15 MARCH 2023

Topic 1: The Indian Arms Act

Context: The Punjab government has cancelled the 813 gun licenses across the state in a bid to clamp down on the “gun culture” in the state.

Who can possess firearms under the Indian Arms Act?

• The Indian Arms Act of 1959scrapped the erstwhile Act of 1878.
  • The Act of 1878 passed by the British in the aftermath of the 1857 mutiny, restricted Indians from possessing firearms.
• According to the 1959 Act, no one can acquire, possess or carry any firearms in India without a license.
• 1983 Amendment:
  • The Act bars one person from carrying more than three firearms after its amendment in 1983, except if:
    • the person is a licensed dealer,
    • belongs to the armed forces of the Union, or
    • is a member of a rifle club or association licensed or recognised by the Centre.

• The Arms Act allows Indian citizens aged 21 years and above to get Non-Prohibited Bore (NPB) guns.
  • Bore refers to the diameter of a gun’s bullets.
  • NPB guns adhering to .35,.33, .22, and .380 are permissible for a license.
  • Prohibited Bore guns of bores .38, .455, and .303 can only be issued to defence personnel or persons facing imminent threats to life.
• Grounds of granting license:
  • A license can only be granted for purposes of self-defence, crop protection, or sports.
  • The Act prevents persons of unsound mind or those out on bond from getting such a license.
• License issuing authority:
  • Applications for the grant of arms license for NPB weapons are dealt with by the State Government/DM concerned.
  • However, the Centre is also empowered to prohibit the possession and distribution of arms in certain “disturbed areas.”
• 2019 amendment:
  • An amendment to the Act in 2019 reduced the number of permitted firearms from three to one and provided a period of one year to deposit the excess firearms.
  • The amendment also increased the duration of validity of a firearm license, from three to five years.

The Arms Rules, 2016

• In 2016, the Centre issued new Arms Rules, 2016, superseding the Arms Rules, 1962.
• As per the rules applying for an arms license, rifle club, association, or firing range required one to complete a safety training course involving safe handling and carrying procedures.
• Provisions for granting restricted categories of arms to those living in militancy-hit areas and a decision on applications for arms licenses within two months were part of the rules issued by the Centre.

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Topic 2: Prohibition on blood donation by gay, transgender people

Context: Members of the transgender community, moved the Supreme Court seeking to strike down the prohibition on gay and transgender people donating blood in the country.

Key details:

• The Centre justified their exclusion by asserting that their inclusion in the “at-risk” category for HIV, Hepatitis B, or C infections is premised on scientific evidence.
• The ban on blood donations by gay people was introduced in the 1980s.
• The Guidelines:
  • In India, the ‘Guidelines for Blood Donor Selection & Blood Donor Referral, 2017’ mandates the donor to be:
    • free from diseases that are transmissible by blood transfusion, and
    • not at risk for HIV, Hepatitis B or C infections, such as transgender, gay people, and female sex workers among others.
  • The fitness of the individual for blood donation is determined by the medical officer.
  • It permanently defers those at risk for HIV infection, including gay and transgender people, from donating blood in the country.

• Issuing authority:
  • These guidelines were issued by the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC) and the National Aids Control Organisation in 2017.
• Aim of the guidelines:
  • These guidelines were approved in an attempt to bring in a Blood Transfusion Service which offers a safe, sufficient and timely supply of blood and blood components to those in need.
• Challenge to the guidelines:
  • The constitutional validity of these clauses have been challenged.
  • They violate Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India to the extent they exclude transgender persons, men having sex with men and female sex workers from being blood donors.

International rules:

• United States
  • Originally, gay and transgender men were completely prohibited from donating blood, owing to the AIDS crisis in the United States in the 1970s and the 80s.
  • It was in 2015 that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) introduced a deferral period of a year for people belonging to the community.
  • This meant that any man would have been able to donate blood if they have not had sex with another man in the past 12 months.
• United Kingdom
  • The United Kingdom has adopted a FAIR (For the Assessment of Individualised Risk) approach towards people from the LGBT+ community who wish to donate blood.
  • It assesses eligibility to give blood based solely on one’s “individual experiences”.

• Canada
  • In 2011 the governing body introduced deferrals of not more than 10 years and not less than five years since last sexual contact.
  • Through the years, the body has reduced deferrals from five years to one (2016), and from a year to three months (2019).
• Other countries 
  • Countries such as the Netherlands, Israel, Argentina, France, Greece and Germany have already or are planning to, move away from restricting specific groups from donating blood

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Topic 3: Person in News: Alluri Sitharama Raju and Komaram Bheem

Context: With a win for Best Original Song for ‘Naatu Naatu’ at the 2023 Oscars, the Telugu movie ‘RRR’ is garnering attention on the global stage. Its story and characters have roots in real historical figures, inspired by the lives of Indian freedom fighters Alluri Sitharama Raju.

Key details:

• Both men were 20th-century revolutionaries who led tribal people in present-day Andhra Pradesh against the British and the Nizams.
• Bheem was a tribal man but Raju was not.
• Alluri Sitharama Raju
  • Raju is believed to have been born in Andhra Pradesh in 1897 or 1898.
  • He is said to have become a sanyasi at the age of 18.
  • At a very young age, Raju channelled the discontent of the hill people into an effective guerrilla resistance against the British.
  • Colonial rule threatened the tribals’ traditional podu (shifting) cultivation, as the government sought to secure forest lands.
  • The Forest Act of 1882 banned the collection of minor forest produce such as roots and leaves, and tribal people were forced into labour by the colonial government.
  • The tribals were subjected to exploitation by muttadars, village headmen commissioned by the colonial government to extract rent and the new laws and systems threatened their way of life itself.
  • Strong anti-government sentiment, shared by the muttadars who were aggrieved by the curtailment of their powers by the British, exploded into armed resistance in August 1922.
  • Several hundred tribals led by Raju attacked police stations in the Godavari agency.
  • The Rampa or Manyam Rebellion continued in the form of a guerrilla war until May 1924, when Raju, the charismatic ‘Manyam Veerudu’ or Hero of Jungle, was finally captured and executed.
  • The Rampa Rebellion coincided with Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
  • He persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking.
  • But at the same time, he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence.
• Komaram Bheem
  • Komram Bheem was born in the Gond tribal community at Sankepally village in Komarambheem District, renamed after him in 2016.
  • The Nizam government used to collect tax in the name of ‘Bambram’ and ‘Dupapetti’ from people grazing cattle and collecting firewood for cooking.
  • In opposition, Bheem spread the message of “Jal, Jangal, Zameen” (water, forest land) among tribal people.
  • This has become a clarion call for indigenous people’s rights to natural resources, used in many parts of India to date.
  • Villages in Adilabad were ready with the help of a guerrilla army composed of Gond and Koya communities’ men.
  • Bheem trained tribal people to fight with weapons.
  • However, the Nizam’s army overwhelmed them and Bheem died at their hands in the Jodeghat forest.
• Presence in culture
  • In 1986, the Indian Postal Department issued a stamp in honour of Raju and his contribution to India’s struggle for Independence.
  • In 2022, Prime Minister unveiled a 30-foot-tall bronze statue of Alluri Sitharama Raju at Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh.

Topic 4: Suspension of Operations agreement

Context: The Manipur government decided to withdraw from the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement with two hill-based tribal militant groups – Kuki National Army (KNA) and Zomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), alleging they were influencing agitation among forest encroachers.

Who are the Kukis? 

• The Kukis are an ethnic group including multiple tribes originally inhabiting:
  • the North-Eastern states of India such as Manipur, Mizoram and Assam;
  • parts of Burma (now Myanmar), and
  • Sylhet district and Chittagong hill tracts of Bangladesh.
• The tribes came to be generically called Kuki under colonial rule. 
• In Manipur, the various Kuki tribes currently make up 30% of the total population. 

The Kuki insurgency:

• The roots of Kuki militancy lie in conflicts of ethnic identity.
  • First was the demand for self-determination solely for groups belonging to their ethnic fabric, meaning the dream to form a Kukiland which includes Kuki inhabited regions of Myanmar, Manipur, Assam and Mizoram.
  • The second reason for insurgency lies in the inter-community conflicts between the Kukis and the Nagas in Manipur. 
• The Kuki insurgency gained momentum after ethnic clashes with the Nagas of Manipur in the early 1990s.
  • Land that the Kukis claim to be their “homeland” in the Manipur hills overlaps with the imagined Naga homeland of Greater Nagaland or Nagalim.
• Manipur, formerly a princely state including parts of Burma, made the accession into India after Independence, but was only made a full-fledged State in 1972.

The agreement:

• The Kuki insurgent groups have been under Suspension of Operation (SoO) since 2005, when they signed an agreement for the same with the Indian Army.
• Later, in 2008, the groups entered a tripartite agreement with the State government of Manipur and the Central government to temporarily suspend their operations and give political dialogue a chance. 
• While the period of the Suspension of Operation agreement is one year, it is extendable according to the progress of its implementation.
• Terms of the agreement:
  • As per the agreement between the Kuki insurgent groups and the Government, a total of 2,266 cadres of Kuki organisations would be put in over 14 designated camps set up by the government, away from the civilian inhabited areas.
  • Their movement would be restricted to the camps.
  • The cadres would get a monthly stipend of ₹3000 per month and their leaders would be given ₹5000.
  • Their arms would be locked away in an area inside the camp, and one set of keys would be with the armed forces personnel, while the other would be with the cadre leader. 
  • To oversee the effective implementation of the SoO pact, a committee called the Joint Monitoring Group (JMG), with representatives from all the signatories, has been formed.
  • Security forces, including state and central forces, are not to launch any operations, nor can the underground groups.
  • The signatories shall abide by the Constitution of India, the laws of the land and the territorial integrity of Manipur.

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Topic 5: The Saudi-Iran detente

Context: Saudi Arabia and Iran, two of West Asia’s major powers that have been at odds with each other for decades, agreed to restore diplomatic relations last week in an agreement brokered by China.

History:

• The rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran is rooted in Islamic sectarianism.
• While Iran is the foremost Shia state in the world, Saudi Arabia is considered to be the religious home of Sunni Islam.
• Both sides involved in multiple proxy conflicts against each other in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

• The rivalry between the two dates back to pre-revolution Iran when they competed with each other for regional dominance.
• In recent times, it had turned into a cold war with both sides supporting their proxies across West Asia.
• Formal ties between them collapsed in 2016 after the Saudi embassy in Tehran was overrun by protesters following Riyadh’s execution of a Shia cleric.

Terms of the agreement

• Iran has agreed to prevent further attacks against Saudi Arabia, especially those from the Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen.
• Saudi Arabia, on its part, agreed to rein in Iran International, a Farsi news channel that is critical of the Iranian regime.
• China is also planning to host a cross-Gulf conference of Iran and the six Gulf monarchies (Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, who make up the Gulf Cooperation Council, or GCC) to further strengthen peace in the region.

Implications:

• Both Iran and Saudi Arabia realise that as Europe weans itself off Russian oil and gas, by accelerating transition to a low-carbon energy future, their markets are in Asia, especially in China and India.
• The United States in any case is no longer dependent on oil from the Gulf.
• The Saudis are simply repositioning by asserting strategic independence.

The China angle:

• China has warm ties with both.
  • It is a leading buyer of Saudi oil and the largest trading partner of Iran.
  • This allowed China to use its economic leverage to bring the parties closer.
• China gains considerably from the deal by projecting its growing role as an economic and political power.
• China has economic, regional and strategic interests in playing the role of a peace broker in West Asia.
• Economically:
  • China is the world’s largest oil buyer and stability in the energy market is essential for its continued rise.
  • If a detente between Saudi Arabia and Iran can offer some stability to West Asia in particular and global energy supplies in general, China stands to benefit from it.
• Regionally:
  • The agreement marks China’s arrival as a major power in West Asia.
  • The major peace initiatives in the region in the post-War world, there was a constant presence of the U.S., such as:
    • the Camp David agreement (1978),
    • Oslo Accords (1993),
    • the Israel-Jordan Treaty (1994),
    • Middle East Quartet (2002)
    • the Abraham Accords (2020).
  • But in the Saudi-Iran reconciliation, the U.S. is absent.
• Strategically:
  • China is also trying to send a clear message to countries in the Global South.
  • While the U.S. is busy rallying the Western world to arm Ukraine to push back Russia and weaken Moscow through sanctions, China is quietly brokering peace in the Global South.
  • This points to larger changes under way in the global order.

Where does this deal leave India?

• The four-nation I2U2 group, consisting of India, Israel, the UAE and the US, had met recently.
• The Abraham Accords were to create a new US-sponsored Gulf security paradigm to isolate Iran, limiting its influence across the Shia crescent stretching from the western Iranian border to the Mediterranean.
  • The Abraham Accords are a joint statement made between Israel, the United States and the United Arab Emirates in 2020.
  • The Abraham Accord marked the first public normalization of relations between an Arab country and Israel since 1994.
• Pakistan, a Chinese ally, gains from the Saudi-Iran detente.
• The Chinese have already rolled over $1.3 billion Pakistani loan.
• The IMF is still examining a $ 6.5 billion bailout.
• The “I2U2” now leaves India in a group isolated by the new Saudi-Iran-China convergence.
• The cancellation of the Iranian foreign minister’s visit leaves India-Iran relations in the lurch.
• The lesson is that new foreign policy forays based on supposed personal equations can stymie India.
• China is displaying the readiness now to start shaping regional politics to suit it.
• India is not yet powerful enough to do so.
• But it can certainly avoid joining groups forged by outside powers.

Challenges:

• Sectarian issue:
  • One of the major roadblocks to a true thaw in relationships is the underlying sectarian tension between Shias and Sunnis.
  • A diplomatic deal does little to change this.
• Geopolitical issues:
  • In both the wars in Yemen and Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia find themselves on opposite sides.
  • These conflicts will continue to fuel antagonism between the two countries.
• Saudi-U.S. ties:
  • Iran is highly critical of Saudi Arabia’s closeness with the United States.  
  • The US has crippled Iranian economy with its sanctions regime for decades.
  • On the other hand, Saudi Arabia is vary of the large network of armed militias across West Asia that Iran funds and backs, seeing them as a threat to its own sovereignty as well as the regional balance of power.

Conclusion:

• While Iran and Saudi Arabia may still fall out, for the time being, this diplomatic agreement has ushered in major change in geopolitical dynamics in West Asia and can be the start of a greater global geopolitical realignment.

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Topic 6: SIPRI report

Context: India remained the world’s largest arms importer for the five-year period between 2018 and 2022 even though its arms imports dropped by 11% between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022, according to the Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Key findings of the report:

• Russia was the largest supplier of arms to India from 2013 to 2022 its share of total imports fell from 64% to 45%.
• France is the second largest supplier.
• Among the top 10 arms exporters for the period 2018 to 2022, India was the biggest arms export market to three countries:
  • Russia,
  • France
  • Israel
• The second largest export market was South Korea.
• India was also the third largest market for South Africa.
• India remained the largest arms importer followed by Saudi Arabia.
• Russia accounted for 45% of India’s imports followed by France (29%) and the U.S. (11%).
• India was the third largest arms supplier to Myanmar after Russia and China accounting for 14% of its imports.

About SIPRI: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute is an international institute based in Stockholm.It was founded in 1966.It provides data, analysis and recommendations for:armed conflict,military expenditurearms trade as well as disarmament and arms control.The research is based on open sources and is directed to decision-makers, researchers, media and the interested public.

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Topic 7: Antiquities laws

Context: An investigation has found that the catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, includes at least 77 items with links to a person, who is serving a 10-year jail term in Tamil Nadu for smuggling antiquities.

What is an antiquity as per different laws?

• The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 defined antiquity as:
  • any coin, sculpture, painting, epigraph or other work of art or craftsmanship;
  • any article, object or thing detached from a building or cave;
  • any article, object or thing illustrative of science, art, crafts, literature, religion, customs, morals or politics in bygone ages;
  • any article, object or thing of historical interest that has been in existence for not less than one hundred years.
  • For manuscript, record or other document which is of scientific, historical, literary or aesthetic value, this duration is not less than seventy-five years.
• The UNESCO 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property definedcultural property as:
  • the property designated by countries having importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or science.

• Indian laws:
  • Item-67 of the Union List, Item-12 of the State List, and Item-40 of the Concurrent List of the Constitution deal with the country’s heritage.
  • Before Independence, an Antiquities (Export Control) Act had been passed in April 1947 to ensure that “no antiquity could be exported without license.”
  • In 1958, The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act was enacted.
  • In 1976, The Antiquities and Art Treasures Act, 1972 (AATA) was enacted.
    • It prohibits export of any antiquity or art treasure except for Central Government or any authority or agency authorised by the Central Government.
    • It shall not be lawful for any person, other than the Central Government to carry on the business of selling or offering to sell any antiquity except under and in accordance with the terms and conditions of a licence.
      • This licence is granted by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
• What is ‘provenance’ of an antiquity?
  • Provenance includes the list of all owners from the time the object left its maker’s possession to the time it was acquired by the current owner.

• How is ownership proved?
  • The UNESCO 1970 declaration stated that the requesting Party shall furnish, at its expense, the documentation and other evidence necessary to establish its claim for recovery and return.
• Can India bring back antiquities?
  • There are three categories to take note of:
    • antiquities taken out of India pre-independence:
    • those which were taken out since independence until March 1976, i.e. before the implementation of AATA; and
    • antiquities taken out of the country since April 1976.

• For items in the first two categories, requests have to be raised bilaterally or on international fora.
• Antiquities in the second and third categories can be retrieved easily by raising an issue bilaterally with proof of ownership and with the help of the UNESCO convention.

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Topic 8: Red Cross Society

Context: The CBI has launched an inquiry into allegations of corruption against the health non-profit Indian Red Cross Society and its regional branches.

Key details:

• The Indian Red Cross Society is a voluntary humanitarian organization to protect human life and health based in India.
• It is part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and shares its.
• The society’s mission is to provide relief in times of disasters/emergencies and promote health and care of vulnerable people and communities.
• The Society uses the Red Cross as an emblem in common with other international Red Cross societies.
• It is a voluntary organisation.
• International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement:
  • The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement.
  • Aims:
    • To protect human life and health,
    • To ensure respect for all human beings,
    • To prevent and alleviate human suffering.