On 50 years of Sikkim’s integration with India, recalling the role of royals, political parties

• May 16 is annually commemorated as Sikkim Day, marking the former kingdom’s integration with India in 1975. On its 50th anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his greetings to the people of Sikkim on X, and said, “Sikkim is associated with serene beauty, rich cultural traditions and industrious people. It has made strides in diverse sectors. May the people of this beautiful state continue to prosper.”

How did Sikkim become a part of India almost three decades after Indian independence?.

Sikkim’s history with the Chogyal royals

• The kingdom of Sikkim was established in 1642, when, according to one account, three Tibetan lamas consecrated Phuntsong Namgyal as the first ruler or Chogyal of Sikkim. The monarchy of the Namgyal dynasty was maintained for the next 333 years, until 1975.
• Sandwiched between India and China, and often party to conflicts over land with Bhutan and Nepal, the British colonisation of India first led to a semi-formal relationship between the two states. The British saw Sikkim as a buffer state against China and Nepal.
• A formal protectorate was established over Sikkim through the Treaty of Tumlong in 1861, meaning the British had control over it, but it was not officially under their rule, and the Chogyals could continue holding onto power.
• Other official treaties followed: The treaty of Titaliya in 1817 gave the British authorities several commercial and political advantages in Sikkim.
•  The Calcutta Convention of 1890 demarcated the border between Sikkim and Tibet, and was signed by Viceroy Lord Lansdowne and Qing China’s Imperial Associate Resident in Tibet. The Lhasa Convention of 1904 affirmed the Calcutta Convention.

Independent India and Kingdom of Sikkim

• After India’s independence, princely states had the option to accede to India or Pakistan, and in certain cases, like those of Hyderabad, Junagadh and Kashmir, where a decision was not immediate, led to greater confusion. Such was the case with Sikkim, thanks to a unique relationship with British rule.
• India believed it should take control of defence, external affairs and communication subjects for Sikkim. Until this was finalised, Sikkim was to sign a Standstill Agreement to maintain the status quo.
• Meanwhile, there was at least some demand within Sikkim to develop closer ties with India. Srinivasan’s book says that ethnically, Sikkim consisted of three communities, the Bhutias, Lepchas and Nepalis, of which the Nepalis formed the largest group.
• Three political parties, the Sikkim State Congress (SSC) led by a Bhutia man, the Praja Mandal (PM) that had Lepcha leadership and Praja Sudharak Samaj (PSS) was led by a Nepali, passed a resolution in December 1947 demanding a popular government, the abolition of landlordism and accession to India.
• In 1950, the Indo-Sikkim Treaty was signed, making Sikkim an Indian protectorate. It would not be sovereign, as India controlled its defence, external affairs and strategic communications.
• India also secured exclusive rights to build infrastructure, and Sikkimese people would travel abroad with Indian passports. Sikkim would have “Internal autonomy”. Additionally, a clause gave India overriding powers in cases of security threats.

How Sikkim joined India

• Sikkim’s state council or assembly had some elected members and others nominated by the king. In the early years, it saw some political tussles over the representation for various communities, and the Chogyal’s reluctance to let go of his control.
• The 1960s and 1970s would see several events change the course of Sikkim’s status. First, a split in the SSC led to the formation of the Sikkim National Congress (SNC) in 1960.
• The party would go on to play a crucial role in accession.
• There was also a change in political leadership on both sides, with the death of Nehru in 1964 and of his successor, Lal Bahadur Shastri, in 1966. Then Chogyal Tashi Namgyal died in 1963, and Maharaj Kumar Thondup succeeded him, planning to leverage this period of change to seek an independent status for Sikkim.
• For new Indian PM Indira Gandhi, her position weakened after the 1967 general elections that saw her return to power with a reduced majority in the Lok Sabha.
• This was also after the India-China war of 1962, where India lost. It made it all the more important to contain skirmishes between Indian and Chinese troops on the Sikkim border. The two states decided to alter existing wording to indicate a “permanent relationship” between them, but the Chogyal wanted further clarity on Sikkim’s independence.
• Anti-monarchy protests grew in Sikkim in 1973, following which the royal palace was surrounded by thousands of protesters. Indian troops arrived after the monarch was left with no choice but to ask New Delhi to send assistance.
• Finally, a tripartite agreement was signed in the same year between the chogyal, the Indian government, and three major political parties, so that political reforms could be introduced.
• In 1974, elections were held, where the Sikkim Congress led by Kazi Dorji won. That year, a new constitution was adopted, restricting the monarch’s role to a titular post. A referendum was held in 1975, where two-thirds of eligible voters participated.
• Here, 59,637 votes were cast in favour of abolishing the monarchy and joining India, with 1,496 voting against.
• Within a week, India’s Ministry of External Affairs introduced the Constitution (Thirty-Sixth Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha to recognise Sikkim as a state in the Union of India. This was passed in the Parliament and assented to by President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, coming into effect on May 16, 1975.
• Sikkim’s new parliament, led by Dorji, proposed a Bill for Sikkim to become an Indian state, which was accepted by the Indian government. Notably, China only gave de facto recognition to the integration in 2003.
•  It later released maps showing Sikkim as part of India. However, during the Doklam stand-off between India and China in 2017, its state-run media outlets threatened to change their stance.
• “Although China recognized India’s annexation of Sikkim in 2003, it can readjust its stance on the matter. There are those in Sikkim that cherish its history as a separate state, and they are sensitive to how the outside world views the Sikkim issue. As long as there are voices in Chinese society supporting Sikkim’s independence, the voices will spread and fuel pro-independence appeals in Sikkim,”.

How Argentina’s most famous glacier, once unusually stable, is now crumbling

• Argentina’s most famous glacier, the Perito Moreno glacier, which has a surface area of 250 sq km (the total area of Patna, Bihar), is crumbling. Just weeks ago, it lost a colossal block of ice, equivalent to a 20-story building, plunging 70 m into water below.
• Such incidents — known as ice calving events — are not new for the glacier. In fact, as these events are a visual spectacle, they are the primary reason for the fame of the Perito Moreno glacier, making it a major tourist destination.
• However, in recent years, the size of the ice chunks breaking off has raised concern among scientists and experts. The latest ice calving event has further heightened this concern. Note that for several decades the Perito Moreno glacier was unusually stable, unlike other glaciers across the world, amid soaring global temperatures. But this changed around 2020.

An iconic site

• The Perito Moreno glacier, also called the ‘White Giant’, is located near the city of El Calafate in the Argentine province of Santa Cruz, and comes under the Los Glaciares National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
• It was formed during the last Ice Age, which occurred approximately 18,000 years ago. Estimates suggest that the glacier is 30 km long, and has a towering height of 60 m above the water level. Due to its enormous size, it is a major source of freshwater for Argentina.
• Since at least 1917, the glacier has witnessed numerous large-scale ice calving events due to its forward movement. The event creates a thunderous sound as colossal blocks of ice break from the glacier and submerge into the water. The stunning visuals of calving have, over the years, attracted tourists from around the world.

The retreat

• Although the calving events at the Perito Moreno glacier are a natural phenomenon, they have been growing in size in recent years.
• The glacier was mostly stable for decades, as in some years it advanced and others retreated. However, in the last five years, the glacier has retreated quite firmly. A 2024 report, backed by the Argentine government, found that while Perito Moreno’s mass has been overall stable for half a century, the period since 2015 has seen the fastest and most prolonged loss of mass in 47 years, on average losing 0.85 metres per year, according to a report by Reuters.
• In 2023, scientists at the Argentine Institute of Glaciology and Environmental Sciences (IANIGLA) told the media that since 2020, the Perito Moreno glacier had seen a loss of mass consisting of more than 700 m, approximately seven blocks.
• The retreat has been triggered by an obvious culprit: global warming. Argentine glaciologist Lucas Ruiz with state science body CONICET told , “The thing with Perito Moreno is that it took a while, so to speak, to feel the effects of climate change.”
• He said that the area around the glacier witnessed an increase in air temperature of around 0.06 degrees Celsius per decade and precipitation, meaning less accumulation of snow and ice.

A global phenomenon

• The Perito Moreno glacier is now part of the long list of glaciers around the globe which are disappearing faster than ever due to rising temperatures. 
• Glaciers have been losing 273 billion tonnes of ice each year — equivalent to how much water Earth’s entire population would consume over a period of 30 years — for the last 25 years, according to a research paper published in the journal Nature in February this year.
• The paper, ‘Community estimate of global glacier mass changes from 2000 to 2023’, also said that the ice loss had led to the sea level rising by almost 2 cm this century alone. While the 2 cm sea level rise may seem insignificant, it can have disastrous consequences for the world.
• In March, a UNESCO report said that since 1975, glaciers, which do not include the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets, had lost more than 9,000 billion tonnes of mass. “This is equivalent to a huge ice block of the size of Germany with a thickness of 25 metres,” Michael Zemp, director of the Switzerland-based World Glacier Monitoring Service, had said during the release of the report

What are key highlights of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

• Given the growing demand for more frequent data about the labour market and enhancing the scope, relevance, and coverage of the surveys, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has come up with the first monthly bulletin of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).

Key Takeaways:

• 1. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under MoSPI had launched PLFS in April 2017. Quarterly bulletins provide details of labour force indicators such as Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR). In 2019, NSSO was merged with the Central Statistical Office (CSO) to form the NSO.
• 2. Earlier, the MoSPI released rural PLFS data on an annual basis and urban PLFS data on a quarterly basis, along with an annual report that combines data for both urban and rural on an annual basis.
• 3. The first monthly estimates, published by the National Statistical Office (NSO), are based on the current weekly status (CWS) approach, which measures the activity status of persons surveyed based on the reference period of the last seven days preceding the date of survey.
• 4. Basically, PLFS collects data in two ways — Usual Status (US) and Current Weekly Status (CWS). Broadly speaking, within the usual status, the survey respondent has to recall their employment details from the last one year, while in the CWS, the respondent has to recall the details over the past one week.
• 5. According to the CWS approach, the estimate of the labour force is derived by considering those who worked for at least 1 hour or was seeking/ available for work for at least 1 hour on any day during the 7 days preceding the date of survey.

Key findings from the report:

• 1. India’s unemployment rate stood at 5.1 per cent in April for persons aged 15 years and above, with the rate for males at 5.2 per cent and for females at 5.0 per cent. In urban areas, the unemployment rate stood at 6.5 per cent, while in rural areas, the unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above was recorded to be 4.5 per cent.
• 2. Females saw a higher unemployment rate at 8.7 per cent than 5.8 per cent for males in urban areas. In rural areas, however, the unemployment rate for females was lower at 3.9 per cent than 4.9 per cent for males in April.
• A 3. The Labour Force Participation Rate for persons aged 15 years and above in the country stood at 55.6 per cent in April, with the rate for urban areas at 50.7 per cent and for rural areas at 58.0 per cent. The gender-wise split showed the low labour force participation rate of females at 34.2 per cent as against 77.7 per cent for males.
• 4. The female LFPR was lower for urban areas at 25.7 per cent than 38.2 per cent in rural areas for the age group 15 years and above. In comparison, the male LFPR stood at 75.3 per cent in urban areas and 79.0 per cent in rural areas.
• 5. The Worker Population Ratio (WPR), which indicates the employment rate, was recorded at 52.8 per cent for persons of age 15 years and above in April. The WPR for persons aged 15 years and above stood at 47.4 per cent in urban areas and 55.4 per cent in rural areas.
• 6. As per the gender-wise breakup, WPR for females was 23.5 per cent in urban areas and 36.8 per cent in rural areas. For males, the WPR stood at 71 per cent in urban areas and 75.1 per cent in rural areas.