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- August (1st-10th)

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 Following are the top news for the week (11-20).  If you wish to follow and get notifications of future articles, you can signup using the email on the left sidebar. 


Kerala 

  • Kerala Govt decides to relax the lockdown restrictions ahead of Onam festival and in the wake of protests from all corners. 
  • Govt. plans to take stringent action against those trying to misuse Online Education platforms and targeting teachers and students. 
  • Govt. withdraws flood cess from August 1. 
  • Mathrubhumi newspaper shares Friendship Day Wishes to rival newspaper Malayala Manorama. 
  • Kerala Govt. starts distribution of food kits via ration shops ahead of Onam festival. 
  • Manasa murder case dominated the headlines in the crime section for the past week. Two native Biharis are arrested and brought to Kerala in the same. The primary accused Rakhil Raghuthaman had shot the victim using a gun that was brought from Bihar and sold to him by these two natives. 
  • Infighting inside the Congress' closest ally in the state Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) grows after the Chandrika newspaper fund issue. 
  • Air India offers compensation to survivors for last year's (2020) Kozhikode airport plane accident which happened due to a slippery highway caused by heavy rain in Karipur. 
  • The Education Minister declared that schools will open in the state in a phased manner.   
  • Major tourism centres open in the state following all COVID-19 SOP for the first time after the second wave. This is also ahead of the Onam holidays that are going to come in the second week. 
  • E Bull Jet vlogger brothers arrested for violating MVD rules by modifying caravan. They were also arrested for violating COVID-19 SOP in the police station and also for inciting a mob against the law enforcement agencies. They were later granted bail on the same. The police confirmed that they will take action against people trying to incite hate and violence on Social Media related to the issue. 
  • Kerala High Court allows Kerala Technological University (KTU) to decide on Exam Conduct. 
India


  • India's Tokyo Athletes will be invited for a Special Ceremony during Independence Day at the Red Fort. 
  • Class 10 CBSE results declared. Pass percentage crosses record 99 %. 
  • JEE Mains results announced in the country. 
  • The Editor's Guild of India approaches SC in the Pesagus case demanding an SIT probe. 
  • GOI decides to extend the OBC quota into Medical Education. 
  • BCCI protests Pak Cricket Board's decision to conduct Kashmiri Premier League. 
  • India's COVID-19 R-value crosses 1. 
  • Various states namely Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and UT Jammu and Kashmir saw Cloudburst. 
  • Rajya Sabha approves Bill that will end retrospective taxation. The opposition walked out of that session. 
  • Indian Defence Ministry denies having any contracts with NSO with respect to the Pegasus issue. 
  • The presence of the Eta variant of COVID was confirmed in Karnataka. 
  • The Johnson and Johnson vaccine receives emergency approval in the country. 
  • ICMR report claims mixing of both COVISHIELD and COVAXIN vaccines will give better protection than two doses of vaccines individually. 
  • SC CJ says that Police stations are becoming the hub of human rights violations. 
  • Assam and Mizoram decide to solve the border dispute with each other. 
World/International


  • Cloudburst creates unusual flooring in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. 
  • Reports by New York Attorney General finds New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo guilty of Sexual Harassment of multiple women. 
  • Thailand extends lockdown in the Capital city of Bangkok and 16 other provinces in the country due to delta variant spurting up cases. 
  • China locks Wuhan city as a cluster of cases due to the Delta variant was detected. Following that Millions in the state were tested for COVID. Over 15 other cities besides Capital Beijing were also put on alert. 
  • Republican Party takes over the Election Board of Georgia's Fulton County. It is the largest and most populous county and also houses the city of Atlanta. 
  • US, UK and Israel jointly allege the responsibility of Israeli ship attack on Iran which it strongly denies. 
  • Ebrahim Raisi assumes charge as the President of Iran. 
  • Tunisian President denies the allegations levelled by Opposition in the case of Coup. 
  • Turkey shows interest in taking charge of the protection of Kabul Airport after the US withdrawal. 
  • European economy bounces back at a rate of 13%. 
  • US economy shows signs of recovery with close to 1 million jobs become created till July. 
  • US CDC says it's ready to approve booster shots for those who are vulnerable.
  • At the UNSC meeting, PM Modi becomes the first Indian PM to be the President of the same and talked about breaking down maritime trade barriers. Russian President Vladimir Putin also attended the same meeting. 
  • Joe Biden's $1.2 Trillion Bill passes in Senate. 
  • Afghan Taliban captures the provincial capital of Kunduz. 
  • The latest IPCC report this week warns of severe climate change and sea-level rise warning 12 Indian cities on the Coastline. 
Technology 


  • Google unveils a new desktop app for Google Meet. 
  • The month of July sees a record number of UPI based bank transactions in India. 
  • Indian PM Narendra Modi announces the new digital payment platform E-RUPI. 
  • Tata enters into semiconductor manufacturing after it carried out the sale of 5G equipment.  
  • Amazon wins the Future Deal case in Supreme Court against Reliance. 
  • Whatsapp introduces once view photos and videos feature. 
  • Car trade introduces its IPO on 9th August and it hits record subscription. 
  • Tik Tok overtakes Facebook as the most downloaded social media app in the world. 
  • Spotify unveils new premium plans for its users. 
  • Vodafone loses 2700 Cr INR as Kumar Mangalam Birla's letter to Cabinet Secrertay demanding writing ofs AGR dues to VI goes public. 
  • VI files review petition in Supreme Court in the case of AGR dues. 
  • Xiaomi leads in Android phones shipments across the globe. 
Sports 
  • Football star Lionel Messi FC Barcelona and later joins Paris Saint Germain in a new contract. 

Olympics



General Highlights 
  • Fastest Man in the world- Lamont Marcell Jacobs of Italy, breaking the record of Jamaica in track events. 
  • The US comes top in the Medal tally surpassing China in the number of gold medals (39). It also bagged the most number of medals on the table. 
  • Google doodle had also kept a special interactive game in connection with the Tokyo Olympics. 
Final Medal Tally

India at Olympics-
  • Indian Hockey team crosses into semis for the first time in 49 years. It ended up winning the bronze medal, which is the first medal in hockey for 42 years. The last medal won was gold in 1980 during Moscow Olympics. 
  • Niraj Chopra wins India's first Gold medal for athletics and the only Gold medal for the 2020 Olympics. 
  • Ravi Kumar Dahiya won the Silver medal 
  • Mirabai Chanu won the silver medal in the Women’s 49 kg Weightlifting to become the first Olympic medallist in the Tokyo Olympics 2020. 
  • PV Sindhu wins the bronze medal in Badminton Women's Singles. 
  • Bajarang Punia wins the bronze medal in Men's 65 kg wrestling category. 
  • Lovlina Borghian wins the bronze medal in the Women's Welterweight boxing category. 
  • Rajya Sabha praises Indian Olympians and Medal winners on the 9th. 
  • India finishes with its best-ever tally at the 48th position with seven medals. 
Tokyo Olympics got over on 8th August Sunday with a grand victory cum closing ceremony.IOC president Thomas Bach declared Tokyo 2020 Games closed. Tokyo Paralympics 2020 is just a few days away. It will be held between 24th August and 5th September 2021. Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 is less than six months away. 

All eyes are now on the next Olympics in Paris 2024. Paris will be the only city to have hosted the games three times. The last time being 1924 and now the games will return exactly after a century. 


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. 



Credits- PxFuel 

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