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India announced that it wants to modify the 62-year-old Indus Water Treaty (IWT) with Pakistan, citing what it called Pakistan’s “intransigence” in resolving disputes over the Kishenganga and Ratle hydropower projects, both in Jammu and Kashmir.
India also protested Pakistan’s “unilateral” decision to approach a court of arbitration at The Hague.
The government had written to Pakistan on January 25, calling for modifications to the treaty as per Article XII (3) of the IWT that deals with the “final provisions” of the treaty.
The first hearing of the Pakistani case at the Permanent Court of Arbitrage at The Hague in the Netherlands began on Friday, with India boycotting the court process.
The decision to issue notice to Pakistan, with a request for a response within 90 days, is a major step and could lead to the unravelling and renegotiation of the water sharing treaty.
The treaty is often seen as a rare example of India-Pakistan consensus, at a time when the two countries have snapped trade and cultural exchanges, and most bilateral talks
The sources said that Pakistan’s move to push the World Bank for a Court of Arbitration ran counter to the pre-existing channel of dispute resolution through a “neutral expert” appointed by the World Bank.
Indian officials said that the “parallel processes” instead of a “graded mechanism” had led to a stalemate, adding that India was left with no choice but to demand that Pakistan come to the table to negotiate amendments to the treaty. Officials declined to comment on what specific modifications India would demand. Sources said that the clarification of the dispute mechanism was at the top of the agenda for renegotiation, adding that new inter-governmental negotiations on the IWT would be an opportunity to incorporate the “lessons learned” since 1960.
States
Rise in water bird count recorded in Kerala’s capital (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The Asian Waterbird Census (AWC) 2023 has recorded a 65% increase in waterbirds in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram district, albeit with a slight dip in the count of species.
Instilling hope among nature lovers despite concerns posed by anthropogenic activities, the annual census that was jointly conducted by WWF-India and the social forestry wing of the Forest Department recently enumerated 5,396 birds belonging to 70 species from 11 sites spread across the district.
This was a considerable increase from the count of 3,270 birds belonging to 72 species recorded last year. Barring a slight decline that was observed in Poovar estuary and the Punchakkari-Vellayani wetland complex, all the other locations reported a trend of increasing population.
However, the birders raised concerns on the quality of habitats across all the wetlands. Except Pazhanchira wetlands near Attingal, all the other wetlands have been facing multiple and severe threats from anthropogenic activities.
The Punchakkari-Vellayani wetland complex, regarded the birding hub of the capital city, has been experiencing threats in the form of solid waste dumping, shift from paddy cultivation to fertilizer-intensive vegetable cultivation, and noise pollution from crackers that are used by farmers to scare away birds. A growing trend of wedding and other photo shoots has also driven away birds from the area.
Nonetheless, the wetland is home to many bird species including migratory ones like Pacific Golden Plover, Western Yellow Wagtail, White Wagtail, Painted Stork, Eurasian Spoonbill, Wood Sandpiper and Grey-headed Lapwing. The team counted 1,419 birds belonging to 51 species on this location.
Shore birds such as Great Crested Terns, Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers, Kentish Plovers and Western Reef Herons were sighted in the Poovar estuary.
The paddy field maintained by the Agriculture Department at Mosque Lane, Kesavadasapuram, reflected a disappointing picture with only few Wood and Green Sandpipers reported.
The team visited the comparatively less disturbed Pazhanchira wetlands, near Attingal, and counted 1,298 birds belonging to 34 species.
Editorial
The moral and intellectual crises in economic policies (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
News from Davos and Delhi in the third week of January has framed the moral and intellectual crises affecting Indian economic policies.
In the first instance, speaking at a session at the World Economic Forum in Davos on India’s road to a $10 trillion economy, the Chairman of Tata Sons said, “For me, the three things most important are growth, growth, and growth.” In the second instance, a report from Delhi said that 150 homeless people had been removed from beneath a flyover by police who had been directed to clear the city of beggars ahead of various G-20 events to be held in the city.
The “beggars” who included many workers like Munna employed by establishments in the vicinity were being taken to a shelter far away.
Our moral crisis is the pathetic attempt to cover up the declining employment elasticity of India’s shining growth. Job creation has not kept pace with the demand for jobs.
Moreover, most jobs hardly pay enough and have no social security. While statistical debates continue about the numbers of jobs being created, to pin the unemployment problem on either the present National Democratic Alliance or the preceding United Progressive Alliance government, it is widely acknowledged that the Indian economy is not generating enough good jobs.
What has not been accepted though, as yet, is that the paradigm of economic growth and globalisation, which Davos has been a megaphone for, and which Indian governments have followed, is a cause of the problem.
India’s groundwater governance is in better shape (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 1, Conservation)
Data show that India, with nearly 18% of the world’s population, occupies about 2.4% of the total geographical area and consumes 4% of total water resources.
A World Bank report says that India is the largest groundwater user. A rapidly growing economy and population are straining the country’s groundwater resources.
As a vast country, India has distinct and varying hydro-geological settings. Groundwater is the backbone of India’s agriculture and drinking water security in rural and urban areas, meeting nearly 80% of the country’s drinking water and two-thirds of its irrigation needs.
Groundwater is pivotal to India’s water security. The fact that the theme of UN World Water Day 2022 was ‘Groundwater, Making the Invisible Visible’ is a reflection of the importance given to the resource across the globe.
The central government is working to achieve the goal of sustainable groundwater management in collaboration with States and Union Territories.
In this process, certain important deliverables have been identified that include a reduction in groundwater extraction to below 70%, increasing the network of groundwater observation wells, installing digital water level recorders for real-time monitoring, periodic monitoring of groundwater quality, aquifer mapping and data dissemination, having better regulation of groundwater extraction by industries, and promoting participatory groundwater management and even periodic groundwater resource assessment.
In May 2019, a much-needed step of policy reform was done under the leadership of the Prime Minister with the creation of Jal Shakti Ministry (a merger of the erstwhile Ministries of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation along with Drinking Water and Sanitation).
This was to give impetus to the management of water resources with special focus on demand and supply management. Realising the importance of community participation, the Jal Shakti Abhiyan was launched subsequently to transform Jan Shakti into Jal Shakti through asset creation, rainwater harvesting (‘Catch the Rain’ campaign) and extensive awareness campaign.
Initiatives have also been taken for the effective management and regulation of groundwater, examples being the Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABY) and the National Project on Aquifer Management (NAQUIM).
Ground zero
Invisible boundaries, visible apathy (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Parthenahalli village, located on the Karnataka-Maharashtra border, is the last large settlement on the Athani-Jath road before the crossover into Gugwad village in Maharashtra.
The signboards of shops in these villages are in both Kannada and Marathi. Sadashiv Jadhav runs a plant nursery in a portion of his three-acre sugar cane farm.
He has one board in Kannada on the Athani road and another in Marathi on the way to Jath. Most people in the region can easily switch between the two languages with ease.
When the Maharashtra Ekikaran Samiti (MES), a linguistic sociopolitical committee based out of Belagavi city, demanded the merger of Belagavi and other Marathi-speaking areas with Maharashtra, it was Jath taluk that Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai spoke of, claiming that the residents of the taluk’s 40 villages had expressed their desire to join Karnataka as they were Kannada speakers.
Many people in the region, which has often seen Kannada-Marathi linguistic sentiments reaching a flash point, say they want to join Karnataka — not because they are Kannada speakers, but because of the lack of development in the region. They hope that a merger with Karnataka might change the region for the better.
Maharashtra and Karnataka have locked horns in a legal fight over their boundaries for decades. Maharashtra claims that 865 villages and five urban areas in four districts of Karnataka are mostly Marathi-speaking and need to be merged with Maharashtra. Belagavi city is among the five urban areas sought by Maharashtra.
Maharashtra objected to the recommendations of the second State Reorganisation Commission in 1956, headed by Justice Fazal Ali, which placed Belagavi in Karnataka and other surrounding towns in Maharashtra.
It demanded the constitution of a commission to reconsider the recommendations. Ten years later, the Union government formed a commission headed by Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan, a former Supreme Court judge.
The Mahajan Commission agreed with the principle that people speaking one language should be grouped together. It came up with a swap formula to trade some Kannada-speaking areas such as Solapur, Jath and Akkalkot in Maharashtra for some Marathi-speaking areas in Karnataka.
News
Cheetah project to bring in 12 big cats from South Africa (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
India has signed an agreement with South Africa to translocate 12 cheetahs to the Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh, a senior official in the Union Environment Ministry said on January 27.
The pact was signed last week and seven male and five female cheetahs are expected to reach Kuno by February 15, he said. The South African environment department in a statement said the plan is to send 12 cheetahs every year for a decade. India has not released any statement in this regard so far.
The 12 South African cheetahs have been in quarantine since July last year and were expected to reach Kuno this month but “some processes in South Africa took some time,” delaying the transfer, according to the official.
It is expected that the South African authorities will soon receive an export permit and a certificate under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) for the transfer of the animals, he said, adding India has completed all formalities.
Kashmir’s pashmina shawls get new-age French touch (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
Kashmir’s famed pashmina shawls, known for centuries for their intricate buta or paisley patterns, got a French touch this week.
Artist Maximilien Pellet turned the fabric into a canvas for contemporary art forms at a Parisian exhibition, in a rare bid to cater to Western sensibilities.
Mujtaba Qadri, owner of the label Me&K, introduced the pashmina shawls with modern art during the Maison & Objet exhibition held in Paris between January 19-23.
“Pashmina — or cashmere as it’s called in the West — is a fabric loved and respected the world over. That said, very few people are aware of the role Kashmir played in this legacy.
The transformation, where the shawls were adorned with abstract paintings rather than embroidery, has re-introduced the fabric with new-age aesthetics..
The French artist Mr. Pellet described the art fusion with the Kashmir industry as an “honour” for his designs.
I am more and more interested in the variation of my work with different techniques and different supports in order to break the border between art and design.
Mr. Pellet has been tracking the craft industry of Kashmir. “I was able to understand all the different stages of the work done by hand. It represents a real fascination. I have the impression that it is another relationship to time.