The Problems with Westphalian Nation-State System

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We all associate ourselves with various identities such as Indians, Chinese, Pakistani, Americans, Canadians, French, British and much more. Why do you think we all associate with all these more? Are there any other identities which people associate with?  The identities which I mentioned before are relatively new compared to other identities such as religion, language, caste, and various other identities. It is not to say that people never had such feelings towards nations or the state. But the idea of loyalty and love for the motherland was very important which offset various other identities. The question we are arriving at is what is the motherland, who made and how it formed.  What we refer to today as a Nation or Country refers to what we know in political science as a Nation-State. Today almost all the countries we know are categorised Nation-States and some even as State-Nations. International Relations and Political Science suggest that states are the most important a...
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News Capsule for the Week- July (11th-20th)

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 Following are the top news for the week (11-20). 

Kerala 

  • Kerala SSLC 2021 results declared. Pass percentage crosses 99%. 
  • Kerala govt. decides to ease COVID-19 lockdown curbs due to Eid/Bakrid celebrations in the state due to public and pressure from the shopowners. Shops and shopping streets in towns/cities under Category A and B were allowed to open till 8 PM from Sunday to Wednesday. 
  • IMA took Kerala Govt to Supreme Court for removing lockdown restrictions for Eid while Kerala reports the highest number of cases in the country. It cited the exam of cancellation of Kanwar yatra by UP govt as a precautionary measure. Kerala govt. replied back saying that only category A and B were allowed to have shops open for the same. 
  • SC CJ asks Kerala Govt. if qualified immunity given to MLAs apply even for criminal cases. This was after Kerala Govt. tried to withdraw the Kerala Assembly Ruckus Case in 2016.
  • Kerala Governor Arif Muhammed Khan took a hunger strike against Dowry at his official residence Raj Bhavan backed by Gandhian Organisations. This came after an outburst of dowry-related crimes in the state. He also started the "Streepakham Initiative" and Pink Protection which will allow awareness campaigns against Dowry in College Campuses across the state. 
  • Kerala Doctor Arun Basil Mathew is appointed as Addnl CLO for Tokyo 2020 Olympics for Team India. 
  • Shares of Kerala based KiTex group hit record high after its decision to move to Telangana. 
  • PWD Minister Mohammed Riyas announced that Kuthiran Tunnel will be opened in August. It has been a long-pending tunnel project on NH 544. 
  • Kerala Govt, announces 10,000 pilgrims cap will be allowed for Sabarimala monthly rituals. 
India
  • India presents a three-point plan for Afghanistan. India previously evacuated its staff from Kandahar Consulate.
  • Monsoon session of Parliament begins. This will be the first session post Second Wave as well as the newly appointed Ministers. 
  • Pegasus phone tapping and snooping case topped the headlines in the country for the past few days. The opposition created a ruckus in Lok Sabha demanding an appropriate response and dedicated discussion on the same. It also raised the issue of rising fuel prices in the country. 
  • UP, Uttarakhand and Delhi cancels Kanwar Yatra overseeing the COVID-19 situation the country
  • SC calls Kerala Govt's ease of curbs for Eid 'a sorry state of affairs'. 
  • PM Modi in his meeting with CMs spoke on concerns regarding rising cases in the various especially Kerala and Maharastra. He talked about the 4T strategy to fight the pandemic. 
  • Central Govt. says in a response to Question raised in Rajya Sabha that there have been no deaths reported in India due to lack of Oxygen during Second Wave. 
  • Navjot Singh Sidhu is instated as the Punjab PCC President; despite rifts and objections within the Congress against the same.
  • UP presents a draft bill for Population Control ie. a Two-Child Policy in the state on World Population Day. A similar policy is being proposed in Assam. 
  • Foreign Minister S Jayashankar meets the Chinese counterpart in the SCO meeting. Key issues like Ladakh, Afghanistan etc. caught attention in the meeting. 
  • PM Modi inaugurates the newly renovated Gandhinagar Railway station with a 5-star hotel over the platform. 
 
World/International
  • China plans to carry out a Climate Migration programme. 
  • Spin Boldak check-post on Afghanistan's border with Pakistan stands captured by Taliban in a recent offensive; Pakistan closes its border with Afghanistan and bars movement of refugees from the country. 
  • 13 along with 9 Chinese workers killed in a bus explosion in Pakistan's Northern Kohistan close to its border with China. Local authorities claim Gas leak for the same while China condemned the incident and called it an act of terrorism.
  • 11 Army Soldiers were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan in a terror attack. 
  • Recent Pegasus phone tapping issue spread across the globe targeting political opponents and journalists. France declares probe into the same in the country targeting two journalists. 
  • Tokyo 2020 Olympics to begin on 23rd July amidst the concerns of Pandemic and spread of cases within the Olympics village. Over 11,000 athletes will compete against each other in the event. 
  • Delta variant of Corona Virus remains the cause of concern in the US with rising cases across all 50 states. Los Angeles county has ordered compulsory indoor masking. 
  • Sher Bahadur Deuba replaces K. P. Sharma Oli as the PM of Nepal. 
  • Rioting and Looting in South Africa kill many and leaves the country in turmoil that followed after the jailing of former President Jacob Zuma. 
  • The state of California is experiencing one of its worst forest fires in recent years. 
  • In the recent Sero survey by ICMR shows two-third of the Indian population has anti-bodies. 
Technology 
  • Google Meet will hereby enforce 60 minutes time limit for its call for ordinary users replacing unlimited time. G-Suite users can continue to get an unlimited time limit. 
  • China unveils 600 km/h maglev train prototype. 
  • US President Joe Biden said that Facebook is killing people in the context of vaccine misinformation only to retract the statement later on. 
  • Pegasus is spyware used for snooping into phones. It is built and licensed to use by NSO which is based in Israel. Governments across the globe are the main clients of this software. 
  • Jeff Bezos completes his travel to space Rivalling Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic who travelled on 12th July. Bezos travelled in Blue Origin space rocket crossing the Karman line on 20th July. Both companies have decided that they will open their bookings for Space tourism. 


Credits- PxFuel 
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Also, you can check out these books on Amazon. 





Hope this weekly news capsule has in a way be useful to you all. Depending on your requirements and feedback we can decide upon the frequency. 

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