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Wednesday, March 23, 2022

Daily Current Affairs, 23rd March 2022

18:50

 


1)  World Meteorological Day 2022: “Early Warning and Early Action”

•World Meteorological Day is celebrated globally on March 23rd every year. The day is celebrated as the establishment of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), and it concentrates on the behaviour of Earth’s atmosphere. The day also helps people be aware of their role in protecting Earth’s atmosphere. World Meteorological Day is a significant day as it focuses on the global acknowledgement of different issues of planet earth. The day is conducted by raising awareness about multiple concerns of the Earth around the globe.


World Meteorological Day 2022: Theme


•World Meteorological Day is celebrated with a different motto every year. This year World Meteorological Day is celebrated keeping the theme of Early Warning and Early Action.


2)  Shaheed Diwas or Martyrs’ Day Observed On 23rd March

•Every year, the Nation was observed on March 23rd as Martyrs Day (Shaheed Diwas or Sarvodaya Day). The day was observed to pay tribute to the death anniversary of the freedom fighters Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev Thapar, and Shivaram Rajguru, who laid their lives for the freedom of India. Also, 30 January is observed as Martyr’s Day or Shaheed Diwas in the memory of Mahatma Gandhi.


3)  March 22 observed as Bihar Day

•Bihar Diwas 2022 marks the 110th anniversary of the state’s founding. The annual Bihar Diwas is no longer limited to festivities hosted by the state government; citizens from the state living throughout the country and overseas have begun to commemorate the occasion.


4)  Nagaland became first paperless assembly by implementing e-Vidhan application

•Nagaland has created history by becoming the first State Assembly in the country to implement the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) programme to become completely paperless. The Nagaland Assembly Secretariat has attached a tablet or e-book on each table in the 60 members’ assembly amid the ongoing Budget session.


5)  EX-DUSTLIK between Indian and Uzbekistan armies begins

•The 3rd edition of the joint training exercise named EX-DUSTLIK between the Indian army and Uzbekistan army begins at Yangiarik, Uzbekistan from 22 to 31 March 2022. The last edition of DUSTLIK was conducted in Ranikhet (Uttarakhand) in March 2021. The Indian contingent will be represented by the Grenadiers Regiment and will join the Uzbekistan Army contingent represented by troops of the North-Western Military District.


6)  IQAir’s 2021 World Air Quality Report: Delhi world’s most polluted capital

•New Delhi has been ranked the world’s most polluted capital city for the second consecutive year as per IQAir’s 2021 World Air Quality Report. New Delhi is followed by Dhaka (Bangladesh), N’Djamena (Chad), Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Muscat (Oman) as the top five most polluted capital cities respectively. Meanwhile, Bhiwadi was the most polluted city in India, followed by Ghaziabad, Delhi and Jaunpur.


7)  75 Women felicitated by NITI Aayog at 5th Women Transforming India Awards

•The Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) of the NITI Aayog organised the 5th edition of the Women Transforming India Awards (WTI). As part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence, the WTI Awards have been conferred 75 women achievers for their contribution towards a ‘Sashakt Aur Samarth Bharat’.


8)  Pushkar Singh Dhami takes oath as 11th CM of Uttarakhand

•Pushkar Singh Dhami has taken oath as 11th Chief Minister of Uttarakhand. He will take over the reins of the state for the second time in a row. Governor Lieutenant General Gurmit Singh administered him the oath of office and secrecy at the Parade Ground in Dehradun.


•The BJP contested the Assembly elections under Dhami’s leadership and secured a comfortable majority in the 70-member House, winning 47 seats. Dhami, who lost from the Khatima constituency in the Uttarakhand, led the party’s poll effort as Chief Minister during the assembly polls held last month.


9)  Fitch Ratings reduce India’s FY23 growth forecast to 8.5%

•Fitch Ratings has slashed India’s GDP growth forecast for the fiscal FY 2022-2023 to 8.5 per cent in its Global economic Outlook-March 2022. Earlier this rate was estimated at 10.3%. The downwards projection is due to sharply higher energy prices because of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The Rating agency Fitch has revised upwards the GDP growth forecast for the current fiscal FY 2021-2022, by 0.6 percentage points to 8.7 percent.


•With the Omicron wave subsiding quickly, containment measures have been scaled back, setting the stage for a pick-up in GDP growth momentum in the June quarter this year.


10)  Kuwait becomes hottest place on earth, records 53.2 degree Celsius

•Kuwait reached a scorching temperature of 53.2 degrees Celsius (127.7 degrees Fahrenheit), making it among the hottest places on earth. It was so hot in Kuwait last summer that birds dropped dead from the sky. Sea horses boiled to death in the bay. Dead clams coated the rocks, their shells popped open like they’d been steamed.


•The country continues to burn oil for electricity and ranks among the top global carbon emitters per capita, according to the World Resources Institute. As asphalt melts on highways, Kuwaitis bundle up for bone-chilling air-conditioning in malls. Renewable energy accounts for less than 1 per cent of demand – far below Kuwait’s target of 15 per cent by 2030.


11)  Knight Frank: India Placed 51st in Global House Price Index Q4 2021

•India has improved its rank by five spots to be placed at 51st position in the ‘Global House Price Index Q4 2021’ released by property consultant Knight Frank. India was placed at 56th position in Q4 of 2020. India witnessed a 2.1 per cent annual appreciation in housing price rates during the October-December quarter of 2021 against Q4 of 2020.
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The HINDU Notes – 23rd March 2022

13:59

 


📰 Understanding hypersonic weapons

How are these manoeuvrable weapons different from traditional missiles? Does India have a hypersonic weapons system?

•The story so far: On Saturday, the Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Major General Igor Konashenkov said the “Kinzhal aviation missile system with hypersonic aeroballistic missiles destroyed a large underground warehouse containing missiles and aviation ammunition in the village of Deliatyn in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.” On Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden confirmed that Russia used hypersonic missiles in its offensive in Ukraine.

What are hypersonic weapons?

•They are manoeuvrable weapons that can fly at speeds of at least Mach 5, five times the speed of sound. The speed of sound is Mach 1, and speeds above Mach I are supersonic and speeds above Mach 5 are hypersonic. They are different from Ballistic missiles which even though are travel much faster, follow a fixed trajectory and travel outside the atmosphere to re-enter only near impact. On the other hand, hypersonic weapons travel within the atmosphere and can manoeuvre midway which combined with their high speeds make their detection and interception extremely difficult. This means that radars and air defences cannot detect them till they are very close and have only little time to react.

•According to the October 2021 memo of the Congressional Research Service (CRS), ‘Hypersonic Weapons: Background and Issues for Congress’, there are two classes of hypersonic weapons, Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGV) and Hypersonic Cruise Missiles (HCM). HGVs are launched from a rocket before gliding to a target.7 while HCMare powered by high-speed, air-breathing engines, or scramjets, after acquiring their target.

•Hypersonic missiles are a new class of threat because they are capable both of manoeuvring and of flying faster than 5,000 kilometres per hour, which would enable such missiles to penetrate most missile defences and to further compress the timelines for response by a nation under attack, says a 2017 book Hypersonic Missile Nonproliferation published by RAND Corporation.

•Gen. John E. Hyten who recently retired as the Vice Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff had stated that hypersonic weapons could enable “responsive, long-range, strike options against distant, defended, and/or time-critical threats when other forces are unavailable, denied access, or not preferred.”

What is the status of Russian, Chinese and U.S. programmes?

•According to Russian news agency TASS, the Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missile system was unveiled by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 1 and has an operating range of over 2,000 km. The basic carrier of the missile is the MiG-31K fighter jet as well as the Tu-22M3 bomber.

•Speaking at a Business Roundtable’s CEO quarterly meeting on Monday, Mr. Biden said, “And, if you notice, they’ve just launched a — their hypersonic missile, because it’s the only thing that they can get through with absolute certainty. It’s — as you all know, it’s a consequential weapon. And — but — with the same warhead on it as a — as any other launched missile.”

•Stating that it doesn’t make that much difference, except it’s “almost impossible to stop it,” he said, adding: “There’s a reason they’re using it.”

•Last October, top U.S. military officer Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the joint chiefs of staff confirmed that China had conducted a test of a hypersonic weapon which he termed was “close to a Sputnik moment” and was “very concerning”, referring to the event in 1957 when the Soviet Union put the first satellite in space. Earlier in the month, The Financial Times had reported that China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August that circled the globe before speeding towards its target, demonstrating an advanced space capability that caught U.S. intelligence by surprise. However, China has denied that it was nuclear capable. This has put the spotlight on the global development of hypersonic weapons by several countries, especially the advancements made by China and Russia. In addition to the Chinese test, in early October, Russia announced that it had successfully test launched a Tsirkon hypersonic cruise missile from a Severodvinsk submarine deployed in the Barents Sea which hit a target 350 kms away.

•Talking of the test in November, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that tests were almost complete and the Russian Navy would start receiving them in 2022.“Now, it is especially important to develop and implement the technologies necessary to create new hypersonic weapons systems, high-powered lasers and robotic systems that will be able to effectively counter potential military threats, which means they will further strengthen the security of our country,” he said

•The U.S. has tested hypersonic weapons for decades. The first vehicle to exceed Mach 5 was a two-stage rocket launched in 1949 which reached a speed of Mach 6.7, under Project Bumper. While the U.S. has active hypersonic development programmes, the CRS memo said it was lagging behind China and Russia because “most U.S. hypersonic weapons, in contrast to those in Russia and China, are not being designed for use with a nuclear warhead.” “As a result, U.S. hypersonic weapons will likely require greater accuracy and will be more technically challenging to develop than nuclear-armed Chinese and Russian systems,” it stated The U.S. is now looking to accelerate its own programmes, though it is unlikely to field an operational system before 2023. The Pentagon’s budget request for hypersonic research for financial year 2022 is $3.8 billion, up from $3.2 billion it requested a year earlier. The Missile Defence Agency additionally requested $247.9 million for hypersonic defence.

•However, as stated by the U.S. Principal Director for Hypersonics Mike White, the Department of Defence has not yet made a decision to acquire hypersonic weapons and is instead developing prototypes to assist in the evaluation of potential weapon system concepts and mission sets.

•Debunking some of the claims surrounding hypersonic weapons, Physicists David Wright and Cameron Tracy wrote in the Scientific American dated August 1, 2021 stating their studies indicate that hypersonic weapons “may have advantages in certain scenarios, but by no means do they constitute a revolution.” “Many of the claims about them are exaggerated or simply false. And yet the widespread perception that hypersonic weapons are a game-changer has increased tensions among the U.S., Russia and China, driving a new arms race and escalating the chances of conflict,” they wrote. The U.S. has six known hypersonic programmes, divided among the Air Force, Army and Navy, according to them.

What is the status in other countries?

•The CRS Memo noted that although the United States, Russia, and China possess the most advanced hypersonic weapons programmes, a number of other countries — including Australia, India, France, Germany, and Japan — are also developing hypersonic weapons technology. India operates approximately 12 hypersonic wind tunnels and is capable of testing speeds of up to Mach 13, according to CRS. “Reportedly, India is also developing an indigenous, dual-capable hypersonic cruise missile as part of its Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle (HSTDV) programme and successfully tested a Mach 6 scramjet in June 2019 and September 2020,” the memo stated. This test was carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and demonstrated the scramjet engine technology, a major breakthrough. In a scramjet engine, air goes inside the engine at supersonic speed and comes out at hypersonic speeds.

•After the test in 2020, DRDO had said that with this demonstration many critical technologies such as aerodynamic configuration for hypersonic manoeuvers, use of scramjet propulsion for ignition and sustained combustion at hypersonic flow, thermo-structural characterisation of high temperature materials, separation mechanism at hypersonic velocities have been validated.

•A hypersonic version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile, a joint development of India and Russia, is also under development.

📰 The National Land Monetisation Corporation
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No provision to hold re-examination: UPSC

07:33

There is no provision to hold re-examination if a candidate failed to appear. it tells SC

The COVID-19 protocol did not make any “special arrangements” for civil services candidates who fell sick because of the virus but still wanted to appear for the Mains held across 24 centres in the country between January 7 and 16 this year, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) informed the Supreme Court on Tuesday.
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THE HINDU NEWSPAPER IMPORTANT ARTICLES 23.03.2022

07:30
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Vision IAS Weekly Focus Paradiplomacy_The Pros and Cons of Foreign Policy Decentralisation PDF

07:19

Vision IAS Weekly Focus Paradiplomacy_The Pros and Cons of Foreign Policy Decentralisation PDF

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Tuesday, March 22, 2022

Cryptocurrencies in India: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman 2022

19:27

Cryptocurrency in India

Ever since Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman spoke about digital currencies in her Budget 2022-2023 speech earlier this month, the curiosity about the matter has risen by leaps and bounds.

In the year 2018, the finance ministry had issued a statement saying that the government does not consider Cryptocurrencies to be legal tender and all measures will be taken to eliminate the usage of Cryptocurrencies. Soon after the Reserve Bank of India issued a circular stating that all banks and government entities should stop providing any kind of services to all the parties associated with Cryptocurrencies.
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Vision IAS PT 365 Polity And Constitution Prelims 2022 PDF

19:16

 Vision IAS PT 365 Polity And Constitution Prelims 2022 PDF

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Daily Current Affairs, 22nd March 2022

19:08

 


1)  22nd March celebrates globally as World Water Day

•World Water Day is celebrated globally on 22nd March every year. The day aims to highlight the importance of freshwater. It is used to advocate for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. This 2022, the focus is groundwater, an invisible resource with an impact visible everywhere. Relevant issues include water scarcity, water pollution, inadequate water supply, lack of sanitation, and the impacts of climate change that are looked upon on this day.


World Water Day theme 2022


•The World Water Day theme 2022 is “Groundwater, Making the Invisible Visible”. Groundwater is a crucial resource that provides almost half of all drinkable water across the world.


2)  World Down Syndrome Day 2022: “Inclusion Means”

•World Down Syndrome Day (WDSD) is observed every year on 21 March. It is a global campaign that is observed annually to spread awareness about Down Syndrome. The Day is commemorated as a global initiative to increase awareness about hereditary disorders. An individual with Down Syndrome has an extra chromosome.


Theme


•The theme of World Down Syndrome Day this year is “Inclusion Means”. It calls for making efforts to include people with down syndrome in all matters of life and not discriminate against them.


3)  World Poetry Day observed globally on 21st March

•On 21st March, World Poetry Day is celebrated every year to recognise the unique ability of poetry to capture the creative spirit of the human mind. World Poetry Day celebrates one of humanity’s most treasured forms of cultural and linguistic expression and identity.


•The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) adopted this day during UNESCO’s 30th session in Paris in 1999 with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard. Some countries also celebrate World Poetry Day on October 15 to mark the birthday of Virgil, a Roman poet who is famous for his epic Aeneid.


4)  Serdar Berdymukhamedov elected as President of Turkmenistan

•Serdar Berdimuhamedow has been sworn in as the President of Turkmenistan. Berdimuhamedow succeeds his father and former president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, who became president in 2006 and served till 2022. It must be noted that the presidential elections in Turkmenistan are held every seven years. Serdar Berdymukhamedov, secured 72.97 per cent of the votes election to lead the gas-rich country.


5)  Indian Economist Jayati Ghosh named as member of UN’s Advisory Board

•United Nations (UN) Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres has announced the appointment of Indian development economist Jayati Ghosh as a member of the UN’s newly established Advisory Board on Effective Multilateralism. The 12-member high-level advisory board on effective multilateralism will be co-chaired by former Liberian president and Nobel laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and former Swedish prime minister Stefan Lofven.


•The new advisory board will be asked to build on the ideas in Our Common Agenda including the centrality of women and girls, and the need to take into account the interests of young people and future generations to make concrete suggestions for more effective multilateral arrangements across a range of key global issues.


•Jayati Ghosh is a Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was previously a professor of economics and chairperson of the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University. She is also a member of the UN’s high-level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs.


6)  N Biren Singh takes oath as Chief Minister of Manipur for 2nd term

•Senior BJP leader N Biren Singh took the oath as Chief Minister of Manipur for a second consecutive five-year term on March 21, 2022. The ruling BJP party contested all 60 seats in the Manipur Assembly election in 2022 and won 32 seats. Nongthombam (N) Biren Singh started his career as a footballer, then turned to journalism, before joining politics.


•In the recently held Assembly polls, the BJP won an absolute majority by winning 32 seats in the 60-member House. Moreover, the Janata Dal (United), the NPF, the newly formed Kuki People’s Alliance (KPA) and two Independent MLAs have extended their unconditional support to the saffron party. The JD(U) won six seats, NPF won five and the KPA won two seats.


7)  9th India-Seychelles Joint Military Exercise ‘LAMITIYE-2022’ begins

•The 9th edition of the Joint Military Exercise ‘LAMITIYE-2022’ between the Indian Army and Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) was held from March 22 to 31, 2022 at Seychelles Defence Academy (SDA), Seychelles. The Indian Army contingent will be represented by the 2/3 GORKHA RIFLES group (PIRKANTHI Battalion).


8)  Autobiography of former cricketer G.R. Viswanath titled “Wrist Assured: An Autobiography”

•Former Indian cricket captain Gundappa Ranganatha Vishwanath has penned his autobiography titled “Wrist Assured: An Autobiography”, co-authored by senior journalist R Kaushik. The book traces the cricketing journey of Gundappa Vishwanath who played Test Cricket for India between 1969 and 1986, making 91 appearances and scoring more than 6000 runs.


•Former Indian cricketers Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar released the book at the ceremony held on the first day of the 2nd day/night Test between India and Sri Lanka in Bengaluru, Karnataka.


9)  West Bengal celebrated ‘Dol Utsav’ or ‘Dol Jatra’

•West Bengal celebrated the ‘Dol Utsav’ or ‘Dol Jatra’, the festival of colours, marking the onset of the spring season. The festival is dedicated to Lord Krishna and Radha and celebrated on full moon day. It also marks the last festival of the year as per the Bengali calendar. In the Eastern region of India, the festival of spring is celebrated as Dol Jatra, Dol Purnima, Dol Utsav, and Basanta Utsav. The majestic festival is celebrated by throwing ‘gulaal’ or ‘aabir’ on others and by singing and dancing in cultural programs.


10)  Francis Kéré becomes first African to win Pritzker Prize 2022

•Architect, educator and social activist Francis kéré has been announced as the 2022 laureate of the Pritzker architecture prize 2022, the award often referred to as architecture’s highest honour. He was born in the small village of gando in Burkina Faso, kéré is the first black architect to win the coveted award.


•Established by the Hyatt Foundation in 1979, the Pritzker architecture prize is bestowed on architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of talent, vision, and commitment. in 2021, the award went to French architects Anne Lacaton and Jean-Philippe Vassal while in 2020 saw Shelley McNamara and Yvonne Farrell of Grafton architects were honoured.
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UPSC CSE – How to make notes effectively

16:45
UPSC CSE – How to make notes effectively
We all know how important it is to make notes for exam preparation. We all do it and have been doing it for years. However, you might not be able to reap the maximum benefits out of it. Here, we bring to you tips on how to make notes effectively. This post is brought to you by Oliveboard, an online exam preparation platform for government and banking jobs.

Understand the purpose – Why make notes?

· While understanding a topic is easy, remembering it is difficult. Hence it is important to make notes of important topics so that you can glance through whenever you want to revise. Well-made notes save you the trouble of revisiting the voluminous study material.
·  Writing down points helps you to remember it better. Note that while you’re writing, you’re also thinking about it, which helps your mind engage more actively with the information and thus store it better.

How to make notes?

1. Linear Notes

Linear notes method is in which you condense the material you have read using headings and subheadings. This is the best method for making notes while reading a book, newspaper or a magazine.

·         Avoid getting carried away and copying a lot of material.
·         A good way is to keep loose sheets of paper handy and to jot down important points about a given topic.
·         Usecolors, block letters, boxes, and highlighters to immediately draw your attention to the critical points and would aid in a quick recall.

2. Pattern Notes

In this method, one writes the main idea at the center of the page and each line radiating from it represents a branch of that idea. Each point is written as briefly as possible. (Think of flowcharts and mindmaps.) Advantage is one can see the entire information without turning the page and disadvantage is there are chances of missing out on information.  Using keywords can remind of basic ideas but when it comes to remembering details it is sometimes inefficient.

What does a good set of notes have

·         Topic outline, key points, advantages and disadvantages and finally the conclusion
·         Well labeled diagrams, tables, graphs or sketch maps wherever necessary

Tips to make Notes
·         Use loose sheets as they help in organizing and adding content relatedat a later time
· Include information in points and do not write long paragraphs. That would defeat the purpose of making notes. The idea is to keep it crisp, concise and focused on the main idea
· Try to use different colored pens for headings, sub-headings etc.
· Maintain separate folders/files for each subject. You could also use sticky notes to demarcate one section from the other
· Keep revising the notes every once in a while.

Now, that you know how to make notes, make the most out of it during your preparation. You can also use Oliveboard’s Mocks to improve your UPSC CSE exam preparation.
Hope this helps.All the best.
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The HINDU Notes – 22nd March 2022

16:37

 


📰 Sri Lanka’s aggravating economic crisis

Why did the island nation reach this point? How has India extended support and assistance to its neighbour?

•The story so far: Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is aggravating rapidly, putting citizens through enormous hardship. Over the weekend, at least two senior citizens died while waiting in long queues to buy fuel; the price of cooking gas spiked to LKR 4,199 (roughly ₹1,150), the price of the widely used milk powder shot up by LKR 600 a kg, and authorities were forced to cancel school examinations for millions of students, due to a shortage of paper.

Why are prices soaring and why is there a shortage?

•Sri Lanka is in the grips of one of its worst economic meltdowns in history. The first wave of the pandemic in 2020 offered early and sure signs of the distress — when thousands of Sri Lankan labourers in West Asian countries were left stranded and returned jobless; garment factories and tea estates in Sri Lanka could not function, as infections raged in clusters, and thousands of youth lost their jobs in cities as establishments abruptly sacked them or shut down. It meant that all key foreign exchange earning sectors, such as exports and remittances, along with tourism, were brutally hit.

•The lack of a comprehensive strategy to respond to the crisis then, coupled with certain policy decisions last year — including the government’s abrupt switch to organic farming —widely deemed “ill-advised”, further aggravated the problem. In August last year, the government declared emergency regulations for the distribution of essential food items, amid wide import restrictions to save dollars which in turn led to consequent market irregularities, and reported hoarding.

•Fears of a sovereign default rose by the end of 2021, with the country’s foreign reserves plummeting to $1.6 billion, and deadlines for repaying external loans looming. But Sri Lanka managed to keep its unblemished foreign debt servicing record. All the same, without enough dollars to import essentials such as food, fuel, and medicines, the year 2022 began on a rather challenging note, marked by further shortages and an economic upheaval.

What is happening on the ground?

•At the macro-economic level, all indicators are worrisome. The Sri Lankan rupee, that authorities floated this month, has fallen to nearly 265 against the U.S. dollar. Consumer Price inflation is at 16.8% and foreign reserves stood at $2.31 billion at the end of February. Sri Lanka must repay foreign debt totalling nearly $7 billion this year and continue importing essentials from its dwindling dollar account. In a recent address to the country, President Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka will incur an import bill of $22 billion this year, resulting in a trade deficit of $10 billion.

•For citizens, this means long waits in queues for fuel, a shortage of cooking gas, contending with prolonged power cuts in many localities and struggles to find medicines for patients. In families of working people, the crisis is translating to cutting down on milk for children, eating fewer meals, or going to bed hungry.

Is there resistance?

•Yes, both citizens and different segments of the political opposition are taking to the streets, demanding that President Rajapaksa go home. Many media houses are criticising the government, while social media pages are rife with memes and sharp commentary on the Rajapaksas.

What is the government’s response?

•“This crisis was not created by me,” President Rajapaksa has said, pointing to challenges that arose due to the pandemic. Despite many economists putting forward support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the “only option” for the government, the establishment was reluctant until recently when mounting protests and criticism forced the government into a policy U-turn. The government is now in talks with the IMF to “to find a way to pay off our annual loan instalments, sovereign bonds”, Mr. Rajapaksa said. It remains to be seen how the IMF will support Sri Lanka at this juncture, and to what extent its support might help the country cope with the crisis. Colombo has also sought support from various bilateral partners, including India, by way of loans, currency swaps, and credit lines for import of essentials.

How is India helping?

•Beginning January 2022, India has extended assistance totalling $ 2.4 billion — including an $400 million RBI currency swap, a $500 million loan deferment, and credit lines for importing food, fuel, and medicines. Of this, a billion-dollar credit line was finalised last week, during Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi. “Neighbourhood first. India stands with Sri Lanka. $1 billion credit line signed for supply of essential commodities. Key element of the package of support extended by India,” External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said in a tweet.

•Meanwhile, China is considering Sri Lanka's recent request for further $2.5 billion assistance, in addition to the $2.8 billion Beijing has extended since the outbreak of the pandemic, the Chinese Ambassador in Colombo told a media conference.

How is India’s assistance being viewed in Sri Lanka?

•The leadership has thanked India for the timely assistance, but there is growing scepticism in Sri Lankan media and some sections, over Indian assistance “being tied” to New Delhi inking key infrastructure projects in the island nation in the recent past — mainly the strategic Trincomalee Oil Tank Farm project; the National Thermal Power Corporation’s recent agreement with Ceylon Electricity Board to set up a solar power plant in Sampur, in Sri Lanka’s eastern Trincomalee district; and two renewable energy projects in northern Sri Lanka, with investment from India’s Adani Group.

•The weekend newspaper Sunday Times took an editorial position that New Delhi was resorting to “diplomatic blackmail”, while cartoonists have depicted Sri Lankan leaders trading crucial energy projects for emergency financial assistance from India. The political opposition has accused the Adani Group of entering Sri Lanka through the “back door”, avoiding competitive bids and due process.

📰 Adaptive tracking
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