Panel Report on MGNREGA Wages
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www.iasscore.in Current Affairs Fortnightly Contents Issue I- September, (1-15), 2017 • Bit Dispute Management Strategy Topical Analysis 5-11 • Dismal Picture of Higher Education • India's Waste Management Crisis INDIA-MYANMAR RELATIONS • Rationale Analysis of Demonetisation • BRICS Summit • Indo-Japan Ties Contemporary Issues 12-91 • Police Surveillance in Age of Big Data • Public Accountability Concept • Why Skill India Mission has Failed? • Bullet Train • Strategy for Managing Internal Security • RTI Act Needs to be Protected • Computer Game and Issues • Panel Report on MGNREGA Wages • Special Provisions for Other States • Marine Diversity in Antarctica under Threat • Road Accidents in India • Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill 2017 • Draft Amendments to Mineral Auction Rules, 2015 • Women into Military Police • Women in Judiciary Matters September (1-15), 2017 3 www.iasscore.in Current Affairs Fortnightly Prelims News 92-102 Indian Culture Polity and Governance • Tabourida • Government opens centre for Dropouts • BAMBOO TRAIN Cambodia • No fly rules • Adopt a monument • Largest march to protect children • Pulikkali Tiger Dance • SC allows sale of firecrackers, conditions apply • Maha pushkaram • Mutual divorce process shortened by 6 months Geographical News • Cabinet approves doubling of gratuity payment • Dahisar River • DIKSHA Portal • Mithi River Miscellaneous News • Deogarh open defecation • Initial coin offerings • Narmada Projects • Navika Sagar Parikrama - Navy's women team • Hurricane IRMA • Issue in granting citizenship to Chakmas Science and Environment • Rajiv Maharishi • HORTINET Mobile app technology • Sunil Arora • Locky ransware • Farmer Zone • Kyasanoor Forest Disease (Monkey fever) • Ayodhya Observors • Hospital acquired infection Terms in News • Nag missile • Automatic Exchange of Information • TRAPPIST -1 • European Free Trade Association • Volcanic Carbon Dioxide drove ancient global Warming • World Giving Index • Air pollution diminishing solar power • Hydrogen Bomb • Organic waste used to make green fuel 4 September (1-15), 2017 www.iasscore.in Current Affairs Fortnightly COVER STORY India-Myanmar Relations Context Myanmar is India's gateway to the East and it's the only Southeast Asian country with which India shares land boundary. Recently, “ PM Narendra Modi visited Myanmar on a two-day trip which is his first bilateral visit. The bilateral visit held importance as it comes at a time when Myanmar is facing intense scrutiny over latest round of violence against roughly 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims. The current article analyzes why Indian PM's visit to Myanmar is important and how India could execute Act East Policy in the face of worst humanitarian crisis in Rakhine state of Myanmar. Introduction Since its independence in 1947, India had been using the Ghandhian-Nehruvian philosophy of non-violence and peace in its relations with Myanmar and other Asian countries. India’s engagement with Myanmar was based on its idealistic self- conception as a major and civilised power from geographical and cultural perspectives, promoting peace, non-alignment, and democracy. India tried to promote democracy in Myanmar by becoming a staunch supporter of pro-democratic movements in Myanmar, financially and logistically after 1988. However, India’s democratic stance in Myanmar is seemed to have shifted, as since 1993 onwards India established a close relationship with the military government of Myanmar because of India’s own economic and geo-strategic interests. Theoretically, this foreign policy phenomenon in India-Myanmar relations is looked upon from a “modified structuralism” perspective. This theory argues that foreign policy decision makers of a state or government operate in a ‘world of sovereign states seeking to maximize their interest and power’ but under some conditions choose to transcend ‘individualistic calculations of interest.’ Reasons for change in trajectory This change can be attributed due to the realisation that India’s national interest can be best served by a strong and stable Myanmar that observes strict neutrality between India and China and also cooperates with India in the common fight against insurgencies raging in the border areas of both the countries. The reasons can be discussed as follows: Growing Presence of China in Myanmar: There was growing Presence of China in Myanmar. China is said to have invested more than $1 billion in Myanmar, primarily in the mining sector, and is the Myanmar’s fourth largest foreign investor. Chinese firms are heavily involved in logging in Myanmar. Myanmar gives China access to the Indian Ocean, not only for imports of oil and gas and exports from landlocked south-western Chinese provinces, but also potentially for military bases or listening posts. Additionally, Myanmar has been a major recipient of Chinese economic assistance over the past decade, generally provided in the form of grants, interest-free loans, concessional loans or debt relief. September (1-15), 2017 5 www.iasscore.in Current Affairs Fortnightly China also provides the Myanmar Army with training in the technical use of weapons and weapon systems. Quest for Energy: Apart from the above stated reason, quest for energy was also one of the main reasons. India is a net energy importer, mostly due to the large imbalance between oil production and consumption. Myanmar’s oil and gas reserves are of critical interest to India’s future energy requirement. Development of North East Region: For decades, majority of the seven states in India’s north-eastern region have witnessed emergence and growth of insurgency movements with demands ranging from independence, autonomy, tribal rights etc. Thus for the stability of the North Eastern India, cooperation with Myanmar is needed for anti-terrorism operations. Look East Policy: India’s ambition in Southeast Asia aims to foster a closer relationship with Southeast Asian countries through its ‘Look East Policy.’ In relation to this, India sees Myanmar as a “land bridge” connecting Southeast Asia. Myanmar is also a member of the Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN). India’s main objective is to get closer to Southeast Asia is none other than to gain benefits from Southeast Asia’s booming economies. Thus the above stated factors changes the policy from idealism to pragmatism. Recent Visit of PM to Myanmar Recently, Indian PM Modi visited Myanmar on a two day trip at a time when the Myanmar government is facing global condemnation for their handling of the Rohingya crisis. Current humanitarian crisis is a repeat of what had happened five years ago during a military campaign that displaced more than 100,000 Rohingya from Myanmar. This time the scale of the crisis is huge as the United Nations has warned that up to 300,000 Rohingya could stream into neighboring Bangladesh and India as they flee “clearance operations” by Myanmar’s armed forces. In this situation the visit of Indian Prime Minister can play a very crucial role to secure stronger ties with our neigbour. Why this Visit was Important? To improve relation India has struggled to read the domestic issues in Myanmar in last few years. In the first decade of this century, Indian Government was close to the generals running the country, leaving Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who came to symbolize the country’s struggle against the oppressive military rulers. India failed to build relationship when her party came to power in 2016 and allowed China to make inroads into Myanmar. Economic Trade Volume needs to pick Up The bilateral trade is valued at just $2 billion. India is seventh biggest importer to Myanmar and its third biggest export destination but trade and economic ties haven’t picked up in recent times. China factor Ties between China and Myanmar have strengthened after Suu Kyi’s Party swept to power in 2016. Apart from robust economic and business ties, China continues to provide diplomatic support to Myanmar at a time when most Western nations are piling pressure on the government, Suu Kyi and military over the violence and exodus of Rohingya Muslims. 6 September (1-15), 2017 www.iasscore.in Current Affairs Fortnightly Moreover, China is vital to the peace negotiations as it mediates between armed ethnic groups and the government. India has a lot to do to catch up with the country that could prove strategically important as China steps up activity in the Indian Ocean. Rakhine & Kaladan Project The Rakhine state in Myanmar’s northwest is politically sensitive and is also important to both India and China. It is the starting point of the much- delayed $484-million Kaladan multi-modal transport projects that aims to connect Myanmar to India. India has already completed work on Sittwe port, at the estuary of Kaladan river, in Rakhine. Similarly, the troubled state is also the spot from where the Myanmar end of the oil and gas pipeline with China will open. Indian and China have their own reasons for the state to be peaceful. A road and rail network across northern Myanmar to the Bay of Bengal will allow China to increase trade with West Asia without taking the contentious South China Sea route. Rohingya Muslim Exodus Exodus of Rohingya Muslims – about 90,000 of them have fled in the september alone – poses a problem to both Bangladesh and India. Border Security Cooperation Along with a maritime border, Myanmar shares 1,643-km land boundary with India’s four northeastern states. Several insurgent groups have set up bases and training camps in Myanmar, a constant headache for India. The two countries have been increasingly working together but more needs to be done to address India’s security concerns. Act East Policy In geographical terms, Myanmar is the first stop for India’s Act East policy. The two countries are also members of various regional groupings such as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). At the 2016 summit in Goa, BIMSTEC stressed the need for strengthening transit agreements and early conclusion of a free trade agreement.