EDITORIALS & ARTICLES
24th March 2021
Ken-Betwa Link Project
Recently, a memorandum of agreement was signed between Union Minister of Jal Shakti and the chief ministers of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh to implement the Ken-Betwa Link Project (KBLP) on the occasion of World Water Day.
- In the 1970s, the idea of transferring surplus water from a river to water-deficit area was mooted by the then Union Irrigation Minister.
- He suggested construction of a National Water Grid for transferring water from water-rich areas to water-deficit areas.
- It was in August, 1980 that the Ministry of Irrigation prepared a National Perspective Plan (NNP) for water resources development envisaging inter-basin water transfer in the country.
Ken-Betwa Link Project
- It is the first project under the National Perspective Plan for interlinking of rivers.
- Under this project, water from the Ken River will be transferred to the Betwa River.
- The Ken and Betwa Rivers are tributaries of river Yamuna.
- It lies in Bundelkhand, a drought-prone region, which spreads across 13 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
Phases of Ken-Betwa Link Project
- Under Phase-I, one of the components i.e. Daudhan dam complex and its appurtenances like Low Level Tunnel, High Level Tunnel, Ken-Betwa link canal and Power houses will be completed.
- Under Phase-II, three components such as Lower Orr dam, Bina complex project and Kotha barrage will be constructed.
Significance of Ken-Betwa Link Project
- The project will provide annual irrigation of 10.6 lakh hectares of land i.e. 1 lakh hectare in Madhya Pradesh and 2.5 lakh hectare in Uttar Pradesh.
- It will provide a drinking water supply to a population of about 62 lakh i.e. 41 lakh in Madhya Pradesh and 21 lakh in Uttar Pradesh.
- The project will also generate 103 MW of hydro power generation and 27 MW of solar power generation.
- It will be of immense benefit to the water-starved region of Bundelkhand.
- The districts involved are Panna, Tikamgarh, Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh, Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri and Raisen of Madhya Pradesh and Banda, Mahoba, Jhansi and Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh.
- It will pave the way for more interlinking of river projects to ensure that scarcity of water does not become an inhibitor for development in the country.
National Perspective Plan (NNP)
- The NPP comprised of two components namely, the Himalayan Rivers Development and the Peninsular Rivers Development.
- Based on the NPP, the National Water Development Agency (NWDA) identified 30 river links—16 under Peninsular component and 14 under Himalayan Component.
World Water Day
Recently, the World Water Day was observed globally on March 22nd.
- The resolution to observe World Water Day was first adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1992.
- The adoption of resolution declared March 22 as World Water Day and is celebrated around the world since 1993.
World Water Day
- Its purpose is to highlight the importance of water and raising awareness about the water crisis that the world faces.
- The main focus of the day is to “support the achievement of sustainable development goal (SDG) 6: water and sanitation for all by 2030”.
- The theme of World Water Day 2021 is “Valuing Water” and has been chosen to highlight the value of water in our daily lives.
Water in the Indian Constitution
- In the Constitution, water is a matter included in Entry 17 of List-II i.e. State List.
- It is subject to the provision of Entry 56 of List-I i.e. Union List.
- Under Article 246, the Indian Constitution allocates responsibilities of the States and the Centre into three lists i.e. Union List, State List, and Concurrent List.
- Water is under Entry 17 of the State List, which says that Water, water supplies, irrigation and canals, drainage and embankments, water storage and water power subject to the provisions of entry 56 of List I.
Sanctions on China over Uighurs
Recently, the European Union, the US, Britain, and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese officials and entities for human rights abuses against Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang province.
- Australia and New Zealand welcomed the Western action by issuing statements that they were concerned about reports of abuses from Xinjiang.
What are the Sanctions imposed on China?
- The sanctions from EU, UK, US and Canada, which include travel bans and freezing of assets, are against the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau.
- The sanctions from US implies that all property and interests in property of the persons above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to Office of Foreign Assets Control.
- The US Department of Treasury informed that any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.
- It is the first time the EU has imposed sanctions on China since an arms embargo after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Counter Arguments of China over sanctions
- It has consistently denied all reports of atrocities against Uighurs, maintaining it is only “deradicalising” elements of its population in the interests of security.
- China has maintained that all it is doing in the camps is to de-radicalize people and give them skill training, so they can stay away from violence and extremism.
- China sanctioned five Members of European Parliament and the Political and Security Committee, the EU’s main foreign policy decision-making body, among others.
- China also summoned the EU ambassador, Nicolas Chapuis, and the UK ambassador, Caroline Wilson, to lodge “solemn protests”.
Reasons for Sanctions over China
- Over the past few decades, more and more Han Chinese have settled in Xinjinag, which saw violent clashes between them and the Uighurs.
- China is now accused of putting over a million people in internment camps to “de-Muslimise” them and make them integrate better in the Communist country.
- The allegations are that these people have been forced to leave behind their occupations, properties and families, to stay at the camps.
- The survivors, human rights organisations, and governments of other countries have alleged physical, psychological and sexual torture.
Uighurs
- Xinjiang has a large number of Uighurs, who are Muslims of Turkic descent.
- There are about 12 million Uighurs, living in north-western China in the region of Xinjiang, officially known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR).
- The Uighurs speaks their own language and sees themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.
Parosmia: Odor distortion associated with COVID-19
Recently, the researchers have revealed that while the loss of smell (anosmia) and taste is a well-known symptom of COVID-19, some people may experience parosmia, which is characterised by a change in perception of odours.
Parosmia
- According to Fifth Sense, parosmia is a medical term used to describe a condition in which affected individuals experience “distortions of the sense of smell”.
- A person with parosmia is able to detect certain odours, but they might experience the smell of certain things as different and often unpleasant.
- The Fifth Sense says that these unpleasant smells are often described by people as being similar to that of chemicals, burning, faeces, rotting flesh and mould.
Causes of Parosmia
- It is typically experienced by those people who are recovering their sense of smell following loss from a virus or an injury.
- It is a temporary condition and is not harmful in itself.
- It can continue for several weeks, which means that affected individuals may have to change their eating patterns, diets and avoid foods that trigger the certain odours.
- The common triggers of parosmia include roasted, toasted or grilled foods, coffee, onions, chocolate, garlic and eggs.
- It is likely that parosmia manifests itself due to the damage caused to the olfactory neurons when the delicate and complex structure in the nose is attacked by a virus.
COVID-19 and Parosmia
- The parosmia has been associated with a high proportion of patients with post-infectious loss.
- The study reported that nearly half of its COVID-19 cohort reported parosmia, which was persistent at least till six months in the majority of the cases.
- The study says that parosmia might be a positive sign and may reflect the recovery of the olfactory sensory neurons.
VISHWAS Project
Recently, the Minister of State has informed that a total of 6,000 CCTV cameras have already been installed under the state government’s VISHWAS Project.
VISHWAS Project
- It is Video Integration and State Wide Advanced Security (VISHWAS) project.
- It is an initiative of Gujarat Police launched in January 2020.
- Under this project, there is a plan to set up more than 60,000 cameras at 41 locations, including six pilgrimage sites and Kevadiya Colony.
- The camera footage will be manned in a pyramid style structure starting from a state command and control centre at the top, which will control 34 District Command and Control Centres.
- The CCTV cameras will be synchronized in order to live watch CCTV feed of Dang or Amreli from Gandhinagar Control Center.
Objectives of VISHWAS Project
- The police aim to use it for crime detection with forensic analysis of the evidence through a synchronised system of CCTV surveillance.
- The CCTV feed of crime incident or evidence can be sent immediately to the Central Command and Control Centre which in turn can submit the feed to Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).
- The police also aim to achieve a pro-active traffic management system by identifying the black spots and bottleneck junctions of a city through CCTV feed.
- It will also help the police in issuing e-challan in even Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities by identifying the number plate of offending vehicles.
Features of CCTV used under VISHWAS Project
- The CCTVs are state of the art gadgets such as fix cameras, pan-tilt zoom cameras, red-light violation detection cameras and automatic number plate recognition cameras.
- The Gujarat Police is aiming at introducing CCTV surveillance system to detect illegal parking, traffic violation, crowd detection, unattended bag detection, head counting, camera tampering and intrusion detection.
PRANIT: E-Tendering Portal
Recently, the Ministry of Power has released an E-Tendering Portal ‘PRANIT’.
PRANIT
- It is an e-tendering portal established by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) which is a central PSU under Ministry of Power.
- It will lead to less paperwork and ease of operation, making the tendering process more transparent.
- It has been certified by Standardisation, Testing and Quality Certification Directorate (STQC), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
- POWERGRID is now the only organization in India to have an e-Procurement solution on SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) with PRANIT.
India has world's fourth strongest armed forces
Recently, the Military Direct has released a study report called ‘Ultimate Military Strength Index’.
China has the strongest military force in the world while India stands at number four.
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- China has the strongest military in the world, scoring 82 out of 100 points in the index
- The USA, despite their enormous military budgets, comes in 2nd place with 74 points, followed by Russia with 69, India at 61 and then France with 58.
- The world’s biggest military spender with a budget of USD 732 billion per year is the USA, followed by China with USD 261 billion and India stood at USD 71 billion.
- The report highlighted that in a hypothetical conflict, China would win by sea, USA by air and Russia by land.
Ultimate Military Strength Index
- It ranks the total available active military manpower by country, from highest to lowest.
- It was calculated after taking into consideration various factors including budgets, number of inactive and active military personnel, total air, sea, land and nuclear resources, average salaries, and weight of equipment.
- The finalized Global Firepower ranking utilizes over 50 individual factors to determine a given nation's PowerIndex (PwrIndx) score.
- There are currently 140 countries considered for the Global Firepower (GFP) annual defense review.
India slams Oxfam Inequality Index
Recently, the Minister of Labour and Employment has given a written reply to a question on India’s performance under Oxfam Inequality Index.
Key Arguments of India
- The Ministry said that the index lacked clarity and did not take into account provisions of the four new labour codes.
- The rank assigned to India and methodology adopted is not clear, and does not take into account the entire gamut of provisions in the Indian legislations relevant to protection of labour rights.
- The Minister said though India was not a signatory to two International Labour Organisation conventions on the freedom of association and protection of the right to organise (C87) and the right to organise and collective bargaining (C98), the principles of the conventions were “available to workers”.
- The methodology does not take into account the various provisions that have been provided in the Labour Codes.
India’s performance under Oxfam Inequality Index
- The 2020 index placed India at rank 151 in terms of workers’ rights and 129 overall out of 158 countries.
- It put India at rank 141 out of 158 countries in public services and ranks 19 in terms of progressive tax.
- India had scored low on labour rights performance, unemployment and inequality in wages with regard to the labour pillar in the index.
Oxfam Inequality Index
- The 2020 edition is the third edition of the Commitment to Reducing Inequality (CRI) Index, which ranks 158 governments across the world on their commitment to reducing inequality.
- It measures government policies and actions in three areas that are proven to be directly related to reducing inequality:
- Public services (health, education and social protection);
- Taxation; and
- Workers’ rights
- Each pillar now contains three levels of indicator:
- Policy commitment indicators: these measure the commitment of governments through their policies (which may not always be implemented in practice);
- Coverage or implementation indicators: these look at who is covered (or not) as a result of policy actions, or how well a government puts policies on paper into practice; and
- Impact indicators: these measure the impact of policy actions on levels of inequality
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