Answers: Mains Marathon – UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions – September 15

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Q1- BRICS had unanimously named Pakistan based groups Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba as terror organizations, would this step have any implication on China-Pakistan relations and would this declaration be of any major advantage for India? How influential can such steps be in the functioning of such terror organizations henceforth?

Implication on China-Pakistan relations

• China-Pakistan relation is bound to get affected as china has somehow shifted its stance from a stringent to a more mature attitude.
• This however, shall have implications in the China – Pakistan relations.
• Pakistan has always been in denial when it comes to Terrorism seeding on its soil.
• The recent naming of Pakistan based groups as terrorist organisation by ‘Pakistan’s all weather friend’ has again proved India’s point.

How influential can such steps be for india?

• Such steps shall benefit india strategically and morally.

• Announcing a terrorist or an organization on a global level a terrorist organisation can lead to a lot of sanctions and burden financially.
• Further the moral of the terrorist further downgrades
• due to enormous pressure

How influential can such steps be?

• The ban on terrorist organisation leads to there bank account being inoperative.
• Any sale of technology to these organisations is banned.Companies having sophisticated technology can not sell them anything .
• The leaders of such organisations banned can’t openly travel all over the world
• There are various sanctions on donations and are prohibited from acquiring and sending funds from anywhere
• Anybody supporting these organisations can be arrested by the legal authority .

Q2- Compare the Indian railways with the global railway network system. What are the challenges that Indian railways is facing in present scenario?

Ans:

The recent derailment mishap of Utkal express at Khatauli calls for a quick and a larger safety elevation

Rising challenges within railway system:

• The Railway system is caught in a time warp, unable to scale up its services to global standards and hobbled by inefficient management.
• The deterioration in passenger services has been repeatedly identified, it has only grown worse.
• The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) on catering services for the year ended March 2016 provides further evidence that little has changed in the system.
• Food is unsuitable for human consumption, contaminated and recycled items is being served, packaged articles past their use-by date, and unauthorized items are sold on trains, all endangering the health of passengers.
• Gross violations are all the more blatant because the administration has instituted a mechanism to penalize agencies such as the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation and invites passengers to file complaints.
• Evidently, instances such as a Rs.1 lakh fine levied on the IRCTC for the presence of a cockroach in food supplied on the Kolkata Rajdhani Express three years ago have not resulted in any significant reform.
• Private sector participation in food supply provided any relief for the problems linked to departmental catering.

Operational inefficiency

• The first and foremost reason for the Operational Inefficiency is being devoid of modernization.
• The periodical diesel price hike has hit the railways hard.
• This cannot be achieved without modernizing the railways with new generation high efficient components.
• The Indian system is running with the kind of technologies which Europe and America scrapped off 20 years ago, although Indian Railways is carrying 30 times more passengers every year.

Comparison with global railways network system:

•         In rail transport worldwide, raising the speed of trains and reducing the speed differential between freight and passenger trains have been the key to increasing capacity and improving safety. For examples the railway systems in Western Europe, North America and China
•         A comparison with the Chinese Railway (CR) is illustrative of the magnitude of Indian Railways failure.
•         Till the 1990s, the speed of train on Chinese Railway was limited to 100 to 120 lm/hr. Within the period of 10 years, it undertook a “speed-up” campaign in six rounds and raised speeds to 160 km/hr on 14,000 km to 200 km/hr on 5,370 km/hr.
•         With the streamlining traffic flow, line capacity was increased by 60 to 70 per cent.
•         Indian Railways latched on to the idea of building two Dedicated Freight Corridor(DFCs) with three more to come in future.
•         DFCs have been built by some railways outside India for the limited purpose of carrying heavy minerals from mines.
•         Indian Railways also began pushing for building High-Speed Rail (HSR) lines.
•         HSR lines are costly and suited for countries with very high per capita income.

Q3- Indian parliamentary delegation refused to be a part of the Bali declaration adopted recently in Indonesia. What is Bali declaration? What was the reason for India’s stand? Critically analyze the Government’s plan to deport around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims back despite the human right violations in Myanmar.

Link     (GS 2)

Answer

What is Bali declaration?

• ·  ‘Bali Declaration’ adopted at the ‘World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development’, in Indonesia.

• · The declaration went on to “call on all parties to contribute to the restoration of stability and security, exercise maximum self-restraint from using violent means.

• · It claimed to respect the human rights of all people in Rakhine State regardless of their faith and ethnicity, as well as facilitate safe access for humanitarian assistance.

What is the reason for India’s stand?

• India senses that the conclusion of the Forum, was not in line with the agreed global principles of ‘sustainable development and the proposed reference to the violence in Rakhine State in the declaration was considered as not consensus-based and inappropriate.
• India objected spoke of the forum expressing deep concern on the ongoing violence in the Rakhine State of Myanmar.
• ·Never before country have specific issues been included in the declaration as these dilute the objective of these forums.
• ·The reason for government’s stand could be to cultivate a good relationship with Myanmar’s army officials.

Many in India support deportation

• ·The State thus seems fairly satisfied with its approach in sending back people to a place where they clearly fear for their lives

• ·The NHRC said that the country has evolved a practical balance between human and humanitarian obligations on the one hand and security and national interest on the other.
• Deportation could mean violation of both international and domestic law
• There are logistical hurdles too as India will have to figure out where it will deport them. These refugees face a very real risk of violence if they return to Myanmar
• Governing a country is an exercise in balancing the interests of various people.
• In expelling the Rohingyas the Indian government could very well violate international law as well as potentially the rights given by the Indian Constitution.