South Sudan conflict

South Sudan conflict

Why in news?

2 Indian peacekeepers were killed in ethnic clashes

Why conflict?

• South Sudan became an independent nation in 2011
• Its population comprises of several ethnic tribes
• Nuers and Dinkas are two of largest tribes in the region
• Its president Salva Kir belongs to Dinka tribe
• In july 2013, he dismissed his deputy Macher on grounds that he was plotting a coup
• Macher belongs to Nuer tribe
• The political squabble has escalated into a tribal conflict

Impact of Conflict

• Forces backing Mr Machar have seized the key oil producing regions like jonglei and unity state
• However Kiir’s forces still control all or most of the country’s other seven states and has upper hand in terms of supplies, arms and international support.

UN mission in south sudan[UNMISS]

• India has lost seven of its soldiers this year in the world’s newest country who were part of UN peacekeeping mission in south sudan
• UNMISS was setup in 2011 to support state building and economic development
• peacekeepers are deployed in small numbers across South Sudan in remote and inaccessible areas and are in the frontline of the “brunt of the violence” while protecting large numbers of civilian refugees in their camps.
• India is a major contributor of troops to this mission
• UNSC has approved doubling of strength of UN peacekeepers to handle the crisis

Current situation

·         Two sides are holding ceasefire talks as a first step towards resolving the conflict

·         But fighting continues to rage

·         On-going crisis may hit oil supplies from sudan which could have repercussions on world markets and will also hit finances of south sudan government

• Oil revenue makes up 98% of south sudan’s budget
• Hopes that regional leaders might mediate a ceasefire are bleak
• Uganda a major regional power is supporting Salva Kiir with hope of getting South sudan to transport oil through Uganda rather than Sudan
• Sudan has so far stayed away from conflict but it could be tempted to intervene to protect its own interests in oil fields close to the border
• Way forward is to negotiate for a new power sharing agreement

India’s interests in the region

• India’s investments have been mainly in the energy sector.
• Most of these assets are located in South Sudan.
• conflict and instability in the region will have an adverse impact on India.

Sources:

IDSA: http://idsa.in/askanexpert/importanceofSudanandSouthSudantoIndia

BBC:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25427965

           http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-25617980

Economist: http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21592637-despite-desperate-peacemaking-efforts-outlook-south-sudan

Panchayat raj- evaluation

                     73^rd and 74^th amendment were landmark events in Indian polity.It led to institutionalisation of third tier of governance in form of        panchayats and municipalities.This has led to significant changes in political land scape of India.

In last 2 decades, elections have been held on regular basis for local bodies in most of the places.30% reservation for women has led to empowerment of women in political domain. Some States like Bihar,M.P have further extended womens reservation to 50%.

Several flagship schemes like NREGA,JNNURM are being implemented through local bodies. Local bodies are being empowered to undertake social audit.

In scheduled areas gram sabhas have been given greater powers to regulate money lending, permit land acquisition and other sensitive issues.

Many of leaders from panchayat level have been able to progress to state and national level  politics.Local bodies are serving as nurseries for producing future leaders.

Thus in past 2 decades ,significant strides have been made in deepening democracy.This is reflected in fact that India has  over 30 lakh elected representatives at local, state and national level.

However there are several impediments that have made local bodies ineffective. Constitution envisaged local bodies  as institutes of self government.However state governments reluctance to empower them has  led   to their becoming agents of state government.They lack adequate funds,functions and functionaries. They are forced to depend on state governments.

The rotation of reservation of constituencies led to lack of interest of elected representatives  to invest political capital in developing their constituencies. Though women have been elected to local bodies, in many cases they only serve as proxy for their male relatives.

Deeply entrenched caste system has led to capture of local bodies by upper caste members , thus perpetuating discrimination of local castes.

Therefore real empowerment is lacking. There is growing disconnect between people and elected representatives at state and national level. It is in the interest of everyone to devolve powers to local bodies and make them into effective institutions of self government.This would transform India from a representative democracy to a more inclusive, participative and responsive democracy.

Green policies of India

• • National Clean Energy Fund
  • Compensatory Afforestation Fund.
  • National Environmental Policy, 2006
  • articulates that only such development is sustainable which respects ecological constraints and the imperatives of social justice
  • National Agricultural Policy
  •  focuses on sustainable development of agriculture by promoting technically sound and economically viable, environmentally non-degrading, and socially acceptable uses of the country’s natural resources
  • National Electricity Policy
  •  underscores the use of renewable sources of energy
  • National Action Plan on Climate Change
  • provides a clear strategy for addressing the challenges posed by climate change
  • voluntary domestic commitment to reduce, by the year 2020, the emissions intensity of our GDP by 20-25 percent as compared to 2005 levels
  • Emissions Trading Schemes
  • to reduce the level of ambient air pollution near major industrial clusters
  • “greening” rural development
  • regenerate and conserve the natural resource base
  • use clean materials, technologies and processes to create environment friendly products
  • strengthen the climate resilience of the rural poor
  
  

National Cyber security policy

Topic: Basics of cyber security[Paper III]
National cyber security policy
  secure cyber ecosystem in india and thereby enhance IT adoption in various sectors
  enhance global cooperation on cyber security issues
  protect stored information
  strengthen regulatory framework
  enhance intelligence gathering capabilities with regard to threats to ICT infrastructure
  enhance protection of critical information infrastructure
  develop indigenous security technologies
  create workforce of 5 lakh professionals in cyber security in 5 years
  encourage private businesses to adopt standard security practices
  appropriate legislative intervention to tackle cyber crime

Animal Husbandry

Topic: Economics of animal rearing [GS 3]

India and Central asian republics

source- IDSA

Land Bill- special provisions for SC and ST