08 Nov 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. The Black Sea Grain Initiative

Syllabus: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries

Prelims: About Black Sea Grain Deal

Mains: Significance of the Black Sea Grain Initiative

Context

• Russia re-joined the Black Sea Grain deal as the Russian Federation believes that the guarantees it has received appear sufficient for the implementation of the agreement.
• Recently Russia had announced that it will suspend its participation in the grain export deal with Ukraine following the drone attacks on the Crimean city of Sevastopol.

To read more about the Black Sea Grain deal refer to the following article:

UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis dated 23 July 2022

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. The age of minimalism in India-Pakistan ties

Syllabus: India and its neighbourhood relations.

Mains: India-Pakistan relations.

Details:

• The relations between India and Pakistan have entered an age of minimalism. A certain kind of ‘cold peace’ is observed in the Line of control, inside Kashmir, and even in verbal exchanges.
• This is in contrast to the conventional relations between the two countries that involved intense engagement, high-value terror attacks, responses, a breakdown of talks, and eventual resumption of talks. 
• There seems to be no political will on both sides for any sort of grand gesture, outreach, or relationship.
• The present Indian government began the relations on a good note by inviting the then Prime Minister of Pakistan (Mr. Sharif) to the inaugural session of the Indian Prime Minister (2014), followed by a surprise visit of the Indian Prime Minister to Pakistan (Lahore in 2015) and meetings between the National Security Advisers (NSA) of two countries.
• However, the relationship went into a deep freeze following a series of unfortunate events like an attack on the Pathankot airbase (January 2016), the Uri attack (September 2016), and consequent ‘Surgical strikes’ and the Pulwama terror attacks (February 2019).
• India-Pakistan relations currently have reduced to just backchannel conversation between the Indian NSA and the Pakistan Army establishment.

Rationale behind the present age of minimalism in relations:

• The present-day relationship is the result of missed opportunities of the past, failed attempts to resolve conflict, lack of political will on either side and inability to resolve conflicts due to the dual power centre in Pakistan.
• There is a recognition in both countries that resolving the conflicts bilaterally would be very difficult due to rising populism fuelled by online hate.
• India well realizes that its traditional logic of solving conflicts before dealing with other big challenges cannot be addressed, as is the case with key conflicts like the Indus water treaty which has stood unresolved since 1960.
• There is growing confidence in India about its capability to defend Kashmir and ensure peace within it, without engaging with Pakistan.
• Moreover, India and Pakistan are preoccupied with other geopolitical challenges. For example, Pakistan is engaged with Taliban-led Afghanistan, and India is dealing with an aggressive China on its borders.

Characteristics of the age of minimalism:

• The interlocutors of both countries have adopted a more clinical approach by discussing and dealing with issues that require urgent consideration. 
• There is an increased focus on conflict management instead of conflict resolution. For example, Kashmir is discussed to sustain the ceasefire agreement, rather than the historical aspects of political conflict over Kashmir.
• The minimalist approach has served as a useful platform for managing expectations, clarifying red lines, and achieving limited but clear outcomes. Some of the examples are the Ceasefire Agreement (February 2021) and a significant reduction in violence in Kashmir.
• However, it should be noted that this minimalist approach is ill-suited to resolve bigger and more important issues.

Role of Pakistan’s Army:

• India’s conventional approach to dealing with the political leadership of Pakistan has structural issues.
• The current minimalist approach focuses more on dealing with the Pakistan Army. This has fixed various structural problems in India-Pakistan relations. It is also observed that this direct approach is taken more seriously by the Pakistan Army.

Also read: India – Pakistan Relations

Nut Graf: The relationship between India and Pakistan has entered a phase of minimalism. Though this approach is performing well while dealing with smaller issues and matters of urgent concern, it seems inadequate to tackle the larger political questions between the two neighbours.

Category: SOCIAL JUSTICE

1. The frontliners of the first 1,000-day window of life

Syllabus: Issues relating to the development and management of social services relating to health.

Mains: Malnutrition and the role of frontline workers.

Prelims: POSHAN Abhiyan.

Details:

• To lay a strong foundation for human development it is important to address malnutrition.
• Ensuring maternal and child nutrition helps in reducing child disease and deaths, preventing malnutrition, determining cognitive ability, and eventually increasing life productivity.
• The first 1000 days of human life (that is from conception to the first two years) provide a critical window to ensure survival, optimal growth, and development along with better health and nutrition for the entire life. It should be remembered that 80% of brain development takes place during this period only.
• The Indian government has taken several measures to address the issue of malnutrition. These include registration of pregnancies, antenatal checkups, increasing awareness about exclusive breastfeeding, and increased documentation of intervention coverage including a flagship programme –  Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) Abhiyaan.

Importance of evidence-based interventions:

• To bring a change in nutritional outcomes evidence is very important as they tell that interventions should be delivered with high coverage, intensity, continuity, equity, and quality.
• Some of the important determinants in the health of the child are:
  • Women’s health and nutrition status including haemoglobin level and weight
  • Age at conception
  • Levels of various micronutrients during the peri-conceptional period
  • Pre-conception care
• The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare along with UNICEF and the Maharashtra government launched the first-ever primary health care programme in 2018 to improve women’s health during the pre-conception period.  It was observed that nurturing the health of adolescent girls and women not only improved the health of the newborn but also prevented preterm birth, low birth weight, and neonatal deaths.
• All policy interventions are delivered to the beneficiaries by a network of frontline workers that include: Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), Auxiliary Nurse-Midwives (ANMs), and Anganwadi Workers (AWW).
• They play an important role in empowering the community about health planning and actions, and providing support and awareness. They are the only access point for health and nutrition services in many regions.

Case Studies of Uttar Pradesh:

• Story 1: Just before the beginning of Poshan Pakhwada in March 2022, the AWW and the lady supervisor supported by panchayat pradhan in a remote village of UP organized a community-level meeting. All AWWs, ASHAs, schoolteachers, men, women, and community elders were informed about the benefits of weight measurement and early detection of undernourished children. The age-old fear and misconception were dealt with tactfully by the supervisor and other members. It was ensured that all eligible children were weighed.  
• Story 2: In a block in the Unnao district of UP, the lady supervisors ensured that all AWWs received the growth monitoring devices and were also adequately trained to measure and record body weight. Community mobilization meetings were also organized to cover all eligible children.
• Consequences of the above stories:

• • Due to the joint efforts of supervisors, AWWs and ASHAs children are regularly (on a monthly basis) weighed to detect deficiencies in early growth years.
  • Mothers and other relatives (like fathers and grandmothers) were enlightened about the benefits of regular weight measurements.
  • It was observed that men, specifically fathers, also play a crucial role in ensuring maternal and newborn health (MNH). They have the potential to influence behaviours and good practices associated with MNH within their households and communities. 
  • Several studies have shown that mothers are 1.5 times more likely to receive prenatal care in the first trimester if the fathers are involved during pregnancy.

Lessons Learned:

• The nutrition system should be strengthened by focusing on periodical skilling, supportive supervision, and encouraging frontline workers to deliver contextualized, focused, and quality services. 
• A data-driven review should also be prioritized and sustained for course correction. 

Alao read: ICDS – Integrated Child Development Services

Nut Graf: The grassroots-level contribution by the frontline workers along with their deeper understanding of the issue is crucial for community health. It should be remembered that frontline workers are drivers of change at the last mile when it comes to malnutrition.

Q1. Which of the following statements is/are correct? (Level – Moderate)

Q2. Which constitutional provision makes it the duty of the Union to ensure that the 
government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the 
Constitution? (Level – Moderate)

Q3. Which of the following statements is/are correct? (Level – Moderate)

Q4. Law Commission of India is a - (Level – Moderate)

Q5. With reference to Indian Elephants, consider the following statements: 
(Level – Difficult)

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. Minimalism has come to characterize India-Pakistan relations. Explain.   (10 Marks, 150 Words) (GS II – International Relations)
2. Addressing malnutrition is critical to laying a strong foundation for human development. In the light of the statement discuss the policy interventions undertaken to address the persistent high burden of malnutrition.  (10 Marks, 150 Words) (GS II – Social Justice)

Read the previous CNA here.