CPCB issues guidelines for safe disposal of carcasses.
About
30% of India’s dead cattle and 40% of goats weren’t flayed and nearly nine
million bovine hides were “lost annually due to non-recovery,” according to a
note by the Central Pollution Control Board proposing guidelines on proper
disposal of deceased livestock.
•
The draft guidelines require carcasses of livestock to be disposed of in
incinerators and municipal authorities must ensure that such facilities are set
up and made available. However, the Board has not specified any deadline for
the implementation of the guidelines.
•
Carcasses, especially those that result from the animal slaughter, are an
‘environmental hazard’ and are partly to blame for ‘bird-hit’ hazards at
airports, according to an introductory note in the draft. There were nearly 25
million head of cattle including buffalo that died of natural causes. “However
there wasn’t any organised system of disposal and it had become a major
environmental hazard,” the note said.
Assam-Mizoram territory dispute.
Assam-Mizoram
border has recently witnessed firing over a territory dispute, which spotlights
the long-standing inter-state boundary issues in the Northeast, particularly between
Assam and the states which were carved out of it.
Highlights:
•
Mizoram borders Assam’s Barak Valley and the boundary between present-day Assam
and Mizoram is 165 km long. Both states border Bangladesh.
•
Residents of Lailapur village in Assam’s Cachar district clashed with residents
of localities near Vairengte in Mizoram’s Kolasib district.
•
Earlier in October 2020, a similar clash took place on the border of Karimganj
(Assam) and Mamit (Mizoram) districts.
•
Mizoram civil society groups blame “illegal Bangladeshis” (alleged migrants
from Bangladesh) on the Assam side.
•
The boundary issue between present-day Assam and Mizoram dates back to the
colonial era when inner lines were demarcated according to the administrative
needs of British Raj.
•
The issue could not be settled once and for all when the state was created in
independent India. The result is both states continue to have a differing
perception of the border.
•
Mizoram was granted statehood in 1987 by the State of Mizoram Act, 1986.
•
Assam became a constituent state of India in 1950 and lost much of its
territory to new states that emerged from within its borders between the early
1960s and the early 1970s.
•
During colonial times, Mizoram was known as Lushai Hills, a district of Assam.
•
Mizoram believes the boundary should be demarcated on the basis of the 1875
notification, which is derived from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation
(BEFR) Act, 1873.
•
Mizoram leaders have argued in the past against the demarcation notified in 1933
because Mizo society was not consulted.
•
The Assam government follows the 1933 demarcation, and that is the point of
conflict.
•
According to an agreement between the governments of Assam and Mizoram, the
status quo should be maintained in no man’s land in the border area.
•
In the Northeast’s complex boundary equations, clashes between Assam and
Mizoram residents are less frequent than they are between other neighbouring
states of Assam, like with Nagaland.
Libyan war fighters sign permanent ceasefire agreement.
Libya’s
warring factions signed a permanent ceasefire agreement on Friday, but any
lasting end to years of chaos and bloodshed will require wider agreement among
myriad armed groups and the outside powers that support them.
Acting
United Nations envoy Stephanie Williams said the ceasefire would start
immediately and all foreign fighters must leave Libya within three months.
Forces would withdraw from front lines and a new joint police force would
secure those areas.
Friday’s
agreement was reached after the internationally recognised Government of
National Accord (GNA) in June beat back KhalifaHaftar’s eastern-based Libyan
National Army (LNA) from its 14-month assault on the capital.
Since then, frontlines have stabilised near the central coastal city of Sirte and the LNA ended its eight-month blockade of Libyan oil output that was strangling state finances on both sides.
However,
Turkey, the main backer of the GNA, voiced scepticism that the ceasefire would
hold.
There
was caution inside Libya too. “If there is no force or mechanism to apply this
on the ground, this deal will only be ink on paper,” said Ahmed Ali, 47, in
Benghazi.
Comparison of India and Bangladesh’s GDP.
According
to the The International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook estimation, in
2020, growth of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) will witness a contraction
of over
10%.
This more than doubles the level of contraction — from 4.5% — that the IMF had
projected for India just a few months ago. But more than the sharp contraction,
what has caught everyone’s attention is that in 2020, the per capita income of
an average Bangladeshi citizen would be more than the per capita income of an
average Indian citizen.
How did this Happen? Isn’t India one
of the world’s Biggest Economies?
•
Typically, countries are compared on the basis of GDP growth rate, or on
absolute GDP.
For
the most part since Independence, on both these counts, India’s economy has
been better than Bangladesh’s. GDP growth rates and absolute GDP — India’s
economy has mostly been over 10 times the size of Bangladesh, and grown faster
every year.
•
However, per capita income also involves another variable — the overall
population — and is arrived at by dividing the total GDP by the total
population. As a result, there are three reasons why India’s per capita income
has fallen below Bangladesh this year.
•
Bangladesh’s economy has been clocking rapid GDP growth rates since 2004.
However, this pace did not alter the relative positions of the two economies
between 2004 and 2016 because India grew even faster than Bangladesh. But since
2017 onwards, India’s growth rate has decelerated sharply while Bangladesh’s
has become even faster.
•
It was roughly 70% of India’s in 2014 and this gap closed rapidly in the last
few years.
•
Lastly, the most immediate factor was the relative impact of Covid-19 on the
two economies in 2020. While India’s GDP is set to reduce by 10%, Bangladesh’s
is expected to grow by almost 4%. In other words, while India is one of the
worst affected economies, Bangladesh is one of the bright spots.
Has this Ever Happened Earlier?
•
In 1991, when India was undergoing a severe crisis and grew by just above 1%,
Bangladesh’s per capita GDP surged ahead of India’s. Since then, India again
took the lead.
Is India Expected to regain the
Lead Again?
•
The IMF’s projections show that India is likely to grow faster next year and in
all likelihood again surge ahead. But, given Bangladesh’s lower population
growth and faster economic growth, India and Bangladesh are likely to be neck
and neck for the foreseeable future in terms of per Capita Income.
How has Bangladesh Managed to grow
so fast and so Robustly?
•
In the initial years of its independence with Pakistan, Bangladesh struggled to
grow fast.
However,
moving away from Pakistan also gave the country a chance to start afresh on its
economic and political identity.
•
As such, its labour laws were not as stringent and its economy increasingly
involved women in its labour force. This can be seen in higher female
participation in the labour force. A key driver of growth was the garment
industry where women workers gave Bangladesh the edge to corner the global
export markets from which China retreated.
It also helps that the structure of Bangladesh’s economy is such that its GDP is led by the industrial sector, followed by the services sector. Both these sectors create a lot of jobs and are more remunerative than agriculture. India, on the other hand, has struggled to boost its industrial sector and has far too many people still dependent on agriculture.
•
Beyond the economics, a big reason for Bangladesh’s progressively faster growth
rate is that, especially over the past two decades, it improved on several
social and political metrics such as health, sanitation, financial inclusion,
and women’s political representation.
•
For instance, despite a lower proportion of its population having access to
basic sanitation, the mortality rate attributed to unsafe water and sanitation
in Bangladesh is much lower than in India.
•
On financial inclusion, according to the World Bank’s Global Findex database,
while a smaller proportion of its population has bank accounts, the proportion
of dormant bank accounts is quite small when compared to India.
•
Bangladesh is also far ahead of India in the latest gender parity rankings.
This measures differences in the political and economic opportunities as well
as the educationalattainment and health of men and women. Out of 154 countries
mapped for it, Bangladesh is in the top 50 while India languishes at 112.
•
The same trend holds for the Global Hunger Index. The GHI goes beyond treating
hunger in terms of calorie intake. It looks at four factors: Undernourishment
(which reflects inadequate food availability), Child Wasting (which reflects
acute undernutrition), Child Stunting (which reflects chronic undernutrition)
and Child Mortality (which reflects both inadequate nutrition and unhealthy
environment).
India assumes chairmanship of governing body of ILO.
After
35 years, India has assumed the Chairmanship of the Governing Body of
International Labour Organization, ILO.It marks a new chapter in the 100 years
of productive relationship between India and ILO.
The
Governing Body is the apex executive body of the ILO which decides policies,
programmes, agenda, budget and elects the Director-General. At present ILO has
187 members. Mr Chandra will be presiding over the upcoming meeting of the Governing
Body to be held next month.
At
Geneva, he would have the opportunity to interact with the senior officials and
social partners of the member states..
Anti-Tank Guided Missiles.
Recently,
a laser guided Anti-Tank Guided Missile (ATGM) was successfully launched which
will undergo more validation tests.
ATGM:
•
ATGM has been indigenously developed.
•
It is laser-guided version of Anti-Tank Guided Missile.
•
It locks and tracks the targets with the help of laser designation to ensure
precision in striking the target.
•
It is test fired by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
•
It mainly differs in one aspect from other ATGMS developed i.e. it is designed
to be fired from tanks.
•
Range limited to 1.5 to 5 kilometers.
•
The missile uses a ‘tandem’ High Explosive Anti-Tank (HEAT) warhead. The term
tandem refers to the missiles using more than one detonation in order to
effectively penetrate the protective armours. This missile has the capacity of
piercing armoured vehicles which use specially designed armour plates to
counter the impact of such projectiles.
First use of ATGMs:
•
The DRDO has been working on ATGMs that can be launched from different
platforms as part of the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme.
•
The indigenously developed low weight, fire and forget Man Portable Anti-Tank
Guided Missile (MPATGM) was successfully launched 2019.
•
ATGM Nag was successfully tested in 2018.
•
All these systems, which are mainly used by infantry units of the Army, are in
their various stages of development.
•
In the meantime, the Government said that it has procured (in 2019) Anti-Tank
Spike Missiles from Israel along with the allied systems to meet operational
requirements of the Indian Army.
Importance of ATGM:
•
The armoured and mechanised vehicles have the ability to go past conventional
defenses.
•
Tank battles are generally fought in a close range of under five kilometers to
hit the enemy tank before they can take a clear shot.
•
Therefore, ATGM and other armoured warfare act as a deterrent against enemy
tanks from advancing.
•
The missile has the capability of engaging with the target even if it is not in
the line of sight Enhancing its Capability.
Indigenous ATGM in India:
•
Dhruvastra: Made in India’ anti-tank guided Nag missile. Its earlier name was
HELINA.
•
The Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile (MPATGM) is a 3rd Gen ATGM.
The
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has recently brought a study on skinks (a kind
of lizard), titled Skinks of India.
Highlights:
•
With 1,602 species of skinks across the world, It is the largest family of
lizards, having long bodies, relatively small or no legs, no pronounced neck
and glossy scales.
•
It is found around homes, garages, and open spaces such as sparks and school playgrounds,
and around lakes.
•
They are non-venomous, highly alert, agile and fast moving and actively forage
for a variety of insects and small invertebrates.
•
They have a prominent role in maintaining ecosystems, however, not much is
known about their breeding habits, and ecology because identification of the species
can be confusing.
•
In India skinks are found in all kinds of habitats in the country, from the
Himalayas to the coasts and from dense forests to the deserts.
•
The Study gives a phylogenetic (evolutionary development) and bio-geographical
analysis of distribution of these species in all the 11 bio-geographic zones of
India.
•
India is home to less than 4% of the skinks across the globe. 62 species of
skinks are found in India and about 57% of them (33 species) are endemic.
•
India is home to 16 genera of skinks, four of which are endemic. The four
genera of skinks are:
•
Sepsophis punctatus is endemic to the northern part of Eastern Ghats
•
Barkudia are limbless skinks found in the hills and coastal plains of the
eastern coast.
•
Barkudia insularis is believed to be found only in the Barkud Island in Chilka
lake in Odisha.
•
Barkudia melanosticta is endemic to Visakhapatnam.
•
Kaestlea are also known as blue-tailed ground skinks and are endemic to the
Western Ghats.
•
Ristella are also known as Cat skinks and endemic to the southern part of
Western Ghats.
Focus on mains;
Punjab Passes its own Three Agriculture Bills.
Punjab
recently became the first State in the country to formally reject the Central
government’s three agriculture sector legislations, with its Legislative
Assembly unanimously passing three Bills to negate the Union laws.
About the News:
•
The Assembly passed a resolution rejecting the Central legislations and the
proposed Electricity Amendment Bill and demanding their immediate annulment. It
also sought an ordinance to protect the Minimum Support Price (MSP) and ensure
the continuance of procurement by the Centre.
•
The three State Bills provide for imprisonment of not less than three years and
fines for sale-purchase of wheat or paddy under a farming agreement below the
MSP, besides prevention of hoarding and black-marketing of agricultural
produce, among other things.
•
The provision of punishment for sale-purchase below the MSP has been
incorporated in The Farmers ' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price
Assurance and Farm
Services
(Special Provisions and Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2020.
•
The Bill provides that no sale or purchase is done below the MSP and violation
of the same shall invite imprisonment of three years besides fine.
•
It seeks to ensure that no sale or purchase of wheat or paddy under a farming
agreement shall be allowed below the MSP. It also seeks amendment to sections
1(2), sections 19 and 20 of the Centre’s Farmers (Empowerment and Protection)
Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020. It proposes to add
new sections that are section 4, 6 to 11.
Can a state Negate Central Laws?
•
In such a case, the law made by the state legislature will prevail, provided it
is reserved for the consideration of the President of India and receives his
assent.
How can States use this Provision?
•
This provision gives flexibility to a state legislature to make a law different
from what is applicable in that state due to a parliamentary law already in
operation there.
•
This flexibility is only available on matters that are in the concurrent list
to Schedule 7 of the Constitution. Under that list both the Parliament and the
state legislatures could legislate — subject to the rule that the parliamentary
law will prevail over a state law.
What all is Covered under
Concurrent List?
•
The concurrent list provides a rich set of topics for the states to take a lead
in reform. It covers areas such as criminal law and procedure, marriage,
divorce and adoption,bankruptcy and insolvency, social security, education
(including technical and Medical Education) and Electricity.
•
Agriculture too comes under this list.
Will this Provision help the
States?
•
Though states could come out with their own Bills to some extent to override
the statutes of passed by the Parliament, none of those Bills would be
effective unless the President accords his consent to such Bills.
What happens if President does not
Give Consent?
•
According to legal experts, it’s the sole prerogative of the President whether
to sign the state Bills or not. It’s a rare circumstance, wherein a state Bill
is accepted by the President without the Centre on board. In case, the Centre
is opposing the Bill, then the President, who works on the aid and advice of
the Council of Ministers, can refuse to give his consent.
Can states approach the Supreme
Court Challenging the central law?
•
States can approach the Supreme Court under Article 131 — invoking the court’s
“original jurisdiction” — that allows a state to file a suit in the Supreme
Court in case of any dispute that it may have with the Central Government.
•
Article 131 could be used to examine the constitutionality of a statute.
Diplomatic Ties between Israel and Bahrain.
Bahrain
and Israel are signing a joint communiqué on the establishment of diplomatic,
peaceful and friendly relations, as well as a number of memorandums of
understanding in areas of Mutual Benefit.
About the News:
•
Bahrain has a history of open politics and civil society movements, although
rights have been curtailed in the past decade.
•
The decision to normalise ties comes from the belief in the values of tolerance
in a region whose people have suffered from wars and conflicts.
•
The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain became only the third and fourth Arab
states to agree to normalise ties with Israel, following Israel’s 1979 peace
deal with Egypt and a 1994 pact with Jordan.
•
Under the deal, Israel would suspend its plans to annex large parts of the
occupied West Bank. The West Bank is sandwiched between Israel and Jordan. One
of its major cities is Ramallah, the de facto administrative capital of
Palestine.
•
Israel took control of it in the Six-day Arab-Israeli war, 1967 and has over
the years established settlements there.
•
This is the second deal in 2020 after the Israel-UAE Peace Deal brokered by the
USA. The recognition grants a diplomatic win to the USA President Donald Trump
ahead of the Presidential election.
•
The deal buys UAE a lot of goodwill in the US, where its image has been
tarnished by its involvement in the Yemen war.
•
Saudi Arabia made clear that it will not normalise ties without a resolution to
the Palestinian issue despite signs of Rapprochement.
Concerns for Palestine:
•
The Palestinians have not embraced the USA’s vision. 86% of Palestinians
believed the normalization agreements with the UAE and Bahrain served only
Israel’s interests and not their own.
•
For Palestinians, who long have relied on Arab backing in their struggle for
independence, the announcement marked both a win and setback for the
Israel-Palestine relations.
•
While the deal halts Israeli annexation plans of the west Bank, the
Palestinians have repeatedly urged Arab govts. not to normalize relations with
Israel until a peace agreement establishing an independent Palestinian state is
reached.
•
Shia-Sunni rifts in the region may get wide and violent. Saudi Arabia (Sunni)
and Iran (representing Shia) have a long history of enmity. For decades, one of
the main sources of instability in West Asia has been the cold war between
Saudi Arabia and Iran.
•
The Sunni-Shiite schism may also provoke violence between Muslims in such places
as Pakistan, Nigeria and Indonesia.
Indian Interest in West Asia:
• A peaceful and prosperous West Asia is necessary for India. Such deals between Arab Countries and Israel are having a positive impact for Indian interests in the region. Also, difficulty in balancing Arab countries and Israel will become easy.
•
Indian Interests Include:
✓ Geopolitical: West
Asia occupies an important position in international relations due to its
geographical location and proximity to continents and countries South Asia,
China, Central Asia, Europe, and Africa.
✓ Energy: The region is
strategically significant due to its enormous energy resources, trade route
links to different parts of the world. It is the world's largest
oil-producingregion accounting for 34% of world production, 45% of crude oil
exports and 48% of oil proven reserves.
✓ Diaspora: Indian
expatriates have constituted a substantial share of the regional labour market.
Remittances from the region constitute a major chunk of total remittances to
India.
Way Forward:
•
A balance between Shia and Sunni, between Iran and Arab, is key to any
sustainable peace.
•
The US may be a pre-eminent power in the Middle East, but Russia has made a
space for itself, spending a lot less money. In recent years, China has indicated
its willingness to play a larger role in this region. India should make its
moves before this market and this extended neighbourhood come under the Chinese
sphere of influence.
•
A deal that could, if played right; open the doors for a changed geopolitical
arrangement in the Middle East should have a stronger Indian footprint.
