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External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar began his five-day visit to Moscow and St. Petersburg, during which he will hold talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Trade Minister Denis Manturov.
Mr. Jaishankar’s visit is expected to see discussions on a number of thorny bilateral issues, including continuing problems over the rupee-rouble payment mechanism amid a surge in the import of Russian oil and bilateral trade and delays in supplies of defence equipment.
The visit is also significant as it comes in lieu of the annual summit due to be held between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin, an unbroken tradition from the year 2000 until 2021, which the two sides have now skipped for the second year in a row, ostensibly due to the Ukraine conflict.
Govt. targets documents’ saturation in PVTG villages in one week (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
Kicking off the campaign for the PM-JANMAN package for the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) on Monday, the Centre has set a target of one week to achieve Aadhaar, caste certificate, and Jan Dhan account saturation across 15,000 PVTG habitations in 100 districts.
The Tribal Affairs Ministry said on Monday that the campaign would cover 18 States and the UT of Andaman and Nicobar Islands; in the next phase, habitations in other parts of the country would be covered.
In the absence of any current data on PVTG populations, the government has estimated that there are over 22,000 such habitations, where around 28 lakh people live — all of whom it aims to cover under the PM-JANMAN package, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 15 and cleared days later.
Editorial
Article 370 issue closed, but terror victims need closure (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
While delivering the judgment on Article 370 of the Constitution, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul of the Supreme Court of India also recommended the constitution of a truth and reconciliation commission to heal the wounds and suffering of the victims of the insurgency that gripped the Kashmir Valley, particularly in 1989-90.
Justice Kaul wrote that this may help to ‘achieve collective understanding of the human rights’ violations perpetrated by State and non-State actors, against people of the region’.
Since truth-telling provides an opportunity for victims to narrate their stories which may facilitate an acknowledgement from those responsible for perpetrating the wrongs, and from society as a whole, this may pave the way for reconciliation, he wrote separately in the Epilogue. At the same time, he cautioned that the commission, if constituted, should not turn into a criminal court.
Opinion
Stabilising frayed ties, yet hurdles ahead (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
After the meeting between United States President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, in November, the U.S and China have managed to stabilise their relationship from the free fall it was in through 2023, beginning with the spy balloon episode.
The New Year could bring new turbulence arising from the outcome of the elections in Taiwan and the fact that it would be an election year in the U.S. where both parties are vying to show how tough they are on Beijing.
One sign of the efforts to manage the relationship without confrontation was visible in the recent virtual meeting between their top military officials, General Charles Q. Brown, and General Liu Zhenli. China broke off military contact following former U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August 2022.
News
PT instructors come within definition of teachers: top court (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court has held that physical training instructors (PTIs) come within the definition of “teachers” though they may not necessarily take classes within the four walls of a building. Physical training instructors impart to students the skills and rules of various sports and games.
Merely because a PTI/Sports Officer is not expected to conduct classes within the four walls of a college, as in the case of a Professor/Associate Professor/Assistant Professor, would not by itself make him ineligible for being treated as a teacher for all practical purposes inasmuch as most sports require training in open spaces/fields/courts etc.
The Bench was hearing the case of a sports officer/ PTI at Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya (university). He was challenging the university’s demand to retire him at 60 years of age. He had sought parity with the other teaching faculty whose age of superannuation was 62.
The court upheld the case of the sports instructor, saying he was “very much a ‘teacher’ as he imparted instruction to the students of the college in physical education”.
UNHCR thanks India for taking care 142 Rohingyas intercepted in Andaman (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed gratitude to Indian authorities on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands for taking care of 142 Rohingya refugees, whose boat was intercepted by coastal security agencies near Shaheed Dweep a day ago.
“UNHCR thanks the Indian Coast Guard and the authorities for saving desperate human lives. This noble act of humanity brings relief to those in distress,” Babar Baloch, spokesperson for Asia and the Pacific, said in a text message.
The boat left from Bangladesh 14 to 15 days ago and was on its way to Indonesia. Those aboard included 47 women and 59 minors.
The Port Blair police control room received a call from the local intelligence about suspicious boat movement near Shaheed Dweep (previously known as Neil Island), and multiple coastal security agencies (including the Navy, Coast Guard and Marine Police) swung into action and located it, officials had said.
Business
India-ASEAN to rejig 15-year trade pact in early 2024 (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India and the ten-member Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) will begin negotiations in February to “modernise” their decade-and-a-half-old free trade agreement (FTA) to bring more balance in the pact currently weighed against New Delhi.
But new areas like labour, environment, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and gender, are likely to be kept out, sources have said.
There will be a complete re-look at the FTA with the broad objective of bringing down the trade deficit for India.
We want to modernise the FTA as a lot has evolved since it was signed almost 15 years back. New elements such as product specific rules and trade remedies will be brought in to make the FTA more efficient.
The first round of negotiations for reviewing the FTA, officially known as the ASEAN India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITGA), will be on February 18-19 in New Delhi, the source said. Negotiations will follow a quarterly schedule aiming to wrap them up by 2025.
World
Egypt floats ambitious plan to end Israel-Hamas war (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Egypt has put forward an ambitious, initial proposal to end the Israel-Hamas war with a ceasefire, a phased hostage release and the creation of a Palestinian government of experts who would administer the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank.
The proposal, worked out with the Gulf nation of Qatar, has been presented to Israel, Hamas, the U.S. and European governments but still appeared preliminary.
It falls short of Israel’s professed goal of outright crushing Hamas and would appear not to meet Israel’s insistence on keeping military control over Gaza for an extended period after the war.
Israel’s War Cabinet, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will meet later on Monday to discuss the hostage situation, among other topics, an Israeli official said, but would not say if they would discuss the Egyptian proposal. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.