India-Myanmar joint operation

 

News Flash

Days after the airstrike in Pakistan’s Balakot, Indian forces in coordination with Myanmar Army conducted a joint operation at several camps of Arakan Army on the Indo-Myanmar border and claimed to have wiped out militant camps.

• This operation was to avert a possible threat to the ambitious Kaladan transit and transport project.
• Indian forces did not cross the border and only extended logistic support to Myanmar Army.

 

Background

• Arakan Army members managed to set up at least 8-10 camps across the international border with India in the Rakhine state of Myanmar.
• Most of the camps were located along the Mizoram-Myanmar border.

 

What

Myanmar Army has taken more than a dozen leaders of the NSCN-K  faction into custody after the operation at their base at Taga in Sagaing Division of Myanmar last month, indicating close cooperation between the security forces of the two countries.

 

NSCN

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland (abbreviated NSCN) is a Greater Naga Revolutionist, Christian Naga nationalist insurgent group operating mainly in Northeast India, with minor activities in northwest Myanmar (Burma). Two major factions of NSCN include NSCN (K), led by Khaplang; and NSCN (I-M), led by Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muviah.

The main goal of the organisation is to establish a sovereign Naga state, “Nagalim”, which would consist of all the areas inhabited by the Naga people in Northeast India and Northwest Myanmar.

According to the NSCN manifesto, their slogan is “Nagaland for Christ”. The group is accused of kidnapping, assassination, forced conversion and committing terrorist activities.

On 3 August 2015 NSCN leader T Muivah, from NSCN-IM faction, signed a peace accord with the Government of India. But later on the accord was broken. NSCN(K) is the faction of the group working under the leadership of Khaplang and was responsible of attack on an army convoy in Manipur in 2015.

 

India-Myanmar Military cooperation

The second edition of the India-Myanmar bilateral army exercise , IMBEX 2018-19, commenced at Chandramandir Military Station, chandigarh that houses the headquarters of the western command.

The aim of this joint training programme is to train the Myanmar delegation for participation in United Nations peace keeping operations under the UN flag.

 

Significance of such Operations

The India–Myanmar border is 1,624-kilometre long and four Northeast Indian states share the border with Myanmar: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur. These areas for a long have been affected by the local insurgent groups which are involved in cross- border terror activities to destabilise India, some of them are conducting their operations from the Myanmar side of the border.

The main cross-border problems are:

• Smuggling in goods, arms and counterfeit currency.
• Drug trafficking, and insurgency. The United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) also warned that the region could become a major transit point for illicit drugs because of the poor state of border security facilities.

 

Operation Golden Bird

Operation Golden Bird was a joint India Myanmar military operation carried out along the Mizoram border in 1995 that led to the elimination of dozens of terrorists. It was one of the successful.

 

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime is a United Nations office that was established in 1997 as the Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention by combining the United Nations International Drug Control Program and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division in the United Nations Office at Vienna.

 

International Narcotics Control Board

The International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) is an independent, quasi-judicial expert body established by the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 by merging two bodies: the Permanent Central Narcotics Board, created by the 1925 International Opium Convention; and the Drug Supervisory Body, created by the 1931 Convention for Limiting the Manufacture and Regulating the Distribution of Narcotic Drugs. INCB has 13 members, each elected by the Economic and Social Council for a period of five years. INCB members may be re-elected. Ten of the members are elected from a list of persons nominated by Governments. The remaining three members are elected from a list of persons nominated by the World Health Organization (WHO) for their medical, pharmacological or pharmaceutical experience. Members of the Board shall be persons who, by their expertise, competence, impartiality and disinterestedness, will command general confidence. Once they have been elected, INCB members serve impartially in their personal capacity, independently of Governments.

 

Source: Indian Express

 

 

 

Export policy in India

 

News Flash

Recently US to decide to revoke India’s export privileges under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP).

 

Why USA’s Decision is Important

• India will loss preferential access at zero or minimal tariffs to the US market for around 1,900 products, which is over half of all Indian products.
• However Indian government claims that the actual tariff advantage India was getting from the programme was a meagre USD 190 million, which is just 0.4 per cent of the USD 50 billion over all Indian exports to the US.

 

Issues of concern 

• As India is competing in US market with small low income countries, like Mexico, a very small increase in the market price can cause a large fall in the quantity exported.
• The tariff benefit that India at present enjoys is low simply because average tariffs in the US are low. It cannot be used as an indicator of the potential cost to India of losing its GSP privilege.
• India’s share of world exports has been remained stagnant at around 2 per cent for some time now. Essentially, our exports have been growing at the same rate as the rest of the world. For a country that has incessantly been one of the fastest growing economies in the world, India’s exports should be growing much faster.

 

Composition of Indian Exports

• Around 63 per cent of total Indian exports are still of goods.. India’s share of world goods exports rose from 0.5 per cent in 1990 to 1.7 per cent in 2017 while China’s rose from 1.8 per cent to 12.8 per cent during the same period.
• It is true that the Indian service sector’s share of world services exports rose sharply from 0.5 per cent in 1990 to 3.7 per cent in 2017. We can compare it with the growth of Chinese service sector’s share of world service sector exports which more than tripled from 0.9 per cent in 1992 to 3.8 per cent in 2017.

 

Reasons behind

• Merchandise exports in India are concentrated in eight industries which collectively account for 85 percent of India’s merchandise exports.
• Exporting producers, in India, are small in size in comparison to International standards, it reduces their productivity. It has mainly two reasons:
• Existing labour and land laws make growing in scale a difficult proposition for firms.
• The infrastructure support that is needed to sustain production and distribution at scale is often missing. These include transport connectivity and reliable power supply.

Exports are felling for the fourth consecutive month, as growth in February fell to 2.44 per cent, with major foreign exchange earners such as gems and jewellery, engineering goods, and petrochemicals seeing sluggish growth. Imports also contracted for the second time in the past three months. As a result, the trade deficit figures fell to their lowest level in the current financial year (2018-19 or FY19). The effective trade deficit fell to $9.59 billion in February from $14.73 billion in January.

 

• Discredited policies such as raising import tariffs under various guises like furthering the Make In India initiative or addressing current account imbalances send a negative message to global trading countries.
• India has been on back front in realising better trade agreements with countries or blocks with prospect us markets, like in case of EU.

Trade Deficit A trade deficit is an economic measure of international trade in which a country’s imports exceed its exports. A trade deficit represents an outflow of domestic currency to foreign markets. It is also referred to as a negative balance of trade (BOT).

 

Way Ahead 

• Diversification in the marketable commodities/ merchandises.
• Diversification in markets.
• Infrastructure Development.
• Avoid protectionist policies.
• Joining and signing better trade treaties.

 

New Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) for the years 2015-2020

FTP 2015-20 introduces two new schemes:

• ”Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS)”
• “Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS)”.
• For grant of rewards under MEIS, the countries have been categorized into 3 Groups, whereas the rates of rewards under MEIS range from 2% to 5%. Under SEIS the selected Services would be rewarded at the rates of 3% and 5%.Promote specific services for specific Markets Foreign Trade Policy.
• FTP would reduce export obligations by 25% and give boost to domestic manufacturing.
• FTP benefits from both MEIS & SEIS will be extended to units located in SEZs.
• Agricultural and village industry products to be supported across the globe at rates of 3% and 5% under MEIS. Higher level of support to be provided to processed and packaged agricultural and food items under MEIS.
• 108 MSME clusters have been identified for focused interventions to boost exports. Accordingly, ‘Niryat Bandhu Scheme’ has been galvanised and repositioned to achieve the objectives of ‘Skill India’.

Niryat Bandhu Yojna DGFT is implementing the Niryat Bandhu Scheme for mentoring new and potential exporter on the intricacies of foreign trade through counselling, training and outreach programs.

 

Source: Indian Express

 

 

 

ATTENTION

Fridays for Future

Students started rallying against the climate change and on Friday, students in 112 countries, 1,787 locations over the world, came out in protest. In Delhi, close to 400 students gathered, holding placards and sloganeering.

 “Fridays for Future” protest was started by Greta Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish student, in August 2018. It became a regular event and is held on the 15th of every month.

 

 

Oxytocin

Oxytocin is an essential drug used to prevent new mothers from bleeding to death during childbirth. Oxytocin is a hormone and a neurotransmitter that is involved in childbirth and breast-feeding. It is also associated with empathy, trust, sexual activity, and relationship-building. Research shows that it may benefit people with an autistic spectrum disorder.

Karnataka Antibiotics and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (KAPL), the public sector undertaking was flagged recently for a substandard batch of the very same injectable drug for which the government wants it to be the only manufacturer in the country KAPL was authorised to manufacture and market oxytocin injection for domestic use starting September 1, 2018.

Over the years, some medicines produced by KAPL have also failed tests by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), India’s apex drug regulatory body

 

 

India to host under 17 world women cup

India has won the rights to host the 2020 FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup, which will be the seventh edition of the biennial tournament. As host, India will gain a direct qualification to the tournament and will be participating for the first time.

Source: The Hindu