Current Affairs 27/08/2015

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Contents

• India-Iran Strategic Chabahar Port to be Operational by December 2016
• GSAT-6 will be a game changer
• India-Seychelles pact to curb black money
• Shared sovereignty
• Ambedkar and Buddhism
• ILP Bill in Manipur

India-Iran Strategic Chabahar Port to be Operational by December 2016

GS 2: Policies and Politics on India’s Interests

Political Science: Recent developments in India’s foreign policy

• India to develop Chabahar Port of Iran (a big step towards improving Indo-Iran relations).

Strategic Importance

• It is strategically important port for India – it opens up a route to landlocked Afghanistan where it has developed close security ties and economic interests, and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.
• This would establish a direct road access to four of the major cities of Afghanistan - Herat, Kandahar, Kabul, and Mazar-e-Sharif.
• The port will be also used to ship crude oil and urea, saving India transportation costs. It will also cut transport costs and freight time for India to Central Asia and the Gulf by about a third.

Important step towards checking China’s influence in the region

• India’s involvement in the development of Chabahar port is a step forward to gain strategic foothold in the region and counter China’s influence in the form of “String of Pearls” which can be a serious threat to India in future.

String of Pearls

• “String of Pearls” are a chain of strategic ports around India, developed by China.
• India sees China’s “String of Pearls” as a part of China’s policy to encircle India and gain immense strategic advantage.
• It is also viewed as a ‘policy of containment’ which would severly restrict India’s soft power in the region.
• Gwadar port in Pakistan is one precious pearl in China’s basket.
• Chabahar port is just miles away from Gwadar port which enhances its importance.

India’s role in the development of the port

• The port will be developed through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) which will invest USD 85.21 million.
• It wii be a joint venture of Kandla Port Trust (KPT) and Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT).

History

• The port was partially built by India in the 1990s to provide access to Afghanistan and Central Asia, bypassing Pakistan.
• In 2003, the NDA government under then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had signed an agreement with Iran for the Chabahar Port, but it could not be materialised at that time.

Hurdles

• The United States has been asking India and other countries not to "rush" into doing business with Iran as Washington was yet to work out a deal with Tehran on the latter's contentious nuclear programme.

GSAT-6 will be a game changer

• Launch vehicle fares with the home-built cryogenic third stage.
• The 2,117-kg GSAT-6 is a predominantly S-band communication satellite that enables multimedia applications.
• It will be used purely for ‘strategic’ purposes by the Armed Forces and for societal uses during a disaster or an emergency

India-Seychelles pact to curb black money

GS 2: Transperancy and accountability

Two pacts signed

1. Allowing exchange of information to curb tax evasion and avoidance.
2. Strengthening maritime security ties and cooperation on blue economy.

• As the Seychelles is considered one of the preferred offshore havens for routing of funds, the Union Cabinet recently approved the signing and ratification of the taxation pact with the island nation to unearth black money.

Shared sovereignty

GS 2: Issues pertaining to federal structure

GS 3: Security challenges at borders

• The Naga rebel chieftain clarified that the NSCN had never given up on Naga sovereignty. But he clarified that the Indo-Naga final settlement will be based on the concept of “shared sovereignty” because if India recognises the “unique history of the Nagas”, the Nagas should recognise India’s problems and limitations.
• “Shared sovereignty” is not a bad idea because it can take Indian federalism forward to new heights. The Naga settlement can provide a new benchmark to fulfil autonomist aspirations elsewhere in the Republic and actually strengthen the bonds that hold this huge country together.

Ambedkar and Buddhism

GS 1: Important contributors to freedom struggle

• 2015 is 125th anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar (1891-1956)
• Dr. Ambedkar in his final days converted to Buddhism.
• He called the faith Navayana or the New Way, a protestant Buddhism based on his reinterpretation of classical Buddhism. Protestant: the one against illogical religious or social practices.
• In the last year of his life, he wrote a massive work titled The Buddha and His Dhamma, to make the teachings of the Buddha accessible to modern readers.
• The purpose of Ambedkarite Buddhism is to liberate Dalits from untouchability and other forms of social exclusion and humiliation.
• Dr. Ambedkar’s Buddhism was as much an indictment of Hindu varna dharma as it was a modern statement of equality, intended to deepen the vision of the Constitution while also recalling the original critique of the Buddha against Vedic orthodoxy.

ILP Bill in Manipur

GS 1: Regionilism

• If the bill is passed and enacted into law, it will require outsiders to obtain a special pass or permit to enter the State.
• The system is in force in the neighbouring States of Nagaland and Mizoram and also in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Initially, the British colonial government had introduced the system to protect its commercial interests, particularly in oil and tea.
• It was continued to protect the tribal peoples and their cultures.
• The ILP, which remained in force until 1950, was revoked by the then Commissioner of Assam, whose jurisdiction also covered Manipur.
• Since Manipur, which attained Statehood in 1972, is not officially a tribal State, there are constitutional challenges to implementing the ILP system.

Majority vs minority

• Among the three major communities of Manipur — Meitei, Kuki, Naga — the ILP system has been demanded only by the Meiteis.
• Though the Kukis are an indigenous group in Manipur, there are some who fear that the Meiteis could use the ILP to advance their stand of Kukis being foreigners.
• This seems to be an important reason why many within the Kuki community do not support the ILP or the Meiteis’ demand for tribal status.

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