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A day after the Union government constituted a peace committee in Manipur, most Kuki representatives said that they would boycott the panel as it included Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and his supporters.
Pointing out that their consent was not taken for including them on the panel, they demanded that the Centre make the situation conducive for talks.
On Saturday, the Union Home Ministry constituted a committee in Manipur to facilitate a peace-making process among various ethnic groups. Governor Anusuiya Uikey will chair the 51-member committee.
Several people who were made members of the panel revealed that they had been added without their consent. One such member, Kuki Inpi Manipur (KIM) president Ajang Khongsai, said he would not be able to sit with the Manipur government for peace talks.
The panel includes COCOMI (Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity, a civil society group in Imphal) that has declared war against the Kukis. We want peace but at this critical junction, when violence continues, we cannot hold talks with the Manipur government.
In 2016, I was sent to Russia to finalise an arms deal. After serving the government for 37 years, we are being referred to as foreigners by the Chief Minister.
The panel should be led by Central government officials, else it is not going to be fruitful. It is a shame this issue has lingered on for more than a month,” Mr. Lhungdim, who retired in 2020. Nemcha Kipgen, a tribal Minister in Manipur, is a member of the panel. She could not be reached for comments.
States
Particulate pollution increasing in Rajasthan’s cities, says CSE report (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Particulate pollution has been increasing in the cities of Rajasthan, which faces a multi-pollutant crisis with the levels of several gaseous pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide and ozone beginning to rise.
This has increased public health risk in the State, an analysis report of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).
The air quality is worsening in both big and small cities and towns despite the clean air action being taken in the State.
The continuing elevated pollution levels among city stations highlight the systemic pollution which persists in the region because of inadequate infrastructure for pollution control across all sectors, according to the report.
CSE executive director (research and advocacy) Anumita Roychowdhury, said that particulate pollution was on the rise in Jaipur, Kota and Udaipur, where the average 2022 levels had crossed the pre-pandemic levels.
Several cities exceed the standards for this category of pollution, while Jodhpur is the most polluted and Kota is the second among the five non-attainment cities in the State.
Non-attainment cities are those which have fallen short of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for five years.
Ms. Roychowdhury said the ground-level ozone, emerging as a challenge in non-attainment cities, needed more robust monitoring to assess risk. Ground-level ozone requires monitoring to assess its build-up in local situations across the landscape.
Editorial
Manipur, a rude reminder of northeast tensions (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Violence in Manipur, which has gone on for over a month now, claimed well over a 100 lives and displaced thousands more, and has opened many raw wounds that most people had hoped belonged to a bygone era.
The spectre of an unbridgeable divide between the Meiteis on the one hand and the Kuki-Chin-Mizo-Zomi-Naga tribes on the other is now all too evident, and any resolution will demand utmost sensitive handling.
The ethnic divide and violence seems to suggest that little has changed in the northeast, notwithstanding the many developments in place. Thus the healing process is likely to be a long-drawn-out one.
Most people across the country had reason to believe that the northeast had over time become well and truly integrated. Also, that there were now more commonalities rather than differences amongst the various tribes and communities.
The ethnic violence in Manipur, consequently, has come as a rude reminder. Notwithstanding improved communications, better transit facilities, and support for the special needs of the region, there does still exist a divide between the tribes and plains people within the region.
It is easy to pontificate whenever an outbreak of violence of this magnitude takes place, and to harp on certain aspects such as the existence of an excess of region-centric calculus, lack of internal cohesion, and ethnic/caste rivalries as the causes for internal tensions and violence.
Such aspects, fortunately, had become lesser in number in recent times, but it is possible that the fraying of our composite culture in recent times — which has also effected other parts of India — is casting a shadow over the northeast.
An additional dimension in the northeast is the presence of ethnic sub-nationalism and identity politics in an aggravated form.
Ethnic allegiance had oftentimes been in conflict with mainstream nationalism or vice-versa previously, but it was hoped that such tensions had subsided.
The Manipur developments imply that in much of the northeast, ethnic identities still overshadow and overwhelm all other considerations.
What is also disturbing is that according to some reports from the region, consolidation efforts by different tribal entities were resulting in subterranean pressures, and the result is that many issues which were deemed settled seem to have been reopened.
This applies specially to Manipur where, of late, there have been incipient signs of a resurgence of ultra-nationalistic tendencies.
The confrontation between Meitei versus Kuki-Naga ultra-radicalism, as evidenced in Manipur these past weeks, needs to be viewed in the larger context of the conflict between the plains Meiteis and the Kuki-Mizo-Chin-Zomi-Naga hill tribes.
Amplify the subject of adolescent girl nutrition (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
To unlock the full potential of India’s future, we have to prioritise the health and nutrition of its adolescent girls. Adolescence is a pivotal period of cognitive development and, therefore, improving access to nutrition during this “second window of opportunity of growth” compensates for any nutrient deficiencies acquired during early developmental stages in the girl child.
Furthermore, adolescent health is a significant indicator of women’s labour force participation in India in the long term, as better nutrition improves every young girl’s prospect to participate in productive activities.
Thus, the country beholds a colossal opportunity to add to its nation’s demographic dividend by investing in nutrition interventions in adolescent girls.
Adolescent girls are particularly vulnerable to undernutrition and anaemia due to the onset of menstruation. The findings of the National Family Health Survey-5 (2019-21) confirm these concerns, as a staggering 59.1% of adolescent girls were found to be anaemic.
With the NFHS-4 numbers also having reported over 41.9% of school-going girls as underweight, the numbers showcase a worrying trend.
What makes the situation more complex is the fact that a range of factors, from environmental conditions to cultural norms that lack a gender-neutral environment within a household, affects the nutrition uptake in adolescent girls.
While progress has been made in improving crucial health indicators in the form of various government initiatives that have successfully achieved optimum coverage, it is however essential to acknowledge that current health interventions do not specifically focus on the nutritional statuses of adolescent girls.
We are, as a nation, far from realising the long-term consequences of overlooking the nutritional needs of young girls. Poorly balanced and insufficient diets can lead to cognitive impairments that affect one’s academic performance.
Opinion
Governors cannot indefinitely hold back Bills (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
Recently issues have arisen in various States between Chief Ministers and Governors, with regard to the passing of Bills. Chief Ministers feel that Governors have not acted for an unduly long period of time on Bills presented for their assent.
This is a tricky situation for a parliamentary democracy, where the people elect a government to enact laws which reflect their will. If an elected government cannot legislate, it could lead to a breakdown of parliamentary democracy.
The Legislature of a State comprises the Governor and the Legislative Assembly (if the State has one House) and a Legislative Council (if the State has two Houses).
The Governor has little autonomy in his functioning — it is a settled legal position that he can act only on the “advice” of his Council of Ministers, with the Chief Minister as the head of the Council.
The intention of the framers of the Constitution was for the President or Governor to act only on the advice of the Council of Ministers. Actual governance of the country/State is by the Prime Minister or the Chief Minister as the case maybe.
There is, however, a caveat to this. There are certain instances where a Governor can exercise his discretion independent of the Council of Ministers.
Whether a Governor has discretion or not in a particular matter is significant since, as per Article 163(2) of the Constitution, this decision of his cannot be challenged.
In Shamsher Singh v State of Punjab (1974), the Supreme Court held that a President or a Governor can exercise their discretion independent of their Ministers only where the Constitution expressly permits them to do so.
Article 200 states that when the Governor is presented with a Bill, he can either give his assent or withhold it or return the Bill with certain suggestions.
The first proviso of the Article states that after a Bill is presented to him, the Governor may, as soon as possible, return the Bill if it is not a Money Bill with a message to reconsider the Bill as a whole or any part thereof.
The House has six months to decide whether or not to accept this request. Once the House returns the Bill to the Governor, he has no choice but to give his assent whether or not his recommendations have been accepted.
Explainer
The significance of Thailand elections (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Thailand’s progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) and the populist Pheu Thai Party claimed victory in an election that gave a thumbs-down to the military-backed parties which ruled on and off for a decade.
The alliance on May 22 signed an ambitious deal aiming to draft a new constitution, end mandatory military conscription and monopolies, and allow same-sex marriage, among other things.
However, a government has not been formed yet and the possibility of any legislative reform will boil down to who gets to form Thailand’s government — a power which in Thailand, is not automatically given to the majority election winners owing to a constitutional tweak by the military government in 2017.
The MFP emerged as the single-largest party in the May 14 polls, garnering 151 seats in the 500-seat House of Representatives. Its 42-year-old leader Pita Limjaroenrat capitalised on his popularity among disillusioned young voters awaiting change after eight years of a military-backed government.
MFP is the only party promising to reform the strict lèse-majesté laws. Mr. Limjaroenrat is seen as the Prime Ministerial candidate if the coalition led by his party forms the government.
MFP’s main ally Pheu Thai, the populist party led by the billionaire family of the self-exiled former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, emerged as the second biggest winner with 141 seats.
Pheu Thai drew its support from the rural and urban working class, mainly in the north and northeast regions of Thailand. Other smaller parties in the pro-democracy alliance also managed to secure a significant share of votes.
This election dealt a historic blow to Thailand’s military-backed parties. The United Thai Nation Party, a recently formed party of the 69-year-old former military chief and incumbent Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha only managed 36 seats.
Mr. Prayuth’s previous party, the Palang Pracharat, the biggest in the incumbent ruling coalition, also bagged just 40 seats under current leader and Mr. Prayuth’s deputy and military mentor Prawit Wongsuwan. Another party, the Bhumjaithai (proud to be Thai), which had consistently won enough seats to be kingmaker, secured 71 seats.
News
IAF and Army carry out joint exercise in the central sector (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Defence)
The Indian Air Force (IAF) has carried out a joint exercise with the Indian Army in the central sector with deployment of multiple combat assets to check the operational readiness of the two forces.
The exercise follows the IAF’s two strategic missions over the Indian Ocean region that involved Rafale and Su-30MKI jets. The IAF did not divulge the details of the date and venue of the operations.
A few days ago, a fleet of Su-30MKI jets of the IAF carried out a strategic mission over the Indian Ocean region for eight hours, days after a similar operation was carried out by four Rafale aircraft.
The Su-30MKI jets flew over the south-western region of the Indian Ocean on Thursday, demonstrating their operational prowess and capability to carry out long-range missions. The mission involving the Rafale fighter aircraft last month covered the eastern region of the ocean.
Private sector collaboration is the next great phase of Indo-U.S. defence ties: Atul Keshap (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Defence)
Defence technology collaboration between the private sectors of India and the United States is really the next great phase of cooperation for “the two greatest democracies on earth”, according to Atul Keshap, president of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), who added that whatever the two countries can do together will benefit the rest of the “free countries” of the world.
The India-U.S. Defence Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X), a new initiative to advance cutting-edge technology cooperation which Mr. Keshap described as a “wedding mela”, is set to be hosted by the USIBC on June 20 and 21.
It is designed to complement existing government-to-government collaboration by promoting innovative partnerships between U.S. and Indian companies, investors, start-up accelerators, and academic research institutions.
Geo-strategically, these are very unsettled times and there is a rising apprehension about great power struggles, Mr. Keshap said, adding that while India had experienced this first-hand, Americans were also increasingly concerned about what the future may hold.
And so Secretary Austin’s visit and the agreements that have come out of it reflect an increasing convergence of strategic perspectives by Delhi and Washington that we should do more together, that the great democracies need to lean on each other and rely on each other for mutual defence.