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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Pakistan

    Pakistan’s Economic Crisis and the IMF Challenge

    | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: India & Its Neighborhood – Relations

    Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves have been depleting during the last one year and is heading towards a default risk as Sri Lanka did.

    Pakistani economy is said to have been crippling since the discontinuance of US ‘military’ aid which it had used

    What is the news?

    • The Pakistani rupee has been on free fall; from 150 in April 2021 to 213 against the dollar on 21 June, an all-time low.
    • This would mean high oil and electricity prices, to outrage the people who are already to the streets due to ousted PM Imran Khan.
    • The government-International Monetary Fund (IMF) talks have remained complicated.

    Options available for Pakistan

    • Pakistan is under deep Balance of Payment (BoP) crisis (as was India in 1991).
    • Pakistan has exhausted all credit options as SL did.
    • Even the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is at standstill.
    • Even the Saudi’s and so called ‘caliphate’ of Turkey has not come to Pakistan’s rescue.

    Only option left: IMF bail out

    • The immediate future of Pakistan’s economy would depend on IMF resuming its support.
    • Despite an intense discussion between the two, there has not been a consensus until now.

    What is IMF bail-out?

    • Bailout is a general term for extending financial support to a company or a country facing a potential bankruptcy threat.
    • When a country asks the IMF for a loan, the country is facing a major economic crisis.
    • In particular, it does not have enough foreign currency (‘dollars’) to pay for imports and the repayments on its loans. In short, the country cannot pay its international bills. So, it need a bailout.
    • The IMF will give the country an aid, which is ‘cash’ in the sense that it does not have to be spent on a particular project. This money can be used to pay its bills.
    • But, the IMF will impose certain conditions. The basic condition is to spend less – both domestically and internationally.
    • This belt-tightening is not easy – people lose jobs, prices rise, etc. And, one has to repay the loan.
    • These conditions are necessary to ensure that the money is being spent where it is supposed to.

    Pakistan and IMF: A track record

    • Pakistan’s relationship with the IMF has remained complicated. It sees conditions laid as a breach of sovereignty.
    • Though Islamabad has been negotiating with the IMF repeatedly, there has been an economic nationalism, mostly jingoistic, against approaching the IMF in recent years.
    • Imran Khan, the former PM made statements and fuelled the sentiments against the IMF.
    • After becoming the PM in 2018, he preferred approaching friendly countries (China and Saudi Arabia) and avoiding the IMF.
    • The new government is now back to the IMF; it expects the IMF to release the payments, expand the support programme, and give a longer rope to repay.

    Conditions laid out by IMF for recent bail-out

    • The IMF is willing to support Pakistan but has some conditions regarding macroeconomic reforms.
    • It wants Pakistan to be transparent about its debt situation, including what Islamabad owes to China, as a part of the CPEC.
    • Terror-financing in Pakistan is the most favored type of investment!
    • The IMF may agree to support after a few more promises by the government.
    • But the relief may be less than what Pakistan would hope for.

    A vicious cycle

    • Since its inception, Pakistan has spent more years inside an IMF programme than outside of it.
    • Every leader took the money, imposed massive hardships on the population through austerity and demand suppression and then reneges on its commitment through a patchy implementation.
    • Radical fanaticism and anti-India sentiments are successful tools of public appeasement.

    Will Pakistan pursue macroeconomic reforms?

    • In Pakistan, budgets have remained populist.
    • The economic governance declined due to corruption, lack of financial institutions’ independence, and the export decline.
    • The subsidies in the energy sector — fuel, oil and electricity — remain high to appease the public.
    • With the present coalition government facing elections, they are less likely to take any further bold decisions.

    Will “friendly countries” support Pakistan without preconditions?

    • Saudi Arabia and China have been supporting Pakistan. MBS has already pulled his hands.
    • Riyadh’s support is not unconditional.
    • It can ask Pakistan “to return the money at any time if the two countries have divergent views regarding their relationship or ties with a third country, or some other issue.”
    • China has been another significant source for Pakistan. Islamabad has been regularly seeking loans from China within and outside the CPEC projects.
    • However, since the attack on Chinese citizens by Baloch Fighters, China appears to have been disgusted with Pakistan.
    • CPEC is also at a standstill.

    FATF clearance is no panacea

    • During the latest Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting, there was an understanding that Pakistan has met its requirement.
    • The FATF has agreed to explore the possibilities of removing Pakistan from the grey list.
    • However, even when Pakistan was on the grey list, the IMF had been holding talks with Islamabad.
    • The big two — China and Saudi Arabia — were not constrained by Pakistan’s listing in the FATF.
    • So, the relaxation is less likely to open gates for big investments.

    Will Pakistan go the Sri Lankan way?

    • The situation was similar in Sri Lanka — the falling value of rupee, declining foreign exchange reserves, differences with the IMF, and rising fuel prices.
    • All of them led to public protests in Sri Lanka against the government.
    • The economic and energy crises in Pakistan have not snowballed into a political storm as it had happened in Sri Lanka.
    • The dope of “threats to Religion” works effectively there.

    Conclusion

    • The experiment of Pakistan (as a separate nation) has failed on various fronts.
    • To conclude, Pakistan’s economic and energy situation is serious and demands bold decisions.
    • The situation will worsen in the short term before it gets better, but this has been Pakistan’s history in the last 75 years.
    • With a relief from the IMF, after a protracted negotiation, a few band-aids, and the US intervention, Islamabad may muddle through this time as well, until the next crisis.

     

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  • MGNREGA Scheme

    Group wants new order on MGNREGA workers revoked

    Schemes | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    Certain groups has asked to discontinue manual attendance for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) work sites with more than 20 workers and use a mobile phone-based application.

    What is MGNREGA?

    • The MGNREGA stands for Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act of 2005.
    • This is labour law and social security measure that aims to guarantee the ‘Right to Work’.
    • The act was first proposed in 1991 by P.V. Narasimha Rao.

    Features of the scheme

    • MGNREGA is unique in not only ensuring at least 100 days of employment to the willing unskilled workers, but also in ensuring an enforceable commitment on the implementing machinery i.e., the State Governments, and providing a bargaining power to the labourers.
    • The failure of provision for employment within 15 days of the receipt of job application from a prospective household will result in the payment of unemployment allowance to the job seekers.
    • Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid.
    • Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement.

    What is so unique about it?

    • MGNREGA is unique in not only ensuring at least 100 days of employment to the willing unskilled workers, but also in ensuring an enforceable commitment on the implementing machinery i.e., the State Governments, and providing a bargaining power to the labourers.
    • The failure of provision for employment within 15 days of the receipt of job application from a prospective household will result in the payment of unemployment allowance to the job seekers.
    • Any Indian citizen above the age of 18 years who resides in rural India can apply for the NREGA scheme. The applicant should have volunteered to do unskilled work.
    • Employment is to be provided within 5 km of an applicant’s residence, and minimum wages are to be paid.
    • Thus, employment under MGNREGA is a legal entitlement.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Among the following who are eligible to benefit from the “Mahatma Gandhi national rural employment guarantee act”?

    (a) Adult members of only the scheduled caste and scheduled tribe households.

    (b) Adult members of below poverty line (BPL) households.

    (c) Adult members of households of all backward communities.

    (d) Adult members of any household.

     

     

    Post your answers here.

     

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  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Global Implications

    Places in news: Snake Island

    National Parks/WS | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: International Institutions

    Ukraine has said it has caused “significant losses” to the Russian military in airstrikes on Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, in the Black Sea.

    Snake Island

    • Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake or Serpent Island, is a small piece of rock less than 700 metres from end to end, that has been described as being “X-shaped”.
    • It is located 35 km from the coast in the Black Sea, to the east of the mouth of the Danube and roughly southwest of the port city of Odessa.
    • The island, which has been known since ancient times and is marked on the map by the tiny village of Bile that is located on it, belongs to Ukraine.

    Why does Russia seek to control the Black Sea?

    • Domination of the Black Sea region is a geostrategic imperative for Moscow.
    • The famed water body is bound by Ukraine to the north and northwest, Russia and Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south, and Bulgaria and Romania to the west.
    • It links to the Sea of Marmara through the Bosporus and then to the Aegean through the Dardanelles.
    • It has traditionally been Russia’s warm water gateway to Europe.
    • For Russia, the Black Sea is both a stepping stone to the Mediterranean as well as a strategic buffer between NATO and itself.
    • Cutting Ukrainian access to the Black Sea will reduce it to a landlocked country and deal a crippling blow to its trade logistics.

     

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  • Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

    Festival in news: Sao Joao Festival

    Prelims Only | History | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

    As in every monsoon, Catholics in Goa will celebrate Sao Joao, the feast of St John the Baptist.

    Note: The name typically sounds like a North-Eastern festival, but it is not.

    What is Sao Joao and where is it celebrated in Goa?

    • In Goa, Catholics celebrate all the feasts of the Roman Catholic Church, which include the feast of St John the Baptist on June 24.
    • John the Baptist is the person who he had baptised Jesus Christ on the river Jordan.
    • Traditionally, there are spirited Sao Joao festivities in the villages of Cortalim in South Goa and Harmal, Baga, Siolim and Terekhol in North Goa.
    • However, over the years, pool parties and private Sao Joao parties in Goa have been a “complete package of merriment and joy” for tourists.

    Course of celebration

    • The celebrations will include revellers sporting crowns made of fruits, flowers and leaves, and the major draw of the feast is the water bodies – wells, ponds, fountains, rivers – in which the revellers take the “leap of joy”.
    • Enjoyed by children and adults alike, the festival also includes playing the traditional gumott (percussion instrument), a boat festival, servings of feni, and a place of pride for new sons-in-law.

    What does jumping into water bodies symbolise?

    • The youngsters in Goa celebrate this occasion with revelry and perform daredevil feats, by jumping into over flowing wells or rivulets.
    • The boys are found merrily jumping into the water to commemorate the leap of joy, which St John is said to have taken in the womb of his mother St Elizabeth when virgin Mary visited her.

     

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    Odisha’s Mo Bus: Recipient of the UN’s prestigious public service award

    Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Mo Bus, the bus service of Odisha’s Capital Region Urban Transport (CRUT) authority, has been recognized by the United Nations as one of 10 global recipients of its annual Public Service Awards for 2022.

    Mo Bus service

    • The Mo Bus service was launched on November 6, 2018.
    • It aimed to ensure transformation of the urban public transport scenario in the city and its hinterland through use of smart technology, service benchmarking and customer satisfaction.
    • The buses are designed to integrate smart technologies such as free on-board Wi-Fi service, digital announcements, surveillance cameras, and electronic ticketing.
    • CRUT says that to increase women’s participation in the workforce, and to make women riders feel safer, it is committed to ensuring that 50% of Mo Bus Guides (conductors) are women.

    What is the recent award?

    • The public transport service has been recognised for its role in “promoting gender-responsive public services to achieve the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals)”.
    • The “impact” is that 57 per cent of the city’s commuters now use the Mo Bus, the UN said.
    • Mo E-Ride is estimated to reduce pollution by 30-50 per cent.

    About UN Public Service Award

    • The UN describes its Public Service Awards as the “most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service”.
    • The first Awards ceremony was held in 2003, and the UN has since received “an increasing number of submissions from all around the world”.
    • It is intended to reward the creative achievements and contributions of public service institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.
    • Through an annual competition, the UN Public Service Awards promotes the role, professionalism and visibility of public service.

     

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  • BRICS Summits

    BRICS

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Context

    China is hosting the 14th BRICS summit in virtual mode. The focus of the summit will be centred on the conflict and the association’s future.

    About BRICS

    • BRICS is an acronym for the grouping of the world’s leading emerging economies, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
    • The BRICS Leaders’ Summit is convened annually.
    • It does not exist in form of an organization, but it is an annual summit between the supreme leaders of five nations.
    • The grouping was formalized during the first meeting of BRIC Foreign Ministers on the margins of the UNGA in New York in September 2006.
    • The first BRIC Summit took place in 2009 in the Russian Federation and focused on issues such as reform of the global financial architecture.
    • South Africa was invited to join BRIC in December 2010, after which the group adopted the acronym BRICS.
    • South Africa subsequently attended the Third BRICS Summit in Sanya, China, in March 2011.
    • The Chairmanship of the forum is rotated annually among the members, in accordance with the acronym B-R-I-C-S.

    Significance of BRICS

    • Economically, militarily, technologically, socially and culturally, BRICS nations represent a powerful bloc.
    • 40 per cent of the world’s population: They have an estimated combined population of 3.23 billion people, which is over 40 per cent of the world’s population.
    • 25 per cent of global GDP: They account for over more than a quarter of the world’s land area over three continents, and for more than 25 per cent of the global GDP.
    • Two fastest growing large economies: The grouping comprises two of the fastest-growing nations, India and China.
    •  It has proved its mettle to an extent by establishing the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) and the Contingency Reserve Arrangement (CRA).

    How the Ukraine crisis creates challenges for the BRICS

    • The leaders of BRICS countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — will navigate the crucial dilemma of evolving a common stance on the Russian-Ukraine conflict.
    • The primary agenda of BRICS was rebalancing an international system dominated by the West.
    • However, the Ukraine crisis could act as a distraction from that primary agenda.
    • The geopolitical considerations of its members can come in the way of attaining the grouping’s original goal.
    • Target of economic warfare: Some of the BRICS members could be potential targets of the kind of economic warfare deployed by the West against Russia.
    •  The West has so far not expected the BRICS countries to stringently adhere to its sanctions against Russia.
    • But it will be naïve to expect that they will persist with this attitude.

    Way forward

    1] Create institutional arrangement

    • Challenging the economic might of the West in the near future might be close to impossible.
    • Despite the group comprising China, India and Russia, intra-BRICS trade accounts for less than 20 per cent of global trade.
    • BRICS is far from having its own payment mechanisms, international messaging systems or cards.
    • The Ukraine crisis should drive home the need to create institutional arrangements that can cushion against similar financial turbulence in the future.

    2] Recalibrate structure and expand

    • BRICS requires a recalibration of its structure and agenda.
    • Creating financial mechanisms and technological institutions could turn BRICS into a G20 for developing nations.
    • It’s time to revisit the idea of expanding the grouping by inviting new members.
    • This could also impart new vigour to the BRICS’s developmental goals.

    3] Economic cooperation between India and China

    • Economic cooperation between India and China is vital for the success of any future BRICS endeavour.
    • The border conflict has created a mistrust of China in India.
    • In the current situation, New Delhi is unlikely to take an anti-West stance.
    • India, unlike China, is neither a UN Security Council member nor does it have major sticking points with the West.
    • At the same time, India is not a part of the Western camp.
    • That does open up the possibility of New Delhi taking a more proactive position in BRICS.
    • The two powers need to come together for the sake of global governance reform.

    Conclusion

    The Ukraine crisis could be an occasion for the leaders of BRICS nations to commit themselves to the original goal of the bloc. It’s an opportunity they shouldn’t let go of.

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  • WTO and India

    Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS)

    op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Issues Related To Farm Subsidies & Msp

    Context

    The recently concluded twelfth ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) adopted the trade agreement called the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS).

    About the AFS

    • WTO negotiations on fisheries subsidies were launched in 2001 at the Doha Ministerial Conference, with a mandate to “clarify and improve” existing WTO disciplines on fisheries subsidies.
    • At the 2017 Buenos Aires Ministerial Conference (MC11), ministers decided on a work programme to conclude the negotiations by aiming to adopt, at the next Ministerial Conference, an agreement on fisheries subsidies which delivers on Sustainable Development Goal 14.6.
    • The recently concluded twelfth ministerial conference of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) adopted a sustainability-driven trade agreement called the Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies (AFS).

    Provisions adopted in the AFS

    • Prohibits three subsidies: Fundamentally, AFS prohibits three kinds of subsidies:
    • First, illegal, unreported, or unregulated (IUU) fishing.
    • Second, fishing of already over-exploited stocks.
    • Third, fishing on unregulated high seas.
    • Two-year transition period for developing countries: As part of special and differential treatment (S&DT), developing countries like India have been given a two-year transition period for phasing out the first two kinds of subsidies within their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
    • However, the final negotiated outcome, most crucially, lacks the much-needed discipline on subsidies for fishing in other members’ waters and those that contribute to overcapacity and over-fishing (OCOF).
    • Limited AFS: WTO member countries agreed to a limited AFS sans regulations disciplining OCOF subsidies, which have been pushed to the future and are expected to be completed within four years.
    • If negotiations fail, the AFS will stand terminated, as provided in Article 12.
    • Meanwhile, all countries can continue providing most OCOF subsidies, that is, except for fishing on unregulated high seas.

    What are the implications for India?

    • Longer transition period required: India has been demanding that developing countries be given a longer transition period of 25 years to put an end to OCOF subsidies within their EEZ.
    • Economic growth through ocean resources: Given its long coastline of nearly 7,500 kilometres, the blue economy — sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth — occupies a cardinal place in India’s development trajectory.
    •  India has set a target of exporting marine products worth $14 billion by 2025.
    • Policy space for marine infrastructure: India needs the policy space to invest in developing the marine infrastructure to harness the full potential of the blue economy.
    • Livelihood concerns: Moreover, India needs to protect the livelihood concerns of close to four million marine farmers, the majority of whom are engaged in small-scale, artisanal fishing, which does not pose a great threat to sustainability.
    • However, India’s demand for a longer transition period was not acceptable to many countries who insisted on this period being seven years

    The disparity between Developed countries and Developing countries

    • India rightly contends that WTO disciplines should not be developed in a manner that throttles its emerging sector while richer nations continue to negotiate exemptions for indefinite subsidisation and exclusion of horizontal, non-specific fuel subsidies in the text.
    • Rich countries have historically provided massive subsidies to build capacity for large-scale fishing and fishing in distant waters, thereby contributing the most to depletion.
    • India provided subsidies worth a mere $277 million in 2018, in sharp contrast to the top five subsidisers: China, EU, US, South Korea, and Japan, whose subsidies range from $7,261-$2,860 million respectively.

    Way forward

    • Comprehensive agreement: For the sake of sustainability, countries need to overcome their differences soon and forge a comprehensive agreement with the inclusion of meaningful S&DT, else they risk the indefinite continuation of harmful subsidies by all players.
    • One balancing act could be to consider different ways to effectuate such flexibilities while accommodating the demands in a more targeted manner.
    • Strengthening infrastructure: India could strengthen infrastructure and mechanisms to be able to utilise any future exemptions.

    Conclusion

    For India, the AFS is less-than-perfect, with a potential of no real outcome at the end of four years if the negotiations fail. But negotiations over the global commons are not easy.

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  • Anti Defection Law

    Anti-defection Law

    | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution – historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

    The unfolding political crisis in Maharashtra has thrown the spotlight on the anti-defection law, and the roles of the Deputy Speaker and the Governor.

    What is the news?

    • Some legislators have aligned themselves with the party’s rebel leader and are camping in Guwahati.
    • The party has warned its MLAs that their absence from the meeting would lead to the presumption they wanted to leave the political party.
    • And this would therefore lead to action against them under the anti-defection law.

    What is the Anti-Defection Law?

    • The anti-defection law provides for the disqualification of MLAs who, after being elected on the ticket of a political party, “voluntarily give up their party membership”.
    • The Supreme Court has interpreted the term broadly and ruled an MLA’s conduct can indicate whether they have left their party.
    • The law is also applicable to independent MLAs.
    • But the anti-defection law does not apply if the number of MLAs who leave a political party constitute two-thirds of the party’s strength in the legislature.
    • These MLAs can merge with another party or become a separate group in the legislature.

    How does the two-thirds rule work in the current situation in Maharashtra?

    • Reports indicate that 30 MLAs are with rebel leader.
    • Taking this number at face value means it does not reach the two-thirds (37) mark of the 55 MLAs the party has in the Maharashtra Assembly.
    • Therefore, the protection under the anti-defection law would not be available to the rebel group.

    What adds more to this high-stage political drama?

    • It is the Assembly Speaker who decides whether an MLA has left a party or a group that constitutes two-thirds of a party.
    • The position of the Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly is, however, currently vacant.
    • Article 180(1) of the Constitution states that the Deputy Speaker performs the Speaker’s duties when the office is vacant.
    • Since then, the Deputy Speaker has been acting as the Speaker.

    How would a decision be taken whether the anti-defection law applies in this case?

    Under the current circumstances, two ways would lead to adjudication under the law.

    (1) Approaching the acting Speaker to file defection petition

    • First, any MLA of the Assembly can petition that certain MLAs have defected from their political party.
    • Such a petition has to be accompanied by documentary evidence.
    • The Deputy Speaker would then forward the petition to the MLAs against whom their colleagues are making the charge of defection.
    • The MLAs would have seven days or such time that the Deputy Speaker decides is sufficient to enable them to put across their side of the story.

    (2) Proving of two-third majority

    • Rebel leader and MLAs supporting too can write to the Deputy Speaker with evidence claiming that they represent two-thirds of the strength and claim protection under the anti-defection law.
    • In either case, Speakers will decide the matter after hearing all parties, which could take time.

    How much time does it usually take? Why delay occurs?

    • In recent years, one of the fastest decisions in a defection proceeding was delivered by Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu.
    • However in state legislatures, defection petitions have taken much longer.
    • For example, in 2020, the Supreme Court used its extraordinary power to remove a Manipur minister from his position.
    • But whether the Speaker decides quickly or takes time, the Speaker is usually challenged in court, which further delays the decision.
    • Both Venkaiah Naidu and the Supreme Court have recommended that Speakers decide on defection cases in three months.

    What is the Governor’s role?

    (1) Declaration of Presidents Rule (NA)

    • The Governor has a crucial role when there is political instability in a state.
    • Before 1994, Governors were quick to dismiss a state government, charging that it did not have a majority in the state legislature and recommending the imposition of the President’s rule in the state.
    • But the Supreme Court ended this practice with its judgment in the S R Bommai case in 1994.

     (2) Holding Assembly

    • In this landmark case, the court ruled that the place for deciding whether a government has lost its majority was in the legislature.
    • Hence, Maharashtra Governor can ask Chief Minister to convene the Assembly and prove his majority on the floor of the House.

     (3) Governors Discretion

    • The CM can recommend to the Governor to dissolve the legislature before the end of its five-year term and call for elections under Article 174(2)(b).
    • Here, the Governor’s discretion comes into play.
    • The Governor may choose not to dissolve the legislature.
    • This is when if he or she believes that the recommendation is coming from a council of ministers who do not enjoy the confidence of the state legislature.

    Note: In 2020, the Supreme Court, in Shivraj Singh Chouhan & Ors versus Speaker, MP Legislative Assembly & Ors, upheld the powers of the Speaker to call for a floor test if there is a prima facie view that the government has lost its majority.

    (4) Floor test

    • Under Article 175(2), the Governor can summon the House and call for a floor test to prove whether the government has the numbers.
    • In a detailed judgment, the Court also explained the scope of the power of the Governor and the law revolving around floor tests.
    • When the House is in session, it is the Speaker who can call for a floor test.
    • But when the Assembly is not in session, the Governor’s residuary powers under Article 163 allow him to call for a floor test.

    Conclusion

    • The spectacle of rival political parties whisking away their MLAs to safe destinations does little credit to the state of our democratic politics.
    • It is an unfortunate reflection on the confidence which political parties hold in their own constituents and a reflection of what happens in the real world of politics.
    • Political bargaining, or horse-trading, as we noticed, is now an oft repeated usage in legal precedents.

     

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  • G20 : Economic Cooperation ahead

    PM to attend G-7 summit in Germany

    | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    PM Modi will fly to the Germany as a special invitee to the meeting of G-7 countries.

    Group of 7

    • The G-7 or ‘Group of Seven’ includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
    • It is an intergovernmental organisation that was formed in 1975 by the top economies of the time as an informal forum to discuss pressing world issues.
    • Initially, it was formed as an effort by the US and its allies to discuss economic issues.
    • The G-7 forum now discusses several challenges such as oil prices and many pressing issues such as financial crises, terrorism, arms control, and drug trafficking.
    • It does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters. The decisions taken by leaders during annual summits are non-binding.
    • Canada joined the group in 1976, and the European Union began attending in 1977.

    Evolution of the G-7

    • When it started in 1975—with six members, Canada joining a year later—it represented about 70% of the world economy.
    • And it was a cosy club for tackling issues such as the response to oil shocks.
    • Now it accounts for about 40% of global GDP.
    • Since the global financial crisis of 2007-09 it has sometimes been overshadowed by the broader G20.
    • The G-7 became the G-8 in 1997 when Russia was invited to join.

    Why was Russia expelled?

    • The G-7 was known as the ‘G-8’ for several years after the original seven were joined by Russia in 1997.
    • The Group returned to being called G-7 after Russia was expelled as a member in 2014 following the latter’s annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine.
    • Since his election in 2016, President Trump has suggested on several occasions that Russia be added again, given what he described as Moscow’s global strategic importance.

    Why in news now?

    • New Delhi is preparing for more pressure from the G-7 countries.
    • These countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, the US and the EU) have unitedly imposed sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine.
    • They want India to cooperate in restricting its purchase of Russian oil, not circumvent the sanctions by using a rupee-rouble mechanism.
    • It also wants India to lift the ban on the export of wheat.

    Relevance of G7 for India

    • India will get more voice, more influence and more power by entering the G7.
    • After UN Security Council (UNSC), this is the most influential grouping.
    • If the group is expanded it will collectively address certain humongous issues in the global order.
    • Diplomatically, a seat at the high table could help New Delhi further its security and foreign policy interests, especially at the nuclear club and UNSC reforms.
    • It will further protect its interests in the Indian Ocean.

    Challenges for India’s entry

    • The decision to expand the grouping cannot be taken by the US alone.
    • There needs to be a consensus.
    • However, a special invitation to India is no mean achievement.

     

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  • Tribes in News

    Tribes in news: Santhal Tribe

    | Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Social Empowerment

    The Santhal community is in the spotlight after a political alliance nominated one of its leaders for the Presidential election, Droupadi Murmu, for the election to the highest Constitutional post of India.

    Santhal Tribe

    • Santhal, also spelt as Santal, literally means a calm, peaceful man. Santha means calm, and ala means man in the Santhali (also spelt as Santali) language.
    • Santhals are the third largest Scheduled Tribe community in India after Gonds and Bhils.
    • The Santhali population is mostly distributed in Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal.

    Historical background

    • The Santhals were a nomadic stock before they chose to settle in the Chotanagpur plateau.
    • By the end of the 18th century, they had concentrated in the Santhal Parganas of Jharkhand (earlier Bihar).
    • From there, they migrated to Odisha and West Bengal.

    Demographic details

    • Tribal communities, outside the Northeast, generally have lower levels of literacy.
    • But the Santhals have higher – a result of a pro-school education awareness since at least the 1960s – literacy rate compared to other tribes in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
    • Many of the community have entered the creamy layer of Indian society.
    • For example, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren is a Santhal.
    • The incumbent Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAGI) Girsh Chandra Murmu, who was the first Lt Governor of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, is also a Santhal.

    Cultural features of Santhals

    (1) Religion

    • Despite their social upliftment, the Santhals are usually connected to their roots.
    • They are nature worshippers and could be seen paying obeisance at Jaher (sacred groves) in their villages.
    • River Damodar holds a special place in the religious life cycle of a Santhal.
    • When a Santhal dies, his or her ashes and bones are immersed in the Damodar for a peaceful afterlife.
    • Their traditional dress includes dhoti and gamuchha for men and a short-check saree, usually blue and green, for women, who generally put on tattoos.

     (2) Society

    • Various forms of marriage are accepted in the Santhal society – including elopement, widow remarriage, levirate, forced (rare) and the one in which a man is made to marry the woman he has impregnated.
    • Divorce is not a taboo in the Santhal society. Either of the couple could divorce the other.

    (3) Artforms

    • Santhals are fond of their folk song and dance that they perform at all community events and celebrations.
    • They play musical instruments like kamak, dhol, sarangi and flutes.
    • Most Santhals are agriculturists, depending on their farmlands or forests.
    • Their homes, called Olah, have a particular three-colour pattern on the outer walls.
    • The bottom portion is painted with black soil, the middle with white and the upper with red.

    (4) Language

    • Their tribal language is called Santhali, which is written in a script called Ol chiki, developed by Santhal scholar Pandit Raghunath Murmu.
    • Santhali language belongs to the Munda group.
    • Santhali written in OI-Chiki script is recognised as one of the scheduled languages in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution.

    Back2Basics: Santhal Rebellion

    • The Santhal rebellion also known as Santhal Hool was a revolt by the Santhal in present-day Jharkhand, India, against the British East India Company and the Zamindari System.
    • It began on June 30, 1855, and the East India Company declared martial law on November 10, 1855, which lasted until January 3, 1856, when martial law was lifted.
    • The insurrection was put down by the Presidency soldiers.
    • The four Murmu Brothers – Sidhu, Kanhu, Chand, and Bhairav – spearheaded the revolt.

     

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