27 June 2023 : Indian Express
Indian Express
27-June-2023
The Indian Express, CSE candidates can stay informed about current events and developments in India and around the world.
1. CAIRO TRYST
Syllabus – GS II
Recent context – Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Cairo.
History
- The India-Egypt relationship has a rich and layered backstory.
- Over the decades, several developments, including Egypt’s take-over of the Suez Canal in 1956, its defeat in the Arab-Israel war in 1967 and its recognition of Israel in 1977, have kept Egypt central to the geopolitics of West Asia.
- Delhi and Cairo have maintained good relations throughout.
Recent Development
- Last June, India shipped wheat to Egypt — it is the world’s largest importer of the grain——during an acute flour shortage in the country due to the disruption in supplies from Ukraine.
- The new thrust to bilateral ties comes at a critical moment in India’s emergence as a key player in evolving geopolitical relations as a voice of the “Global South” and as a rising economic power.
- But China has the most economic influence in Egypt right now, with presence across all sectors, from smart agriculture to infrastructure.
- Egypt, invited by Delhi as one of the nine guest countries in the G20 this year, stayed away from the grouping’s tourism officials’ meet in Srinagar.
Way Ahead
- The India-Egypt strategic partnership is to be built on four pillars that have formed the core of the relationship—politics, defence and security; economic engagement; academic and scientific exchanges; cultural and people-to-people contacts.
- For India, the Suez Canal, which straddles the Gulf states and North Africa, offers a ready-made trade gateway to the region. Egypt is actively canvassing Indian industrial investment in the Suez Canal Economic Zone— offering Indian goods access to several countries in the region.
- The Indian side also hopes to push defence trade to boost its Atma -nirbhar defence production, pinning its hopes on Egyptian interest in the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft.
2. Himachal landslides: over 300 roads closed, thousands stuck
Syllabus – GS I
Recent Context – At least nine people were killed since Saturday, and thousands of people were stranded near Mandi as heavy rain threw life out of gear in Himachal Pradesh.
The landslides have been caused by heavy rainfall in the past two days since the arrival of the monsoon. The Southwest Monsoon reached Himachal Pradesh on June 24.
Landslides
- A landslide is the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope.
- They area type of mass wasting, which denotes any downward movement of soil and rock under the direct influence of gravity.
- Landslide encompasses five slope movement modes: falls, topples, slides, spreads, and flows.
Causes
- Slope movement occurs when forces acting downward (mainly due to gravity) exceed the strength of the earth’s materials that compose the slope.
- Landslides are caused due to three major factors: geology, morphology, and human activity.
- Geology refers to the characteristics of the material. The earth or rock might be weak or fractured, or different layers may have different strengths and stiffness.
- Morphology refers to the structure of the land. For example, slopes that lose vegetation to fire or drought are more vulnerable to landslides.
- Vegetation holds soil in place, and without the root systems of trees, bushes, and other plants, the land is more likely to slide away.
- Human activity, including agriculture and construction, increases the landslide risk.
- The entire Himalayan tract, hills/mountains in sub-Himalayan terrains of North-east India, Western Ghats, and the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu Konkan areas are landslide-prone.
Mitigation
- Restriction on the construction and other developmental activities, such as roads and dams in the areas prone to landslides.
- Limiting agriculture to valleys and areas with moderate slopes.
- Control on the development of large settlements in the high vulnerability zones.
- Promoting large-scale afforestation programmes and bund construction to reduce water flow.
- Terrace farming should be encouraged in the northeastern hill states where Jhumming (Slash and Burn/Shifting Cultivation) is still prevalent.
- The Geological Survey of India (GSI)has done a national landslide susceptibility mapping for 85% of the entire 4,20,000 square km landslide-prone area in the country. The areas have been divided into different zones according to the propensity of the disaster.
- Improvement in early warning systems, monitoring and susceptibility zoning can reduce the damage caused by landslides.
3. RANI DURGAVATI GAURAV YATRA IN MP: WHO WAS THIS GOND QUEEN
Syllabus – GS I
Recent Context – Home Minister Amit Shah had inaugurated the rally in Balaghat. The yatra is being seen as part of the BJP’s larger tribal outreach, with Madhya Pradesh going to polls later this year.
Rani Durgavati
- Rani Durgavati was born in 1524 in Mahoba’s Chandela dynasty, known for building the famous Khajuraho
- Her father was Raja Salbahan of Ratha and Mahoba. Durgavati was married to Dalpat Shah, the son of the Gond King Sangram Shah of the kingdom of Garha-Katanga.
- This kingdom included the Narmada Valley and parts of northern MP. She was widowed in 1550, a few years after her marriage.
- Her young son Bir Narayan was on the throne in name, and she ruled the kingdom.
- Historian Satish Chandra, in his book Medieval India, describes her as a good marksman, skilled at using guns, bows, and arrows. It was noted that she was so intent on hunting tigers that “whenever she heard a tiger had appeared, she did not drink water until she shot it.”
The Mughal attack
- Durgavati and her generals managed the kingdom for 16 years.
- Abul Fazl, the court historian of Akbar who chronicled these years in Akbarnama, described Durgavati as a combination of “beauty, grace and man-like courage and bravery”.
- He added that the prosperity of the kingdom was such that people paid their taxes in gold coins and elephants.
- The Mughal governor of Allahabad, Asaf Khan, decided to attack Garha Katanga attracted by the tales of the queen, writes Chandra.
- Other historians say Akbar ordered the attack. Khan then went to the region with 10,000 cavalry and was joined by several semi-independent rulers.
- The queen situated her troops in Narhi, which was located in a thick forest reached after crossing rivers and was naturally difficult to breach.
- They allowed some Mughal forces to come through the narrow ravines peculiar to the region before surrounding them.
- The Gond queen, therefore, won the first battle. However, soon the Mughals fortified the area and overwhelmed the Gonds.
- Two arrows struck the queen, and it is believed she stabbed herself to not surrender to the Mughal forces. It took Khan nearly two months to consolidate his victory.
- Akbar later asked him to restore the kingdom to Chandra Shah, the younger son of Sangram Shah, after he accepted Mughal suzerainty.
4. In 10 yrs of Meitei ST demand, repeated pleas to state, Centre
Syllabus – GS II
Recent Context – Manipur High Court order on the demand for ST status for the state’s valley-dwelling Meitei people.
First Demand, 2012
- The Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur (STDCM) was set up in November 2012.
- When the Meitei Tribe Union (MTU) — formed last year — filed a writ petition in the HC in March 2023, numerous memorandums demanding ST status for Meiteis had already been submitted to both the state and Union governments.
- STDCM argued that before the merger agreement between the Manipur kingdom and the Union of India in 1949, the British had designated the Meiteis as a “tribe amongst tribes”.
Union Government response
- The committee asked for a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Manipur in January 2019. When it was denied permission, the committee submitted a memorandum to the PM through the Manipur Chief Secretary.
- Soon afterwards, the Tribal Affairs Ministry wrote to the state government, asking for a formal request and relevant documents.
- In December 2020, the STDCM sought to submit its memorandum to Home Minister Amit Shah, who was on a visit to the state; the Manipur Home Department received a communication from the Union Home Ministry that pointed out that the state had not submitted the requisite documentation to the Centre.
- After the BJP won a second term in 2022, the committee requested a meeting with CM, which was accepted.
- The STDCM’s last memorandum was submitted to Shah through government representatives during his three-day visit last month, even as violent ethnic clashes raged.
‘Identity, not quota’
- In 1951, the population of Meiteis was 59%, which came down to 44% in 2011.
- There are sections of the Meitei community who have SC status. Meiteis were also given OBC status, so they do have some reservation.
- The struggle was about the protection of the Meitei identity and lands. Despite being the dominant community, they occupy only 8% of Manipur’s land. Anybody from outside can come here, buy land, and settle down. But they can’t even go to the hills, which are a part of our state, and buy land there.
- Tribal groups, on the other hand, argue that they now make up 40% of Manipur’s population and are under-represented in the Assembly.
Old ‘permit’ system
- The first census of Manipur in 1881 reported a total population of 2,21,070 — 1,17,108 Meiteis, 85,288 individuals belonging to the hill tribes, 105 foreigners and Muslims, and 18,569 Mayangs (any non-Manipuri Indian).
- In1901, the Manipur kingdom devised a “permit” or “passport” system to control the entry of “foreigners” (which was understood to include other Indians as well) and non-Manipuris. The population of Manipur at this time was 2,84,465 (1901 Census).
- Subsequently, “foreigners” who wished to visit Manipur would need permission from the Manipur Durbar and pay a tax. The “permit” system regulated the influx of non-Manipuris and served as a source of revenue. Non-Manipuris could not buy property in Manipur.
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