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The Manipur government extended the imposition of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) in the whole State — except in the jurisdiction of 19 police stations in seven districts of the Imphal valley — for another six months.
The “disturbed area” status under the Act will remain applicable in all the hill districts, which are dominated by tribal communities.
However, since 2022, the AFSPA has been gradually withdrawn from the valley districts, which are dominated by the Meitei community, due to a “significant improvement” in the security situation.
The State government’s notification maintaining this “status quo” is applicable from October 1. It comes despite the Army’s demand for the re-imposition of AFSPA in the valley districts, arguing that its absence had hampered operations against insurgent groups.
After a lull of many years, these groups are said to have regained a foothold in the State during the current wave of ethnic violence. Mostly operating from Myanmar, they advocate the secession of Manipur from India.
Editorial
The G-20’s screen over ‘mazdoors’, their rights (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
On September 9 Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reading of the final declaration of the G-20 Summit was a political win for him and a diplomatic victory for India.
The African Union was granted G-20 membership, and a sense of togetherness among the Global South was palpable.
However, there were fears that a joint communiqué would not be issued as the Russia-Ukraine war was ongoing and the divided interests of the G-20 members would affect it.
But Mr. Modi made it happen — he softened the language from the Bali G-20 document criticising Russia, kept Ukraine out of the summit, skipped the issue of fossil fuels, read out the 83 paragraphs of the New Delhi Declaration, and symbolically handed over the gavel to Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who will now preside over the G-20.
Unfortunately, India missed a great opportunity to protect worker rights and advance the welfare of workers during the G-20 summit, despite the G-20’s Labour 20 (L20), a coalition of G20 leaders concerned about workers, holding two meetings in India.
It is a matter of concern that the L20 was headed by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), a trade union affiliated with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In short, the L20 was politicised. India’s choice of the BMS had irked the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), a confederation of global trade unions, and they boycotted the meetings.
In the past, the L20 has been headed by the ITUC. However, this time it was ignored and the chair was given to the BMS, which prioritises right-wing politics over workers’ interests.
This incident itself reveals how ‘serious’ the Indian government was about workers’ issues at the G-20. The BMS is not an independent trade union.
In the absence of the ITUC, the L20 discussed portable social security schemes, data collection for these schemes, addressing skill gaps in two meetings, and had some words on platform workers.
Drawing the line (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Disaster Management)
The year began on a calamitous note with reports that the temple town of Joshimath in the Chamoli district of Uttarakhand was ‘sinking’ and that cracks had appeared on residential and commercial structures.
This prompted a humanitarian crisis with people fleeing and taking refuge in tents and open spaces, fearing that their homes would crumble.
A proximate reason for the acceleration in the fissures and cracks was attributed to tunnelling activities from the Tapovan Vishnugad power project being developed by the National Thermal Power Corporation.
There were also concerns on whether groundwater depletion, or increased urbanisation that encouraged faulty construction, had reached a point from which disasters had become inevitable.
To address all these, the Uttarakhand State Disaster Management Authority had commissioned eight reputed institutions to study the land-subsidence phenomenon from multiple angles.
Surprisingly, it banned the public dissemination of information from scientists involved with the institutions on the grounds that satellite imagery pictures — from Indian and international sources — of the subsurface in Uttarakhand were aggravating “panic” and that information was to be shared only after it was “cleared” by the Centre.
The net result of this is that despite reports of all institutions being available for months, it took a strong rebuke from the High Court of Uttarakhand last week for the State authorities to make this information public.
Opinion
From women’s reservation to gender equality (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
Last week, Parliament passed the women’s reservation Bill, which provides one-third reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies.
Data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union show that the share of women in Parliament in India is around 15%. India ranks 141 out of 193 countries on this count. Even Pakistan, South Africa, and Kenya have a higher share of women representatives.
Over the last 27 years, there have been several efforts to introduce the women’s reservation Bill in Parliament. Such efforts faced opposition from different quarters.
That there is a strong moral imperative to increase women’s representation is beyond debate. The smooth passage of this law shows consensus around this issue.
Reservation for women in elections to the local bodies in India has resulted in increasing their participation in governance.
Research by Tanya Jakimow of the University of New South Wales and Niraja Gopal Jayal shows that, contrary, to popular belief, elected women representatives have over time asserted their presence in spite of interference from male family members. A similar outcome may also be seen in higher elected bodies.
However, implementation of the present law is contingent on the conduct of the next Census and the subsequent delimitation exercise.
Census and delimitation are not purely administrative eventualities. There has been a freeze on delimitation since 1976 in order to provide a level-playing field for States to contain population growth.
The southern States have been more successful in reducing population growth through a series of measures focused around women empowerment.
It is now well understood that higher education among girls, increased female labour force participation, and greater financial autonomy among women directly correlate with lower fertility rates.
Ironically, States which have improved indicators around women empowerment would now stand to lose seats to Parliament if a delimitation exercise is held.
Text & Context
When India-Canada ties were reset (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
As ties between India and Canada plummet to their lowest point since the 1980s, former diplomats say that a change in Canadian responses to the Khalistan issue are necessary for any future reset in ties, pointing to the 2010 apology by the then Canadian Prime Minister as an example.
Addressing families of the victims of the 1985 Air India ‘Kanishka’ Flight 182 which exploded over the Irish coast after a bomb placed in the luggage went off, for which Khalistani separatist operatives were convicted, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he was “sorry” on behalf of the Canadian government.
Some wounds are too deep to be healed even by the remedy of time, Mr. Harper said at the Air India memorial at Humber Bay Park in Toronto on the 25th anniversary of the terror attack, where he admitted for the first time that the bombing was an “atrocity conceived in Canada, executed in Canada, by Canadian citizens, and its victims were themselves mostly citizens of Canada.
Despite 280 of the 329 on board the Kanishka being Canadian citizens, the Prime Minister at the time, Brian Mulroney, had extended condolences to Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, leading to criticism from the Indian community in Canada.
Since the attack, India had expressed its outrage over the slow pace of investigations and the trial, which delivered its verdict in the case only in 2005.
Therefore, it was particularly significant that Mr. Harper went on to address fellow political leaders saying they must “not to reach out to”, but rather “carefully and systematically marginalise those extremists who seek to import the battles of India’s past” to Canada.
Why are tigers dying in Nilgiris district? (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
A total of 10 tigers (six cubs and four adults) have died in the Nilgiris since the middle of August. The six tiger cubs died in two separate incidents, while the four adult tigers died in four separate events, with at least one suspected to have been poisoned.
The inability of the state forest department to trace the whereabouts of the two mother tigresses has raised concerns among conservationists about the welfare of the animals.
The first reported tiger deaths occurred on August 16 in the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) in Siriyur.
After conducting a postmortem on the remains, forest department officials said that they suspect that the cubs, believed to be only two weeks old, could have died due to starvation or umbilical infection.
The second death was of an adult tigress in the Naduvattam Range in the Nilgiris forest division on August 17, with officials suspecting that the tigress died due to injuries after fighting with another animal.
Another suspected incident of fighting is believed to have caused the death of the fourth tiger, the second adult, in the Kargudi forest range of MTR on August 31.
On September 9, two more tigers were found dead in Udhagai South Range near Avalanche in the Nilgiris Forest Division.
One of the tigers, a sub-adult, was found with injury marks, indicating that it too died due to a fight with another animal. However, the larger male, found dead nearby, had no apparent injuries.
A search of the area led forest department staff to the carcass of a cow that had been preyed upon by the larger tiger.
After an investigation, a man was arrested for poisoning the carcass of the cow in retaliation for the tiger hunting the animal.
In a final incident, on September 17, four tiger cubs were found dead over the course of three days in Kadanad in the Nilgiris North Range.
News
Malayalam survival drama 2018 is India’s official Oscar entry this year (Page no. 11)
(Miscellaneous)
Malayalam survival drama 2018: Everyone is a Hero has been chosen as India’s official entry to the best foreign language film category at the 96th Academy Awards, making it only the fourth film from the language to be chosen for the honour.
Before this, Guru (1997), directed by Rajiv Anchal and starring Mohanlal; Adaminte Makan Abu (2011), directed by Salim Ahamed; and Jallikattu (2019), filmed by Lijo Jose Pellissery, were chosen as the country’s official entry for the Oscars, but none of these films got nominated.
Directed by Jude Anthany Joseph, 2018 is based on the unprecedented rain and flood that hit Kerala in 2018. With an ensemble cast including Tovino Thomas, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Aparna Balamurali, Kalaiyarasan, Kunchacko Boban, Lal, Narein, Tanvi Ram and others, the film became a moving reminder of the days when everyone in Kerala, irrespective of their religion, caste or political inclinations, came together to help people in distress.
It also became one of the biggest grossers of all time for the Malayalam film industry, at a time when the theatres in the State were facing a crisis as a majority of films tanked at the box office.
Tovino Thomas, one of the lead actors, said in an Instagram live that the entire crew had put in a lot of effort to pull off the film despite many constraints. The nomination will take the message of unity depicted in the film to the world, he said.
Earlier, addressing a press conference at the South Indian Film Chamber of Commerce, Chennai on Wednesday, filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli, chairman of the selection committee, announced that the Film Federation of India (FFI) picked the Malayalam film for its very relevant theme of climate change and the travails of people against the backdrop of what has been understood as “development”.
India ageing, elderly to make up 20% of population by 2050: UNFPA report (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
With the decadal growth rate of the elderly population of India estimated at 41% and its share of the total population projected to double to over 20% by 2050, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), India, in its 2023 India Ageing Report, has said that by 2046, it is likely that the elderly population will have surpassed the population of children (aged up to 15) in the country.
More than 40% of the elderly in India are in the poorest wealth quintile, with about 18.7% of them living without an income, the report said, adding that such levels of poverty may affect their quality of life and healthcare utilisation.
The report, unveiled by the Secretary, Social Justice, Saurabh Garg and UNFPA India Representative Andrea M. Wojnar here, projected that the population of people aged 80 and above will grow at a rate of around 279% between 2022 and 2050 with a “predominance of widowed and highly dependent very old women” — a finding in line with the pattern across several nations.
The data showed that women, on an average, had a higher life expectancy at the age of 60 and 80 when compared with men — with variations across the States and Union Territories.
For instance, in Himachal Pradesh and Kerala, women at 60 have a life expectancy of 23 and 22 years, respectively, which is four years more than that of men at 60 in these States — as compared with the national average differential of only a year and a half.
Business
‘Ultra-long g-secs to see good demand from insurers, pension funds in H2’ (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s first-ever issuance of 50-year government bonds and 30-year green bonds can be easily absorbed by insurance firms and provident funds, which are keen and have been looking for avenues to park long-term funds, officials said.
The government aims to raise ₹6.55 lakh crore through the sale of bonds in October-March. This would include ₹30,000 crore of the 50-year security, the first such auction by the central government.
“Long-term investors like insurers will have a natural demand for the 50-year paper. Most insurance companies require longer-duration bonds for their asset-liability management,” executive vice president at Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance.
The insurance sector requested the 50-year paper’s issuance,” adding that the anchor for its pricing would “naturally be the current 40-year bond”. Other market participants like provident funds and pension funds were also likely to actively participate in the bond auction.
The government also reintroduced green bonds for the second half. It aims to raise ₹20,000 crore through such notes, half of which would be through the new 30-year papers.
“There are few public sector (companies) issuing longer-term bonds,” said Rahul Bhuskute, chief investment officer at Bharti AXA Life Insurance.
TRAI seeks suggestions on connectivity, mobile porting (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released four consultation papers. The paper on a rating framework envisages a system where facilities such as hotels, stadia and other structures where there is a lot of cell traffic, are rated for how good the digital connectivity is, essentially incentivising them to improve the coverage of mobile signals as well as Wi-Fi.
The paper seeks specific feedback on how such appraisals should be done, and the role of telcos and tower firms.
The second paper is on a proposal to delicense the E band (71–76 and 81–86 gigahertz) and V bands (57–64 GHz) of spectrum, essentially leaving them free for anyone to use, just as Wi-Fi spectrum is not licensed. Microwave Access (MWA) and Microwave Backbone (MWB) spectrum are also addressed.
In another paper, TRAI has asked whether higher frequency bands could be delicensed, meaning they could be used without buying the airwaves in an auction.
Different bands of spectrum between 116 GHz and 246 GHz have been proposed for delicensing. TRAI has also asked whether there are any terahertz- range spectra that should be delicensed.
The final paper suggests a tweak to the MNP regime, which allows people to switch telcos while retaining their number. SIM cards, replaced in the preceding 10 days shouldn’t be allowed to port, TRAI suggested.
The DoT also suggested requiring people who port to have existing KYC information compared with the forms filled for the new connection, but this was not incorporated in TRAI’s draft rule.
World
Back-channel talks with China exist, but there is little progress: Tibetan leader (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Confirming that a “back-channel” between Tibetan representatives of the Dalai Lama and Chinese representatives exists at present, the Sikyong (elected leader) of the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) said, however, that their talks had not progressed enough to be discussed publicly.
In an interview at the headquarters of the CTA, Sikyong Penpa Tsering said the CTA backs the Dalai Lama’s call for the “Middle Way” that demands more autonomy from China, but not independence, a statement that the spiritual leader had repeated to journalists.
To questions about whether he faced challenges from younger members of the Tibetan community who are “restless” about the lack of progress in talks, he said this is something China should consider.
While the CTA holds regular elections among Tibetan refugee voters in more than 25 countries, they are not recognised as a government-in-exile, and most countries worldwide recognise the Tibetan Autonomous Region as a part of China.
We follow the Middle Way, and believe that a non-violent peaceful negotiated mutually beneficial lasting solution to Sino-Tibet conflict could contribute towards peace in South Asia.
If the Dalai Lama can return with his followers to Tibet that would be one thorn removed, certainly for India and China as well.
Science
How can a quantum computer prove that it is superior? (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Quantum computing is becoming more popular – both as a field of study and in the public imagination. The technology promises more speed and more efficient problem-solving abilities, challenging the boundaries set by classical, conventional computing.
The hype has led to inflated expectations. But whether or not it can meet them, the raison d’être of a quantum computer is taken to be synonymous with the ability to solve some problems much faster than a classical computer can. This achievement, called quantum supremacy, will establish quantum computers as superior machines.
Scientists have been exploring both experimental and theoretical ways to prove quantum supremacy.
Ramis Movassagh, a researcher at Google Quantum AI, recently had a study published in the journal Nature Physics. Here, he has reportedly demonstrated in theory that simulating random quantum circuits and determining their output will be extremely difficult for classical computers. In other words, if a quantum computer solves this problem, it can achieve quantum supremacy.
Quantum computers use quantum bits, or qubits, whereas classical computers use binary bits (0 and 1). Qubits are fundamentally different from classical bits as they can have the value 0 or 1, as a classical bit can, or a value that’s a combination of 0 and 1, called a superposition.
Superposition states allow qubits to carry more information. This capacity for parallelism gives quantum computers their archetypal advantage over classical computers, allowing them to perform a disproportionately greater number of operations.