rawan239

Non Co-operation and Khilafat Movement

by

Non Co-operation Movement

  • Montagu-Chelmsford Reforms 1919: Dyarchy
  • In a system called “dyarchy,” the nation-building departments of government — agriculture, education, public works, and the like — were placed under ministers who were individually responsible to the legislature. The departments that made up the “steel frame” of British rule — finance, revenue, and home affairs — were retained by executive councillors who were nominated by the Governor.
  • The Hunter Committee report praised the actions of general Dyer.
  • Khilafat Movement
    • For support of Turkey
    • Khilafat Committee formed under the leadership of Ali Brothers, Maulana Azad, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Hasrat Mohani
    • The promises made to the Khilafat Committee were not kept after the World War.
    • The All-India Khilafat Conference held at Delhi in November 1919 decided to withdraw all cooperation from the government if their demands were not met.
    • On June 9 1920, the Khilafat Committee at Allahabad unanimously accepted the suggestion of non-cooperation and asked Gandhiji to lead the movement.
  • Khilafat movement cemented Hindu-Muslim unity
    • Gandhiji looked upon the Khilafat agitation as “an opportunity of uniting Hindus and Mohammedans as would not arise in a hundred years”
  • The non-cooperation movement was launched on August 1, 1920. Lokmanya Tilak passed away on the same day.
  • People countrywide observed hartal and took out processions.
  • The congress met in September at Calcutta and accepted non-co-operation as its own.
  • The programme of non-cooperation included:
    • Surrender of titles and honors
    • Boycott of government affiliated schools and colleges, law courts, foreign cloth and could be extended to resignation from government services.
    • Mass civil disobedience including the non-payment of taxes.
    • National schools and colleges were to be set up
    • Panchayats were to be established to settle disputes
    • Hand-spinning and weaving was encouraged
    • People were asked to maintain Hindu-Muslim unity, give up untouchability and observe strict non-violence.
  • Changes in Congress to attain the new objective:
    • At the Nagpur session in 1920 changes in the Constitution of Congress were made.
    • The goal of congress was changed from the attainment of self-government by constitutional and legal means to the attainment of Swaraj by peaceful and legitimate means.
    • The Congress now had a Working Committee of fifteen members to look after its day to day affairs.
    • Provincial congress committees were now organized on a linguistic basis.
    • Mahalla and ward committees were formed.
    • The membership fee was reduced to 4 annas a years to enable poor to become members.
    • This was not without opposition however. Some members still believed in the traditional methods. Leaders like Jinnah, GS Khaparde, Bipin Chandra Pal and Annie Besant left congress during this time.
  • Gandhiji, along with the Ali brother, undertook a nationwide tour to address people.
  • Thousands of students left government schools and joined national schools.
  • The most successful item of the programme was the boycott of foreign cloth.
  • Picketing of toddy shops was also very popular.
  • Students let government schools and colleges. IT was during this time that Jamia Milia Islamia of Aligarh, the Bihar Vidyapith, the Kashi Vidyapith and the Gujarat Vidyapith came into existence.
  • Lawyers such as Deshbandhu CR Das, Motilal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Saifudiin Kitchlew, C Rajagopalachari, Sardar Patel, T Prakasam and Asaf Ali gave up their legal practice.
  • Tilak Swarajya Fund was started to finance the NCM.
  • In 1921, Khilafat Committee issued a resolution that no muslim should serve in the British Indian army.
  • The visit of the Prince of Wales on 17th November 1921 was observed as a day of hartal all over the country.
  • The Congress Volunteer Corps emerged as a powerful parallel police.
  • By December 1921, the government felt that things were going too far and announced a change of policy by declaring the volunteer corps illegal and arresting all those who claimed to be its members.
  • Thousands of peasants and tenants participated in the movement.
  • In Punjab, the Akali movement to remove corrupt mahants from the Gurudwaras was started.
  • Assam: Tea plantation workers went on strike. Midnapore: peasants refused to pay Union Board taxes.             Guntur (Chirala): Agitation led by Duggirala Gopalakrishayya                        Malabar: Mohlahs (muslim peasants) created a powerful anti-zamindari movement.
  • As the government refused to yield, Gandhiji announced that mass civil disobedience would begin in Bardoli taluqa of Surat.
  • However, in Chauri Chaura, Gorakhpur on 5 February 1922 crowd set fire on a police station and killed some policemen. On hearing this, Gandhiji decided to withdraw the movement.
  • The congress working committee ratified his decision. Thus, on February 12, 1922, the non-cooperation movement came to an end.
  • Assessing the Withdrawal:
    • Some scholars say that Gandhiji withdrew the movement because he wanted to protect the interests of the propertied class.
    • Some argue that there was no logic why a small incident should lead to withdrawal of the movement itself.
    • However, government could use Chauri Chaura to justify its repression of the movement.
    • If movement was started at that time, it would have been defeated due to the repression of the government.
    • Gandhiji was protecting the movement from likely repression, and the people from demoralization.
    • Mass movements tend to ebb in some time. Hence, withdrawal is a part of the strategy of mass movements.
  • Gandhiji was tried in 1922 and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
    • He invited the court to award him “the highest penalty that can be inflicted upon me for what in law is a deliberate crime, and what appears to be the highest duty of a citizen”.
  • Positives out of the non-cooperation movement:
    • Congress started commanding the support and sympathy of vast sections of the Indian people.
    • Millions of Indians became politically involved. Women were drawn into the movement.
    • Muslims participated heavily and communal unity was maintained.
    • Strengthened the national movement. Nationalist sentiments and the national movement had reached the remotest corners of the land.
    • People gained tremendous self-confidence and self-esteem.

 

addtext_com_MTM0NzA5MTgyMzcw

 

agriculture

by
the syllabus states that -mazor crops,cropping patterns in various parts of the country,different types of irrigation system,storage,transport and marketing of agricultural product,and issues related to constraints,e-tec hnology in the aid of farmers….
the link for yojna January  2011 for agriculture is for dowloading dere would be a link as  
download pdf

also ncert geography land use and agriculture is
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_FR6Jkv0z2ceE8wX05oUUN1b0k/edit?usp=sharing

for e-tec hnology in the aid of farmers.there is great krukshetra its link is


 krukshetra agriculture productivity dec 2011 link 
 krukshetra  climate change and suistainable agriculture march 2011 link
 krukshetra soil rejuvenation  nov 2011 link
and most imp krukshetra june 2013…sorry no pdf copy yet released…
and
yojna budget march 2011
yojna celebration 60 years jan 2010 
yojna north eas dec 2011

FUNCTIONS OF AN ECOSYSTEM

by

 

ENERGY FLOW- Energy is the basic force responsible for all metabolic activities. The flow of energy from producer to top consumers is called energy flow  which is unidirectional.

Energy flows through the trophic levels: from producers to subsequent trophic levels. There is a loss of some energy in the form of unusable heat at each trophic level.

The trophic level interaction involves three concepts namely :-

  1. Food Chain
  2. Food Web
  3. Ecological Pyramids
  4. FOOD CHAIN- A food chain starts with producers and ends with top carnivores. The sequence of eaten and being eaten, produces transfer of food energy and it is known as food chain.

Grazing food chain-The consumers which start the food chain, utilising the plant or plant part as their food, constitute the grazing food chain.

This food chain begins from green plants at the base and the primary consumer is herbivore

For example, In terestrial ecosystem, grass is eaten up by caterpillar, which is eaten by lizard and lizard is eaten by snake.

In Aquatic ecosystem phytoplanktons (primary producers) is eaten by zoo planktons which is eaten by fishes and fishes are eaten by pelicans

Detritus food chain- The food chain starts from dead organic matter of decaying animals and plant bodies to the micro-organisms and then to detritus feeding organism called detrivores or decomposer and to other predators.

 

Litter —■Earthworms —■Chicken—■Hawk

Detritus food chain

The distinction between these two food chains is the source of energy for the first level consumers.

  1. FOOD WEB

“A food web illustrates, all possible transfers of energy and nutrients among the organisms in an ecosystem, whereas a food chain traces only one pathway of the food”.

  1. ECOLOGICAL PYRAMIDS

The steps of trophic levels expressed in a diagrammatic way are referred as

ecological pyramids.

 

The food producer forms the base of the pyramid and the top carnivore forms the tip. Other consumer trophic levels are in between.

The pyramid consists of a number of horizontal bars depicting specific trophic levels which are arranged sequentially from primary producer level through herbivore, carnivore onwards.  The length of each bar represents the total number of individuals at each trophic level in an ecosystem.

The ecological pyramids are of three categories-

1.Pyramid of numbers,

2.Pyramid of biomass, and

3.Pyramid of energy or productivity

  1. Pyramid of Numbers

This deals with the relationship between the numbers of primary producers and consumers of different levels. Depending upon the size and biomass, the pyramid of numbers may not always be upright, and may even be completely inverted.

(a) Pyramid of numbers – upright

In this pyramid, the number of individuals is decreased from lower level to higher trophic level.

This type of pyramid can be seen in grassland ecosystem.

(b) Pyramid of numbers – inverted

In this pyramid, the number of individuals is increased from lower level to higher trophic level.

A count in a forest would have a small number of     large producers, for e.g. few number of big trees.   This is because the tree (primary producer) being

few in number and would represent the base of the pyramid and the dependent herbivores  (Example – Birds) in the next higher trophic level and it is followed by parasites in the next trophic level. Hyper parasites being at higher trophic level represents higher in number.

A pyramid of numbers does not take into account the fact that the size of organisms being counted in each trophic level can vary

the pyramid of number does not completely define the trophic structure for an ecosystem.

  1. Pyramid of Biomass

In this approach individuals in each trophic level are weighed instead of being counted. This gives us a pyramid of biomass, i.e., the total dry weight of all organisms at each trophic level at a particular time.

Biomass is measured in g/m2.

 

(a) Upward -pyramid For most ecosystems on land, the pyramid of biomass has a large base of primary producers with a smaller trophic level perched on top

 

(b) Inverted pyramid-In contrast, in many aquatic ecosystems, the pyramid of biomass may assume an inverted form

  1. Pyramid of Energy

To compare the functional roles of the trophic levels in an ecosystem, an energy pyramid is most suitable.

An energy pyramid, reflects the laws of thermodynamics, with conversion of solar energy to chemical energy and heat energy at each trophic level and with loss of energy being depicted at each  transfer to another trophic level.

Hence the pyramid is always upward, with a large energy base at the bottom.

Immunity and Vaccination

by

Immunity is disease resistance and is of following two types:-

  1. Natural or Innate Immunity:- It is present from birth and is inherited from birth by the offspring from the mother.In this form of immunity the response from the organism against the pathogen is immediate in the form of non-specific immune response without the need of recognizing the pathogens.
  2. Acquired or Adaptive Immunity:- It is non- Inherited and is acquired as an enhanced response to a disease during the lifetime of an organism. It takes time to develop and can be more effective in the next encounter with the said Pathogen.The Process of adaptive immunity is the basis of vaccination.

 

Vaccination or immunization:-

  • Vaccination or immunization is based on the property of the memory of the immune system. In vaccination an inactivated on weaknd pathogen is introduced into the body. Vaccine helps in generating the primary immune response whereby immunological memory is established in the body. Vaccine generate memory cell that quickly identifies the pathogen on subsequent exposure and produces a robust secondary immunity response quickly including mass production of antibodies during the actual infection of pathogen.
  • Immune memory formation of antibodies occur on 1st exposure to a specific antigen and secondary response occur after the second exposure to the same antigen. It began very quickly.

Active immunity :-it is immunity which is developed by the person own body either in the form of antibodies or memory cells in response to exposure to living or dead microorganisms. While when preformed antibodies are directly inducted into the body to obtain temporary immunity is called passive immunity.

For example:-The yellow fluid colostrol secreted by mother during the initial days of lactation has abundant antibodies to protect the infant.

Examples of antimicrobial resistance

  1. Increase number of cases of the hospital acquired infection
  2. Multidrug resistant tuberculosis

It was launched in India in collaboration with World Health Organisation to directly observed treatment short course for the complete services monitoring diagnosis and provision of the second line anti TB drugs under the supervision of dedicated health circles

 

Types of Vaccines:-

Conventional Vaccines- These vaccines use live attenuated(Ex SABIN) or killed Pathogen(IPV) in Vaccine

Recombination Vaccines:-They use Antigen,Dna or Part of genetic material of pathogen as vaccine like hepatitis B vaccine.

 

imunity

 

The Cholas: Maritime activities in Sourth-east Asian counturies. Chola administration, art & architecture.

by

The founder of the Chola Empire was Vijayalaya, who was first feudatory of the Pallavas of Kanchi. He captured Tanjore in 850 A.D. He established a temple of goddess Nishumbhasudini (Durga) there.

Aditya I succeeded Vijayalaya. Aditya helped his overlord the Pallava king Aparajita against the Pandyas but soon defeated him and annexed the whole of the Pallava kingdom.

By the end of the ninth century, the Cholas had defeated the Pallavas completely and weakened the Pandyas capturing the Tamil country (Tondamandala) and including it under their domination He then became a sovereign ruler. The Rashtrakuta king, Krishna II gave his daughter in marriage to Aditya.

He erected many Shiva temples. He was succeeded in 907 A.D. by Parantaka I, the first important ruler of the Cholas. Parantaka I was an ambitious ruler and engaged himself in wars of conquest from the beginning of his reign. He conquered Madurai from the Pandya ruler Rajasimha II. He assumed the title of Maduraikonda (captor of Madurai).

He, however, lost to the Rashtrakuta ruler Krishna III at the battle of Tokkolam in 949 A. D. The Cholas had to cede Tondamandalam to the adversary. At that point of time the Chola kingdom almost ceased to exist. It was a serious setback to the rising Chola power. The revival of Chola power began from the accession of Parantaka II who recovered Tondamandalam to re­establish dominance of the dynasty.

The climax in Chola power was achieved under the successor of Parantaka II, Arumolivarman, who crowned himself as Rajaraja I in 985 A D the next thirty years of his rule formed the formative periodof Chola imperialism.

The Chola kingdom grew under him into an extensive and well-knit empire, efficiently organized and administered and possessing a powerful standing army and navy. Rajaraja began his conquests by attacking the confederation between the rulers of the Pandya and Kerala kingdoms and of Ceylon. Polonnaruva became the capital of Chola province in North Ceylon after the defeat of Mahinda V, the Ceylonese king.

He also annexed the Maldives. Elsewhere, several parts of modern Mysore were conquered and annexed which intensified their rivalry with the Chalukyas. Rajaraja built the magnificent Shiva temple of Brihadeshwara or Rajaraja temple at Thanjavur which was com­pleted in 1010. It is considered a remarkable piece of architecture in South Indian style.

Rajaraja I also encouraged Sri Mara Vijayottungavarman, the Sailendra ruler of Sri Vijaya to build a Buddhist Vihara at Negapatam. This vihara was called ‘Chudamani Vihara’ after the father of Sri Mara. Rajaraja was succeeded by his son Rajendra I in 1014 A.D. He ruled jointly with his father for a few years. He also followed a policy of conquest and annexation adopted by his father and further raised the power and prestige of the Cholas. He followed the expansionist policy and made extensive con­quests in Ceylon.

The Pandya and Kerala country after being conquered was constituted as a viceroyalty under the Chola king with the title of Chola-Pandya. Madurai was its headquarters. Pro­ceeding through Kalinga, Rajendra I attacked Bengal and defeated the Pala ruler Mahipala in 1022 A.D. But he annexed no territory in north India.

To commemorate the occasion, Rajendra I assumed the title of Gangaikondachola (the Chola conqueror of Ganga). He built the new capital near the mouth of the Kaveri and called it Gangaikondacholapuram (the city of the Chola conqueror of the Ganga).

With his naval forces, he invaded Malaya Peninsula and Srivijaya Empire that extended over Sumatra, Java and the neighbouring islands and controlled the overseas trade route to China. He sent two diplomatic missions to China for political as well as commercial purposes.

Rajendra was succeeded by his son Rajadhiraja I in 1044 A.D. He was also an able ruler. He put down the hostile forces in Ceylon and suppressed the rebellious Pandyas and subjugated their terri­tory. He celebrated his victory by performing Virabhisheka (coronation of the victor) at Kalyani after sacking Kalyani and assumed the title of Vijayarajendra. He lost his life in the battle with the Chalukyan king Someswara I at Koppam. His brother Rajendra II succeeded him. He continued his struggle against Someswara.

He defeated Someswara in the battle of Kudal Sangamam. Next came Virarajendra I, he too defeated the Chalukyas and erected a pillar of victory on the banks of Tungabhadra. Virarajendra died in 1070 A.D. He was succeeded by Kulottunga I (1070-1122 A.D.) the great-grandson of Rajaraja I. He was the son of Rajendra Narendra of Vengi and Chola princess Ammangadevi (daughter of Rajendra Chola I). Thus Kulottunga I united the two kingdoms of the Eastern Chalukyas of Vengi and the Cholas of Thanjavur.

The most important reforms carried out by him in the internal administration was the re- surveyal of land for taxation and revenue purposes. He was also titled Sungam tavirtta (he who abol­ished tolls). The Chola authority in Ceylon was overthrown by Vijayababu, the monarch of Ceylon during Kulottunga’s reign. He sent a large embassy of 72 merchants to China and also maintained cordial relations with Sri Vijaya.

He defeated the rulers of the Pandya kingdom and that of Kerala. Thfe Chola Empire continued for more than a century after him. Weak rulers succeeded him. The Cholas and the later Chalukyas clashed for the overlordship of Vengi, the Tungabhadra doab and the Ganga country.

The Chola Empire continued in a flourishing condition during the twelfth century but declined by the end of the thirteenth century. The Pandyan king Sundara rendered the final blow by seizing Kanchi in 1297 A.D. The place of the Cholas was taken over by the Pandyas and the Hoysalas. This marked the end of the Chola power.

Architecture and Art
One of the largest empires in Indian history, that stretched till South East Asia, the Cholas used their immense wealth, in building magnificent temples and structures. It would be an understatement to call the architecture of the Chola period as grand, it was more like grandiose and towering. The sheer size of their temples, the towering vimanas, the sculpted walls, just every aspect of their monuments displayed grandeur. And of course nothing to beat the Brihadeswara Temple at Thanjavur, that is a benchmark by itself in architectural excellence.

Even if the Cholas, had not built anything else, just the Brihadeeswara Temple would have been enough. I mean just consider the facts, built fully of granite, finished within 5 years, that was quite fast for that period. And then you have the vimana that towers to around 216 ft, and this is just awe inspiring, on top of the tower, you have a kalasam, made out of a single block of stone, that weighs around 20 tonnes, and was lifted to the top using an inclined plane that covered 6.44 km from the ground to the top. The Cholas built big, their structures were meant to tower, to inspire awe, to take away the breath. It was not just the grand buildings, it was also the sculpture and art that adorned them, which was equally breath taking.

The other magnificient structures built by the Cholas, were the temple at Gangaikondacholapuram, which is next only to the Brihadeesvara temple at Tanjore, in size, grandeur and architectural excellence.

And also the Airavateswara temple at Darasuram, dedicated to Lord Shiva, and so called, because it is believed that the Shiva Linga here was worshipped by Indra’s elephant Airavat.

The Chola period also witnessed a glorious phase in bronze casting, and making of idols. The bronze idols of the Chola period, were more expressive in nature, and devoid of too many intricate ornaments or designs. The bronze idol of Nataraja, the dancing form of Shiva, represents the artistic excellence during that era.

Administration:

It was not just the fact that they built magnificent temples or made exquisite idols, the Cholas also came up with an excellent system of governance and administration.  While it was a monarchy, like most other kingdoms of that era, there was a serious attempt to decentralize, and provide self government right at the local level. The empire was divided into provinces called Mandalams, and each of those Mandalams, further into Kottams, which again had districts, called Nadus, that had Tehsils usually a group of villages. While Tanjore and Gangaikonda Cholapuram were the main capitals, there also existed regional capitals at Kanchi and Madurai, where courts were occasionally held.

Their major achievement though was the local self government during their times, where villages had their own self governance. Depending on the area they covered, villages again could be Nadu, Kottram or Kurram, and a number of Kurrams made up a Valanadu. The village units had the power to administer justice at the local level, and for most crimes, fines were imposed, which went to the state treasury.  Death penalty was given only for crimes that amounted to treason.

Economy
Chola period had a robust and thriving economy, that was built on 3 tiers. At the local level, it was agricultural settlements, that formed the foundation, on top of this you had the Nagarams or the commercial towns, that primarily acted as centers of distribution for items produced externally and by local artisans for international trade. The top most layer was made of “samayams” or merchant guilds, who organized and looked after the thriving international maritime trade. With agriculture being the occupation of a large number of people, land revenue was a major source of income to the treasury. The Cholas also built a large number of tanks, wells, and a large number of channels to distribute water. They had also built stone masonry dams over the Kaveri, and there was a thriving internal trade going on too.

Naval and Maritime Trade.
The Chola period would be noted for it’s emphasis on maritime trade and conquest, they excelled in ship building. While they had a strong internal maritime system, the Imperial Chola Navy came into existence during the reign of Raja Raja Chola I, who strengthened it. Raja Raja Chola’s use of the Navy to subdue the Sinhalese king Mahinda, would be one of the greatest naval victories ever. Another major achievement was the conquest of the Sri Vijaya kingdom under Sailendra, now in Indonesia, by Raja Raja Chola’s successor Rajendra Chola. Having possesion of the East and West coasts of India, the Cholas had a thriving international trade with the Tang dynasty in China, the Srivijaya empire in Malayan archipelago and the Abbasid Caliphate in Baghdad. The Cholas also combated sea piracy succesfully in the Malayan archipelago, and had a close trade with the Song dynasty in China, that led to advances in ship building.

While the King was the supreme commander of the Navy, it had a highly organized structure, that was divided into Ganams a Fleet squadron, usually commanded by a Ganapathy. And there was a hierarchical ranking structure, below the King, that consisted of Jalathipathi(Admiral), Nayagan( Fleet Commander), Ganathipathy(rear admiral), Mandalathipathy(vice admiral) and Kalapathy( the ship captain). You also had separate departments for customs excise(Thirvai), inspection and audits( Aaivu) and an intelligence corps( Ootru). The Cholas also had their own coast guard equivalent in Karaipiravu. And this would be one of their finest achievements, building a world class naval structure.

Literature
Often called as the Golden Age of Tamil culture, it was one of the greatest literary eras in history equivalent to the Elizabethean reign in England or the Guptas in Northern India. Nambi Andar collected the various works on Saivism and arranged them into eleven books called Tirumurais, and another great work of literature was the adaptation of the Ramayana into Tamil by Kamban, called as the Ramavatharam. The period also saw excellent works on Tamil grammar like Yapperungalam by Jain ascetic and Virasoliyam that attempts to find a balance between Tamil and Sanskrit grammar by Buddhamitra.

 

 

The Peshwas

by
         
  1713-20   Balaji Vishwanath Shahu appointed him as the Peshwa.  
  1720-40   Baji Rao I Baji Rao I succeded who was the most charismatic leader in  
          Maratha history after Shivaji.He conquered Malwa, Bundelkhand  
          & even raided Delhi.  
  1740-61   Balaji Baji Rao Son of Baji Rao I  Balaji Baji Rao (Nana Saheb – different from  
          the later Nana Saheb, adopted son of Baji Rao II) who defeated  
          the Nizam of Hyderabad. The Maratha however received a  
          terrible blow at the hands of Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1761-Panipat  
  1761-72   Madhav Rao I Defeated Nizam, Mysore, Rohillas, Rajputs Jats. In 1771 he  
          confined the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II  by giving pension.  
  1772-73   Narayan Rao Short tenure. Tussle with Ragunath Rao over Peshwa claim.  
  1774-95   Madhav Rao II Became Peshwa after treaty of Salbai supported by Nana  
          Phadnavis.  In the meantime Mahadji Scindia who had brought  
          Shah Alam under his control became the actual ruler of Delhi till  
          his death in 1794.  
  1796-1818   Baji Rao II Incompetent son of Raghunath Rao (who was had earlier stuggled  
          with Narayan Rao to become Peshwa & sided with Britishers)  

 

 

 

POLLUTANTS AND TROPHIC LEVEL

by

 

Movement of these pollutants involves two main processes:

 

  1. Bioaccumulation

refers to how pollutants enter a food chain. there is an increase in concentration of a pollutant from the environment to the first organism in a food chain.

 

  1. Biomagnification

refers to the tendency of pollutants to concentrate as they move from one trophic level to the next.  there is an increase in concentration of a pollutant from one link in a food chain to another.

In order for biomagnification to occur, the pollutant must be: long-lived, mobile, soluble in fats, biologically active.

If a pollutant is not active biologically, it may biomagnify, but we really don’t worry about it much, since it probably won’t cause any problems Examples : DDT.

Inter-governmental action

by

  • IPCC
  • UN Conference on Environment and Development (Earth Summit), 1992
  • Agenda 21
    • An action plan of UN relating to sustainable development adopted at the Earth Summit, 1992
  • UNFCCC
  • Kyoto Protocol

IPCC

  • 1988 by World Meteorological Organisation and UNEP
  • tasked with reviewing and assessing the most recent scientific, technical and socio-economic information produced worldwide relevant to the understanding of climate change
  • Nobel Prize in 2007
  • The IPCC does not carry out its own original research, nor does it do the work of monitoring climate or related phenomena itself.
  • A main activity of the IPCC is publishing special reports on topics relevant to the implementation of the (UNFCCC)
  • Till now, it has released four assessment reports (1990, 1995, 2001, 2007)
  • Fifth assessment report is due in 2014

UNFCCC

1992 at the Rio Summit.

194 members. Secretariat at Bonn.

Parties to UNFCCC are classified as:

  • Annex I countries – industrialized countries and economies in transition
  • Annex II countries – developed countries which pay for costs of developing countries
  • Developing countries.

 

Conference Place Outcome
1995 COP1 Berlin The Berlin Mandate
1996 COP2 Geneva
1997 COP3 Kyoto Kyoto Protocol
1998 COP4 Buenos Aires
1999 COP5 Bonn
2000 COP6 /2001 COP6 The Hague/Bonn CDM and Joint Implementation adopted at Bonn
2001 COP7 Marrakesh
2002 COP8 New Delhi Delhi Declaration: Calls for efforts by developed countries to transfer technology and minimize the impact of climate change on developing countries
2003 COP9 Milan
2004 COP10 Buenos Aires
2005 COP11/MOP1 Montreal
2006 COP12/MOP2 Nairobi
2007 COP13/MOP3 Bali Bali Action Plan
2008 COP14/MOP4 Poznan, Poland
2009 COP15/MOP5 Copenhagen
2010 COP16/MOP6 Cancun
2011 COP17/MOP7 Durban, South Africa

 

Tarawa Climate Change Conference

  • In the lead up to COP16, the leaders of the world’s most climate-change vulnerable countries met in Kiribati in November 2010
  • Ambo Declaration was adopted
    • It calls for more and immediate action to be undertaken to address the causes and adverse impacts of climate change.

CoP-16/CMP-6, Cancun

COP-16 President: Patricia Espinosa, Mexico’s foreign secretary

COP-17 will be held in Durban

Issues

  • Forestry issues and reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) plus
  • The developed countries are pushing for transparency from countries where they will fund climate change mitigation.
    • The assessment of carbon emission mitigation for developing countries is right now through domestic communication but is subject to international consultation and analysis. This push for transparency is a major contentious issue.
  • Fast-track finance: $ 30 bn had been committed at CoP-15. A large part of this funding is yet to come through.

 

Goals

Agreements Reached

  • The outcome of the summit was an agreement, not a binding treaty, which calls on rich countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions as pledged in the Copenhagen Accord, and for developing countries to plan to reduce their emissions, to limit global warming to less than 2 degrees celsius above pre-industrial levels.
  • There should be no gap between the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in December 2012, and the second phase.
  • The agreement calls on the developed countries to “raise the level of ambition of the emission reductions to be achieved by them individually or jointly, with a view to reducing their aggregate level of emission of green house gases”
  • Allows flexibility in choosing the base year for setting emission reduction targets
  • Emissions trading and the project based mechanism under the KP shall continue to be available to Annex 1 parties as a means to meet their quantified emission limitation and reduction objectives.
  • The agreements recognize that in all climate change related action, human rights must be respected. They also recognise the need to engage with a broad range of stakeholders, including youth and persons with disability, and call for gender equality and effective participation of women and indigenous people in effective action on all aspects of climate change.
  • The BASIC group softened the three demands it had before the talks began
    • Necessity of a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol
    • Need to accelerate disbursement under the fast start finance in the form of new and additional resources through a multilaterally supervised mechanism
    • Continued dialogue on IPRs as part of the technology development and transfer issues.
  • REDD is a part of the package and proposed mitigation actions include conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks and sustainable management of forests.
    • REDD is a set of steps designed to use market/financial incentives in order to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from deforestation and forest degradation. Its original objective is to reduce GHGs but it can deliver ‘co-benefits’ such as biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation
    • REDD+ calls for activities with serious implication directed towards the local communities, indigenous people and forests which relate to reducing emission from deforestation and forest degradation. It goes beyond deforestation and forest degradation and includes the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks
  • A Cancun Adaptation Framework has been proposed to strengthen and address implementation of action, and various kinds of assessments, apart from R&D and host of other issues.
  • Green Climate Fund The fund will be designed by a transitional committee, with 15 members from the developed countries and 25 from the developing nations.
  • Pledge by the developed countries to provide $100 bn annually till 2020.

 

Conclusion

  • UNFCCC secretary-general Christian Figueres emphasised that the main achievement of the Cancun meet has been to restore some degree of faith in the multilateral process.
  • The agreements don’t mention any reduction targets.
  • Though the agreements recognize the need to reduce the GHG emissions and curb the increase in global average temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, in the absence of any firm target, this could be an inadequate and vague provision
  • Bolivia has rejected the agreement, saying that it won’t support agreement without binding emission cuts.
  • In a sense, the summit was both a major step forward as well as a failure
  • It was a step forward because in recent years climate change negotiations had stumbled and this meeting helped overcome that
  • It was a failure because it failed to reach an agreement for binding restrictions that are required to avert global warming.
  • There was no agreement on how to extend the Kyoto Protocol, or how the $100 billion a year for the Green Climate Fund will be raised or whether developing countries should have binding emissions reductions.

Under the Cancun Agreements, the targets set by industrialised countries for reduction of greenhouse gas emissions are recognised as part of the multilateral process. They must now draw up low-carbon development plans and strategies and also report their inventories annually. In the case of developing countries, actions for emissions reduction will be recognised officially; a registry will record and match their mitigation actions to finance and technology support from rich countries; and they will report their progress every two years. These form a good preamble for target-setting for all member-countries under an agreed framework at Durban next year.

Trivia

  • A large amount of energy used during the conference came from renewable sources
  • Around 10000 trees and bushes will be planted in Cancun

Role of India and its relevance

  • India can act as a mediator between the developing and developed countries
  • India’s approach to climate change negotiations has been governed by three factors – how to protect the country’s economic interest and environment agenda, to use climate change as a tool of global diplomacy and consolidate its position on world forums.
  • At Cancun, India was responsible for having made five insertions into the Agreement
    • In the section on shared vision, the figure of 50 pc has been dropped from identifying a global goal for substantially reducing emissions by 2050
    • The phrase access to sustainable development has been introduced in the context of working towards identifying a time-frame for global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions based on the best available scientific knowledge
    • International Consultation and Analysis (ICA) finds mention the agreements. It proposes to enhance the reporting for the non-Annex 1 parties or developing countries on mitigation  action and its effects and support received
  • At Cancun, India also proposed legally binding emission cuts.

 

 

Liberation War of Bangladesh

by

 

The Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971 was the culmination of a 25-year tumultuous relationship between East and West Pakistan. The British failed to keep a united India as riots started between the Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims in 1946. The riots were so widespread that on August 14, 1947 India was portioned into two separate states.

Thus partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947 divided British India into two independent countries of India and Pakistan. Pakistan was composed of two wings–East and West Pakistan. The two wings were united emotionally, but the marriage of the two wings was artificial as they had little in common other than religion. Their speech, thought, food habits, dress, living and generally speaking, their respective way of life, were totally different.

These differences, in course of time, gave rise to a tumultuous relationship that failed to keep the two wings united. The flawed relationship ended in a brutal war in 1971. As such, it is imperative to learn the background of the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

Causes of War

Language Movement–1952

Bangladeshis had one language and were proud of their ancestry; their language and literature were older than Urdu, the national language of West Pakistan, used by minority. Yet Mohammad Ali Jinnah stated in a public speech in March 1948 that Urdu would remain the state language of Pakistan. This infuriated all the non-Urdu speaking people of East Pakistan. On February 21, 1952, students and other civilians came out in the streets in protest but the police cracked down on the unarmed civilians. For East Pakistan, the language movement was the first stepping stone to independence.

Provincial Elections–1954

The first provincial elections were held in East Pakistan in 1954. In this election, Suhrawardy’s newly organized Awami League (Peoples’ League) allied with Fazlul Huq’s Peasants’ and Workers’ Party and a coalition of other Bangladeshi-dominated parties to form the United Front. In this election, the people of East Pakistan voted unilaterally for the alliance. As a result, the United Front had the maximum number of seats. Nurul Amin’s Muslim League, the dominant party in West Pakistan, won just 10 seats in East Pakistan; and thus, the Urdu-speaking people in East Pakistan’s ability to dictate policy was essentially finished. Fazlul Huq also became the chief minister of East Pakistan. The fine showing of the United Front convinced the politicians, civil servants, and the military at the center that they had to constrain Bangladeshi nationalism.

Ayub Khan’s Declaration of Martial Law–1958

In 1957 and 1958 governments rose and fell in Dhaka as the result of both instability in the assembly alignments and of intervention by the central government.43 As a sequel to the uncertainty, the deputy speaker of the house was killed in a riot. In such a dilapidated condition, president Mirza abrogated the constitution and declared martial law. General Ayub Khan remained as the chief martial law administrator. In 1962 Ayub Khan promulgated the new constitution of Pakistan, primarily giving enormous power to the president. Unfortunately, nothing addressed the concerns of East Bengal; and as such, anger, resentment and Bengali nationalism continued to grow.

Awami League’s Six-Point Program–1966

Before the resignation of Ayub Khan, several events took place in the political spectrum. Among those, the Awami League’s Six-Point Program was viewed as a foundational document in Bangladesh’s struggle for independence. This was not an instant memorandum developed within a short time. Rather, it was an outcome of Bangladeshi grievances accumulated for a long time. The initiation of the Six-Point Program started as a sequel to several events. However, the election of 1965 played an important role in formulating the program

National Election–1970

As Yahya Khan received the Six-Point Program from the Awami League, he opined that he was not in a position to implement them. He reiterated his prime task was to hold a general election in 1970 and hand over power at that point. However, in the December 1970 elections, the Awami League won 160 of 162 seats from East Pakistan. Bhutto’s Pakistan Peoples’ Party was successful in the west, winning 81 of 83 seats. Yahya Khan opened talks with both the leaders but failed to reach a consensus, and thus failed to hand over the power to an elected government.

India’s Perspective

There is no doubt that the creation of an independent Bangladesh was in India’s interest for many reasons.

  • Firstly, the Indo–Pakistan War in 1965 over Kashmir was one of the tipping points in this regard. India spent a huge amount of money to keep armed forces at a constant state of readiness along the border of her hostile neighbor. A warm relationship with an independent Bangladesh would reduce this big expenditure.
  • Secondly, India also wanted to start trading with East Pakistan for mutual benefit. But due to several political deadlocks, it was not a foregone conclusion.
  • Thirdly, Pakistani rulers created a problem for India by training and militarily equipping the Naga rebels of Assam (northeastern part of India), who claimed a portion of India to establish an independent Nagaland.
  • Apart from these issues, millions of East Pakistanis had religious, cultural, and linguistic ties with India. West Pakistani rulers also demeaned the Hindus of East Pakistan; whereas India was a Hindu-dominated country.

For all these reasons and more, India preferred an independent Bangladesh as a tonic to all these problems. The Indian government expected that if Bangladesh became independent, it would cooperate with India in a much wider form.

Course of War

On March 25, 1971, Yahya Khan, Bhutto and other members left for West Pakistan without giving any message or warning to the Awami League leaders. The West Pakistani military launched its sudden attack on March 25, 1917 at 11 p.m.it used automatic rifles, automatic weapons, bayonets and tanks. Yahya Khan appointed General Tikka Khan as the overall commander, and he was given 48 hours to suppress Bangladeshi nationalist movement. Within 34 hours, approximately 10,000 unarmed civilians were killed.

Until November 21, 1971, mostly Bangladeshi regular forces along with the Mukti Bahini operated in different parts of the country. Besides, there were few naval and air assets utilized to complement the war effort. However, on November 21, 1971 all the forces–Bangladesh Army, Navy, Air Force as well as the Mukti Bahini–launched their joint offensive against Pakistani military.

Pakistan launched the war against India on December 3, 1971, the UN took a more vigorous approach to the problem. While Soviet Union was supporting India, the U.S. and Chine stood by Pakistan. On December 5, 1971 Moscow vetoed a U.S. resolution urging the Security Council to call upon India and Pakistan to carry out a cease fire and military withdrawal.

The Russians exercised another veto within 24 hours when on December 7, 1971, the General Assembly voted 104 against 11 to call upon India and Pakistan to cease fire immediately and withdraw their forces to respective territories.

While the UN was debating, the war on the ground was going in favor of India. In the meantime, U.S. dispatched a naval task forces led by the nuclear-powered carrier Enterprise from U.S. seventh fleet. By the time the naval task force was close to Chittagong port of East Pakistan, all Pakistani forces surrendered unconditionally. If the UN espoused cease fire would be in effect, Bangladeshis’ hope for independence was not to be materialized.

 

 

[jetpack_subscription_form title=”Subscribe to MeghalayaPSC Notes” subscribe_text=”Never Miss any MeghalayaPSC important update!” subscribe_button=”Sign Me Up” show_subscribers_total=”1″]