Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress, where he, in agreement with U.S. President Joe Biden, called the India-U.S. relationship “a defining partnership” of the 21st century.
The Prime Minister also talked about the virtues of democracy, the ties that bind India and the United States, and India’s economic and development trajectory. He also touched on issues of global concern, such as the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Indo-Pacific.
Mr. Modi’s hour-long speech was heard by a packed chamber and he received several standing ovations, but over 70 members of Congress had raised concerns about democratic backsliding in India ahead of his address.
A handful of them boycotted the event. “Democracy is one of our sacred and shared values,” the Prime Minister said as he referred to India as the “mother of democracy”.
He talked about the digitisation of the Indian economy and said that India would soon be the third-largest economy in the world. “When India grows, the world grows,” the Prime Minister said.
Editorial
Strike a fine balance, have a just civil code (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Law Commission of India decided to solicit views and proposals from the public about the Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
After a hiatus of just five years, when the Commission had concluded that the ‘UCC is neither necessary nor desirable’, the move now is one that keeps the pot boiling on one of India’s most ideologically as well as politically rivalled issue.
Though we believe that the enactment of the UCC in piecemeal manner would be in tune with the spirit of Article 44, the attempt here is to invite attention to one particular consideration that must weigh with the Commission as it undertakes this exercise de novo.
The question of personal laws is basically the question of personal and religious autonomy versus the state’s authority to reform familial relations.
Since each religious group has cultural autonomy, it is thus being argued that the community should itself come forward to seek reforms.
This is the justification for the adoption of internal law reform or voluntary UCC. In fact, the Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Indian Succession Act, 1925 are nothing but examples of voluntary adoption of the UCC though the recently enacted love jihad laws by prohibiting inter-faith marriages basically violate the spirit of Special Marriage Act.
There are also regional differences, i.e. Kerala had abolished the Hindu Joint Family in 1975; Muslim marriage and divorces are to be registered in Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand under the 1876 law, and in Assam under 1935 law, and adoption was permissible to Kashmiri Muslims.
At present, not just Muslims but even Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs, Parsis, and Jews are governed by their own personal laws. Accordingly, believe it or not, it is the religious identity that determines which personal law would apply to a group of individuals.
Even reformed Hindu Personal Law under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 does insist on solemnisation of marriage, through saptapadi (seven steps around fire) and datta (invocation before fire).
Section 7(2) of the Act, just like Manusmriti (8.227), provides that marriage is completed on the seventh step. Sapinda relationship, adoption and Hindu Joint Family rules too are based on the Hindu Personal Law.
Squaring the circle at the India-Egypt summit (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
There is a danger that after an adrenaline-rushed and consequential parley in the United States, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Egypt may appear to be a bit underwhelming.
Historically, India-Egypt ties are perhaps the oldest civilisational link. In 2750 BCE, the Pharaoh Sahure sent ships to the “Land of Punt”, which historians identify with peninsular India.
By the middle of the second millennium BCE, Egyptian mummies were wrapped in muslin dyed with indigo, both from India.
It is this historic inspiration that needs to be invoked while aiming for greater bilateral relevance and substantiality.
While the past century of contacts produced plenty of goodwill and verbal shibboleths — from decolonisation to non-alignment and from Egyptians’ Bollywood-frenzy to the addition of lilting Egyptian music in Indian scores — they have delivered little of substance.
India’s trade with the most populous Arab country stood at $6,061 million in 2022-23, having declined by 17% over the previous year.
Nearly a third of it was petroleum-related. India was Egypt’s sixth largest trading partner, while Egypt was India’s 38th. Indian investments in Egypt were spread over 50 projects totalling $3.15 billion, half of the sum contributed by a single company.
Egypt has invested only $37 million in India. There are less than 5,000 Indians in Egypt, nearly a fifth of them being students.
The underperformance of bilateral ties is not due to a lack of bilateral institutional mechanisms, but their efficacy and sense of purpose. India has a Joint Commission, Foreign Office Consultations and at least nine joint working groups.
Its Defence and External Affairs Ministers visited Egypt during the past year. It had a bilateral summit less than five months ago when the Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, visited India.
All this perhaps attests that both India and Egypt have formidable bureaucracies and public sectors adept at rearranging the chairs on the deck.
News
Jet engine deal ensures 80% technology transfer to HAL; first engine in three years (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The jet engine deal with the U.S. is an “almost done” deal and will see 80% technology transfer by General Electric (GE) to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). This will include critical technologies. The first engine will roll out three years after the contract is ready.
A previous ‘Engine Development Agreement’ in 2012 between GE and HAL for the F414 engine had 58% technology transfer.
A factsheet issued by the White House on the bilateral meetings, described the GE proposal to jointly produce the F414 jet engine in India as “groundbreaking”, adding that a manufacturing licence agreement has been submitted for Congressional notification.
It will take three years for the first engine to roll out once the contract is signed. The 80% technology transfer to HAL is of critical importance.
Such a transfer has not happened before and shows the level of trust India evokes in the U.S.,” a senior defence source said on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between GE and HAL to manufacture F414 engines for the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-MK2 in India. “Except for a small component, the F414-INS6 engine will entirely be manufactured in India.”
This trailblazing initiative to manufacture F414 engines in India will enable greater transfer of U.S. jet engine technology than ever before,” the joint statement issued after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden said.
Some of the key technologies that would be transferred to India include special coatings for corrosion; casting, machining and coating for Single Crystal for turbine blades; casting, machining and coating of nozzle guide vanes and other hot parts; blisk machining; forging/power metallurgy discs for turbine; machining of thin walled titanium casing; friction inertia welding for fan and after burner; Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC) for bypass polymer duct; Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC) for LPNGV, flaps; laser drilling technology for combustor; bottle boring of shafts.
India, U.S. expanding scope of cooperation in strategic areas: PM (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India and the U.S. are working with renewed trust in areas of new and emerging technologies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he thanked the American leadership for giving him a grand welcome.
Speaking at a luncheon hosted in his honour by Vice-President Kamala Harris at the White House, Mr. Modi said the two countries had added and expanded the scope of the cooperation in the defence and strategic areas.
We are working with renewed trust in areas of new and emerging technologies. We are resolving long pending and difficult issues in trade, adding that with new frameworks such as QUAD and I2U2, the two countries were making major progress together.
Mr. Modi said that in 2014 during his visit to the U.S., President Joe Biden had referred to the India-America partnership as a promise over the horizon. In this period of nine years since then, we have been on a very long and beautiful journey.
He lauded Indian-origin Ms. Harris and her parents, saying “Your contribution to strengthening our strategic partnership has been incredible.” “Thank you so much for this grand welcome.
The sweet melody of the India-U.S. relationship is composed of our people-to-people relations,” Mr. Modi said at the event also co-hosted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken at the Department of State.
G-20 trade unions meet emphasises global social security (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Union Minister for Labour and Employment Bhupender Yadav, addressing the Labour 20 (L-20), — the meeting of trade unions of G-20 countries —said the two statements adopted by the unions on universalisation of social security and the portability of social security funds, and on empowering women in the future of work and upskilling the women workforce in tech-intensive environments were a testament to the spirit of social dialogue.
Mr. Yadav said the deliberations at the two-day meeting proved to be enlightening with diverse perspectives and viewpoints from various stakeholders.
She said a changing work environment characterised by technological advancements, globalisation, and evolving labour markets had significant implications for employment and the provision of adequate social security.
“There is therefore a need for comprehensive and forward-looking social security policies that take into account the evolving nature of work.
Governments, employers, trade unions, and international organisations must collaborate to ensure that social security systems are inclusive, adaptable, and accessible to all,” the Minister said.
Mr. Yadav said that by equipping women with necessary skills and knowledge, governments could ensure their engagement in the job market and promoting gender parity.
World
U.K. accuses Russia of ‘training combat dolphins’ in Crimea (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
British military spies said Russia appears to be training combat dolphins in the annexed Crimean peninsula to counter Ukrainian forces.
In its latest update on the conflict, U.K. Defence Intelligence said the Russian Navy had invested heavily in security at the Black Sea Fleet’s main base at Sevastopol since last year.
This includes at least four layers of nets and booms across the harbour entrance. In recent weeks, these defences have highly likely also been augmented by an increased number of trained marine mammals.
Imagery shows a near doubling of floating mammal pens in the harbour which highly likely contain bottle-nosed dolphins.”
The animals were “likely intended to counter enemy divers. The Russian Navy has used Beluga whales and seals for a range of missions in Arctic waters.
Business
‘Most States failed to meet their capital spending targets in FY23’ (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Large States like Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra faltered significantly in their capital spending plans for 2022-23 while just six States managed to come close to meeting their capex targets, as per a Bank of Baroda report based on data from 25 States.
While the Centre met its infrastructure spending targets last year, as per its stated commitment to pump prime the economy till private investments rebound, States’ performance had been disparate and disappointing, the bank’s economists noted.
The 25 State governments for which data is available now managed to spend only 76.2%, or ₹5.71 lakh crore, from their planned capex of ₹7.49 lakh crore for 2022-23.
“The two largest States in terms of planned capex, U.P. and Maharashtra had an outlay of ₹2.19 lakh crore, which is 29.2% of the total capex of these 25 States,” the bank’s economics research team observed. Their combined achievement was just 70% which has brought down the average for the entire sample.
The worst performance was recorded in Andhra Pradesh, which met just 23% of its capex target,followed by Tripura, Nagaland and Haryana, which spent less than 50% of their target.
Only four States — Karnataka, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Bihar — met or exceeded targets while Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh came very close at more than 98% of the target. Eleven States crossed the 80% threshold, including Tamil Nadu (89.9%) and Gujarat (89.5%).