Reviving the Maritime Silk Route
What is Martime Silk Route (MSR):
The MSR inherits the ancient metaphor of friendly philosophy from the old Silk Route to build the new one. It emphasises on improving connectivity with Southeast Asia, South Asia, West Asia and even Africa, by building a network of port cities along the Silk Route, linking the economic hinterland in China.
Why?
1. Global strategy for enhancing trade and fostering peace, proposed by the new Chinese leaders. It is being called “Deng Xiaoping Moment 2.0.”
2. Beijing is concerned with the U.S. pivot to the Asia-Pacific region.
3. an attempt to counter the “string of pearls” argument.
4. Through their vision of re-energising the MSR, Chinese leaders aim to impart a new lease of life to China’s peripheral policy and diffuse the tension. (South China sea and East China sea disputes with its neighbours)
5. MSR will also be helpful in promoting certain strategic objectives — for example,
- in supporting friends and clients,
- neutralising similar activities by other naval powers, or
- merely by showcasing one’s maritime power.
“2+7” formula of cooperation
Put forward by the new leaders of China.
consensus on two issues:
- deepening strategic trust and exploring neighbourly friendship, and
- economic development based on mutual benefits and win-win outcomes.
They also put forward seven proposals —
- signing the China-ASEAN good neighbour treaty;
- more effective use of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area and intensive Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership negotiations;
- acceleration of joint infrastructure projects;
- stronger regional financial and risk-prevention cooperation;
- closer maritime cooperation;
- enhanced collaboration on security; and
- more intensive people-to-people contacts along with increased cultural, scientific and environmental protection cooperation.
Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank
China aims to accelerate the establishment of an Asian Infrastructural Investment Bank, which could provide a strong investment and financing platform for multimodal connectivity, like building high-speed rail, ports, airports, within related countries. Meanwhile, in order to get a wider support, China may consider establishing the bank headquarters in one of the capitals along the MSR, possibly Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore and other countries deemed friendly.
Importance of SILK in MSR:
Historical records reveal that envoys from South and Southeast Asian countries as well as from Rome were among the earliest to come by sea to China seeking diplomatic relations. They brought “treasures” to China as gifts, while their Chinese hosts presented them with coloured silk in return. In reality these polite exchanges were a disguised form of trade, and Chinese silk began to be treated as a symbol of peace and friendship.
The MSR developed into a route for envoys of friendship, with far greater significance than a purely mercantile road. The MSR places China in the ‘middle’ of the “Middle Kingdom” and is an effort in initiating a ‘grand strategy’ with global implications. The hope is that the MSR, which served more for trade and establishing friendly relations would continue to do so in the revived form, rather than create new naval rivalries or power displays.
Afghanistan’s presidential election, held on April 5 with over 350,000 security personnel on duty, marks the country’s first potential democratic transfer of power. The Independent Election Commission put the turnout at about 60 per cent of a 12-million electorate. Three million more people voted than did in 2009, which shows public confidence in the electoral process itself; the previous election was deeply flawed. This time, although the Electoral Complaints Commission has received over 1,200 allegations of malpractice, the poll was better run than the previous one. Afghans of all ethnic groups turned out, and women made a strong showing; the figure was estimated at 35 per cent of the turnout.
Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued detailed guidelines and set up an elaborate administrative machinery to monitor the expenses of candidates and ensure a free and fair poll. The ECI’s detailed compendium of instructions on Election Expenditure Monitoring (ECM) is updated and issued before every general election.
The author brings forth a rule regarding "adding the costs of campaigning by party leaders and star campaigners to the expenditure of individual candidates."
The demands on time made on and security considerations of VVIP leaders who campaign for their respective political parties require a certain mode of campaigning that includes the use of aircraft and helicopters. This invariably involves high-cost logistics, besides expenses on special platforms and enclosures prescribed by security agencies to ensure protection. If the ECI accepts the basic logic that expenditure on ‘general propaganda’ of political parties should not be added to candidates’ expenditure, then it implies that some allowance needs to be made for their ‘star campaigners’ who lead those political parties.
The experience with such a rule, as highlighted by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa and Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, should prompt the ECI to revisit the norm.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), on Thursday, suggested measures for transparent and appropriate pricing of credit under a floating rate regime.
The working group on pricing of credit, set up by the RBI, recommended
- the Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) develop a new benchmark for floating interest rate products, namely, the Indian Banks Base Rate (IBBR), which may be collated and published by the IBA on a periodic basis. This may result in
- more transparency in pricing,
- reduced customer complaints,
- better transmission of changes in the policy rate and
- improved asset liability management at banks
2. Banks’ internal policy must spell out the rationale for, and range of, the spread in the case of a given borrower, as also, the delegation of powers in respect of loan pricing, the working group suggested.
3. The floating rate loan covenant may have interest rate reset periodicity and the resets may be done on those dates only, irrespective of changes made to the Base Rate within the reset period.
4. There may be a sunset clause for Benchmark Prime Lending Rate contracts so that all the contracts thereafter are linked to the Base Rate.
5. The working group has also said that the benefit of interest reduction on the principal on account of pre-payments should be given on the day the money is received by the bank without waiting for the next EMI cycle date to effect the credit.
6. For retail loans, the working group said that customers should have a choice of ‘with exit’ and ‘sans exit’ options at the time of entering the contract.
Gyaan
Sunset Provision
A clause in a statute, regulation or similar piece of legislation that provides for an automatic repeal of the entire or sections of a law once a specific date is reached. Once the sunset provision date is reached, the pieces of legislation mentioned in the clause are rendered void. If the government wishes to extend the length of time for which the law in question will be in effect, it can push back the sunset provision date any time before it is reached.
Risk Adjusted Return on Capital
An adjustment to the return on an investment that accounts for the element of risk. Risk-adjusted return on capital (RAROC) gives decision makers the ability to compare the returns on several different projects with varying risk levels. RAROC was popularized by Bankers Trust in the 1980s as an adjustment to simple return on capital (ROC).In financial analysis, riskier projects and investments must be evaluated differently from their riskless counterparts. By discounting risky cash flows against less risky cash flows, RAROC accounts for changes in the profile of the investment. In general, the higher the risk, the higher the return. Thus, when companies need to compare and contrast two different projects or investments, it is important to take into account these possibilities.
For understanding Benchmark Prime Lending Rate click here
Pakistan looks forward to the resumption of dialogue with India so that people of this region can benefit from economic cooperation, Tasnim Aslam, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Thursday.
At the weekly media briefing, she said in response to questions that “We have a framework with India which has an eight point agenda. This process has been disrupted for the last three years. We believe that to have sustainable and durable peace, we need to address all the issues and disputes ... ”
Excellent work ..
ReplyDeletePlease do not stop this blog till mains-- its a humble request..
Keep going...
not only mains keep continuing beyond that sir..!!
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