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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Iran

    Chabahar Rail Project

    | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations

    The Iranian government has decided to proceed with the construction of Chabahar Rail Project on its own, citing delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project.

    What is the issue?

    • Four years ago, India and Iran signed an agreement to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan.
    • The Iranian Railways will proceed without India’s assistance, using approximately $400 million from the Iranian National Development Fund.
    • The development comes as China finalizes a massive 25-year, $400 billion strategic partnership deal with Iran, which could cloud India’s plans.

    The Chabahar Rail Project

    • It is a 628 km Chabahar-Zahedan line, which will be extended to Zaranj across the border in Afghanistan.
    • The entire project would be completed by March 2022.
    • It was meant to be part of India’s commitment to the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to build an alternate trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

    Why did Iran omit India from the project?

    • Despite several site visits by engineers, and preparations by Iranian railways, India never began the work, ostensibly due to worries that these could attract U.S. sanctions.
    • The U.S. had provided a sanctions waiver for the Chabahar port and the rail line to Zahedan, but it has been difficult to find equipment suppliers and partners due to worries they could be targeted by the U.S.
    • India has already “zeroed out” its oil imports from Iran due to U.S. sanctions.

    The contentious partnership with China

    • Iran and China are close to finalising a 25-year Strategic Partnership which will include Chinese involvement in Chabahar’s duty-free zone, an oil refinery nearby, and possibly a larger role in Chabahar port as well.
    • The cooperation will extend from investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and upgrading energy and transport facilities, to refurbishing ports, refineries and other installations.
    • It is also rumoured that the Chabahar port will be leased to China surpassing India.
    • Iran had proposed a tie-up between the port at Gwadar and Chabahar last year and has offered interests to China in the Bandar-e-Jask port 350km away from Chabahar, as well as in the Chabahar duty-free zone.

    Back2Basics: India-Iran Partnership over Chabahar Port

    • In 2016, India signed a deal with Iran entailing $8 billion investment in Chabahar port and industries in Chabahar Special Economic Zone.
    • The port is being developed as a transit route to Afghanistan and Central Asia.
    • India has already built a 240-km road connecting Afghanistan with Iran.
    • All this were expected to bring cargo to Bandar Abbas port and Chabahar port, and free Kabul from its dependence on Pakistan to reach the outer world.
    • Completion of this project would give India access to Afghanistan and beyond to Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Europe via 7,200-km-long multi-modal North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC).

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    Dehing Patkai WLS to be upgraded into National Park

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    The Assam government has decided to upgrade Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary into a National Park.

    Try this question from CSP 2019:

    Which one of the following National Parks lies completely in the temperate alpine zone?

    (a) Manas National Park

    (b) Namdapha National Park

    (c) Neora Valley National Park

    (d) Valley of Flowers National Park

    Dehing Patkai WLS

    • Dehing Patkai WLS is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia Districts of Assam and covers an area of 111.19 sq. km rainforest.
    • It is located in the Dehing Patkai landscape which is a dipterocarp-dominated lowland rainforest.
    • It spreads across the coal- and oil-rich districts of Upper Assam (Dibrugarh, Tinsukia and Sivasagar) and is believed to be the last remaining contiguous patch of lowland rainforest area in Assam.
    • The WLS due to their importance for elephant habitat was declared as Dehing-Patkai Elephant Reserve under Project Elephant.
    • Post upgradation, Dehing Patkai will be the sixth national park in Assam — the other five being Kaziranga, Nameri, Manas, Orang and Dibru-Saikhowa.

    Back2Basics:

    [Prelims Spotlight] National Parks, Biosphere Reserves, Wildlife Sanctuaries in India – Part 2

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  • Tribes in News

    Who are the Tangams?

    States | History | Mains Paper 1: Population & Associated Issues

    Last week Arunachal CM released a book titled “Tangams: An Ethnolinguistic Study Of The Critically Endangered Group of Arunachal Pradesh”.

    Try this question from CSP 2019:

    Q.Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:

    1. PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.
    2. A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.
    3. There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.
    4. Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.

    Which of the statements given above are correct?

    (a) 1, 2 and 3

    (b) 2, 3 and 4

    (c) 1, 2 and 4

    (d) 1, 3 and 4

    Who are the Tangams?

    • The Tangams is a little-known community within the larger Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh and resides in the hamlet of Kugging in Upper Siang district’s Paindem circle.
    • In 1975, the community’s population was pegged at 2,000 spread across 25 villages.
    • From 2016 to 2020, a team from the Centre for Endangered Languages (CFEL) of Rajiv Gandhi University (RGU), carried out extensive field research and documented the community.
    • Their survey revealed that Tangams were now concentrated in only one village (Kugging), with only 253 reported speakers.
    • As per the UNESCO World Atlas of Endangered Languages (2009), Tangam — an oral language that belongs to the Tani group, under the greater Tibeto-Burman language family — is marked ‘critically endangered’.

    Why are there only a few speakers?

    • Kugging is surrounded by a number of villages inhabited by Adi subgroups such as Shimong, Minyongs, as well as the Buddhist tribal community of Khambas, among others.
    • To communicate with their neighbours over the years, the Tangams have become multilingual, speaking not just Tangam, but other tongues such as Shimong, Khamba and Hindi.
    • They rarely speak their own language now since their population is restricted to a single village. Moreover, the Tangams are relatively unknown — even within their state.
    • The village lacks proper infrastructure in all basic sectors of education, health, drinking water facilities, road and electricity. Roads have reached Kugging only in 2018.
    • Not a single person from the community has gone to university.

    Why are the languages at risk?

    • The diversity of languages has led various communities to depend on English, Assamese and colloquial variety of Hindi called Arunachalee Hindi as the link languages.
    • Many believe this shift has led to the loss of native languages of the tribal communities.
    • Even the numerically larger tribes like Nyishi, Galo, Mishmi, Tangsa etc. whose population exceed the ten thousand mark are also not safe from endangerment, hence marked unsafe.
    • The younger generation of these tribes especially in the urban areas has mostly discarded the use of their mother tongue.

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  • Mapping: Islands of Polynesia

    Prelims Only | Trivia | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location

    How did the Polynesian peoples come to live on the far-flung islands of the Pacific? The question has intrigued researchers for centuries.

    The newscard contains some trivial facts. However, aspirants are advised to observe the map.

    Study on Polynesia

    • Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl brought the topic to public attention when he sailed a balsa-wood raft called the Kon-Tiki from Peru to Polynesia in 1947.
    • His goal was to demonstrate such voyages were possible, supporting theories linking Polynesian origins to the Americas.
    • Decades of research in archaeology, linguistics and genetics now show that Polynesian origins lie to the west, ultimately in the islands of Southeast Asia.

    New evidence for American interlopers

    • A new study published in Nature reports genetic evidence of Native American ancestry in several Polynesian populations.
    • Other researchers have previously found evidence of indigenous American DNA in the genomes of the modern inhabitants of Rapa Nui.
    • Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island, is the part of Polynesia closest to South America.
    • This suggests the “Amerindian” genetic component was likely introduced later via Chilean colonists.

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    Mapping: Mont Blanc

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    The melting Mont Blanc glacier in the French Alps yielded a clutch of newspapers with banner headlines from when Indira Gandhi became India’s first and so far only woman Prime Minister in 1966.

    Try this MCQ

    Q.The Mont Blanc in the Alps can be located near the conflux of which of the following two countries?

    a)France and Spain

    b)France and Italy

    c)Spain and Italy

    d)Greece and Slovenia

    Mont Blanc

    • Mont Blanc is the second-highest mountain in Europe after Mount Elbrus. It is the highest mountain in the Alps and Western Europe.
    • It rises 4,808 m above sea level and is ranked 11th in the world in topographic prominence.
    • The mountain stands in a range called the Graian Alps, between the regions of Aosta Valley, Italy, and Savoie and Haute-Savoie, France.
    • It is the tallest peak in the Alps and the highest summit in Western Europe, hence its epithet the “Roof of Europe”.

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  • Urban Transformation – Smart Cities, AMRUT, etc.

    Smart Cities Mission and the public health

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters,Government Scheme/Policies,Health & Education

    “Smart Cities Mission” lacks the focus on public health. This article highlights the consequences of this. The article suggests strengthening the of local governments and provisions for the livelihood through an urban employment guarantee scheme.

    “Smart Cities Mission”: Progress so far

    • The ‘Smart Cities Mission’, a flagship programme of the government, completed five years, in June 2020.
    •  The Mission had sought to make 100 selected cities “smart”.
    • Cities are being developed under “Area-Based Development” model.
    • Under this model, a small portion of the city would be upgraded by retrofitting or redevelopment.
    • Many of the projects undertaken under the ‘Smart Cities Mission’ are behind schedule.
    • According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, of the 5,151 smart city projects, only 1,638 projects have been completed.
    • In terms of expenditure, of the total investment of ₹2,05,018 crore, only projects worth ₹26,700 crore have been completed.

    Lack of focus on Public health in Smart Cities Mission

    • ‘Smart Cities Mission’ has given little importance to basic services such as public health.
    •  An analysis shows that only 69 of over 5,000 projects undertaken under the Mission were for health infrastructure.
    • These projects are for an estimated cost of ₹2,112 crore, amounting to just around one per cent of the total mission cost.
    • Hence, public health seems to be a major blind spot in India’s smart city dreams.

    Public Health: Essential local government function

    • ‘Smart Cities Mission’ had the stated aim of improving the quality of life of urban residents.
    • Further, public health is an essential local government function in India’s constitutional scheme.
    • As per the 74th Amendment ( 12th Schedule), “public health” is one of the 18 functions that are to be devolved to the municipalities.
    • However, public health infrastructure of cities has often been neglected over the years.

    Strengthening Local Governments

    • Success of Kerala in containing the pandemic has shown how a decentralised political and administrative system can be effective.
    • It is important to strengthen local government capacities.
    • Investment in urban public health systems is needed.
    • Promoting programmes that improve the livelihoods of urban vulnerable communities should be the priority.
    • Programs such as the National Urban Livelihoods Mission and National Urban Health Mission, need to be strengthened.

    Focus on Urban Employment

    • It is time to consider the introduction of a national urban employment guarantee programme.
    • Kerala has been running such a scheme since 2010.
    • States such as Odisha, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand have also recently launched similar initiatives in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis.

    Consider the question “Covid pandemic has highlighted the lack of focus on public health in our Smart Cities Mission. Suggest the measures to make our cities resilient and source of livelihood. 

    Conclusion

    As Indian cities face an unprecedented challenge, it is important to get the priorities of urban development right and invest in programmes that improve the health and livelihoods of its residents.

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  • Police Reforms – SC directives, NPC, other committees reports

    Policing the police

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    Custodial deaths in Tamil Nadu and death of a criminal in UP has brought to the fore the issue of illegalities carried out by the police. This article discusses the ways in which people face such illegalities and need for the reforms.

    Issue of illegalities by police

    • It is common practice in police stations to ignore the statute, laid down processes and Supreme Court guidelines.
    • So frequent is the brazen disobedience to the law that a lot of illegality seems to have morphed into accepted practice.

    Following are the ways in which police illegalities are carried out

    1) Custodial deaths

    •  The National Crime Records Bureau records 853 custodial deaths between 2010 to 2018.
    • At 1,636, the National Human Rights Commission puts the death figure much higher.
    • For this, just 3 policemen have been convicted.

    2) Issues of encounters

    •  The Supreme Court is clear that in each encounter case, an FIR must be registered and the matter probed independently.
    • If false, an “encounter” is premeditated murder.
    • Encounter threaten the basis of the rule of law.

    3) Avoiding registering complaint

    • Avoiding registration of complaint is the most common problem faced by the people.
    •  Even when the complaint is registered its magnitude is often diluted.
    • It is difficult for women, in particular, to get crimes registered.
    • So, in 2013, the law itself had to be changed.
    • Now a policeman who refuses to register a complaint of a sexual assault faces a two-year sentence.
    • The crime rate in India in 2018, it stood at 383.5 per 1,00,000 population.
    • By contrast, the crime rate in the US was over 2,500 per 1,00,000 .
    • This difference in crime rate highlights the reluctance by the police to registering crime.
    • This low crime rate on paper makes a fine excuse for governments to leave vacancies unfilled, go short on equipment and upgrades.
    • At 158, India’s police to population ratio which is police staff per 1,00,000 citizens, is one of the worst in the world. 

    4) Detention without cause

    •  People with prior records form a pool of easy pickings, as do the powerless.
    •  Often it is because the local public wants a quick arrest and the police want a scapegoat.

    5) Discrimination in arrest and investigation

    •  In the Tuticorin custodial murder, it took six days, the Madras High Court’s dogged intervention and a national hue and cry before six policemen could be arrested.
    • While police act swiftly in some cases, it goes soft against in other cases.

    Mechanisms and Checks and balances

    • There are many checks and balances from taluka to the national level to avoid police transgressions.
    • Internally, there are disciplinary mechanisms.
    • Outside, there are the courts.
    • Every state has human rights commissions, special interest bodies like the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, women, and minorities commissions, and some have the police complaints authorities.
    • The Supreme Court’s clear directions coupled with the criminal code provide ample safeguards against excess.

    Why these checks and balances fail

    • In real life, internal mechanisms are overindulgent of illegal behaviour, obscure and dilatory.
    • The first responder lower courts are constrained by capacity and circumstance.
    • Very few of the over one hundred guardian bodies dotted around the country work effectively

    Issues with the Guardian bodies

    • Many bodies are without any functions and powers.
    • Others are deliberately left understaffed and under-resourced.
    • The Andhra Pradesh SHRC has no chairperson nor members.
    • Gujarat, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu SHRCs function with acting chairs.
    • The few institutions that have the power and resources restrain their own functioning through terminal timidity.

    Consider the question “Issue of the illegalities by the police raises the question of guarding the guardians. Examine the ways in which police illegalities are manifested and suggest ways to deal with the issue.”

    Conclusion

    The number and regularity of heinous crimes by the police calls out for root and branch repair of the police and the many guardian agencies tasked with keeping them lawful.

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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Election Commission (EC)’s power to delay elections

    Explained | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Representation Of People’s Act

    Political parties are increasingly voicing concerns over holding elections in Bihar amid a pandemic.

    This newscard contains some interesting facts related to conduct and postpone of elections.

    EC’s power to hold elections

    • The EC is mandated under law to hold elections at any time within six months before the five-year term of the Lok Sabha or Legislative Assembly expires.
    • The polls are timed in a way that the new Assembly or Lok Sabha is in place on the day of the dissolution of the outgoing House.
    • In the case of early dissolution, EC has to ensure, as far as possible, a new Lok Sabha or Assembly is in place within six months of the dissolution.

    Powers to delay

    • An election once called usually proceeds as per schedule. However, in some exceptional cases, the process can be postponed or even scrapped after its announcement under extraordinary circumstances.
    • Under Section 153 of the Representation of the People Act, the poll panel can “extend the time” for completing an election.
    • But such extension should not go beyond the date of the normal dissolution of the Lok Sabha or the Assembly.
    • In 1991, the Commission, under this provision read with Article 324 of the Constitution, postponed the ongoing parliamentary elections after then PM’s assassination during his campaign in Tamil Nadu.
    • As recently as March this year, elections to 18 Rajya Sabha seats were postponed by the Commission due to the COVID19 pandemic.

    So can EC postpone elections in Bihar under Section 153 of the RP Act?

    • Powers under Section 153 can be exercised only after an election schedule has been notified.
    • If the EC wants to postpone Bihar elections, it will have to be done through its extraordinary powers under Article 324.
    • The Commission will have to inform the government of its inability to hold polls on time.
    • The government and the President will then decide the future course — to impose President’s Rule or allow the incumbent Chief Minister to continue for six months.

    Back2Basics

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/explained-presidents-rule-in-maharashtra/

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  • Global Geological And Climatic Events

    ‘Churachandpur Mao Fault’ in Mizoram

    | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location

    Mizoram’s zone of “scary” earthquakes is caught between two subterranean faults called the ‘Churachandpur Mao Fault’.

    Try this question from CSE Mains 2014:

    Q.Why are the world’s fold mountain systems located along the margins of continents? Bring out the association between the global distribution of Fold Mountains and the earthquakes and volcanoes.

    Churachandpur-Mao Fault (CMF)

    • The CMF is named after two places in Manipur and runs north-south into Myanmar along the border of Champhai.
    • The Mat Fault runs northwest-southeast across Mizoram, beneath river Mat near Serchhip.
    • It is defined by straight valleys; most prominent being between Kangpokpi and Maram region of Mizoram.
    • The fault takes a north-easterly trend from Maram where the fault zone is characterized by active landslides during the monsoon.

    Why study CMF?

    • Faults are discontinuities or cracks that are the result of differential motion within the earth’s crust.
    • Vertical or lateral slippage of the crust along the faults causes an earthquake.

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  • Police Reforms – SC directives, NPC, other committees reports

    National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) signed MoU with NCRB

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Civil Service

    The National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has signed an MoU with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to access the centralised online database on FIRs and stolen vehicles. The MoU would enable the NATGRID to get information about details of a suspect as mentioned in the FIR such as his/her father’s name, telephone number and other details.

    Practice question for mains:

    Q.What is NATGRID? Discuss its role in facilitating criminal investigation and intelligence by various agencies.

    About NATGRID

    • NATGRID initially started in 2009 is an online database for collating scattered pieces of information and putting them together on one platform.
    • It links intelligence and investigation agencies.
    • At least 10 Central government agencies, such as the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing and others have access to the data on a secured platform.
    • NATGRID is exempted from the Right to Information Act, 2005 under sub-section (2) of Section 24.

    Utility of NATGRID

    • The NATGRID enables multiple security and intelligence agencies to access a database related to immigration entry and exit, banking and telephone details, among others, from a common platform.
    • The 10 user agencies will be linked independently with certain databases which will be procured from 21 providing organisations including telecom, tax records, bank, immigration etc. to generate intelligence inputs.

    Back2Basics: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

    • The NCRB is a government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).
    • NCRB is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
    • NCRB was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
    • Mission: To Empower Indian Police with IT and criminal Intelligence to enable them to uphold the law and protect people & to provide leadership and excellence in crime analysis particularly for serious and organized crime.

    Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems (CCTNS)

    • The CCTNS is a project for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-Governance.
    • The concept was first conceived in the year 2008 by the then Home Minister in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
    • The system includes a nationwide online tracking system by integrating more than 14,000 police stations across the country.
    • The project is implemented by NCRB.

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