12 June 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 12th June 2021:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Online module to map out-of-school kids
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. China-Sri Lanka Friendship Hospital opened
2. Italy has paid ₹10 crore, Centre tells SC
C. GS 3 Related
SECURITY
1. Bru refugee rehabilitation in Tripura hits green panel hurdle
2. Centre unlikely to allow return of four Kerala women, who joined IS
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
1. Counting the dead
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Persecuted in Pakistan, ignored in India
F. Prelims Facts
1. Tributes paid to freedom fighter Ram Prasad Bismil
G. Tidbits
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. China-Sri Lanka Friendship Hospital opened

Context:

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa inaugurated the China-Sri Lanka Friendship Hospital in Polonnaruwa.

China’s Assistance to Sri Lanka:

• Former President Maithripala Sirisena had requested China for the grant and the facility was built within 30 months.
• The hospital is built with a Chinese grant of $60 million and is said to be one of the largest in South Asia for nephrology care.
• China’s earlier grant projects in Sri Lanka are also built as large public spaces. Eg. Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo, Nelum Pokuna Mahinda Rajapaksa Threate.
• In addition to sanctioning loans and a currency swap facility worth more than $2 billion since the pandemic struck, China also announced a $90 million grant to Sri Lanka in October 2020.

India’s Concerns:

• India’s grant assistance to Sri Lanka totals about $570 million.
• While the Polonnaruwa hospital has been inaugurated, the Jaffna Cultural Centre, built with Indian assistance of $11.5 million, whose construction was completed a year ago, awaits inauguration.
• China’s rapidly growing presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and specifically in Sri Lanka is a cause of concern for India.
• While India is not a part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, China considers Sri Lanka to be a critical link in its global infrastructure-building initiative.
• India is concerned as Sri Lanka slips into deeper dependence and loan debt on China.
• Much of the world sees China-funded mega projects in Sri Lanka as debt traps for the island nation.
  • In 2017, Sri Lanka leased out a Chinese-built port (Hambantota) located near busy shipping routes to a Chinese company for 99 years to recover from the heavy burden of repaying the Chinese loan the country received to build it.

2. Italy has paid ₹10 crore, Centre tells SC

Context:

The Central government informed the Supreme Court that Italy had paid ₹10 crore compensation for disbursal among the families of fishermen shot dead by two Italian marines on Enrica Lexie.

Background:

• Earlier, the government approached the court for closure of the pending trial against the marines, following a United Nations tribunal decision that the duo would be tried in Italy.
• Following that, the court said it would consider passing an order to quash the criminal proceedings only after Italy deposited ₹10 crore as compensation for the bereaved families of the fishermen.

This issue has been covered in UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis. July 4th, 2020.

2. Centre unlikely to allow return of four Kerala women, who joined IS

Context:

The four Indian women who accompanied their husbands to join the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), imprisoned in Afghanistan, are unlikely to be allowed to return to the country.

Details:

• The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had filed a chargesheet in 2017 after a group of 21 men and women from Kerala, left India in 2016 in batches to join the ISKP in Afghanistan. They crossed over to Afghanistan on foot from Iran.
• In April 2021, the head of the National Directorate of Security (the national intelligence and security service of Afghanistan) reported 408 members of the Islamic State from 13 countries.
• These women are among thousands of Islamic State fighters and affiliates that surrendered before the Afghanistan authorities in 2019.

Way Forward:

• Interpol has issued red notices against the women on India’s request.
  • INTERPOL Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.
  • Red Notice is issued to seek the location/arrest of a person wanted by a judicial jurisdiction or an international tribunal with a view to his/her extradition. Read more on INTERPOL.
• While India’s initial line of thought was to allow them to come back and become approvers in the cases in India, their interview revealed that they are highly radicalised.
• Therefore, France model may be followed and the Afghanistan authorities can be requested to put them on trial there.
  • France did not take back the French ISIS members captured in Iraq.
• Radicalisation largely happens through social media groups.
  • In order to keep ISIS threat under check, the agencies are closely monitoring local radical groups especially in Southern India, who could be deriving support from ISIS.

Note:

• The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) recorded 77 attacks claimed by ISKP during the first four months of 2021.
• The Wilayat Khorasan of Islamic State in Afghanistan came into existence in 2015.
  • It mainly comprised defectors from Tehrik-i-Taliban (TTP).
• Senior government officials state that ISKP is run by Pakistan’s Inter-State Intelligence.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Persecuted in Pakistan, ignored in India

Issue:

Hundreds of Pakistani Hindus having faced persecution on the ground of their religious identity in Pakistan have migrated to India in search of security and citizenship. But ambiguous rules and regulations have left them stateless for years.

Three waves of migration of Hindus to India:

• The president of the Seemant Lok Sangathan (an organisation working for the welfare of migrants) points out that there have been three waves of migration of Hindus to India from Pakistan.
  1. The first was during and after Partition.
  2. During the 1971 war, about 90,000 persons migrated to India.
  3. The third wave started as a result of a backlash against Hindus during the Ram temple movement and after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
• Migrants still continue to come to India.
• Also, the Taliban’s capture of power in Afghanistan in 1996 led to a change in atmosphere in Pakistan, with the minority communities in the Balochistan and Sindh provinces increasingly being targeted.

Issues:

• Since 2014, most Hindu migrants have been entering India, into western Rajasthan and northern Gujarat, on a pilgrim visa.
  • They leave their family members in Pakistan in the hope that they can travel later when they find employment in India. However, they are disappointed when they are left to fend for themselves.
• The migrants are mostly Dalits from the Meghwal, Koli, Bhil, Jatav, Kumawat and Mali communities.
  • They are considered underprivileged on both sides of the international border.
• The number of Pakistani Hindu migrants staying in 21 settlements in the Jodhpur district is estimated to be about 30,000.
• They live in inhumane conditions with no access to electricity, water, toilets and sanitation.
• Due to the red-tapism in the citizenship camps organised by the Home Ministry, migrants from Pakistan have been wandering from one camp to another, but in vain.
• Many have even failed to get a long-term visa which would enable them to find a private job or take up self-employment.
• While they have failed to find any gainful employment, the pandemic-related lockdowns have only made matters worse.
• Besides, they are ostracised in India for being Pakistanis.
• While some migrants have got citizenship after completing the mandatory 11 years of stay for eligibility under the Citizenship Act of 1955, they struggle daily to get food, water, healthcare and education.
• The children of these migrants are the worst affected. Schools reluctantly give them admission and do not provide them emotional support and counselling.
• A new issue that the migrants are now facing is inaccessibility to vaccines.

Citizenship – Bone of contention:

• In May 2021, the Union Home Ministry issued a notification inviting non-Muslim migrants residing in 13 districts of five States to apply for Indian citizenship.
• It also empowered the Collectors of these districts to grant citizenship certificates.
• However, the notification is applicable to migrants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi and Christian communities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
• The Home Ministry has made it clear that the latest notification is not related to the contentious Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) of 2019.
  • The CAA will reduce the requirement of 11 years of aggregate stay in India to five years for citizenship, which would help fast-track the applications of migrants.
• Civil rights groups have called for taking measures to smoothen and hasten the process for grant of citizenship to migrants irrespective of their religious identity.

Rules and regulations:

• The Pakistani Hindu migrants are caught in a vicious circle of poverty and vulnerability. They face an unresponsive government and uncertain legislation. 
• These migrants cannot expect to get the status of refugees because India is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, nor its 1967 Protocol.
• All foreign nationals, including asylum-seekers, are governed by the provisions of the Foreigners Act, 1946; the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920; and the Citizenship Act, 1955, as well as the rules and orders framed under these laws.
• The Union government possesses the power to detain and deport foreigners and restrict their movements.
• The Indian government has no international obligation to enact legislation for refugees.
• For accessing legal entitlements and services, Indian citizenship is the only viable option for migrants.
• Most of the migrants are illiterate and unable to decipher the rules and regulations, which makes them vulnerable to deceit and exploitation by government officials.
• After getting citizenship, obtaining documents such as ration cards and caste certificates is not an easy task. They find it difficult to avail the benefits of healthcare, education and employment schemes.

Way Forward – Improving the lives of migrants:

• Pakistan High Commission should be persuaded to withdraw the increased fee for renunciation of Pakistani citizenship (mandatory before getting their Indian citizenship).
• They should be provided with easy facilities for the renewal of passports and identity cards.
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees should be approached for incorporating the minority migrants in its regular programmes for refugees.
• The gaps in livelihood development and rehabilitation status should be identified at the State level.
• A robust policy for rehabilitation needs to be introduced at the Central level for migrant families.

Q1. With reference to Ram Prasad Bismil, which of the following statements is/are correct?

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to National Green Tribunal (NGT):

Q3. EnVision recently seen in news is a/an

Q4. Which of the following are sources of Atmospheric Aerosols?

Q5. Regarding the Indus Valley Civilization, consider the following statements: (UPSC-2011)

Read the previous CNA here.

CNA 12th June 2021:- Download PDF Here