Crisp Current Affairs: For UPSC and State PSC Examinations 2015–16

By Apoorva

Is the stack of unread newspaper editorials bothering you? Don’t worry as “Crisp Current Affairs” is here to rescue you. Give your answers an edge over others by linking them with current affairs and our out-of-the-box analysis on various topics. In short, this book can be a real game changer for you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Notion Press
• Release date: Sep 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9789352063482

Book preview

CRISP CURRENT AFFAIRS

For UPSC and State PSC Examinations 2015–16

APOORVA (Ed.)

Notion Press

Old No. 38, New No. 6

McNichols Road, Chetpet

Chennai - 600 031

First Published by Notion Press 2015

Copyright © Apoorva 2015

All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 978-93-5206-348-2

This book has been published in good faith that the work of the author is original. All efforts have been taken to make the material error-free. However, the author and the publisher disclaim the responsibility.

No part of this book may be used, reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Editorial

Hello friends,

As you all are aware that Competitive Exam Preparations need discipline, dedication, hard work and time management. We all try and achieve the first three qualities mentioned above but many of us lack in managing their time, as the syllabus is vast and dynamic resulting in consumption of our maximum time in understanding few subjects or particular topics. Thus, we lag behind; after all it’s a competition. As a result many of us compromise on reading editorials of newspapers and jotting down important current affairs points from it. This can make all the difference to your rank and selection, as editorials of important newspapers like The Hindu, Indian Express and Times of India are the most reliable sources of information giving us updated data.

So friends, that’s when we come in picture with Crisp Current Affairs. We are lending you our yearly notes on editorials of leading newspapers. In these notes we have tried hard to present all important topics in a structured format so that it’s easy to understand and grasp. ‘Crisp Current Affairs’ will give you a holistic view of every topic. We have made our notes point wise and under different headings for you to easily set the framework in mind. But while writing in exams please write in different paragraph form giving a uniform flow to your answer.

The questions will never be direct from the topics we have mentioned here. So we advise you to read these notes thoroughly 2–3 times so that you include these current affairs while writing your answer giving it an edge over others.

‘Possible Resolutions’ is the most important aspect as examiners are looking for solutions and not problems because as an administrative officer you are expected to find solutions.

My personal advice to all of you is that – Choose the Information to be received by mind very carefully; when ample of it is present everywhere now days.

Friends remember that Luck only favours those who do-

L - Labour

U - Under

C - Correct

K - Knowledge

And lastly, believe in god.

"Yeh mat kaho khuda se meri mushkile badi hai,

yeh mushkilo se kehdo, mera khuda bada hai!!"

– A beautiful song by Brahma Kumaris

– Apoorva

Contents

Title

Copyright

Editorial

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & FOREIGN POLICY

1. India-Bangladesh

2. India-China

3. India-South Korea

4. India-Afghanistan

5. India-Sri Lanka

6. India – Pakistan: An insight to ceasefire violations

7. Religious extremism/Rise of terror

8. India-Indonesia

9. India-Russia

10. India-Iran

11. India-Mongolia

12. India-U.S.A

13. Nuclear Liability

14. India-Israel

15. India–Japan

16. India – Australia

17. Indian Foreign Policy

GOVERNANCE AND POLITY

1. Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan Or Clean India Campaign

2. Make In India

3. Niti Aayog

4. Mgnrega

5. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana

6. Digital India

7. Pradhan Mantri MUDRA Yojana

8. The Soil Health Card Scheme

9. Section 66A

10. D eletion of Section 309

11. Centre-State Relations

12. Judicial Reforms

13. Lokpal Bill 128

14. Ordinance Raj

15. Mission Indradhanush

16. List of few other Government initiatives

SOCIAL ISSUES

1. The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana

2. Chhattisgarh: An Example of Medical Incongruities

3. The Draft National Health Policy 2015

4. Plight of the Marginalised Cultivator

5. Women Safety

6. The Juvenile Justice (Care & Protection of Children) Bill, 2014

7. Child Labour

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS/AGENCIES

1. India’s Stand at the World Trade Organisation

2. SAARC: In Current Perspective

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

1. GSAT-6 Launch

2. Satellite based Navigation System to Aviation Sector

3. RLV (Re-usable Launch Vehicle)

4. Akash Missile inducted in Army

5. LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)

6. Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

7. Cyber Security

8. Net Neutrality

INTERNAL SECURITY

1. The Problem of Naxalism

2. Nagaland Peace Accord 2015

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & FOREIGN POLICY

India-Bangladesh

History of Existence of Enclaves

Local folklore has it that 111 Indian enclaves in Bangladeshi territory and 51 Bangladeshi enclaves on the Indian side of the border are remnants of high stakes chess games between the erstwhile Raja of Cooch Behar and the Faujdar of Rangpur in a pre-colonial Bengal, where villages were bartered in feudal wagers.

Modern historians say the British Raj left these enclaves or chhitmahals as it found them when the subcontinent was hastily partitioned, leaving thousands stranded as citizens of one country but living on land surrounded by that of another nation.

Attempts in Past

The Indian-Mujib Land Boundary Agreement in 1974 resolved to exchange enclaves expeditiously. Bangladesh’s parliament ratified the treaty, while India’s did not.

The Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 was opposed arguing that it would seek to change a ‘basic feature’ of the Indian Constitution.

Now, with the unanimous approval of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs and then the passage of amendment has made the exchange of enclaves a reality.

Scenario at Present

India’s border with Bangladesh at 4,096 Km is longer than that with China or Pakistan, covering 5 states of W. Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya and Mizoram.

India did not govern the Indian enclaves in Bangladesh and vice versa. As a result these islands of ‘alien’ populations had no access to the development, job opportunities, laws or rights of either the country to which they belong or the one that surrounds them. Instead they had become a law and order and security challenge on either side of the border.

After LBA, India will get a formal control of about 2,777 acres or 11 sq. Km and Bangladesh 2,276 acres or 9 sq. Km. And the 14,000 or so residents of the Bangladeshi enclaves in India will have the option of becoming Indian citizens. In addition, at least some of the 37,000 or so Indians in the enclaves in Bangladesh are expected to cross over.

Both New Delhi and Dhaka must ensure that any population transfers and consequent changes to the demography on either side are handled in a just, equitable, even-handed and non-discriminatory manner.

Significance of LBA

Social Aspect

As humanitarian aspect, the Protocol can bring a huge improvement in the lives of thousands of people. Swapping these outlying pieces of territory with Bangladesh is in India’s interest.

India and Bangladesh are seminal to each other’s progress and prosperity. By the smooth passage of the 119th Amendment Indian parliamentarians have conveyed to the people of Bangladesh that India wishes them well and is ready to work with them cooperatively as their preferred partner.

Political Aspect

Apart from settling India’s 4,096 Km long lands border with Bangladesh, by conferring citizenship rights to enclave residents, this agreement also settles the maritime boundary with Bangladesh.

A partnership also limits China’s growing influence in this region and leverages geographical and cultural synergies between India and Bangladesh through regional groupings like BIMSTEC and ASEAN.

Contentious issues on water sharing can also be resolved to mutual benefit, while keeping the interest of Border States in mind. A common Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna regional river basin regime can be acknowledged. Such a regime would adopt a holistic approach to water sharing, considering environmental, hydrological plus local cultural and tribal factors.

Economic Aspect

Resolving the border crisis would grease the wheels for future cooperation, development and trade in the region. Expanding land, sea and rail access across Bangladesh to India’s northeast states would unlock the regional economy.

The planned conversion of railway gauges in the northeast to broad gauge will hit regional transport networks in the short term. In this regard, the recent Bangladeshi approval for transit of food grains to Tripura using the Ashuganj river port is promising.

Energy trading across the Siliguri corridor can help built an integrated regional economy. Kolkata could rise again to be our largest metropolis, economically dominating this hinterland. India and Bangladesh can grow together.

Challenges

It’s hard to foresee that change will take place smoothly after seeing the violence in few enclaves soon after the finalization of agreement. It is a fact that people who illicitly benefited from the enclaves like drug dealers, human traffickers, money lenders, cattle and labour smugglers are enraged and peace will not be granted so quickly.

It’s to be seen that whether these exploitative forces will vanish after the enclaves join the Indian mainstream or whether they will realign themselves to the new reality.

Pending issues

Teesta pact- 9 million people in Bangladesh are affected adversely. Resolving this is the biggest challenge in India-Bangladesh relation. The need of the hour is a combination of decisiveness and delicate balancing of interests to resolve the complex water sharing issue.

Border killing of Bangladeshis by Indian BSF is a continued concern.

Skewed trade balance- India enjoys a trade surplus of $5.5 billion with Bangladesh. More, significantly, Bangladesh’s exports to India fell by 8.2% from 2012-2013 to 2013-2014, while India’s exports rose by 4.7%. This trade is estimated to rise to $10 billion by 2018 if non-tariff barriers like technical standards, classification issues and infrastructural bottlenecks are removed a process that needs to be steered to completion.

India’s FDI to Bangladesh in 2014 was $68 million, up from $45 million in 2013. It remains lower than FDI from UK, Japan and even Pakistan.

Economic Cooperation

The three prime areas of economic cooperation and investment between India and Bangladesh are-

1.Energy

Bangladesh is power deficient, and has been importing it from India. The electric power wheeled into Bangladesh will now double in two years. The 71 Km Baharampur-Bheramara transmission grid carries 500 MW of electricity to Bangladesh which will soon double.

When additional hydropower becomes available from Bhutan and later from India’s northeast, Bangladesh will benefit from these.

2.Infrastructure

India has extended a $2 billion line of credit for Bangladesh to setup 2 Special Economic Zones (SEZ) for Indian industries.

Indian investment here should address a major problem that Bangladesh often raises of trade imbalance.

3. Connectivity

Flagging of buses from Dhaka to Guwahati and Agartala is a positive step as transit through Bangladesh will help India bring its northeast closer and resolve some of the problems of that region.

Indian ships at present have to follow the routine of travelling to Singapore to offload cargo for Bangladesh, they can henceforth use Bangladesh’s Chittagong and Mongla ports.

The new Motor Vehicles Agreement signed between India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh will allow seamless movement of people and goods across borders is a landmark moment in South Asian Cooperation that holds tremendous potential for economic growth.

The agreement opens up the possibility of turning border roads into economic corridors which could increase inter-regional trade with South Asia by 60%.

Conclusion

A similar framework has been finalized