Khasi people are an indigenous ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India.
They are found in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh.
Their language, Khasi, is categorized as the northernmost Austroasiatic language.
The word Khasi is derived from shankaradevas Baghavata purna an Indo Aryan literature.
Though around 85% of the Khasi populace have embraced Christianity, a substantial minority of the Khasi people still follow and practice their age old indigenous religion, which is known as Ka Niam Khasi.
The main crops produced by the Khasi people are betel leaf, areca nut, oranges, local Khasi rice, vegetables, etc.
The War sub-tribe of the Khasi community designed and built the famous living root bridges of the Cherrapunji region.
Under the Constitution of India, the Khasis have been granted the status of Scheduled Tribe.
Khasi Accord
During British rule, the Khasi domain was divided into the Khasi states and British territories.
At that time, the British government had no territorial right on the Khasi states and they had to approach the chiefs of these states if they needed land for any purpose.
After independence, the British territories became part of the Indian dominion but the Khasi states had to sign documents beginning with the Standstill Agreement that provided a few rights to the states.
The 25 Khasi states had signed the Instrument of Accession and Annexed Agreement with the Dominion of India between 1947-1948.
The Khasi states did not sign the Instrument of Merger unlike most other states in India.
National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC)
A National Crisis Management Committee is a temporary committee set up by the Government of India in the wake of a natural calamity for effective coordination and implementation of relief measures and operations.
On the constitution of such a committee, the Agriculture Secretary shall provide all necessary information to and seek directions.
The Committee consists of Cabinet Secretary of various departments as stakeholders.
Crisis Management Group (CMG) will deal with matters relating to relief in the wake of major natural calamities.
The Resident Commissioners of the States affected by a major natural calamity may be coopted on the CMG during the period of crisis.
The CMG will meet at least twice in a year and as often as may be required by the Relief Commissioner.
USTR Watch List
Priority Watch List and Watch List countries are identified by the annual Special 301 Report.
Priority Watch list countries - are judged by the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as having “serious intellectual property rights deficiencies” that require increased USTR attention.
Watch List countries - have been identified by the USTR as having “serious intellectual property rights deficiencies” but are not yet placed on the “Priority Watch list”.
The USTR can move countries from one list to the other, or remove them from the lists, throughout the year.
India has been on the priority watch list reportedly for over 25 years, for “lack of sufficient measurable improvements to its IP framework that have negatively affected US right holders”.
The Priority Watch List is topped by China also includes Indonesia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
Countries under the priority watch list will be the subject of increased bilateral engagement with the USTR to address Intellectual Property (IP) concerns.
UN Arms Trade Treaty
United Nations Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is aimed at regulating the global arms trade.
ATT has the ambitious aim of responding to the international concern that the $70 billion a year trade in conventional weapons leaves a trail of atrocities in its wake.
The treaty calls for the international sale of weapons to be linked to the human rights records of buyers.
It requires countries to establish regulations for selling conventional weapons.
Conventional weapons covered by the UN Arms Trade Treaty include tanks and other armoured combat vehicles, artillery, attack helicopters, naval warships, missiles and missile launchers, and small arms.
The treaty does not regulate the domestic sale or use of weapons in any country.
The treaty also seeks to prevent conventional military weapons from falling into the hands of terrorists or organized criminal groups and to stop deals that would violate UN arms embargos.
India has not signed the treaty, recently the US has pulled out itself from the treaty.
