📰 India raises "unprovoked aggression" on the northern borders with Russia during Putin's visit to the country
President Putin expresses concern on Afghanistan.
•The world has undergone many geo-political changes but India-Russia friendship has remained unchanged, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday in the 21st annual India-Russia summit with President Vladimir Putin. The two sides held the first ever "2+2" ministerial meeting where Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said India has faced "unprovoked aggression" on its northern borders for more than a year.
•"In the past several decades, several fundamental changes have taken place at the global level. Several geo-political equations were altered. But despite these variables, India-Russia friendship remained constant. The two sides not only cooperated with each other unhesitatingly but also paid special attention to the sensitivities of each other," said Prime Minister Modi at the summit with Vladimir Putin. Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla in a media interaction noted that this was Mr Putin's second visit abroad since the pandemic began two years ago.
•President Putin in his comments referred to the common fight against organised crime, drug trafficking and terrorism and said, "It is natural we are concerned at the developments in Afghanistan."
•Both sides renewed the military-technical cooperation agreement for another 10 years till 2031 and also signed the deal for the manufacture of Ak-203 assault rifles, a defence official said.In all both sides concluded 28 agreements, said Mr Shringla who also stated that several hydrocarbon projects are on the anvil.
•"I had the opportunity to discuss in detail the emerging challenges India is confronted with and the enhanced requirement of India for closer military to military technical collaboration with Russia. The pandemic, the extraordinary militarisation and expansion of armament in our neighbourhood and unprovoked aggression on our northern border since early summer of 2020 has thrown in several challenges," said Mr Singh addressing the "2+2" dialogue where Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu also participated.
•Mr Singh sought "greater engagements in Central Asia and the Indian Ocean Region" during the talks.
•The deal for 6.1 lakh Ak-203 assault rifles is estimated at over Rs 5,000 crore and will be manufactured by a Joint Venture, Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd (IRRPL) at Korwa, Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. IRRPL was set up jointly between the erstwhile OFB [now Advanced Weapons and Equipment India Limited (AWEIL) and Munitions India Limited (MIL)] of India and Rosoboronexport (RoE) and concern Kalashnikov of Russia.
•The deal has been stuck over the high cost of each rifle and the high incidental costs of the Ordnance factory. As part of efforts to bring down costs, Russia dropped the royalty to be charged in the deal, officials confirmed. With the $5.43 bn S-400 as well other big ticket deals, the defence trade between India and Russia crossed $15 bn since 2018.
•A bilateral logistics support deal Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS), as well as a Navy to Navy cooperation MoU were also on the agenda.
•Russia has also begun deliveries of the S-400 long range air defence systems, the shipments of which are enroute. They should arrive in the next 10 days, a senior defence official said. Two teams of Indian Air Force personnel have already been trained to operate the system and the first unit to be deployed in North West India is expected to be operational within the next two-three months. In all, at the 20th meeting of India-Russia Inter-Govt Commission on Military & Military Technical Technical Cooperation (IRIGC-M&MTC) four agreements, contracts and protocols were signed.
•Addressing the "2+2" meeting General Shoigu said the concerned agencies from both sides will collaborate with each other to increase "regional trust and global security".
•"We are meeting at a critical juncture in the geopolitical environment which is in great flux especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. Our ties have been close and time tested. We have had an active dialogue at a political level and a strong defence partnership over many years," said Mr Jaishankar who pointed out that globalisation is "over centralised" and sought multipolarity in world affairs. Mr Jaishankar raised the condition of Afghanistan and said the situation there has "wider repercussions" in several regions including for Central Asia. He also emphasised maritime security as a common area for the "special and privileged strategic partnership" between India and Russia.
•Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, however, highlighted an area of divergence over Indo-Pacific strategy. "We expressed our concern about the activities taking place in this region under the slogan of Indo-Pacific strategies, where we see non-inclusive blocks. The latest example is AUKUS (Australia-UK-US)," said Mr Lavrov in a press briefing.
•The tradition of annual India-Russia summit was launched in 2000 during the Premiership of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
It’s part of tranche collected as environmental compensation from industry
•The Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) has so far disbursed ₹48,606 crore to 32 States, according to a response by the Environment Ministry in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
•In August, 2019, the Ministry said it had transferred ₹47,436 crore to 27 States for afforestation. CAMPA funds are part of long-pending dues part of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund (CAF), a ₹54,000-crore tranche collected for nearly a decade as environmental compensation from industry, which has razed forest land for its business plans.
•By comparison, the Centre had collected ₹9,656 crore from the States from Jan-2019 to March 2020, the Monday statement from Lok Sabha noted.
Monitoring mechanism
•States have their own established monitoring mechanism to check if the funds are being used for their intended purpose.
•The Centre also has its own monitoring scheme and approves funds for use by States. “Independent concurrent monitoring and evaluation and third party monitoring of works undertaken from State Fund is included in the Annual Plan of Operations of the respective State CAMPA and States are required to carry out internal and third party monitoring of the Compensatory Afforestation (CA) and other activities,” the Environment Ministry said in its reply.
•In addition, “measurable output” of all physical activities and targets of each permissible activity along with checking if deadlines are met is monitored by the State Executive Committee and State Steering Committee of the respective State CAMPA.
•Chhattisgarh and Odisha have had the maximum amount transferred to them, or close to ₹5,700 crore each followed by Jharkhand and Maharashtra at around ₹3,000 crore.
Independent authority
•The CAF Act 2016, which came into being more than a decade since it was devised, established an independent authority — the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority — to execute the fund.
•However, it was not until last August that the rules governing the management of the fund were finalised.
•The Rules specify that the funds are to be used for catchment area treatment, wildlife management, forest fire prevention, soil and moisture conservation work in the forest. It cannot be used for payment of salary, travelling allowances, making buildings and buying office equipment for forest officers.
📰 Highly invasive snail species reported in Kerala
This is the first time that this snail has been reported in the State
•A tiny snail with a striking, pellucid golden-yellow shell found in the Edappally canal in Kochi has been flagged as an invasive species that could play havoc with native ecosystems.
•Having come across it during a biodiversity impact assessment study, researchers of the Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology, and Biochemistry of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CuUSAT) have pinned it down as the acute bladder snail Physella acuta, globally branded as highly invasive.
•This is the first time that this snail has been reported in Kerala, according to the research team. What makes its discovery worrying is that it plays host to worms that can cause food-borne diseases and skin itches in humans. Moreover, its rapid growth rate, air-breathing capability, and tolerance to pollution makes the Physella acuta a potential competitor to native fauna.
•The findings by S. Bijoy Nandan, Dean, Faculty of Marine Sciences; postdoctoral fellows P.R. Jayachandran, R. Radhika, B.P. Aneesh, K.S. Santu, and research scholar M. Jima have been detailed in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Zoological Society.
•Using a scoop net, the team recovered 23 live specimens from the Eroor part of the Edappally canal during the biodiversity impact assessment carried out for the Integrated Urban Regeneration and Water Transport System (IURWTS) in Kochi.
•The specimens were found clinging to Ceratophyllum demersum, an invasive freshwater plant, and other gastropod species such as Indoplanorbis exustus and Racesina luteola. “Ceratophyllum demersum is used as a decorative plant in aquariums,” said Dr. Jayachandran.
•First described by J.P.R. Draparnaud in 1805, Physella acuta is considered native to North America but is now found in all continents except Antarctica. The snail was first reported in India in the early 1990s. It is believed to have reached Kerala through the aquarium trade, a major vector for invasive species. In the Edappally canal, the snail had made its home in a highly polluted reach plagued by high sedimentation, untreated sewage, commercial effluents, construction wastes and a thick growth of invasive aquatic weeds.
•Small in size, the snail can grow to 16 mm in height and 9 mm in width. The dead, vacant shell is brownish-yellow while that of the live individuals are translucent golden-yellow with a mottled appearance. Physella acuta is easily identified by its sinistral (left-opening aperture) shell. Its good looks make this snail a favourite of aquariums, but Dr. Jayachandran is quick to add a warning note. “Special care should be taken while dealing with this snail and it should not be kept in home aquariums,” he said.
•The CUSAT study also draws attention to the threat posed by invasive species to global biodiversity; how their ability to quickly dominate new environments endanger native species, even causing serious economic loss.
📰 Fertilizer subsidy to cost 62% more on input costs: Crisil
‘Natural gas will contribute to inflating bill by ₹50,000 crore’
•The Centre’s fertilizer subsidy bill is set to soar 62% over the budgeted amount to ₹1.3 lakh crore this fiscal due to the massive rise in raw material prices despite lower demand, says a report.
•An unprecedented spike in natural gas prices and other raw materials is set to inflate the fertilizer subsidy bill by a whopping 62% or ₹50,000 crore to ₹1,30,000 crore this fiscal over the budgeted ₹79,530 crore.
•This is despite sales volume declining 10% from the record level last fiscal, Crisil said in its report on Monday.
•To encourage farmers to use fertilizers for better crop yield, government keeps the sale price significantly lower than market rates, and reimburses the difference to manufacturers directly.
•But for long, budget provisioning for such subsidies has been inadequate, leading to regular build-up of arrears. However, last fiscal, the government cleared arrears through an additional disbursement of ₹62,638 crore helping firms nurse balance sheets to better health.
•However, what followed was a massive spike in input costs, the biggest of which was of natural gas.
•Crisil expects the price of natural gas, the feedstock that accounts for 75-80% of the total cost of production for urea plants, to rise more than 50% this fiscal. This is on top of the prices of key raw materials like phosphoric acid and ammonia, for non-urea fertilizer companies, that are already up 40-60% over the past fiscal. All this will now have to be absorbed by the government.
📰 End the impunity: On Nagaland killing
The botched Army operation in Nagaland is yet another reason why AFSPA should go
•Notwithstanding the rationale provided by the Union Government and the armed forces for the horrific killing of six coal miners and the deaths of nine civilians and a soldier in the aftermath of the incident in Mon district, the residents of Nagaland, and indeed many in North-east India, will only read this incident as an outcome of impunity accorded by the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, or AFSPA. It is no wonder that two Chief Ministers — Conrad Sangma of Meghalaya and Neiphiu Rio of Nagaland — have immediately demanded its repeal; the Act remains in place in Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, three districts of Arunachal Pradesh, and areas falling within the jurisdiction of eight police stations of the State bordering Assam, with the authority to use force or open fire to maintain public order in “disturbed areas”. The firing on the vehicle carrying the coal miners in Oting village, home to the Konyak Naga community, was carried out by soldiers of the ‘21 Para Commando Unit’, and attributed to a case of mistaken identity. This action should be problematic even within the purview of AFSPA, as soldiers who open fire can do so only after warning the person found in contravention of the law. The Army’s and later Union Minister of Home Amit Shah’s contention that the vehicle was shot at only after the miners refused to “cooperate” when asked to stop seems incongruous as this was not an action at the Myanmar border seeking to take on armed infiltrators but an operation well within the country’s boundaries. That an ambush was purportedly laid on insurgents of the NSCN (Khaplang-Yung Aung) faction following an intelligence input and yet a civilian vehicle which offered no hostility was fired upon, suggests that the armed forces were too trigger-happy and showed barely any intent in securing order, which is the purpose of their presence in the region.
•The Government has promised an inquiry by a Special Investigation Team. It is clear that the continued reliance on AFSPA as a way to impose public order must be brought to a halt and the long-pending demand for its repeal acceded to. Unfortunately, the incident could put a spanner in the Naga peace talks between the Government and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) and seven Naga National Political Groups for a solution that has been in the works. The secretive nature of the talks, largely due to the Government’s smoke and mirrors approach to the Peace Accord, has not helped matters either. An approach that shows genuine remorse for the actions, brings the culprits to book and seeks rapprochement with the Konyak Nagas through compensation for the violence, besides a renewed purpose to conclude the peace talks with the Naga groups, is now the only imperative.
📰 Basking in reflected glory
It is a cause for concern that those trained in India go abroad to become hugely successful
•“Wow!” I said when news flashed that one more Indian, Parag Agrawal, from one of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) had been appointed the CEO of Twitter, a global technology behemoth that is shaping opinions, politics and the lives of people around the world. Is this a cause for joy? Did the hearts of Indians swell with pride? Indeed. Which parent won’t rejoice at such an achievement? Is there any alma mater which will not be proud of students like Mr. Agrawal?
A mass exodus
•Yet, there was something troubling, a vague disquiet about this achievement. Can India rightfully bask in the reflected glory of those who left its shores and rose to the very pinnacle of their profession in a foreign land? Is this not the U.S.’s achievement? Is it not the fertile ecosystem of the U.S. that helps spot talent and allows people to rise to the top? The U.S. has its dark spots but it holds a promise to millions, even penniless immigrants, that they can achieve their wildest dreams if they reach there. It is this America of opportunities that has beckoned millions of migrants over two centuries — not just Indians but people from every nook and corner of the world.
•Mr. Agrawal’s journey has been similar to that of many Indians before him who we have admired over the years. Many CEOs are from the IITs and other well-known engineering colleges. After graduation, they headed to the U.S. and graduated from great universities like Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Cornell. Indra Nooyi (PepsiCo), Sundar Pichai (Alphabet and Google), Satya Nadella (Microsoft), Arvind Krishna (IBM), Ivan Menezes (Diageo), Vasant Narasimhan (Novartis), Punit Renjen (Deloitte) and Ajay Banga (Mastercard) are some of those who rose to the pinnacle of their companies. There are thousands of successful techies in smaller companies who also migrated to lead a gilded life.
•Technology dominates our business and life. Those who lead tech companies are the new rock stars and demigods of the modern world. They have eclipsed the old-world magnates of steel, oil, and automobiles — men like Paul Getty, Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford. But there are also other Indian migrants who have distinguished themselves in the U.S. in the fields of management education, science, medicine, and economics, among others. The number of leading physicians in medical schools and hospitals, investment bankers, and professors in academia boggles the mind. But the loftiest stars among them are the Indian-origin Nobel Laureates in physics, chemistry, medicine and economics who pursued their higher education in the U.S. and settled there.
•The troubling question is, why do our brightest minds fly to the West soon after graduation and mostly to the U.S.? The exodus from our premier institutions started in the late-1960s when private sector companies were few and there were few good jobs available in staid public sector undertakings. The government provided only a few hundred coveted positions each year in the Indian Foreign Service, Indian Administrative Service, and Indian Police Service. The rest joined revenue and allied services and lower-level grades which offered security and sinecure.
•The exodus continues. Even as we fellow Indians feel a sense of pride at the prosperity of the Indian community in the U.S., we cannot but help feel a tinge of sadness too. India, even after over seven decades of independence, is mired in poverty and inequality while our most gifted head for the West.
•When Non-Resident Indians — accomplished economists, scientists or CEOs — lecture India on what it should do to become a developed economy or how it should achieve equitable growth to alleviate poverty, there is a widespread feeling that they have lost their rights to give us such advice, even if it is sincere and well-intended, as they don’t live here. We who live here have to fight our battles and our injustice and make India a better place.
An insecure diaspora
•But there is another lot of Indians too, millions of ordinary ones, largely in the U.S., who, cut off from their moorings and culture, turn inwards by building temples and forming regional as well as religious associations. This is an insecure diaspora which is not fully assimilated into the adopted westernised society and also alienated from its Indian roots. These NRIs have become more and more jingoistic and find false pride in spreading fake messages about ancient Hindu mythology — messages that Indians invented plastic surgery or rocketry or airplanes much before the West — and exhorting Hindus in India to be proud of their heritage and religion and guard against becoming a minority in their own nation. In doing so, they forget that they themselves are a minority in an alien land. At times like this, we feel a tinge of shame.
•Seshadri Kumar, an IIT graduate from Bombay, with an MTech and PhD from the U.S., who returned to India, wrote recently in The Wire that it is not surprising that a “dozen of the top CEOs in the world come from a country with 18% of the world’s population.” He wrote: “So forgive me if I don’t join the celebrations. But you know who should really be proud. The Chinese. Because Chinese people did not need to go to the U.S. to rise to the top. They were able to create success stories for themselves sitting in China. And unlike Indians, who are merely CEOs of companies founded by Americans, like Google, Microsoft and Twitter, the Chinese entrepreneurs founded world beating companies in China – Alibaba, Tencent, Didi, Xiaomi, Great Wall Motors, Huawei, ZTE, Foxconn and many others. When Indians do that, I’ll join the party.”
•That should wake up policymakers. What is India doing wrong? The greater glory is not in training engineers to become CEOs in the U.S. but in enabling a conducive ecosystem in India that creates world-beating companies and in building institutions that can produce Nobel Laureates. How can India create a climate that will prevent its best minds from going to foreign lands? The U.S., a nation of immigrants, is a capitalist, market-driven democracy. China is a communist country that has embraced capitalism along with authoritarianism and snuffed out freedom. Both have built a great economy and eliminated poverty. Which of these should India emulate? How can it progress while preserving its diversity and vibrant democracy? Should we not feel remorse that we have failed our youth who do not see a future here and fly to the U.S. after graduation? Shouldn’t we reflect about our own migrants and minorities and about their status in our society? Perhaps India is poor not because of a lack of resources or want of talent but because of its policies, polity and politics.
📰 The way to tackle malnutrition
It is high time that the process of monitoring nutrition got importance over survey outcomes
•The National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-5 shows negligible gains in nutritional outcomes among under-five children. There has been tardy progress in reducing undernutrition, wasting and stunting. It is a national shame that even now, 35.5% of under-five children are stunted and 19.3% are wasted. Childhood anaemia has worsened from NFHS-4. Anaemia among adolescent girls and women aged 15-49 has also worsened. Though institutional delivery has gone up, early initiation of breastfeeding is static. If we are serious about a healthy new generation, we must ensure proper nutrition and growth.
•While we need to monitor data for programmatic evaluation and correction, the question is, what type of data do we need to help starving children? Is it data on how much food is supplied, served and consumed or data on what went wrong and the prevalence of weight loss and growth stagnation? Do we need output or impact data or input and process data with their quality parameters?
•We need to monitor the input and process indicators. That is how we can rectify past mistakes. Data generated quickly can lead to mid-course corrections. Data-driven planning and strategies lead to good governance with accountability.
The way forward
•So, what can we do? After monitoring the successful initiation of breastfeeding in the hospital, anganwadi workers, ASHA workers and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives must continue to monitor exclusive breastfeeding till the infant is six months old. Then they must record the timely initiation of complementary feeding with soft gruel. If this step is missed, growth faltering starts. And this is the critical period of growth that we cannot afford to compromise on. We must also ensure that there is take-home ration for under-three children through the regular supply of supplementary nutrition from the Integrated Child Development Services. We also need to know whether anganwadis are intermittently closed without any valid reason; whether the supervisors are erratic in field monitoring; how we can capture the regularity and quantity of dry rations supplied to anganwadi centres and schools for mid-day meals; whether there is live web-based centrally monitorable data on the movement of dry rations to anganwadis and schools; whether parents and teachers can monitor the serving of hot, cooked meals; whether self-help groups of women are involved in preparing the menu and procuring locally available vegetables, grains and millets to ensure dietary diversification and whether eggs are being denied or stopped for sociopolitical reasons.
•What goes into the family pot is also important. This depends on what parents can earn, and their purchasing capacity. So, it is important to monitor the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme workdays as well as the wages earned in areas where droughts frequently recur; where there is mass migration; and where there is prevalence of high malnutrition. The National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau was shut down some years ago. So, we don’t know what families can afford to cook and what they are cooking.
Monitoring PDS
•Real-time monitoring of the Public Distribution System (PDS) will go a long way in ensuring food at the family level. Except in a few States where web-based portals are functioning, there is no monitoring of when PDS shops are open as well as the quantity and quality of dry rations supplied. Unfortunately, PDS is a hunger-mitigation mechanism; it does not enable nutrition security. The aim of the National Food Security Act of 2013 is to ensure that nobody goes to bed hungry and there is no starvation. The PDS is focused on procuring wheat and rice through the Food Corporation of India to distribute to families. Cereals fill the stomach and hunger is averted, but not malnutrition.
•There seems to be an aversion to facts and to reality that demands immediate action. Many established surveys seem to have methodological errors. The Consumer Expenditure Survey results of 2017-18, for instance, were withheld.
•Both Poshan Abhiyan and the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana need to be monitored with the help of the community to ensure sustainable nutrition security.
•Little of what is happening in the field right now reaches programme managers and policymakers for timely action. So, what is the point of crying over spilt milk? Malnourished children do not need repeated surveys that confirm our apathy and heartless inaction.
📰 A docket full of unresolved constitutional cases
These involve crucial questions about state power, accountability and impunity, and cannot be left hanging by the courts
•During the framing of the Indian Constitution, it was proposed that any petition alleging a breach of fundamental rights by the state ought to be judicially decided within one month. While the proposal did not, ultimately, find its way into the text of the Constitution, it nonetheless articulated something of great importance: between the individual and the state, there exists a substantial asymmetry of power. While the violation of rights — whether through executive or legislative action — is relatively costless for the state, it is the individual, or individuals, who pay the price, and who must then run from pillar to post to vindicate their constitutionally guaranteed rights. Consequently, a Constitution is entirely ineffective if a rights-violating status quo is allowed to exist and perpetuate for months, or even years, before it is finally resolved (and often, by the time resolution comes, it is too late in the day for it to have any practical significance).
Blow to accountability
•This point, of course, is not limited to the violation of rights, but extends to all significant constitutional questions that arise in the course of controversial state action. Issues around the federal structure, elections, and many others, all involve questions of power and accountability, and the longer that courts take to resolve such cases, the more we move from a realm of accountability to a realm of impunity.
•In this context, as 2021 draws to a close, a look at the Supreme Court of India’s docket reveals a host of highly significant constitutional cases that were long-pending when the year began, and are now simply a year older without any sign of resolution around the corner. All these cases involve crucial questions about state power, accountability, and impunity. Consequently, the longer they are left hanging without a decision, the greater the damage that is inflicted upon our constitutional democracy’s commitment to the rule of law.
Kashmir, electoral bonds
•What are some of these cases? First, there is the constitutional challenge to the Presidential Orders of August 5, 2019, that effectively diluted Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, and bifurcated the State of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, controlled by the Centre. There is a widespread tendency to view the Kashmir question as having been “settled” after the events of August 5, 2019, with it now being a political impossibility to return to the pre-2019 status quo.
•Regrettably, this tendency seems to have gripped the Court as well in how assiduously it has avoided hearing and deciding the case. But politics aside, the case raises certain fundamental questions about constitutional power and accountability.
•First, it raises the question of whether the Centre can take advantage of an Article 356 situation in a State — a time when no elected government and Assembly is in existence — to make permanent and irreversible alterations in the very structure of the State itself. The answer will have important ramifications not just for Jammu and Kashmir but for the entire federal structure: India has a long history of the abuse of Article 356 to “get rid of” inconvenient State governments, and a further expansion of the power already enjoyed by the Centre will skew an already tilted federal scheme even further.
•Second, the case also raises the question of whether, under the Constitution, the Union Legislature has the authority not simply to alter State boundaries (a power granted to it by Article 3 of the Constitution), but degrade a State into a Union Territory (something that has never been done before August 5, 2019). If it turned out that the Union Legislature does have this power, it would essentially mean that India’s federal structure is entirely at the mercy of Parliament: Parliament could then, constitutionally, convert India from a union of States to a union of Union Territories, if it so wanted. Needless to say, this — as well — would signal a hugely significant shift in power to the Centre.
•As long as both these questions remain undecided, however, the acts of August 5, 2019 remain presumptively legal, with the prospect that they may well be repeated in other parts of India. For this reason, the Supreme Court’s now two-and-a-half-year delay in hearing and answering these questions is unconscionable.
•Another long-pending case is the constitutional challenge to the electoral bonds scheme, that has now crossed four years. The electoral bonds scheme authorises limitless, anonymous corporate donations to political parties, making election funding both entirely opaque to the people, as well as being structurally biased towards the party that is in power at the Centre. In numerous central and State election cycles in the last four years, thousands of crores of rupees have been spent in anonymous political donations, thus impacting not only the integrity of the election process but also the constitutional right of citizens to an informed vote. However, other than two interim orders, the Supreme Court has refused to accord a full hearing to the constitutional challenge. In a few months’ time, it will be one full five-year cycle of central and State elections, with the case still awaiting a hearing: another black mark on the Court’s record.
•It is important to note that in both these cases, the Supreme Court’s inaction is not neutral, but rather, favours the beneficiaries of the status quo. In other words, by not deciding, the Court is in effect deciding — in favour of one party — but without a reasoned judgment that justifies its stance.
Other key cases
•This is also true for a number of other cases pending before the Court. For example, as far back as 2013, the Gauhati High Court held that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was not established under any statutory authority. This verdict was immediately stayed when it was appealed to the Supreme Court, but in the intervening years, it has never been heard. Thus, the CBI continues to function — often controversially — despite a judgment by a constitutional court that has found its very existence to be illegal. More recently, constitutional challenges to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), filed in the immediate aftermath of the legislation’s enactment, remain unheard, as do the challenges to the much-criticised Section 43(D)(5) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which makes the grant of bail effectively impossible, and is responsible for the years-long incarceration of several people. The challenge to Section 43(D)(5) is perhaps the case that most directly affects civil rights, as the section continues to be applied on a regular basis (most notoriously, in recent times, in the Bhima Koregaon case). And cases of this kind are legion.
It wounds the judiciary
•Apart from benefiting the party that profits from the status quo — which, as we have seen, is invariably the state — judicial evasion of this kind is also damaging for the accountability of the judiciary itself. Once a court decides a case, its reasoning — which must, by definition be public — can be publicly scrutinised and, if need be, critiqued. In the absence of a decision, however, while the Court’s inaction plays as significant a role on the ground as does its action, there is no judgment — and no reasoning — that the public can engage with. For obvious reasons, this too has a serious impact on the rule of law.
•It must be acknowledged that the responsibility for constituting benches and scheduling cases especially cases that are due to be heard by larger Benches rests solely with the Chief Justice of India (CJI). While the three previous CJIs have been criticised for excessive deference to the executive, the current CJI has been on record stressing the importance of the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary. One way of demonstrating that in action might be to hear — and decide — the important constitutional cases pending before the Court.
📰 Expanding India’s engagement envelope with Russia
Beyond existing fields such as defence and energy, there are other areas which can help deepen their links
•Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi for the 21st India-Russia Summit meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlights the constant efforts by both leaders to nurture and to provide further impetus to the ‘India-Russia Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership’. In the new grammar of multipolarity and globalisation, it is of utmost importance for dependable partners to ensure enduring sensitivity to their mutual interests.
Strategic partnership
•More importantly, the robust partnership between India and Russia has come out of the shackles of the Cold War inheritance. A practical and result-oriented approach will pave the way for the most reliable partnership. The Putin-Modi meeting in an atmosphere of unprecedented regional and global transformations can ensure not only a new lease of life but can also generate more vitality to this trustworthy camaraderie.
•India-Russia relations have withstood the test of time and the ever-shifting nature of national interests. Relations between the two countries have deepened with time irrespective of the quagmire of realpolitik. This exceptional resilience is built on the firm foundation of strategic national interest and the synergy of geopolitics.
•In the post-Cold War era, India has emerged as an economic powerhouse and a key stakeholder in today’s global debate be it climate change, international trade, or the menace of terrorism. Russia with its global status and presence presents a win-win situation for deeper cooperation. This relation between both countries has evolved with time, deepening the integration and widening the breadth of the relation.
A structure in place
•Russia has been one of India’s closest friends and allies with the signing of the “Declaration on the India-Russia Strategic Partnership” in October 2000 which unlocked new opportunities in strategic, science and technology, space, energy, nuclear ties, trade and commerce, culture and a people-to-people connect. For smooth functioning of this strategic partnership, it was governed by an institutionalised dialogue mechanism involving key stakeholders at the political and official levels. Mr. Putin’s visit to India in December 2010 heralded a new chapter in India-Russia relations when the Strategic Partnership was elevated to the level of a “Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership”.
Convergence and divergence
•India and Russia have much convergence spanning different sectors. Russia is the key and principal supplier of arms and armaments to the Indian armed forces accounting for over 60% of weapons. It comprises the whole gamut covering the Indian Army, Indian Air Force and Indian Navy. India recently inducted the S-400 Triumf missile systems. Sukhoi Su-30 fighter aircraft, T-90 tanks, and the Talwar and the Krivak class stealth frigates are key weapons in the armoury of the Indian armed forces. The India-Russia defence cooperation has evolved from a buyer-seller model to new areas of military-technical collaboration. The BrahMos missile system was a successful collaboration of joint research, development, and production. Science and technology, nuclear, energy, space have been key driving forces. But changes in interests and capabilities being fuelled by geopolitical differences are widening the divergence between India and Russia. In terms of geostrategy, Russia is aligned with China and India is more anchored toward the United States. This dissonance was apparent in the Indian and Russian approach over Afghanistan.
•Bilateral trade has seen the two countries progressing from defence and energy to IT, pharmaceuticals, agro-industries, mineral and metallurgy, fertilizers, and infrastructure projects. India-Russia trade was valued at the U.S.$10.11 billion in 2019–20, but is not a true reflection of the potential that can be harnessed.
Stability and diversity
•The ‘2+2’ mechanism has become the standard framework of cooperation to widen collaboration. The inaugural ‘2+2’ dialogue between the Foreign and Defence Ministers of the two countries promises to provide new vitality to the special and privileged strategic partnership. The uniqueness of this approach not only ensures result-oriented cooperation but also deliberates upon regional and global matters of mutual concerns and interests. At a time when global politics is in a state of flux, it becomes more important to have compatibility with geopolitical and geoeconomic realities along with the trust of the leadership. Therefore, this evolving political framework provides the necessary agility to the relationship in fine-tuning their differences and deepening their bonds. The Modi-Putin meeting has sent the unambiguous signal to the world that the India-Russia partnership is an incredible friendship ensuring stability and diversity.
•Defence, trade and investment, energy, and science and technology may be part of the agenda, but India and Russia need to work together in a trilateral manner or using other flexible frameworks, particularly in Southeast Asia and Central Asia. Their growing collaboration can be a force of stability and will bring more diversity to the region while strengthening multilateralism.
•Second, the two countries also need to look at peoples’ power — youth exchanges as well as deeper links in various fields including sport, culture, spiritual and religious studies.
•Finally, Buddhism can be an area where both countries can expand their interaction, where peace and sustainability can act as a balm in this turbulent world.
