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Facing a backlash following the diplomatic row between India and the Maldives, tourism bodies from the archipelago nation sought rapprochement of relations with New Delhi to avert a “potential adverse impact” on its tourism sector that is its “lifeblood”.
The Maldives Association of Tourism Industry (MATI) and the Maldives Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators (MATATO) efforts to reach out to Indians came on when President Mohamed Muizzu appealed to China, during his visit to that country, to intensify efforts to send more tourists to his country, amid a spate of cancellation of reservations by Indian tourists after a diplomatic row erupted over the derogatory remarks by his ministers against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
MATI’s condemnation of and MATATO’s apology for the remarks came two days after a full-blown backlash directed at the Maldives following the derogatory remarks against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media by three deputy ministers at the Maldives Youth Ministry after Modi posted photos and video on X after he visited the pristine Lakshadweep Islands on India’s west coast.
Editorial
A less Ableist politics (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
On December 21, the Election Commission of India released an advisory for political parties to follow disability-sensitive terminologies.
The 11 guidelines can broadly be put into three categories: Disability-inclusive communication by political parties and their members, accessibility of information and inclusion within party frameworks.
The guidelines on communication relate to the usage of ill-health terminologies for persons with disabilities (PwD), dehumanising or using PwDs to depict incapacity or perpetuate stereotypes.
The guidelines around accessibility relate to information accessibility on political party websites and holding events at accessible places.
The third head provides for the development of training modules on disability for party workers and endeavours to include PwDs at all levels of a political party.
Recent instances have underlined the need for these guidelines. For example, in September 2023, Tamil Nadu leader A Raja compared Sanatan Dharma to people with leprosy and HIV in a derogatory manner.
National leaders have also used disability in a demeaning manner, especially during election speeches. Such instances dehumanise PwDs and perpetuate stereotypes, resulting in an “attitudinal barrier” under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016.
Ideas Page
A note to security planners (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
It is said that history does not repeat itself, but often rhymes. This truism, usually ascribed to Mark Twain, may provide some cues about the kind of security challenges that India would have to prepare for in 2024.
The last two years are too recent to be consigned to “history” but some of the most significant punctuations of 2022 and 2023 in the strategic domain could be extrapolated to the composite Indian national security challenge in the year ahead.
2022 first. The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 upended the long-held belief that in the post-Cold War era, major nations would not go to war — much less over territory.
The wisdom gained after the German reunification was that the spirit of the 1976 Helsinki Agreement, which made borders sacrosanct in Europe, would not be violated.
Citing long-held historical grievances and the betrayal by the US-led West over the eastward expansion of NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin justified his military invasion, and the war in Ukraine will soon enter its third year.
Thus the 2022 distillate is that nuclear weapon states can enter into conventional warfare over contested territory, and when pushed to the wall, they may rattle their nuclear sabre.
World
UN US UK say Bangladesh polls not fair China skips Hasina name (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Even as India, Russia, China and several nations from Asia, Africa and South America greeted Sheikh Hasina for securing a historic fourth term as prime minister, the United Nations, the United States and the United Kingdom expressed their reservations terming the polls as “not free or fair.”
Hasina’s Awami League (AL) won 223 seats in the 300-member Parliament on Sunday in the polls boycotted by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the main opposition.
The Bangladesh government had invited a large number of foreign observers from India and other countries, as well as multilateral organisations, to observe the elections.
The US State Department, in a press statement Monday, said that Washington remains concerned by the arrests of thousands of political opposition members and by reports of irregularities on Election Day in Bangladesh.
The United States shares the view with other observers that these elections were not free or fair and we regret that not all parties participated.
We encourage the Government of Bangladesh to credibly investigate reports of violence and to hold perpetrators accountable. We also urge all political parties to reject violence.
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk called on Bangladesh’s newly elected government to take steps to renew the country’s commitment to democracy and human rights, voicing distress that the environment for Sunday’s poll was marred by violence and repression of opposition candidates and supporters.
Explained
India and giant radio telescope (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The New Year ushered in the news that India had decided to formally join the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) project, an international scientific collaboration working to build the world’s largest radio telescope.
India had already been contributing to the project for the past several years, but the full member status, which offers greater scientific opportunities to use the upcoming facility, requires countries to sign and ratify an international treaty, and also make a financial commitment. India has approved Rs 1,250 crore for the project, which includes its funding contribution for the construction phase.
The decision to join SKA as a full member ensures India’s participation in yet another international mega science project in the most advanced areas of scientific research.
India has already decided to build a gravitational wave detector to join the international LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) network, and is a full member of the ITER project, which is working to harness energy from nuclear fusion reactions.
India also has a strong participation in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator that is running some of the most exciting experiments in particle physics.
Why 2023 was the warmest year on record and what happens now (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
2023 was the warmest year since records began in 1850, beating the previous record of 2016, Europe’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). The announcement said temperatures in 2023 likely exceeded those of any year-long period in at least the last 100,000 years.
Last year was 1.48 degree Celsius warmer than the average of the 1850-1900 pre-industrial level and 0.17 degree Celsius warmer than 2016, C3S said.
The announcement was confirmation of what scientists have known for a few months. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) had said in November last year said that 2023 was set to emerge as the warmest year on record, based on data until October. The gap with 2016 was so large that data from November and December were unlikely to change this situation.
Rising temperatures contributed to a large number of extreme weather events around the world in 2023, including heatwaves, floods, droughts, and wildfires.
Canada had its most destructive wildfire season (May to September) on record, with more than 45 million acres burned.
Economy
Likely hike of 50% in FY 25 Budget outlay for MGNREGS (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The government may earmark around Rs 90,000 crore for flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the Budget estimate (BE) for 2024-25 (FY25), an increase of 50 per cent over the BE for FY24, in a strong signal to the poor ahead of approaching general elections.
Rampant misappropriation of funds allocated under the flagship scheme was one of the main triggers for the Centre to make a five-year-low provision of Rs 60,000 crore in the FY24BE for the rural jobs programme.
A likely higher upfront allocation for the jobs guarantee programme for FY25 means the government would largely stick to it through the year, without seeking supplementary grants.
While providing a lower allocation for the current fiscal, the Centre had promised more funds as and when required for MGNREGS, which is a demand-driven programme.
The scheme is intended to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every household in rural areas of the country, whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.
World Bank retains India growth forecasts for FY 24, FY 25 (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The World Bank on Tuesday kept its FY25 economic growth projection for India unchanged at 6.4 per cent, mainly on account of strong domestic demand, rising public infrastructure spending and strong private-sector credit growth. However, it projected that the private consumption growth might taper off due to high food inflation and diminishing pent-up demand.
In its biannual ‘Global Economic Prospects’ report, the World Bank said India was likely to maintain the fastest growth rate among the world’s largest economies, but its post-pandemic recovery was expected to slow, with estimated growth of 6.3 per cent in FY24, before recovering gradually to 6.5 per cent in FY26.
The multilateral lender wasn't so optimistic about the global scenario. Hobbled by high interest rates, persistent inflation, slumping trade and a diminished China, the global economy will slow for a third consecutive year in 2024.
The Washington-based organisation forecast that the world economy will expand 2.4 per cent this year. That would be down from 2.6 per cent growth in 2023, 3 per cent in 2022 and 6.2 per cent in 2021, which reflected the robust recovery from the pandemic recession of 2020.
On India, the multilateral development bank’s forecast did not take into account the National Statistical Office’s (NSO’s) first advance estimates, released on Friday, which had projected 7.3 per cent growth for India in FY24 — higher than the Reserve Bank of India’s estimate of 7 per cent — assuming an investment-led recovery.