Subject: Science & Technology:
Topic: Gist of The Hindu's Articles

NAXALISM

Q. Give brief facts about Naxalism?

• Naxalism started in Naxalbari in West Bengal in 1967.
• The Maoists have since carved out what they call a Compact Revolutionary Zone (CRZ), or Red Corridor, stretching from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh to Pashupati in Nepal, encompassing parts of seven States: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar.
• They have their footprint in Madhya Pradesh as well. In all, the area comprises 200 districts,60 of them labelled hyper-sensitive.
• To give teeth to their struggle, a military formation called the People’s Liberation Guerilla Army (PLGA) was formed. It has become a proficient striking force.
• The PLGA has army-line command, control, communication, sophisticated weaponry, explosives, skills and guerilla-warfare tactics, combined with motivated, passionate-to- the-cause cadres.

Q. What was the observation of Expert Group of Planning Commission to tackle issue of Naxalism?

• An expert group set up by the Planning Commission in 2008 on ‘Development Challenge in Extremist Areas’ observed:
• “Naxalite movement has to be recognised as a political movement with a strong base among the poor peasantry and adivasis.
• Though it professed long-term ideology of capturing State power, in its day to day manifestation it was to be looked upon basically as a fight for justice, equity, protection, security and local development.”
• Q. How the problem of naxalism can be counter?
• The critical core of the policy to counter the Maoists should dwell essentially on a pro-poor- centric credo, inclusive growth, a trinity of security interventions, even socio-economic infrastructure dispensation in left out ‘rain shadow’ areas.
• Capturing the hearts and minds of the alienated and disempowered segments is critical. A positive mindset, sagacity and clarity of vision and perception of the powers-that-be are essential. There should be active political processes. Political vacuums should not exist.
• There should be operational coordination among the affected States. Creative responses to challenges, vibrant micro-level governing modules such as gram Panchayats and local bodies in Maoist-bound areas are needed.
• There should be community involvement in the combat against extremism, modulated and humane offensives of State security forces, and zero tolerance to human rights violations and excesses. These should be blended with brainstorming psychological operations to bring about changes in the psyche of turbulent and anguished minds.

Supporting the Rupees

Q. What are the Major steps taken by the R.B.I to support decline of rupees against dollar?

• The new measures, both administrative and policy fall into three broad categories:
• One, the rules governing overseas investment has been relaxed in certain cases so as to increase the supply of dollars in the domestic market and thereby correct its demand-supply imbalance. The ceiling on debt instruments by foreign institutional investors and the interest cap on external commercial borrowings have been raised. The lock-in period for overseas investors in infrastructure bonds has been reduced.
• Two, in a surprise move — on the day before the credit policy review— the RBI clamped down on forward trading in foreign exchange. The avowed objective is to curb the rampant speculation which, in its view, weakens the rupee further.
• In the third category are the new incentives provided to non-resident Indians to invest more with banks in India.
• These are significant in themselves and they need to be evaluated in a larger context and over a longer time-frame than in the immediate term.

Post Durban, India has its task cut out

Q. COP 17/ Durban Platform/ India’s concern?

• 17th meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) marked the inauguration of the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, the venue of the meeting attaching its name to a compact, among all nations, to produce a climate agreement applicable to all countries.
• The Durban Platform, the honours at COP 17 clearly belonged to the European Union. The EU succeeded in gathering a large number of developing countries behind its agenda, transforming its image from a camp-follower of the United States to the global climate leader and pushing on to the back foot, and eventually isolating, both China and India. It has serious consequences for India in the future. Article 7 of the Durban Platform resolution calls for a “range of actions to close the ambition gap with a view to ensuring the highest possible mitigation efforts by all Parties.”

War and Human Rights

Q. Universal Declaration of Human Rights?

In 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights mandated that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

Q. Third Geneva Convention?

The Third Geneva Convention prohibited torturing prisoners of war. In 1987, the United Nations agreed that neither “a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.”

Answer of Question 1: D

Answer of Question 2: C