Inter-state border disputes

• At present there are 7 inter-state border disputes in the country.
  1. Karnataka and Maharashtra
  2. Assam and Mizoram
  3. Haryana and Himachal Pradesh
  4. Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh
  5. Arunachal Pradesh and Assam
  6. Meghalaya and Assam
  7. Assam and Nagaland
• The Centre set up the Mahajan Commission, led by former Chief Justice of India Mehr Chand Mahajan, to resolve the border dispute in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala.
• The Sundaram Commission recommended a border between Assam and Nagaland, but Nagaland rejected the report.
• Attempts are often made to resolve inter-state disputes with the cooperation of both sides, with the Centre working as a facilitator or a neutral mediator.
• If issues are resolved amicably, Parliament can bring a law to alter state boundaries, such as the Bihar-Uttar Pradesh (Alteration of Boundaries) Act of 1968 and the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh (Alteration of Boundaries) Act of 1979.
• There are other formal methods in the Constitution to resolve inter-state disputes.
• Judicial Redressal – Under Article 131 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction to deal with any dispute between the Centre and a state; the Centre and a state on the one side and another state on the other side; and two or more states.
• Inter-state Council – Article 263 of the Constitution gives powers to the President to set up an Inter-state Council for resolution of disputes between states.
• The Council is envisaged as a forum for discussion between the states and the Centre.

Sarsa Rivulet

• The Sarsa originates in the Shivalik hills in Himachal Pradesh.
• It flows through Solan district that borders Punjab, enters Rupnagar district in Punjab and eventually flows into the Sutlej.
• The Sarsa was where the Guru’s family got separated in the winter of 1704, never to be together again.
• The rivulet is thus important in Sikh consciousness.

Kosovo

• Kosovo won independence from Serbia in 2008.
• Serbia, however, still considers Kosovo to be an integral part of its territory.
• Countries that border Kosovo are Serbia, Montenegro, Albania and Macedonia.

Polar Vortex

• The polar vortex is a large area of low pressure and cold air surrounding both of the Earth’s poles.
• It is denoted by the word “vortex” because it spins counter-clockwise, just like a hurricane does.
• Usually, the polar vortex remains strong and compact, meaning the mass of frigid air stays at the North Pole.
• But sometimes it weakens, like a wobbling top, and expands to influence the jet stream, an area of fast-moving air high in the atmosphere that surrounds the polar vortex.
• Once the jet stream is impacted, the cold polar air finds its way towards the mid-latitude regions.

National Archives of India (NAI)

• The NAI, which functions under the Ministry of Culture, is the repository of all non-current government records, holding them for the use of administrators and scholars.
• Originally established as the Imperial Record Department in 1891 in Calcutta, the capital of British India, the NAI is now located in Delhi.
• It keeps and conserves records of the government and its organisations only, and does not receive classified documents.
• The National Archives of India (NAI) does not have records of 1962, 1965, and 1971 wars, or even of the Green Revolution.
• The holdings in NAI are in a regular series starting from the year 1748, and the languages of the records include English, Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Sanskrit and Urdu.
• As per the Public Records Act, 1993, various central ministries and departments are supposed to transfer records more than 25 years old to the NAI, unless they pertain to classified information.
• However, it is up to the respective ministries and departments to ascertain which constitute classified information.