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Editorial
In 1980, faced with the prospect of the Soviet Union expanding its reach to the Gulf, the Carter administration in the United States came up with an aggressive approach.
In the previous year, the U.S. had suffered twin setbacks in Asia — in February, the Shah’s regime in Iran, one of the pillars of America’s West Asia policy, collapsed; and in December, the Soviets sent the Red Army to Afghanistan.
Outlining his policy, framed by Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter had said in his State of the Union address on January 23, 1980, that “any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf region will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the U.S., and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force”.
The Carter doctrine would continue to guide the policy of successive administrations towards the Gulf and ensure that the region remained an exclusive American sphere of influence — until recently. Of late, there has been much talk about the shifting sands of Arabia.
It was, however, on full display when Saudi Arabia and Iran reached an agreement earlier this month, in secret talks hosted by China, to normalise relations.
Put it in context: the U.S. remained a spectator when its global rival (China) brought together one of its allies (Saudi Arabia) and a sworn enemy (Iran) to reach a potential game-changing pact in a region (Gulf) which it considered as an exclusive sphere of influence. It practically marked an end to the Carter Doctrine.
This did not happen overnight. Over the past 20 years, the U.S. has made a host of mistakes in West Asia, which has led to a decline in its overall influence and an associated policy recalibration by its allies.
Take the cases of Iraq, Syria and Iran — one, a country the U.S. invaded, brought regime change and occupied; two, a country where it sought regime change without a full-scale invasion; and three, a country which it sought to both contain and engage.
Abolition is the way (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Forty years after holding that the mode of executing prisoners by hanging cannot be termed too cruel or barbaric, the Supreme Court of India has now ventured to find out if there is a more dignified and less painful method to carry out death sentences.
The idea of finding an alternative mode of execution, one considered less painful and involves little cruelty, has been part of the wider debate on whether the death penalty should be abolished.
Judicial and administrative thinking have leaned towards backing both the idea of capital punishment and the practice of hanging.
The Bench has sought fresh data to substantiate the argument that a more humane means of execution can be found. There are two leading judgments on the issue — Bachan Singh vs State of Punjab (1980), which upheld the death penalty, but limited it to the ‘rarest of rare cases’, and Deena Dayal vs Union of India And Others (1983), which upheld the method by ruling that hanging is “as painless as possible” and “causes no greater pain than any other known method”.
The 35th Report of the Law Commission (1967) had noted that while electrocution, use of a gas chamber and lethal injection were considered by some to be less painful, it was not in a position to come to a conclusion. It refrained from recommending any change.
Final solution (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The influential Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has made public its final ‘Synthesis’ report, which is part of the Sixth Assessment Cycle.
Since 1990, when the IPCC began publicising its compilation of global scientific research linking greenhouse gas emissions with changes in weather and climate, the evidence that human actions are nudging the world closer to irreversible cataclysms has only grown stronger.
The IPCC’s various assessment cycles have played a significant role in it. There is little by way of new information in the latest report that was made public after weeklong deliberations at Interlaken, Switzerland.
This is because it is a synthesis of reports that since 2018 have not only bolstered the human link in warming but also analysed, from multiple angles, the implications of not meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement, of endeavouring to keep temperatures from rising 1.5°C above pre-industrial times.
The report stresses the need for finance to flow from developed countries to developing countries and the need to compensate countries that are poised to lose the most from climate change, to help them build resilience. In a summary for policymakers, the latest synthesis report says that the planet’s best chance to keep temperatures below 1.5°C is to ensure greenhouse gas emissions are reduced to 48% of 2019 levels by 2030 and 99% by 2050.
Currently, the policies declared by countries collectively, if implemented entirely, are poised to see temperatures rise 2.5°C to 3.2°C by 2100.
The latest report may weigh in significantly at the next session of the Conference of Parties scheduled in Dubai in November where a Global Stocktake — countries laying out what they have so far done to achieve commitments laid out in the Paris Agreement — is likely to be the highlight of proceedings.
The IPCC reports have generally been viewed as a portent of doom but the current report also talks about the falling cost of solar and wind power, and the expansion of electric vehicle fleets.
Opinion
The road to ending tuberculosis (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The world got a wake-up call in 1993 about tuberculosis (TB) when the World Health Organization declared it a global health emergency.
The 1993 World Development Report labelled TB treatment for adults as the best buy among all developmental interventions.
The response in the 30 years since has been short on urgency and long on processes. The current goal is to end TB by 2030, but clarity on definitions of ‘end’ and the means of verification are not fully in place.
Following on the call first made in 2001 at the G7 in Okinawa, Japan, by Kofi Annan, and formalised at the next summit in Genoa, Italy, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria began disbursing the first round of money directed towards the global TB epidemic in 2003.
The story of how this new war chest against diseases of poverty did not remain confined to financing HIV programmes alone is for historians of public health to tease out.
Twenty years on, the Global Fund has become the single largest channel of additional money for global TB control. But it remains hostage to the zero-sum games imposed on it from its donor constituents and between the champions of the three diseases the Fund was set up to provide additional financing for.
Mandated with the task of mobilising and marshaling a disparate set of actors towards the goal of ending TB, the StopTB Partnership got a formal presence on the board of the Global Fund close to seven years after it was constituted.
The Stop TB board meets in Varanasi, India, this week, and will coincide with World TB Day (March 24).
Despite constraints, the global TB response has been adapting to changes: the HIV response has inspired ‘engagement’ of those affected by the disease; the use of molecular diagnostic tools developed to respond to acts of bioterrorism 20 years ago are the current state of the art for diagnosing TB.
Using social safety programmes to address the poverty drivers of the TB epidemic and leveraging the “mobile and computational data revolution” to improve treatment outcomes have also begun shaping the trajectory of global efforts to end TB.
Text & context
Getting it right: a historian’s effort to document the life of Bhagat Singh (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 1, History)
India has been slow to appreciate the genius of Bhagat Singh. Generations of students have grown up with a little more than passing mention of Bhagat Singh in history textbooks.
Often clubbed with Sukhdev and Rajguru and the three revolutionaries’ hanging on March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh, the man who wanted to “sow guns” as a child, deserves better.
Back in the summer of 2002, Hindi cinema made a belated and somewhat hurried attempt to shine a light on the man under whose influence the Hindustan Republican Army transformed into the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association.
The result was three films, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Shaheed-e-Azam and Shaheed. The films failed to conquer the box office.
About a month after the three Bhagat Singh movies, the audiences warmed up more enthusiastically to Devdas based on Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay’s novel.
The threads of history lost out to the yarn of a famous novelist. And Bhagat Singh, in the mind of the common man, remained a peripheral figure whose execution could not be saved by Mahatma Gandhi despite the pact with Lord Irwin.
One man though has given the best years of his life, and some more after retirement, to study, research and write about Bhagat Singh. Indeed, retired Jawaharlal Nehru University academic Chaman Lal has researched the life of Bhagat Singh with a passion unparalleled.
While Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Abul Kalam Azad and Subhas Chandra Bose have, at various times, been celebrated through biographies, Bhagat Singh has often been a freedom fighter who does not fit the template of a freedom struggle based on ahimsa and satyagraha.
Easily glossed over is the fact that he spent 157 days on a hunger strike, picking up not even once a weapon in anger. Not by Lal though who has penned around a dozen books on the revolutionary freedom fighter, an atheist who is now sought to be appropriated by right wing forces. Truth to tell, Bhagat Singh defies easy definition.
News
Govt. will attempt to open corridor to Sharda Peeth in PoK for devotees: Shah (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the government would move forward to open a corridor to the Sharda Peeth in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) on the lines of the Kartarpur corridor.
The Sharda Peeth, a revered site for the Hindu community, is located in the Neelum Valley in PoK across Teetwal village along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mr. Shah was responding to a suggestion made by the convener of the Save Sharda Committee Kashmir, Ravindra Pandita, who requested that the Sharda Peeth corridor should be made operational on the lines of the Kartarpur corridor, which was opened in 2019.
The corridor links two important Sikh shrines — Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district of Punjab and Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan — and allows pilgrims to travel visa-free.
The Minister said the Peeth was a historical centre of India’s cultural, religious and educational heritage and the government — under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi — would definitely move forward to open it for devotees on the lines of the Kartarpur corrridor.
Mr. Shah also virtually inaugurated the Maa Sharda Devi temple at Kupwara on Wednesday. He said the architecture and construction of the temple was done according to the Hindu scriptures under the aegis of Sharda Peeth.
The reconstruction of Maa Sharda’s temple in Kupwara is a necessary and important step in the direction of discovery of Sharda-civilisation and promotion of Sharda-script.
Once upon a time, Sharda Peeth was considered the centre of knowledge in the Indian subcontinent, scholars from all over the country used to come here in search of scriptures and spiritual knowledge. Sharda script is the original script of our Kashmir, which has been named after Maa Sharda.
President confers Padma awards on S.M. Krishna, Kumar Mangalam Birla (Page no. 13)
(Miscellaneous)
Former Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla and playback singer Suman Kalyanpur were among those who were honoured with the Padma awards by President Droupadi Murmu at an investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Mr. Krishna, a former External Affairs Minister, who is “known for his statesman-like vision and administrative acumen during a career spanning more than six decades”, was given the Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian award.
Noted architect Balkrishna Doshi, known for his minimalistic, simple and eco-friendly approach to architecture, was also given the Padma Vibhushan posthumously, the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted. Stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who had passed away last year, was given the Padma Shri posthumously.
Mr. Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group (ABG), was given the Padma Bhushan. In a tweet, the Rashtrapati Bhavan noted that the ABG was one of the first Indian groups to venture abroad and acquire widespread global presence.
Delhi-based professor Kapil Kapoor, spiritual leader Kamlesh D. Patel and Ms. Kalyanpur were also among those who were honoured with the Padma Bhushan, the country’s third highest civilian award.
Jodhaiya Bai Baiga, a prominent artist of Baiga painting; Usha Barle, performer of Pandwani and Panthi art forms of Chhattisgarh, and Raman Cheruvayal, a tribal farmer from Kerala who is known for his contribution to sustainable agriculture and preservation of biodiversity, were given the Padma Shri.
The ceremony was attended by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla as well as Home Minister Amit Shah.
IAF pilots sharpen their skills at Exercise Cobra Warrior in the U.K (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Over the past three weeks, five Indian Air Force (IAF) Mirage-2000 aircraft have been undertaking joint training involving high intensity, large force, and tactical air war fighting operations with six other Air Forces as part of the multilateral ‘Exercise Cobra Warrior’ under way in the U.K. The Mirages drawn from all three existing squadrons also include those that took part in the Balakot air strike in 2019.
The other countries include U.K., Finland, Sweden, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., and Singapore. Finland, India and Saudi Arabia joined for the first time.
The initial idea was to bring in indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas but they were busy in another exercise.
“We have done two stops en route, at Saudi Arabia and Greece, and covered a distance of 4,500 miles over three days with mid-air refuelling by IL-78 aircraft,” said Gp. Capt. Pranav Raj, CO of 7 Mirage squadron ‘Battle Axes’ based at Gwalior, and the IAF’s Exercise Director.
On the challenges and lessons learnt he said, “The weather here is fairly challenging and quite different from what it is in Gwalior or Central India. The maintenance team has done a tremendous job in keeping all five aircraft available for missions.
It has been a great experience, he further stated. “We have learnt quite a bit when flying with participating nations. We’ve flown with F-18s and F-16s carrying out entire spectrum of air operations in terms of offensive and defensive counter missions and others.