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Notifying changes to the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Finance Ministry has brought in practicing chartered accountants, company secretaries, and cost and works accountants carrying out financial transactions on behalf of their clients into the ambit of the money laundering law. Lawyers and legal professionals, however, seem to have been kept out in the new definition of entities covered under the PMLA.
In a May 3 notification, the Union Finance Ministry said an activity will be recognised under the PMLA if these professionals carry out financial transactions on behalf of their client such as buying and selling of any immovable property; managing of client money, securities or other assets; management of bank, savings or securities accounts; organisation of contributions for the creation, operation or management of companies; creation, operation or management of companies, limited liability partnerships or trusts, and buying and selling of business entities.
Editorial
Bridging the gulf (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Shaped by millennia-old journeys of cultural and economic engagement on the Indian Ocean’s network of exchange, the India-UAE relationship is today more than an economic partnership.
It speaks to the Emirates’s deep, fraternal, and strategically important relationship with India, and reinforces the UAE’s position as an economic hub for India to undertake sustainable and diversified growth through our strategic location at the intersection of global trade.
The India-UAE partnership was forged first on the trade of traditional items, and then strengthened with oil. It found a formal dimension after the creation of the UAE Federation in 1971, and then accelerated in the 1990s, when a liberalised India embraced the opportunity to export to the UAE and markets beyond.
The emergence of the UAE as India’s third-largest trading partner has only underlined the positive outlook the two countries share towards economic cooperation.
Ideas page
Divorce outside the courts (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
A Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in Shilpa Sailesh v. Varun Sreenivasan (2023) has ruled that the mandatory waiting period of six months prior to consensual divorce in cases under the Hindu Marriage Act can be waived by the apex court while invoking its extraordinary power to do complete justice.
The court has also said that irretrievable breakdown of marriage, though not provided by Parliament, is a valid ground for divorce as the same is consistent with public policy.
This author supports a uniform civil code (UCC) in a piecemeal manner but has argued before that we should no more in every case try to save the marriage.
Our judges should come out of the cultural mindset that considers divorce as bad. If home has become hell, it is better to part in a dignified way and ideally by mutual consent in an out of court settlement. Muslim law has some good provisions on extra-judicial divorces that may be included as and when the UCC is drafted.
Indian courts have been quite sympathetic to Muslim women’s causes. But the latest judgment by Justice G Saravanan of Madras High Court in Mohammed Rafi v. State of Tamil Nadu (2023) is not only against the Muslim wife in this case but would in the long run harm the interests of poor Muslim women who would now have to wait for the judicial dissolution of their marriage by the family courts.
Most of them would have no means to fight the protracted and costly legal battles against their husbands. Enlightened and liberated Muslim women are already in the Supreme Court opposing uniform divorce law as at present they have better protection.
Economy
India and Russia suspend talks to trade in Rupees (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
India and Russia have suspended efforts to settle bilateral trade in rupees, after months of negotiations failed to convince Moscow to keep rupees in its coffers, two Indian government officials and a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.
This would be a major setback for Indian importers of cheap oil and coal from Russia who were awaiting a permanent rupee payment mechanism to help lower currency conversion costs.
With a high trade gap in favour of Russia, Moscow believes it will end up with an annual rupee surplus of over $40 billion if such a mechanism is worked out and feels rupee accumulation is 'not desirable', an Indian government official, who did not want to be named, told Reuters.
India's Finance Ministry, the Reserve Bank of India and Russian authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The rupee is not fully convertible. India's share of global exports of goods also is just about 2% and these factors reduce the necessity for other countries to hold rupees.
India started exploring a rupee settlement mechanism with Russia soon after the invasion of Ukraine in February last year, but there has been no reported deal done in rupees. Most trade is in dollars but an increasing amount is being carried out in other currencies like the UAE dirham.
Explained
Behind Manipur flare-up, tribal anger, HC order (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
Violent clashes broke out at various places in Manipur during the course of a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ called on (May 3) by the All Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM). The Army and Assam Rifles carried out flag marches in the areas hit by the violence.
Wednesday’s march was called to oppose the longstanding demand that the Meitei community be included in the list of the state’s Scheduled Tribes (ST), which received a boost from an order of the Manipur High Court last month.
Both the demand and the order, passed by a single judge of the High Court, have been strongly opposed by groups representing the state’s tribal communities.
The court’s order, released on April 14, asking the government to consider the demand, has brought the historical tensions between the valley-dwelling Meitei community and the state’s hill tribes to a boil.
The Meiteis are the largest community in Manipur. There are 34 recognized tribes, which are broadly classified as ‘Any Kuki Tribes’ and ‘Any Naga Tribes’.
The central valley in the state accounts for about 10% of the landmass of Manipur, and is home primarily to the Meitei and Meitei Pangals who constitute roughly 64.6% of the state’s population.
The remaining 90% of the state’s geographical area comprises hills surrounding the valley, which are home to the recognized tribes, making up about 35.4% of the state’s population.
The SCO opportunity for India (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
The Council of Foreign Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) will meet Friday in Goa. The SCO is a multilateral grouping comprising eight member states of China, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; four Observer States; and six “Dialogue Partners”.
This year, of the four observers, Iran and Belarus are set to be admitted as full members. Afghanistan and Mongolia are the two other observers. The dialogue partners are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.
India, which was admitted as a full member in 2017 along with Pakistan in the first-ever expansion of the group, holds the rotating presidency of the SCO this year, and in this capacity has hosted several ministerial-level SCO meetings, including a tourism ministers’ meeting at Varanasi in March.
The main work of the foreign ministers’ meeting is to prepare for the upcoming meeting of the Heads of State Council, or the SCO summit, expected to be held in July.
The foreign ministers will put their heads together to prepare a draft declaration to be adopted at the summit, formalise the admission of Iran and Belarus to the SCO, and discuss other regional and international issues.