Daily News Simplified - DNS

10 09 19
Notes

SL. THE HINDU

TOPICS
NO. PAGE NO.

1 Giving age-old ties a new shine 10

2 Forging the steel frame 11

3 A minor win for India at WTO 11

4 India to restore more degraded land 13`

5 UNHRC asks India to end lockdown in J&K 01

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Title 1. Giving age-old ties a new shine (The Hindu, Page 10)
Syllabus Mains: GS Paper II – International relations
Theme India – Russia
Highlights This article highlights about India-Russia ties in the backdrop of

1. Strategic India-China-Russia triangle &

2. Amidst growing international challenges involving US and China, increased pressure that can
challenge the existing balance of power between the strategic triangles.

In the above backdrop neither India nor Russia wants to become hostage to China’s galloping regional
ambitions. New Delhi is specifically concerned about Moscow growing more dependent on Beijing, while
Russia wants to avoid possible rifts in China-Indian relations. This belief by Russia and India concerning
China will act as a powerful catalyst to boost more fruitful cooperation between the two nations on a
number of areas.

Areas of interaction

 In 2017, bilateral trade grew by almost 22% and in 2018 by more than 17%

 Trade is projected to touch $30 billion by 2025

 Russia’s oil giant, Rosneft, invested $12.9 billion in India’s second largest private oil refiner,
Essar Oil - marking one of the biggest foreign investments in years.

 Russia is also studying the feasibility of the Nagpur-Secunderabad High Speed Rail and the
construction of major energy and transportation projects.

 Russian companies are looking to invest in petrochemicals in India.

 India is now the world’s fastest growing market for butyl rubber and halogenated butyl rubber
because of its rapidly expanding car manufacturing industry which is pushing for electric
vehicles.

 In February 2012, Sibur and Reliance Industries entered into a joint venture, setting up the
Reliance Sibur Elastomers Private Limited in Jamnagar, Gujarat.

 The region’s first butyl rubber halogenation plant is set to become operational this year and has
a capacity of 120 ktpa of butyl rubber and 60 ktpa of halogenated butyl rubber, respectively.

 In addition, Sibur has agreed to share butyl rubber technology, staff training and access to the
complex equipment of polymerisation reactors. For a Russia company, this marks a unique case
of partnership between the two countries.

 Despite an overall decrease in total market share as compared to old times, Russia still
continues to serve as the largest arms supplier including sale of S-400 anti-aircraft weapon
system worth $5 billion. To avoid CATSA law, both signed

 Recent defence deal along with S-400 also includes joint production of Kamov Ka-226T
helicopters, four Admiral Grigorovich–class frigates and a joint venture in Amethi, Uttar
Pradesh, producing 750,000 Kalashnikov AK-203 rifles.

 Recently both signed an agreement to carry payments through national currencies to

circumvent the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act norms of the U.S.

 India is also planning to buy additional Su-30 MKI and about 21 MiG-29 fighters and also
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planning for possible participation in the multi-billion ‘Project 75’ of the Indian Navy and the
Indian Air Force’s contract for 114 fighter jets.

 The P75I project is part of a 30-year submarine building plan that ends in 2030. As part of this
plan, India was to build 24 submarines — 18 conventional submarines and six nuclear-powered
submarines (SSNs) — as an effective deterrent against China and Pakistan.

India-Russia relations & balancing China factor

 In 1971, India signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with the Soviet Union to balance a
China-U.S. rapprochement. This is a vital role in Russia’s interpretation of Indian foreign policy
till date.

 So, Russia is aware of India’s long-term quest to diversify its economic and political relations to
preserve maximum independence in decision-making. In effect, close U.S.-India relations do not
seem to be having a serious impact on the exchange.

 Growing personal ties between PM Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin has
helped India as Russia played a key role in facilitating India’s membership in the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation, which allegedly helped to dilute China’s dominance.

 The growing bonhomie between PM Modi and President Putin was at display in the 20th India
– Russia Annual Summit which was held in Vladivostok.

 The Leaders highly appreciated the work of the India-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on
Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation which ensures progressive
development of bilateral cooperation in various areas.

 Both Sides expressed their interest in expanding the participation of Russian business in "Make
in India" program and that of Indian companies in investment projects in Russia. In this context,
they agreed to speed up preparations for signing of the India-Russia Intergovernmental
Agreement on Promotion and Mutual Protection of Investments.

Need for each other

 Despite India’s closeness with US, Russia’ s dependence on China and Eurasian balance of
power at stake, both India and Russia acknowledges the benefits of each other’s support in
changing geo-political reality.
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Title 2. Forging the steel frame (The Hindu, Page 11)

Syllabus GS Paper II – Polity
Theme Civil Services
Highlights Context: Author has highlighted the importance of foundational training (Foundational Course)
imparted to the civil servants at the LBSNAA (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of
Administration). Further he emphasizes the manner in which the civils servants are being kept
updated to meet the challenges imposed by changing circumstances in the country. And finally
he highlights why civil servants have not been able to meet the expectations despite an up to the
mark foundational training.

How are civils servants keeping up with the changing times?

 The content and methodology of training have changed to meet the demands of time.
 The pattern introduced in 1969 — of district training being sandwiched between institutional
exposures at the Academy — has remained broadly unaltered.

 On successful completion, IAS trainees are now awarded an M.A. degree in Public Management
by the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

 Besides, the Academy also conducts mid-career training programmes for officers, in keeping with
their varying job requirements from policy implementation towards policy formulation.

 The Academy now houses five national research centres on rural studies, disaster management,
gender, public systems management, and leadership development and competency assessment.

 Pursuant to the Kargil Review Committee recommendations, a joint civil-military programme on

national security was introduced in 2001.

What are the limitations?

 There has been no serious attempt to record the experiences of the trainees/officers at the
field/secretariat levels and publish them in scholarly journals, enabling others to benefit from
such exposures

 There is no accountability of the outcomes of the five national research centres.

 In times when Ministers are not always willing to accept responsibility for their own decisions.
The reputation of officers is being unduly tarnished all the time. In this background the Academy
should build a national consensus on these contentious issues.
 Civil servants have not been able to maintain integrity and efficiency due to corruption.
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Title 3. A minor win for India at WTO (The Hindu, Page 11)
Syllabus Mains: GS Paper II – international Relations

Theme WTO
Highlights Context:
Recently, a WTO dispute resolution panel has ruled in favour of India in a case against the U.S. saying
that America’s domestic content requirements and subsidies provided by eight of its states in the
renewable energy sector are violative of global trade norms. In this regard, this article discusses the
rationale adopted by the WTO panel to rule in favour of India.

What was the issue between USA and India?

Certain states in the U.S. provided tax incentives to local producers on producing solar energy by using
locally manufactured solar module cells. Such tax incentive was not available to the producers when
they used imported solar cell modules. The US imports almost 44% of the India's overall exports of
solar module cells. Hence, imposition of domestic content requirement in USA would have adversely
impacted Indian exports. Accordingly, in September 2016, India dragged the U.S. to WTO’s dispute
settlement mechanism over America’s domestic content requirements.

What is the stand of the WTO on Domestic Content requirements?

Article III of the WTO’s General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) requires that countries should
not provide less favourable treatment to ‘like products’ originating from other nations. For instance, a
solar photovoltaic cell manufactured in the U.S. should be liable to the same amount of tax as one
made anywhere else in the world.
The "Like Product" is distinguished based upon the product’s end use, composition, substitutability,
consumer preferences etc.

What was the argument of the US Government?

The U.S. conceded that the import from India was a ‘like product’. However, it highlighted that the
positive incentives given by the states in US would have no impact on the import of solar module cells
from India.

What was the decision of the WTO dispute Resolution Panel?

The WTO panel highlighted that positive incentives provided by the states in USA does not create a
level playing field between the solar module cells manufactured in India and those manufactured in
USA. The domestic content requirement discriminates against the imported Indian Solar Module cells.
Accordingly, the WTO dispute panel ruled in favour of India.

Way forward
There are various other disputes pending between the countries at the WTO involving the export
promotion scheme brought in by India and the imposition of excess customs duty on steel and
aluminium by the U.S. Both USA and India must try to sort out these issues amicably at the earliest so
as to strengthen their bilateral cooperation.
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Title 4. India to restore more degraded land (The Hindu , pg no – 13)

Syllabus Mains GS Paper III – Environment

Theme Environment
Highligh What’s the news?
ts
At the ongoing 14th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) which India is hosting, PM Modi has announced that India has increased
its target to restore degraded land i.e. it will restore 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030,
more than its earlier target of 21 million hectares.

About land degradation ?

• The decline in productivity capacity of a land due to natural climatic factors as well as
human intervention is known as land degradation.
• It encompasses physical (soil erosion), chemical (salinity and alkalinity, pollution) and
biological deterioration (pollution and deterioration of vegetal cover).
• According to Desertification and Land Degradation of Selected Districts of India, an atlas
published by the Indian Space Research Organisation’s Space Application Centre (SAC) in
2018, some 96.40 million ha, or about 30 per cent of the country’s total area, is
undergoing degradation.
• Recently, the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change asked The Energy
and Resources Institute (TERI), a New Delhi-based non-profit, to assess the cost of land
degradation in India. TERI’s conservative estimate shows land degradation costs $48.8
billion to the country’s exchequer annually or 1.4% of the GDP.
• At the UNFCC Conference of the Parties (COP) 2015 in Paris, India also joined the voluntary
Bonn Challenge and pledged to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and
deforested land by 2020, and an additional 8 million hectares by 2030. India’s pledge is
one of the largest in Asia.

Causes :
The latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) titled ‘Climate Change
and Land’ has specifically mentioned intensive cultivation, including draining of wetlands for bio-
fuel cultivation (and this includes ethanol from sugarcane), to be a predominant reason for
growing land degradation.

1. Accelerated soil erosion by wind and water.

2. Deforestation and land clearance for accommodate growing urbanisation.
3. Excessive cultivation
4. Desertification.
5. Excessive mining triggers soil erosion and aggravated water scarcity ( Jharkhand)
6. Shifting cultivation (Nagaland)
7. Increased application of fertilizers and pesticides which are needed to increase farm
output in new lands lead to pollution of soil and loss of soil fertility.
8. Loss of biodiversity / vegetation cover
9. Soil acidification and the formation of acid sulphate soil resulting in barren soil
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10. Soil alkalinisation due to irrigation with water containing sodium bicarbonate leading to
poor soil structure and reduced crop yields
11. Soil pollution which leads to loss of organic matter and changes soil structure.
12. Introduction herbivores such as rabbits and goats which eat away the vegetation leaving
land more probe to erosion.(Gujrat)
13. Improper crop rotation causes soil to be deprived of a particular nutrient leading to change
in soil structure.

Consequences

• Loss of the top soil , leading to reduced yield of cops.

• Loss of soil organic matter and nutrients.
• Loss of soil structure
• Loss of soil biodiversity
• Loss of water holding capacity and water infiltration.
• Soil pollution.
• Reduced land value and resilience to future events.
• Impact on food security.
• Reduces ability to adapt to climate change.

Way forward

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence Day address, appealed to the farmers
to shift from chemical fertilisers and follow more of natural farming techniques in crop
cultivation.
• Since the Prime Minister has now spoken about the dire need to protect soil health, to
preserve underground water from contamination, and to provide for a healthy food chain,
agricultural universities and extension agencies have got the right message to shift to
integrated non-chemical farming practices.

As per UNCCD, re-establishing land’s productivity by ensuring land degradation neutrality

(LDN) is key to promoting peace, achieving development and mitigating climate change impacts.

Land degradation Neutrality

• Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) has been defined by the Parties to the Convention of
UNCCD(United Nation Convention to combat Desertification) as:
• A state whereby the amount and quality of land resources, necessary to support ecosystem
functions and services and enhance food security, remains stable or increases within
specified temporal and spatial scales and ecosystems.
• The concept emerged from the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in
2012. It was realised management of land degradation has co-benefits for climate change
mitigation and adaptation and biodiversity conservation, in addition to enhancing food
security and sustainable livelihoods
• In 2015, LDN became a target for the Sustainable Development Goal 15, which is about
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sustaining life on land.

• The goal is - By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land
affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-
neutral world
• LDN represents a paradigm shift in land management policies and practices. It is a unique
approach that counterbalances the expected loss of productive land with the recovery of
degraded areas. It strategically places the measures to conserve, sustainably manage and
restore land in the context of land use planning.

LAND DEGRADATION NEUTRALITY (LDN) FUND

• Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDN Fund) was launched at the 13th Conference of the
Parties (COP13) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in
Ordos, China.
• LDN fund is a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle leveraging public money to raise private
capital for sustainable land management and landscape restoration activities worldwide
• It will be independent from the UN and will be managed by a private sector investment
management firm.
• It will invest in bankable projects on land rehabilitation and sustainable land management
worldwide, including
o Sustainable agriculture, sustainable livestock management,
o Agro-forestry, sustainable forestry,
o Renewable energy, infrastructure development, and
eco-tourism.

ABOUT UNCCD
• Adopted in 1994 and entered into force in 199
• It is the only internationally legally binding framework set up to address the problem of
desertification
• It recently released the first edition of Global Land Outlook report.
• 2010 to 2020 has been declared as United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight
Against Desertification.

Bonn Challenge
• The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s
deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030.
• It was launched in 2011 by the Government of Germany and IUCN, and later endorsed and
extended by the New York Declaration on Forests at the 2014 UN Climate Summit
• Underlying the Bonn Challenge is the forest landscape restoration (FLR) approach, which
aims to restore ecological integrity at the same time as improving human well-being
through multifunctional landscapes.
• The Bonn Challenge is not a new global commitment but rather a practical means of
realizing many existing international commitments including the CBD Aichi Target 15, the
UNFCCC REDD+ goal, and the Rio+20 land degradation neutrality goal
• It is an implementation vehicle for national priorities such as water and food security and
rural development while contributing to the achievement of international climate change,
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biodiversity and land degradation commitments.

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Title 5. UNHRC asks India to end lockdown in J&K (The Hindu Pg no 01)
Syllabus Mains GS paper II – International Relations

Theme UNHRC
Highlights United Nations Human Rights Council

 The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations
system made up of 47 States responsible for the promotion and protection of all
human rights around the globe.

 The Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations
system responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights
around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make
recommendations on them.

 It has the ability to discuss all thematic human rights issues and situations that
require its attention throughout the year. It meets at the UN Office at Geneva.

 The Council is made up of 47 United Nations Member States which are elected by
the UN General Assembly. The Human Rights Council replaced the former United
Nations Commission on Human Rights.

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