Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
Days after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that his country has learnt its lesson from three wars and wants to live in peace with India, New Delhi has reached out to Islamabad with an invitation to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) foreign ministers’ meeting in Goa.
The invitation from External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has been sent through the Indian High Commission in Islamabad for his Pakistani counterpart Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to visit Goa in the first week of May for the meeting, it is learnt.
The dates being looked at, as of now, are May 4 and 5. If Pakistan accepts the invite, it will mark the first such visit in nearly 12 years. The last Pakistani Foreign Minister to visit India was Hina Rabbani Khar in July 2011.
Apart from India and Pakistan, the SCO includes China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Similar invitations have been sent to the foreign ministers of China and Russia along with the Central Asian countries. But India’s invitation to the Pakistan Foreign Minister is particularly significant, given the all-time low in bilateral relations.
Speaking to The Indian Express, a top official said: “In keeping with its ‘Neighbourhood First Policy’, India desires normal neighbourly relations with Pakistan.
India’s consistent position is that issues, if any, between India and Pakistan should be resolved bilaterally and peacefully, in an atmosphere free of terror and violence.
The onus is on Pakistan to create such a conducive environment. It has been made clear that India will not compromise on issues relating to national security and will take firm and decisive steps to deal with all attempts to undermine India’s security and territorial integrity.”
Incidentally, the Chinese and Russian foreign ministers have been invited for a G-20 meeting on March 1 and 2, as well, setting the stage for China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang to visit India twice in the next few months.
Ties between India and Pakistan have nosedived over the past eight years. In August 2015, India had extended an invitation to Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz.
But the visit was called off after the then External Affairs Minister, the late Sushma Swaraj, asked Aziz to desist from meeting the Hurriyat in India.
The last External Affairs Minister to visit Pakistan was Swaraj in December 2015 for the Heart of Asia conference in Islamabad. Subsequently, bilateral ties deteriorated with the terrorist attacks in Pathankot (January 2016), Uri (September 2016) and Pulwama (February 2019).
Govt &Politics
Sisi to meet Modi, Murmu today; six agreements being finalised (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
As Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday in their first meeting since 2017, India and Egypt are working overtime to deepen cooperation in areas as diverse as agriculture, cybersecurity, defence, trade, tourism, and education.
Sisi arrived in New Delhi on Tuesday and was received by Minister of State (External Affairs) Rajkumar Ranjan Singh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, “Warm welcome to India, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Your historic visit to India as Chief Guest for our Republic Day celebrations is a matter of immense happiness for all Indians. Look forward to our discussions tomorrow.”
Sisi will be the first Egyptian President to be chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations on January 26, a day after his meetings with India’s top political leadership — from Prime Minister Modi to President DroupadiMurmu.
At least six agreements are being finalised by diplomats from both sides.Sisi had earlier visited India in October 2015 to participate in the third India-Africa Forum Summit, and in September 2016 on a state visit.
An invitation to the Egyptian President this year is considered significant, especially when India’s ties with Muslim-majority countries were tested following controversial remarks made by then BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma in June last year.
That Egypt was one of the few countries from the Arab world which did not react officially to the controversial remarks was not lost in New Delhi.
A spokesperson for Egypt’s President on Tuesday said the invitation “reflects the convergence” between the two countries. “It also reflects India’s profound appreciation for Egypt’s leadership, government, and people, and its keenness to strengthen joint cooperation between the two friendly countries as two of the most important emerging countries which have vital roles regarding various regional and international issues.
Accompanied by a high-level delegation, including five ministers and senior officials, Sisi’s visit is expected to boost economic ties as well.
Express network
Army looks to get hi-tech drones, robotic mules to replace animal transport (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The Army has initiated the process to acquire three niche technologies to sharpen its combat edge, including 130 tethered drone systems for surveillance purposes for long duration and 100 robotic mules for logistics requirements in far-flung border areas.
Additionally, it has initiated the process to procure 48 jetpack suits — a turbine-based individual mobility platform.A tethered drone system comprises drones that come with a ground-based tether station and can be used for surveillance of targets beyond the line of sight for a prolonged period. They can also be launched in an untethered mode for a certain duration to confirm inputs.
In a Request for Proposal (RFP) issued, the Army said each tethered drone system will comprise two aerial vehicles with combined Electro Optic/Infrared Payloads, one remote video terminal and generator set, one battery charger, one spare battery per drone and a modular carrying case for the system.
The systems are required to have a minimum 60 per cent indigenous content and will be procured under the ‘Buy India’ category.
Their weight should be around 15 kg and they should have an endurance of up to six hours in tethered mode and 45 minutes in untethered mode, and should have the capability to be deployed in 10 minutes.
As per specifications mentioned in the RFP, the mission range in untethered mode should not be less than 5 km one way and should be capable of being launched from 4,500 metres above mean sea level and should be able to fly at a height of 500 metres above ground level.
It also stated that the drones should be able to land back home in case of a communication failure, or tether breakage and low battery. The drone systems will come with a tether station, which will act as power supply cable and a data link.
An official explained that these drones will have an advantage over others in the Army’s Inventory due to an enhanced surveillance capability over an extended period of time.
Longer flight duration for constant surveillance, even for targets beyond the line of sight, with little risk of getting jammed will aid the troops on ground by arming them with the correct.
In the last one year, the Army has initiated the process of acquiring a range of indigenous drones for surveillance purposes along with counter-drone systems to act against enemy drones.
In a separate RFP published on Tuesday, the Army said the robotic mule must be a four-legged one, capable of autonomous movement across various terrain, self-recovery capability, and with obstruction-avoidance features.
It said the robot must be able to move on uneven terrain and in moderate ascent and descent and should not weight beyond 60 kg.
Editorial page
A battle fit police (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
A conference of the Directors General of Police of all the states and union territories is being held in Delhi from January 20 to 22.
The conference, according to media reports, will be discussing emerging trends in militancy and hybrid militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, counter-terrorism, cryptocurrency, drug trafficking, radicalisation and other important matters. The Prime Minister will be attending all the sessions of the three-day conference.
This conference, which is an annual feature, is organised by the Intelligence Bureau and its deliberations are presided over by the Director, IB, who is considered primus inter pares among the senior-most police officers of the country.
The subjects covered are comprehensive and embrace the wide spectrum of problems confronting the country. However, there is a serious lacuna.
The agenda, year after year, reflects the security-related problems of the country at the macro level. So far so good. But the grass roots problems are seldom taken up or deliberated upon.
The strength of a chain, as they say, is determined by its weakest link, and the weakest link today is the police station. Visit any police station and the stark reality hits you. Leaving aside the model police stations and some in the metro cities, the average police station presents a dismal picture — dilapidated building, case property like motorcycles and cars littered all over the compound, no reception room, filthy lockup, ramshackle furniture, police registers kept in clumsy racks, and so on.
The staff, overworked and fatigued, is generally unresponsive, if not rude. Resources are meagre. There may be no vehicle at the station or they may have exhausted the petrol quota allotted to them.
And if you are lucky to get in touch with a conscientious sub-inspector, some politician may turn up to influence or even bully him to do things differently.
According to the Status of Policing in India Report 2019, police in India work at 77 per cent of their sanctioned strength and these personnel work for 14 hours a day on average.
There are 70 police stations which have no wireless, 214 police stations that have no telephone and 240 police stations that have no vehicles. Housing facilities are unsatisfactory.
Training of personnel is abysmal; the training institutions have not kept pace with the changing paradigm on the law or crime front and are manned generally by unwanted, demotivated officers. Technology support leaves much to be desired; the criminals are, in fact, way ahead of the police.
Ideas page
Common code conversations (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Once again there is a clamour to replace diverse personal laws with a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), applicable to all Indians, irrespective of religion, gender or caste. Some states (for example, Uttarakhand) are already drafting one.
Existing personal laws govern marriage, inheritance, adoption and guardianship, and each varies by religion and region. In fact, the UCC discussion has focused largely on marriage, eliding the intricate issue of inheritance. Marriage laws are easier to unify, but they too have complexity.
The commonly cited issue, polygyny, is a red herring since a few Indians practise it anyway. The figures are: 1.3 per cent Hindus, 1.9 per cent Muslims, and 1.6 per cent others (NFHS-5, 2019-21).
The complexity lies in divergent social and kinship rules that specify whom one can marry. Even Hindus diverge. Those in northwest India forbid marriage (based on sapinda) between anyone related within five generations on the father’s side and three on the mother’s side.
Marriages within a village are also forbidden. However, Hindus in the south and northeast India allow uncle-niece and cross-cousin marriages (although uncommon in practice).
Inheritance laws present a deeper conundrum. Today, Hindus are governed by the 2005 Hindu Succession Amendment Act (HSAA); Muslims by the Muslim Personal Law (Shariat) Application Act, 1937; Christians and Parsis by the Indian Succession Act 1925 (amended by both communities subsequently), and tribal groups are still subject to custom. Among the mentioned laws, at least six major points of divergence will make unification difficult, and possibly untenable.
First, Hindu inheritance distinguishes between separate property and coparcenary joint family property, giving coparceners rights by birth.
No other personal law makes this distinction. Second, within Hindu law itself, states diverge. Kerala abolished joint family property altogether in 1976, but other states retained it, and matrilineal Hindus (as in Meghalaya and Kerala) have different inheritance rules from patrilineal Hindus.
Even among the latter, Hindus historically governed by Dayabhagha (West Bengal and Assam) differ from those in the rest of India who were governed historically by Mitakshara.
Third, the right to will is unrestricted among Hindus, Christians and Parsis, but Muslim law restricts wills to one-third of the property; and Sunni and Shia Muslims differ on who can get such property and with whose consent.
Express network
India Can save $19.5 billion a year with shift from coal to clean power : report (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Energy)
India plans to add 76 gigawatts (GW) of utility-scale solar and wind power by 2025 which could save up to $19.5 billion a year (over 15 lakh crore) caused due to the burning of coal, according to the latest research by Global Energy Monitor.
Data by the Global Solar Power Tracker and the Global Wind Power Tracker rank India among the top seven countries globally in terms of prospective renewable power.
This buildout can avoid the use of almost 78 million tonnes of coal annually, or roughly 32 GW in coal power plant capacity, which is more new coal capacity than the country has added since 2018, finds the report.
Annual savings in India can skyrocket if the coal to clean switch matches the country’s ambitions. India plans to add an additional 420 GW of wind and solar power by 2030, which would increase the annual savings from avoiding coal power to more than US $58 billion, with the total savings reaching $368 billion by 2030.
According to the report, if India were to bring on line all of its planned utility-scale solar and wind projects it would cost roughly $51 billion. But with a $19.5 billion annual savings in direct fuel costs, India could pay for this in just two-and-a-half years, it adds.
If India were to bring on line all of its planned utility-scale solar and wind projects, it would cost roughly US$51 billion. But with a US$19.5 billion annual savings in direct fuel costs, India could recover this in just two-and-a-half years, a Global Energy Monitor report says. India accounts for 5 per cent of all prospective utility-scale solar power globally, trailing only China, the U.S. and Australia. It's placed 17th globally in prospective wind power capacity.
India accounts for five per cent of all prospective utility-scale solar power globally, trailing only China, the US, and Australia, while placing 17th globally in prospective wind power capacity.
Explained
Columbo the view from Delhi (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s visit to Sri Lanka, after his visit to the Maldives, conveyed 1) glad tidings, 2) a much delayed invitation, and 3) two strong messages on India’s expectations of its nearest Indian Ocean neighbour. Taken together, the three provide an understanding of how Delhi views its relations with Colombo.
Jaishankar’s January 20 visit came a day after India had conveyed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that India strongly supports Sri Lanka’s debt restructuring plan.
New Delhi is the first bilateral creditor to do so. Sri Lanka has sought similar reassurances from China and other creditors as well.
As soon as adequate assurances are obtained and remaining requirements are met, a Fund-supported program for Sri Lanka can be presented to the IMF’s Executive Board for approval that would unlock much needed financing.
Last September, Sri Lanka qualified for an IMF Extended Fund Facility of $ 2.9 billion to tide over its economic crisis, but as a precondition, Colombo’s bilateral creditors must provide financing assurances on debt sustainability. China, Japan, and India are Sri Lanka’s main bilateral creditors.
The creditors’ main concern is that the restructuring plan must treat all creditors equally. India and China did not accept the invitation of the Paris Club — a group of 22 OECD nations of which Japan is part — to join the platform. India and Japan have been in bilateral discussions with Sri Lanka; China is yet to say clearly what it wants.
Jaishankar said in Colombo that in going to the IMF first, India “did not wait on others and decided to do what we believe is right”, acting on its Neighbourhood First principle.
He hoped other bilateral creditors would follow suit. He did not mention any other country, but said India expected that its first move would not only help Sri Lanka consolidate its position, but that all creditors would would be treated equally.
The Sri Lankans were appreciative of last year’s $ 4 billion bailout from New Delhi; they would now be even more acutely aware that not only did Beijing not pitch in last year, its seeming reluctance to give the assurance the IMF requires, could derail any recovery plan.
Of the total bilateral debt, China’s share is 52 per cent, Japan’s 19.5 per cent, and India’s 12 per cent.
Norovirus cases in Kerala: what is this virus and how dangerous is it? (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2/3, Health/S&T)
The Kerala Health Department on Monday (January 24) confirmed two cases of the gastrointestinal infection norovirus in class 1 students in Ernakulam district.
The two samples were tested after 62 persons — students and their parents — developed symptoms such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain, vomiting, nausea, a high temperature, headache, and body aches.
Norovirus is not new; it has been circulating among humans for over 50 years and is thought to be one of the primary causes of gastroenteritis.
The virus is estimated to kill 200,000 persons globally every year, with most deaths occurring among those below the age of five years and those over the age of 65 years.
The virus is capable of surviving low temperatures, and outbreaks tend to be more common during the winter and in colder countries — that is why it is sometimes referred to as “winter vomiting disease”.
The reported cases of norovirus had seen a decline in the United Kingdom during the pandemic, likely due to lax surveillance, but numbers have since picked up.
A 48% higher incidence of reported cases than expected was reported by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in 2022.
A 2022 study published in the peer reviewed journal Viruses says that norovirus infections are more frequently detected in high income countries, with almost 40% cases being seen in long-term care facilities. In contrast, the cases in India have mostly been detected in settings like schools and hostels, where people share food.
Cases of norovirus are not as common in India as in many other places — at the same time, the recent cases in Kerala are by no means unique or one-offs.
The infection has been reported in previous years as well, mainly from Southern India, and especially from Kerala.
A 2016 study by Christian Medical College-Vellore that followed a birth cohort of 373 for three years, detected 1,856 diarrhoeal episodes and 147 vomiting episodes.
The study said that norovirus was detected in 11.2% of the diarrhoeal episodes and 20.4% of the vomiting episodes.