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This Independence Day, Red Fort will see some special guests — the sarpanches of about 662 villages on the China border in Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Ladakh covered under the Centre’s Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP).
In an internal communication, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) headquarters has directed its personnel in these districts to appoint Liaison Officers (LOs), who will remain with the “sarpanches and guests” from the “district headquarters to Delhi and back to district headquarters”. The LOs will be ITBP personnel from the units in these districts.
The communication, on “detailment of liaison staff for participation of VVP sarpanch in Independence Day-2023”, states: “It has been directed that in order to facilitate the sarpanch and guests, efforts be made to detail the majority of LOs from the vibrant villages’ district.
These LOs will remain with their respective group from pick-up point of district headquarters to Delhi and back to district headquarters till the time the group is taken over by the district administration”.
Centre to amend law to reserve assembly seats for PoK displaced Kashmiri migrants (Page no. 1)
(GS paper 3, Internal Security)
The Centre is moving to amend the J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 to reserve two seats in the J&K Legislative Assembly for ‘Kashmiri Migrants’ and one for displaced persons from Pakistan occupied Kashmir “so as to preserve their political rights as well as for their overall social and economic development”. These members will be nominated by the Lieutenant Governor.
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, 2023, will be introduced in the Lok Sabha. After the recent delimitation process, the number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir has gone up from 107 to 114, with nine seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes.
The new Bill will see an amendment to Section 14 of the existing Act and the insertion of two new sections — Sections 15 A and 15 B. While the amendment to Section 14 will substitute ‘107 seats’ in the Act to ‘114 seats’, Sections 15 A and 15 B detail the three reserved seats.
Govt. & Politics
Another record bites the dust: Naveen turns India's 2nd longest-serving CM (Page no. 6)
(GS paper 2, Governance)
Relatively an unknown name in the country’s political circles till he hit the ripe age of 51, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will break the record of Jyoti Basu to become the second longest-serving CM in the country.
Patnaik, 76, who has now been CM since March 5, 2000, completed 23 years and 138 days in office, equalling the record of Basu, the late CPI (M) leader, who was at the helm of power in West Bengal from June 21, 1977, to November 6, 2000.
Patnaik is now only behind Pawan Kumar Chamling, who served as the CM of Sikkim for 24 years and 166 days, from December 12, 1994, to May 27, 2019 — with every chance of being re-elected for the sixth time as the Odisha elections are held in nine months.
Before he stepped into his father Biju Patnaik’s large shoes, after the legendary leader’s death in April 1997, the Doon School-educated Patnaik was known more for being a regular in New Delhi party circles and for spending much of his time abroad, where he counted among his friends Mick Jagger and ex-US first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
Opinion
To grow at 7.5 per cent or not (Page no. 9)
(GS paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Reserve Bank of India’s mandate is price stability. However, it has joined other central banks in adapting its mandate to the objective of sustainable growth.
It is therefore helpful when the RBI lays out a path for the growth of the economy — a duty often lost sight of by the government of the day that is focused on political goals.
All the information that is available points to a period of slow growth in the world economy and in India. The essay in RBI’s Bulletin (July 2023) on State of the Economy has, referring to the world economy, acknowledged that “global growth momentum appears to be stalling, especially manufacturing and investment.
International trade is also showing the knock-on effects of re-engineering of supply chains through muscular industrial and trade policies.
On the Indian economy, the Bulletin lists the progress and achievements: upgraded infrastructure, digitalisation, solar generating capacity, exports of services, favourable demographics, ebullient equity markets, etc.
Some claims under each head are true. The Bulletin also notes the sequential moderation in economic activity, high unemployment rate, uptick in demand for work under MGNREGS, contraction in manufacturing exports, contraction in revenue expenditure, decline in net tax collections, increase in CPI (and food) inflation, hardening domestic bond and corporate bond yields, and unending fight against inflation.
World
Russia comes under pressure at UN to revive grain shipments (Page no. 10)
(GS paper 2, International Relation)
Russia came under pressure at the United Nations Security Council from its ally China and developing countries as well as Western nations to avert a global food crisis and quickly revive Ukrainian grain shipments.
Moscow was also criticized by the U.N. and council members for attacking Ukrainian ports after pulling out of the year-old grain deal and destroying port infrastructure — a violation of international humanitarian law banning attacks on civilian infrastructure.
In response to Russia declaring wide areas in the Black Sea dangerous for shipping, the U.N. warned that a military incident in the sea could have catastrophic consequences.
Russia said it suspended the Black Sea Grain Initiative because the U.N. had failed to overcome obstacles to shipping its food and fertilizer to global markets, the other half of the Ukraine grain deal.
The Kremlin said it would consider resuming Ukrainian shipments if progress is made in overcoming the obstacles, including in banking arrangements.
China’s deputy U.N. ambassador Geng Shuang noted U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ commitment to make every effort to ensure that both Ukrainian grain and Russian food and fertilizer get to world markets.
He expressed hope that Russia and the U.N. will work together to resume exports from both countries “at an early date” in the interest of “maintaining international food security and alleviating the food crisis in developing countries in particular.”
USS Canberra: US commissions first warship in foreign port (Page no. 10)
(GS paper 2, International Relation)
The United States commissioned a warship in Sydney, Australia, on Saturday, the first time a U.S. Navy vessel joined active service at a foreign port, as the two close allies step up their military ties in response to China’s expanding regional reach.
The Independence-class littoral combat ship – named after a Royal Australian Navy cruiser that was sunk while supporting the U.S. Marine landings on Quadal canal in 1942 – was commissioned at a ceremony at an Australian naval base on Sydney Harbour, officially joining the U.S. Navy’s active fleet.
Australians can be proud that this ship, designed in Western Australia by local industry and named after HMAS Canberra, is being commissioned here for the first time in the history of the United States Navy.
The commissioning of the U.S. ship in Australian waters reflected, our shared commitment to upholding the rules-based order.
The ceremony comes amid the biennial Talisman Sabre military exercises between the U.S. and Australia, seen as a show of force and unity as China increasingly asserts power in the Indo-Pacific.