Daily News Compilation (HINDU) for 3rd June

New realities in the world order

Author points out massive shifts the world has undergone while India was caught up in election fever and what India has a role in it via the BRICS summit:

1. Ukraine crisis aka Cold War 2.0

• Russian President Vladimir Putin gained an upper hand in the crisis. 
• U.N., U.S. and European Union officials: Mr. Putin’s actions hold a dangerous precedent for India too, especially when it comes to possible designs by China on parts of Arunachal Pradesh. 
• Conversely, the actions of western diplomats and U.S. non-governmental organisations in Ukraine, who openly supported anti-Russian protesters to oust their government while attempting to pull Ukraine into the EU, is also a dangerous precedent for the world. 
• Mr. Modi will face his first look at all these new realities in mid-July, when he meets Mr. Putin at the BRICS summit in Brazil, and when the world, especially the U.S. and EU countries, will be watching his statements.

2. South China Sea

The BRICS summit will also be an occasion for Mr. Modi to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, and set the course for India-China ties.

China’s actions in the South China Sea in the past few months will be, like Crimea, another talking point in Brazil.

Modi has old relationships with Chinese leadership and he has also built strong ties with Shinzo Abe. It will be important to see how he balances Japan’s concerns with his own old relationship with the Chinese leadership.

3. West Asia

Perhaps the most significant discussion at the BRICS summit, however, will be over West Asia, and nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers (the U.S., the United Kingdom, France, Germany, China and Russia) that hope to reach some conclusion in July. If the talks succeed, it could rewrite history, given the far-reaching consequences on the oil economy, nuclear energy and Arab-Persian rivalry in a region that houses and employs six million Indians. The talks so far have been ignored in the din of the election, but repercussions, including the anger of U.S. allies, Israel and Saudi Arabia, will have an impact on South Asia as well.

Offering an alternative narrative

According to the author there is a large and growing segment of opinion in Pakistan that questions the security state paradigm and realises that the threat to Pakistan is internal. They may not agree with us on everything, but are conscious of the need to build a stable relationship with India for a better future for themselves.

The above realities oblige us to contain and counter the threats emanating from Pakistan. However, an Indian response which tars all the Pakistani people with the same brush and is characterised by a threatening rhetoric and an absence of or a frequent interruption of dialogue in response to every provocation — big or small — plays into the hands of the security state proponents. We must, therefore, offer an alternative narrative that includes advantages of building constructive linkages with India.

We need a two-track policy: contain and counter the dangerous; engage the constructive.

As the largest economy in South Asia, it is our responsibility to give our neighbours a stake in our economic success to build a zone of shared prosperity in the region. We have taken significant steps in this direction under South Asian Free Trade Area (Safta) vis-à-vis other neighbours, but have not been able to do so in relation to Pakistan because of its discriminatory trade regime vis-à-vis India. In 2012, Pakistan significantly expanded the number of items importable from India, barring a negative list of 1200. However, it failed to deliver on its promise to do away with the negative list.

The aforementioned factors necessitate three essential elements of our policy. 

• First, those in Pakistan who seek to undermine India’s stability, territorial integrity and interests, should be left in no doubt that such attempts would be thwarted with single-minded determination. More than tough language, this requires quiet and firm action on the ground to defend ourselves and deter errant behaviour.
• Second, we should be prepared to give generous preferential market access under Safta to products of export interest to Pakistan after it eliminates its India-specific negative list to give us a Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status, which is our due under the WTO regulations. This was the essence of the trade road map agreed to in September 2012. We should also offer cooperation in other areas such as health, education and energy.
• Third, the other outstanding issues need to be kept under discussion to find mutually acceptable solutions. For want of a better alternative, the eight-track template instituted in June 1997 has been adopted each time we have resumed dialogue. It covers discussions at Secretary-level on peace and security, including CBMs, Jammu and Kashmir, terrorism, Siachen and Sir Creek.

There has been talk of evolving a revised template in the light of developments since 1997. However, because of differing perceptions, such revision in terms of level or subjects of discussion would be a tricky exercise. Talks below Secretary-level would be meaningless and those above that would needlessly raise expectations.

An opportunity to seal a deal with Pakistan

According to the author India has since 1971 sought for a "composite" dialogue to discuss all issue with Pakistan whereas Pakistan wants discussion on a single issue - Kashmir.

For over a decade now, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has used terrorism against India for two entirely different purposes.

• The first is to derail any initiative that might lead to the peace that they dread; the attack on our Embassy in Kabul in 2008, on Mumbai later that year, on the Consulate in Herat before Mr. Sharif flew in for the inauguration, were all launched to make it hard for any Indian government to reach out to Pakistan.
• The second is to derail India’s growth by targeting the cities and centres that fuel it because an economically strong India would be militarily more powerful, increasing the asymmetry with Pakistan.

Therefore, a settlement of Kashmir will not necessarily mean the end of terrorism.

According to author if Mr. Modi takes India back to pre-2009 rates of growth, terror, driven by envy, will return unless Pakistan’s civilian government gets and is given the strength to stop it. 

This strength will come if there is an honourable settlement on Kashmir. 

Assuming that it will take a couple of years for our growth to resume, there is a window of opportunity now to move forward. It is also a window that might close, for other reasons, around the same time. Reasons being:

America to move out it forces out of Afghanistan --> Pakistan armies attention turned towards it --> regime in Kabul will not withstand this flow of jihadis from Pakistan --> after regime's fall surplus jihadis will return home where that won't be wanted --> so they will be sent eastwards by ISI.

So by the time this all happens we have a window of opportunity to have in place understandings that will give the government in Islamabad every incentive, and the leverage, to rein the ISI in.

We should therefore try to resolve problems now, starting with Kashmir, on which there is nothing left to negotiate. Over several years, very skilful interlocutors in the back channel have negotiated an agreement that represents the maximum that either country can concede.

We should settle Siachen and Sir Creek as well.

On Siachen, our army now claims a strategic advantage in staying on the Saltoro Ridge, since it is a salient between Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the Shaksgam Valley, which Pakistan ceded to China.

In this day and age, there are enough means to monitor the large-scale movement of troops over difficult terrain which would be essential if Pakistan tried to reoccupy the glacier or the ridge.

Sir Creek is even more easily settled, since we now have agreed maps, jointly drawn up. Political decisions are needed on the concessions each side is prepared to make on the final alignment, which will in turn determine the shape of the maritime boundary. Settling that would bring us two important benefits, one human, the other economic: 

• firstly, our fishermen, all from Prime Minister Modi’s State, who stray over a notional boundary, would have a clear idea of what is off bounds; the numbers rotting away in Pakistani jails would plummet. 
• The economic gain would be that with the maritime boundary settled, the claim we have lodged with the U.N. Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf would be much more easily accepted. Pakistan does not have the financial or technological means to explore the shelf and the seabed, but we do.

The President others want

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the former general who was First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence in the junta which overthrew Egypt’s elected President Mohamed Morsy in July 2013, has won the country’s latest presidential election, gaining 95 per cent of the vote to defeat his sole rival, Hamdeen Sabahi. Approximately 47 per cent of the 54 million voters turned out, and intimidation as well as gross inequalities in resources and media coverage marred the process.

All the countries concerned, including Israel, value stability above democracy in Egypt, mainly because democracy would enable the Egyptian public to call for a fair and just Israel-Palestine settlement and could revive demands for democracy in West Asia. It appears that neither the world’s major powers nor the main regional ones are prepared to allow Egypt’s 84 million people the right to choose their own leaders freely.

The new President is highly unlikely to make any significant policy changes. 

• The blockade of the Gaza Strip will almost certainly continue, depriving Gazans of essential supplies. 
• Secondly, the relevant global and regional powers can be expected not to criticise Cairo’s main policies or its domestic repression. 

1. Despite a current Senate freeze, the United States government wants to continue its $1.5 billion annual aid to Egypt, most of which goes on arms purchases from U.S. firms; 
2. for their part, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, all of which are very hostile to the Brotherhood, have donated over $12 billion in recent years.

Cleaning up Ganga among Ministry’s top priorities

100-day priority list of the Union Ministry of Water Resources:

1) Cleaning up of the Ganga: The National Ganga River Basin Authority (NGRBA), which is presently under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, is likely to be transferred to the Water Resources Ministry.

2) Execution of river water-related provisions under the Telangana Act: Setting up and operating a Krishna River Management Board and a Godavari River Management Board for overseeing the sharing of river waters and regulating projects in the two basins, as defined in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation (or Telangana) Act, 2014.

An apex council, chaired by the Water Resources Minister, with the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh as its members, will be formed for supervising the two boards. This is also a provision in the Telangana Act.
Setting up a Polavaram National Project Authority for the multipurpose scheme has also been included. 

Naveen seeks special status for Odisha

Odisha CM demanded:

• special category status for his State.
• the Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh be scrapped as the project would cause displacement of people and submergence of land in Malkangiri district. The State had already taken the matter to the Supreme Court.
• sought full compensation for the revenue loss the State would suffer due to the phasing out of the Central Sales Tax (CST). Either that, or the Centre should restore the CST rate to the original 4% till the GST was implemented.
• Odisha received a mere Rs. 256 crore as compensation in 2010-11 for the phase-out of CST, as against the loss assessment of Rs. 664 crore.
• Royalty rates on major minerals to be revised to 15 per cent from 10 per cent.

SPECIAL CATEGORY STATES:
These are hill, border and weak-infrastructure states. Central assistance for State plans is in the form of Grants and Loans. For SCS the Grant component is 90% and Loan is 10%. While for other states grant component is 30% and Loan component is 70%.

West Bengal, Maharashtra ink pact on victims of trafficking

The governments of West Bengal and Maharashtra have signed a MoU to ensure identification and repatriation of women and children who are victims of trafficking.
Why MoU?

In most cases when the Maharashtra Police rescue some women or children and find that they are Bengali-speaking, they send them to the State without ascertaining their identity or following any procedures.

Since the identities of those rescued are not ascertained sometimes, rescue homes in the State(WB) are flooded with women and girls from Bangladesh. On several occasions, police from other States brought the victims to the shelters without informing the State government. This added to the victims’ ordeal.

From now on, a standard operating procedure (SOP) will be followed in repatriating victims. Maharashtra will repatriate the women directly to Bangladesh once the place they are from is confirmed. Under no circumstances will women [victims] who speak Bengali be transferred to West Bengal till family tracing is done.

Indo-French air exercise begins

The fifth Indo-French bilateral air exercise — Garuda-V — began at the Jodhpur Air Base on Monday. It is aimed at enhancing operational cooperation and validating capabilities. 

G7 leaders to discuss Ukraine crisis

The leaders of the G7 will this week deliberate their next steps in response to the enduring unrest in Ukraine, after sidelining Russia for its role in the crisis. G7 includes US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.
These nations decided to meet in the Belgian capital Brussels after snubbing a G8 summit that was to be hosted by Russia this month. EU will also be represented.

G7 stand so far:

• They accused Russia of fomenting separatist unrest in the former Soviet country, including through the annexation of its Crimean peninsula.
• In April, the G7 leaders had agreed to proceed with sanctions against Moscow over its actions in Ukraine.
• They want Russia to use its “influence” on the Ukraine separatists to end the violence and engage in dialogue with the “newly elected and legitimate” Ukrainian President.

EU stand on the crisis:

• EU leaders urged Russia to continue withdrawing troops from the Ukrainian border and to pressure separatists into de—escalation.
• The EU has so far steered clear of economic sanctions against Moscow amid concerns over repercussions for the European economy as many European countries have strong trade and business ties with Russia.
• But Germany’s Chancellor has warned, “If there are further destabilization actions by Russia, more sanctions are not impossible.”
• It has, however, prepared three scenarios that could be deployed if needed, ranging from low—intensity economic sanctions affecting items such as luxury goods to tougher measures such as a ban on oil and gas imports.
• EU fears that escalating tensions may lead Moscow to cut off gas deliveries passing through Ukraine on their way to Europe, which depends heavily on Russian Natural gas. Six of the bloc’s 28 countries — Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia — depend solely on Russia. 

G7 energy ministers agreed to work on a long-term strategy to wean Europe off its dependency on Russian gas supplies. Talks on economic, energy, climate and development issues are expected to follow. The Iran nuclear negotiations are also likely to be on the agenda.

Abbas swears in Palestinian unity government

For the first time in seven years, the Palestinians have one government in charge of both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah swore in a long-awaited government of national unity headed by Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. Abbas has said the new unity government, will reject violence, recognise Israel and abide by all existing agreements.

But, Israel is staunchly against the deal as the unity government includes the voilent and military faction “Hamas”. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the World governments should not rush to approve the "new Palestinian cabinet".

In a move which further underscored Israel's opposition to the new government, three Gazans who were to travel to the West Bank to be sworn in as ministers were blocked from leaving the coastal enclave.

US seeks to cut power plant carbon by 30 p.c

The Obama administration unveiled a plan on to cut carbon dioxide emissions from power plants by nearly a third over the next 15 years.
It is a centerpiece of Obama’s plans to tackle climate change and aims to give the United States more leverage to prod other countries to act when negotiations on a new international treaty resume next year.

The policy change carries significant political and legal risks, as it will further diminish the role of coal in U.S. electrical production.

But the proposal sets off a complex regulatory process, steeped in politics, in which the 50 states will each determine how to meet customized targets set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The plan relies heavily on governors agreeing to develop plans to meet the federal standard.

Solar plane completes first test flight

The sun-powered airplane Solar Impulse 2 successfully completed its first flight in Switzerland, one year before its first solar-powered circumnavigation of the earth.

The project does not aim to replace normal passenger planes with solar-powered ones, but to prove that mankind could use much less energy with existing technologies.

Supernova recreated in lab

Scientists have used laser beams 60,000 billion times more powerful than a laser pointer to recreate scaled supernova explosions in the laboratory to investigate one of the most energetic events in the universe.

Supernova explosions are triggered when the fuel within a star reignites or its core collapses. They launch shock waves that sweep through a few light years of space.

The Cassiopeia A supernova explosion was first spotted about 300 years ago in the Cassiopeia constellation 11,000 light years away, its light having taken that long to reach us.

100 years of commercial flight

The aviation industry is marking 100 years since the first scheduled commercial flight took off, making a 23-minute journey across Florida’s Tampa Bay.