Daily Current Affairs – 02-06-2023

Nepal PM Visit to India

Syllabus: GS2/International Relations

In News

• Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ of Nepal has concluded his four day visit to India.

Highlights of the Visit

• Projects launched
  • Handing over of Kurtha-Bijalpura section of railway line.
  • Inaugural run of an Indian railway cargo train from Bathnaha (India) to Nepal Customs Yard which is the newly constructed rail link under Indian grant.
  • Inauguration of Integrated Checkposts (ICPs) at Nepalgunj (Nepal) and Rupaidiha (India).
  • Ceremony of ICPs at Bhairahawa (Nepal) and Sonauli (India).
  • Ceremony of phase-II facilities under Motihari-Amlekhgunj Petroleum Pipeline. Besides this, another new pipeline will also be constructed from Siliguri to Jhapa in eastern Nepal.
  • Ceremony of the Indian portion of the Gorakhpur-Butwal Transmission Line being built.
• MoUs exchanged
  • Treaty of Transit: It expired in 2019. The amended treaty will allow Nepal to access India’s inland waterways for cargo transportation to sea ports.
  • For cooperation in the field of Petroleum Infrastructure.
  • For the development of infrastructure at Dodhara Chandani check post along India-Nepal Border.
  • MoU between Sushma Swaraj Institute of Foreign Service (SSIFS) and the Institute of Foreign Affairs, Nepal.
  • MoU between NPCIL & NCHL, Nepal for cross border payments.
  • Project Development Agreement of Lower Arun Hydroelectric Project.
  • MoU for the development of Phukot- Karnali Hydroelectric Project.
• Power Trade Agreement: A target has been set of importing 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal in the coming ten years.
  • Both countries agreed to the export of up to 50 megawatt (MW) of power from Nepal to Bangladesh via India and the three countries would work out an agreement.
• Ramayan Circuit: Both leaders decided that the projects related to Ramayana circuit should be expedited.
  • Ramayana Circuit is one of the fifteen thematic circuits identified for development under the Swadesh Darshan scheme of the Ministry of Tourism. 
  • The Ramayana Circuit includes major pilgrimage sites from India and Nepal that are related to the Ramayana, such as Ayodhya where a temple is being built for Lord Ram as well as Janakpur (in Nepal) which is believed to be the birthplace of Sita, the consort of Ram.
  • Pilgrimage sites: Ayodhya, Nandigram, Shringverpur & Chitrakoot (Uttar Pradesh), Sitamarhi, Buxar & Darbhanga (Bihar), Chitrakoot (Madhya Pradesh), Mahendragiri (Odisha), Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh), Nashik & Nagpur (Maharashtra), Bhadrachalam (Telangana), Hampi (Karnataka) and Rameshwaram (Tamil Nadu).
• Both the countries also agreed on mutual cooperation to set up a fertilizer plant in Nepal.

 

India and Nepal Relations

• Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old ‘roti beti’ relationship, which refers to cross-border marriages between people of the two countries.
• Shared Border: The country shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states – Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services and access to the sea is through India.
• The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship: Signed in 1950, it forms the bedrock of the special relations that exist between India and Nepal. 
  • Nepalese citizens avail facilities and opportunities on par with Indian citizens in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty.  Nearly 8 million Nepalese citizens live and work in India.

• Defense Cooperation: India has been assisting the Nepal Army (NA) in its modernisation by supplying equipment and providing training. 
  • Assistance during disasters, joint military exercises, adventure activities and bilateral visits are other aspects. 
  • The ‘Indo-Nepal Battalion-level Joint Military Exercise SURYA KIRAN’ is conducted alternately in India and in Nepal.  
  • Since 1950, India and Nepal have been awarding each other’s Army Chief with the honorary rank of General in recognition of the mutual harmonious relationship between the two armies.  
  • The Gorkha regiments of the Indian Army are raised partly by recruitment from hill districts of Nepal. 
• Connectivity and Development Partnership: India has been assisting Nepal in development of border infrastructure through upgradation of 10 roads in the Terai area; development of cross-border rail links at Jogbani-Biratnagar, Jayanagar-Bardibas; and establishment of Integrated Check Posts at Birgunj, Biratnagar, Bhairahawa, and Nepalgunj. 
• Water Resources Cooperation: Cooperation in water resources primarily concerning the common rivers is one of the most important areas of bilateral relations. 
  • A three-tier bilateral mechanism established in 2008, to discuss issues relating to cooperation in water resources, flood management, inundation and hydropower between the two countries, has been working well.
• Energy Cooperation: India and Nepal have had a Power Exchange Agreement since 1971 for meeting the power requirements in the border areas of the two countries, taking advantage of each other’s transmission infrastructure.  
  • India is currently supplying a total of about 600 MW of power to Nepal. An Agreement on ‘Electric Power Trade, Cross-border Transmission Interconnection and Grid Connectivity’ between India and Nepal was signed in 2014. 
• Trade and Economic: India remains Nepal’s largest trade partner, with bilateral trade crossing US$ 7 billion in FY 2019-20. India provides transit for almost the entire third-country trade of Nepal. 
  • India’s export to Nepal has grown over 8 times in the past 10 years while exports from Nepal have almost doubled. Despite the difficulties due to the pandemic, India ensured uninterrupted flow of trade and supplies to Nepal. 
  • Nepal is India’s 11th largest export destination, up from 28th position in 2014. 
  • In FY  2021-22, it constituted 2.34% of India’s exports. Infact exports from India constitute almost 22% of Nepal’s GDP. 
• The ‘New Partnership in Agriculture’: It was announced in April 2018, which focuses on collaborative projects in Agriculture,  Education and R&D.
• Mahakali River bridge: Recently, a MoU was signed between India and Nepal for the  construction of a motorable bridge across the Mahakali River connecting Dharchula  (India) with Darchula (Nepal), under Indian grant assistance.
• Operation Maitri & post-earthquake reconstruction assistance: In the wake of the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, GoI was the first responder and carried out its largest disaster relief operation abroad (Operation Maitri). 
  • India extended  US$ 1 billion to Nepal as part of its long-term assistance for post-earthquake reconstruction in housing, education, health and culture heritage sectors. 

Issues between India & Nepal

• Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950: On 31 July 1950, India and Nepal signed a treaty of peace and friendship in an effort to “strengthen and develop these ties and to perpetuate peace between the two countries”.
  • As time passed, Nepal believed the treaty was “incompatible with national self-respect”.
• Madhesi Issue: India’s entrenched interests in Nepal suffered a setback in 2015, when a blockade at the borders ensued following protests by Madhesis and some other ethnic groups against marginalisation of their interests in the newly-passed Nepalese Constitution.
• Kalapani dispute: The area is in India’s control but Nepal claims the region because of historical and cartographic reasons. The area is the largest territorial dispute between Nepal and India consisting of at least 37,000 hectares of land in the High Himalayas.
• Susta Border dispute: Susta is a disputed territory between Nepal and India. It is administered by India as part of West Champaran district of Bihar.
  • Nepal claims the area a part of West Nawalparasi District under Susta rural municipality, alleging that over 14,860 hectares of Nepali land in Susta has been encroached upon by India.

Way ahead

• There are several irritants that have developed, straining this relationship, and for now there seems to be a concerted attempt by both governments to return to bonhomie, with the Indian government seeking to utilise “religious diplomacy” as a means to emphasise the special relationship. 
• India-Nepal relations need to graduate to a more meaningful partnership on economic and geopolitical issues, with the Indian government continuing to retain a substantial role in partnering the Nepali regime in development projects.

Source: TH 

Retain Sedition Law with Amendments: Law Commission

Syllabus: GS2/ Governance, Indian Polity

In News

• The Law Commission of India has recommended against the total repeal of sedition law (Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code) and has instead proposed that the provision be retained with certain amendments.

About

• The Home Ministry has asked the Law commission for a study of the usage of the provision of Section 124A and suggests amendments.
• The Law Commission said the existence of laws such as Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and the National Security Act (NSA) does not by implication cover all elements of the offence envisaged under Section 124A of the IPC.

Key Highlight report submitted

• The report highlighted that the offense of sedition is frequently regarded as a remnant of colonial rule, established during a time period when it was frequently employed against India’s freedom fighters.
• The Commission suggested that a provision analogous to Section 196(3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (CrPC) may be incorporated as a proviso to Section 154 of CrPC, which would provide the requisite procedural safeguard before the filing of an FIR with respect to an offence under Section 124A of IPC.
• They also mentioned that in absence of a provision like Section 124A of IPC, any expression that incites violence against the government would invariably be tried under the special laws and counter-terror legislation, which contain much more stringent provisions to deal with the accused.

What is Sedition Law (Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code)?

• About: 
  • This rule originated in India during in the British Empire, as Section 113 of Macaulay’s Draft Penal Code of 1837, as part of the First Law Commission report chaired by Thomas Macaulay in 1834. However, sedition really wasn’t part of the IPC when it was adopted in 1860, rather, it was incorporated into the IPC as Section 124A by the IPC amendment act of 1870.
  • The Wahabi Movement, an Islamic revivalist movement led by Syed Ahmed Barlvi, created the necessity for this Section.
• Section 124A states:
  • “Whoever, words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine.”
• Colonial Legacy:
  • In the 19^th and 20^th centuries, the law was used primarily to suppress the writings and speeches of prominent Indian nationalists and freedom fighters.
  • The first known instance of the application of the law was the trial of newspaper editor Jogendra Chandra Bose in 1891.
  • Other major examples of the application of the law include the trials of Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Abul Kalam Azad and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
• Trials of Tilak and Gandhi:
  • In 1922, Gandhi was arrested on charges of sedition in Bombay for taking part in protests against the colonial government and was sentenced to six years in prison. However, he was released after two years because of medical reasons.
  • Tilak faced three trials in cases related to sedition and was imprisoned twice. In 1897, he was charged with sedition for writing an article in his weekly publication called Kesari and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. In 1908, he was tried again for his writings and was represented by Mohammad Ali Jinnah.

Arguments For Section 124A

• Section 124A of the IPC has its utility in combating anti-national, secessionist and terrorist elements.
• It protects the elected government from attempts to overthrow the government with violence and illegal means.
• The continued existence of the government established by law is an essential condition of the stability of the State.
• Many districts in different states face a Maoist insurgency and rebel groups virtually run a parallel administration. 
  • These groups openly advocate the overthrow of the state government by revolution.
• Therefore, there is a need to retain the provision to effectively combat anti-national, secessionist and terrorist elements.
• The plea had contended that the provision which was used by the British against Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak is still being “grossly abused” to stifle freedom of speech and expression of those who choose to express dissent against policies of the Governments in power.

Arguments Against Section 124A

• Mahatma Gandhi called Section 124A “the prince among the political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen”.
• Jawaharlal Nehru said that the provision was “obnoxious” and “highly objectionable”, and “the sooner we get rid of it the better”.
• It is a constraint on the legitimate exercise of constitutionally guaranteed freedom of speech and expression.
• Dissent and criticism of the government are an essential ingredient of robust public debate in a vibrant democracy.
• The British, who introduced sedition to oppress Indians, have themselves abolished the law in their country. 
• There is no reason why India should not abolish this section.
• The sedition law is being misused as a tool to persecute political dissent. A wide and concentrated executive discretion is inbuilt into it which permits the blatant abuse.

Courts’ validations of the law since Independence

• Punjab and Allahabad High Courts in 1950s struck down the sedition law as an exception to free speech.
• Subsequently, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court in Kedar Nath Singh vs State of Bihar (1962) gave the law a constitutional validity.
• But the apex court cautioned the state to move ahead with the law in a just manner and use it only in cases where seditious speech tended to incite ‘public disorder’.
• However, the phrase ‘public disorder’ is nowhere in the provisions of the law but was used by the Court in the judgment.
• After upholding the law in 1962 judgment, the Supreme Court’s decision to revisit the constitutional validity of this colonial provision is an important juncture for the future of Section 124A.

Way Forward

• India, being the largest democracy in the world, has to ensure its essential ingredients of free speech and expression. The expression or thought that is not in consonance with the policy of the government of the day should not be considered sedition.
• It is also essential to protect national integrity. Given the legal opinion and the views of the government in favour of the law, it is unlikely that Section 124A will be scrapped soon. However, it should not be misused as a tool to curb free speech.

Source: LM

Lithium Industry

Syllabus: GS 1/3/Natural Resources/Economy

In News

• The news of potentially significant reserves of lithium in Jammu and Kashmir has been welcomed universally.

About lithium 

• Lithium, an alkali metal, is one of the key components in rechargeable batteries that find usage in mobiles, laptops, electric vehicles, and medical devices like pacemakers. 
  • It is also used in energy storage solutions.
• This grey, shiny, non-ferrous metal is the lightest and the least dense of all metals and it is highly reactive. 
• It is an element needed to manufacture batteries used in electric cars and other renewable energy infrastructure.
• Multiple countries have ramped up efforts to find reserves of lithium, sometimes dubbed ‘white gold’, in what has been called the “new era gold rush”.

Why is Lithium in such demand? 

• The ongoing global transition to low-carbon economies, the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G networks will greatly reshape global and regional geopolitics.
• Access to and control over rare minerals, such as lithium and cobalt, will play a crucial role in these epochal changes.

Scenario in India

• India’s electric vehicle (EV) market was valued at $383.5 million in 2021 and is expected to expand to $152.21 billion in 2030. 
• India imported 450 million units of lithium batteries valued at $929.26 million (₹6,600 crores) in 2019-2020, which makes the development of the country’s domestic lithium reserves a matter of high stakes.
  • India currently imports all the major components that go into lithium-ion cell manufacturing.
• Meanwhile, in Jammu and Kashmir, where lithium reserves have been found and auctions are planned around June-July, the ministry has received queries from Korean and Japanese mining companies.
  • 100 percent FDI is already allowed in mining, and foreign companies interested in taking part will have to do so through an Indian arm or subsidiary.

Supreme Court’s judgments 

• In July 2013, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India ruled that the owner of the land has rights to everything beneath, “down to the centre of the earth”. 
  • Yet, large areas of land, including forests — which make up more than 22% of India’s landmass — hills, mountains, and revenue wasteland are publicly owned.

• The Supreme Court also recalled that the Union government could always ban private actors from mining sensitive minerals, as is already the case with uranium under the Atomic Energy Act 1962. In today’s context, lithium is as important as, if not more than, uranium.

Way Ahead 

• As India explores and develops its own lithium reserves, it is notable that the appropriate development of this sector will require a very high level of effectiveness on the part of the Indian state. 
• Much of India’s mineral wealth is mined from regions with very high levels of poverty, environmental degradation, and lax regulation. 
• Effective and careful management of the sector should be paramount if India’s rare minerals development is to meet its multiple goals — social well-being, environmental safety, and national energy security.

Source:TH

Mekedatu Dam Project

Syllabus: GS2/ Governance, Inter state Relation, Federalism

In News

• The Mekedatu dam project is located in Ramanagaram district about 100 km south of Bengaluru, close to where the Cauvery enters Tamil Nadu. The project has been contentious for years.

What is the Dispute?

• Disagreement between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over the waters of the Cauvery go back to a time when they did not even exist and issue revolves around the principle that the upper riparian state (Karnataka) must obtain the consent of the lower riparian state (Tamil Nadu) for any construction activities on the river. 
• In 1990, the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) was established to resolve the matter, and in 2007, it issued its final order on water sharing. The Supreme Court of India upheld the order in 2018, reducing Karnataka’s allocation of water to Tamil Nadu.

Mekedatu Dam Project

• Mekedatu is a multipurpose balancing reservoir project focussing on the generation of electricity and supply of drinking water in the region. Mekedatu means “goat’s leap” in Kannada.
• In 1996, the project was first planned by the Karnataka Power Corporation to meet the water and electricity needs of the people in Bengaluru and the surrounding districts. In 2013, the Karnataka government announced the project and submitted a detailed project report to the Centre on its plans in 2019.
• The government aimed to construct a reservoir at Mekedatu in Ramanagara district of Karnataka, which is about 90 km away from Bengaluru and 4km ahead of the border with Tamil Nadu.
• With an estimated budget of Rs 9,000 crore, a reservoir is to be built on the confluence of Cauvery with its tributary Arkavathi.
• The Mekedatu dam will be larger than the Krishnaraja Sagar project on the Cauvery. The Central Water Commission (CWC) had cleared a feasibility study for the project in 2018.

Significance of the project

• It aims to supply drinking water to Bengaluru and surrounding regions.
  • It would be able to help the city address its water woes.
  • Currently, more than 30% of Bengaluru is dependent on borewell water.
• There are also plans to generate 400 MW of power: The revenue earned from power generation is expected to compensate the Government for its investment on the project within a few years.

Dispute over Cauvery Water

• The rift among states over the Cauvery water is continuing from pre-independent India. In 1892, the dispute arose between the erstwhile Presidency of Madras under British rule and the princely state of Mysore, when the construction of irrigation systems on the Cauvery was proposed by the latter. But as opposed to the same reasons that the upstream state might control water.
• In 1924, an agreement enabled the construction of the Krishnaraja Sagar dam and decided the allocation of Cauvery waters among the states. The timeline of the agreement was 50-year and after it lapsed, the dispute caught fire again. 
• Thus, Tamil Nadu approached the centre for setting up a tribunal to decide the allocation of water between the states. In 1990, the tribunal was set up and in 2007 allocated the water to Karnataka (270 tmcft), Kerala (30 tmcf) t0, Puducherry 97 tmcft) and Tamil Nadu (419 tmcft) and allocation would stand reduced in rain-scarcity years.

Concerns

• The proposed land for the submergence zone is habitats for certain threatened species. The project will be adversely impacting their natural habitat.
• The project will need multiple clearances from the Centre and courts as it involves the Cauvery water sharing dispute.
• Tamil Nadu opposes any project in the upper riparian without Supreme Court approval. Tamil Nadu argues that the project is unauthorized and could harm its interests, violating the orders of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court.

About Cauvery River

• The Cauvery (also spelt as ‘Kaveri’), known as ‘Ponni’ in Tamil.
• It rises in the Brahmagiri range of the Western Ghats and it reaches the Bay of Bengal in the south of Cuddalore, in Tamil Nadu. Its main tributaries are Amravati, Bhavani, Hemavati and Kabini. 
• The Cauvery basin is spread in the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• Tributaries: Harangi, Hemavati, Kabini, Bhavani, Lakshmana Tirtha, Noyyal, and Arkavati.

Source:  TH

National Electricity Plan 2022-32

Syllabus: GS3/Indian Economy/Energy Sector

In News

• The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has notified the National Electricity Plan (NEP) for the period of 2022-32.

About NEP 2022-32

• What does it include? The plan document includes the review of the last five years (2017-22), a detailed plan for the next five years (2022-27) and the prospective plan for the next five years (2027-32).
• Need: As per section 3(4) of the Electricity Act, 2003, Central Electricity Authority has been mandated to prepare a NEP in accordance with the National Electricity Policy and notify such a plan once in five years.
  • NEP prepared by the CEA is a five-year plan that assesses India’s current electricity needs, projected growth, power sources, and challenges.
• Peak Electricity Demand: The projected All India peak electricity demand and electrical energy requirement is 277.2 GW and 1907.8 BU for the year 2026-27 and 366.4 GW and 2473.8 BU for the year 2031-32 as per 20th Electric Power Survey (EPS) Demand projections. 
• Installed Capacity: Installed capacity does not perfectly translate into generated power as different sources of energy have varying efficiencies, and not all sources of power are available at all times. 
  • For instance, solar power is available only during the day and wind energy is dependent on climate variables. Accounting for this, the available power from renewable energy will only be around 35.04% of the total generated electricity by 2026-27 and 43.96% by 2031-32.
• Non-fossil fuel based energy: The projection of total capacity addition is in line with the target of the country to achieve a non-fossil based installed capacity of around 500 GW by the year 2029-30.
  • NEP envisages that the share of non-fossil based capacity is likely to increase to 57.4% by the end of 2026-27 and may likely to further increase to 68.4% by the end of 2031-32 from around 42.5% as of April 2023.
• The domestic coal requirement has been estimated to be 866.4 Million Tonnes for the year 2026-27 and 1025.8 Million Tonnes for the year 2031-32 and an estimated requirement of 28.9 MT of coal imports for the plants designed to run on imported coal.

Source: PIB

Agni-1

Syllabus: GS 3/Defence

In News

• A successful training launch of a medium-range ballistic missile, Agni-1 was carried out by the Strategic Forces Command from APJ Abdul Kalam Island, Odisha. 

About Agni-1 

• The missile is a proven system, capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. 
• The user training launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile.

About Agni series missiles 

• The Agni series of missiles are the mainstay of India’s nuclear delivery options.
• The development of Agni missiles started in early 1980 under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme spearheaded by scientist and former President Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, who was also a central figure in India’s missile and space programmes.
• The Agni 1 to 4 missiles have ranges from 700 km to 3,500 km and they have already been deployed.

Other related Developments 

• In December 2022, India successfully test-fired the nuclear-capable ballistic missile Agni-V that can strike targets at ranges up to 5,000 km, marking a significant boost to the country’s strategic deterrence, people familiar with the development said.
  • The Agni-V project is aimed at boosting India’s nuclear deterrence against China which is known to have missiles like Dongfeng-41 having ranges between 12,000-15,000 km.
• In October 2022: India successfully test-fired indigenously-developed new generation medium-range ballistic missile Agni Prime.
  • The missile’s strike range is between 1,000 km and 2,000 km.

Source:PIB