📰 China backs Pakistan’s ‘quest for peace’ via talks
Supports Islamabad’s efforts to resolve issues with India
•Without specifically referring to the Kashmir issue, China on Sunday backed Pakistan for trying to resolve “outstanding issues” with India through dialogue, and appeared to support Islamabad on two other key topics — the expansion of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and counterterrorism.
•In a joint statement, issued at the end of the Beijing leg of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit, China stated that it appreciated “Pakistan's quest for peace through dialogue, cooperation and negotiation, on the basis of mutual respect and equality, and supports Pakistan’s efforts for improvement of Pakistan-India relations and for settlement of outstanding disputes between the two countries.”
•The statement further said: “Pakistan supported active participation of China at the platform of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).”
•Though China is an observer at SAARC, New Delhi is unlikely to countenance a more active Beijing role in the South Asian grouping.
Role in SAARC
•The statement also veered closer to Pakistan’s position on counterterrorism and NSG, whose subtext was apparent — a UN designation of Masood Azhar, head of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad as an international terrorist, and India’s entry into an expanded NSG.
•The two countries also said they were not yet ready to join a global counter-terror treaty, pointing out that a “consensus” should be forged on the text of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) first.
•China also supported Pakistan on nuclear non-proliferation in the statement.
📰 China has ignored Wuhan spirit: experts
Beijing faulted for praising Pakistan’s conduct
•China has not shown respect to the ‘Wuhan spirit’, by praising Pakistan for its role in South Asia, veteran commentators have said, after the China-Pakistan joint statement issued on Sunday urged Beijing to play a greater role in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
•“China would have frozen all fresh initiatives with Pakistan if it had any respect for the Wuhan spirit that took off after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Xi Jinping earlier this year. By appreciating Pakistan for its role in the relationship with India, China is clearly interfering with India’s affairs in South Asia,” said former Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal.
•In the statement, China appreciated Pakistan’s position on dialogue with India on outstanding disputes. Both sides agreed on ensuring a peaceful and stable South Asia. Pakistan urged China to play an “active” role in the SAARC platform where it is at present an observer. But Mr. Sibal said the association is stuck due to Pakistan’s role in promoting cross-border terrorism.
•Appreciation of Pakistan’s conduct is in contrast with India’s recent criticism of a new bus service through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) that is expected to start this week.
•“The bus service is a clear sign that China does not intend to respect the Wuhan spirit,” said Mr. Sibal.
•Some said the statement reflected China’s eagerness for a multilateral foothold in South Asia.
•“China has emerged as a bilateral development partner for several South Asian countries, but is yet to acquire institutional and multilateral support for its role in the region. It can acquire such a multilateral support only if it respects India’s sovereignty concerns,” said Prof. B.R. Deepak of JNU.
•India lodged a strong protest against the proposed China-Pakistan bus service that will pass through PoK. “It is the Government of India’s consistent and well-known position that the so-called China-Pakistan “Boundary Agreement” of 1963 is illegal and invalid, and has never been recognised by the Government of India,” the Ministry of External Affairs had said on November 1.
📰 The ghosts of laws past: on the application of Section 66A of IT Act
Communication about judicial decisions remains at the mercy of initiatives by diligent officers
•In 2015, the Supreme Court struck down Section 66A of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000, as unconstitutional. That decision, Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, was heaped with praise by domestic and foreign media alike.
•But none of this stopped the police in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, from arresting and detaining 18-year-old Zakir Ali Tyagi in October 2017, for allegedly committing a crime under Section 66A — for posting some comments on Facebook. Mr. Tyagi’s case is not alone. Media outlets have reported other instances where Section 66A has been invoked by the police, all of which points to an obvious, and serious, concern: what is the point of that landmark decision if the police still jail persons under unconstitutional laws?
•We decided to dig deeper and investigate how Section 66A and other legal zombies have a tendency to inhabit the Indian legal system after their legal deaths.
Widespread malaise
•Media reports on the continued application of Section 66A lend themselves to a narrative: the oft-maligned police are abusing their power in hamlets to commit the most obvious wrongs. But the facts show that this is far from the truth. From police stations, to trial courts, and all the way up to the High Courts, we found Section 66A was still in vogue throughout the legal system.
•Equally disturbing was the discovery that this issue of applying unconstitutional penal laws long preceded Shreya Singhal and Section 66A. Before the recent decisions that held provisions in the Indian Penal Code as unconstitutional (in whole or in part), the Supreme Court had famously done this, in 1983, by striking down Section 303 of the Indian Penal Code in Mithu v. State of Punjab. In 2012, years after Section 303 had been struck down, the Rajasthan High Court intervened to save a person from being hanged for being convicted under that offence.
The weakest branch?
•Since we did not subscribe to a narrative of wanton abuse by the authorities in their applying unconstitutional laws, we examined why such instances would keep recurring. Notwithstanding other causes, we argue that a primary reason for poor enforcement of judicial declarations of unconstitutionality is signal failures between different branches of government.
•Today, the work of the Supreme Court has firmly placed it within the public consciousness in India. It is common to read reports about the court asking States and other litigants for updates about compliance with its orders (an example being orders in mob lynching petitions). While this monitoring function is one that the court can perform while a litigation is pending, it cannot do so after finally deciding a case, even after directions for compliance are issued. Instead, it needs help from the legislature and executive to ensure its final decisions are enforced. This was one of the reasons why Alexander Hamilton famously labelled the judiciary as “the least dangerous branch”.
•Commonly, in this context one thinks of active non-compliance that can undermine the work of courts — for instance, the aftermath of the Sabarimala verdict. But these publicised acts of defiance have hidden what is a systemic problem within the Indian legal system: there exists no official method for sharing information about such decisions, even those of constitutional import such as Shreya Singhal.
Identifying signal failures
•For any bureaucratic structure to survive, it needs working communication channels for sharing information. The same analogy applies here. The probability of decisions taken at the highest echelons of a system being faithfully applied at the lowest rungs greatly depends on how efficiently word gets to the ground. At present, even getting information across about court decisions is an area where the judiciary needs help.
•So, unless Parliament amends a statute to remove the provision declared unconstitutional, that provision continues to remain on the statute book. This is why both Sections 66A and 303 are still a part of both the official version of statutes published on India Code and commercially published copies. And while the commercially published versions at least put an asterisk to mention the court decision, no such information is provided in the official India Code version.
•Besides reading statutes, what else might government officials consult while applying the laws? Notifications and circulars issued by relevant Ministries. These notifications are another official method to share information about judgments declaring a provision unconstitutional. But as nothing mandates issuance of these notifications, there is no means to ensure that they are issued.
•What about the judiciary? We found that there is no formal system on information sharing in the hierarchical set-up of the Indian judiciary. However, we found that some High Courts and district judges for specific districts did issue circulars bringing important decisions to the notice of other members in the judiciary.
•Thus, if the official text of the IT Act still retains Section 66A, and there is no government notification informing officers about it having been declared unconstitutional, is it really unimaginable to hear about the continued application of this legal zombie?
Justice for all
•There is a pressing need to move from a system where communication about judicial decisions is at the mercy of initiatives by scrupulous officers, to a method not contingent on human error to the greatest possible extent. The urgency cannot be overstated. Enforcing unconstitutional laws is sheer wastage of public money. But more importantly, until this basic flaw within is addressed, certain persons will remain exposed to denial of their right to life and personal liberty in the worst possible way imaginable. They will suffer the indignity of lawless arrest and detention, for no reason other their poverty and ignorance, and inability to demand their rights.
📰 Eyes wide shut: on the unrest in Upper Assam
The killings in Upper Assam point to the polarisation in the State
•It would be facile to see the gunning down of five Bengali men in Bisonimukh-Kherbari, near Tinsukia in Upper Assam, on November 1 as an isolated act of violence or even another of the periodic eruptions against non-Assamese people in the State. The context is crucial here. The killings both symptomise and deepen the fault lines between the Assamese and Bengali communities because of the ongoing exercise to update the National Register of Citizens as well as the Centre’s plan to secure parliamentary passage for the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2016. At the heart of the schism is the fate of those eventually left out by the updated NRC. Four million didn’t make it to the final draft published in July, and while the final numbers will be known only when the elaborate process of claims, objections and verification draws to a close, there are certain known knowns at this point already. The ‘illegal’ Muslim immigrant unfortunately has few speaking on her behalf. But her Hindu counterpart is the battleground, with ethnic Assamese nativist groups advocating an even-handed approach while the ruling BJP governments in Delhi and Dispur are keen to cast the protective cover of the Citizenship Bill on grounds of persecution in her country of origin. Groups claiming to represent Assamese and Bengali interests have observed shutdowns and counter-shutdowns. And while a party with a core ethnic Assamese kernel such as the Asom Gana Parishad could unequivocally oppose absorbing ‘illegal’ Bengali Hindu immigrants, those with a broader vote base have had to hedge through innovative strategies. These include speaking in different voices (the Congress in the Assamese-dominated Brahmaputra and Bengali-dominated Barak valleys) or arguing that the burden of absorption is not only Assam’s to bear (the BJP). The politics ensuing over this has left the State polarised.
•The shrill rhetoric has spilled over to civil society, with calls for a separate State emanating from the Barak valley, and stray instances of Bengali speakers being harassed in Lower Assam towns, including Guwahati. Thursday’s tragedy should serve as a grim warning to the powers that be of potentially darker times ahead if the surcharged rhetoric is left unchecked. While the ULFA (Independent) denies responsibility, investigations thus far suggest it was the group’s handiwork. It had earlier claimed responsibility for a low-intensity bomb blast in Guwahati on October 13, saying it was a warning to those who support the Citizenship Bill. Meanwhile, on Thursday too, the Supreme Court Bench that is monitoring the NRC exercise signalled an accommodative stance by agreeing to allow the use of five more documents by those left out of the NRC final draft. That spirit of accommodation, towards long-time residents, of whatever religion or ethnicity, needs to permeate the political leadership and civil society in Assam now.
📰 Greater flamingoes visit Hope Island after 25 years
In addition, 236 species of migratory birds are spotted in and around the sanctuary
•After a long a gap, a flock of five greater flamingoes has been spotted on the Coast of Hope Island, a part of the Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary. The long-legged and long-necked birds were last seen in a group about two and a half decades ago, while a lone flamingo was recorded in the 2016 Asian Water Bird Census at Sirra Yanam village in East Godavari district.
•“We spotted the group during our visit to the Hope Island where we are conducting a routine survey of mangrove plantations,” says Shanti Priya Pandey, Chief Conservator of Forests and also the CEO of the East Godavari River Estuarine Ecosystem (EGREE) Foundation. She visited the Hope Island on Saturday along with Chief Conservator of Forests from Visakhapatnam Rahul Pandey and clicked snaps with her mobile.
•Spread over 235 sq. km, the sanctuary is an abode for about 35 species of mangrove plants and another 120 species of rare birds. In addition, 236 species of migratory birds are spotted in and around the sanctuary with over 60,000 water birds visiting the sanctuary every year. A group of greater flamingoes, however, was last seen here in 1993.
•“The sighting is an important development. Generally, the birds are always on the lookout for mudflats for nesting. We should keep track of their movement,” says K. Mrutyunjaya Rao, State coordinator of the Indian Bird Conservation Network.
•“The greater flamingoes are the filter feeders and get their characteristic pink colour from their diet of brine shrimps and algae available in the coastal wetlands. We feel the flamingoes are the indicators of healthy coastal environment,” says Ms. Shanti Priya.
📰 Water ATMs may help in bridging safe water gap
₹44,000 crore needed to set up 2.2 lakh small water enterprises: report
•For thousands of communities across India, the process of getting drinking water is now the same as the process of getting cash: they head to an ATM.
•With 82 crore people who still do not have access to piped water and 70% of water in the country contaminated by pollutants, the government is increasingly starting to accept small water enterprises — such as water ATMs and community purification plants — as an alternative solution to the safe drinking water challenge.
•A new report by Safe Water Network (SWN) says the government needs to spend ₹44,000 crore on 2.2 lakh small water enterprises to provide safe drinking water to about 37 crore people, mostly in urban slums where piped water infrastructure is difficult to build, and in rural areas with contaminated water sources. While such enterprises cost only a fraction of piped water infrastructure, policy changes and at least a doubling of tariffs are needed to help them bridge the safe water gap, says the report released this week.
•A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) pointed out that only 18% of the rural population has access to potable piped water, failing to meet the 2017 target of 50%.
70% contaminated
•India is ranked at 120 out of 122 countries on the Water Quality Index, said Niti Aayog, adding that 70% of the country’s water supply is contaminated.
•“For those who can afford it, you buy a household RO (reverse osmosis system) to purify your water for drinking. But for many people, that is not possible. The community purification plants treat water locally. The water ATM is a dispensation system, which can be automatic with a coin or smart card, or manual,” explained Poonam Sewak, vice presidentat the SWN. “Essentially, it’s a community RO.”
•Community water purification plants have grown from less than 12,000 in 2014 to almost 50,000 in 2018, according to the SWN, as they have been incorporated into government planning. To reach the government’s Har Ghar Jal target of 100% piped water by 2030, almost ₹5 lakh crore of infrastructure investment will be required, says government data. SWN estimates that if the government is willing to spend less than 10% of that amount on small water enterprises, it could provide safe drinking water at a fraction of the cost.
📰 Challenge to the Reserve Bank of India’s reserve(s)
The Centre wants a cut of what it thinks are the burgeoning reserves of the RBI. The central bank says it is an emergency buffer not meant to be shared. Who’s right?
•There are many issues on which the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Centre disagree but the most significant one is over the treatment of the sizeable reserves in the central bank’s balance sheet.
•If the reserves are mouth-watering for the Centre, they’re a source of security for the RBI and not up for bargaining.
The Centre’s views
•Let’s look at this from the Centre’s angle first. The outlay for recapitalisation of banks is continuing to grow. After coughing up over ₹2.11 lakh crore over the last year, the government finds itself in the unenviable position of having to cough up even more as the skeletons keep tumbling out of bank lockers.
•Second, the Centre is still smarting from the return of all the cancelled notes in the demonetisation exercise. Remember, it was banking on a large part of the notes not returning which would have accrued to its account.
•Third, throw in the fact that it’s an election year when it would like to push up spending to create a feel-good factor with voters, and the picture is complete. Now you know why the government is salivating over the booty in RBIs vaults.
How RBI sees it
•Let’s now look at this from the central bank’s angle. As of June 30, 2018, the RBI had ₹10.46 lakh crore in reserves, bulk of it under two heads — currency and gold revaluation reserve (₹6.91 lakh crore) and contingency reserve (₹2.32 lakh crore).
•The currency and gold revaluation reserve (CGRA) accounts for 19.11% of total assets and the contingency reserve for another 6.41%. Back in 2004, a committee under Usha Thorat, then Deputy Governor, examined the question of what should be the ideal size of RBIs reserves.
•It suggested that the CGRA should be 12.26% of total assets while the contingency reserve should be 5.5%, totalling 17.76% in all. But the RBI Board did not accept the recommendation and preferred to continue with the level set by an earlier committee in 1997. That committee, under V. Subrahmanyam, had set a contingency reserves level of 12% of total assets. The reserves are built through transfers from the annual surpluses in the profit and loss account of RBI. The balance surplus after transfper to reserves is given to the Centre as dividend.
•In 2013-14, then governor, Raghuram Rajan, decided to transfer the entire surplus in the RBI’s profit and loss account to the Centre without appropriation to reserves. He was acting on the recommendation of another committee under Y.H. Malegam which said the existing reserves were in excess of the needed buffer and hence no transfers from the profits were necessary.
•So, what were the reserves then? The CGRA was 21.81% of total assets and the contingency reserve was 8.44%. The corresponding numbers now (2017-18) are 19.11% and 6.41% respectively. By imputation, it can therefore be concluded that the buffer is now inadequate going by the Malegam Committee’s recommendation.
Aim of keeping reserves
•But what’s the object of these reserves? They are fourfold. The CGRA is meant to cover a situation where the rupee appreciates against one or more of the currencies in the basket — and the basket has several currencies ranging from the dollar to the euro and the yen — or if there is a decline in the rupee value of gold.
•The level of CGRA now covers about a quarter of the total currency reserves of the RBI.
•The contingency reserve is meant to cover depreciation in the value of the RBI’s holdings of government bonds-- domestic and foreign-- if yields rise and their prices fall. The reserve is also meant to cover expenses from extraordinary events such as demonetisation (you could argue that like the tsunami, an exercise like demonetisation hits the country once in several generations), money market operations and currency printing expenses in a year of insufficient income. Most important of all, the contingency reserve supports the mother of all guarantees — the central bank’s role as the lender of the last resort. The reserve is also a cover for the deposit insurance fund given that the Deposit Insurance and the Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the RBI.
•The RBI’s position, therefore, is that it would be imprudent to consider sharing any part of the reserve with the Centre. The Centre’s view is that the technocrats in RBI are too conservative and the money belongs to it.
•The reserves have been built from higher seigniorage income (the difference between the value of new notes printed by the RBI and the costs of printing and distribution) and interest paid by the Centre to the central bank on the latter’s holdings of government securities.
A committee is in order
•So, what’s the solution to this? Simple. When in doubt, set up a committee.
•Such a committee should have representatives from government, the central bank, academicians and the market. The committee should go into all aspects of the RBI’s balance sheet, suggest a safe buffer in reserves and set out a fair method of sharing the reserves, if at all they should be.
•In his book Advice & Dissent — My life in public service, former Governor Y.V. Reddy narrates the story of the Subramanyam Committee and its recommendation. When he took the issue to then Finance Secretary Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the latter just asked him one question: “If you were in the Finance Ministry in my position, would you agree to this proposal?” When Dr. Reddy nodded, Mr. Ahluwalia immediately gave him the go-ahead.
•Dr. Reddy quotes this to show the mutual trust and level of respect that the two had for each other.
•Admittedly, the present scenario is a far cry from that. But is it too much to expect for mature individuals to respect each other as professionals and act in the best interests of the nation shedding their egos?
