8 June 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. Restore April status along LAC: India 2. ‘China’s internal pressures are driving Xi’s tough stance on border’ POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 1. Odisha plans mega educational complexes for tribal students C. GS 3 Related D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. In Persian Gulf littoral, cooperative security is key HEALTH 1. Paging the private sector in the COVID fight ENVIRONMENT 1. Addressing the elephant in the room F. Prelims Facts 1. Chhattisgarh completes 37% yearly target under MGNREGA in two months G. Tidbits 1. U.S. capital sees massive, peaceful protest H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Restore April status along LAC: India
Context:
- Senior military commander talks between India and China to resolve the border stand-off along the LAC.
Details:
- Sources said that during the talks, each side put across their issues, which would be conveyed to the respective governments and taken up in subsequent meetings.
- While India was firm on restoring the status quo of April, and pull back of Chinese troops and equipment from inside Indian territory and along the LAC, the Chinese side raised objections to India’s infrastructure development.
Significance of the talks:
- The senior military commander level talks are at the highest level so far in the series of military and diplomatic communications that the two sides have held to address the standoff.
- Communications between senior military commanders will ensure that tensions don’t flare up on the ground as talks continue at the highest levels to find a way to resolve the issue.
India’s arguments:
- India has held that infrastructure development would go on in Indian territory and that China had already developed infrastructure on its side.
- China’s actions violate the existing boundary agreement meant to preserve peace and tranquillity on the border.
Conclusion:
- The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the talks were held in a cordial and positive atmosphere, and both sides will continue the military and diplomatic engagements to resolve the situation.
- Both sides agreed to peacefully resolve the situation in the border areas in accordance with the bilateral agreements and keeping in view the agreement between the leaders that peace and tranquillity in the India-China border regions is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.
For more information on this issue, refer to:
2. ‘China’s internal pressures are driving Xi’s tough stance on border’
Context:
- Views expressed by Jayadeva Ranade, a former Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India, and President, Centre for China Analysis and Strategy on the evolving situation along the Line of Actual Control.
Current stand-off:
- The author claims that the current situation is different from previous stand-offs.
- Unlike the previously localized stand-offs, the current stand-offs have occurred at multiple points along the LAC, from Ladakh to Naku La in Sikkim.
- There have been intrusions even at places where there have been no instance of a difference in perception of the LAC like the stand-off at Galwan Valley.
- The activation of a new diplomatic front by Nepal against India seems to be a part of the Chinese strategy to pressurize India.
- The intrusions have become more firm, and appear to have been premeditated and planned.
Factors at play:
Domestic pressure:
- Facing internal pressure, China’s leadership appears to be taking a tougher line on issues related to sovereignty with respect to Taiwan, Hong Kong, the South China Sea and along the India border to divert domestic attention.
Economic situation:
- The Chinese economy has been hit badly by the pandemic.
- The U.S.-China trade war is also aggravating the economic condition of China.
Political situation:
- There is a growing domestic criticism of the Chinese leadership over the handling of the domestic conditions.
- There is the possibility of political upheaval against the current leadership.
China’s stakes:
India strengthening infrastructure:
- The construction of the Darbuk-Shyok-Daulet Beg Oldi road together with the upgrading of India’s defence logistics infrastructure is also a major factor. This seems to indicate the reason behind China opening a new front in the previously undisputed Galwan Valley area.
CPEC:
- The growing Chinese stakes in the region, particularly with the China Pakistan Economic Corridor seems to have also contributed to China’s concerns. The revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and fears of India’s claims over Gilgit-Baltistan seem to have made the Chinese more apprehensive.
Chances of resolution:
- India’s demands have been the restoration of status quo meaning the Chinese go back to their earlier position.
- China is unlikely to change course and pull back, as doing so would hurt the credibility of the leadership which is already under pressure.
- Given the domestic political situation inside China, the leadership cannot afford to go back or to disengage or to withdraw, having done that earlier in Doklam, in 2017.
Way forward for India:
- India should show the determination to hold ground and also maybe apply pressure in some areas on China, like in the South China Sea and at multilateral forums. This could cause a rethinking in China to come to some kind of an understanding on the border issue.
Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Odisha plans mega educational complexes for tribal students
Context:
- The Odisha Government is coming up with three mega educational complexes exclusively for tribal students, where both academic and sporting skills will be harnessed.
Background:
Odisha’s tribal population:
- According to the 2011 Census, Odisha’s tribal population constitutes 9.17% of the country’s tribal population. In Odisha, tribal population is 22.85% of the state’s total population.
- With 62 tribal communities, Odisha has the most diverse tribes in India. In terms of tribal population, Odisha occupies the third position in India.
- Out of a total of 75 particularly vulnerable tribal groups in India, 13 reside in Odisha.
Details:
- The proposed educational complexes will be established in tribal dominated districts such as Keonjhar, Sundargarh and Mayurbhanj.
- Santal and Bhuyan are two dominant tribal groups living in Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Sundargarh districts.
- The campuses will have state-of-the-art facilities to improve educational and sporting skills of tribal students from Standard I to XII. Skill development centres will be an integral part of the projects.
- Funds required for the project will be sourced from Odisha Mineral Bearing Areas Development Corporation (OMBADC), which was formed for focused development of mineral rich districts. Incidentally, most mineral rich districts are tribal-dominated.
- Keonjhar, where other tribes such as Sounti, Ho, Juang, Kharwar, Mahali, Oraon Kolha and Kora reside, is the most mined district of the State.
- Keonjhar district itself contains more than 70% of the iron ore reserves of Odisha.
C. GS 3 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. In Persian Gulf littoral, cooperative security is key
Persian Gulf
- It is the area of sea between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
- The lands around it are shared by eight countries (Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates), all members of the UN.
- These countries are the major oil and natural gas producers of the world bringing prosperity to their economies and helping the global community to meet its energy needs. This has added to the region’s geopolitical significance.
- The region is also known for its unrest because of two reasons:
- Many powers act in the region to influence countries creating proxy command centres.
- The sectarian divide between Saudi Arabia and Iran.
- – leading to clashes and heightened tensions.
British Control
- For eight decades prior to 1970, this body of water was a closely guarded British lake, administered in good measure by imperial civil servants from India.
- This control gave the British Empire exclusive powers in the Gulf in the key early decades of oil exploration and development in this century.
- When that era ended, regional players sought to assert themselves.
American Interests
- Regional rivalry and conflicts meant USA meddling in the region. A US State Department report in 1973 said, ‘The upshot of all these cross currents is that the logic of Saudi-Iranian cooperation is being undercut by psychological, nationalistic, and prestige factors, which are likely to persist for a long time.’
- The Nixon and the Carter Doctrines were the logical outcomes to ensure American hegemony.
- According to the Nixon Doctrine, the U.S. sought to supply arms and assistance to its “threatened” allies and friends, provided that they assumed the primary responsibility for providing the necessary manpower.
- The United States would maintain a small naval force in the Gulf.
- The Carter Doctrine is the term widely given to the US policy of ensuring western dominance of the greater Persian Gulf area and using military means if deemed necessary to ensure the unhindered export of Persian Gulf oil to international markets.
- According to the Nixon Doctrine, the U.S. sought to supply arms and assistance to its “threatened” allies and friends, provided that they assumed the primary responsibility for providing the necessary manpower.
- The Iranian Revolution put an end to the Twin Pillar approach and disturbed the strategic balance.
- The Iraq-Iran War enhanced U.S. interests and role.
Finally the Security Council through Resolution 598 (1987) wanted to explore ‘measures to enhance the security and stability in the region’.
Any framework for stability and security thus needs to answer a set of questions: security for whom, by whom, against whom, for what purpose? Is the requirement in local, regional or global terms? Does it require an extra-regional agency? Given the historical context, one recalls a Saudi scholar’s remark in the 1990s that ‘Gulf regional security was an external issue long before it was an issue among the Gulf States themselves.’
The essential ingredients of such a framework would thus be to ensure:
- Conditions of peace and stability in individual littoral states;
- Freedom to all states of the Gulf littoral to exploit their hydrocarbon and other natural resources and export them;
- Freedom of commercial shipping in international waters of the Persian Gulf;
- Freedom of access to, and outlet from, Gulf waters through the Strait of Hormuz;
- Prevention of conflict that may impinge on the freedom of trade and shipping and: prevention of emergence of conditions that may impinge on any of these considerations.
- Could such a framework be self-sustaining or require external guarantees for its operational success? If the latter, what should its parameters be?
The GCC and the U.S. link
- The past two decades have revalidated William Fulbright’s observation that statesmen often confuse great power with total power and great responsibility with total responsibility. The war in Iraq and its aftermath testify to it.
- The U.S. effort to ‘contain’ the Iranian revolutionary forces, supplemented by the effort of the Arab states of the littoral (except Iraq) through the instrumentality of the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC (1981), to coordinate, cooperate and integrate to ‘serve the sublime objectives of the Arab Nation’ initially met with success in some functional fields and a lack of it in its wider objectives.
Regional Instability and changed priorities of USA
- At the same time, geopolitical factors and conflicts elsewhere in the West Asian region (Yemen, Syria and Libya) has aggravated global and regional relationships and disturbed US-Iran relationship further.
- Iran’s nuclear programme agreed to by the western powers and the Obama Administration, but is disowned by U.S. President Donald Trump, whose strident policies have taken the region to the brink of an armed conflict.
- This means USA has changed its priorities and might have failed to keep up the commitment to sub-regional security. Many GCC countries are now worried about threats (political and ideological rather than territorial) from Iran.
An evolving transformation
- Growing threat has pushed countries to adopt individual strategies, conflicting tactical and subjective considerations without a common GCC threat perception.
- These have been aggravated by the global economic crisis, the immediate and longer term impact of COVID-19 on regional economies, the problems in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and the decline in oil prices.
- One credible assessment done recently suggests that in the emerging shape of the region, ‘Saudi Arabia is a fading power, UAE, Qatar and Iran are emerging as the new regional leaders and Oman and Iraq will have to struggle to retain their sovereign identities.’
- The GCC is effectively ended, and OPEC is becoming irrelevant as oil policy is now under the global control.
- These changes will be further amplified with external intervention bringing a fundamental transformation to how the Persian Gulf is viewed.
Exploring working arrangements with Iran
- With the Arab League not living up to its objective, the GCC on life-support system, the Arab states of this sub-region are left with individual approaches to explore working arrangements with Iraq and Iran.
- Oman had always kept its lines of communication with Iran open.
- Kuwait and Qatar had continued to hold talks silently.
- UAE has also initiated similar pragmatic arrangements.
- These could set the stage for a wider dialogue. Both Iran and the GCC states could be the beneficiaries of such an arrangement.
Record shows that the alternative of exclusive security arrangements promotes armament drives, enhances insecurity and aggravates regional tensions. It unavoidably opens the door for Great Power interference.
India’s ties
- GCC
- The bilateral relationship, economic and political, with the GCC has blossomed in recent years. The governments are India-friendly and Indian-friendly and appreciate the benefits of a wide-ranging relationship.
- This is well reflected in the bilateral trade of around $121 billion and remittances of $49 billion from a workforce of over nine million.
- GCC suppliers account for around 34% of our crude imports and national oil companies in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are partners in a $44 billion investment in the giant Ratnagiri oil refinery. In addition, Saudi Aramco is reported to take a 20% stake in Reliance oil-to-chemicals business.
The current adverse impact of the pandemic on our economic relations with the GCC countries has now become a matter of concern.
- Iran
- The relationship with Iran, complex at all times and more so recently, on account of overt American pressure, has economic potential and geopolitical relevance on account of its actual or alleged role in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- Iran also neighbours Turkey and some countries of Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Caspian Sea region.
- Its size, politico-technological potential and economic resources, cannot be wished away, regionally and globally, but can be harnessed for wider good.
What helps India?
- India has avoided involvement in local or regional disputes. Indian interests do not entail power projection; they necessitate in their totality, peace and regional stability, freedom of navigation and access to the region’s markets in terms of trade, technology and manpower resources.
- Indian interests would be best served if this stability is ensured through cooperative security since the alternative of competitive security options cannot ensure durable peace.
What is a doctrine?
- A doctrine is a statement of “principle of policy,” that is, something larger and broader than “mere” policy.
- A doctrine is a flexible context within which specific policies are developed.
- Doctrines are important as statements of intention directed to foreign countries.
Twin Pillars Policy
- U.S. policy to promote Iran and Saudi Arabia as local guardians of U.S. interests in the Persian Gulf region.
1. Paging the private sector in the COVID fight
Context
- Seeking assistance of the private sector in the fight against COVID-19.
Details
- The COVID-19 pandemic is unlikely to disappear in the immediate future. Managing it would require extraordinary resources and investment.
- India’s public health sector has been employed to battle this crisis. This unprecedented crisis has highlighted the critical need to mobilize the private sector too as the public sector might well not be able to manage if there is consistent increase in the number of cases.
However, the current strategies to involve the private sector in combating the infectious disease are shrouded in ambiguity.
- There are no clear policy guidelines to use private sector resources that could complement public sector efforts.
- How will the payments be made to the private sector if they are assisting the public sector?
Some policy options are to leverage private sector resources for testing, hospitalisation, procurement of biomedical equipment and supplies, and a central intelligence system.
Laboratory services
Despite governments trying to scale-up testing capacity in the country, there is still a long way to go for mass scale testing. Following options can be tested to scale up testing capacity:
- Option 1: An Accredited Private Laboratory can be contracted to be co-located in a public health facility preferably in tier-II/tier-III public hospitals.
- States that already have private laboratories under a public–private partnership (PPP) contract can be asked to add COVID-19 tests.
- The government may procure test kits and the private sector could charge a service fee from the government.
- Option 2: Suspect cases can be issued vouchers for testing at any empaneled private laboratories.
- E-vouchers generated by tele-health call centres can subsequently be reimbursed by the government.
- Option 3: A mobile sample collection and testing facility can be operated by a private entity in high density clusters; it can also be used as a fever clinic. This arrangement can be under the hub-spoke principle.
- The cost of tests, key performance indicators and payment system should be worked out in the purchase contract.
Hospital infrastructure
Hospitalisation of COVID-19 cases cannot be restricted to hospitals in major cities alone. Improving the infrastructure and capacity in tier II and tier III cities in collaboration with the private sector is critical.
- Option 1: A private contractor could be hired to overhaul an existing ward in a public hospital into an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) ward with additional beds and equipment and handover the refurbished ward to the public authority.
- Under this turnkey project, an ICU ward could be made available within a short time.
- Option 2: In a scenario where the district hospital does not have staff to operate an ICU ward (option 1), a private hospital partner could be contracted to provide staff and operate the ICU ward.
- Alternatively, a private hospital partner can refurbish, operate and later transfer the ICU ward. Though the model takes more time, the operator can convert the facility into any other speciality ward in the future.
- The Centre can provide viability gap funding to the State to support the development of such a facility.
- Option 3: The government can refer patients to empaneled private COVID-19 hospitals, at a fixed package rate.
- This kind of strategic purchasing or insurance reimbursement (say under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) requires clear policy directions, a robust referral system, agreement on tariffs, and a quick reimbursement mechanism.
- The current government tariffs do not seem to evoke interest from the private sector.
Supply chain
- The upsurge in the demand for test kits, ventilators, and other biomedical supplies cannot be met by current manufacturers or supply chain sources.
- Repurposing through alternate sources indigenously is the need of the hour.
- Besides facilitating quick credit access for manufacturing, the government may also give buy back guarantees and facilitate the supply chain channels.
Central Intelligence System
- An IT system with artificial intelligence capability should be the backbone of supporting all public and private sector efforts in combating COVID-19.
- The intelligence system should seamlessly help in case identification, contact tracing, managing a tele-health centre, generating e-vouchers, authorising tests, managing referrals for isolation and hospitalisation in the private sector, payment, follow-up, etc.
- IT behemoths in India should be roped in to configure an integrated system to detect any unusual pattern in terms of an increase in numbers.
Conclusion
- The resources dedicated to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic have the potential to create a good health infrastructure and strengthen health systems eventually.
- However, these initiatives require quick policy formulation followed by guidelines for contracting/purchasing, payments, defining standards, supply chain, strengthening procurement, etc.
- A group of inter-disciplinary experts to guide in institutionalizing the private partnership arrangements would go a long way.
1. Addressing the elephant in the room
Reference
F. Prelims Facts
1. Chhattisgarh completes 37% yearly target under MGNREGA in two months
- As urban business centres closed during the lockdown, more number of people returned to villages, needing some kind of work.
- Chhattisgarh has achieved 37% of the yearly target within two months under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the highest for any State in the period.
- The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), also known as Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS), is an Indian legislation enacted on August 25, 2005.
- The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD), Govt. of India, is monitoring the entire implementation of this scheme in association with state governments.
- The salient aspects of the scheme include:
- The MGNREGA provides a legal guarantee for one hundred days of employment in every financial year to adult members of any rural household willing to do public work-related unskilled manual work at the statutory minimum wage.
- Within 15 days of submitting the application or from the day work is demanded, wage employment will be provided to the applicant.
- Right to get unemployment allowance in case employment is not provided within fifteen days of submitting the application or from the date when work is sought.
- Receipt of wages within fifteen days of work done.
- Social Audit of MGNREGA works is mandatory, which lends to accountability and transparency.
- The scheme has helped pump money into the rural economy during the lockdown. The MGNREGA scheme will put money straight in the hands of the vulnerable households.
- To help workers during the monsoon, when MGNREGA works invariably take a hit, the Chhattisgarh Government has planned to create employment opportunities through interdepartmental convergence. The state administration is planning for some skill upgradation opportunities in horticulture, vegetable growing, sericulture, poultry and dairy sectors.
G. Tidbits
1. U.S. capital sees massive, peaceful protest
- Demonstrations have taken place across the United States to demand racial justice after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.
- There have been attempts to broaden the scope of the current protests by transforming the outrage generated by Floyd’s death into a broader movement seeking far-reaching reforms to the U.S. criminal justice system and its treatment of minorities.
- The U.S. marches have also inspired anti-racism protests around the globe, as demonstrators from Brisbane and Sydney in Australia to London, Paris and other European cities embraced the Black Lives Matter message.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Which of the following statement/s is/are correct with respect to Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS)?
- The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) is monitoring the implementation of the scheme in association with state governments.
- It provides a legal guarantee for 100 days of employment in every financial year to adult members of BPL households only.
- There is a provision for right to get unemployment allowance in case employment is not provided within 30 days of application for the job.
- Social Audit of MGNREGA works is mandatory.
Options:
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1, 2, 3 and 4
- 1 and 4 only
Q2. Which of the following statement/s is/are correct?
- Odisha has the largest tribal population among the states of India.
- Odisha has the maximum number of PVTGs among the states of India.
Options:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
Q3. If a person is travelling by road from Keonjhar to Imphal, what is the minimum number of states that he/she will have to pass through including the source and destination states?
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
Q4. Which of the following statement/s is/are incorrect?
- India is the largest producer of natural rubber in the world.
- Kerala is the largest producer of natural rubber in India.
Options:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- Soaring tensions in the Persian Gulf have placed immense strain on the regional security structure. Will USA’s gradual withdrawal further destabilize and internationalize the region? Critically examine. (15 Marks, 250 Words)
- Engaging private hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients is currently beset with ambiguity. What policy changes can be put in place to bridge the current healthcare gap in the fight against COVID-19? (10 Marks, 150 Words)
Read the previous CNA here.
8 June 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here
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