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GS Paper: GS2

  • Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)

    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:
    1. West African Economic and Monetary Union – established in 1994
    2. 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.

  • Mid Day Meal Scheme

    The Centre has decided to give about ₹100 each to children studying in Class 1 to Class 8 in government schools, who are beneficiaries of the Mid Day Meal scheme.

    Mid Day Meal Scheme

    • The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.
    • It is a wholesome freshly-cooked lunch served to children in government and government-aided schools in India.
    • The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government, government-aided, local body and alternate innovative education centres, Madarsa and Maqtabs.
    • Serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres, it is the largest of its kind in the world.
    • The programme has undergone many changes since its launch in 1995. The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.

    The scheme aims to:

    1. avoid classroom hunger
    2. increase school enrolment
    3. increase school attendance
    4. improve socialization among castes
    5. address malnutrition
    6. empower women through employment

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.An objective of the National Food Security Mission is to increase the production of certain crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner in the identified districts of the country. What are those crops?

    (a) Rice and wheat only

    (b) Rice, wheat, and pulses only

    (c) Rice, wheat, pulses, and oilseeds only

    (d) Rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, and vegetables

    What is the new move?

    • The money, ₹1200 crore in total, will be given to 11.8 crore children through direct benefit transfer as a one-time payment.
    • The money comes from the cooking cost component of the scheme, it said.
    • This decision will help safeguard the nutritional levels of children and aid in protecting their immunity during challenging pandemic times.

  • India must engage with Nepal-without intervening

    The article suggests recalibration of India’s approach towards political turmoil in Nepal.

    Nepal in political crisis

    • For the second time in weeks, Prime Minister K P Oli has persuaded President Bidya Devi Bhandari to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections.
    • That is, unless the Supreme Court decides to declare the dissolution of parliament as unconstitutional, as it had done in the recent past.
    • The current dissolution has been challenged in the court by five political parties.

    Medhesi demand fulfilled

    • Prime Minister Oli has also delivered on the longstanding Madhesi demand to reverse a constitutional provision which denied citizenship to children born of Nepali mothers who had foreign husbands.
    • The widespread unrest in the Terai adjoining India in 2015 was triggered by this attempt to deny equal rights to the Madhesi population.
    • This provision had directly targeted the Madhesi population, which has close kinship and marital ties across the border with India.
    • While this provision has now been removed through a presidential ordinance, it could well be reversed in future by Nepali political parties dominated by the higher caste.

    Steps India needs to take

    • Political uncertainty in a neighbouring country is never good news for India, particularly in Nepal with whom we share a long and open border.
    • The Indian government has maintained a studied silence on the current political developments in Nepal and this may be the right thing to do.
    • But this silence should not imply the lack of a proper assessment of the political situation in Nepal and what would serve the interests of India best.
    • Following are the steps India need to take:

    1) India should declare it does not support the revival of monarchy

    •  The abolition of the monarchy is a net gain for India and the government must firmly and unambiguously declare that it does not support the revival of the monarchy, which has already been rejected by its people.
    • India should declare its unconditional support to Nepal’s republican democracy.

    2) Remain engaged with Nepal

    • India should remain fully engaged with Nepal at all levels and across the political spectrum.
    • The safeguarding of India’s vital interests demands such sustained engagement.
    • A hands-off policy will only create space for other external influences, some of which, like China, may prove to be hostile.
    • However, engagement must dispense with the recurrent tendency to label Nepali political leaders as friends or enemies.
    • India should advocate policies rather than persons.

    3) Recognise the role of Madhesi population

    • In India’s engagement with Nepal, the Terai belt and its large Madhesi population plays a critical and indispensable role.
    • In an effort to win over the Kathmandu political and social elite, one should be careful not to neglect citizens living in the plains.
    • Our engagement with Nepal must find an important place for Nepali citizens who are our immediate neighbours and act as a kinship, cultural and religious bridge between our two countries.

    4) Appreciate people-to-people link

    • India needs to appreciate that the people-to-people links between our two countries have an unmatched density and no other country, including China, enjoys this asset.
    • The challenge to our Nepal policy lies in leveraging this precious asset to ensure a stable and mutually-productive state-to-state relationship.
    • India has every reason to approach its relations with Nepal with confidence and assurance.

    Consider the question “What are the factors that make India-Nepal relationship special? What are the recent challenges impacting this special relationship? ” 

    Conclusion

    The safeguarding of India’s vital interests demands India’s engagement with Nepal without intervening in its politics. A hands-off policy will only create space for other external influences.

  • What are Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD)?

    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.

  • Addressing vaccine hesitancy

    The article deals with the issue of vaccine hesitancy and its consequences.

    Why vaccinate?

    • The primary purpose of vaccination is to protect individuals against severe infection.
    • Vaccination also protects populations by providing ‘herd immunity’, if done on a large scale.
    • Globally, vaccinations against polio, small pox, meningitis and so on have seen huge success.

    Need to address the vaccine hesitancy

    • The results of a 2020 Gallup poll, conducted before the vaccine roll-out reveals that 18% of the Indian said that they won’t take the vaccine.
    • But vaccine hesitancy has gone up in India since then, due in part to largely overblown reports of complications or even deaths.
    • The consequences of vaccine hesitancy are disastrous.
    • If herd immunity does not develop, disease outbreaks and pandemics will prevail.
    • The slower the vaccination rate, the wider the spread of infection and the greater the chances of mutations and the emergence of new variants.

    Factors driving vaccine hesitancy

    • The influencing factors include a lack of awareness of the extent of benefits.
    • Fears based on inaccurate information.
    • Lack of access to vaccine.
    • Disinformation, especially on social media.
    • Other factors include civil liberty concepts, cost, cultural issues, and various layers of confidence deficit.

    Way forward

    • To allay vaccine fears, our messaging needs to focus on simple facts.
    • Before attempting to persuade people, we need to understand the basis of their fear, hesitancy and the anti-vax attitude.
    •  By challenging untruths, we inadvertently feed the perception that we are actively suppressing the “real” truth.
    • The objective now should be to reach more people faster with a message that doesn’t just provide more science but includes guidance.
    • Providing practical information through social media, alternatives to apps for those lacking easy access to vaccines, and taking the help of well-informed frontline workers will all help.

    Conclusion

    The possibility of a significant number of people not getting vaccinated thwarts our collective ability to reach the herd immunity threshold against Covid-19. Therefore the issue of vaccine hesitancy needs to be urgently addressed.

  • Currency swap between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

    Bangladesh’s central bank has approved a $200 million currency swap facility to Sri Lanka.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q. What are Currency Swaps? Discuss the efficacy of Currency Swap Agreements for liberalizing bilateral trade.

    What is a Currency Swap?

    • In this context, a currency swap is effectively a loan that Bangladesh will give to Sri Lanka in dollars, with an agreement that the debt will be repaid with interest in Sri Lankan rupees.
    • For Sri Lanka, this is cheaper than borrowing from the market, and a lifeline as is it struggles to maintain adequate forex reserves even as repayment of its external debts looms.
    • The period of the currency swap will be specified in the agreement.

    A helping hand for SL

    • Bangladesh Bank, the central bank, has in principle approved a $200 million currency swap agreement with Sri Lanka.
    • Dhaka decided to extend the facility after a request by Sri Lankan PM Mahinda Rajapaksa to Bangladesh’s PM Sheikh Hasina.
    • It will help Colombo tide over its foreign exchange crisis, according to media reports from Bangladesh, quoting the bank’s spokesman.
    • Sri Lanka, staring at an external debt repayment schedule of $4.05 million this year, is in urgent need of foreign exchange.

    An unusual move

    • Bangladesh has not been viewed so far as a provider of financial assistance to other countries.
    • It has been among the most impoverished countries of the world, and still receives billions of dollars in financial aid.
    • But over the last two decades, its economy has pulled itself up literally by the bootstraps, and in 2020, was the fastest growing in South Asia.
    • Bangladesh’s economy grew by 5.2 percent in 2020 and is expected to grow by 6.8 percent in 2021.
    • The country has managed to pull millions out of poverty. Its per capita income just overtook India’s.

    A break in monopoly

    • This may be the first time that Bangladesh is extending a helping hand to another country, so this is a landmark of sorts.
    • It is also the first time that Sri Lanka is borrowing from a SAARC country other than India.
    • The presumption was that only India, as the regional group’s largest economy, could do this.
    • The Bangladesh-Sri Lanka arrangement shows that is no longer valid.

    Why didn’t SL approach India?

    • Last year, it requested for a $1 billion credit swap, and separately, a moratorium on debts that the country has to repay to India.
    • But India-Sri Lanka relations have been tense over Colombo’s decision to cancel a valued container terminal project at Colombo Port.
    • India put off the decision, but Colombo no longer has the luxury of time.

    Is SL in a crisis?

    • With the tourism industry destroyed since the 2019 Easter attacks, Sri Lanka had lost one of its top foreign exchange pullers even before the pandemic.
    • The tea and garment industries have also been hit by the pandemic affecting exports.
    • Remittances increased in 2020, but are not sufficient to pull Sri Lanka out of its crisis.
    • The country is already deep in debt to China. According to media reports, Sri Lanka owes China up to $5 billion.

    What about the previous swap facility that India gave Sri Lanka?

    • Last July, the RBI did extend a $400 million credit swap facility to Sri Lanka, which the Central Bank of Sri Lanka settled in February. The arrangement was not extended.
    • RBI has a framework under which it can offer credit swap facilities to SAARC countries within an overall corpus of $2 billion.
    • According to RBI, the SAARC currency swap facility came into operation in November 2012 with the aim of providing to smaller countries in the region.

  • IBF to cover Streaming Platforms

    The Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF), the apex body of broadcasters, is expanding its purview to cover digital streaming platforms and will be renamed the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation (IBDF).

    Why such a move?

    • The move would bring broadcasters and OTT (over-the-top) platforms, which have seen a substantial jump in their viewership base after the pandemic, under one roof.
    • For this, the IBDF was in the process of forming a new wholly-owned subsidiary to handle all matters of digital media, an official statement said.
    • The IBDF would also form a self-regulatory body, the Digital Media Content Regulatory Council (DMCRC), for digital OTT platforms.

    Indian Broadcasting Foundation

    • The IBF is a unified representative body of television broadcasters in India.
    • The organization was founded in the year 1999. Over 250 Indian television channels are associated with it.
    • The organization is credited as the spokesman of the Indian Broadcasting Industry.
    • The IBF is the parent organization of the Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) which was set up in the year 2011.
    • The BCCC examines content-related complaints relating to all non-news general entertainment channels in India.

    Note: The IBF has no statutory backing.

  • UAE’s Golden Visa Scheme

    A Bollywood actor has recently received a golden visa from the UAE government.

    What is the Golden Visa?

    • The Golden Visa system essentially offers long-term residency (5 and 10 years) to people belonging to the following groups: investors, entrepreneurs, individuals with outstanding talents the likes of researchers, medical professionals and those within the scientific and knowledge fields, and remarkable students.
    • The main benefit of the visa will be security.
    • The UAE government has made it clear that they are committed to providing expatriates, investors and essentially everyone looking to make the UAE their home an extra reason to feel secure about their future.

    Who are eligible to apply?

    • For the 10-year visa, investors having no less than AED (Dirham) 10 million worth of public investment, either in the form of an investment fund or a company, can apply.
    • However, at least 60 per cent of the total investment must not be in the form of real estate and the invested amount must not be loaned, or in case of assets, investors must assume full ownership.
    • The investor must be able to retain the investment for a minimum of three years as well.
    • The long-term visa can also include the holder’s spouse and children, as well as one executive director and one advisor.
    • In addition to the aforementioned, foreign nationals who are looking to set up their business in the UAE may also apply for permanent residency (5 years) through the Golden Business Visa scheme.

    Perks for the talent

    • Besides entrepreneurs, individuals with specialized talent can also apply for the visa. They include doctors, researchers, scientists, investors and artists.
    • These individuals may be granted a 10-year visa following accreditations granted by their respective departments and fields and the visa will also be extended to their spouses and children.
    • Exceptional high school and university students are eligible for a 5-year residency visa in the UAE.

  • Panel to define offences of Speech, Expression

    A panel constituted by the Union Home Ministry to suggest reforms to the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) is likely to propose a separate Section on “offences relating to speech and expression.”

    Panel to define hate speech

    • As there is no clear definition of what constitutes a “hate speech” in the IPC, the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws is attempting for the first time to define such speech.
    • Legally speaking, for criminal Sections to be invoked, any such speech has to lead to violence or disturbance of law and order.

    What constitutes Hate Speech?

    • Hate speech can be defined as “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation”.
    • The word ‘hate speech’ as is a loaded term and merely criticizing someone is not hate speech.
    • There has been much debate over freedom of speech, hate speech and hate speech legislation.

    Indian attempts for definition

    • The Bureau of Police Research and Development recently published a manual for investigating agencies on cyber harassment cases.
    • It has defined hate speech as a language that denigrates, insults threatens or targets an individual based on their identity and other traits (such as sexual orientation or disability or religion etc.).
    • Earlier in 2018, the Home Ministry had written to the Law Commission to prepare a distinct law for online “hate speech”.
    • A committee was formed in the wake of Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000, which provided punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services.
    • In 2019, however, the Ministry decided to overhaul the IPC, framed in 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after seeking suggestions from various stakeholders.

    Recommendations of various committees

    • The Viswanathan committee proposed inserting Sections 153 C (b) and Section 505 A in the IPC for incitement to commit an offence on grounds of religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe.
    • It proposed punishment by up to two years along with ₹5,000 fine.
    • The Bezbaruah Committee was constituted by the Centre in February 2014 in the wake of series of racial attacks on persons belonging to the northeast.
    • It proposed amendment to Section 153 C IPC (promoting or attempting to promote acts prejudicial to human dignity), punishable by five years and fine or both and Section 509 A IPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult a member of a particular race), punishable by three years or fine or both.

  • Reclining Buddha and his various other depictions in art

    On this Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, or Vesak — India’s largest statue of the Reclining Buddha was to have been installed at Bodh Gaya. The ceremony has been put off due to Covid-19 restrictions.

    The Reclining Buddha

    • A reclining Buddha statue or image represents The Buddha during his last illness, about to enter Parinirvana, the stage of great salvation after death that can only be attained by enlightened souls.
    • The Buddha’s death came when he was 80 years old, in a state of meditation, in Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh, close to the state’s border with Bihar.

    Answer this PYQ from CSP 2014 in the comment box:

    Q.Lord Buddha’s image is sometimes shown with a hand gesture called ‘Bhumisparsha Mudra’. It symbolizes-

    a) Buddha’s calling of the Earth to watch over Mara and to prevent Mara from disturbing his meditation

    b) Buddha’s calling of the Earth to witness his purity and chastity despite the temptations of Mara

    c) Buddha’s reminder to his followers that they all arise from the Earth and finally dissolve into the Earth and thus this life is transitory

    d) Both the statements ‘a’ and ‘b’ are correct in this context

    Significance of the position

    • Buddha is lying on his right side, his head resting on a cushion or relying on his right elbow, supporting his head with his hand.
    • After the Buddha’s death, his followers decide to build a statue of him lying down.
    • It is a popular iconographic depiction in Buddhism and is meant to show that all beings have the potential to be awakened and be released from the cycle of death and rebirth.

    Connection with Gandhara Art

    • The Reclining Buddha was first depicted in Gandhara art, which began in the period between 50 BC and 75 AD, and peaked during the Kushana period from the first to the fifth centuries AD.
    • Since the Buddha was against idol worship, in the centuries immediately following his Parinirvana (483 BC), his representation was through symbols.
    • As the devotional aspect subsequently entered Buddhist practice, however, iconographic representations of The Buddha began.

    Try this question from CS Mains 2016:

    Q.Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives, successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.

    Reclining Buddha outside India

    • In Sri Lanka and India, the Buddha is mostly shown in sitting postures, while the reclining postures are more prevalent in Thailand and other parts of southeast Asia.
    • There are several statues of the Reclining Buddha in China, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
    • The largest in the world is the 600-foot Winsein Tawya Buddha built-in 1992 in Mawlamyine, Myanmar.
    • In the late 15th century, a 70-meter statue of the Reclining Buddha was built at the Hindu temple site of Baphuon in Cambodia’s Angkor.
    • The Bhamala Buddha Parinirvana in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which dates back to the 2nd century AD, is considered the oldest statue of its kind in the world.

    Reclining Buddha in India

    • Cave No. 26 of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ajanta contains a 24-foot-long and nine-foot-tall sculpture of the Reclining Buddha, believed to have been carved in the 5th century AD.
    • It shows the Buddha reclining on his right side, and behind him are two sala trees.
    • At the base of the sculpture are his begging bowl, a water pitcher and walking stick.
    • While his disciples are shown sitting in mourning, celestial beings are shown on top, rejoicing in anticipation of the Buddha’s arrival in heaven.

    Mediation Buddha 

    Sanchi Stupa and Bharhut Stupa: This is part of the aniconic phase of early Buddhist iconography. In early Buddhist art, the empty seat or empty throne symbolized the presence of the Buddha without depicting him in human form.

    Back2Basics: Mudras of Buddha

    Dharmachakra Mudra

    • It is also called as the gesture of ‘Teaching of the Wheel of Dharma’ that describes one of the most important moments in the Buddha’s life as he performed the Dharmachakra mudra in his first sermon in Sarnath after he attained enlightenment.
    • It is performed with the help of both the hands which are held against the chest, the left facing inward, covering the right facing outward.

    Dhyan Mudra

    • It is also known as Samadhi or Yoga Mudra.
    • It is performed with the help of two hands, which are placed on the lap and place the right hand on the left hand with stretched fingers (thumbs facing upwards and other fingers of both the hand resting on each other.)
    • This is the characteristic gesture of Buddha Shakyamuni, Dhyani Buddha Amitabh and the Medicine Buddha.

    Bhumisparsa Mudra

    • This gesture is also known as ‘touching the Earth’, which represents the moment of the Buddha’s awakening as he claims the earth as the witness of his enlightenment.
    • It is performed with the help of the right hand, which is held above the right knee, reaching toward the ground with the palm inward while touching the lotus throne.

    Varada Mudra

    • This mudra represents the offering, welcome, charity, giving, compassion and sincerity.
    • It is performed with the help of both the hands in which palm of right hand is facing forward and fingers extended and left hand palm placed near centre with extended fingers.

    Karana Mudra

    • It signifies the warding off of evil which is performed by raising the index and the little finger, and folding the other fingers.
    • It helps in reducing sickness or negative thoughts.

    Vajra Mudra

    • This gesture denotes the fiery thunderbolt that symbolises the five elements—air, water, fire, earth, and metal.
    • It is performed with the help of right fist and left forefinger, which is placed by enclosing the erect forefinger of the left hand in the right fist with the tip of the right forefinger touching (or curled around) the tip of the left forefinger.

    Vitarka Mudra

    • It signifies the discussion and transmission of the teachings of the Buddha.
    • It is performed by joining the tips of the thumb and the index fingers together while keeping the other fingers straight, which is just like the Abhaya Mudra and Varada Mudra but in this mudra the thumbs touch the index fingers.

    Abhaya Mudra

    • It is a gesture of fearlessness or blessing that represents the protection, peace, benevolence, and dispelling of fear.
    • It is performed with the help of right hand by raising to shoulder height with bent arm, and the face of palm will be facing outward with fingers upright whereas the left hand hanging down while standing.

    Uttarabodhi Mudra

    • This denotes the supreme enlightenment through connecting oneself with divine universal energy.
    • It is performed with the help of both the hands, which are placed at the heart with the index fingers touching and pointing upwards and the remaining fingers intertwined.

    Anjali Mudra

    • It is also called Namaskara Mudra or Hridayanjali Mudra that represents the gesture of greeting, prayer and adoration.
    • It is performed by pressing the palms of the hands together in which the hands are held at the heart chakra with thumbs resting lightly against the sternum.