is the largest shareholder in AIIB.
AIIB does not have any members from outside Asia.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ASEAN
Mains level: Military coup in Myanmar
Foreign ministers from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are meeting to discuss an intensifying crisis in Myanmar, 18 months after agreeing a peace plan with its military rulers.
What is ASEAN?
ASEAN is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia.
It brings together ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam – into one organisation.
It was established on 8th August 1967 in Bangkok, Thailand with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration by the founding fathers of the countries of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and the Philippines.
The preceding organisation was the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA) comprising of Thailand, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
Five other nations joined the ASEAN in subsequent years making the current membership to ten countries.
Why is the meeting happening?
ASEAN’s peace effort is the only official diplomatic process in play.
There has been a failure with the junta unwilling to implement a so-called “five-point consensus” that it agreed to with ASEAN in April 2021.
The United Nations has backed the ASEAN plan, but with suspicion the generals are paying lip service and buying time to consolidate power and crush opponents before a 2023 election.
For ASEAN to remain credible as a mediator, it may need to present a new strategy before the summit.
What is the consensus?
The agreement includes-
Immediate end of hostilities
All parties engaging in constructive dialogue
Allowing an ASEAN envoy to mediate and meet all stakeholders, and
ASEAN to provide humanitarian assistance.
So far, the only success cited by ASEAN chair Cambodia has been allowing some humanitarian access, but that has been limited and conditional.
How has the Junta (Military govt. in Myanmar) responded?
The military government has accused critical ASEAN members of meddling and warned them not to engage.
It has accused its opponents of trying to sabotage the ASEAN plan and has justified military offensives as necessary to secure the country and enable political talks.
Instead of advocating for the five-point ASEAN plan, the generals have instead been pushing a five-step roadmap of their own towards a new election, with few similarities.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FATF
Mains level: Terror financing and money laundering
Global terror-financing watchdog FATF has announced Pakistan‘s removal from its grey list, saying the country has largely completed its action plans on anti-money laundering and financing of terrorism.
What is the FATF?
FATF is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering.
The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
It holds three Plenary meetings in the course of each of its 12-month rotating presidencies.
As of 2019, FATF consisted of 37 member jurisdictions.
India’s say in FATF
India became an Observer at FATF in 2006. Since then, it had been working towards full-fledged membership.
On June 25, 2010, India was taken in as the 34th country member of FATF.
EAG of FATF
The EAG is a regional body comprising nine countries: India, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Belarus.
It is an associate member of the FATF.
What is the role of FATF?
The rise of the global economy and international trade has given rise to financial crimes such as money laundering.
The FATF makes recommendations for combating financial crime, reviews members’ policies and procedures, and seeks to increase the acceptance of anti-money laundering regulations across the globe.
Because money launderers and others alter their techniques to avoid apprehension, the FATF updates its recommendations every few years.
What is the Black List and the Grey List?
Black List: The blacklist, now called the “Call for action” was the common shorthand description for the FATF list of “Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories” (NCCTs).
Grey List: Countries that are considered safe haven for supporting terror funding and money laundering are put in the FATF grey list. This inclusion serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist.
Consequences of being in the FATF grey list:
Economic sanctions from IMF, World Bank, ADB
Problem in getting loans from IMF, World Bank, ADB and other countries
Reduction in international trade
International boycott
How had it impacted Pakistan economically?
A country on the ‘grey list’ is not subject to sanctions.
However, the ‘grey list’ signals to the international banking system that there could be enhanced transaction risks from doing business with the said country.
In 2018, the Economist noted that there had been no direct economic implications when Pakistan was on the grey list from 2012 to 2015.
Instead, Pakistan managed to obtain a $6 billion bailout package from IMF in 2013 and raise additional funding in global debt markets in 2015.
Pakistan claimed the politicization of FATF. Is that true?
In the run-up to the February 2018 decision, the US had weaned Saudi Arabia away, leaving only China and Turkey supporting Pakistan.
China eventually withdrew its objection.
A few days later, India publicly congratulated China for its election as vice president of FATF, lending credence to the speculation that a deal had been reached behind closed doors.
How Pakistan managed to get out of the ‘inglorious’ list?
Removal from the list mark the culmination of a four-year reform process that has required far-reaching changes to Pakistan’s financial system.
It appears that, Pakistan has performed well in particular to laws governing money laundering and terrorism financing.
Pakistan was given an action plan by FATF in 2018 to address strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies.
Conclusion
This is not the first time for Pakistan to exit Grey List. It has been swinging on its position on terror financing.
Pakistan first figured in a FATF statement after the plenary of February 2008.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ISA
Mains level: Solar energy
To bolster investments in solar power projects, the International Solar Alliance (ISA), in its General Assembly approved the ‘Solar Facility’, a payment guarantee mechanism.
What is Solar Facility?
It is expected to stimulate investments into solar projects through two financial components:
Solar Payment Guarantee Fund and
Solar Insurance Fund
The thrust of the facility is to attract private capital to flow into “underserved markets” in Africa.
The ISA would aim to crowdsource investments from various donors across the globe and proposed projects in Africa would be able to purchase payment guarantees or partial insurance premium from these funds.
Why such move?
ISA’s mission is to unlock US $1 trillion (₹80 lakh crore) of investments in solar power by 2030 while reducing cost of the technology and its financing.
What is International Solar Alliance (ISA)?
The ISA is an alliance of more than 121 countries, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn.
It is headquartered in Gurugram, India.
The primary objective of the alliance is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
The alliance is a treaty-based inter-governmental organization.
The initiative was launched by PM Modi at the India Africa Summit and a meeting of member countries ahead of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015.
Objectives of the ISA
To mobilize investments of more than USD 1000 billion by 2030
To take coordinated action for better harmonization, aggregation of demand, risk and resources, for promoting solar finance, solar technologies, innovation, R&D, capacity building etc.
Reduce the cost of finance to increase investments in solar energy in member countries
Scale up applications of solar technologies in member countries
Facilitate collaborative research and development (R&D) activities in solar energy technologies among member countries
Promote a common cyber platform for networking, cooperation and exchange of ideas among member countries
What does ISA formation signify?
Climate action commitment: It symbolizes about the sincerity of the developing nations towards their concern about climate change and to switch to a low-carbon growth path.
Clean energy: India’s pledge to the Paris summit offered to bring 40% of its electricity generation capacity from non-fossil sources (renewable, large hydro, and nuclear) by 2030.
Global electrification: India has pledged to let solar energy reach to the most unconnected villages and communities and also towards creating a clean planet.
Global cooperation: It is based on world cooperation irrespective of global boundaries.
India’s Soft power: For India, possible additional benefits from the alliance can be a strengthening of ties with the major African countries and increasing goodwill for India among them.
Key initiatives
[A] Global Solar Atlas
ISA alliance has partnered with World Bank to launch Global Solar Atlas at an ISA event at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi.
Global Solar Atlas is a free online tool that displays annual average solar power potential at any location in the world and thus identify potential sites for solar power generation.
[B] OSOWOG Initiative
Under the ISA project, India envisaged having an interconnected power transmission grid across nations for the supply of clean energy.
The vision behind the OSOWOG mantra is ‘The Sun Never Sets’ and is a constant at some geographical location, globally, at any given point of time.
With India at the fulcrum, the solar spectrum can easily be divided into two broad zones viz. far East which would include countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Lao, Cambodia etc. and far West which would cover the Middle East and the Africa Region.
Implementation
The OSOWOG would have three phases.
Phase I: Middle East, South Asia and South-East Asia would be interconnected
Phase II: Solar and other renewable energy resources rich regions would be interconnected
Phase III: Global interconnection of the power transmission grid to achieve the One Sun One World One Grid vision
Benefits of the project
Attracting investment: An interconnected grid would help all the participating entities in attracting investments in renewable energy sources as well as utilizing skills, technology and finances.
Poverty alleviation: Resulting economic benefits would positively impact poverty alleviation and support in mitigating water, sanitation, food and other socio-economic challenges.
Reduced project cost: The proposed integration would lead to reduced project costs, higher efficiencies and increased asset utilization for all the participating entities.
Various challenges
Lack of Funding: Providing the money for promoting solar electricity among the members is a challenge. The Alliance has very little money of its own.
Expensive implementation: The cost of power has two components. The variable cost is the payment made for the numbers of units of electricity purchased. In addition, the buyer is required to pay a certain amount towards the fixed cost of solar supply.
Battery-based Storage: Solar electricity is available only during the day when the sun shines. Thus, the storage of electricity is a difficult task.
Cross-border transmission: Solar electricity has to overcome the roadblocks of transmission. Cross-border transmission of electricity requires the establishment of transmission lines from the producer to the consumer country.
Peak hour load: The demand for electricity, however, is more during the morning and evening which are called “peak hours”. But it can be produced when the sun is shining.
Climate change: Sudden overcast and rainfall in many parts of the tropics has been a major issues these days. Such weather hampers solar energy production
Desired global consensus: It is hindered with the issues of intricate geopolitics, unfavourable economics, unwarranted globalisation and undue centralization that act against the concept.
Highly ambitious: In a nation like India, it took us this long to connect all the regions of the country through a national grid and we are talking about ‘one world, one grid’.
Way forward
ISA should focus on its core goals such as- aggregating demand, tariff, technical collaborations, and financial assistance for achieving its target.
It further needs to ensure that solar benefits are clear and tangible to users beyond its cost ambitions.
ISA should demonstrate business models that are viable for users, suppliers and financiers.
Further, the alliance should support member countries in implementing policies to expedite these business models.
Geo-politically, this is being touted as a clever strategy however financially and technology-wise, this has to make sense.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index
Mains level: Persistence of acute poverty in India
About 41.5 crore people exited poverty in India during the 15-year period between 2005-06 and 2019-21, out of which two-thirds exited in the first 10 years, and one-third in the next five years, according to the global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).
What is global MPI?
The global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) is an international measure of acute poverty covering over 100 developing countries.
It complements traditional income-based poverty measures by capturing the severe deprivations that each person faces at the same time with respect to education, health and living standards.
The global MPI was developed by OPHI with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) for inclusion in UNDP’s flagship Human Development Report in 2010.
It has been published in the HDR ever since.
Multidimensional poverty in India: Major improvements
The report shows that the incidence of poverty fell from 55.1% in 2005-06 to 16.4% in 2019-21 in India.
Deprivations in all 10 MPI indicators saw significant reductions as a result of which the MPI value and incidence of poverty more than halved.
Improvement in MPI for India has significantly contributed to the decline in poverty in South Asia.
It is for the first time that it is not the region with the highest number of poor people, at 38.5 crore, compared with 57.9 crore in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Bihar, the poorest State in 2015-2016, saw the fastest reduction in MPI value in absolute terms.
Long way towards alleviation
Despite the strides made, the report notes that the ongoing task of ending poverty remains daunting.
India has by far the largest number of poor people worldwide at 22.8 crore, followed by Nigeria at 9.6 crore.
Two-third of these people live in a household in which at least one person is deprived in nutrition.
There were also 9.7 crore poor children in India in 2019-2021 — more than the total number of poor people, children and adults combined, in any other country covered by the global MPI.
Why multi-dimensional poverty does persist in India?
Poverty is not just the absence of income, money and/or money-like resources required to meet needs.
Multiple disadvantages: A person who is poor can suffer multiple disadvantages at the same time – for example they may simultaneously have:
Poor health or malnutrition
Lack of clean water or electricity
Poor quality of livelihood options
Little/No schooling
Disempowerment
Threats of violence
Climate change vulnerability etc.
Other factors include:
Limited financial resources
Material deprivation
Social isolation
Exclusion and powerlessness
Physical and psychological ill-being
Multiple dimensions: Focusing on one factor alone, such as income, is not enough to capture the true reality of poverty. National MPI ensures a holistic approach towards defining poverty at the national level.
More comprehensive: MP measures can be used to create a more comprehensive picture. They reveal who is poor and how they are poor – the range of different disadvantages they experience.
Better targeting: As well as providing a headline measure of poverty, multidimensional measures can be broken down to reveal the poverty level in different areas of a country and among different sub-groups of people.
Priority definition for target groups: It offers statistics that determine the national priorities by using a set of dimensions, indicators with respect to the urban and rural areas of India along with an indicator-wise deconstruction and breakdown.
Various govt. interventions to for poverty alleviation
(I) Food Security
National Food Security Act 2013 (also ‘Right to Food Act’): It aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two thirds of the country’s 1.2 billion people.
(II) Employment and Skilling
National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) – Ministry of Rural Development started NRLM 2011 to evolve out the need to diversify the needs of the rural poor and provide them jobs with regular income on a monthly basis.
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) – In 2005 Ministry of Rural Development initiated MGNEREGA to provide 100 days of assured employment every year to every rural household. One-third of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women.
(III) Income Support
PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY): The Ministry of Finance in 2014 initiated PMJDY that aimed at direct benefit transfer of subsidy, pension, insurance, etc., and attained the target of opening 1.5 crore bank accounts. The scheme particularly targets the unbanked poor.
PM Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN): PM KISAN is an initiative by the government of India in which all farmers will get up to ₹6,000 per year as minimum income support.
Various challenges
Pauperization: Every year a huge number is added to the population pool of the country. To exemplify, this pandemic has led to severe pauperization of migrant workers.
Regional divide: Incidence of extreme poverty continues to be much higher in rural areas than in urban areas.
Jobless growth: Despite rapid growth and development, an unacceptably high proportion of our population continues to suffer from severe and multidimensional deprivation.
Inadequate resources: The resources allocated to anti-poverty programmes are inadequate and there is a tacit understanding that targets will be curtailed according to fund availability.
Implementation bottlenecks: Lack of proper implementation and right targeting has been legacy issues in India. There has been a lot of overlapping of schemes.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GHI
Mains level: Credibility of GHI
India ranks 107 out of 121 countries on the Global Hunger Index in which it fares worse than all countries in South Asia barring war-torn Afghanistan.
Global Hunger Index (GHI)
The Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.
It determines hunger on a 100-point scale, where 0 is the best possible score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst.
It is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.
The aim of the GHI is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.
For each country in the list, the GHI looks at four indicators:
Undernourishment (which reflects inadequate food availability): calculated by the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient)
Child Wasting (which reflects acute undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, those who have low weight for their height)
Child Stunting (which reflects chronic undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, those who have low height for their age)
Child Mortality (which reflects both inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environment): calculated by the mortality rate of children under the age of five
India’s performance
India’s child wasting rate (low weight for height), at 19.3%, is worse than the levels recorded in 2014 (15.1%) and even 2000 (17.15),
It is the highest for any country in the world and drives up the region’s average owing to India’s large population.
Prevalence of undernourishment has also risen in the country from 14.6% in 2018-2020 to 16.3% in 2019-2021.
This translates into 224.3 million people in India considered undernourished.
How India performs among its neighbours?
India’s score of 29.1 places it in the ‘serious’ category. India also ranks below Sri Lanka (64), Nepal (81), Bangladesh (84), and Pakistan (99).
Afghanistan (109) is the only country in South Asia that performs worse than India on the index.
China is among the countries collectively ranked between 1 and 17 having a score of less than five.
Has India improved somewhere?
India has shown improvement in child stunting, which has declined from 38.7% to 35.5% between 2014 and 2022, as well as child mortality which has also dropped from 4.6% to 3.3% in the same comparative period.
On the whole, India has shown a slight worsening with its GHI score increasing from 28.2 in 2014 to 29.1 in 2022.
Reasons for such poor performance
Poor maternal health: Mothers are too young, too short, too thin and too undernourished themselves, before they get pregnant, during pregnancy, and then after giving birth, during breast-feeding.
Poor sanitation: Poor sanitation, leading to diarrhoea, is another major cause of child wasting and stunting.
Food insecurity: Low dietary diversity in India is also a key factor in child malnutrition.
Poverty: Almost 50 million households in India are dependent on these small and marginal holdings.
Livelihood loss: The rural livelihoods loss after COVID and lack of income opportunities other than the farm sector have contributed heavily to the growing joblessness in rural areas.
Issues over credibility of GHI
India has ranked among many African countries while it is among the top 10 food-producing countries in the world.
The GHI is largely children-oriented with a higher emphasis on under-nutrition than on hunger and its hidden forms, including micronutrient deficiencies.
The first component — calorie insufficiency — is problematic for many reasons.
The lower calorie intake, which does not necessarily mean deficiency, may also stem from reduced physical activity, better social infrastructure and access to energy-saving appliances at home, among others.
For a vast and diverse country like India, using a uniform calorie norm to arrive at deficiency prevalence means failing to recognise the huge regional imbalances in factors that may lead to differentiated calorie requirements at the State level.
Conclusion
The low ranking does not mean that India fares uniformly poor in every aspect.
This ranking should prompt us to look at our policy focus and interventions and ensure that they can effectively address the concerns raised by the GHI, especially against pandemic-induced nutrition insecurity
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC)
Mains level: Geospatial technology
PM has inaugurated the second United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress (UNWGIC) in Hyderabad.
What is UNWGIC?
The first United Nations World Geospatial Information Congress was held in Deqing, Zhejiang Province, China in 2018.
The United Nation Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) organizes the UNWGIC every four years.
It is hosted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Government of India.
The objectives are enhancing international collaboration among the Member States and relevant stakeholders in Geospatial information management and capacities.
The theme of UNWGIC 2022 is ‘Geo-Enabling the Global Village: No one should be left behind’.
Objectives of UNWGIC
The move aims to provide high-quality and trustworthy geospatial data to support global and national policy agendas.
It also stresses international cooperation and coordination in the development of human data linked to geography.
It promotes societal development and well-being, addresses environmental and climate challenges, and embraces digital transformation and technological advancement.
Why collaborate on geospatial technology?
Geospatial technology can be used to create intelligent maps and models which help to collect geographically referenced data.
Decisions based on the value and importance of resources, most of which are limited, can become easy through geospatial technology.
Intelligent maps and models can be created using geospatial technology.
It can be used to reveal spatial patterns hidden in large amounts of data that are complex to access collectively through mapping.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Solomon Islands
Mains level: Chinese expansion in Pacific
Solomon Islands PM has assured Australia that his nation will not allow a Chinese military presence in its territory.
Where is the Solomon Islands located?
The Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu.
Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal.
It is part of the ethnically Melanesian group of islands in the Pacific and lies between Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu.
The country takes its name from the Solomon Islands archipelago, which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the North Solomon Islands (a part of Papua New Guinea).
It excludes outlying islands, such as the Santa Cruz Islands and Rennell and Bellona.
Quick recap of its past
The islands, which were initially controlled by the British Empire during the colonial era, went through the hands of Germany and Japan.
It then went back to the UK after the Americans took over the islands from the Japanese during World War II.
The islands became independent in 1978 to become a constitutional monarchy under the British Crown, with a parliamentary system of government.
Nevertheless, its inability to manage domestic ethnic conflicts led to close security relations with Australia, which is the traditional first responder to any crisis in the South Pacific.
How did China enter the picture?
Earlier this year, the Solomon Islands established a security agreement with China, saying it needed Beijing’s assistance with its domestic security situation.
But the announcement had rattled the west, esp. the US, Australia and others in the Indo-Pacific region.
The concerns were that the agreement could potentially lead to a Chinese military base on the island nation and a gain in power-projection capabilities.
At that time, following intense scrutiny, the Solomon Islands had denied that the agreement would allow China to establish a naval base.
The Island insisted that the agreement was only to assist the Solomon Islands with what he called “hard internal threats”.
What is the Solomon Islands’ stance?
The government has asked all partner countries with plans to conduct naval visits or patrols to put them on hold until a revised national mechanism is in place.
The revised national mechanism applied to all foreign vessels seeking access to the country’s ports.
The nation wanted to build up itsown naval capacity.
It has some unfortunate experiences of foreign naval vessels entering its waters without any diplomatic clearance.
What is behind China’s growing influence in the region?
There is no dispute that China has been rapidly increasing its presence and influence in the region for over three decades, particularly in the South Pacific.
Certainly Beijing views the Pacific Island region as an important component of its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Specifically, it sees the region as a critical air freight hub in its so-called Air Silk Road, which connects Asia with Central and South America.
Concerns of the West
The United States and its regional allies, such as Australia and New Zealand, are concerned that the China-Solomon Islands security pact allows Chinese naval vessels to replenish there.
That could open the door to a Chinese naval base, which would significantly extend China’s military reach in the South Pacific.”
It is likely that this security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands has been driven by, what the CFR calls, Beijing’s “sense of vulnerability” in the region.
What is the rationale for the Solomon Islands’ increasing proximity to China?
The Solomon Islands had cultivated strong ties with Taiwan, which ended with the emergence of the current government in Honiara.
In 2019, the regime change switched Taiwan for China.
This was supposedly after Beijing offered half a billion US dollars in financial aid, roughly five times what Taiwan spent on the islands in the past two decades.
It has been alleged by the pro-Taiwan Opposition that the incumbent government has been bribed by China.
Why is China interested in the Solomon Islands?
Isolating Taiwan: The Solomon Islands was one among the six Pacific island states which had official bilateral relations with Taiwan.
Supporter in UN: The small Pacific island states act as potential vote banks for mobilising support for the great powers in international fora like the United Nations.
Larger EEZ: These states have disproportionately large maritime Exclusive Economic Zones when compared to their small sizes.
Natural resources: Solomon Islands, in particular, have significant reserves of timber and mineral resources, along with fisheries.
Countering US: But more importantly, they are strategically located for China to insert itself between America’s military bases in the Pacific islands and Australia.
What does this mean for the established geopolitical configuration in the region?
Diminishing western influence: The Pacific islands, in the post-World War II scenario, were exclusively under the spheres of influence of the Western powers, in particular, the US, UK, France and Australia and New Zealand.
Inserting into western hegemony: All of them have territorial possessions in the region, with the three nuclear powers among them having used the region as a nuclear weapons testing ground.
Shifting of dependencies: The smaller island nations of the region are heavily dependent on them, especially Australia as it is a resident power.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Uighurs, Xinjiang
Mains level: HR abuses in China
The UN Human Rights Council has voted against holding a debate on alleged abuses in China’s Xinjiang region after intense lobbying by Beijing, in a major setback for Western nations.
What is the news?
India and 10 other nations abstained.
Who are the Uighurs?
There are about 12 million Uighurs, mostly Muslim, living in north-western China in the region of Xinjiang, officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
The Uighurs speak their own language, similar to Turkish, and see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.
They make up less than half of the Xinjiang population.
In recent decades, there’s been a mass migration of Han Chinese (China’s ethnic majority) to Xinjiang, and the Uighurs feel their culture and livelihoods are under threat.
In the early 20th Century, the Uighurs briefly declared independence, but the region was brought under complete control of mainland China’s new Communist government in 1949.
Where is Xinjiang?
Xinjiang lies in the north-west of China and is the country’s biggest region.
Like Tibet, it is autonomous, meaning – in theory – it has some powers of self-governance. But in practice, both face major restrictions by the central government.
It is a mostly desert region, producing about a fifth of the world’s cotton.
It is also rich in oil and natural gas and because of its proximity to Central Asia and Europe is seen by Beijing as an important trade link.
What was the build-up to the Uighur crackdown?
Anti-Han and separatist sentiment rose in Xinjiang from the 1990s, flaring into violence on occasion.
In 2009 some 200 people died in clashes in Xinjiang, which the Chinese blamed on Uighurs who want their own state.
Xinjiang is now covered by a pervasive network of surveillance, including police, checkpoints, and cameras that scan everything from number plates to individual faces.
According to Human Rights Watch, police are also using a mobile app to monitor peoples’ behaviour, such as how much electricity they are using and how often they use their front door.
Since 2017 when President Xi Jinping issued an order saying all religions in China should be Chinese in orientation, there have been further crackdowns.
Chinese narrative
China says the crackdown is necessary to prevent terrorism and root out Islamist extremism and the camps are an effective tool for re-educating inmates in its fight against terrorism.
It insists that Uighur militants are waging a violent campaign for an independent state by plotting bombings, sabotage and civic unrest.
China has dismissed claims it is trying to reduce the Uighur population through mass sterilizations as “baseless”, and says allegations of forced labor are “completely fabricated”.
Why did India abstain from voting against China?
India has traditionally voted against or abstained from such country-specific resolutions at the UNHRC.
It is understood that China’s presence within the UNHRC was a factor in the decision since any backing for the Xinjiang issue could have led to similar moves by China on other issues in India.
This is particularly in the context of the Kashmir issue.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Very recently, in which of the following countries have lakhs of people either suffered from severe famine/acute malnutrition or died due to starvation caused by war/ethnic conflicts?
(a) Angola and Zambia
(b) Morocco and Tunisia
(c) Venezuela and Colombia
(d) Yemen and South Sudan
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Opec+
Mains level: Global fuel dynamics
Oil prices rose about 1%, as OPEC+ members agreed to its deepest cuts to output since the 2020 COVID pandemic, despite a tight market and opposition to cuts from the United States and others.
What is OPEC+?
The non-OPEC countries which export crude oil along with the 14 OPECs are termed as OPEC plus countries.
OPEC plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
Saudi and Russia, both have been at the heart of a three-year alliance of oil producers known as OPEC Plus — which now includes 11 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC nations — that aims to shore up oil prices with production cuts.
Why is OPEC+ slashing production?
Oil prices skyrocketed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The cut made recently is the biggest of its kind since 2020 when OPEC+ members slashed outputs by 10 million bpd during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The reductions would boost prices and be extremely beneficial for the Middle Eastern member states, to whom Europe has turned for oil after levelling sanctions against Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
OPEC+ members are concerned that a faltering global economy would reduce the demand for oil, and the cuts are seen as a way to protect profits.
Concerns for India
Even after importing cheap Russian oil, India has not seen any cut in fuel prices.
Rising oil prices are posing fiscal challenges for India, where heavily-taxed retail fuel prices have touched record highs, threatening the demand-driven recovery.
India imports about 84% of its oil and relies on West Asian supplies to meet over three-fifths of its demand.
As one of the largest crude-consuming countries, India is concerned that such actions by producing countries have the potential to undermine consumption-led recovery.
This would hurt consumers, especially in our price-sensitive market.
IOCR | Trivia | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International Day of Non-Violence
Mains level: NA
The International Day of Non-Violence event, held at the UN headquarters in New York, saw a life-size hologram of Gandhi displayed.
International Day of Non-Violence
Every year, since 2007, the day is observed on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Iranian Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi, in January 2004, first proposed the idea of dedicating a day to non-violence, around the world.
In 2007, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) passed a resolution to commemorate October 2 as the International Day of Non-Violence, with the core objective to “disseminate the message of non-violence, including through education and public awareness.”
What does the term “non-violence” stand for?
The UN defines the term as a rejection of the use of physical violence in order to achieve social or political change.
The UNGA resolution reaffirms the universal relevance of the principle of non-violence and establishes a desire to secure a culture of peace, tolerance, understanding and non-violence.
The theory emphasises that the power of rulers depends on the consent of the populations, and non-violence therefore seeks to undermine such power through withdrawal of the consent and cooperation of the populace.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC)
Mains level: Read the attached story
With Pakistan PM listening, Prime Minister Modi urged Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states to “give each other full right to transit”.
Why in news?
PM Modi framed the right to transit in the context of connectivity and how it could help establish reliable and resilient supply chains in the region.
Why did PM pitch this?
Lack of transit across Pakistan’s territory has been a challenge for India to access Central Asian markets.
Iran’s President also said that despite the impressive potential, infrastructural connections in the field of transit between members of the SCO are not so extensive.
Iran already provides special priority to the development of the North-South Corridor and has made huge investments.
What is International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC)?
The INSTC is a 7,200 km-long multimodal transportation network encompassing sea, road, and rail routes to offer the shortest route of connectivity.
It was established on 12th September 2000 in St. Petersburg, by Iran, Russia and India for the purpose of promoting transportation cooperation among the Member States.
It links the Indian Ocean to the Caspian Sea via the Persian Gulf onwards into Russia and Northern Europe.
It will move freight between India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia and Europe.
Significance of INSTC
Trade facilitation: INSTC is aimed at reducing the carriage cost between India and Russia by about 30 percent and bringing down the transit time by more than half.
New corridor in making: It has the potential to transform the economies of countries along the corridor into specialized manufacturing, logistics, and transit hubs by facilitating access to newer markets.
Multimodal transit: The recent Suez Canal blockade, which cost the global economy hefty damage amounting to US$9 billion, has amplified the optimistic outlook towards the INSTC as a cheaper and faster alternative multimodal transit corridor.
Benefits offered to India
Export promotion: The INSTC connects India with Central Asia, and Russia, and has the potential to expand up to the Baltic, Nordic, and Arctic regions, increasing the scope of trade multifold.
Ease of trade: For India, it provides a shorter trade route with Iran, Russia, and beyond to Europe, creating scope for increased economic engagement.
Alternative Route to Central Asia: It opens up a permanent alternative route for India to trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia, given the hurdles in the direct route through Pakistan.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Palm Oil, APOA
Mains level: Not Much
Edible oil trade associations from five palm oil importing countries in South Asia – India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal – on Thursday announced the setting up of Asian Palm Oil Alliance (APOA).
What is Oil Palm?
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp of the fruit of the oil palms.
The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel.
What is APOA?
Through APOA, the countries aim at safeguarding the economic and business interests of the palm oil consuming countries and will work towards increasing the consumption of palm oil in member countries.
The idea is to gain collecting bargaining power and make imports sustainable.
APOA held its first general body meeting on the side-lines of the Globoil Summit.
The industry associations of Asian palm oil importing countries, unlike their counterparts in Europe, are not involved in shaping the global discourse on sustainable palm oil in a collective way.
The alliance would work towards ensuring that palm oil is recognised as a high-quality, economical, and healthy vegetable oil and to change the negative image of palm oil.
Why such move?
India’s annual imports of edible oil is around 13-14 million tonne (MT).
Around 8 MT of palm oil is imported from Indonesia and Malaysia, while other oils, such as soya and sunflower, come from Argentina, Brazil, Ukraine and Russia.
Asia accounts for around 40% of the global palm oil consumption while Europe accounts for 12% of palm oil trade.
Indonesia and Malaysia are the biggest palm oil exporters in the world.
India is the largest importer of palm oil in Asia, accounting for 15% of global imports, followed by China (9%), Pakistan (4%) and Bangladesh (2%).
Try this PYQ:
Q.Among the agricultural commodities imported by India, which one of the following accounts for the highest imports in terms of value in the last five years?
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G4, Coffee Club, UNSC
Mains level: UNSC reforms
The G4 nations have said that the Intergovernmental Negotiations on UN Security Council reform are constrained by a lack of openness and transparency.
Who are the G4 Countries?
The G4 nations, comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan are four countries which support each other’s bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council.
Their primary aim is the permanent member seats on the Security Council.
Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN’s establishment.
Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5).
Deterrent in their cause
The UK and France have backed the G4’s bid for permanent seats.
All the permanent members of P5 have supported India’s bids for permanent seat.
However, China has previously implied that it is only ready to support India if it does not associate its bid with Japan.
The US has sent strong indications to Brazil that it is willing to support its membership; albeit, without a veto.
What holds them back?
There has been discontent among the present permanent members regarding the inclusion of controversial nations or countries not supported by them.
For instance, Japan’s bid is heavily opposed by China, North Korea, Russia and South Korea who think that Japan needs to make sincere reparations for war crimes committed during World War II.
Under the leadership of Italy, countries that strongly oppose the G4 countries’ bids have formed the Uniting for Consensus movement, also called as Coffee Club.
In Asia, Pakistan opposes India’s bid.
Why India deserves a permanent seat?
India has been part of UN since inception.
It has the world’s second-largest population and is the world’s largest democracy suited to represent South Asia.
It has contributed maximum peacekeepers to UN so far.
Why reform UNSC?
Non-representative nature: UNSC in current form is not representative of developing world and global needs, with primacy of policy being political tool in hands of P5, is well recognised globally.
Contention over Veto and Technical Holds:Veto power with P5 enables any one of them to prevent the adoption of any “substantive” draft Council resolution, regardless of its level of international support.
Divided institution: UNSC has become an organisation, which can pass strong resolutions against weak countries, weak resolutions against strong countries and no resolution against P5 countries.
Conclusion
There is a possibility that if UN doesn’t reform itself, it may lose relevance and alternate global and regional groupings may assume greater importance.
More global pressure from middle powers like G4 may force an expansion of UNSC as a possibility, but abolition of veto power in current set up is unlikely
Back2Basics: United Nations Security Council (UNSC)
The UNSC is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations and is charged with the maintenance of international peace and security.
Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action through Security Council resolutions.
It is the only UN body with the authority to issue binding resolutions to member states.
The Security Council consists of fifteen members. Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, and the United States—serve as the body’s five permanent members.
These permanent members can veto any substantive Security Council resolution, including those on the admission of new member states or candidates for Secretary-General.
The Security Council also has 10 non-permanent members, elected on a regional basis to serve two-year terms. The body’s presidency rotates monthly among its members.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF)
Mains level: Read the attached story
India stayed out of the joint declaration on the trade pillar of the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) ministerial meet in Los Angeles, with Union Commerce Minister citing concerns over possible discrimination against developing economies.
Why did India opt out of the trade pillar?
One of the reasons for staying out of the trade pillar was that the contours of the framework had not emerged yet.
This is particularly about the kind of commitment each country would have to make on “environment, labour, digital trade and public procurement”.
It is a US-led framework for participating countries to solidify their relationships and engage in crucial economic and trade matters that concern the region, such as building resilient supply chains battered by the pandemic.
It is not a free trade agreement. No market access or tariff reductions have been outlined, although experts say it can pave the way to trade deals.
Members of IPEF
The member nations include Australia, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
It includes seven out of 10 members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), all four Quad countries, and New Zealand.
Together, these countries account for 40 per cent of the global GDP.
Four pillars of IPEF
Trade that will include digital economy and emerging technology, labor commitments, the environment, trade facilitation, transparency and good regulatory practices, and corporate accountability, standards on cross-border data flow and data localisations;
Supply chain resilience to develop “a first-of-its-kind supply chain agreement” that would anticipate and prevent disruptions;
Clean energy and decarbonization that will include agreements on “high-ambition commitments” such as renewable energy targets, carbon removal purchasing commitments, energy efficiency standards, and new measures to combat methane emissions; and
Tax and anti-corruption, with commitments to enact and enforce “effective tax, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery schemes in line with [American] values”.
How do members participate?
Countries are free to join (or not join) initiatives under any of the stipulated pillars but are expected to adhere to all commitments once they enrol.
Negotiations are meant to determine and list the provisions under each pillar and open the floor for countries to choose their ‘commitments’.
The framework would be open to other countries willing to join in the future provided they are willing to adhere to the stipulated goals and other necessary obligations.
Reasons for the creation of IPEF
US regaining lost credibility: IPEF is also seen as a means by which the US is trying to regain credibility in the region after Trump pulled out of the Trans Pacific Partnership TPP).
Rising Chinese influence: Since then, there has been concern over the absence of a credible US economic and trade strategy to counter China’s economic influence in the region.
Competing RCEP: It is also in the 14-member Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, of which the US is not a member (India withdrew from RCEP).
“Pivot to Asia” strategy: US has intensified its engagement with the wider Asia-Pacific region to advance its economic and geopolitical interests.
India’s perception of IPEF
PM Modi described the grouping as born from a collective desire to make the Indo-Pacific region an engine of global economic growth.
India has called for common and creative solutions to tackle economic challenges in the Indo-Pacific region.
What does it have to do with China?
The US strategists believe the US lacks an economic and trade strategy to counter China’s increasing economic influence in the region since 2017.
US companies are looking to move away from manufacturing in China.
IPEF would therefore offer an advantage to participating countries, allowing them to bring those businesses into their territory.
However, it officially excluded Taiwan despite its willingness and economic merit to join.
This exhibits Washington’s geopolitical caution.
Reactions from the opponents
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi criticized the initiative as an attempt to further economic decoupling from China.
He argued that the initiative, and the US Indo-Pacific strategy as a whole, created divisions and incited confrontation. It is destined to be ultimately be a failure.
Taiwan was excluded in order to appease key “fence-sitter” countries such as Indonesia whose governments feared angering China.
Issues with IPEF framework
IPEF would neither constitute a ‘free trade agreement,’ nor a forum to discuss tariff reductions or increasing market access.
Unlike a traditional trade agreement, the US administration will not need congressional approval to act under the IPEF. Hence its legal status isquestionable.
This also raises doubts among potential participants about their reluctance to offer significant concessions under the agreement.
The volatility of US domestic politics has raised concerns about IPEF’s durability.
Unlike traditional FTAs, the IPEF does not subscribe to the single undertaking principle, where all items on the agenda are negotiated simultaneously.
Given the divisive nature of American politics, it is unclear whether the IPEF will survive past the Biden administration.
Way forward
The IPEF’s launch in Tokyo was symbolic in nature; bringing the IPEF to fruition will involve significant domestic and international challenges.
Without ratification by Congress, the IPEF’s fortunes will remain in limbo.
Going forward, the US and the founding partners need to develop the process and criteria by which other countries from the region will be invited to join the negotiations on the IPEF.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: HDI
Mains level: Read the attached story
hdi
India ranks 132 out of 191 countries in the Human Development Index (HDI) 2021, after registering a decline in its score over two consecutive years for the first time in three decades.
What is Human Development Index (HDI)?
The HDI combines indicators of life expectancy, education or access to knowledge and income or standard of living, and captures the level and changes to the quality of life.
The index initially launched as an alternative measure to the gross domestic product, is the making of two acclaimed economists from Pakistan and India, namely Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen.
It stresses the centrality of human development in the growth process and was first rolled out by the United Nations Development Programme in 1990.
Dimensions of the Human Development Index – HDI
The idea that progress should be conceived as a process of enlarging people’s choices and enhancing their capabilities is the central premise of the HDI.
Since its launch, the HDI has been an important marker of attempts to broaden measures of progress.
The HDI considers three main dimensions to evaluate the development of a country:
Long and healthy life
Education
Standard of living
Limitations of HDI
HDR has been always disputable and has caught the public-eye, whenever it was published. It has many reasons.
One of them is that the concept of human development is much deeper and richer than what can be caught in any index or set of indicators. Another argument is that its concept has not changed since 1990 when it was also defined in the first.
(1) An incomplete indicator
Human development is incomplete without human freedom and that while the need for qualities judgement is clear; there is no simple quantitative measure available yet to capture the many aspects of human freedom.
HDI also does not specifically reflect quality of life factors, such as empowerment movements or overall feelings of security or happiness.
(2) Limited idea of development
The HDI is not reflecting the human development idea accurately.
It is an index restricted to the socio-economic sphere of life; the political and civil spheres are in the most part kept separate.
Hence there is a sub-estimation of inequality among countries, which means that this dimension is not being taken into consideration appropriately.
(3) A vague concept
Concerning data quality and the exact construction of the index HDI is conceptually weak and empirically unsound.
This strong critic comes from the idea that both components of HDI are problematic. The GNP in developing countries suffers from incomplete coverage, measurement errors and biases.
The definition and measurement of literacy are different among countries and also, this data has not been available since 1970 in a significant number of countries.
(4) Data quality issues
The HDI, as a combination of only four relatively simple indicators, doesn’t only raise a questions what other indicators should be included, but also how to ensure quality and comparable input data.
It is logical that the UNDP try to collect their data from international organizations concentrating in collecting data in specific fields.
Quality and trustworthiness of those data is disputable, especially when we get the information from UN non-democratic members, as for example Cuba or China.
(5) A tool for mere comparison
The concept of HDI was set up mainly for relative comparison of countries in one particular time.
HDI is much better when distinguishing between countries with low and middle human development, instead of countries at the top of the ranking.
Therefore, the original notion was not to set up an absolute ranking, but let’s quite free hands in comparison of the results.
(6) Development has to be greener
The human development approach has not adequately incorporated environmental conditions which may threaten long-term achievements on human development. The most pervasive failure was on environmental sustainability.
However, for the first time in 2020, the UNDP introduced a new metric to reflect the impact caused by each country’s per-capita carbon emissions and its material footprint.
This is Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI or PHDI. It measured the amount of fossil fuels, metals and other resources used to make the goods and services it consumes.
(7) Wealth can never equate welfare
Higher national wealth does not indicate welfare. GNI may not necessarily increase economic welfare; it depends on how it is spent.
For example, if a country spends more on military spending – this is reflected in higher GNI, but welfare could actually be lower.
Significance of HDI
It is one of the few multidimensional indices as it includes indicators such as literacy rate, enrollment ratio, life expectancy rate, infant mortality rate, etc.
It acts as a true yardstick to measure development in real sense.
Unlike per capital income, which only indicates that a rise in per capital income implies economic development; HDI considers many other vital social indicators and helps in measuring a nation’s well-being.
It helps as a differentiating factor to distinguish and classify different nations on the basis of their HDI ranks.
Way forward
Both sustainable development and poverty eradication are both long-term and urgent endeavours, requiring not only the gradual and substantial redirection of country policies but a rapid response to pressing problems.
Ideally, sustainable development could provide an overarching framework within which all sub-goals (eg poverty eradication, social equality, ecosystem maintenance, climate compatibility) are framed.
It is not a subset of development; it is development (in a modern world of resource limits).
Environmental issues are not one factor among many but the meta-context within which poverty and other goals are sought.
Investing more in public research could lead to technological solutions to poverty and sustainability problems becoming more rapidly and openly available.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNHRC
Mains level: Economic crisis in Sri Lanka
Linking Sri Lanka’s past on human rights record to its current economic crisis, the UN Human Rights Chief on said “impunity” for human rights abuses, economic crimes, and corruption was the underlying reason for the country’s collapse.
UNHRC report on Sri Lanka
The UNHRC report warned that Sri Lanka’s failure to address human rights violations and war crimes committed in the past had put the country on a “dangerous path”.
It rose that this could lead to a “recurrence” of policies and practices that gave rise to the earlier situation.
It flagged the accelerating militarization of civilian governmental functions, a reversal of important constitutional safeguards, political obstruction of accountability, intimidation of civil society, and the use of anti-terrorism laws.
The shrinking space for independent media and civil society and human rights organizations are also themes in the report.
The Resolution 30/1
The resolution 30/1 launched in 2015 deals with promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka.
It extended an opportunity to make good on its promises for justice and offered extensive support to accomplish that objective.
Sri Lanka’s intention
It is more than Sri Lanka has failed to – and doesn’t intend to — take the necessary, decisive, and sustainable steps necessary to achieve domestic justice and reconciliation.
Sri Lanka has officially sought India’s help to muster support against the resolution, which it has described as “unwanted interference by powerful countries”.
Where India comes in
The UNHRC is scheduled to hold an “interactive” session on Sri Lanka where the report was to be discussed, and member countries were to make statements.
Country-specific resolutions against Sri Lanka have regularly come up at the UNHRC in the last decade.
New Delhi voted against Sri Lanka in 2012 and abstained in 2014. It was spared the dilemma in 2015 when Sri Lanka joined resolution 30/1.
With elections coming up in Tamil Nadu, and PM declaring on a recent visit that he was the first Indian leader to visit Jaffna, Sri Lanka has begun reading the tea leaves.
Whichever way it goes, the resolution is likely to resonate in India-Sri Lanka Relations and for India internally, in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.
