Daily PIB Analysis For UPSC/IAS | 9th &10th November 2018

Table of Contents

Travelling Indian

- India has become more mobile than ever before.
- Indians have always gone places.
- We have two diaspora, one with people going outside the country, and the other with people going from one part of the country to another.
- People who, in the name of regional chauvinism, want so-called ‘outsiders’ to go back to where they came from fail to realise that their ancestors themselves came from another part of the country, and were originally ‘outsiders’.
- But both these Diasporas had to do with work: people moved from place to place in search of sources of livelihood.
- Today’s mobile India is going from place to place for the opposite of work: for leisure.
- Increasingly, Indians are discovering the world of tourism, the more foreign the better.
- Not so long ago, the average Indian was a stay-at-home type.
- Thanks to the growing affluence of the middle class, this has totally changed.
- Today’s Indian – or, at least, the Indian who’s better off – has become an indefatigable globetrotter.
One of the reasons is that, thanks to the new Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS), Indians can now legally take out of the country as much as $2,50,000 annually per individual.

Mandir-Masjid

Yet this Diwali, the last before the general election of 2019, we saw the philosophical luminosity of the festival of lights dimmed by a political cacophony and the empty rituals of religious politics.
Once again the political class is attempting to imprison Lord Ram in the ballot box.
But can the Ram mandir agitation of the 1990s be revived in 2018?
Supreme Court has adjourned the mandir-masjid matter to next year declaring, “we have other priorities”.
“Hindus are running out of patience on the Ram temple issue,” said BJP’s motormouth minister Giriraj Singh in a blatant violation of the ministerial constitutional obligation to represent all Indians, not just a single community.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has vowed to deliver “good news” on Diwali.
RSS spokesperson Bhaiyyaji Joshi has said the organisation is ready to carry out a 1992 like movement for the mandir.
SC’s timeline on the temple clearly doesn’t suit those who believe that Ram mandir is still an electoral trump card.
Of course it could be argued that across the world this is the time of the politics of emotion, politics of spectacle and the era of nativist majoritarianism – so the mandir could be a gamble that pays rich dividends.
Do the majority of Hindus across India want a Ram mandir at Ayodhya?
There is no hard evidence to support this nor has there been a national referendum on the issue.
Even if we accept that all Hindus want the Ram mandir, do they all want it achieved through aggressive political confrontation that possibly entails dangers to lives and livelihoods?
Besides, there’s never been an example in India of the same issue winning more than one election.

Ministry of Defence

Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise aka SIMBEX.
10th to 21st November 2018: 25th edition of SIMBEX is scheduled at Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.
Bilateral cooperation between Singapore and India was first formalised when RSN ships began training with the Indian Navy in 1994.
What began as a modest endeavour to exchange best practices in the field of AntiSubmarine Warfare (ASW), has in the recent years evolved into a complex high stakes exercise with both nations attaching premium in terms of time, complex advanced exercises and type of platforms involved.

- Indo-Singapore bilateral relations have been on an upswing in the recent past.
- Both countries have a full calendar of more than 20 bilateral mechanisms, dialogues and exercises, many of which take place annually.
- In November 2015, the robust relationship between the two countries was elevated to ‘Strategic Partnership’.

In June this year, on the side-lines of the Shangrila Dialogue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong of Singapore inked many agreements including those under the ‘Defence and Strategic Partnership Sectors’.
Key among them is the ‘Implementation Agreement between Indian Navy and Republic of Singapore Navy concerning Mutual Coordination, Logistics and Services Support for Naval Ships’, Submarines and Naval Aircraft (including Ship borne Aviation Assets) visits.
The previous edition of the exercise was held off Singapore in the South China Sea in May 2017.
The 2018 edition marks the Silver Jubilee of SIMBEX. To mark the historical occasion, both navies are undertaking exercises over an extended geography.

Ministry of Commerce & Industry

Indian exporters of four key commodities of rice, tea, spices and dry fruits will be meeting the major importers in Saudi Arabia during a Food and Agro Buyer-Seller Meet (BSM) organised by Consulate General of India in Jeddah in association with Jeddah Chamber and Trade Promotion Council of India (TPCI).
The four commodities being focused on have great prospects for furthering Indian exports to Saudi Arabia.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been a major food and beverages (F&B) market for India.
Basmati rice export continuously dominates India’s rice export basket.
Indian tea: among the finest in the world

India is the 2 nd largest producer and 4 th largest exporter of tea in the world with a 23% share in global production and a 7.5% share in world tea exports.
India exports tea to more than 60 countries globally with Iran, Russia, UK, USA and the Gulf countries being major markets.
Indian spices too are much in demand in the GCC countries, given their exquisite aroma, texture and taste.
India’s export to Saudi Arabia was worth USD 5 billion in 2017.
India’s import from Saudi Arabia was worth USD 21 billion in 2017

Ministry of Home Affairs

Rajnath Singh reviewed progress of ongoing projects being executed by the Land Ports Authority of India and the Border Management Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
There was very good progress and Integrated Check Posts (ICPs) at five border crossing points out of seven approved projects have been completed.
The total approved expenditure for the seven ICPs is more than Rupees 700 crores.
Union Home Minister Shri Rajnath Singh expressed satisfaction at the progress of work and directed the officials to complete the pending works at an early date.

Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment

- The Global IT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities, 2018 was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment, Shri Krishan Pal Gurjar.
- The objective of the event is to leverage IT skills among youth with disabilities and also to spread awareness about the application of Information and Computer Technology (ICT) in enhancing the quality of life of persons with disabilities especially in AsiaPacific region.
- The Global ICT Challenge for Youth with Disabilities is a capacity building project that helps youth with disabilities to overcome their limitations and challenge themselves for a better future by providing them with access to ICT and related experiences, improving their ability to leverage information and social participation while setting ICT agendas for participant countries related to disabilities and boosting international cooperation and exchange.

This year around 100 youth with disabilities (visual disability, hearing disability, locomotor disability and intellectual disability/developmental disorder) from 18 countries namely, India, Indonesia, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Philippines, Korea, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, UK and UAE are participating in this event.
These youth with disabilities have been selected on the basis of the National IT Challenge conducted by the Ministry through NIT Kurukshetra in June, 2018.
India has been participating in the event since 2013 and has been winning awards ever since.

Vice President’s Secretariat

Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu inaugurated the First World War Memorial constructed by the Government of India at the town of Villers Guislain in France.
Shri Naidu laid wreath and paid homage to the Indian soldiers who fought selflessly and heroically during World War 1 and made the supreme sacrifice.
It was almost 100 years back on this same soil that the Indian Cavalry comprising of the Deccan Horse, Hodson’s Horse, Poona Horse, Central India Horse and 18 Cavalry had charged at German positions during the Battle.
He termed it as a testimony to the valour of the Indian soldiers and the duty they stood for, leaving behind their kith and kin, even though it was not a war that India was involved with directly, they fought for human liberty and freedom. Their contributions can never be forgotten.
The sons and daughters of India have always stood on the side of righteousness even when confronting the toughest adversities and have fought gallantly and laid down their lives to uphold and promote these cherished ideals, in the far-flung corners of the world.
Nearly 1.3 Million Indian soldiers fought with valour and distinction during World War I.
The Battle of Cambrai was fought on this very piece of land that you are standing upon today from the morning of November 20, 1917 till December 4, 1917.
Saying that peace is the only pre-requisite for progress, the Vice President said that in an interdependent world, progress can be achieved only through dialogue and understanding.
The Vice President lauded the contributions of the Diaspora in the fields of science and technology, industry, agriculture, art, culture, governance or politics, their strong contributions and successes are as much a matter of pride for France, the country of their settlement, as they are for India, the country of their origin.
Reminding the gathering about long and mutually enriching association with the French, the Vice President said that Rabindranath Tagore’s intellectual influence was known to have touched several French thinkers.
Indian luminaries like Madame Bhikaji Cama and JRD Tata, who were significant figures in India’s pre-independence history, too had strong links with France, he added.