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Editorial
Recently, the Election Commission of India (EC) revised the list of “recognised” national parties and state parties. It recognised the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a national party, giving it a major boost before 2024, while the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (CPI) lost their national party status.
The country now has six national parties — the BJP, Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party, CPI(M), National People’s Party and AAP.
In 10 separate speaking orders, the EC also revoked the state party status granted to Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar Pradesh, Bharat Rashtra Samithi in Andhra Pradesh, People’s Democratic Alliance (Manipur), Pattali Makkal Katchi (Puducherry), Revolutionary Socialist Party (West Bengal) and Mizoram People’s Conference (Mizoram).
At the same time it granted “recognised state political party” status to the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) in Nagaland, Voice of the People Party in Meghalaya and Tipra Motha in Tripura.
The EC also said the NCP will be recognised as a state party in Nagaland and the TMC in Meghalaya, based on their performance in the recent assembly elections.
Ideas Page
Living with El Niño (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
Let me start by complimenting the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) team, especially its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) for “the pause” in raising repo rates in its last meeting.
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das put it very appropriately when he said that the decision should be seen as a pause, not a pivot, and the Bank is open to any further increases in repo rates if inflation remains defiant.
Although this pause was against the majority view in the market, it has served two important purposes: One, it has clearly shown that the RBI is not blindly following the US Fed in raising interest rates to tame inflation; and two, it reflects RBI’s confidence in containing inflation below 6 per cent while keeping overall GDP growth well above 6 per cent.
Before we get into the policy mix, let us understand the nature of CPI inflation, and how it is likely to behave if India is hit by El Nino, and if monsoon remains at 96 per cent or 94 per cent of the Long Period Average (LPA) as predicted by IMD and Skymet lately.
Uttaramerur inscription (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the Uttaramerur inscription in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, while discussing India’s democratic history.
“India is the world’s oldest democracy, it is the mother of democracy. There are numerous historical references to this. An important reference is Tamil Nadu. “The inscription found there is like a local constitution for the gram sabha.
It tells how the assembly should be run, what should be the qualification of members, what should be the process to elect the members, and how a member would be disqualified.
While Uttaramerur has multiple inscriptions spanning centuries, the most famous one – being referred to by Modi – is from the reign of Parantaka I (907-953 AD).
These provide a detailed description about the village’s self-governance and have been cited by historians and political leaders alike as evidence of India’s history of democratic functioning.
Uttaramerur lies in present-day Kanchipuram district, approximately 90 km southeast of Chennai. Today, it is a small town and had a population of roughly 25,000 in the census of 2011.
It is known for its historic temples built during Pallava and Chola rule. The famous inscription from Parantaka I’s reign is found on the walls of the Vaikunda Perumal Temple.
Collecting voice samples to aid investing: process and legality (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Last week, Congress leader Jagdish Tytler appeared before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit samples of his voice in connection with his alleged role in three murders in Delhi’s Pul Bangash area by a mob during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.
The CBI said it had fresh evidence in the case, for which Tytler’s voice had to be corroborated with a particular speech he made 39 years ago.
An investigating agency generally moves court, seeking permission to collect a person’s voice sample in connection with a case. Such forensic analysis is used to corroborate other aspects of the case.
Senior forensic officials told that the frequency of a person’s voice remains the same for several years unless there is a medical condition in the voice chord or tract.
An official from Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), requesting anonymity, A voice sample is generally taken in an echo-proof room for a controlled and noise-free environment and a voice recorder is used the person is asked to speak a specific clue word from a statement already part of the evidence.
The official added that certain technical parameters are kept in mind while recording a person’s voice sample. A spectral analysis of the audio speech is undertaken where the pitch, energy and frequency of the voice are kept as the base to study and match the original audio sample.
Economy
Hoping for progress on investment protection, GI pacts & India-EU FTA (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Spain is keen to expand its presence in the renewables sector, especially offshore wind and solar energy, along with ramping up its collaboration with India on defence and the transportation sector, and in facilitating the free trade agreement negotiations between India and the EU, Xiana Margarida Méndez Bértolo, Spain’s Secretary of State for Trade, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism, who was in New Delhi last week.
In an interview with Aanchal Magazine and Anil Sasi, she also said though Spanish brands such as Mango, Zara have already made a mark in India, other consumer-facing brands can make Spain’s outreach more visible and effective.
With this visit, we wanted to build on some of the earlier visits at the highest level that have taken place in recent months and now we are trying to have a bilateral agenda apart from the multilateral agenda in the G20, our President (of the Government) is going to come for the G20 Summit in September.
But apart from that, we want to resume all the contacts that we had before the pandemic. And one example of that is the meetings we are having, the Joint Commission for Economic Cooperation.
Last time we had a meeting was in 2018, so five years later, finally, we’ll have the meeting again, which is very useful to identify barriers to trade and investment and then on a constructive agenda to identify areas for cooperation in different fields.
Renewable energy, of course, transport but also science. And then we are also having the CEOs meeting, a preparatory one for the one that is to come probably in September and also a long time has passed since this meeting.
So, we have the multilateral agenda and the bilateral agenda then the agenda with the companies with both entrepreneurial communities and then the one with the EU because the G20 presidency on the Indian side makes 2023 a very special year for your country and at the same time in the second semester, we are having the presidency of the European Council from the first of July to the 21st of December.