INTERNATIONAL

Explained: Afghan deal all but done. Now?

The United States and Taliban have reached a deal for American troops to withdraw from Afghanistan.

Blueprint of the deal:

-        No details of the draft agreement have been made officially public.

-        United States would withdraw some 5,000 troops within 135 days or five months starting from the signing of the agreement.

-        There appears to be no timeline yet for the withdrawal of the remaining 14,000 troops but a period of 14 months has been mentioned in the past.

-        Taliban will not allow “enemies of the US” — namely Daesh/ISIS and Al Qaeda — to set up base in Afghanistan.

-        Taliban will fight against the “enemies of America” in Afghanistan.

-        Taliban have agreed not to attack withdrawing troops.

Effect of It on the Peace:

-        There is no commitment of ceasefire from Taliban as expected earlier.

-        There are only commitments of reduction in violence in some areas.

-        August 31 Taliban attack on Kunduz also shows that it is not a peace agreement.

-        Taliban is continuing its attack even when the talk of agreement was going on.

-        Afghan government was not the part of US-Taliban talks.

How to achieve peace in Afghanistan:

-        Afghan government needs to negotiate a peace agreement with the Taliban in what are referred to as “intra-Afghan talks”.

-        Taliban sees Afghan government as puppet of US government. Many in Afghanistan perceives Taliban as a proxy of Pakistan.

-        The intra-Afghan talks are expected to take up the question of a ceasefire and an “interim” set-up as a way of bringing the Taliban into a power sharing agreement.

-        Elections will not be held in September end.

-        Taliban have made it clear they do not believe in the electoral process and have said they would want to make changes to the Constitution.

-        The interim set-up has to be headed by an Afghan acceptable to the US, Taliban, Pakistan and the present Afghan government. It appears a difficult process.

-        US may have made commitments to the Taliban that will undermine even the modest achievements made by the country towards democracy and human rights over the last two decades.

Indian Role:

-        India has played no role in the US-Taliban talks, but hopes it may be able to influence some outcomes of the the intra-Afghan talks through its many friends in the Afghan polity who will participate in the talks.

-        India believes in Afghan led, Afghan owned process of integration.

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-afghan-deal-all-but-done-now-5966858/

Explained: China backs off in Hong Kong. What happens now?

After three months of mass protests triggered the worst crisis in Hong Kong since it returned to Chinese control in 1997, City administration has announced the withdrawal of the proposed law at the heart of the people’s anger.

-        Not clear whether it would bring normalcy to the Hong Kong.

-        Protests have expanded to cover a wider spectrum of demands, including core political reforms and an inquiry into police brutality with protesters.

-        Withdrawal of the bill means that bill is dead for now.

-        Protestors announced that they had five demands not one.

-formal withdrawal of the Bill

-An independent probe into police actions.

-Amnesty for arrested protesters.

- Direct elections for all lawmakers and Chief Executive.

-Withdrawing the reference to participants in a major protest on June 12 as “rioters”.

-        Withdrawal of the protests appears unlikely.

Reasons behind withdrawal of the Bill:

-        International headlines of China gave it a bad name, which is not good for international leadership role of Beijing.

-        Extended trade war with USA and protests in Hong Kong had affected Chinese outreach to Europe.

-        Financial cost of protests was significant with Hong Kong going into recession.

-        China is celebrating 70 years of Chinese foundation and it would appear negative to have protests in its territory.

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-china-backs-off-in-hong-kong-what-happens-now-5966872/

ENVIRONMENT

Mumbai rains: What ‘Red’, ‘Orange’ alerts mean

Alerts by the IMD are colour-coded from Green to Red.

-        ‘Green’ stands for ‘No warning’: no action needs to be taken by the authorities, and the forecast is of light to moderate rain.

-        A ‘Yellow’ alert signifies “Watch”, and authorities are advised to “Be updated” on the situation.

-        An ‘Orange’ warning stands for “Alert”, and authorities are expected to “Be prepared”. The forecast during an Orange warning is of heavy to very heavy rainfall.

-        A ‘Red’ alert stands for “Warning”, and asks authorities to “Take action”. The forecast is for extremely heavy rainfall.

-        According to the weather department, 15.6 mm to 64.4 mm rain is considered “moderate”, 64.5 mm to 115.5 mm is considered “heavy”, 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm “very heavy”, and more than 204.5 mm “extremely heavy” rain.

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-what-do-red-orange-rain-alerts-for-mumbai-mean-5966333/

 

HISTORY

Remembering Dada Bhai Naoroji on his birth anniversary

September 4, 2019 was the 194th birth anniversary of Dada Bhai Naoroji, the “Grand Old Man of India”.

-        He was among the first leaders who stirred national consciousness in the country.

Early Work in England

-        Naoroji began rousing public opinion in England on Indian issues in 1855.

-        His first agitation, in 1859, concerned recruitment to the Indian Civil Service (today’s IAS).

-        Naoroji worked closely with Irish leaders in England, who found common cause with the Indian nationalist movement.

-        In 1865 and 1866, Naoroji founded the London Indian Society and the East India Association respectively.

-        The two organisations sought to bring nationalist Indians and sympathetic Britons on one platform.

Founding of Congress

-        In 1885, he was nominated to the Bombay legislative council.

-        In 1885, He helped form the Indian National Congress.

-        He was Congress president thrice, in 1886, 1893, and 1906.

-        The first session of the Congress in 1885 passed a resolution calling for the formation of a standing committee in the British House of Commons for considering protests from legislative bodies in India. Naroiji worked actively towards achieving this objective.

Working in England parliament

-        He won from Central Finsbury seat to British parliament in 1982.

-        He brought Indian issues to the fore in British parliaments.

-        In 1893, he helped form an Indian parliamentary committee to attend to Indian interests.

-        Naoroji acted as a liaison between nationalist Indians and British parliamentarians.

-        In 1895, he became a member of the royal commission on Indian expenditure.

Drain Theory:

-        Dadabhai Naoroji was among the key proponents of the ‘Drain Theory’, disseminating it in his 1901 book ‘Poverty and Un-British Rule in India’.

-        Imperial Britain was draining away India’s wealth to itself through exploitative economic policies.

     -Heavy financial burden of the British civil and military apparatus in India.

     -The exploitation of the country due to free trade.

     -Non-Indians taking away the money that they earned in India.

     -The interest that India paid on its public debt held in Britain.

Reference: https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-remembering-dadabhai-naoroji-on-his-birthday-5966633/

 

 

 

DISASTER MANAGEMENT

At least 23 killed in massive blast at Punjab's Batala cracker factory

A powerful explosion ripped apart a double-story firecracker factory in a residential colony of Batala in Punjab's Gurdaspur district Wednesday killing as many as 23 persons and leaving over 30 injured.

Other Incidents:

-        A massive fire at an Oil and Natural Gas Corporation plant off the coast of Mumbai killed four and injured at least three people.

-        At least 13 people were killed and 72 others injured in an explosion at a chemical factory in Maharashtra’s Dhule district.

-        According to data from the Labour and Employment Ministry, 3,562 workers lost their lives and 51,124 were injured between 2014 and 2016 in accidents in factories across the country.

Reasons Behind the Incidents:

-        Companies do not follow the technical guidelines related to particular equipments. There are design flaw or procedure flaw in operating it.

-        Human operating it generally deviates from the standard operating procedure either because of negligence or to bring efficiency in operations.

-        Lax implementation of the Factory act, 1948.

-        Companies overlook the requirement of repairing the equipment in order to save the money.

-        Corruption and bribery prevalent among the labour inspectors make installation of fire extinguishers, mock drills ineffective.

-        Poor communication regarding health hazards, poor planning also causes these accidents.

Safety Steps:

-        Trainings to be provided.

-        Proper and safe disposal of hazardous waste.

-        Emergency Planning→ emergency procedures with the support of communities as well as national or regional corporation authorities. GIS based emergency planning can be introduced.

-        Safety Audits→ Periodical assessment of safety procedures and practices, performance of safety systems and equipments.

-        Public awareness through media, TV and mock drills for ensuring quick response and preparedness.

Government rules to prevent Industrial disasters:

-        National Disaster Management Act envisages National and State Disaster Response Forces to act and respond to disaster immediately.

-        Follow up steps like evacuation of people, local level feedback to administrative authorities, damage report, rehabilitation, emergency supplies, inter-departmental coordination, involvement of NGOs and civil society etc., are part of management.

-        As a preventive step, our Industrial policy mandates certain safety procedures, installations and hazard management methods. Industrial licence require mandatory follow up of these procedures.

-        Fire safety standards as prescribed by Fire Department is compulsory for industrial clearances.

-        Disaster mitigation setups like fire safety alarm, fog and smoke detectors, radioactive water monitoring, regulating effluent drains, and banning construction of industries near residential areas are some steps.

Reference: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/amritsar/punjab-16-killed-in-batala-firecracker-factory-blast/articleshow/70977890.cms?utm_source=nl_landingpage&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=timestop10_daily_newsletter