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DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

Monthly DNA

10 Aug, 2020

12 Min Read

India & Pak. spar over Indus water talks

GS-II : International Relations Pakistan

India & Pak. spar over Indus water talks

Context:

  • India has refused a request by Pakistan to hold a meeting on issues around the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) at the Attari check post near the India-Pakistan border.
  • The last such meeting between the two countries was in October 2019 in Islamabad.
  • As per the agreement in IWT, a meeting was to be scheduled in India before March 31, 2020.
  • The practice at the IWT meetings is that they are led by Indus Water Commissioners from both countries.
  • A range of issues on the construction of dams and hydropower projects concerning the Indus river system are discussed.

Important points:

  • Evolving a procedure to solve differences in technical aspects governing the construction of the Ratle run-of-the-river (RoR) project on the Chenab in the Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir.
  • A consensus is yet to be reached upon a final resolution on the design parameters of this hydropower project.
  • India has called for the appointment of a ‘neutral’ party.
  • Pakistan favours a Court of Arbitration to agree upon a final resolution.

Issue:

  • According to the terms of the IWT, India has the right to build RoR projects on the three ‘western’ rivers — the Chenab, Jhelum and Indus — provided it does so without substantially impeding water flow in Pakistan downstream.
  • Pakistan believes that the project’s current design does pose a serious impediment and has told the World Bank that it wants a Court of Arbitration (CoA) set up to decide on the issue.
  • India says this is only a technical issue and mutually solvable. It has agreed to a ‘neutral party’ since a CoA potentially could stall any construction on all Indus projects.

Source: TH

Andaman and Nicobar will be a maritime hub

GS-III : Economic Issues Government policies and interventions

Andaman and Nicobar will be a maritime hub

  • Prime Minister has said that the Andaman and Nicobar Islands region, owing to its strategic importance, is going to be developed as a maritime and startup hub.
  • 12 islands of the archipelago have been selected for high-impact projects with an emphasis on boosting trade of sea-based, organic and coconut-based products of the region.

Government initiatives:

  • Proposed transhipment hub in the Andaman will help the group of islands become an important centre of blue economy and a maritime and startup hub.
  • Over 300 km of national highway is expected to be completed in record time.
  • The government is working to improve air connectivity within these islands and between them and the rest of the country.
  • A submarine optical fibre cable between Chennai and the islands has been installed.

Source: TH

Farm infra scheme

GS-III : Economic Issues Agriculture

Farm infra scheme

  • A new financing scheme has been launched under the? 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is meant for setting up storage and processing facilities, which will help farmers get higher prices for their crops.
  • The scheme will support farmers, PACS [primary agricultural credit societies], FPOs [farmer producer organisations], agri-entrepreneurs, etc. in building community farming assets and post-harvest agriculture infrastructure.
  • These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition.

Source: TH

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