DNA 10^th June

Editorial

India- Nepal Border issue

Border dispute

-The inauguration of the “new road to Mansarovar” on May 8 by India’s defence minister has strained the relations between Nepal and India.

-Nepal claims that a section of the road passes through the territory of Nepal and links with the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China through the Lipu Lekh pass in Nepal.

-The 1816 Sugauli Treaty between Nepal and British India placed all the territories east of the Kali (Mahakali) river, including Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipu Lekh at the north-western front of Nepal, on its side.

-The borders of Nepal, India and China intersect in this area.

-Given the situation in 1961, Nepal and China fixed pillar number one at Tinker pass with the understanding that pillar number zero (the tri-junction of Nepal, India, and China) would be fixed later.

-Lipu Lekh pass is 4 km northwest and Limpiyadhura 53 km west of Tinker pass.

Lack of progress on the solution

-The dispute over the Kalapani area has spanned the last seven decades.

-Both Nepal and India have recognised it as an outstanding border issue requiring an optimal resolution.

-When in August 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Nepal in 17 years; Nepal’s Prime Minister Sushil Koirala raised this issue again.

-The two prime ministers agreed to resolve the issue on a priority basis and directed their foreign secretaries “to work on the outstanding boundary issues including Kalapani and Susta”.

-There was virtually no progress on the ground.

India-China agreement and Nepal’s objection

-In May 2015, Prime Minister Modi visited China, and the two countries agreed to “enhance border areas cooperation”.

-The May 2015 agreement is a broad one compared to the 1954 India-China agreement “on trade and intercourse between Tibet Region of China and India”, which mentions Lipu Lekh pass as one of the six passes “through which traders and pilgrims of both countries may travel”.

-Nepal protested against the inclusion of its territory, Lipu Lekh, in the joint statement without its consent and demanded that the two countries make necessary corrections to reflect the ground realities.

-The protest was ignored.

Growing nationalism and distrust

-The tone of Nepal-India relations appears to be dominated by frustrations of the past and traditional attitudes more than the opportunities of the future.

-The widening gap in understanding each other’s concerns has helped feed Nepali nationalism and create a dense cloud of distrust and suspicion between the two countries.

-The gap widened after India chose to impose an economic blockade in response to Nepal’s sovereign decision to promulgate a democratic constitution.

-The current ruling Communist Party of Nepal made people’s anger over the blockade its campaign plank during the 2017 general election.

Why the border issues are complex to solve?

-Complexity of the issue stems from the fact that the political leadership handles only a small part of this very important bilateral relationship.

-India as a big neighbour is rarely seen grasping the psychological dimensions of the relationship.

-Officials handling these multifaceted relations may momentarily influence the atmospherics but they rarely touch the core of these relations, let alone reorient or transform them in the rapidly changing context.

-This is manifest in the deferring of substantive conversations on the outstanding boundary issue for decades.

-The foreign secretary level mechanism has not met even once to discuss the border issue since its formation.

-There are over three dozen bilateral mechanisms between Nepal and India to engage at various levels.

-The meetings of these mechanisms are rarely regular.

The border dispute looks minor, but allowing it to fester is likely to sow the seeds of immense competition and intense rivalry in the sensitive Himalayan frontier with far-reaching geopolitical implications. Nepal wants to prosper as an independent and sovereign state and be helpful to its neighbours, emerging as the main pillar of a world order that is struggling to be born, and remain productively and constructively engaged with the wider international community.

Source:https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/rajnath-singh-nepal-india-relations-road-to-mansarovar-6451070/

Polity

Delhi LG overrules Kejriwal govt's order denying treatment of non-resident COVID-19 patients in city hospitals

Context: Delhi Lieutenant Governor and Chairman of Delhi Disaster Management Authority Anil Baijal has overruled Arvind Kejriwal government's order that only Delhi residents will be admitted to government hospitals in the city for COVID-19 treatment.

Mr. Baijal has directed authorities to ensure that treatment is not denied to any patient on the ground of not being a resident of the national capital.

DELHI DISASTER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY

-Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) was constituted in 2008 under the Chairpersonship of Lt. Governor of Delhi for an effective and practicable framework for disaster management in Delhi.

-An Apex Committee headed by the Lt. Governor of Delhi governs the Disaster Management Authority.

-It functions through a secretariat (The DDMA Secretariat).

-The Divisional Commissioner of Delhi as the head of the nodal department for disaster management in Delhi is the Convenor of the DDMA Secretariat.

Polity/Geography

Krishna and Godavari water utilisation

Context: The Union government is going to take stock of water utilisation from the Krishna and Godavari rivers following Telangana and Andhra Pradesh filing complaints against each other.

More news:

Union Ministry of Jal Shakti has asked the Chairpersons of the Krishna and Godavari River Management Boards to procure the details of the irrigation projects in Maharashtra and Karnataka, too and submit them to the Centre in a month.

Why needed?

The main objective of the exercise appears to be to assess whether surplus water will be available for the new projects in the light of the disputes.

What’s the issue?

The two States- AP and Telangana- share stretches of the Krishna and the Godavari and own their tributaries.

They have embarked on several new projects without getting clearance from the river boards, the Central Water Commission and the apex council comprising the Union Water Resources Minister and the Chief Ministers, as mandated by the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014.

However, Telangana government last year filed a complaint against AP government for taking up projects across Krishna River.

The Krishnariver:

-It is an east-flowing river.

-Originates at Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra

-Merges with the Bay of Bengal, flowing through Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

-Tributaries: Tungabhadra, Mallaprabha, Koyna, Bhima, Ghataprabha, Yerla, Warna, Dindi, Musi and Dudhganga.

Godavari River:

-Rises from Trimbakeshwar near Nasik in Maharashtra

-flows for a length of about 1465 km before out falling into the Bay of Bengal.

-Basin: The Godavari basin extends over states of Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Odisha in addition to smaller parts in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Union territory of Puducherry.

-Tributaries: Pravara, Purna, Manjra, Penganga, Wardha, Wainganga, Pranhita (combined flow of Wainganga, Penganga, Wardha), Indravati, Maner and the Sabri.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/centre-to-take-stock-of-krishna-and-godavari-water-utilisation/article31790230.ece

Reports/Index

2021 QS World University rankings

Context: 17th edition of the QS World University rankings has been released.

About QS World University rankings

-It is an annual publication of University rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) - A British Company specialising in the analysis of higher education institutions around the world.

-Previously, it was called Times Higher Education – QS world University rankings. The name changed since 2010.

-It is the only international ranking to have received the approval of International Ranking Expert Group (IREG).

-It rates the world’s top 1000 universities.

 

 

QS uses six indicators to rank universities:

1. Academic reputation.
2. Employer reputation.
3. Faculty/student ratio.
4. Citations per faculty.
5. International faculty ratio.
6. International student ratio.