The Prayas ePathshala

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13 May 2023

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DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

S. No. Topic Name Prelims/Mains
1.  India Maldives Relations Prelims & Mains
2.  All about Buddhism Prelims & Mains
3.  ESCAP Study on Natural Disasters Prelims & Mains
4.  EU’s Carbon Border Tax Prelims & Mains

1 – India Maldives Relations: GS II – International Relations:

Context:

  • With the laying of the cornerstone for the Coast Guard’s “Ekatha Harbour” in the Uthuru Thila Falhu atoll, India and the Maldives have reached a significant turning point in their defense relations.

Regarding the project:

Purpose:

  • to enhance the Maldivian Coast Guard’s capabilities and support regional efforts for disaster relief and humanitarian aid.

Significance:

  • The project, one of the largest Indian grant-in-aid projects in the Maldives, represents a significant development in the expanding defence partnership between India and the Maldives.

Additional developments:

  • The Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) received a second landing craft from India. Previously, India had given the Maldives a Dornier aircraft, a patrol boat, and a coastal radar system.

Controversy:

  • In response to claims that the project was a front for Indian military presence in the Maldives, Abdulla Yameen, the head of the opposition, launched the “India Out” campaign.

Maldives’ significance to India:

  • long-standing relationships with the Maldives, a strategic location in the Indian Ocean, advantages for India and other countries in the area with shared marine interests, and the backdrop of growing Chinese efforts to increase their influence in the region.

Different Aspects of India-Maldives Relations:

Historical:

  • The history of the Maldives and India are entwined, and the northern atolls of the Maldives were conquered by Rajaraja Chola’s Chola dynasty. Political instability happened after it became a British colony and earned independence in 1965.

Security Collaboration:

  • Joint Exercises: “Operation Shield,” “Ekuverin,” “Dosti,” and “Ekatha” (started in 2021). The Maldivian National Defence Force (MNDF) receives the majority of its training chances from India, which fulfils about 70% of their needs in this area.
  • The Maldives play a significant role in India’s concept of “Neighbourhood First” and “SAGAR” (Security and Growth for All in the Region).

Financial Coordination:

  • The Maldives’ second-largest trading relationship is India. An agreement for the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) was inked by the Indian business Afcons.

Infrastructure initiatives:

  • Project for the development of the Hanimaadhoo International Airport funded by an Indian credit line. The Indian External Affairs Minister launched the National College for Policing and Law Enforcement (NCPLE) in 2022.

Grant Support:

  • A 100 million Rufiyaa (the local currency of the Maldives) grant has been made for the High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP) programme.

Athletics and academics:

  • construction of a sports centre in Gahdhoo and academic cooperation between Cochin University of Science & Technology and the Maldives National University.

Centre for Rehabilitation:

  • With Indian aid, a drug detox and rehabilitation facility was constructed at Addu.

The China Factor:

  • The strategic footprint of China in the region surrounding India has grown. A significant “pearl” in China’s “String of Pearls” strategy in South Asia has emerged as the Maldives. The strategic presence of China in the Maldives continues to be of concern given the shaky dynamics of Sino-Indian relations.

India-Maldives relations’ difficulties:

  • Political instability: For instance, India’s relationship with the Maldives was strained as a result of Mohamed Nasheed, the opposition leader indicted in 2015, and the ensuing political turmoil.
  • Radicalization: India is concerned about the growing trend of Maldivians joining terrorist organisations like the Islamic State (IS) and jihadist organisations with bases in Pakistan.
  • China’s Strategic Presence: India faces a challenge due to China’s growing strategic presence in the Maldives. For India’s security, the Maldives have grown to be a significant “pearl” in China’s “String of Pearls” scheme in South Asia.
  • China’s dominance: In 2018, the Maldives reneged on a deal with India to establish a significant naval facility on the island of Marao. This action was viewed as a result of China’s expanding influence in the Maldives.
  • Political moves: In 2012, the Maldives terminated a $511 million contract for the development of Male International Airport that had been given to the Indian business GMR. This soured relations between the two nations.
  • Domestic politics: The Maldives’ “India Out” campaign aims to incite anti-Indian feelings among its population.

Conclusion:

  • India must actively participate in the Indo-Pacific security area to ensure regional security in South Asia and along the region’s maritime borders. To prevent any changes in the domestic political situation in the Maldives, it is crucial to effectively communicate with the population and persuade them of India’s intentions behind its programmes on the island nation.

Source The Hindu

2 – All about Buddhism: GS I – Indian Culture

Context:

  • Key members of the international Buddhist community, including the Dalai Lama, attended a recent conference on Buddhism held in India’s capital city of New Delhi.

What is diplomatic soft power?

  • The capacity to influence others without using force or money is known as soft power. Soft power diplomacy, as opposed to depending primarily on military or economic coercion, refers to the use of cultural, social, and economic tools to influence the attitudes and actions of other countries. Joseph Nye first used the term “soft power” in the 1990s.
  • Cultural exchanges, educational initiatives, humanitarian aid, and public diplomacy campaigns are a few examples of soft power diplomacy.
  • Buddhism’s significance for India’s soft power diplomacy

Examples:

Cultural and Historical Connections:

  • The country’s soft power diplomacy with Buddhist nations like Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam can be strengthened by India’s cultural and historical ties to Buddhism.
  • Promoting Religious Harmony As the birthplace of Buddhism, India may connect with nations like China, which has a sizable Buddhist population, using its Buddhist past and teachings to foster communication and understanding between the two countries.

Economic advantages:

  • Seven of the eight most important Buddhist sites in the world are currently located in India. A tourist route that links them is being developed by the Indian government. It is called the Buddhist Circuit.

Asia-wide presence:

  • Asia is home to 97% of the world’s Buddhists, and a number of nations including Bhutan, Myanmar, Thailand, and Sri Lanka view Buddhism as integral to their national identities and values.

Projecting Soft Power:

  • India can strengthen ties with Southeast Asian nations and expand its influence in the region by utilising its Buddhist cultural diplomacy.
  • India has made an effort to present a morally-based alternative to contentious international politics.
  • “Sanskriti Evam Sabhyata,” which translates to “cultural and civilizational links,” is one of India’s Panchamrit principles.

Comparison of China’s and India’s methods for soft diplomacy with Buddhism:

India China:

Approach:

  • Since the 1950s, India has used Buddhism as a soft power strategy.For more than 20 years, China has used Buddhism, notably in Southeast Asia and other regions of the world, as a tool of soft power diplomacy.

Objectives:

  • to defend India’s cultural heritage and oppose China’s expanding influence.to spread Chinese culture and China’s influence throughout the world.

Important tactics:

  • India has prioritised the preservation of historic Buddhist sites, the construction of new ones, the aid of academics and monks, and the promotion of Buddhism through intercultural dialogue.China successfully engaged with its neighbours during the Cold War with Buddhist diplomacy, and it is still using this strategy to support its Belt and Road Initiative.
  • China has also made significant investments in the construction of Chinese Buddhist temples and monasteries abroad.
  • China, with its influence over Hollywood, has entirely dominated the narrative around Buddhism in film, preventing India from making effective use of this field.

Examples of actions:

  • the first global Buddhist summit, the restoration of the historic Nalanda University, and the promotion of Buddhist circuit tourism in India.
  • The World Buddhist Forum was founded in China and brings together Buddhist leaders from all over the world. Encourage the repair of historic Buddhist sites, including Cambodia’s Angkor Wat.

India confronts a number of obstacles in its efforts to use Buddhism to project soft power, including:

  • It is difficult to draw visitors and develop Buddhist tourism because many of India’s historic Buddhist sites are in poor condition.

Competing with other nations:

  • Despite having a number of significant Buddhist sites, like Bodhgaya, Sarnath, and Kushinagar, India has had difficulty luring Buddhist visitors, who typically favour Thailand and Cambodia.

Buddhist community divided:

  • It is difficult to develop a coherent strategy for promoting Buddhism because the Indian Buddhist community is fractured and divided along sectarian lines.
  • India’s economic and political clout can overshadow its soft power, which prevents its cultural influence—including Buddhism—from always being acknowledged on a global scale.

Conclusion:

  • It is necessary to foster ties with other Buddhist schools of thought, like Nagarjuna Buddhism, which receives little attention in scholarly research. Additionally, emphasise how important it is for the Buddhist Circuit Project to successfully implement the Nalanda University project and manage tourism attractions.

Source The Hindu

3 – ESCAP Study on Natural Disasters: GS III – Environmental Conservation related issues

Context:

  • The majority of Asia-Pacific (AP) nations are underprepared to handle the growing problems of extreme weather events and natural disasters, according to a recent report by the ESCAP.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) study’s highlights include:

  • More than half of the GHGs in the world are produced in the AP region.
  • Temperatures in the AP region have risen more quickly than the global mean over the past 60 years.
  • Extreme, erratic weather conditions as well as natural disasters (such as tropical cyclones, heat waves, floods, and droughts) have increased in frequency and severity.

Impact:

  • damage to people’s health, significant death toll, and eviction.
  • Here, economies are suffering, society are crumbling, and food systems are being upended.
  • leading factor in poverty and inequality in the area since it disproportionately affects marginalised and poorer communities.
  • In the worst-case climatic scenario, China, India, Japan, Indonesia, the Republic of Korea, and the Russian Federation are predicted to sustain the largest losses.

Challenges:

  • With a substantial share of the world’s population, the AP area is one of the world’s most quickly developing regions.
  • The majority of the world’s low-lying cities and fragile small island republics are found in this region.
  • Development in AP is becoming more and more threatened by the overlapping crises of climate change and climate-induced disasters.
  • challenging development advancements.
  • Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are imperilled.
  • lack of resources to assist adaptation and mitigation activities as well as the essential data.
  • In order to invest in climate action in the region and keep global warming below 1.5°C, the current financing is insufficient.

Action required:

  • There is a need to close the emissions gap in three crucial industries: energy, transportation, and international trade and investment.

Energy:

  • a quick rise in renewable energy through modernising national energy infrastructure, developing new technical capabilities, etc.
  • the requirement for international electricity systems to boost renewable energy usage.
  • To reduce carbon footprint in the building industry, energy efficiency rules must be in line with net-zero objectives.
  • energy systems that are climate-proof.
  • The transportation sector needs to transition to a low-carbon pathway by cutting back on travel distances through integrated land use, planning, switching to sustainable modes of transportation, and increasing vehicle and fuel economy.

Trade internationally:

  • Be sure to include climate issues in regional trade deals.
  • Climate-smart trade is necessary.
  • The private sector needs to be pushed to take steps towards a low-carbon future, and business practises need to incorporate sustainability.
  • Best practises include:

The ESCAP:

  • One of the five regional commissions under the control of the UN Economic and Social Council is the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (est. 1947; HQ: Bangkok).

Source The Hindu 

4 – EU’s Carbon Border Tax: GS III – Environmental Conservation related issues

Context:

  • The European Parliament, the EU’s legislative body with 27 members, came to a political agreement on the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), a carbon border tax.

Background:

  • The European Green Deal, which acts as a roadmap for both tax and non-tax policy efforts in the EU to meet its ambitious goal of becoming climate neutral by 2050, first introduced CBAM.
  • As part of the “Fit for 55” policy package, which aims to cut GHG by at least 55% by 2030 from levels in 1990, there was a proposal for a regulation on CBAM in 2021.

The CBAM is what?

  • A set of imports with a high carbon footprint will be subject to a tariff or import duty that must be paid by EU importers and businesses that send these products to EU nations.

Desire for CBAM:

In order to stop “carbon leakage”:

  • When businesses move the production or manufacturing of carbon-intensive products to nations with less restrictive climate legislation, this is known as carbon leakage.
  • They do this to dodge domestic carbon emission regulations.

To encourage a change in behaviour:

  • According to WB, the Paris Agreement’s proposed carbon price regimes presently apply to fewer than 4% of global emissions.
  • The majority of taxes are too low to actually alter polluter conduct.

Significance:

  • It will level the playing field for companies inside and outside the bloc by fixing the price for the carbon content of goods regardless of where they are produced.

Why is India and poor nations opposed to CBAM?

  • The measure has been opposed by the BRICS, who see it as a unilateral, protectionist trade weapon that would distort the market.
  • For instance, India claims that the CBAM will result in a 20–35% tariff on its exports, which are currently subject to an MFN tax of less than 3%.
  • Shock to the economy for nations dependent on one or more of the targeted industries.
  • For instance, Mozambique’s GDP would decrease by around 1.5% as a result of the export taxes on aluminium.
  • Steel, iron, and aluminium exports from India total $8.2 billion, with 27% going to the EU.

Very soon:

  • The proceeds from the selling of the CBAM levy can be used to finance climate change initiatives in less developed nations. This will ensure that carbon emission objectives are met while also ensuring climate justice.

Source The Hindu

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