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Type: Op-ed

  • PM-KUSUM

    Context

    The Union Minister of Power, New and Renewable Energy recently reviewed the progress of the PM-KUSUM scheme and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to accelerating solar pump adoption.

    Background

    • It was launched in 2019.
    • PM-KUSUM aims to help farmers access reliable day-time solar power for irrigation, reduce power subsidies, and decarbonise agriculture.
    • PM-KUSUM provides farmers with incentives to install solar power pumps and plants in their fields.
    • Three deployment models: Pumps come in three models: off-grid solar pumps solarised agricultural feeders, or grid-connected pumps.
    • Off-grid pumps have been the most popular, but the nearly 2,80,000 systems deployed fall far short of the scheme’s target of two million by 2022.
    • The other two models are also worth scaling up for they allow farmers to earn additional income by selling solar power to discoms, and discoms to procure cheap power close to centres of consumption.

    Challenges

    • Awareness challenge: Barriers to adoption include limited awareness about solar pumps.
    • Upfront contribution: The other barrier includes farmers’ inability to pay their upfront contribution.
    • Limited progress on two models: Progress on the other two models has been rather poor due to regulatory, financial, operational and technical challenges.

    Suggestions

    • Extend the scheme’s timelines: Most Indian discoms have a surplus of contracted generation capacity and are wary of procuring more power in the short term.
    • Extending PM-KUSUM’s timelines beyond 2022 would allow discoms to align the scheme with their power purchase planning.
    • Level playing field: Discoms often find utility-scale solar cheaper than distributed solar (under the scheme) due to the latter’s higher costs and the loss of locational advantage due to waived inter-State transmission system (ISTS) charges.
    • To tackle the bias against distributed solar, we need to address counter-party risks and grid-unavailability risks at distribution substations, standardise tariff determination to reflect the higher costs of distributed power plants, and do away with the waiver of ISTS charges for solar plants.
    • Streamline regulation: We need to streamline land regulations through inter-departmental coordination.
    •  States should constitute steering committees comprising members from all relevant departments for this purpose.
    • Financing farmers contribution:  There is a need to support innovative solutions for financing farmers’ contributions.
    • Many farmers struggle to pay 30-40% of upfront costs in compliance with scheme requirements.
    • To ease the financial burden on farmers, we need out-of-the-box solutions.
    • Grid-connected solar pumps: Current obstacles to their adoption include concerns about their economic viability in the presence of high farm subsidies and farmers’ potential unwillingness to feed in surplus power when selling water or irrigating extra land are more attractive prospects.
    • Further, the grid-connected model requires pumps to be metered and billed for accounting purposes but suffers from a lack of trust between farmers and discoms.
    • Adopting solutions like smart meters and smart transformers and engaging with farmers can build trust and address some operational challenges.

    Conclusion

    These measures, combined with other agriculture schemes and complemented by intensive awareness campaigns, could give a much-needed boost to PM-KUSUM.

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  • Flood management that cannot be watered down

    Over the years, many of Bihar’s districts have been facing serious challenges with recurrent and massive flooding.  It is the right time to look at some of the key aspects of India-Nepal flood management.

    Simultaneous floods in Bihar and Nepal

    • Some of Nepal’s biggest river systems originate in the Himalayan glaciers which then flow into India through Bihar.
    • During the monsoons, these river systems flood causing many problems for Bihar.
    • It is a necessity that there is process-driven coordination between the Centre and the Government of Bihar to handle the flooding in Nepal’s Terai and North Bihar (largely the Mithilanchal region).

    Which are those flooding rivers?

    • Nepal’s three biggest river systems—Kosi, Gandaki and Karnali—originate in the high mountain glaciers, flow through the country and then enter India through the state of Bihar.
    • During the monsoon season, these river systems often get flooded due to heavy rains/landslides in Nepal which create floods in India’s most flood prone state—Bihar.

    Bihar’s vulnerability

    • The history of floods in Bihar from 1998 to 2012 reveals how strong discharges of water due to heavy rains in the catchment areas of Nepal have created a strong pressure on the river embankments in India.
    • About 76 per cent of the population living in northern Bihar live under threat of floods due to these river systems and a total of 73.06 per cent of the total geographical area of Bihar is flood affected (mostly during the monsoon).

    Measures: Joint flood management program

    • As part of the long-term measures to address the problem of massive and recurrent floods in Bihar, the Joint Project Office (JPO), Biratnagar, was established in Nepal in August 2004.
    • It aimed to prepare a detailed project report to construct a high dam on the Nepal side (on the Kosi, Kamla and Bagmati rivers).

    Flaws: Yet to get effect

    • Despite the best efforts made by the Government of Bihar, the task remains unaccomplished even after 17 years.
    • The Government of Bihar has raised the matter at regular intervals for this.

    Who is the obstructionist? : Fault lies with Nepal

    • The Central Water Commission (CWC) has convened several meetings with Nepali Authorities.
    • However, what is evident is Nepal’s lack of prompt reciprocation.
    • India has long-standing water sharing issues with Nepal.

    What has been done so far?

    • As in the figures shared by Bihar, a total of four new flood protection works in the Gandak basin area were proposed before the floods of 2020.
    • There were proposed Barrage structures located in the border districts.

    Nepal’s reluctance

    • However, Nepal argues that many of the bund area falls into no man’s land along the open international border.
    • This is notwithstanding the fact that the embankment was built by India 30 years ago and there has not been any dispute regarding its maintenance all these years.

    What does this signify?

    • There is a need for India-Nepal collaboration for an efficiently operated barrage.
    • It is evident that Nepal’s attitude towards mutual issues (water sharing, flood control, etc.) has been short of collaboration, unlike in the past.

    Way forward

    • In the best spirit of friendship, Nepal and India should restart the water dialogue and come up with policies to safeguard the interests of all those who have been affected on both sides of the border.
    • It is time the two friendly countries come together and assess the factors that are causing unimaginable losses through flooding every year.
    • Optimisation of the infrastructure will be decisive in finding an alternative paradigm of flood management.
    • By controlling the flooding and using the water resources for common developmental uses such as hydroelectricity, irrigation and waterways, India-Nepal relations can be strengthened even further.
    • Moreover, it is also linked to how the Himalayan glaciers and the green cover are managed.

    Conclusion

    • Water resources are priceless assets.
    • Water cooperation should drive the next big India-Nepal dialogue, and despite the challenges, wisdom should prevail to turn the crisis into an opportunity, for the sake of development and environmental protection.

     

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  • Complex count: On caste census

    These days, many states are urging the Centre to include a caste-wise census in the Census of India to have substantial data for reservations of certain dominant caste groups.

    Background

    Caste census of Backward Classes difficult: Centre

    Reaction by the Centre

    • In this backdrop, the Union government’s assertion in the Supreme Court that a census of the backward castes is “administratively difficult and cumbersome” may evoke varying responses.
    • There are two components to the Government’s stand:
    1. Jeopardizing the Census: It asserts that it is a policy decision not to have caste as part of the regular census and that, administratively, the enumeration would be rendered so complex that it may jeopardise the decennial census itself.
    2. Adding more vagueness: It cites the difficulties and complexities inherent in getting an accurate count of castes, given the mind-boggling numbers of castes and sub-castes, with phonetic variations and similarities.

    This is the reason that the data from the 2011 SECC were not acted upon because of “several infirmities” that rendered them unusable.

    Why is caste census not feasible?

    • Hurdle to casteless society: The idea of a national caste census is abhorrent when the stated policy is to strive for a casteless society.
    • Political polarization: Political parties with their base in particular social groups may find a caste enumeration useful, if their favoured groups are established as dominant in specific geographies.
    • Electoral impact: Politicians may find the outcome inconvenient, if the precise count turns out to be lower and has a negative bearing on perceptions about their electoral importance.

    Limitations of SECC, 2011

    • Completeness and Accuracy: Even in the Censuses up to 1931, when caste details were collected, they were wanting in completeness and accuracy.
    • Lakhs of Caste: Further, the data contained 46 lakh different caste names, and if subcastes were considered, the ultimate number may be exponentially high.

    Need for such census

    • Quantifiable data: It may also be a legal imperative, considering that courts want ‘quantifiable data’ to support the existing levels of reservation.
    • Basis for Affirmative actions: It will be useful to establish statistical justification for preserving caste-based affirmative action programmes.

    These points do merit consideration, and even those clamouring for a caste census cannot easily brush them aside.

    Way forward

    • A caste census need not necessarily mean caste in the census.
    • It may be an independent exercise, but one that needs adequate thought and preparation, if its ultimate goal is not for political or electoral purposes, but for equity in distribution of opportunities.
    • A preliminary socio-anthropological study can be done at the State and district levels to establish all sects and sub-castes present in the population.
    • These can be tabulated under caste names that have wider recognition based on synonymity and equivalence among the appellations that people use to denote themselves.
    • Thereafter, it may be possible to do a field enumeration that can mark any group under castes found in the available OBC/BC lists.

    Conclusion

    • A caste census may not sit well with the goal of a casteless society, but it may serve, in the interim, as a useful, even if not entirely flawless, means of addressing inequities in society.

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  • A climate change narrative that India can steer

    A recent report by the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) reveals that India has warmed up 0.7° C during 1901-2018.

    What was the report?

    Title: Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region (by MoES)

    (a) Climate severity

    • The 2010-2019 decade was the hottest with a mean temperature of 0.36° C higher than average.
    • Heatwaves continued to increase with no signs of diminishing greenhouse gas emissions despite lower activity since the novel coronavirus pandemic.
    • India may experience a 4.4° C rise by the end of this century.
    • Within 2050, rainfall is expected to rise by 6% and temperature by 1.6° C.
    • India’s Deccan plateau has seen eight out of 17 severe droughts since 1876 in the 21st century (2000-2003; 2015-2018).

    (b) Land degradation

    • To make things worse, India lost about 235 square kilometres to coastal erosion due to climate change-induced sea-level rise, land erosion and natural disasters such as tropical cyclones between 1990-2016.

    (c) Rising Internal Displacement

    • According to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, India’s Internally Displaced Populations (IDPs) are rising due to damaging climate events.
    • Uttarakhand residents began deserting their homes after the Kedarnath floods in 2013 due to heavy precipitation that increases every year.
    • Recent figures are more alarming with 3.9 million displaced in 2020 alone, mostly due to Cyclone Amphan.

    India’s commitment to Climate Mitigation

    • India held the top 10 position for the second year in a row in 2020’s Climate Change Performance Index (CCPI).
    • The country received credit under all of the CCPI’s performance fields except renewable energy where India performed medium.
    • India vowed to work with COP21 by signing the Paris Agreement to limit global warming and submitted the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
    • It set a goal of reducing emissions intensity of GDP by 33%-35% and increasing green energy resources (non-fossil-oil based) to 40% of installed electric power capacity by 2030.
    • India cofounded with France at COP21, in 2015, the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

    Core concern

    (a) Good policies, weak practices

    • The question is, are these global alliances and world-leading policies being practised or are merely big promises with little implementation?
    • Despite leading ISA, India performed the least in renewable energy according to the CCPI’s performance of India.

    (b) Low compliance

    • India is not fully compliant with the Paris Agreement’s long-term temperature goal of the NDCs and there are still risks of falling short of the 2° C goal.
    • According to India’s carbon emission trajectory, the country is en route to achieve barely half of the pledged carbon sink by 2030.
    • To achieve the Paris Agreement’s NDC target, India needs to produce 25 million-30 million hectares of forest cover by 2030 — a third of current Indian forestation and trees.
    • Going by the facts, it seems India has overpromised on policies and goals as it becomes difficult to deliver on the same.

    Why COP26 matters

    • The Glasgow COP26 offers India a great opportunity to reflect on the years since the Paris Agreement and update NDCs to successfully meet the set targets.
    • India is expected to be the most populated country by 2027, overtaking China, contributing significantly to the global climate through its consumption pattern.
    • India is in a rather unique position to have a significant influence on global climate impact in the new decade.

    Conclusion

    • India believes that climate actions must be nationally determined.
    • However, the Paris Agreement for developing countries should be at the core of decision-making.
    • India has the ability to improve its global positioning by leading a favourable climate goal aspiration for the world to follow.
    • The country has the opportunity to not only save itself from further climate disasters but also be a leader in the path to climate change prevention.

    Back2Basics: COP26, Glasgow

    • The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, is the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference.
    • It is scheduled to be held in the city of Glasgow, Scotland between 31 October and 12 November 2021, under the presidency of the United Kingdom.
    • This conference is the first time that Parties are expected to commit to enhanced ambition since COP21.
    • Parties are required to carry out every five years, as outlined in the Paris Agreement, a process colloquially known as the ‘ratchet mechanism’.

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  • Judicial selection needs more than a tweak

    In recent weeks, the Supreme Court of India’s collegium has been busy. New judges have been appointed to the Court on its advice and long overdue vacancies have been filled up.

    Read this before proceeding:

    Collegium recommends nine judges for Supreme Court

    What is the matter of concern?

    Ans. Transparency in appointments

    • These recommendations are seen as reflective of a new and proactive collegium.
    • What ought to concern us, though, is that long-standing apprehensions about the collegium’s operation remain unaddressed: specifically, its opacity and a lack of independent scrutiny of its decisions.
    • These misgivings are usually seen in the context of a battle between the executive and the judiciary.
    • Less evident is the effect that the failings have on the status of the High Courts.
    • Today, even without express constitutional sanction, the collegium effectively exercises a power of supervision over each of the High Courts.

    No specified reasons for Exclusion

    • For nearly two years, despite vacancies on the Bench, the collegium made no recommendations for appointments to the Supreme Court.
    • The conjecture in the press was that this logjam owed to a reluctance amongst some of its members to elevate Justice Akil Kureshi to the Court.
    • Indeed, it was only after a change in its composition that the panel recommended on August 17 a list of names for elevation. This list did not contain Justice Kureshi’s name.
    • The perfunctory nature of the collegium’s resolutions means that we do not know the reasons for his exclusion.
    • We also do not know why five Chief Justices, including Justice Kureshi, and several other puisne judges are now being transferred to different courts.

    The public has right to know

    • This is not to suggest that these decisions are unfounded. It is possible that each of the choices made is predicated on administrative needs.
    • But whatever the rationale, surely the public has a right to know.

    What is needed?

    Ans. Striking a balance in Separation of Power

    • Separation of powers is a bedrock principle of Indian constitutionalism. Inherent in that idea is the guarantee of an autonomous judiciary.
    • To that end, the process of appointing and transferring judges assumes salience.
    • But the question of how to strike a balance between the sovereign function of making appointments and the need to ensure an independent judiciary has long plagued the republic.

    As suggested by Dr. Ambedkar

    • The Constitution’s framers wrestled over the question for many days. Ultimately, they adopted what Dr. B.R. Ambedkar described as a “middle course”.
    • That path stipulates the following: Judges to the Supreme Court are to be appointed by the President of India in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and such other judges that he deems fit.
    • Judges to the High Courts are to be appointed by the President in consultation with the CJI, the Governor of the State and the Chief Justice of that court.
    • In the case of transfers, the President may move a judge from one High Court to another, after consulting the CJI.

    Where does primacy rest?

    Ans. In a transparent Collegium system

    • In this design, there is no mention of a “collegium”.
    • But since 1993, when the Supreme Court rendered a ruling in the Second Judges Case, the word consultation has been interpreted to mean “concurrence”.
    • What is more, that concurrence, the Court held there, ought to be secured not from the CJI alone, but from a body of judges that the judgment described as a “collegium”.
    • Thus, the Court wound up creating a whole new process for making appointments and transfers and carved out a system where notional primacy came to rest in the top echelons of the judiciary.

    This procedure has since been clarified.  But there is, in fact, no actual guidance on how judges are to be selected.

    The NJAC and after

    • In 2015, Parliament sought to undo the procedures put in place by the Court through the 99th Constitutional Amendment.
    • The National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), that the law created, comprised members from the judiciary, the executive, and the lay-public.
    • But the Court scrapped the efforts to replace the collegium and it held in the Fourth Judges Case that judicial primacy in making appointments and transfers was an essential feature of the Constitution.
    • In other words, the Court held that a body that found no mention in the actual text of the Constitution had assumed a position so sacrosanct that it could not be touched even by a constitutional amendment.

    Assessing the NJAC

    Ans. The NJAC was far from perfect

    • There were legitimate fears that the commission might have resulted in the appointment of malleable judges.
    • Therefore, it is plausible to argue that until a proper alternative is framed, the collegium represents the best solution.
    • This is that allowing senior judges of the Supreme Court primacy in matters of appointments and transfers is the only practical way to guarantee the independence of the judiciary.

    Promises are yet unfulfilled over transparency

    • When the Court struck down the NJAC, it also promised to reform the existing system. Six years down the line those promises have been all but forgotten.
    • The considerations that must go into the procedure for selecting judges is left unexplained.
    • The words “merit” and “diversity” are thrown around without any corresponding debates on what they, in fact, mean.
    • Somehow, amidst all of this, we have arrived at a consensus that enveloping a veil over the process of selection is essential to judicial autonomy, and that there is no legitimate reason why the public ought to know how judges are chosen and transferred.

    Way forward

    • It is clear that we have come a long way from a time when Chief Justices of High Courts declined invitations to the Supreme Court, because they valued the work that they were already entrusted with.
    • Restoring High Courts to that position of prestige must be seen as essential to the process of building trust in our Constitution.
    • Achieving this will no doubt require more than just a tweak in the process of appointments.

    Conclusion

    • It is clear is that the present system and the mysteries underlining the decision-making only further dilute the High Courts’ prominence.
    • At some point we must take seriously the task of reforming the existing scheme because the status quo is ultimately corrosive of the very institutions that it seeks to protect.

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  • The big deal behind the ruckus over AUKUS

    The announcement of the new Australia-U.K.-U.S. (AUKUS) trilateral security pact has naturally generated animated debate in strategic circles, before the QUAD summit.

    What is the AUKUS?

    • The first major initiative of AUKUS would be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia.
    • The nuclear-powered submarines will give Australia naval heft in the Pacific, where China has been particularly aggressive.
    • While the US and Britain have had the capability for decades, Australia has never had an n-sub.

    Motive: To counter China

    • China has nuclear-powered submarines, as well as submarines that can launch nuclear missiles.
    • The three signatories to the AUKUS deal have made it clear though, that their aim is not to arm the new subs with nuclear weapons.
    • China has been one of Australia’s biggest trading partners, but the relationship has soured over the last few years.
    • It was in consideration of Chinese sensibilities that Australia had pulled out of the Malabar Naval Exercise with the US, India, and Japan after participating in the 2007 edition (of which Singapore too, was part).
    • Australia came back to Malabar in 2020, which marked the first time in 13 years that the navies of the four Quad nations war-gamed together.

    Australia at the Centrestage

    • This is primarily because a nuclear-powered submarine gives a navy the capability to reach far out into the ocean and launch attacks.
    • A nuclear-powered submarine offers long distances dives, at a higher speed, without being detected gives a nation the ability to protect its interests far from its shores.
    • In the context of the AUKUS agreement, nuclear-powered submarines will give the Royal Australian Navy the capability to go into the South China Sea.
    • It conclusively puts to rest a long-standing domestic debate on whether it was time for Australia to assess China through the strategic lens, overcoming the purely mercantile considerations that tended to dominate its China policy.

    What makes nuclear submarines so important?

    • A nuclear-powered submarine is classified as an “SSN” under the US Navy hull classification system, wherein ‘SS’ is the symbol for submarine, and ‘N’ stands for nuclear.
    • A nuclear-powered submarine that can launch ballistic missiles is called “SSBN”.
    • Conventional diesel-engine submarines have batteries that keep and propel — though not very fast — the vessel underwater. The life of these batteries can vary from a few hours to a few days.
    • The newer Air-Independent Propulsion (AIP) submarines have additional fuel cells that allow them to stay underwater for longer and move faster than the conventional vessels.
    • However, the fuel cells are used only at strategic times, when the endurance to remain submerged is required.
    • Both conventional and AIP subs need to come to the surface to recharge their batteries using the diesel engine.
    • The diesel engine also propels the vessel on the surface. However, the fuel cells of AIP can only be charged at on-land stations, not while at sea.

    Why is France unhappy about Australia getting these submarines?

    • The deal has complicated the relations between France and Australia, and also France and the US.
    • France is upset as it has been kept out of the loop. But, with the core objective of pushing back against China’s aggression, all five countries — US, UK, Australia, France and India — are on the same track.
    • The deal between France and Australia had been marked by delays and other issues.
    • The first submarine was expected to be operational around 2034.

    Does India have nuclear-powered submarines?

    • Yes, India is among the six nations that have SSNs. The other five are the US, the UK, Russia, France and China.
    • India has had the capacity since it got the Soviet-built K-43 Charlie-class SSN in 1987.
    • Commissioned with the Red Fleet of the USSR in 1967, it was leased to the Indian Navy, and was rechristened INS Chakra. The submarine was decommissioned in 1991.

    Indo-Pacific is the core issue

    • France, which like the UK has historically been an Indo-Pacific power with territories and bases across the region.
    • It has participated in a multi-nation naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal with the four Quad nations.
    • There is no gainsaying the fact that rapid accretion in China’s economic and military capacities, but more particularly its belligerence, has led to a tectonic shift in regional security paradigms.
    • Several countries have been obliged to review their defence preparedness in response to China’s rising military power and its adverse impact on regional stability.

    A chance for the UK

    • The AUKUS pact is also an emphatic assertion of the relevance of the U.S.-Australia Security Treaty (ANZUS).
    • New Zealand, the outlier, walked away in 1984 from the treaty that ironically still bears its initials.
    • Its “nuclear-free” stance ran counter to the U.S. Navy’s non-disclosure policy in regard to nuclear weapons aboard visiting vessels.
    • Close ties notwithstanding, Australia’s future fleet of nuclear submarines will not be permitted access to New Zealand’s ports or waters, as averred by PM Jacinda Ardern.
    • AUKUS provides a fresh opportunity to the United Kingdom to reinsert itself more directly into the Indo-Pacific.
    • It is already a member of the Five Eyes (FVEY), an intelligence-sharing alliance built on Anglo-Saxon solidarity (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the U.K., and the U.S.).

    AUKUS is not a substitute for the Quad

    • It does not erode the Quad’s significance as a platform for consultations and coordination on broader themes of maritime security, free and open trade, health care, critical technologies, supply chains and capacity-building.
    • The AUKUS submarine deal, on the other hand, is an undiluted example of strategic defence collaboration, and a game-changer at that.

    Chinese reception of AUKUS

    • China, expectedly, has strongly criticised AUKUS and the submarine deal as promoting instability and stoking an arms race.

    The exposed double standards

    • China has the world’s fastest-growing fleet of sub-surface combatants.
    • This includes the Type 093 Shang-class nuclear-powered attack submarine (SSN) and the Type 094 nuclear-powered Jin-class ballistic missile submarine (SSBN).
    • Its nuclear submarines are on the prowl in the Indo-Pacific.
    • Yet, China denies Australia and others the sovereign right to decide on their defence requirements.

    What’s in the box of AUKUS?

    Ans. Greater role for Australia

    • Australia’s proposed nuclear submarines will give quite a punch in terms of a stand-off capability.
    • The growing focus on anti-submarine warfare across a more expansive region is clearly altering calculations.
    • Australia’s nuclear submarines would help create a new balance of power in the Indo-Pacific, especially in tandem with the U.S. and the U.K.
    • It will now have a more meaningful naval deterrence of its own to protect its sovereign interests.
    • It is set to play a more robust role in ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

    Way forward

    • The setback ‘down under’ may spur France to focus afresh on partners such as India.
    • India must strike a balance between continuing imports and implementing the all-important Atmanirbhar Bharat in defence manufacturing.
    • France should take AUKUS as a business deal.
    • Its momentary reaction at the cancellation of the contract by Australia should soon subside.
    • As a major Indo-Pacific power, France is an important part of the regional security calculus.

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  • Is there a role for India in divided AUKUS?

    Context

    France recalled its ambassadors to the US and Australia in a diplomatic slap intended to convey its anger over a deal forged in secrecy that saw Paris lose a multi billion dollar submarine contract.

    Depth and diversity of India’s relations

    • That Delhi today is a part of a difficult conversation between the US, UK, France, Europe, and Australia points to the growing depth and diversity of India’s relations with different parts of the West.
    • Popular and academic discourse on India’s foreign policy has been obsessed with the concept of “non-alignment” —was about keeping distance from the West as a whole.
    • India’s contemporary diplomacy, in contrast, takes a nuanced view of internal dynamics in the West, and recognises the political agency of individual states, and develops wide-ranging relationships with the Western nations.

    Relations with France

    • Paris has always taken an independent view of the world, while remaining within the broad framework of the American alliance.
    •  In the 1990s, Paris championed the construction of a multipolar world to constrain American “hyperpower” but India did not join it.
    • The last few years, however, have seen an intensification of India’s strategic engagement with France.
    • For example, India has overcome the earlier reluctance to work with France on Indian Ocean security.

    Engagement as collective and sub-region

    • The government has also stepped up on the political engagement with Europe as a collective as well as its sub-regions — from Baltics to the Balkans and from Iberia to Mitteleuropa.
    •  As India discovers that every European nation, from tiny Luxembourg to a rising Poland, has something to offer, Europe has become a thriving hub of India’s international relations.

    Relations with the UK

    • Due to the bitter colonial legacy, relations between India and UK have always been underdeveloped.
    • In the last couple of years, India has made a determined effort to build a new partnership with Britain, which is the fifth-largest economy in the world, a leading financial hub, a technological powerhouse, and punches well above its weight in global affairs.

    Relations with “Anglosphere”

    • India’s neglect of London also meant Delhi had no time for the “Anglosphere” that binds the UK to Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
    • Many had presumed that the Anglosphere was irrelevant — AUKUS, however, is a reminder that Anglo-Saxon political bonds endure.
    • Instead of treating the Anglosphere with scepticism, India has begun to vigorously engage with the “settler colonies” that have so much to offer India — from natural resources to higher education and critical technologies.
    • The UK and its settler colonies have long been the preferred destination for the Indian diaspora (besides the US).
    • Leveraging diaspora politics: While the diaspora tends to connect the domestic politics of the Anglosphere with that of India, Delhi is figuring out that the diaspora politics can be played both ways.

    Relations with Japan and Australia

    • The transformation of India’s relations with Australia has occurred despite entrenched scepticism in the foreign policy bureaucracy.
    • Finally, Japan has been a part of the West in the post-War era and Delhi’s relations with Tokyo have never been as rounded as they are today. They are also fellow members of the Quad.

    Way forward for India

    • This wide-ranging engagement with the West should help Delhi convey two important messages to its partners this week.
    • Not undermining the larger goal: India needs to remind France, Australia, the UK and US of the shared interests in securing the Indo-Pacific and the dangers of letting the current quarrel undermine that larger goal.
    • Effective deterrence in Indo-Pacific: The other is to highlight the region’s vast requirements for effective deterrence in the Indo-Pacific;
    • And that there is enough room for the US, UK, France, and Europe to collaborate with Indo-Pacific partners in overlapping coalitions to develop high technology and defence-industrial cooperation in all the areas highlighted by AUKUS — effective underwater capabilities to AI, quantum computing and cyber warfare.
    • Deeper cooperation: India’s interests lie in deeper strategic cooperation with France and Europe as well as the Quad and the Anglosphere.

    Conclusion

    India’s diverse relationships in the West must be deployed in full measure to prevent a split in the Indo-Pacific coalition.

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  • The end of the doing business rankings

    The World Bank Group has scrapped its flagship publication, the ‘Doing Business’ report.

    Doing Business Report

    • This report publishes the influential annual ranking of countries on the Ease of Doing Business (EDB) index.
    • It ranks countries by the simplicity of rules framed for setting up and conducting businesses.

    Utility of the index

    The World Bank’s decision has wide ramifications, as the index serves varied purposes.

    • Many countries showcase improved ranking to signal market-friendly policies to attract foreign investments. National leaders often set EDB rank targets.
    • This helps them measure domestic policies against global “best practices” and browbeat domestic critics.
    • India, for instance, wanted its administration to ensure that India breaks into the top 50 ranks of the EDB index.
    • Some countries seem to use their political heft to improve their rank, polish their international image and sway public opinion (as appears to be China’s case).

    Issues with the credibility of the report

    • The Group acted on its commissioned study to examine the ethical issues flagged in preparing the 2018 and 2020 editions of the EDB index.
    • It is accused of having exerted pressure on the internal team working on the Doing Business report to falsely boost China’s rank by doctoring the underlying data.
    • Similarly, tensions were also reportedly brought to bear in the case of Saudi Arabia’s rank, among others.

    EDB index rank vs economic outcomes

    • There is a disconnect between the stellar rise in EDB index rank and economic outcomes.
    • The theory underlying the EDB index could be suspect, the measurement and data could be faulty, or both.
    • For example, China’s phenomenal economic success, especially its agricultural performance (after the reforms in 1978), is perhaps the most unmistakable evidence demonstrating that lack of clarity of property rights may not be the binding constraint in a market economy.
    • What matters is economic incentives.
    • Measuring regulatory functions underlying the index could be tricky and subjective and possibly politically motivated as well, as the controversies surrounding the index seem to suggest.

    EODB in India: At what cost

    Ans. Weakening labour regulations

    • Closer home, India has weaponised the mandate to improve the rank in the EDB index to whittle down labour laws and their enforcement and bring them close to the free-market ideal of ‘hire and fire’.
    • Most States have emulated Maharashtra’s lead of administrative fiat, which renders labour laws toothless by dismantling official labour inspection systems and allowing employers to file self-regulation reports.
    • The government has farmed out critical safety regulations such as annual inspection and certification of industrial boilers to ‘third party’ private agencies.
    • The Labour Department’s inspection is now not mandated; it is optional only by prior intimation to employers.

    Implications of such moves

    • Such abdication of the government’s responsibility towards workers has reportedly affected industrial relations.
    • The workers’ strike at Wistron’s iPhone assembly factory in Karnataka last year is an example.
    • Further, severe industrial accidents are rising, damaging life and productive industrial assets.

    Why did World Bank scrap the index?

    • Investigations into “data irregularities” in preparing the EDB index, as brought out by the independent agency, seems to confirm many shortcomings repeatedly brought to light for years now.
    • The index appears motivated to support the free-market ideal.
    • It is dressed up under scientific garb and is underpinned by seemingly objective methods and data collection.
    • Strong leaders (and motivated officials) seem to have used their position to manipulate the index to suit their political and ideological ends.

    Conclusion

    • India claimed the success of its Make in India initiative by relying on its ranking on the EDB index without tangible evidence.
    • Handing over law enforcement to employers by self-reporting compliance seems to have increased industrial unrest and accidents.
    • It perhaps calls for honest soul-searching as to what havoc a questionable benchmark can wreak.

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  • Holding transnational corporations accountable

    Context

    Given the enormous power that transnational corporations (TNCs) wield, questions about their accountability have arisen often. There have been many instances where the misconduct of TNCs has come to light such as the corruption scandal involving Siemens in Germany.

    Holding TNCs accountable: Background

    • The effort was made at the UN to develop a multilateral code of conduct on TNCs.
    • However, due to differences between developed and developing countries, it was abandoned in 1992.
    • Role of BITs: Aim was to use international law to institutionalise the forces of economic globalisation, leading to the spread of BITs.
    • Asymmetry in BITs: These treaties promised protection to foreign investors under international law by bestowing rights on them and imposing obligations on states.
    • This structural asymmetry in BITs, which confer rights on foreign investors but impose no obligations, relegated the demand for investor accountability.
    • In 2014, the UN Human Rights Council established an open-ended working group with the mandate to elaborate on an international legally binding instrument on TNCs and other businesses concerning human rights.
    • Since then, efforts are being made towards developing a treaty and finding ways to make foreign corporations accountable.
    • The latest UN report is a step in that direction.

    UN report on human rights-compatible international investment agreements

    • The UN working group on ‘human rights, transnational corporations (TNCs) and other businesses’ has published a new report on human rights-compatible international investment agreements.
    • It urges states to ensure that their bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are compatible with international human rights obligations.
    • It emphasises investor obligations at the international level i.e., the accountability of TNCs in international law.

    Using BITs to hold TNCs accountable

    • BITs can be harnessed to hold TNCs accountable under international law.
    • The issue of fixing accountability of foreign investors came up in an international law case, Urbaser v. Argentina (2016).
    • Subjecting corporates to international law: In this case, the tribunal held that corporations can be subjects of international law and are under a duty not to engage in activities that harm or destroy human rights.
    • The case played an important role in bringing human rights norms to the fore in BIT disputes.
    • It also opened up the possibility of using BITs to hold TNCs accountable provided the treaty imposes positive obligations on foreign investors.
    • Recalibrating BITs: In the last few years, states have started recalibrating their BITs by inserting provisions on investor accountability.
    • Issues with BITs: However, these employ soft law language and are hortatory.
    • They do not impose positive and binding obligations on foreign investors.
    • They fall short of creating a framework to hold TNCs accountable under international law.

    Takeaways for India

    • The recent UN report has important takeaways for India’s ongoing reforms in BITs.
    • Best endeavour clauses not enough: India’s new Model BIT of 2016 contains provisions on investor obligations.
    • However, these exist as best endeavour clauses. They do not impose a binding obligation on the TNC.
    • Impose positive binding obligations: India should impose positive and binding obligations on foreign investors, not just for protecting human rights but also for imperative issues such as promoting public health.
    • The Nigeria-Morocco BIT, which imposes binding obligations on foreign investors such as conducting an environmental impact assessment of their investment, is a good example.

    Consider the question ” Ensuring that the bilateral investment treaties (BITs) are compatible with international human rights obligations in the need of the hour. In light of this, assess the progress made globally on this issue and suggest way forward for India in framing its BITs.”

    Conclusion

    Reforms would help in harnessing BITs to ensure the answerability of foreign investors and creating a binding international legal framework to hold TNCs to account.

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  • EoDB at risk if issue of appointments to tribunals is not resolved

    While hearing a challenge to the Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021, the Supreme Court came down heavily on the government of India for vacancies not being filled on time. This could severely impact the ease of doing business in India, said the court.

    Background

    • The government has lauded the role of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 (IBC), for improving India’s ranking on the “Ease of Doing Business” index over the last couple of years.
    • However, the SC’s observation is spot-on as vacancies in the tribunals have slowed down insolvency resolution due to the huge pendency of cases.
    • When the SC made its observations, the NCLT had only 30 members against a total strength of 63.

    About NCLAT and NCLT

    • National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) was constituted under Section 410 of the Companies Act, 2013 for hearing appeals against the orders of National Company Law Tribunal(s) (NCLT) in 2016.
    • NCLAT is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against any direction issued or decision made or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
    • It is also the Appellate Tribunal to hear and dispose of appeals against the orders of the National Financial Reporting Authority.

    Difference between NCLT AND NCLAT

    NCLT

    NCLAT
    ·         NCLT is established as per Section 408 of companies act, 2013 ·         NCLAT is established as per Section 410 of companies act, 2013
    ·         It holds primary jurisdiction on cases of insolvency and bankruptcy ·         It holds appellate jurisdictions over the cases judged by NCLT
    ·         NCLT accepts and analyzes the evidence from creditors and debtors ·         NCLAT accepts and analyzes the decision made by NCLT
    ·         NCLT collects facts and evidences ·         NCLAT analyzes facts and evidences

    CJI’s reservations over Pendency

    • The NCLAT had a sanctioned strength of a chairperson plus 11 members but its functioning strength was of eight members.
    • Both the NCLT and NCLAT have been without chairpersons for several months respectively.
    • These vacancies are concerning because as of May 31, 13,170 insolvency petitions were pending before benches of the NCLT.
    • Of these, 2,785 petitions have been filed by financial creditors and 5,973 by operational creditors.

    Note: The IBC created an institution called an information utility to be the repository of information on debts and defaults in India.  The sole utility in India at present is the National E-Governance Services Ltd. (NeSL).

    Basis of these cases

    • The financial creditors are facing criticism for taking haircuts as high as 90 per cent against their claims.
    • A longer approval period would entail greater value erosion of a corporate debtor which would be an unattractive proposition for any prospective resolution applicant.
    • This uncertainty can be cured by a faster approval process by the NCLTs by the creation of more benches and filling up of current vacancies.

    Why is the Supreme Court fuming over vacancies?

    (a) Covid impact

    • The Indian economy is recovering from the adverse effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    • During the downturn, financial institutions and banks have suffered higher defaults than usual, impacting the robustness of the system.
    • Lending has decreased during this time and can only be encouraged now by shoring up the mechanism under the IBC to inspire confidence in creditors.

    (b) Non-compliance by the govt

    • The SC had granted time to the government till September 13 to take substantial steps in this regard, which was partially complied with by appointing 18 members.
    • The government, however, failed to avoid embarrassment as the CJI expressed his anger at the appointment process which had ignored candidates recommended by the selection committee.

    (c) Burden of pendency

    • There is a real risk of the court taking matters into its own hands by making appointments itself, or by taking harsher steps like transferring jurisdiction under the IBC to high courts.
    • One hopes that the situation is resolved quickly to make strict time-bound insolvency resolutions a reality.

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