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Page 1: G7 to cap Russia’s income from oil sales 

• Leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies struck a united  stance to support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” as Russia’s  invasion grinds on, and said they would explore far-reaching steps  to cap Kremlin income from oil sales that are financing the war. 

• The leaders also agreed on a ban on imports of Russian gold and  to step up aid to countries hit with food shortages by the  blockade on Ukraine grain shipments through the Black Sea. 

Page 8: The essence of time 

• In 1992 (Kilhoto Hollohan vs Zachillhu), a Constitution Bench,  while upholding the validity of the anti-defection law, held that  the Speaker’s decision was subject to judicial review, albeit on  limited grounds. It also made it clear that this should take place  after a final decision, and there can be no interim order, except if  there is an interim disqualification or suspension. 

Page 8: Remembering the ‘Plan Man’ of India 

• June 29, is national ‘Statistics Day’, in ‘recognition of the  contributions made by Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis’, the  ‘Plan Man’ of India; it is also his birthday. It was P.C. Mahalanobis,  who established a strong statistical culture in India and nourished  it diligently through his lifelong endeavours. 

• Mahalanobis certainly believed data to be instrumental in  efficient planning for national and human development. Planning in the newly independent nation in the 1950s was largely based  on the data obtained from various surveys. 

• Tagore treated Mahalanobis as a close confidant, despite an age  gap of 32 years, and they shared a three decades long friendship. ∙ Seventeen-year-old Mahalanobis first met Tagore at Santiniketan  in 1910. 

• In 1919, when Tagore had written a public letter to Lord  Chelmsford, the Viceroy of India, protesting the Jallianwala Bagh  massacre and renouncing knighthood, he asked Mahalanobis to  read it first. Mahalanobis accompanied Tagore on many of his  international visits, mostly in the 1920s. 

• Mahalanobis wrote a series of essays titled ‘Rabindra Parichay’  (‘Introduction to Rabindra’) for the prestigious Bengali magazine,  Probashi. He also wrote a book, Rabindranath Tagore’s Visit to  Canada in 1929. When Tagore met Einstein in 1930, Mahalanobis  was also with him. 

• Mahalanobis established the Statistical Laboratory within the  Baker Laboratory at Presidency College. Tagore also visited the  Statistical Laboratory several times. In fact, it was Tagore who  coined the Bengali word, ‘Rashibijnan’ for ‘Statistics’. 

• In 1933, Mahalanobis founded Sankhyā, the Indian Journal of  Statistics. 

• Mahalanobis, of course, helped Tagore immensely in his dream  project — the founding of Visva Bharati. He not only served as a  joint secretary of Visva Bharati for 10 years from the beginning  but he was also a member of the governing body, executive  council, academic council, and the agricultural board.

• There is little denying that data, in general, is on an ever expanding pathway and is growing exponentially. Attempts such  as transforming the Planning Commission to NITI Aayog or  merging the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) with the  Central Statistical Office (CSO) to form the National Statistical Office (NSO) may not be enough though. One certainly misses a  person of the stature of Mahalanobis at the helm of the system.  Also, the Mahalanobis-type innovation, dedication, and diligence  are dearly missed. 

Page 9: Bring the shine back on government jobs 

• In 2019, an Indian citizen died of suicide every hour due to  joblessness, poverty or bankruptcy, according to the National  Crime Records Bureau. 

• The problem is two-fold. First, vacancies in the government are  not being filled at a sufficient pace. There were over 60 lakh  vacancies in the government across all levels in July 2021. 

• Second, where vacancies are being filled, they are notably skewed  towards contractual jobs. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that a  contractual employee for a government department was not a  government servant. 

• Instead of expanding contractual employment, we should seek to  bolster public services. For the past few decades, we have been  under-investing in public goods — as witnessed by the COVID-19  crisis, our healthcare system simply does not have the capacity to  provide adequate healthcare support to citizens under normal  conditions, let alone a pandemic. Expanding public service  provisioning will also lead to the creation of good quality jobs, along with skilled labour, offering us social stability. A push for  enhancing public health would lead to the creation of societal  assets. 

• Consider renewable power generation. There is significant  potential for job creation (for example, in rooftop solar power  generation, manufacturing of solar panel modules and end-use  servicing). Meanwhile, on the waste management front, there is  significant scope for expanding waste-water treatment capacity,  with the building and management of treatment plants for sewer  waste and faecal sludge treatment plants leading to generation of  jobs. 

• A push for adopting electric vehicles and encouraging green  mobility would require significant manpower, leading to the  generation of ‘green jobs’. In addition, we must continue to  encourage urban farming, with significant job potential in permaculture, gardening and nursery management. 

• Reforms advocated by the Administrative Reforms Commission  should be our initial step. This is the time to build capacity for an  efficient civil service that can meet today’s challenges – providing  a corruption-free welfare system, running a modern economy and  providing increasingly better public goods. Improved public  service delivery, through better compensation, should be our  ethos. 

Page 9: A problematic provision 

• In States with bicameral legislatures, seats in the Legislative  Council are filled following an indirect election in which members  of the Legislative Assembly cast votes.

• Section 62(5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951,  which prevent MLAs from casting their votes. In the past, the  Supreme Court has observed that the intent of this provision is to  maintain the integrity of elections by excluding ‘persons with  criminal background’ from participating in them. 

• However, Section 62(5) does not use conviction as the yardstick  for disenfranchisement; it uses confinement. As a result,  undertrial prisoners (who constitute over 75% of India’s nearly 5  lakh prisoners) cannot vote. Neither can persons detained in civil  prison for failing to repay a debt. But remarkably, a person who  has been convicted for a criminal offence and has managed to  secure bail can vote. 

• Indeed, it appears that as a result of a poor choice of words, an  otherwise well-intentioned law has snatched away the right to  vote from an undertrial who is presumed to be innocent and from  a civil offender, but has granted it to a criminal convict (out on  bail) whose guilt has been determined. 

• Section 62(5) in direct collision with Article 14 of the Constitution  (equality before the law to all persons). Whenever a law treats  two groups of persons unequally, it must satisfy a set of basic  tests under Article 14 to be valid: the distinction created by the  law must be based on coherent differences between the two  groups of persons, and these differences must have a rational link  with the objective that the law seeks to achieve. 

• As alternatives, the provision could have disenfranchised persons  convicted of certain heinous offences or those sentenced for a  minimum duration.

• Through the MLAs’ votes, the residents of their constituencies  indirectly exercise their franchise in the election to the Vidhan  Parishad. By preventing MLA from casting their votes, the court  has inadvertently stripped all their constituents of their franchise. 

• The apex court must re-examine the issue in the totality of its  circumstances and Parliament must replace the provision with a  tightly worded version disenfranchising only certain classes of  prisoners. 

Page 10: China’s interventions in the Horn of Africa 

• China has been investing across the African continent throughout  the last decade. While the emphasis has been on investments and  raw materials but with the first “China-Horn of Africa Peace,  Governance and Development Conference”, it took a turn. 

• This is the first time China aims “to play a role in the area of  security”. China’s focus on the Horn is a part of its focus on Africa. ∙ China’s three objectives in Africa: controlling the pandemic,  implementing a Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC)  outcomes, and upholding common interests while fighting  hegemonic politics. 

• The FOCAC promotes China’s role in the infrastructural and  societal development of the Horn. In the 2021 forum, the entire  region of the Horn participated and four resolutions were  adopted: the Dakar Action Plan, the China-Africa Cooperation  Vision 2035, the Sino-African Declaration on Climate Change and  the Declaration of the Eighth Ministerial Conference of FOCAC. 

• Beijing has also initiated the “2035 vision for China-Africa  cooperation”; it aims to transform the health sector, alleviate poverty, promote trade and investments, and expand digital  innovation. The vision also focuses on green development,  capacity building, improving people-to-people exchanges and  facilitating peace and security in the continent. 

• China’s interests are related to four major areas: infrastructural  projects, financial assistance, natural resources and maritime  interests. 

• China is also interested in minerals such as gold, iron-ore,  precious stones, chemicals, oil and natural gas in Ethiopia. South  Sudan, a source for petroleum products, has had continued  Beijing investment in the industry since the latter’s initial entry in  1995. 

• China’s first and only military base outside its mainland is in  Djibouti. U.S. has speculated that China wishes to build another  military base in Kenya and Tanzania, thereby increasing its military  presence in the region. 

• Africa has been keen on interacting with China. Despite the  wariness surrounding China’s projects in Africa, the governments  have mostly been welcoming. 

• Peace and stability is a mutual requirement for China and Africa.  For Africa, Chinese investments could lead to stable environments  which could help the countries achieve their peace and  development objectives. For China, conflict in the region comes at  a heavy cost. 

• China’s move towards peace in Africa indicates a shift in its  principle of non-intervention. It is China’s message that its  presence in the continent has a larger objective and is not likely to be limited to the Horn of Africa. This includes an aim to project  itself as a global leader and boost its international status. 

Page 10: The G7 plan to counter the Belt and Road initiative 

• U.S. along with his G7 allies unveiled the Partnership for Global  Infrastructure and Investment (PGII), announcing the collective mobilisation of $600 billion by 2027 to deliver “game-changing”  and “transparent” infrastructure projects to developing and  middle-income countries.  

• The PGII is being seen as the G7’s counter to China’s multi-trillion  dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to build connectivity,  infrastructure, and trade projects in Asia, Europe, Africa, and Latin  America. 

• All PGII projects will be driven by “four priority pillars that will  define the second half of the 21st century”. Tackling the climate  crisis and ensuring global energy security, bolstering digital  information and ICT networks, promoting gender equality and  equity, and lastly, to build and upgrade the global health  infrastructure. 

• A PGII project has been announced in India. On the other hand,  India has stayed away from China’s BRI, being wary of Beijing’s  aim to increase its influence in the Indian Ocean Region. 

• The U.S., along with G7 partners the U.K., Japan, France, Canada,  Germany, Italy, and the European Union (EU), had in 2021  announced the launch of the Build Back Better World (B3W) with  the aim of narrowing the $40 trillion infrastructure gap in the  developing world. PGII is therefore, a relaunch of Mr. Biden’s B3W  plan.

• PGII as a “values-driven, high-impact, and transparent  infrastructure partnership to meet the enormous infrastructure  needs of low and middle-income countries and support the  United States’ and its allies’ economic and national security  interests”. 

• The G7 members aim to collectively mobilise $600 billion by 2027  to invest in sustainable and quality infrastructure projects in  developing countries, including India, and strengthen global  supply chains. 

• First, the G7 grouping aims to tackle the climate crisis and ensure  global energy security through clean energy supply chains.  Second, the projects will focus on bolstering digital information  and communications technology (ICT) networks facilitating  technologies such as 5G and 6G internet connectivity and  cybersecurity. Third, the projects aim to advance gender equality  and equity, and lastly, to build and upgrade global health  infrastructure. 

• The Belt and Road project was started to revive connectivity,  trade, and infrastructure along what was China’s ancient Silk  Road. China had announced a two-pronged approach of building a  Silk Road Economic Belt on Land and a maritime 21st century Silk  Road. The project initially aimed to strengthen connectivity with  Southeast Asia but later expanded to South and Central Asia,  Africa, Europe, and Latin America. 

• Under the PGII, large private capital will be also mobilised while  China’s BRI is majorly state-funded. 

• While G7 leaders emphasised ‘transparency’ as the cornerstone of  PGII projects, the BRI has faced criticism for making countries sign confidential tenders for extending massive loans, leaving  countries indebted to China. 

Page 11: GST reform needs a new grand bargain 

• The States gave up their right to collect sales tax and sundry taxes,  and the Centre gave up excise and services tax. The consent of the  States was secured by a promise of reimbursing any shortfall in  tax revenues for a period of five years. However, as the economy  battles a pandemic and recession, it seems that the States have  been told that they are on their own to meet shortfall in  revenues. 
• This is wrong on many counts. First, the States do not have  recourse to multiple options that the Centre has. Second, the  Centre can anyway command much lower rates of borrowing  from the markets. Third, in terms of aggregate public sector  borrowing, it does not matter for the debt markets whether it is  the States or the Centre that is increasing their indebtedness.  Fourth, fighting this recession through increased fiscal stimulus is  the Centre’s domain. Fifth this causes a serious dent in the trust  built up between the Centre and States. 
• The nationwide GST promised frictionless commerce across State  borders, buoyant and leakproof tax compliance, and removal of  inefficiencies like the cascade of “tax on tax”. 

• The reimbursement was to be funded by a special cess called the  GST compensation cess. The promised reimbursement was to fill  the gap for an assured 14% year on year tax growth for five years,  and it was generous to a fault. Neither the national aggregate nor  any of the major States had this record for the previous five years.

• A low moderate single rate of 12% encourages better compliance,  reduces the need to do arbitrary classification and discretion,  reduces litigation and will lead to buoyancy in collection. 

• Even after 28 years of the 73rd and 74th Amendments, the local  governments do not have the promised transfer of funds,  functions and functionaries. These local bodies face increased  responsibility of providing government services especially in view  of increased urbanisation and decentralisation. Of the 12% GST,  10% should be equally shared between the States and the Centre,  and 2% must be earmarked exclusively for the urban and rural  local bodies, which ensures some basic revenue autonomy to  them. The actual distribution across panchayats, districts and  cities would be given by respective State Finance Commissions. 

• GST is a crucial and long-term structural reform which can address  the fiscal needs of the future, strike the right and desired balance  to achieve co-operative federalism and also lead to enhanced  economic growth. The current design and implementation has  failed to deliver on that promise. A new grand bargain is needed. 

Page 14: Coast Guard squadron in Porbandar 

• The Coast Guard commissioned the 835 Squadron (CG) of  indigenous Advanced Light Helicopter-Mk- IIIs at the air enclave in  Porbandar. 

• The ALH helicopters have been indigenously manufactured by  Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. (HAL). 

• They feature state-of-the-art equipment, including advanced  radar and electro-optical sensors, the Shakti engine, a full glass  cockpit, a high-intensity searchlight, advanced communication systems, an automatic identification system and search and  rescue (SAR) homer. 

• The features enable them to undertake maritime reconnaissance  as well as carry out SAR at extended ranges even while operating  from ships during both day and night. 

• The aircraft has the ability to switch roles from an offensive  platform with heavy machine gun to that of a benign one carrying  a medical intensive care unit to facilitate transfer of critically ill  patients.

Team ULF