CURRENT AFFAIRS Newspaper Analysis and Summary– 05th November 2013 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ‘Meaningful scientific experiments’ to be conducted on the Red Planet – The Hindu India’s first emissary to another planet, the Mars Orbiter Mission, is setting off on an 11-month- long odyssey from Sriharikota on Tuesday. Although the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has benefited from its experience with the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe despatched five years back, the technological hurdles that must be dealt with in an interplanetary mission of this sort are still very considerable. The Soviet Union, the U.S., Japan and China failed to get to Mars on their first attempt but the European Space Agency succeeded on its first try with the Mars Express probe that was launched 10 years ago.

The Mars Orbiter Mission is “primarily a technology demonstration mission to demonstrate India’s ability to get into the Martian orbit, which is quite a challenging task,” remarked ISRO Chairman K. Radhakrishnan. “During the useful life of the orbiter, we also want to do meaningful scientific experiments.” One of the five instruments on board the orbiter is a sensor designed to pick up signs of methane — a possible marker for life, extinct or extant. Sharing scientific objectives: The Indian spacecraft shares some scientific objectives with America’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (Maven), which will be launched in two weeks. Sensors on both spacecraft will examine processes that have drastically thinned the Martian atmosphere, which was once thick enough to allow substantial bodies of liquid water to exist on the planet’s surface.

There had been some preliminary discussions with the Indian science team, according to Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado in the U.S., who is MAVEN’s principal investigator. “There are some overlapping objectives and at the point that we are both in orbit collecting data, we plan to work together with the data,” Dr. Bruce Jakosky, principal investigator for America's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission (MAVEN) said during a recent press briefing. The Indian orbiter would have a useful life of at least six months around Mars, according to the ISRO Chairman. Once its mission was complete, the spacecraft would not be allowed to crash on the planet. There would be enough propellant to take the probe away from the Martian environment, he said.

5-day mission to satellite-tag Amur Falcons in Nagaland – The Hindu Two scientists from Hungary reached Nagaland on Sunday to satellite-tag Amur Falcons there — the first time that such a project is being undertaken in the country. The five-day mission, starting on Tuesday and ending on Saturday, will take place in collaboration with scientists from the Wildlife Institute of India Dehradun, the Programme Officer - Birds of Prey (Raptors), the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Convention on Migratory Species, the United Nations Environment Programme, Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi, and the Nagaland Forest Department.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Every year, from October to November, a large number of Amur Falcons arrive in the northeast, especially in Nagaland, from South-eastern Siberia and Northern China en route to their final destination — Somalia, Kenya and South Africa. Amur Falcons travel up to 22,000 km a year — known to be one of the longest distance migration of birds. Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and head of Forest Force Nagaland, M. Lokeswara Rao told The Hindu that the team of scientists will tag five Amur Falcons with satellite transmitters in the Doyang area of Wokha district. “The bird of prey visits Nagaland, probably before taking a giant leap across the Indian Ocean. The raptor spends its day in search of food and settles on trees for roosting during the night. It is for the first time in the country that satellite transmitters are being fitted on Amur Falcons,” Mr. Rao said.

He also said there were threats related to conservation of Amur Falcons, particularly during their seasonal migration. “A comprehensive understanding of the seasonal migration patterns of Amur Falcons is needed for preparing a ‘Conservation Action Plan’ for the species. As they are long-distant migrants, we need to use specialised satellite transmitters which can track their seasonal movements,” he said. The senior forest official hoped that satellite tagging would bolster conservation efforts initiated by the Nagaland Forest Department as well as NGOs, and prevent hunting of the migratory birds. As a result of the joint effort of churches, village councils, NGOs, educational institutions and the Forest department in building awareness on the importance of conserving the species, no Amur Falcon has been hunted this year, he said. Previously, a large number of Amur Falcons were captured and killed in the State.

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE Beware quo warranto PIL on public appointments: SC – The Hindu Consideration of suitability or eligibility of a candidate for a post is within the domain of the appointing authority and the only thing that court can scrutinise is whether the appointment is contrary to statutory provisions/rules. Giving this ruling, a Bench of Justices Anil R. Dave and Dipak Misra said if the candidate had the qualifications and fulfilled the requirements of the post, quo warranto should not be entertained by High Courts on public interest writ petitions. Writing the judgment, Justice Misra said “It is [as] clear as day that the jurisdiction of the High Court while issuing a writ of quo warranto [questioning under what authority a person is appointed to a post] is a limited one and can be issued only when the person holding the public office lacks the eligibility criteria or when the appointment is contrary to the statutory rules.” The Bench said: “PIL was initially evolved as a tool to take care of the fundamental rights under Article 21 of the Constitution of the marginalised sections, who because of poverty and illiteracy could not approach the court… It was evolved to benefit the have-nots and the handicapped for protection of their basic human rights and to see that authorities carry out their constitutional obligations towards the marginalised sections…. [But] it has also come to the notice of this court that some persons, who describe themselves as pro bono publico , have approached the court challenging grant of promotion, fixation of seniority, etc. in respect of third parties.”

The Bench, quoting earlier decisions, said PIL petitions should not be used to settle personal scores. In the instant case, the Central Electricity Supply Utility of Odisha and Bijaya Chandra Jena were aggrieved over a Orissa High Court order quashing his appointment as CEO of

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CURRENT AFFAIRS CESU. The High Court also ordered recovery of his salary. Allowing their appeal and setting aside the order, the Bench said: “Judgment can be erroneous but when there is a direction for recovery of the honorarium, it indubitably creates a dent in the honour of a person… While exercising the power for issue of a writ of quo warranto , the court only makes a declaration that the person holding the public office is a usurper and not eligible to hold the post and after the declaration is made he ceases to hold the office. [But] till the declaration is made, the incumbent renders service and… cannot be deprived of his salary. Denial of pay for the service rendered is tantamount to forced labour which is impermissible…” Recovery of salary “would amount to deprivation of payment while the incumbent was holding the post and had worked,” the Bench said.

EC order on NOTA depiction – The Hindu The Election Commission has said that the “None of the Above” (NOTA) option to be included in the EVMs/ballot papers (in some cases) for the electors to reject the candidates, if they wish, would be printed in pink for the Assembly poll and in white for the Parliamentary election. In a circular sent to all the Chief Electoral Officers of the States/Union Territories, the Commissions said the depiction – NOTA – would be printed in the last panel after the words; “None of the Above”. The Supreme Court, in its verdict on September 27, had asked the EC to provide a NOTA option on the EVM and ballot papers so that the electors who did not want to vote for any of the candidates could exercise their option in secrecy. The Court had held that the provisions of Rule 49-O, under which an elector not wishing to vote for any candidate had to inform the Presiding Officer about his decision, are ultra vires of Article 19 of the Constitution and Section 128 of the RP Act.

UNESCO could declare Darjeeling toy train services ‘endangered’, fears MoS – The Hindu Fearing that the Darjeeling Himalayan Railways (DHR) - declared a world heritage site by the UNESCO in 1999 - may lose the status unless renovation of the damaged railway tracks is undertaken, Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury urged the West Bengal government on Monday to begin work immediately. “Since the tracks are on a national highway, the Ministry of Railways approached the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways regarding this, and funds amounting to Rs. 87 crore were sanctioned about a year ago. But the State government has been apathetic and has not done its work as yet,” Mr. Chowdhury told The Hinduover telephone from Berhampore.

“If the railway tracks are not repaired, the DHR could be declared ‘endangered’ by the UNESCO. This will be humiliating for the entire country,” Mr. Chowdhury added. DHR toy train services are available for only half of the 83-km-long route between Kurseong to Darjeeling and from Siliguri to Rongtong. The other tracks were damaged in landslides in 2011. “The Public Works Department is responsible for carrying out renovation work. Landslides at Paglajhora and Tindharia had destroyed the tracks and we are unable to take the trains beyond a point,” said A.K Sharma, Divisional Railway Manager, Katihar division of the North East Frontier Railway within whose jurisdiction the DHR falls.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Meanwhile, the DHR had taken up an initiative to revamp the 14 railway stations under it, he said, adding that work in the Sukna railway station has been completed as a pilot project. The revamping of stations involves improving the overall infrastructure to attract more tourists, Mr. Sharma added. Senior railway officials admit that due to the damaged tracks and frequent shutdowns in the hills called for political reasons, the DHR has not been able to attract many tourists this year.

35,000 ASHA workers to get mobile phones to promote health schemes – The Hindu It is a move that will bring a positive change to preventive healthcare, including maternal and disease-control programmes. The State government is all set to provide mobile phones to all the 35,000 Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in the State. These activists are community health workers in the World Bank-sponsored National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), which is being implemented by the Union government across the country. According to the NRHM guidelines, ASHAs are paid performance-based incentives for promoting universal immunisation, referral and escort services for Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) and other healthcare programmes.

Principal Secretary to Government (Health and Family Welfare) M. Madan Gopal told The Hindu on Monday that it was for the first time in the country that ASHAs are being provided mobile phones. “The Health Ministry has agreed to provide Closed User Group (CUG) SIM cards under the NRHM. The handsets will be procured through the Karnataka Health Systems Development and Reforms Project with World Bank assistance.” Selected from the village itself and accountable to it, ASHAs are trained to work as an interface between the community and the public health system. They are the first port of call to meet the health needs of people at the village level. “It is essential to recognise the services of these activists and equip them with adequate financial support and technological tools,” Mr. Madan Gopal said.

He said the decision was based on the success of the State government’s experiment with Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS). “This is at present up to Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM) level and we have found it to be quite useful in improving the efficiency of the programme,” he said. NRHM Mission Director Suresh Kunhi Mohammed explained that every ASHA is expected to be a fountainhead of community participation in public health programmes in her village. The pre-paid mobile phones will be for specific usage to promote health programmes. It will help ASHAs communicate effectively with the people as well as the health system, such as doctors, nurses and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs), he said.

Decision welcomed: The Karnataka State Samyukta ASHA Workers’ Association has welcomed the decision. Association general secretary D. Nagalakshmi said the mobile phones would be of great help for the activists as they are spending their own money to submit daily reports to the ANMs and doctors. “With several villages coming under one primary health centre (PHC), it is very important for ASHAs to find out the availability of the doctor and medicines before escorting the patient to the PHC. The mobile phone will help us to communicate better,” Ms. Nagalakshmi said. Pointing out that there were several other pending demands that were yet to

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CURRENT AFFAIRS be considered, she said: “ASHAs are responsible for creating awareness on health and its social determinants. They will provide information to the community on nutrition, basic sanitation and hygiene practices, healthy living and working conditions, information on existing health services and the need for timely utilisation of health and family welfare services.”

Manmohan favours reset of foreign policy – The Hindu Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday told a conclave of top Indian diplomats that the United Progressive Alliance was seeking a “fundamental reset” in the foreign policy, pursuing what he described as “India's destiny in world affairs.” The Prime Minister’s speech, delivered at an annual convention of heads of diplomatic missions, comes amidst a bruising foreign policy battle within the Congress, with some Tamil Nadu leaders calling on him not to attend the coming Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Singh’s regional foreign policy agenda has also run in to resistance from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who says a proposed river-sharing agreement with Bangladesh will hurt her State's interests. Dr. Singh said the “single most important objective of Indian foreign policy has to be to create a global environment conducive to the well-being of our great country.” He argued that the country's development had to occupy centre stage among its international concerns. He also laid out four other principles: greater integration with the world economy, stable relationships with the great powers, greater regional cooperation, and the propagation of values India stood for. “India’s experiment of pursuing economic development within the framework of a plural, secular and liberal democracy has inspired people around the world and should continue to do so,’’ he said. The UPA’s foreign policy drew inspiration from freedom struggle-era leaders, who saw the “link between our foreign policy and the economic aspirations of our people.”

Parties divided on banning opinion polls – The Hindu The Election Commission’s (EC) letter to political parties seeking their views on pre-poll opinion polls has sparked off a war of words between major parties with the Congress and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) favouring a ban and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposing it. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) said opinion polls could be conducted but their results should be put on hold , while the CPI favoured a ban once the model code of conduct come into effect. With most opinion polls forecasting a slight edge to the BJP in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh where elections will be held this month, the party on Monday said “only losers demand a ban”.

“When the trend of opinion polls is adverse to the political parties, they rubbish them. They start demanding a ban. The loser demands a ban and the potential winner wants them to continue. A ban on such polls can not be considered based on who is demanding the ban,” BJP leader Arun Jaitley said in an article circulated by the party on Monday. While senior Congress leaders pitched for a ban on opinion polls on the ground that they lacked credibility and were prone to “manipulation”, the party officially maintained that it had only “endorsed” the EC’s suggestion for banning opinion polls. The party had not approached the Commission for disallowing the

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CURRENT AFFAIRS trend-spotting exercise carried out before elections, spokesman Meem Afzal told journalists here.

He said the EC had written to all political parties on October 4, seeking their opinion on whether opinion polls should be banned and the party responded on November 4 endorsing the view. “An all party meeting was called by the EC on April 6, 2004, where it sought the views of political parties on whether the results of the exit polls should be declared before elections conclude. All parties had then unanimously agreed that the results of such polls should not be declared before the elections are over. Subsequently, an amendment was introduced in 2009 in Parliament banning the exit polls. The Commission recently wrote to the government on whether a similar restriction can be put on opinion polls,” explained Mr. Afzal.

He said the Commission had expressed reservation on the impact of opinion polls on the election outcome. Seeking an outright ban on opinion polls for conduct of free and fair elections, BSP national general secretary Satish Misra sai, “No outside influence — such as an opinion poll — that may confuse the minds of electors and which is not based on a uniform criterion should be allowed by the EC.” Referring to the EC’s letter of October 25 seeking views of parties on the issue, Mr. Misra said such polls should not be allowed to be published during elections as they do not and cannot reflect the correct opinion as they are conducted by different agencies and restricted to limited voters.

Neutral voters should not be influenced: Speaking to The Hindu , CPI leader D. Raja said opinion polls should be banned once an election is notified so as to not influence the non- committed, neutral voter and to provide a level playing field. Holding a similar view, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury said that several parties conduct opinion polls to judge their position but the results should not be published after the election process starts. PTI quoted Nationalist Congress Party leader Tariq Anwar as saying that the party did not favour a ban on opinion polls ahead of elections but wanted a body like the Press Council to ensure they were not sponsored like paid news. “The party does not want a ban but at the same time it should be ensured that there are no sponsored opinion polls,” he said.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS MEA recommends PM attend CHOGM – The Hindu As pressure mounted from within the Union Council of Ministers seeking that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh skips the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo later this month, the External Affairs Ministry recommended that he should go. In view of India’s “paramount security and strategic interests” in and around Sri Lanka, a senior MEA official told The Hindu , India’s national interests dictate that the Prime Minister should represent the country at CHOGM, a view that seconds the Prime Minister’s Office.

The Prime Minister is understood to have dwelt on the issue during his inaugural address to the country’s top diplomats at the Heads of Mission (HoM) conference here on Monday. “The MEA recommendation is there. It was made at the ministerial level and now it is up to the powers- that-be to take a decision,” confirmed another MEA official. For the government, the issue has

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CURRENT AFFAIRS become tricky with MoS in the PMO V. Narayanasamy and MoS (with independent charge) for Environment Jayanthi Natarajan joining Union Shipping Minister G.K. Vasan, who had already made known his opposition to the Prime Minister travelling to Colombo. Interestingly, the Congress Core Group — the party’s highest, if informal, decision-making body — is also divided on the issue.

However, the Prime Minister can draw solace from the fact that the Bharatiya Janata Party has adopted a positive line on his travelling to Colombo even though, given the political sensitivities of its potential political allies in Tamil Nadu, the party remained shy of articulating its position in public at this juncture. “We have no issue with anyone, including the Prime Minister, representing India at the highest level,” a senior BJP leader told The Hindu , adding, “Our concern is solely about justice and equal political rights for Tamils.” He added that there was no case for India to either boycott the meeting or let the delegation not to be represented at the highest level, especially after the Tamils in the North-East province exercised their franchise recently and elected a Tamil Chief Minister.

“We understand the sentiments of the people in Tamil Nadu, but … Indian foreign policy has to be guided by larger interests of the country and our geo-political interests,” the leader said, stressing that it wasn’t in India’s interest to antagonise a neighbouring country — its objectives are better served by a policy of engagement and dialogue.” Meanwhile, within the Congress Core Group, two Ministers have also expressed their reservations about the Prime Minister making the trip. They are Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and Defence Minister A.K. Antony, party sources say. Mr. Antony, it is understood, has said that even if a small section of Tamils is opposing the visit, it could create a security problem. He has also made the point that the delegation need not be headed by the Prime Minister. The last meeting of the Group on October 30 was attended by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and National Security Adviser Shiv Shankar Menon; Mr. Khurshid made a presentation on the issue at the meeting, favouring the PM’s participation.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Narayanasamy told reporters, “I have conveyed my opinion to the Prime Minister that he should not visit Sri Lanka. Some [other] Ministers have [also] met the Prime Minister, insisting he should not attend the meeting… the majority opinion is he should not visit Sri Lanka.” Echoing the same sentiments, Ms. Natarajan said in Chennai that she would write a letter to the Prime Minister urging him not to attend CHOGM, keeping in mind the atrocities perpetrated against Tamils in Sri Lanka as well as the sentiments of people in Tamil Nadu. “I hope the Prime Minister,” she said, “will take a good decision.”

However, even within the Congress’ Tamil Nadu unit, there are differences; Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president B.S. Gnanadesikan and MoS for Commerce E.M. Sudarsana Natchiappan are backing the visit, with the latter saying India should be there at CHOGM to highlight the grievances of Tamils in Sri Lanka and to ensure their welfare. Mr. Gnanadesikan, for his part, pointed out that if the communication link between India and Sri Lanka was cut off, it might adversely affect the interests of Tamils in Sri Lanka and Indian fishermen. There was an elected government in Colombo, he added, saying, “If we don’t talk to the government in Sri

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Lanka, then with whom should we speak?” For the Congress, another point of concern is the opposition of the DMK, as it is still looking for allies in Tamil Nadu ahead of next year’s general elections. DMK parliamentary party leader T.R. Baalu told The Hindu that India’s participation in the Colombo meeting would be “nothing but adding insult to injury.”

Italy working for early return of marines – The Hindu Italy is working ceaselessly for the early return of its two marines facing trial in India for murdering two fishermen, President Giorgio Napolitano has said. “We do not cease to work tenaciously to bring them home,” Mr. Napolitano said on Monday after his speech on National Unity and Armed Forces Day. The case triggered a drawn-out diplomatic row between India and Italy, with Rome contesting India’s right to jurisdiction. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Emma Bonino was quoted as saying by Italy’s ANSA news agency that the case of the two Italian marines “is moving” and may be changing for the better. “I think some things are moving in this sense and we are working on [this],” Ms. Bonino said. “I hope to bring to a successful conclusion this dossier...(of) great complexity and contradictions,” the Minister said. On February 15, 2012, two Indian fishermen on a fishing boat were shot dead allegedly by the marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone on board the Italian vessel Enrica Lexie off the coast of Kerala.

ECONOMY Vodafone India stake sellers liable to pay capital gains tax – The Hindu Indian minority shareholders in Vodafone India, including Analjit Singh, will have to pay 20 per cent capital gains tax after selling their stake to the U.K.-based parent company, a Finance Ministry official said. “There is a capital gain for the minority shareholders and it will be taxed,” the official said when asked about the tax implications of Vodafone Plc’s plan to buy out the minority shareholders in its Indian telecom venture. The tax on gains made from financial transactions is levied at 20 per cent. Vodafone Plc last week applied to the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) for approval to increase its stake in Vodafone India to 100 per cent from the present combined direct and indirect holding of 84.5 per cent. It proposed to buy the remaining stake in the company for Rs.10,141 crore. Besides Mr. Singh, who is the non- executive chairman on the board of the Indian company, the minority shareholders of Vodafone India include Piramal Enterprises chairman Ajay Piramal holding a 11 per cent stake.

Vodafone entered India in 2007 by buying Hutchison Whampoa in Hutchison-Essar in a $11 billion deal. The company faces a tax liability of over Rs.11,200 crore, along with interest, for the acquisition and is in discussions with the government to resolve the issue. Vodafone had offered to settle the dispute through conciliation and the government has agreed, but there are differences over the rules under which it would take place. While Vodafone wants to resolve the dispute under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, the government insists on applying the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act.

Finmin seeks 30 per cent dividend from oil PSUs – The Hindu The Finance Ministry has asked all profit-making oil pubic sector undertakings (PSUs) to pay a minimum 30 per cent dividend in the current financial year. At present, all profit-making PSUs www.indiancivils.com An Online IAS Academy Page 8

CURRENT AFFAIRS are required to declare a minimum dividend on equity of 20 per cent or a minimum dividend payout of 20 per cent of post-tax profit, whichever is higher, subject to availability of disposable profits. However, for the 14 PSUs in the oil sector, including Oil & Natural Gas Corp, Indian Oil Corp and GAIL India, the Ministry has sought a 30 per cent dividend, official sources said. The Finance Ministry believes dividend from PSUs is a return on investment made by the government, and it should be commensurate with profits. “A lower than reasonable level of dividend would be construed as an implicit subsidy, which the government can ill afford, given the level of its commitments, especially in the social sector, and its obligations to meet the fiscal targets,” it wrote to the Oil Ministry last month.

EDITORIALS Tackling new maritime challenges – The Hindu Maritime challenges are being fundamentally transformed by new technological and geopolitical realities, shifting trade and energy patterns, and the rise of unconventional threats. The fact that about 50 per cent of the maritime boundaries in the world are still not demarcated, accentuates the challenges. Water covers more than seven-tenths of the planet’s surface, and almost half the global population lives within 200 km of a coastline. It may thus surprise few that 90 per cent of the world’s trade uses maritime routes. With countless freighters, fishing boats, passenger ferries, leisure yachts, and cruise ships plying the waters, a pressing concern is maritime security — a mission tasked to national navies, coast guards, and harbour police forces.

Altering equations: The maritime order has entered a phase of evolutionary change in response to global power shifts. Maritime power equations are beginning to alter. The shifts actually symbolise the birth-pangs of a new world order. Emerging changes in trade and energy patterns promise to further alter maritime power equations. For example, energy-related equations are being transformed by a new development: the centre of gravity in the hydrocarbon world is beginning to quietly shift from the Persian Gulf to the Americas, thanks to the shale boom, hydrocarbon extraction in the South Atlantic and Canada’s Alberta Province, and other developments. The United States, for the foreseeable future, will remain the dominant sea power, while Europe will stay a significant maritime player. Yet, the international maritime order will continue to gradually but fundamentally change as new powers acquire greater economic and naval heft. According to a projection by the recently released Global Marine Trends 2030 report, as the global GDP doubles over the next 17 years China will come to own a quarter of the world’s merchant fleet. Several other maritime states in the Asia-Pacific, including Japan, South Korea, India, and Vietnam, are also set to significantly enlarge their maritime footprints.

Admittedly, there are real threats to maritime peace and security from the changing maritime power equations and the sharpening competition over resources and geopolitical influence. The Asia-Pacific region — with its crowded and, in some cases, contested sea lanes — is becoming the centre of global maritime competition. Maritime tensions remain high in this region due to rival sovereignty claims, resource-related competition, naval build-ups, and rising nationalism. A lot of attention has focused on the maritime implications of China’s rise. President Xi Jinping has championed efforts to build China into a global maritime power, saying his government will www.indiancivils.com An Online IAS Academy Page 9

CURRENT AFFAIRS do everything possible to safeguard China’s “maritime rights and interests” and warning that “in no way will the country abandon its legitimate rights and interests.” China’s increasing emphasis on the oceans was also evident from the November 2012 report to the 18th national congress of the Chinese Communist Party that outlined the country’s maritime power strategy. It called for safeguarding China’s maritime rights and interests, including building improved capacity for exploiting marine resources, and for asserting the country’s larger rights.

The risks of maritime conflict arising from mistake or miscalculation are higher between China and its neighbours than between China and the U.S. There has been a course correction in the Obama administration’s “pivot” toward Asia, lest it puts it on the path of taking on Beijing. Washington has bent over backward to tamp down the military aspects of that policy. Even the term “pivot” has been abandoned in favour of the softer new phrase of “rebalancing.” The U.S., moreover, has pointedly refused to take sides in sovereignty disputes between China and its neighbours. It has sought the middle ground between seeking to restrain China and reassure allies but, as former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg has put it, “without getting ourselves into a shooting war.” China has also shied away from directly challenging U.S. interests. It has been careful not to step on America’s toes. Its assertiveness has been largely directed at its neighbours. After all, China is seeking to alter the territorial and maritime status quo in Asia little by little. This can be described as a “salami-slice” strategy or, what a Chinese general, Zhang Zhaozhong, this year called, a “cabbage” strategy — surrounding a contested area with multiple security layers to deny access to the rival nation.

Bit-by-bit strategy: This bit-by-bit strategy increases the risk of maritime conflict through overreach, and the inadvertent encouragement it provides to neighbouring countries to overcome their differences and strategically collaborate. The new international maritime challenges, however, go beyond China’s jurisdictional “creep.” The oceans and seas not only have become pivotal to any power’s security and engagement with the outside world but they also constitute the strategic hub of the global geopolitical competition. The growing importance of maritime resources and of sea-lane safety, as well as the concentration of economic boom zones along the coasts, has made maritime security more critical than ever. The maritime challenges extend to non-traditional threats such as climate security, transnational terrorism, illicit fishing, human trafficking, and environmental degradation. The overexploitation of marine resources has underscored the need for conservation and prudent management of the biological diversity of the seabed. Deep seabed mining has emerged as a major new strategic issue. From seeking to tap sulphide deposits — containing valuable metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt and zinc — to phosphorus nodule mining for phosphor-based fertilizers used in food production, the inter-state competition over seabed-mineral wealth underscores the imperative for creating a regulatory regime, developing safe and effective ocean-development technologies, finding ways to share benefits of the common heritage, and ensuring environmental protection.

Inter-state competition over seabed minerals is sharpening in the Indian Ocean, for example. Even China, an extra-regional power, has secured an international deep-seabed block in southwestern Indian Ocean from the International Seabed Authority to explore for polymetallic sulphides. More broadly, some of the outstanding boundary, sovereignty and jurisdiction issues

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CURRENT AFFAIRS — extending from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean — carry serious conflict potential. The recrudescence of territorial and maritime disputes, largely tied to competition over natural resources, will increasingly have a bearing on maritime peace and security. Bangladesh and Myanmar have set an example by peacefully resolving a dispute over the delimitation of their maritime boundaries in the Bay of Bengal. They took their dispute to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea for adjudication. The Tribunal’s verdict, delivered in 2012, ended a potentially dangerous dispute that was fuelled in 2008 when, following the discovery of gas deposits in the Bay of Bengal, Myanmar authorised exploration in a contested area, prompting Bangladesh to dispatch warships to the area. However, some important maritime powers, including the U.S., are still not party to the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). Iran recently seized an Indian oil tanker, holding it for about a month, but India could not file a complaint with the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea because Tehran has not ratified UNCLOS. The seizure of the tanker, carrying Iraqi oil, appeared to be an act of reprisal against India’s sharp reduction of Iranian oil purchases under U.S. pressure.

The threats to navigation and maritime freedoms, including in critical straits and exclusive economic zones (EEZs), can be countered only through adherence to international rules by all parties as well as through monitoring, regulation and enforcement. Great-power rivalries, however, continue to complicate international maritime security. The rivalries are mirrored in foreign-aided port-building projects; attempts to assert control over energy supplies and transport routes as part of a 21st-century-version of the Great Game; and the establishment of listening posts and special naval-access arrangements along the great trade arteries. The evolving architecture of global governance will determine how the world handles the pressing maritime challenges it confronts. The assertive pursuit of national interest for relative gain in an increasingly interdependent world is hardly a recipe for harmonious maritime relations. Another concern is the narrow, compartmentalised approach in which each maritime issue is sought to be dealt with separately, instead of addressing the challenges in an integrated framework.

A flawed and unwarranted move – The Hindu The Election Commission might be well-intentioned in seeking to ban opinion polls in the run- up to an election, but the move does not seem to be sound in law, and is certainly not desirable in practice. The reasoning for a ban is that opinion polls influence voters prior to polling, and therefore the results of such polls should be withheld until after the end of voting. Needless to say, this is a flawed argument, and a ban, while imposing needless restrictions, will not in any way enhance the purity of elections. Whether opinion polls influence voting is debatable, but even if they do, that is no reason to ban them. Election campaigning ends only 48 hours before polling closes, and political parties and their supporters are free to indulge in propaganda to influence voters till then. If parties and candidates are allowed to try and influence voters during the campaign period, why cannot the media or others publish poll findings that may or may not influence voter behaviour? Even if some of the surveys are not scientific, and some others are fraudulent — just as some election manifestoes may include tall promises — a ban cannot be the solution. Opinion polls that are not transparent and are carried out unscientifically, quickly lose credibility. In any case, the voters must be allowed to judge for themselves the extent of reliability of the innumerable opinion polls and exit polls.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS Actually, any ban on opinion polls runs counter to Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution that provides all citizens the right to freedom of speech and expression. Of course, this freedom is subject to reasonable restrictions listed in Article 19(2): in the interests of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states, public order, decency or morality, or in relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. Any hypothetical influence on voters does not figure in this list. Any ban would therefore contravene the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution, and belittle the intelligence of voters. Already, by a 2009 amendment to the Representation of the People Act, restrictions have been placed on the publication of results of exit polls from the beginning of polling on the first day in a multi-phase election till half an hour after the close of polling in all States. The rationale behind the restrictions on exit polls is their claim to greater credibility, and therefore, their greater ability to influence voters. The distinction between opinion polls and exit polls on this basis is surely untenable, but what needs to be done is the removal of restrictions on the publication of exit poll findings, not the placing of similar restrictions on opinion polls.

Staying on the rails – The Hindu The move by the Indian Railways to privatise a section of passenger traffic, and the launch by Minister Mallikarjun Kharge of the High Speed Rail Corporation, at this juncture, need to be very closely evaluated. The talk of privatisation in the Railways has gone on for long, though not many efforts had borne fruit in the past. There needs to be some clarity and a clear policy on privatisation in India’s biggest monolithic public sector undertaking. It must be remembered that only the Railways have an annual budget of their own, outside the general budget. So long as this route and the Public-Private Partnership model were looked at from the commercial or goods movement angle, or even for the production of coaches and locomotives, there was no problem. Obviously, the Railways cannot keep on investing in new production units. These efforts have succeeded only to a limited extent. Is that why the Railways have now turned to opening up a segment of passenger traffic to the private sector? When they speak of high speed corridors and the need to run trains at 160 kmph or even 200 kmph, it naturally means creating new infrastructure that calls for massive investment — which the Indian Railways cannot afford now.

But the decision to offer seven identified high-density traffic corridors to this model is fraught with danger. Take the Mumbai-Ahmedabad or Chennai-Bangalore sectors, for instance. Any number of trains or flights on these routes are bound to be full. Of course, the rail routes have reached a saturation point and there is need to go in for dedicated, perhaps elevated, high speed corridors. The country’s experience with the private sector in the transport field has not been too good. Air India remains a standing example of how the public sector was made to lose out to private airlines. Private bus transport stumped the nationalised road transport corporations for a variety of reasons. The seven corridors likely to be offered in PPP mode can surely generate enough profits for the private investor. What do the Railways get from it? Where is the regulator to look at traffic, tariff, and safety on the rails? The Commissioner of Railway Safety can handle only the track, and nothing more. There needs to be a larger debate on this proposal and this government, which is nearing the end of its current innings, should not be taking such a major plunge. Having delayed this concept for so many years, nothing will be lost if all these issues are

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CURRENT AFFAIRS discussed threadbare, and the new government next year can take the right decision with all the inputs. Meanwhile, it would do well to focus on the many major infrastructure projects that are waiting to be implemented.

No reason to ban - Indian Express The Congress has deservedly invited widespread derision for telling the Election Commission that it thinks opinion polls should be banned. The EC had sought the views of all national parties on these surveys of the public mood. The Congress, which had supported opinion polls, suddenly reversed its position, declaring them unscientific and non-transparent. There are reasons to suspect that the Congress's new stand speaks of its own political predicament and insecurities. It comes at a time when the party is facing a set of uphill battles in the forthcoming assembly elections in five states, which will be read as a hint of what is to come in the Lok Sabha election next year. Whatever be the reason for the Congress's view, it would be deeply unwise to ban the circulation of information, and restrict in this way the constitutional right to free speech and information.

Exit polls have already been stopped in India on the ground that they could affect voter perceptions and intentions, and the EC has tried unsuccessfully in the past to put an end to pre- campaign opinion surveys as well. But political scientists are divided on whether, and to what extent, opinion polls, meant to measure opinion, end up influencing it as well. Some argue that many voters choose tactically, and may end up voting for a less preferred party if it is projected as more winnable. For instance, while many voters may be set in their preferences vis-a-vis the established parties, the perceived appeal of a new entrant may make it a realistic option for some. Many are curious about the general mood, and some studies suggest that their wanting to back the winning side produces a contagion effect. Equally, this could lead to people turning up in larger numbers to vote for the party perceived to be losing. The science on this is still too fuzzy — it is not clear at what stage the momentum can be decisive, and results vary depending on the electoral system and on the design of the survey. It is certainly not compelling enough to end the business of opinion polls.

Opinion surveys in India may well be imprecise and opaque about their methodology, but there is no evidence to show that voters are led, sheep-like, by a survey. In fact, it is disrespectful and wrong-headed to assume that they cannot make their own judgements about the complex of factors that seek to influence them, or that the decisions they eventually make are not their own. Besides, they have more than enough experience of our famously unreliable surveys to base their decisions on one or the other.

Seeing the point - Indian Express The proposal piloted by UK Home Secretary Theresa May to inflict a 3,000-pound (almost Rs 3 lakh) bond on visitors from "high risk" countries including India, Pakistan and Bangladesh has got its just deserts. Following Lib Dem resistance, it is the second anti-immigrant step of David Cameron's coalition government to come a cropper in the face of mounting outrage and disgust. A proposal to send vans into immigrant-dominated areas bearing messages urging illegal aliens to get out or face arrest was nixed earlier. Even within Britain, these were regarded as half-

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CURRENT AFFAIRS witted ripostes to the Independence Party, which had made its presence felt in the last elections with a strong anti-immigrant position. Internationally, the response was even sharper. Recent polls suggest that up to six out of 10 British voters are fearful about immigration. However, equally credible polls suggest that just as many think multiculturalism creates national value. Perhaps this confusion means that Britain is still coming to terms with the multicultural legacy of New Labour, and that the issue will recede over time. While it is a political factor, of course, parties and governments must react to it. But it is not very smart to promote measures that indiscriminately address legitimate visitors and immigrants from particular countries as well as illegal aliens. It looks like discrimination and besides, the British economy benefits considerably from tourism, shopping and investment conducted by high net worth individuals from precisely these countries. India is one of the UK's biggest trading partners, for instance, and has given London an earful on the matter. Interestingly, Harrods has been complaining just as loudly.

Being unfair, complicating trade relations and harming the high street, such steps run counter to the spirit of the times. We already live in Salman Rushdie's chutnified age, in which mixed-up is lip-smacking and monocultural tastes like old cardboard. Ideas and skills are the new capital and the quick way for nations to get an edge is to welcome them across borders. It is time to favour the mobility of labour, the one international flow which failed to be accelerated by globalisation. Parties and governments must use their imagination and find ways to reassure or coopt domestic constituencies that feel threatened by the mass transit of people across borders. Because it is routine today and may deliver great value tomorrow.

Why Mars? - Indian Express It's not always a great idea to ask questions during a countdown. More so when it's a mission to Mars by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) at a time when the dominant mood in the country is one of gloom. But ask we must, given how ISRO has been one of Indian science's few success stories. Despite and because of its recent string of failures. Indeed, one of the biggest technology priorities for ISRO should be to complete the development of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). The GSLV, which has been under development for more than a decade, has held up ISRO's progress in earth science, space science and human spaceflight. Since the GSLV is not operational, ISRO is constrained to use the much less powerful Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) to further its ambitions in space. The PSLV can launch about 3,250 kilogrammes to low Earth orbit (LEO). To put this in the context of the capability of launch vehicles, this is less than 1/25 of the largest launch vehicle, the Saturn V, which launched astronauts to the moon. Launch vehicles used for planetary missions are significantly more powerful than the PSLV. The Atlas V, which was used to launch the Curiosity rover, can deliver three to six times the mass to LEO. ISRO has taken more than 15 years to develop the GSLV. Compare this to the time taken by other organisations to develop similar launch vehicles — a startup company called SpaceX started from scratch and operationalised the Falcon 9, which can deliver about two times the mass the GSLV can to LEO, in about seven years.

A possible priority for ISRO should have been to follow up Chandrayaan-1, with which it made significant progress in planetary exploration, with a more capable lunar mission. Contrary to

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CURRENT AFFAIRS popular perception, Chandrayaan-1 did not fulfil its design requirements. The spacecraft did not complete its nominal (planned) mission of two years — it ended in less than a year. A majority of orbiters meet or exceed the duration of their nominal mission. From the outset, there were thermal problems that caused the spacecraft to overheat. Raising its orbit towards the end of the mission did not prevent this. There were serious problems with the navigational system, which crippled the spacecraft's capability to determine its orientation in space. ISRO also lost contact with Chandrayaan, the reason for which could not be unambiguously established. An argument can be made that ISRO should have embarked on Chandrayaan-2, to address the shortcomings of Chandrayaan-1, before embarking on Mangalyaan, which inserts additional complexities like latency — the time taken for a radio signal from Mars to travel is tens of minutes, compared to the near-instantaneous signals from the moon. And deep space communication — the distance to Mars is two orders of magnitude higher compared to the Earth-Moon distance.

Another possible priority for ISRO should have been to further its aspirations in human spaceflight. In 2007, it had announced India's plans to launch humans in space by 2016. Little headway has been made in that direction. China, in comparison, has launched astronauts in space and is on track for launching its own space station in the next 10 years. There is also the question of whether a human spaceflight programme is even relevant in the 21st century, which has ushered in the era of cheaper robotic exploration of planets. Instead of focusing on other priorities, ISRO has chosen to undertake a Mars Orbiter Mission. Mangalyaan will enable the organisation to develop its capability in deep space communication, though it's unclear to what extent NASA's deep space network would help ISRO and to what extent it will develop its own capability. Also, the mission will help ISRO learn how to operate a spacecraft under latency.

Since 1996, NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) have launched four orbiters (Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Express), four rovers (Pathfinder, Opportunity, Spirit and Curiosity) and one lander (Phoenix). Each of these has flown a variety of scientific instruments to Mars. Because of its limited instrument payload and mapping orbit, Mangalyaan is unlikely to add to the breadth or quality of data generated by other Mars missions. For example, Mangalyaan will strive to measure Martian topography. But the laser altimeter onboard the Mars Global Surveyor has already made 640 million elevation measurements and has produced a very detailed topographic map of Mars. It's unlikely that Mangalyaan will significantly add to our understanding of Martian topography. To wait until the GSLV was operational, rather than use the PSLV, would have been better for a scientific mission to Mars. This would have allowed the use of more instruments for a comprehensive investigation. The science payload for Mangalyaan (15 kg) is significantly less than that for a comparable orbital mission like the Mars Express (116 kg).

Mangalyaan will strive to measure the methane abundance of Mars. In this context, it is significant that the Curiosity rover has not been able to find methane in the parts per million range on the surface of the planet — the upper limit for methane abundance is 1.3 parts per billion. This dims the hope that Mangalyaan will be able to detect it. Also, its detection does not amount to evidence of life on Mars. A scientific case needs to be made as to why the methane

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CURRENT AFFAIRS should be biogenic or related to life. The presence or absence of a methane signature from orbit is not definitive evidence for the presence or absence of Martian life.

The risk profile of Mangalyaan is of significant concern. Given that India is launching its first mission to Mars, the 15 months taken to develop the spacecraft is worrisome. To put this in context, NASA/ESA missions have 36-48 months of development time and a significant portion of their hardware has been validated on previous missions. The failure rate of missions to Mars is greater than 50 per cent. A long and thorough developmental schedule would have ensured the necessary engineering rigour to maximise the chance of a successful mission. It is possible that Mangalyaan has been in development for a much longer period than what is officially acknowledged. But if the development time was as announced, this might translate into serious technology risks and the threat of mission failure. Launch windows to Mars occur once every two years. If the developmental schedule was hastened to catch the launch window, it could be a severe misjudgement. It might have been worthwhile to extend the development schedule and wait for the next launch window in 2015. If ISRO pulls off a picture-perfect mission, it will be setting a new global standard in spacecraft development under schedule pressure.

If successful, Mangalyaan will replicate what NASA accomplished in the 1960s and 1970s. While this is admirable, given that very few nations have successfully orbited Mars, it would hardly be a novel accomplishment in the world of technology. ISRO need not recreate what has already been done. To be relevant, it should chart its own unique trajectory of frontline discoveries that will leave an imprint on space science and technology. The indirect benefit of a successful mission would be a change in the perception of India in foreign policy, business, culture and beyond. In the 1990s, in the eyes of the world, India went from being a country known for its ancient traditions to a country of technology-literate people adept at programming. A successful Mangalyaan would change the way Indian are viewed — from technocrats to scientists, engineers who can successfully take on problems on the frontiers of technology.

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