Pakistan’s New ‘Political Map’- Cartographic Hallucination

IN NEWS

• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan unveiled a new “political map of Pakistan” that counts Jammu and Kashmir and Junagadh in Gujarat as its territories.

ABOUT

• Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s move comes a day ahead of the first anniversary of the Indian government tabling in parliament the legislation to scrap Jammu and Kashmir’s special status and splitting the erstwhile state into two centrally-administered territories, Jammu and Kashmir.

INDIA’S REACTION

• This is an exercise in political absurdity, laying untenable claims to territories in the Indian State of Gujarat and our Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and of Ladakh.

INDIA–PAKISTAN BORDER

• The Pakistan–India Border is of 3,323 kilometres, known locally as the International Border (IB), is an international border running between Pakistan and India.
• The border runs from the Line of Control (LoC), which separates Indian-administered Kashmir from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, in the north, to the Sir Creek in Rann of Kutch between the Indian state of Gujarat and the Sindh province of Pakistan, in the south.
• Drafted and created based upon the Radcliffe line in 1947, the border, which divides Pakistan and India from each other, traverses a variety of terrains ranging from major urban areas to inhospitable deserts
• The border between Indian-administered Kashmir and the Pakistani province of Punjab is officially called the "Working Boundary" by Pakistan. India regards it as the international border.
• Working boundary: The line between Punjab Province of Pakistan along Sialkot and Indian controlled Kashmir. It is called a working boundary because on one side is an internationally recognized land (Sialkot) while on the other is a disputed territory.
• Line of Control (LOC): Line of control is the boundary between the Pakistan-administered Kashmir and Indian-administered Kashmir. It was demarcated after the Simla pact in 1972.
• International boundary: The demarcated line between the Republic of India and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan recognized internationally. Sir Cyril Radcliffe demarcated the land in 1947.

Leopards, Wolves Vanishing from Panda Conservation Areas

IN NEWS

• Efforts to protect the giant panda have failed to safeguard large mammals sharing its habitats, according to research published recently showing dramatic declines of leopards and other predators.

ABOUT

• Researchers found that the leopard, snow leopard, wolf and dhole — also known as the Asian wild dog — have almost disappeared from the majority of giant panda protected habitats since the 1960s.
• The findings indicate the insufficiency of giant panda conservation for protecting these large carnivore species.
• The authors compared survey data from the 1950s to 1970s with information from almost 8,000 camera traps taken between 2008 and 2018. They found that leopards had disappeared from 81% of giant panda reserves, snow leopards from 38%, wolves from 77% and dholes from 95%.

PANDA

• The giant panda also known as the panda bear or simply the panda, is a bear native to south central China. It is characterized by large, black patches around its eyes, over the ears, and across its round body. The name "giant panda" is sometimes used to distinguish it from the red panda, a neighboring musteloid. Though it belongs to the order Carnivore, the giant panda is a folivore, with bamboo shoots and leaves making up more than 99% of its diet.
• The giant panda lives in a few mountain ranges in central China, mainly in Sichuan, but also in neighbouring Shaanxi and Gansu.
• The panda was removed from the International Union for Conservation of Nature endangered species list in 2016 although it remains "vulnerable".

CONCERN

• The predators face threats from poachers, logging and disease.

BENEFIT OF CONSERVATION

• The recovery of large carnivore populations would "increase the resilience and sustainability of the ecosystems not only for giant pandas but also for other wild species.

Self-Reliance in Defence Manufacturing

Why in NEWS?

• Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 03rd August 2020, released a draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 (DPEPP 2020) for public consultation and comments.

About

• DPEPP 2020 is positioned as MoD’s overarching guiding document to provide a focused, structured, and significant thrust to defence production capabilities of the country for self-reliance and exports.
• The new policy backtracks significantly from the draft Defence Production Policy (DPrP) 2018, which aimed at catapulting India into the world’s top five defence producers.
• The draft DPrP 2018 had stipulated 13 technology realms where India would achieve self-reliance by 2025, including in building fighter aircraft, helicopters, warships, tanks, missile systems, gun systems, small arms, and ammunition.

Goals and Objectives

• The new policy states the “aim is to move away from licensed production to design, develop, and produce defence equipment, so that the nation owns the design rights and intellectual property of the systems.”
• To achieve a turnover of Rs 1,75,000 Crores (US$ 25Bn) including export of Rs 35,000 Crore (US$ 5 Billion) in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.
• To develop a dynamic, robust and competitive Defence industry, including Aerospace and Naval Shipbuilding industry to cater to the needs of Armed forces with quality products.
• To reduce dependence on imports and take forward "Make in India" initiatives through domestic design and development.
• To promote export of defence products and become part of the global defence value chains.
• To create an environment that encourages R&D, rewards innovation, creates Indian IP ownership and promotes a robust and self-reliant defence industry.
• The Policy brings out multiple strategies under the following focus areas-

1. Procurement Reforms
2. Indigenization & Support to MSMEs/Startups
3. Optimize Resource Allocation
4. Investment Promotion, FDI & Ease of Doing Business
5. Innovation and R&D
6. DPSUs and OFB
7. Quality Assurance & Testing Infrastructure
8. Export Promotion

External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs)

Why in NEWS?

• Overseas borrowings in Q1 FY21 tumble to 11-quarter low of $3.51 billion.

About

• Overseas borrowings of India Inc plunged to an 11-quarter low to $3.51 billion during the first quarter of the current fiscal as the pandemic-led lockdown brought both economic and lending activities to a virtual standstill for nearly two months.
• The overseas borrowings of Indian corporates for the same quarter last year stood at $12.04 billion, while borrowings during Q4 FY20 touched a peak of $18.97 billion.
• ECBs towards infrastructure development also fell to $76 million ($500 million) during this period.
• Borrowings have fallen off the cliff because companies don’t have any investment plans due to future uncertainties amid COVID-19.

What is External Commercial Borrowings (ECBs)?

• It is a loan availed by an Indian entity from a non-resident lender with a minimum average maturity.
• They are used widely in India to facilitate access to foreign money by Indian corporations and PSUs (public sector undertakings).
• Most of these loans are provided by foreign commercial banks buyers’ credit, suppliers’ credit, securitized instruments such as Floating Rate Notes and Fixed Rate Bonds etc.
• In the post reform period, ECBs have emerged a major form of foreign capital like FDI and FII.
• The DEA (Department of Economic Affairs), Ministry of Finance, along with Reserve Bank of India, monitors and regulates ECB guidelines and policies.