IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - WTO Crisis
IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - WTO Crisis Archives P.S- Right Click on the image and open it in new tab. From there you can save it in your system. Reference - Link
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IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 15th March, 2017
IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 15th March 2017 Archives MOTHER AND CHILD HEALTH TOPIC: General Studies 1 Role of women and women’s organization, population and associated issues, poverty and developmental issues Effects of globalization on Indian society, Social empowerment General Studies 2 Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health Development processes and the development industry the role of NGOs, SHGs, various groups and associations, donors, charities, institutional and other stakeholders Institutional deliveries and early childhood care Introduction Mother and child care is critical to any emerging nation as it will determine the future generation. Vital parameters like institutional deliveries and early childhood care should receive due importance. Measures should be planned keeping ground realities in mind and with stakeholder approach. Institutional deliveries are up in India, but breastfeeding within the first hour of birth needs to keep pace Issue: Though institutional delivery being as high as nearly 79% nationally, the number of children in India breastfed within one hour of birth is less than 42% — near 43% in urban areas and 41% in rural India, according to the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4) data released a few days ago. The Janani Suraksha Yojana — cash incentives to pregnant women to attend antenatal clinics and opt for institutional deliveries — has led to a sharp increase in institutional delivery (from 39% in 2005-06 to 79% in 2015-16) and near doubling of children breastfed within one hour of birth in the last 10 years. Breastfeeding babies soon after birth can prevent a significant number of neonatal deaths — about 20% newborn deaths and 13% under-five deaths, according to C.K. Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Improvements all around At 99.9% in both urban and rural areas, Kerala has the highest institutional births in the country. Tamil Nadu is a close second with 99.2% institutional births in urban areas and 98.7% in rural areas. Yet, Kerala and Tamil Nadu do not fare greatly when it comes to initiating breastfeeding within one hour of birth. At 64%, Kerala is well below Goa’s average of 73%. Similarly, Maharashtra with 90% institutional deliveries has 57.5% for early initiation of breastfeeding compared to Tamil Nadu’s nearly 55%. Bihar has shown the most improvement in initiating breastfeeding within one hour of birth — from 4% in 2005-06 to 35% in 2015-16. Though Uttar Pradesh has improved its performance, it is still about half of the national average — 7.2% in 2005-06 to 25% in 2015-16. Other States that have shown good improvement on this front are Haryana, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. Similarly, all States have registered an improvement in the case of exclusive breastfeeding of children under age six months. While Goa has shown a dramatic increase from 17.7% in 2005-06 to nearly 61% in 2015-16, Chhattisgarh has witnessed a drop from 82% to 77%. Barriers to breastfeeding “You need dedicated people who can counsel mothers on the need to breastfeed within one hour of delivery. There are socio-cultural barriers too,” says Dr. Ajay Khera, Deputy Commissioner and Head of Child Health, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. “It is to overcome these that the government launched the MAA — Mother’s Absolute Affection — programme in August last year. Under the programme, there are special efforts to create community awareness and promotion of breastfeeding, capacity building and skilling of healthcare providers at all delivery points in the country.” According to Dr. Sutapa B. Negi from the Indian Institute of Public Health, Delhi, early initiation of breastfeeding becomes difficult in the case of babies delivered through caesarean section, babies born preterm and low-birth-weight (less than 2.5 kg) babies. “Caesarean deliveries account for 10-15% and nearly 20% babies have low birth weight while 15% are born preterm,” says Dr. Khera. According to NFHS-4 data, the national average for babies delivered by caesarean section is 28%, which is more than three times the 2005-06 figure of 8.5%. While percentages may varying from one State to another, there is not much difference in the rate of breastfeeding within one hour of birth among rural and urban population. Except for a few States like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, rural areas have slightly higher percentage of babies being breastfed within one born of birth than their urban counterparts. Conclusion: Early breast feeding practices, hygiene and many such practices are vital for the mother and child health imperatives of a nation. Policy actions should be supported by due awareness at grass root levels and regular monitoring. Connecting the dots: Mother and child care is crucial for any emerging nation. Critically analyse the policy actions of the government of India especially w.r.t. early childhood care. NATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 2 Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. General Studies 3 Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth. A zero-defect India- Significance and way forward What is Zero Defect – Zero Effect (ZED) scheme? On 68th Independence Day, PM urged the industry, especially the MSMEs of India, to manufacture goods in the country with "zero defects" and to ensure that the goods have "zero effect" on the environment. International companies competing in global markets focus on their competitive strengths of costs acceptable to the market, technology, innovation, service delivery, lean manufacturing, and defect free products for Zero Defect and Zero Effect (ZED). Similarly, Indian manufacturing industry will also have to focus upon setting up market linkages and create intermediaries to develop the capacity of MSMEs to facilitate their technology, marketability, backward and forward linkages etc. ZED has presented a model where the concept of quality has a holistic change from a tool for compliance to a source of competitiveness. The ZED scheme is an integrated and holistic certification system that will account for quality, productivity, energy efficiency, pollution mitigation, financial status, human resource and technological depth including design and IPR in both products and processes. Strong drivers of ZED manufacturing are- FDI in single and multi-brand retail, interventions in manufacturing sectors like Railways, Defence and e-businesses, emerging strong manufacturing sectors like ESDM and Aerospace etc. Importance of ZED This phrase expresses that Indian growth will cause least damage to the natural environment (zero effect) and the products and services produced in India will conform to the highest quality standards (zero defects). This is intended to be complementary to another policy discourse ‘make in India’. However, the point of debate in recent past has been :- Should making in India be only for domestic consumption or should global integration be an intrinsic part of the strategy for India’s economic development? No matter whatever be the target area, the quality of products and services will play an important role. Quality- all that matters By delivering high quality product, it shows the absorbing capacity of domestic industry for new technology and using advanced skills of production at par with global standards. The domestic industry is prepared to connect with global supply chains. This will also give increasing consumers a good experience considering the expansion of middle class. A sound quality assurance helps absorption of higher technology in manufacturing, adds greater value to products and services and retains high-quality scientific manpower and filters out low-quality imports. Thus, delivery of high quality products adds value to the manufacturing and service industries. What ails quality delivery? If a domestic industry has been formulated and groomed in a protectionist environment over the years, it is bound to turn away from high-quality assurance ecosystem. In such a situation, it will encourage imposition of such system on others but not itself as quality brings high costs with itself which will create disincentives in a price-sensitive market, and stress that the workforce’s low capacities will not allow adoption of a high-quality assurance system. However, these all are self-preservationist arguments. Indian industry can make its mark in the global market by fighting present low competitiveness by pushing high-quality products there. Today, India has technologically superior manpower and capacities which needs to be integrated with global supply chain by adopting high-quality manufacturing and services ecosystem. This will help in expansion of Indian markets. Need of standards and current challenges pertaining to it For quality products of manufacturing and services, set standards are required along with corresponding physical infrastructure. Though in several area, a prescriptive approach has been followed, especially in areas which require human, animal and plant safety and preservation. But such has not yet been enforced in making of goods and services. The reason is strong resistance by the industrial lobby. The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is the central agency for development of product and service standards. It provides for certification, conformity assessment and even accreditation leading to conflict of interests. There are many other agencies, most of which work in silos, responsible for sectoral standards who notify their standards under the BIS Act. Then there is Quality Council of India which is jointly promoted through industry-government cooperation. However, the most effective one till now has been FSSAI as it deals with human health and thus demands most effective standards as well as their implementation. Recently, even the pharmaceutical quality regulatory system is emerging as a strong institution by countering allegations of counterfeiting going on for several years. Thus, presence of multiple agencies, different ecosystems, varying approaches of industries and degrees of global integration has created an environment of inconsistency and incoherence. This does not reflect well upon India in the context of the global quality ecosystem. What next?- a “National Mission on Quality”. India should institutionalise such a mission and create a “National Standards Coordination Agency”. This will integrate all vertical institutions on the subject at a higher level of control and direction by developing consistent policies on standards development and their adoption, conformity assessment and accreditation. It would run a coordinated programme for infrastructure development in collaboration with the private sector, and remove ad-hocism. It is necessary in an emerging economy that state involves itself in core functions of quality assurance. This mission would enable a legislation for a globally contemporary standards ecosystem for products and services. This will lead to delivery of quality products, less litigations pertaining to standardisation and boost to private investments in this area. Connecting the dots: What is quality and why is it importance? Identify some measures to assess and establish quality level. How is standard different from quality? Examine reasons why Indian goods and services are considered to be low in both? What can be done to improve? Give suitable examples. 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IASbaba Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 137]
IASbaba Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 137] Click here to get all the Tests– Archives Q.1) Consider the following statements about Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) It is an international non-governmental organisation, mandated to ensure the practical realisation of human rights in the countries of the Commonwealth It is headquartered in Accra, Ghana Select the correct statements Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Consider the following statements about Lake Baikal It is the largest freshwater lake by volume in the world It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site Select the correct statements Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Which of the following coral reefs is experiencing an unprecedented second straight year of mass coral bleaching? Red Sea Coral Reef – Red Sea Tubbataha Reefs – Cagayancillo, Philippines New Caledonia Barrier Reef – New Caledonia Great Barrier Reef – Australia Q.4) ‘Mission Fingerling’ is concerned with which of the following ministries? Ministry of External Affairs Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Ministry of Food Processing Industries Ministry of Earth Sciences Q.5) Consider the following statements about Global Maritime Energy Efficiency Partnership (GloMEEP) project The Global Environment Facility provides the funding for the GloMEEP project along with co-financing from countries and other international partners The United Nations Development Programme is responsible for implementing the GloMEEP project The International Maritime Organization is executing the GloMEEP project through the Project Coordination Unit India is one of the Lead Pilot Countries (LPCs) of the GloMEEP project Select the correct statements 1, 2 and 3 2, 3 and 4 1, 3 and 4 All of the above Download the Solution- Click here All the best IASbaba
IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - Mosul - Threat of Chemical Attacks
IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - Mosul - Threat of Chemical Attacks Archives P.S- Right Click on the image and open it in new tab. From there you can save it in your system. Reference - Link 1 Link 2
IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 14th March, 2017
IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 14th March 2017 Archives ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3 Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth. Trade Deficit and Trump Era Introduction With US elections and the post BREXIT phase the world is seeing an anti globalization phenomenon. Trade dependant countries like India and China are concerned about the protectionist voices in the west becoming strong. Issue: It is not just Indian software firms that are likely to be affected after Donald Trump’s election victory in USA. Exporters of agri-commodities, textiles and apparel are soon likely to be in the same situation. One of the first policy steps that the Trump regime plans to take to “make America great”, is to home in on the trading nations with whom the US runs a big trade deficit, and force them to shrink it. It has released a new Trade Policy Agenda 2017 to identify and crack down on such trade partners. While China (US runs a trade deficit of $300 billion with it), Germany ($68 billion) and Mexico ($62 billion) are high on the hit-list, India figures on it too given that the US runs a trade deficit of $30 billion with it. What is it? Trade deficit is the excess of a country’s import bill over its export receipts. To illustrate, the US trade deficit of $502 billion in 2016 means that the country spent $502 billion more on importing goods and services from other countries last year, than it earned by shipping stuff out. While some nations have an insatiable appetite for foreign goods, others are the opposite. They sit on a healthy trade surplus by churning out products and services that other nations need like China. India’s case: India runs a trade deficit, with its import bill on crude oil, precious metals, electronic goods and other items, far exceeding its export earnings. In April to December 2016, India’s trade deficit was $76 billion. Just like the US, India too is keen to shrink its trade deficit, especially the yawning one with China. Why is it important? Running a persistent trade deficit has three key adverse effects on the economy. One, the country’s demand for dollars (foreign exchange) is usually greater than the supply. This leads to a steadily weakening home currency. Two, a high trade deficit also forces a country to constantly look to foreign investors to make up the gap between its export earnings and its import payouts. Three, in a slow-growing world, a rising trade deficit could be an indication that domestically produced goods are unable to compete against imports. If local factories shut down, that leads to job losses. It is the last factor that has the Trump camp worried. The dollar has been none the worse for US’ sustained deficits. The US is hoping that by imposing high import tariffs on trade partners who run a large deficit with it, it can coax global manufacturing giants to relocate their factories back to its shores. By leaning on countries such as China and India to dismantle their import barriers, it can also access new markets for American goods and services. How does it affect India and Indians? What the US does about its trade deficit with India matters a lot to both its exporting and importing sectors and the people who are employed in them. The controversy over issuing H1B visas. That’s not good news either for India’s young population looking for jobs, or for its policymakers looking to reap its much-touted demographic dividends. Export oriented sectors such as IT, agriculture and textiles are top job creators in the country. Given that the US is one of the few countries with which India runs a trade surplus, a reversal of this trade balance can spell trouble for the exchange rate. Conclusion: India has embarked on a campaign of Make in India and is looking to improve manufacturing base and increase infrastructure in the homeland. This seen along with actions of US government and the protectionist actions of west seem contradictory. The need is to use multilateral platforms effectively to arrive at a common cause. Connecting the dots: Trade is a vital necessity of the country especially with a developing base. Critically analyse the need to counter protectionist forces and bridging trade deficits either ways to have balanced trade relations. ECONOMY TOPIC: General Studies 3 Effects of liberalization on the economy, changes in industrial policy and their effects on industrial growth. Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights. Rising hardware imports and falling software revenue One of the most remarked feature of India’s growth is the premature diversification of aggregate production in favour of services at a relatively low level of per capita income. India’s large share of service sector in economy is presented as evidence of India’s pursuit of an alternative development strategy in sync with contemporary times where services dominate the economy. The reason is India’s indisputable success as a software services exporter. The service sector accounts for more than half of the country’s GDP and around 60% of the increment in GDP. However, the small share of manufacturing and large share of services is a cause of concern. Despite the objective of becoming self-reliant in small and micro-computers set by the Homi Bhabha Committee in 1963, India’s performance as a hardware producer has been dismal. As a result, there has been lopsided growth in software accompanied by stagnation in hardware in ICT. Lopsided development A study by Central Statistical Organisation in 2010 found that Share of the ICT sector (including IT-enabled Services or ITeS) in GDP had risen from 3.4 to 5.9% between 2000-01 and 2007-08 (India’s high growth years). But the share of ICT services in ICT GDP had risen from an already high5% to 94.2% during those years. Thus, the one sided focus on ICT services has continued which was recently backed by more recent data from a special tabulation done by IHS Global Insight for the National Science Foundation of the US. Thus, value added (or revenues minus non-labour input costs) in India’s Computer programming and related services industry (which excludes ITeS) rose from USD 2974 million in 2000 to USD 19568 million in 2014. But value added in the sector producing computers and office machinery after rising from USD209 million in 2000 to USD775 million in 2011, fell to USD281 million by 2014. The overall picture showed stagnation in hardware industry and minor growth in ICT service industry. Unfortunately, the stagnation in domestic hardware production has occurred in a period when computer use has been rising rapidly in India. Even the government has been pushing for computerisation—in its own departments, in the banking sector, and among the public at large. Technological Demands From WTO data it is known that the consequence of the combination of stagnation in production and expansion in use has seen a significant increase in the imports of computer hardware. This is visible in the following trend — imports of Electronic data processing and office equipment rose from USD 1413 million in 2000 to USD 4481 million in 2008. Then it saw a marginal fall in 2009 due to global economic crisis. But it resumed its climb to reach USD 8293 million in 2015. Thus, this rise in import is bound to continue and even gather pace. Assessing India’s software service growth Exports of computer services have risen from USD 15,915 million in 2005 to USD 35,037 million in 2008 and further to USD 55,360 million. But the pace of growth has reduced sharply in recent years. As per RBI, the rate of growth of the combined exports of software and IT-enabled services has fallen from 20.8% in 2012-13 to 14.9% in 2014-15 and to a low of 7.3% in 2015-16. Even the WTO data suggests that the ability of the IT sector to earn the foreign exchange needed to finance imports of IT hardware has been shrinking. This is because the ratio of computer hardware imports to exports of computer services, which was falling prior to the 2008 financial crisis, has since shown signs of rising. The problem- the failure to develop a domestic hardware base is not restricted to computers alone but is characteristic of the information and communications technology (ICT) sector as a whole. ICT is an increasingly the sector of relevance given the rapid spread of mobile telephony and the substitution of communication devices for many operations earlier conducted with computers. Overall imports of ICT hardware into India have soared, especially after the boom in mobile communications. On the other hand, overall ICT exports are still constituted largely of and been driven by IT- and IT-enabled services. Conclusion Thus, once the attention on ICT sector as a whole is shifted to, it will be realised that the shortfall in software export earnings relative to expenditure on hardware imports is not an imminent danger, but a current threat. Dollar earnings on ICT services exports are well short of expenditure on ICT hardware imports over the last decade. In 2012, India was among the top 10 countries in the world in terms of personal computer use, with an installed base of 57 million PCs. As per International Telecommunications Union, the percentage of households in India with a computer rose from 6% to 13% just between 2010 and 2014. This rapid expansion combined with the large size of the population that is still digitally excluded points to the possibility of an explosion in hardware use. Thus, the dismal performance of hardware sector needs to be resolved at the earliest as India’s foreign exchange expenditure on importing computer hardware is rising sharply whereas earning from Software and ITeS exports is slowing. Though the performance of the ICT sector is by no means evidence that services growth can substitute for manufacturing growth, but lopsided growth even in this small segment can have extremely adverse balance of payments implications. Connecting the dots: The growth engine of India’s service sector has been the software industry. But this industry is slowing down owing to external circumstances. 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IASbaba Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 136]
IASbaba Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 136] Click here to get all the Tests– Archives Q.1) ‘Operation Searchlight’ refers to A military operation carried out by the Pakistan Army to curb the Bengali nationalist movement in the erstwhile East Pakistan in March 1971 Operations by the Indian Peace Keeping Force to take control of Jaffna from the LTTE in late 1987 to enforce the disarmament of the LTTE as a part of the Indo-Sri Lankan Accord India's Army-led rescue and relief mission in quake-hit Nepal A cross-border counter-insurgency raid in Myanmar Q.2) Which of the following statements is/are correct? Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) is the nodal Ministry of the Government for the Law of the Sea-related issues. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea is an independent judicial body established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to adjudicate disputes arising out of the interpretation and application of the Convention. The purpose of the Commission on Legal Continental Shelf (CLCS) is to facilitate the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (the Convention) in respect of the establishment of the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (M) from the baselines from which the breadth of the territorial sea is measured Select the correct statements 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.3) Which of the following countries are members of Uniting for Consensus (UfC) Italy Pakistan Argentina Spain Select the correct code 1, 3 and 4 1, 2 and 4 1 and 2 All of the above Q.4) Consider the following statements about ‘Vaccine Safety Net Project (VSN)’ It was initiated by United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO) The mission of the Vaccine Safety Net is to help internet users find reliable vaccine safety information tailored to their needs Which of the following statements is/are correct? Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.5) What causes the tides? Wind Seismicity Ocean currents Gravity Download the Solution- Click here All the best IASbaba
IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 13th March, 2017
IASbaba’s Daily Current Affairs – 13th March 2017 Archives AGRICULTURE AND SOIL HEALTH TOPIC: General Studies 3 Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e‐technology in the aid of farmers Technology missions; economics of animal‐rearing. Food processing and related industries in India‐ scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management. Soil Health Crisis Introduction Indian population is still largely dependent on agriculture. Soil health is a crucial component and due regulation is critical for increasing yield and productivity. Soil health is dependent on multiple factors. Issue: The Prime Minister launched a nation-wide “Soil Health Card” (SHC) scheme in early 2015 to rejuvenate India’s exhausted soil. Using a grid-wise approach, representative soil samples from the fields are tested for nutrient content in designated chemical laboratories. The government seems determined to promote more judicious use of fertilisers. The Green Revolution, probably the greatest achievement of post-independence India, heralded an era of food sufficiency riding on the use of chemical fertilisers. Now, 50 years on, soil health is rapidly declining. There is ample evidence to show that indiscriminate use of fertilisers is the major cause of deteriorating soil health. Indian farmers apply around 66 million tonnes of fertilisers every year, which accounts for a significant share of India’s imports and subsidies. How SHC works Accordingly, macro and micro nutrients needed by the soil are identified and translated into specific, measured quantities of fertilisers required. This information, printed on the SHC, is made available to the farmers in that grid through the state agricultural departments. Thirty million SHCs were issued in 2015-16 and the Ministry of Agriculture aims to cover the entire farming population by 2018-19. In addition, on a pilot basis, the soil health information is made available at fertiliser purchase points —Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and POS devices-enabled fertiliser retail shops. However, farmers still buy large amount of fertiliser, disregarding SHC recommendations. MicroSave recently conducted a study into farming practices in two paddy-producing districts of Andhra Pradesh (West Godavari and Krishna) and elicited farmers’ views on fertilisers, soil health and SHCs. Though our findings relate to a select sample in a specific region, they are indicative of attitudes and practices of kharif paddy farmers across the country. Farmers appear convinced that there is a perfect causal correlation between high fertiliser usage and more output. As a corollary, they believe their farmlands have ‘good soil health’ if they yield the desired output. Farmers are not concerned that they need not use increasing amount of fertiliser to ensure this ‘good soil health’! In fact, they are not sure that the advice based on the SHC can be relied upon; especially when they perceive that the yield might improve by using ‘just a little more’ fertiliser. Problems associated: SHCs are not easy to use— They give general recommendations regarding the quantity of fertilisers required over the entire crop season whereas, in reality, fertilisers should be used in varying amounts over the different stages of the crop growth. So, even those farmers who start with the intention to use less fertiliser as a result of the SHCs ultimately have to fall back on their own judgement to decide on the amount of fertiliser to be used at each stage of the cropping cycle. Short term concerns: If crop growth appears to be below normal at the middle of the season, the farmer will usually apply large amounts of fertiliser. For farmers who have already bought bags of fertilisers, it is a sunk cost and so the prudent course of action is to apply more – even if the government’s SHC suggests otherwise. Maximising yield and fear of loss are the salient concerns. The government has started to provide recommendations on the SHC as per the crops sown. More needs to be done The farmers need SHC recommendations tailored according to crop growth stages. Promotional campaigns must deconstruct the myth of “more fertilisers” as a panacea for better yields. Soil health must be positioned as crucial to the long-term productivity of land, which will be irredeemably lost if the focus is only on present income flows. Conclusion: India’s long term food security is in serious interest for the nation. It is important that all factors determining the same are relevant in establishing the same. Soil health is one of the most important determinant of the same and it is important the SHC scheme is used in right direction with required awareness. Connecting the dots Soil health card scheme is a major flagship initiative of the country. Critically analyse the need of the same in view of the subsidy burden and food security concerns of the nation. INTERNATIONAL TOPIC: General Studies 2 Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests India and its neighbourhood- relations. India and Middle East: Towards a pragmatic foreign policy Background Liberalising Indian economy in 1991 was not an easy decision to make. The national pride was expected to be put aside when a bankrupt economy with collapsing exchange reserves forced India to mortgage its gold in 1991. But these measures radically changed India’s domestic economic policies and also led to closer economic integration with its economically vibrant eastern neighbours. Unsurprisingly and logically, the new dimension in India’s foreign policy was called ‘Look East’. The relationship with western world was ‘business as usual’. What was seen as a significant change was India’s long overdue establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel. Relations with Middle East Till five years ago, the OPEC cartel of oil-producing countries virtually held India hostage to their whims and fancies because of their ability to raise oil prices at will. But this was dramatically changed with discovery of huge resources of shale oil and gas, particularly in North and South America, Australia and even in parts of West Asia. These discoveries as replacement of oil brought down the global oil prices. Now India started seizing the opportunities provided by the geopolitical changes because of the discoveries. New leverage has been made possible to get the oil-producing countries to deal on more mutually beneficial terms, with large neighbouring oil and gas-consuming countries like Japan, China and India. However, politics and trade have been dealt with separately by India. India has always avoided getting into sectarian Shia-Sunni, Arab-Persian and other rivalries in the region, as it is well known that there are going to be no real winners. Instead, India focused on engaging oil-rich neighbours in west with its labour. Today, there are over six million Indians residing and remitting over USD 50 billion annually. PM has skilfully established an Indian strategic profile with key players in the region by his visits to Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar. Simultaneously it forged an energy and connectivity partnership with Iran, based on shared interests in Afghanistan and Central Asia. No interference India has chosen its path of dealing in Middle East by following an independent foreign policy as well as taking into consideration the recent developments in the region. This is the region where national borders drawn at the end of World War 1 are susceptible to being redrawn with constant military conflicts. US and Russia have been militarily involved along with regional powers such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran in Syria which has led to millions of Syrians fleeing their homes. Even Pakistan has undermined relations with traditional friends Saudi Arabia and the UAE by making promises of military assistance and then backing off in Yemen. China has followed a similar positon as India and kept out of sectarian rivalries, while securing investment opportunities. Increasing ties In 2017, India invited the ruler of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed as Republic Day Chief Guest. PM had also made a visit there earlier. Collectively, the Gulf Arab countries constitute India’s largest trading partner, accounting for 15% of India’s global trade. The UAE and Saudi Arabia are individually third and fourth largest global trading partners of India. UAE is India’s tenth biggest foreign investor and FDI from UAE has been consistently on rise. Along with trade, Naval cooperation is also increasing with the Gulf Arab countries, where proximity gives some advantages to India over China. Now what India needs is to cultivate closer ties is Iraq, whose oil exports to India are rapidly expanding, like the Iranian exports after the end of UN sanctions. Iraq, with its immense oil production potential, can also become a good investment partner in the energy sector. Partnership with Iran is a difficult one. While India uses western Iranian port of Bandar Abbas for the transit of goods to Afghanistan, Central Asia and Russia, India appears to be facing delays in finalising the terms of participation in the construction of the Chabahar port. This infrastructure development project is a crucial and critical one for India and Afghanistan to come closer given the fact that Pakistan has been highly unhelpful in increasing India-Afghanistan ties. Thus, there needs to be careful monitoring and follow-up at the ministerial level to remove bottlenecks in the finalisation of project. Hence, India should make efforts to make quick decisions to garner benefits arising out of changing geopolitical conditions. It is because India is still perceived as a country that takes incessantly long to finalise investment decisions. Israel- a reliable partner From Saudi Arabia’s threat in 1970s to cut off oil supplies to India if it did not close Israeli consulate in Mumbai, India has come a long way since then by maintaining its relations without coming under any external pressure. A standalone visit to Israel by PM to mark 25 years of diplomatic relations shows the strong bond between two nations. Israel has been a reliable friend and has stood by India in times of conflict, including during the Kargil war. Hence, there is no need to be apologetic of its growing relations with Israel especially at a time when many of India’s Arab partners are finding Israel a useful ally, amidst the sectarian and civilisational rivalries and tensions prevalent in the Islamic world. With the proposed visit of Jordan’s king to India, the tie-up with the Arab monarchies will be reinforced. India has made a wise decision of delinking relations with Israel and the Palestinians and this could help India to make Jordan a good connecting point for its visits to meet leaders of the Palestinian Authority. Along with good relations of state leaders with each other, it is India’s moral obligation to stand by its principled position of supporting a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian issue which, while guaranteeing Israel’s security, also leads to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. Picture credit: http://www.icsana.com/images/Research/nc-11-me2030-part2/middle-east-2030-trends-opportunities-interventions.gif Connecting the dots: India’s relationship with its extended western neighbourhood is more than trade? Do you agree? Give reasons. ‘India has made it possible to maintain equal relations with middle east countries despite their internal rivalries’. Critically analyse. 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IASbaba Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 135]
IASbaba Daily Current Affairs Quiz [Day 135] Click here to get all the Tests– Archives Q.1) Consider the following statements about ‘International Vision Zero Conference’ It aims to focus on the Occupational Safety and Health issues and challenges in the Manufacturing, Construction and Mining sector It is being organized by Ministry of Labour and Employment Select the correct statements Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.2) Consider the following statements about Jeevan Pramaan/Digital Life Certificate It is a biometric enabled digital service for Central Government pensioners. It is a valid certificate and recognized under the IT Act Select the correct statements Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.3) Consider the following statements about “superfluid” It is a fluid with zero viscosity All Bose-Einstein condensates can be regarded as superfluids Select the correct statements Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Q.4) Consider the following statements about Time crystals They appear to have movement even at their ground state This ability violates time-translation symmetry It was first proposed by Frank Wilczek Select the correct statements 1 and 2 2 and 3 1 and 3 All of the above Q.5) Consider the following statements about ‘Europa Clipper’ It will probe the habitability of Jupiter’s icy moon Europa It is developed by European Space Agency Select the correct statements Only 1 Only 2 Both 1 and 2 Neither 1 nor 2 Download the Solution- Click here All the best IASbaba
IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - Frivolous Litigation
IASbaba’s MINDMAP : Issue - Frivolous Litigation Archives P.S- Right Click on the image and open it in new tab. From there you can save it in your system. Reference - Link 1 Link 2
Creative Guidance – Life and Learning – Inspirational & Educative Articles
Life and Learning: A battlefield of thoughts and life moves amidst of it with a soft and gentle strength of conviction and courage. The greatest stories that are etched on the stone walls of time are of people who did not give up or give in to cynicism. Negativity is all around us in the form of jealousy, misguided ideologies, anger and pent up frustrations of generations. Every single moment, an individual has to fight to be himself; he has to fight to pursue his dream and passion; he has to fight to scream out his ideas of right and wrong; he has to fight just to be able to say that he wants to be himself. Amidst all this negativity, what sustains an individual and his passion for life is his unflinching dedication to the process of life and learning. A student of life has nothing to fear. He knows that life is a one long process of learning. Here failure is only a measuring device of success. Criticisms are compliments and setbacks are an opportunity to find a new path. If there is a lesson all of us need to learn from our past experiences; it is that life is too long with too many twists and turns; only the one who is willing to adapt to a constantly changing landscape will find his way home. Those who are too stubborn to change will perish. Life teaches us one thing more than anything else; change or perish. Ability to respond positively to an ever changing environment around us is probably the most important skill we can develop and nurture. When learning becomes the first and last definition of success; failure loses all its meaning. You cannot defeat a spirit that is willing to change and adapt. Throw anything at it; it knows how to convert it into an opportunity. In my personal experience of living, I have found these skills to be most valuable: Ability to communicate An attitude that will never accept failure A heart filled with love and compassion Learning to value and nurture relationships Practicing meditation for a deeper experience of life Our experience of life teaches us more such wonderful abilities that are indispensable for a successful and beautiful life. Let us continue to search for the best of what life can offer. Let us continue to strive, fail and move ahead. Above all, let us always remain humble enough to learn. “The articles are a copyright of The Ahamo Movement and IASBABA.”