Tin Bigha Corridor

The Tin Bigha Corridor is a strip of land formerly belonging to India on the West Bengal- Bangladesh border which has been leased indefinitely to Bangladesh so that it can access its Dahagram–Angarpota enclaves.There is ongoing dispute regarding use of this land by anti-India forces and illegal immigrants to cross over into India which Bangladesh vehemently denies. This Corridor was opened to Bangladesh for transit only in 1992.1 Presently the corridor is controlled by the BSF and a 12-hour access is allowed. In the forthcoming visit of PM Singh to Bangladesh an agreement on 24-hr access to the corridor is to be signed.

The issue of exchanging enclaves has been discussed since independence. In 1958, there was an official agreement to exchange all of the enclaves in the Nehru-Noon Accords, though deteriorating relations between East Pakistan and India and a series of court cases in India prevented this from being implemented. Another attempt to resolve the enclave issue was mounted in 1974 under the Indira-Mujib Accords. The accords make specific provisions to exchange all of the enclaves with the exception of AGDH and Berubari Union, a disputed area along the border with Jalpaiguri. As the Accords have it: "India will retain the southern half of South Berubari Union No.12 … in exchange Bangladesh will retain the Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves. India will lease in perpetuity to Bangladesh an area … to connect Dahagram with … Bangladesh."

This agreement, too, remains only partially fulfilled. While Bangladesh ceded South Berubari shortly after the agreement was signed, the corridor only opened 18 years later. There is hope that in the forthcoming visit of PM Singh this issue too will be resolved.2

FYI: A comprehensive article on Tin Bigha Corridor, its politics, the problems of the enclaves and special position of the Angarpota-Dahagram enclave can be read at http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2007/october/tin.htm

References

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_Bigha_Corridor

2. http://www.thedailystar.net/forum/2007/october/tin.htm

Rome Statute (ICC)

Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome in 1998 and entered into force in 2002.  The statute establishes the court's functions, jurisdiction and structure. As of Aug 2011, 117 states have become party to the statute. In 2012 the ICC is also celebrating its 10th anniversary.


The ICC is the first permanent, treaty-based international criminal court. The ICC is an independent international organisation, and is not part of the United Nations system, but maintains a cooperative relationship with the UN. Its seat is at The Hague in the Netherlands. Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

Under the Rome Statute, the ICC can only investigate and prosecute in situations where states are unable or unwilling to do so themselves. The treaty entered into force on 1 July 2002;^[10] the ICC can only prosecute crimes committed on or after that date. There are 18 judges.

According to the Rome Statute, the Prosecutor can initiate an investigation on the basis of a referral from any State Party or from the United Nations Security Council. In addition, the Prosecutor can initiate investigations proprio motu on the basis of information on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court received from individuals or organisations (“communications”). Investigations and prosecutions are being initiated in cases from Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Central African Republic, Darfur, and Kenya

Refernces:

1.     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court

2.     http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ICC/Situations+and+Cases/

Thailand- Cambodia border dispute

There is a long-running border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia over territory in the vicinity of Preah Vihear, a temple complex dating from the 11th century. 

In 1959 the dispute was referred to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which ruled that the area in the vicinity of Preah Vihear was part of Cambodian territory. Thailand accepts Cambodia's sovereignty over Preah Vihear. However land surrounding the temple remains in dispute. This assumes importance because the geography of the area is such that the most easily accessible entrance to the temple complex is in Thailand. 

In 2007 Cambodia applied for the temple complex to be listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The temple complex was listed despite formal objections from Thailand. Tension between the two countries mounted.  In July 2008, Thailand and Cambodia moved troops into the disputed area.  Several incidents followed, and troops exchanged fire in October 2008, and more recently in Feb- April 2011. Thousands have been displaced in this conflict.

Both Cambodia and Thailand wrote to the Security Council in 2008 following the escalation of tension in July 2008 and more recently in 2011. Eventually both sides have agreed to discuss the issue bilaterally. 

In July 2011, The International Court of Justice issued a series of provisional measures. The two states were ordered to refrain from engaging in further fighting in the area, immediately withdraw all troops and establish a demilitarised zone of approximately 4.5 miles by 2.5 miles along the border. Thailand was further ordered not to obstruct Cambodia’s access to Preah Vihear and both states were ordered to allow observers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations into the demilitarised zone.3

The dispute has become a rallying point of nationalism in both countries. Nationalist movements in both Thailand and Cambodia have stressed the importance of claiming the Preah Vihear temple for their own countries. 2

Also, the dispute occurred at a time when Thailand was holding national elections. In this situation, the dispute raised concerns in Thailand of a resurgence of military and cancellation of polls. However the polls were held and Ms. Yingluck Shinawatra won. (The military has since announced that it would not interfere in the Government’s work).

References:

_1.        http://www.securitycouncilreport.org/site/c.glKWLeMTIsG/b.6552935/k.EC69/Update_Report_No_1brThailandCambodiabr9_February_2011.htm

_2.        http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703396404576282952545572360.html

_3.        http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/eCache/DEF/12/851.TGFuZz1FTg.html

Problems of the Tea Industry

 The ‘Tea Board’ is the apex organisation looking after all matters concerning tea. The major areas of concern in the tea industry are:

1.    Rising costs of inputs like fertilizers, pesticides,

2.    Labour costs constitute 60% of costs , and the acute labour shortage is hitting the industry hard.

3.    Old age of the tea-bush has resulted in decreasing productivity

4.    Lack of easy credit- this affects acquiring new technology

5.    Lack of proper infrastructure like roads linking remote gardens

6.    Sick and closed gardens, labour unrest

7.    Global warming and climate change has resulted in erratic weather patterns

8.    Lack of integration of supply-chain elements means returns do not trickle down to producers

New Strategy planned by the Tea Board

1.    Provide incentives to farmers for practicing  precision-farming techniques- which will result in quality enhancement

2.    Encourage nurseries for high yielding clones

3.    Empowering small growers through SHGs

4.    Energy conservation through energy-efficient machines, adoption of renewable energy

5.    Mechanization to help deal with labour shortage

6.    Linking of NREGA to agriculture fields

7.    Investments contemplated in organic tea, organized sector

8.    Promotion of tea as a health drink

Reference: Business Standard, 31^st August 2011

Green India Mission

GREEN INDIA MISSION

WHAT   - It is one of the 8 missions under the National Action Plan on Climate Change.

-       Aims at doubling the area of afforestation area to 20 million hectares

-       Increase the GHG removals by India’s forests to 6.35% of total GHG emissions by 2020

-       Enhance the resilience of forests/ecosystems- to improve groundwater recharge, biodiversity value, minor forest produce- which will also support forest-dependent communities.

DETAILS:

-       Stress on improving quality of forests and not just quantity. Thus increase cover and density of medium and degraded forests.

-       Take a holistic view of forests to consider biodiversity conservation and enhancement, restore ecosystems of grasslands, mangroves, wetlands. It is not confined to traditional plantation forestry method that

-       Active participation of local communities in conservation and afforestation.

-       Engage citizens and civil society in designing the Mission.

References:

National Consultation Document on National Mission for Green India, June 2011, MoEF moef.nic.in/downloads/public-information/green-india-mission.pdf

Palliative care

Palliative care (from Latin palliare, to cloak) is a specialized area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients. It includes care of the patient and family, pain and symptom management, disease-modifying treatments, psychological, social, spiritual support and bereavement support. 1

Palliative care assumes importance in every health-care programme. It is estimated that nearly one million Indians with conditions like cancer die in acute, unnecessary pain because of the lack of palliative care. 

Kerala has a functioning palliative care model- the Neighborhood Network in Palliative Care (NNPC). Every week, thousands of volunteers across the state give up their time to go and tend to those who are dying. They may cook food, help with chores, or simply provide a listening ear. 3 Community mobilization and involvement of self-government institutions have led to its success.

Two-third of the palliative care initiatives of the country are in Kerala. There are more than 200 community based organizations running palliative care initiatives in the state in addition to the 300 Government palliative care initiatives.  2 It is also the only state in the country to have a palliative care policy. Discussions are on to spread this model to the rest of the country.

_1.         http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palliative_care

_2.         http://www.thebetterindia.com/3216/palliative-care-initiatives-in-kerala/

_3.         http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00d8744

Maritime Agenda 2010-2020

The Ministry of Shipping released the ‘Maritime Agenda 2020’ in Jan 2011. It is a vision document for Indian shipping industry for the next 10 years, and replaces the National Maritime Development Programme. The aims are:

•           increase the Indian tonnage four fold to 43 million Gross Tonnage (GT),
•           increase the port capacity to around 3200 million tonnes requiring an investment of about Rs 3 lakh crore,
•           enhance India's share in global shipbuilding to 5% and
•           increase the share of Indian seafarers to at least 10%.  

Importance:

•  India is a major maritime nation by virtue of its long coast line of around 7517 Kms (continental coastline and island), with 13 major and 176 non-major ports, strategically located on the world’s shipping routes.
• About 90% by volume and 70% by value of the country’s international trade is carried on through maritime transport.
• Development of India’s ports and trade related infrastructure will continue to be critical to sustain the success of accelerated growth in the Indian economy. For eg: India’s merchandise trade intensity is still below 30% of GDP- as this grows it would make greater demands on the country’s ports and shipping facilities.
• As trade grows, the demand for maritime transport also grows. Technological developments in bulk and container transport have made maritime transport cheaper.
• Maritime transport is a crucial catalyst in the global economy by providing access to new markets and the benefits of international trade.

Challenges:

•          Following the 2008 financial crisis traffic volumes collapsed, freight rates plummeted and practically all capital investment programmes were curtailed.
•          All ports were hit by the recession, but not all cargo flows were affected to the same extent, and the competitive positioning of ports has changed. There was lower growth in consumption activity and more interest in energy and energy security.
•           New global trading patterns have emerged with Asia becoming the new hub of global container trade. The emerging markets of southeast Asia, the Indian subcontinent, sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Middle East are gaining importance. The lack of port and transportation infrastructure in these regions emphasizes the major role that established container terminal developers and operators will continue to play.
•           Generally there is slower growth in world seaborne trade compared to world trade, because of slow growth in volumes. Reasons:  use of lightweight metals and lower material intensity in manufacturing processes; increase in transport of electronic items, medicines, jewellery, apparel that may weigh less.
•           Environment pollution: caused by increase in the number of plying ships and related shipping activities (towing, mooring, berthing, piloting, marine survey, sea patrolling, deployment of dredgers). World Ports Climate Initiative (WPCI) was initiated by the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) to address this issue.

Types of transport: Bulk transport involves shipping one homogeneous commodity (e.g. grain, ore etc) at any one time, but in large quantities; in contrast, container transport entails transporting different goods at the same time, but in standard containers that are easy to load and unload.

Sources:

http://shipping.gov.in/showfile.php?lid=261

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-02-05/india-business/28357137_1_indian-tonnage-ppp-projects-ppp-mode

Attitudes of Young India

The survey was conducted by ‘One Young World’ to assess attitudes of young Indians. Findings are as follows:

-       72% have more faith in global business than they do in world politics

-       64% think global business is doing more to reduce poverty than governments

-       63% think big business promotes positive ethics and social values

-       75% say methods of scrutinizing public servants in India are not strong enough

-       84% think that politics in India needs major reforms

-       84% believe businesses that make profit must provide social benefits

-       76% think business should play a central role in relieving poverty (It is because of this demand that most successful businesses of the future will be those that are most socially responsible because they will derive huge benefits from consumers/employees/media who will become powerful advocates for them)

-       84% feel online social media will change global media landscape

-       79% have ambition to run their own business

-       70% feel that they will work only for companies that share their ethics

Source: “Amid turbulent politics, businesses can lead”, David Jones, Mint 20/8/2011.

Double-dip recession

A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession. It is also referred to as a ‘W’-shaped recession.

There are fears that the US may be facing a double-dip recession. The US economy fell into what was at first a fairly mild recession at the end of 2007. But the downturn turned into a worldwide plunge after the failure of Lehman Brothers in September 2008 led to the vanishing of credit for nearly all borrowers not deemed super-safe. Banks in the United States and other countries needed bailouts to survive.The unavailability of credit caused a decline in world trade volumes of a magnitude not seen since the Great Depression, and nearly every economy went into recession.

But it turned out that businesses overreacted. While sales to customers fell, they did not decline as much as production did. That set the stage for an economic rebound that began in mid-2009. Manufacturers around the world reported rapidly rising orders.

Until recently, most observers believed the US economy was in a slow recovery, albeit one with very disappointing job growth. There is, of course, no assurance that a new recession has begun or will do so soon. But concerns have grown that the essential problems that led to the 2007-09 recession were not solved, like housing prices have not recovered; millions of Americans owe more in mortgage debt than their homes are worth; low employment growth.

Sources: 
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/doublediprecession.asp#ixzz1VpuJQswl

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-08-05/news/29855156_1_double-dip-recession-great-recession-economy

Beggar-thy-neighbour policy

 [Reproduced from: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2010-05-04/news/27581582_1_imports-exports-tariff-barriers]

What is beggar thy neighbour policy?

The beggar thy neighbour policy refers to a policy that aims at addressing one's own domestic problems at the expense of others — trading partners in particular.

What are the instances of such a policy?

The most popular forms of a beggar thy neighbour policy are in the areas of foreign trade and currency management. Conventionally, countries often impose tariff barriers and restrict imports to protect their domestic industries. However, with globalisation, such practices are not popular.

But to achieve its domestic policy objective, for instance, encouraging exports, central banks devalue or encourage the depreciation of their own currencies compared to its trading partners to retain their respective competitive edge. Sometimes economies compete in encouraging appreciation of their currencies to tame inflation at the expense of hurting income in the exporting countries.

Is China adopting a beggar thy neighbour policy?

Many economists, especially in the US, say China has deliberately kept the value of its currency low to forge ahead in exports. But in this case, more than the competitors, the importing country, US, is complaining because more than anything else, cheap Chinese imports are hurting its domestic economy.

How do current economies policies compare?

Currently, the raging concern among most emerging market economies in Aisa is spiralling inflation on account of rising global commodity prices. Central banks in most economies, including India's, are (though not necessarily planned) encouraging appreciation of their respective currencies.

This is helping them curtail inflation arising out of imported goods as imposing tariff barriers is perceived to be against the principles of free trade. Such a practice hurts export earnings of the countries from where such imports are sourced. But the impact also depends on how crucial such exports are for each economy.

What are the limitations of such a practice?

In certain cases, such a policy may prove counter productive. If, for instance, even the competing country counters one policy move, of say, depreciation (to protect exports) then such a practice may not have desirable results, especially the country's imports are not price elastic (the imports are essential and not dependent on prices) and instead could end up hurting the trade balance through higher import price and resulting in inflation in such economies.