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...

News capsule for the Fortnight- November (1st-15th)

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 

  • Man accused of killing the elephant in Kerala surrenders. 
  • Actor Jojju Jose confronts Congress protesters in Kochi who was blocking public roads. Protesters damaged his car and file cases against him. A new political controversy over the same buildup. 
  • Kerala celebrated its 65th formation day on November 1st. 
  • Case filed against Pala Bishop for communally divisive remarks. 
  • Over 2300 teachers in the state claim vaccine exemptions due to religious reasons.
  • Former Miss Kerala, Runner-Up Killed in Road Accident In Kochi.
  • Swapna Suresh, 7 accused get bail in UAPA case; no proof of terror act, says Kerala HC.
  • CM Pinarayi Vijayan announces support for starting Pubs and Bars in IT parks of the state. He pitched the importance of nightlife. 
  • Kerala open Cinema halls after the second wave for the first time with half the seating capacity. 
  • Mullaperiyar Dam level to be retained at 139 feet as per the SC order. The dam 
  • Idukki Dam opened for the second time in less than a month due to heavy rains lashing the state. The Kochi suburban town of Aluva was inundated with floodwater. 
  • Schools and colleges to remain shut for two days in three districts.  
  • KSRTC staff holds a two-day strike. Their salary dues are to be cleared on the 16th. 
  • Mohanlal's 5 upcoming movies will get a direct OTT release: Antony Perumbavoor.
  • Kerala cancels permission to TN on felling trees in the Mullaperiyar region. 
  • Censor Board cleared Dulquer Salmaan's 'Kurup' with a U/A certificate. The film garners Rs 6 cr on its first day. 
  • Prof Nandakumar was removed as IIUCNN director following Deepa Mohanan's hunger strike protest at MG University. 
  • Lulu Mall at Trivandrum to be integrated by CM on December 16th. 
  • CPIM Alappuzha gives public censure to G Sudhakaran.
  • Governor visits Kochi Metro with KMRL MD Behra. 
  • Vegetable prices soar across Kerala. 
  • Bus fare to be revised in Kerala, minimum charge to be fixed at Rs 10.
  • CAG report criticises Kerala govt on handling 2018 floods and also on KIIFB. 
  • Jose K Mani files nomination for Rajya Sabha polls.
India


  • Several states celebrate their formation day on 1st November. 
  • Bypoll results of several constituencies out. BJP faces maximum setback while opposition gains big. 
  • Central government cuts Rs 5 from petrol and Rs 10 on Diesel ahead of the Diwali festival and also amidst the loss in bypolls and increasing fuel prices across the nation. 
  • Superstar Vijay Sethupathi attacked at Bangalore Airport.
  • Ten odd states mostly poll-bound and BJP ruled states reduce the Petrol and Diesel prices. 
  • Kerala ranked the Best Governed state as per the PAI2021 index, UP the worst. 
  • Indians across the celebrated Diwali on November 4th. Wishes came from the POTUS and White house. 
  • The City of Delhi and several North Indian cities reported massive smog the day after Diwali indicating the pollution increasing manifolds. 
  • Ailing Bengal minister Subrata Mukherjee passed away. 
  • Navjot Singh Sidhu withdraws his resignation as Punjab Congress chief.
  • Sameer Wankhede Removed As Probe Officer From Aryan Khan Case.
  • Delhi govt extends free ration till May 2022. 
  • City of Chennai experiences massive rains and flooding in the city. 20 districts of TN were on red alert. 
  • Nitish is now set to review Bihar’s Liquor Prohibition laws.
  • Fisherman killed in firing off Gujarat coast: FIR against 10 Pakistan maritime security personnel. 
  • Padma Awards 2021 announced. PV Sindhu, Kangana Ranaut, Mary Kom, Karan Johar, Ekta Kapoor etc. receive the honour. 
  • PM Modi speaks to security heads of 7 nations who meet on Afghanistan in Delhi. 
  • Shashi Tharoor MP of opposition faces backlash after he wished L K Advani over Twitter. 
  • Bengaluru witnessed a temperature drop by almost 7 degrees amidst rains. 
  • Indian Army agrees to grant Permanent Commission to 11 women after Supreme Court warning.
  • Congress leader Salman Khurshid faces flak after equating RSS with ISIS in his latest book. His house in Nainital was attacked due to the same. 
  • Delhi schools to remain closed for a week due to pollution. 
  • Congress party celebrates India's PM Nehru's birth anniversary. Speakers and ministers skip the same.
World/International



  • Saudi Arabia cancels imports from Lebanon despite the financial crunch.
  • Longer waits for US visa issue from now on.  
  • Australia opens the country for vaccinated residents stuck outside for the first time after the pandemic. 
  • Britain introduces a new tax policy post-Brexit and COVID-19. 
  • Elections to several US city mayoral posts were conducted on November 2nd. The democratic party grabs most of the big city mayoral positions. New York gets its second black mayor, Eric Adams. Pittsburg and Buffalo to have their first black mayor. Boston to have its first Asian-American mayor. 
  • Republican Party Candidate Glenn Youngkin wins the Virginia governor's race defeating Terry McAuffile of the Democratic Party. This is the first time GOP won the state after 12 years. 
  • Incumbent Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy of the Democratic party won the race with a thinner margin than expected. 
  • China imposes a new lockdown amidst rising in new infections. 
  • Ruling LDP wins the elections in Japan under the new PM Fumio Kishida.
  • COVID-19 global deaths cross 5 million. 
  • India's Covaxin vaccine gets WHO emergency approval. 
  • US and China face acute supply chain crises amidst the rise in demand post-pandemic. 
  • The US celebrated veterans day on November 11th. 
  • The US inks security pact with Georgia, set to anger its neighbour Russia. 
  • Joe Biden's $1.2 Trillion Infrastructure Bill Passed. 13 GOP Congressmen and 9 GOP senators cross voted to make it a bipartisan effort. President signs the bill to action. 
  • Saudi Arabia bails out Pakistan's debt amidst bankruptcy. 
  • Gas prices reach a record high in the US amidst Inflation. 
  • Iraqi Prime minister Mustafa Al Khadmini survives an assassination bid using a drone strike. 
  • Bosnia's disintegration would affect the entire region, says peace envoy.
  • Czech PM Andrew Babis resigns after the election loss. New liberal alliance SPOLU to take charge. 
  • A new wave of COVID-19 hits low vaccinated Eastern European nations. 
  • US employment numbers increase manifolds post-pandemic. 
  • Houston's Travis Scott concert sees the accidental death of 10 people mostly teens and young people.
  • Russia, Iran, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan NSAs met in Delhi with Indian representatives too. China and Pakistan skip the same. 
  • SIGAR report finds misuse in the utilisation of Afghanistan funds. 
  • France returns 26 looted artefacts and artworks to Benin.
  • US DOJ head Steve Bannon was charged with contempt of Congress.
  • A new migrant crisis emerges on the Belarus-Poland border with migrants remaining stranded on the border. 
  • Japan announces 40 Trillion Yen Stimulus package.
  • France changes the colour of its flag to a darker shade.
  • India resumes quarantine free travel to people from 99 countries.
  • Joe Biden and Xi Jinping talk over a virtual summit. 
COP26- Glasgow 2021
  • US calls out China and Russia for being absent from the COP26 council. 
  • UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutteres and Heads of the Government spoke in the same.
  • US and EU announce a new Methane plan. 
  • The US joins the International Solar Alliance. 
  • Jeff Bezos Pledges $2 Billion for Climate action. 
  • Greta Tunberg takes on world leaders arriving for COP26 by private jets. 
  • Tuvalu FM does speech in water to emphasise the rise in sea level. 
  • China and US reach a historic deal on GHG emissions restrictions. 
Technology 


  • The US sought to ban Chinese telecom operators in the country. 
  • Volkswagen confirms chip shortage affecting its production. 
  • Union Min Sarbananda Sonowal dedicates five ships to the nation.
  • $100 Billion worth of UPI transactions happened in the month of October. 
  • Chinese hospital team up with Huawei using 5G for proper hospital care. 
  • WhatsApp Multi-Device Feature Rolled Out; No Need To Keep Phone Online For Web version.
  • Cochin airport, the first to run fully on solar power, launched the hydro project. 
  • NYC mayor Adams to accept payments in cryptocurrency. 
  • Elon Musk decides to sell off his Telsa stocks. The price massively falls on the news. 
  • US blacklists NSO group for selling Spywares. 
  • France to help India in advanced military technologies amidst cancellation of its deal with Australia. 
  • Xiaomi makes over $1.5 billion in five days of November. 
  • India's indigenous twitter-like Koo app top advertiser on Facebook beats BJP. 
  • Twitter flags tweet by GOP leader calling to kill senior Democratic party leaders and President Biden. 
  • Bharti Airtel, Oracle expand their partnership to offer cloud solutions.
  • Zomato officially announces its exit from all international markets.
  • WhatsApp working on a feature that lets you hide 'last seen' status from specific people.
  • Taiwanese Maths Teacher taking classes on Pornhub goes viral reaches 1 Million views.
  • Instagram reels unveil text to speech usage and voice effects. 
  • Tech and social media giants come together to protect children online at a summit in Paris. 
  • Spotify buys audio firm Findaway for boosting audio sales. 
  • Chinese hardware giants, Huawei and ZTE face more trouble in the US as Joe Biden tries to corner Chinese tech companies through legislation. 
  • Meta’s Workplace App to Integrate With Microsoft Teams, to Help Users Share Information Between Platforms.
  • YouTube Hides 'Dislike' Counts to Protect Creators From Harassment, Targeted Attacks as per reports. 
  • Tencent records the lowest profit amidst the tech crackdown.
  • Paytm unveils India's biggest-ever IPO. 
  • Tesla driver killed in an accident after hitting trees en route. 
  • Amazon to seek re-settlement for EU anti-trust laws. 


Sports 



  • Virat Kohli's infant daughter receive rape threats through online trolls.
  • New Zealand beats England in the Semi-Final1. 
  • Australia beats Pakistan in the Semi-Final2.
  • Australia beats New Zealand to win the T20 WC 2020. 
  • The next host for T20 WC 2022 is Australia 

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