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Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal are among the 14 States and Union Territories which are yet to sign a crucial memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Union Education Ministry, which mandates the implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020 to get funds of almost ₹13,000 crore for the next three years under the Centre’s flagship scheme for State-run higher education institutions.
Officials from several non-BJP-ruled States have raised concerns about the MoU, given that 40% of the Pradhan Mantri Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (PM-USHA) budget must be borne by the States themselves, and no extra funds have been earmarked for NEP reforms.
The Centre says it is holding discussions to iron out differences with dissenting States and communicate the importance of NEP and PM-USHA.
States
Karnataka CM urges Centre to make amendments to drought manual (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Disaster Management)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has written to the Union government to bring changes to the Manual for Drought Management, 2016 (updated in 2020) for the declaration of drought by the States.
He said it was necessary to have different parameters to declare drought in 14 agro-climatic zones in Karnataka in light of the dire situation caused by erratic weather conditions propelled by climate change.
In the current southwest monsoon season, he said, Karnataka had received 234 mm of rainfall as against the normal 336 mm, registering a 34% deficiency.
This is against the backdrop of the delayed arrival of the monsoon and a deficiency of 56% in June. “Throughout this season, rainfall distribution and intensity have been erratic.
Despite drought-like conditions in several taluks, we have not been able to meet the existing parameters for declaring drought.
This is resulting in leaving farmers without critical support such as input subsidy required in the event of failure to commence sowing operations/mid-season crop failure after sowing due to weak rains,” he said in a letter to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.
The current one-size-fits-all approach to drought declaration is not capturing the variations in different regions. It is important to develop region-specific criteria that consider local ecological factors, water availability, and agricultural practices.
Pointing out the current manual that integrates meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological drought, Mr. Siddaramaiah said that the erratic distribution of monsoons should be factored in.
He urged the Centre to align the norms in the manual with the SDRF/NDRF norms, and synchronise the timeline of crop insurance disbursement with input subsidy (relief assistance).
Editorial
Pakistan’s political roller coaster continues (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Now that the Pakistan Parliament has been dissolved, with former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan still the single most popular politician in the country, sentenced to a three-year jail term on corruption charges and also barred from politics for five years (both decisions have been appealed), Pakistan has entered a familiar cycle of multiple uncertainties.
Perhaps the most important one regards the question of whether elections will actually be held as mandated in 90 days. The outgoing government which comprises more than a dozen coalition partners has deliberately created this uncertainty by making contradictory and ambiguous statements.
While it is in their interest to hold elections quickly so that they can reconvene as a government now that their most formidable opponent has been banned from politics (at least for now), they themselves are uncertain of their own future.
Despite many of these uncertainties, one thing seems to be certain: Imran Khan’s political party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has been decimated and barely exists on the political horizon.
Almost every single party member of clout with any standing has been politically neutered and in humiliating public statements and press conferences, has either ‘given up politics’ forever, or has abandoned their former leader and set up their own breakaway party.
Mr. Khan has been left standing alone, in jail, by those party officials who swore they would live and die on their kaptaan’s command.
Yet, even in his cell, infested with vermin and insects, Mr. Khan stands as the single voice arguing for basic democratic rights, showing how he has been victimised, and still supported by hundreds of thousands of followers.
The irony is that despite this considerable support, his supporters may not get to vote for their leader, whenever elections are held.
The problem with Mr. Khan and his politics has always been that he is Imran Khan, stating once that ‘I am democracy’.
Dalit Christians — exclusion by society, church, state (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
Last year, the Union Government constituted a commission, headed by the former Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, to study the possibility of granting Scheduled Caste (SC) status to Dalit Christians.
Recently, a resolution was adopted by the Tamil Nadu Assembly to amend the 1950 Presidential (SC) order in this regard.
The Justice Ranganath Misra Commission (2007) recommended ‘permitting Dalits who converted to Christianity to avail of reservation benefits under the SC quota’.
The findings arrived at by Deshpande and Bapna (2008) appointed by the National Commission of Minorities, stated that ‘there is no compelling evidence to justify denying them of SC status’.
It was B.R. Ambedkar who said, “To the ‘Untouchables’, Hinduism is a veritable chamber of horror (Writings and Speeches, Volume 9, p.296)”.
It was to escape this horror of discrimination that millions of Hindu Dalits converted to more egalitarian religions including Christianity, in the hope of escaping the clutches of casteism and experiencing the equality promised by such religions.
The basic argument of this article is that the fundamental hope of equality — the reason why Hindu Dalits converted to Christianity — has not been realised to a large extent.
This has resulted in contradictions and ambiguities with regard to their identity, and has not led to their expected upward social mobility.
This is also because of the unwillingness of their co-religionists, non-Dalit converts to Christianity, to shed their age-old practice of untouchability in society and bring this into the church.
The ‘Theory of Intersectionality’ shows the bigger picture of the Dalit Christian conundrum as it allows an understanding of caste with religion and a composite understanding of Dalit Christians as ‘Dalits’ and as a ‘religious minority group’.
It also extrapolates an understanding of the inadequacy of the ’single-axis framework’ of the laws of the state of India that provides legal protection to isolated categories and discriminates against groups where categories overlap, such as Dalit Christians.
Explainer
Bulldozing the law and the Constitution (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
The Nuh and Gurugram districts of Haryana have just witnessed the re-enactment of a new normal in Indian politics — the demolition of dwellings and business establishments of people who are accused in criminal cases especially offences having communal sensitivity without following the procedure as established by law.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court made a rare interference by taking judicial notice suo motu and stayed the demolition drive.
The High Court’s question whether an exercise of ethnic cleansing is being carried out by the State brings us to the heart of the issue.
Ethnic cleansing is not defined by the Indian Penal Code or international law. Its first use is attributed to a UN appointed Commission of Experts (1992) chaired by Prof. Cherif Bassiouni, a father figure in international criminal law, mandated to look into the war crimes in former Yugoslavia.
In its final report, the five member commission referred to ethnic cleansing as “… a purposeful policy designed by one ethnic or religious group to remove by violent and terror-inspiring means the civilian population of another ethnic or religious group from certain geographic areas.”
The commission enumerated state actions like arbitrary arrest and detention, destruction of property, forcible removal, displacement, deportation of civilian population and extra judicia executions in the list of coercive practices that constitute ethnic cleansing.
Despite the lack of statutory recognition, any such subversive act is grossly inimical to the constitutional guarantees under Part III of India’s Constitution. Hence, the concern and judicial intervention under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.
The High Court took cognisance of the fact that the demolition drive was carried out without “demolition orders and notices”, thereby violative of the procedure established by law.
Article 21 of Indian Constitution commands that no person shall be deprived of his life and personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law.
Is the U.S.-Iran hostage swap finally materialising? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
On August 10, Iran moved five Iranian Americans from prison to house arrest as part of a tentative deal that is still being negotiated and could lead to their full release.
Iran agreed to the release in exchange for around $6-$7 billion frozen in South Korea because of sanctions on the country.
However, Mohammad Jamshidi, the Iranian President’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Political Affairs, said that the American detainees will remain in Iran until the full transfer of frozen funds, the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported.
The move was acknowledged by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a press conference with Mexican Foreign Secretary Alicia Bárcena on August 10.
Mr. Blinken said that the development to move the detainees to house arrest was a “positive step”. “But I don’t want to get ahead of its conclusion because there is more work to be done to actually bring them home.
My belief is that this is the beginning of the end of their nightmare and the nightmare that their families have experienced,” he added.
The Secretary of State refused to elaborate further on the details of the engagement with Iran to not “jeopardise the completion of this process and the return home of (our) fellow citizens”.
Mr. Blinken said that in their efforts to bring Americans home, Iran’s own funds would be used and transferred to restricted accounts such that they can only be used for humanitarian purposes, which is permitted under the sanctions. The development will not lead to any relief in sanctions on Iran.
On the other hand, Iran’s Foreign Ministry released a statement on August 11, saying that the process of releasing billions of dollars from the country’s assets has begun.
It added that Iran is pursuing the release of Iranians detained in the U.S. for years and that it will be “realised in the near future”. Iran has also insisted that it will have full control over how these assets are used. Quoting sources, IRNA said that the deal includes a “significant amount” of funds blocked in the Trade Bank of Iraq.
Text
Why is India’s Defence Ministry ditching Microsoft Windows for Maya OS? (Page no. 11)
India’s Defence Ministry has decided to replace the Microsoft Operating System (OS) in all its computers that can connect to the Internet with Maya, an Ubuntu-based OS built locally.
The new OS is currently being rolled out only in the Defence Ministry computers, and not the three Services. While the Navy is said to have cleared Maya for use in its systems, the Army and the Air Force are still evaluating the software.
Maya has been developed by Indian government agencies within six months, and it is aimed at preventing malware attacks by cybercriminals who are increasingly targeting critical infrastructure and government agencies.
The new OS will be backed by a protection system called Chakravyuh. This end point system is also being deployed in the computers that have Maya installed.
While the two operating systems provide a platform for the user to interact with computer hardware, Maya and Windows differ significantly, both in terms of cost and build. Windows is a commercial software sold by Microsoft for a license fee.
It is the most widely used OS, and is easy to install and run. Devices powered by Microsoft’s OS run on the Windows NT kernel. A kernel is the core of an operating system.
It runs on a computer’s Random Access Memory (RAM) and gives the device instructions on how to perform specific tasks.
Prior to building the kernel architecture, progammers used to run codes directly on the processor. In the 1970s, Danish computer scientist Per Brinch Hansen pioneered the approach of splitting what needs to be done by a processor from how it executes that task, thus introducing the kernel architecture in the RC 4000 multiprogramming system. It separated policy from mechanism in the OS design.
‘Unviable Arunachal hydel projects given to Central PSUs’ (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The 12 hydropower projects in Arunachal Pradesh that were officially handed over to three Central public sector undertakings (CPSUs) on August 12 are economically unviable.
Private companies had given up on these projects with a total installed capacity of 11,523 megawatts, which would require at least ₹1,42,000 crore to be executed by the CPSUs.
The Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam and the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Ltd. have been awarded five of these long-stalled projects each, with a total installed capacity of 5,097 MW and 2,626 MW, respectively.
According to the agreement, the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) would handle two projects (3,800 MW).
The private sector no longer sees these projects economically viable and that is why they did not develop them even after putting in a lot of resources over the years.
An Assam-based hydrologist, who did not want to be quoted, said these projects should not have been taken up in the first place. Apart from being unviable, these guarantee disaster for Arunachal Pradesh and downstream regions in Assam.
Arunachal Pradesh’s Power Commissioner, Ankur Garg, signed the agreements with the heads of the three CPSUs on behalf of the State government in Itanagar in the presence of Power and New and Renewable Energy Minister, R.K. Singh, State Chief Minister Pema Khandu, and his Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein.
Mr. Singh assured the State that the CPSUs would start work on at least seven of the 12 projects by March 2024. He justified the government’s push for hydropower as it would contribute to the objective of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, besides the employment opportunities.
The development of these projects will help achieve the declared nationally determined contribution target of India’s non-fossil energy capacity to reach 500 gigawatts by 2030.
World
China vows ‘forceful’ reply over Taiwan V-P’s U.S. visit (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
China vowed “resolute and forceful measures” over a weekend trip by Taiwan Vice-President William Lai to the United States.
Mr. Lai — the front runner in Taiwan’s presidential elections next year — is officially making only transit stops in the United States en route to and from Paraguay, where he will attend the inauguration of president-elect Santiago Pena.
Taiwan is claimed by China, which has vowed to take the democratic island one day — by force, if necessary — and ramped up political and military pressure against it.
China is closely following the development of the situation and will take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Mr. Lai has been far more outspoken about independence than Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, to whom Beijing is already hostile as she refuses to accept its view that Taiwan is a part of China.
The Harvard-educated doctor turned politician has previously described himself as a “pragmatic Taiwan independence worker”, and reiterated this week when speaking with a local television channel that Taiwan was “not part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).