Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: QS World University Ranking
Mains level: State of higher education in India
The Prime Minister has congratulated IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and IISc Bengaluru for top-200 positions in QS World University Rankings 2022.
QS World University Rankings
- QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
- It comprises the global overall and subject rankings (which name the world’s top universities for the study of 51 different subjects and five composite faculty areas).
- It announces ranking for five independent regional tables (Asia, Latin America, Emerging Europe and Central Asia, the Arab Region, and BRICS).
Highlights of the 2022 Report
- IIT Bombay ranks joint-177 in the world, having fallen five places over the past year.
- IIT Delhi has become India’s second-best university, having risen from 193 ranks in last year’s ranking to 185 in the latest ranking. It has overtaken IISc Bangalore, which ranks joint-186.
- The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has been ranked the “world’s top research university.
- The top three institutions globally are — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Oxford, and Stanford University ranked at number one, two, and three respectively.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BRICS
Mains level: Future agenda of BRICS
As India is gearing up to host this year’s BRICS summit, the grouping is facing fresh challenges, from disputes among member countries to tackling COVID-triggered crises and opportunities.
What is BRICS?
- To be clear, BRICS was not invented by any of its members.
- In 2001, Goldman Sachs’ Jim O’Neill authored a paper called “Building Better Global Economic BRICs”, pointing out that future GDP growth in the world would come from China, India, Russia and Brazil.
- Significantly, the paper didn’t recommend a separate grouping for them, but made the case that the G-7 grouping, made up of the world’s most industrialized, and essentially Western countries, should include them.
- O’Neill also suggested that the G-7 group needed revamping after the introduction of a common currency for Europe, the euro, in 1999.
- In 2003, Goldman Sachs wrote another paper, “Dreaming with BRICs: Path to 2050”, predicting that the global map would significantly change due to these four emerging economies.
- In 2006, leaders of the BRIC countries met on the margins of a G-8 (now called G-7) summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, and BRIC was formalized that year.
Issues in its consolidation
- Common ground for the members was built by ensuring that no bilateral issues were brought up, but the contradictions remained.
- Many economists soon grew tired of “emerging” economies that didn’t reach the goals they had predicted.
- Others saw India’s closer ties with the US after the civil nuclear deal as a sign its bonds with BRICS would weaken.
- Meanwhile, Russia, which had hoped to bolster its own global influence through the group, had been cast out of the G-7 order altogether after its actions in Crimea in 2014.
- China, under Xi Jinping, grew increasingly aggressive, and impatient about the other underperforming economies in the group, as it became the U.S.’s main challenger on the global stage.
Long-term prospects
- China’s decision to launch the trillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative in 2017 was opposed by India, and even Russia did not join the BRI plan, although it has considerable infrastructure projects with China.
- South Africa’s debt-laden economy and the negative current account have led some to predict an economic collapse in the next decade.
- Brazil’s poor handling during the Covid-19 crisis has ranked it amongst the world’s worst-affected countries, and its recovery is expected to be delayed.
- India’s economic slowdown was a concern even before Covid-19 hit, and government policies like “Aatmanirbhar” were seen as a plan to turn inward.
Issues with BRICS nations
- Concerns about aggressions from Russia in Ukraine and Eastern Europe and China in the South China Sea, the border with India and internally in Hongkong and Xinjiang are clear visible.
- There is creeping authoritarianism in democracies like Brazil and India have made investors question long-term prospects of the group.
- In the market, BRICS has been mocked for being “broken”, while others have suggested it should be expanded to include more emerging economies like Indonesia, Mexico and Turkey, called the “Next-11”.
A roadmap to progress
- BRICS is an idea that has endured two decades, an idea its members remain committed to, and not one has skipped the annual summits held since 2009.
- Along the way, BRICS has created the New Development Bank (NDB) set up with an initial capital of $100 billion.
- There is a BRICS Contingent Reserve Arrangement fund to deal with global liquidity crunches, and a BRICS payment system proposing to be an alternative to the SWIFT payment system.
Reforming the multilaterals
- The BRICS ministerial meeting held this week sent several important signals to that end, issuing two outcome documents.
- It included the first “standalone” joint statement on reforming multilateral institutions, including the UN and the UNSC, IMF and World Bank and the WTO.
- It remains to be seen how far countries like China and Russia, which are already “inside the tent” at the UNSC, will go in advocating for the other BRICS members.
- Another important agreement was the BRICS ministerial decision to support negotiations at the WTO for the waiver of trade-related intellectual property rights (TRIPs) for vaccines and medicines to tackle the Coronavirus.
Way forward
- What appears clear is in the post-Covid world, priorities for all economies will change, and offer up a churning in the world of the kind seen two decades ago, when the idea of a grouping of emerging economies was first floated.
- For BRICS, the next few months could crystallize that idea, or sink it further, leaving others to wonder whether the “Rise of the Rest” as it was once called, is an idea whose time will ever come at all.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Chinese encroachment of Lankan Sovereignty
Sri Lanka recently passed the controversial Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill, which governs the China-backed Colombo Port City project worth $1.4 billion, amid wide opposition to the creation of a “Chinese enclave” in the island nation.
Colombo Port City Project
- The Colombo Port City has grabbed headlines in Sri Lanka in recent months even as the relentless third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps through the country.
- Almost an artificial island, the territory coming up on 2.69 square kilometers of land reclaimed from Colombo’s seafront has stirred controversy since its inception.
- Those backing it see in that patch of land their dream of an international financial hub — a “Singapore or Dubai” in the Indian Ocean.
When was it launched?
- The project was launched in September 2014 by Chinese President Xi Jinping during a visit to the island nation under the Mahinda Rajapaksa administration’s second term.
- After President Mahinda Rajapaksa was ousted in January 2015, the successor “national unity” government of Maithripala Sirisena and Ranil Wickremesinghe went ahead with the project after briefly halting it.
- On returning to power in November 2019, the Rajapaksas vowed to expedite the project. The Sri Lankan government says the project will bring in around 83,000 jobs and $15 billion initially.
Issues with the project
- But skeptics claim that it could well become a “Chinese colony”, with the Bill, which is now an Act.
- The law provides China substantial “immunity” from Sri Lankan laws, besides huge tax exemptions and other incentives for investors.
What is the extent of China’s involvement?
Effectively, China has substantial control over two key infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka for a century.
- The port city project is financed chiefly through Chinese investment amounting to $1.4 billion.
- In return, the company will receive 116 hectares (of the total 269 hectares) on a 99-year lease.
- The city separates from but located adjacent to the Colombo Port, the country’s main harbor — is the third major port-related infrastructure project where China has a significant stake.
- China Merchants Port Holdings has an 85% stake in the Colombo International Container Terminal under a 35-year ‘Build Operate and Transfer’ agreement with the Sri Lanka Port Authority.
- In 2017, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe administration, unable to repay the Chinese loan with which it was saddled by the previous government, handed over the Hambantota Port to China on a 99-year lease.
Concerns from within Sri Lanka
- Since its launch, the Colombo Port City project has faced opposition from environmentalists and fisherfolk, who feared that the project would affect marine life and livelihoods.
- However, in the absence of wider political and societal support, their resistance did not dent successive governments’ resolve to pursue the project.
- The more recent opposition was specific to the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Bill.
- The resistance came from Opposition parties and civil society groups, including many who do not oppose the project per se, but rather its governance by “an all-powerful commission answerable to no one”.
- Significantly, a section of Buddhist monks, wielding much influence in Sri Lankan politics and the Sinhala society, also opposed the Bill and said that it eroded Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: G7, Global Minimum Tax
Mains level: Global Minimum Tax negotiaitions
Finance Ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations have reached a landmark accord setting a global minimum corporate tax rate, an agreement that could form the basis of a worldwide deal.
Why a global minimum?
- Major economies are aiming to discourage multinationals from shifting profits — and tax revenues — to low-tax countries regardless of where their sales are made.
- Increasingly, income from intangible sources such as drug patents, software and royalties on intellectual property has migrated to these jurisdictions, allowing companies to avoid paying higher taxes in their traditional home countries.
- With its proposal for a minimum 15% tax rate, the Biden administration hopes to reduce such tax base erosion without putting American firms at a financial disadvantage, allowing competition on innovation, infrastructure and other attributes.
Where are the talks at?
- The G7 talks feed into a much broader, existing effort.
- The OECD has been coordinating tax negotiations among 140 countries for years on rules for taxing cross-border digital services and curbing tax base erosion, including a global corporate minimum tax.
- The OECD and G20 countries aim to reach a consensus on both by mid-year, but the talks on a global corporate minimum are technically simpler and less contentious.
- If a broad consensus is reached, it will be extremely hard for any low-tax country to try and block an accord.
How would a global minimum tax work?
- The global minimum tax rate would apply to overseas profits.
- Governments could still set whatever local corporate tax rate they want, but if companies pay lower rates in a particular country, their home governments could “top-up” their taxes to the minimum rate.
- This would eliminate the advantage of shifting profits.
What about that minimum rate?
- Talks are focusing on the U.S. proposal of a minimum global corporation tax rate of 15% – above the level in countries such as Ireland but below the lowest G7 level.
- Any final agreement could have major repercussions for low-tax countries and tax havens.
- The Irish economy has boomed with the influx of billions of dollars in investment from multinationals.
- Dublin, which has resisted EU attempts to harmonize its tax rules, is unlikely to accept a higher minimum rate without a fight.
- However, the battle for low-tax countries is less likely to be about scuppering the overall talks and more about building support for a minimum rate as close as possible to its 12.5% or seeking certain exemptions.
Back2Basics: G7
- The G7 or the Group of Seven is a group of the seven most advanced economies as per the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- The seven countries are Canada, USA, UK, France, Germany, Japan and Italy. The EU is also represented in the G7.
- These countries, with the seven largest IMF-described advanced economies in the world, represent 58% of the global net wealth ($317 trillion).
- The G7 countries also represent more than 46% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) based on nominal values, and more than 32% of the global GDP based on purchasing power parity.
- The requirements to be a member of the G7 are a high net national wealth and a high HDI (Human Development Index).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SCO
Mains level: India-SCO cooperation
The Union Cabinet has accorded an ex post facto approval for signing and ratifying an agreement on cooperation in the field of mass media between all member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Highlights of the Agreement
- The agreement, which was signed in June 2019, would provide an opportunity for the member states to share best practices and new innovations in the field of mass media.
- It aims to promote equal and mutually beneficial cooperation among associations in the field of mass media.
- The main areas of cooperation in the agreement are the creation of favorable conditions for the wide and mutual distribution of information through mass media in order to further deepen the knowledge about the lives of the peoples of their states.
- It will assist in broadcasting television and radio programmer and those, distributed legally within the territory of the state of the other side.
What is SCO?
- After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the then security and economic architecture in the Eurasian region dissolved and new structures had to come up.
- The original Shanghai Five were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
- The SCO was formed in 2001, with Uzbekistan included. It expanded in 2017 to include India and Pakistan.
- Since its formation, the SCO has focused on regional non-traditional security, with counter-terrorism as a priority.
- The fight against the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism has become its mantra. Today, areas of cooperation include themes such as economics and culture.
Try this PYQ now:
Q. In the context of the affairs of which of the following is the phrase “Special Safeguard Mechanisms” mentioned in the news frequently?
(a) United Nations Environment Programme
(b) World Trade Organization
(c) ASEAN- India Free Trade Agreement
(d) G-20 Summits
India’s entry to the SCO
- India and Pakistan both were observer countries.
- While Central Asian countries and China were not in favor of expansion initially, the main supporter — of India’s entry in particular — was Russia.
- A widely held view is that Russia’s growing unease about an increasingly powerful China prompted it to push for its expansion.
- From 2009 onwards, Russia officially supported India’s ambition to join the SCO. China then asked for its all-weather friend Pakistan’s entry.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2021
Mains level: Unemployment since the pandemic
The report titled World Employment and Social Outlook was recently released by the International Labour Organization (ILO).
About the report
- The report analyses the impact of the crisis on the labour market across the world.
- It offers projections for recovery and gives details of the unequal impact of the crisis on different groups of workers and enterprises and calls for a broad-based human-centred recovery.
Findings of the report
- There has been an unprecedented disruption to labour markets worldwide due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected the lives of the younger generation and brought about disruption to their education.
- Also made it more difficult for them to enter the labour market and hold on to their jobs.
- The pandemic worsened long-standing inequalities with many women workers dropping out of the labour force.
- For informal and low-skilled workers, working from home was not an option.
- Many had to face huge health risks to keep their jobs, often with no access to social security benefits.
Major highlights of the report
- Global unemployment is expected to be at 205 million in 2022, surpassing the 2019 level of 187 million.
- The jobs shortfall induced by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic was 75 million in 2021 and is expected to be 23 million in 2022.
- An estimated additional 108 million workers and their family members now live in poverty.
The long road to recovery
- The recovery would remain fragile in many countries due to the uneven rollout of vaccination campaigns and higher levels of public debt and deficits that would make it difficult to tackle the effects of the pandemic.
- There is an urgent need to build back better — create productive employment opportunities and foster long-term labour market prospects for the most vulnerable.
- There is a need to strengthen social protection schemes like the MGNREGS in India and make sure nobody is left behind.
- This would require strong institutions and social dialogue and strong international cooperation to fight global disparities.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nitrogen pollution
Mains level: NA
The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the main focus of the eighth triennial conference of the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) being held virtually this week.
International Nitrogen Initiative
- INI is an international program, set up in 2003 under the sponsorship of the Scientific Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) and from the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program (IGBP).
- The key aims of the INI are to:
- optimize nitrogen’s beneficial role in sustainable food production, and
- minimize nitrogen’s negative effects on human health and the environment resulting from food and energy production.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which of the following adds/add nitrogen to the soil?
- Excretion of Urea by animals
- Burning of coal by man
- Death of vegetation
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, and 3
Why nitrogen?
- Reactive nitrogen compounds like NOx, ammonia and the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide impact air, water and soil quality, health, biodiversity and climate change, among others.
- These compounds are lost from fertilizers, manures, and sewage as well as from fuel burning in transport and industry.
- Assessing and managing them sustainably will be crucial to achieving the 17 UN SDGs targeted for 2030.
Also read:
[Burning Issue] Nitrogen Pollution in India
Back2Basics: Nitrogen Pollution
- While nitrogen is the dominant gas in the atmosphere, it is inert and doesn’t react.
- However, when it is released as part of compounds from agriculture, sewage and biological waste, nitrogen is considered reactive.
- It may be polluting and even exert a potent greenhouse gas effect.
- Nitrous oxide (N2O) is 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide but isn’t as prevalent in the atmosphere.
- Other than air pollution, nitrogen is also linked to the loss of biodiversity, the pollution of rivers and seas, ozone depletion, health, economy, and livelihoods.
- Nitrogen pollution is caused, for example, by emissions from chemical fertilizers, livestock manure and burning fossil fuels.
- Gases such as ammonia (NH3) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) contribute to poor air quality and can aggravate respiratory and heart conditions, leading to millions of premature deaths across the world.
- Nitrate from chemical fertilizers, manure, and industry pollute the rivers and seas, posing a health risk for humans, fish, coral, and plant life.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ECOWAS
Mains level: Not much
West African leaders were due to meet in Ghana to discuss a response to Mali’s second coup in nine months.
- Since 1960, when Mali gained independence from France, there have been five coups — and only one peaceful transition from one democratically elected president to another.
- But on Monday, soldiers detained transitional President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, releasing them on Thursday while saying that they had resigned.
Recent coup
- Nine months ago, President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita was overthrown in the wake of mass anti-government protests.
- Last week, the announcement of a new cabinet was made that excluded two key military leaders. Following this, the army has detained the President and the Prime Minister.
About ECOWAS
- The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) is a regional group of fifteen countries, founded in 1975 via the treaty of Lagos.
- Mission: To promote economic integration in “all fields of economic activity, particularly industry, transport, telecommunications, energy, agriculture, natural resources, commerce, monetary and financial questions, social and cultural matters.
- Vision: Creation of a borderless region where the population has access to its abundant resources and is able to exploit same through the creation of opportunities under a sustainable environment.
- ECOWAS can be divided into two sub-regional blocs:
- West African Economic and Monetary Union – established in 1994
- West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) – established in 2000
- ECOWAS is meant to be a region governed in accordance with the principles of democracy, rule of law and good governance.
- The member countries of ECOWAS comprises: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cote d’ Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Senegal and Togo.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Neglected Tropical Diseases
Mains level: Burden of NTD in India
The ongoing World Health Assembly has declared January 30 as ‘World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day’.
Neglected Tropical Diseases
- NTDs are a group of infections that are most common among marginalized communities in the developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
- They are caused by a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and parasitic worms.
- These diseases generally receive less funding for research and treatment than malaises like tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS and malaria.
- Some examples of NTDs include snakebite envenomation, scabies, yaws, trachoma, Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease.
Significance of global recognition
- NTDs affect more than a billion people globally, according to the WHO. They are preventable and treatable.
- However, these diseases and their intricate interrelationships with poverty and ecological systems — continue to cause devastating health, social and economic consequences.
- A major milestone in the movement to recognize the global burden of these diseases was the London Declaration on NTDs that was adopted January 30, 2012.
- The first World NTD Day was celebrated informally in 2020. This year, the new NTD road map was launched.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: WHO BioHub and its purpose
Mains level: Not Much
The World Health Organization (WHO) and Switzerland have signed an MoU to launch a BioHub facility that will allow rapid sharing of pathogens between laboratories and partners to facilitate better analysis and preparedness against them.
WHO BioHub
- The BioHub will enable member states to share biological materials with and via the BioHub under pre-agreed conditions, including biosafety, biosecurity, and other applicable regulations.
- The facility will help in the safe reception, sequencing, storage, and preparation of biological materials for distribution to other laboratories, so as to facilitate global preparedness against these pathogens.
- It would be based in Spiez, Switzerland.
- Pathogens are presently shared bilaterally between countries: A process that can be sluggish and deny the benefits to some.
Its significance
- This will ensure timeliness and predictability in response activities.
- The move is significant in the view of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic and the need to underline the importance of sharing pathogen information to assess risks and launch countermeasures.
- The move will help contribute to the establishment of an international exchange system for novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging pathogens.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: India's position on Israel-Palestine conflict
Recently India’s permanent representative to the UN made a carefully crafted statement at the UN Security Council “open debate” on the escalating Israel-Palestine violence.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] West Asia Peace Plan
The story so far
- The violence started on 6 May, when Palestinian protests began in Jerusalem over an anticipated decision of the Supreme Court of Israel on the eviction of six Palestinian families a neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
- Israel’s operation “Guardian of the Walls” began with attacks on Hamas (a fundamentalist Palestinian group) tunnels close to the border fence with Israel.
- India has adopted a balanced approach to the current Israeli-Palestine conflict that has pushed the volatile region into yet another cycle of violence.
India’s long-standing position
- India has since long been maintaining that the Israel-Palestine conflict should be resolved through negotiation resulting in sovereign, independent, viable and united State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
- India has urged both countries to “engage with each other, including on the recent proposals put forward by the United States, and find an acceptable two-state solution for peaceful coexistence”.
The dilemma
- India seems to strive to maintain a balance between India’s historic ties with Palestine and its blossoming relations with Israel.
- The request that both sides refrain from “attempts to unilaterally change the existing status quo including in East Jerusalem and its neighbourhoods” seems to be a message to Israel about its settler policy.
- The statement was also emphatic that “the historic status quo at the holy places of Jerusalem including the Haraml al-Sharif/Temple Mount must be respected”.
Ties with spikes
- India’s policy on the longest-running conflict in the world has gone from being unequivocally pro-Palestine for the first four decades, to a tense balancing act with its three-decade-old friendly ties with Israel.
- In recent years, India’s position has also been perceived as pro-Israel.
From Nehru to Rao
- The balancing began with India’s decision to normalize ties with Israel in 1992, which came against the backdrop of the break-up of the Soviet Union.
- There were massive shifts in the geopolitics of West Asia on account of the first Gulf War in 1990.
- That year, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) lost much of its clout in the Arab world by siding with Iraq and Saddam Hussein in the occupation of Kuwait.
- The opening of an Indian embassy in Tel Aviv in January 1992 marked an end to four decades of giving Israel the cold shoulder, as India’s recognition of Israel in 1950 had been minus full diplomatic ties.
- PM Nehru’s reasoning for the decision to recognise Israel was that it was “an established fact”, and that not doing so would create bitterness between two UN members.
Why did India then support Palestine?
- In 1948, India was the only non-Arab-state among 13 countries that voted against the UN partition plan of Palestine in the General Assembly that led to the creation of Israel.
- Scholars ascribe various reasons for this India’s own Partition along religious lines; as a new nation that had just thrown off its colonial yoke; solidarity with the Palestinian people who would be dispossessed; and to ward off Pakistan’s plan to isolate India over Kashmir.
- Later, India’s energy dependence on the Arab countries also became a factor, as did the sentiments of India’s own Muslim citizens.
India and Palestine
- The relationship with Palestine was almost an article of faith in Indian foreign policy for over four decades.
- At the 53rd UN session, India co-sponsored the draft resolution on the right of the Palestinians to self-determination.
- In the 1967 and 1973 wars, India lashed out at Israel as the aggressor.
- In the 1970s, India rallied behind the PLO and its leader as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
- In 1975, India became the first non-Arab country to recognise the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people and invited it to open an office in Delhi.
- In 1988, when the PLO declared an independent state of Palestine with its capital in East Jerusalem, India granted recognition immediately.
Continuity for the cause
- India voted in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution in October 2003 against Israel’s construction of a separation wall.
- It voted for Palestine to become a full member of UNESCO in 2011, and a year later, co-sponsored the UNGA resolution that enabled Palestine to become a “non-member” observer state at the UN without voting rights.
- India also supported the installation of the Palestinian flag on the UN premises in September 2015.
Changes after 2014
- For two-and-a-half decades from 1992, the India-Israel relationship continued to grow, mostly through defence deals, and in sectors such as science and technology and agriculture.
- But India never acknowledged the relationship fully.
- There were few high-profile visits, and they all took place when the PM Vajpayee was in office.
- Israel was perceived as an ideal of a “strong state” that deals “firmly” with “terrorists”.
- It was during NDA-2 that the government under PM Modi decided to take full ownership of the relationship with Israel.
Balancing act
- Meanwhile, India continues to improve ties with Arab countries, especially Saudi Arabia and the UAE and feels vindicated by the decision of some Arab states to improve ties with Israel.
- For instance, even as it abstained at UNESCO in December 2017, India voted in favour of a resolution in the UNGA opposing Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: State of World Population Report 2021
Mains level: Womens' right issues
The United Nations Population Fund’s (UNFPA) flagship State of World Population Report 2021 titled ‘My Body is My Own’ was recently launched.
State of World Population Report 2021
- The State of World Population report is UNFPA’s annual flagship publication.
- It has been published yearly since 1978.
- It highlights emerging issues in the field of sexual and reproductive health and rights, bringing them into the mainstream and exploring the challenges and opportunities they present for international development.
Key findings of the 2021 report
This is the first time a UN report has focused on bodily autonomy, defined as the power and agency to make choices about your body without fear of violence or having someone else decide for you.
- The report measures both women’s power to make their own decisions about their bodies and the extent to which countries’ laws support or interfere with a woman’s right to make these decisions.
- The data show a strong link between decision-making power and higher levels of education.
The report shows that in countries where data are available:
- Only 55 per cent of women are fully empowered to make choices over health care, contraception and the ability to say yes or no to sex.
- Only 71 per cent of countries guarantee access to overall maternity care.
- Only 75 per cent of countries legally ensure full, equal access to contraception.
- Only about 80 per cent of countries have laws supporting sexual health and well-being.
- Only about 56 per cent of countries have laws and policies supporting comprehensive sexuality education.
In essence, hundreds of millions of women and girls do not own their own bodies. Their lives are governed by others.
The report also documents many other ways that the bodily autonomy of women, men, girls and boys is violated, revealing that:
- Twenty countries or territories have “marry-your-rapist” laws, where a man can escape criminal prosecution if he marries the woman or girl he has raped.
- Forty-three countries have no legislation addressing the issue of marital rape (rape by a spouse).
- More than 30 countries restrict women’s right to move around outside the home.
- Girls and boys with disabilities are nearly three times more likely to be subjected to sexual violence, with girls at the greatest risk.
Solutions: the power to say yes, the right to say no
- The report shows how efforts to address abuses can lead to further violations of bodily autonomy.
- For example, to prosecute a case of rape, a criminal justice system might require a survivor to undergo an invasive so-called virginity test.
- Real solutions, the report finds, must take into account the needs and experiences of those affected.
Indian scenario
- In India, according to NFHS-4 (2015-2016), only about 12% of currently married women (15-49 years of age) independently make decisions about their own healthcare, while 63% decide in consultation with their spouse.
- For a quarter of women (23%), it is the spouse that mainly takes decisions about healthcare.
- Only 8% of currently married women (15-49 years) take decisions on the use of contraception independently, while 83% decide jointly with their spouse.
- Information provided to women about the use of contraception is also limited — only 47% of women using a contraceptive were informed about the side effects of the method, and 54% of women were provided information about other contraceptives.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FONOP
Mains level: Freedom of navigation issues
The US Navy has had “asserted navigational rights and freedoms approximately 130 nautical miles west of Lakshadweep Islands, inside India’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), without requesting India’s prior consent, consistent with international law”.
Try this question:
Q.What do you mean by Freedom of Navigation Operations (FONOPs)? What are its legal backings? Discuss its significance.
Freedom of Navigation Operations
- FONOPs are closely linked to the concept of freedom of navigation, and in particular to the enforcement of relevant international law and customs regarding freedom of navigation.
- It involves passage conducted by the US Navy through waters claimed by coastal nations as their exclusive territory.
- It is carried under the US policy of exercising and asserting its navigation and overflight rights and freedoms around the world”.
- It says these “assertions communicate that the US does not acquiesce to the excessive maritime claims of other nations, and thus prevents those claims from becoming accepted in international law”.
Significance of FONOPs
- FONOPs are a method of enforcing UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea) and avoiding these negative outcomes by reinforcing freedom of navigation through practice.
- It is exercised by sailing through all areas of the sea permitted under UNCLOS, and particularly those areas that states have attempted to close off to free navigation as defined under UNCLOS.
What about EEZs?
- An exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
- It is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has special rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind.
- It stretches from the baseline out to 200 nautical miles from the coast of the state in question.
- It is also referred to as a maritime continental margin and, in colloquial usage, may include the continental shelf.
- The term does not include either the territorial sea or the continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile limit.
- The difference between the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone is that the first confers full sovereignty over the waters, whereas the second is merely a “sovereign right” which refers to the coastal state’s rights below the surface of the sea.
- The surface waters, as can be seen on the map, are international waters.
Is FONOP violative of India’s EEZ?
- As per India’s Territorial Waters Act, 1976, the EEZ of India “is an area beyond and adjacent to the territorial waters, and the limit of such zone is two hundred nautical miles from the baseline”.
- India’s “limit of the territorial waters is the line every point of which is at a distance of twelve nautical miles from the nearest point of the appropriate baseline”.
- Under the 1976 law, “all foreign ships (other than warships including submarines and other underwater vehicles) shall enjoy the right of innocent passage through the territorial waters”.
Back2Basics: UNCLOS
- The Law of the Sea Treaty formally known as the Third United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea was adopted in 1982 at Montego Bay, Jamaica. It entered into force in 1994.
- The convention establishes a comprehensive set of rules governing the oceans and replaces previous U.N. Conventions on the Law of the Sea
- The convention defines the distance of 12 nautical miles from the baseline as Territorial Sea limit and a distance of 200 nautical miles distance as Exclusive Economic Zone limit.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Geopolitics in Arabian Peninsula
The royal household in Jordan has recently seen intense drama, with the King’s popular half-brother and former crown prince was placed under de facto house arrest.
Study the map; especially, the Israel-Jordan border and Dead Sea.
Signs of a Coup
- Jordanian government statements have has stated that there had been an attempted coup to destabilize the country, mentioning unnamed “foreign entities” involved in the plot.
- The events have thus put a spotlight on Jordan’s unique position as one of the most stable countries in the Arab world, and given rise to questions about who could stand to benefit from the alleged coup.
Jordan’s stability matters
- Jordan, which this year celebrates 100 years since its creation after World War I, has for decades remained stable in a part of the world that is prone to conflict and political uncertainty.
- For its allies in the West and in the Gulf, Jordan is a strategic partner which can be relied upon for furthering political objectives in the region, which includes war-torn Syria and Iraq as well as conflict-prone Israel and Palestine.
- The support of Jordanian intelligence has proven critically important in the fight against terrorism.
- Though impoverished, the country of about a crore people has served as a haven for refugees in the conflict-ridden region.
The asylum giver
- After the Arab-Israeli wars of 1948 and 1967, Jordan received waves of refugees, to the point that about half of Jordan’s population today is made up of Palestinians.
- It has also welcomed refugees after the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, and currently hosts over 10 lakh from Syria, where a protracted civil war is going on.
- Jordan is also considered important to any future peace deal between Israel and Palestine.
How does Jordan get along with regional powers?
(1) West
- Traditionally, Jordan has maintained close relations with the US, and the fellow Sunni Muslim powers of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which together stand against Shia Iran.
- It also has diplomatic relations with Israel, and the two countries have been bound by a peace treaty since 1994.
(2) Within Gulf
- In recent years, however, Jordan’s relations with the Saudis and UAE have seen ups and downs.
- It has been particularly since the rise of their respective crown prince’s Mohammed bin Salman (known by initials MBS) and Mohammed bin Zayed (MBZ).
- One of the points of friction was Saudi-UAE’s blockade of Qatar in 2017.
- It caused further consternation in Saudi and Emirati circles by maintaining strong ties with Turkey.
(3) Ties with Israel
- Jordan’s role as the region’s interlocutor has also diminished since last year, after the UAE normalized relations with Israel.
What have the powers said of the alleged coup?
- Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have expressed full support for King Abdullah. The US has called the ruler a “key partner”.
- To drive home the point, Saudi Arabia sent its foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, to Jordan’s capital Amman to express complete solidarity with Jordan’s King and his government.
- Saudi and the UAE have little to gain by destabilizing Jordan, a country that has long served as a dependable ally.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NATO
Mains level: Relevance of NATO
Ukrainian President has urged NATO to speed up his country’s membership in the alliance, saying it was the only way to end fighting with pro-Russia separatists.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- The NATO, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 European and North American countries.
- The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949.
- NATO constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.
- NATO’s Headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons, Belgium.
Its members
- Since its founding, the admission of new member states has increased the alliance from the original 12 countries to 30.
- The most recent member state to be added to NATO was North Macedonia on 27 March 2020.
- NATO currently recognizes Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine as aspiring members.
- An additional 20 countries participate in NATO’s Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programs.
Why NATO matters?
- The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global nominal total.
- Members agreed that their aim is to reach or maintain the target defence spending of at least 2% of their GDP by 2024.
Also read:
India & NATO
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: E9 Initiative
Mains level: Digital learning coalitions
Nine countries including India, China and Brazil will explore the possibility of co-creating and scaling up digital learning to achieve the UN sustainable goal on quality education under the E9 initiative.
The E9 is the first of its kind global collaboration for digital learning. Note the participating countries.
E9 Initiative
- It is the first of a three-phased process to co-create an initiative on digital learning and skills, targeting marginalised children and youth, especially girls.
- The initiative aims to accelerate recovery and advance the Sustainable Development Goal 4 agenda by driving rapid change in education systems.
- It is spearheaded by the UN, the E9 countries – Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.
- It will have the opportunity to benefit from this global initiative and accelerate progress on digital learning, according to UNESCO.
Various functions
- The initiative will discuss the co-creation of the Digital Learning initiative by the nine countries.
- This Consultation will highlight progress, share lessons and explore opportunities for collaboration and scale-up to expand digital learning and skills.
- In addition, a Marketplace segment, for public-private partnership will focus on promising local and global solutions and opportunities for digital learning to strengthen local ecosystems.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global Gender Gap Index
Mains level: Gender disparities in India
India has slipped 28 places to rank 140th among 156 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2021, becoming the third-worst performer in South Asia.
For the 12th time, Iceland is the most gender-equal country in the world. The top 10 most gender-equal countries include Finland, Norway, New Zealand, Rwanda, Sweden, Ireland and Switzerland.
Global Gender Gap Index
- The report is annually published by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
- It benchmarks countries on their progress towards gender parity in four dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival and Political Empowerment.
- The report aims to serve “as a compass to track progress on relative gaps between women and men on health, education, economy and politics”.
Highlights of the 2021 report
Indian prospects
According to the report, India has closed 62.5% of its gender gap to date.
- Economic participation: India’s gender gap on this dimension widened by 3% this year, leading to a 32.6% gap closed to date.
- Political empowerment: India regressed 13.5 percentage points, with a significant decline in the number of women ministers.
- Income: Further, the estimated earned income of women in India is only one-fifth of men’s, which puts the country among the bottom 10 globally on this indicator.
- Health: Discrimination against women is also reflected in the health and survival subindex statistics. With 93.7% of this gap closed to date, India ranks among the bottom five countries in this subindex.
- Violence: Wide gaps in sex ratio at birth are due to the high incidence of gender-based sex-selective practices. In addition, more than one in four women has faced intimate violence in her lifetime, the report said.
India’s neighbourhood
- In South Asia, only Pakistan and Afghanistan ranked below India.
- Among India’s neighbours, Bangladesh ranked 65, Nepal 106, Pakistan 153, Afghanistan 156, Bhutan 130 and Sri Lanka 116.
- Among regions, South Asia is the second-lowest performer on the index, with 62.3% of its overall gender gap closed.
- Within the region, a wide gulf separates the best-performing country, Bangladesh, which has closed 71.9% of its gender gap so far, from Afghanistan, which has only closed 44.4% of its gap.
- Because of its large population, India’s performance has a substantial impact on the region’s overall performance.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process
Mains level: Afghan peace process
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has attended the Heart of Asia Conference in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
The 9th Heart of Asia-Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) ministerial conference is part of the Istanbul Process – a regional initiative on security and cooperation for a stable and peaceful Afghanistan – that was launched on November 2, 2011, in Turkey.
Note the participating countries from the logo itself.
Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process
- The Heart of Asia – Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) is an initiative of Afghanistan and Turkey, which was officially launched at a conference hosted by Turkey in Istanbul on 2 November 2011.
- Since then, Afghanistan supported by fourteen participating countries and supporting countries beyond the region as well as 12 Regional and International Organizations is leading and coordinating this Process.
Goals of the Process
- The HoA-IP aims at promoting and strengthening peace, security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and in the region.
- The HoA-IP has become one of the most interactive voluntary state-groupings in the HoA Region.
- It brings Afghanistan’s immediate and extended neighbours as well as international supporters together through the following focus areas:
- Political Consultations
- Implementation of the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs)
- Cooperation with Regional Organizations
Note: India too, has held the Ministerial Conferences of HoA-IP back on 4 December 2016 at Amritsar.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GHI
Mains level: Poverty and Hunger
Union Minister of State for Agriculture has questioned the methodology and data accuracy of the Global Hunger Index (GHI) report, which has placed India at 94th (out of 107 countries) rank in 2020.
About GHI
- GHI is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide, an Ireland-based humanitarian group, and Welthungerhilfe, a Germany-based NGO.
- It is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.
- It says the aim of publishing the report is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.
- According to the GHI website, the data for the indicators come from the United Nations and other multilateral agencies, including the World Health Organisation and the World Bank.
Various indicators used
- UNDERNOURISHMENT: the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient);
- CHILD WASTING: the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, who have low weight for their height, reflecting acute undernutrition);
- CHILD STUNTING: the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, who have low height for their age, reflecting chronic undernutrition); and
- CHILD MORTALITY: the mortality rate of children under the age of five (in part, a reflection of the fatal mix of inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environments).
What is the concern?
- India was ranked below countries such as Nepal, Bangladesh and Myanmar when it was among the top 10 food-producing countries in the world.
Actual scenario
- The Comprehensive National Nutrition Survey (CNNS) compiled in 2017-18 showed an improvement of 4%, 3.7% and 2.3% in wasted, stunted and malnourished children respectively.
- The first-ever CNNS was commissioned by the government in 2016 and was conducted from 2016-18, led by the Union Health Ministry, in collaboration with the UNICEF.
- The findings were published in 2019. CNNS includes only nutrition data, whereas NFHS encompasses overall health indicators.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CDRI
Mains level: India's leadership in Climate change mitigation
The Prime Minister has recently addressed the third edition of the annual conference of the Coalition for Disaster resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).
What is CDRI?
- The CDRI is an international coalition of countries, UN agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and academic institutions that aim to promote disaster-resilient infrastructure.
- Its objective is to promote research and knowledge sharing in the fields of infrastructure risk management, standards, financing, and recovery mechanisms.
- It was launched by the Indian PM Narendra Modi at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019.
- CDRI’s initial focus is on developing disaster-resilience in ecological, social, and economic infrastructure.
- It aims to achieve substantial changes in member countries’ policy frameworks and future infrastructure investments, along with a major decrease in the economic losses suffered due to disasters.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following statements:
- Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) to Reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants is a unique initiative of G20 group of countries
- The CCAC focuses on methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Its inception
- PM Modi’s experience in dealing with the aftermath of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake” as the chief minister led him to the idea.
- The CDRI was later conceptualized in the first and second edition of the International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) in 2018-19.
- It was organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in partnership with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the UN Development Programme, the World Bank, and the Global Commission on Adaptation.
Its diplomatic significance
- The CDRI is the second major coalition launched by India outside of the UN, the first being the International Solar Alliance.
- Both of them are seen as India’s attempts to obtain a global leadership role in climate change matters and were termed as part of India’s stronger branding.
- India can use the CDRI to provide a safer alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as well.
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