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As India assumed the G20 presidency on Thursday, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said New Delhi will seek to emerge as the “voice of the Global South”, and work to “depoliticise” the global supply of food, fertilisers and medical products.
Addressing the ‘G20 University Connect – Engaging Young Minds’, an event organised to mark the G20 presidency, Jaishankar said it would also be India’s endeavour to make consensus on key global issues “more relevant” through a wider process of consultation. “As the mother of democracy, India’s G20 presidency will be consultative, it will be collaborative and it will be decisive”.
Responding to a question after his speech, Jaishankar said: “Today, the world is very polarised. Even having everybody in the room was a real challenge at the last G20 meeting in Bali.
So, a country like India, which is independent minded… is respected to a great extent, is trusted, which has a kind of a middle ground to bring differing parties to the table.
The value for countries in the middle, who are good at forging common ground, who have multiple relationships, I think that has grown in a polarised world and… the value of the Indian presidency will be demonstrated because we have that trait.
India is positioning itself as the voice of the developing and the less developed countries in the world. This was the theme articulated by India at the G20 summit in Bali last month.
India looks forward to working on encouraging sustainable lifestyles, depoliticising the global supply of food, fertilisers and medical products, among other subjects.
The G20 is a diverse platform that seeks to forge common ground on key issues among prominent countries. Our endeavour is to make that consensus more relevant through a wider process of consultation.
Govt & Politics
India assume monthly presidency of UNSC (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
India assumed the monthly rotating presidency of the UN Security Council (UNSC) on December 1, the second time in its two-year tenure as an elected member of the Council in 2021-22. India had earlier assumed UNSC presidency in August 2021.
Under India’s December presidency of UNSC, there are two signature events at the ministerial level, scheduled for December 14 (Reformed Multilateralism) and 15 (Counter-Terrorism). External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will chair the events.
On December 14, India will hold a “high-level open debate” on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism” at the Security Council. New Orientation for Reformed Multilateralism (NORMS) envisages reforms in the current multilateral architecture, with the UN at its centre, to make it more representative and fit for purpose.
Sources said this open debate is intended to encourage UN member-states to take this conversation forward by deliberating on the elements of a new orientation for multilateralism, and on how best to move forward in this regard in a time-bound manner. It will be attended by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and UN General Assembly president Csaba Korosi.
The other signature event planned is the high-level briefing on the theme “Threats to International Peace and Security Caused by Terrorist Acts: Global Approach to Counter Terrorism — Challenges and Way Forward”, scheduled for December 15.
Realising that the threat of terrorism is grave, universal and transnational in character, this briefing intends to underscore the necessity of collective and coordinated efforts to combat the menace of terrorism.
Express Network
Centre defends redrawing J&K seats, tells Supreme Court 2019 law empowers it (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Defending the power of the Delimitation Commission, constituted to readjust constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir, the Centre on Thursday told Supreme Court that the J&K Reorganisation Act of 2019 mandates the Commission to do it.
Opposing a plea challenging constitution of the Commission, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka that the 2019 law does not preclude establishment of Delimitation Commission by the Centre and provides for two alternative mechanisms to carry out delimitation for J&K.
The petitioners — Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Mohammad Ayub Mattoo — had argued that under the 2019 Act, only the Election Commission is empowered to conduct the delimitation exercise.
Countering this, Mehta said, “Sections 61 and 62 of 2019 Act do not preclude the establishment of Delimitation Commission by the Central Government under Section 62 of the Act.
By virtue of Sections 60-61, while the power to determine delimitation is conferred on Election Commission, Section 62(2) and 62(3) confers powers to carry out delimitation on the Delimitation Commission constituted under Section 3 of Delimitation Act.
Using the expression ‘may’ “signifies a non-mandatory responsibility/power of the Election Commission to carry out delimitation and…usage of the expression ‘shall’ confers mandatory responsibility on the Delimitation Commission to carry out the delimitation”.
The petitioners had also argued that delimitation cannot be carried out on the basis of the 2011 Census but must be carried out as per 2001 Census or await “the first Census after 2026.”
The Editorial Page
Making a soft landing (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s economic growth slowed to 6.5 per cent during the July-September quarter because of a fading low-base effect. For the full year, we now expect the economy to grow at 7 per cent, with risks tilted to the downside.
This implies that the second half of the year (October-March) will see growth slow down to 4.6 per cent, again largely due to the base effect and slowing global growth.
This was the second consecutive quarter with no functional disruption of economic activity by the Covid-19 pandemic. Since October, Google, too, has stopped reporting mobility indicators, which had become one of the most tracked data points for analysts and policymakers since the pandemic struck.
This suggests that Covid-19 is unlikely to come in the way of growth for most parts of the world, with China, which is following a zero-Covid policy, being the key exception. That’s the good news.
The not-so-good news is that geopolitical tensions, high and broad-based inflation in many parts of the world and sharp increases in policy rates in developed countries amid a looming recession will continue to confront the global economy. In an interconnected world, these effects will spill over to India as well, despite its structural strengths.
Growing at 14.7 per cent, contact-intensive services such as trade, hotels and transport continued to be key drivers of the growth momentum in the second quarter.
This segment had borne the brunt of the pandemic because of recurrent lockdowns, and is showing a strong rebound because of pent-up demand — a trend that is likely to continue this year. Interestingly, the sector is just 2 per cent above the pre-pandemic level and has been the slowest to catch up.
The Ideas Page
India takes the lead (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Groupings)
India’s G20 presidency began on December 1. It will be driven by the underlying vision of “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” (the world is one family), best encapsulated by the motto “One Earth, One Family, One Future”.
The interconnectedness between geopolitics and global economic currents is undeniable and the global impact of climate change is irrefutable. In his remarks at the Closing Session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Bali, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly pointed out the linkages between inclusive development, gender equality, peace and security and the full use of technological innovations for universal benefit.
The first task force on “Macroeconomics, trade, and livelihoods” has the mandate to make recommendations on coordination within the G20 to create coherence in monetary and fiscal policy, trade, investment, and supply chain resilience.
The aim is to give further impetus to the initiatives taken by the Indonesian presidency to “Recover Together, Recover Stronger” in the post-pandemic period.
With supply chain resilience emerging as a common concern against the backdrop of ineffective WTO mechanisms, the G20 has assumed the mantle as the most significant platform to forge consensus among the top 20 economies on international trade policy.
The task force on “Digital Futures” will endeavour to build an inclusive digital public infrastructure to ensure affordability and safe access by all.
It will discuss the universal interoperability of digital services. It will also address issues of digital financial inclusion and skills — both integral to economic growth.
One of the mainstays of India’s G20 Presidency is PM Modi’s concept of “Lifestyle for Environment” (LiFE), introduced at COP26 in 2021.
Currently, the focus of climate change discussions revolves around nations and the behaviour at the individual level takes a back seat.
The LiFE initiative aims to put the individual at the centre of the discourse and to sensitise every human being, regardless of nationality and geography.
Joining the welfare dots (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Issues related to poverty and hunger)
It seemed like a data anomaly when we looked at the temporal pattern of malnourishment in the tribal sub-division of Dharni in Maharashtra’s Amravati district.
An April peak in the number of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) surprised us.
The common sense of nutrition discourse dictates that the peak should be in monsoon when diarrhoea takes over, or in winter when hypothermia is the devil for children.
We re-checked our data and went back to previous years — this only seemed to confirm our findings. Every year, for at least the past three years, numbers had peaked in April. And, this was no small peak.
The numbers went up more than five times suddenly, with two tribal blocks having more SAM and MAM children than the rest of the 12 blocks combined. The numbers kept reducing steadily all year round before peaking again in April.
What was happening? After some discussions, we realised that several families were returning to Dharni from migrated places in March for Holi (the biggest festival here), then going back to fulfil contracts, only to come back “permanently” in the kharif season when cropping begins (there was a smaller peak at June).
Our later pursuits revealed a more direct correlation in Nandurbar, a tribal district in Maharashtra, where a 2018 UNICEF study had followed the same cohort of children, before and after migration.
SAM numbers increased fourfold, MAM too doubled — at least half of the migrated children. Given the geographical complications of migration as well as a lack of data, such studies have been few.
Migration became the buzzword during the Covid pandemic in cities. However, rural migration has continued for years. In tribal areas especially — owing to lack of industry, issues with forest rights, or its implementation, and lack of irrigation facilities — migration extends to six to eight months a year.
Explained
How the e-rupee will work (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday launched the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) — digital rupee or e-rupee (e₹) — for the common man.
CBDC is a legal tender issued by the RBI in digital form. It is the same as the fiat currency, and is exchangeable one-to-one with the fiat currency.
Only its form is different — it is not paper (or polymer) like physical cash. It is a fungible legal tender, for which holders need not have a bank account. CBDC will appear as ‘liability’ (currency in circulation) on the RBI’s balance sheet.
The e-rupee will be in the form of a digital token representing a claim on the central bank, and will effectively function as the digital equivalent of a banknote that can be transferred electronically from one holder to another.
A token CBDC is a “bearer-instrument” like a banknote, meaning whoever ‘holds’ the tokens at a given point in time will be presumed to own them.
The pilot launched on Thursday will initially cover four cities — Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Bhubaneswar — and will be later extended to Ahmedabad, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Indore, Kochi, Lucknow, Patna, and Shimla.
The pilot will work in a closed user group (CUG) comprising participating customers and merchants, the RBI has said. Select customers from the selected cities will get CBDC wallets with notes printed digitally with the RBI Governor’s signature.
Eight banks will participate in the pilot — the State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Yes Bank and IDFC First Bank in the first phase in the first four cities, and subsequently, Bank of Baroda, Union Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and Kotak Mahindra Bank.
The scope of the pilot may be expanded gradually to cover more banks, users, and locations.
E-rupees will be issued in the same denominations as paper currency and coins, and will be distributed through the intermediaries, that is banks. Transactions will be through a digital wallet offered by the participating banks, and stored on mobile phones and devices.
Transactions can be both person to person (P2P) and person to merchant (P2M). For P2M transactions (such as shopping), there will be QR codes at the merchant location.
White Paper Protests (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International)
Cities across China have been witnessing waves of protests against the country’s tough zero-Covid policy in recent weeks. The movement, which is no longer limited to China alone, is widely being dubbed the ‘white paper revolution’.
This is because of the blank sheets of white A4-sized paper many of the demonstrators have been seen holding during these protests.
Many of the protesters have been calling for the resignation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and the end of the Chinese Communist Party’s rule. Large-scale protests like these are rare in China, where public dissent is usually quickly stifled.
In November, at least 10 people were killed in a building fire in Urumqi, Xinjiang, which had been under lockdown for about 100 days. People blamed China’s brutal lockdown for the deaths.
When a Chinese official appeared to blame the residents for the incident, protests first broke out in Xinjiang and then eventually spread to Beginning, Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Lanzhou, and Nanjing.
Over the weeks, the humble white sheet of paper became a symbol of the protests. It has come to symbolise the lack of free speech in the country.
White papers as a sign of protest were previously used in Hong Kong in 2020, to avoid slogans banned under the city’s new national security law. Demonstrators in Moscow have also used them this year to protest Russia’s war with Ukraine, Reuters reported.
Students at universities in cities including Nanjing and Beijing are holding up blank sheets of paper in silent protest, a tactic used in the country to evade censorship or arrest.
Nepal elections: Possible outcomes, and implications for India (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Votes are still being tallied in the Nepal parliamentary elections that were held on November 20, only the second since the country adopted its republican constitution in 2015.
From the count so far, the six-party pre-poll alliance led by Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) of Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ is in the lead.
From India’s perspective, the continuance of a Deuba-led government is the best scenario. The Nepali Congress has old ties to India, and under his prime ministership, India-Nepal ties recovered to a great extent from the low to which they had sunk under Prime Minister K P Oli’s watch.
After succeeding Oli in a game of thrones in 2021, Deuba made his first visit to India in April this year. The three day tour included Varansi, and the Kasi Vishwanath temple and helped to kick start a relationship that had been in the doldrums since the map controversy over Lipulekh in 2020, with Oli seen to be raking it up for political gain back at home.
The Indian establishment views the former prime minister as “pro-China”. Even before Oli began his first term in October 2015 (it lasted until August 2016), India and Nepal had a bitter falling out over Nepal’s new constitution adopted just a month earlier. Delhi was upset that the final draft of the Constitution did not include the marginalisation concerns of the Madhesi and the Tharu — two ethnic groups that live in the southern Terai region along the border with India and constitute 40 per cent of Nepal’s population. Madhesis also have strong cross-border ethnic ties.
A blockade of Nepal along the Indian border with tacit support from Delhi crippled supplies to the landlocked country for several months, triggering massive shortages. Oli turned to China for supplies, signing a trade and transit treaty during a visit to Beijing.