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India has set the ball rolling to bring out a National Security Strategy after years of discourse and deliberations within the military and the strategic community on the need to have one.
The National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) is putting in place a comprehensive National Security Strategy in consultation with several Central ministries and departments. A final Cabinet approval will then be sought for it.
This is the first time that India will come out with a national security strategy. Countries such as the US and UK have published national security strategies which are updated periodically.
The document is aimed at putting together India’s national security objectives and the ways to be adopted to achieve or realise them.
Govt & Politics
Modi-Sunak discuss Gaza, FTA progress (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak had a telephonic conversation as they discussed development in West Asia and conflict between Israel and Hamas, and expressed deep concern on terrorism, worsening security situation and the loss of civilian lives.
Both leaders expressed deep concern at terrorism, worsening security situation and the loss of civilian lives. They agreed on the need for regional peace, security, stability and continued humanitarian assistance.
Modi congratulated Sunak on the successful completion of one year in office and they welcomed progress being made for an early conclusion of a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement, according to the statement.
Women’s quota only after census. Plea for dropping time frame, SC says very difficult (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court on Friday said it would be “very difficult” for it to strike down a part of the women’s reservation law that says it will come into effect after the Census.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhatti, which refused to issue a notice on a plea moved by Congress leader Jaya Thakur, that has sought immediate implementation of the Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam, which seeks to reserve one-third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies for women, before next year’s general election.
Passed by Parliament, the Bill was signed into law by President Droupadi Murmu in September.
The bench said there is a petition pending before the top court on the issue and it will take up Thakur’s plea along with that on November 22.
“This is a step taken, which is a very good step,” the bench said, as it refused to accept the argument of senior advocate Vikas Singh, who appeared on behalf of Thakur.
Editorial
Transparency at stake (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
After years of questionable deferral, the Supreme Court has finally taken up the electoral bonds case. A Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, on November 2, reserved its judgment on petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme.
The proceedings focused on arguments pertaining to the voters’ right to information vis-a-vis the right to confidentiality of donors.
The issue at hand dates back to February 2017 when Finance Minister Arun Jaitley highlighted two critical points during his budget speech.
He emphasised that free and fair elections were impossible without transparency in political funding, and he lamented the lack of progress in achieving this transparency over seven decades.
This set the stage for what one might have hoped would be a resolution to this issue, but instead, the result was quite the opposite.
Ideas Page
A matter of greying (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
In a 2019 report, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) noted that by 2027 India will have the highest population increase, overtaking China as the world’s most populous country. India did, in fact, overtake China as the most populous country this year.
The report predicts that between now and 2050, India, along with Nigeria, Pakistan, Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Indonesia, Egypt and the United States, will show the highest increase in population and will make up over half the world’s population.
Further, the population of Sub-Saharan Africa will double by 2050. But, the rest of the world presents a very different picture.
David Bloom, writing for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2020, observed, “greying” is the dominant trend in the 21st century.
According to him, “this is a cumulative result of increasing longevity, declining fertility and the progression of larger cohorts to older ages.”
For instance, over 28 per cent of Japan’s population is aged 65 years and above. Three decades ago, in the 1970s, “the world was populated by more than three times as many adolescents and young adults (15 to 24-year-olds) than older people.” By 2050, these age groups will be “on par”.
Explained
How air pollution impacts economic growth: The evidence in research (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Given that GDP growth rates and per capita income levels are generally seen as having a direct trade-off with emissions levels, conventional wisdom tends to dismiss air pollution as an unavoidable by-product of economic growth. And this tends to limit the urgency for formulating a policy response to the problem.
A slew of new research, however, points to exactly the opposite: that air pollution has a direct, and a particularly debilitating impact on GDP growth and per-capita income levels by way of reduced worker output, lower consumer footfall in consumption-led services, hampered asset productivity, and a surge in health expenses and welfare allocations, especially in the productive age groups.
This is particularly worrying for a country like India, where key economic hubs such as Delhi NCR are now prone to a recurrent annual cycle of high pollution with the onset of every winter, and Mumbai is struggling to cope with a polluting haze after the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon, as highlighted in a series recently in The Indian Express.
Economy
Services sector PMI grows at a lowest pace in 7 months (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s services sector accelerated at its slowest pace in seven months in October as output and new business expansion remained soft due to inflationary pressure, a survey said.
At 58.4 in October, the seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index indicated a slowdown in expansion as against 61 in September, signalling the slowest rate of growth since March.
However, a slight tapering in demand led to sluggish job creation, but underlying activity remained solid and exports continued to rise healthily, the survey said.
“Several companies managed to secure new contracts, but some mentioned subdued demand for their services and competitive conditions,” said Pollyanna De Lima, Economics Associate Director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Despite reduction in value from September, service sector growth in October was led by export and business gains from Asia, Europe and the US.
Export was an area of particular strength in October, with new business gains from Asia, Europe and the US boosting growth to its second-highest in the series over its nine-year history.
On the price front, services companies in India reported an increase in their expenses in October, which they attributed to higher food, fuel and staff costs.
World
Hezbollah threatens escalation, Blinken returns to seek war pause (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against growing U.S. pressure for a “humanitarian pause” in the nearly month-old war to protect civilians and allow more aid into Gaza, insisting there would be no temporary cease-fire until the roughly 240 hostages held by Hamas are released.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his third trip to Israel since the war began, reiterating American support for Israel’s campaign to crush Hamas after its brutal Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
He also echoed President Joe Biden’s calls for a brief halt in the fighting to address the worsening humanitarian crisis.
Alarm has grown over spiraling Palestinian deaths and deepening misery for civilians from weeks of Israeli bombardment and a widening ground assault that risks even greater casualties.
Overwhelmed hospitals say they are nearing collapse, with medicine and fuel running low under the Israeli siege. About 1.5 million people in Gaza, or 70% of the population, have fled their homes, the United Nations said.