Rajasthan ready for its first separate Agriculture Budget
U.S. restores sanction waiver to Iran
Junta ‘torches’ houses in Myanmar
Israel dispute erupts at African Union summit
GS-3
Sariska wears the stripes of success
Wildlife migration to Wayanad sanctuary begins
Antarctic microbes may help in plastic cleanup
Why are India’s imports from China rising?
Many seats redrawn in J_amp;K delimitation draft
The J_amp;K Delimitation Commission has shared a fresh interim report with its associate members, including three Members of Parliament (MPs) of the National Conference (NC) and two BJP MPs, and has proposed redrawing of several assembly segments in Kashmir and one Lok Sabha seat, besides the allocation of six seats to the Jammu division and one to the Kashmir division.
According to the NC MPs, none of the suggestions made in response to the earlier draft proposal, shared in December last year with the associate members, have been incorporated in the fresh interim proposal. They rejected the interim report, saying the recommendations were “unconstitutional”.
Rajasthan ready for its first separate Agriculture Budget
The preparations are in full swing for the first-ever separate Agriculture Budget to be presented in the Rajasthan Assembly session starting on February 9, with the emphasis on welfare measures for farmers and innovations for the benefit of cultivators. The budget will especially promote drip and sprinkler irrigation systems in view of the scarcity of water in the State.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said during a pre-budget consultation with the farmers and representatives of dairy federations that the State government was considering a proposal to establish a separate power company for the agriculture sector. “Farmers have been facing hardships by waking up the entire night to irrigate their fields, as electricity was supplied to them only after dark,” he said.
The Chief Minister said at the consultation, held over the week-end, that his government would promote drip and sprinkler irrigation systems in view of scarcity of water and depleting groundwater level across the State. He affirmed that the farmers welfare would get the highest priority because agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry sectors were the backbone of the States economy.
The announcement for the separate budget formulation for agriculture was made in the 2021-22 State Budget speech of Mr. Gehlot, who also holds the Finance portfolio. The agriculture and related sectors, including dairy and animal husbandry, in the State, registered a growth rate of 3.45% in 2020-21 despite the adverse circumstances created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The State Cabinet had last month approved a proposal to establish an Agro-Industries Development Board with the objective of increasing the farmers income by strengthening the agricultural marketing infrastructure. The Board will prepare a roadmap for connecting farmers with agro-processing and value addition and make recommendations for new policies.
U.S. restores sanction waiver to Iran
(Basically, progress in JCOPA)
The US has agreed to restore sanctions waivers related to Iran’s atomic activity, in what appeared to be a goodwill gesture ahead of crunch talks to save the 2015 nuclear accord designed to prevent the development of nuclear weapons.
As a result of the agreement, Russian, Chinese and European companies could receive waivers from the US to engage in civilian nuclear activities.
The Biden administration’s decision to restore the waivers comes as western diplomats warn that time is running out to save the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that Tehran signed with world powers.
Former president Donald Trump — who pulled the US out of the agreement in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on the republic — revoked the waivers in 2020.
Analysts in Iran and western capitals see the move on waivers as a confidence building measure by the US, which has been in indirect talks with Iran in Vienna since April to resurrect the agreement.
Iran has been demanding more tangible steps, in particular with regard to economic sanctions.
The sanctions waiver would cover some nuclear projects, including the Arak heavy water reactor and Tehran Research Reactor, and allow export of Iran’s spent and scrap research reactor fuel.
Analysts say the talks in January were more constructive than December, with progress in technical issues. But they say there has been little movement on Iran’s core demands, such as a US guarantee that no future president would withdraw from the deal and that economic sanctions are lifted.
Junta ‘torches’ houses in Myanmar
Myanmar villagers and anti-coup fighters have accused troops of burning hundreds of homes in the country’s restive northwest, as the junta seeks to crush resistance to its rule.
Mass protests against last year’s coup have been met with a brutal military crackdown, and violence has flared across Myanmar as civilians form “people’s defence forces” (PDF) to oppose the junta.
A woman from Bin village in the Sagaing region, which has seen recent clashes, said troops had arrived in the early hours of Monday.
“They shelled artillery and fired guns before coming in,” she said on Friday, adding that the sound had sent villagers fleeing.
Troops then set fire to around 200 houses, including her own, she said, requesting anonymity.
“We could not bring anything with us. We took some warm clothes only, and then we just ran away.”
Troops also torched houses in nearby Inn Ma Hte village after a local pro-junta militia was attacked by anti-coup fighters who then fled, according to one of the rebels.
“When the PDF left the village, the army burnt it down,” the fighter said, adding that 600 houses had been torched.
Israel dispute erupts at African Union summit
Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Saturday urged the African Union to withdraw Israels accreditation, bringing simmering tensions to a head as the 55-member bloc opened a two-day summit in Addis Ababa.
Even as the continent reels from a spate of military coups and the coronavirus pandemic, the relationship with Israel is expected to figure prominently during the summit this weekend.
The dispute was set in motion last July when Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, accepted Israels accreditation to the bloc, triggering a rare dispute within a body that values consensus.
As heads of state gathered in Ethiopias capital on Saturday, Shtayyeh called on the body to reject Fakis move.
Israel should never be rewarded for its violation and for the apartheid regime it does impose on the Palestinian people, he said.
Israels accreditation last year drew quick protest from powerful members, including South Africa and Algeria which argued that it flew in the face of AU statements supporting the Palestinian Territories.
Four-member states have been suspended by the AUs Peace and Security Council since mid-2021 because of unconstitutional changes of government -- most recently Burkina Faso, where soldiers ousted President Roch Marc Christian Kabore last month.
Addressing African foreign ministers this week, AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat denounced a worrying resurgence of military coups.
But the AU has been accused of an inconsistent response to the putsches, notably by not suspending Chad after a military council took over following the death of longtime President Idriss Deby Itno on the battlefield last April.
The summit should discuss how to be more proactive in addressing factors that spark coups, including terrorism-related instability and frustration over constitutional revisions that extend leaders time in power, said Solomon Dersso, founder of the AU-focused Amani Africa think tank.
African Union
The African Union (AU) is a continental union consisting of 55-member states located on the continent of Africa.
The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The bloc was founded on 26 May 2001 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa.
The intention of the AU was to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signatory governments; the OAU was disbanded on 9 July 2002.
The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.
The AUs secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa.
The largest city in the AU is Lagos, Nigeria, while the largest urban agglomeration is Cairo, Egypt.
The African Union has over 1.3 billion people and an area of around 29 million km2 and includes popular world landmarks, such as the Sahara and the Nile.
The primary working languages are Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Kiswahili.
Within the African Union, there are official bodies, such as the Peace and Security Council and the Pan-African Parliament.
Sariska wears the stripes of success
The measures for habitat management for tigers launched about six months ago at the famous Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan’s Alwar district have started bearing fruit. The tiger population in the wildlife sanctuary has gone up to 25, while the resources are being provided to create water holes and develop grasslands for ungulates as a prey base.
New tourist route
The forest administration has opened a new route in the tiger reserve’s buffer zone, adjacent to Alwar town, for tourists to facilitate better sightings of the big cats. The new Bara-Liwari route, located in the region where a tigress gave birth to two cubs recently, will reduce pressure on the core area and increase livelihood opportunities for the rural population.
A foundation established by a private bank has started delivering goods and resources which the Forest Department could not arrange because of a variety of handicaps. As part of its corporate social responsibility expenditure, the foundation is funding development of grasslands, earthen bunds and water holes for wild animals at 10 different locations and making livelihood intervention for the villagers being relocated from the sanctuary.
The tiger reserve, spread across 1,216 sq. km, witnessed the first-of-its-kind tiger relocation from the Ranthambore National Park by helicopter in 2008 after the felines became extinct in the sanctuary. Since then, the animal has taken some time in multiplying at its own ease, unlike the Panna tiger reserve in Madhya Pradesh, where a similar aerial translocation was carried out in 2009.
Wildlife migration to Wayanad sanctuary begins
With the onset of summer, the seasonal migration of wild animals has begun from the adjacent wildlife sanctuaries in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS).
The inflow of wildlife is comparatively low this time owing to better rain in the sanctuary as well as adjacent tiger reserves till December 15, Jose Mathew, Assistant Conservator of Forest, WWS told The Hindu. However, this would be increase considerably by the end of February, he said.
The sanctuary is a haven for wild animals during summer owing to the easy availability of fodder and water throughout the year. Nevertheless, officials have made highly structured measures to ensure the availability of fodder and water, apart from other protection measures.
As many as 26 new brushwood check dams have been constructed, and 34 check dams of 168 dams have been de-silted so far to ensure drinking water to the animals, said Mr. Mathew.
As part of fodder management, around 289 hectares of coarse grasslands have been trimmed to grow soft grass, and weeds were removed on 83 hectares of forest land, he said. Sanctuary authorities are also planning to map fields and waterbodies to ensure fodder supply during the dry season.
Fire breakers have also been erected along 195 km, including a 27-km stretch on the State borders, at a width of 10 metres.
Antarctic microbes may help in plastic cleanup
A team of Argentine scientists is using microorganisms native to Antarctica to clean up pollution from fuels and potentially plastics in the pristine expanses of the white continent.
The tiny microbes munch through the waste, creating a naturally occurring cleaning system for pollution caused by diesel that is used as a source of electricity and heat for research bases in the frozen Antarctic.
The continent is protected by a 1961 Madrid Protocol that stipulates it must be kept in a pristine state.
The research on how the microbes could help with plastic waste could have potential for wider environmental issues.
This work uses the potential of native microorganisms - bacteria and fungi that inhabit the Antarctic soil, even when it is contaminated - and make these microorganisms eat the hydrocarbons, said Dr. Lucas Ruberto, a biochemist.
The team carried out bioremediation tasks, which involve cleaning soil affected by diesel, using indigenous microorganisms and plants, a process that can be used in the austral summer and removes some 60-80% of contaminants.
Why are India’s imports from China rising?
While many countries, including India, have spoken of the need to reduce reliance on China particularly in the wake of COVID-19 and disruption to supply chains, trade figures released last month showed imports have only continued to surge in 2021, rebounding after a fall in trade in 2020 because of the pandemic. The rising trade comes amid continuing tensions with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), where disengagement negotiations have been slow moving. The rising trade does not, however, suggest a return to normalcy in relations. Other areas, such as investment, remain in a deep freeze amid the continuing chill in bilateral relations.
What did India import from China in 2021?
India’s trade with China in 2021 reached $125.6 billion, according to figures released in January by China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC). This was the first time that trade crossed the $100 billion mark. India’s imports from China accounted for $97.5 billion, while exports reached $28.1 billion, both records. Compared to 2019 —trade declined substantially in 2020 because of the pandemic, which exaggerates the year-on-year increase —imports are up 30%. Exports to China, meanwhile, are up by as much as 56%. The trade deficit, a long-term source of concern for India, is up by 22% since 2019, having declined last year.
What is driving India’s imports?
India’s biggest imports are electrical and mechanical machinery, a range of chemicals that are intermediate imports used by industries, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), auto components, and since 2020, a large amount of medical supplies. According to figures available with India’s Ministry of Commerce, all those key imports continued to rise in 2021.
The total value of the top 100 import categories —each of which accounts for more than $100 million in imports —was up by $16 billion in the last year, reaching $45 billion. The top items included both finished goods such as integrated circuits (up 147%), laptops and computers (up 77%) and oxygen concentrators (up four-fold) and intermediate products such as chemicals (of these, acetic acid imports were up eight-fold).
What does the recent trend of trade figures suggest?
Experts say India’s dependence on China for finished goods has shown no signs of easing, which is a cause for concern. The rise in intermediate imports is, however, less of a concern as it is a sign of industrial recovery and greater demand for inputs. While Indian exports to China have also grown, up by more than 50% in the last two years, these are mostly raw materials such as ores, as well as cotton and seafood, and not finished products. The five-year trend shows the trade deficit continues to widen. The deficit has grown from $51.8 billion in 2017 to $69.4 billion in 2021.
What are the implications for India-China relations?
While trade continues to boom, other aspects of economic relations have dramatically changed in the past two years. In the wake of the LAC crisis starting April 2020, the message from New Delhi was that it cannot be business as usual while there are tensions along the border. Investments from China in the past year have plunged amid tighter curbs. In the tech and telecom space, the once rapidly increasing Chinese investments in start-ups including from tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent, has come to an abrupt halt, more than 200 apps remain banned, and Chinese firms have been kept out of 5G trials so far.
India has also tightened scrutiny on Chinese firms in India, recently conducting tax investigations into companies including smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. Those moves last month prompted a statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce calling on India to “provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese businesses”. While the trade pattern is unlikely to dramatically change in the near future, even as New Delhi considers a long-term plan to reduce some of these import dependencies by either accelerating long-discussed but slow-moving plans to manufacture some of these critical goods in India or source elsewhere, the rest of the India-China economic relationship still remains somewhat in a state of freeze as talks continue to resolve the tensions along the border.
