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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Steve Ovett, the famous British middle-distance athlete, won the 800-metres gold medal at the Moscow Olympics of 1980. Just a few days later, he was about to win a 5,000-metres race at London’s Crystal Palace. Known for his burst of acceleration on the home stretch, he had supreme confidence in his ability to out-sprint rivals. With the final 100 metres remaining,
[wptelegram-join-channel link=”https://t.me/s/upsctree” text=”Join @upsctree on Telegram”]Ovett waved to the crowd and raised a hand in triumph. But he had celebrated a bit too early. At the finishing line, Ireland’s John Treacy edged past Ovett. For those few moments, Ovett had lost his sense of reality and ignored the possibility of a negative event.
This analogy works well for the India story and our policy failures , including during the ongoing covid pandemic. While we have never been as well prepared or had significant successes in terms of growth stability as Ovett did in his illustrious running career, we tend to celebrate too early. Indeed, we have done so many times before.
It is as if we’re convinced that India is destined for greater heights, come what may, and so we never run through the finish line. Do we and our policymakers suffer from a collective optimism bias, which, as the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman once wrote, “may well be the most significant of the cognitive biases”? The optimism bias arises from mistaken beliefs which form expectations that are better than the reality. It makes us underestimate chances of a negative outcome and ignore warnings repeatedly.
The Indian economy had a dream run for five years from 2003-04 to 2007-08, with an average annual growth rate of around 9%. Many believed that India was on its way to clocking consistent double-digit growth and comparisons with China were rife. It was conveniently overlooked that this output expansion had come mainly came from a few sectors: automobiles, telecom and business services.
Indians were made to believe that we could sprint without high-quality education, healthcare, infrastructure or banking sectors, which form the backbone of any stable economy. The plan was to build them as we went along, but then in the euphoria of short-term success, it got lost.
India’s exports of goods grew from $20 billion in 1990-91 to over $310 billion in 2019-20. Looking at these absolute figures it would seem as if India has arrived on the world stage. However, India’s share of global trade has moved up only marginally. Even now, the country accounts for less than 2% of the world’s goods exports.
More importantly, hidden behind this performance was the role played by one sector that should have never made it to India’s list of exports—refined petroleum. The share of refined petroleum exports in India’s goods exports increased from 1.4% in 1996-97 to over 18% in 2011-12.
An import-intensive sector with low labour intensity, exports of refined petroleum zoomed because of the then policy regime of a retail price ceiling on petroleum products in the domestic market. While we have done well in the export of services, our share is still less than 4% of world exports.
India seemed to emerge from the 2008 global financial crisis relatively unscathed. But, a temporary demand push had played a role in the revival—the incomes of many households, both rural and urban, had shot up. Fiscal stimulus to the rural economy and implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission scales had led to the salaries of around 20% of organized-sector employees jumping up. We celebrated, but once again, neither did we resolve the crisis brewing elsewhere in India’s banking sector, nor did we improve our capacity for healthcare or quality education.
Employment saw little economy-wide growth in our boom years. Manufacturing jobs, if anything, shrank. But we continued to celebrate. Youth flocked to low-productivity service-sector jobs, such as those in hotels and restaurants, security and other services. The dependence on such jobs on one hand and high-skilled services on the other was bound to make Indian society more unequal.
And then, there is agriculture, an elephant in the room. If and when farm-sector reforms get implemented, celebrations would once again be premature. The vast majority of India’s farmers have small plots of land, and though these farms are at least as productive as larger ones, net absolute incomes from small plots can only be meagre.
A further rise in farm productivity and consequent increase in supply, if not matched by a demand rise, especially with access to export markets, would result in downward pressure on market prices for farm produce and a further decline in the net incomes of small farmers.
We should learn from what John Treacy did right. He didn’t give up, and pushed for the finish line like it was his only chance at winning. Treacy had years of long-distance practice. The same goes for our economy. A long grind is required to build up its base before we can win and celebrate. And Ovett did not blame anyone for his loss. We play the blame game. Everyone else, right from China and the US to ‘greedy corporates’, seems to be responsible for our failures.
We have lowered absolute poverty levels and had technology-based successes like Aadhaar and digital access to public services. But there are no short cuts to good quality and adequate healthcare and education services. We must remain optimistic but stay firmly away from the optimism bias.
In the end, it is not about how we start, but how we finish. The disastrous second wave of covid and our inability to manage it is a ghastly reminder of this fact.