Sept 2nd, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. What did America achieve in Afghanistan in 20 years? C. GS 3 Related ECONOMY 1. August manufacturing PMI shows recovery losing steam D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. Where liberalism and nationalism are placed in Asia ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY 1. India must commit to net zero emissions F. Prelims Facts 1. 200 Army personnel for Zapad exercise 2. Ladakh adopts State animal and bird 3. High honour for Naval Aviation G. Tidbits 1. Over 4 bn don’t have social protection: UN 2. To contain food prices, Sri Lanka declares economic emergency 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. What did America achieve in Afghanistan in 20 years?
Context:
All the American troops have exited Afghanistan. For the first time since October 2001, there are no American troops in the country.
Details:
- While defending his decision to pull back the forces, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he was left with only two options after the withdrawal agreement the Trump administration signed with the Taliban in February 2020.
- Either honour the deal (or)
- Default on it and send in more troops to continue the war.
What did the U.S. gain from it?
- Biden asserts that the U.S. invaded Afghanistan not because it was ruled by the Taliban but because the September 11 attacks originated from Afghanistan.
- America’s primary objectives were to disrupt al-Qaeda and capture or kill Osama bin Laden.
- The argument is that the Taliban were not America’s main enemy and defeating them was not its primary objective.
- While it’s true that America went to Afghanistan because the 9/11 attacks originated from that country, Mr. Biden’s assessment of the Taliban was not shared by his predecessors.
- The Taliban had offered to surrender on modest terms in December 2001, but President George W. Bush rejected the offer.
- America did not pull back from Afghanistan after the Taliban regime fell.
- America did not withdraw after bin Laden was killed in 2011.
- The U.S. stayed in Afghanistan, propping up the Islamic Republic because American leaders were of the view that a return of the Taliban to power would derail the global war on terror.
- American foreign policy thinking has changed over two decades.
- According to the Biden doctrine, the Taliban are now a problem of the Afghans, not of Americans.
Where does the global war on terrorism started by the U.S. invasion in Afghanistan stand now?
- In 2001, al-Qaeda was largely concentrated in Afghanistan.
- The U.S. invasion and the fall of the Taliban led to al-Qaeda’s disintegration.
- The terrorist outfit was driven underground, but was not defeated.
- Over the years, new branches of al-Qaeda sprang up in different parts of the world, the deadliest being al-Qaeda in Iraq, which was led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi after the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.
- He was killed in a U.S. strike in 2006, but the AQI transformed into the Islamic State of Iraq, which later became the dreaded Islamic State (IS) that declared a Caliphate and established a proto-state across Iraq and Syria in 2014.
- The IS’s physical infrastructure was destroyed by both coordinated and separate war efforts by a group of powers, including the U.S., Iran, Iraq, Kurdish and Shia militias, Syria and Russia. But a part of the outfit continues to operate in parts of Syria and Iraq.
- The IS has also established provinces in other parts of the world, including the IS West Africa Province (ISWAP) and the IS Khorasan Province (ISKP).
- Al-Qaeda has also established a strong presence in Africa, particularly in the Sahel region, where they have carried out dozens of attacks in recent years.
- So, if al-Qaeda was an organised terrorist machinery concentrated in Afghanistan in 2001, it’s now a decentralised amalgam that has expanded across the world.
C. GS 3 Related
1. August manufacturing PMI shows recovery losing steam
Context:
India’s manufacturing recovery in the backdrop of the pandemic lost momentum in August 2021.
Details:
- The survey-based Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) slid to 52.3 from 55.3 in July 2021.
- Manufacturers’ cost burdens have now been rising for 13 straight months.
- The cost burdens are due to raw material scarcity and transportation problems.
Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)
- The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) is an index of the prevailing direction of economic trends in the manufacturing sector.
- It consists of a diffusion index that summarizes whether market conditions, as viewed by purchasing managers, are expanding, staying the same, or contracting.
- The headline PMI is a number from 0 to 100.
- A PMI above 50 represents an expansion when compared with the previous month.
- A PMI reading under 50 represents a contraction.
- A reading at 50 indicates no change.
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Where liberalism and nationalism are placed in Asia
The article talks about liberalism and nationalism in Asia.
Background:
- After the rise of the nation-state, wars were attributed to the power and expansionist policies of nations.
- A nation-state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent.
- In Europe, nations were in almost constant conflict and Japanese nationalism led to wars, particularly with China.
- In the early period of the 20th century, nationalism was regarded as the root cause of war, but it is also argued that capitalism, which led to colonialism, was equally responsible.
- In Europe, as the national idea spread, it became ethnic-oriented and increasingly illiberal, with an exception being Giuseppe Mazzini’s nationalist activism.
- Giuseppe Mazzini was an Italian politician and activist for the unification of Italy who spearheaded the Italian revolutionary movement.
- Before Indian independence, nationalism was regarded with suspicion.
- Jawaharlal Nehru saw merit in nationalism as the focus of the independence movement. Yet, he feared that extreme nationalism among colonised peoples could degenerate into fascism and expansionism.
Nationalism:
- Nationalism may take various forms but essentially, it is about collective identity, whereas liberalism implies the defence of individual freedom and self-determination, the state’s role being to protect the private sphere.
Liberalism:
- In practice, liberalism can underpin universal rights and Adam Smith’s natural laws of economics, but its appeal is mainly to the professional educated class, and lacks nationalism’s emotional appeal.
Asian democracy:
- Asian politics are politically conservative when the economy is booming.
- Example: lengthy autocratic governments in China, Singapore and Vietnam.
- However, the Asian financial crisis of 1997 led to a democratic impulse in Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea, and intermittently in Thailand.
- Democracy in Asia is not shaped by the liberalism of the West.
- The centrality of civil and political rights is less opinionated and a degree of state intervention is considered acceptable when it comes to individual autonomy.
- The liberal tradition contributes to the ideas underlying the post-Second World War international system, accepting democracy, free trade, international law, multilateralism, environmental protection and human rights.
- Problems arise when such ideas become a doctrine for nation-building irrespective of context, with western intervention in the developing world and its consequences of turmoil and Islamist extremism and terror.
- For example: the current situation in Afghanistan is a case in point.
Issue:
- Despite American diplomatic rhetoric, there never has been a community of mutually supportive liberal democracies.
- International relations are conducted at the axial point of a just order of law and a hierarchical order of power: the United Nations represents this tension in the differing principles on which the Security Council and General Assembly are based.
- This is why the reform of the UN to include India, Japan, Germany and a few others as permanent members of the Security Council has proven difficult to achieve.
How will nationalism and liberalism be reflected in a future Asia?
- Both India and China were at the receiving end of western imperialism and emerged as supporters of principles of international society.
- This is reflected in the Panchsheel: sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference.
- This implies a rejection of western efforts to qualify sovereignty by making it dependent on human rights protection.
- The Non-Aligned Movement and Afro-Asianism were efforts to project a soft power model, but soon China, India and Pakistan joined the nuclear weapons club of hard power.
- The two leading Asian nations, India and China, used the present world system to design their rise while protesting against the control of the United Nations and world financial institutions but have not formulated any alternative based on Asian nationalism.
- An alternative based on Asian Nationalism is a remote prospect, given the current rivalry between India and China.
Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. India must commit to net zero emissions
The article talks about the need for India to take a stand on climate change action.
Issue:
- Over 50% of the global economy has already committed to net zero emissions by 2050. Besides, China has also committed to be so before 2060.
- As the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report stressed the need for urgent and stronger responses, the pace and scale of climate action are only set to increase.
- With these developments, India is at the risk of being cast globally as an outlier on climate action, with a negative fallout if it fails to take a stand on climate change action.
Why should India commit to Net Zero Emissions?
- India is among the most vulnerable countries to climate change. It faces harmful impacts related to sea-level rise, heat stress, drought, water stress and flooding, biodiversity and natural disasters.
- Given the negative impacts, addressing climate change in India’s economic development is now central to success.
- Over 100 countries have already committed to net zero emissions by 2050, with more expected at COP26.
- India is already the third-largest emitter in the world, and is set to be the largest as the United States, China, and the European Union are all now signed up to net zero.
- This will become a significant drag on India’s international diplomacy. This applies not just to key relationships like with the U.S., but also with much of the Group of 77 (G77) states, who are increasingly concerned to see climate action, and in multilateral groupings such as the United Nations and ASEAN-APEC.
India’s take on Net Zero emissions:
- India is purposely not committing to net zero by 2050, including on the basis that as a developing country, it needs to see significant support from developed countries for climate action as part of making any such commitment.
Massive opportunities:
- The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow is shaping up to be the most important climate meeting since the Paris Agreement in 2015.
- It is focused on supercharging global ambition and action on climate change.
- Solar energy costs have fallen 90% in recent years, providing the cheapest electricity in India ever seen.
- The transition of the global economy to net zero emissions is the biggest commercial opportunity in history.
- In just the energy sector alone, an estimated $1.6 to $3.8 trillion of investment is required every year until 2050.
- China is investing heavily in gaining an advantage in the technologies of the new economy, be it renewable energy and storage, electric and hydrogen transport, low emissions industry, green cities or sustainable agriculture.
- Governments, as well as businesses, are increasing climate action, in order to take advantage of the massive opportunities arising as the global economy shifts to net zero emissions.
- In 2020, investors injected over $500 billion into climate transition.
Way Forward:
- India is set to significantly exceed its Paris Agreement commitment of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33-35% below 2005 levels by 2030, providing ready room for higher ambition.
- India has impressed the world with its leading roll-out of renewable energy and target for 450GW by 2030.
- It is also well-known for its leadership in the International Solar Alliance and recent national hydrogen strategy.
- Indian corporates are also stepping up, with the Tata Group winning awards on sustainability, Mahindra committing to net zero by 2040 and Reliance by 2035.
- And India should not be expected to build alone. Support can range from stronger political engagement and dialogue to policy support in areas of mutual challenge such as energy policy, carbon markets and post-COVID green economic recovery.
- Practical support and cooperation in areas like rolling out renewable energy and integrating it with the national grid, zero emissions transport, decarbonising hard to abate sectors like steel, cement and chemicals and decarbonising agriculture offer significant scope to raise ambition.
- Countries can work with India on innovative green financing for decarbonising investments, including using donor support to mobilise private sector finance, green bonds and climate transition funds. These must be lasting partnerships that deliver results.
F. Prelims Facts
1. 200 Army personnel for Zapad exercise
What’s in News?
Multinational Exercise ZAPAD 2021 will be held at Nizhniy in Russia.
This topic has been covered in PIB Summary & Analysis for 1st September 2021
2. Ladakh adopts State animal and bird
What’s in News?
Two years after it was carved out as a separate Union Territory (UT) from the erstwhile State of J&K, Ladakh has adopted its State animal and State bird.
- Two endangered species, snow leopard (Panther unica) and black-necked crane (Grus nicricollis) have been adopted as the State animal and State bird respectively.
Snow Leopard:
Source: Wikimedia Commons
- Snow leopard, whose numbers are dwindling wordwide, has been categorised as “vulnerable” in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Read more on Snow Leopard: Characteristics and Conservation Status
Black-necked crane:
Source: Black-necked crane | Birds of India | Bird World (thedynamicnature.com)
- Black-necked cranes, considered loyal couples, are only found in Ladakh’s Changthang region.
- It was the State bird of J&K before August 5, 2019.
- They are classified as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List.
- It is revered in Buddhist traditions and culturally protected across much of its range.
3. High honour for Naval Aviation
What’s in News?
President Ram Nath Kovind will award the President’s Colour to INS Hansa, based in Goa.
President’s Colour:
The President’s Colour is the highest honour bestowed on a military unit in recognition of its exceptional service to the nation.
Details:
- Naval Aviation came into being with the acquisition of the first Sealand aircraft on January 13, 1951, and the commissioning of INS Garuda, the first Naval Air Station, on May 11, 1953.
- At present, the Naval Aviation boasts of nine air stations and three naval air enclaves along the Indian coastline and in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- It has transformed into a modern, technologically advanced and highly potent force, with more than 250 aircraft comprising carrier-borne fighters, maritime reconnaissance aircraft, helicopters and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA).
- The Navy was the first among the armed forces to be awarded the President’s Colour on May 27, 1951, by the then President Rajendra Prasad.
G. Tidbits
1. Over 4 bn don’t have social protection: UN
What’s in News?
According to United Nations, over half of all people in the world have no social protections.
- Social protection includes access to health care and income security measures related especially to old age, unemployment, sickness, disability, work injury, maternity or the loss of the main breadwinner in a family, as well as extra support for families with children.
- Access to healthcare, sickness and unemployment benefits have more than ever proved their relevance during the pandemic. And the pandemic has pushed countries to offer more services to their populations.
- However, in a report on the state of social protection globally, the UN’s International Labour Organization said that 4.1 billion people were living without any social safety net of any kind.
2. To contain food prices, Sri Lanka declares economic emergency
What’s in News?
Sri Lankan President has declared an economic emergency in the country.
- The country is experiencing high inflation.
- The move comes in the backdrop of a spike in food prices following a steep fall in the value of the country’s currency.
- The state of emergency has been declared under the public security ordinance to prevent the hoarding of essential items, including rice and sugar.
- The government has appointed a former General as commissioner of essential services, who will have the power to seize food stocks held by traders and retailers and regulate their prices.
- The military will oversee the action which gives power to officials to ensure that essential items are sold at government-guaranteed prices or prices based on import costs at customs and prevent hiding of stocks.
- The wide-ranging measure is also aimed at recovering credit owed to state banks by importers.
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Consider the following statements about the black-necked crane:
- The black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) is the state bird of Arunachal Pradesh.
- Its IUCN status is Endangered.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both
- None
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- Union Territory of Ladakh has declared the Black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) as its state bird.
- Its IUCN status is Near Threatened.
Q2. With reference to Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- The date of election of Deputy Speaker is fixed by the President.
- The Constitution sets a time limit for the process of these elections.
Options:
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both
- None
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- The date of election of Deputy Speaker is fixed by the Speaker.
- There is no time limit prescribed by the Indian Constitution with respect to the election of Deputy Speaker.
- Article 93 states that the House of the People shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof.
Q3. Which of the following reports is/are published by International Labour Organization (ILO)?
- Global Wage Report
- World Employment and Social Outlook
- World Social Protection Report
Options:
- 1 only
- 1 and 2 only
- 3 only
- 1, 2 and 3
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
Reports that are published by International Labour Organization (ILO) are:
- Global Wage Report
- World Employment and Social Outlook
- World Social Protection Report
Q4. Consider the following statements:
- Coal-fired power accounts for more than 90% of India’s electricity generation.
- China is the leading coal producer worldwide.
Which of the above statements is/are incorrect?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both
- None
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: a
Explanation:
- Coal-fired power accounts for more than 70% of India’s electricity generation.
- China is the leading coal producer worldwide.
Q5. Consider the following: (UPSC - 2014)
- Bats
- Bears
- Rodents
The phenomenon of hibernation can be observed in which of the above kinds of animals?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 only
- 1, 2 and 3
- Hibernation cannot be observed in any of the above
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
The phenomenon of hibernation can be observed in Bats, Bears and Rodents.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- Examine the evolution of liberalism and nationalism from a historical and geopolitical perspective. How will they be reflected in a future Asia? (250 words; 15 marks)[GS-2, International Relations]
- Critically discuss the international pressure on India to commit to net zero emissions. (250 words; 15 marks) [GS-3, Environment and Ecology]
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Sept 2nd, 2021, CNA:- Download PDF Here
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