THE INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. MOU FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF BBIN MOTOR VEHICLES AGREEMENT

THE CONTEXT: India, Bangladesh and Nepal finalized an enabling MoU to be signed by them for the implementation of the BBIN Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA), pending ratification of the MVA by Bhutan.

What is BBIN Motor Vehicle Agreement?

• India proposed a SAARC Motor Vehicle Agreement during the SAARC Summit in Kathmandu in November 2014. Due to objections from Pakistan, an agreement could not be reached. India instead pursued a similar motor vehicle agreement with the BBIN. The Bangladesh-Bhutan-India-Nepal Motor Vehicles Agreement was signed on 15 June 2015.
• It enables vehicles to enter any of the four nations without the need for trans-shipment of goods from one country’s truck to another’s at the border. Under the system, cargo vehicles are tracked electronically, permits are issued online and sent electronically to all land ports. Vehicles are fitted with an electronic seal that alerts regulators every time the container door is opened.

Significance:

• Signing of the BBIN agreement will promote safe, economical efficient and environmentally sound road transport in the sub-region and will further help each country in creating an institutional mechanism for regional integration. BBIN countries will be benefited by mutual cross border movement of passenger and goods for overall economic development of the region. The people of the four countries will benefit through seamless movement of goods and passenger across borders.
• The implementation of the agreement is expected to improve the value chain in sub-regional trade. BBIN sub-grouping was expected to be the gateway to southeast and east Asia. India is working for development of inter connectivity infrastructure for Myanmar and Thailand.

2. INDIAN WOMEN JOIN UN PEACEKEEPING MISSIONS

THE CONTEXT: In January 2022, at the United Nations Security Council, Indian officials called for more female participation in public life and the elimination of violence against them as a prerequisite for promoting lasting peace around the world.

THE EXPLANATION:

• For the first time in the history of UN peacekeeping, India sent an all-female Formed Police Unit (FPU) to be deployed in Liberia in 2007 after a civil war ravaged the African nation.
• According to the UN, of around 95,000 peacekeepers in 2020, women comprised 4.8% of military contingents and 10.9% of formed police units.
• Meanwhile, around 34% of personnel in peacekeeping missions were women.

About UN Peacekeeping Mission:

UN peacekeepers provide security and the political and peace building support to help countries make the difficult, early transition from conflict to peace.

UN Peacekeeping is guided by three basic principles:

• Consent of the parties.
• Non-use of force except in self-defence and defence of the mandate.

Peacekeeping is flexible and over the past two decades has been deployed in many configurations. There are currently 12 UN peacekeeping operations deployed on three continents.

Global partnership

• UN peacekeeping is a unique global partnership. It brings together the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Secretariat, troop and police contributors and the host governments in a combined effort to maintain international peace and security.
• Its strength lies in the legitimacy of the UN Charter and in the wide range of contributing countries that participate and provide precious resources.

THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

3. EXPLAINED: WHAT DOES RBI’S $5 BILLION DOLLAR-RUPEE SWAP MEAN?

THE CONTEXT: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducted a $ 5 billion dollar-rupee swap auction as part of its liquidity management initiative, leading to infusion of dollars and sucking out of the rupee from the financial system. The central bank’s move will reduce the pressure on inflation and strengthen the rupee.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The central bank said it received bids worth $13.56 billion for the sell/buy auction. It accepted 86 of these bids for $5.135 billion. The cut-off premium was set at 656 paise. The first leg of the settlement will be March 10, 2022, and the second leg will be March 11, 2024.
• The RBI sold $5.135 billion to banks on March 8,2022 and simultaneously agreed to buy back the dollars at the end of the swap settlement period. When the central bank sells dollars, it sucks out an equivalent amount in rupees, thus reducing the rupee liquidity in the system. Dollar inflow into the market will strengthen the rupee which has already hit the 77 level against the US dollar.

What’s the impact of the swap?

• The RBI would have removed close to Rs 39,000 crore ($5.135 billion) at rupee closing rate of 76.91 per dollar. The major impact will be that liquidity which currently averages around Rs 7.6 lakh crore will shrink.
• The RBI normally brings down liquidity in the system when inflation threatens to rise sharply. With crude oil prices rising sharply in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, inflation is set to rise in the coming days.

What is a Dollar–Rupee Swap auction?

• It’s a forex tool whereby the central bank uses its currency to buy another currency or vice versa.
• In a Dollar–Rupee buy/sell swap, the central bank buys dollars (US dollars or USD) from banks in exchange for Indian Rupees (INR) and immediately gets into an opposite deal with banks promising to sell dollars at a later date.
• In a dollar–rupee sell/buy swap it sells USD in exchange for INR and promises to buy dollar from banks after some years.

THE ENVIRONMENT, ECOLOGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

4. ASSAM’S MANAS NATIONAL PARK WITNESSES SHARP RISE IN TIGER, RHINO POPULATION

THE CONTEXT: Assam’s Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve has witnessed a sharp rise in the population of tigers and rhinos in recent times.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The authorities of the national park expect the tiger population will rise to more than 60 from 48 as per the 2021 census.
• In 2010, the tiger population of the park was recorded 10 while in 2020 it had increased to 30.
• In 2010, after the first tiger census in Manas National Park was conducted the Tiger Conservation Authority had said during their analysis that the national park’s tiger population will be increased by double in 2020 and it reached 30.
• In the 2021 census, 48 tigers were counted in the park which means the tiger population had increased by 18 within a year. The census for 2022 is ongoing and it will be finished by March and it is being expected that the population will increase to more than 60.

Rhino Population

The park’s Rhino population has also increased. Under the Indian Rhino Vision 2020 (IRV 2020), the Assam government decided to reintroduce rhinos in Manas National Park in 2005, and the first rhino was translocated to the park in 2006, from the Centre for Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation (CWRC) near Kaziranga National Park.

About Manas National Park

• Manas National Park is situated on the bank of the river mans at the foothills of the Himalayas. The beautiful park earlier known as North Kamrup wildlife sanctuary is spread over an area of 519.77 sq km and was declared a sanctuary on December 01, 1928. It was established as the core of the Manas Tiger Reserve from April 1973 and elevated to the position of a National Park status on September 7, 1990.
• The wildlife spices found in national park are Hispid Hare, Pigmy Hog, Golden Langur, Indian Rhinoceros, Asiatic Buffalo etc. Other commonly seen animals are Elephant, Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Himalayan Bear, Wild Boar, Samber, Swamp Deer, Hog Deer etc.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

5. FUSOBACTERIUM PLAYS IN ORAL CANCER PATIENTS IN INDIA

THE CONTEXT: Scientists at Tata Memorial Centre developed a highly sensitive and specific automated computational tool HPV Detector to quantify the presence of human papillomavirus (HPV).

THE EXPLANATION:

Since the beginning of the 20th Century, it is known that infections could play a role in cancer, with 18-20% of cancers associated with infectious agents. This could be relatively higher in developing countries like India. 

• The analysis revealed significant occurrence of HPV 16, 18, and 31, among others, in cervical cancer. But a surprising finding was that Indian patients with oral tumours showing a distinct tobacco usage gene signature were devoid of HPV infection.

• This was in sharp contrast to the oral tumours among Caucasian patients, wherein tobacco genetic signature is not common but is marked by a significant presence of HPV. Several groups have corroborated this finding, and it is well established that oral tumours among Indian patients are not driven by HPV infection.

• Interestingly, Fusobacterium nucleatum is known to play a vital role in colorectal cancer, wherein its presence affects the spread of the disease and the patient’s response to chemotherapy. However, a similar role of Fusobacterium in oral cancer was not known earlier. The presence of the bacteria was found in Indian and Caucasian oral cancer patients, with a much higher incidence among the Indian patients. Moreover, oral cancer patients positive for Fusobacterium were found to be negative for HPV infection, suggesting they are present in a mutually exclusive way.

Value Addition :

• Human papillomavirus (HPV) is a viral infection that’s passed between people through skin-to-skin contact. There are over 100 varieties of HPV, more than 40 Trusted Source of which are passed through sexual contact and can affect your genitals, mouth, or throat.
• Colon cancer is a type of cancer that begins in the large intestine (colon). The colon is the final part of the digestive tract.

THE PRELIMS PERSPECTIVE

6. FIRST INDIAN TO GET BOLTZMANN MEDAL

THE CONTEXT: Professor Deepak Dhar, a physicist and emeritus faculty at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, has been selected to receive the prestigious Boltzmann Medal for 2022.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Dhar has been given the award for his seminal contributions to several areas of statistical physics, including exact solutions of self-organized criticality models, inter-facial growth, universal long-time relaxation in disordered magnetic systems, exact solutions in percolation and cluster counting problems and definition of the spectral dimension of fractals.
• He took on several areas of statistical physics to understand the behaviour of self-organised critical systems, explain the dynamics at phase interfaces, and define the spectral dimension of fractals”.

About Boltzmann Medal:

• The Boltzmann Medal (or Boltzmann Award) is a prize awarded to physicists that obtain new results concerning statistical mechanics; it is named after the celebrated physicist Ludwig Boltzmann.
• The Boltzmann Medal is awarded once every three years by the Commission on Statistical Physics of the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics, during the STATPHYS conference.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY 9^TH MARCH  2022

Q1. Consider the following statements about the office of Governor:

1. The Sarkaria Commission recommended that the appointee should be someone from outside the respective State so that he would not have any personal interest to protect.
2. The Punchhi commission recommended that Governor shall have fixed tenure.

Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?

a) 1 only

b) 2 only

c) Both 1 and 2

d) Neither 1 nor 2

 ANSWER FOR 8^th MARCH 2022

Q1. Answer: D

Explanation:

• The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) is a statutory body formed under the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas, Act 2021.
• It will supersede bodies such as the central and state pollution control boards of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, UP and Rajasthan.

1. Going beyond the limitations of gender READ MORE
2. Culture and Behaviour READ MORE
3. Human touch: As in other spheres, doctors are thinking about the need for humanising medicine READ MORE

1. Degradation, loss of coral reefs can affect 4.5 million people in southeast Asia: IPCC report READ MORE  
2. Reaching ‘net zero’ by leveraging finance READ MORE
3. 175 Countries Resolve to ‘End Plastic Pollution’. What Does It Mean for India? READ MORE

1. If women are not empowered, the economy loses READ MORE
2. With Marital Rape and Love Jihad, the Govt Can’t Call Itself an Advocate for Women’s Empowerment READ MORE`

1. A case for reforming Lokpal and Lokayukta READ MORE
2. Making Legal Aid Effective for Women Prisoners READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. PM lauds Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav Abhiyan READ MORE
2. Biden Bans Imports of Russian Oil, Natural Gas READ MORE
3. Bangladesh, India, Nepal move ahead on motor vehicle agreement project READ MORE
4. The rules around guardianship of minors READ MORE
5. After 2-year gap, all international flights to resume from March 27 READ MORE
6. Indian women join UN peacekeeping missions READ MORE
7. Explained: What does RBI’s $5 billion dollar-rupee swap mean? READ MORE
8. Assam’s Manas National Park witnesses sharp rise in tiger, rhino population READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. If women are not empowered, the economy loses READ MORE
2. With Marital Rape and Love Jihad, the Govt Can’t Call Itself an Advocate for Women’s Empowerment READ MORE`

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. A case for reforming Lokpal and Lokayukta READ MORE
2. Making Legal Aid Effective for Women Prisoners READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. Clear signals: India and China must take on boardglobal currents that could reshape ties READ MORE
2. Russia-Ukraine War: India’s balancing act READ MORE
3. Ukraine crisis tilting balance of global power READ MORE
4. Time for United Nations to reform itself to new challenges READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Global stagflation risk: India will have to cut fuel taxes or risk both faster inflation and slower growth READ MORE
2. The macroeconomic framework that can guide our policy choices READ MORE
3. Dealing with a weaker rupee READ MORE
4. How the Russia-Ukraine Crisis Could Affect Food Prices in India READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Degradation, loss of coral reefs can affect 4.5 million people in southeast Asia: IPCC report READ MORE  
2. Reaching ‘net zero’ by leveraging finance READ MORE
3. 175 Countries Resolve to ‘End Plastic Pollution’. What Does It Mean for India? READ MORE

SECURITY

1. As prospects of arms control wane, the rise of nuclear risks READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. Going beyond the limitations of gender READ MORE
2. Culture and Behaviour READ MORE
3. Human touch: As in other spheres, doctors are thinking about the need for humanising medicine READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Due to an unimaginative legislation followed by the executive’s apathy and judicial insensitivity the Lokpal-Lokayukta System in India has touched a new low’. Discuss, what should be done to revive the this institution?
2. Discuss how the higher representation of women in political decision-making positions can help increase women’s autonomy in their families and economy?
3. Conflicts like the present Ukraine crisis the UN needs to speed up its reform process to make it more effective. In the light of the statement, analyse the reforms required to make UN an influential international body.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• India’s policymakers face a tough choice: bear the cost of lower revenue by cutting fuel taxes or risk both faster inflation and slower growth.
• As India and China continue to seek a much-needed modus vivendi to restore ties from the lowest point in decades and ensure peace on the border, they will also need to have a broader conversation about global currents that are reshaping their bilateral relations.
• Only by creating a level playing field can we see the true potential of women as well as that of the nation.
• Every woman in our country deserves equal access to opportunities. It is only when we level up the playing field, do we see the true potential of our Bhartiya naari.
• Given that economic uncertainty coupled with higher inflation will act as a drag on private consumption, governments must ensure revenue spending is not contractionary in inflation-adjusted terms.
• If we are to do any justice to the Constitutional mandate of equality before law, and the right to legal representation, we must put in place a mechanism to provide competent and effective legal aid to all those who cannot afford it, particularly to those languishing in jail.
• Heatwaves in the waters are reducing monsoonal rains over central India, while the rapid warming of the ocean’s northern portions is intensifying cyclones.
• Lokpal should be a body of persons from different walks of life who have impeccable integrity and who are held in high esteem by the public.
• Higher representation of women in political decision-making positions can help increase women’s autonomy in their families and economy.
• Given China’s close ties with Russia, India may have to play its cards deftly in the geopolitical sweepstakes.

50-WORD TALK

• For ideals or rupees, Indians have sacrificed their lives across the world—so it’s unsurprising some are volunteering to fight for Ukraine. Indians serve the French and United States armies. They fought in two World Wars, Spain and even Lebanon. Battlefields are cruel but meritocratic, and open to global talent!
• Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi blaming “some forces” – read Washington – for stoking tensions between India and China is a bit absurd. The facts speak for themselves and it’s time Beijing ends this diplomatic deception. Military talks this week is a good opportunity to display sincerity and begin repairing the relationship.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

[WpProQuiz 176]

THE CONTEXT: The latest announcement about the creation of India’s first Maritime Theater Command by 2021 is a seminal development and part of the long-overdue transformation of India’s armed forces. The maritime theater command will be the first new “geographical” theater command to be created, as part of the biggest-ever military restructuring plan since India’s independence in 1947 when the Indian army, navy, and air force were initially structured under separate operational commands. This article discusses the significance, needs, and challenges related to the single Maritime Theater Command.

BASIC INFORMATION ABOUT MARITIME THEATER COMMAND

• Maritime Theatre Command, headed by a Navy vice-admiral and based in Karwar, Karnataka, responsible for the entire maritime domain. It will subsume the Navy’s current eastern and western commands, as well as the tri-Service Andaman and Nicobar Command, and include the Army’s amphibious formations.
• The Air Force’s surveillance, strike, and missile assets will be available to the Maritime Theatre Commander, but this integration will be looser than that between naval and army assets.
• The new maritime theater command commander-in-chief will exercise full operational control over extant western and eastern naval fleets.
• Operational control over maritime strike fighter jets and transport aircraft from the air force and the navy, two amphibious infantry brigades, and other assets under the Andaman and Nicobar Joint Command.
• The Maritime Theatre Commander will report to the Chiefs of Staff Committee, effectively making the Chief of Defence Staff the highest military commander.

SIGNIFICANCE

• Efficiency – This arrangement will impact overall operational planning and efficiency, particularly in matters related to a new acquisition, compatibility of equipment, drills/ procedures, training, and logistics, leading to huge wastages.
• Force multiplier– Under the maritime theater command, the integration of air force and army elements with naval assets will act as a force multiplier. For instance, a recently established Sukhoi 30 fighter squadron — the “Tigersharks” – equipped with the Brahmos missile, currently based at Thanjavur under the Southern Air Command, will now be part of the maritime theater command. With INS Vikramaditya being the sole operational aircraft carrier in the Indian navy’s arsenal, sustaining credible surveillance and dominance in the region badly required an additional punch, and the Sukhoi squadron provides that much-needed shot in the arm.
• Increased capability-Over the next few years, it is likely that the air force could position additional aircraft at other locations such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, overlooking the strategic Strait of Malacca. This could boost India’s maritime and air surveillance and strike capability deep into the Indian Ocean.
• Integration of the army troops with amphibious elements of the navy will help to strengthen the country’s expeditionary capabilities.

NEED OF MARITIME THEATER COMMAND

The geostrategic advantage-The central location of the Indian peninsula thrusting out into the Indian Ocean and the Andaman Nicobar Islands, overlooking crucial shipping lanes and strategic choke points, has provided India with a huge geostrategic advantage over China, which is heavily dependent on shipping for its global trade and energy needs. Up to this point, this geographical advantage seems to have worked for India in maintaining a favorable balance of power with China. But the last decade has seen a rapid growth of Chinese maritime power and economic/political influence in the Indian Ocean region.

Chinese influence-The PLA Navy’s continued deployments and activities in the region since 2009, when Chinese naval ships first entered the Indian Ocean to participate in anti-piracy patrols off Somalia, has impinged on India’s sphere of influence. In less than a decade China made quick gains in consolidating its position in the wider region by establishing its first naval base at Djibouti in 2017. Concurrently, strategic projects such as the Belt and Road Initiative have helped expand Chinese economic and political influence.

These developments have put pressure on the Indian navy and sometimes even also led to tensions. For instance, the increase in PLA Navy activities in the region including submarine deployments has forced the Indian navy to step up ship and air operations in the region. Also, in 2019, a Chinese naval vessel entered India’s exclusive economic zone without approval and was asked to leave by the Indian navy.

On the whole, these advances in China’s maritime powers have not only diluted India’s geostrategic advantage, posing a challenge to India’s leadership in the Indian Ocean region but also emboldened China to engender a conflict situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), at Doklam in 2017 and later in the Ladakh region this year. The new maritime theater command will further help India consolidate and strengthen its maritime power in the Indian Ocean region.

CHALLENGES

• The design of a single Maritime Theatre Command presumes that all maritime is one theatre. Yet, that is hardly the case. There are three distinct maritime geographies to the west, south, and east, making them distinct theatres.
• The adversaries, geopolitics, operational contexts, missions, and roles in the waters to India’s west, south, east, and beyond are vastly different in each of these theatres.
• The idea of a single Land Theatre Command or an Air Theatre Command is considered absurd because geography, adversary, and threats are distinctly different in the west, north, south, and east, despite the domains themselves being arguably “inseparable whole”. The maritime domain is no different, and no more a “single theatre” than land and air is.
• Our geographical and geopolitical context suggests that we need at least two maritime-focused commands, facing west and east. These should include the requisite land, air, space, and cyber components so that the theatre commander has the complete complement of assets necessary to handle the range of anticipated threats emerging in that theatre.
• The theatre commander need not always be a Navy officer but can come from any Service. Indeed, one urgent task for the CDS would be to ensure that the career track of officers is restructured such that the top echelons of the theatre command consist of officers who have cross-service experience.
• India is underinvested in sea power there is only so much you can do to move naval assets from one side of the peninsula to the other. If the pressure on defense expenditure is high, we must prioritize naval acquisitions.
• The Arabian Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Bay of Bengal, and the Straits of Malacca are all connected to the Indian Ocean but have distinct names for reasons of history, geography, and the resulting politics. The strategy should recognize this reality.

CURRENT COMMAND STRUCTURE IN INDIA

• The current structure of the armed forces includes 17 different commands. The army and Air force have 7 Commands each and 3 commands are headed by the Navy. Under the Army, the commands are the Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western, Central, South-western, Central, and Maintenance and Training.
• The Navy is divided into Western, Eastern, and Southern commands.
• Each command is headed by a 4-star rank military officer.
• India only has two tri-service commands. The first one is known as the Andaman and Nicobar Command (ANC) and was created in 2001. It is led by service chiefs on a rotational basis. The second is a functional command (not overseeing a particular geographical location) called the Strategic Forces Command established in 2006.

WAY FORWARD:

• Integrating tri-service elements seamlessly at various levels will require rigorous training and development of fresh joint doctrines and strategy, and these will probably be the next few steps in operationalizing the new command.
• India’s changed economic and fiscal trajectory had been a factor, the small Andaman and Nicobar Command to evolve into a regional power projection role, specializing in traditional “out of area” operations in deeper partnership with friendly foreign armed forces. Even so, we should not let present-day constraints permanently limit our thinking. If India has to be a major regional power in this century, we need expeditionary capacity.
• On balance, the maritime theater command will add a new dimension to India’s efforts to counter Chinese in the Indian Ocean, and once operationalized, it could even help to restore normalcy along the India-China LAC.

JUST TO ADD IN YOUR KNOWLEDGE

The post of Chief of Defence Staff was created to provide “effective leadership at the top level” to the three wings of the armed forces and to help improve coordination among them. Along with it, the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) was created as the fifth department within the Ministry of Defence.

• CDS acts as the permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee which will also have three service chiefs as members.
• His core function will be to foster greater operational synergy between the three service branches of the Indian military and keep inter-service frictions to a minimum.
• He will also head the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DOMA) in the Ministry of Defence.
• The CDS will be the single-point military adviser to the Defence Minister on matters involving all three services and the service chiefs will be obliged to confine their counsel to issues about their respective services.
• As the head of DoMA, CDS is vested with the authority in prioritizing inter-service procurement decisions as Permanent Chairman-Chiefs of Staff Committee.
• The CDS is also vested with the authority to provide directives to the three chiefs. However, he does not enjoy any command authority over any of the forces.
• CDS is first among equals, he enjoys the rank of Secretary within the DoD and his powers will be confined to only the revenue budget.
• He will also perform an advisory role in the Nuclear Command Authority (NCA).