PIB Summary- 16th May, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Sikkim Statehood Day

Context: PM greeted the people of Sikkim on their Statehood Day.

Events that led to the Inclusion of Sikkim

• The present erstwhile monarchy in Sikkim started in the year 1642 with the coronation of Phuntsog Namgyal as the Chogyal or king. The king was also a consecrated Buddhist priest.
• The country was frequently attacked by the Gorkha army of Nepal. Initially, the British establishment in India had good relations with Sikkim. Relations with the British deteriorated and finally in 1861, the British acquired the regions of Darjeeling and the Terai.
• The Treaty of Tumlong in 1861 made Sikkim a protectorate of the British.
• After India’s independence in 1947, the guarantees of independence that Sikkim had acquired from the British were transferred to the new Indian government.
• The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave special protectorate status for Sikkim, which was to be a ‘tributary’ of India. This meant that India had control over Sikkim’s external defence, communications and diplomacy.
• A semblance of a constitutional government was established under the ruling Chogyal in Sikkim, who was otherwise an absolute monarch.
• During the Sino-Indian war of 1962, Sikkim was seen as a problematic area for India as skirmishes occurred in the Nathu La pass which connects Sikkim with Tibet.
• Trouble started brewing in the Himalayan kingdom in 1970 when there were anti-monarchy demonstrations led by the Sikkim National Congress Party.
• India was worried that China would use this situation and claim the tiny country as part of Tibet.
• India appointed a Chief Administrator for Sikkim to oversee the political instability there. Indian troops were also placed.
• The Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal himself requested military help from India to quell the uprising against the royalists.
• The elected Prime Minister of Sikkim Lhendup Dorji was himself an anti-monarchist. He had been elected by the Council of Ministers which was opposed to the continuance of the monarchy in Sikkim.
• Dorji asked the Indian Parliament to change the status of Sikkim to that of statehood. A referendum was conducted on 14th April 1975 in which about 97% of the population voted for merger with India.
• On 26th April, the Indian Parliament approved the constitutional amendment making Sikkim a state of India.
• The amendment was ratified by the President on 15 May and Sikkim was finally admitted to the Union of India on 16th May 1975 as the country’s 22nd state.
• Dorji was made the Chief Minister of Sikkim and the monarchy was abolished.

National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC)

Context: Cabinet Secretary chaired National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) meeting on Cyclone Tauktae.

About the National Crisis Management Committee:

• The NCMC is a committee set up by the Government of India in the wake of a natural calamity for effective coordination and implementation of relief measures and operations.
• It is headed by the Cabinet Secretary.
• In India, the NCMC and the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) are the two major committees involved in top-level decision making with respect to Disaster Management (DM).
• Key functions of the NCMC:
  • Overseeing the command, control and coordination of the disaster response.
  • Giving directions to the crisis management group as necessary.
• The committee is chaired by the Cabinet Secretary and has the secretaries of various ministries or departments with disaster management responsibilities as members.

Cyclone Tauktae:

• Tauktae is the fourth cyclone in consecutive years to have developed in the Arabian Sea, that too in the pre-monsoon period (April to June).
• Tauktae has been intensifying very rapidly. From a depression formed in the southeast Arabian Sea on May 14 morning, it strengthened into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ by the early hours of May 16.
• The IMD has further predicted that Cyclone Tauktae will turn into an extremely severe cyclonic storm.
• The coastal districts of Maharashtra and Gujarat are on high alert and people have been evacuated from vulnerable areas.
• Gale-force winds, heavy rainfall and high tidal waves swept the coastal belt of Kerala, Karnataka and Goa leaving about ten people dead and about a hundred damaged houses.
• The cyclone is expected to hit Gujarat on the 17th and the forecast is that it will reduce in intensity then.