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  • Droupadi Murmu elected 15th President of India

    Former Jharkhand Governor Droupadi Murmu was elected the 15th President of India, the first (santhal) tribal woman to be appointed to the position and the youngest as well.

    Here’s a look at some interesting facts about the past Presidents of India:

    * Rajendra Prasad was the first President of India. He is also the only President to have served two consecutive terms.

    * Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was the second President. He was the first to have served as Vice President before being elected to the top post.

    * Zakir Hussain was the third President of India, and the first Muslim President. He also was the first President to die in office. He was the shortest serving President of India (less than two years).

    * On his election, fourth President V.V. Giri became the first one to have also been an acting President.

    * Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was the fifth President and the second Muslim to hold the post. The Emergency was declared during his tenure. He is the second President to have died in office.

    * Neelam Sanjiva Reddy was the sixth President. He became the youngest to take the post at the age of 64. He is also the only one to have been elected unopposed.

    * Giani Zail Singh was the seventh President of India and the first Sikh President.

    * Eighth President Ramaswamy Venkataraman was the first President to have worked with four Prime Ministers and appointed three: V. P. Singh, Chandra Shekhar and P. V. Narasimha Rao.

    * Shankar Dayal Sharma was the 9th President. He also worked with four PMs and appointed three of them in his last year: Atal Bihari Vajpayee, H. D. Deve Gowda, I. K. Gujral.

    * Kocheril Raman Narayanan was the 10th President of India and the first Dalit President. At 76 years and 271 days, he was the oldest President to be elected.

    * APJ Abdul Kalam was the 11th President and first Muslim President to serve an entire term.

    * Elected as the 12th President, Pratibha Patil was the first woman President of India.

    * Pranab Mukherjee, the 13th President, was the first Bengali to hold the post.

    * 14th President Ram Nath Kovind was the first BJP candidate to be elected to the post.

    * 11 Presidents have been members of a political party before being elected. 8 were from Congress, 2 from BJP, 1 from Janata Party, and the rest were Independents.

    The President of India

    • The President of India is recognized as the first citizen of the country and the head of the state.
    • The elected President of India is a part of the Union Executive along with several other members of the parliament including the Prime Minister, Attorney-General of India and the Vice – president.

    Electing the President

    • The provisions of the election of the President are laid down in Article 54 of the Constitution of India.
    • The Presidential and Vice-Presidential Election Act 1952 led to the establishment of this Constitutional provision.

    Qualifications to become the President of India

    The qualification of being the President of India are given below:

    • He/ She must be an Indian citizen
    • A person must have completed the age of 35.
    • A person must be qualified for election as a member of the House of the People.
    • Must not hold a government (central or state) office of profit
    • A person is eligible for election as President if he/she is holding the office of President or Vice-President.

    Actual course of election

    • The President of India is elected indirectly by an Electoral College following the system of proportional representation utilizing a single transferable vote system and secret ballots.
    • MPs and MLAs vote based on parity and uniformity values.

    Electoral College composition-

    (1) Legislative Assemblies of the States:

    • According to the provision of Article 333, every state’s Legislative Assembly must consist of not less than 60 members but not more than 500 members.

    (2) Council of States:

    • 12 members are nominated by the President of India based on skills or knowledge in literature, arts, science, and social service to act as the members of the Council of States.
    • In total, 238 represent act as representatives from both the States and Union Territories.

    (2) House of the People:

    • The composition of the House of People consists of 530 members (no exceeding) from the state territorial constituencies.
    • They are elected through direct election.
    • The President further elects 20 more members (no exceeding) from the Union Territories.

    Uniformity in the scale of representation of states

    To maintain the proportionality between the values of the votes, the following formula is used:

    Value of vote of an MLA= total no. of the population of the particular state/ number of elected MLAs of that state divided by 1000.

    Single vote system

    • During the presidential election, one voter can cast only one vote.
    • While the MLAs vote may vary state to state, the MPs vote always remain constant.

    MPs and MLAs vote balance

    • The number of the total value of the MPs votes must equal the total value of the MLAs to maintain the State and the Union balance.

    Quotas:

    • The candidate reaching the winning quota or exceeding it is the winner.
    • The formula sued is ‘Winning quota total number of poll/ no.of seats + 1’.

    Voters’ preference:

    • During the presidential election, the voter casts his vote in favor of his first preferred candidate.
    • However, in case the first preference candidate does not touch the winning quota, the vote automatically goes to the second preference.
    • The first preferred candidate with the lowest vote is eliminated and the votes in his/her favor are transferred to the remaining candidates.

    Why need Proportional representation?

    • The President of India is elected through proportional representation using the means of the single transferable vote (Article 55(3)).
    • It allows the independent candidates and minority parties to have the chance of representation.
    • It allows the practice of coalition with many voters under one government.
    • This system ensures that candidates who are elected don’t represent the majority of the electorate’s opinion.

    Why is President indirectly elected?

    If Presidents were to be elected directly, it would become very complicated.

    • It would, in fact, be a disaster because the public doesn’t have absolute clarity of how the president-ship runs or if the candidate fits the profile of a president.
    • Another reason why the direct election system isn’t favorable is that the candidate running for the president’s profile will have to campaign around the country with the aid of a political party.
    • And, this will result in massive political instability.
    • Moreover, it would be difficult and impossible for the government to hand out election machinery (given the vast population of India).
    • This will cost the government financially and may end up affecting the economy as well.
    • The indirect election system is a respectable system for the First Man of India (rightly deserving).
    • The system/method of indirect electing of the president also allows the states to maintain neutrality and minimize hostility.

     

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  • Women have Right to Safe Abortion: SC

    Denying an unmarried woman the right to a safe abortion violates her personal autonomy and freedom, the Supreme Court held in an order.

    What did the SC say?

    • A woman’s right to reproductive choice is an inseparable part of her personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution.
    • She has a sacrosanct right to bodily integrity, the court quoted from precedents.
    • The court said forcing a woman to continue with her pregnancy would not only be a violation of her bodily integrity but also aggravate her mental trauma.

    Indispensable clause of safety

    • The court ordered a medical board to be formed by the AIIMS to check whether it was safe to conduct an abortion on the woman and submit a report in a week.

    What is the case?

    • A Bench led by Justice D.Y. Chandrachud was hearing the appeal of a woman who wanted to abort her 24-week pregnancy after her relationship failed and her partner left her.
    • The lower court had taken an “unduly restrictive view” that her plea for a safe abortion was not covered under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.
    • This was since the pregnancy arose from a consensual relationship outside wedlock.

    What was the last amendment?

    • The court noted that an amendment to the Act in 2021 had substituted the term ‘husband’ with ‘partner’, a clear signal that the law covered unmarried women within its ambit.

    Reiterating the live-in recognition

    • Chastising the lower court, the Bench said live-in relationships had already been recognised by the Supreme Court.
    • There were a significant number of people in social mainstream who see no wrong in engaging in pre-marital sex.
    • The law could not be used to quench “notions of social morality” and unduly interfere in their personal autonomy and bodily integrity.

    Back2Basics: Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act

    • Abortion in India has been a legal right under various circumstances for the last 50 years since the introduction of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act in 1971.
    • The Act was amended in 2003 to enable women’s access to safe and legal abortion services.
    • Abortion is covered 100% by the government’s public national health insurance funds, Ayushman Bharat and Employees’ State Insurance with the package rate for surgical abortion.

    The idea of terminating your pregnancy cannot originate by choice and is purely circumstantial. There are four situations under which a legal abortion is performed:

    1. If continuation of the pregnancy poses any risks to the life of the mother or mental health
    2. If the foetus has any severe abnormalities
    3. If pregnancy occurred as a result of failure of contraception (but this is only applicable to married women)
    4. If pregnancy is a result of sexual assault or rape

    These are the key changes that the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act, 2021, has brought in:

    1. The gestation limit for abortions has been raised from the earlier ceiling of 20 weeks to 24 weeks, but only for special categories of pregnant women such as rape or incest survivors. But this termination would need the approval of two registered doctors.
    2. All pregnancies up to 20 weeks require one doctor’s approval. The earlier law, the MTP Act 1971, required one doctor’s approval for pregnancies upto 12 weeks and two doctors’ for pregnancies between 12 and 20 weeks.
    3. Women can now terminate unwanted pregnancies caused by contraceptive failure, regardless of their marital status. Earlier the law specified that only a “married woman and her husband” could do this.
    4. There is also no upper gestation limit for abortion in case of foetal disability if so decided by a medical board of specialist doctors, which state governments and union territories’ administrations would set up.

     

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  • Russia resumes gas supplies to Europe via Nord Stream Pipeline

    Russia restored critical gas supplies to Europe through Germany via the Nord Stream pipeline after 10 days of uncertainty in guise of maintenance.

    Nord Stream Pipeline

    • It is a system of offshore natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany.
    • It includes two active pipelines running from Vyborg to Lubmin near Greifswald forming the original Nord Stream, and two further pipelines under construction running from Ust-Luga to Lubmin termed Nord Stream 2.
    • In Lubmin the lines connect to the OPAL line to Olbernhau on the Czech border and to the NEL line to Rehden near Bremen.
    • The first line Nord Stream-1 was laid and inaugurated in 2011 and the second line in 2012.
    • At 1,222 km in length, Nord Stream is the longest sub-sea pipeline in the world, surpassing the Langeled pipeline.

    Why in news?

    • Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas, had feared that Moscow would not reopen the pipeline after the scheduled work and accused Moscow of using energy as a “weapon”.
    • The showdown came amid the worst tensions in several years over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
    • Germany believes Russia is squeezing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions over the war.

    Why is Russian gas so important?

    (1) Major chunk of energy

    • Russia supplied some 40% of Europe’s natural gas before the war.
    • That has dropped to around 15%, sending prices through the roof and straining energy-intensive industries.

    (2) Everyday use

    • Gas is used across a range of processes that most people never see – to forge steel to make cars, make glass bottles and pasteurise milk and cheese.
    • Companies warn that they often can’t switch overnight to other energy sources such as fuel oil or electricity to produce heat.

    (3) Fuel inflation

    • High energy prices are already threatening to cause a recession in Europe through record inflation, with consumers having less to spend as costs rise for food, fuel and utilities.
    • A complete cutoff could deal an even heavier blow to an already troubled economy.

    What is visible in Russia’s game plan?

    • Since the invasion, Russia’s revenue from exporting oil and gas to Europe has doubled over the average from recent years, to $95 billion.
    • So Putin has cash in hand and could calculate that painful utility bills and an energy recession could undermine public support for Ukraine in Europe and increase sentiment for a negotiated settlement in his favour.
    • It would be unwise to exclude the possibility that Russia could decide to forgo the revenue it gets from exporting gas to Europe in order to gain political leverage.

    What alternatives does Europe have?

    • The EU has turned to more-expensive liquefied natural gas, or LNG, which comes by ship from places like the US and Qatar.
    • Germany is fast-tracking construction of LNG import terminals on its North Sea coast, but that will take years.
    • But LNG alone can’t make up the gap.
    • Conservation and other energy sources are key.

    Could people freeze this winter?

    • Its unlikely homes, schools and hospitals will lose heat because governments are required to impose rationing first on businesses.
    • The German government also could allow gas suppliers to immediately pass on increases to customers.
    • The choices could include torpedoing industry and/or socking consumers with even higher bills.
    • The IEA recommends that European countries step up campaigns for people to conserve at home and plan to share gas in an emergency.

     

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  • Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

    The Lok Sabha deferred the consideration and passing of the Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022 as the Opposition benches were empty due to the ongoing protests outside of Parliament.

    Indian Antarctic Bill, 2022

    Aims and objectives:

    • To provide for national measures to protect the Antarctic environment and associated ecosystems and to give effect to the Antarctic Treaty
    • To provide a harmonious policy framework for India’s Antarctic activities through a well-established legal mechanism
    • Facilitate activities of the Indian Antarctic programme, including management of Antarctic tourism and sustainable development of fisheries
    • To prohibit carrying of certain activities without a permit or the written authorisation of another party to the protocol
    • To provide for inspection in India by an officer designated by the Central government as an Inspector and to constitute an inspection team to carry out inspections in Antarctica
    • To prohibit drilling, dredging, excavation or collection of mineral resources or even doing anything to identify where such mineral deposits occur.

    Key feature: Committee on Antarctic governance

    • It will empower the government to establish a committee on Antarctic governance and environmental protection to monitor, implement and ensure compliance with the relevant international laws, emissions standards and rules of protection.
    • The panel is to be headed by the secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, as ex officio chairperson.
    • Among other roles, he/she has also been the vice-president of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research of the International Science Council since 2018.
    • The committee will have ten members from various ministries, departments and organizations of the Union government, plus two experts on the Antarctic environment or other relevant areas.

    Prohibited activities

    The Bill prohibits certain activities in Antarctica including:

    • Nuclear explosion or disposal of radioactive wastes,
    • Introduction of non-sterile soil, and
    • Discharge of garbage, plastic or other substance into the sea which is harmful to the marine environment

    About Antarctica Treaty

    • Antarctica has a geographical area of 14 million sq. km and has had no indigenous population (i.e. “Antarcticans” don’t exist).
    • However, a few thousand people reside there, in some 40 research stations spread across the continent, throughout the year.
    • In 1959, 12 countries – Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the USSR, the UK and the US signed the Antarctic Treaty.
    • Their aim was to prevent the continent from being militarised and to establish it as a center of peaceful activities.
    • Later, more countries, including India, have become party to the treaty, and today it counts more than 54 members.

    Significance of the treaty

    • The treaty requires each party to take appropriate measures within its competence, including the adoption of laws and regulations, administrative actions, and enforcement measures, to ensure compliance with the protocol.
    • Countries also signed the ‘Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty in 1991, which designates Antarctica as a “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”.

    Need for the Antarctic Legislation

    • The growing presence of Indian scientists in Antarctica and the commitment to Antarctic research and protection prompted the government to adopt domestic legislation consistent with its obligations as a member of the Antarctic Treaty system.
    • These laws will enable India’s courts to deal with disputes or crimes committed in parts of Antarctica, and help build credibility vis-à-vis India’s participation.

     

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  • Karnataka tops India Innovation Index List

    Karnataka has bagged the top rank in NITI Aayog’s India Innovation Index, 2022, which determines innovation capacities and ecosystems at the sub-national level.

    India Innovation Index (III)

    • The release of the second edition of the index—the first was launched in October 2019—demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment to transforming the country into an innovation-driven economy.
    • The index attempts to create an extensive framework for the continual evaluation of the innovation environment of all states and UTs in India.
    • It intends to perform the following three functions-
    1. Ranking of states and UTs based on their index scores
    2. Recognizing opportunities and challenges, and
    3. Assisting in tailoring governmental policies to foster innovation
    • The states have been bifurcated into three categories: major states, northeast and hill states, and union territories/city-states/small states.

    Significance

    • The study examines the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories.
    • The aim is to create a holistic tool that can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing policies.

    Highlights of the 2022 index

    • Karnataka has held this position, under the Major States category, in all three editions of the Index so far.
    • It was followed by Telangana, Haryana, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Bihar and Gujarat were at the bottom of the index.
    • In the Index, Manipur secured the lead in the Northeast and Hill States category, while Chandigarh was the top performer in the Union Territories and City States category.

     

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  • Kali Bein and its cultural significance

    Punjab CM has been admitted to hospital, days after he had drunk a glass of water directly from the Kali Bein, a holy rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi.

    What is the Kali Bein?

    • The 165-km rivulet starts from Hoshiarpur, runs across four districts and meets the confluence of the rivers Beas and Sutlej in Kapurthala.
    • Along its banks are around 80 villages and half a dozen small and big towns.
    • Waste water from there as well as industrial waste used to flow into the rivulet via a drain, turning its waters black, hence the name Kali Bein (black rivulet).
    • Dense grass and weeds grew on the water until a cleaning project started.

    Why did Punjab CM drink water from it?

    • The occasion was the 22nd anniversary of the cleaning project, which had started on July 16, 2000.
    • The project has been slow for years after having made remarkable progress in the initial years.
    • Nevertheless, when Mann drank water from it directly, it was a much cleaner Kali Bein than it was before 2000.

    Cultural significance

    • The Kali Bein is of great significance to Sikh religion and history, because the first Guru, Nanak Dev, is said to have got enlightenment here.
    • When Guru Nanak Dev was staying at Sultanpur Lodhi with his sister Bebe Nanki, he would bathe in the Kali Bein.
    • He is said to have disappeared into the waters one day, before emerging on the third day.
    • The first thing he recited was the “Mool Mantra” of the Sikh religion.

    How did the cleaning project start?

    • It was started by environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal with a handful of followers, without government help.
    • They removed weeds, treated the water and spread awareness among residents.
    • Six years of hard work paid off when then President A P J Abdul Kalam visited the site in 2006 and praised them for their effort.
    • The then government in Punjab then announced that it would take up the project to stop the discharge of untreated water into the rivulet.

    What is its national significance?

    • At one stage, the project had become a role model for river cleaning missions.
    • The ‘Kali Bein Model’ was cited as the blueprint for the National Mission for Clean Ganga.
    • Uma Bharti, then Union Minister for Water Resources, River Project and Ganga Rejuvenation, visited the Kali Bein in 2015, and called it a Guru Sthan for the Ganga project.

  • Anjali Shrotriya, AIR 44, UPSC 2021

    “Even if your UPSC journey didn’t have a good start, you will be able to clear it very easily. Remember, a setback often moves us to a road that is even worse but leads to an even better destination’ – Civilsdaily

    click:- register (free) for air 44, anjali’s notes and online workshop on ias preparationstrategy

    About Anjali Shrotriya– Her UPSC journey and hobbies

    NameAnjali Shrotriya
    Age26
    ResidentIndore, Madhya Pradesh
    ExamUPSC 2021
    All India Rank44
    Attempts4th (2nd Interview)
    Optional Subject Geography
    HobbiesGond painting and tennis

    2. Family and Education

    FatherA bank employee
    MotherA teacher
    Elder sister–

    Anjali Shrotriya hails from the cleanest city, Indore in Madhya Pradesh, and has a family of four consisting of his parents, his elder sister.

     Anjali’s Educational Background:

    • Primary schooling from Indore. After that, She completed his computer science engineering at the Midcap Institution of Science and Technology.
    • She didn’t join any job

    3. UPSC Strategy

    She started her UPSC journey in 2018. In her 1st attempt, she couldn’t clear prelims. In her 3rd attempt in 2020, the first time cleared prelims. But this time, unfortunately, she wasn’t able to clear the interview. 

    She now again appeared for the 2021 prelims in just 15 days. This time she remained laser-sharp-focused on attaining good marks in mains so that the interview wouldn’t decide her rank or placement. And finally, she was successful in her effort.

    These 3+ years’ experience and consistency helped him to formulate a better strategy. She, from the beginning, remained careful of limited resources. Her motto was ‘Fewer resources, more revisions’.

    • For prelims, according to her, Revision of Prelims test series and PYQs are a must. Revision is the key to prelims. She revised all the sources at least 10 times. She prepared her handwritten notes for a greater number of revisions.

    Prelims test series:

    • Forum IAS
    • Vision IAS
    • IAS Baba

    Current Affairs for Prelims:

    • Newspapers 
    • Vision IAS monthly magazine
    • For mains she would give more importance to PYQs. She solved and made frameworks and even answers in some cases for all the PYQs asked by UPSC from 2013 to 2020.
    • She didn’t join any test series for mains.
    • She continuously improved her speed of answer writing.
    • Apart from the above points, she observed that solving PYQs helped her to map important themes and topics that UPSC is asking about these days. 
    • She had been more focused on preparing Introduction and conclusion, diagrams and schematics, keywords, etc crucial things for each important topic in GS  papers and optional.
    click:- register (free) for air 44, anjali’s notes and online workshop on ias preparationstrategy

    4. Anjali Shrotriya’s Notes & Booklist

    Polity:

    • M. Laxmikant (She read cover to cover)
    • Class XI and XII NCERTs (She knew that UPSC has been asking the conventional questions)

    Indian Economy:

    • Shri Ram IAS booklet

    Modern Indian History:

    • A Brief History of Modern India by Spectrum (Rajiv Ahir)
    • NCERTs class VI and XII (Old version)

    Environment:

    • Shankar IAS

    Science and Tech:

    • Newspaper & monthly magazine

    Art & Culture:

    • Indian Art and Culture by Nitin Singhania
    • NCERTs of class XI and XII

    Ancient India:

    • RS Sharma

    Ethics:

    • Ethics and integrity by Subba Rao and PN Rao Chaudhary

    Geography:

    • Certificate Physical and human geography by GC Leong
    • Indian Geography by Majid Hussain
    • NCERTs Class IX to Class XII
    • Challenges to Internal Security of India by Ashok Kumar
    • ETC.

    5. Motivation and inspiration

    Anjali Shrotriya’s course to success was not smooth but quite a full of struggle. After graduation, she started preparing for civil services. She faced failure many times and fell and especially after her 3rd attempt where she made it to the interview but not beyond.

    Anjali had considerable support from her sister who used to sit with her for 10 to 12 hours during her preparation. Her parents also have unwavering support, telling her to believe in her abilities to make it this far.

    click:- register (free) for air 44, anjali’s notes and online workshop on ias preparationstrategy

  • [Sansad TV] Diplomatic Dispatch: India and the Commonwealth

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    Context

    • Recently, the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) took place from June 20 to 25 in Kigali, Rwanda.
    • External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar led the Indian delegation.

    In this article, we examine the role of the Commonwealth and India’s unique relationship with it.

    What is the Commonwealth of Nations?

    • The Commonwealth of Nations is an intergovernmental organization of 53 member states that are mostly former territories of the British Empire.
    • It dates back to the first half of the 20th century with the decolonization of the British Empire through increased self-governance of its territories.
    • It was originally created as the British Commonwealth of Nations through the Balfour Declaration at the 1926 Imperial Conference.
    • It was formalized by the UK through the Statute of Westminster in 1931.
    • The symbol of this free association is Queen Elizabeth II, who is the Head of the Commonwealth.

    History of its creation

    • The Commonwealth was created in the early 1900s when nations that were formerly a part of the British Empire began to secede.
    • India is one of the founding members of the modern Commonwealth.
    • India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, played a key role in the creation of the modern Commonwealth in 1949, Indian policy-makers over the years have considered it as a relic of empire and steeped in colonial legacy.
    • Membership today is based on free and equal voluntary cooperation.

    Working of Commonwealth

    • Commonwealth members has no legal obligations to one another.
    • Instead, they are united by language, history, culture and their shared values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

    Actual functioning: Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)

    • CHOGM which takes place every two years is a platform for all Commonwealth leaders to meet and discuss issues pertaining to the Commonwealth.
    • The motto behind the meeting is to reaffirm common values, address the shared global challenges and agree how to work to create a better future.

    Why is Britain promoting Commonwealth?

    • The Commonwealth has become an important forum for London to recalibrate foreign policy.
    • Britain also wants to reinvent itself politically after Brexit.

    India & the Commonwealth

    • India became a member in 1947, the first with chiefly non-European populations.
    • India’s new political interest in the Commonwealth is evident by the participation of PM at the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in London in 2018.
    • It marked the first Indian PM’s presence in a Commonwealth Summit after nearly a decade.

    India’s interest in the Commonwealth

    • Old global grouping: First, the membership of the Commonwealth, virtually spanning the entire globe.
    • Scope for bilateral engagement: For India, membership and prospective leaders of the Commonwealth helps enhance its bilateral ties with individual countries.
    • Extending India’s soft power: The growing importance of small states for India’s foreign policy. For a rising India, the Commonwealth is the most natural theatre to demonstrate its credibility as a “leading power”.
    • Indian diaspora: Commonwealth-wide presence of Indian diaspora who once went there as indentured labour is another factor.
    • Ring-fencing against rivals:  China is not and will never be a member of the Commonwealth.
    • Economic interests: India has the largest economy in the Commonwealth after the UK, India is expected to overtake the UK as the fifth-largest economy in the world and the largest in the Commonwealth.

    Issues with the Commonwealth

    • No agenda: The grouping has no political or economic power, and even former immigration advantages between Commonwealth countries have also ceased to exist.
    • Declining relevance as a group: Considering its declining importance former PM Manmohan Singh skipped two CHOGM meets, while Narendra Modi didn’t attend the last one, held in Malta in 2015.
    • Imperialistic setup: Amidst the calls for the position of Commonwealth Head to be more democratically shared or rotated the announcement of Prince Charles as the successor has also put a dent on its democratic credentials.

    Importance of Commonwealth

    • Reach to small nations: From the Indian perspective, the Commonwealth offers opportunities to reach out to small states that make up around 60% of Commonwealth members.
    • Extending diplomatic presence: In some of these states, India has no diplomatic presence, and forging relations with these countries could help India secure crucial votes during UN or multilateral contests it is involved in.
    • Voice for small nations: It is also a larger network of countries than any other, except for the UN, which gives a chance for smaller countries to have their voices heard and make their concerns heard.
    • Most peaceful alliance: On a geopolitical scale, the Commonwealth continues to be an impressive show of the force of a peaceful alliance.
    • Democratic bloc: Also, for India, it provides an excellent opportunity to give shape to a model of international cooperation and partnership distinct from that of China.

    Way Forward

    • India’s new political interest in the Commonwealth is encouraging. This provides a focus on the Commonwealth looking towards the future.
    • India has clear opportunities to enhance its global role and maximize its bilateral relations within the multilateral framework of the Commonwealth.
    • It will seek to focus on enhancing trade and investment in a multilateral Commonwealth-wide context.
    • The bloc may prove to be an important channel through which India can attempt to build a consensus to develop collaborative ways in dealing with global institutional reforms.

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  • The cost of misrepresenting inflation

    Context

    Globally, inflation is now the prime concern of governments, even as there is a speculation that a recession may not be far behind.

    Is inflation in India driven by the global factors?

    • The Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been reported as saying that there was a “need to recognise global factors in inflation”.
    • However, the current inflation in India is, even largely, due to global factors is wrong, and harmful.
    • While the price of edible oils and the world price of crude may have risen following the Ukraine war, the impact of this development on overall inflation in India, measured by the rise in the consumer price index, would depend upon their share in the consumption basket of households, which is relatively low.
    • For the commodity groups ‘fuel and light’ and ‘fats and oils’, chosen as proxies for the price of imported fuel and edible oils, respectively, inflation has actually been lower in the first five months of 2022 than in the last five months of 2021.
    • On the other hand, for the commodity group ‘food and beverages’, it was exactly the reverse, i.e., inflation has been much higher in the more recent period.
    • Contribution of domestic factors: The estimated direct contribution of this group to the current inflation dwarfs that of all other groups, establishing conclusively that the inflation is driven by domestic factors.

    Inadequacy of monetary policy to address the food-price driven inflation

    • Issues with the monetary policy: Starting in May, the repo rate has been raised.
    • Raising the interest rate in an attempt to control inflation, implicitly assumes that it reflects economy-wide excess demand.
    • Such a diagnosis of the current inflation is belied by the fact that the price of food is rising faster than that of other goods i.e., its relative price has risen.
    • So, the excess demand is in the market for foodstuff, and it is this that needs to be eliminated.
    • The inadequacy of monetary policy to address food-price-driven inflation has been flagged by economists internationally.
    • at the World Economic Forum’s annual meet held at Davos, Switzerland in June, Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz observed that raising interest rates is not going to solve the problem of inflation. It is not going to create more food.
    • Jerome Powell is reported stating that even though the Fed’s resolve to fight inflation is unconditional, “a big part of inflation won’t be affected by our tools”.
    • This is an acknowledgement that there is only so much a central bank can do when battling inflation driven by the rise in energy and food prices.

    Way forward

    • Need for supply side interventions:  To hold on to the view that inflation in India is due to excess aggregate demand curable by raising interest rates ensures that attention is not paid to the necessary supply-side interventions.

    Conclusion

    India is suffering from undercurrent of a food price inflation, which, by exacerbating poverty, stands in the way of a more rapid expansion of the economy.

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