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  • [Burning Issue] Kashmiri Pandit Exodus

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    Context

    Union Home Minister Amit Shah reviewed the progress of the rehabilitation of Kashmiri migrants, including Kashmiri Pandits, during a meeting with Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha in Jammu.  According to the Home Ministry, only 17% of the proposed accommodation for Kashmiri Pandits has been completed in the past seven years under the Prime Minister’s Development Package announced in 2015. The Government stated that the construction of all transit accommodation units will be completed by 2023.

    About Kashmiri Pandits

    • The Kashmiri Pandits (also known as Kashmiri Brahmins) are Kashmiri Hindus and a part of the larger Saraswat Brahmin community.
    • They belong to the Pancha (five) Gauda Brahmana groups from the Kashmir Valley. They are the only remaining Kashmiri Hindu community native to Kashmir.
    • The Kashmiri Pandits originally lived in the Kashmir Valley before the growth of Islamic militancy in the valley and had been a favoured section of the population of the valley during Dogra rule (1846–1947). 
    • 20 percent of them left the valley as a consequence of the 1950 land reforms,and by 1981 the Pandit population amounted to 5 percent of the total population.
    • Many of the refugee Kashmiri Pandits have been living in abject conditions in refugee camps of Jammu. The government has reported on the terrorist threats to Pandits still living in the Kashmir region.

    Row over the movie

    • Hype of oppression: The thrust of the movie is how the intensity of the oppression or killing of the Pandits in the Kashmir Valley was totally underplayed in the media and how insensitive the political and intellectual elites of the country were.
    • Accusation of being far ‘Right’: The narrative has been challenged by professional film reviewers and India’s so-called liberal/secular elites, who dominate leading educational institutions and national media.
    • Fiction being sensationalized: For them, the movie is doctored, staged and faked.

    Why liberals objecting to the film?

    • Ignorance of minorities: They say that films has shown a limited side; it has ignored how many more Muslims have died too and how the insurrection – movement or insurgency has been due to mis-governance and wrong decisions.
    • ‘Human Rights’ of the terrorists: These liberals have always projected the Indian military as aggressor and Kashmiris as underdogs fighting for their human rights.
    • Decline in empathy: In fact, under the influence of these liberals, some important national dailies have now even stopped using the term “terrorists” altogether; instead, they now prefer to use the word “militants”.

    Plight of the Pandits

    • Political correctness of the genocide: The movie puts paramount importance in being politically correct at the cost of obfuscating truth, conveying indifference, and showing a lack of empathy. 
    • Long deserved sensationalization of the issue: It brings plight that Kashmir Hindus also didn’t share their experiences as much, sometimes in a bid to move on, and other times expecting ridicule or indifference by the liberals.
    • Movie revitalized the wounds of past: The movie is perceived as a watershed moment whereby having provided a powerful visual glimpse of the actual genocide in most truthful form.
    • Spark for mainstream discussion: The subject that was taboo is now in the mainstream and people are comfortable with hearing and reconciling with the truth when the world considered India as a villain in Kashmir.

    The run-up: 1980s to 1990

    • Political instability: Sheikh Abdullah had died in 1982, and the leadership of the National Conference passed on to his son Farooq Abdullah, who won the 1983 election.
      • But within two years, the Centre broke up the NC, and installed dissident Ghulam Mohammed Shah as Chief Minister. This led to huge disaffection and political instability.
    • Militancy: The Jammu & Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) stepped up its activities, and the hanging of the militant leader Maqbool Bhat in 1984 added to the sense of foreboding.
    • Religious interventions: In 1986, after the Rajiv Gandhi government opened the Babri Masjid locks to enable Hindus to offer prayers there, ripples were felt in Kashmir too.
      • In Anantnag, there was a series of attacks on Hindu temples, and shops and properties of Kashmiri Pandits, blamed on separatist and secessionists.
    • The rigged election of 1987 after which Abdullah formed the government was a turning point at which militants took the upper hand.
      • The 1989 submission to the JKLF set the stage for the next decade.
      • Pandits had begun to be targeted. Eminent persons of the community were being shot dead.

    What happened on January 19, 1990?

    • Governor’s rule imposed: Matters came to a head on January 19. By then, the Farooq Abdullah government had been dismissed and Governor’s Rule imposed.
    • No option but to leave the valley: According to accounts published by many Kashmiri Pandits, there were threatening slogans over loudspeakers from mosques, and on the streets.
    • Speeches were made extolling Pakistan and the supremacy of Islam, and against Hinduism. The Kashmiri Pandit community decided to leave.

    The Gawkadal Massacre

    • The flight – In January 20, the first stream began leaving the Valley with hastily packed belongings in whatever transport they could find.
    • The massacre – In January 21, the CRPF gunned down 160 Kashmiri Muslim protesters at the Gawkadal Bridge, the worst massacre in the long history of the conflict in Kashmir.
    • Effect – The two events (the flight of the Pandits and the Gawkadal massacre) took place within 48 hours, but for years, neither community could accept the pain of the other, and in some ways, still cannot.

    How many Pandits left?

    • According to some estimates, notably by the Kashmiri Pandit Sangharsh Samiti (KPSS), of 75,343 Kashmiri Pandit families in January 1990, more than 70,000 fled between 1990 and 1992 and continued until 2000.
    • The KPSS has placed the number of Kashmiri Pandits killed by militants from 1990 to 2011 at 399, the majority during 1989-90.
    • Some 800 families have remained in the Valley through these three decades.

    Role of the administration

    • Role of Governor: The other contentious question about the exodus is the role played by the administration, and more specifically that of the J&K Governor, Jagmohan.
    • The Kashmiri Muslim view of the exodus is that he encouraged the Pandits to leave the Valley and thus gave a communal colour to what was until then a non-religious Kashmiri cause.
    • The Kashmiri Hindu view is that the Kashmiri Muslims, with whom they had lived amicably for centuries,  drove them out with a vengeance in a frenzy of Islamism that they could not have imagined even months earlier.
    • The truth, many commentators have concluded, may have been somewhere in the middle.

    Present Status of Kashmiri Pandits

    • Home Ministry data: Several Kashmiri migrants reside at existing transit accommodation at Vessu (Kulgam), Mattan (Anantnag), Hawl (Pulwama), Natnusa (Kupwara), Sheikhpora (Budgam) and Veerwan (Baramulla) in the Kashmir Valley other than the camps in Jammu.
    • Various organizations came forward: Following the migration of the Kashmiri Pandit community, various socio-political organizations have sprung up to represent the cause of the displaced community.
      • These organizations are involved in rehabilitation of the community in the valley through peace negotiations, mobilization of human rights groups and job creation for the Pandits.
    • More than 60,000 families are registered as Kashmiri migrants including some Sikh and Muslim families.Most families were resettled in Jammu, NCR and other neighbouring states.
    • 2020 parliamentary panel report: There are 64,827 registered migrant families in J&K — 60,489 Hindu families, 2,609 Muslim families and 1,729 Sikh families.
      • Out of the 64,827 families, 43,494 are registered in Jammu, 19,338 in Delhi and 1,995 families are settled in other States and Union Territories.
    • Many of those who did return under a government job scheme, they live in migrant colonies and do not have basic amenities like a ration card or even a voter ID card.

    The question of return

    • Those who had means rebuilt their lives elsewhere in the country — Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad have Pandit populations, also Jaipur and Lucknow — or went abroad.
    • The fleeing Pandits did not think they would never return to the Valley. But as the situation in Kashmir spiraled into a full-blown militancy, return began to look remote if not impossible.
    • Successive governments have promised that they will help this process, but the situation on the ground in Kashmir has meant this remains only an intention.
    • There is an acute realization in the community that the Valley is no longer the same that they left behind in 1990.
    • In many cases, their properties were either immediately vandalised or sold quickly by the owners to Kashmiri Muslims. Many fell into disrepair.
    • Now, Kashmiri Muslims see the return of Pandits as essential, but reject the idea of their settlement in secured camps as a replication of Israel-like Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

    Steps taken by Government

    • ‘The Jammu And Kashmir Migrant Immovable Property (Preservation, Protection And Restraint on Distress Sales) Act, 1997’
      • It provides that any person who is an unauthorized occupant or recipient of any usufruct of any immovable property of the migrant shall pay to the migrant the compensation in such a manner as may be determined by the District Magistrate.
    • Announcement of various relief packages by respective governments
      • As of 2016, a total of 1,800 Kashmiri Pandit youths have returned to the valley since the announcement of Rs. 1,168-crore package in 2008 by the UPA government.
    • Prime Minister’s Development Package announced in 2015, had approved the creation of 3,000 government jobs for Kashmiri migrants.
    • So far, 1,739 migrants have been appointed and 1,098 others selected for the jobs.
    • A similar package for migrants was announced by the UPA government in 2008 under which 2,905 jobs had been filled out of the 3,000 jobs approved.
    • 6,000 transit accommodation units were announced in 2015 for the members who were to be provided jobs by the J&K administration at a cost of Rs 920 crore.

    Way forward

    • Punitive actions on terror: The first thing that would deliver justice to exiled Hindus would be to try and punish terrorists’ organizations for the crimes they committed against humanity.
    • Rehabilitation and re-settlement: The second and longer-term should be the effort of reconciliation, rehabilitation and inclusion.
    • Vajpayee doctrine:  The doctrine, ‘Insaniyat, (humanity), Jamhuriyat (Democracy) and Kashmiriyat (identity of the Kashmir people). This largely came to be known as the Vajpayee doctrine.
    • Cosmopolitan inclusive smart city: The way forward for achieving that is to set up a cosmopolitan inclusive smart city where Indians of all origins including the evicted Kashmiri Hindus can build their lives and homes.
    • Learning from the past: This will put the chapter of annihilation and extermination behind us. It is a humongous undertaking but we can take inspiration from the past, when the Mauryans established the city of Srinagar two thousand years ago.

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  • Textile Industry in India

    Context

    South Asia became a major player in the global textiles and clothing market with the onset of the third wave of global production.

    Textile industry in Bangladesh

    • Bangladesh overtook India in exports in the past decade as Indian labour costs resulted in products becoming 20% more expensive.
    • Bangladesh joined the league in the 1980s, owing to the outbreak of the civil war in Sri Lanka.
    • Lower production costs and free trade agreements with western buyers are what favour Bangladesh, which falls third in the line as a global exporter.
    • Bangladesh has been ahead of time in adopting technology.
    • Bangladesh also concentrates on cotton products, specialising in the low-value and mid-market price segment.

    Where does India stand?

    • The progress of India and Pakistan in readymade garments is recent when compared to their established presence in textiles.
    • India holds a 4% share of the U.S.$840 billion global textile and apparel market, and is in fifth position.
    • India has been successful in developing backward links, with the aid of the Technical Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS), in the cotton and technical textiles industry.
    • However, India is yet to move into man-made fibres as factories still operate in a seasonal fashion.

    Challenges ahead

    1] Fourth Industrial revolution and robotic automation

    • The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) has been shifting focus from production machinery to integrating technology in the entire production life cycle.
    • The production cycle incorporates all digital information and automation including robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), virtual reality, 3D printing, etc.
    • Robotic automation exemplifies production efficiency, especially in areas such as cutting and colour accuracy.
    • The Asian Development Bank anticipates the challenges of job losses and disruption, inequality and political instability, concentration of market power by global giants and more vulnerability to cyberattacks.
    •  With a 7% unemployment rate, India faces the challenge of job creation in the wake of increased automation.
    • The World Bank expects this trend to accelerate in the post-COVID-19 market.
    • The 4IR may result in unemployment or poor employment generation, primarily affecting a low skill workforce.

    2] Sustainability challenge

    • Sustainability is also an important consideration for foreign buyers.
    • Bangladesh’s readymade garments initiated ‘green manufacturing’ practices to help conserve energy, water, and resources.
    • Textile and apparel effluents account for 17%-20% of all water pollution.
    •  The Indian government is committed to promoting sustainability through project sustainable resolution.

    3] Labour issues

    • Access to affordable labour continues to be an advantage for south Asia.
    •  In addition, a country such as India with a very high number of scientists and engineers could lead, as is evident in the areas of drones, AI and blockchain.
    • India’s potential lies in its resources, infrastructure, technology, demographic dividend and policy framework.
    • The creation of a Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution is indicative of India’s intent.

    Way forward

    • Digitalisation and automation in areas such as design, prototyping, and production are key in order to stay abreast, and in controlling production quality and timely delivery.
    • Sustainable practices such as regenerative organic farming (that focuses on soil health, animal welfare, and social fairness), sustainable manufacturing energy (renewable sources of energy are used) and circularity are being adopted.
    • Tax exemptions or reductions in imported technology, accessibility to financial incentives, maintaining political stability and establishing good trade relations are some of the fundamental forms of support the industry needs from governments.
    • The U.S. trade war on China owing to human rights violations along with its economic bottlenecks, opens doors for India and Pakistan as they have strong production bases.
    • Similar to China, India has a big supply — from raw material to garments.
    • Bangladesh has also risen as a top exporter in a cost competitive global market.
    • India’s proposed investments of US$1.4 billion and the establishment of all-in-one textile parks are expected to increase employment and ease of trade.
    • India extended tax rebates in apparel export till 2024, with the twin goals of competitiveness and policy stability.
    • Labour law reforms, additional incentives, income tax relaxations, duty reductions for man-made fibre, etc. are other notable moves.
    •  Newer approaches in the areas of compliance, transparency, occupational safety, sustainable production, etc. are inevitable changes in store for South Asia to sustain and grow business.
    • Finally, there is a need for governments’ proactive support in infrastructure, capital, liquidity and incentivisation.

    Conclusion

    Ensuring government support for financial incentives, upgrading technologies and reskilling labour are key challenges.

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  • Indigenisation in defence technologies, manufacturing will ensure India’s strategic autonomy

    Context

    Given its successive abstentions during votes on Ukraine in the UN Security Council and elsewhere, New Delhi has attracted criticism and even reproach from many quarters. While India’s abstentions may be hard to justify on moral grounds, they are certainly rooted in “realpolitik”.

    Reasons for India’s stance

    • There is irrefutable logic in the argument that safeguarding the source of 60-70 per cent of its military hardware constitutes a prime national interest for India.
    • Any interruption in the supply of Russian arms or spares could have a devastating impact on our defence posture vis-à-vis the China-Pak axis.
    • Even after diversification of sources, India remains trapped in the Russian bear’s jaws, jeopardising the credibility of its “strategic autonomy”. 

    Implications of India’s position

    • The stance adopted by India has placed it amongst a minority of nations, alongside China and Pakistan.
    • Seen widely as pro-Russian, this posture is likely to affect India’s international standing and bears reflection.

    Suggestion

    • The answers to India’s agonising dilemma lie in two drastic imperatives, which must receive the closest attention of decision-makers. They are:
    • The “de-Russification of the armed forces” and the genuine “indigenisation of India’s defence technological and industrial base (DTIB)”.
    • Russia’s military-industrial complex, in oligarch hands, has been struggling against inefficiency, poor quality control and deficient customer support.
    •  It is time to initiate a process of progressive “de-Russification” of Indian armed forces; not to switch sources, but of becoming self-reliant.
    • It may be uplifting to see battle-tanks, warships and jet-fighters held up as examples of self-reliance, but what is never mentioned is that vital sub-systems like engines, guns, missiles, radars, fire-control computers, gear-boxes and transmission are either imported or assembled under foreign licences.
    • Atmanirbhart requires selective identification of vital military technologies in which we are deficient and demands the initiation of well-funded, time-bound, mission-mode projects to develop (or acquire) the “know-how” as well as “know-why” of these technologies.

    Conclusion

    Having failed for 75 years after independence to attain a degree of self-reliance in military hardware that would have undergirded our “strategic autonomy,” it is time for India to zero in on the reasons why we have failed, where peer-nations like China, South Korea, Israel, Taiwan and even Singapore have succeeded spectacularly.

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  • [Sansad TV] Perspective: India-Japan Ties

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    Context

    • Japanese PM Fumio Kishida is on a visit to India. The bilateral summit was held amidst rising tensions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
    • Japan and India are expected to enhance economic cooperation and share assessments on the crisis in Ukraine and Indo-Pacific as well.

    When we think about Japan-India military relations as they stand today, we cannot forget one fact Japan is located far away from India.

    In this article, we will discuss and analyze various aspects of this bilateral relationship and key focus areas of the visit.

    India-Japan Relations: A backgrounder

    [1] Ancient times

    • The friendship between India and Japan has a long history rooted in spiritual affinity and strong cultural and civilization ties dating back to the visit of Indian monk Bodhisena in 752 AD.
    • The people of India and Japan have engaged in cultural exchanges, primarily as a result of Buddhism, which spread indirectly from India to Japan, via China and Korea.

    [2] India’s freedom movement

    • Independence movement: The leader of the Indian Independence Movement, Rash Behari Bose was instrumental in forging India–Japan relations during India’s independence movement.
    • During World War II, The British occupiers of India and Japan were enemies during World War II.  Subhas Chandra Bose used Japanese sponsorship to form the Azad Hind Fauj or Indian National Army (INA).

    [3] Post-Cold War period

    • The end of cold war and the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the inauguration of economic reforms in India seemed to mark the beginning of a new era in Indo-Japanese relationship.
    • India’s “Look East Policy” posited Japan as a key partner.
    • Japan being the only victim of nuclear holocaust, Pokhran –II tests of India in May 1998 brought bitterness in the bilateral relations where Japan asked India to sign NNPT.

    Major developments in India-Japan Relationship

    (1) India-Italy-Japan trilateral partnership

    • Recently, Italy has also begun to signal its intention to enter the Indo-Pacific geography.
    • It has done so by seeking to join India and Japan in a trilateral partnership.
    • Italy has become more vocal on the risks emanating from China’s strategic competitive initiatives.
    • On the Indian side, there is great interest in forging new partnerships with like-minded countries interested in preserving peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

    (2) 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue

    • The 2+2 ministerial dialogue is seen as an upgrade of the meeting between foreign and defense secretaries of the two countries, the first round of which took place in 2010.
    • The ministerial level meeting was held after a decision to institute a Foreign and Defense Ministerial Dialogue was taken during the 13th India-Japan Annual Summit held in Japan in 2018.
    • 2+2 meeting aimed to give further momentum to their special strategic partnership, particularly in the maritime domain.

    (3) Supply Chain Resilience Initiative

    • Recently India, Australia and Japan formally launched the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. The initiative was launched to counter the dominance of China in the Global Supply Chain.
    • It aims to prevent disruptions in the supply chain as seen during COVID-19 pandemic.
    • The initiative will mainly focus on diversification of investment and digital technology adoption.

    (4) Other MEA led-bilateral dialogues

    • The Act East Forum, established in 2017, aims to provide a platform for India-Japan collaboration under the rubric of India’s “Act East Policy” and Japan’s “Free and Open Indo-Pacific Vision”.
    • At the Second meeting of the Act East forum, both sides agreed to focus on expanding of Japanese language in North East, training of caregivers under Technical Intern Training Program (TITP), capacity building in area of bamboo value chain development and Disaster Management.
    • The inaugural India-Japan Space Dialogue was held in Delhi for enhancing bilateral cooperation in outer space and information exchange on the respective space policies.

    (5) Quadrilateral Security Dialogue

    • The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, colloquially the Quad or QUAD, is a strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan, and United States that is maintained by talks between member countries.
    • The dialogue was initiated in 2007 by Japanese PM Shinzo Abe, with the support of Australian PM John Howard, Indian PM Manmohan Singh, and US Vice President Dick Cheney.
    • The dialogue was paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar.

    Areas of cooperation

    (1) Economic and Commercial relations

    • India’s bilateral trade with Japan stood at US$ 16.95 billion in FY 2019-20. India’s imports during this period were US$ 12.43 billion and exports were US$ 4.52 billion.
    • India’s primary exports to Japan are petroleum products, chemicals, elements, compounds, non-metallic mineral ware, fish & fish preparations, metalliferous ores & scrap, clothing & accessories, iron & steel products, textile yarn, fabrics and machinery etc.
    • India’s primary imports from Japan are machinery, electrical machinery, iron and steel products, plastic materials, non-ferrous metals, parts of motor vehicles, organic chemicals, etc.

    (2) Investment and Official Development Assistance (ODA)

    • From 2000 until September 2020, the Japanese investments in India cumulatively stands at around US$ 34.152 billion (Japan ranks fifth among the largest source of investment).
    • Japanese FDI during FY 2019-2020 increased to US$ 3.226 billion compared to US$ 2.96 billion in FY 2018-19.
    • The Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail, Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (DFC), Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) with twelve industrial townships, Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor (CBIC) are some mega project with Japanese cooperation on the anvil.

    (3) Security and Defence

    • India-Japan Defence and Security partnership has evolved over the years and today forms an integral pillar of bilateral ties.
    • The QUAD is the most landmark development.
    • The Quad is paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar.
    • In spite of the pandemic, complex exercises in all domains were conducted including MALABAR 2020, Japan India maritime exercise (JIMEX 2020) and PASSEX, showcasing the trust and interoperability between the navies.

    (4) India-Japan Digital Partnership (IJDP) and Start-up Hub

    • The MOC on Digital Partnership envisaged cooperation in five sub-areas:
    • Start-up Initiative
    • Corporate Partnership
    • ESDM promotion
    • Digital talent exchange
    • R&D Cooperation
    • Security related strategic collaboration

    (5) Disaster Risk Reduction

    • An Agreement on joint research in the field of Earthquake Disaster Prevention was signed between Fujita Corporation and Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT-R).

    (6) Skill Development

    • India-Japan MoC signed in 2016 to train 30,000 shop floor leaders over 10 years thereby also contributing to India’s flagship initiatives such as “Skill India” and “Make in India”.
    • Japanese companies have established 13 Japan-India Institute of Manufacturing (JIM) in India and 5 Japanese Endowed Courses (JEC) in Indian Engineering Colleges.

    (7) Healthcare

    • In view of the similarities and synergies between the goals and objectives of India’s AYUSHMAN Bharat Programme and Japan’s AHWIN, both sides consulted with each other to identify projects to build the narrative of AHWIN for AYUSHMAN Bharat.
    • Japan supported India to contain COVID-19 and mitigate its adverse socioeconomic impacts by extending budgetary support.

    (8) HRD Cooperation

    • As on December 2020, there were over 300 academic and research partnerships (including student exchanges) between more than 70 universities/institutes of Japan and around 105 universities/institutes of India.
    • These partnerships range from liberal arts to management & business studies, legal studies, international studies, linguistics, Ayurveda, STEM including fast emerging frontier technologies.
    • The students & teacher exchange and scholarship programmes, especially short-term, are enabling a large number of Indian students and teachers to visit and experience Japan and vice versa.

    (9) S&T Cooperation

    • Bilateral S&T cooperation was formalized through an Inter-Governmental Agreement signed in 1985.
    • Recent initiatives – three India-Japan Joint Laboratories in the area of ICT (AI, IoT and Big Data) and initiation of Dept. of Science and Tech (DST)-Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellowship Programme for the young researchers.

    (10) Energy

    • The two sides have launched an Energy Dialogue to promote cooperation in the energy sector in a comprehensive manner.
    • In 2015, India and Japan reached on substantive Agreement on Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy. India becomes the first non NPT signed country to do so.

    Significance of Japan for India

    • Excellence in all walks: Japan is the most mature economy in this region. In terms of maturity, sophistication, and experience in international economic engagements, Japan excels every other country of the Indo-Pacific region, excluding the US.
    • Technological advancements: Its technological marvels, business strategies, and management skills are second to none.
    • Big stature in international community: Japan rarely hits the international headlines and it is actually Japan’s feebleness in the world of political advertisements.
    • Indo-Pacific: Japan sooner than later will be a leading player in the political economy as well as security fields of the Indo-Pacific region.
    • Indian diaspora: Its aging population is a major concern and Japan very well acknowledges this fact. While increasing the domestic birth rate will always be important, it is a position to devise a new immigration policy that would largely benefit Indians.
    • Infrastructure boost: Japan has the distinction of being the only foreign power that has been allowed to undertake infrastructure and other projects in India’s sensitive northeast.
    • Natural ally with no vested interest: Finally, Japan has never been an adversary of India and the current global as well as regional distribution of power and strategic scenario necessitate a deeper and expansive strategic teamwork.
    • China factor: The rise of China as a superpower in the region challenges and poses a significant risk to the shared interest of India and Japan in the region and hence it has become inevitable for both countries to have stronger and deeper strategic and defence ties.

    Why Japan needs India?

    • A distant friend and economic partner: Geographical distance between Japan and India has been the primary reason for relations between the two countries historically.
    • Maintain neutrality: Japan has not entered into any such deep security relationship like India with other countries except the US and Australia.
    • Continuance of cold-war doctrine: US needs an “ally” to maintain military balance in Asia. After the Cold War, US and Japan lost the reason to maintain large number of warships in their navy.
    • Balancing China: China’s political economy has expanded manifold in last few decades. This has raised its assertiveness in making territorial claims in almost every part of the world.
    • Strategically important location: South Asia and Indo-Pacific is a strategically important place, is sitting on key Sea Lines of Communication between the Middle East and East Asia.
    • Geographical Potential as a Security Provider: India possesses enough naval capability to be projected as a strong naval power in the future.
    • Perception of trustworthiness: India is perceived as a trustworthy partner by most countries because of its politically neutral and independent foreign policy.

    Way forward

    • Taking advantage of its considerable assets — the world’s third-largest economy, substantial high-tech skills, and a military freed of some legal and constitutional constraints — Japan is largely perceived as a natural ally to India.
    • At a time of global geopolitical flux, the two are among the important countries that have taken up the baton to champion freedom, international norms and rules, inclusivity, and free and fair trade.
    • If Japan and India continue to add concrete security content to their relationship, their strategic partnership could potentially be a game-changer in Asia.
    • The emphasis on boosting trade and investment must be balanced with greater strategic collaboration.

  • What is the NPPA’s role in fixing drug prices?

    Consumers may have to pay more for medicines and medical devices if the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) allows a price hike of over 10% in the drugs and devices listed under the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM), this coming month.

    Who regulates Drugs prices?

    • The NPPA was set up in 1997 to fix/revise prices of controlled bulk drugs and formulations and to enforce price and availability of the medicines in the country, under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995-2013.
    • Its mandate is:
    1. To implement and enforce the provisions of the DPCO in accordance with the powers delegated to it
    2. To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the NPPA
    3. To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages and to take remedial steps
    • The NPPA is also mandated to collect/maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, profitability of companies etc., for bulk drugs and formulations and undertake and/ or sponsor relevant studies in respect of pricing of drugs/ pharmaceuticals.

    How does the pricing mechanism work?

    • Prices of Scheduled Drugs are allowed an increase each year by the drug regulator in line with the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) and the annual change is controlled and rarely crosses 5%.
    • But the pharmaceutical players pointed out that over the past few years, input costs have flared up.
    • The hike has been a long-standing demand by the pharma industry lobby.
    • All medicines under the NLEM are under price regulation.

    Do you know?

    As per the Drugs (Prices) Control Order 2013, scheduled drugs, about 15% of the pharma market, are allowed an increase by the government as per the WPI while the rest 85% are allowed an automatic increase of 10% every year.

    How are the prices determined?

    • The ceiling price of a scheduled drug is determined by first working out the simple average of price to retailer in respect of all branded and generic versions of that particular drug formulation.
    • It should have a market share of more than or equal to 1%, and then adding a notional retailer margin of 16% to it.
    • The ceiling price fixed/revised by the NPPA is notified in the Gazette of India (Extraordinary) from time to time.

    When are the prices revised?

    • Prices are revised when there is a rise in the price of bulk drugs, raw materials, cost of transport, freight rates, utilities like fuel, power, diesel, and changes in taxes and duties.
    • The cost rises for imported medicines with escalation in insurance and freight prices, and depreciation of the rupee.
    • The annual hike in the prices of drugs listed in the NLEM is based on the WPI.
    • The NLEM lists drugs used to treat fever, infection, heart disease, hypertension, anaemia etc and includes commonly used medicines like paracetamol, azithromycin etc.

    Why are inputs costs high?

    • One of the challenges is that 60%-70% of the country’s medicine needs are dependent on China.
    • WPI is dependent on price rise in a basket of a range of goods that are not directly linked with the items that go into the cost of medicines.

     

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  • Defining who is ‘Assamese’: Attempts, Challenges

    Last week, the Assam government informed the Assembly that nearly 1.44 lakh illegal foreigners had been identified in the state this year based on the 1985 Assam Accord, and around 30,000 of them had been deported to their country of origin.

    Who is a foreigner under the Assam Accord?

    • The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 by the Centre and the Assam government with the All Assam Student Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad.
    • This movement had spearheaded the 1979-85 Assam Movement against migration from Bangladesh.
    • It was against all migrants from Bangladesh, irrespective of religion.
    • The Accord set March 24, 1971 as a cut-off. (The Assam Movement had demanded 1951 as the cut-off.)
    • Anyone who had come to Assam before midnight on that date would be an Indian citizen, while those who had come after would be dealt with as foreigners.
    • The same cut-off was used in updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

    What are the expressions for which the definitions have not been determined? Why are they important?

    • The definitions of phrases mentioned in the Accord such as ‘Axomiya janagan’ (Assamese people), ‘khilonjia’ (indigenous) and ‘adi basinda’ (original inhabitants) were yet to be determined.
    • The context is Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which promises “constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”.
    • However, it doesn’t  provide clear cut definitions to identify who would be the “Assamese people”.
    • Clause 6 is important because many felt the 1971 cut-off was inadequate.

    Issues with the cut-off date

    • The cut-off for the rest of India is 1948, many noted that the Assam Accord would grant citizenship to a section of migrants who would be counted as foreigners elsewhere in the country.
    • Clause 6 was, therefore, seen as a protective provision which would guarantee certain benefits to the Assamese people, while excluding some sections among those granted citizenship on the basis of the 1971 cut-off.

    Why is the ‘Assamese’ definition difficult?

    • Because Assam’s demography has been shaped by decades of migration.
    • Many of the migrants had settled here during the colonial era.
    • While they might not be native speakers of an indigenous language, such as Assamese or Bodo or Karbi, the question was whether the definition of “Assamese” could exclude someone, for example, whose family might have lived in Assam for 100 years.

    Have any definitions been proposed?

    • A key committee came in 2019, when Assam was rocked by protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which proposes to grant citizenship to various categories of foreigners including Hindus from Bangladesh.
    • The government set up the committee as a means to quell the protests.

    This committee recommended following persons as Assamese:

    1. All citizens who are part of the Assamese community
    2. Any person of indigenous tribal community of Assam
    3. Any other indigenous community of Assam
    4. Any other citizens of India residing in the territory or Assam on or before January 1, 1951 and
    5. Descendants of these categories
    • In essence, this definition includes not only the indigenous people but also all other Indian citizens, irrespective of mother tongue, as long as their ancestors were staying in Assam before 1951.

     

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  • Kinzhal Advanced Hypersonic Missile

    Russia said that it had unleashed hypersonic missiles against an arms depot in Ukraine, the first use of the next-generation weapons in combat.

    Kinzhal Missile

    • It is a nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile that flies at 10 times the speed of sound and can overcome air-defence systems. Kinzhal means ‘dagger’.
    • The missile has a range of approximately 1,500-2,000km and can carry a nuclear payload or conventional payload of 480 kg.
    • The Kinzhal was one of an array of new weapons Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address in 2018. Putin had termed Kinzhal as “an ideal weapon”.
    • This is the first time that Russia has admitted to using the high-precision weapon in combat.
    • Following launch, the Kinzhal rapidly accelerates to Mach 4 (4,900 km/h), and may reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (12,350 km/hr).

    What is a hypersonic weapon?

    • They are normally defined as fast, low-flying, and highly manoeuvrable weapons designed to be too quick and agile for traditional missile defence systems to detect in time, according to Bloomberg.
    • Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons don’t follow a predetermined, arched trajectory and can maneuver on the way to their destination.
    • The term “hypersonic” describes any speed faster than five times that of sound, which is roughly 760 miles (1,220 kilometers) per hour at sea level.
    • At hypersonic speeds, the air molecules around the flight vehicle start to change, breaking apart or gaining a charge in a process called ionization.
    • This subjects the hypersonic vehicle to “tremendous” stresses as it pushes through the atmosphere.

    Types of hypersonic weapons

    • There are two main types of these weapons — glide vehicles and cruise missiles.
    • Most of the attention is focused on the former, which are launched from a rocket before gliding to their target, because of the challenges of achieving hypersonic propulsion of missiles.
    • The missiles have engines called scramjets that use the air’s oxygen and produce thrust during their flight, allowing them to cruise at a steady speed and altitude.

    Who has these weapons?

    • US, China and Russia have the most advanced capabilities.
    • Several other countries are investigating the technology, including India, Japan, Australia, France, Germany and North Korea, which claims to have tested a hypersonic missile.
    • In fact, India is also closing in on having such weapons in its arsenal.
    • Last year, India successfully tested its hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV), powered by a scramjet engine.
    • The HSTDV will serve as a crucial building block in the development of long-range hypersonic weapons, which will take at least another four to five years to become a reality.

    Back2Basics: Types of Missiles

    (1) Subsonic missiles

    • They travel at a rate slower than the speed of sound.
    • Most well-known missiles, such as the US Tomahawk cruise missile, the French Exocet, and the Indian Nirbhay, fall into this category.
    • These travel at about Mach-0.9 (705 mph), and are slower and easier to intercept, but they continue to play a significant role in modern battlefields.
    • They significantly less expensive to produce because the technological challenges have already been overcome and mastered.
    • Due to their low speed and small size, subsonic missiles provide an additional layer of strategic value.

    (2) Supersonic missiles

    • They are the one that travels faster than the speed of sound (Mach 1) but not faster than Mach-3.
    • Most supersonic missiles travel at speeds ranging from Mach-2 to Mach-3, or up to 2,300 mph.
    • The Indian/Russian BrahMos, currently the fastest operational supersonic missile capable of speeds of around 2,100–2,300 mph, is the most well-known supersonic missile.

    (3) Hypersonic Missiles

    Explained above

     

  • What is POSH Act?

    The Kerala High Court has asked organizations associated with the film industry to take steps to constitute a joint committee to deal with cases of sexual harassment of women, in line with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013.

    Why in news?

    • During the #MeToo movement, a number of women in India called out influential men — actors, standup comics, senior journalists — for alleged sexual harassment.
    • Hence the HC underlined that film production units must comply with the law against sexual harassment, commonly known as the prevention of sexual harassment at workplace (SHW) or POSH Act.

    What is the POSH Act?

    • The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in 2013.
    • It defined sexual harassment, lay down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry, and the action to be taken.
    • It broadened the Vishaka Guidelines, which were already in place.

    What are Vishakha Guidelines?

    • The Vishakha guidelines were laid down by the Supreme Court in a judgment in 1997. This was in a case filed by women’s rights groups, one of which was Vishakha.
    • In 1992, she had prevented the marriage of a one-year-old girl, leading to the alleged gangrape in an act of revenge.

    Guidelines and the law

    • The Vishakha guidelines, which were legally binding, defined sexual harassment and imposed three key obligations on institutions :
    1. Prohibition
    2. Prevention
    3. Redress
    • The Supreme Court directed that they should establish a Complaints Committee, which would look into matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.

    The POSH Act broadened these guidelines:

    • It mandated that every employer must constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.
    • It lay down procedures and defined various aspects of sexual harassment, including the aggrieved victim, who could be a woman “of any age whether employed or not”, who “alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment”.
    • This meant that the rights of all women working or visiting any workplace, in any capacity, were protected under the Act.

    Definition of Sexual Harassment

    Under the 2013 law, sexual harassment includes “any one or more” of the following “unwelcome acts or behaviour” committed directly or by implication:

    • Physical contact and advances
    • A demand or request for sexual favours
    • Sexually coloured remarks
    • Showing pornography
    • Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.

    The Ministry of Women & Child Development has published a Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace with more detailed instances of behaviour that constitutes sexual harassment at the workplace. These include, broadly:

    • Sexually suggestive remarks or innuendos; serious or repeated offensive remarks; inappropriate questions or remarks about a person’s sex life
    • Display of sexist or offensive pictures, posters, MMS, SMS, WhatsApp, or emails
    • Intimidation, threats, blackmail around sexual favours; also, threats, intimidation or retaliation against an employee who speaks up about these
    • Unwelcome social invitations with sexual overtones, commonly seen as flirting
    • Unwelcome sexual advances.

    Unwelcome behavior

    • The Handbook says “unwelcome behaviour” is experienced when the victim feels bad or powerless; it causes anger/sadness or negative self-esteem.
    • It adds unwelcome behaviour is one which is “illegal, demeaning, invading, one-sided and power based”.

    Circumstance amounting to SHW

    The Act mentions five circumstances that amount to sexual harassment implied or explicit:

    1. Promise of preferential treatment in her employment
    2. Threat of detrimental treatment
    3. Threat about her present or future employment status
    4. Interference with her work or creating an offensive or hostile work environment
    5. Humiliating treatment likely to affect her health or safety

    Procedure for complaint

    • Technically, it is not compulsory for the aggrieved victim to file a complaint for the ICC to act.
    • The Act says that she “may” do so — OR any member of the ICC “shall” render “all reasonable assistance” to her to complain in writing.
    • If the woman cannot complain because of “physical or mental incapacity or death or otherwise”, her legal heir may do so.
    • Under the Act, the complaint must be made “within three months from the date of the incident”.
    • However, the ICC can “extend the time limit” if “it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the woman from filing a complaint within the said period”.
    • It provides that “no monetary settlement shall be made as a basis of conciliation”.
    • The ICC may either forward the victim’s complaint to the police, or it can start an inquiry that has to be completed within 90 days.
    • The identity of the woman, respondent, witness, any information on the inquiry, recommendation and action taken, the Act states, should not be made public.

    After the ICC report

    • If the allegations of sexual harassment are proved, the ICC recommends that the employer take action “in accordance with the provisions of the service rules” of the company.
    • These may vary from company to company.
    • It also recommends that the company deduct from the salary of the person found guilty, “as it may consider appropriate”.

    Compensation is determined based on five aspects:

    1. Suffering and emotional distress caused to the woman;
    2. Loss in career opportunity;
    3. Her medical expenses;
    4. Income and financial status of the respondent;
    5. Feasibility of such payment.

    Appeal in Court

    • After the recommendations, the aggrieved woman or the respondent can appeal in court within 90 days
    • Section 14 of the Act deals with punishment for false or malicious complaint and false evidence.
    • In such a case, the ICC “may recommend” to the employer that it take action against the woman, or the person who has made the complaint, in “accordance with the provisions of the service rules”.
    • The Act, however, makes it clear that action cannot be taken for “mere inability” to “substantiate the complaint or provide adequate proof”.

     

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  • 13% reduction in air pollution deaths due to UJJAWALA Scheme

    Greater penetration and usage of LPG as a cooking fuel is estimated to have prevented at least 1.5 lakh pollution-related premature deaths in the year 2019 alone, according to the first independent impact assessment of the government’s flagship Ujjwala program.

    About the PM Ujjwala Yojana

    • Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016, with the aim to provide Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to five crore women members of below poverty line (BPL) households in the first phase.
    • he scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, Islands).
    • In the second phase the target was expanded to eight crore LPG connections.

    Why was this scheme launched?

    • Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children.
    • Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country.
    • This measure has empowered women and protected their health. It reduced drudgery and the time spent on cooking.
    • It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

    Ujjwala 2.0

    • Under Ujjwala 2.0 migrant workers would no longer have to struggle to get address proof documents to get the gas connections.
    • Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.
    • Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.

    Significance of Ujjwala 2.0

    • LPG infrastructure has expanded manifold in the country due to the Ujjwala scheme.
    • In the last six years, more than 11,000 new LPG distribution centres have opened across the country.
    • The LPG coverage in India is now very close to becoming 100 per cent.

     

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  • Caste-based NREGS Wages Payment System

    Parliament’s Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has asked the government to roll back the system of caste-based wages, under which NREGS workers are paid based on whether they belong to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, or Others.

    Back in news: MGNREGA

    What is the caste-based payment system?

    • Last year, the Rural Development Ministry sent an advisory to states asking them to take necessary action for payment of wages to NREGS workers according to their categories — SC, ST, and Others.
    • Under the new system, if 20 individuals (say, six SCs, four STs and 10 others) work together at a site under MG-NREGA, a single muster roll would be issued.
    • But payment would be done by issuing three separate Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs), one for each of the three categories.
    • Due to this, some beneficiaries started complaining that despite working at the same site and registering on the same muster roll, they were getting their wages at different times depending on their categories.
    • Beneficiaries in the ‘Others’ category, which includes the ‘General’ and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories, especially complained of delays.

    What was the earlier system of payment?

    • The Rural Development Ministry notifies wage rates for states and Union Territories under Section 6(1) of The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
    • Until 2020-21, the wages were being paid to NREGS beneficiaries through a single funds transfer order.
    • In other words, if 20 beneficiaries, including SCs, STs and Others work at a site under MGNREGA, all received their wages at the same time, through a single muster roll and a single funds transfer order.

    Why was the system of caste-based wage payment introduced?

    • According to the Ministry, the system of category-wise payment of wages was introduced to “accurately reflect on the ground flow of funds to various population groups”.
    • Last year, a process of “streamlining” of the new system was taken up.

     

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