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A day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads for the G-20 summit in Bali, where India will be handed the group’s presidency for the year ahead, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra underlined the key challenges that confront world leaders, including the “ongoing conflict” in Ukraine and “its knock-on effect, such as food security challenges, energy crisis and inflation”.
The G-20 leaders “will discuss these challenges and underscore the importance of closer multilateral cooperation to help overcome” them.
In the context of India’s G-20 presidency, he said the “evolving priorities” will include “green development”, “lifestyle for environment”, “digital transformation”, “inclusive and resilient growth”, “women-led development” — and most importantly, “greater voice for the global south” in economic cooperation and the need to “reform 21st century institutions”.
Kwatra said the Prime Minister will participate in three key sessions — food and energy security, digital transformation, and health — during his three-day visit to the Indonesian city for the summit.
“G-20 deliberations have acquired a greater salience in the current global economic and political context. Coming on top of the existing environmental challenges, lack of progress in the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) and the pandemic, the world is currently struggling with many important challenges.
As the incoming presidency, India has always actively engaged in the past and during this presidency of Indonesia also, with all the G-20 countries and participants throughout this year.
Our position has been of steadfast and strong support to Indonesia, which as the presidency has shown strong leadership in ensuring that the G-20 platform discusses issues of substantive interest to the world.
Stating that the Prime Minister would receive the G-20 presidency from Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Kwatra said India will host the next summit in New Delhi on September 9 and 10, 2023. Indonesia is the current chair of the G-20, and India will formally assume the role from December 1 this year.
India’s G-20 presidency hopes to provide new strength, direction and perspective to G-20 discussions on diverse subjects,” he said before listing the priorities.
The Bali summit is set to be attended by US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Russian President Vldimir Putin is not attending the summit, and has sent his country’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov instead.
The City
POCSO Act not meant to criminalise consenting young adults relationships (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
While granting bail to a man booked for kidnapping and offences under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), the Delhi High Court recently held that the Act intends to protect children from sexual exploitation and not “criminalise consensual romantic relationships between young adults.
A single judge bench of Justice Jasmeet Singh, in his order of October 20, made this observation while hearing a bail application of a man booked for aggravated penetrative sexual assault (Section 6) and abetment (Section 17) under the POCSO Act, kidnapping (Section 363) and rape (Section 376) under the IPC.
The HC observed that this has to be seen from the “facts and circumstances” of each case as there might be cases where the survivor of sexual offence may be forced to settle under pressure or trauma.
According to the facts of the case, a 17-year-old girl was married to a man on June 30, 2021, but she did not wish to stay with him.
On October 27, 2021, she went to the accused’s house, her friend, who took her to Punjab where they got married. The girl’s father then lodged an FIR against the accused, alleging he took her against her will.
Justice Singh interacted with the alleged victim in his chamber in the presence of the Additional Public Prosecutor for the state. She stated that at the time of marriage with the accused on October 28, “she was an adolescent and around 17 years of age” – her date of birth being October 1, 2004.
She further said she got married to the accused out of her “own free will and without any undue influence, threat, pressure or coercion” and wants to stay with him.
It was also noted by the HC that she had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court and submitted that she married the accused willingly and “her parents were threatening to cause harm to her and her husband”. Pursuant to which the Punjab and Haryana HC directed that the couple be provided with adequate police protection.
The HC thereafter observed that this was not a case where the girl was “coerced into the relationship” with the accused. In fact, she had herself gone to the accused’s home and asked him to marry her, it noted.
The statement of the victim makes it clear that this is a romantic relationship between the two and that the sexual act between them was consensual.
Although the victim is minor and, hence, her consent does not have any legal bearing, I am of the opinion that the factum of a consensual relationship borne out of love should be of consideration while granting bail.
Govt. & Politics
Dhankhar highlights EAS role in free Indo-Pacific (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar addressed the 17th East Asia Summit (EAS) here, during which he highlighted global concerns on food and energy security, and emphasised the role of the EAS mechanism in promoting free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific with freedom of navigation and overflight.
The US, India and several other world powers have been discussing the need to ensure a free, open and thriving Indo-Pacific in the backdrop of China’s rising military manoeuvring in the region.
China claims nearly all of the disputed South China Sea, though Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam all claim parts of it. Beijing has built artificial islands and military installations in the South China Sea. China also has territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea.
The Quad grouping of India, Australia, Japan and the United States has strongly opposed any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo or increase tensions in the Indo-Pacific.
Dhankhar, who is in Cambodia on a three-day visit, also briefly interacted with US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the summit.
After addressing the EAS summit, the Vice President inaugurated the completed conservation work of ‘Hall of Dancers’ in Ta Prohm Temple in the Angkor archaeological complex in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap.
He was accompanied by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on his visit to the temple. “We are not in the country of our extended neighbourhood, we are in our extended family,” Dhankhar said during the inauguration.
The Hall of Dancers is part of a $4-million collaborative project between India and Cambodia for the preservation and restoration of cultural heritage in Cambodia
Anyone casting an evil eye on india now given befitting reply (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 1, History)
In the past few months, the BJP government in Haryana has held several events to remember heroes of different communities to woo the voters.
In the series of such events, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh unveiled the statue of 12th century king Prithviraj Chauhan in Kulana village of Jhajjar district.
At the event, Singh said that safeguarding national interests is the main focus of the BJP-led government and anyone casting an evil eye on India is now given a befitting reply. “India is no longer weak.
We believe in peace,” Singh said, adding that “a befitting reply is now given if anyone tries to harm us.” “Our soldiers have proved this time and again,” Singh said, referring to the 2016 surgical strikes and 2019 Balakot airstrikes.
He added that to get rid of the colonial mindset, the Narendra Modi government has taken a number of initiatives, including a new Indian Navy ensign inspired from Maratha warrior Chhatrapati Shivaji, abolition of around 1,500 obsolete British-era laws, renaming of Rajpath as Kartavya Path and installation of a grand statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose at India Gate.
More than 1,500 archaic laws dating back to the British rule, whose relevance was completely over, have been abolished. “There are many such laws for which we are preparing a scheme. We will scrap these too.
Terming Haryana and the Jhajjar region as the land of the brave with a glorious history, Singh said many have laid down their lives for safeguarding the country’s borders.
He added that he salutes such a brave land, which is an inspiration of sacrifice and bravery. “In the Galwan Valley, when there was standoff, our forces showed their valour and courage.
The statues of great brave sons such as Prithviraj Chauhan and Rao Tula Ram teach us to move forward in life,” he said, adding that the feasibility of Sainik School in Matanhail of Jhajjar district will be examined and necessary action will be taken in this regard.
Singh said Khattar has done commendable work for the development of Haryana. “Such a CM with “santpravritti”, who strenuously works for the people and society, is rare.
CM Manohar Lal Khattar announced plans to build a research institute and memorial in the name of Prithviraj Chauhan in Taraori, Karnal.
He said the Haryana government has taken the initiative to remember great men by implementing the ‘santmahapurushvicharprasar yojana’. Sunday’s function is seen as an attempt to woo the Rajput community in Haryana.
Express Network
India to unveil its long-term low-carbon strategies today (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
At the start of the second week of negotiations on Monday at the climate change conference, India will unveil its long-term decarbonization plans in pursuit of its goal to reach a net-zero status by 2070.
Under the Paris Agreement, countries are mandated to submit long-term action plans with estimated low-emission pathways till 2050 that are consistent with the global goal of keeping temperature rise within 1.5 degree or 2 degree Celsius from pre-industrial times.
This is apart from the short-term action plans, called nationally-determined contributions or NDCs, that the countries have to submit, detailing the climate actions they are taking over five- or ten-year periods.
The long-term action plans were supposed to be submitted by 2020 itself, but could not be done due to the pandemic. Most of the developed countries submitted their long-term strategies during the Glasgow meeting last year.
So far, 62 countries have submitted their long-term strategies, including the three largest emitters — China, the United States and the European Union. India is the fourth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases, if the contribution of EU is considered as a block.
India’s long-term strategy will have details of the key sectoral low carbon transition pathways till the goal of net zero is realized by 2070.
It is expected to be keenly watched for the plans on the phase-down of coal-based power generation which often comes under criticism from developed countries and climate NGOs.
Long-term strategies are different from the NDCs, or nationally-determined contributions that India, like every other country, has promised. NDCs contain specific actions or targets that have to be achieved by 2030.
The long-term strategies have to reveal estimated low-carbon pathways that will lead to a country attaining the net-zero status, in India’s case, by 2070. The long-term strategies are unlikely to have any mid-way targets.
Anticipating more demands on it to curb emissions from its coal sector, India on Saturday stressed that meeting climate goals required the phasing out of all fossil fuels and not just coal.
At the same time, it also called out the duplicity of the developed countries, saying the selective labelling of some energy sources as ‘green’ had no basis in science. Though India did not mention it, its argument was clearly aimed at a recent decision of the European Parliament to classify some uses of gas as ‘green’.
The Editorial page
Securing green transition (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The start of COP27 in Egypt has renewed the world’s focus on climate change. Electric vehicles (EVs) are key in the global quest to decarbonise. In India, which also faces serious air pollution issues, the transition to EVs is critical.
However, there is a China-size risk in the supply chain for electric vehicles. The recent sabre-rattling across the Taiwan Straits ought to be a warning for the world. Given India’s troubled relationship with China, the risk may be even more acute.
According to a recent report by the International Energy Association, every part of the EV supply chain is highly concentrated, mostly in China.
The first stage of the supply chain is the key minerals required for batteries, namely lithium, nickel, cobalt and graphite. In graphite, China has an 80 per cent share of global mining output.
In cobalt, the politically highly unstable Democratic Republic of Congo mines two-thirds of the global supply and Chinese companies control a big share of that country’s mining.
Lithium and nickel are not concentrated in China but are concentrated elsewhere: Australia mines over 50 per cent of the world’s lithium and Indonesia mines 35 per cent of global nickel.
Overall, this is a far greater concentration than in oil and gas. The next stage of the supply chain is the processing of ore/mineral concentrate into metal. China dominates across the board.
Globally, over 60 per cent of lithium processing, over 70 per cent of cobalt processing, 80 per cent of graphite processing and about 40 per cent of nickel processing takes place in China.
The next stage is cell components. China produces two-thirds of global anodes and three-fourths of cathodes. The only other producing countries of note are South Korea and Japan.
After that come battery cells, where China has a 70 per cent share. Finally, in EVs themselves, China has a share of around 50 per cent in global production. Europe is a distant second with 25 per cent.
Surprisingly, the US is a small player in the EV supply chain, producing only 10 per cent of vehicles and containing just 7 per cent of battery production capacity. India does not feature as a player of note.
The fact is that China is now the biggest spender on climate/energy transition. According to a report by Bloomberg’s New Energy Fund (NEF), in 2021, out of a total global spend of $750 billion in climate-related investments (90 per cent of which went into renewable energy and electric transport), China alone spent $266 billion.
The US was a distant second with $114 billion. The major countries of Europe combined would equal the US. India was in 7th place – not a bad rank to occupy – with $14 billion invested.
The Idea page
Gene revolution (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
As soon as the government took the decision to release India’s first genetically-modified (GM) food crop — Dhara Mustard Hybrid-11 (DMH-11) — for “environment release”, some activists approached the Supreme Court to ban it for various reasons.
The Supreme Court has ordered the status quo to be maintained till the next hearing on the matter on November 17. The opposition to GM food crops is not new.
There has been a global campaign in this regard by many activists. Yet, in reality, GM crops have spread around the world since 1996. By 2019, roughly 190 million hectares were under GM crops, led by corn and soyabean in the US, Brazil, Argentina, and canola (rapeseed/mustard) in Canada, with no harmful impact on human or animal health or the environment per se (see infographics).
There is ample evidence in support of that. Even Bangladesh has marched ahead with Bt brinjal. More than 70 countries have accepted the use of GM crops.
Even within India, we had our first GM crop, Bt cotton, released in 2002 by the Vajpayee government. Atal Bihar Vajpayee envisioned that science could transform agriculture.
He extended the original slogan of “jai jawan, jai kisan” (salutation to the soldier and the farmer), given by Lal Bahadur Shastri, to include “jai vigyan” (salutation to science). Are there any lessons from the Bt cotton decision for the case of mustard today?
Let’s look at the results of the historic decision taken by Vajpayee in 2002 to introduce Bt cotton. Cotton production increased remarkably from a mere 13.6 million bales (1 bale = 170 kg) in 2002-03 to 39.8 million bales in 2013-14, registering an increase of 192 per cent in just 12 years, ushering the famous “gene revolution”.
Cotton productivity increased from 302 kg per hectare in 2002-03 to 566 kg per hectare in 2013-14, an increase of 76 per cent, while the area under cotton cultivation expanded by 56 per cent, of which about 95 per cent is under Bt cotton.
But more important are the gains to cotton farmers whose incomes increased significantly. In fact, it won’t be an exaggeration to say that Bt cotton led Gujarat’s “agrarian miracle” of very high (above 8 per cent) annual growth rate in agri-GDP during 2002-03 to 2013-14. And it made India the second-largest producer after China, and the second-largest exporter after the US, of cotton in the world today.
The success of Bt cotton holds many lessons for policymakers but it is not free from controversy and debate. Several concerns have been expressed by NGOs, civil society groups and farmers’ groups from time to time to emphasise the risks associated with GM crops.
Explained
Importance of agri exports (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Agriculture)
India’s agriculture exports have grown 16.5% year-on-year in April-September, and look set to surpass the record $50.2 billion achieved in 2021-22 (April-March).
Interestingly, even commodities whose exports have been subjected to curbs — wheat, rice and sugar — have shown impressive jumps in shipments.
The government had, on May 13, banned the export of wheat. Yet, according to Commerce Ministry data, wheat exports, at 45.90 lakh tonnes (lt) during the April-September period, were nearly twice the 23.76 lt for the same period last year.
On May 24, sugar exports were moved from the “free” to “restricted” list. Also, total exports for the 2021-22 sugar year (October-September) were capped at 100 lt.
On September 8, exports of broken rice were prohibited, and a 20% duty slapped on all other non-parboiled non-basmati shipments.
Despite these measures, non-basmati exports have risen from 82.26 lt in April-September 2021 to 89.57 lt in April-September 2022, alongside that of basmati rice (from 19.46 lt to 21.57 lt). Sugar exports, likewise, grew 45.5% in value terms to $2.65 billion during April-September, and are on course to exceed the all-time-high of $4.6 billion reached in the 2021-22 fiscal year.
The impressive growth in exports is, however, offset somewhat by imports that have surged even more. It captures trends in India’s farm products exports over the past decade. 2021-22, one can see, registered both record exports ($50.2 billion) as well as imports ($32.4 billion).
The resultant surplus of $17.8 billion was much below the $27.7 billion surplus in the previous all-time-high export year of 2013-14.
The first six months of the current fiscal have seen the surplus narrow further, albeit marginally — the reason being imports grew at a faster rate (27.7%) than exports (16.5%).
The surplus in agricultural trade matters because this is one sector, apart from software services, where India has some comparative advantage.
To put things in perspective, India’s deficit in its overall merchandise trade account (exports minus imports of goods) widened from $76.25 billion in April-September 2021 to $146.55 billion in April-September this year. During the same period, the surplus in agriculture trade reduced only a tad, from $7.86 billion to $7.46 billion.
Ninth Schedule( of Constitution ) (Page no.14)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Constitution)
The Jharkhand Assembly on Friday (November 11) cleared two Bills, one increasing reservation in vacant government posts and services in the state to 77 per cent, and the second to use land records with 1932 as the cut-off year to determine domicile status the definition of ‘local residents’.
However, the Bill came with a caveat — Chief Minister Hemant Soren said they would into force only after the Centre carries out amendments to include these in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
The first Bill, ‘Jharkhand Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (Amendment) Bill, 2022’, raised reservation to 77 per cent.
Within the reserved category, the Scheduled Castes will get a quota of 12 per cent, up from 10 per cent; 27 per cent for OBCs, up from 14 per cent; 28 per cent for Scheduled Tribes, a 2 per cent increase; and 10 per cent for Economically Weaker Sections.
The second Bill, ‘Jharkhand Definition of Local Persons and for Extending the Consequential, Social, Cultural and Other Benefits to Such Local Persons Bill, 2022’, is aimed at granting local residents “certain rights, benefits, and preferential treatment” over their land; in their stake in local development of rivers, lakes, fisheries; in local traditional and cultural and commercial enterprises; in rights over agricultural indebtedness or availing agricultural loans; in maintenance and protection of land records; for their social security; in employment in private and public sector; and, for trade and commerce in the state.
The 77 per cent reservation breaches the 50 per cent ceiling set by the Supreme Court in the landmark 1992 Indra Sawhney v Union of India verdict. However, placing a legislation in the Ninth Schedule shields it from judicial scrutiny.
After the Bills were passed, Jharkhand CM Soren said, “Whatever we promised to the people, we have delivered. And now it is the Centre’s responsibility to find a way to include this in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution so that people of Jharkhand get their rights and respect. If the need arises, we will go to Delhi in full strength.”
The Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 1993, reserves 69 per cent of the seats in colleges and jobs in the state government.
The sword of Shivaji which Maharashtra wants back (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 1, History)
The Maharashtra government on Thursday (November 10) announced that it is working to bring back the sword of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from London to India.
Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar on Thursday said the state government would hold discussions with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to bring back the “Jagdamba” sword of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj by 2024, to mark the completion of 350 years of the coronation of the Maratha king. (Shivaji was crowned emperor of his realm at Raigad fort on June 6, 1674.)
Mungantiwar said the Maharashtra government had begun correspondence with the central government on this issue after Sunak became Prime Minister of the UK.
According to historian Indrajit Sawant, who has written a book (‘Shodh Bhavani Talwaricha’) tracing the journey of the sword, it was given to Edward, the Prince of Wales (the later King Edward VII), by Shivaji IV in 1875-76.
The Chhatrapati of Karveer was in possession of this sword which was used by Shivaji Maharaj. The catalogue of his armoury is available, which describes this sword as that of Shivaji Maharaj, and has its description, including how many diamonds it has.
The meeting between the two (Edward and Shivaji IV) was held in Mumbai, and as a return gift, the Prince of Wales presented another sword to Shivaji IV.
According to Sawant, the sword is part of the Royal Collection Trust at Saint James’s Palace in London. A catalogue of the weapons of King Edward VII that was printed in London, describes the sword as “a relic of Shivaji the Great.
The website of the Royal Collection Trust has a picture of an 18th century “sword and scabbard” from Maharashtra, which it says was “Presented to King Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, during his tour of India in 1875-76”.
The website gives the dimensions of the “whole object” as “127.8 x 11.8 x 9.1 cm”, and its “blade length” as “95.0 cm”, or a little more than 3 feet.
This was not so much a genuine “gift” and a mark of respect as it was a coercive extraction by the British. Shivaji IV was barely 11 years old then, and like many other Indian kings of the time, he was forced by the British to “gift” them valuable presents, which included weapons with historical significance.
Economy
Regulatory loopholes may end up favouring bigger players: Experts (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy )
Alongside a draft proposal to streamline the regulatory framework for the country’s power transmission, new connectivity regulations released by the electricity regulator CERC are being red-flagged by market players.
The regulatory framework — called General Network Access (GNA) regulations — seeks to do away with pre-determined point-to-point transmission access to instead enable both access or drawal on the entire transmission corridor in a way that it provides generators and procurers the flexibility of both injection and drawal.
While the new framework is being seen as a quantum leap in tiding over the problem of transmission constraints and fostering open access to help develop a seamlessly integrated electricity market, experts say there are loopholes in the accompanying connectivity regulations issued subsequently by the regulator. The concern is that these connectivity regulations could potentially end up favouring the bigger players in the sector.
The biggest shortcoming in the accompanying connectivity regulations pertains to the perceived dilution of the pre-conditions set for grant of connectivity.
It is back to a full circle in some sense, given that regulations were tightened after the Renewable Energy (RE) developers, particularly the bigger players, took advantage of the liberal grant of connectivity by the CERC in 2016 without any stringent pre-conditions.
The rules were then tweaked in 2018 to incorporate strict conditions like the letter of award (LOA), financial closure status, the acquisition of 50 per cent land to counter the squatting of grid connectivity by players etc. Multiple players that The Indian Express spoke to said a similar risk has again arisen as in the new connectivity regulations, these preconditions have been diluted or removed.
“Big RE developers will end up potentially capturing the most lucrative RE pooling stations with multiple applications and apply for a staggered date of completion depending on anticipated investment resources.
Those who do not have deep pockets to pay the connectivity bank guarantees simultaneously for large numbers of applications could be the losers,” an expert who formerly served in a regulatory role said. The new connectivity regulation, notified in July, is slated to be opened from December 1, 2022.