Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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India pulls off a diplomatic coup, wins prized ICJ seat

News

• India scored a major diplomatic victory as its nominee to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Dalveer Bhandari was re-elected after the United Kingdom withdrew its candidate Christopher Greenwood.

Why its important?

• This is the first time in over seven decades of the United Nations, that the U.K. will not be represented in the ICJ; and this is the first time that one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council lost out to an ordinary member in a race.

This is also the first time that one sitting member of the ICJ lost out to another sitting member.

Beyond News

• The K. chose to withdraw after it became clear that it would not win the contest in the General Assembly (GA) and it did not have adequate support in the Security Council (UNSC) for its attempts to derail the voting process itself.

WTO: India resolute on food security

News

• At the upcoming meeting of the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) highest decision-making body, India will not agree to severe restrictions on its right to give price subsidies to farmers through the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to procure grains from them for food security purposes, according to highly-placed official sources.

Beyond News:

• The WTO’s Ministerial Conference is slated to take place at Buenos Aires in Argentina next month.
• Currently, an interim mechanism called the ‘Peace Clause’ is in place, per which WTO members had agreed not to challenge developing nations at the WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism if they breached the cap of the product-specific domestic support (which is 10% of the value of production).

Peace clause

• The ‘Peace Clause’ is available to developing nations, including India, till a permanent solution is found to public stockholding for food security purposes.
• Official sources said India would fight to ensure that at least the ‘Peace Clause’ is made the permanent solution, and will not accept any ‘terribly stringent or onerous’ conditions.

Difficult to invoke

According to Abhijit Das, head and professor, Centre for WTO Studies, Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, the prospects of an agreement on a permanent solution are not that bright due to three roadblocks.

1. the U.S. has not been engaging actively on the matter till recently, and if the U.S. does not give its nod, it will be difficult to arrive at a decision.
2. the European Union has tried to link the permanent solution with outcomes including stringent disciplines on domestic support given by developing nations.
3. Lastly, most WTO members are of the opinion that there should be a commitment on prohibition of exports from public stockholding saying such exports would be trade-distorting.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

India calls for stronger treaties to protect space assets

News

• Stressing international cooperation in space as in all domains of global commons, Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar called for strengthening global treaties to protect space-based assets and prevent militarisation of outer space.

Beyond News

• India had more than 200 international cooperation agreements with more than 40 countries and international organisations, and called the maiden moon mission, Chandrayaan-I, a “successful example of international cooperation with international payloads”.
• In May, ISRO launched the communications satellite GSAT-9, also called SAARC satellite, meant to provide connectivity and disaster support to countries in South Asia.

The satellite cost around Rs. 235 crore and had a life span of 12 years.

Hafiz Saeed to be released on Friday midnight

News

• The Judicial Review Board of the Lahore High Court ordered the release of Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed from house arrest.

Beyond News

• It overruled the government’s request that his release may trigger international sanctions against Pakistan.
• Saeed will be freed in the midnight of November 24 after the expiry of the house arrest order. He had been under house arrest since January last.
• Saeed, a declared terrorist by the U.N., the U.S. and India for his involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was produced before the review board that comprised Justices Yawar Ali, Abus Sami Khan and Aalia Neelum.

Drones to be used for spraying pesticides

News

• The State government is ready to bear the entire expenditure for using drones to spray pesticides to prevent the spread of plant diseases.

Beyond News

• This would be done under the Farmers’ One Stop Shop (FOSS) to be attached to the Rythu Seva Kendrams functioning in all the Assembly constituencies.
• Drones would be used extensively in digital soil mapping using the know-how provided by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The BMGF has already used the technology in South Africa.

In a first, BrahMos missile fired succesfully from Sukhoi aircraft

News

• In a milestone, a BrahMos supersonic cruise missile was on Wednesday fired successfully for the first time from a Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jet of the Indian Air Force.

Beyond News

• The missile was gravity dropped from the Su-30MKI from its fuselage, and the two-stage missile’s engine fired up and was propelled towards the intended target in the Bay of Bengal.
• Brahmos ALCM, which weighs 2.5 tonnes, is the heaviest weapon to be deployed on India’s Su-30 fighter aircraft.
• It has a range of 290 km.
• Brahmos, the world class weapon with multi-platform, multi-mission role is now capable of being launched from land, sea and air, completing the tactical cruise missile triad for India.

The land and sea variants of Brahmos are already operational with the Army and the Navy. Recently, the range variants were upgraded from 290 km to 450 km after India joined the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

BrahMos is a joint venture between India and Russia and named after the Brahmaputra and Moscowa rivers.

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