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 (21st-31st)

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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 

  • Congress party sees worst revolt after the list of DCC presidents were announced by the State leadership with the strong backing of the High Command. 
  • Leaders Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala showed extreme dissatisfaction with the list and told that group should be a matter that should be concerned. A senior leader from Palakkad A V Gopinath leaves the party citing the same. 
  • Increased Paliyekara Toll rates will be in effect from September 1. 
  • Onam festival takes a toll on Kerala's COVID tally forcing TPR to reach 20%. 
  • The government decides to impose a Night curfew from 10 PM to 6 AM  to curb the rising COVID-19 cases. 
  • Health Ministry keeps September 30 as the deadline to vaccinate everyone above the age of 18. 
  • KSRTC commuters numbers reach a new high post-pandemic, but fares remain high. 
  • Onam based Kit distribution is to go on till September 3rd. 
India


  • India records 20.1% growth in Quarter 1 of FY 2021. 
  • Modi govt announces asset monetisation worth Rs 6 lakh Crore. 
  • India's R-value rises above 1 with rising infections across several states like Maharastra and Kerala. 
  • Schools across several states reopen since the Janata curfew of march 2020. 
  • Congress party ends its alliance with AIUDF in the state of Assam. 
  • Congress party in West Bengal sees massive defections to Trinamool Congress. This comes after its massive wipeout in the Assembly Elections. 
  • India-Saudi Flights to resume soon amidst India cancels all International flights till September 30th. 
World/International


  • Strong hurricane Ida which is a category 4 hurricane lashes the coast of the US at New Orleans, Louisiana state. The city was out of power due to the landfall. The hurricane has now entered the state of Mississippi. 
  • White House was quick to provide federal assistance and aid through FEMA. 
  • Hurricane Ida leaves more than one million without power. 
  • Christiano Ronaldo makes a landmark deal with the Manchester United Club of the UK, where he had been before he joined Real Madrid FC. He left Juventus FC for Manchester United this week. 
  • Chinese Social Media is divided over China's growing relations with the Taliban in Kabul. More anger is growing within the state against the government's approach. 
  • India led UNSC adopts 3 unanimous resolutions, namely on Syria, Myanmar and Afghanistan. 
  • Russia rejects VISA to a long time BBC journalist reporting on Russia. 
  • US VP Kamala Harris is on a tour of  Asia. 
  • f News announces its Morning News to be shifted to New studio in Times Square and will be led by a new team. 
Afghanistan 
  • The US completes its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by 30th August. Over 124,000 were evacuated in record time. 
  • 13 Americans among 250 people target and killed at Kabul Airport in a suicide bombing by IS-K.
  • The US takes revenge by killing the executor of the Airport suicide attack and many others who are potential suicide bombers in and around Kabul city. Large civilian casualties were reported in the same. 
  • US military is alleged to have used Drones operated from Pakistani soil to target IS-K.
  • US Senate passes a bill to provide assistance to people evacuated from Afghanistan and arriving in the country. 
  • President stands by his decision to withdraw calls, it best, wise and right decision. He stressed that the US will help those who couldn't come to the US by the last flight. 
  • Taliban and its supporters are seen celebrating the US exit and call it a lesson for all invaders
  • Indian envoy meets Taliban officials to discuss the safety of Indians and to protect Hindus and Sikhs leaving Afghanistan. 
  • Czech Republic puts US and Israel on Dark Red list due to COVID-19 to put travel restrictions. 
  • Serbia to close Europe's largest landfill in the country, named Vinca situated on the periphery of the capital Belgrade. 
Technology 



  • Telegram app secures 1 Billion downloads. India has the highest number of users. 
  • Airtel is seeking to raise its tariffs as per the statement of founder and CEO Sunil Mittal.
  • Airtel 
  • Yahoo News closes down its operations in India due to FDI regulations.
  • Linktree to partner up with Paypal to enable direct payments.
  • Google Meet will be able to warn you during an echo.
  • Whatsapp banned over 3 Million accounts in the month of September due to new regulations.
  • Acer to launch Smart TVs in India. 
  • Netflix launches UPI based recurring payments in India.
  • China to prevent U-18s from playing games on weekdays. Maximum only 3 hours per week is allotted. 
  • Various payment wallets to face new regulations in Australia.
  • Google pay to offer Fixed Deposits in India
  • China to crack down on Internet celebrity fan culture. 
  • Tech firms in the US pledge more money for cybersecurity after their meet with US President Biden. 
  • Facebook to form Election Commission to look into Global Poll issues. 
  • Indian govt. to launch QSIM for Quantum Computing Research
  • UP govt looks to start Delhi to Varanasi Bullet train connecting various cities in the state ahead of state assembly elections. 
  • Tiktok to partner up with Shopify for shopping deals. 
  • Substack to accept payments in cryptocurrency. 
  • Huawei gets approval for chips aimed at auto-business. 
  • Xiaomi launches Mi TV 5X series. 
You can download the Olympics App for the updates and schedule or go to olympics.com 

Credits- PxFuel 

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