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Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said crimes and criminals do not respect geographical borders, hence, there should be no limit of geographical border for law, instead, geographical border should be a meeting point for enforcement agencies.
Addressing the Commonwealth Legal Education Association (CLEA) – Commonwealth Attorneys and Solicitors General Conference (CASGC), Shah said nowadays crime and criminals do not recognise borders, hence law enforcement agencies will have to be strengthened to control them, otherwise uncontrolled crime will make trade difficult.
Shah said geographical boundaries are neither important for trade nor for crime. “Trade and crime are both becoming borderless and at such times, to deal with trade disputes and crime in a borderless manner, we will have to start some new system and tradition.
Shah said governments need to work in this direction as from small cyber fraud to global organised crime, from local disputes to cross-border disputes, from local crimes to terrorism, all are linked in some way or the other.
Express Network
Uttarakhand cabinet clears final UCC draft (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Uttarakhand cabinet on Saturday deferred its approval for the draft of the proposed Uniform Civil Code (UCC). It will now be placed before the cabinet on February 6, government sources said.
The state government formed a special committee to prepare the UCC draft. The committee handed over the final draft to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on February 2.
It was expected that the cabinet meeting scheduled for February 3 would approve the draft. The buzz is that before the draft is placed on the floor of the House on February 6, the government will call a cabinet meeting to put its seal of approval.
Editorial
Leader with a mission (Page no. 10)
(Miscellaneous)
Lal Krishna Advaniji is a name that conjures up the best of Indian civilisational values. Advaniji emerged as one of the leading voices of India during the 70 years of his public life.
His life’s mission has been to create awareness about the glory of Indian thought and build a modern united nation woven around its core. He spared no effort to correct historical distortions and insults to the idea of India.
He criss-crossed the country on several yatras, moulding public opinion on critical issues. The results have been spectacular. His life is a mission fulfilled. He has been one of India’ rarest jewels.
I am delighted that the Government of India, under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has rightly conferred the highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, on Advaniji for his multi-faceted contribution to enriching our public life and thought.
The government has imparted a new sense of purpose and meaning to the coveted “Padma” awards over the last few years. This has gone up another notch with this latest decision.
Ideas Page
How to manage political risk (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
I will step off the boards of several companies this year. This is because of the SEBI regulation that independent directors can only serve a maximum of two five-year terms as non-executive directors.
I will leave with a heightened sense of respect for the calibre and talent of Indian management. They are truly world-class.
That said, I would like to offer a suggestion — they should incorporate scenario planning into their risk management processes for tackling political risk.
The world is poised on a knife-edge of political uncertainty. Several commentators have pointed out that more than 50 per cent of the world’s population is living in countries that will go to elections in 2024.
Seventy countries have already or will hold polls this year. Eight countries including Bangladesh and Taiwan held elections last month.
Explained
Dealing with govt debt (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
All new governments, including those starting fresh innings, carry legacy burdens inherited from their predecessors. It would be no different for the next government taking over post the April-May 2024 national elections.
The Narendra Modi-headed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government will end its second term with overall public debt in excess of 80% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP) at current market prices.
According to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data, general government debt – the combined domestic and external liabilities of both the Centre and the states – touched 84.4% of GDP in 2003-04, the last year of the earlier NDA government under Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
That ratio fell to a low of 66.4% in 2010-11 during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. It rose gradually to 67.7% in 2013-14 and 70.4% in 2018-19, at the end of the UPA’s tenure and the Modi government’s first term respectively.
Economy
Disinvestment not a panacea for fiscal deficit (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
In a move that surprised many, the government didn’t specify a target for disinvestment receipts in the Interim Budget for 2024-25. According to TUHIN KANTA PANDEY, Secretary, Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM), the step is reflective of a conscious effort to free up the Union Budget from being contingent on disinvestment receipts and adopt a broader, and more holistic approach to disinvestment—one of proper and efficient management of public enterprises that rewards all shareholders.
In an interaction with AGGAM WALIA and SUKALP SHARMA, Pandey delves into what he terms a new paradigm of disinvestment and public enterprise management, which follows one marked by extremely tall targets that were progresively missed.