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For the first time since the India-China border stand-off began in 2020, India’s top official in the Ministry of External Affairs dealing with China travelled to Beijing for the 26th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC).
This was the first in-person WMCC meeting since the 14th meeting held in July 2019.During the continuing border stand-off that began in eastern Ladakh in May 2020, 11 WMCC meetings have taken place — but all through video-conferencing.
While no immediate breakthrough has been announced and both sides maintained their stated positions, the significance of the meeting lies in its in-person nature in China’s capital.
The official who headed the Indian delegation is Shilpak Ambule, Joint Secretary (East Asia) in the MEA, looking at ties with China, Japan and the Koreas.
The Chinese delegation was led by Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Affairs Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Fluent in Mandarin, Ambule has worked as the official interpreter for Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi during their meetings with Chinese leaders Hu Jintao, Wen Jiabao, Li Keqiang and Xi Jinping among others, and has served as a diplomat at the Indian embassy in Beijing.
Express Network
LCA Tejas Mk2 can carry 8 BVR missiles, integrate French, Russian weapons: official (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mk2 is not only capable of carrying eight Beyond-Visual-Range (BVR) missiles together but can also integrate all native weapons, as well as a variety of advanced weapons from other countries, a senior official from the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA), which comes under the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO).
“No other single-engine aircraft of this class in the world can carry eight BVR missiles simultaneously. These unique features will make it stand out among aircraft manufactured by global firms, upping its export potential,” V Madhusudana Rao, the LCA Mk2 project director, told The Indian Express on the sidelines of Aero India 2023, the country’s biggest aviation exhibition that ended on February 17, in Bengaluru.
Stating that “the future is BVR combat and we are ready for that”, the official said the aircraft will be integrated with heavy standoff weapons, such as SCALP, an air-to-ground, long-range deep strike missile.
We considered the integration of advanced French and Russian weapons, weapons from other Western countries and indigenous weapons like ASTRA [a BVR air-to-air missile] while designing this aircraft [LCA Mk 2]. Unlike other aircraft, LCA Mk2 will be able to integrate unique weapons from various countries.
Noted dancer Kanak Rele, who gave academic status to Mohiniyattam, dies (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
Known as one of India’s most inventive classical dancers and pioneering dance educationists, Mohiniyattam exponent Kanak Rele, who played a significant role in bringing a systematic structure, academic veracity and much currency to Mohiniyattam, besides propagating female roles in Kathakali, died morning in Mumbai. She was 85.
Rele, conferred with the Padma Bhushan in 2013, is survived by husband Yatindra Rele, son Rahul, daughter-in-law and Bharatanatyam exponent Uma, and two grandchildren.
Born in Gujarat, Rele’s mother moved to Santineketan with the child, then five years old, after her husband’s death — Rele’s uncle, a painter, lived in Santiniketan, and it was here, amid art and aesthetics, that Rele developed interest in dance, especially the commanding Kathakali, the compelling classical art form native to Kerala and known for its elaborate costumes and repertoire that’s seeped in martial arts. Rele trained in the male-dominated art form since she was seven, under Guru Panchali Karunakara Panicker, besides getting rigorous training in Bharatanatyam.
But Bharatanatyam was not connecting with her being. Mohiniyattam, which Rele always watched in awe, was beckoning her, probably because of her training in Kathakali and Mohiniyattam’s connect with Kerala.
With roots in Natya Shastra, Mohiniyattam’s history is tied with Vishnu taking on a female avatar and presenting this erotic, delicate dance for good to win over evil.
Term of Law Commission extended till August 2024 (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved extension of the term of 22nd Law Commission up to August 31, 2024.The three-year term of the Commission headed by former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi ended on February 20. Justice Awasthi was appointed chairperson in November last year.
While clearing the constitution of the 22nd Commission, a release by the Cabinet had said that the Commission, among other things, shall “identify laws which are no longer needed or relevant and can be immediately repealed; examine the existing laws in the light of Directive Principles of State Policy and suggest ways of improvement and reform and also suggest such legislations as might be necessary to implement the Directive Principles and to attain the objectives set out in the Preamble of the Constitution”; and “revise the Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities”.
Apart from Justice Awasthi, the Commission also consists of former Kerala High Court judge, Justice K T Sankaran; M Karunanithi; and law professors Anand Paliwal, D P Verma, and Raka Arya.
The Commission is currently looking into several significant issues, including implementation of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC).
Editorial
Giving data its due (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The oft-used phrase “data is the new oil” has almost become a cliché. The world’s ability to generate data is now increasing exponentially. Every minute, servers log information on all aspects of society, from consumer and industry behaviour to the delivery of government programmes. In many respects, the Government of India is not only leading this drive but also creating new roadmaps by enabling the development of a rich data ecosystem.
Collecting and storing data is just the first step in realising its potential. A coherent data ecosystem — that is, a strategy and a set of tools to process, manage and use data — is essential. At the scale of the Government of India, improvements to the data ecosystem can have profound positive impacts.
In May 2022, the NITI Aayog, in collaboration with ministries and state governments, endeavoured to fill this need by launching a transformational open data platform called the National Data and Analytics Platform (NDAP). NDAP serves foundational datasets from central and state government entities in machine-readable formats, with a user-friendly interface and powerful analytics. The platform uses cutting-edge methods to link diverse datasets from across the government and enables the use of several types of data at once. NDAP’s target users include policymakers, civil servants, university students and researchers, journalists, innovators, and civil society groups. A platform of this scale and vision is rare, and NDAP can set a global standard.
Ideas Page
Storage hurdle on net zero track (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
India’s push towards decarbonisation has to be backed with adequate storage facilities, without which it clearly cannot go forward beyond a point. This is because of two reasons.
The first is that the storage will handle the intermittency problem (due to sudden cloud cover or drop in wind velocity) of renewables.
Second, coal-based generation cannot be phased out till such time as we can rely on stored energy to provide electricity in the non-solar hours.
As of now, we are not feeling the pinch because we have more than 200 GW of coal-based capacity and are managing the show by backing down these stations when required.
The Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) recognises 55 per cent as the technical minimum — which means that a 1,000 MW plant can run at 550 MW.
The additional operating cost for running the plant at 55 per cent capacity (on account of higher auxiliary consumption or self-consumption by the generating plant amongst others) is allowed by the CERC as legitimate expenditure and hence, is reflected in the generation tariff.
Efforts are on right now to ascertain whether the technical minimum can be further brought down to 40 per cent. Of course, all this requires a detailed study in consultation with the original equipment manufacturers to assess the loss of life to these machines, if any, by operating at such low capacities.
When India’s renewable capacity goes up further and assuming that they “must run” so that solar and wind energy is not wasted, coal-based capacity may need to go below the technical minimum, which is not feasible.
At this point, some of the coal-based units would generate at the technical minimum and the extra renewable energy (over and above what is required by the grid) would be used to charge the batteries.
This stored energy could then be used to supply electricity during the non-solar hours, especially in a situation where the coal-based generating units would be phased out gradually to enable us to become net zero by 2070.
However, some minimum coal-based generation would still be required for meeting a part of the base load and one has to rely on the available carbon sinks to neutralise the carbon dioxide emissions.
Explained
The feedback unit case, in which Sisodia can now be, prosecuted (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Policies)
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has given the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) its nod to prosecute Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia in a prevention of corruption case related to a ‘Feed Back Unit’ (FBU) created in 2015.
The CBI had sought sanction to prosecute Sisodia, who presides over the Delhi government’s vigilance department. It was under this department that the ‘extra-constitutional, extra-judicial Intelligence Agency’ manned by retired intelligence, police and paramilitary officials armed with hidden cameras to gather ‘actionable feedback’ on the goings-on in government departments – and ‘do trap cases’ where necessary – came up.
The allegations against Sisodia also pertain to the diversion of government funds allocated to this unit under the ‘Secret Service Fund’ which financed the unit alleged to have carried out illegal surveillance on the Aam Aadmi Party’s political opponents, bureaucrats and members of the judiciary, among others.
Setup in September 2015 with approval from the Delhi Cabinet of Ministers, the ‘Feed Back Unit’ was tasked with gathering ‘relevant information and actionable feedback’ regarding the working of government departments, autonomous bodies, institutions and entities under the jurisdiction of the Delhi government.
Its mandate also included conducting sting operations, or ‘trap cases’, by its personnel, dubbed intelligence ‘assets’, on ‘targets’ or subjects – mainly individuals – under the Secretary of the Vigilance department but the ‘direct control of the Chief Minister’s Office.’
What is a ‘corrupt practice under the Representation of People Act, 1951? What the Supreme Court has said (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Policies)
On February 20, the Supreme Court observed that no one in India votes for a candidate based on their educational qualifications and, thus providing false information about an electoral candidate’s qualifications cannot be considered a “corrupt practice” under Sections 123 (2) and Section 123 (4) of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951.
In ‘Anugrah Narayan Singh v. Harsh Vardhan Bajpayee’, a bench of Justices K.M. Joseph and BV Nagarathna of the Apex Court heard a plea challenging a 2017 Allahabad High Court ruling, dismissing a similarly titled petition to declare the election of a BJP MLA as “null and void”. However, the Apex Court refused to interfere with the High Court’s order of dismissal.
The petition filed by former Congress MLA Anugrah Narayan Singh said that BJP MLA Harsh Vardhan Bajpayee committed a “corrupt practice’ under Section 123(2) by interfering in the free exercise of electoral rights of the voters by not disclosing his liabilities and correct educational qualifications in his affidavit of nomination. It also argued that a “corrupt practice” under Section 123(4) was committed by Bajpayee in publishing a false statement of fact about his character and conduct to influence the outcome of his election, knowingly.
Seattle bans caste discrimination: the law and its significance (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Policies)
Seattle became the first US city to outlaw caste discrimination on Tuesday (February 21), after its local council voted to add caste to the city’s anti-discrimination laws, reported Reuters.
The resolution was moved by Kshama Sawant, Seattle City council member and upper-caste Hindu, and was approved by the Council by six to one vote.
“It’s official: our movement has won a historic, first-in-the-nation ban on caste discrimination in Seattle! Now we need to build a movement to spread this victory around the country,” tweeted Sawant after the resolution was passed.
However, certain groups, such as the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), have raised concerns over the move, claiming that “it singles out Hindu Americans for additional legal scrutiny in the name of preventing discrimination”.
According to a news release by the Seattle City Council, “the legislation banning caste-based discrimination will prohibit businesses from discriminating based on caste with respect to hiring, tenure, promotion, workplace conditions, or wages.
It will ban discrimination based on caste in places of public accommodation, such as hotels, public transportation, public restrooms, or retail establishments. The law will also prohibit housing discrimination based on caste in rental housing leases, property sales, and mortgage loans.
Basically, the legislation will recognise caste as a unique basis of discrimination, similar to race or gender. Currently, caste “is not an explicitly protected class”, an article by Seattle-based Real Change News reported.
Quoting a spokesperson from the Seattle Office of Civil Rights, the article said that currently, “if our office were to receive a complaint based solely on caste discrimination, we would not be able to investigate it.