The Civil Analyst

QUAD is an informal strategic dialogue between four democracies namely India, the United States, Japan and Australia. The objective of this group is to secure the Indo-pacific region from Chinese expansion policy.   Origin of QUAD: 2004-2007 In order to understand the importance of the QUAD let’s see its origin first. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was the first major disaster of the 21 st century in which thousands of people died, lakhs of people were displaced from their hometown, billions of dollar worth property damaged. That time the disaster relief and rescue operation in the Indian Ocean was led by the Indian navy. Within a few weeks the humanitarian and disaster relief effort was coordinated with three other major powers namely the United States, japan and Australia. In continuation to that in 2007 the former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe talked about the idea of confluence of two seas and the need for larger strategic coordination between the democratic partie...

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP is a trade agreement involving 10 ASEAN nations namely (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) and five nations with which they have a free Trade Agreement, those are (Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea). RCEP came into existence at the 37th ASEAN Summit hosted virtually by Vietnam. It is the world’s biggest trade deal comprising 15 countries, 2.2 bn people, combined Gross Domestic Product of $26.2 tn Till recently, India was also a part of the trade deal, which it decided not to continue with. We will see the reasons why India took such an important decision of not joining the RCEP. First let’s see what the conditions to join the RCEP trade deal are:   RCEP Requires members to: Decrease tariffs and non-tariff barriers against each other. Encourage investments, economic and technical cooperation like Foreign Direct Investmen...

At the time of pandemic the world order is changing in a very structural sense. Today our world is in the state of chaos. This has been a matter of concern because earlier the world was not that much interconnected. But today when the information technology has revolutionised the way we see our world, the nations are so much interconnected, so that the chaos can have a multiplier effect. The famous Henry Kissinger in his book “World Order” had said that “there has never been a truly world order.” According to him the four vision of world order are:       I.         Westphalian State Centric World Order: It is based on the ideas of non-interference in domestic affairs. The principle of Nation Sovereignty will remains very sacred. India’s very famous the Panchsheel principle is based on this vision.     II.         Islamic world order of Darul Islam:   In this conte...

  The Government of India has notified an ordinance to constitute a Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region (NCR) and its adjoining areas. The ordinances also disbanded the Supreme Court appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) that was setup in 1998 for curbing air pollution in the NCR Key Mandate of the new Commission The new commission will supersede all existing bodies including the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as well as state governments in matters of air pollution mitigation. Though, the powers of CPCB and its state branches will continue. However, in case of any dispute or a clash of jurisdiction the commission’s writ will prevail specific to matters concerning to air pollution. It has been witnessed that during winters the problem of air pollution becomes worse due to the practice of stubble burning in the adjoining states such as Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and western part of Uttar Pradesh. A r...

  On January 30, 2019 the Indian Sundarbans was accorded the status of Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. The Sundarbans comprises of hundreds of Islands and a network of rivers, tributaries and creeks in the delta of the Ganga and the Brahmaputra rivers at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal of India and Bangladesh. Indian Sundarbans constitutes over 60% of the country’s total mangrove forest area. It is the 27 th Ramsar site in India and the largest protected wetland in the country. Ten more site has been accorded the status of Wetlland of Internattioal Importance ( Read here ). About Ramsar Convention The Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, better known as the Ramsar Convention is an international agreement promoting the conservation and wise use of wetlands. It is the only global treaty to focus on a single ecosystem. The Convention was adopted in the Iranian city of Ramsar in 1971 and came into force in 1975. Traditionally viewe...