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With Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese listening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that if any element, “by their thoughts or actions”, harms India-Australia relations, “it is not acceptable”.
Modi made these comments in the context of attacks on temples in Australia as well as the referendum being conducted by pro-Khalistan groups in Australia. He had raised these issues in March as well, when Albanese visited India.
Focussing on the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), Albanese said: “We reiterated our shared ambition for an early conclusion of the Australia-India CECA later this year.”
After their bilateral meeting, Modi said: “PM Albanese and I have discussed the issue of attacks on temples in Australia and the activities of separatist elements in the past.
Today also, we had discussions on the issue. It is not acceptable to us that any element harms the warm and friendly relations between India and Australia by their thoughts or actions.
I thank PM Albanese for the steps he has taken in this regard. And at the same time, he assured me once again that he will continue to take strict action against such elements.”
Editorial
She, the civil servant (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
In a heartening piece of news for our country, women have topped the UPSC civil services exam again this year: Of the total of 933 successful candidates, 320 are women.
That this is the highest percentage of women candidates selected in any year calls for celebration, but one must not forget that it is far less than the proportion of women in the population.
As a society, we have been encouraging women to be educated, financially secure and independent. We want them to be the equals of men at work. However, we have failed stunningly in preparing ourselves for such women.
There is hardly any talk of an equal ecosystem at home. It is true that some physical load of jobs traditionally done by women has been outsourced in some households — there is someone to cook the food, clean the house and wash the clothes.
Yet the mental load remains — what is to be made for breakfast, flour and sugar need to be bought, the child needs to be vaccinated and so on.
It is routine for me to get a call in the midst of an important meeting with words and be told, “Madam, ghar mein aloo khatam hai.” Few gentlemen officers would have had such an experience.
I don’t blame the person who makes this call. For him, the kitchen is his workplace and cooking nutritious meals his job. So, he will seek supervision on issues that are important in his view.
However, one would be lying if one said that managing the kitchen, taking responsibility for the child, and work are not overwhelming. And one does hope these responsibilities can be shared more equitably as we go ahead.
Ideas page
How to meet Disaster (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Disaster Management)
The G20 nations, with a population of 4.7 billion, have large exposure, risk from asset concentration, and vulnerability to natural disasters. In the current World Risk Index, four out of the top 10 vulnerable countries are G20 nations.
The combined estimated annual average loss in the G20 countries alone is $218 billion, equivalent to 9 per cent of the average annual investment in infrastructure made by them.
Disaster risk reduction measures can play an important role in preventing such losses. Reducing risk can be achieved mainly by reducing vulnerability and exposure to risk through measures such as better economic and urban development choices and practices, protection of the environment, reduction of poverty and inequality, etc.
Disasters can set back development gains. Hence, risk reduction is an important strategy if a country’s economic ambitions are to be realised.
Setting up early warning systems, undertaking periodic risk assessments, constructing disaster-resilient infrastructure, etc, are important strategies.
For example, in our country, effective implementation of flood risk management strategies can help in reducing and managing extreme weather conditions.
Express network
Global agency affiliated to UN rights body defers NHRC accreditation (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
For the second time in a row, an organisation affiliated to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and representing more than a hundred national human rights institutions, has deferred re-accreditation of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India for a year.
The Sub Committee on Accreditation (SCA) to the Global Alliance for National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) had granted ‘A’ status of accreditation to NHRC in 2017, after deferring it the year before — the first such instance since NHRC was established in 1993.
Without the accreditation, NHRC will be unable to represent India at the UN Human Rights Council.
It stated, “The GANHRI [is] responsible for reviewing and accrediting National Human Rights Institutions in compliance with the Paris Principles every five years.
As part of this process, the review of NHRC, India was due in March 2023, for its re-accreditation, which has been deferred for a year, meaning, thereby no final decision has been taken as yet.”
Explained
Chola Sengol tradition, seen with Nehru, now in new Parliament (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 1, History)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the inauguration of the new Parliament building on May 28 will see Prime Minister Narendra Modi install a historic sceptre from Tamil Nadu next to the Lok Sabha Speaker’s seat.
Known as Sengol — derived from the Tamil word semmai, meaning righteousness, according to an official document — the sceptre is a “significant historical” symbol of Independence that signifies the transfer of power from the British to Indians, Shah told reporters.
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru accepted Sengol at around 10:45 pm of August 14, 1947, through the Adhinam of Tamil Nadu, it was a sign of the shift of power from Britishers to the people of our country.
Before Independence, Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy, asked Nehru if there was a ceremony that should be followed to symbolise the transfer of power, as per the official document.
The soon-to-be Prime Minister consulted C Rajagopalachari, the last Governor-General, who suggested that the newly formed nation should follow a tradition of the Chola dynasty, where the transfer of power from one king to the other was sanctified and blessed by high priests.