23 May 2024, The Hindu
A ‘No-Limit’ bromance that is not just a bilateral matter
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GS 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting the Indian interests
- Having met each other over 40 times in the past 11 years, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping are justified in calling each other “old friend”.
- Yet, their Summit in Beijing (May 16-17, 2024), ostensibly to mark the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, stands out, arguably, as among their most consequential meetings.
- Given their geostrategic and geoeconomic hefts, their “no-limit” bromance is not just a bilateral matter.
- It concerns the world at large including India, which has a significant yin-yang relationship with both.
A vegetable triumvirate, inflation and the takeaway
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GS 3: Indian Economy (Inflation)
- Inflation is a critical indicator of an economy’s health, reflecting the changes in the general price level and the cost of living.
- In India, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is used to measure price inflation which is largely based on the Laspeyre’s price index and measures the economy’s cost of living.
- The CPI basket comprises 299 items of which vegetables account for a weight of 6.04% in the total basket.
Setting the bar
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GS 2: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) asking the BJP and the Congress to desist from raising divisive issues in campaigning in the general election is a case of better late than never.
- The ECI has, in recent years, disappointed the Indian electorate by its inability to be effective, impartial and prompt in its role as the watchdog of elections.
- This is partly a function of the mechanism of the appointment of the ECI’s members, which is entirely a partisan decision of the executive.
- The ECI has now written to BJP president J.P. Nadda to ask “star campaigners” of the party to refrain from making statements which “may divide the society”.
- Its letter follows his response on May 13 to a notice issued to him over a complaint against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in Banswara, Rajasthan — Mr. Modi had referred to Muslims as “infiltrators” and “people with more children.”
When control is disguised as reform
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GS 2: Structure, organisation and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary
- Three recent judicial decisions have led to attacks on the Supreme Court’s legitimacy. On February 15, the Court declared electoral bonds unconstitutional, stating that the “right to know supersedes anonymity.”
- On May 10, the Court granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying, “We... reject the argument that the reasoning… results in grant of privilege or special status to politicians.”
- On May 15, the Court granted bail to Prabir Purkayastha, founder and Editor-in-Chief of NewsClick, holding that “communication of the grounds of arrest in writing was not provided… which vitiates the arrest.”
- These judgments, based on legal merit, challenge state excesses and also harm the ruling party’s interests.
- The BJP undeniably benefited from electoral bonds, Mr. Kejriwal’s arrest, and the suppression of a critical media platform.
The curious case of declining voters in the 2024 elections
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance
- It is generally well-accepted that prices of essential goods, population, GDP, agricultural production, professionals’ salaries and many such parameters only increase every year in a developing and growing country like India unless there is an abnormal, rare event such as Covid-19, which can cause GDP or population or salaries to decline that year.
- The percentage or rate of increase for each may vary year to year but the absolute number only goes up, barring exceptional conditions.
Dhankhar in Tehran, India shows solidarity with Iran
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GS 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting the Indian interests
- Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar arrived in Tehran on May 22 to participate in memorial services for Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, both of whom were among nine officials and crew killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday, a special gesture by New Delhi to show solidarity with Iran amidst the loss of its key leaders.
- While the sudden change in leadership is unlikely to mean any major shift in India-Iran relations, it could slow down the pace of ties, given the particular role both Mr. Raisi and Mr. Abdollahian played in strengthening bilateral relations, leading up to the signing of the 10-year contract for Chabahar port just a week prior to the crash.
RBI to transfer ₹2,10,874 cr. surplus to Centre for FY24
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GS 2: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States,
- In a windfall gain for the Centre, the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday approved the transfer of a record ₹2,10,874 crore as surplus to the Union government for the accounting year 2023-24.
- The latest transfer by the central bank is more than double the ₹87,416 crore that the RBI had transferred in FY23.
BIMSTEC gets ‘legal personality’ after charter comes into force
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GS 2: International Relations- Important International institutions, agencies, their structure and mandates
- The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) will now be open to new members and observers after a historic first charter of the grouping came into force on 20 May, the Ministry of External Affairs has announced.
- With the coming into force of the charter which was adopted in the 5th summit of the BIMSTEC leaders, the grouping has acquired a ‘legal personality’ and will be able to enter into structured diplomatic dialogue with other groupings and countries.
