UPSC Key— 1st April, 2024: Katchatheevu, Vaikom satyagraha, Wheat stocks and more

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The decades-old territorial and fishing rights dispute around Katchatheevu Island has been brought back into the limelight, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeting the Congress for ceding the island to Sri Lanka and the party hitting back, saying the PM was raking up the issue now with an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

•  Map Work:

The tiny island of Katchatheevu lies 33 km northeast of Rameswaram and about 62 km southwest of Jaffna. (Express Image)

• For Your Information:

Katchatheevu Island is a 285-acre territory within Sri Lanka’s maritime boundary, located 33 km off the coast of Tamil Nadu.

The island is home to the 110-year-old St Anthony’s Church, which attracts thousands of devotees annually from India, who go there from Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu.

Originating from a 14th-century volcanic eruption, Katchatheevu had been under the control of the kingdom of Ramnad Raja, who was based in Ramanathapuram (now a city in Tamil Nadu).

The island later came under British rule, within the Madras Presidency. In 1921, under British rule, India and Sri Lanka raised claims over Katchatheevu to determine their fishing boundaries.

A survey marked Katchatheevu within Sri Lankan boundaries, but a British delegation from India challenged this, citing the ownership of the island by the Ramnad Kingdom.

The dispute remained unsettled until the 1974 agreement between independent India and Sri Lanka ceded Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, allowing Indian fishermen access for specific purposes, but not explicitly granting fishing rights.

The agreement, signed in Colombo and New Delhi, did not involve consultation with the Tamil Nadu government, causing long-standing discontent.

Indo-Bangla land pact: The Union Home Ministry cleared Indian citizenship for 14,864 people who decided to stay in India following the exchange of adversely-held enclaves under a landmark land boundary agreement with Bangladesh, sources said. From July 6 to 16 in 2015 , India and Bangladesh jointly conducted a survey to determine which of the countries the residents of the enclaves wanted to stay in. India and Bangladesh exchanged 162 adversely-held enclaves on August 1, 2015. As many as 111 Indian enclaves became part of Bangladesh while 51 Bangladesh enclaves became part of the Indian territory. According to an estimate, around 37,000 people were living in Indian enclaves in Bangladesh while 14,000 people were staying in Bangladeshi enclaves in India. (Source: Indo-Bangla land pact: MHA nod to citizenship for 14,864 people)

• Points to ponder:

How did the Sri Lankan Civil War impact Katchatheevu?

What is Tamil Nadu’s position on Katchatheevu?

• Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Did Congress ‘give away’ Katchatheevu island to Sri Lanka?

Katchatheevu: Why an Indian Island went to Sri Lanka and many hope for its symbolic return

Explained: Assam inclusion paves the way for boundary pact

THE EXPLAINED PAGE

A century later, remembering Vaikom satyagraha

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: History of India and Indian National Movement.

Mains Examination: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present – significant events, personalities, issues.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Vaikom, a temple town in the princely state of Travancore, saw the start of a non-violent agitation on March 30, 1924 — the first among temple entry movements that would soon sweep across the country. The satyagraha foregrounded social reform amidst the growing nationalist movement, bringing Gandhian methods of protest to the state of Travancore.

• For Your Information:

The second half of the 19th century, Travancore saw several social and political developments ushering in unprecedented social change. First, Christian missionaries converted large sections of lower castes seeking to escape the clutches of caste oppression. Second, the reign of Maharaja Ayilyam Thirunal Rama Varma (1860-80) saw many progressive reforms, such as universal free primary education — including for the lower castes.

By the dawn of the 20th century, “there had begun to emerge among caste Hindus, Christians and even avarna Hindus, especially Ezhavas, a significant educated elite,” historian Robin Jeffrey wrote. (‘Temple-Entry Movement in Travancore, 1860-1940’: Social Scientist, 1976)

While religion and custom remained pervasive, the absolute material and intellectual deprivations of lower castes did not continue. The Ezhavas, in particular, emerged as “the most educated and organised untouchable community in Travancore”, historian Mary Elizabeth King wrote in Gandhian Nonviolent Struggle and Untouchability in South India (2015).

But government jobs were still reserved for upper castes — in 1918, caste Hindus, a numerical minority, held 3,800 out of 4,000 jobs in the state’s revenue department. This meant that education itself did not act as a means of socio-economic advancement.

• Who was TK Madhaban and how did the agitation begin?

• What happened in the 600-day agitation? Why was it a remarkable movement?

(Thought Process: The Vaikom satyagraha was a remarkable movement, which sustained itself for over 600 days, amidst hostile social forces, police crackdowns, and one of the worst floods in the town’s history in 1924. The satyagraha also saw previously unseen unity across caste lines, which was crucial for its continuing mobilisation.)

• What roles were played by the following leaders?

(a) Mahatma Gandhi

(b) Periyar

(c) C Rajagopalachari

Climax: In November 1936, the Maharaja of Travancore signed the historic Temple Entry Proclamation which removed the age-old ban on the entry of marginalised castes into the temples of the state. This, along with the demonstration of Gandhian methods of civil disobedience as effective tools of protest, was the great success of the Vaikom satyagraha.

Points to ponder:

Why is the 1923 session of the Indian National Congress in Kakinada important?

Why did Periyar fall out with Gandhi?

What do we mean by Satyagraha? How Satyagraha emerged as an important method during India’s freedom struggle?

N-energy as climate solution

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental Ecology, Biodiversity, and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation.

Mains Examination: General Science III: 

• Science and Technology- developments and their applications and effects in everyday life.
• Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.
• Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-

Last week, Brussels hosted a first-of-its-kind Nuclear Energy Summit that was billed as the most high-profile international meeting on nuclear energy ever, boasting the attendance of representatives from 30 countries, including a few heads of state. This day-long meeting on March 21 was the latest in a series of efforts being made in the last few years to pitch nuclear energy as an important solution to global problems like climate change and energy security.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which organised last week’s event, called it a “landmark” and a “turning point” in the efforts to expand the use of nuclear energy for generating clean electricity.

The meeting was not meant to produce any decisions or finalise any agreement. Rather, it was another attempt to build momentum for a greater acceptance of nuclear energy which many countries continue to have apprehensions about. Such apprehensions were aggravated by the Fukushima accident in 2011. The continuing crisis at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine, the first nuclear facility to have been caught in a dangerous armed conflict, has also been a source of grave concern.

• You Must Know: The final outcome from Dubai (COP 28) formally acknowledged nuclear energy as one of the zero, or low-emission technologies, that needed to be accelerated to achieve rapid and deep decarbonisation. This was the first time that nuclear energy was mentioned in any COP outcome.

According to IAEA projections, before the tripling declaration, the total electricity generating capacity of nuclear power was set to grow by 22 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2050 from 2020 levels. Tripling appears to be a herculean task right now.

• What is IAEA’s ‘Atoms4Climate’ initiative?

• Points to ponder:

How is nuclear power a source of clean energy?

What is India’s position on nuclear energy?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Explained: India’s first indigenous Fast Breeder Reactor begins ‘core loading’, why it matters

India needs to go nuclear

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Pointers from wheat

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- With wheat stocks in government godowns, at 9.7 million tonnes on March 1, the lowest in seven years for this date, all eyes are on the crop about to be marketed. For now, a bumper harvest seems to be in the offing, at least in Punjab, Haryana, UP and Bihar.

• For Your Information: Main Pointers

Unlike in 2022 and 2023, when the crop suffered yield losses due to temperature spikes and unseasonal heavy rains respectively during the final grain formation and filling stage, no such “Ides of March” weather events have been reported from this major wheat belt.

March temperatures ruling near normal this time and three-fourths of the grain-filling completed augurs well for the crop across the Indo-Gangetic plains.

The problem, if any, is with the wheat in central India — MP, Gujarat and Maharashtra — that has already been, or is close to being, harvested. And even there, it’s not March but November-December temperatures that may have played spoiler.

It only highlights how susceptible wheat — and agriculture itself — has become to climate change. In this case, it isn’t just terminal heat stress, leading to premature ripening and drying of the crop in its final growth phase.

It is also about relatively warm temperatures at the time of sowing and initial vegetative growth period, resulting in fewer tillers being formed and premature flowering. Climate change, thus, manifests itself both in the early onset of summer and the delayed setting in of winter.

If the 2021-22 wheat in northwest and north India was affected by the former, the crop this time in central India has apparently taken a hit from the latter. To the extent the lower yields from central India are offset by better-than-average production in the Indo-Gangetic plains, the country can still end up harvesting more wheat than in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Whether that is so will be known in a month’s time.

Thankfully, global wheat prices are currently at their lowest in four years, making imports feasible. The government should enable it by doing away with the 40 per cent customs duty.

From a medium- to long-term perspective, India has to invest more in breeding for climate change.

• You Must Know:

India has asked traders, major retailers and food processors to declare wheat stocks every Friday from April to prevent hoarding and price spikes, the government said on Friday.

The world’s second-biggest wheat consumer after China has been trying to contain wheat prices after heat waves curtailed production for two straight years, forcing the government to sell record volumes to boost domestic supplies.

In 2023, the government bought 26.2 million tons of wheat from local farmers, compared to its target of 34.15 million tons.

• By the way: Why does India need a Green Revolution 2.0?

(Thought Process: Varieties that can withstand extreme temperature and rainfall variations, while yielding more using less water and nutrients are the need of the hour given temperature surges.)

• Points to ponder:

What did the Green Revolution strategy essentially rely on? What should be the focus of Green Revolution 2.0?

Manifesto for Nari Shakti

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Welfare schemes and Women

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Rekha Saxena and Aditi Narayani Paswan write: The Indian civilisation places the woman, nari, in a pre-eminent position. Shakti is seen as a source of creation, maintenance, and destruction and is understood as a way of bringing balance to the universe. It has always signified the divine feminine form. The prayer ‘Yaa Devi Sarva-Bhuteshu Shakti-Ruupenna Samsthitaa’ refers to the devi or goddess who resides in all beings as a form of shakti. In this context, nari shakti is not merely sashaktikaran (empowerment) but the feminine power residing in all beings. With a greater emphasis on nari shakti now and with the biggest festival of democracy, the Lok Sabha elections, around the corner, it is imperative to ask: Where does the nari of this nation stand? How do we understand the language of empowerment? Can it only be understood in political or economic terms?

• Buzzwords to know: Women Empowerment and Pay parity

• For Your Information: Main pointers

Gender is incorporated in government policy in India, and the gender budget statement reflects the extent of this integration, but there is a need for a nuanced understanding of intersectionality within the gender discourse.

Examples include initiatives such as the National Health Mission, National Rural Livelihood Mission, MGNREGA, and Integrated Child Development Services. Effective analysis using gender disaggregated data is critical for ensuring that policies and activities benefit women. Lack of funds and inefficient use has a negative influence on gender equality.

We must work towards pay parity to ensure that men and women receive equal wages for performing the same work in the informal sector.

Over the past decade, financial inclusion schemes such as the MUDRA Yojana, Mahila e-Haat and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) have helped millions of women in asserting their basic rights. With access to banking, LPG cylinders and education, they need not be reliant on male family members to lead a dignified life. The digitalisation of access to government schemes and facilities has the potential to create equal access to social security, micro-financing, skill-based funding, and subsidies.

An unprecedented number of women have gained access to clean toilets and energy under Swachh Bharat and the Ujjwala scheme, which are important for a life of dignity. Policies like PM-JAY and PM-SUMAN, are a move in the right direction while addressing women’s health, although, there is a need to invest in pre- and post-natal care for women.

There is also a need to broaden the scope for women entrepreneurs and focus on diversification of skills.

• Know Your Schemes:

PM-SUMAN

PM-JAY

Ujjwala scheme

Swachh Bharat

MUDRA Yojana

Mahila e-Haat

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

National Health Mission

National Rural Livelihood Mission

MGNREGA

Integrated Child Development Services.

• Point to Ponder:

What is Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam Bill?

THE IDEAS PAGE

Viksit must be inclusive

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country, – different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Ashok Gulati writes: The temperatures are rising not only politically, but also atmospherically. It is now confirmed that 2023 was the warmest year on record since 1850 as per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US. The 2023 temperatures were 1.18 degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, and many scientists are predicting that 2024 could be even worse. Against this backdrop of rising temperatures, the moot question for us in India is: Will Indian agriculture be able to feed our growing population in the medium to long run, and whether our farmers will also be prosperous in Viksit Bharat@2047 — an aspirational slogan given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

• For Your Information: Main Pointers

While the long-term growth rate from 1991-92 to 2023-24 (second advance estimate) of overall GDP is 6.1 per cent, for agri-GDP it is 3.3 per cent. However, during the last 10 years of the Modi government, overall GDP has grown only by 5.9 per cent (compared to 6.8 per cent during Manmohan Singh’s period) and agriculture growth has been 3.6 per cent (compared to 3.5 per cent during the Manmohan Singh period). There is not much of a difference between the two governments with respect to agri-GDP growth.

Agriculture is critical for India’s development as it still engages about 45 per cent of the working population (2022-23, PLFS data). So, if Viksit Bharat has to be an inclusive Bharat, it must develop its agriculture to its full potential. Productivity needs to rise, water consumption needs to be reduced, groundwater needs to be re-charged, soil degradation needs to be arrested, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from agriculture need to be curtailed. Business as usual, with the current set of policies, is not likely to deliver this dream of inclusive Viksit Bharat by 2047.

What we know today is that agriculture contributes roughly 18 per cent to the overall GDP but engages 45 per cent of the workforce — as pointed out earlier.

If our growth rates of overall GDP and agri-GDP keep growing as they have during the last 20 years, or even last 10 years, the likely chances are that by 2047, agriculture’s share in overall GDP may drop to just 7-8 per cent but it may still be saddled with more than 30 per cent of the country’s workforce. More people need to move out of agriculture to higher productivity jobs with better skills. Therefore, the skill formation of rural people for rapidly growing and urbanising India has to be a top priority.

• What are FPOs and E-NAM?

• Point to ponder:

What should be the agenda for agriculture in Viksit Bharat?

For any queries and feedback, contact manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com