International Day of UN Peacekeepers 

On ‘International Day of UN Peacekeeper's’, a joint seminar on “United Nations Peacekeeping : Role and Relevance in Conflict Resolution” was organized at New Delhi by the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) and Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK) along with United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office.

Peacekeeping as a non-coercive and a politically impartial instrument has always been based on a triad of principles viz. consent of parties to the conflict, impartiality of the peacekeepers, and the use of force by lightly armed peacekeepers only in self-defence. Although peacekeepers were not deployed in many instances during the cold war, the scenario post 1989 changed in that there was a spurt in peace-keeping operations. Despite a decline in the middle of 1990s, the operations have increased in the 21st century.

India’s contribution and impact: India has been actively contributing to the UN peacekeeping missions since independence in different forms beginning with a medical mission in Korea. Ever since military personnel began to be deployed for peacekeeping, India has been a key contributor beginning with 1956 Arab – Israeli war. Later, India’s contribution towards ensuring peace in Congo proved vital to the country’s stability after decolonization. At present, there are 8680 Indian personnel in 9 of the 14 peace-keeping operations. India’s contribution is not only reflective of the objectives set out in the UN charter, but also has generated goodwill in different parts of the world especially in the developing world. Furthermore, it has served India’s national security interests in her near and extended neighbourhood.

Challenges to India in the 21st Century: New and diverse threats, often vague, have begun to question our assumptions and existing mechanisms. Sovereignty is being challenged by norms such as Responsibility to Protect (R2P). India has a role to play regionally as well as globally. This role is imposed on her by sheer size, demography, capacities, military prowess and her strategic location. India should get its political, diplomatic and military acts together, and must continue to be proactive in terms of demanding greater participation in decision making.

Demands will be placed on New Delhi to be a part of multi-national operations as this is the trend in contemporary times. There would be situations where even bilateral participation might be called for. Behavioural changes including change in style of leadership will then become necessary. In this context, there is a compelling need for a sizeable Rapid Reaction Force for the purpose of intervention, stabilization, deterrence and disaster response among others. The force should be one of tri-service corps along with a civilian component including diplomats, police personnel and human rights.

India should continue to strengthen existing cooperative mechanisms with regional and global players. Joint working groups comprising diplomats and military personnel should be set up to interact with multi-lateral forums, and exchange knowledge and perspectives. As the mandate of peace keeping expands, India should share its expertise and experience, and play its part in realizing the core objective of the UN Charter - maintenance of international peace and security.

Discussion: Ambassador S. K. Bhutani began the discussion by commenting that peacekeeping enabled projecting our foreign policy as in the case of Korea in the fifties. He also opined that India should continue providing training to personnel from other countries as that might prove handy in future multinational operations led by us. He recommended for better leveraging of India’s peacekeeping expertise in pursuing its national interests. Answering the Director General of IDSA Mr. Sisodia’s question of preventing genocide by UN contingent, Lt Gen Nambiar said that in such scenario, it is essentially a combat operation. In such cases, regional organizations should take up the responsibility to prevent the perception of extra-regional intervention. It is also time for Indian foreign policy establishment to resolve its own ambiguity about the notion of intervention.

Indian policy makers and military need to think big in order to fulfil India’s aspiration of being a global power. The next two years at the UNSC will be a serious test of India’s ability to play a bigger role in world affairs. Sitting on the fence is no longer a viable option. After differentiating peace-building and peacekeeping, Lt Gen Nambiar said that India has an important role to play in peace-building with its democratic experience and developmental capacities.

India’s achievement
India is the second largest troop contributing country with deployment of 7695 personnel across the globe. Indian Peacekeepers, 04 from Army and one civilian, were awarded the UN ‘Dag Hammarskjold Medal’ this year on 19 May 2016. 

India’s sustained contribution to UN peacekeeping apart from generating goodwill among nations has acted as one of the key factors that support India’s aspiration for playing a greater role in UN affairs.

There is necessity of the major Troop Contributing Nations in having a say in the mandate, tasks and policy coordination. Morover, mandate of peacekeeping forces was transitioning from Peace Keeping to Peace Reinforcement. 

Centre’s plan to identify surplus land

The Centre’s plan to identify surplus land held by government departments and public sector undertakings with a view to auctioning such land to the private sector, or deploying it for urban renewal projects, is praiseworthy. This appears to be in sync with the Budget promise to encourage public sector firms to divest individual assets and re-invest the proceeds in new projects.

•  A committee has been tasked with creating an inventory of public
  
  landholdings and identifying plots that are not needed for future expansion or strategic purposes, and thus could be alienated for other uses. 
• As past strategic disinvestment cases have shown, valuation of land is a prickly issue that leaves governments susceptible to extreme scrutiny from political peers as well as the auditor. 
• In addition, it can take years to conclude.
• It must also be kept in mind that this exercise is a minor recompense for the larger reform agenda that the government has set aside: amending the land acquisition law. 
• A model tenancy law that the NITI Aayog has mooted as an alternative reform step to allow the leasing of agricultural land, also remains a work in progress. The government needs to put more energy into those solutions for faster economic growth.

(source-The Hindu)

India-Africa relations challenged - racism or else?

At least five Indians accused of assaulting Africans in New Delhi have been arrested after African diplomats urged the Indian government to ensure the safety of their nationals living in the country.

India's Union Home  Minister condemned the attacks and asked the city police to take strict action against the perpetrators. However, Delhi police dismissed the recent spate of attacks targeting Africans as racially motivated, insisting the violent crimes were "isolated incidents" and not racist in nature. Minister said  that there was "no element of racism" following attacks when six Africans were beaten across New Delhi's Mehrauli neighbourhood.

In a rare show of unity, a group of African ambassadors said their nationals were living in a "pervading climate of fear and insecurity". They warned they would recommend their governments not to send students to India until safety conditions improve, following a string of what they said were unpunished racial attacks.

Thousands of people from African countries study and work in India but several incidents have raised concerns of racist violence and discrimination.There are around 25,000 African students in India in both private and state institutions, as per the Association for African Students in India.

Backlash in Africa
Even as India tried to control the diplomatic damage caused by the threat of African envoys not participating in the government’s Africa Day function, the backlash from the recent death of a Congolese student was also felt in Kinshasa, where the Indian community has had a tense week with mobs throwing stones at their businesses.

Analysis
There can be no dispute about the fact that the perpetrators of the recent killing must be brought to book quickly and deterrent punishment meted out to them, but such attacks are actually a reflection of the general law and order situation which is a matter of concern in the capital. Indeed, road rage has taken toll of many lives in Delhi in recent days.

To consider a racial pattern in the killing of the African youth would be wrong, especially when there is no evidence to establish this consideration. There is no denying that a close watch needs to be kept on those elements who are involved in discrediting India in foreign eyes.Besides, not only the Indians but also the African Heads of Missions have something to introspect about. In Mumbai, Delhi and other cities, Africans are identified with drug-peddling and looked upon with suspicion. Presently there are more than 100 Nigerians lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, most of them are accused of peddling drugs. When such is the record of a section of Africans, it is difficult to expect Indians to be free of prejudices against them in general. For no fault of theirs, Africans in general by dint of their physique are looked upon as bullies and toughs.

Few years ago, India had expressed consternation when a series of brutal attacks on Indian expatriates and ethnic Indians occurred in Australia. Indian students have been going to universities in Australia on a major scale in recent times and these attacks were seen to have a pattern but better times returned in due course. The Australian government was pro-active and so have to be the governments across the country in India to ensure that foreigners feel safe and secure. As far as Delhi is concerned there is a general spurt in crime which needs to be controlled and it would be but fair if foreign students get special attention from the police.

Way ahead
Though India-Africa ties have seen an upturn with Modi’s new initiatives, there is still much to be achieved. India’s trade with Africa has increased from $39 billion in 2009-10 to $71.4 billion in 2014-15, with the surge in exports. But China’s trade with Africa stands at over $200 billion which is an indication that there is still a long way to go. India indeed has much to offer to the Africans in terms of defence equipment and training of defence personnel and in areas of trade and investment. It is incumbent on India to ensure that glitches in Indo-African relations are not allowed to sour the otherwise congenial environment of bonhomie between them.

(With inputs from newspapers)

New 3D hydrogel biochips prove to be superior in detecting bowel cancer at early stages


Researchers from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology (EIMB RAS), the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (IBCh) and a number of other Russian research centers have developed a new method of diagnosing colorectal cancer.

The results of the study have been published in Cancer Medicine.

The scientists have created a hydrogel-based biochip to help detect bowel cancer i.e. colorectal cancer (CRC).

CRC is the third most common type of cancer and it develops with minimal clinical symptoms in the early stages.

Mars emerging from Ice Age, says study

The Red Planet is emerging from an Ice Age, according to radar images of Mars’ polar regions that are shedding new light on our neighbour's climate cycle, researchers said.

The ice began its retreat about 370,000 years ago, said the study in the journal Science , led by Isaac Smith, a postdoctoral researcher at Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado.

The findings are based on data collected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been circling Mars for 10 years.

The research confirms previous models that found the glacial period ended about 400,000 years ago. It also deepens scientists' understanding of the climate shifts that happen on Mars, and how they differ from Earth.

Metabolites -Nasa study

NASA has released a video to highlight its ‘Twins Study’ that investigates metabolic changes in retired U.S. astronaut Scott Kelly and his twin brother Mark.

Metabolites are key small molecules. They are the chemicals in the body that let you do all the things you do. It is all these things that give you energy, like glucose. They let you move, think, and digest your food.

Using a mass spectrometer, researchers can analyse blood and urine for secreted metabolites.

By following Scott and Mark Kelly, both in space and on Earth, scientists can see a collection of changes occurring. 

Some chemicals are indicative of high stress but other chemicals are unknown. It is hoped that the Twins Study will show which stress molecules get activated at which times and what other kinds of metabolites are present and active.

Identical twins share the same fertilised egg, thus, share similar genes. Because of similarities, researchers can focus on the metabolic changes. Researchers believe that diet definitely impacts a person’s metabolites. They can see which foods cause what kinds of metabolic changes and how that evolves over time

This information could be helpful for researchers creating recommendations to protect the health of astronauts embarking on long-duration missions, such as a journey to Mars, as well as benefit humans on Earth.