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China once again blocked proposals by India and the United States to designate Pakistan-based terrorists on the UN Security Council’s 1267 list of terror entities.
The listings for LeT founder Hafiz Saeed’s son Talha Saeed and ShahidMehmood, deputy chief of a front for the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) named the Falah I Insaniyat Foundation (FIF), were made by New Delhi and Washington jointly, who submitted in the proposals that they are wanted for procuring funds and recruitment for the LeT/ JuD (JamaatudDawa), the group behind the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and other terror attacks in India. China placed a hold on both in quick succession at the UNSC.
The moves came even as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres visited the memorial site for the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai and called for “global cooperation” on terror.
Next week, India will host all members of the Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC) of the UNSC, including China’s UN Ambassador, in Mumbai, where they will also visit the 26/11 memorial, as part of a number of events planned by the government to highlight India’s counter-terrorism efforts.
China’s block also comes as the Financial Action Task Force plenary session got underway in Paris, which is likely this week to remove Pakistan from its grey list, where it has been under scrutiny since 2018 for failing to counter terror financing since.
Since June, China has similarly blocked other India-U.S. proposals for terror listings, including those of LeT deputy chief Abdur Rahman Makki and 26/11 terrorist handler Sajid Mir as well as Jaish-e-Mohammad deputy Rauf Asghar.
In each of the cases, Beijing has said it needs “time” to study the details of the listing, and has refused to allow the designations to proceed in the absence of “sufficient evidence”, a move that New Delhi has called “politically motivated” and accused China of “double speak and double standards”.
Both Talha Saeed and ShahidMehmood are designated terrorists in India by the Home Ministry’s “UAPA” terror list, and in the US on the US Treasury’s list for their role in the LeT’s top leadership.
In its listing the MHA said that “Hafiz Talha Saeed” was involved in planning and executing attacks by the LeT in India and on “Indian interests in Afghanistan”, while the US Treasury has also listed him for heading the LeT’s media and propaganda operations in Pakistan.
In particular, ShahidMehmood is accused in a terror funding case filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) of along with LeT founder Hafiz Saeed “hatching a conspiracy” to build “sleeper cells” in Delhi and Haryana under the cover of religious and charity work and education projects. ShahidMehmoodwas also listed on India’s most wanted UAPA terrorist list (No. 17) in 2020.
Editorial
A new lease of LIFE for climate action (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Our world today is in turmoil, facing multiple, mutually reinforcing crises. Even as we mount a fragile recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, war fuels a devastating energy, food, and cost-of-living crisis.
And for the first time since it began over 30 years ago, the United Nations Development Programme’s Human Development Report has warned that global human development measures have declined across most countries in the past two years.
This comes against the backdrop of the greatest existential threat of all — the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
Nine of the warmest years on record have come in the past decade alone. This year’s record-breaking heat waves, floods, droughts, and other extreme forms of weather have forced us to face these increasingly devastating impacts.
Climate change is a disruption multiplier in a disrupted world, rolling back progress across the global Sustainable Development Goals.
The Paris Agreement and the COP26 summit in Glasgow represent urgent, collective steps countries are taking to limit emissions.
Yet, the window for action is closing fast. Commitments we have now will not keep warming below the 1.5°C target that gives us the best chance of averting catastrophe.
With the narrative so focused on geo-politics, the scope for each of us to make a difference as individuals seems increasingly lost.
While governments and industry carry the lion’s share of responsibility for responding to the crisis, we as consumers play a large role in driving unsustainable production methods.
LIFE, or Lifestyle for Environment, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at COP26 in November 2021, brings a fresh and much-needed perspective.
Rather than framing climate change as a ‘larger than life’ challenge, LIFE recognises that small individual actions can tip the balance in the planet’s favour. But we need guiding frameworks, information sharing and the scale of a global movement.
Mindful choices cultivated by LIFE animate this spirit — actions such as saving energy at home; cycling and using public transport instead of driving; eating more plant-based foods and wasting less; and leveraging our position as customers and employees to demand climate-friendly choices.
Many of the goals of LIFE can be achieved by deploying ‘nudges’, gentle persuasion techniques to encourage positive behaviour.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) employs proven nudging techniques such as discouraging food waste by offering smaller plates in cafeterias; encouraging recycling by making bin lids eye-catching; and encouraging cycling by creating cycle paths.
According to the UNEP, more than two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions can be attributed to household consumption and lifestyles — the urgent cuts to global emissions we need can only be achieved through widespread adoption of greener consumption habits.
And while LIFE is a global vision, India is an excellent place to start. With over 1.3 billion people, if we achieve a true janandolan here, the momentum generated will be enormous. As India leads, we see the world increasingly follow.
Opinion
The next CJI will have the longest tenure in the last decade (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
On October 17, Union Law Minister KirenRijiju announced that President DroupadiMurmu has appointed Justice DhananjayaYashwantChandrachud as the 50th Chief Justice of India (CJI). Justice Chandrachud will take oath on November 9, 2022, a day after incumbent CJI Justice U.U. Lalit retires from office.
D.Y. Chandrachud was born on November 11, 1959, in Mumbai, Maharashtra. After earning a bachelor’s degree from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, he went on to pursue law (LLB) from the Faculty of Law at Delhi University.
He obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree and a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degree from Harvard Law School. Justice Chandrachud was elevated to the Supreme Court on May 13, 2016. Before that, he served as the Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court.
Justice Chandrachud will serve as the CJI for two years and two days until his retirement on November 10, 2024. His is expected to be the 14th longest tenure among the tenures of the 50 CJIs analysed.
His term will be the longest among all the CJIs of the past decade. The 11 CJIs who were appointed after Justice S.H. Kapadia, who took charge on May 12, 2010 and who served two years, four months and 19 days in the top post, had shorter stints than what Justice Chandrachud is set to serve.
Interestingly, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud’s father, Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, holds the record for serving the longest term as the CJI.
Justice Y.V. Chandrachudwas appointed on February 22, 1978 and retired on July 11, 1985, which means he served in the top post for seven years, four months and 19 days.
Justice Bhuvneshwar Prasad Sinha, India’s sixth CJI, comes a distant second with four years, four months and one day at the helm. He is followed by Justice A.N. Ray who served for three years, nine months and four days.
Justice K.N. Singh, who was appointed as the CJI on November 25, 1991, had the shortest stint: only 17 days until his retirement.
Justice S. Rajendra Babu was the other CJI whose tenure lasted for less than a month. Table 1 lists the CJIs with the longest and shortest terms. Data show that on average, a CJI has served for 1.5 years.
In November, Justice Chandrachud will take charge at the age of 62 years, 11 months and 29 days, which will make him the 16th youngest CJI.
He will be the youngest CJI in the last decade. Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, who was appointed to the post at the age of 57 years, seven months and 13 days, holds the record as the youngest CJI. Table 2 lists the youngest and oldest CJIs based on their age at the time of appointment.
Maharashtra, the State where Justice Chandrachud was born, is the State of birth for six other CJIs. Five CJIs each were born in Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Chart 3 shows the number of CJIs born in various States/countries.
Explainer
Held up by the Chinese (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
China placed a “hold” on two joint India-US proposals, to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) top leaders including Talha Saeed, son of Hafiz Saeed and ShahidMehmood, deputy chief of an LeT front at the United Nations Security Council’s (UNSC) 1267 list of terrorists affiliated to Al Qaeda and ISIS.
The holds marked the fourth and fifth time China had attempted to block a listing move by India and the U.S. in the past four months.
The 1267 committee that was set up in 1999 (updated in 2011 and 2015) allows any UN member state to propose adding the name of a terrorist or terror group to a consolidated list, maintained by the Committee, that has affiliations to Al Qaeda and ISIS.
India has successfully proposed the listing of several terror entities in the past two decades, including Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Lashkar-e-Taiba.
According to the rules, once a listing is proposed, it will be adopted into the list according to a “no-objections” procedure: which means, if any member of the Committee, which comprises all members of the UN Security Council, places a hold on the listing or objects outright to it, the listing cannot be adopted.
As a permanent member of the UNSC, China can do this any number of times as its term doesn’t run out, and it carries a veto vote.
The Committee is bound to resolve all such pending issues within six months, but can allow extensions, meaning that technically at the end of the six-month period, the “holding” country has to decide whether to accept the listing or place a permanent objection to it. However, in practice, many of the listing proposals have had prolonged waits.
Since 2001, China has placed holds on a number of listing proposals relating mainly to Pakistan-based groups and their leaders, given the close bilateral ties between the two countries.
Most notable was China’s objections to the listing of JeM founder Masood Azhar. Azharwas released from prison by India in 1999 and handed over to terrorists in return for hostages onboard Indian Airlines flight IC-814, which should have left little doubt about Azhar’s own status as a terrorist.
While the JeM was listed at the UNSC in 2001, and Azhar was mentioned as the group’s founder, he wasn’t designated for several years. Even after the Parliament attack and the Mumbai 26/11 attacks, China kept placing a hold on the UNSC terror listing proposals for him: in 2009, 2010, 2016-18, claiming it had “inadequate information” on Masood Azhar’s terror activities. In May 2019, three months after the Pulwama attacks that were traced to the JeM, China finally withdrew its hold.
In addition, it is possible that China objects to the listing proposals being brought by a group of countries, especially the joint proposals by India and the U.S. rather than by India alone, but has never given any comprehensive reason for the holds.
At the UNSC meet in August, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN RuchiraKhamboj had called for an end to the practice of placing holds and blocks on listing requests “without giving any justification”.
It is most regrettable that genuine and evidence-based listing proposals pertaining to some of the most notorious terrorists in the world are being placed on hold. Double standards and continuing politicisation have rendered the credibility of the sanctions regime at an all-time low.”
News
Centre to promote destinations in 15 States as part of Swadesh Darshan 2 (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Government Policies and Interventions)
Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, and Gwalior are among the cities identified in 15 States across the country to be promoted as part of India’s new domestic tourism policy which moves away from theme-based tourist circuits and focuses on revving up destination tourism.
The initiative is being taken as part of the first phase of the ‘Swadesh Darshan 2’ which will be kicked off from January.
Fifteen States are part of the first phase which include Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra.
Some of the prominent places identified are Jhansi and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, Gwalior, Chitrakoot and Khajuraho in Madhya Pradesh and Ajanta and Ellora in Maharashtra.
The sources said that the destinations had been zeroed in on after consultations with the State Tourism Departments, and the Centre was now waiting for approval from Tourism Minister G. Kishan Reddy. The Swadesh Darshan scheme is 100% centrally funded.
The government recently revamped the scheme as Swadesh Darshan 2.0 (SD2.0) to develop sustainable and responsible destinations with tourist and destination centric approach.
The scheme has been revamped with the mantra of “vocal for local”, a top official of the Tourism Ministry told The Hindu adding that the scheme was essentially aimed at targeting domestic tourists.
According to the Ministry, domestic tourist visits in 2021 were around 677 million and in 2022 (data available till date) is 572 million.
The Swadesh Darshan Scheme was launched by the Centre in 2014-15 for the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits.
Under the scheme, the Ministry of Tourism provides financial assistance to State governments, Union Territory Administrations or Central Agencies for development of tourism infrastructure in the country.
The scheme was envisioned to synergise with other government schemes such as Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India, and Make in India with the idea of positioning the tourism sector as a major engine for job creation, driving force for economic growth, building synergy with various sectors to enable tourism to realise its potential.
Some of the prominent circuits launched under this were the Buddhist tourist circle, Ambedkar Tourist Circle and the North-East Tourist Circle.
Part 1 of Swadesh Darshan I had faced some criticism mainly pertaining to “resources being spread thin due to the many destinations being covered and too many stakeholders being involved”.
Tamil Nadu launches mission to save critically endangered vultures (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Species In News)
Alarmed at the 96% decline in India’s vulture population between 1993 and 2003, the Central government put into place two action plans to protect the species at the national level — the first in 2006 and the second, ongoing plan for 2020-2025.
One of the important action points in this nationwide plan is the formation of State-level committees to save the critically endangered population of vultures.
Acting on it, the Tamil Nadu Government formed a State-level Committee to set up an institutional framework for the effective conservation of vultures, which almost went extinct in the country at the beginning of the 21st century.
A formal order was issued by SupriyaSahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests, on Wednesday.
In Tamil Nadu, four species of vultures are found — the Oriental white-backed vulture, the long-billed vulture, the red-headed vulture, and the Egyptian vulture.
The first three are residents and can be found in the landscapes of the Nilgiris and Sathyamangalam,” S. Bharathidasan, secretary of Arulagam, which works for vulture conservation, said. “There is evidence of Egyptian vulture breeding only at one site in Dharmapuri.
The committee, apart from the senior officials of the Forest Department, also has other experts, including K. Ramesh from the Wildlife Institute of India, S. Muralidharan of SACON, Vibhu Prakash of the Bombay Natural History Society, and two locals involved in conservation — B. Ramakrishnan of the Government Arts College, Uthagamandalam, Mr. Bharathidasan of Arulagam.
The committee, which has a two-year tenure, will take steps for monitoring the conservation and recovery of existing vulture sites and mapping of vulture populations across the State for creating safe zones. It will work to eliminate the use of toxic veterinary drugs, the main reason for vulture fatalities.
Tamil Nadu is a pioneer. It banned two drugs that caused vulture deaths a long time ago, Mr. Bharathidasan said. The State’s vulture population has since stabilised and slightly increased.
Mr. Ramakrishnan also agrees that the population is steadily growing. He began studying the vulture population in theNilgiris landscape from 2010.
Vulture fatalities were earlier reported after the species was exposed to the drug, when the birds consumed carcasses of animals treated with Diclofenac for ailments.
Both experts agree the availability of food is a key factor determining vulture populations. “After the formation of tiger
We have to work fast to solve challenges in space tech: Modi (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Space)
In an ambitious effort to develop innovative solutions for the three Services in the space domain through the Indian industry and start-ups, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Mission DefSpace’ at the ongoing DefExpo. He also released the fourth defence indigenisation list which bars import of 101 items after certain timelines.
“Space technology is an example of what security will mean for any strong nation in the future. Various challenges in this area have been reviewed and identified by the three Services.
We have to work fast to solve them,” Mr. Modi said. Under Mission Def-Space, 75 challenges are being opened to get innovative solutions, based on the defence requirements in the space domain.
Stating that space technology is shaping new definitions of India’s generous space diplomacy, giving rise to new possibilities, the Prime Minister stated, “Many African countries and many other small countries are benefiting from this.”
There are more than 60 developing countries with whom India is sharing its space science. “The South Asia satellite is an effective example of this.
By next year, 10 Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries will also get real-time access to India’s satellite data. Even developed countries like Europe and America are using our satellite data.
Explaining the significance, Lt. Gen. A.K. Bhatt (retd.), Director General of the Indian Space Association (ISpA), said this was the first time an opportunity was being given to the private industry in the defence space sector.
Defence space challenges, which have been worked with the Services, Ministry of Defence (MoD), along with private industry and the ISpA, are primarily aimed at making a range of defence applications to enhance the capability of the three Services.
One senior official explained that the effort is not meant to develop offensive capabilities in space but to build technology enablers for the Services.
As part of efforts to boost the domestic defence industry and promote defence exports, the Defence Ministry had earlier promulgated first, second and third Positive Indigenisation Lists, comprising 310 items on August 21, 2020, May 31, 2021 and April 7, 2022 respectively. The items on the lists cannot be imported by the Services and should be sourced from within the country.
The fourth list has been prepared by the MoD after several rounds of consultations with all stakeholders, including the industry, the Ministry said in a statement.
It lays special focus on equipment/systems, which are being developed and likely to translate into firm orders in the next five to 10 years.
Rustom-2 UAV to complete user trials by August 2023 (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The indigenous medium altitude long endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is expected to complete all user trials by August 2023, according to defence officials. Parallelly, a separate project for the weaponisation of the Rustom UAV is also under way.
Four prototypes of Rustom-2 are currently flying. Five production models will be manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL), which is the production partner,” a defence official said on the sidelines of DefExpo-2022. “The production models will be ready in five or six months.”
A second official said that night flying trials had started but were held up due to logistical issues and were expected to be completed shortly. “User trials are scheduled to be conducted soon.
Last December, Rustom-2 had crossed a milestone by reaching an altitude of 25,000 feet and an endurance of 10 hours. The target is to reach an altitude of 30,000 feet with an endurance of 20 hours endurance which has to be demonstrated.
DRDO officials had said in the past that Rustom-2 technologically matched the contemporary UAVs available and would also be cheaper than the imported ones while meeting the requirements of the three Services.
Rustom-2 has been designed and developed by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), Bengaluru, with the production partners being HAL and Bharat Electronics Ltd.
It is being developed to carry out surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) roles and is capable of carrying different combinations of advanced payload and capable of auto landing, among others.
High endurance UAVs are a priority requirement for the Indian armed forces especially in view of the stand-off with China in eastern Ladakh. Indian armed forces rely heavily rely on Israeli Searcher and Heron drones to meet their requirements and they have need for more such UAVs.
The Services have embarked on a major upgrade project of the Heron UAVs in use. A separate proposal for 30 armed Predator drones, 10 each Service, from the U.S. has been delayed.
Business
China’s total trade surplus with India ‘surpasses $1 trillion’ (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
The favourable trade balance that China has enjoyed with India, since bilateral commerce began to boom in the early 2000s, has cumulatively exceeded $1 trillion, according to estimates.
The trade gap has particularly widened in the past decade. In 2021, annual two-way trade crossed $100 billion for the first time, reaching $125.6 billion, with India’s imports accounting for $97.5 billion, pegging the imbalance at close to $70 billion.
Trade ties began to boom since the early 2000s driven largely by India’s imports of Chinese machinery and other equipment, up from $3 billion in the year 2000 to $42 billion in 2008, the year China became India’s largest trading partner.
China’s trade with India is lopsided and in this period China had a favorable balance of trade that has crossed $1.2 trillion,” said SrikanthKondapalli,who is Professor in Chinese Studies and Dean of the School of International Studies at Jawarharlal Nehru University. “That is, in pure statistics, Chinese businesses earned that much money [from India].”
While some economists say India’s trade imbalance with China should not be viewed in isolation – for instance, pharmaceuticals that India exports to the world require ingredients that are imported from China – Mr. Kondapalli said an imbalance over an extended period of time posed problems.
Moreover, Chinese commitments to India to import substantially more Indian goods, particularly pharmaceuticals, have not materialised, although Chinese imports of Indian seafood are one area that has recently shown robust growth.
These surpluses are consistent, and not addressed over a period of time this leads to the problem of a current account deficit for India.
The imbalance in 2022 is set to surpass even last year’s record figure. In the six months ended June, India’s imports from China surged 34,5% to reach a record $57.51 billion, according to China’s trade figures released in July.
India’s exports to China, however, shrank by 35% and accounted for only $9.57 billion of the $67.08 billion two-way trade.
China’s third-quarter trade data, which was due to be released this week but has been delayed because of the ongoing Communist Party Congress, is expected to reflect continued growth in Indian imports.
India’s biggest imports last year were electrical and mechanical machinery, chemicals used in industrial production, active pharmaceutical ingredients and auto components. India also imported medical supplies during the pandemic.
India fast emerging as Web3 ecosystem (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
India has a rapidly-growing Web3 ecosystem with more than 450 active start-ups in the space that raised $1.3 billion in funding till April.
While global response to Web3 was still shaping up, India’s growing economy, demographic dividend, and exponential adoption of emerging technologies across sectors, positioned the country to become one of the highest growth markets for Web3 globally, as per a study released by Nasscom in association with Hashed Emergent.
In the last two years, Indian Web3 start-ups have grown to a 450-plus community with four unicorns. Between 2021-2022 alone, India registered more than 170 new Web3 start-ups, yielding over 50% CAGR growth since 2015.
In terms of distribution, over 80% of these Web3 start-ups are in tier I cities. However, the tier II/III ecosystem is growing rapidly with locations such as Jaipur, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram, and Coimbatore evolving as emerging hubs for Web3 start-ups, found the study.
With increasing confidence and interest from global investors, investments in Indian Web3 and Web 2.5 start-ups have also soared. The sector has witnessed robust funding across stages.
The study titled “The India Web3 Start-up Landscape, An Emerging Technology Leadership Frontier,” was aimed at promoting a broader understanding of the diverse possibilities with Web3 and the landscape of Web3 start-ups in the country.
Web3, a new iteration of the World Wide Web, has now become a buzzword incorporating concepts such as blockchain technologies, metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).