THE HINDU – CURRENT NOTE 08 APRIL
SC seeks response on plea for reining in cow vigilantes
PIL petition wants them declared ‘extortionists’ and an end to their atrocities
•The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Central government and six States to respond on a public interest litigation (PIL) plea to declare cow vigilantes “extortionists” and put an end to their atrocities against Dalits and minority communities.
•A Bench led by Justice Dipak Misra issued notices to Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh and asked them, along with the Centre, to file their written responses to the PIL petition for initiating criminal action against the vigilante groups. The court scheduled the next hearing on May 3.
Alwar incident cited
•Counsel for the petitioner, entrepreneur and activist Tehseen S. Poonawalla, referred to the recent incident in Alwar, Rajasthan, where a man was lynched by a mob claiming to be cow protectors.
•Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar, appearing for the Centre, said responses would be filed in time.
•The petition was filed shortly after investigating officials found there was no evidence of cow slaughter by Mohammed Akhlaq, who was beaten and lynched in 2015 on the suspicion of storing beef in his house at Dadri in Uttar Pradesh. The filing of the plea coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s denouncement of these vigilantes as anti-social elements in the garb of ‘gau rakshaks’ for spreading violence against the downtrodden and destroying the delicate social fabric.
•“The Dalits who were attacked at Una or at East Godavari were only doing their traditional profession of skinning the already dead cow to provide leather to tanneries... the menace caused by the so-called cow protection groups is spreading fast to every nook and corner of the country and is creating disharmony among various communities and castes,” the plea filed through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi contended.
•It submitted that cow vigilante groups should be punished under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code as well as under Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.
•The petition pointed to how some State governments even provided cow vigilantes with identity cards. It highlighted the Gujarat Animal Prevention Act, 1956 which deemed that all who acted to protect cows were public servants and no legal action shall be instituted against them.
•The case was the same with the Maharashtra Animal Prevention Act, 1956 and the Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Cattle Preservation Act. Further, the Gujarat Animal Prevention (Amendment) Rules, 2011 provided that authorised persons under these rules included those employed in gaushalas.
•The petition accused these State governments of shirking their duty by remaining mute spectators while videos of atrocities committed by these groups were circulated on social media to become instrumental in spreading more tension and enmity.
We owe no legal duty to offer a grace period: Centre tell Supreme Court on demonetisation
Centre justifies its Dec. 31 deadline for depositing old notes
•The Centre told the Supreme Court on Friday that it owed no legal duty to citizens to extend a “grace period” for deposit of their demonetised ₹500 and ₹1,000 bank notes after December 31, 2016.
•The affidavit filed by the Union Ministry of Finance said the decision not to extend the period for deposit of demonetised notes was taken consciously after an overall review of the rampant “malpractices and irregularities” detected between November 9 and December 30, 2016 when the public was allowed to exchange or deposit their old money for the new currency.
•The government said the Specified Bank Notes (Cessation of Liabilities) Ordinance 2016 – which made possession of demonetised notes beyond December 31, 2016 an offence — was a “major economic step.”
•The government said the ordinance had nullified any assurances given by the RBI notification of November 8, 2016 to give a grace period. The ordinance has been replaced by an Act of Parliament.
•The affidavit said that between November 9, 2016 and January 1, 2017 more than 1,100 raids and surveys were conducted by the Income Tax department in various parts of the country. Of these raids, more than 400 cases were referred to the Enforcement Directorate and the CBI for further action in accordance with law. The undisclosed income detected from these raids was more than ₹5,400 crore, the government submitted.
5,100 notices
•The same period saw the government issue 5,100 notices for verification of “high-value suspicious cash deposits” made in bank accounts. Preliminary probes following the raids in the first three weeks of demonetisation revealed irregularities ranging from unusual spurt in cash sales immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s live TV announcement on November 8 last year to cash advances against “future sales.”
•The government said initiatives like the Income Tax department’s ‘Operation Clean Money’, have identified 18 lakh persons with suspicious tax profiles. Shadowy deposits made in the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana were detected. “More than 3.78 lakh out of 18 lakh high-risk cases have been taken up for assessment and investigation,” the affidavit said.
•It attempts to show the extent to which black money has pervaded society.
•The affidavit said searches undertaken by the Income Tax department between April 1, 2014 and February 28, 2017 in more than 2,027 groups revealed black money to the tune of ₹36,051 crore and seizure of undisclosed assets worth ₹2,890 crore.
•Again, 15,000 surveys for the same period resulted in the detection of undisclosed income of more than ₹30,000 crore.
Ken-Betwa link hits green hurdle
Advisory panel disagrees with forest land allocation, wants canal re-aligned
•India’s apex forest advisory body has imposed tough conditions on the Ken-Betwa river interlinking project. Given the ecological and environmental impact posed by the project, it had to pass multiple authorities for clearance. A forest advisory clearance was seen to be the last step before the project was to begin.
•The Forest Advisory Committee (FAC), the apex environment ministry authority that clears requests for diverting forest land for projects, usually rejects or recommends a proposal, sometimes with conditions, for the diversion of forest land. As minutes of the March 30 meeting — made public on Friday — show, in the case of the Ken-Betwa project, the FAC has refrained from explicitly giving its opinion either way and only seconded an earlier sub-committee’s report that had cleared the project subject to strict caveats.
‘Not unprecedented’
•“This is unusual for the FAC but not unprecedented,” a person privy to the forest clearance process told The Hindu. the FAC’s recommendations are passed on to the environment minister, who can abide by them or reject them.
•The ₹18,000 crore river interlinking project requires 4,141 hectares of forest in the heart of the Panna Tiger reserve, and some more besides, to build a dam and a 230-km canal to transfer water to several drought-afflicted villages in Bundelkhand.
•As compensation for the pristine tiger habitat that would be inundated by the project, the Water Ministry had agreed to acquire about 8,000 hectares of forest land from the Madhya Pradesh government and revive them as forest.
•But the FAC said this land was not good enough as it was fragmented, and, to meaningfully revive a forest that is part of tiger habitat, the land acquired ought to be contiguous. This would require, according to the FAC, “revenue lands/non-forest lands by way of purchase or otherwise by the project proponents and the government”.
•While a State can relatively allocate forest land for Central projects, transferring private or revenue land is harder, time-consuming and costly. The FAC has also asked for the project’s main canal to be re-aligned.
•A Water Ministry official told The Hindu that these measures are “impossible to comply with”. He said that senior water ministry officials were already preparing a rebuttal to “contest” the FAC’s recommendations. “The FAC has ventured into areas far beyond its mandate and we have frequently explained to the body why these conditions cannot be met. The same points repeatedly surface,” the same official added. Water minister Uma Bharti said on the sidelines of a conference on Friday that she had not seen the committee’s recommendations. She has previously stated that were the project not to be cleared, she would go on a hunger strike.
Sheikh Hasina to raise water sharing with Narendra Modi
India not hopeful of progress on issue
•Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will raise the contentious water sharing issues during talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, said Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmud Ali. Dhaka sees the honouring of 1971 Army heroes, the “Sommanona ceremony,” as a highlight of her visit, Mr. Ali added.
•“We will be raising all water-related issues including sharing of common rivers,” Mr. Ali told The Hindu in written replies, indicating that the Teesta water sharing agreement, held up due to objections from West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, is still on the table as far as Bangladesh is concerned.
•Mr. Ali’s remarks were in contrast to the Indian government’s stand so far that there is little hope for forward movement on the Teesta agreement.
•Reflecting the importance of Ms Hasina’s visit, Ms Hasina’s first bilateral visit since 2010, Ms. Hasina was greeted at the airport on Friday by Mr. Modi. She will be staying as a guest of President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhawan. In a tweet, Mr Modi said he and PM Hasina were “determined to take the relationship between our nations to a new level.”
•Ms. Hasina met with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Friday, which the Ministry described as a “courtesy call”. Ms. Hasina will meet with Mr Modi at Delhi’s Hyderabad House on Saturday morning for bilateral talks which will be followed by an official lunch.
•“We also would like to further discuss the Padma-Ganges Barrage project and basin-wide management of our water resources to the benefit of our two peoples,” Mr. Ali said. Sources said a discussion on holding the next Joint Rivers Commission that last met in 2010, although it had held 37 meetings prior to that, could also be taken up.
•Mr. Ali’s remarks were contrast to the Indian government’s stand so far that there is little hope for forward movement on the Teesta agreement.
•Indian officials however, have little hope for movement on the Teesta issue and have focussed on about 25 other major agreements expected, including the Defence cooperation MoUs, a credit line of $500 million for defence and a development line of $5 billion as well as agreements on trade, connectivity and maritime cooperation.
•“A visit without water”, was how officials in New Delhi described it, and admitted that Teesta is the “elephant in the room” in the bilateral relationship. In Dhaka, officials have consistently stated that they expect a resolution will be forged at a political level, when the leaders meet, making Mr. Ali’s reference to the issues over water significant.
•In particular, Chief Minister Banerjee’s decision to attend the official receptions for Ms. Hasina in Delhi on Saturday gave rise to speculation that an announcement on Teesta was imminent. However, a statement by Ms. Banerjee this week, who has maintained that she has not been consulted by the government has dimmed those hopes. “What can I do if there is no water?” Ms. Banerjee told officials in Bankura on Wednesday, adding, “Water levels are drying up. Teesta doesn't have water.”
•The agreement on Teesta was ready for signing in 2011, when Mr. Manmohan Singh had travelled to Dhaka, but had to be put off at the last minute when Ms. Banerjee pulled out of the visit claiming the framework agreement was against her state’s interests.
•The agreement stipulates both sides will maintain a minimum flow of water and share the excess half and half, with a barrage built after Gajaldoba running mostly into Bangladeshi territory. Officials confirmed there have been a number of outreaches from the Central government to Ms Banerjee, including after the Modi government came to power in 2014, and after the West Bengal state elections in 2016 but there has been no positive signal on the Teesta issue.
To meet ‘71 heroes
•On the ceremony to honour Indian soldiers who fought in teh 1971 war, Mr Ali said, “Valiant members of the Indian Armed Forces fought shoulder-to- shoulder with our freedom fighters in the final stages of the Liberation War — their blood mingled with the blood of our Mukti Bahini. By honouring them during the visit of Ms Hasina, we are indeed acknowledging their supreme sacrifice in our Liberation War.”
•He said Ms. Hasina will meet with seven of 1,667 soldiers who will be honoured at what is expected to be a very emotional ceremony at Delhi’s Manekshaw Auditorium, named after the former Indian Army chief in 1971.
Track to efficiency: On creating a Rail Development Authority
A Rail Development Authority is more than a bold reform move, it’s a paradigm shift
•Creating a Rail Development Authority for India is among the most significant reforms to an infrastructure system undertaken by the government. The railways connect the country’s far corners and act as a driver of the economy. High rates of economic growth have raised the demand for travel, but this remains largely unmet. The popular aspiration is for a modern system that offers high-quality travel with low risk of accidents, while industry wants smooth freight transfer. An independent, empowered regulator could be the paradigm shift that is needed. The proposed Authority would have to ensure that the resources of the system are optimally utilised, overcoming existing inefficiencies that arise from the fact that policy, regulatory and management functions of the railways are intertwined. As the National Transport Development Policy Committee noted in 2014, the centralisation of all functions in the Railway Board has proved detrimental to the organisation’s growth, particularly at a time when there is a need for massive investment in infrastructure for 7%-plus GDP growth. Conversely, robust economic expansion further raises the demand for railway services. To reconcile this, the regulator has to identify sectors that can support higher tariffs and also produce greater volumes of traffic. Such accurate interventions are critical if the trend of declining rates of growth in railway freight revenues and volumes, which set in during 2011-12, is to be reversed.
•One of the big challenges before the Centre is to facilitate higher non-budgetary investment in the railways. The Bibek Debroy Committee found the private sector is discouraged from participating more effectively due to a monopolistic framework. Coming up with a system that de-risks private investment and creates a level playing field are among the major challenges before the Rail Development Authority. In the area of passenger services, this offers several possibilities; the railways cater to some 23 million passengers a day in a network of about 8,000 stations. The experience of consumers in cities shows that use of information technology to deliver traditional services can lead to higher levels of efficiency and lower costs, besides adding jobs. While regulation of tariffs matching the quality of travel can help raise revenues, the system should be able to move both people and freight faster in order to grow. Inducting faster, more comfortable trains on 500 km-plus inter-city routes would attract new traffic, and help operate cheaper passenger trains to interior areas, as part of the government’s social obligation. Technology upgrades are essential to raise carrying capacity, service frequency and speeds. Rail reform is complex and what was undertaken in Europe during the 1990s, separating infrastructure from operations, is an interesting model: sequential measures achieved sustainable results, rather than a package of changes introduced at once.
‘Investment rising in equity-linked schemes’
India witnessing a structural shift
•Investment in products like equity-linked savings schemes is on the rise in India, according to a top official.
•“India is witnessing a structural shift in savings pattern from physical to financial asset class,” said Milind Barve, managing director, HDFC Asset Management Company.
•“More number of retail investors are investing in mutual funds now. Out of the total savings by Indians, around 16-17% is in physical asset class and 7-10% in financial assets.
•In the last 10 years the investment landscape has changed,” said Mr. Barve.
•“While this trend is encouraging, investments linked to important life goals such as planning for retirement and kids education is still in its infancy,” he said after unveiling a digital platform for retirement planning.
