Prelude :- Kindly note that we publish current events after due diligence and we stick to our motto – “Picking relevant from the sea of Irrelevant” .Recently many of you would have come across the words like :- “Cow” , “Intolerance” , “beef” etc. if you go through the news papers of past 1 or 2 month , you would notice that these 2 or 3 words generated enough content for the newspaper publishers.Article after articles have been published on this issues and left for our consumption. Yet , We at UPSCTREE have not publish a single news related to these items, the reasons are pretty simple :- “It is not relevant” . We stay away from political rhetoric from publishing, our only goal is to publish the content – as relevant as possible, – as concrete as possible – and as worthy of your time as possible.We similarly request you to not to let yourself dragged in to the realm of rhetoric and derail yourself from objectivity( This happens with many aspirants). This issues are created in vacuum and will die there.
India as a civilization has flourished for thousand years because , the issues of this nature has remained as exceptions and exceptions are not rules.This civilization has endured for thousand years and it has the resilience to endure for eternity.
Meanwhile we stay focused by maintaining our calm and objectivity. If any issues or matter related to society troubles you , just pick our constitution and start reading , you will find answers to your problems there , solutions to your dilemma there and redemption to your soul there.It is the holy book of this land , yet it has not come from a religious institution but from the functioning of our reasoning mind; it gives peace in our trouble , it guides when it is dark and it makes us complete, as Indians.
1) Madhesi People – India and Nepal :-
- The flat southern region of Nepal – the Terai – is known as Madhesh (Madhesh) in the Nepalese language and its indigenous inhabitants are called Madhesi. Terai is a southern strip of the country. The Terai region is mostly a flatland. People of Terai are culturally distinct. According to the population census in 2011, Terai occupies 17% of the total area of Nepal and has 51% (22% Madhesi and 29 Non-Madhesi) of the Nepalese population.
- Nepal has recently adopted its constitution and non-representation or inadequate representation in the Constitution for Madhesi people, led to the Indo- Nepal Skirmishes.The issue lies on the non inclusive nature in the newly adopted Nepalese constitution.
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The issues and amendments as follows:-* Article 63 (3) of the Interim Constitution provided electoral constituencies based on population, geography and special characteristics, “and in the case of Madhes on the basis of percentage of population”. Under this provision, Madhes, with more than 50 per cent of the population, got 50 per cent of seats in Parliament. The latter phrase has been omitted in Article 84 of the new Constitution.
*In Article 21 of the Interim Constitution, it was mentioned that various groups would have “the right to participate in state structures on the basis of principles of proportional inclusion”. In the new Constitution (Article 42), the word “proportional” has been dropped and it should be re-inserted.
*Article 283 of the Constitution states that only citizens by descent will be entitled to hold the posts of President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice, Speaker of Parliament, Chairperson of National Assembly, Head of Province, Chief Minister, Speaker of Provincial Assembly and Chief of Security Bodies. This clause is seen as discriminatory for the large number of Madhesis who have acquired citizenship by birth or naturalization.
*Article 86 of the new Constitution states that National Assembly will comprise 8 members from each of 7 States and 3 nominated members. Madhesi parties want representation in National Assembly to be based on population of the Provinces.
*Five disputed districts of Kanchanpur, Kailali, Sunsari, Jhapa and Morang: Based on the majority of the population, these districts or parts of them may be included in the neighboring Madhes Provinces.
*Article 154of the Interim Constitution provided for delineation of electoral constituencies every 10 years. This has been increased to 20 years in Article 281 of the new Constitution. Echoing the Madhesi parties, India wants this restored to 10 years.
*Article 11(6) states that a foreign woman married to a Nepali citizen may acquire naturalized citizenship of Nepal as provided for in a federal law. Madhesi parties want acquisition of naturalized citizenship to be automatic on application.
2) Forest dwellers offer to step out of their hamlets , so as to minimize the man-tiger conflict and earn a livelihood :-
- In a bid that could save the forest that sustained them through their lives, about 900 families of Adivasis and other forest-occupying communities in Telangana that live in tiger reserves in Adilabad and Mahbubnagar districts have asked the State government to relocate them to non-forest terrain.
- The move, mostly initiated by the Gond tribe in Adilabad and Chenchus in Mahbubnagar, could also contribute to the survival of endangered tigers in Telangana whose count is as low as 20, according to the recent census
- Four Gond habitations of the Kawal Tiger Reserve in Adilabad and an equal number of them inhabited by Chenchus in the Amrabad tiger reserve, a part of which falls under Mahbubnagar district, have expressed their desire to move out of the protected tiger zone.
- ‘Project Tiger’ :-The scheme that is aimed at supporting the ecosystem of tigers, provides a compensation of up to Rs. 10 lakh or five acres to Adivasis who want to relocate from forests that encompass tiger reserves in the country.
- These tribal hamlets are completely dependent on forest produce like bamboo. But depletion of forest has resulted in loss of livelihood. Hence a lot many have come forward to move out of the reserves
3)Pelican and Painted stork welcomed in Kolleru WildLife Sancturay :-
- India has been a country that welcomes the visitors, in this context the situation at Kolleru Wildlife sanctuary has a telling of its own. Many official have been engaged in increasing the water level of the lake as lack of rain rendered the lake as a squeezed wetland. The lake is home to many migratory bird and breeding ground . It is especially known for hosting the Pelicans.
- As the winter sets in , the officials, knowing the unsuitability of the lake to sustain the upcoming visitors has resorted to artificial methods to maintain the ecosystem and help the Pelicans and Painted Stork enjoy their stay here.
- Kolleru Lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes in India located in state of Andhra Pradesh. Kolleru is located between Krishna and Godavari delta. The lake serves as a natural flood-balancing reservoir for these two rivers. The lake is fed directly by water from the seasonal Budameru and Tammileru streams, and is connected to the Krishna and Godavari systems numerous channels. Many birds migrate here in winter, such as Siberian crane, ibis, and painted storks. The lake was an important habitat for an estimated 20 million resident and migratory birds, including the grey or spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis).It is a bird lovers paradise.
4)Zangmu Dam of China on Brahmputra and it’s Implication on India:-
- The Zangmu Dam is a gravity dam on the Brahmaputra River 9 km (5.6 mi) northwest of Gyaca in the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. The purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power production using run-of-the-river technology.It is part of the Zangmu Hydropower Project and will support a 510 MW power station. Construction began in 2009 and the first generator was commissioned in November 2014. It is commissioned on 13th OCT 2015.It is the first dam on the Brahmaputra/Yarlung Zangbo River and has caused controversy in India, which lies downstream.
- Implication In general:-
- Himalaya is geologically and ecologically a sensitive region, hence construction of project in a fragile region can wreck havoc in case of Natural disaster. (For eg- Uttrakhand Flood in 2013). The disaster’s destruction capability increases multi-fold due to project like this .
- It is well known that hydro projects in unstable region can generate artificial earthquake ( e.g.- Koyna reservoir induced earthquake of 1967)
- Excessive damming and river management leads to choking of steams down stream and increases sediment load at the dam site leading to siltation
- Implications for India :-
- Trust deficit between India and China is well known. Dams and river channels can be manipulated to serve a country’s need in case of a geopolitical conflict or war.
- China claims it as a run-of-the-river dam , however it is building network of dams which are closely spaced , thus contradicting the run-of-the -river concept.
- The near by Gyama Valley is highly exploited and it may pollute the water with heavy metals , which may badly impact the aquatic and human life downstream .
- By 2050, the annual runoff in the Brahmaputra is projected to decline by 14 per cent. This will have significant implications for food security and social stability, given the impact on climate-sensitive sectors such as agriculture
- Way Forward:-
- It would be highly improbable to pursue any country from exercising its sovereign power in its sovereign territory, thus options for India is highly limited.
- Confrontation is better avoided.
- India and China can engage in water management and related data sharing in a co-operative manner – it is the only way out.
- India may build engineering solutions to the problems that may mitigate manipulations by China in case of a geopolitical conflict.
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The United Nations has shaped so much of global co-operation and regulation that we wouldn’t recognise our world today without the UN’s pervasive role in it. So many small details of our lives – such as postage and copyright laws – are subject to international co-operation nurtured by the UN.
In its 75th year, however, the UN is in a difficult moment as the world faces climate crisis, a global pandemic, great power competition, trade wars, economic depression and a wider breakdown in international co-operation.
Still, the UN has faced tough times before – over many decades during the Cold War, the Security Council was crippled by deep tensions between the US and the Soviet Union. The UN is not as sidelined or divided today as it was then. However, as the relationship between China and the US sours, the achievements of global co-operation are being eroded.
The way in which people speak about the UN often implies a level of coherence and bureaucratic independence that the UN rarely possesses. A failure of the UN is normally better understood as a failure of international co-operation.
We see this recently in the UN’s inability to deal with crises from the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, to civil conflict in Syria, and the failure of the Security Council to adopt a COVID-19 resolution calling for ceasefires in conflict zones and a co-operative international response to the pandemic.
The UN administration is not primarily to blame for these failures; rather, the problem is the great powers – in the case of COVID-19, China and the US – refusing to co-operate.
Where states fail to agree, the UN is powerless to act.
Marking the 75th anniversary of the official formation of the UN, when 50 founding nations signed the UN Charter on June 26, 1945, we look at some of its key triumphs and resounding failures.
Five successes
1. Peacekeeping
The United Nations was created with the goal of being a collective security organisation. The UN Charter establishes that the use of force is only lawful either in self-defence or if authorised by the UN Security Council. The Security Council’s five permanent members, being China, US, UK, Russia and France, can veto any such resolution.
The UN’s consistent role in seeking to manage conflict is one of its greatest successes.
A key component of this role is peacekeeping. The UN under its second secretary-general, the Swedish statesman Dag Hammarskjöld – who was posthumously awarded the Nobel Peace prize after he died in a suspicious plane crash – created the concept of peacekeeping. Hammarskjöld was responding to the 1956 Suez Crisis, in which the US opposed the invasion of Egypt by its allies Israel, France and the UK.
UN peacekeeping missions involve the use of impartial and armed UN forces, drawn from member states, to stabilise fragile situations. “The essence of peacekeeping is the use of soldiers as a catalyst for peace rather than as the instruments of war,” said then UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, when the forces won the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize following missions in conflict zones in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Central America and Europe.
However, peacekeeping also counts among the UN’s major failures.
2. Law of the Sea
Negotiated between 1973 and 1982, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) set up the current international law of the seas. It defines states’ rights and creates concepts such as exclusive economic zones, as well as procedures for the settling of disputes, new arrangements for governing deep sea bed mining, and importantly, new provisions for the protection of marine resources and ocean conservation.
Mostly, countries have abided by the convention. There are various disputes that China has over the East and South China Seas which present a conflict between power and law, in that although UNCLOS creates mechanisms for resolving disputes, a powerful state isn’t necessarily going to submit to those mechanisms.
Secondly, on the conservation front, although UNCLOS is a huge step forward, it has failed to adequately protect oceans that are outside any state’s control. Ocean ecosystems have been dramatically transformed through overfishing. This is an ecological catastrophe that UNCLOS has slowed, but failed to address comprehensively.
3. Decolonisation
The idea of racial equality and of a people’s right to self-determination was discussed in the wake of World War I and rejected. After World War II, however, those principles were endorsed within the UN system, and the Trusteeship Council, which monitored the process of decolonisation, was one of the initial bodies of the UN.
Although many national independence movements only won liberation through bloody conflicts, the UN has overseen a process of decolonisation that has transformed international politics. In 1945, around one third of the world’s population lived under colonial rule. Today, there are less than 2 million people living in colonies.
When it comes to the world’s First Nations, however, the UN generally has done little to address their concerns, aside from the non-binding UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples of 2007.
4. Human rights
The Human Rights Declaration of 1948 for the first time set out fundamental human rights to be universally protected, recognising that the “inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world”.
Since 1948, 10 human rights treaties have been adopted – including conventions on the rights of children and migrant workers, and against torture and discrimination based on gender and race – each monitored by its own committee of independent experts.
The language of human rights has created a new framework for thinking about the relationship between the individual, the state and the international system. Although some people would prefer that political movements focus on ‘liberation’ rather than ‘rights’, the idea of human rights has made the individual person a focus of national and international attention.
5. Free trade
Depending on your politics, you might view the World Trade Organisation as a huge success, or a huge failure.
The WTO creates a near-binding system of international trade law with a clear and efficient dispute resolution process.
The majority Australian consensus is that the WTO is a success because it has been good for Australian famers especially, through its winding back of subsidies and tariffs.
However, the WTO enabled an era of globalisation which is now politically controversial.
Recently, the US has sought to disrupt the system. In addition to the trade war with China, the Trump Administration has also refused to appoint tribunal members to the WTO’s Appellate Body, so it has crippled the dispute resolution process. Of course, the Trump Administration is not the first to take issue with China’s trade strategies, which include subsidises for ‘State Owned Enterprises’ and demands that foreign firms transfer intellectual property in exchange for market access.
The existence of the UN has created a forum where nations can discuss new problems, and climate change is one of them. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up in 1988 to assess climate science and provide policymakers with assessments and options. In 1992, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change created a permanent forum for negotiations.
However, despite an international scientific body in the IPCC, and 165 signatory nations to the climate treaty, global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase.
Under the Paris Agreement, even if every country meets its greenhouse gas emission targets we are still on track for ‘dangerous warming’. Yet, no major country is even on track to meet its targets; while emissions will probably decline this year as a result of COVID-19, atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will still increase.
This illustrates a core conundrum of the UN in that it opens the possibility of global cooperation, but is unable to constrain states from pursuing their narrowly conceived self-interests. Deep co-operation remains challenging.
Five failures of the UN
1. Peacekeeping
During the Bosnian War, Dutch peacekeeping forces stationed in the town of Srebrenica, declared a ‘safe area’ by the UN in 1993, failed in 1995 to stop the massacre of more than 8000 Muslim men and boys by Bosnian Serb forces. This is one of the most widely discussed examples of the failures of international peacekeeping operations.
On the massacre’s 10th anniversary, then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan wrote that the UN had “made serious errors of judgement, rooted in a philosophy of impartiality”, contributing to a mass murder that would “haunt our history forever”.
If you look at some of the other infamous failures of peacekeeping missions – in places such as Rwanda, Somalia and Angola – it is the limited powers given to peacekeeping operations that have resulted in those failures.
2. The invasion of Iraq
The invasion of Iraq by the US in 2003, which was unlawful and without Security Council authorisation, reflects the fact that the UN is has very limited capacity to constrain the actions of great powers.
The Security Council designers created the veto power so that any of the five permanent members could reject a Council resolution, so in that way it is programmed to fail when a great power really wants to do something that the international community generally condemns.
In the case of the Iraq invasion, the US didn’t veto a resolution, but rather sought authorisation that it did not get. The UN, if you go by the idea of collective security, should have responded by defending Iraq against this unlawful use of force.
The invasion proved a humanitarian disaster with the loss of more than 400,000 lives, and many believe that it led to the emergence of the terrorist Islamic State.
3. Refugee crises
The UN brokered the 1951 Refugee Convention to address the plight of people displaced in Europe due to World War II; years later, the 1967 Protocol removed time and geographical restrictions so that the Convention can now apply universally (although many countries in Asia have refused to sign it, owing in part to its Eurocentric origins).
Despite these treaties, and the work of the UN High Commission for Refugees, there is somewhere between 30 and 40 million refugees, many of them, such as many Palestinians, living for decades outside their homelands. This is in addition to more than 40 million people displaced within their own countries.
While for a long time refugee numbers were reducing, in recent years, particularly driven by the Syrian conflict, there have been increases in the number of people being displaced.
During the COVID-19 crisis, boatloads of Rohingya refugees were turned away by port after port. This tragedy has echoes of pre-World War II when ships of Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi Germany were refused entry by multiple countries.
And as a catastrophe of a different kind looms, there is no international framework in place for responding to people who will be displaced by rising seas and other effects of climate change.
4. Conflicts without end
Across the world, there is a shopping list of unresolved civil conflicts and disputed territories.
Palestine and Kashmir are two of the longest-running failures of the UN to resolve disputed lands. More recent, ongoing conflicts include the civil wars in Syria and Yemen.
The common denominator of unresolved conflicts is either division among the great powers, or a lack of international interest due to the geopolitical stakes not being sufficiently high. For instance, the inaction during the Rwandan civil war in the 1990s was not due to a division among great powers, but rather a lack of political will to engage.
In Syria, by contrast, Russia and the US have opposing interests and back opposing sides: Russia backs the government of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, whereas the US does not.
5. Acting like it’s 1945
The UN is increasingly out of step with the reality of geopolitics today.
The permanent members of the Security Council reflect the division of power internationally at the end of World War II. The continuing exclusion of Germany, Japan, and rising powers such as India and Indonesia, reflects the failure to reflect the changing balance of power.
Also, bodies such as the IMF and the World Bank, which are part of the UN system, continue to be dominated by the West. In response, China has created potential rival institutions such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
Western domination of UN institutions undermines their credibility. However, a more fundamental problem is that institutions designed in 1945 are a poor fit with the systemic global challenges – of which climate change is foremost – that we face today.