THE ASSAM TRIBUNE ANALYSIS

DATE - 30 JANUARY 2021

For Preliminary and Mains examination

As per new Pattern of APSC

(Also useful for UPSC and other State level government examinations)

Answer of MCQs of 29-01-2021

1. D) All the above 2. D) United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is not the main organ of the U.N.O. 3. B) Smt. Vijay Laxmi Pandit was the first Indian to be the President of U. N. General Assembly. 4. D) Spain is not a permanent member of the UN Security Council. 5. B World Economic Forum releases the Global Competitive Report.

MCQS of 30-01-2021

Q1. The protocol which decided to completely phase out CFC is

A. Cartagena protocol B. Stockholm Convention C. Montreal protocol D. Kyoto protocol

Q2. Who established the (NIC)?

A. B. Sarojini Naidu C. Jawaharlal Nehru D. None of the above

Q3. Gandhiji's "The Story of My Experiments with Truth" was originally written in Gujarati. Who translated it into English?

A. Maganlal

B.

C. Pyarelalji

D. Sushila Nayyar

Q4. Who called the 'father of the nation' to Gandhi ji?

A. Rabindra Nath Tagore B. Subhash Chandra Bose C. Gopal Krishna Gokhale D. None of these

Q5. Which of the following chemicals cause water pollution? 1. Arsenic 2. Copper 3. Zinc

Select the correct answer from the following codes A. Only 1 B. Only 1 and 2 C. Only 2 and 3 D. 1 , 2 and 3

Q6. In what way did transform the nature of Indian freedom struggle? Discuss.

CONTENTS

1. Centre’s policy bringing peace to NE: Kovind ( GS 5 – Internal Security ) 2. Two rare insect species spotted ( GS 5 – Bio-diversity )

EDITORIALS

1. Groundwater pollution and depletion ( GS 3 – Environment ) 2. A young life as restless as mercury ( GS 1 - Modern History ) 3. Controlling militancy ( GS 5 – Internal Security )

NEWS ARTICLES

Centre’s policy bringing peace to NE: Kovind  Stating that the NDA government was fully committed to overall and balanced development, President on Friday said that the Centre’s policy for bringing enduring peace to the North East, based on sensitivity and collaboration, has started showing clear results now.

 Addressing the joint session of Parliament marking the beginning of the Budget Session, the President said that a policy for rapid development of the North East, while preserving its unique geographical, cultural and linguistic characteristics and its social identity, is being implemented.

 The President at the outset quoted a poem by ‘Assam Kesari’ Ambikagiri Roychoudhury. He said that whenever has remained united, it has been able to attain even seemingly unattainable goals.

 This solidarity and Mahatma Gandhi’s inspiration had given us freedom from hundreds of years of colonial rule. “Echoing the same spirit, Assam Kesari Ambikagiri Roychoudhury, the nationalist poet, had said, ‘Om tatsat Bharat mahat, ek chetonaat, ek dhyanot, ek sadhonaat, ek avegot, ek hoi jaa, ek hoi jaa’ (India’s grandeur is the ultimate truth. In one single consciousness, one thought, one devotion, one inspiration, let us unite, let us unite),” Kovind said.

 Kovind said that today, extremism in the North East was on the wane and there was a sharp decline in the number of violent incidents.

 The youths who went astray on the path of violence are now returning to the mainstream of development and nation building.

 “For Assam and the Northeastern states, the Brahmaputra river is the ‘Jibondhara’ (lifeline),” he said.

 “Making this lifeline the basis for economic activity, work on operationalizing several national waterways is in progress. This will benefit all sections of people in the North East, including farmers, youth and entrepreneurs,” he said.

 By developing the Integrated National Waterways under the Artha Brahmaputra programme, efforts are under way to transform the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers as streams of development.

 He said that rehabilitation of Bru refugees is being completed in a peaceful and harmonious manner.

 Similarly, a historic Bodo peace accord has been signed which has also been implemented successfully. After the accord, elections to the Bodo Territorial Council have been held successfully.

Two rare insect species spotted  Two insect species – a hornet and a wasp – were sighted recently by Dr Bikramaditya Bakalial, Assistant Professor of Zoology at Bahona College, Jorhat.

 The species have been identified by an eminent entomologist associated with the Zoological Survey of India (ZSOI), Dr P Girish Kumar. The species are potter wasp (delta companiforme companiforme) and hornet (vespa soror).

 Dr Bakalial, who has been carrying out research on insects for the past few years, spotted the species inside the college campus. Then, he collected the species and preserved them in the college lab.

 “I communicated with Dr P Girish Kumar, who is a leading scientist of the Zoological Survey of India based in Kozhikode, Kerala,” Bakalial said, narrating the event of discovery.

 Dr Bakalial said that both the species are found in Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and . In this context, he informed that he would be carrying out further study on the species to gather more information.

 Principal of Bahona College Dr PK Dutta hailed the initiative of the teacher, saying it would help pupils to take up research on insects of the State.

EDITORIALS

Groundwater pollution and depletion  Groundwater is a valuable asset of nature. It occurs sporadically within a limited depth of the outer crust of earth. This water is less contaminated than the surface water that can be easily harnessed, as it is stored underground naturally after being filtered within soil, rock matrix or unconsolidated rocks which bear characteristics of aquifers.

 It plays a vital, regulatory role in running the hydrologic cycle. The water falls on the ground through the natural process of precipitation at first, passes through the subsurface materials and then back to the atmosphere again through natural as well as artificial processes.

 Today, people use groundwater for drinking, agricultural irrigation, industrial processes and in municipal water supply.

 It is obvious that India is not lacking in surface water resources. In spite of that, of course, in practice, she is facing an acute shortage of pure water. It is because of large-scale contamination with pollutants in it and finally the polluted surface water brings about groundwater pollution.

 It is known that the surface water becomes polluted when rainwater run-off carries pollutants into the exposed water-bodies.

 The pollutants that are transported by run-off are impurities like salts and chemicals from city, highways, roads and fertilizers more or less in soluble stage.

 Moreover, the chemicals come from pesticides, synthetic materials such as petroleum products and other automobile fluids, and mercury, lead, arsenic, cadmium from mining sites or from industries as industrial wastes.

 These chemicals are very dangerous for the environment as well as for the health of the organisms that inhibit them.

 The pesticides can damage the nervous system and cause even cancer in human bodies because of the carbonates and organophosphates that they contain.

 Additionally, the water may also be polluted with pathogens which usually results from sewage leakage and run-off slaughter houses.

 In India, groundwater pollution has become a major environmental issue. The largest pollution in India is said to be of untreated sewage.

 The contaminated sewage water at first mixes with drainage water and contaminates the soil and shallow aquifers. As regard the status of groundwater pollution in India, two years back, the then Union Food and Supply Minister Ram Vilas Paswan disclosed that excepting few localities like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar and Ranchi which have potable drinking water, others like and Guwahati do not have safe potable water.

 Notably, apart from these, there have been reported occurrences of arsenic contamination in groundwater in the States of , , Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, and Chhattisgarh, which may have link to unscientific and unmonitored large-scale exploitation of groundwater, more particularly from deeper aquifers.

 It is worthwhile to mention that due to the enormous increase of pollutants in surface water, the exploitation of groundwater has received prime importance presently.

 But it is not possible to cater to the need of water as its reserve is very limited in comparison to total water in the globe. It is known that the earth bears only 0.76% exploitable fresh groundwater against about 75% total reserve of water in it.

 So at this juncture, if ignoring the exact capacity of reserve more and more water is being withdrawn from the aquifers, it will lead to a very gruesome stage of water scarcity and depletion of water level in an area.

 Depletion is a term often defined as long-term water level decline primarily caused by sustained groundwater pumping. In general, it offers adverse effects in a locality like water well problems, reduction of surface water flow and land subsidence, etc.

 It is known to all that as the depth to water increases, the water must be lifted higher to reach the land surface. Thus the power costs increase as the groundwater level declines. Depending on use of the water and the energy cost, it may no longer be economically feasible to use groundwater for a given purpose.

 Again, if the groundwater levels decline below the bottom end of the existing pumps, enhancement of the expense of lowering the pump, deepening the well or drilling deeper replacement well are unavoidable. Not only this, the yield of the well may also decline below usable rate, when the water level declines much. The over-withdrawal of groundwater through a series of deep wells may reduce the water level in the surrounding shallow aquifers and even in the minor local water-bodies too.

 Over and above these, the severe depletion of groundwater level in an area may cause land subsidence if emphasis has only been given on exploitation of water for long period. Land subsidence is basically a gradual setting or sudden sinking of the earth’s surface owing to subsurface movement of earth materials.

 This type of situation may arise where excessive pumping is made within the areas covered mostly by soft and fresh alluvium. It is a matter of fact that many populous cities of the world have faced the problem of land subsidence.

 Out of these, Mexico, , Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh, Bangkok, Shanghai and Dhaka are worth mentioning. An Indian city, Kolkata, is also facing a situation of land subsidence.

 A recent report indicates that in Kolkata, Mochuabazar, Calcutta University and Rajabazar Science College locality had been undergoing subsidence during the period of 1992-1998 with an estimated rate of 6.5 mm per year.

 Similarly, a study conducted by a retired scientist of CGWB in 2006 reportedly revealed that if the groundwater extraction is being carried out at the present rate in city, there will be likelihood of land subsidence shortly.

 Admittedly, like many countries of the world, India will have to face severe hardship with the potable groundwater in the days to come.

 In this regard we have been alerted by the NITI Aayog that at least 21 major Indian cities, including the capital , will run out of groundwater soon.

 The report also lamented that approximately 200,000 people die in India each year due to lack of access to safe drinking water. In addition to this the Aayog also stated that the worst water crisis in its history is that 54% of India’s groundwater wells have declined over the past years, and 21 major cities are expected to run out of groundwater by 2030.

 Keeping all these view, the people at large as well as the need to rise to the situation to tackle the coming shortage of groundwater by devising the technologies to minimize water loss preferably.

 Simultaneously, measures should also be taken to minimize the pollution of surface water aiming to utilize the same for long days. This will definitely help in reduction of groundwater use and an untoward situation arising out of groundwater exploitation.

A young life as restless as mercury

 One of the must read and most read books in the world is The Story of My Experiment with Truth by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

 The Mahatma’s memoir is famous for the truths he held dear to his heart, but the book is equally famous for being incomplete, with the memoir stopping abruptly in 1920.

 The then would-be Mahatma although gave up writing his memories, Gandhi continued to speak and write about everything – his life, family, work, colleagues, those who opposed and venerated him, his hopes, anxieties, challenges, fasts, jail stints, enthusiasms and, of course, disappointments.

 These autobiographical observations are scattered over several pages of the Collected Works of Mahatma Gandhi, as well as in some works that were published in his lifetime under his gaze. When knitted together, these make for a gripping and powerful story.

 Titled Restless as Mercury (that was how Gandhi’s only sister Raliyat had described the young Mohandas): My Life as a Young Man makes for an engrossing reading into the life and times of the young man.

 This is the extraordinary story of the householder and lawyer who would become the Mahatma, told in his own words, edited by his grandson and brought to the stands by Aleph Book Company this month.

 In fact, his sister Raliyat had had this stunningly accurate characterization of her brother that provided the title of this book, ‘restless as mercury’, as he used to either play or roam around in the streets when he was a child.

 Tales such as and Shravana had a great impact on Gandhi when he was a child. Young Gandhi was deeply influenced by his mother Putlibai who was a proponent of . She would often keep two or three consecutive fasts.

 Jain teachings of mutual tolerance, non-injury to living beings and , things that stayed with him throughout his life and defined his character, especially his philosophy of non-violence, ruled his upbringing days.

 The book starts with Mohandas’s birth in 1869 and focuses on his early years in Gujarat, his schooling, immediate family and marriage to Kasturba.

 Then we see him away from his home and family in a new environment, England, where he goes to study law. He continues his commitment to vegetarianism and engages in a brief flirtation with becoming an English gentleman.

 He then makes a quick visit home to before going to to practise law, a country where he experiences racial prejudice and struggles to balance the demand of home and public life.

 We then see Gandhi setting up the Ambulance Corps with other Indians, becomes politically engaged, and starts fighting for the rights of Indians in South Africa.

 It is during this period that he starts his journal and sets up his ashram in Durban – curiously called the Phoenix Settlement. As his ethics and values firm up, he finds himself in a battle at home with his wife, Kasturba.

 All three major sections of the South African population – the ruling Europeans, the majority Africans, and the minority Asians – mounted assault on Gandhi’s politics.

 This makes his belief in non-violent struggle stronger and his idea of comes to the fore. He begins courting imprisonment and encourages his friends, family and fellow Indians to do so as well.

 It is in this period that Gandhi sets up for the families of the satyagrahis. The last part of the book sees him leading disciplined mass movements the likes of which had been seen nowhere before. And when the demands of the South African satyagraha are conceded, Gandhi decides the time has come for him to return to India.

 Accompanied by Kasturba, he leaves South Africa for India in 1914 for the great appointment with history that awaits him in the motherland.

 As he was imprisoned for two months in South Africa on one among several occasions, one would be naive not to quote Gandhi in his own words: “What would happen in two months? Would I have to serve the full term?

 If the people courted imprisonment in large numbers, there would be no question of serving the full term. But if they fail to fill the prison, two months would be as tedious as an age. How vain I was! I began to laugh at my own folly. …The police officer opened the door and asked me to follow him, which I did to the prison van. I was driven to the Johannesburg jail.”

 Full of insights and revelations, Gopalkrishna Gandhi’s book never stops enlightening the reader on the Mahatma.

 A read will make one relearn what he or she had already known about the apostle of peace. Just after Gandhi sailed back to India, he remembered the happiest moments in South Africa. “Just before SS Kinfauns Castle, by which we were sailing, weighed anchor, a Cape Argus representative approached me for ‘any final remarks he would like to make’.

 Let me say that I shall carry away with me the happiest recollections, and that I hope it will be my pleasure while away to find that my countrymen are being treated with justice in South Africa. May I convey, on behalf of Mrs Gandhi,… and self, our deepest thanks to hundreds of senders of telegrams from all parts of South Africa which awaited upon our arrival on board.

 These telegrams, containing messages of love and sympathy, will be an additional reminder to us of what South Africa has meant to us. We trust that the goodwill shown to us personally by so many European friends will be transferred to those to whose cause our lives in South Africa were dedicated.”

 Restless as Mercury: My Life as a Young Man is a riveting read, a candid and unflinching account of the struggles, experience’s and philosophies that informed and influenced the young Mohandas. The book is a paved way to revisit the life of the apostle of peace, Mahatma Gandhi.

Controlling militancy  Notwithstanding the peace achieved vis-a-vis militancy in the State in the last one decade, sporadic acts of violence by the ultra outfits remains a serious concern. In the latest such incident, a surrendered rebel leader was killed by members of a rival outfit in Dima Hasao district.

 This comes close on the heels of the abduction of two oil firm executives by the ULFA (I) which has now issued an ultimatum over ransom.

 These are disturbing developments and have the potential to disrupt normal functioning of trade and commerce and hinder private investment in the State, not to mention the fear caused to the general public and the disrepute it brings to the State.

 For long Assam and other parts of the Northeast have been associated with insurgency and the tag refuses to disappear even though most of the Northeast today are as peaceful as any other peaceful parts of the country.

 The Government, therefore, has to be firm in tackling insurgency so that the militancy-induced bad name linked to the region is removed. This should not be any Herculean exercise, given that all the major militant outfits in the State barring the ULFA (I) have entered into peace agreements with the Government.

 The authorities need to be firm in checking acts of violence by the few smaller outfits and drive home the message that militancy does not pay. Failing this, ultra outfits will only continue to operate with audacity and impunity. There is also a need to boost intelligence and improve follow-up action.

 While the State Government is pursuing a peace process with a number of separatist militant outfits such as ULFA, NDFB, DHD, etc., the process is falling short of yielding the desired results because one faction or the other of all those engaged in dialogue continues to wage a battle with the Government.

 The Government needs to act firm on such acts of violence perpetrated by these underground factions even while offering the olive branch to them in a bid to bring them to the negotiating table.

 Then, the ongoing peace talks must be rounded up within a stipulated time frame and the ultras, particularly the leaders, made to join the mainstream as law-abiding citizens. Once the militants have come over-ground to join the mainstream, they must not be allowed to turn into a nuisance or menace for society.

 Unfortunately, they seem more interested in running illegal syndicates using intimidation and force. The over-ground militant groups like the pro-talk ULFA or the NDFB have substantial organizational strength and manpower, and this they should use in productive activities that can also inspire the youth to emulate.

 Finally, any pragmatic approach aimed at defeating insurgency – apart from having a foolproof security mechanism – has to address the relevant socio-economic concerns. A purely military-centric stance is unlikely to be any long-term cure; rather it could well prove to be counterproductive if the core issues of underdevelopment and unemployment are left unaddressed.