Daily Prelims Notes 3 January 2024

Daily Prelims Notes

3 January 2024

Table Of Contents

1. Concerns raised by RBI over Credit Information Companies (CICs)
2. Yield Spread Widening between SDLs and G-Secs
3. America’s Climate Failure
4. Another eye in the sky, on ground: India is now part of the world’s largest radio telescope project.
5. New Hit and Run Rules
6. Thousands evacuated following volcano eruption in Indonesia
7. Snow Leopard: Enigmatic big cat of High Asia now National Symbol of Kyrgyzstan
8. Meet ISRO’s new X-ray eye in the sky
9. Baloch march: from Turbat to Islamabad

1. Concerns raised by RBI over Credit Information Companies (CICs)

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expressed concerns over Credit Information Companies (CICs), urging them to address key areas for service improvement.

Rise in Customer Complaints:

• RBI flagged an increase in customer complaints related to credit information.

Six Key Areas of Focus:

• CICs were advised to concentrate on six crucial areas:
  • Data Quality Improvement: Emphasis on enhancing the quality of data.
  • Timely Complaint Resolution: Ensure timely redressal of customer complaints.
  • Internal Ombudsman Framework: Strengthen the internal ombudsman framework.
  • Streamlining Data Correction: Simplify the process for handling data correction requests.
  • Cybersecurity and Data Privacy: Strengthen cybersecurity and data privacy through a robust information security governance framework.
  • Data Usage Concerns: Address concerns arising from the use of data for consulting and analytics.

Overview of Credit Information Companies (CICs)

Functions of CICs:

• CICs collect public data, credit transactions, and payment histories of individuals and companies related to loans and credit cards.
• They gather data from various sources, including banks, financial institutions, lenders, and credit-granting entities, and compile it into credit reports.

Creditworthiness Assessment:

• Banks and non-banking financial institutions refer to CIC reports and scores to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers before granting loans or issuing credit cards.

Regulatory Framework:

• CICs in India are regulated and supervised by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and governed by the Credit Information Companies Regulation Act, 2005 (CICRA).
• As per CICRA, every credit institution, like banks, must be a member of at least one CIC.

Functions of CICs:

• Credit Reports: CICs collect and maintain credit-related information from various sources, including banks, financial institutions, and credit card companies. They compile this information into credit reports for individuals and businesses.
• Credit Scores: CICs calculate credit scores based on the credit history and financial behavior of individuals. Credit scores provide a numerical representation of creditworthiness.
• Risk Assessment: Lenders use credit reports and scores from CICs to assess the credit risk associated with potential borrowers. This information helps in making informed lending decisions.

Major CICs in India:

• Credit Information Bureau (India) Limited (CIBIL): One of the leading credit bureaus in India, CIBIL provides credit information reports and scores to individuals and businesses.
• Equifax: Equifax is a global credit information company operating in India. It offers credit reports and scores to assist in risk assessment.
• Experian: Experian is another major credit information company providing credit reports, scores, and analytics to support lending decisions.
• CRIF High Mark: CRIF High Mark is a credit bureau that offers a range of credit information services, including credit reports and analytics.

CIBIL Score:

• It is a three-digit numeric summary of an individual’s credit history.
• Derived using credit history found in the CIBIL Report, considering the borrower’s credit profile over the last 36 months.
• Range: The score ranges from 300 to 900, with higher scores indicating a better credit profile.
• Lender Evaluation: Lenders use the CIBIL report and score to assess the risk of lending and decide on loan/credit card applications.
• Approval Chances: The closer the CIBIL Score is to 900, the higher the chances of approval for credit card or loan applications.

2. Yield Spread Widening between SDLs and G-Secs

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

1. Yield Spread Widens to Two-Year High:
   • The spread between yields on 10-year state bonds and the benchmark 10-year government bond has widened.
   • On Tuesday, the yield spread reached 53 basis points (bps), marking a two-year high.
   • The last time it widened above 50 bps was in January 2022.
2. Growing Disparity in Borrowing Costs:
   • The widening yield spread indicates an increasing difference in borrowing costs between states and the central government.
   • States may face higher costs when raising funds compared to the sovereign.
3. States’ Borrowing Plans:
   • States and union territories are set to borrow Rs 4.1 trillion during January-March.
   • Karnataka, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu account for half of this borrowing.
   • Karnataka and West Bengal are expected to contribute significantly to the incremental borrowing of Rs 1.1 trillion in the last quarter.
4. Year-on-Year Increase in State Borrowing:
   • This borrowing surge represents a 37.4% year-on-year increase, following the substantial issuance of Rs 3 trillion in Q4 FY23.
5. Potential Yield Spread Outlook:
   • Analysts suggest that the yield spread might widen further, possibly reaching 60 bps during the quarter if states borrow the indicative amount.
   • The average spread stood between 30 and 35 bps in the first and second quarters, reflecting historical trends.

Yield Spread and its aspects:

Yield Spread refers to the difference between the yields of two different financial instruments or securities. It is often used to analyze the relative risk or return between these instruments.

The yield spread is calculated by subtracting the yield of one security from the yield of another. It provides insights into the additional compensation investors require for taking on higher risk or choosing one investment over another.

A widening yield spread may indicate increased risk perception or economic uncertainty wherein narrowing spread may suggest improving economic conditions or reduced risk.

Investors and analysts use yield spreads for investment decisions, risk assessment, and gauging market sentiment.

Historical spread trends provide context for evaluating current market conditions.

3. America’s Climate Failure

Subject: Environment

Section: Climate change

Context: 

The United States is one of the biggest reasons for the world not able to meet 2030 targets.

More on news:

Loss and damage fund was opened for capitalisation at the COP 28 meeting in Dubai.

America Climate Failures:

Loss and damage fund: US  pledged contrastingly very low US $17 Million as compared to other countries.

The US has the largest share in historical emissions and the world’s biggest economy, carrying a greater burden than any other nation against climate change.

It neither ratified the Kyoto protocol nor abided by its emission reduction targets.

UNFCCC:

The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994.

• It has near-universal membership as  198 countries that have ratified the Convention are called Parties to the Convention.
• Preventing “dangerous” human interference with the climate system is the ultimate aim of the UNFCCC.

Parties to UNFCCC are classified as:

ANNEX I

There are 40 Annex I countries plus the European Union. These countries are classified as industrialized countries and countries in transition.

ANNEX II

There are 23 Annex II countries plus the European Union. These countries are classified as developed countries which pay for the costs of developing countries.

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Under the Kyoto Protocol, developing countries are not required to reduce emissions unless developed countries supply funding and technology.

PARIS AGREEMENT:

• The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change.
• It was adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris, France, on 12 December 2015. It entered into force on 4 November 2016.
• Its objective is to hold “the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels” and pursue efforts “to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.”
• Since 2020, countries have been submitting their national climate action plans, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs).
• NDCs refers to the efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

KYOTO PROTOCOL:

• The Kyoto Protocol was adopted on 11 December 1997. 
• It entered into force on 16 February 2005. 
• Currently, there are 192 Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.
• The Kyoto Protocol operationalizes the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change by committing industrialized countries and economies in transition to limit and reduce greenhouse gasses (GHG) emissions in accordance with agreed individual targets
• It only binds developed countries, and places a heavier burden on them under the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities”

The Protocol also offers them an additional means to meet their targets by way of three market-based mechanisms:

• International Emissions Trading
• Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
• Joint implementation (JI)

About IPCC:

1. Establishment: The IPCC was set up in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
2. Aim: Its aim is to provide policymakers with regular assessments of the scientific basis of climate change

International Energy Agency:

• The International Energy Agency is a Paris-based autonomous intergovernmental organization, established in 1974
• The 31 member countries and 13 association countries of the IEA represent 75% of global energy demand.
• IEA provides policy recommendations, analysis and data on the entire global energy sector.

Loss and Damage Fund:

• The L&D fund was first announced at the conclusion of COP-27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
• COP 28 adopted the decision on the operationalization of Loss and damage fund.
• Loss and damage refers to the negative consequences that arise from the unavoidable risks of climate change, like rising sea levels, prolonged heat waves, desertification, the acidification of the sea and extreme events, such as bushfires, species extinction and crop failures.
• The fund aims to provide financial assistance to nations most vulnerable and impacted by the effects of climate change.

Adaptation Gap Report:

• The Adaptation Gap Report is released by the United Nations Environment Programme.
• The 2022 Adaptation Gap Report indicates that international adaptation finance flows to developing countries are five to ten times below estimated needs

4. Another eye in the sky, on ground: India is now part of the world’s largest radio telescope project.

Subject: Science and Tech

Section: Space technology

Context: India will now also be part of the international mega-science project, the Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO), that will function as the world’s largest radio telescope.

More on News:

• ISRO Monday launched a unique observatory to study X-rays and black holes in deep space and the stage is being set to construct the third node of the LIGO in Maharashtra.
• India, through the Pune-based National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) and some other institutions, has been involved in the development of SKA since its inception in the 1990s.
• The Department of Atomic Energy announced plans to construct the third node of the US-based Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory (LIGO) in Hingoli district of Maharashtra.
• The Government’s approval for joining the project, with a financial sanction of Rs 1,250 crore, is the first step towards the ratification

About Square Kilometer Array Observatory (SKAO):

• Intergovernmental: SKAO was established as an intergovernmental organization in 2021 following years of negotiation in which India, too, participated.
• Countries have to sign, and ratify, the SKAO convention to formally become members.
• Member countries include Australia, Canada, China, India, Italy, New Zealand, South Africa, Sweden, the Netherlands, UK, Portugal and Spain.
• Square Kilometer Array Observatory SKAO is headquartered at theJodrell Bank Observatory in the United Kingdom.
• These are aimed at advancing the scope of astronomical observations for improving the overall understanding of the universe and its evolution.
• India’s main contribution to the SKA is in the development, and operation, of the Telescope Manager element, the “neural network” or the software that will make the telescope work.

About Square Kilometer Array Telescope (SKA):

• Location: It is located in Meerkat National Park, Africa and Murchison Radio Astronomy Observatory, Australia.
• Intergovernmental: It is an intergovernmental radio telescope project.
• Establishment: The Square Kilometer Array (SKA) was originally conceived in 1991. However, an international working group was set up in
• Objective: The SKA will combine the signals received from thousands of small antennas spread over a distance of several thousand kilometres to simulate a single giant radio telescope capable of extremely high sensitivity and angular resolution. This is done using a technique called aperture synthesis.

About gravitational waves:

1. Gravitational wave research is one of the most promising fields for scientific discovery. 
2. Gravitational waves refers to ripples in space-time which are caused by violent and energetic processes in the Universe.
3. Gravitational waves were first predicted by Albert Einstein in his General Theory Of Relativity in 1916.
4. The first detection of gravitational waves by the two existing LIGO detectors in the US won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2017.

About LIGO:

1. LIGO stands for “Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory”. It is the world’s largest gravitational wave observatory and a marvel of precision engineering.
2. It comprises two enormous laser interferometers located 3000 kilometers apart.
3. LIGO exploits the physical properties of light and of space itself to detect and understand the origins of gravitational waves (GW).

LIGO-INDIA:

1. LIGO-India is a collaboration between the LIGO Laboratory (operated by Caltech and MIT) and three institutes in India:
   1. the Raja Ramanna Center for Advanced Technology (RRCAT, in Indore), 
   2. the Institute for Plasma Research (IPR in Ahmedabad), and 
   3. the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA, in Pune).
2. LIGO-India received the Indian Government’s in-principle approval in February 2016.
3. The LIGO-India project will be built by by the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Science Foundation (NSF), USA, along with several national and international research and academic institutions.
4. LIGO India will be the all-important fifth detector.
5. When it begins operation, LIGO India will significantly improve the likelihood that four detectors are operating at any given moment. This is the critical role that LIGO India will play in the global gravitational wave detector network.

About NCRA:

• NCRA is a unit of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
• It operates India’s largest network of radio telescopes called the Giant Metrewave Radio Telescope (GMRT).
• It is the success of building and operating GMRT that landed NCRA this responsibility with the SKA.

About GMRT:

• GMRT is the world’s largest and most sensitive radio telescope operating within the 110-1,460-Megahertz frequency range.
• The GMRT Observatory is located in Pune (near Khodad).
• This unique telescope has studied pulsars, supernovae, quasars, galaxies and its observation time has always remained oversubscribed.
• GMRT in 2021 became only the third in India to be recognised with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Milestone facility. 
• In June 2023, GMRT was among the six top radio telescopes used to enable the detection of the nano-hertz gravitational waves for the first time.

5. New Hit and Run Rules

Subject : Polity

Section: Legislation in news

Context:

• Truck and bus drivers across states are protesting against the newly implemented Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) law for hit-and-run cases.

More in News:

• The operators of truck, taxi and bus went on a nation-wide strike opposing the new provision of ₹7 lakh penalty and 10-year jail term for hit-and-run cases under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, asking the central government to withdraw the provision claiming it could lead to their undue harassment.
• There is no specific provision for hit and run cases in India penal code.
• This has again raised questions on Road safety.

New Hit and Run Law:

Need for Law:

• Rising Hit and Run Cases:
• Data from the ministry of road transport & highways (MoRTH) shows that
• the share of hit-and-run cases in total road accidents and deaths was 14.6% and 18.1% in 2022.
• Rogue drivers are a big menace on Indian roads:
• According to data given by  MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS(MORTH) about 72% of total accidents and 71% total deaths in road accidents in 2022 were on account of over speeding.
• Deaths caused:
• India has shown a rising trend from 1.27Lakh death in 2020 to 1.55Lakh death in 2022 as per data of MORTH.
• Delays in filing charge sheets:
• Police seem to have a harder time in filing a charge sheet in hit-and-run case.Charge sheets were filed in only 66.4% of hit-and-run cases disposed of by police in 2022.This suggests that not finding the perpetrator could be a reason behind the low charge-sheeting rate of hit-and-run cases.

Criticism of law:

• Bigger vehicles often blamed: Data shows that two-wheelers led the pack in terms of both crime vehicles and victim vehicles. In fact, two-wheelers hitting two-wheelers are the biggest entry in the crime-victim matrix. As far as trucks and lorries are concerned, they were the second largest entry in the crime vehicle group and their biggest victims were two-wheelers.
• 2.Fear of Mob lynching: In case drivers attempt to take accident victim to hospitals
• They may be attacked by mobs due to social stigma without proper investigation.
• Road Safety In India:

Brasilia Declaration 2015: It aims to remove road safety and focusses at reduction of traffic deaths by the end of this decade.

S Sunder committee: The main recommendations of the Committee include creation of the National Road Safety & Traffic Management Board

• The board will act as an Apex body at national level to promote road safety and traffic management in the country .
• About Motor Vehicles Act 1988:
• The Motor Vehicles Act 1988 is an Act of the Parliament of India which regulates all aspects of road transport vehicles.

The act was amended in 2019, 2022.

Motor vehicle amendment act 2019:

• Motor Vehicle Accident Fund: It provides a funding mechanism which would provide compulsory insurance cover to all road users in India for certain types of accidents.
• National Road Safety Board: It provides for a Board to be created by the Central Government through a notification.
• Good samaritans : It also provides for the protection of good samaritans.

6. Thousands evacuated following volcano eruption in Indonesia

Subject : Geography

Section: Geomorphology

In the news:

• Mt Lewotobi Laki-Laki spewed volcanic ash 1.5 km above its peak, according to the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation.

Mt Lewotobi Laki-Laki:

• Lewotobi is a twin volcano located in the southeastern part of the island of Flores, Indonesia.
• It comprises the Lewotobi Lakilaki (Male Lewotobi) and Lewotobi Perempuan (Female Lewotobi) stratovolcanoes.
• Older forms of its name include Lobetabi, Lovotivo and Loby Toby.

What is a stratovolcano?

• A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra.
• Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and periodic intervals of explosive eruptions and effusive eruptions, although some have collapsed summit craters called calderas.
• The lava flowing from stratovolcanoes typically cools and hardens before spreading far, due to high viscosity. The magma forming this lava is often felsic, having high to intermediate levels of silica (as in rhyolite, dacite, or andesite), with lesser amounts of less viscous mafic magma.
• They are among the most common types of volcanoes, in contrast to the less common shield volcanoes.
• Examples: Krakatoa in Indonesia, Vesuvius in Italy, Mount St. Helens in Washington State, US, and Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines.

Volcanic tourism:

• Iceland is becoming a prime destination for volcano tourism – a niche segment that attracts thousands of thrill-seekers every year to sites in Sicily, Indonesia, and New Zealand.
• The 2021 Fagradalsfjall volcano eruption in southwest Iceland — has drawn thousands of visitors.
• It is also called the ‘tourist eruptions’ where one can get quite close to the crater and witness the lava flow. These thrill-seeking tourists are also called “Lava chasers”.
• Some major volcanic tourism spots are: the Grindavik eruption in Iceland, Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the Marapi volcanic eruption and Mt Lewotobi Laki-Laki eruption in Indonesia, Onsen ryokans (hot springs inns) in villages near volcanoes in Japan, the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, and Mount Vesuvius among others.

Source: The Hindu

7. Snow Leopard: Enigmatic big cat of High Asia now National Symbol of Kyrgyzstan

Subject : Environment

Section: Species in news

In the news:

• The Snow leopard, the mysterious and enigmatic symbol of High Asia with its host of mountain ranges stretching from the Altai to the Himalayas, is now the national symbol of Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet Republic in Central Asia.

Details:

• Inner Asia comprises mountain ranges such as the Altai, Tian Shan, Nan Shan, Kunlun Shan, Pamir, Karakorum, Hindu Kush, and of course, the Tibetan Plateau and the Himalayas.
• This region is home to most of the snow and ice on Earth outside the poles. From this region, at least 15 rivers fan out in every direction across the Asian continent.
• This ‘Water Tower of Asia’ provides essential ecosystem services — it provides clean water for a third of the world’s population. It is estimated to be warming at nearly two times the average rate of warming in the Northern Hemisphere.
• Snow leopard conservation received a boost a decade ago with the Bishkek Declaration on Snow Leopard Protection being unanimously adopted at the World Snow Leopard Conservation Forum in 2013.

Snow Leopard range countries:

• The snow leopard’s habitat range extends across the mountainous regions of 12 countries across Asia: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.

Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Programme (GSLEP):

• GSLEP is an unprecedented alliance of all snow leopard range countries, non-governmental organizations, multi-lateral institutions, scientists and local communities, united by one goal: saving the snow leopard and its mountain ecosystems.
• Mission: The snow leopard range countries agree, with support from interested organizations, to work together to identify and secure at least 20 snow leopard landscapes across the cat’s range by 2020 or, “Secure 20 by 2020.”

World Snow Leopard Conservation Forum:

• On October 22-23, 2013, representatives of 12 snow leopard range countries and the international conservation community gathered in Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, for the Global Snow Leopard Conservation Forum, jointly organized by the Office of the President of the Kyrgyz Republic Almazbek Atambayev and the State Agency on Environmental Protection and Forestry under the Government of the Kyrgyz Republic.
• The objective of the Forum is to discuss urgent actions and a new global strategy to address the conservation of the endangered snow leopard and its habitat in the critical ecosystems of Central Asia.
• The Forum is co-organized by Global Tiger Initiative, NABU, Snow Leopard Trust, UNDP, and World Bank and sponsored by Global Environment Facility, Snow Leopard Conservancy, and WWF.

8. Meet ISRO’s new X-ray eye in the sky

Subject : Science and Tech

Section: Space tech

About XPoSat its component and its significance:

• XPoSat, India’s X-ray Polarimeter Satellite launched by ISRO, represents a significant leap in the study of polarized cosmic X-rays, aimed at unravelling the mysteries surrounding celestial phenomena such as black holes, neutron stars, and active galactic nuclei.
• The payload includes POLIX (Indian X-ray Polarimeter), developed at Raman Research Institute (RRI). Despite its relatively compact size of approximately 0.5 meters and 200 kilograms, this instrument stands out for its indigenous design, focusing on detecting the polarization of X-rays in space.
• Understanding X-ray polarization is crucial, particularly in stars boasting colossal magnetic fields like pulsars and regions adjacent to black holes, where the intricate interplay of matter and energy emits X-rays with distinct properties.
• POLIX’s innovative use of a beryllium disc enables the study of lower-energy X-rays compared to previous instruments, amplifying the breadth of knowledge acquisition in this domain.
• Accompanying POLIX on XPoSat is XSPECT, another instrument tailored to scrutinize the timing and spectral characteristics of X-ray-emitting cosmic entities.
• The limitations in focusing X-rays due to their high energy and the Earth’s atmosphere absorbing most cosmic X-rays necessitate space-based telescopes like XPoSat for in-depth observations.
• XPoSat’s mission signifies India’s shift from satellite deployment to planetary exploration, highlighted by recent missions like Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-1, while also emphasizing collaborations with global space agencies like NASA.

Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE or SMEX-14) by NASA:

• It was only in December 2021 that the first instrument to study X-rays in space (IXPE) was launched into space by NASA and the Italian Space Agency (ASI).
• This instrument contains gas, whose atoms are stripped of electrons after interacting with incoming X-rays. Upon scrutiny, the direction of motion of these ejected electrons gives clues to the X-ray polarisation.

Key terms:

• Pulsars: A pulsar (from pulsating radio source) is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star that emits beams of electromagnetic radiation out of its magnetic poles.
• Black hole: A black hole is a region of spacetime where gravity is so strong that nothing, including light and other electromagnetic waves, has enough energy to escape it.
• Active galactic nuclei: An active galactic nucleus (AGN) is a compact region at the centre of a galaxy that emits a significant amount of energy across the electromagnetic spectrum, with characteristics indicating that the luminosity is not produced by stars.
  • Such excess, non-stellar emissions have been observed in the radio, microwave, infrared, optical, ultra-violet, X-ray and gamma ray wavebands.
  • A galaxy hosting an AGN is called an active galaxy. The non-stellar radiation from an AGN is theorized to result from the accretion of matter by a supermassive black hole at the centre of its host galaxy.
• X-rays: X-rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation, similar to visible light. Unlike light, however, x-rays have higher energy and can pass through most objects, including the body.

9. Baloch march: from Turbat to Islamabad

Subject : IR

Section: Places in news

Context:

• In December 2023, hundreds of Baloch people marched to Islamabad protesting enforced disappearances and killings in Balochistan.

Historical Background 

• Since 1947, Baloch separatism has been a continuing issue in Pakistan.
• The origins of the Balochistan crisis go way back to the time of the independence of India and Pakistan, and more than 500 princely states had to decide to join either India or Pakistan.
• Balochistan had desired to join India, but there is no considerable evidence pointing to it.
• It remain an independent state till March 1948, after that the ruler, under political pressure, signed the instrument of accession with Pakistan.

About Balochistan

• Balochistan is the largest among the 4 provinces in Pakistan.
• It is located in the southwestern part of Pakistan. It is bordered by Iran (west), Afghanistan (northwest), by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces (northeast and east),by Sindh province (southeast) and by the Arabian Sea (south).
• It is the largest and most sparsely populated province in Pakistan. Its capital is Quetta.
• It is extremely rich in natural resources including gas, oil, copper, and gold.
• Before Independence, the area of Balochistan has several tribes, whose chiefs were in treaty relationships with Britishers.
  • The Khan of Kalat was the most important among these chiefs. His territories were divided among a number of feudatories with varying levels of independence.
  • He formed the Balochistan States Union.
  • The British got into an agreement with the Khanate of Kalat in 1876, establishing direct rule over it.
• After 1948, accession with Pakistan, many people and organizations revolted, but they were brutally suppressed by the Pakistani forces and its leaders were imprisoned.
• Many people are still demanding an independent state of Balochistan.

Uprising in Balochistan:

• During the withdrawal of the British from the Indian subcontinent, the Kingdom of Balochistan was offered the same offer, either to join India, join Pakistan or remain independent.
• The king of Balochistan chose to remain independent and it did remain independent for nearly a year.
• In the year 1948, the Pakistan government, with a combination of military and diplomacy, took control of the region and made it into a part of Pakistan.
• Due to lack of development and human rights violations in the region done by the Pakistan military and terror groups, the insurgency in Balochistan has been active since 1948.
• Pakistan claims that India has been supporting these rebel fighters with arms and intelligence.

India’s Stand on Balochistan:

• India has long maintained a political stance of not interfering in the internal matters of Pakistan or any other country.
• Despite Pakistan repeatedly bringing up the Kashmir issue over the years, India had maintained silence on Balochistan.
• However, in 2016, remarks on Balochistan came in the immediate aftermath of the Independence Day celebration in Pakistan that was dedicated to the independence of Kashmir.
• India’s response was quick with India’s Prime Minister referring to atrocities of Baloch people in his Independence speech in 2016.