Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
- GS PAPER 2
- India, Qatar to share data on terror financing, hawala {Foreign Policy}
- Convergence, but hard choices ahead {Foreign Policy}
- Waiting for regime change {Foreign Policy}
- Applying the Guizhou model to build ‘Brand Amaravati’ {Foreign Policy}
- Kerry warns China against air defence zone {International Relation}
- Being neighbourly {Foreign Policy}
- GS PAPER 3
- Odisha wages a literary struggle to claim rosogolla as its own {IPR}
- RBI, govt. make peace over appointment panel {Economy}
- Pakistani Sindhi Hindus to get Indian citizenship {Governance}
- Govt. to come out with updated IIP, WPI indices {Economy}
- India’s black economy shrinks, says Ambit {Economy}
- Centre may set up agency for analysing services trade data {Economy}
- Feeling the pulse {Economy}
- India needs a framework to resolve cross-border bankruptcies {Economy}
GS PAPER 2
[1] India, Qatar to share data on terror financing, hawala + India, Qatar sign pact on infrastructure investment
News:
- India and Qatar have decided to work together to combat global terror financing.
- They also felt the need to isolate the sponsors and supporters of terrorism and to disrupt terrorist movements.
- Under this pact, the two sides also agreed to exchange financial intelligence to combat terrorism financing and other economic offences.
- Came to a solution that urgent action is needed against all such entities, which support terrorism and use it as an instrument of policy.
- The two sides decided to constitute an inter-ministerial high-level joint committee to regularly review all bilateral matters, as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest.
Talks on security
- India and Qatar expressing “grave” concern over security situation in West Asia, Middle East and South Asia especially for Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen.
Investment fund
- An MoU was also signed between the two countries that would facilitate foreign investment from the gas-rich Gulf state.
- MoU established a framework for promoting Qatari investment in India (FDI).
- Investment in asset reconstruction in public sector undertakings whose assets are in distress.
- Cooperation and investment in areas of skill development and education, health, tourism and sports.
Customs pact
- An agreement was also signed between on cooperation and mutual assistance in custom matters.
- It includes resolving the issues of under-invoicing and over-invoicing as well as money laundering issues.
- And the sectors which were being viewed, include Railways, agro-processing, solar energy defence and general manufacturing.
[2] Convergence, but hard choices ahead
Issue
- India-US relationship.
Point of Convergence between both the countries
- India has decided to enter into a “global strategic partnership” with the U.S. based on shared democratic values and the perception of increasing convergence of interests on bilateral, regional and global issues.
- In 2015, both sides issued a Delhi Declaration of Friendship and adopted a Joint Strategic Vision for the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region, representing small but incrementally significant steps in the pursuit of strategic convergence.
- The significance of bilateral civil nuclear cooperation agreement lies in the fact that the rules of an international arrangement and a technology-denial regime were altered to admit India.
- The “New Framework for the U.S.-India Defence Relationship” of 2005 and the updating and renewal of the Defence Framework Agreement for another 10 years in 2015 have resulted in the defence relationship emerging as a major pillar of the new India-U.S. strategic partnership.
Points of divergence
- US is not averse to using unilateral coercive measures in relation to perceived violation of its interests in the area of intellectual property.
- There are also significantly different approaches the two countries adopt on issues relating to peace and security, the “use of force” and regime change in West Asia.
- There are also significant differences in the perception and approaches of the two countries in relation to developments in the countries of our region, particularly Pakistan and Afghanistan.
State of Affairs when new President will enter the White House
- Israeli lobby might push for reopening the US-Iran deal.
- We have a window of opportunity to see if the new administration, post-January 2017, can be sensitised to our concerns in our western neighbourhood, particularly in relation to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
- The investment made in the bilateral relationship by India in the last two years will need to be followed up, reinforced and adapted to the new situation post-January 2017.
[3] Waiting for regime change
Issue
- International relations cannot be divorced from international law.
India’s contribution to the cause of developing world
- Developing countries are reflecting over respond to imminent changes in the global regimes on trade, climate and other “common spaces”.
- Developing countries were led by India under blocs such as the G77 — helped create multilateral instruments that exist today.
- The negotiating power of developing countries grew with time, culminating in landmark instruments such as the Rio Declaration on sustainable development in 1992 and the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
- Developing countries used to look towards India for the leadership role, but now Indian negotiators are characterised as “reactive”, “obstructionist” or worse, “fence-sitters”.
Rebels in the developed world
- The U.S. asserts the WTO regime has run its course, and it has created the Trans-Pacific Partnership which will make the WTO regime redundant.
- If China refuses to abide by the Permanent Court of Arbitration’s imminent ruling on its South China Sea dispute against the Philippines,then it will mount the first serious challenge to the decades-old UN Convention on the Law of the Seas.
- The Paris climate accord has already upended several principles embedded in the Rio Declaration.
Dilemma for India
- Both developed and developing countries expect New Delhi to be on their camp.
- U.S. and the European Union look to India for strategic convergence.
Asian and African nations expect Indian leadership at the WTO and UN forums. - India will have to face some awkward moments as under pressure from US, it has ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement, even as it continues to rally developing countries towards the goals of the Doha Round.
Indian investment into international law vis-a-vis international relations
- Asian-African Legal Consultative Organisation (AALCO) was a pillar of the Non-Aligned Movement’s (NAM) multilateral diplomacy and a byproduct of the Bandung Conference in 1955.
- It was set up to assess developments in international law, the flesh and bones of any multilateral instrument.
- India led the way through its skilful navigation of international regimes.
- India was ultimately able to sell political principles through instruments of law, evidenced by the spate of UN resolutions on self-determination and non-interference.
The changed scenario
- The way India has treated TPP and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership as transactional agreements meant to elicit the mutual reduction of trade barriers, suggests that Indian negotiators have not understood the strategic underpinnings of these regimes and it shows their lack of experience.
- The current Indian establishment emphasises on bilateral relations.
- But bilateral ties are still no substitute for predictable, international regimes.
Road ahead
- If India is to be a serious contributor to future regimes,then policy planners must aim to build the capacity of International law in the Indian Foreign Service.
- Indian establishment should stop viewing multilateral regimes as purely legal instruments and instead view them through the prism of international politics.
[4] Applying the Guizhou model to build ‘Brand Amaravati’
Issue
- Province-to-Province relationships of India with China
Key points
- Guizhou International Investment Corporation (GIIC), an infrastructure company based in the southwest Province of Guizhou has become one of the prime investors in Andhra Pradesh.
- It will be undertaking infrastructure development in Amaravati.
- GIIC has also in past built a tunnel that has established Guizhou’s new link with the Stilwell road, which once routed military supplies from India to Chongqing during World War-II.
This venture shows that bilateral ties are being rapidly decentralised.
Chief Ministers are taking ownership of the relationship with China. New projects are coming up, and specific initiatives are being taken
[5] Being neighbourly
Issue
- India-Afghanistan relations.
‘Investment of India in Afghanistan’
- India has stayed away from participating in military operations in Afghanistan and it has instead focused on development and reconstruction projects.We have invested in:-
- A hospital in Kabul
- The country’s parliament building
- A 218 km road from Zaranj to Delaram for better connectivity from the Iranian border
- The 220kV DC transmission line from Pul-e-Khumri to Kabul
- Salma dam in Herath, also called the Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam
What India has gained from such investments?
- India has gained a strategic gateway to Central Asia.
- India-Iran agreement to develop Chabahar, and an India-Iran-Afghanistan agreement for the development of a trade corridor from the Iranian port through Afghanistan to Central Asia — is a potential game-changer.
India-Pak-Afghanistan
- Compared to Indian contributions, if at all Pakistan has contributed something to Afghanistan, it is Taliban.
- Pakistan has targeted Indian embassy and Indian people in Afghanistan and has provoked India to engage in military operations in Afghanistan, but India has wisely stayed away from such temptations.
- Yet, it cannot be forgotten that the normalisation of relations between India and Pakistan is still key to peace in the entire region.
- Stability is still a distant dream for Afghanistan, it will remain a battlefield for the new Taliban leadership and Pakistan’s growing insecurities with respect to India.
- Now, India must leverage the new emerging compact in the region to actively seek to break the impasse with Pakistan.
GS PAPER 3
[1] Odisha wages a literary struggle to claim rosogolla as its own
Context:
- There has been a dispute over claiming of Intellectual Property Rights of Rosogolla
Parties which claim:
- Odisha and West bengal
Odisha and West Bengal both cited different sources for their claims
- Odisha’s Department of Science and Technology saying that there are multiple references to rosogolla in ancient literature.
- West bengal government has been working on its claim for a GI registration for a year, say it was first produced by Nabin Chandra Dash around 1868.
A GI would firm up the reputation of either State as the home of a global favourite.
[2] RBI, govt. make peace over appointment panel
Issue:
- Government decided to have Cabinet Secretary P.K. Sinha as the head of the search-cum-selection panel for the appointment of its Deputy Governor.
- RBI has opposed it.
Reason behind search panel is that one of the 4 deputy governor’s term will end in the first week of july.
Who are eligible for the post?
- All the 11 executive directors
What will be procedure for selection?
- Interviews
- That will be on Monday.
The Cabinet Secretary remains the head of the panel.
Under the compromise, the RBI Governor will have a greater say in the short-listing of the names.
[3] Pakistani Sindhi Hindus to get Indian citizenship
News:
- The Centre will set up a four-day camp to grant Indian citizenship to the Sindhi Hindus who migrated to India from Pakistan between 1971 and 2009.
- According to all India Sindhi-Hindu Society nearly 35,000 Sindhis from Pakistan were living as refugees in M.P.
[4] Govt. to come out with updated IIP, WPI indices
News:
- Government will revise IIP and WPI indices by the end of this year with a new base year of 2011-12.
- Present base year is 2004-05
- This is being done to make these indices more representative of the changing economic scenario.
- It has now been recommended by National Statistical Commission to revise the base year of all economic indices every five years.
Benefit:
- Both the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) will become more comparable with the GDP numbers than it is currently.
What next?
- Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) is working on bringing out an index for the services sector.
[5] India’s black economy shrinks, says Ambit
News
- According to a study, India’s black economy has shrunk.
What is Black economy?
- The term ‘black economy’ typically refers to the part of country’s economic activities which are unaccounted and untaxed by its government.
- It is unaccountable and untaxed because these activities do not follow the formal channel (banks). Thus, they are also not a part of the country’s GDP
- An integral part of most third-world and many first-world economies, it is a cash based system in which transaction records are kept in secret account books (called ‘number two’ accounts).
- Though it employs illegal (and even criminal) methods, it is a survival practice in repressive tax regimens or where legitimate expression of entrepreneurial activity is made unnecessarily difficult by a maze of regulations.
- Black economy and black money go hand in hand. Also called parallel economy, shadow economy, or underground economy.
Key findings in the study
- India’s black economy is around Rs.30 lakh crore which is almost 20% of GDP.
- Although the black money has been shrinking but it is still at worrisome levels.Infact bigger than the overall economic size of some countries like Thailand and Argentina.
‘Unintended consequences’
- The measures taken by the govt to reduce black money has resulted in a drop in the prices of land and real estate and a decline in the demand of gold.
- The crackdown has, however, also resulted in
- An increase in the preference for cash in physical form :-
- Physical savings instruments have been historically preferred to financial savings instruments in India because purchase of physical assets can be funded using black money, while the purchase of financial assets can not be funded in such a manner due to a strong paper trail.
- Notable decline in the usage of formal banking channels:-
- Bank deposits and usage of plastic money (debit cards especially) has declined.
- Increase in lending rates in the black economy:-
- Due to high NPAs bank do not give loans to substandard companies. They then rely on informal channels for credit.This demand has become too high over a period of time.
[6] Centre may set up agency for analysing services trade data
News
- The Government has decided to establish an institutional framework for better collection and analysis of data on India’s services export and import.
What will the framework will include?
- Setting up of a nodal agency for international trade data in services
- Creation of an international services trade business directory
- Provisions mandating enterprises to report their international services trade to the proposed nodal agency.
What is the intent behind this move?
- Services sector is the biggest sector as far as India’s GDP is concerned but still there has been sole reliance on RBI for services trade data.No independent institutional framework has been deviced for the same
- Without a proper framework it will be extremely difficult to improve the targeting of incentives based on services exports, besides firm up a superior strategy for the country to be used in negotiations on bilateral free trade agreements as well as on regional and multilateral trade pacts.
[7] Feeling the pulse
Context:
- Minimum Support Prices for Pulses and oilseeds (groundnut, soyabean) have been raised by the government.
- This has been done so that the Indian farmers grow these crops which are in short supply. As these crops also require less water to grow, it will be more sustainable to grow them.
MSP (Minimum support price) and the recent change:
- Minimum Support Price (MSP) is a form of market intervention by the Government of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices.
- Minimum support prices (MSP) of pulses has been increased by 7.7 – 9.2% in comparison to last year.
- MSP of oilseeds such as groundnut and soyabean have also been raised by 4.7-6.7 per cent this year.
Why has the govt taken such a step?
- Off lately India has been relying too much on the import pulses and edible oil so as to cater to the domestic demand whereas, at the same time we have overflowing stocks of rice and paddy.
- The time has now come for the farmers to move away from water intensive crops like paddy to crops like pulses and oilseeds.
Backdrop:
- The latest announced MSPs
| Commodity | MSP per quintal | Wholesale price in mandi per quintal |
| Pigeon pea | 5.050 | 9000 |
| Black gram | 5000 | 10,000 |
- These MSPs are still less than the wholesale prices of these commodities in Mandis.Hence, the switch will only happen if the MSPs are brought in line with the market level.
Conclusion
Only announcing higher MSPs is not the solution. It needs to be backed up by effective procurement i.e govt should give a guarantee to buy from farmers.
Effective procurement as of today is largely limited to rice and wheat only. Govt needs to act in this sphere to make the switch realistic.
[8] India needs a framework to resolve cross-border bankruptcies
Issue
- The absence of a cross-border insolvency has made India out of sync with the international legal standards.
Need for cross-border insolvency law
- Due to globalization international trade, investments has been increasing manifolds. This has lead to a mushrooming of MNCs having branches and subsidiaries worldwide.
- India is no exception. Various global MNCs have set up their offices in India and various Indian companies have also set up their branches in other countries.
- Such an increase in trade and commerce at an international scale presents a greater possibility of cross border insolvency proceedings.
Benefits of cross-border insolvency law
A cross-border insolvency law helps in :-
- Cooperation:-
Promoting cooperation between the courts and other authorities of different countries in dealing with the cases of cross border insolvency . - Certainty :-
Greater legal certainty for trade and investment as there will be no multiplicity of laws, judgments and rules from one country to another. - Fair and Efficient :-
Cross border insolvencies will be uniformly and efficiently administered thus, leading to the protection of interests of all parties involved - Protection :-
Protection and maximization of the value of the debtor’s assets
Facilitation of the rescue of financially troubled businesses, thereby protecting investment and preserving employment.
Indian law dealing with cross-border insolvency
- The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code passed by Parliament recently deals only with domestic bankruptcy and insolvency laws thereby ignoring cross-border insolvency.
- At present there is no process for cooperation between the Indian courts and foreign courts for administration of cross-border insolvencies.
- In the absence of a uniform regulation for cross-border insolvency, courts in India will always struggle to deal with insolvency issues.
Conclusion
- The absence of a cross-border framework will eventually emerge as a big area of concern to global firm seeking to do business with India.
- Thus, there is a crying need to come up with a law which deals with this problem.
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