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At a time of global turbulence in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and China’s aggressive posturing over Taiwan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Samarkand in Uzbekistan Thursday night for the annual summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation.
The Prime Minister’s flight landed around the time other SCO leaders were at a dinner hosted by Uzbekistan President ShavkatMirziyoyev whose country is the current chair of the organisation. Modi was received at the airport in Samarkand by Uzbekistan Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov.
In a statement before leaving New Delhi, Modi, who will attend the summit Friday along with China President Xi Jinping, Russia President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Iran President EbrahimRaisi, said, “At the SCO Summit, I look forward to exchanging views on topical, regional and international issues, the expansion of SCO and further deepening of multifaceted and mutually beneficial cooperation within the Organisation.”
Under the Uzbek chairship, a number of decisions for mutual cooperation are likely to be adopted in areas of trade, economy, culture and tourism.This is the first in-person SCO summit since the leaders gathered at Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan in June 2019.
Sources said there are about 30 agreed documents on strengthening the multifaceted interaction between SCO member states and raising it to a new qualitative level.
The main final document of the summit will be the Samarkand Declaration which will reflect common approaches of the SCO countries to solving regional and global problems, and outline priorities for the development of the organisation, sources said.
Other key summit documents include the Comprehensive Plan for the Implementation of Treaty on Long-term Good Neighborliness, Friendship and Cooperation; Concept of Cooperation on the Development of Interconnectivity and Creation of Efficient Transport Corridors; Program for Stimulating Industrial Cooperation and Regulations on the honorary title of ‘Goodwill Ambassador of the SCO’.
The Prime Minister, who will be meeting President Mirziyoyev, said, “I fondly recall his visit to India in 2018. He also graced the Vibrant Gujarat Summit as Guest of Honour in 2019. In addition, I will hold bilateral meetings with some of the other leaders attending the summit.”
All eyes will be on a possible meeting with President Xi who will be in the conference room as well as the leaders’ lounge Friday.
This assumes significance in the wake of the latest round of disengagement of Indian and Chinese troops at Patrolling Point 15 in the Gogra-Hot Springs area of eastern Ladakh.
After mid daymeal ,breakfasts in TN schools, Not freebie,, it’s duty’ says stalin (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 2, Welfare Scheme)
INVOKING the contribution of his predecessors cutting across party lines in ensuring that Tamil Nadu’s children get proper and nutritious meals in schools, Chief Minister M K Stalin launched a breakfast scheme for them, saying doing so was not a factor of cost but part of a government’s duty.
It will cost the government Rs 12.75 per student, the CM said, at the launch of the first phase of the state-wide programme in Madurai, which will cover students in Classes 1 to 5 in government schools.
We see it as government duty rather than as a cost to the exchequer… It is not a freebie, charity or incentive because it is the government’s responsibility. If our children are properly fed, they will be able to attend classes and lessons in a better way… The government ruled by Kalaignar’s son should be the epitome of benevolence.
Tamil Nadu had pioneered the noon meal scheme in government schools, which was later replicated as mid-day meal across the country.
Stalin said he had decided to implement the breakfast programme following feedback during a recent school inspection in Chennai. “The students told me that they rarely eat breakfast.
When I asked officials, they confirmed it. That’s when I asked them to implement the breakfast programme. Nobody should go to class on an empty stomach.”
He urged school officials and those in-charge of the scheme to see the beneficiaries as their own children. “We will feed you in the morning and at noon, my beloved children. You may please study, study, study without any worries… I am here for you… I want you to excel in all areas because that alone will make our Tamil society proud,” he said, reminding the children that education was their right.
Incidentally, the New Education Policy of the Modi government had also proposed introducing breakfast besides the mid-day meal in schools. However, the Ministry of Finance had vetoed the proposal, which was estimated to cost the exchequer around Rs 4,000 crore.
The DMK government hopes to cover approximately 1.14 lakh children under the breakfast scheme initially across the state, at a cost of Rs 33.56 crore.
The number of schools is estimated at 1,545, including 417 in cities, 163 in towns and district centres, 728 in rural areas, and 237 in remote, hilly areas.
The breakfast menu will change daily and include a variety of items such as upma, khichdi, pongal, ravakesari, semiyakesari.
In his speech, Stalin referred to the start of the noon meal programme in 1922, by P TheagarayaChetty, the then mayor of the Madras Corporation and a veteran leader of the Justice Party, which would go on to define Tamil Nadu politics.
Govt. and Politics
Centre signs pact with eight armed tribal groups in Assam (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
The Centre and Assam Government signed a tripartite agreement with eight armed tribal groups in Assam to bring them into the mainstream and give them political and economic rights.
The groups that signed the agreement are Birsa Commando Force (BCF), Adivasi People’s Army (APA), All Adivasi National Liberation Army (AANLA), Adivasi Cobra Military of Assam (ACMA) and Santhali Tiger Force (STF).The remaining three outfits are splinter groups of BCF, AANLA, and ACMA.
Addressing representatives of the tribal groups afterward, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said: “We will sincerely follow everything in our agreement.
The Narendra Modi government has a record that almost 93 per cent of all promises made in various agreements have been implemented. All these agreements have established peace in various regions of the Northeast.”
Today we take the responsibility of fulfilling political, educational and economic aspirations of the tribal people in Assam. This agreement is intended to not just protect but strengthen your social, cultural, linguistic and community-based identity.
Assam Chief Minister HimantaBiswaSarma said people from tribal communities in the state were struggling for their rights for years and some had picked up the gun.
In 2007, all these groups signed a ceasefire agreement with the Centre,” he said. “But we could not achieve a permanent solution to the issue. Through this agreement, I believe, they will get justice.
Sarma said 1,182 people who had picked up guns will now join the mainstream through this agreement. “I promise you we will sincerely implement whatever is written in the accord,” he added.
In deep freeze, electoral bonds case may come up in SC on September 19 (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court will likely hear pending petitions challenging the Electoral Bond Scheme on September 19. The petitions filed by NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) figure in the advance cause list of the top court for September 19.
The matter last came up in the court on March 26, 2021, when a bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India S A Bobde dismissed an application filed by ADR seeking a stay on any fresh sale of electoral bonds ahead of the Assembly elections that were due at the time.
The top court questioned claims regarding “complete anonymity” of the purchasers of the bonds and said “it is not as though the operations under the Scheme are behind iron curtains incapable of being pierced”.
Dismissing the prayer not to allow any new window for their sale till its main petition challenging the scheme is decided, the court pointed out that the bonds had already been issued in the past without any impediment and that it had ordered “certain safeguards”.
Therefore, in the light of the fact that the Scheme was introduced on 2.1.2018; that the bonds are released at periodical intervals in January, April, July and October of every year; that they had been so released in the years 2018, 2019 and 2020 without any impediment; and that certain safeguards have already been provided by this Court in its interim order dated 12.4.2019, we do not see any justification for the grant of stay at this stage.Hence both the applications for stay are dismissed.
The court’s reference was to its April 12, 2019 interim order by which it directed political parties that have received donations through Electoral Bonds to “forthwith” submit the details of these bonds to the EC. That order too had come on the petition filed by ADR in September 2017.
The NGO had again approached the court with the application seeking a stay in view of the Assembly polls. The plea contended that the identity of the donors could never be known to the public and referred to reservations raised by the Reserve Bank of India and Election Commission to the Scheme.
The bench referred to the Election Commission recieving details of contributions received through bonds, in pursuance of its April 2019 order, and said “we do not know at this stage as to how far the allegation that under the Scheme, there would be complete anonymity in the financing of political parties by corporate houses, both in India and abroad, is sustainable”.
If the purchase of the bonds as well as their encashment could happen only through banking channels and if purchase of bonds are allowed only to customers who fulfill KYC norms, the information about the purchaser will certainly be available with the SBI which alone is authorised to issue and encash the bonds as per the Scheme.
Why can’t economic conditions be basis for quota, asks SC (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked petitioners opposing the quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) why economic conditions cannot be the basis for granting reservation.
Justice S Ravindra Bhat, who was part of a five-judge Constitution bench asked, “After 75 years, we still see generations of poverty. There is a large mass of people falling in the Below Poverty Line (category).
The bench presided by Chief Justice of India U ULalit, and also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M Trivedi and JB Pardiwala, is hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 103rd Amendment introducing 10 per cent quota for EWS in government jobs and admissions.
Justice Bhat posed the query when Advocate ShadanFarasat, appearing for the petitioners, contended that the 103rd Amendment by exempting backward classes from it violated the equality code and in turn the basic structure of the Constitution.
Responding to the counsel, the CJI said EWS may not have been extended to backward classes as they already have reservation.
“The idea with which this amendment is introduced, I think, is that because there is already a protective umbrella given to backward classes, giving them some kind of protection…That is why they are excluded,” said the CJI.
The quota for backward classes… is a quota for a group and not an individual. It is to correct historical wrongs, to ensure representation…. I
t speaks to the group…. EWS quota speaks to the individual on the economic condition of that individual,” he said, adding that it will therefore be impermissible to say backwards won’t be included in EWS as they already have the other reservation.
He said there are other affirmative actions which can be pursued to solve problems of economically disadvantaged sections and that it need not necessarily be reservation.
Express Network
Council passes anti-conversion Bill amid protest (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Karnataka Legislative Council passed the contentious anti-conversion Bill tabled by the state’s BJP government amid objections by the Congress and JD(S).
The Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Bill had been cleared by the Assembly on December 23, 2021 but was not introduced in the Upper House as the BJP lacked a clear majority at the time.
In May 2022, an ordinance was issued to facilitate the introduction of the anti-conversion law. The Bill was introduced during the Monsoon Session with the BJP now enjoying a clear majority of 41 members in the 75-member Council. The Congress has 26 members and the JD(S) has eight.
The SC has said that freedom of religion does not allow for forced conversions. There is freedom to convert but it should not be under coercion and allurements. Many in the Dalit community convert and still claim benefits and we do not want anybody to be robbed of benefits in this manner.
If there has to be conversions then let it be as per a law and that is the intention behind the Bill. There is no intention to take away anybody’s right or violate Article 25 of the Constitution [which guarantees the right to practice and propagate religion].
The Leader of the Opposition in the Council, B K Hariprasad of the Congress, said people tend to convert to escape oppression and that the Freedom of Religion is an integral part of the Constitution.“It is the relentless suppression of the SCs/STs that forces people to leave their religion. Without conversions the Lingayat and Veerashaiva faith could not have emerged in the 12th century.
As per the bill, “no person shall convert or attempt to convert either directly or otherwise any other person from one religion to another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion, allurement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage, nor shall any person abet or conspire for conversions.
According to the proposed law, complaints of conversions can be filed by family members of a person who is getting converted, or any other person who is related to the person who is getting converted or even a colleague of the person who is getting converted.
A jail term of three year to five years, and a fine of Rs 25000, has been proposed for people violating the law in the case of people from general categories and a jail term of three to 10 years, and a fine of Rs 50,000 for people converting minors, women and persons from the SC and ST communities.
Editorial Page
A Civilizational diplomacy (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping are meeting for the first time in the post-Covid world, at the 22nd Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation at Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
Given the military standoff between the two along the line of actual control in the Himalaya, their meeting would attract global attention.
At least one reason why this meeting could be happening is the visible change in Chinese public opinion about India, and especially Prime Minister Modi, in the wake of India’s principled stand on the Ukraine crisis. India’s assertion of an independent foreign policy has generated much discussion online in China.
The Chinese strategic community and political leadership view Modi as being politically astute in pursuing India’s national interests by balancing relations with major powers.
Many in China also believe that Bejing should have pursued a similar balanced approach to the Ukraine conflict. Chinese public opinion seems to be of the view that the Indian government has been more successful than China in convincing its public to support its position.
It was a revelation to the Chinese public that India could pull-off such an intricate diplomatic manoeuvre in a heightened international crisis situation.
One consequence of this seems to be that many in China are beginning to challenge the strongly-held official view that India has already aligned with the US to contain China. They notice India’s assertion of its strategic autonomy.
Chinese social media voices draw attention to India using electronic media, social media, alongside official diplomacy to convey Indian viewpoints, and expose the fallacy in the Western arguments.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar’s robust interventions at various international forums defending India’s position has made him a star in China.
Chinese public opinion is increasingly impressed by PM Modi’s astuteness in comprehending the complex geopolitical games being played in the international system.
This view is also underlined by the realisation that India, unlike many other countries in the Global South, was able to leverage its neutrality to augment its position as a great power in the international system while minimising the economic fallout due to the Covid crisis.
Health and Wealth (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The release of a new set of data on health expenditure, the National Health Accounts Expenditure (NHA) 2018-19, should rekindle the longstanding debate on government spending in this critical sector.
One of its most important findings is that government spending as a proportion of the country’s GDP went down to 1.28 per cent from 1.35 per cent in the previous year. Ipso facto, this shouldn’t be a matter of concern.
As some experts have pointed out, the fall owes to an accounting correction. But this shouldn’t mitigate the concern that public spending on healthcare in India remains far from adequate.
Last year’s Economic Survey noted that India ranks amongst the bottom 10 countries in terms of the prioritisation given to health in government budgets — both at the states and Centre.
The government, moreover, has been consistently falling short of the National Health Policy’s objective of spending 2.5 per cent of the GDP on health — it currently spends about 1.9 per cent.
In the past four years, especially since the launch of the Ayushman Bharat programme in 2018, the Centre has taken important steps in prioritising the healthcare sector.
The NHA figures do seem to give early signs that the endeavour is succeeding. People paying for healthcare expenses out of pocket (OOPE), for instance, made up 48.2 per cent of the total health expenditure in 2018-19, down from 48.8 per cent the previous year.
Even then, people spent more than the government on healthcare — Rs 2.87 lakh crore or 1.52 per cent of the GDP. The NHA data show that India has a long way to go to attain the WHO yardstick of keeping out-of-pocket health expenditure to 15-20 per cent of the country’s GDP.
The world’s second most populous country with a high burden of non-communicable diseases cannot provide healthcare in an equitable manner if the government remains a secondary player in the sector.
Ninety per cent of the country’s hospitals, for instance, are privately run, and close to 70 per cent of them are in urban areas. This skew cannot be corrected without government intervention.
The Idea Page
A Pointless defence (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Legally, the Reserve Bank of India is mandated to target an inflation rate. But with the global economic environment taking a turn for the worse, the central bank has also been targeting the exchange rate.
One would have thought that the intellectual consensus that emerged from the RBI’s ill-fated attempts to defend the currency in the past — that its primary objective should be to target inflation, and not manage the currency — would have guided its actions. But that doesn’t seem to be the case. This could prove to be a costly mistake.
The central bank has drawn a line in the sand on the level of the rupee. And given the scale of its interventions in the currency market, it seems determined to defend the current levels. The numbers involved are staggering.
At the beginning of this calendar year, India’s foreign exchange reserves stood at around $633 billion. But, by the beginning of September, the reserves had dipped to $553 billion — a drawdown of almost $80 billion.
Some of the decline is on account of the revaluation losses — with the euro weakening against the dollar, portfolio diversification towards the euro would have led to sizable investment losses. The balance likely indicates the extent to which the RBI has stepped into the currency markets to date.
But the pressure on the rupee to depreciate is unlikely to abate due to two factors. One, the strengthening of the dollar. The dollar index, which measures the strength of the greenback against a basket of six currencies (the euro, yen, pound, Canadian dollar, Swedish krona and Swiss franc), is at a 20-year high.
Currencies of emerging market economies have also fallen in line. With the US Federal Reserve expected to continue to aggressively tighten — the recent inflation data seems to have reinforced this view — this trend is unlikely to reverse. And two, the country-specific factor of a deteriorating current account deficit.
With export growth collapsing and imports continuing to remain sticky, the current account deficit, as per some estimates, is likely to be just shy of levels last seen during the crisis of 2013, exerting downward pressure on the currency.
If there is one lesson from the past currency crises it is that in macroeconomics, “this time” is never different. There is an impossible trinity — an economy cannot have an independent monetary policy, free flow of capital and a fixed exchange rate. It must choose.
Moreover, implicit in the defence of the rupee is the notion that the central bank knows what the true level of the currency is, not the markets. One would have thought that past follies would have rid us of this notion. Perhaps a loss of institutional memory is to blame.
Partners in prosperity (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
On September 15, two years ago, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain signed the United States-brokered Abraham Accords. It was a historic moment for our peoples and nations, fostering new hope for peace and prosperity in the Middle East.
It also brought exciting opportunities for India and its thriving business community, which enjoys strong relations and engagement with our countries.
The Abraham Accords were a product of collaboration between our nations towards normalisation of ties, bringing Israel closer to the Gulf nations that shared common values and mutual interests, and taking forward the peace initiative.
As we mark the second anniversary of the signing of the Abraham Accords, the benefits of this peace continue to grow. Increasingly, we are seeing deepening people-to-people ties and business opportunities. New joint ventures are being undertaken in critical sectors such as clean energy, health, innovation, technology, agriculture, water, trade, tourism, sustainability and much more.
We have also worked to produce academic collaborations between our universities, promote cultural exchange in the arts field, and raise awareness about our shared histories and heritage. Ultimately, we aim to further strengthen our mutual understanding and the close friendship between our people.
Moreover, the launch of direct flights has increased connectivity between our nations to facilitate the movement of tourists, business people and students. People are eager to explore new places, learn about local cultures and forge new friendships to last a lifetime.
The boost to regional connectivity has also benefited the people of India. The thriving Indian diaspora throughout the Gulf can now fly directly from the UAE to Israel or from Israel to Bahrain. Indian students are travelling back and forth, obtaining easier access to our universities, and exploring international study programmes.
The Accords have paved the way for greater regional and multinational cooperation. Expanding economic opportunities continue to reach India, and we have already seen major commercial collaborations between companies from the UAE, Israel, Bahrain and the United States with the Indian private sector.
Explained Page
US Pak & F 16 package (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
On Wednesday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said on Twitter that he had “conveyed concerns” to his American counterpart Lloyd Austin on the US decision to provide Pakistan with a $450 million package for what the Pentagon has called the “F-16 Case for sustainment and related equipment”.
Singh said the conversation ended warmly with a discussion on “growing convergence of strategic interests and enhanced defence and security co-operation”. The two ministers discussed “ways to strengthen technological and industrial collaboration and also explore co-operation in emerging and critical technologies”.
This was the first public statement by India on the latest US F-16 package to Pakistan. The Ministry of External Affairs has been quiet, though Ministry officials have said they communicated India’s objections to US officials who were in New Delhi for the 2+2 Inter-sessional and Maritime Security Dialogues, and for a Quad Senior Officials Meeting at the time of the announcement on September 7.
This is the first American military assistance package to Pakistan after the Trump Administration ended defence and security co-operation with the country in 2018 after accusing it of giving only “lies and deceit” for the billions of dollars that the US had “foolishly” given it.
The Department of Defense readout on Austin’s call with Singh made no mention of Indian concerns on the F-16 package. As it demonstrates “strategic autonomy” to engage with every side — Quad one week, and Russia and China the next at the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation (SCO) in Samarkand — India appears determined to swallow its disappointment.
After all, if New Delhi can stay away from zero sum games, work around Western sanctions to buy oil from Russia, and keep friends in all camps, what prevents the US from pleasing a non-NATO ally?
According to the September 7 Defense Security Co-operation Agency press release, included in the $450 million package — the proposed contractor for which is Lockheed Martin — are technical and logistics services for follow-on support of Pakistan’s F-16 fleet.
There is participation in several technical coordination groups, aircraft and engine hardware and software modifications and support, equipment support, manuals, precision measurement, and a range of related elements of aircraft maintenance.
The proposed sale does not include any new capabilities, weapons, or munitions,” the release stated. “[It]…will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States by allowing Pakistan to retain interoperability with US and partner forces in ongoing counter-terrorism efforts and in preparation for future contingency operations.
Why Jharkhand wants to define a ‘local’ with 1932 as the cut-off for domicile (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Jharkhand Cabinet Wednesday approved the draft ‘Local Resident of Jharkhand Bill’ for defining a local, keeping 1932 as the cut-off year for ‘proof of land records’ for the purpose.
According to sources, the draft Bill, titled ‘Jharkhand Definition of Local Persons and for Extending the Consequential, Social, Cultural and Other Benefits to Such Local Persons Bill, 2022’, will be passed by the Assembly next and then sent to the Centre with a proposal to place it in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
The Bill states that the local residents’ policy of 2002 was challenged before the Jharkhand High Court in two Public Interest Litigations which set aside the definition of the local persons and also gave direction to decide “afresh/redefine” and “prescribe the guidelines for determination of local persons taking into account the relevant history of the state”.
As per the draft Bill, a local will be a person whose name or his ancestors’ name is recorded in the survey/khatiyan of 1932 or before. In case of persons who are landless, local persons shall be identified by the Gram Sabhas based on the culture, local customs and tradition, among others.
In 2016, the Raghubar Das government redefined ‘locals’ through an executive order, essentially setting the cut-off year as 1985 for proof of residence in Jharkhand.
It said that the decision was arrived at after discussions with “different political parties, intellectuals, and various social organisations.
However, the current draft Bill says that the MLAs from the state have been consistently raising the issue in the Assembly to recall ‘the local persons’ criteria’ as defined in 2016. It adds that several demands were made to define and identify local persons on the basis of 1932 khatiyan.
The draft Bill says the definition of local persons on the basis of ‘1932 khatiyan’ is based upon the fact that “living conditions, customs and the traditions and social development” of the ‘moolwasis and people from tribal community’ have been negatively impacted due to pre and post 1932 migration of people from other states to Jharkhand (erstwhile Bihar).
It argues that the percentage of people from Scheduled Tribes and moolwasis has seen a steady decline since the census of 1941 in Jharkhand.
It attributes various reasons behind such decline, but the Bill says that it “cannot be denied” that there needs to be “affirmative action at the policy level” for the development of STs and moolwasis.
The Bill states that identification of the local persons was a “compelling necessity” to provide “social, cultural, educational, service and other benefits to them”.
Economy
FSDC: Early-warning indicators, 2023 G20 presidency in focus (Page no. 21)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC), headed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, on Thursday underscored the need for continuous monitoring of risks in the financial sector so that necessary action can be taken on time to mitigate any vulnerability.
At the 26th meeting of the Council, attended by financial sector regulators and other officials, the FM also reviewed issues relating to the financial sector that can be taken up during India’s G20 Presidency in 2023.
The meeting comes at a time when key central banks are aggressively raising interest rates to curb runaway inflation, while the conflict in Ukraine continues to pose risks to both inflation and growth forecasts.
According to an official statement after the meeting, the FSDC deliberated on the early-warning indicators for the economy and “our preparedness to deal with them”.
It also discussed improving the efficiency of the existing financial and credit information systems, issues of governance and management in systemically important financial institutions, including financial market infrastructures, strengthening cyber security framework in the financial sector, common KYC for all financial Services and related matters and update on account aggregator system.
At the same time, the meeting deliberated on issues relating to the financing of power sector, strategic role the GIFT international financial services centre can play and inter-regulatory there.
It was noted that there is a need to monitor the financial sector risks, the financial conditions and market developments on a continuous basis by the Government and the regulators so that appropriate and timely action can be taken so as to mitigate any vulnerability and strengthen financial stability.
The FSDC meeting was attended by ministers of state for finance Bhagwat KishanraoKarad and Pankaj Chaudhary, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das, top secretaries of various Finance Ministry departments, IFSC Authority Chairman Injeti Srinivas, Chief Economic Adviser V AnanthaNageswaran, Sebi Chairperson MadhabiPuriBuch, Irdai Chief Debasish Panda and IBBI Chief Ravi Mittal, among others.
Plan to douse EV fires: New industry standards, battery norms from Oct 1 (Page no. 21)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
After eight people died of suffocation following a fire that broke out in a building housing an electric vehicle (EV) dealership and a hotel near the passport office in Telangana’s Secunderabad late Monday night, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has ordered a probe.
Initial inquiries found that the fire started from a cellar where 40 electric bikes were parked. The development comes after a string of EV fires took place in various parts of the country over the last few months, prompting the government to formulate expert committees to investigate the fires and also come up with regulatory changes for safer EVs.
In April, taking note of the various incidents of EVs bursting into flames, Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that the Centre would soon come out with battery safety norms.
The MoRTH had constituted an expert committee which included officials from the Centre for Fire, Explosive & Environment Safety (CFEES), Indian Institute of Science, and IIT-Madras.
In September, the Ministry published amendments to Automotive Industry Standards AIS-156, Specific Requirements for Motor Vehicles of L Category with Electric Powertrain, and AIS-038 Rev. 2, Specific Requirements for Electric Powertrain of Motor Vehicles of M category and N category, i.e. motor vehicle with at least four wheels used for carrying goods which may also carry persons in addition to goods.
These norms, which will kick in from October, include additional safety requirements related to battery cells, battery management system (BMS), on-board charger, design of battery pack, and thermal propagation due to internal cell short circuit leading to fire, among others.
Additionally, the MoRTH issued a draft notification last month mandating conformity of production (CoP) for traction batteries used in electric powertrain vehicles. This proposed regulation, too, will be applicable with effect from October 1.
The Indian Express had earlier reported that the NITI Aayog is working with the industry and academia to develop an open source BMS to be used in two- and three-wheeler EVs. The system is being designed according to Indian standards and also as a measure to cut dependence on imports.