2019 2 18

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Source : www.thehindu.com Date : 2019-02-18
CAUGHT DOWN THE WIRE: PUNJAB’S BLACKBUCK

FIGHT FOR EXISTENCE
Relevant for: Environment | Topic: Biodiversity, Ecology, and Wildlife Related Issues
Marred by strays:A herd of blackbuck sauntering in open fields in Sardarpura village in Abohar
district of Punjab. These indigenous deer often fall prey to barbed wire fences or get injured by
stray dogs. At right, injured animals undergoing treatment at a rescue centre at
Fazilka.AKHILESH KUMAR
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On the foggy winter afternoon of February 3, a phone call from a local, saying “An injured
blackbuck, apparently attacked by stray dogs, is lying on a farm in Sardarpur village...” was
enough to send a team of forest and wildlife personnel into rescue mode. They rushed to the
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spot in the Abohar Wildlife Sanctuary (AWS) to save the animal.
A young deer, about two years old, was lying on the farm with multiple injuries, after being
attacked by a group of stray dogs. Chased by the canines, the blackbuck had rammed into
barbed wires, which enclose agricultural fields to avoid crop damage from stray cattle. The
injuries proved to be fatal, even though medical treatment was given, and the blackbuck
succumbed within a few hours of the attack.
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This is not an isolated incident. In 2019, so far, as many as eight blackbuck have died in the
AWS, and a majority of them succumbed to their injuries, caused by barbed wires while trying to
escape from stray dogs, officials told The Hindu .
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Other unnatural reasons for blackbuck deaths include road accidents and falling into water
storage tanks and concrete drains.
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For the blackbuck, Punjab’s State animal, it’s a fight for existence at the AWS in Fazilka district.
It faces a severe threat from stray cattle, attacks by stray dogs, and habitat fragmentation due to
change in land use and cropping patterns over the past few years.
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Avoidable casualties
State government data show that, in 2018, as many as 25 blackbuck died, while the Wildlife
Wing was successful in saving the lives of 18 injured ones. In 2017, 42 blackbuck died in the
sanctuary area, while 33 were saved after being provided medical treatment.
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“Most of the blackbuck here are dying due to injuries caused by stray dog attacks. Feral dogs
target young deer and expecting females. The problem has been aggravated in the past few
years as locals trying to save their crops from stray cattle have put up barbed wires and nets.
Such fencing of fields restricts the free movement of blackbuck and results in fatal injuries when
they are chased by dogs,” said Malkit Singh, Range Officer at AWS.
The district administration has banned the sale and use of barbed wires, yet its use continues
unabated in the sanctuary area. Fencing agricultural fields, especially with cobra wires that have
blade-edged iron wire mesh, has been a major cause of worry, and a key reason behind causing
fatal injuries to blackbuck during dog attacks.
“We make people aware of the ill-effects of barbed wires. On Friday, in Khairpur village, our
team convinced two farmers to remove cobra wires from their farms. This an ongoing process.
We are making efforts to convince locals to take off these wires for the safety of blackbuck,” said
Mr. Singh.
The AWS is an open sanctuary, spread across private land in 13 villages. The blackbuck was
notified as the State animal of Punjab in 1989 and its presence in the State is confined to the
AWS due to the unique habitat of semi-arid plains consisting of agricultural fields, intermittent
fallow-barren lands, scattered sand dunes, sand mounds and ridges.
Locals who have been peacefully co-existing with this near-threatened species of blackbuck for
several years are annoyed with the alleged indifference of the State government towards solving
the problem of stray cattle. They say that if the problem of stray cattle is resolved, then there
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would be no need for them to fence their farms with barbed wires, which would eventually allow
free movement of blackbuck and help them thrive.
‘Out of compulsion’
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“It’s not by choice but out of compulsion that I have fenced my farm with barbed wire. Stray
cattle will destroy my standing crop if I don’t take precautionary measures. I, or for that matter no
one in my village, would want to hurt blackbuck, but what options do we have? We have to
sustain our family,” said Naresh Kumar, who has sown wheat in his 10 acres of family land in
Mehrana village.
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In AWS, where land in mainly owned by the Bishnoi community, there were 3,273 blackbuck
according to the 2017 census, conducted jointly by the Punjab Biodiversity Board and the
Department of Forest and Wildlife Preservation, against 3,500 in the year 2011.
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Habitat disturbed
R.D. Bishnoi, State president of the Akhil Bhartiya Jeev Rakshak Bishnoi Samaj, said that, over
the years, with habitat fragmentation due to change in land use and cropping pattern, the natural
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habitat of blackbuck had been disturbed.
“A few years ago, blackbuck in herds of 100-150 could be easily seen running here but
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nowadays, you will only find a group of 20-25 deer. Over the years, the fallow-barren lands have
turned into lush green fields due to better irrigation facilities. Scattered sand dunes and sand
mounds, which provided a unique environment for the blackbuck, are now vanishing as the area
is being brought under farming with the help of the latest machines. All these factors have
contributed to the fall in the population of this majestic species,” said Mr. Bishnoi.
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He said that successive governments had failed to find a solution to the problem of stray
animals, which were not only destroying crops but had also caused the deaths of humans.
“While the government collects cow cess in the name of taking care of stray animals, the
problem continues to grow.”
“The growing population of stray animals also competes with blackbuck for the already shrinking
open grasslands, resulting in their migration to adjoining areas outside the sanctuary,” said Mr.
Bishnoi.
AWS’ Sub-Divisional Magistrate Poonam Singh said that the local administration, along with the
Wildlife Department, had been persuading locals to remove barbed wires, especially the “cobra
wires”. “We are creating awareness among people about the ill-effects of these wires. Also, our
teams remove these wires from time-to-time,” she said.
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‘POLICIES BIASED AGAINST RAINFED AGRICULTURE’

Relevant for: Indian Economy | Topic: Major Crops, Cropping Patterns and various Agricultural Revolutions
A new rainfed agriculture atlas released this week documents the policy biases that are making
farming unviable.
Three out of five farmers in India grow their crops using rainwater, instead of irrigation. However,
per hectare government investment on their lands may be 20 times lower, procurement of their
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crops is a fraction of major irrigated land crops, and many of the flagship agriculture schemes
are not tailored to benefit them.
A new rainfed agriculture atlas released this week not only maps the agro biodiversity and socio-
economic conditions prevailing in such areas, but also attempts to document the policy biases
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that are making farming unviable for many in these areas.
There has been “negligence” toward rainfed areas, which is leading to lower incomes for farmers
in these regions, admitted Ashok Dalwai, CEO of the National Rainfed Area Authority. He also
heads the government’s Committee on Doubling of Farmers’ Income.
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Speaking on the sidelines of a conference on revitalising agriculture in rainfed areas, he said
farmers in such areas are receiving 40% less of their income from agriculture in comparison to
those in irrigated areas.
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Sabyasachi Das, coordinator of the Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture Network, which published
the atlas, laid out the stark differences in government policy and expenditure.
“Lands irrigated through big dams and canal networks get a per hectare investment of Rs. 5
lakh. Watershed management spending in rainfed lands is only Rs. 18,000-25,000,” he said,
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adding that the difference in yield is not proportionate to the difference in investment.
“When it comes to procurement, over the decade between 2001-02 and 2011-12, the
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government spent Rs. 5.4 lakh crore on wheat and rice. Coarse cereals, which are grown in
rainfed areas, only had Rs. 3,200 crore worth of procurement in the same period.”
It’s not just the quantum, but also the nature of investment that needs to change, he added.
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Flagship government schemes, such as seed and fertiliser subsidies and soil health cards, are
designed for irrigated areas and simply extended to rainfed farmers without taking their needs
into consideration, said Dr. Das.
‘No system’
For example, many hybrid seeds notified by the government scheme need plenty of water,
fertilizer and pesticides to give high yields and are thus not useful to most rainfed farmers.
Commercial fertilizers will simply burn out the soil without sufficient water. “The government has
no system to channelise indigenous seeds or subsidise organic manure in the same way,” he
claimed.
Dr. Dalwai agreed that a more balanced approach was needed to give rainfed farmers the same
research and technology focus and production support that their counterparts in irrigation areas
have received over the last few decades.
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CRPF PLANS COUNTER TO VEHICLE-BORNE AMBUSH

Relevant for: Security Related Matters | Topic: Role of External State & Non-state actors in creating challenges
to internal security incl. Terrorism & illegal Migration
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) will strategise its security protocol in Jammu &
Kashmir in the wake of the Pulwama attack.
Since this is the first ambush using an explosives-laden vehicle by a suicide bomber in the last
10 years, the force will modernise its Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in the movement of
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convoy and security at camps, a senior CRPF official told The Hindu on Sunday.
Modern technology
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“This is the first attack using vehicle-borne IED in the Valley since 2009. So the focus of security
arrangements was more on preventing other types of ambush. Now that this unfortunate incident
has happened, we will modernise the SOP by deploying modern technology, including drones,
mine-protected vehicles, explosive detectors and jammers,” the officer, who preferred not to be
quoted, said. S.
On questions raised as to why a large contingent of jawans were transported by road, he said
about 50,000 CRPF personnel were deployed in Jammu & Kashmir and an average of 5% of
them were on leave on any given day. The jawans targeted in the Pulwama attack were all
returning to work from leave. The attack came as a rude shock...there was no specific
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intelligence alert on this terror module.
“About 2,500 personnel report at Jammu camp and move to Srinagar in convoys on a daily or
alternate day basis. It is impossible to fly them all to Srinagar. Even if we use extensive flight
services between Jammu and Srinagar, which is not practical, transportation by road from the
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airport to their respective deployment locations has to be by road. Airlifting the jawans is not
viable and it doesn’t serve the intended purpose of safety,” he said.
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He parried questions on the nature and source of explosives since the matter was being probed
by the National Investigation Agency and the Jammu & Kashmir police.
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BOMB BLASTS ON THE RISE IN J&K, SAYS REPORT

Jammu and Kashmir has seen a steady increase in IED and other blasts over the past five
years, with 2018 witnessing a 57% jump, a new report says. In areas affected by Left-wing
extremism and the northeast, the number has gone down.
Thirty-five blasts took place in J&K in 2014, 46 in 2015, 69 in 2016, 70 in 2017 and 117 last
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year. The report was presented by the National Bomb Data Centre of the National Security
Guard during an international conference here on the IEDs.
The report made a special mention of J&K and the growing threat posed by IEDs and similar
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explosives.
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‘PAK. SPONSORED TERRORISM’ FINDS AN ECHO AT

MUNICH
Relevant for: International Relations | Topic: India - Pakistan
Pankaj Saran
India raised the issue of the Pulwama terror attack during bilateral meetings with several
countries, including the U.S., Germany and Russia, at the three-day Munich Security
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Conference that concluded on Sunday, officials said.
The 55th Munich Security Conference, which brings together global leaders and security experts
from across the world, was attended by India’s Deputy National Security Adviser Pankaj Saran.
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On the sidelines of the conference, Mr. Saran held bilateral meetings with representatives of
several countries who unequivocally condemned the attack and extended their condolences to
the bereaved families. The meetings, according to the officials, were held with the
representatives of the U.S., Germany, Russia, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation),
Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Mongolia, Armenia and Oman. There was widespread
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support for India’s concerns over Pakistan-sponsored terrorism on Indian soil, they said.
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STATES ALLOCATION: PANEL STICKS TO 2011

CENSUS
Relevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Finance Commission
Balancing act:Finance panel will ensure that efficiency and performance are not penalised, says
N.K.Singh.R.V. moorthy
The 15th Finance Commission will not alter its approach on solely using the 2011 Census for
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population figures in its calculations for allocations to States, Chairman N.K. Singh said in an
interview.
However, he added that other measures would be included that would ensure that States that
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have performed well by controlling population growth would not be penalised.
“The final decision is that, as far as we are concerned, the Commission is a recipient of the
Terms of Reference (ToR),” Mr. Singh said. “It is not the creator of the Terms. Having received
the Presidential Order, we are obligated by the Constitution to act on the basis of the
Presidential Order. It is very clear that wherever population has to be used as a criterion, that
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population should be what is in the Census of 2011.”
“The ToR also do say [we are] to look at incentives for States that have achieved success in
terms of replacement rates and better demographic management,” Mr. Singh added. “So we will
be looking at that. The intention of the Commission is to try and see that in no way is efficiency
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and performance penalised, so we will try to see what kind of a balance we are able to come up
with.”
The panel will be visiting Telangana on Monday, which would take the total number of States so
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far visited to 19. After Telangana, the Commission is scheduled to visit Rajasthan. “It is a race
against time,” Mr. Singh said.
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“There is an order from the President that by November 1 our report is expected. We will try to
conform to that deadline to the extent possible. The point is that flexibility is very limited in the
sense that our report will be an overarching factor for the first regular Budget of the new
government, that is, the Budget presented in 2020.”
He said that the recommendations of the Commission, especially to do with the quantum of
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devolution to the States, will have a bearing on not only the Central Budget but also those
presented by the States for the year 2020-21.
States’ finances weaker
In general, State finances are in a weaker position than the Centre’s, but we need not be in a
celebratory mood regarding the Centre’s finances either. he said. Perhaps for very good
reasons, they have kicked the can on the fiscal deficit and debt targets down the road.
The Chairman, however, said the Commission had not yet finalised whether it would be altering
the previous Commission’s recommendation that 42% of the Centre’s tax revenue be shared
with the States.
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THE CHALLENGE IN THE PULWAMA ATTACK

In recent months, those with experience in monitoring Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan had
been getting distinctly uncomfortable. There were signals emanating from Pakistan pointing to a
new turn. Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was trying to make overtures to India and
conveying that his government would be one with a difference, a ‘Naya-Pakistan’ as he called it.
Pakistan Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa had earlier attempted to confound observers through
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a long interaction with the media, which came to be touted as the Bajwa Doctrine, and was
‘supposed’ to be a hand of friendship. The offer to open the Kartarpur Corridor and the fast-track
progress to the conduct of ceremonies to launch the construction of the project were
uncharacteristic. His presence at the ceremony on the Pakistani side appeared to reflect total
consensus and support of the Army.
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It was somehow the wrong time for Pakistan to be making peace overtures when the Indian
elections were approaching. Pakistan could not have expected any big and strategic decisions,
and sure enough India’s response to everything was lukewarm. The circumstances did not
permit any traction unless a firm commitment was given about the withdrawal of all support from
across the border to terrorists.
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Violence against Kashmiris: Whose purpose do the mobs serve, asks Omar Abdullah
Whenever Pakistan starts to speak the language of peace, it raises hackles in India because it
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seems evident that something unusual is in the offing and overtures are primarily there to bait
India. It has been proved again at Pulwama, with the most dastardly act perpetrated since
the beginning of the 30-year-long proxy war in Jammu & Kashmir.
Two issues are of relevance here. The first is that the return of the car bomb and the improvised
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explosive device (IED) to the Kashmir theatre was predicted for the last one year. The trend had
died out after the last effective IED attack, on an Army bus in July 2008, and the last car bomb
attack, again on an Army bus on the very same road, in 2004. IEDs had been rampant earlier
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but car bombs were few and far between. It was the progressive improvement in the fabrication
of IEDs and car bombs in the wars in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan and the internal security
environment of Pakistan that probably gave an impetus to perceptions about their potential
usage once again in Kashmir.
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Terrible Thursday: on Pulwama terror attack
The Pakistani experience had also much to do with religiously radicalised young men strapped
with explosives detonating themselves at gatherings of people — the suicide bomber as against
the suicide fighter. Suicide bombing was neither experienced in earlier years nor has it
manifested itself yet in Kashmir. Its threat potential, of course, remains live and its entry could
further change the nature of the proxy war.
Pakistan’s deep state has been aware that the Indian security forces have achieved much in the
last two years in terms of neutralisation of terrorists, although almost the same number have
been added through fresh recruitment or infiltration. In order to reduce the domination and
effectiveness achieved by the security forces and to limit their freedom of movement, the
reintroduction of these devices could achieve much. That is because the unpredictability factor
of IEDs and car bombs is so high that it forces a larger than normal deployment of security
forces.
The second relevant issue, or observation, is that Pakistan’s self-confidence has been
increasing. This has been despite the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) surveillance, its
reduced foreign exchange reserves and a failing economy. The backing from China and, most
importantly, Pakistan’s enhanced geostrategic and geopolitical significance in the light of the
U.S. decision to pull out in full from Afghanistan have also contributed to it. The moment that
decision on Afghanistan was taken, Pakistan once again acquired leverage with the big powers
and all stakeholders for peace in Afghanistan. The realisation that it held the key to the return of
the Taliban, the upholding of all its agreements with the foreign forces and future stability, gave
Pakistan a strategic boost. The U.S. started courting it in a reversal of President Donald Trump’s
policy which had questioned the utility of such nations which had taken excess U.S. funding as
aid and never delivered strategic advantage to it.
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Concern in Valley over ''threats'' to Kashmiri students, traders outside State
It is the first sign of Pakistan’s increasing confidence that can be seen in the Pulwama attack
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executed by the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), an organisation virtually sponsored and owned by
Pakistan’s intelligence agencies. Initial investigation suggests careful planning, infiltration of an
‘IED doctor’ (a technical person capable of fabricating IEDs) and a module fully functional at
work with a network of overground workers. An apparent risk analysis in Pakistan would have
revealed that with the internal health and state of equipment of the Indian armed forces under
intense negative discussion in India, the feasibility of a response would be remote. An energetic
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impetus to terror would follow and this would probably have an effect on the electoral prospects
of the current National Democratic Alliance government, besides preparing ground for extended
violence into the future. Time and again Pakistan has been wrong in the assessments it makes.
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While the mortal remains of 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel were transported for last
rites to cities and villages all over India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi publicly promised
retribution for the loss and emphasised that he had given the freedom of choosing the time,
mode and place to the Indian Army. A rare political consensus, short-lived no doubt, has
appeared in New Delhi, and the media is discussing military options. To be realistic, that is how
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the modern world functions, on the power of public opinion.
If that be so, what options does the Indian government have? The diplomatic one is already
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under execution although the energy of Indian diplomacy to paint Pakistan red must flow longer
and focus on not only important capitals of the world but also significant international think tanks
and media. The Most Favoured Nation status and measures involving control of water under the
Indus Waters Treaty remain soft options, sans much optics. It’s the military domain which is
demanding Mr. Modi’s focus. A risk analysis would already be under way to examine a range of
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options or combinations. It could start with covert operations which can be ongoing, to trans-
border raids several notches higher than the surgical strikes and targeting Pakistan Army
resources as against terrorist infrastructure, and surgical air strikes against terrorist bases inside
Pakistan. Ground-based operations restricted to Jammu & Kashmir and harking back to some of
the options of yesteryear could form a part of the overall response. However, it should be
remembered that Pakistan will not permit such actions without its military response, which too
would be robust.
The Indian national leadership would do well not to be guided by the immediacy of electoral
considerations; national security interests transcend this. Whatever are the selected options, the
two things that would make for stronger execution are political consensus and management of
internal social cohesion. India cannot achieve its strategic objectives if Kashmiris remain targets
of physical abuse and harassment, and minorities are vilified on social media. It is a difficult time
for India and the leadership has to work overtime to ensure that the Indian armed forces have a
‘firm base’ to operate from; that is always a military need anyway.
Syed Ata Hasnain retired as Lt. General from the Indian Army
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STRANGE EMERGENCY: DONALD TRUMP'S PLAN TO

BUILD THE MEXICO BORDER WALL
Relevant for: International Relations | Topic: Effect of policies and politics of developed & developing countries
on India's interests
Declaring a state of national emergency is hardly a trivial decision. While the U.S. has done so
in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks and similar exigencies, President Donald Trump has
opted for this measure in the context of what he has described as “an invasion of drugs and
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criminals” from across the border with Mexico. The move has further polarised Washington and
put the strident immigration debate front and centre again. The context for the emergency is the
longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history, for 35 days, that resulted in the shuttering
of nine government agencies and the furlough of 800,000 government workers. The primary
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cause was Mr. Trump’s refusal to sign off on Congressional appropriations bills unless
lawmakers agreed to hand over $5.7 billion to fund his plan to construct a border wall with
Mexico. As the cost to the U.S. economy of the shutdown soared close to $11 billion by late-
January, Mr. Trump backed down on his demand, yet warned that unless Congress yielded on
the border wall funding, “I will use the powers afforded to me under the laws and the Constitution
of the U.S. to address this emergency.” Now he appears to have made good on that statement,
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probably on the basis that during national emergencies U.S. law permits the diversion of funds
from military or disaster relief budgets to tackle the “crisis” at hand.
This begs the question of how real the emergency is and why the White House is devoting its
considerable political capital to this one policy issue. Mr. Trump frequently alludes to the
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migration crisis that he believes has engulfed the southern border. It is true that more than 2,000
people were turned away or arrested at the border each day during November 2018, numbers
that U.S. immigration hawks have seized upon to press the argument for a wall. Yet this figure
has decreased considerably over the past decade, and border crossings by undocumented
migrants are at an all-time low, down from 1.3 million in 2001 to about 40,000 in 2018. If this is
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then a purely political move that panders to Mr. Trump’s conservative voter base, it may stand
on wobbly legal foundations. Already, the first few lawsuits challenging the emergency
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declaration are working their way through the courts. Further, Democrats, who now control the
House of Representatives, may under their constitutional powers vote to terminate the
emergency. This would put the Republican-controlled Senate on the back foot by requiring it to
clarify its position on the status quo, by either supporting or defeating such a resolution. While
Mr. Trump’s supporters are doubtless celebrating their Commander-in-Chief’s chutzpah for this
move, the truth is that it will only take the U.S. further away from the ideal of peaceful
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coexistence within a pluralistic democracy.
The Meghalaya government must urgently ensure that all illegal mines are shut down
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Source : www.indianexpress.com Date : 2019-02-18
INDIA’S SOLIDARITY WITH PRINCE SALMAN’S

REFORM AGENDA BACK HOME IS IMPORTANT
Relevant for: International Relations | Topic: India - Middle East
© 2019 The Indian Express Ltd.

All Rights Reserved
C. Raja Mohan is Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of
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Singapore, and the consulting editor on foreign affairs for 'The Indian Express'. Before his
association with The Indian Express began in 2004, Raja Mohan worked for The Hindu as its
Washington correspondent and Strategic Affairs Editor. He was a distinguished fellow at the
Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi. In his academic avatar, Raja Mohan has been
co
professor of South Asian Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and the
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. As a think tanker, he worked at the Institute for
Defence Studies and Analyses and Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi. He is on the
editorial board of various international affairs journals and is affiliated with the Institute of South
Asian Studies, Singapore; the Lowy Institute, Sydney; and the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace, Washington DC. He is the author, most recently, of Samudra Manthan:
Sino-Indian Rivalry in the Indo-Pacific.
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s visit to India this week — as part of a larger tour
of Asia including Pakistan and China — should mark the consolidation of two important trends
and help initiate a significant third. The first relates to the trilateral dynamic with Pakistan and the
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second to the deepening of the bilateral relationship between Delhi and Riyadh.
The third is about extending support to Prince Salman’s agenda for “reversing 1979”, when
tumultuous regional developments and the Saudi response to them began to alter the equation
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between religion and politics in the region, destabilise India’s neighbourhood and change South
Asia’s inter-state relations for the worse.
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But first to Pakistan. Partition injected a particular complexity to India’s engagement with the
Arabian Peninsula. The Subcontinent’s historic relationship with the Gulf is deep and
civilisational. In the colonial era, the British Raj in undivided India became both the provider of
security and the facilitator of the region’s economic globalisation.
After Partition and Independence, Pakistan sought to mobilise political support from the Middle
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East in the name of shared religious identity. After Britain granted independence to the smaller
Gulf kingdoms and withdrew most of its military forces from the east of Suez at the turn of the
1970s, Pakistan stepped in to pick up some of security slack in the region. (The US, of course,
was the main force that filled the vacuum left by Britain.)
Although India was a preferred security partner for some Gulf countries, non-aligned India had
little interest in continuing the strategic legacy of the Raj. At the political level, India’s emphasis
was on solidarity with Arab nationalism and against neo-colonialism and Western imperialism.
Given its preference for “secular republics” in the Middle East, an element of defensiveness
inevitably crept up in India’s relations with the religiously conservative monarchies, especially
Saudi Arabia.
Riyadh became the moving force behind the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation that was set
up in 1969 to unite the region’s conservative regimes as a counter to Soviet-leaning Arab
nationalists. The forum’s hostile rhetoric on the Kashmir question (at the instigation of Pakistan)
congealed the perception in Delhi that Saudi Arabia and the conservative monarchies were “pro-
Pakistan”. In reality, though, the Kashmir issue was never much of a priority for the Saudis.
Thanks to Delhi’s diplomatic tradition that privileges the “literal” over the “practical”, Delhi did
little to develop an interest-based relationship with Riyadh. Yet, there were real problems that
limited India’s possibilities in Saudi Arabia. These included growing divergence over regional
issues such as Afghanistan, India’s embrace of the Soviet Union, the deep dependence of the
Gulf kingdoms on the West, and Saudi support for radical Islam beyond its borders since the late
1970s.
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The end of the Cold War, India’s economic reforms, and the growing economic interdependence
— thanks to India’s ever growing oil imports and manpower exports — generated greater
interest in the Gulf monarchies, including Saudi Arabia, for limiting the political differences with
India and expanding bilateral economic partnerships.
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As the gap in national economic capabilities between India and Pakistan began to widen since
the 1990s in favour of Delhi, Saudi Arabia was happy to de-hyphenate its engagement in South
Asia. That, in turn, allowed Delhi to stop viewing the Saudi kingdom through the political lens of
Pakistan. S.
The concrete and public expression of the Saudi desire to de-hyphenate came during the visit of
King Abdullah to India in 2006 — the first by a Saudi monarch in five decades. Prince Salman’s
visit now is an opportunity for Delhi to construct a solid and comprehensive partnership on the
foundation laid over the last decade.
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On his part, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has brought a refreshing non-ideological approach to
India’s engagement with the Middle East in general and the Gulf kingdoms in particular. On top
of it, his personal rapport with the region’s leaders like Prince Salman and Sheikh Mohammed
bin Zayed (MbZ), the effective ruler of the United Arab Emirates, has set a very dynamic tone to
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India’s relations to the Arab Gulf.
Beyond the traditional focus on strengthening cooperation in the hydrocarbon sector, there are
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many new possibilities from Prince Salman’s ambitious agenda for modernising the economy of
the Saudi kingdom. Equally important has been the expansion of the bilateral agenda for
cooperation to counter terrorism.
Saudi Arabia is also interested in bilateral defence cooperation and eager to develop bilateral
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strategic coordination on regional affairs. The possibilities seem to be limited only by the Indian
bureaucracy’s capacity to deliver on the agreements signed at the political level.
That brings us to the third dimension of Prince Salman’s visit — about “reversing 1979”. Prince
Salman has often proclaimed his commitment to reverse the hugely negative consequences of
1979. Four developments in 1979 — the seizure of Mecca’s Grand Mosque by militant Saudi
Salafis, the overthrow of the Shah of Iran by Ayatollah Khomeini, the Shia revolt in eastern
Saudi Arabia and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan — shook the Saudi rulers to the core.
Faced with new internal and external threats, the House of Saud began to promote a more
conservative Islam at home and support Sunni extremism abroad. This included support to the
jihad in Afghanistan and the American and Pakistani war against the Soviet-backed regime in
Kabul. Gen Zia-ul- Haq took advantage of the new regional dynamic push Pakistan towards
Islamic conservatism.
In an interview to the Guardian in 2017, Prince Salman said Saudi Arabia had not been a
“normal country” after 1979. He added that the policies that it pursued after 1979 are now a drag
on a productive Saudi future. Prince Salman vowed to overcome the deviations of 1979 and
return Saudi Arabia to “moderate Islam”. “We are simply reverting to what we followed — a
moderate Islam open to the world and all religions,” he said.
Many observers, especially in the West, are sceptical of the potential for real change in Saudi
Arabia. Delhi, in contrast, has every reason to strongly support Prince Salman. After all, India
continues to suffer the consequences of 1979.
Far more important than the number of MoUs that India will sign with Saudi Arabia this week is
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Delhi’s visible and unstinted solidarity with Prince Salman’s reform agenda at home and his
effort to promote religious and political moderation in the region.
This article first appeared in the February 18, 2019, print edition under the title ’Backing a new
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West Asia’. The writer is Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of
Singapore and contributing editor on international affairs for The Indian Express.
Download the Indian Express apps for iPhone, iPad or Android
© 2019 The Indian Express Ltd. All Rights Reserved

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AFTER PULWAMA

All Rights Reserved
After the Pulwama attack in Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi once again confronts a problem that has
persisted ever since Pakistan acquired nuclear weapons in the late 1980s. Put simply, it is about
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Delhi’s inability to deter the Pakistan army from using proxies like the Jaish-e-Mohammad and
Lashkar-e-Taiba to wage a war against India. For the Pakistan Army, nuclear weapons have
provided the impunity to pursue a sub-conventional war against India. Over the last two
decades, successive governments in Delhi have tried different things to enhance deterrence
against Pakistan-sponsored attacks. They included political measures — comprehensive
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dialogue on all issues including Kashmir, economic cooperation and people-to-people contact.
Efforts at peaceful persuasion were thwarted, as Pakistan pulled back repeatedly from
significant political agreements. Among the coercive steps that India sought to pursue are the
mobilisation of international diplomatic pressure against Pakistan, massing of troops on the land
border and naval ships in the Arabian Sea, and the so-called surgical military strikes across the
Line of Control in Kashmir. None of these worked because of the political constraint imposed by
nuclear weapons.
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The danger of escalation to the nuclear level and the fear of international intervention in the
Kashmir dispute with Pakistan have had a self-deterrent effect on Delhi. If Pakistan revelled in
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this dynamic, India has struggled to overcome the nuclear constraint. Any current effort to break
out of this nuclear box would demand the political will to explore its brink. It would also demand
a careful calibration of strategies. There is little point in speculating on the nature and type of
Indian military response. For now, though, there is much diplomatic work to be done.
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The withdrawal of the MFN status is unlikely to make much of an impact on a Pakistan that has
never been interested in trading with India. Such steps, including the snapping of diplomatic
relations, signal India’s displeasure with Pakistan but achieve little. India should focus, instead,
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on targeting Pakistan’s greatest current vulnerability — a troubled financial condition. Even as

Islamabad desperately seeks international support to shore up its economy, the global Financial
Action Task Force is considering the case for putting Pakistan on a black list that will trigger
major sanctions. In nudging the FATF, at its meeting this week, towards this goal and in the
broader effort to mount international political pressure on Pakistan, Delhi faces two problems —
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one external and the other internal. On the external front, China has emerged not only as
Pakistan’s most important economic partner but also its international political shield. Delhi can
no longer remain silent and must signal its willingness to limit bilateral political and commercial
ties with China, if Beijing continues to protect Pakistan on terror-related issues. But no external
strategy can succeed if Delhi lets the internal cracks widen. For nothing will suit Pakistan more
than a surge of communal violence in this country.
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INDIA URGENTLY NEEDS A NATIONAL SECURITY

DOCTRINE, CLEAR RED LINES

All Rights Reserved
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The writer is a retired chief of naval staff.
As the nation mourns the tragic loss of 40 gallant CRPF jawans, killed in a “fidayeen” attack, our
people are engulfed by emotions of grief, revulsion and anger. Stomach-churning visuals of the
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mangled CRPF vehicle speak of the technical expertise that went into the preparation of a
powerful improvised explosive device (IED) as well as the detailed planning undertaken for this
deadly ambush of the police convoy — this is certainly not the work of high school drop-outs or
amateurs.
One of the first instances of a vehicle-borne IED being used in J&K, the success of this tactic
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could mark a new phase in the ongoing counter-insurgency operations. For this reason, and for
preventing a recurrence of such tragedies, it is vital that an urgent review be undertaken of the
quality and timeliness of intelligence inputs and the standard operating procedures (SOP) being
followed by the armed police force convoys; especially if different from the army’s.
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In moments such as these, there is never a dearth of melodramatic and inflammatory rhetoric
about instantly “visiting retribution” and “exacting revenge” from Pakistan. However, rather than
the scope for any knee-jerk or emotional response, this tragic incident provides India yet another
opportunity for reflection and introspection about our management of crisis situations in general,
and of Pakistan’s role in Kashmir, in particular.
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At the core of any cogitation about Pakistan, firm focus needs to be retained on the centrality of
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its “deep state” — the unholy nexus of its army’s General Headquarters and the Inter-Service
Intelligence (ISI) Directorate. This sinister entity is the self-appointed “guardian” of the Islamic
state, and has an existential stake in keeping Kashmir ablaze through the steady, clandestine
and deniable infusion of violence and terrorism.
The Old Testament contains a cautionary phrase, which warns: “If the trumpet giveth an
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uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself for battle?” Has India’s political leadership, over the
past 72 years, been sounding an “uncertain trumpet” by its woolly-headed thinking, lack of
resolve and absence of a coherent long-term vision, thereby emboldening our adversaries?
Crisis after crisis has caught our nation by surprise — unprepared and invariably in the reactive
mode. Nothing illustrates the barrenness of New Delhi’s prevailing strategic culture better than
the failure of the Indian state to evolve a strategy for resolution of the Kashmir imbroglio. They
have allowed, instead, this issue to become a pressure-point for exploitation by our western and
eastern neighbours, separately and in collusion.
A myopic vision and blinkered outlook also seems to have frittered away India’s advantages in
many domains. Given India’s significant conventional superiority and Pakistan’s geographic
vulnerability, it is ironical that the latter should have been able to wage war on us four times
since Partition. On a parallel track, was Pakistan’s three-decade-long strategy of “bleeding India
by a thousand cuts” — using terrorists and religious fanatics — premised, at first, on India’s
“strategic restraint”, and then on its own nuclear capability. No sooner had India assumed that
Pokhran II would bring strategic stability, than it was thrown off-guard by Pervez Musharraf’s
audacious but extremely foolish Kargil misadventure.
Amongst India’s major missteps has been the coining of the euphemism “cross-border terrorism”
to describe, what were clearly, “acts of war” by Pakistan. Acts which were committed through
training and arming fighters on its territory, and then, launching them, under its army’s covering
fire, to wreak death and destruction on Indian soil. While this may have given India an excuse for
exercising “strategic restraint”, the folly was compounded by describing Pakistani perpetrators
as “non-state actors”; providing Pakistan the opening to declare that they were Kashmiri
“freedom fighters”.
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The Pulwama attack on our security forces marks just another step in the continuum of ISI’s
ongoing “grab-Kashmir” campaign; more such steps will, no doubt, follow. As a fresh general
election looms, the Indian voter needs to focus on the vexed issue of national security. A subject
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which actually demands first priority on the government’s and Parliament’s time: National
security has suffered neglect for decades due to the intense and sustained pre-occupation of our
politicians with electoral politics. This neglect is evident in the yawning gap between political
pronouncements and the voids, increasingly evident, in our military capabilities — material as
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In 2001, India mobilised over a million men in response to a terrorist attack on Parliament. A
delay in positioning certain formations not only revealed the ponderous nature of India’s
mobilisation plans, but also permitted Pakistan to counter-mobilise ahead of us. In 2008, a
handful of seaborne terrorists held Mumbai hostage for 96 hours as India’s security apparatus
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muddled its way through the crisis. The lapses during the 26/11 crisis could have been
condoned, had the right lessons been learnt from them.
But as the Pakistani fidayeen attacks on the Pathankot air base, followed by the Uri and Nagrota
army camps — and now, Pulwama — showed, little had changed. Whether it is kidnappings,
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hijackings, terrorist strikes or other assaults on India’s sovereignty, we have been found wanting
in an early and coherent response, because state functionaries lack SOPs for guidance. The
September 2016 cross-border commando raids into Pakistan marked a welcome change that
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could have conveyed strong signals of national resolve and retribution. Regrettably, the absence
of a policy underpinning that action and its exploitation for political gains, trivialised them, diluting
their deterrent value.
We remain deficient in intelligence-analysis, inter-agency coordination, and, above all, a national

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security doctrine. Having created an elaborate national security framework, post Pokhran II,
India has strangely shied away from promulgating a doctrine. Apart from diplomatic and
economic steps that are being initiated, the current juncture would be apt for the urgent
promulgation of a security-cum-defence doctrine. Such a document, whose public version
defines India’s vital interests, aims and objectives will not only become the basis for strategy-
formulation, contingency-planning and evolution of SOPs, but also send a reassuring message
to our public.
Setting in place clear “red lines” for adversary nations and non-state entities will mean that, in
future, no further notice is required for instant punitive or retaliatory actions for any infringement
of India’s red lines.
This article first appeared in the February 18, 2019, print edition under the title ‘Needed: Policy,
not reaction’. The writer is a retired chief of naval staff.
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SCIENTISTS DISCOVER MASSIVE MOUNTAINS UNDER

EARTH’S CRUST
Relevant for: Geography | Topic: Interior of the Earth and Materials of the Earth's Crust
Scientists have discovered massive mountains in the Earth’s mantle, an advance that may
change our understanding of how the planet was formed. Most school children learn that the
Earth has three layers: a crust, mantle and core, which is subdivided into an inner and outer
core.
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While that is not wrong, it does leave out several other layers that scientists have identified
within the Earth.
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In a study published in the journal Science, scientists used data from an enormous earthquake
in Bolivia to find mountains and other topography on a layer located 660 km straight down,
which separates the upper and lower mantle.
Lacking a formal name for this layer, the researchers simply call it “the 660-km boundary.”
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To peer deep into the Earth, scientists from the Princeton University in the U.S. and the Institute
of Geodesy and Geophysics in China, used the most powerful waves on the planet, which are
generated by massive earthquakes.
Data from earthquakes that are magnitude 7.0 or higher send out shockwaves in all directions
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that can travel through the core to the other side of the planet — and back again.
For this study, the key data came from waves picked up after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake — the
second-largest deep earthquake ever recorded — that shook Bolivia in 1994.
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Scientists used powerful computers to simulate the complicated behaviour of scattering waves in
the deep Earth.
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The technology depends on a fundamental property of waves: their ability to bend and bounce.
Just as light waves can bounce (reflect) off a mirror or bend (refract) when passing through a
prism, earthquake waves travel straight through homogenous rocks but reflect or refract when
they encounter any boundary or roughness.
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“We know that almost all objects have surface roughness and therefore scatter light,” said
Wenbo Wu, who was at Princeton at the time of the study.
“That’s why we can see these objects -- the scattering waves carry the information about the
surface’s roughness,” said Wu, who is now a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute
of Technology in the US.
“In this study, we investigated scattered seismic waves traveling inside the Earth to constrain the
roughness of the Earth’s 660-km boundary,” Wu said.
The researchers were surprised by just how rough that boundary is — rougher than the surface
layer that we all live on.
“In other words, stronger topography than the Rocky Mountains or the Appalachians is present
at the 660-km boundary,” said Wu.
Their statistical model did not allow for precise height determinations, but there’s a chance that
these mountains are bigger than anything on the surface of the Earth.
The roughness was not equally distributed, either; just as the crust’s surface has smooth ocean
floors and massive mountains, the 660-km boundary has rough areas and smooth patches.
The researchers also examined a layer 410 km down, at the top of the mid-mantle “transition
zone,” and they did not find similar roughness. The presence of roughness on the 660-km
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boundary has significant implications for understanding how our planet formed and evolved.
What is mutualism? How many carbon atoms does a Furan ring have? For answers, and more
interesting questions, take this quiz.
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THE LOWDOWN ON NATIONAL SECURITY ACT

Relevant for: Indian Polity | Topic: Indian Constitution - Amendments, Schedules, and Important Articles
On February 8, the Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh invoked the National Security
Act (NSA) against three men accused of killing a cow near Kharkhali village. This and a spate of
recent cases, in which different State governments have invoked the stringent provisions of the
NSA to detain citizens for questionable offences, have brought the focus back on the potential
abuse of the controversial law. Put simply, the NSA empowers the Centre or a State government
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to detain a person to prevent him from acting in any manner prejudicial to national security. The
government can also detain a person to prevent him from disrupting public order or for
maintenance of supplies and services essential to the community. The maximum period for
which one may be detained is 12 months. But the term can be extended if the government finds
fresh evidence.
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Preventive detention laws in India date back to early days of the colonial era when the Bengal
Regulation III of 1818 was enacted to empower the government to arrest anyone for defence or
maintenance of public order without giving the person recourse to judicial proceedings. A
century later, the British government enacted the Rowlatt Acts of 1919 that allowed confinement
of a suspect without trial. Post-independence India got its first preventive detention rule when
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the government of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru enacted the Preventive Detention Act of
1950. The NSA is a close iteration of the 1950 Act. After the Preventive Detention Act expired on
December 31, 1969, the then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, brought in the controversial
Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) in 1971 giving similar powers to the government.
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Though the MISA was repealed in 1977 after the Janata Party came to power, the successive
government, led by Mrs. Gandhi, brought in the NSA.
In the normal course, if a person is arrested, he or she is guaranteed certain basic rights. These
include the right to be informed of the reason for the arrest. Section 50 of the Criminal Procedure
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Code (Cr.PC) mandates that the person arrested has to be informed of the grounds of arrest,
and the right to bail. Sections 56 and 76 of the Cr. PC also provides that a person has to be
produced before a court within 24 hours of arrest. Additionally, Article 22(1) of the Constitution
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says an arrested person cannot be denied the right to consult, and to be defended by, a legal
practitioner of his choice. But none of these rights are available to a person detained under the
NSA. A person could be kept in the dark about the reasons for his arrest for up to five days, and
in exceptional circumstances not later than 10 days. Even when providing the grounds for arrest,
the government can withhold information which it considers to be against public interest to
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disclose. The arrested person is also not entitled to the aid of any legal practitioner in any matter
connected with the proceedings before an advisory board, which is constituted by the
government for dealing with NSA cases.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which collects and analyses crime data in the
country, does not include cases under the NSA in its data as no FIRs are registered. Hence, no
figures are available for the exact number of detentions under the NSA. In January, the BJP
government in Uttar Pradesh arrested three persons under the NSA in connection with an
alleged cow-slaughter incident in Bulandshahr. In December last year, a Manipur journalist, who
had posted an alleged offensive Facebook post on the Chief Minister, was detained for 12
months under the NSA. Experts say these cases point to the fact that governments sometimes
use it as an extra-judicial power. It is time to reconsider the law, they argue, because in four
decades of its existence, the NSA has been in the news for all the wrong reasons.
Soibam Rocky Singh

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FARM SOP WILL BE HARD TO IMPLEMENT?

Relevant for: Indian Economy | Topic: Agriculture Issues and related constraints
What does the scheme offer?
The Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, announced in the Budget earlier this month,
aims to give Rs. 6,000 a year to 12 crore farmer families who own up to two hectares of
cultivable land.
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What are the challenges?
The number of beneficiaries comes from the number of land holdings of two hectares or less,
according to the last agricultural land census. However, the guidelines say a single family may
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hold multiple land parcels, which will be pooled to determine their eligibility for the benefit.
Similarly, even landholdings bigger than two hectares, if owned by multiple families, will make
them eligible for the scheme. For example, if five brothers jointly own a single 10 hectare
holding, each of them will be eligible for the scheme. However, if the members of a single family
unit each own three one-hectare holdings, they will not be eligible. “This is a mess,” says Vikas
Rawal, a professor at JNU’s Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, who specialises in
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agriculture economics. He says it will be difficult to use existing land records to determine
beneficiaries. “Land records are held individually. How do you know which family holds how
much land?” For the purposes of this scheme, family units are being defined as a husband, wife
and minor children. Local administrations are more familiar with the unit of the household —
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which is used by most other government surveys and schemes — defined as a group living
together and eating meals from a common kitchen.
What is the status of land records?

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States have been implementing the Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme for
more than a decade. While several States claim to have completed computerisation of their land
records, others have not even begun the process. However, digitisation does not mean the data
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have been updated. Experts say many land records are updated only when the land is sold and
only if the transaction is legally registered. Inherited land may still be registered in a parent or
grandparent’s name. Multiple government departments hold the documents required to establish
land ownership — the Registration Department maintains sale deeds, but maps are kept by the
Survey Department, while the Revenue Department keeps property tax receipts. Verifying
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ownership claims is thus a daunting task. States have been asked to overhaul their land
databases immediately in preparation for the scheme, which aims to pay out its first instalment
of Rs. 2,000 by March 31, before the Lok Sabha election.
What happened in Telangana?
However, the example of Telangana shows this may be an unrealistic time line. Despite an
advanced state of progress in digitisation, the State took over three months to update its
databases before implementing its own farmer income support scheme before its Assembly
election last year. Since its payout was given per acre owned, rather than per family unit, it was
a simpler process to identify beneficiaries on the basis of land records. Yet, researchers say
almost 10 lakh beneficiaries — of a total 54 lakh — were left out of the initial instalment, as the
State scrambled to update records.
What about community farmers?

The scheme notes that land ownership rights are community-based in many northeastern States
and promises that an alternative method of beneficiary identification will be developed. However,
many Adivasi communities in other States also cultivate land without individual rights, and may
be left out of the scheme, although they are among the most vulnerable. Tenant farmers are
also not included in the scheme, as they do not own the land they cultivate. With tenancy being
as high as 60% in some areas, this could lead to resentment if absentee landlords receive
benefits under the scheme.
Is payment infrastructure in place?
The government intends to pay beneficiaries through a direct transfer to their bank accounts.
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From the second instalment, Aadhaar numbers will be compulsory to access benefits. Previous
welfare schemes requiring Aadhaar verification have faced significant hurdles in some rural
areas.
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Priscilla Jebaraj
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ARGENTINA PRESIDENT’S 3-DAY VISIT FROM TODAY

Relevant for: International Relations | Topic: India - South America
Mauricio Macri
Argentina’s President Mauricio Macri will arrive in India on Sunday for a three-day visit, during
which he will hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to enhance cooperation in key
sectors such as the economy, nuclear technology and space. A high-level delegation comprising
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the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Emilio Monzo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Faurie,
and senior officials will be accompanying Mr. Macri, according to the Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA).
Argentina’s first lady Juliana Awada will also be accompanying Mr. Macri.
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The President will arrive in Agra on February 17. A day later, he will hold delegation-level talks
with Mr. Modi and have other official engagements. He will travel to Mumbai on February 19.
The state visit of Mr. Macri is taking place on the 70th year of formal diplomatic relations
between the two countries.
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Mr. Macri’s visit follows Mr. Modi travelling to Argentina in late 2018 for the G20 summit, during
which they had a “very productive” bilateral meeting. Mr. Macri will also meet President Ram
Nath Kovind.
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WHAT HAPPENED IN PANIPAT, 1761?

Relevant for: Modern India | Topic: Indian States and Societies in 18th Century

All Rights Reserved
The writer is professor of history, Centre for Studies in Social Science, Kolkata
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The plains of Panipat, well known as a site of decisive military action in India’s recorded history,
are back in the news. This time, preparations are afoot for a different battle. There is the
blistering call for a sustained crusade against the enemy, and to reverse the slide to
enslavement — alluding to the fact, as some historians have maintained, that it was after 1761
when the Marathas, one of the contenders in the Third Battle of Panipat, became a spent force,
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that the English East India Company emerged from the margins, drawing strength from the
treasures of Bengal, to emerge as the masters of Hindustan.
So who was the enemy in 1761? Was there an enemy in the singular? Can we find parallels in
the 18th century for the times we live in? What was the battle all about? And what were its
immediate consequences?
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The 18th century was a period of profound change in the Indian subcontinent as the Mughal
Empire gave way to regional powers, many of whom, like the Marathas, aspired to, and almost
achieved, imperial status. The century saw an array of social movements, organised around
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religion, community articulations, and agrarian expansion, often crystallising into coherent
political entities. It was a period made for political adventurism, with shifting alliances making
any political calculation virtually impossible.
In this cauldron was a heady mix of religious invocation that did not always correspond to the
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cleavages that we assume to exist between Hindus and Muslims. In terms of realpolitik, what
mattered was the steady growth of Maratha power northward, in the form of both territorial
control as well as mediation in matters of deciding succession in regional states. Maratha
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operations were not especially well received — for example, by Jat ruler Surajmal.
The Maratha push to the north encountered the equally resolute push from the Afghan Durrani
chief into the Punjab and North India, the result being a bloody campaign fought on the plains of
Panipat. The Durrani chief was able to enlist the support of several malcontents (the Rohilla
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chief, the Nawab of Awadh) and most impressively, of the warrior ascetics, the Naga sanyasis
and Gosains, whose insane gallantry and casual nakedness threw the Afghan soldiers off-kilter!
The events leading to the final encounter between the Afghan and Marathas make for
compelling reading. One thing was certain though: the fragility of alliances and the overriding
greed for immediate gain undercut possibilities of any long-term balancing of imperial aspirations
with those of local powerholders.
The Durrani Afghan chief was barely interested in the crown of Hindustan and wanted above all
to keep the Punjab as his milch cow, while the Marathas were keen to control Delhi affairs as
well as to restrain other contenders — being prepared for untenable agreements, and remaining
impervious to any sort of counsel.
What distinguished Maratha politics was its fragmentation and the overriding rivalry between
various sardars, the case of Malhar Rao Holkar and his reliance on Rohilla leader Najib Khan
being an instance in point. The precarity of hastily conceived alliances, the extreme cynicism
that accompanied all political and diplomatic engagements, blurred distinctions between friend
and foe. Therefore, when the two contenders finally met in Panipat, the stage was set for
confusion, extraordinary feats of courage, and equally despairing episodes of sheer
opportunism.
The final act in the drama, however, was not predictable. With gifted commanders like Sadashiv
Rao Bhau, with the select forces of Vishwas Rao, the Peshwa’s son, marching towards North
India with Ibrahim Gardi, a French-trained Muslim general who had worked for the Nizam of
Hyderabad, it seemed the Marathas would take the honours. Only a last-minute constellation of
adverse weather conditions, diplomatic isolation, want of provisions, and the disagreement
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between the Maratha sardars strained the Maratha forces.
Abdali moved in stealthily, squeezing the line of supplies for the Marathas, and outwitting them
in what was essentially a battle of attrition. Neither side could goad the other into firing the first
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salvo until the starving Maratha camp finally responded, abandoning well thought-out military
plans. The struggle and carnage that followed lasted seven hours — by which time some of the
great commanders had died, leaving the Peshwa in Poona to decode what remains in history a
rare epistle carried by a banker: “two pearls dissolved, twenty-five gold mohurs have been lost,
and of the silver and the copper the total cannot be cast up”.
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It is, of course, tempting to read parallels and prophesies, especially when the contemporary
political scene seems to have resemblances to cynical power politics. What was certain then
was that the Battle of Panipat temporarily halted the Maratha advance, and enabled the East
India Company to maintain a low profile for a while, consolidate its early gains in Bengal, and
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subsequently make a strong bid for supremacy in the subcontinent.
What is certain now is that the stakes are high, the narrative overcharged with religious symbols,
while on the ground, all contenders have to grapple with the realities of power and go beyond
the equations of caste, community, and the bazaar.
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Lakshmi Subramanian is a Fellow at L’Institut d’études avancées de Nantes. She has written
extensively on the history of pre-colonial and early modern India
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SPACE HARPOON THAT CAPTURES JUNK TESTED

Relevant for: Science & Technology | Topic: Space Technology & related matters
A harpoon striking a square target mounted 5 feet from the spacecraft.
A harpoon flung from a satellite has successfully captured a piece of pretend space junk, like a
whale.
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The British-led experiment is part of an effort to clean up debris in orbit, hundreds of miles above
the Earth.
The University of Surrey’s Guglielmo Aglietti said on Friday that the steel-tipped harpoon scored
a bull’s-eye last Friday.
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The harpoon no bigger than a writing pen pierced an aluminum panel the size of a table tennis
racket attached to the end of a satellite boom. The distance was just 5 feet, but researchers
were delighted.
A video shows the harpoon slamming into the target and knocking it off its perch, and then the
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harpoon cable becoming entangled around the boom.
Mr. Aglietti said a much bigger harpoon will be needed in order to snare a real dead satellite
“Moby Dick style.” Thousands of old satellite and rocket parts, and other junk circle the Earth, a
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potential threat to working spacecraft, including the International Space Station (ISS).
The same team used a net to capture a piece of space junk, in a test last September. And in
December, they tracked a tiny satellite ejected from the mother ship, using lasers.
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“We are very happy because so far, we have done three experiments and all three have been
working,” Mr. Aglietti said by phone from England.
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All that remains is for the 400-km-high satellite to re-enter the atmosphere and burn up. If all
goes according to plan, a sail will inflate in March and eventually drag the satellite down, its
mission accomplished.
Mr. Aglietti said the next step for the consortium, which includes Airbus, would be to offer this as
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a real service and go after real space debris.
The experiment was launched to the space station last April and released from the station last
June.
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GREAT INDIAN HORNBILLS CAN ADAPT TO MODIFIED

HABITAT: STUDY
Relevant for: Environment | Topic: Biodiversity, Ecology, and Wildlife Related Issues
Habitat preservation: Conservation of native tree species essential for their survival | Photo
Credit: Pooja Pawar
Amid a changing environment, with natural homes of birds getting depleted as natural forests
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make way for plantations and other such modified terrain, comes the good news of how the
great Indian hornbill (Buceros bicornis) adapts to such change. A group of researchers from
NCBS-TIFR in Bengaluru and Nature Conservation Foundation in Mysuru observed eight
hornbill nests, three located in contiguous forests and five located in modified habitats such as
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coffee plantations. They found that the birds followed similar nesting behaviour but adapted to
the changed environment. The study is published in the journal Ornithological Science.
The team chose to study the great Indian hornbills nesting in the Anamalai hills. For comparison,
the researchers located the study in the modified habitat in the Valparai plateau and the
contiguous forests in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve and the Vazhachal Reserve forests. The
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modified habitat included tea, coffee and cardamom plantations and tribal settlements.
“Most of the nests were known to us as we have been studying hornbills and monitoring them for
many years now. Some of the nests were discovered during the study with the help of local tribal
assistants,” says T R Shankar Raman of Nature Conservation Foundation and an author of the
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paper, in an email to The Hindu. Describing the mode of observation, he says: “We started
monitoring nests from the beginning of breeding season in December. After the females had
entered the nests, we conducted direct nest observations on multiple nests using standard field
protocols and taking care not to disturb the birds…All observations were done manually.”
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Hornbills are secondary cavity nesters and choose cavities formed in large trees for nesting.
Also they are monogamous, and the female, after copulation, seals herself in the hole until the
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initial breeding period of two-four months is over. During this time, the female and the young
ones are fed by the male bird, with fruit such as figs and animal matter. So, in principle, along
with other threats such as hunting, modified land use, ensuing forest fragmentation, felling of
large trees with the potential for nesting, the loss of fruit bearing trees could also affect hornbill
nesting habits. “Great hornbills may adapt to habitat modification provided that their key
requirements for food and nesting are fulfilled in the habitats like coffee and forest fragments,”
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says Pooja Pawar from NCBS-TIFR and the first author of the paper.
Considering that hornbills use same nest over years, protection of these known nest trees and
retention of large trees that can be potential nests is absolutely essential. In addition, it would be
necessary to have a diversity of native tree species, particularly figs, laurels and other food
plants, the study concludes. “We also highlight the potential of rainforest fragments and coffee
plantation for conservation of hornbills outside of protected areas,” she adds.
END
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MARICULTURE IS AS IMPORTANT FOR INDIA AS

AGRICULTURE
Relevant for: Indian Economy | Topic: Economics of Animal-Rearing incl. White, Blue & Pink Revolutions
Untapped resource: Seaweed farmers at mandapam camp in Ramnad district. | Photo Credit:
M.J. Prabu
About 37% of the area of the entire world is agricultural land, a third of which (about 11%) is
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used for crops. And as the population of the world rises to 9.7 billion people in 30 years, the land
available for crops will reduce. Thus, there is an immediate need to try and improve the
efficiency of food production. Experts predict that agricultural yield must increase by 50%
between now and 2050. How to do this is the question facing agricultural scientists across the
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world.
Plants use sunlight to produce energy for their metabolism and food production. This is referred
to as photosynthesis (wherein sunlight is used to make energy-rich molecules needed for
producing food molecules). However, the efficiency of photosynthesis is rather low, just about
5% in most land crops. The most efficient land crop with 8% average is sugarcane, which is not
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all that edible, except for the sugar in it. If only we can increase the efficiency of crops such as
wheat, rice and other grains!
One such attempt is through the project RIPE (Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency),
undertaken by a group of scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in the US,
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supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (for some details, access Katherine
Bourzac, in MIT Technology Review, August 14, 2017 issue).
One way of achieving it has been shown in the model plant tobacco where the scientists could
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“engineer photosynthesis” by increasing the expression of three genes involved in processing

light. This increases the tobacco yield by 20%. The team is trying to do the same genetic
engineering method in other plants. One such plant is cassava (also called tapioca, sago or
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sabudana) whose roots are carbohydrate-rich , and eaten by over half a billion people in Latin
America and parts of Africa; indeed it is eaten as staple food in parts of Andhra, Kerala and the
hilly areas of Assam. Genetic engineering of this plant was done, just as in tobacco, and
appears to work.
Another way that some other scientists are trying is to reduce what is called photorespiration in
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plants. Here the energy and oxygen produced in the ‘light reaction’ of photosynthesis is drained
by the plant to make “wasteful” products in the ‘dark reaction’, and not just carbohydrates and
other food material, particularly when the plant’s leaves close in order to reduce water loss by
evaporation. If we can find ways to reduce this photorespiration, edible food yields can go up.
Many of these research attempts involve the introduction of external genes and gene products
into food crops, and these are opposed by group of people who do not want genetic engineering
and genetically modified plants. This is a curious situation where science finds ways to deal with
genes so as to improve yields while sociology opposes it based on worries about safety, as well
as monopolistic control of food material through exclusive patents and other factors. A via media
solution needs to be found, failing which food production may not increase all to feed the ever
growing population of the world.
It is in this context that we need to open our minds and expand our ideas about our food habits.
The most efficient use of photosynthesis is actually not by land plants but by micro and macro
algae, such as seaweeds. These are the champions, contributing to about 50% of all
photosynthesis in the world. And many of them, notably those with dark green, red and brown
colour, are edible. They are low-calorie and nutrient-dense food items and eaten by people in
most parts of South East Asia – Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, China, Korea and
Japan, and also in some in coastal Atlantic region. A site called “The definitive guide to edible
seaweed” (foodrepublic.com) gives the details about several of these food items.
About 844 seaweed species are reported from India, a country with a coast line of 7,500 km.
Peninsular India from Gujarat all way to Odisha and West Bengal has a coast line of 5,200 km,
and Andaman and Nicobar together have a coast line of 2,500 km. Thus, while we have 63% of
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our land area for crop agriculture, we should not forget this vast coastal area, much of which
breeds seaweeds. Research in the area of edible seaweeds in India has been going on for over
40 years. The Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (CSMCRI) at Bhavnagar,
Gujarat has done pioneering work in the area. Dr Amitava Das, its Director, tells us that over 20
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scientists there have been involved for decades in research and propagation of seaweeds as
potential of foods for people, as well as for isolating important chemicals of technological
importance and crop biostimulant purposes.
Professor CRK Reddy, who was at CSMCRI for decades and currently at the Institute for
Chemical Technology, Mumbai, has been an active advocate of seaweeds as food. He points
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out that among the seaweeds found in plenty, Ulva, Pyropia, Porphyra and Kappaphycus are
edible and that it will be good to cultivate them in large scale, as is done in countries like Japan.
And Dr Arockiaraj Johnbosco points out (Times of India, 12-1-2016) that, of the 306 seaweeds in
the Gulf of Mannar, 252 are edible. Thus India should embark on Mariculture as vigorously as
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Agriculture, given its 7,500 km-long coastal line. Further, it does not require pesticides, fertilizers
and water for irrigation, which is an added advantage.
Seaweeds are rich sources of vitamins A and C, and minerals such as Ca, Mg, Zn, Se and Fe.
They also have a high level of vegetable proteins and omega 3 and 6 fatty acids. Best of all,
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they are vegetarian, indeed vegan, and do not have any fishy smell, thus good and acceptable.
For all for those who worry about this “new” introduction, let us recall that India took quickly to
imports like potatoes, tea and most recently to soyabean.
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Professor Reddy has suggested that we may “break in” through the use of seaweeds as pizza
seasoning, in spice sachets, so that people get used to them. After all, if the entire Eastern
Asian population eats them, why not we from South Asia?
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dbala@lvpei.org
END

2019 2 18

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