💥UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (May Batch) + Access XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Search results for: “”

  • Who are the Nihangs?

    The Patiala incident in which a group of Nihangs attacked a Punjab police officer has put the spotlight on the Nihangs.

    This newscard focuses on Nihang cult of Sikhism. Though in news for a different purpose, it is significant for prelims.

    Who is a Nihang?

    • Nihang is an order of Sikh warriors, characterized by blue robes, antiquated arms such as swords and spears, and decorated turbans surmounted by steel quoits.
    • Etymologically the word Nihang stems more from the Sanskrit word nihshank which means without fear, unblemished, pure, carefree and indifferent to worldly gains and comfort.
    • The word Nihang also occurs in a hymn in the Guru Granth Sahib, where it alludes to a fearless and unrestrained person.

    When was the order formed?

    • Formation of Nihang order can be traced back to the creation of the Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699.

    How were Nihangs different from other Sikhs, and other Sikh warriors?

    • As per an account by the East India Company’s Colonel James Skinner (1778-1841), Khalsa Sikhs were divided into two groups.
    • Those who put on blue attire which Guru Gobind Singh used to wear at the time of battle and those who do not follow any restrictions on the colour of their dress.
    • Both of them follow the profession of soldiery and are brave without peer in the art of musketry and chakarbazi, and the use of quoits.
    • Nihangs observe the Khalsa code of conduct in its strictest sense.
    • They do not profess any allegiance to an earthly master. Instead of saffron they hoist a blue Nishan Sahib (flag) atop their shrines.

    What is their role in history?

    • Nihangs had a major role in defending the Sikh panth after the fall of the first Sikh rule (1710-15) when Mughal governors were killing Sikhs, and during the onslaught of Afghan invader Ahmed Shah Durrani (1748-65).
    • Nihangs also took control of the religious affairs of the Sikhs at Akal Takht in Amritsar.
    • They did not consider themselves subordinate to any Sikh chief and thus maintained their independent existence.
    • At Akal Takht, they held the grand council (Sarbat Khalsa) of Sikhs and pronounced the resolution (Gurmata) passed.
    • During Operation Bluestar in June 1984, some Nihangs, namely Ajit Singh Poohla, collaborated with the Punjab police to eliminate militants.

  • Meru Jatra Festival

    Odisha’s Ganjam district administration has banned the Meru Jatra festival and congregations related to it at temples on the occasion of Mahavishub Sankranti.

    Festive fairs in India are known for their age-old traditions and some historic background.  Meru Jatra is one of such fairs. We can expect a match the pairs question on such fairs.

    Meru Jatra

    • In Southern Odisha, the Meru Yatra festival is celebrated as the end of the month-long Danda nata dance festival.
    • Thousands of devotees gather at the Shakti Pitha shrine in the Taratarini Temple because it is one of the auspicious days during the Chaitra Yatra.
    • People from all over the state eat festive chhatua and drink Bel Pana to mark the occasion.

    What is Danda nata?

    • Danda as the name implies, is self-inflicted pain, which the danduas (people who participate in the festival) undergo to pay their obeisance to the lord Kali.
    • It is also a form of worshipping the lord Shiva and his consort Parvati.
    • The origin of the festival is generally traced to 8th and 9th AD after the decadence of Buddhism in Orissa.

  • How IS regroups and its threat to India

     

    IS has shown its ability to strike by regrouping and co-opting local affiliates be it the case of Ester Sunday attack in Sri Lanka or a recent attack on a  Gurudwara in Afghanistan. For India, the presence of sleeper cells and their links with the Islamic jihad group has internal security implications. We have covered an op-ed dealing with the Gurudwara attack and discussed the futility of the US-Taliban peace deal.

    Security threat of IS to India and South Asia

    • In the immediate aftermath of 9/11, there was speculation about the degree to which al-Qaeda had been able to make inroads in India.
    • In recent years, the focus has shifted to the IS.
    • The creation of an IS-Khorasan (IS-K) in early 2015 with a visible presence in Afghanistan-Pakistan, seemed to suggest that the group is now targeting South Asia.
    • The recent terror attack on a gurdwara in Kabul (March 25) was also claimed by the IS. The IS released a photograph of one of a resident of Kasargod in Kerala
    • According to India’s leading terrorism think-tank SATP (South Asia Terrorism Portal), 99 persons from India were confirmed to have joined the IS in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

    Question about the ” Over-ground worker” of the terrorist organisation was asked by the UPSC in 2019.

    Close intelligence cooperation within and beyond South Asia

    • Last October, the NIA disclosed that it had arrested 127 IS sympathisers from across India since 2014, and the highest number of 33 were from Tamil Nadu.
    • The arrests by NIA were made throughout the country and not from a specific region.
    • This degree of spread is testimony to the close watch the Indian security agencies are maintaining concerning the IS.
    • One may conjecture that close intelligence cooperation has been established within and beyond South Asia.
    • The pattern that now obtains is that countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Afghanistan have their own internal surveillance in place to monitor the activities of the IS-K.

    Ability of IS to regroup and ally with a domestic affiliate

    • The IS has demonstrated a proclivity to re-group by co-opting or merging with credible domestic affiliates, even if they are little-known.
    • In Afghanistan, the IS-K has sought to position itself favourably in the factional tussle, and the Kabul gurdwara attack is seen as part of this murderous strategy.
    • Pakistan connection: Islamic terror groups in the Af-Pak region are deemed to be as credible as the support that they receive from the deep-state in Pakistan.
    • It is pertinent that the main accused in the Kabul gurdwara attack is Aslam Faroqi, a Pakistani national.

    Conclusion

    The ability of IS to co-opt a local affiliate makes it a credible threat for India where there is a significant presence of the sleeper cells. In the light of that threat India and the other affected nations will have to strive individually and collectively to foil such nefarious designs.

  • [Prelims Spotlight] Important IR Pacts in News

    Prelims Spotlight is a part of “Nikaalo Prelims 2020” module. This open crash course for Prelims 2020 has a private telegram group where PDFs and DDS (Daily Doubt Sessions) are being held. Please click here to register.

    Important IR Pacts in News

    14 April 2020 

    BRICS Interbank Cooperation mechanism

    • The Union Cabinet has given its approval to the signing of the (i) Interbank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement and (ii) Cooperation Memorandum Relating to Credit Ratings by Exim Bank with participating member banks under BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism.
    • As both the Agreement and the MoU are umbrella pacts, and are non-binding in nature, the Board of Directors of Exim Bank has been authorized to negotiate and conclude any individual contracts and commitments within their framework.

    Impact

    • The Agreements will promote multilateral interaction within the area of mutual interest whichØ will deepen political and economic relations with BRICS nations.
    • Signing of the Agreement will position Exim Bank in the international platform along with largeØ development finance institutions, like CDS, VEB and BNDES.
    • Exim Bank, leveraging this umbrella agreement, could enter into bilateral agreement with any ofØ these member institutions to raise resources for its business.
    • As and when an opportunity arises for co-financing in commercial terms, by any two memberØ institutions (say India and South Africa), lending in single currency by both the institutions would also be possible.

    BRICS ‘Beijing Declaration on Education

    • BRICS ministers of education and assigned representatives have adopted ‘Beijing Declaration on Education’ in the 5th meeting of BRICS Ministers of education at Beijing.
    • The Indian delegation was led by Prakash Javadekar, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD).
    • According to the declaration, member states are committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4)-Education 2030 which aims to “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all”.
    • The declaration reiterated support for the BRICS Network University (NU) to collaborate in the fields of education, research and innovation.
    • It also encouraged universities to participate in the BRICS University League.
    • BRICS member states also decided to increase cultural cooperation through language education and multilingualism.

    INDIA-ASEAN: REVIEW OF FREE TRADE PACT

    • India and South Korea concluded two agreements on defence educational exchanges and extension of logistical support to each other’s Navies, during recent India defence minister’s visit to Seoul.

    BRICS Leaders’ Xiamen Declaration              

    • 9th BRICS summit was held in Xiamen, China. This is the second time China has hosted
    • the summit after the 2011 summit.
    • At the end of the summit, Xiamen declaration was adopted by the leaders of the five countries.

    Highlights of the Xiamen declaration:

    • BRICS countries will strive towards broad partnerships with emerging markets and developing countries.
    • To promote the development of BRICS local currency bond markets and to jointly establish a
    • BRICS local currency bond fund and also to facilitate financial market integration.
    • Explorations toward the establishment of the BRICS Institute of Future Networks.
    • To strengthen BRICS cooperation on energy and work to foster open, flexible and transparent markets for energy commodities and technologies.
    • BRICS Agriculture Research Platform is proposed to be established in India.
    • To establish a genuinely broad counterterrorism coalition and support the UN’s central coordinating role in this regard.
    • Importance of people-to-people exchanges in promoting development and enhancing mutual understanding, friendship and cooperation.
    • To work together to promote most effective use of fossil fuels and wider use of gas, hydro and nuclear power.

    Interbank Local Currency Credit Line Agreement:

    • The initial Master Agreement on Extending Credit Facility in Local Currency under the BRICS.
    • Interbank Cooperation Mechanism had a validity of five years, which has expired in March 2017.
    • It is understood that some of the member banks (like CDB and VEB; CDB and BNDES) have entered into bilateral agreements for local currency financing under the Master Agreement signed in 2012.
    • Although the current conditions are not conducive to usage, it was useful to keep the same alive as an enabling feature in case a suitable opportunity materializes in future.
    • Exim Bank raises resources in the off-shore market in diverse currencies and swaps to mitigate the risk.
    • The umbrella Agreement would serve as an enabler to enter into bilateral agreements with member banks subject to national laws, regulations and internal policies of the signatories.
    • Cooperation Memorandum Relating to Credit Ratings:
    • It would enable sharing of credit ratings amongst the BRICS member banks, based on the request received from another bank.
    • This would be an ideal mechanism to mitigate the credit risks associated with cross-border financing.
    • In future, such a mechanism could also serve as pre-cursor to the proposal of having an alternate rating agency by BRICS nations.

    UN’s Global Compact on Migration

    • The global compact for migration is the first, intergovernmental negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, to cover all dimensions of international migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner.
    • In the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, adopted in September 2016, the General
    • Assembly decided to develop a global compact for safe, orderly and regular migration.
    • The global compact is a significant opportunity to improve the governance on migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development.
    • The global compact is framed consistent with target 10.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
    • Development in which member States committed to cooperate internationally to facilitate safe, orderly and regular migration.

    BANGLADESH, BHUTAN, INDIA, NEPAL (BBIN) INITIATIVE

    • It is the regional sub-grouping India had planned for ease of access among the four countries.
    • The agreement will permit the member states to ply their vehicles in each other’s territory for transportation of cargo and passengers, including third-country transport and personal vehicles.

    Members and Structure

    • Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal are the members of BBIN initiative. These all are members of SAARC grouping as well.
    • It was an alternative proposed by the government after Pakistan rejected the Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) at the SAARC summit in Kathmandu in 2014.
    • Of the other SAARC members, Sri Lanka and the Maldives are not connected by land, and Afghanistan could only be connected if Pakistan was on board.

    BANGLADESH–CHINA–INDIA–MYANMAR FORUM FOR REGIONAL COOPERATION (BCIM)

    • BCIM is a sub-regional organisation of Asian nations aimed at greater integration of trade and investment between the four countries.
    • The idea was given a shape in the form of BCIM forum in 1999 in the first ‘Kunming Initiative’, the capital of Chinese Yunnan province.
    • The aim of the forum was to create a platform for discussion among the major stakeholders regarding issues concerning trade and growth in the region, strengthen cooperation and institutionalize the arrangements to deepen BCIM ties.
    • On December 18, 2013, the four nations drew up a long-discussed plan, emphasising the need to quickly improve physical connectivity in the region, over two days of talks in the south-western Chinese city of Kunming— the provincial capital of Yunnan, which borders Myanmar.
    • This marked the formal endorsement on the BCIM-EC by the four nations, whereby it was agreed that the corridor will run from Kunming to Kolkata, linking Mandalay in Myanmar as well as Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh.
    • The 2,800 square kilometer multi-modal corridor was to be the first expressway between India and China, passing through Bangladesh and Myanmar.

    Members and Structure

    • Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar are the members of this grouping.

    MEKONG-GANGA COOPERATION (MGC)

    History

    • The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications.
    • The proposal for the formation of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) was finalized by the foreign ministers of the six members at the sidelines of the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting (AMM) in Bangkok, Thailand, in July 2000.
    • It was launched in 2000 at Vientiane, Lao PDR.
    • Both the Ganga and the Mekong are civilizational rivers, and the MGC initiative aims to facilitate closer contacts among the people inhabiting these two major river basins.

    Members and Structure

    • The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries, namely, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
    • The institutional structure of the MGC is yet to evolve properly.
    • Ministerial Meetings would be held annually back-to-back with the AMMs.
    • The chairmanship will be rotated in alphabetical order.
    • The country which serves as chair shall act as the Secretariat to carry out coordination and implementation of the Cooperation plan.

     EAST ASIA SUMMIT

    History

    • The East Asia Summit is a unique Leaders-led forum of 18 countries of the Asia-Pacific region formed to further the objectives of regional peace, security and prosperity.
    • It was established in 2005.
    • India is a founding member of the East Asia Summit.
    • Initially, 16 countries in the East Asian, Southeast Asian and South Asian regions were the members of the forum.
    • The membership expanded to 18 countries including the United States and Russia at the Sixth EAS in 2011.
    • EAS is seen by India as an alternative to the APEC, in which India doesn’t enjoy the membership.

    Members and Structure

    • All 10 ASEAN members: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
    • 6 Regional partners: China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand.
    • 2 Superpowers US, Russia (from 2011 onwards)

    ASIA COOPERATION DIALOGUE

    HISTORY

    • The ACD is a continent-wide forum, the first of its kind in Asia.
    • The Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) was inaugurated in June 2002 in Cha-Am, Thailand.
    • The ACD aims to constitute the missing link in Asia by incorporating every Asian country and building an Asian Community without duplicating other organizations or creating a bloc against others. India was among the founding members of the group.

    HEADQUARTERS

    The Provisional Secretariat was inaugurated in October 2013 with its Headquarter in Kuwait city, the State of Kuwait.

    MEMBERS

    • Currently, the ACD comprises 34 countries:
    • Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kazakhstan, Republic of Korea, Kuwait, Kyrgyz Republic, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Turkey and is awaiting the accession of Nepal as the 34th Member on March 2016 at the 14th Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, Thailand.

     NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

    History

    • The North American Free Trade Agreement is an agreement, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.
    • NAFTA went into effect on January 1, 1994.
    • This agreement was an expansion of the earlier Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement of 1989.
    • NAFTA does not create a set of super-national governmental bodies, nor does it create a body of law which is superior to national law, which was the case with EU.
    • NAFTA is a treaty under international law.
    • The goal of NAFTA was to eliminate barriers to trade and investment between the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

    Headquarters

    • The NAFTA Secretariat is comprised of: the Canadian Section located in Ottawa; the Mexican Section located in Mexico City; and. the United States Section located in Washington, D.C.

    Members and Structure: Canada, Mexico, the United States

    Bunker Convention

    • The convention was adopted in 2001 and came into force in 2008.
    • Its aim is to ensure that adequate, prompt, and effective compensation is available to persons who suffer damage caused by spills of oil, when carried as fuel in ships’ bunkers.
    • It applies to damage caused on the territory, including the territorial sea, and in exclusive economic zones of States Parties.
    • It is modelled on the International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage, 1969.
    • Upon ratification, it applies to an Indian vessel, wherever it is situated, and to a foreign flag vessel while it is within Indian jurisdiction.
    • 2015 – India ratified in 2015, the International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Oil Pollution Damage, 2001 (Bunker Convention) which ensures adequate, prompt and effective compensation for damage caused by oil spills.

    Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty

    • The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted recently in the United Nations
    • It is the first multilateral legally-binding instrument for complete nuclear disarmament.
    • Even the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 and nuclear-weapon-free zone contains only partial prohibitions.
    • This treaty prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
    • It also prohibits the use or threat of use of these weapons as well.
    • 122 of the 124 nations that participated in the negotiations had voted in favour of the treaty.
    • The treaty will enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.
    • The eight nuclear weapon states i.e US, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan and North Korea along with Israel had not participated in the negotiations.
    • India maintained that it recognises the „Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament‟-(CD) as the single multilateral disarmament negotiation forum & it is not convinced of the potential of the current treaty to address the disarmament issue.

    New START Treaty

    • New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) is a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation.
    • The formal name of the treaty is Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms.
    • It was signed on 2010 in Prague and entered into force in 2011, it is expected to last at least until 2021.
    • New START replaced the Treaty of Moscow (SORT).
    • Under terms of the treaty, the number of strategic nuclear missile launchers will be reduced by half.
    • A new inspection and verification regime will be established, replacing the SORT mechanism.
    • It does not limit the number of operationally inactive stockpiled nuclear warheads that remain in the high thousands in both the Russian and American inventories

    Budapest Convention

    • It is the sole legally binding multilateral treaty that coordinates cybercrime investigations between nation-states and criminalises certain cybercrime conduct.
    • The convention is led by Council of Europe, which is distinct from European Union.
    • Both members and non-members of Council of Europe are parties to the convention.
    • Totally 64 nations are party to this convention and 3 countries have signed but yet to ratify the convention.
    • India, Russia and China are not members to this convention.

    TIR Convention

    • Transports Internationaux Routiers Convention is an international transit system under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
    • It came into force from 1975to facilitate the seamless movement of goods within and amongst the Parties to the Convention.
    • It facilitates the international carriage of goods from one or more customs offices of departure to one or more customs offices of destination and through as many countries as necessary.
    • India also ratified the convention.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Covid-19: Software vendors focus on big data, AI despite fall in IT spending

    The article discusses how COVID-19 has prompted the software companies to focus on technologies that are still in demand. The IT companies have started to focus on ways to leverage the potential of AI and the Big data to deal with the pandemic.

    Impact on IT companies and how they are planning to cope with it?

    • Fall in spending: Spending on information technology (IT) globally is expected to shrink by 3-4% by the end of 2020.
    • Impact: That would have a severe impact on hardware and slowdown in the software and service businesses.
    • How companies are planning to deal with the situation? Software vendors such as IBM, SAP Software Solutions and Microsoft Corporation plan to make use of emerging technologies to become more relevant to their customers.
    • IBM has created an AI platform ‘Watson Assistant for Citizens’ on its public cloud.
    • The platform helps citizens understand and respond to common questions about covid-19, commonly known as the novel coronavirus.
    • While the ongoing pandemic is having a dreadful impact on companies at scale, matured ones are taking a pause and rethinking their analytics approach.
    • Using data analysis to prepare contingency plan: Data science teams are being called into action to crunch petabytes of data and build best business models on trusted data for decision-makers to quickly prepare contingency plans.
    • This is where we are seeing enterprises using AI, machine learning, and natural language processing to mine the data and build predictive or prescriptive models in IBM Cloud Pack for Data.

    UPSC could ask question connecting the use of IT and its potential to deal with the pandemics. And it could also be other way round you can cite the example of use of IT in the health sector.

    Adoption of the AI by various sectors

    • The government and public service agencies as well as healthcare and research companies urgently need AI solutions and analytics as they are in a race to find a treatment for the deadly disease.
    • Other industries with high end-user touch-points like banks, insurance, retail, etc. are also in urgent need to use AI/ML-driven analytics and cognitive technologies to automate their communications, streamline predictions, decision making, etc.

    AI and Big data could be a game-changer across the various sectors, health being one of them. As among the buzzwords in technologie today UPSC could ask about AI and Big data.

    Covid-19 as an opportunity for the IT industry

    • The covid-19 crisis is an opportunity for IT vendors to build and improve on their capabilities on AI and big data.
    • Leveraging AI: They are also keeping an eye on emerging uses cases in AI for disease detection, tracking, and prevention.
    • Relatively smaller companies are also launching dedicated AI-based apps to assist people amid the covid-19 crisis.
    • Eka Software Solutions recently released ‘COVID-19 Risk Monitoring’, it help customers quickly gain visibility in supply chain risks by showing a company’s contract position across countries with reported cases of the virus.
    • Based on company data, the app instantly visualises contracts at risk and provides businesses with the ability to identify alternate suppliers to maintain business continuity.

    Conclusion

    As the epidemic is far from being tamed, various sectors are likely to feel the existential crisis and IT could be one of them. But they can also turn this crisis into an opportunity by leveraging the AI and Big data in tackling the epidemic at various levels.

  • Agmark, Hallmark, ISI, BIS, BEE and Other Ratings

  • COVID-19 and the crumbling world order

    Theme of this article is the failure of the world order in mounting a collective fight against the epidemic that has become the global problem. Role of WHO has also come under the scanner. Functioning and reluctance of UNSC to discuss the pandemic have raised questions over its relevance. The issue of China’s growing influence and implications for the rest of the world are being discussed. In the past week, some newspaper articles have covered the same issue for instance-“The deep void in global leadership” in the Hindu.

    Failure of the world order and global institutions

    • The contemporary global order and institutions were a hegemonic exercise meant to deal with isolated political and military crises and not serve humanity at large.
    • COVID-19 has exposed this as well as the worst nativist tendencies of the global leadership in the face of a major crisis.
    • That the United Nations Security Council took so long to meet (that too inconclusively) to discuss the pandemic is a ringing testimony to the UN’s insignificance.

    The above para. indicates that global order we are living in was made for entirely different purpose i.e. to maintain the peace and they are not capable to deal with the Covid-19  like challenges. So, from UPSC mains point of view you must take note of this.

    Failure of regional groupings

    • Regional institutions haven’t fared any better.
    • Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s SAARC initiative, curiously resurrecting a practically dead institution, was short-lived.
    • The EU, the most progressive post-national regional arrangement, stood clueless when the virus spread like wildfire in Europe.
    • Its member states turned inward for solutions: self-help, not regional coordination, was their first instinct. Brussels is the loser.

    What these failures indicate?

    • These failures are indicative of a deeper malaise: the global institutional framework is unrepresentative, a pawn in the hands of the great powers, cash-strapped, and its agenda is focused on high-table security issues.
    • The global institutional architecture of the 1940s cannot help humanity face the challenges of the 2020s.
    • What can be the solutions? Nothing less than a new social contract between states and the international system can save our future.

    Here we come across  the reasons for the failure of the world order and institutions. UPSC has asked questions related to UNESCO in 2019, who knows next could be the WHO.

    Factors that will help China come out stronger from the pandemic

    • Reports indicate that China has now managed the outbreak of COVID-19, and its industrial production is recovering even as that of every other country is taking a hit.
    • The oil price slump will make its recovery even faster.
    • When the greatest military power found itself in denial mode and the members of the EU were looking after their own interests, China appeared to use its manufacturing power to its geopolitical advantage.
    • Beijing has offered medical aid and expertise to those in need; it has increased cooperation with its arch-rival Japan.
    • This will aid Beijing’s claims to global leadership, push Huawei 5G trials as a side bargain, and showcase how the Belt and Road Initiative is the future of global connectivity.
    • COVID-19 will further push the international system into a world with Chinese characteristics.

    As China comes to dominate the emerging world order, we must pay attention to things related to China. Here, we can note down the factors that could help China emerge out stronger from the corona crisis.

    Implications for globalisation: the rise of protectionism and hypernationalism

    • Neoliberal economic globalisation will have taken a major beating in the wake of the pandemic.
    • Economists are warning of a global recession.
    • How the world reacted? The first instinct of every major economy was to close borders, look inwards and
    • The pre-existing structural weakness of the global order and the COVID-19 shock will further feed states’ protectionist tendencies fueled by hypernationalism.
    • A more inclusive global political and economic order is unlikely any time soon, if ever.
    • Instead, as former National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon warns, “we are headed for a poorer, meaner, and smaller world.”
    • How this epidemic impact big corporations? The ability of big corporations to dictate the production, stocks, supply chains and backup plans will be limited by increased state intervention to avoid unpredictable supply sources, avoid geopolitically sensitive zones, and national demands for emergency reserves.
    • The profits of big corporations will reduce, and the demand for stability will increase.
    • Will the world after Covid-19 be more balance? State intervention in economic matters and protectionism are the easy way out, and that’s precisely what states will do once the crisis is over.
    • It would be a return of the ‘Licence Raj’ through the backdoor, not a push for inclusive and responsible globalisation with its associated political benefits.

    It is clear now that post-Covid-19 world would be different from the world we know today. Globalisation would take a significant beating. And globalisation is important topic from mains point of view. So, pay close attention to the points mentioned here.

    Will post-Covid-19 world lead to some positive controls?

    • Rise of state-led models: With the severe beating that globalisation has taken, state-led models of globalisation and economic development would be preferred over (big) corporates-led globalisation.
    • Will this enable some positive controls over the inherent deficiencies of globalisation? We will have to wait and see.
    • The relation between capitalists and the states: But the more important question is whether the state has any incentive to take on big capital.
    • Given the symbiotic relationship between the state and big capital, states have become used to protecting the interests of their corporations, often at the cost of the general public.
    • States preferred capital over health: Consider, for instance, that the first response of many Western states was to protect their capital markets than be concerned about public health.

    Rise of racism in post-Covid-19 world

    • Yet another undesirable outcome of the pandemic would be a spike in various forms of discrimination.
    • Globally, societies could become more self-seeking and inward-looking leading to further pushback against liberal policies regarding migration and refugees.
    • Implications for world trade: New questions are likely to be asked about the source of goods. More stringent imposition of phytosanitary measures by advanced states on products emanating from the less developed countries might become the new normal.
    • Lockdowns and travel restrictions could potentially legitimise the rhetoric around border walls in more conservative countries.
    • Tragically, therefore, while one answer to global pandemics is political globalisation, COVID-19 might further limit it.

    Conclusion

    The world order needs to wake up to new reality take measures to avoid the above listed undesired fallouts that could emerge in the post-Covid-19 world, and before that there is an urgent need for the global coalition to deal with the pandemic.

     

  • Use the COVID crisis to transform the agri-marketing system

    This article discusses the impact of lockdown on farmers and how the disruption of the supply chain is adding to their difficulties in selling their produce in the markets.

    In the last two weeks or so, we have been reading about farmers and issues around the agri-marketing supply chain. If you have been following the story on Agriculture Marketing Reforms, you would remember us talking about it in the op-ed titled “A smarter supply line”

    There are 6 suggestions to overhaul our agri-marketing system. These are-

    1. Abolish/reframe the APMC Act

    • There is an urgent need for abolishing or reframing the APMC Act and encourage direct buying of agri-produce from farmers/farmer producer organisations (FPOs).
    • The companies, processors, organised retailers, exporters, consumer groups, that buy directly from FPOs need not pay any market fee as they do not avail the facilities of APMC yards.

    APMC Act restrict the farmers from selling their produce outside the market yard, so in the present context of Covid-19 this is a counterproductive restrictions. UPSC asked question on in in 2014.

    2. The warehouses can also be designated as markets.

    • The warehouse receipt system can be scaled up.
    • The private sector should be encouraged to open mandis with modern infrastructure, capping commissions.

    3. The futures trading should be encouraged by allowing banking finance to hedge for commodity price risks.

    A futures contract is a standardized legal agreement to buy or sell something at a predetermined price at a specified time in the future, encouraging this would help farmers assurance of price and help in making decion for the sowing based on price signal from he markets.

    4. Promote e-NAM through proper assaying and grading the produce and setting up dispute settlement mechanism; rope in major logistics players for delivery of goods.

    5. Avoiding rush in the markets: Procurement must be staggered through coupons and incentives that give farmers an additional bonus for bringing the produce to the market after May 10, or so.

    6. The amount provided under PM Kisan should be increased from Rs 6,000 to at least Rs 10,000 per farming family to partially compensate them for their losses.

    Way forward

    • Besides these, Prime Minister would benefit by taking a leaf out of the book of President Donald Trump. Modi should lead from the front by holding daily press briefings and announce a country-wide relief package amounting to around 8-10 per cent of GDP.
    • Whatever the causes of this disaster are, it is clear that the WHO failed in its duty to raise the alarm in time. India must ask for fundamental reforms in the UN System, including the WHO, making it more transparent, competent, and accountable.

  • Taiwan: a role model for pandemic management

    As many nations struggle to keep COVID-19 infection numbers down, the island of Taiwan presents an example of how to be prepared in the event of a pandemic. As the global total of infections has neared 700,000, with over 30,000 deaths, Taiwan’s count stood at 300, with only 5 deaths.

    When you read through this article, try and map the best practices which could be incorporated in India. You might have to tweak a few. UPSC Mains may ask a question on “what could be done better etc.” and this is where you shine!

    Taiwan Model of Healthcare Management

    • Located less than 150 kilometres from the original viral source – China – Taiwan has seen far fewer cases of the coronavirus in the past month, with a much lower infection rate.
    • It is also worth noting the practices utilized by Taiwan’s hospitals as they seek to curb the virus and protect patients and medics.

    Following were the not so exceptional measures which helped Taiwan authorities contain coronavirus:

    1) Smaller staff groups

    • One of the early steps taken was the reduction of the workgroup sizes within medical facilities.
    • This reduces the risk of a community spread within the hospital emerging from infected patients being treated.
    • Depending on the size of the staff handling an area of the hospital, and the number of patients being overseen there, one infection could jeopardize the safety of an entire ward.

    2) Traffic control in hospitals

    • Hospitals were establishing separate entrances and exits for in- and out-patients to help prevent the spread of infection via regular hospital traffic.
    • In effect, hospital entry began to resemble airport customs, with visitors passing through a temperature checkpoint and showing IDs before admittance.

    3) Maintaining a high bed-per-capita ratio

    • Many countries have found that they do not have nearly enough hospital beds to care for patients suffering from a highly infectious disease like COVID-19.
    • In response, Taiwan has nearly 1,000 negative pressure isolation rooms (an isolation technique used in hospitals to prevent cross-contamination from room to room) available, with the capacity to add significantly more through room reconfigurations.
    • This is a remarkably high number, given the relatively small population of the island, and speaks to the country’s preparedness and advanced medical infrastructure.

    4) Best public health policy

    • Finally, Taiwan has benefited greatly from the close coordination between its hospitals and central government.
    • Within the country’s nationalized healthcare system, every citizen and resident is assigned a health card, embedded with a computer chip reflecting their identity and medical history.

    Significance of the Taiwanese model

    • Taiwan’s biggest success can be attributed to how ready the country and its hospitals were from Day-1, while other states were still assessing whether the virus was a threat to them at all.
    • Many of these countermeasures can be easily duplicated by India.
    • However, the willingness and effectiveness with which doctors and medical officials have worked to cooperate with each other and the public is a testament to the country’s smart and rational approach to healthcare and disease prevention.

  • Earth’s seismic noise levels

    Scientists at the British Geological Survey (BGS) reported a change in the Earth’s seismic noise and vibrations amid the coronavirus lockdown. This change has been monitored through a space-based seismograph.

    Ever heard of space-based monitoring of seismic activities?  This topic creates a scope for potential prelims question…

    What is seismic noise?

    • In geology, seismic noise refers to the relatively persistent vibration of the ground due to a multitude of causes.
    • It is the unwanted component of signals recorded by a seismometer– the scientific instrument that records ground motions, such as those caused by earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions.
    • This noise includes vibrations caused due to human activity, such as transport and manufacturing, and makes it difficult for scientists to study seismic data that is more valuable.
    • Apart from geology, seismic noise is also studied in other fields such as oil exploration, hydrology, and earthquake engineering.

    How are vibrations generated?

    • We measure ground vibrations from earthquakes using seismometers.
    • These are incredibly sensitive so they also pick up other sources of vibration too, including human activity, such as road traffic, machinery and even people walking past.
    • All these things generate vibrations that propagate as seismic waves through the Earth.

    Reasons for the decline

    • Due to the enforcement of lockdown measures around the world to tackle the novel coronavirus pandemic, the Earth’s crust has shown reduced levels of vibration.

    How do the reduced noise levels help scientists?

    • The seismic noise vibrations caused by human activity are of high frequency (between 1-100 Hz), and travel through the Earth’s surface layers.
    • Usually, to measure seismic activity accurately and reduce the effect of seismic noise, geologists place their detectors 100 metres below the Earth’s surface.
    • However, since the lockdown, researchers were able to study natural vibrations even from surface readings, owing to lesser seismic noise.
    • Due to lower noise levels, scientists are now hoping that they would be able to detect smaller earthquakes and tremors that had slipped past their instruments so far.

     

More posts