22 May 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
UN report: Indian pastoralists need better access to land, recognition of rights
Page no- 2
GS3- Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation
- Millions of pastoralists in India who rear livestock and depend on grasslands, shrubs and plateaus for sustenance need better recognition of their rights and access to markets, a new United Nations report on degradation of rangelands said.
- The report by the UN Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD) said that almost half of the world’s rangelands are degraded due to climate change, population growth, land-use change and growing farmlands.
Humanity’s law
Page no- 10
GS4- Ethics in International Relations
- The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has thrown down the gauntlet by seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders, including Yahya Sinwar.
- A bench of the ICC may still deny the warrants, but the prosecutor’s request is backed by the unanimous opinion of a panel of five leading lights of international law.
- There is a resounding power to this group’s claim that “the law we apply is humanity’s law, not the law of any given side.”
Sunak’s heavy hand
Page no- 10
GS2- Effect of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora
- As a former banker and Chancellor of the Exchequer during the difficult years of the pandemic between 2020 to 2022, UK’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak might have been expected to have a healthy scepticism about the utility of blunt instruments.
- Unfortunately, in a make-or-break election year, it appears that Sunak has abandoned prudence for a counter-productive policy populism.
- His government’s recent consideration of action against the Graduate Route visa scheme for international students shows its flailing in the face of a multi-pronged crisis — of a declining economy and rising immigration.
- There is no doubt that a growing influx of people continues to be a challenge. This year alone, that figure has grown by 25 per cent in the UK over the same period last year.
- Sunak’s government sees curbing high migration figures, legal and illegal, as a priority area.
A time for para diplomacy
Page no-11
GS2- Indian Foreign Policy
- In its manifesto issued last week, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) promised to get back Kartarpur Sahib, the final resting place of Guru Nanak, less than five kilometres across the Pakistan border.
- This might sound as rash as the BJP leaders’ promise to bring Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) into India’s fold.
- No, the SAD is promising to work with the Centre to negotiate an “exchange of territory” with Pakistan, in return for Kartarpur Sahib.
Imports of laptops, mobiles, other electronic goods: Govt reaffirms quality standards
Page no- 13
GS3- Changes in Industrial Policy and their Effects on Industrial Growth
- The commerce and industry ministry through a notification has reiterated its position that imports of certain electronic items including laptops and mobile phones will have to adhere to standards set by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and that samples will be randomly picked to check compliance failing which the goods would have to be re-exported or scrapped.
EU’s Copernicus emergency service, called in to locate Raisi’s chopper
Page no- 14
GS3- Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life
- Soon after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s helicopter crashed on Sunday, the European Union (EU) activated its rapid satellite mapping service to help search efforts, following a request for assistance from Iran.
- Janez Lenarcic, European Commissioner for Crisis Management, posted on X: “Upon Iranian request for assistance we are activating the EU’s @CopernicusEMS rapid response mapping service in view of the helicopter accident reportedly carrying the President of Iran and its foreign minister.”
Turbulence
Page no- 14
GS3- Science and Technology- Developments and their Applications and Effects in Everyday Life
- Three Indians were among those injured on the plane that encountered “sudden extreme turbulence” about ten hours into a flight from London to Singapore, the Singapore Airlines said in a statement on Tuesday.
- The plane, a Boeing 777-300ER operated by Singapore Airlines, was diverted to Bangkok, according to a New York Times report, after which a team from the Airlines arrived in Bangkok to provide assistance to the 211 passengers and 18 crew members on board.
Why ICC Prosecutor has sought an arrest warrant against Netanyahu
Page no- 14
GS2- Important International Institutions, agencies and fora - their Structure, Mandate
- The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday (May 20) requested arrest warrants against leaders of Hamas and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel about the October 7, 2023 attacks and the war in Palestine.
- Netanyahu called the request “absurd” and the Prosecutor, Karim Khan, one of the “great anti-Semites in modern times”. Hamas demanded a cancellation of the warrants.
