Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Lipulekh, Kalapani, Limpiyadhura and their geographical locations + about Sugauli Treaty and Susta Territorial Dispute) + Mains ( GS II bilateral relations - India and its neighbourhood)
What's the NEWS

• India and Nepal share a unique relationship of friendship and cooperation by open borders and direct people to people contact, but Nepal has now raised rhetoric by releasing a controversial map of the country which shows Indian territories of Lipulekh, Kalapani, Limpiyadhura as its own.

• The way New Delhi used to influence Nepal politics has now been replaced by China.
• In the past, Nepal never had any objection over India constructing road till Lipulekh pass for ensuring a smooth ride to Kailash Mansarovar.

Know! the trigger point (what happened recently)

• Fresh border tension erupted between India and Nepal after India inaugurated a new link road at Lipulekh pass near the India- Nepal -China Junction
• Nepal clams the area as per 1816 Sugauli Treaty however India says that the area as its own
• India issued new maps in November that showed the adjoining Kalapani region adjoining Lipulekh within Indian territory
• This was protested by Kathmandu as infringing on Nepali territory

• The East India Company and Nepal signed the Treaty of Sagauli 1816 (conclusion of Anglo- Nepalese War)
• Nepalese territories including Darjeeling were handed over to the British East India Company as concessions.
• Under this agreement, Nepal gave up its claim on the areas of India which it had in possession.
• The British demarcated the border between India and Nepal and they made the Mahakali river as the western border of Nepal
• During the 1857 War of Independence, Nepal's army helped Britain. Pleased with this, Britain had returned a lot of land to Nepal, especially the areas of the Terai region including Janakpur and Kapilvastu.
• Indo-Nepal boundaries were re-determined in 1865. After a silence of so many years, Nepal's recent move appears to be at the behest of China.

• The Mahakali river begins in Kalapani as this is where all its tributaries merge.

• Its boundary does not start from the river but from the first waterfall in the mountains.
• Nepal claims that the river begins from Lipulekh Pass, the origin of most of its tributaries. (all the tributaries merges at Kalapani and formed river Mahakali )
• It claims the areas to the east of the river Kali i.e. Kalapani region Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh as parts of its territory.

• The Kalapani territory is an area under Indian administration as part of Pithoragarh district in the Uttarakhand state
• It is marked by the Kalapani river, one of the headwaters of the Kali River in the Himalayas at an altitude of 3600-5200 meters.
• The valley of Kalapani, with the Lipulekh Pass at the top, forms the Indian route to Kailash-Manasarovar, an ancient pilgrimage site.
• It is also the traditional trading route to Tibet for the Bhotiyas of Uttarakhand.
• The Kali River forms the boundary between India and Nepal in this region.
• However, India states that the headwaters of the river are not included in the boundary. Here the border runs along the watershed. This is a position dating back to British India(1865)

• The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source

• Nepal has another pass, the Tinkar Pass close to the area.
• After India closed the Lipulekh Pass in the aftermath of the 1962 Sino-Indian War, much of the Bhotiya trade used to pass through the Tinkar Pass.
• The Nepalese protests regarding the Kalapani territory started in 1997, after India and China agreed to reopen the Lipulekh pass.
• Since the Indo-China war of 1962, Kalapani has been controlled by India's Indo-Tibetan Border Police.

• The Susta territorial dispute has arisen as a result of the shifting of the course of the Gandak river.
• The Treaty of Sagauli defined Gandak as the international boundary between India and Nepal
• At the time of signing the treaty Susta was on the right bank of the river Gandak which falls in Nepal territorial control.
• But, in due course of time, the river has changed its course and Susta now falls on the left bank of the Gandak, which is controlled by India.

What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister has given its approval for implementation of the Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY)

• The scheme is to bring about Blue Revolution through sustainable and responsible development of fisheries sector in India under two components namely-

• The Scheme will be implemented during a period of 5 years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25.

Central Sector Scheme (CS):

a. The entire project/unit cost will be borne by the Central government (i.e. 100% central funding).
b. Direct beneficiary oriented i.e. individual/group activities are undertaken by the entities of central government including National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB)

• The central assistance will be up to 40% of the unit/project cost for General category and 60% for SC/ST/Women category.

• North Eastern & Himalayan States: 90% Central share and 10% State share.
• Other States: 60% Central share and 40% State share.
• Union Territories (with legislature and without legislature): 100% Central share.

• Address the critical gaps in the fisheries sector and realize its potential.
• Augmenting fish production and productivity at a sustained average annual growth rate of about 9% to achieve a target of 22 million metric tons by 2024-25 through sustainable and responsible fishing practices.
• Improving availability of certified quality fish seed and feed, traceability in fish and including effective aquatic health management.
• Creation of critical infrastructure including modernisation and strengthening of value chain.
• Boost to investments in fisheries sector and increase of competitiveness of fish and fisheries products.
• Doubling of fishers, fish farmers and fish workers incomes by 2024

What's the NEWS

• The Union Cabinet approved additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore at a concessional rate of 9.25 per cent through the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) for the MSME sector and MUDRA borrowers
• The ECLGS was the second-biggest component of Rs 21 lakh crore comprehensive package announced last week.

• Under the scheme, 100 per cent guarantee coverage will be provided by National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company (NCGTC)for additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore to eligible MSMEs and interested MUDRA borrowers, in the form of a guaranteed emergency credit line (GECL) facility
• The ECLGS has been formulated as a specific response to the unprecedented situation caused by COVID-19 and the consequent lockdown, which has severely impacted manufacturing and other activities in the MSME sector
• The scheme aims at mitigating the economic distress being faced by about 45 lakh MSMEs by providing them additional funding of up to Rs 3 lakh crore in the form of a fully guaranteed emergency credit line.
• The main objective of the scheme is to provide an incentive to member lending institutions (MLIs) like banks, financial institutions (FIs) and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) to increase access to, and enable availability of additional funding facility to MSME borrowers, by providing them 100 per cent guarantee for any losses suffered by them due to non-repayment of the GECL funding by borrowers.
• Eligibility - All MSME borrower accounts with outstanding credit of up to Rs 25 crore as on February 29 and with an annual turnover of up to Rs 100 crore would be eligible for GECL funding under the Scheme.
• The entire funding provided under GECL shall be provided with a 100 per cent credit guarantee by NCGTC to MLIs under ECLGS
• Tenor of loan under Scheme will be four years with moratorium period of one year on the principal amount.
• No Guarantee Fee shall be charged by NCGTC from the member Lending Institutions (MLIs) under the scheme and interest rates under the scheme will be capped at 9.25 per cent for banks and FIs, and at 14 per cent for NBFCs.

National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company(NCGTC)

• It is a private limited company incorporated under the Companies Act 1956 on March 28, 2014, established by the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, as a wholly owned company of the Government of India, to act as a common trustee company for multiple credit guarantee funds.
• Credit guarantee programmes are designed to share the lending risk of the lenders and in turn, facilitate access to finance for the prospective borrowers.
• The common architecture of NCGTC has been designed to handle multiple guarantee programmes under a single umbrella organization

• According to the revised definition, any firm with investment up to Rs 1 crore and turnover under Rs 5 crore will be classified as "micro".
• A company with investment up to Rs 10 crore and turnover up to Rs 50 crore will be classified as "small"
• A firm with investment up to Rs 20 crore and turnover under Rs 100 crore will be classified as "medium".

• PSU major Oil India Ltd (OIL) claimed it will drill seven wells inside the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park from about 1.5 km distance outside the boundary of the forest with the help of advanced technology.

• This is a state of the art technology, where drilling will take place around at an average more than 1.5 kilometres outside the demarcated area of the national park where OIL already is carrying out hydrocarbon exploration since last 15 years
• The company will be able to accomplish this task of exploring hydrocarbon reserves under the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park by use of the Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) technology
• ERD techniques are extensively used to intersect hydrocarbon targets far from the surface or areas of the reservoir which otherwise are difficult to access.
• By using this technology, wells can be drilled up to a depth of approximately four km from the existing well plinth without entering the protected area.
• The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) accorded environmental clearance for extension drilling and testing of hydrocarbons at seven locations under Dibru-Saikhowa National Park

Know! about Dibru-Saikhowa National Park

• Dibru-Saikhowa is a National Park as well as a Biosphere Reserve situated in the south bank of the river Brahmaputra in the extreme east of Assam state in India.
• Situated in the flood plain of Brahmaputra, Dibru-saikhowa is a safe haven for many extremely rare and endangered species of Wildlife.
• The park is bounded by the Brahmaputra and Lohit Rivers in the north and Dibru river in the south.
• The forest type of Dibru-Saikhowa comprises of semi-evergreen forests, deciduous forests, littoral and swamp forests and patches of wet evergreen forests.
• Famed for Ferral horses, a total 36 species of mammals and above 400 species of birds have so far been recorded from the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park.

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