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Almost 60 years after becoming collateral damage in one of the fiercest battles between Indian Army soldiers and Chinese invaders, a village in Arunachal Pradesh is fighting a war to protect a sacred forest from a project for preventing a repeat of 1962.
But the 217 families of Nyukmadong, an off-the-highway village in West Kameng district, seem to be losing the fight against the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a wing of the very Army their ancestors had aided during the Chinese Aggression six decades ago.
Perched 8,389 ft above the mean sea level, Nyukmadong is about 40 km short of Sela, a strategic pass at 13,700 ft on the way to Tawang. The place is known for a Buddhist-style war memorial on a 1.5-acre plot overlooking the site of a battle on November 18, 1962.
The villagers said more than 80% of the 36 sq. km sacred forest has been destroyed for an alternative “strategic” road to Sela. More than the “heritage trees” felled along the alignment of the 34 km road from Banga-Janga-Gompa to Naga GG (BJG-NGG), the damage has been done by earth dumped indiscriminately on valuable trees and medicinal plants down the slope from the edge of the under-construction road.
Nyukmadong is not the only area affected by the new road. The other impacted areas are Gyandrabrangsa, Halftangmu, Penpeytang, Chendhuphu, Yangphu and Changphunakphu.
According to DipayanDey of the Kolkata-based South Asian Forum for Environment, the road project is an example of trespassing and ignoring the rights of a local tribal community to the land and the forest ecosystem they are dependent on.
The WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature) declared the patch as a community reserve forest because of its rich biodiversity. The red-listed Indian red panda is found in this area. Community representatives said the deforestation (for the road) affected their traditional holy sites, locally called phu.
He condemned the wanton felling for the road, which he said could be the first test case for the new Forest Rule 2022 that seeks to rob indigenous people of their right to forest resources.
Locals said the destruction of their sacred forest began more than a year ago without any community consultation or participatory meeting. The community leaders lodged a formal complaint with the Additional Deputy Commissioner of West Kameng on June 14, 2021, to stop the project.
When this made no headway, the community members lodged a first information report against the BRO at the Dirang (the nearest town 17 km from Nyukmadong) police station on August 24 under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. This could not arrest the destruction of the forest.
Editorial
India-Bangladesh ties, a model for bilateral cooperation (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
The state visit of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina, to India (September 5-8) has amply showcased the high stakes of both polities in their bilateral ties, imbued with regional significance.
Delhi and Dhaka are fully conscious that they must get this vital equation right, constantly strengthening and deepening their cooperation and countering the challenges they face.
Only then can this relationship be convincingly projected as a major success for their foreign policies. Even before reaching New Delhi, Ms. Hasina underlined the importance of the special “bonding” between the two nations, where one helped in the liberation of the other, and where both have worked together closely, especially since Ms. Hasina came to power again in 2009.
In one of her most candid interviews given just prior to her visit, Ms. Hasina vividly recalled how India had helped her all the way when she faced the greatest personal tragedy of her life: the assassination of her father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and a number of other members of her family.
It was a national catastrophe. The shelter, security and support extended by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and subsequent governments shaped Ms. Hasina’s worldview and her perception of India.
As Prime Minister, she reciprocated the gestures adequately by taking firm action against anti-Indian insurgent groups soon after assuming power. Since then, the two governments have successfully resolved several old problems such as the exchange of conclaves and the conclusion of long-pending land and maritime boundary agreements. But other challenges remain.
Four specific issues seem to trouble the Bangladeshi side. First, the continued presence of 1.1 million Rohingyas who fled from Myanmar in 2017 has created enormous pressure on the economy and social harmony.
Ms. Hasina has said India is a big country that should “accommodate” them. Further, she wants stronger support from India to facilitate their early return to Myanmar.
Second, the absence of agreement on sharing of the Teesta’s waters, pending since 2011 due to West Bengal’s refusal to relent, and the broader issue of joint management of 54 common rivers, have been constant grievances.
Third, India’s sensitivity to growing cooperation between Dhaka and Beijing rankles the authorities in Bangladesh. Ms. Hasina has stressed the point that if there were differences between India and China, she did not wish to “put her nose to it”.
Four, she has conceded that despite her government’s secular policy, “incidents” against the Hindu minority have occurred, but her government has acted against miscreants.
OPED
Greyhounds in search of home (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
All is not well with the Greyhounds, the elite anti-Maoist force and a role model for all Left Wing Extremism-affected States, after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.
As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, the men and material of Greyhounds were to be shared by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Both the training centres of the Greyhounds — Premavathipet and Gandipet — were located in Hyderabad, and so the Act specified that Andhra Pradesh would have to set up its own base and training centre.
In 2014, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs sanctioned ₹209 crore for setting it up. Of this, about ₹9 crore was immediately released. Eight years have passed, but Andhra Pradesh still does not have a training centre for the force. The ₹9 crore remains untouched.
The Greyhounds force was formed in 1989 by K.S. Vyas, an IPS officer, to combat the growing Maoist threat in Andhra Pradesh. The Maoist movement in the State began with the Srikakulam uprising in 1967.
Though it was quashedintially, it was soon revived and picked up momentum. Vyas envisioned a force that would think alike in terms of combat and assault and be well-trained in guerilla and jungle warfare.
Over the years, with its many successes, this special police force became the root cause for the downfall of Left Wing Extremism in Andhra Pradesh.
It inspired the creation of other similar forces to fight the Maoists: Odisha developed the Special Operations Group; Maharashtra, the C-60; and West Bengal, the Counter Insurgency Force. Experts say that the CoBRA battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force, which is engaged in anti-Maoist operations in Chhattisgarh, is also fashioned on the lines of the Greyhounds.
Immediately after the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, a Greyhounds contingent was moved to the operational base at Thimmapuram in Visakhapatnam.
Spread over about 300 acres in forested land, this operational base was said to be a makeshift arrangement for the force. Though about 18 companies of the Greyhounds have moved to Thimmapuram, about 10 remaining ones of Andhra Pradesh are still based in Hyderabad.
The Andhra Pradesh Cabinet gave its nod for the establishment of a full-fledged training centre-cum-residential facility for the Greyhounds and a Government Order was passed.
The State government identified about 385 acres of land at Jagannadhapuram village of Chandaka panchayat of Anandapurammandal in Visakhapatnam for the purpose. But not a stone has been moved yet, as there are rehabilitation and resettlement issues.
Explainer
The tedious process of adoption (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
From September 1, District Magistrates (DM) have been empowered to give adoption orders instead of courts. All cases pending before courts have to be now transferred.
Hundreds of adoptive parents in the country are now concerned that the transfer process will further delay what is already a long and tedious process.
There are questions whether an order passed by the executive will pass muster when an adopted child’s entitlements on succession and inheritance are contested before a court.
The Parliament passed the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021 in July last year in order to amend the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act), 2015.
The key changes include authorising District Magistrates and Additional District Magistrates to issue adoption orders under Section 61 of the JJ Act by striking out the word “court”.
This was done “in order to ensure speedy disposal of cases and enhance accountability,” according to a government statement.
The District Magistrates have also been empowered under the Act to inspect child care institutions as well as evaluate the functioning of district child protection units, child welfare committees, juvenile justice boards, specialised juvenile police units, child care institutions etc.
The Act and the corresponding rules came into effect from September 1. The amendments to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016 say, “all the cases pertaining to adoption matters pending before the Court shall stand transferred to the District Magistrate from the date of commencement of these rules.”
The revised rules have parents, activists, lawyers and adoption agencies worried as cases already before courts for the past several months will have to be transferred and the process will have to start afresh.
A petition for adoption orders is filed after a parent registers for adoption, who is then assessed through a home study report, referred a child and subsequently allowed to take a child in pre-adoption foster care pending an adoption order.
A delay in such an order can often mean that a child can't get admission into a school because parents don't yet have a birth certificate, or like in one case, parents unable to claim health insurance if a child is admitted to a hospital.
The Indira Gandhi Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme in Rajasthan (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Welfare Schemes)
An urban employment guarantee scheme was launched on Friday for providing economic support to the poor and needy families living in the cities through work to be provided on demand for 100 days in a year.
More than 3.5 lakh people across the State got themselves registered under the scheme and the job cards were issued to 2.25 lakh of them.
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot inaugurated the ambitious scheme, named after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, by starting the renovation work at the 18th century Khania Ki Baori stepwell near Ambedkar Bhavan here.
Mr. Gehlot termed the scheme historic, on the lines of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, as it would provide guaranteed work to the people in distress.
Mr. Gehlot had announced the launch of the scheme in his budget speech in the State Assembly earlier this year, while making a provision of ₹800 crore in 2022-23.
Touted as the country’s biggest scheme to give jobs to the people residing in cities, it would provide work to the members aged between 18 and 60 years in the job card holder families. The State government had appointed committees at various levels for the scheme’s effective implementation.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Gehlot said the employment guarantee programme was prepared after studying similar such schemes in other States.
The families whose livelihood has been affected by the pandemic will get financial support at the [present] juncture of high inflation by getting jobs under this scheme.
We organised a huge rally in Delhi against the Centre over inflation recently. We will fight it out with the Centre in public interest, but here is a very useful scheme which will provide various types of works for livelihood.
While Mr. Gehlot presented job cards to 10 beneficiary women and distributed tools to the labourers on the occasion, Local Self Government & Urban Development Minister Shanti Dhariwal said the State government was committed to providing employment to every person. The job guarantee scheme was a major drive against unemployment in the urban areas, he added.
The scheme will provide employment in the segments of environment and water conservation, cleanliness and sanitation, stopping defacement of property, service-related works, convergence work and heritage conservation.
Eligible people would get employment in areas such as tree plantation, cleaning ponds, collecting garbage and catching stray animals.
News
India raises objections to Pak. F16 refit (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
During official meetings with U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Donald Lu in Delhi last week, India raised “strong objections” to the U.S. plan for Foreign Military Sales (FMS) worth $450 million for hardware, software, and spares for the F-16 fighter jet programme with Pakistan.
The Hindu has learned that officials protested the decision at “each and every” bilateral meeting Mr. Lu and his delegation had during their visit for the Quad Senior Officials Meeting (SOM).
In particular, the Indian side cited concerns about the technology and support being made available to Pakistan for the F-16s, which Pakistan claims are needed for “counter-terrorism operations”, and the government conveyed that it believes they are used for operations against India.
Apart from the SOM, Mr. Lu and Defense Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner held intersessional 2+2 meetings with delegations from the Ministry of Defence and External Affairs. In addition, he met with Joint Secretary Vani Rao separately, and also called on Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra.
Mr. Lu told officials that the FMS F-16 package was a maintenance deal for F-16s, some of which are 40 years old and part of the U.S.’s global policy of maintaining its defence sales for their entire lifecycle.
However, New Delhi is understood to have repeated its skepticism on the issue and made its displeasure known quite clearly. In contrast to 2016, when the MEA had issued a statement expressing its “disappointment” of the planned sale of F-16s, and then (Foreign Secretary) S. Jaishankar had summoned the US Ambassador to protest, this time the MEA has chosen not to make any public comment.
We heard several concerns from the Indian govt,” admitted Mr. Lu in an interview to the India Today TV channel. “Let me say this very clearly, this is a safety and maintenance program. There is no new aircraft being considered, no new capability and no new weapons system.
Significantly, the announcement of the FMS package came while Mr. Lu and Mr. Ratner were in Delhi, and some of the reason for the government’s upset was that it took them by surprise.
The announcement made by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which gave details of the 12 categories the U.S. would provide support to Pakistan for, said that the State Department had approved the deal and that the DSCA delivered the required certification notifying Congress of possible sale on September 7.
‘Adopt a TB patient’ drive finds mitras (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The Health Ministry’s unique “adopt a TB-patient” (Ni-kshayMitras) initiative -- probably the only one-of-its-kind in the world -- announced on September 9 saw the enrollment of 1,78,443 TB patients and 1667 Ni-kshayMitras (donor).
The programme was brought in to fill the critical ``community’’ elements into India’s fight towards the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan aimed at eliminating TB by 2025.
Although the efforts of the government are yielding significant results, the community and the institutions in the society could play a critical role in filling the gaps and addressing the social determinants, thereby contributing to the national goal.
He added that for the effective engagement of the community in the path towards ending TB in India, the Health Ministry was implementing the community support to TB patients - the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan.
Ni-kshayMitra (Donor) for this programme includes co-operative societies, corporates, elected representatives, individuals, institutions, non-governmental organisations, political parties and partners who can support by adopting the health facilities (for individual donor), blocks/urban wards/districts/States for accelerating the response against TB to complement the government efforts, as per the district-specific requirements in coordination with the district administration.
According to the Health Ministry the State and the district administration would support Ni-kshayMitras in prioritising the districts and in providing guidance on the critical gap analysis and district-specific needs.
The support provided to the patient under this initiative is in addition to the free diagnostics, free drugs and Ni-kshayPoshanYojana provided by the National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) to all the TB patients notified from both the public and the private sector.
The Health Ministry said that Ni-kshayMitra would provide additional support to all the on-treatment The TB patients who had given consent for support, in the selected health facilities /blocks/urban wards/districts/States.
Only individual Ni-kshayMitra can choose the patients from a given health facility. The other Ni-kshayMitras have to choose the entire geographical unit (blocks/urban wards/districts/States).
974 health workers died of COVID: Centre (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Welfare Schemes)
The Union government seems to be contradicting itself on the number of health workers, including doctors, who died while fighting COVID-19 in the past two-and-a-half years.
In the reply to a query under the Right to Information (RTI) Act filed with New India Assurance Company Limited, the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on September 8 that ₹487 crore had been disbursed as insurance compensation under the Pradhan MantriGaribKalyan Package (PMGKP) scheme to 974 health workers who died in the line of duty fighting the pandemic as on September 1.
Under the scheme, ₹50 lakh is given to each health worker. The query was filed by K.V. Babu, Kannur-based ophthalmologist and RTI activist.
While replying to a specific query on the break-up of the figures, the company said on September 9 that 206 of them were doctors and the compensation paid was ₹103 crore. The other 768 health workers, including nurses, community workers and other staff, were paid ₹384 crore.
In another reply to an RTI query on August 2, the Ministry, however, had told the company that 445 beneficiaries had been compensated, as on date, under the scheme “for the doctors who died due to COVID-19”. The amount disbursed was ₹222.5 crore.
These numbers are different from the answers given by Union Ministers in Parliament earlier. Asked about the State-wise figures of doctors and health workers who have died since March 2020, BharatiPravinPawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, had told the Rajya Sabha on July 26 that “disaggregated data on deaths due to COVID-19 by profession or otherwise is not maintained centrally.
Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare, had told the Rajya Sabha on February 8 that ₹808 crore had been disbursed to 1,616 beneficiaries, including doctors, under the PMGKP till January 31.
The data collected by the Indian Medical Association, however, say that around 1,800 doctors succumbed to the infection — 757 during the first wave, 839 during the second wave and the rest later. “It is clear that the authorities neither have clear details about the doctors who succumbed to COVID-19 nor the total number of beneficiaries. It is a total mess,” Dr.Babu said on Sunday.
Third stealth frigate of Project 17A Taragiri launched in Mumbai (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
‘Taragiri’, the third stealth frigate of project 17A was launched by Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. (MDL) in Mumbai.
This ship has been built using an integrated construction methodology which involves hull block construction in different geographical locations and integration/erection on Slipway at MDL.
The keel of Taragiriwas laid on September 10, 2020 and the ship is expected to be delivered by August 2025.The vessel is being launched with an approximate launch weight of 3510 Tons and is designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house design organisation - Bureau of Naval Design.
MDL has undertaken the detailed design and construction of the ship which is also overseen by the Warship Overseeing Team (Mumbai).
The first ship of the Project 17A, ‘Nilgiri’ was launched on September 28, 2019 and expected for sea trials in the first half of 2024.
According to officials, the total value of Project 17A is around ₹25,700 Crore. The second ship of P17A class ‘Udaygiri’ was launched on May 17 this year and is expected to start sea trials during the second half of 2024. The keel of the fourth and final ship was laid on June 28.
The 149.02 metres long and 17.8 Meters wide ship, is propelled by a CODOG combination of two Gas Turbines and two main diesel engines which are designed to achieve a speed of over 28 knots at a displacement of approximately 6670 Tons.
The steel used in Hull construction of P17A frigates is indigenously developed DMR 249A which is a low carbon micro-alloy grade steel manufactured by SAIL.
Officials said that the indigenously designed ‘Taragiri’ will have state-of-the-art weapons, sensors, an advanced action information system, an integrated platform management system, world-class modular living spaces, a sophisticated power distribution system, and a host of other advanced features.
It will be fitted with a supersonic surface-to-surface missile system and the ship’s air defence capability is designed to counter the threat of enemy aircraft and anti-ship cruise missiles will revolve around the vertical launch and long range surface to air missile system.
According to them, two 30 mm rapid-fire guns will provide the ship with close-in-defence capability while an SRGM Gun will enable her to provide effective naval gunfire support. And Indigenously developed triple tube lightweight torpedo launchers and rocket launchers will add punch to the ship’s anti-submarine capability.