9 PM Daily Brief – 17th September 2016

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EDITORIAL 

[1]. Summit over substance

 The Hindu

Context:- In the wake of upcoming BRICS & BIMSTEC joint summit in India, author tries to bring forth some key issues like, How BRICS is shaping up? What matters are going to be discussed at the summit? Expected outcomes from BRICS & BIMSTEC summit.

Let us put things into perspective here.

What is BRICS?

BRICS brings together five major emerging economies of the world. At present BRICS include Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa but that’s not how it was when it originated.

• The acronym BRIC was first used in 2001 by Goldman Sachs in their Global Economics Paper, “The World Needs Better Economic BRICs” which projected that the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China would be amongst the world’s largest economies in the next 50 years or so.
• Genesis: As a formal grouping, BRIC started after the meeting of the Leaders of Russia, India and China in St. Petersburg on the margins of G8 Outreach Summit in 2006.
• Grouping is formalized: The grouping was given a structure during the 1st meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of UNGA in New York in 2006.
• 1^st BRIC summit: The 1st BRIC Summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on 16 June 2009.
• BRIC changes to BRICS: It was agreed to expand BRIC into BRICS with the inclusion of South Africa at the BRIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in New York in September 2010.

BRICS Summits

• 1st BRIC Summit – 16 June 2009 in Russia (Yekaterinburg)
• 2nd BRIC Summit – 16 April 2010 in Brazil (Brasilia)
• 3rd BRICS Summit – 14 April 2011 in China (Sanya)

• 4th BRICS Summit – 29 March 2012 in India (New Delhi)
• 5th BRICS Summit – 26–27 March 2013 in South Africa (Durban)

• 6th BRICS Summit – 14–16 July 2014 in Brazil (Fortaleza)
• 7th BRICS Summit – 8-9 July 2015 in Russia (Ufa)

Starting essentially with economic issues of mutual interest, the agenda of BRICS meetings has considerably widened over the years to encompass topical global issues.

8^th BRICS Summit

India will host the 8^th BRICS Summit during its Chairmanship which is scheduled to take place on 15-16 October 2016 in Goa. The theme of India’s BRICS Chairmanship is Building Responsive, Inclusive and Collective Solutions.

During India’s BRICS Chairmanship, following five-pronged approach shall be adopted:

(i)  Institution building to further deepen, sustain and institutionalize BRICS cooperation;

(ii)  Implementation of the decisions from previous Summits;

(iii) Integrating the existing cooperation mechanisms;

(iv) Innovation, i.e., new cooperation mechanisms; and

(v)  Continuity, i.e., continuation of mutually agreed existing BRICS cooperation mechanisms.

In short, the Indian approach towards its BRICS Chairmanship could be captured by ‘IIIIC or I4C’.

The focus during India’s BRICS Chairmanship will be on enhanced people-to-people (P2P) contacts of BRICS member states, especially youth. In this context, India has planned activities like U-17 Football Tournament, Youth Summit, Young Diplomats’ Forum, Film Festival etc.

Now, let us learn about BIMSTEC

What is BIMSTEC?

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising 7-member States lying in the littoral (adjacent to the shore) and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal.The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.

BIMSTEC [Image Source:  beehonee.com]

Member states

• Bangladesh
• Bhutan
• India
• Myanmar
• Nepal
• Sri Lanka
• Thailand

Genesis:This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.

From BIST-EC to BIMST-EC

Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).

• On 22 December 1997: Myanmaris included in the grouping during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok & Group is renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
• On February 2004 in Thailand: With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th Ministerial Meeting), the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC)

Brief Objective

The objective of building such an alliance was to harness growth through mutual cooperation in different areas of common interests by reducing the onslaught of globalization and by utilizing regional resources and geographical advantages

4^th BIMSTEC summit

BIMSTEC will hold its 4^th summit in Goa. Nepal was to host it in 2015 but was unable to do so mainly on account of the earthquake and the subsequent political turmoil.

Basics out of the way, let’s now look at what the author has to say,

Why BIMSTEC, why not SAARC?

At the Fortaleza summit in 2014, Brazil had invited several heads of state/government from Latin America, while at Ufa last year Russia had invited the leaders of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). Similarly, it was expected that India would invite SAARC but instead it has invited BIMSTEC to hold a joint summit. What is the motivation behind this act?

We all know that Indo-Pak political ties have not exactly been exemplary in past few months, with statements from both countries spewing indictments against each other.

So, as per author, in order to avoid inviting Pakistan, India chose to invite BIMSTEC instead.

Fellowship of China-Russia

Russia & China come to BRICS with an ever increasing camaraderie between the both of them.

• Both defied the U.S. and the West, and now edging closer to a closer security partnership, if not an alliance
• Joint naval exercise: The largest ever Sino-Russian joint naval exercises are being held in the South China Sea off the coast of Guangdong province.
• Support on South China Sea (SCS) dispute: Russia is the only country to have explicitly supported China’s stand on the SCS dispute. It has rejected the international tribunal award and proposed bilateral dialogue with claimant countries, though it has not endorsed China’s territorial claims.
• China’s agenda:Chinese effort will be to include in the summit declaration a formulation similar to what had been agreed upon in the India-Russia-China trilateral Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Moscow in April 2016 and which appeared to support China’s stand on SCS dispute. The formulation was,

1. India, Russia and China were committed to maintain the legal order for seas and oceans on principles of international law reflected in UNCLOS.
2. The disputes will be addressed through negotiations and agreements between the parties concerned.
3. The ministers called for respect to UNCLOS, Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea (DOC) and the Guidelines for implementation of the DOC.

Note: The India-Russia-China trilateral Foreign Ministers’ meetingheld in Moscow on Apr 18, 2016 which was before the international tribunal’s award on SCS dispute.

July 12, 2016: Hague-based UN international arbitration tribunal ruled that China has no legal basis to claim “historic rights” to islands in the South China Sea.

• Counter by India: India will probably reverse its stand from the Moscow meeting and will resist Chinese attempts at including SCS in the final declaration of BRICS, mainly because of two reasons,
  • China opposed India’s entry bid into NSG (Nuclear Suppliers Group) at the recent plenary (absolute) session of NSG at Seoul on 24^th June 2016
  • China blocked India’s attempt at the UN of naming the Pakistani Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar as a terrorist
• Brazil & South Africa: Any notable initiative is unlikely to come up from Brazil and South Africa as both countries are suffering from political and economic turmoil.
  • Brazil President has taken over after a politically polarising impeachment of the former Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff while S.A. President is facing serious charges of corruption and there has been unprecedented infighting in his political party.Hence, the BRICS summit is likely to have more focus on India-Russia-China.

Game of meetings/committees

Author says that like other multilateral organizations, BRICS too has begun to display signs of the disease. A disease accompanied by an exponential expansion in committees, working groups and forums resulting in an extraordinarily crowded calendar of meetings.

• Over hundred subjects including trade, investment and finance, health, education and security are being undertaken at multi-body platforms.
• India is also hosting around ten such events every year. This brings out the question if such hyperactivity is leading to substantive outcomes.
• Such multilateral meetings that declare crucial goals and end on promising note often fail to expand human or financial resources to follow through.
• The event become the focus and not the process. Thus leading to sparse outcomes of such events.

Practical outcomes of BRICS

• New Development Bank (NDB):The Bank has been operationalized and India has reportedly received loans totaling about $300 million. But this institution has been overshadowed by the much better funded Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
• Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA): CRA was established in 2015 by the BRICS countries. The basis of CRA is the Contingent Reserve Arrangement (CRA) Treaty of the BRICS countries which was signed on July 15, 2014.  

 What is CRA?

It provides support through liquidity and other methods in response to actual or potential short-term balance of payments (BoP) pressures

Objective

The objective of this reserve is to provide protection against global liquidity pressures.This includes currency issues where members’ national currencies are being adversely affected by global financial pressures

• There is a proposal to set up BRICS Credit Rating Agency
• BRICS FTA: The BRICS free trade agreementmay come up against fears of Indian and Russian markets being swamped by Chinese imports. However, even such agreement is not expected to give impetus to the member economies.
  • None of the member countries are part of Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).
  • However, at the moment, TPP and TTIP are stalled and a hope of mega trade bloc of the key emerging economies would be a major development. It could even bring WTO back into its significant position in global trade.

Reviving BIMSTEC& the Act East policy

BIMSTEC fits very well into the Act East policy of India but off late it has been slow and without much progress to show.

Note: –

What is Act East policy?

Act East policy is a modified version of Look East policy of India.

• Look East policy was introduced during PV Narsimha Rao’s government in India
• Under Act East policy India intends to adopt a more pro-active approach and build strategic partnerships with South-East Asian countries

The BIMSTEC summit could be an important occasion for rejuvenating the grouping. One thing which plays to the India’s advantage in BIMSTEC is the Chinese absence from the grouping

• The parallel Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC), a platform for India’s exclusive engagement with Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam and Myanmar, can also become a major component of Act Eat strategy.
• Not encouragingly enough, neither BIMSTEC nor MGC have failed to live to their potential.
• India has engaged with these groups on intermittent and ad hoc basis which has not led to a well-thought out and long term strategy of integrating India more closely with its eastern neighbourhood resulting in a perception that India is at the margins of this geopolitical space.

 Connectivity

Connectivity is expected to rule over BIMSTEC summitbut here, too, is an Indian dilemma. The connectivity platform also opens the door to China selling its ambitious One Belt, One Road initiative among the members of this grouping

Conclusion

In order to establish itself as a globally and regionally significant player India needs to improve its track record of delivering the commitments in a time bound manner. Promises without delivery means zero progress, which further means zero global credibility. Rehashing old projects as new initiatives will serve no purpose. Instead of an event driven approach, it is time to move to a process driven approach.

Note: – What is an event driven approach? What is a process driven approach?

 

[2]. Towards a National Health Policy 

The Hindu

Context:- In the recent Devika Biswas case, the apex court has directed Centre to finalise the National Health Policy by December 31, 2016 and end mass sterilisation camps. Author states that it is time that government develops a health policy which is centered on human rights.

What is Sterilisation?

It is referred to as the process of rendering an individual incapable of sexual reproduction like vasectomy (male sterilisation), Tubectomy (a type of female sterilisation) etc.

What is female sterilisation?

Female sterilization is a permanent procedure to prevent pregnancy. It works by blocking the fallopian tubes. Surgical and non-surgical methods exist. It should be noted that surgical sterilisation i.e. Tubectomy is permanent.

What are reproductive rights?

Reproductive rightsare the rights of individuals to decide whether to reproduce & have reproductive health. This may include an individual’s right to plan a family, terminate a pregnancy, use contraceptives, learn about sex education in public schools, and gain access to reproductive health services.

Devika Biswas case guidelines issued

Monitoring by civil society: Civil society can easily monitor the sterilisation activity if as per the court’s guidelines, the list of approved doctors at the State and regional levels and members of quality assurance committees, and details of compensation claims are publicised on the Internet. 

Compensation for losses, including deaths, should be raised substantially.

Author says that,

• The larger issue here is the fairness of the use of permanent contraceptives for young women who are unable to exercise their reproductive rights due to social and economic factors. In India child bearing begins at a young age and estimated 65 per cent of use in India is of female sterilization

Solution:

1. Different pregnancy prevention needs like stopping childbearing altogether, delaying pregnancy for a year or more, preventing pregnancy in the post-partum period, and so on, should be met with most effective and efficient methods. However, we needto promote information, counselling and services for a range of methods are necessary to ensure that.
2. Promoting women education and empowerment also can reduce fertility.

• Ensuring safety of women who undergo Tubectomy should be of prime concern. There have been many cases in India where poor women have died after botched up procedures in sterilisation camps.

Conclusion

Despite various deaths during sterilisation camps, state governments have been complicit in not ensuring safety of women. Right to health is an integral part of Right to life & it should be at the core of the national Health policy.

 

NATIONAL 

[1]. ‘Centre against imposition of Hindi’

The Hindu

Context:- The government has said that it is against imposing Hindi on other regional languages like Tamil, Kannada or Telugu, and it will continue to promote Hindi as it was the official language as envisaged in the Constitution, adding that, promoting regional languages is the responsibility of the states

Proposal

A proposal to include English and other 37 regional languages into like Bhojpuri, Chattisgarhi, Khasi and Bundelkhandi in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution, granting it an official status, has been pending with the Centre for 12 years now.

At present, there are demands for inclusion of 38 more languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.

These are:- (1) Angika, (2) Banjara, (3) Bazika, (4) Bhojpuri, (5) Bhoti, (6) Bhotia, (7) Bundelkhandi (8) Chhattisgarhi, (9) Dhatki, (10) English, (11) Garhwali (Pahari), (12) Gondi, (13) Gujjar/Gujjari (14) Ho, (15) Kachachhi, (16) Kamtapuri, (17) Karbi, (18) Khasi, (19) Kodava (Coorg), (20) Kok Barak, (21) Kumaoni (Pahari), (22) Kurak, (23) Kurmali, (24) Lepcha, (25) Limbu, (26) Mizo (Lushai), (27) Magahi, (28) Mundari, (29) Nagpuri, (30) Nicobarese, (31) Pahari (Himachali), (32) Pali, (33) Rajasthani, (34) Sambalpuri/Kosali, (35) Shaurseni (Prakrit), (36) Siraiki, (37) Tenyidi and (38) Tulu.

Hindi Divas

It was on September 14, 1949, that the drafting committee of the Constitution had agreed to accept Hindi as the official language of India and from then on the day is celebrated as ‘Hindi Divas’ across all Central ministries, departments and offices.

Official group

There are 38 proposals pending for inclusion in the VIII Schedule of the Constitution

• Centre had constituted an official group to look into the inclusion of the languages in the VIII Schedule. The committee has given its report and is under examination

What is 8^th schedule?

The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India lists the official languages of the Republic of India.

The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution consists of the following 22 languages:- (1) Assamese, (2) Bengali, (3) Gujarati, (4) Hindi, (5) Kannada, (6) Kashmiri, (7) Konkani, (8) Malayalam, (9) Manipuri, (10) Marathi, (11) Nepali, (12) Oriya, (13) Punjabi, (14) Sanskrit, (15) Sindhi, (16) Tamil, (17) Telugu, (18) Urdu (19) Bodo, (20) Santhali, (21) Maithili and (22) Dogri.

Constitutional provisions related to 8^th schedule

The Constitutional provisions relating to the Eighth Schedule occur in articles 344(1) and 351 of the Constitution.

 Article 344(1) provides for the constitution of a Commission by the President on expiration of five years from the commencement of the Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of ten years from such commencement, which shall consist of a Chairman and such other members representing the different languages specified in the Eighth Schedule to make recommendations to the President for the progressive use of Hindi for official purposes of the Union.

Article 351 of the Constitution provides that it shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language to develop it so that it may serve as a medium of expression for all the elements of the composite culture of India and to secure its enrichment by assimilating without interfering with its genius, the forms, style and expressions used in Hindustani and in the other languages of India specified in the Eighth Schedule, and by drawing, wherever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily, on Sanskrit and secondarily on other languages.

It would thus appear that the Eighth Schedule was intended to promote the progressing use of Hindi and for the enrichment and promotion of that language.

 Procedural requirement

A Committee was set up in September, 2003 under the Chairmanship of Shri SitakantMohapatra to evolve a set of objective criteria for inclusion of more languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The Committee submitted its report in 2004.

The report of the Committee is under consideration in consultation with the concerned Minorities/Departments of the Central Government.

• A decision on the pending demand for inclusion of languages in the Eighth Schedule will be taken, in the light of the recommendations of the Committee and Government’s decision thereon.
• However, no time frame can be fixed for consideration of the demands for inclusion of more languages in Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India.

 

[2].Hike MSP for chickpeas during rabi season: Panel

The Hindu

Context:- A panel headed by Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) Arvind Subramanian has recommended an immediate hike in the minimum support price (MSP) of pulses so as to reduce volatility in consumer prices of pulses and at the same time boost farmers’ income.

Decision

MSP of chickpeas (chana) has been raised to Rs. 40 per kg for rabi 2016 and Rs.60 per kg for both split black gram (urad) and split red gram (tur) for kharif 2017

Why was the panel appointed?

The CEA-led panel, which was set up in the wake of a recent spurt in retail prices of pulses,

• Cautioned against the use of trade policy to control domestic prices as this induces policy volatility
• Called for the elimination of export bans on pulses and the placement of stock limits
• Such short-term actions that apparently benefit consumers end up hurting them because production and availability of pulses decline over time

A better way

• Incentivizing farmers: Better incentives for farmers in the form of higher minimum support prices (to reflect the true social value of growing pulses compared to other crops)
• Effective procurement of the produce offers the best way of increasing domestic availability and preventing price increases

 

ECONOMY 

[1].Task force to evolve steps to boost India’s innovation ecosystem

 The Hindu

Context:- The Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) has decided to set up a Task Force on Innovation.

Objective

Comprising members from the industry and the government, the Task Force will,

• assess India’s position as an innovative country,
• Suggest measures to enhance the innovation eco-system, thus improve the country’s ranking in the Global Innovation Index (GII).

 GII-2016

• India’s ranking in GII-2016 rose 15 places to 66th position.
• In the GII 2016, India retained the top rank in Information and Communication Technology Service Export
• India is the top-ranked economy in Central and Southern Asia, and shows particular strengths in tertiary education and research & development (R&D), including global R&D intensive firms, the quality of its universities and scientific publications
• India ranks second on innovation quality amongst middle-income economies

What is GII-2016?

The Global Innovation Index (GII) aims to capture the multi-dimensional facets of innovation and provide the tools that can assist in tailoring policies to promote long-term output growth, improved productivity, and job growth.

• The Global Innovation Index 2016 (GII), in its 9th edition, is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, an agency of the United Nations). The core of the GII Report consists of a ranking of world economies’ innovation capabilities and results

 

[2].Five museums from India among top 25 in Asia: Report

 The Hindu

Context:- Five Indian museums feature among the best 25 in Asia while Leh’s ‘Hall of Fame’ has topped the India list as a “must-visit” place by travellers in a survey.

1. Leh’s Hall of Fame
2. Bagore Ki Haveli (Udaipur)
3. Victoria Memorial Hall (Kolkata)
4. Salar Jung Museum (Hyderabad)
5. Jaisalmer War Museum (Jaisalmer)

 How the list was determined?

The list was determined using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews and ratings for museums worldwide, gathered over a 12-month period.

No India in top 25 world list

No museums from India feature in the top 25 world list, which is topped by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. It is followed by Art Institute of Chicago, State Hermitage Museum and Winter Palace, Musee d’Orsay, Paris and National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico.

Topper in Asia

The Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horse in China topped the Asia list.

 

INDIAN EXPRESS 

[1]. Not for the cow

Indian Express

Context:- Cow-Slaughter has made news time and again this year. From Dadri lynching to recent Una incident, state has failed to put a stop to fringe groups taking the law into their own hands. The underlying reason, though, is the State’s intent to criminalise the food cultures and livelihoods (in this case beef and its connected livelihoods), and by doing so criminalise entire communities, comprising 50 per cent of India’s population.

Slaughter and growth

• Slaughter does not drive down animal numbers, but actually supports their reproduction, as evident in the case of India’s buffaloes
• Slaughter bans actively depress cattle rearing

Right to sell

Small and marginal farmers and landless labour, comprising 80 per cent of India’s rural population, own 70 per cent of India’s 190 million cattle and 108 million buffaloes.

Farmers unable to feed, water, graze and manage their bovines have to sell them. If not bought by another farmer, they are spared from slow starvation death, when purchased by traders for slaughter. The farmers’ right to sell is critical to sustain livelihoods and nurture the livestock economy.

Death knell for Cattle economy

• Economics of Cattle:

1. Cattle beef is a critical part of food cultures and a cheap source of protein
2. Its skin is the basis of India’s thriving leather industry valued at $11 billion, generating 95 per cent of India’s footwear needs
3. Its offals, used widely in the pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries

• Bad policy: States with cattle slaughter bans, propose increased public investments for gaushalas, and persuading farmers to rear unproductive animals for dung and urine. A farmer spends Rs 60,000 to maintain a cow/bullock, and she earns only Rs 20,000 annually from its dung and urine. Instead of perpetrating a policy in the name of culture, government should invest in highly advanced slaughter procedures coupled with an equally efficient transportation system.