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A sitting judge of a Constitutional court resigning to join politics is not new.
Former Chief Justice of India Koka Subba Rao in 1967 had resigned three months before his retirement to contest Presidential elections as the Opposition candidate against Congress’s Zakir Hussain.
Barely six weeks before his retirement, former SC judge Baharul Islam resigned in 1983 to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Barpeta, Assam, as a Congress candidate.
Yet, Calcutta High Court Judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s announcement of his resignation and that he would join politics marks a telling moment in the discourse around the independence of the judiciary.
For one, it comes at a time when the bar in the state is deeply divided, reflecting – and sometimes shaped by – the fault-lines of the state’s politics.
Editorial
A fair deal for farmers (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Protesting farmers have put forward 12 demands. Of these, at least two have large economic implications. The first is the legalisation and increase of the Minimum Support Price (MSP) at C2+50 per cent profit for 23 crops for which the government announces the MSP.
The second is the assurance of minimum 200 days of employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) with a daily wage rate of Rs 700. Let us look at their economic implications, if at all the government is willing to consider these.
The comprehensive cost (C2) includes, besides paid out costs and imputed wage for family labour (A2+FL), imputed rent on owned land, and imputed interest on owned capital.
If the government accepts this formula of Cost C2+50 per cent, then our calculations show that the MSP levels for 23 crops will go up, on an average, by 25 per cent over the 2023-24 MSPs. Within this basket of 23 commodities, MSP increase will vary across crops.
While safflower MSP will go up by 40 per cent, sugarcane’s FRP will go up only by 3 per cent, wheat by 9 per cent, and mustard by 8 per cent, as their existing MSPs are already well above cost A2+FL plus 50 per cent margin.
Ideas Page
Third energy transition (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
I recently perused the projections made by the energy economists of ExxonMobil, Chevron Corp, Shell plc, BP and TotalEnergies — the five largest private international petroleum companies — on the prospects for oil and gas in 2050.
What struck me was not so much the differences between these projections but their possible adverse consequences on the attainment of the net-zero carbon emission targets.
The US companies ExxonMobil (XOM) and Chevron do not see a material decline in the consumption of oil and gas between now and 2050. XOM is the most “pessimistic”.
It expects consumption in 2050 to be the same as it is today, that is, 100 million barrels of oil per day (mbd). Chevron’s projections are more nuanced — a consumption range of 75-112 mbd.
The European companies build their projections around possible scenarios. In Shell’s “archipelago” scenario, the transition towards the electrification of transport, industry and residential areas is slow and episodic.
As a result, oil demand hardly drops. This scenario projects a demand of around 90 mbd. In the “Sky 50” scenario, however, the electrification process is faster and more complete and oil demand falls to around 40 mbd. BP and Total also have scenarios which foresee a demand ranging between 50 to 70 mbd.
Economy
Fix hospital treatment charges for entire country : SC asks Centre (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
In a development that could lead to faster adoption of ‘cashless’ health insurance across the country, the Supreme Court (SC) has directed the central government to expeditiously fix the hospital treatment charges to be paid by patients within the next six weeks.
Currently, different hospitals charge different rates for treatment, making it difficult to implement the cashless health insurance system in the country. “We, direct the Secretary, Department of Health, Union of India to hold a meeting with his counterparts in the State Governments/Union Territories and come with a concrete proposal by the next date of hearing (in the next six weeks),’’ said a two-judge division bench of the Supreme Court while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an NGO.
The general insurance industry, where the health portfolio almost contributes around Rs 1 lakh crore of premium, is now keenly watching the development and expect a positive outcome on the hospital charges.
The industry, which recently launched its scheme ‘Cashless Everywhere’, where a policyholder can receive treatments from any hospital in the country and not just from its own insurer’s empanelled hospitals, is facing issues as hospitals across the country are not adopting standardised rates for providing similar treatments.
States must follow branding norms for central scheme to get interest free loans (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
To receive interest-free capital expenditure loans from the Centre under the “untied” category, states will have to comply with the branding norms for centrally sponsored schemes (CSSs) and deposit interest accrued on the unutilised central-schemes funds lying with the state-level single nodal agencies (SNA) by March 31.
The scheme for providing financial assistance to the states for capital expenditure, introduced in FY21, was extended to FY25 in the interm Budget with an outlay of Rs 1.3 trillion as against the revised estimate of Rs 1.05 trillion for FY24.
Of the Rs 1.3 trillion for FY25, Rs 55,000 crore in untied capex loans would be rolled out from April 1, 2024. The reform/project linked Rs 75,000 crore would be rolled out after the new government is formed in May-June.
World
Shehbaz becomes Pak PM, vows to build improve ties with neighbours (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Pakistan's newly-elected Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday raked up the Kashmir issue in his maiden address but pledged to improve ties with all leading nations, including the country's neighbours.
Shehbaz said that Pakistan would not become part of any "great game" and his government would increase the number of friends.
He pledged to build and improve ties with all leading nations, including neighbours.
Israel boycotts Gaza truce talks (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Israel boycotted Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo after Hamas rejected its demand for a complete list naming hostages that are still alive, an Israeli newspaper reported.
A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for the talks, billed as a possible final hurdle before an agreement that would halt the fighting for six weeks. But by early evening there was no sign of the Israelis.
"There is no Israeli delegation in Cairo," Ynet, the online version of Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, quoted unidentified Israeli officials as saying. "Hamas refuses to provide clear answers and therefore there is no reason to dispatch the Israeli delegation."
Washington has insisted the ceasefire deal is close and should be in place in time to halt fighting by the start of Ramadan, a week away. But the warring sides have given little sign in public of backing away from previous demands.
After the Hamas delegation arrived, a Palestinian official told Reuters the deal was "not yet there". From the Israeli side, there was no official comment.
One source briefed on the talks had said on Saturday that Israel could stay away from Cairo unless Hamas first presented its full list of hostages who are still alive. A Palestinian source told Reuters Hamas had so far rejected that demand.
In past negotiations Hamas has sought to avoid discussing the wellbeing of individual hostages until after terms for their release are set.
Explained
Why Thailand slammed India’s farm subsidies at the WTO (Page no. 19)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Thailand is reported to have replaced its Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after India formally registered a protest over her comments on India’s PSH (Public Stockholding) programme.
Thai Ambassador Pimchanok Vonkorpon Pitfield had targeted India’s rice procurement programme recently. She said that its Public Distribution System (PDS), under which the government procures essential food items from producers and sells them to the public at low rates, is not for the people but for “capturing” the export market.
After India, Thailand is the second largest rice exporter in the world. However, India has put temporary restrictions on rice exports to arrest domestic prices.
Tensions between India and Thailand rose to such an extent that Indian negotiators at the 13th Ministerial Conference of WTO, held from 26 to 29 February 2024 in Abu Dhabi, UAE, are learnt to have refused to participate in some deliberations in groups where the Thai representative was present.
Grey Zone warfare (Page no. 19)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
On the last day of the 2024 Raisina Dialogue (February 24), India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan said that “grey zone warfare” is the latest in informal warfare.
During a discussion titled ‘The New Wars: Policies, Practices, and Preparation’, he gave an example of the situation in the South China Sea.
Occasionally, confrontational incidents involving small boats have been reported in the region, over the fact that several countries have extended competing territorial claims here.
In commentaries on China and Taiwan too, the term crops up in descriptions of Chinese actions around the island that it claims as its own.
Grey zone warfare generally means a middle, unclear space that exists between direct conflict and peace in international relations.