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China signed an agreement worth $4.8 billion with cash-strapped Pakistan to set up a 1,200-MW nuclear power plant as a sign of increasing strategic cooperation between the two “all-weather allies”.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif witnessed the signing of the deal under which Beijing would build the nuclear plant at Chashma in Mianwali district of Punjab.
PM Modi lands in U.S., many events in pipeline (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York in the early afternoon on his first state visit to the United States. He is scheduled to lead the International Day of Yoga at the United Nations on Wednesday before flying to Washington DC for the core of his state visit.
Landed in New York City. Looking forward to the programmes here including interaction with thought leaders and the Yoga Day programme tomorrow, 21st June.
Mr. Modi was received in New York by India’s Ambassador to the U.S., Taranjit Singh Sandhu, and India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ruchira Kamboj.
Meanwhile, in Washington, preparations for the visit were under way with officials on both sides racing towards finalising a joint statement from the bilateral meetings that are scheduled.
We’re hosting India for an official state visit to put our cooperation on an inexorable trajectory as we support India’s emergence as a great power that will be central to ensuring U.S. interests in the coming decades,” John Kirby, who heads strategic communications for President Joe Biden’s National Security Council, said at a press briefing.
States
Punjab Assembly passes Bill to replace Governor with CM as Chancellor (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
In a major move, the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab University Laws (Amendment) Bill 2023, thereby vesting the powers of Chancellors of State Universities with the Chief Minister.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s move comes amid an ongoing tussle between Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and Governor Banwarilal Purohit on several issues, including a confrontation on selection of Vice-Chancellors by the government.
Mr. Mann said that rather than securing the State’s interests, the Governor was often seen on the other side. Citing the issue of Panjab University, he said instead of safeguarding the interests of Punjab and Punjabis, the Governor had been taking a stance in favour of Haryana to allow its entry into the senate of the university.
Mr. Mann said that this was a strange situation as the Governor, just to “appease his political masters sitting in Delhi”, was doing all these gimmicks.
Several other key Bills and a resolution demanding the release of the Rural Development Fund (RDF) from the Centre were also passed, even as the Congress MLAs staged a walkout from the House.
The Sikh Gurdwaras (Amendment) Bill, 2023, got the Assembly’s approval. Mr. Mann said the Bill aimed at freeing the undue control of a particular family over the rights to telecast sacred Gurbani (sacred hymn).
He said that it was a paradoxical situation that the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee under the influence of a family, that controlled its affairs, had given intellectual property rights of telecasting the Gurbani to a channel owned by them.
The Assembly also passed The Punjab Police (Amendment) Bill, 2023, to bring about an independent mechanism for the selection and appointment of suitable persons to the post of the Director General of Police.
As per the current practice, the States send the name of all eligible officers to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for selecting the State police head. The UPSC suggests names of three officers, from which the State government chooses one.
Editorial
A people of an emerald isle, waiting with doosras (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
George Bernard Shaw visited Ceylon in 1948, skipping India altogether. So much for the ego of the island’s massive neighbour. But that was not all. In a letter to India’s Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the unpredictable playwright wrote: “I was convinced that Ceylon is the cradle of the human race because everybody there looks an original.
All other nations are obviously mass produced.” Anthropology was as far from Shaw’s brain as the razor from his beard. But in this observation he had hit upon both a human truth and a Lankan verity.
The emerald isle’s people have traditionally been seen in terms of ethnic groups. The categorisation has its uses, as, for instance, in understanding the demographic weight of sections of its population such as given in this latest figure (Census of 2012): Sinhalese 74.9%; Sri Lankan Tamil 11.2%; Sri Lankan Moors 9.2%; Indian Tamil 4.2%; others 0.5% (‘Moors’ being a quaint Lankan way of describing, a la Shakespeare and Othello, the island’s Islamic population).
Muthiah Muralitharan is one of the 4.2% of Sri Lanka’s population called Indian Tamils.
But Murali is also the fast-bowling spinner of spinners who sends the ball as only he does, with a menacing sneer to match, and ‘has taken more wickets in international cricket than any other bowler’. You cannot get more original than that.
The Sinnasamy family is part of the large group of agricultural labourers that began coming into the island from the drought-ravaged and poor districts in southern Madras over a 100-year period, from about 1830 to 1930.
As the plantations and the island’s export earnings from the plantations, especially tea, grew, the labourers’ numbers grew too.
They did not. And here, the single-minded and unrelenting work put in by another ‘original’ Indian Tamil leader and head of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress, the late S. Thondaman, made a difference.
He was a ‘fast-bowler’ of his own kind . His ability to inspire and mobilise his people gave them voice, gave them self-respect. More than that, it made them feel they mattered as persons, individuals.
And there was the issue of citizenship. After 10, 25, 50, 100 years, were they Ceylonese or Indian or a bit of both? Nehru told India’s Parliament on April 9, 1958, ‘They are or should be citizens of Ceylon.’
He had the moral authority to do so, given the Congress-led Parliament’s record in the matter of affirmative action to ameliorate India’s debasing caste system.
Opinion
Semiconductor fab: the unfinished agenda (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
To set up a semiconductor fabrication plant in India is not mere hubris. There is a growing market. There are also strategic reasons: India’s susceptibility to coercion increases due to its dependence on the import of semiconductors.
Therefore, the government’s 2022 Semiconductor Mission is laudable. But today, there is still uncertainty about whether India will have a fab. In this context, it is important to understand why earlier attempts failed and examine alternate approaches.
The first serious attempt was made in 2007 in the form of a Special Incentive Package (SIP), but it yielded no response. The second attempt in the form of Modified SIP in 2012 fared better.
After over two years of extensive outreach with practically all the major fab companies in the world, India came close to having a fab.
Two consortia were approved by the Cabinet with an attractive set of incentives. Jaiprakash Associates in partnership with IBM and Israeli company TowerJazz constituted one, while the other was led by Hindustan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation along with ST Microelectronics.
The two fabs together involved investment of $10 billion, and the government offered incentives amounting to nearly $5 billion in the form of cash and tax cuts. Locations for the fabs were finalised and land was allotted. But finally, both failed to mobilise resources.
Semiconductor fabrication represents the ultimate frontier of human tech advancement. The frontier has been advancing adhering to Moore’s law that the number of transistors in a unit area doubles every 18 months.
But the progress of miniaturisation is accompanied by higher complexity and costs. As a result, the industry has seen a decline in the number of participants.
China started late in the semiconductor fab industry. But backed by massive government financial support over the last two decades, it acquired hundreds of loss-making fabs from around the world and built its fab industry.
Explainer
The climate lawsuit against Delta airlines (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Delta Air Lines in 2020 marketed itself as the “world’s first carbon-neutral airline”, investing $1 billion on reducing fuel usage and carbon removal techniques. However, the veracity of these claims is now under scrutiny.
On May 30, California-based Mayanna Berrin filed a lawsuit against Delta arguing that the airlines’ assertions were bogus, misleading and false.
The lawsuit accuses Delta of misleading customers with its sustainability pledges. Delta’s in-flight napkins read — “Carbon neutral since March 2020. Travel confidently knowing that we will offset the carbon emitted on your Delta flight.”
Delta relied on “carbon offsetting”, shorthand for a slew of ways companies can reduce or remove carbon emissions from the environment.
Activities like planting trees, shifting to cleaner fuel and funding carbon capture techniques in theory balance out a company’s carbon emissions.
A single round trip from Mumbai to L.A. generates 4.8 tonnes of CO2, but the claim is that the carbon pollution from this trip can be absorbed by trees or carbon vacuums that Delta had supported.
All the customer has to do is pay extra to participate in “green flying”. Delta’s carbon offset portfolio consists of “half renewables, mostly wind and solar projects in India,” as per a Bloomberg investigation.
According to Delta’s latest ESG report, it was responsible for roughly 43.2 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions in 2022 — almost seven times Botswana’s CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and industry in 2021.
The lawsuit against Delta is based on reports that have found glaring loopholes in the carbon offsetting process. Criticism includes, “inaccurate accounting” of projects where reductions would have occurred regardless of carbon market involvement; failure to immediately offset emissions; relying on impermanent solutions such as building projects (like forests) that may be destroyed by natural hazards.
What is the contention between Coal India and CCI? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
On June 15, the Supreme Court held that there was “no merit” in Coal India Ltd (CIL), a public sector undertaking, being excluded from the purview of the Competition Act.
The Court was hearing the PSU’s appeal against the Competition Appellate Tribunal’s order which alleged the former of abusing its position.
The chain of events goes back to March 2017 when the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had imposed a penalty of ₹591.01 crore on CIL for “imposing unfair/discriminatory conditions in fuel supply agreements (FSAs) with the power producers for supply of non-coking coal.”
In other words, CIL was found to be supplying lower quality of the essential resource at higher prices and placing opaque conditions in the contract about supply parameters and quality.
The regulator contended that Coal India and its subsidiaries operated independently of market forces and enjoyed market dominance in the relevant market with respect to production and supply of non-coking coal in India.
Coal India argued that it operated with the principles of ‘common good’ and ensuring equitable distribution of the essential natural resource.
With this objective, it was secured as a ‘monopoly’ under the Nationalisation Act, 1973 (more specifically, the Coal Mines (Nationalisation) Act, 1973).
The entity said that it may have to adhere to a differential pricing mechanism to encourage captive coal production (referring to mines that are handed over to companies for specific and exclusive use through lease or any other route).
Differential pricing, which may be inconsistent with market principles, was to ensure the viability of the larger operating ecosystem as well as for pursuing welfare objectives.
Furthermore, coal supply also has a bearing on larger national policies, for example, if the government were to encourage growth in backward areas through increased allocation.
Text
Anxiety disorders and its treatment: the stigma remains (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Anxiety, as an emotion, is experienced by many in day-to-day life. In some, it can become persistent and disabling. Fear is an emotional response to perceived imminent threat or danger associated with urges to flee or fight.
This ‘fight-or-flight response’ is characterised by a startled response and physiological changes. In contrast, anxiety is the apprehensive anticipation of future danger or misfortune accompanied by a feeling of worry, distress, and/or bodily symptoms of tension.
From an evolutionary perspective, fear and anxiety seem to be adaptive responses. For a psychiatrist, it is vital to differentiate normal functional anxiety from pathological dysfunctional anxiety on clinical grounds, and as of today, there are no candidate biomarkers to make this distinction.
This is where clinical judgement becomes key. Factors such as duration and persistence of symptoms, frequency or intensity, disproportionality of symptoms in a given context, pervasiveness of symptoms across contexts, and socio-occupational impairment are considered to mark the line between normal and pathological anxiety.
Anxiety, as a symptom, is found across a range of neuropsychiatric disorders. Until the last part of the 19th century, anxiety disorders were not classified separately from other mood disorders, such as depression.
In 1895, Sigmund Freud first suggested that people with mainly anxiety symptoms should be differentiated from depression. He gave the name “anxiety neurosis” to this entity.
Freud’s original anxiety neurosis included people with phobias and panic attacks. He subsequently divided them into two groups – anxiety neurosis and anxiety hysteria.
The first group included people with mainly psychological symptoms of anxiety, while the second group had people with phobias and physical symptoms of anxiety.
News
Railways to improve travel amenities for passengers in unreserved coaches (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Travelling in unreserved coaches, especially on long-distance routes, can be a nightmarish experience for many passengers due to the congestion caused by overcrowding and lack of basic amenities.
Indian Railways has embarked on a mission to bring about a change in the experience by extending adequate facilities for passengers travelling in unreserved coaches.
According to official sources, the Railway Board has devised a strategy to make journeys comfortable for passengers travelling in the general second-class coaches that are attached in the front and rear of all mail and express trains.
To start with, instructions have been given to the General Managers of all Zonal Railways to arrange for the availability of affordable meals, drinking water and vending trolleys near unreserved coaches at all stops.
To ensure cleanliness and availability of water on board, housekeeping staff will be deployed at regular intervals to clean the coaches.
Train managers have to plan filling water in the toilets of the unreserved coaches at watering stations en route. Drinking water booths will also be established at either end of stations for the benefit of passengers in unreserved coaches.
Sources said that the carrying capacity of unreserved general class coaches is 90 in Integral Coach Factory (ICF) designed coaches, and 99 in Linke Hofmann Busch (LHB) coaches.
India and U.S. share values of democracy, diversity: Modi (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his visit to Washington this week will reinforce shared democratic “values” between India and the United States.
Departing from New Delhi on Tuesday, he added that “there is an unprecedented trust” between the two countries today.
Mr. Modi, on his sixth visit to the U.S. as Prime Minister, will be hosted by U.S. President Joe Biden for his first official state visit. He will meet the U.S. leadership, members of Congress, American CEOs, and members of the Indian-American community during the visit, which will focus on enhancing trade and energy, collaborations in science & technology, education, and health.
It is also expected to yield a number of agreements on defence ties, including deals for jet engines and drones.
US will reinforce our ties based on shared values of democracy, diversity and freedom. Together we stand stronger in meeting the shared global challenges.
Mr. Modi will begin his visit to New York with meetings with about 24 “CEOs and Thought leaders”, including Tesla founder and Twitter CEO Elon Musk, astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson and singer Falguni Shah.
On Wednesday, he will participate in a yoga event at the site where “India’s proposal in December 2014 to recognise an International Day of Yoga” was accepted.
India’s first mRNA vaccine against Omicron approved (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
GEMCOVAC-OM, India’s first indigenous mRNA vaccine for the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus, was approved under emergency use guidelines by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI).
This comes a year after the Pune-based Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. got approval for GEMCOVAC-19 against COVID-19.
Both the vaccines are yet to be commercially available, though Gennova officials said at a press conference on Tuesday that the vaccines were likely to be formally “launched and rolled out” within the next “two to three weeks”.
The company said GEMCOVAC-OM was stable in a 2-8 degrees Celsius range and hence could be stored in ordinary refrigerators. It could be administered into the skin via a “needle-free” PharmaJet system.
Data from clinical trials, which are not public yet but submitted to the DCGI for review, suggested that GENCOVAC-OM had a “greater” safety profile as Covishield and generated more neutralising antibodies, said Gennova CEO Sanjay Singh.
World
U.S. urges China for military talks despite rebuff to Blinken (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The U.S. pressed its call for military communication channels with China despite that request being rebuffed during Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s trip to Beijing over the weekend.
Establishing military-to-military communications was essential to reduce frictions between the two global powers, Sarah Beran, White House National Security Council senior director for China and Taiwan Affairs.
This is an absolutely critical way for us to manage competition, crisis communication, ensure that there is not miscommunication or misperception about each other's intentions.
During Mr. Blinken’s visit, the first to China by a U.S. Secretary of State since 2018, the nations agreed to temper rivalries to avoid conflict but there were no breakthroughs.
China cited U.S. sanctions as an obstacle to military dialogue which Mr. Blinken said he had repeatedly raised with his hosts and would continue to push for. Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu has been sanctioned since 2018 over the purchase of combat aircraft and equipment from Russia.
Speaking at the same briefing call on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department's top diplomat for East Asia Daniel Kritenbrink said a successful and responsible management of the U.S.-China relationship will only be possible if it is a "two-way street".
Business
Telecom regulator suggests norms for undersea cables (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued recommendations on rules for undersea cables connecting Indian telecom networks to the global Internet.
The Department of Telecommunications had sought TRAI’s inputs on a specific concern: whether Indian firms without a major stake in undersea cables, usually built by high-powered global consortia, be allowed to apply for clearances acting alone.
To this, TRAI recommended all Indian telcos operating undersea cables be required to submit proof that they own at least the part of undersea cables that is in Indian waters.
TRAI also suggested drawing a distinction between a cable landing station and so-called ‘points of presence’ to which the station is further connected.
Owners of the latter type of facility wouldn’t have to apply for several clearances, but would need to comply with lawful interception requirements.
TRAI also submitted ‘dark fibre’ should be permitted on existing cable landing stations, and ‘stubs’ — short cables in Indian waters for potential future expansion — be permitted.
Finally, the regulator suggested undersea cables be notified as critical information infrastructure, and thus, benefit from protection by the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre.