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Britain is about to get its third Prime Minister in three months, with Prime Minister Liz Truss announcing that she will quit the post, under growing pressure from Conservative MPs, after her budgetary plans, at the heart of which were unfunded tax cuts, deeply rattled markets and led to the replacement of the Chancellor only days ago.
Speaking from behind a lectern outside No.10 Downing Street, where only 45 days ago she had stood, having just been appointed Prime Minister of the U.K. by the late Queen Elizabeth II, Ms. Truss announced her decision to a country that has been through a summer and early autumn of political chaos and economic turmoil.
The outgoing Prime Minister said she had come into office at a time of significant international and economic instability, with families and businesses worried about how they would pay their bills.
She said she was elected by the Conservative Party with a mandate to fix the “low growth” that was holding the U.K. back, by lowering taxes and returning to high growth.
I recognise though given this situation, I cannot deliver the mandate on which I was elected by the Conservative Party,” she said, adding that she had spoken to King Charles III and informed him of her intent to resign as leader of the party.
Ms. Truss also announced that she had met with Sir Graham Brady, who is the Chairman of the powerful 1922 Committee, and they had decided that a “leadership election” will be “completed in the next week”.
The 1922 Committee is a group of backbench MPs that meets twice weekly when the House of Commons is in session and whose support is crucial for Ms. Truss.
Speaking later to the press, Mr. Graham was asked whether he would accept that the whole situation was a “dog’s dinner”. “It’s certainly not a circumstance that I would wish to see.
Ms. Truss’s departure is the final blow to the current government, which has seen several high profile resignations in recent days.
Former Chancellor KwasiKwarteng was compelled to step down last Friday following a botched mini-budget that had rattled markets.
Home Secretary SuellaBraverman had resigned, ostensibly because she had not followed security protocols while sending an email. However in her publicly posted letter she had said that she had “concerns” about the government’s “direction”.
PM launches mission to combat climate change (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the presence of U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, launched ‘Mission LiFE’ (Lifestyle For Environment), a new initiative for sustainable and healthy lifestyle at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat.
Listing climate change and global warming as the main challenges before the world and mankind, the Prime Minister underlined that Mission LiFE makes the fight against climate change democratic with the contribution of everyone in per own capacity.
Mr. Guterres unveiled the LiFE logo and tagline and released the Mission Document at the event in which the Union Minister of External Affair Dr S. Jaishankar and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel were also present.
The launch of Mission LiFE in Gujarat is important as it was the first state in the country to initiate measures in the direction of renewable energy and climate protection.
The measures like solar power plants or installing panels on canals or water conservation in drought-prone were meant to flight the environmental related calamities while setting the trends for sustainable development.
PM Modi described the Mission LiFe as a global initiative by India to help the world in its fight against climate change and lead to a sustainable way of life to achieve the sustainable development goals set by the U.N..
He said the Mission LiFE emboldens the spirit of the P3 model, i.e. Pro Planet People, as it is premised on the basic principles of ‘Lifestyle of the planet, for the planet and by the planet’.
According to him, India and the UN have joined hands in this new initiative which will become a global success. “India had proposed the International Day of Yoga, which was supported by the UN. Today it is inspiring millions of people around the world to lead a healthy life.”
He stressed that the fight against climate change goes beyond policy making and it needs wider support from individuals to the family community to protect the environment, and earth and help each other against climate-related disasters and extreme weather calamities.
Mr. Modi advocated a circular economy where the concept of ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ can help in striking a balance between the development, economic growth and sustainability.
Such practices are prevalent, which inspire us to walk in harmony with nature. Mission LiFE will encompass every lifestyle related to the conservation of nature, which our ancestors adopted, and that can be made a part of our lifestyle today.
In his speech, he talked about India’s commitment to tackling the menace of climate change with an emphasis on renewable energy like wind and solar.
According to him, the annual per capita carbon footprint in the country is only about 1.5 tons, compared to the world average of 4 tons per year while India has the fourth largest capacity for renewable energy in the world.
India is ranked fourth in wind energy and fifth in solar energy. India’s renewable energy capacity has increased by about 290 % in the last 7-8 years. The country has also achieved the target of 40% of the electric capacity from non-fossil-fuel sources nine years ahead of the deadline.
Withdraw new AIIMS rules for treating MPs that promote ‘VIP culture’: doctors to Health Minister (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) has demanded immediate withdrawal of the new set of standard operating procedures (SOP) issued by M. Srinivas, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Delhi, aimed at streamlining treatment arrangements for sitting MPs at the outpatient department, emergency consultation, and in-patient hospitalisation.
Stating that this goes against the culture of AIIMS and promotes “VIP culture”, the FAIMA wrote to Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya, seeking his urgent intervention.
The association said the orders had adversely affected the morale of doctors, and added that inequality in terms of healthcare was unacceptable.
Rohan Krishnan, president, FAIMA, said that it was disheartening that an institution like AIIMS was setting a bad precedent for the country. Every patient in this country deserves good treatment — that includes an MP and also a homeless person.
The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FRDA) also condemned the move and said that no patient should suffer at the cost of another’s privileges.
Having said this, a protocol to streamline things should not be viewed as derogatory, provided it doesn’t hamper patient care.
Meanwhile, in his letter earlier this week to Y.M. Kandpal, Joint Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat, the AIIMS Director said that duty officers, who are qualified medical professionals, from the Department of Hospital Administration will be available at the AIIMS control room round-the-clock to coordinate and facilitate arrangements.
The AIIMS Director, in his communication, said that incase a sitting MP requires OPD consultation from a specialty/super-specialty department, the Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha Secretariat or the personal staff of the MP will contact the duty officer and provide him or her details about the ailment and specialist/super-specialist doctor to be consulted.
Also, in case of an emergency situation, where the MP requires immediate medical management, the Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha Secretariat or personal staff of the MP will contact the duty officer and provide details of the ailment, so that the duty officer can guide them on which emergency services the MP should be brought to — the main emergency service, Trauma Centre or eye emergency.
Editorial Page
Checks, no balance (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
China’s decision to block two proposals by India and the United States to list Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commanders on the United Nations Security Council’s 1267 terror list is part of a well-worn pattern now. Since June, New Delhi and Washington have made five such proposals, with China placing a hold on each.
This includes Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar’s brother Rauf Asghar and LeT leaders Abdur Rahman Makki (Hafiz Saeed’s brother-in-law), 26/11 handler Sajid Mir and the latest listing requests for Talha Saeed (Hafiz Saeed’s son) and ShahidMehmood, who is charged with recruitment and collection of funds for the terror group.
Each of these men has been listed as designated terrorists in India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act terror list as well as on the Federal Bureau of Investigation or U.S. Treasury lists.
Each of them has a record of charges over the past two decades of involvement in the attacks by the LeT and JeM, organisations that are banned by the UN, and responsible for targeted strikes in India — from the IC-814 hijack, Parliament attack and Mumbai 26/11, to Pathankot, Uri and Pulwama.
Even so, China’s response to the requests has been consistently recalcitrant, placing hold upon hold on the proposals made, regardless of the figure it cuts in the global counter-terrorism space, using what New Delhi has forcefully criticised as a “political bias” towards Pakistan to stymie the process.
Given the situation, India has three clear choices: the Government can abandon the effort until China can be persuaded to change its stance, or it can continue to bring terror listing proposals to the UN knowing they will be blocked by China, but showing that China is indeed misusing its power as a permanent member of the Security Council.
Neither route will, however, ensure India’s goal of listing the remaining leadership of the terror groups. A third option is to open a diplomatic channel with China that focuses on the issue of global cooperation on terrorism, separate from other fractious bilateral issues, and to induce Beijing to reconsider its untenable position.
This Hindi – and Hindi alone – counsel is flawed (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The 11th volume of the Report of the Official Language Committee submitted to the President of India on September 9, 2022, did not seem to evoke much interest in the media. Except the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, no other political leader reacted to the recommendations made.
The main recommendations, as reported in a section of the print media, are that Hindi should replace English as the language of examinations for recruitment to the government; Hindi should be the only medium of instruction in KendriyaVidyalayas, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and central universities; it should be constitutionally binding on State governments to propagate Hindi, etc.
The official language committee is a statutory committee constituted under Section 4 in the Official Language Act, 1963. Its duty is to review the progress made in the use of Hindi for the official purposes of the Union and submit a report to the President.
The Act makes it obligatory for the President to issue directions “in accordance with the whole or any part of the report” (Section 4(4)). It can thus be seen that the committee’s recommendations are required to be acted upon.
It is the special status of this committee’s recommendations which is crucial to the understanding of the official language policy in India. The recommendations have a mandatory character as is clear from the words “in accordance with” (Section 4(4)).
Article 343 of the Constitution declares that Hindi in Devanagari script shall be the official language of the Union. It is common knowledge that the Constituent Assembly had witnessed a heated debate on the question of official language.
The chapter on ‘Official language’ in the Constitution took final shape as a result of compromises made by the protagonists of diverse opinions.
Finally, Hindi was declared the official language of the Union and it was also provided that the English language will continue for 15 years from the commencement of the Constitution.
It was further provided that, if needed, Parliament may provide by law that English will continue even after the period of 15 years.
Accordingly, Parliament enacted the official languages Act in 1963, providing for the continuance of English indefinitely as official language along with Hindi for the official purposes of the Union and for transaction of business in Parliament.
The reported recommendations of the official language committee pose a problem for the President in as much as the committee says that Hindi should totally replace English as medium of instruction in central universities, IIMs, IITs, etc.
The remit of the committee is to review the progress made in the use of Hindi for the official purposes of the Union and report to the President there on.
Obviously the committee is not mandated to recommend the medium of instruction in universities and professional institutions.
Explainer
Saving the Vultures of Tamil Nadu(Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Tamil Nadu government formed a committee to set up an institutional framework for the effective conservation of vultures.
The State is home to four species of vultures — the white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), long-billed vultures (Gyps indicus), the Asian king-vulture (Sarcogypscalvus) and the Egyptian vulture (Neophronpercnopterus).
While there have been reported sightings of vultures in other districts including Dharmapuri; essentially the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts are believed to form one of the largest contiguous expanses where vultures are spotted.
Home to the nesting sites of three of the four species of vultures seen in the State, the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, parts of the Nilgiris forest division and the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve are crucial strongholds for the vultures in southern India.
Occasional migrants such as the Himalayan griffon vulture and the Cinerous vulture are also spotted each year. Tamil Nadu boasts the largest population of vultures south of the Vindhiya Mountain Range.
In the Nilgiris, researchers and forest department officials estimate that there are between 100 and 120 white-rumped vultures, 10 and 15 long-billed vultures and less than 10 Asian king vultures.
Though Egyptian vultures are spotted in the Sigur plateau, encompassing the Nilgiris and Erode districts, they are not believed to use the landscape to breed, while researchers still remain unsuccessful in tracing the breeding sites of the critically endangered Asian king-vulture.
While the population of the vultures in the Nilgiris, Erode and Coimbatore districts has remained largely stable, experts state that the numbers are still extremely low, and that even a single poisoning event could lead to several of the species going locally extinct, especially the long-billed and Asian king vulture.
Over the last few years, breeding seasons have also seen fewer hatchings than is the norm, with experts attributing the cause to lesser availability of prey as well as erratic weather.
Experts also agree that the use of some Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) to treat cattle, such as diclofenac, nimesulide, ketoprofen among others, has led to the crash in vulture populations across India.
As scavengers,vultures help prevent the spread of many diseases and can remove toxins from entering the environment by consuming carcasses of dead cattle/wildlife before they decompose. Unfortunately, their tolerance for harmful substances does not extend to man-made drugs.
How is Energy crisis in Europe shaping up Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
As winter approaches, Europe faces an energy problem. The numerous leaks — apparently caused by explosions — to the Nord Stream 1, which is an energy pipeline connecting Russia to Germany, has driven supplies to a halt. Amid anxieties about building up energy reserves, the gas field in Groningen in the Netherlands has once again come under the spotlight.
The region of Groningen in the Netherlands has a gas field that began operations in 1963. During the 1980s, the area saw numerous earthquakes — minor enough to avoid large damage but big enough for local buildings to develop cracks.
Following these quakes, the Dutch government had earlier said that it would shutter the field in response to local protests. The closure date was also advanced to 2022 from 2030.
However, due to recent geopolitical tensions, the Dutch government wants to keep options open. In a statement, the Dutch government had in June said that “the Cabinet would like to be in a position to close down the Groningen gas field in 2023, as this is the only way to restore safety in Groningen and to reassure residents in the long run.
However, the uncertain geopolitical developments have prompted the mining minister to refrain from permanently closing down any wells this year.”
A Bloomberg report earlier this month said that if allowed, the additional supply from the field could go up to a level that would make up for what Germany imported last year from Russia. It said that the field still had potential for about 450 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas to be extracted.
The Hindu spoke to professors specialising in both geophysics and geology at IIT-ISM (Indian School of Mines). Prof. Rajeev Upadhyay, Prof. SaurabhDatta Gupta, and Prof. Mohit Agarwal agree that man-made or induced earthquakes can be pretty damaging. Examples of human activity that could lead to ‘induced seismicity’ are damming of rivers to create reservoirs, oil or gas extraction, and mining.
To enhance energy extraction, waste water, sand and chemicals are injected into the earth at high pressure to create fractures in the rocks.
This process, called “hydraulic fracturing”, helps improve the interconnectivity of the pores in order to enhance oil and gas extraction. In some cases, fluid is injected into pores connected to the fault which may substantially increase the pore pressure within the fault to counteract the effective frictional forces.
This may trigger earthquakes. Also, fluid injection (water flooding) in a hydrocarbon reservoir (rocks that hold hydrocarbons which are oil and gas) is a common operation for the purpose of enhanced oil recovery.
Water flooding through injection wells cause pore pressure in hydrocarbon reservoirs to increase, leading to decrease of effective normal stresses in reservoir rocks. Sometimes this decrease of effective stresses causes existing natural fractures to shift towards the window of critically stressed fractures leading to induced seismicity. A small fraction of these injection wells has induced earthquakes thus raising concerns.
News
Army’s 4th round of emergency procurement to be from India (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The Army, which has made three tranches of Emergency Procurements (EP) in the last few years, is preparing for a fourth round of EP which will be entirely from the domestic industry, Army Chief Gen. ManojPande said on October 20. He also said that in the next seven to eight years, orders worth Rs. 8 lakh crore could be placed with Indian industry.
Emergency Procurements are done to address critical operational requirements. Three tranches of EPs were executed under which 68 contracts worth Rs. 6000 crores were placed.
We are now in the 4th EP for indigenous equipment. Our industry has risen to the challenge,” Gen. Pande said speaking on the sidelines of the DefExpo-2022. “We also need to indigenise to modernise. It should not be seen as an impediment, but as an opportunity.”
Emergency financial powers were granted to the armed forces by the Defence Ministry in the past under which they could procure weapons systems up to Rs. 300 crores on an “urgent basis without any further clearances to cut short the procurement cycle.”
Gen. Pande said the EP also gives them an opportunity to test various systems in the field before going in for larger acquisition through the capital budget route.
The Russia-Ukraine war taught us lot of lessons, the Army Chief said on becoming self-reliant. Not just maintenance and spares but also in terms of new acquisitions. He said they are working on indigenisation of ammunition while looking for alternate sources with regard to spares.
Elaborating on efforts in this direction, Gen. Pande said in the last three to four years indigenous contracts have grown almost three times. Last year, Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for various contracts to the tune of Rs. 40,000 crores were issued from domestic industry.
Similarly, last year Army signed contracts with indigenous industry to the tune of Rs. 47,000 crores. In the next 7-8 years about Rs. 7-8 lakh crore potential contracts could place with the Indian industry. So in terms of a viable market, there is great potential in the industry.
Gen. Pande said priority areas for indigenisation are intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, mobility solutions in forward areas especially the mountains, special armaments like loitering munitions and artificial intelligence and encrypted communication.
Interpol launches metaverse for global law enforcement(Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The Interpol metaverse allows the registered users to take a virtual tour of its General Secretariat headquarters in France’s Lyon, interact with other officers via their avatars, and even take training courses in forensic investigation and other policing skills.
The facility is being provided through the global police organisation’s secure cloud. “For many, the metaverse seems to herald an abstract future, but the issues it raises are those that have always motivated Interpol — supporting our member countries to fight crime and making the world, virtual or not, safer for those who inhabit it.
In a follow-up panel discussion, the Interpol also announced the creation of an expert group on the metaverse to represent the concerns of law enforcement on the global stage and ensure that the new virtual world was secure by design.
During a live demonstration, experts from the Interpol Capacity Building and Training Directorate delivered a training course on travel document verification and passenger screening using its capabilities in a metaverse classroom.
Forest Conservation Rules infringe upon land rights of tribespeople: NCST chief(Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
It is the duty of the commission to “caution the government” when its policies have the potential to affect the well-being and rights of tribal people, Harsh Chouhan, Chairperson of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST.
He said this was why the NCST had recommended to the Union Environment and Forest Ministry to put the new Forest Conservation Rules, 2022, on hold.
We wrote to the government about the rules, which essentially eliminate the requirement of consent of local tribespeople and forest dwellers for diversion of forest land for other purposes. He said this would amount to infringing upon the land rights of tribespeople under the Forest Rights Act.
The rules were issued by the Environment Ministry in June this year under the Forest Conservation Act and both Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav and Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda have repeatedly defended the rules.
But soon after the rules were issued, the NCST formed a six-member working group that included members of the commission and experts to look into whether the rules issued in June violated any provisions in the Forest Rights Act (FRA) and if they infringed upon the rights of tribal people, according to officials.
Based on the conclusion of this working group and repeated dialogue with villagers in forest areas and other stakeholders, the commission decided to recommend that the new rules be put on hold.
The NCST chief then wrote to the Environment Ministry on September 2, pointing out that the Ministry should, for now, focus on implementing the rules framed in 2017 and put on hold the new rules issued this year.
It also dismissed the Tribal Affairs Ministry’s and Environment Ministry’s defence that provisions of the FRA are implementedparallelly and that the rules will not affect or dilute land rights of tribespeople.
The rules eliminate the requirement of consent of local tribespeople... for diversion of forest land for other purposes.
World
In China, 1962 anniversary brings new attention to ‘forgotten’ war (Page no. 117)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
On the 60th anniversary of the India-China war, which began with a Chinese attack on October 20, 1962, China’s military and media are paying renewed attention to a war that was largely previously sidelined in official Chinese military histories.
In the weeks and months leading up to anniversary, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has showcased the war in an exhibition marking its 95th anniversary, as well as published a new military history of the war titled “One Hundred Questions on the China-India Border Self-Defence Counterattack”. China officially calls the war that it launched with a massive onslaught as a “counterattack” to justify its actions.
The PLA exhibition, in Beijing’s Military Museum, blames India for the conflict. “China and India have never formally demarcated their borders in their past.
There is only a traditional customary line formed according to the administrative jurisdiction of both sides. After August 1959, the Indian Army invaded Chinese territory many times, causing armed border conflicts.
In October 1962, the Indian Army launched a large-scale attack and Chinese border defence forces were forced to flight back in self defence. It lasted 33 days and the military recovered the Chinese territory occupied by the Indian Army after August 1959.”
The exhibition also highlighted the June 2020 Galwan Valley clash. The renewed focus in 1962 has coincided with the downturn in relations and the return of the border dispute to the front and centre of the relationship.
The war has sometimes between described by Chinese observers as a “forgotten” war that did not receive the attention of the war against Japanese occupation or Korean War which have been a staple of Chinese television dramas and films.
The new war history has been put together by Zhang Xiaokang, daughter of former PLA General Zhang Guohua, who headed the Tibet military region and planned the Chinese offensive in the eastern sector.
Extracts of the book that were first published in January were this week once again published by the popular Chinese website Guancha.
The main focus has been on stories of PLA war veterans. While General Zhang Xiaokang is the focus of the book, commentaries this week highlighted other 1962 Generals.
An October 16 article focussed on Ding Sheng and the PLA’s early offensive strategies, noting that it had drawn on its experience in the Korean War.