WhatsApp No. 88986-30000€¦ · Fall of Arab Peace Initiative Till the UAE-Israel deal was...

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1. What’s next for Palestine after UAE, Bahrain deals with Israel?

Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper II; IOBR

It took more than three decades for the first Arab country to recognise Israel. Egypt signed a peace treaty with its Jewish neighbour in 1979, a year after the Camp David summit between President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Jordan, the second Arab country that established peace with Israel, took 15 more years to do so. There was a gap of 26 years between Jordan’s peace treaty and that of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with Israel. And then it took less than 30 days for the fourth agreement — between Bahrain and Israel that was announced on Friday by U.S. President Donald Trump. The new-found readiness of the Arab countries to have peace with Israel, under the mediation of the Trump administration, appears to be transforming one of the oldest conflicts in the modern West Asia. There is speculation that more Arab countries, from Morocco to Sudan and Oman, may follow in the footsteps of the UAE and Bahrain. These deals, which have formalised years of back room contacts between the Gulf kingdoms and Israel, suggest that the pan-Arab-Israel conflict is turning the page. Where does it leave the Palestinians? Fall of Arab Peace Initiative

Till the UAE-Israel deal was announced on August 13, the official Arab position on the question of Palestine was rooted in the Arab Peace Initiative, proposed by Saudi Arabia in 2002, and endorsed by the Arab League in the same year. The proposal calls for normalising relations between the Arab world and Israel, in exchange for full Israeli withdrawal from the territories it captured in the 1967 war, including the West Bank, Gaza and the Golan Heights, a “just settlement” of the Palestinian refugee issue and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. “Since 2002, both the UAE and Bahrain have supported the Arab Peace Initiative. However, the recent agreements made by Bahrain and the UAE break with this consensus. The Abraham Accords [Israel and the UAE] require Israel only to ‘temporarily halt’ its formal annexation of the West Bank [settlements]. The agreement between Bahrain and Israel dispenses with the pretence altogether, making no mention of Palestinian land,” said Elham Fakhro, senior Gulf analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG). This has angered the Palestinians, who have “strongly rejected” the agreements. “The Palestinian leadership considers this step to blow up the Arab Peace Initiative and the decisions of the Arab and Islamic summits, and international legitimacy, as an aggression against the Palestinian people, and as neglecting Palestinian rights and sacred things, especially Jerusalem and the independent Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967,” the Palestinian Authority said in a statement issued after the UAE deal was announced.

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The Palestinians have further called for “an immediate emergency session” of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation “to reject this declaration”. The Palestinians Liberation Organization (PLO), the main resistance movement of the Palestinians, has rejected the Bahrain-Israel deal as well. “If you really wish to ‘advance the cause of peace, dignity, & economic opportunity for the Palestinian people’ how about ending Israel’s ruthless occupation and its theft of our land and resources? Coercing and cajoling Arabs to normalise with Israel will not bring you peace or dignity,” tweeted Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO Executive Committee, after the Bahrain deal was announced. Nothing for Palestinians

The Palestinians got nothing in return from these agreements, said A.K. Pasha, a professor of West Asian Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. “[Former Egyptian President Anwar] Sadat wanted an autonomous West Bank and Gaza and removal of the settlements [in 1978-79], but he could get only a freeze on the settlements for three months. The same scenario is now being repeated. The Israelis say they have postponed the annexation. After the U.S. election, whether Trump wins or not, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Nentanyahu will go ahead with his annexation plan,” he told The Hindu, adding that the future of the Palestinians “looks quite bleak”. Agrees Ms. Fakhro of the ICG. “By normalising relations outside this framework of ‘land for peace’, the two states have broken with a decades-old Arab consensus on the Palestinian issue, and effectively endorsed Israel’s military occupation over the Palestinians. This leaves the Palestinians more isolated than ever, and further weakens the already-dim prospect of a two-state solution,” Ms. Fakhro told The Hindu. “For the Palestinians, solidarity will need to be recast in broader terms, knowing full well that many Arab states — but not their unrepresented populations — have all but abandoned the Palestinian cause.” Source: The Hindu

2. Sri Lanka revisiting draft 20th Amendment Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper II; IOBR

The Sri Lankan government is revisiting the draft 20th Amendment to the Constitution, gazetted earlier this month, in the light of “public concerns”, according to government sources. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa on Saturday appointed a nine-member committee chaired by G.L. Peiris, a Cabinet Minister and a former professor of law, to study the proposed Amendment. The newly drafted 20th Amendment envisages enhancing Presidential powers, along with immunity, while significantly reducing the Prime Minister’s role and powers.








Reversal of 19th amendment It follows the ruling Rajapaksa brothers’ election pledge to repeal the preceding 19th Amendment — introduced by the former government in 2015 — that imposed curbs on presidential powers, while empowering Parliament and independent commissions. Both President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa promised to get rid of the amendment they blame for the power struggle between President Maithripala Sirsena and PM Ranil Wickremesinghe in the former government that led to serious lapses, including in intelligence sharing ahead of the Easter Sunday blasts. However, the proposed Bill has drawn criticism from the political opposition and civil society organisations, who have raised concern over the President wielding unbridled power, with few checks in the legislature or the judiciary. Criticism and concern

While opposition parties are mulling going to court on the proposed amendment, the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) has appointed a special committee to study the 20th Amendment to the Constitution. The Amendment also found mention in the statement made by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at the ongoing Human Rights Council in Geneva on Monday. Referring to Sri Lanka in her global human rights update, High Commissioner Bachelet said: “I am troubled that the new government is swiftly reneging on its commitments to the Human Rights Council since it withdrew its support for resolution 30/1. Among other developments, the proposed 20th Amendment to the Constitution may negatively impact on the independence of key institutions, including the National Human Rights Commission.”

Source: The Hindu

3. How UAE, with virtually no sportspersons, became a global sports hub Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper III; Miscellaneous

On September 19, at the Sheikh Zayed Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi, the inaugural match of this year’s Indian Premier League will be played – marking the opener of a marquee sports league that for the first time will entirely take place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). And in case India fails to get a grip of the pandemic next year, chances are that the 2021 edition, expected to kick off in March, too will be played in the Gulf. The choice of the destination is not surprising. At the World Travel Awards last December, Abu Dhabi was given the award for the World’s Leading Sports Tourism Destination.








Staging the IPL on foreign shores is not an alien concept to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The entire 2009 edition was held in South Africa, and the first 20 matches in 2014 took place in the UAE – both due to security issues surrounding the general elections. But the BCCI’s decision to shift this year’s edition abroad comes due to the rising Covid-19 cases in India. And the IPL going to the UAE fits with the trend of major global sporting events choosing the Middle East nation as the venue. But just as prominent as their expertise in hosting events is the glaring absence of an Emirati sportsperson of a world-beating calibre in global sports. Granted, the country has won a gold (2004 Olympics) and a bronze at the 2016 Olympics, an Emirati competing at the highest level of a sport has been a rarity – especially at the events the country hosts. A part of the reason is that of the 9.89 million population in 2020 (according to the World Bank), 88.52 percent are expatriates (Source: Global Media Insight). “We are a very fresh and young country (UAE gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1971). Since we comprise a lot of expats, we have produced a lot of key players who are expatriates,” explains Harmeek Singh, strategic director of the UAE Athletics Federation. “But then again, now we are looking forward to expatriates getting that kind of representation from UAE. We are one community over here, expats and locals, because we all value UAE as one country.” Despite no great challenge from the home contingent, the UAE has become an

unparalleled sporting destination. But what makes the UAE such a sporting hub? “The infrastructure that we have here is state-of-the-art, something that makes the developed countries want to look at us. Dubai and UAE has always been known for being the leaders, rather than following, so we bring the biggest and the best,” says Singh, who was the first expatriate to represent the UAE. “Anything that we talk about, we were probably ahead of the game. We started working on training equipment and facilities to be provided according to international standard. To be a part of global events, sports was one of criteria that the (government has) followed. The kind of approach that UAE attracts with the sports facilities, and openness to having sports events, has been a revelation.” Over a wide array of sports, the UAE has been a go-to destination. For the moment though, despite the country attracting major sporting names and events, there remains a Gulf in class between foreigners and Emirati sporting competitors. Cricket

In 1998, Sharjah held the trination series between Australia, New Zealand and India, an event that is more famously called ‘Desert Storm’ because of Sachin Tendulkar’s back-to-back centuries.








UAE is considered the ‘home’ venue for Pakistan’s cricket teams, especially during the international ban that forbid Pakistan to host matches in their own country. The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport’s governing body, also has its headquarters in Dubai. Meanwhile, the UAE national team, an associate nation, has qualified for two ODI World Cups – in 1996 and 2015, and have won just one (against the Netherlands, 1996) of their 11 matches at the competition. They also made it to the qualification round ahead of the 2014 T20 World Cup. Football Arguably the most popular sport in the country, the national men’s team is ranked 71 in the world and eighth in Asia. They hosted the U-20 Men’s World Cup in 2003, the Asian Cup in 1996 and 2019 (finishing as runner-up and fourth respectively), and have hosted the FIFA Club World Cup for four years (2009-2010 and 2017-18). English football giant Manchester City is also owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi Royal Family. Subsequently, the team has made trips to the country during the cold European winters to train. Similarly, a number of top European teams, such as, but not limited to, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool have held camps in the UAE. AC Milan also beat Real Madrid 4-2 in an exhibition match in Dubai in December 2014, and last year, at the Al Jazira Stadium in Abu Dhabi, Brazil played South Korea in a friendly. Tennis

Dubai hosts one of the richest tour events in both the WTA and ATP calendars, in back-to-back weeks. The WTA Premier event in 2020 had a total prize money of $2,643,670 and the ATP 500 event the following week had a total of $2,950,420 on offer. Both events have attracted top players from their inaugural editions (2001 for WTA and 1993 for ATP) such as former world no 1s Martina Hingis, Venus Williams, Andy Roddick, Petra Kvitova, Andy Roddick, Caroline Wozniacki, and the Big 3 – Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal-Novak Djokovic. The UAE has also been a prominent residence for players – mainly due to its tax benefits and facilities. Borna Coric (former world no 12), Karen Khachanov (world no 16) and Lucas Pouille (former world no 10) reside in Dubai according to their ATP profiles, and Federer too had reportedly purchased an apartment in the city. Meanwhile, the UAE’s highest ranked ever tennis player is Omar Alawadhi, who last played a competitive match, according to his ATP profile, in 2018 and has a career high of 805. Table Tennis








Dubai was the official sponsor of the mighty Chinese national Table Tennis team from 2013 to 2017. The city also hosted the World Team Cup in 2010 and 2015. The country’s highest ranked player – 404 – currently is Salah Albalushi. There are no women players in the ITTF rankings.

Badminton Dubai hosted the Super Series Finals (year-end finale) for four years from 2014 to 2017, but has not produced a prominent badminton player yet.

Formula One

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix has been a permanent fixture on the Formula One calendar since its inaugural race in 2009. The country, however, is yet to produce a driver who competes at the pinnacle of motorsport. Rugby

Dubai hosts the Dubai Rugby Sevens, a prominent event in the World Rugby Sevens Series – for both men and women. The men’s event had first started in 1970 and, according to the Dubai Rugby Sevens website, “is the longest-running sports event in the Middle East.” All events take place at The Sevens Stadium – a venue built especially for the sport – since 2008. In comparison, the national federation was formed only in 2009 and was affiliated to the international body – World Rugby – in 2012. Furthermore, the UAE national team has competed in a World Series event just once, at the home event in 2011.

Golf

The UAE hosts the prestigious PGA European Tour events Dubai Desert Classic and DP World Tour Championships – the latter being the finale of the Race to Dubai. The country, however, has just four golfers in the current world rankings – Ahmed Al Musharekh (the only professional in the list) and amateur golfers Ahmed Skaik, Saif Thabet and Abdulla Al Qubaisi. All of them are ranked last, tied-2014 in the week of September 7 Source: The Indian Express

4. How far can singing/talking spread Covid-19? Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper III; Science & Technology

The act of singing emits particles into the air, and the novel coronavirus spreads through particles. So, what is the risk of Covid-19 spreading when a person sings — or talks? Two studies have examined the amount of particles emitted when singing and talking.








The broad findings

One paper, from Lund University in Sweden and published in Aerosol Research and Technology, found that: * The louder you sing, the more particles you spread * Consonants — particularly P, B, R, T — are bigger aerosol spreaders than vowels The other paper, from the University of Bristol and awaiting peer review, found that: * Singing does not produce very substantially more respiratory particles than speaking, when both are at a similar volume. Vowels & consonants

The Swedish researchers measured particles emitted by 12 healthy singers and two people with confirmed Covid-19; 7 of the 14 were professional opera singers. In a chamber with particle-free air, they sang a short Swedish song, Bibbis pippi Petter, repeated it 12 times in two minutes at constant pitch, then repeated it again with the consonants removed, leaving only the vowels. “In our work we investigated a number of different aspects of singing: singing compared to talking, singing loud compared to normal singing, singing with face mask and singing consonants compared to vowels… We did not systematically compare all the different consonants, but noted that P, B, R and T generated a high numbers of droplets,” Jakob Löndahl, Associate Professor of Aerosol Technology at Lund University, said by email.

Size matters

Consonants release very large droplets — and B and P stand out as the biggest aerosol spreaders. At the same time, larger droplets fall to the ground earlier, and so have a shorter lifespan than smaller droplets. Is that a contradiction? “I think this is still a topic of considerable scientific uncertainty,” Löndahl explained. “The main reasons for supposing a larger transmission of disease from the big droplets is that they can contain more virus than smaller aerosol particles, and that disease transmission usually occur at rather close contact and less over longer distances (however the reason for this could also be the dilution over longer distances).” Absence of virus

As the two people with Covid-19 sang, the team measured the virus in the air close to them. The air samples contained no detectable amount of virus. “But the viral load can vary in different parts of the airways and between different people. Accordingly, aerosols from a person with Covid-19 may still entail a risk of infection when singing,” doctoral student Malin Alsved said in a statement.








Singing ‘Happy Birthday’ In the University of Bristol study, 25 professional performers were made to talk, and sing Happy Birthday in the “zero aerosol background” of an operating theatre. (Some reports have said it was the Lund University study that found singing Happy Birthday could spread the virus because of the consonants B and P, but Löndahl told The Indian Express that Happy Birthday was not sung in his team’s study.) The University of Bristol researchers found is a rise in aerosol mass with increase in the loudness of the singing and speaking, rising by a factor of 20-30. However, singing does not produce very substantially more aerosol than speaking at a similar volume. There were no significant differences in aerosol production between genders, or among different genres (choral, musical theatre, opera, choral, jazz, gospel, rock and pop). Should performers sing?

The Lund University researchers suggested singing need not be silenced. A song can be sung with social distancing, good hygiene and good ventilation; masks can also make a difference. The University of Bristol researchers noted that when the audience is large, singers may not be responsible for the greatest production of aerosol. Ways to ensure adequate ventilation may be more important than restricting a specific activity, they suggested. Source: The Indian Express

5. It’s official: Question Hour gone Relevant for GS Prelims & Mains Paper II; Polity & Governance

The Lok Sabha adopted a motion to do away with Question Hour and private members’ business during the current monsoon session of Parliament owing to the special circumstances and curtailed hours of the House. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi moved the motion in the Lok Sabha citing the extraordinary circumstances of Covid-19 amid which the House was being convened, and the allotted four-hour sittings per day. Source: The Hindu





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