Quad Grouping is a Diplomatic Arrangement: U.S.
Context:
Terming the Quad grouping as a “diplomatic arrangement”, visiting U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Samuel J. Paparo said that strategy always follows policy and the four Navies have embarked upon an effort to increase the “total sum of our collaboration at sea with particular focus on information sharing, maritime patrol, undersea domain awareness” and all the elements a Naval power can bring upon to bear.
Relevance:
GS II: Groupings & Agreements Involving India and/or Affecting India’s Interests
Dimensions of the Article:
- Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD):
- Purpose of Quad
- Significance of Quad
- The Quad is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely –India, United States of America, Australia and Japan.
- One of the primary objectives of the Quad is, to work for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
- The group for the first time met in 2007 on the side lines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
- It is considered an alliance of maritime democracies.
- The forum is maintained through meetings, semi-regular summits, information exchanges, and military drills of all the member countries.
- The motive behind the Quad is, to keep the strategic sea routes in the Indo-Pacific, free of any military or political influence.
- The core objective of the Quad is, to secure a rules-based global order, freedom of navigation and, a liberal trading system.
- The coalition also aims to offer, alternative debt financing for nations in the Indo-Pacific region.
Purpose of Quad:
- Recently the U.S. has clarified that Quad is not a security or military partnership.
- Its purpose is to advance cooperation on key priorities in specific sectors that is consistent with international law
- It promotes shared values of its members and underpins peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
- A U.S. State Department spokesperson said that “We work to support the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity through open dialogue and information sharing on a diverse set of issue areas, including Maritime Security”.
Significance of Quad:
Quad is becoming a powerful mechanism and its significance is given below:
- Helping to vaccinate a big part of the world and getting a lot of vaccines out there,
- Strengthening maritime security to push back against aggression and coercion in the Indo-Pacific region,
- Working together on emerging technologies and making sure that they can be used in positive ways and an increasingly broad and deep agenda.
- It also supports many activities/platforms as part of its shared approach to the Indo-Pacific.
PM Gati Shakti
Context:
Prime Minister urged State governments as well as private sector to adopt the Gati Shakti portal to plan infrastructure projects and develop special economic zones.
- Portal would be set up to bring 16 Ministries together for integrated planning and implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects. The portal is expected to be ready by March end.
Relevance:
GS-III: Industry and Infrastructure (Industrial Policy, Government Policies and Initiatives), GS-III: Indian Economy (Growth and Development of Indian Economy)
Dimensions of the Article:
- About PM Gati Shakti Yojana 2021
- Significance of PM Gati Shakti
About PM Gati Shakti Yojana 2021
- PM Gati Shakti Yojana 2021 is a 100 lakh crore national infrastructure master plan that would provide a leap to Atmnirbhar Bharat and provide multimodal connectivity to boost the infrastructure development of the country.
- This Masterplan will bring together 16 Ministries and seven core infrastructure sectors, on a single platform in order to synergise project planning across stakeholder ministries for avoiding duplication, plug gaps and expedite clearances at the right time.
- Gati Shakti Scheme was launched with the aim of achieving three basic goals namely:
- Seamless multimodal connectivity for facilitating easy movement of goods & people,
- Improved prioritisation, optimal usage of resources, timely creation of capacities, and
- Resolution of issues like disjointed planning, standardisation & clearances. This project would help in the improvement of National Infrastructure by lending them more money and providing them with more speed.
- It seeks to attract investment from worldwide to improve the infrastructure in India and will provide new direction & fresh momentum for overall infrastructure development in India and the scheme will also create employment opportunities for the youth.
- The projects under the $1.5 Trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline would be included under PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
- Private players would also get a boost to invest in National infrastructure as easy clearances and monetary help would be available to them.
- This project would also provide last-mile connectivity to economic zones in a definite timeframe.
Significance of PM Gati Shakti
- India’s projects were earlier a victim of interministerial delays, multiple stakeholders and a culture to work in silos. This led to cost overruns and hampered decision making, in turn, delaying the projects and development for good. The Gati Shakti Master Plan would cut down such loopholes and consolidate the infrastructure projects in some specific corridors without getting into various long timed approval processes.
- There would also be a geographic information system (GIS) enabled digital platform under Gati Shakti that would be useful for gathering relevant information on any regions topography, satellite images and physical features. This would help the ministries to save funds and approve projects timely as well.
PM GatiShakti is based on six pillars:
1. Comprehensiveness: It will include all the existing and planned initiatives of various Ministries and Departments with one centralized portal. Each and every Department will now have visibility of each other’s activities providing critical data while planning & execution of projects in a comprehensive manner.
2. Prioritization: Through this, different Departments will be able to prioritize their projects through cross–sectoral interactions.
3. Optimization: The National Master Plan will assist different ministries in planning for projects after identification of critical gaps. For the transportation of the goods from one place to another, the plan will help in selecting the most optimum route in terms of time and cost.
4. Synchronization: Individual Ministries and Departments often work in silos. There is lack of coordination in planning and implementation of the project resulting in delays. PM GatiShakti will help in synchronizing the activities of each department, as well as of different layers of governance, in a holistic manner by ensuring coordination of work between them.
5. Analytical: The plan will provide the entire data at one place with GIS based spatial planning and analytical tools having 200+ layers, enabling better visibility to the executing agency.
6. Dynamic: All Ministries and Departments will now be able to visualize, review and monitor the progress of cross-sectoral projects, through the GIS platform, as the satellite imagery will give on-ground progress periodically and progress of the projects will be updated on a regular basis on the portal. It will help in identifying the vital interventions for enhancing and updating the master plan.
Core Sector Growth
Context:
India’s output from all eight core infrastructure sectors surpassed pre-pandemic production levels this January, even as the pace of growth slowed marginally to 3.7% from a 4.1% uptick recorded in December 2021.
Relevance:
GS-III: Indian Economy (Growth and Development of Indian Economy, Inflation)
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is Index of Industrial Production (IIP)?
- About Index of Eight Core Industries:
- Significance of IIP:
What is Index of Industrial Production (IIP)?
- The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that shows the growth rates in different industry groups of the economy in a fixed period of time.
- It is compiled and published MONTHLY by the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
- Base Year for IIP is 2011-2012.
- IIP is a composite indicator that measures the growth rate of industry groups classified under:
- Broad sectors, namely, Mining, Manufacturing, and Electricity.
- Use-based sectors, namely Basic Goods, Capital Goods, and Intermediate Goods
About Index of Eight Core Industries:
- The Eight Core Industries comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
Released by: The Office of the Economic Adviser, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade
Base year: 2011-12
Below image attached Eight Core Industries based on their weightage.
Significance of IIP:
- IIP is the only measure on the physical volume of production.
- It is used by government agencies including the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, etc., for policy-making purposes.
- IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP estimates.
Land Protests Over Deocha Pachami Coal Block
Context:
The West Bengal government’s ambitious Deocha Pachami coal block mining project despite the announcement of a relief and rehabilitation package, saw widespread protests which resulted in the arrests of nine people.
Relevance:
GS III- Indian Economy (Energy)
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is the Deocha Pachami coal block mining project?
- Why are locals upset?
What is the Deocha Pachami coal block mining project?
- The State government is planning to start mining at the Deocha Pachami coal block, considered to be the largest coal block in the country with reserves of around 1,198 million tonnes of coal and 1,400 million cubic metres of basalt, spread over an area of 12.31 sq. km, which is around 3,400 acres.
- There are around 12 villages in the project area with a population of over 21,000, comprising Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
- However, the ₹35,000 crore Bengal government project is facing protests over land acquisition.
- The government owns 1,000 acres, of which 300 acres is forest land, but needs to acquire the rest to begin coal mining.
Why are locals upset?
- Villagers have been organising protests and rallies against the project, with activists claiming that there is a “misleading propaganda” that locals are willing to “give land voluntarily”.
- Locals, mostly Santhal tribals, have close affinity with the land, with forests and waterways, and rely on it for their needs.
- The project is facing protests over land acquisition of which a significant part is forest land.
- The tribals were harassed and had been arrested under false and serious charges for protesting.
- Also, the project details have not yet been made public; and the environment clearance is awaited.
IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report
Context:
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the second part of its sixth assessment report. The first part was released in 2021.
Relevance:
GS III- Environment (Climate change)
Dimensions of the Article:
- About the IPCC
- IPCC Assessment Reports
- Highlights of the recent report
About the IPCC
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the international body for assessing the science related to climate change set up by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988.
- IPCC was created to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change, its impacts and future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.
- IPCC assessments provide a scientific basis for governments at all levels to develop climate related policies, and they underlie negotiations at the UN Climate Conference – the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
- IPCC does not carry out original research. It does not monitor climate or related phenomena itself. However, it conducts a systematic review of published literature and then produces a comprehensive assessment report.
IPCC Assessment Reports
- The IPCC Assessment Reports are published once in about 7 years – and they are the most comprehensive scientific evaluations of the state of Earth’s climate. The 6th such assessment report was published in 2021.
- Prior to the AR6 in 2021, five assessment reports have been produced with the first one being released in 1990. The fifth assessment report had come out in 2014 in the run up to the climate change conference in Paris.
- The Assessment Reports are prepared by three working groups of scientists:
- Working Group-I – Deals with the scientific basis for climate change.
- Working Group-II – Looks at the likely impacts, vulnerabilities and adaptation issues.
- Working Group-III – Deals with actions that can be taken to combat climate change.
Highlights of the recent report
- According to a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) ,The world faces unavoidable multiple climate hazards over the next two decades with global warming of 1.5°C and even temporarily exceeding this warming level would mean additional, severe impacts, some of which will be irreversible,
- The latest report has, for the first time, made an assessment of regional and sectoral impacts of climate change. It has included risks to, and vulnerabilities of, mega-cities around the world.
- For example, it has said Mumbai is at high risk of sea-level rise and flooding, while Ahmedabad faces serious danger of heat-waves. Such granular information was not available in previous assessment reports. Flooding in Mumbai and heat-waves in Ahmedabad are common occurrences.
- Also for the first time, the IPCC report has looked at the health impacts of climate change. It has found that climate change is increasing vector-borne and water-borne diseases such as malaria or dengue, particularly in sub-tropical regions of Asia.
- It has also said deaths related to circulatory, respiratory, diabetic and infectious diseases, as well as infant mortality, are likely to increase with a rise in temperature.
- Increasing frequency of extreme weather events like heatwaves, flooding and drought, and even air pollution was contributing to under-nutrition, allergic diseases and even mental disorders.
- The report has said that while strong actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the near term, in the next 20 years, would substantially reduce the threats, and the projected damages, they would not eliminate them all.
- If the temperature rise crossed the threshold of 1.5°C from pre-industrial times, then many changes could be irreversible.
- The report has stressed the need to take adaptation measures.
International Court of Justice
Context:
Ukraine has filed an application before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), instituting proceedings against the Russian Federation concerning “a dispute relating to the interpretation, application and fulfilment of the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide” (the “Genocide Convention”).
- Ukraine has accused Russia of falsely claiming that “acts of genocide have occurred in the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts of Ukraine”, and of using that as a pretext to recognise the independence of these regions and of going to war against Ukraine.
Relevance:
GS II- International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
- About International Court of Justice
- Seat and role of ICJ
- Judges of the court
- India at the ICJ
About International Court of Justice
- The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN).
- It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946.
- The court is the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ), which was brought into being through, and by, the League of Nations, and which held its inaugural sitting at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, in February 1922.
- After World War II, the League of Nations and PCIJ were replaced by the United Nations and ICJ respectively. The PCIJ was formally dissolved in April 1946, and its last president, Judge José Gustavo Guerrero of El Salvador, became the first president of the ICJ.
- The first case, which was brought by the UK against Albania and concerned incidents in the Corfu channel — the narrow strait of the Ionian Sea between the Greek island of Corfu and Albania on the European mainland — was submitted in May 1947.
Seat and role of ICJ
- Like the PCIJ, the ICJ is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague.
- It is the only one of the six principal organs of the UN that is not located in New York City.
- (The other five organs are the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the Trusteeship Council, and the Secretariat.)
- According to the ICJ’s own description, its role is “to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorized United Nations organs and specialized agencies”. The court “as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world”.
- The judges of the court are assisted by a Registry, the administrative organ of the ICJ.
- English and French are the ICJ’s official languages.
- All members of the UN are automatically parties to the ICJ statute, but this does not automatically give the ICJ jurisdiction over disputes involving them.
- The ICJ gets jurisdiction only if both parties consent to it.
- The judgment of the ICJ is final and technically binding on the parties to a case.
- There is no provision of appeal; it can at the most, be subject to interpretation or, upon the discovery of a new fact, revision.
- However, the ICJ has no way to ensure compliance of its orders, and its authority is derived from the willingness of countries to abide by them.
Judges of the court
- The ICJ has 15 judges who are elected to nine-year terms by the UN General Assembly and Security Council, which vote simultaneously but separately.
- To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of the votes in both bodies, a requirement that sometimes necessitates multiple rounds of voting.
- Elections are held at the UNHQ in New York during the annual UNGA meeting.
- A third of the court is elected every three years.
- The judges elected at the triennial election commence their term of office on February 6 of the following year.
- The president and vice-president of the court are elected for three-year terms by secret ballot. Judges are eligible for re-election.
- Four Indians have been members of the ICJ so far.
India at the ICJ
India has been a party to a case at the ICJ on six occasions, four of which have involved Pakistan.
They are:
- Right of Passage over Indian Territory (Portugal v. India, culminated 1960);
- Appeal Relating to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council (India v. Pakistan, culminated 1972);
- Trial of Pakistani Prisoners of War (Pakistan v. India, culminated 1973);
- Aerial Incident of 10 August 1999 (Pakistan v. India, culminated 2000);
- Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India, culminated 2016);
- (Kulbhushan) Jadhav (India v. Pakistan, culminated 2019).
