Civil Service Bytes

Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan’s just-concluded trip to India has served as a reminder of two facts. The first is the criticality of the Arab states to Indian interests. The second is the oddity of New Delhi nevertheless lacking a coherent policy towards West Asia—something it has begun to rectify of late, albeit in patchwork fashion—similar to its Look East policy. Energy security, of course, is a key ingredient of India’s interest in West Asia. It is dependent on imports for 80% of its oil needs, of which roughly 55% is sourced from the Persian Gulf region. The ratio could decline slowly as New Delhi diversifies with an increased focus on African producers. But the rate at which India’s energy demand is growing—it is currently the world’s fourth biggest oil consumer with import dependence projected to increase to 90% by 2031—offsets this in absolute terms. The current glut in the oil market and plunge in prices means it is, for the time being, a buy...

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar has said the Centre will extend all help to protect the brow antlered deer whose numbers in the entire world is just 204, according to a 2013 census. Wildlife enthusiasts feel there is an encouraging ray of hope for the survival of the rare deer on the brink of imminent extinction. The union minister for forest, environment and climate change made the announcement as he visited the 40 sq. km Keibul Lamjao National Park, the natural habitat of the brow antlered deer, locally known as Sangai, on Saturday shortly before leaving for Mizoram after a two-day visit to Manipur. Javadekar said: “As per official information, there are now 90 stags, 86 hinds and 28 fawns. All assistance will be extended for the protection of this endangered species.” There is a slight increase in the deer numbers. There were 180 deer in 2000. Asked if the Centre is thinking in terms of a project on the lines of Project Elephant or Project Rhino, Javedkar said: “Once we get...

The recent turmoil in the financial markets has not dampened Chinese government’s enthusiasm for building infrastructure projects across Asia. For instance, after international sanctions were removed recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping was the first head of the state to visit Iran, where he promised to build a high-speed train network and termed Iran as a ‘natural partner’ in implementing the One Belt, One Road (OBOR) initiative. The OBOR is an ambitious connectivity project, which seeks to leverage Chinese core-competency in infrastructure-building and also address the problem of domestic industrial overcapacity in sectors such as steel and cement. The OBOR has both continental and maritime components. The maritime route will connect important ports in China, the South China Sea, and the Indian Ocean, with the European ports in the Mediterranean Sea. The continental route will link-up western China with Central Asia and Europe. An arm of the continental route, the China-Pakista...

1. Section 124A in Chapter VI of Indian Penal Code deals with the Offence ‘Sedition’. Chapter VI deals with ‘Offences against the State’.  2. The word ‘Sedition’ is not mentioned in 124A. The Section reads as follows; 124-A. Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffec­tion towards, the Government established by law in India, shall be punished with imprisonment for life, to which fine may be added, or with imprisonment which may extend to three years, to which fine may be added, or with fine. Explanation 1.—The expression “disaffection” includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. Explanation 2.—Comments expressing disapprobation of the measures of the Government with a view to obtain their alteration by lawful means, without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, do not constitute an offence under ...

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)—a mega trade deal covering 12 countries that together account for more than one-third of global gross domestic product and a quarter of world exports—is the latest battleground in the decades-long confrontation between proponents and opponents of trade agreements. As usual, the pact’s advocates have marshalled quantitative models that make the agreement look like a no-brainer. Their favourite model predicts increases in real incomes after 15 years that range from 0.5% for the US to 8% in Vietnam. Moreover, this model—developed by Peter Petri and Michael Plummer, from Brandeis and Johns Hopkins Universities, respectively, building on a long line of similar frameworks by them and others—foresees relatively insignificant cost to employment in affected industries. The TPP’s opponents have latched on to a competing model, which generates very different projections. Produced by Jeronim Capaldo of Tufts University and Alex Izurieta of the United Nation...

Three recent events underline India’s efforts to highlight its growing maritime interests and ambitions in order to secure them unilaterally and in partnership with others. The first was the quiet release of the Indian Maritime Security Strategy (IMSS) titled  Ensuring Secure Seas   in October. The second was the holding of the combined senior commanders’ conference, with top officers from all three services, on board   INS Vikramaditya , the Indian Navy’s latest aircraft carrier and its largest platform, in December. The last and most recent was India’s hosting of its second International Fleet Review (IFR) at Visakhapatnam in early February. While the pomp and circumstance as well as the photo-ops of the IFR, which attracted naval vessels from 50 countries, predictably, created the biggest splash, its significance is best understood in tandem with the 185-page IMSS-2015. Although the document is simultaneously comprehensive, conservative and cautious, it conveys on...

The reasons for the banking mess are well known. What India is now battling is the inevitable result of a credit binge sponsored by the previous government. Bankers too misread the growth trajectory of the Indian economy after the quick recovery from the effects of the North Atlantic financial crisis. Individual projects got stuck in the regulatory morass during the last years of the second Manmohan Singh government. It is now time to move beyond the game of pinning blame. There is a more immediate concern: what should be done? The first task should be to throw more light on the extent of the problem. Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Raghuram Rajan deserves credit for pushing banks to reveal the true state of their loan books. These asset quality reviews come just a few months after regulatory changes that push the promoters of defaulting companies to either bring in fresh equity or lose control of their enterprises. Recent bad loan disclosures by banks have lent credence to t...