reys

But that is where the similarity between Germany and India ends. How the two nations are likely to relate to each other will depend on how they deal with an important dissimilarity. Post-World War II Germany, like post-War Japan, chose to shy away from geopolitics and rose, instead, as a geo-economic power. It is only recently that both Germany and Japan have tried to leverage their geo-economic power to recover geopolitical influence in their respective regions.

This is happening precisely at a time when India is pursuing a more aggressive developmental agenda, giving greater importance to geo-economics over geopolitics. While old-fashioned analysts bemoan India’s inability to get its neighbours to ‘behave’ — look at Maldives, Nepal and, till recently Sri Lanka — the more forward-looking thinkers take the view that for India to play a larger geopolitical role in Asia and around the world, it must first become a more competitive and productive economy.

sucess of shg shows that social capital can triumph physical capital. or that trust in the society leads to prosperity

dickie bird ismail sheikh firozuddin

Dickie bird ismay and plan balkan

Dickie Bird Plan 1947 October 30, 2011No comments Mountbatten prepared a “Dickie Bird Plan” for India’s independence.  This plan was prepared by a committee of General Sir Hastings Ismay, Sir George Abell and Lord Mountbatten himself.  The Plan Balkan was completed and presented on 15-16 April 1947 by Hastings Ismay to assembly of provincial governors in Delhi.  Due to this, this plan was also called “Ismay Plan“. The main proposal of this plan was to that provinces should become first independent successor states rather than an Indian Union or the two dominions of India & Pakistan. As per this plan all the provinces viz. Madras, Bombay, United Provinces of Bengal, Punjab & North West Frontier etc. were proposed to be declared Independent. The states later would decide whether to join constituent assembly or not. This plan was not discussed in details with leaders of India and Mountbatten discussed just informally. He gave the plan a final touch and sent to London. Later when he moved to Shimla, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru joined him as a guest. Here the details of the plan were put by Mountbatten before Nehru. Nehru rejected the plan right away and told him that this plan would invite Balkanization of India and would provoke conflict and violence. Consequently, Mountbatten cabled to England that this plan was cancelled. So it was also called as plan balkan.

The difference between this and mt batten plan is that the latter gave independence to princely states only...while this one was giving sovereignty to british provinces ie the very constituent elements of india itself.

Later sardar would integrate the princely states by offer of privy purses and later madam indira gandhi under the wave of socialism that nationalised banks did garibi hatao would also mean removing privy purses of princes. What nehru giveth daughter taketh away

The Six-Day War took place in June 1967. The Six-Day War was fought between June 5th and June 10th. The Israelis defended the war as a preventative military effort to counter what the Israelis saw as an impending attack by Arab nations that surrounded Israel. The Six-Day War was initiated by General Moshe Dayan, the Israeli’s Defence Minister.

The war was against Syria, Jordan and Egypt. Israel believed that it was only a matter of time before the three Arab states co-ordinated a massive attack on Israel. After the 1956 Suez Crisis, the United Nationshad established a presence in the Middle East, especially at sensitive border areas. The United Nations was only there with the agreement of the nations that acted as a host to it. By May 1967, the Egyptians had made it clear that the United Nations was no longer wanted in the Suez region. Gamal Nasser, leader of Egypt, ordered a concentration of Egyptian military forces in the sensitive Suez zone. This was a highly provocative act and the Israelis only viewed it one way – that Egypt was preparing to attack. The Egyptians had also enforced a naval blockade which closed off the Gulf of Aqaba to Israeli shipping.

The U.N. Security Council called for a withdrawal from all the occupied regions, but Israel declined, permanently annexing East Jerusalem and setting up military administrations in the occupied territories. Israel let it be known that Gaza, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, and the Sinai would be returned in exchange for Arab recognition of the right of Israel to exist and guarantees against future attack. Arab leaders, stinging from their defeat, met in August to discuss the future of the Middle East. They decided upon a policy of no peace, no negotiations, and no recognition of Israel, and made plans to zealously defend the rights of Palestinian Arabs in the occupied territories.

Egypt, however, would eventually negotiate and make peace with Israel, and in 1982 the Sinai Peninsula was returned to Egypt in exchange for full diplomatic recognition of Israel. Egypt and Jordan later gave up their respective claims to the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to the Palestinians, who beginning in the 1990s opened “land for peace” talks with Israel. The East Bank territory has since been returned to Jordan. In 2005, Israel left the Gaza Strip. Still, a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement remains elusive, as does an agreement with Syria to return the Golan Heights
The Palestine Authority has welcomed the initiative as a “flicker of hope”. But the Israeli government has slammed it. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s position is that Israel will hold direct talks with “a demilitarised Palestinian state that recognises Israel as a Jewish state and a national homeland for the Jewish people”. This appears more like a delaying tactic than a genuine demand for resuming talks for various reasons.

First, the Jewishness of the state of Israel is a matter of contention at least till the fate of the Palestinian refugees is settled. Second, there’s no level playing field between Israel and Palestine. One is the mightiest military power in West A

The problem in the case of the Israel-Palestine conflict is that there’s a pro-Israel bias among the Western powers which stops them from putting real pressure on Tel Aviv to deliver. Israel knows that it can get away with anything. It’s the only nuclear armed nation in West Asia, though it hasn’t officially declared that. It faced allegations of war crimes against Palestinians in Gaza. It continues occupation of the West Bank in violation of the UNSC resolutions. Despite criticisms even from its allies in the West, Israel’s settlement policy remains intact. Still, were there any meaningful international efforts to hold Israel accountable for its actions or to put pressure on its leaders to change their policies?

The international community could actually take a lesson out of the Iran example. World powers were on the same page in putting pressure on Iran, through a mix of international sanctions and threats of isolation, over its nuclear programme. Even Iran’s allies such as Russia and China joined hands with the U.S. and Britain to build a global pressure regime which eventually worked in forcing Tehran to compromise. What was one of the most contentious global issues till a few years ago was settled amicably in a rare case of the triumph of public diplomacy. Why can’t a similar method be adopted in dealing with Israel, which is also a violator of accepted global norms? This is unlikely to happen immediately. But unless the Israeli exceptionalism is broken, there won’t be peace in the Israel-Palestine conflict. To break that, there has to be both carrots and sticks. Right now, there are only carrots in the kitty, plenty of them.

Why was the nation partitioned

Nhru in discovery of india says that although  it was our fault to start with but the british had it in their interest to keep the nation divided post independence. Same has been reiterated by maulana azad.  MIND BLOWING ANALYSIS.

1. The ncert says that it was wrong on part of congress to indulge in too much negotiation with jinnah.. they should have nipped the problem in the bud by making an all out ideological war against communalism.

2. Cripps mission which it is said created the blue print for partition was then a creation of both British as well as congress. But more of congress as they wouldn't have had this problem if they hadnt made jinnah a negotiating partner.

3. The cabinet mission and even cripps never talked of partition. It is even said that britisg through a sense of justice wanted to see their former possession intact rather than brittled. Jinnah agreed to the solution but nehru left himm no choice but to seek partition.

4. Forces of communalism were without doubt were nt in the hands of british but they had given birth to it by their policy of divide and rule...

5. Congress did little to disassociate itself from hindu mahajan sabha

Therefore no one is at fault and everyone ia at fault.

last year shit 1

 The European Union Customs Union (EUCU) is acustoms union which consists of all the member states of the European Union (EU), Monaco, and some territories of the United Kingdom which are not part of theEU (Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Bailiwick of Jersey, and the Isle of Man).




















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Recall the Article on Colonization of Asia. We had seen how the British, French and Americans had colonized almost entire South Asia.
After Second World War, most of these colonies attained independence. But they also had internal dispute regarding territories and borders.
One such dispute was Indonesia-Malaysia conflict over the Borneo islands.
This conflict + the then ongoing Vietnam War raised fears of increased external involvement in the newly independent states.
They feared that south east region would become a theatre of western vs. communist ideologies
Hence they decided to form a common platform:
To resolve bilateral issues among themselves
Present a collective front to the world.
1967, five countries signed “Bangkok declaration” to form the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), later another 5 joined. Thus today ASEAN has 10 members
List of 10 ASEAN nations
Indonesia (ASEAN HQ is here, in Jakarta)
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Thailand
Brunei
Cambodia
Laos
Vietnam
Myanmar
Musyawarah & Mufakat
ASEAN follows the principle of “ASEAN way”. Meaning,

Musyawarah And Mufakat  [deliberation and consensus]
don’t use force/confrontation
don’t interfere in the internal matters of states
Informal discussion
minimal institutionalization
To achieve “the ASEAN way”, Treaty of Amity and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC) was signed.

TAC Treaty
It provides the guiding principles of ASEAN

they’ll not interfere in the internal affairs of one another,
they’ll not use threat or use of force to settle differences / disputes
they’ll settle of differences or disputes by peaceful means,
They’ll effectively cooperate among themselves.
they’ll mutually respect each other’s’ independence, sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and national identity
Every State has right lead its national existence free from external interference, subversion or coercion,
India had signed TAC treaty with ASEAN in 2003.

Timeline: Growth of ASEAN since 90s
1994 ASEAN regional forum (ARF). already discussed in separate article click me
1997 ASEAN+3 is formed to increase regional integration. This includes
China
Japan
South Korea
2002 Treaty to control haze pollution in South East Asia
2006 ASEAN gets observer status in UNGA (General assembly)
2007 Cebu declaration for energy securities and renewable energy.
2010 Chiang Mai Initiative (CMI)
It is a currency swap agreement among ASEAN +3,
It provides emergency liquidity to those economies during crises.
2012
Asean Human Rights Declaration
21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh Combodia with theme:“ASEAN: One Community, One Destiny”
20

The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) and National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) have backed Union Minister Ramdas Athawale’s suggestion to raise the current quota to accommodate upper caste poor. As long as the current 49.5% quota for SC, ST and OBCs remains intact, we are open for extending it for upper caste poor, said both NCBC and NCSC.and

 23 other Indian Ocean countries today started a tsunami mock drill to test warning and detection systems. The exercise involves evacuation of around 35,000 people from the coastal regions of India. Named ‘IOWave16’, the two-day mock drill organised by UNESCO simulated a tsunami warning with an earthquake of magnitude 9.2 in the eastern Indian Ocean

An NCERT panel has found serious deficiencies and flaws in the textbooks suggested at primary level by state boards. It held the authors responsible for the students' future and said most authors were writing books only for earning money. The method of treatment of the subject and the flow of language too are faulty, the panel said while making recommendations.

Starting next week, the Central Information Commission will give real-time updates of queries filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act through email and SMS. The CIC would function as an e-court with all its files moving digitally, making the hearings faster and more convenient. The CIC has already scanned around 1.5 lakh documents and converted them into digital form.

Banni Grasslands Reserve or Banni grasslands form a belt of arid grassland ecosystem on the outer southern edge of the desert of the marshy salt flats of Rann of Kutch in Kutch District, Gujarat State, India. They are known for rich wildlife and biodiversity and are spread across an area of 3,847 square kilometres. They are currently legally protected under the status as a protected or reserve forest in India. Though declared a protected forest more than half a century ago Gujarat state's forest department has recently proposed a special plan to restore and manage this ecosystem in the most efficient way.[1][2] Wildlife Institute of India (WII) has identified this grassland reserve as one of the last remaining habitats of the cheetah in India and a possible reintroduction site for the species.[3]

Melody and rhythm are the common grounds for music, be it Western or Indian. Indian music is essentially monophonic (single melody format or homophonic) while Western music can be polyphonic (multiple notes played or sung in harmonised unison), monophonic or a combination of both.This was later enhanced by the Muslim influence and this musical bifurcation was described for the first time as Hindustani and Carnatic music by Haripaladeva in his text the 'Sangeetsudhakara' (1309-1312 AD).

Both the styles are monophonic, follow a melodic line and employ a drone (tanpura) with the help of one or two notes against the melody. Both the styles use definite scales to define a raga but the Carnatic Style employs Shrutis or semitones to create a Raga and thus have many more Ragas than the Hindustani style. Carnatic ragas differ from Hindustani ragas. The names of ragas are also different. However, there are some ragas which have the same scale as Hindustani ragas but have different names; such as Hindolam and Malkauns, Shankarabharanam and Bilawal. There is a third category of ragas like Hamsadhwani, Charukeshi, Kalavati etc. which are essentially Carnatic Ragas. They share the same name, the same scale (same set of notes) but can be rendered in the two distinctively different Carnatic and Hindustani styles. Unlike Hindustani music, Carnatic music does not adhere to Time or Samay concepts and instead of Thaats, Carnatic music follows the Melakarta concept.

Suficomposers like Amir Khusro, and later in theMughal courts. Noted composers such asTansen flourished, along with religious groups like the Vaishnavites.

Mention amzad sabri sabri brothers nusrat fateh ali a r rehman etc in a box

The Hindustani music system uses different musica
forms like the Dhrupad, Khyal, Thumri, Dadra, Tarana and so on. Of these, the important ones are Dhrupad, Khyal and Thumri. While the Dhrupad is the most strict form in terms of grammar and presentation format, the Khyal permits more liberty. The Thumri is the most flexible compared to the other two. But what separates one form from the other? How can one identify and differentiate? Let's see in detail. 

 Selvi v State of Karnataka

‘No person accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a witness against himself.’ (the ‘right to silence’). The Court has, apparently, also held that even when a person volunteers to be subject to these tests, their result cannot be admitted as evidence in a court of law.

In a recent case, Rajbala v. Haryana (2015), a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India strongly rejected the doctrine of substantive due process in India. In this case, the constitutional validity of the Haryana Panchayati Raj (Amendment) Act, 2015 was in question. Under the Act, five categories of persons were considered ineligible to contest elections for certain offices in panchayats in Haryana (for example, those against whom criminal charges of a certain kind were framed, those who had not paid their electricity dues, those who did not have specified educational qualifications, those who did not have a functional toilet in their homes, etc). The Act was challenged on the ground that it was “wholly unreasonable and arbitrary and therefore violative of Article 14 of the Constitution”. Though the Supreme Court rightly held that a statute cannot be invalidated merely because it is “arbitrary”, it also went on to reject the U.S. doctrine of substantive due process by holding that Indian courts “do not examine the wisdom of legislative choices unless the legislation is otherwise violative of some specific provision of the Constitution”, as “to undertake such an examination would amount to virtually importing the doctrine of ‘substantive due process’ employed by the American Supreme Court”, and under the Indian Constitution “the test of due process of law cannot be applied to statutes enacted by Parliament or the State Legislatures”.

The Rajbala decision is particularly interesting because earlier Benches of the Supreme Court, in cases like Ramlila Maidan Incident (2012) and Selvi v. State of Karnataka(2010), have repeatedly held that substantive due process and due process generally are a part of Indian constitutional law under Article 21 of the Constitution.

1. Size of Council of Ministers - After the 1989 defeat of Congress, the first National Front government was formed by a coalition of Janata Dal and other local parties with outside support of Left and the BJP. This was a minority government under VP Singh. For the period from 1989 onwards the number of ministers were on the discretion of the Prime Minister and were done to placate the allies. Ministries were split into individual functions so that Ministers could be given their own fiefdoms to run. This also increased the power and stature of individual leaders and could lead to unstable governments and too many important people in the government to cater to. To resolve this, 91st Amendment introduced in 2003-04, capped the upper level of Ministers to 15% of the strength of the  "popular house of the legislature" implying LS in case of Parliament and Vidhan Sabha in case of states. Exceptions were given for smaller legislature of Goa, Sikkim & Mizoram. This too was on a higher side compared to the recommendation of National Committee to Review the Working of the Constitution (NCRWC) of max 10%. I feel that even the 10% was higher but 15% is too much given that only 272 MPs are needed to form the government, which means that at the maximum possible there would be 1/3 of the government in the driving seat.
2. Anti-Defection Law - The anti-defection law was enacted in 1985 by the Rajiv Gandhi government and the intention was to remove horse trading and poaching of legislators by the parties. The law basically states that if a legislator elected on one party's ticket, resigns and moves to another party, his election will be nullified and he has to seek fresh elections on another party's ticket. However, if 1/3 of the party members left the party it did not qualify as defection. For smaller parties in the parliament, this was still a problem because smaller numbers of party members could still be poached by other parties without invoking the Anti-Defection law. To strengthen the Anti-defection law, this limit was increased from 1/3 to 2/3 members of the party in the 91st Amendment, thus making it more difficult for individuals and factions within the party to defect.

ramjawaya kapoor vs state of punjab

Our Supreme Court has recognised separation of powers as part of the basic structure of the Constitution, and can therefore strike down even amendments to the Constitution that infringe upon this principle.

The Delhi government has appointed 21 MLAs as parliamentary secretaries. Several other State governments have also taken this route in the past; earlier State governments in Delhi have also made such appointments, although fewer in number. This is part of a trend of weakening the power of legislative bodies by governments which has developed over the last three decades.

The concept of office of profit finds place in Articles 102 and 191 of the Constitution, which state that an MP or MLA will be disqualified if he or she occupies such an office. The idea is that every legislator should be able to carry out legislative duties without any obligation to the government of the day. As Ministers have to be members of the legislature, they are exempt from this disqualification. The Constitution also recognises that there may be other cases where exceptions may be required and allows Parliament and State legislatures to make exemptions by passing a law. In several cases, courts have examined this issue and concluded that the key question is whether occupation of such office will make a legislator beholden to the executive. In general, a person is considered to hold an office of profit if four conditions are met: (a) he holds an office, (b) the office is one of profit, that is, it carries some benefits, (c) the office is under the control of the Central or the State government (d) the office is not that of a Minister or exempted by an Act of Parliament or State legislature.

The 91st amendment to the Constitution recognised the problem of the government trying to win over legislators by giving them ministerial berths. It limited the number of ministers, including the Chief Minister, to 15 per cent of the strength of the Lok Sabha or State Legislative Assemblies. For Delhi, Article 239AA of the Constitution limits the number to 10 per cent of the strength of the Legislative Assembly (which is seven persons). The question is whether by appointing 21 more MLAs as parliamentary secretaries — which will make 40 per cent of the membership have some type of an executive role — the nature of the Legislative Assembly is being changed. That is, whether such an Assembly will still be able to exercise its oversight role over the government. An argument has been made that these parliamentary secretaries will be able to aid the government in being more responsive to citizens’ needs. That argument, however, misses the point of separation of powers. The role of legislators is not to help the government do its job better, but to ensure that it functions in a proper manner. That is, the legislator exercises the role of a watchdog over the government on behalf of citizens and not as an agent of the government.

Disempowering the legislature

 Two other developments, the anti-defection law and MPLADS/MLALADS (local area development schemes), also weaken the separation of the legislative arm from the executive. The anti-defection law was enacted in 1985 through the 52nd amendment to the Constitution. This requires all legislators to abide by the party diktat on every vote in the legislature. Therefore, the legislator cannot exercise independent judgement on any issue if the party leadership has taken a position. Thirty years of experience shows us that this has led to concentration of power in party leaderships. For instance, one sees any government that is trying to build consensus — such as for the Goods and Services Tax legislation — negotiate with the leaderships of various parties, rather than convince individual MPs on the merits of the case. Also, the ruling party can require all its MPs to vote in support of a motion. These MPs have effectively lost their rights — and therefore cannot do their duty — of exercising their independent judgement on issues and performing the watchdog role.

In 1993, the Central government started MPLADS, through which legislators can earmark a certain amount of public funds for projects in their constituency. The concept has been adopted by many states as MLALADS. The argument was that elected MPs and MLAs know the needs of their electorate well and can be effective in allocation of resources. This again subverts the role of legislators. Their role is to allocate the entire Central and State budgets, and to monitor the spending. They are expected to use their knowledge of ground-level issues in this allocation, and see that the funds are spent properly. By providing each of them a specific amount to spend on projects, their oversight role is weakened.

The role of legislators is critical in a democracy. They are elected by citizens, and have the task of ensuring that the government is acting in the best interests of the public. In this, they are expected to exercise their independent judgements on what constitutes public and national interest. They act as a bulwark against autocratic actions of the executive. Therefore, it is imperative that their independence is protected. Actions that impinge on such independence, such as excessive appointments to executive positions, the anti-defection law and MPLADS, should be reversed. Otherwise, there is a risk of a slow erosion of the institution of legislatures, which could put at risk the very existence of our republic.

time in 11 years and the second time in nearly three decades, the Supreme Court is functioning without a Muslim judge, reported The Indian Express. “It’s not a question of their rights being denied, it’s a question of proper representation of all religions, castes and regions at the Apex court,” said ex-CJI KG Balakrishnan

Model BIT

To what extent, the new model BIT has removed the problems of old draft?

There were several problems of the earlier draft as discussed in salient features above. It had not much emphasis on protection; had vague definitions and posed problems for India. It was also considered a pro-State document, heavily favouring the host state. Due to this, it created a problem for India to renegotiate the existing BITs with 73 different countries. Further, the language of the earlier draft was  that it inhibited India to negotiate BITs favourable to its own investors.

The recently released draft has made a balanced approach, is clear and tries to take care of not only foreign but also domestic investors. It also gives a fair amount of room to India to negotiate BITs with different countries on different terms.  It has done away with the vague norms of ‘fair and equitable treatment’ and replaced the same with clear and transparent standards of treatment, leaving no room for arbitration in future. It also inserts new concepts, like requiring arbitrators to be impartial, independent, and free from conflict of interest; transparency in arbitral proceedings; and acknowledges the possibility of setting up an appeals mechanism to review tribunal awards.

Does the new model suffer with some drawbacks?

Despite having accommodated positive changes, it suffers from certain fundamental drawbacks, for instance:

It restores its unconditional support of the Indian judicial system. It repeatedly refers to the need for “exhaustion of local remedies.” It is prescribed in the Model that foreign investors can raise a treaty dispute with India and similarly, an Indian investor can claim against a foreign state only after approaching local courts and eliminating the possibility of domestic resolution. The model also recalibrates the limitation period for such disputes, requiring that cases be filed before local courts within one year of acquiring knowledge of the disputed claim. The investor must then wait five years for that process to play out before seeking an arbitrated solution. Restoration of such traditional faith of the Model in the India judicial system – characterised with inordinate delays and systemic problems of quality of adjudication – sounds a utopian blare defeating the purpose of unlocking BIT-related deadlocks.

The removal of ‘most favoured nation’ clause – a standard element of typical BIT basket and which is expected by the USA to be an integral feature of BITs in India looks a intransigent approach of the Model.

Exclusion of taxation from its purview is a clear indication of the Government’s reaction to various disputes with firms like Vodafone, Nokia,andCairn on tax-related matters. As a response to the multifarious disputes India faces under the prevalent BITs, the Model has put in place an unbending grievance redressal mechanism (local remedies, lesser limitation, mandatory waiting period, etc.).

What is Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS)? What role does it play?

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) or investment court system (ICS) is an instrument of public international law that grants an investor the right to use dispute settlement proceedings against a country’s government.

The ISDS’s focus on weak access to justice for the host state’s local investors and a viable one for the foreign investors has drawn flares of objection from all quarters. Its self-imposed faith in the competence of the host country’s judicial system without considering the fact that the delicate issues of bilateral trade and commerce.  Like these the ISDS contains a substantially flexibility which affects justice delivery process in case of bilateral investment issues.

New BIT

In a surprising recent move, India has served notices to 57 countries including the UK, Germany, France and Sweden seeking termination of bilateral investment treaties (BITs) whose initial duration has either expired or will expire soon.

For the remaining 25 countries with similar treaties whose initial duration will expire from July 2017 onwards, such as China, Finland, Bangladesh and Mexico, India has asked for joint statements to clarify ambiguities in treaty texts, to avoid expansive interpretations by arbitration tribunals.

The Indian government intends to replace existing BITs with a new set of treaties designed to strike a balance between investor rights, regulatory space and investor responsibilities. This move is an outcome of India’s new Model BIT of 2015, which provides a more balanced and coherent policy framework, in tune with domestic investment policies as well as new realities of international investment. It comes as India faces a record number of claims from foreign investors seeking billions of dollars in compensation for the alleged violation of existing investment treaties.

Most foreign investors have adopted a wait-and-see approach as India embarks on this new path. Their existing investments in India will continue to enjoy treaty protection for the next 10 to 15 years, as most Indian BITs contain a so-called sunset clause. For instance, India’s BIT with the Netherlands extends protection to all qualifying investments (made before the date of termination) for an additional 15 years, so that investments made in India by Dutch companies before December 2016 will continue to benefit from the Treaty’s protections until December 2031.

India’s new Model BIT is a major departure from its earlier models (of 1993 and 2003) as it provides protection to foreign investors in more limited circumstances. Under the new Model, controversial elements such as Most Favoured Nation status have been completely dropped, while the scope of clauses on National Treatment and Fair and Equitable Treatment has been considerably narrowed down.

Investors may still initiate international arbitration proceedings under the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism. However, whereas this has hitherto allowed them to bypass domestic courts entirely, access to the ISDS mechanism has henceforth been made conditional on the exhaustion of local remedies. Foreign investors will have to first approach the relevant domestic courts for the resolution of an investment dispute before turning to arbitration.

The new Model includes an exhaustive list of economic, environmental and social measures to be exempted under the new BITs. This includes matters such as taxation, intellectual property rights and measures to protect macroeconomic stability.

The next big task for India is to negotiate its future treaties as per the new Model text. India is currently negotiating standalone BITs with the US and Canada, and a proposed free trade agreement with the EU includes an investment chapter. Negotiations for the proposed India-EU FTA were launched way back in in 2007.

Since the entry into force of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty of 2009, the competence for international investment agreements has shifted from individual member states to the EU. So it is unlikely that India and the Netherlands will start negotiations for a new BIT without the European Commission in the picture. Perhaps both countries will watch and wait until negotiations on the proposed India-EU FTA are finished.

India is also a major player in the ongoing negotiations for the Asian Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – a mega regional FTA being negotiated between 16 countries – which will also cover investment protection issues.

Post-Brexit, there is a renewed push by the UK to forge closer bilateral trade and investment ties with India. On its part, India is also keen to explore a new BIT with the UK as the previous treaty of 1994 has turned out to be problematic.

Sajid Javid, the UK’s Business Secretary before the new government’s cabinet shuffle this week, visited India this month to explore the possibility of an FTA between the two nations in the near future. India was the first destination for such trade talks since the UK voted to leave the EU last month.

Rather than seeking a new standalone BIT, India and the UK may opt for an investment protection chapter under a comprehensive FTA. Given the current deadlock over the India-EU negotiations, India’s chances of entering into a FTA with the UK are far greater than its chances of doing so with the EU.

In the past decade, India’s investment landscape has changed considerably. India is no longer a purely capital-importing nation. Since 2005, Indian companies have increasingly looked to expand their global footprints by investing abroad. Indian investors are increasingly seeking investment protection tools in those jurisdictions that are generally perceived to have greater potential risks and uncertainties related to the regulatory framework and the political climate. So it remains to be seen how New Delhi will strike a balance between such competing claims.

Nor is it yet clear what would be the Indian government’s approach to investment chapters in FTAs. These are fraught with complexity and legal hurdles. As pointed out by Abdulkadir Jailani, an official from Indonesia’s foreign ministry, terminating an investment chapter of 

Gst criticism

Narendra Modi stated that ushering in of the GST marked a milestone whereby the country was transitioning into “one nation, one market and one tax”. He further argued that GST was “good and simple”, and will help accelerate economic growth, incomes and employment.

While few would dispute about the GST being good, given that it has been implemented by over 140 countries around the world, there are serious doubts about it being simple as implemented in India, and its impact on economic growth, income and employment.

The present GST regime may even aggravate inflation to the detriment of the poor and vulnerable sections including the farming community.

The GST implemented in the country stipulates the levy of five GST rates namely at 0%, 5%, 12%, 18% and 28%.

However, effectively there are more than five GST rates for different commodities in the country. For instance, certain items, such as small, medium and luxury cars, which are in the highest GST tax bracket of 28% will also attract an additional cess ranging from 1 to 15%.

Added to that a window has also been left open for states to levy additional taxes, which was the reason why the film industry in Tamil Nadu went on an agitation to protest the proposal to levy local or entertainment taxes on films in the state.

Critics such as Bibrek Debroy, Member of the Niti Aayog have pointed out that the GST regime implemented in India is not the ideal regime recommended by the 13th Finance Commission based on the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) model. NCAER in 2009 estimated that moving to the GST can increase India’s growth by 0.9 percentage point to 1.7 percentage point. Professor M Govinda Rao, a leading public finance expert and former member of the 14th Finance Commission notes that multiple rates rob GST of lower administrative, compliance and distortion costs.

The public has always been told that multiple income tax rates encourage tax evasion and lead to higher administrative and compliance costs, which was the justification used to lower and reduce income tax rates and categories in successive budgets presented by our Finance Ministers.

This being so, one doesn’t understand the logic and justification for going in for a GST regime with multiple tax rates, which will also result in lobbying and rent seeking.

Further, the 28% GST rate implemented in the country is the highest among all countries in the world. In the UK, it is around 20%, Australia 10% and in Singapore about 7%. Whether a poorly designed GST regime is preferable to a no-GST regime is debatable.

The GST regime is not simple and quite confusing in many respects to businesses and the public.

Take the case of mobile phones, where the handset is taxed at 12%, earphones at 18% and the charger at 28% under the GST.

In the case of rolling shutters, where the handle will attract GST of 18% and the inbuilt lock at 12%.

Similarly, while personal computers and printers will be charged GST at 18%, monitors and projectors attract GST of 28%.

Ideally, the bills issued to purchasers should demarcate between these two sets of commodities and charge GST on the items which attract different slabs of GST. This gives ample scope for traders and hoteliers to cheat consumers.

Note: Rent seeking is the practice of manipulating public policy or economic conditions as a strategy for increasing profits.

Who are in demand since GST?

Business establishments in Punjab have started looking out for accountants to resolve the confusion prevailing in the markets. However, they are finding it hard to locate qualified persons as the demand has shot up manifold in the last few days.

With GST in place, the number of firms under the tax ambit has increased 9-10 times. Now, any business with Rs 20 lakh turnover will fall under tax regime.

“Earlier, business establishments up to Rs 1.50 crore were exempted from the tax ambit but now those up to Rs 20 lakh are under the tax ambit and those who were not familiar with the tax system are in urgent need of accountants to deal with the complicated tax system,” said a wholesale merchant in Mandi Fenton Ganj, which is one of the largest wholesale market of All Kirana and dry fruit items, adding that everyone cannot afford to hire chartered accountants (CAs).

“Though seminars are being conducted for wholesalers and retailers by various forums but still traders are not able to understand it completely,” said Raj Kumar, president of Kirana Merchant Association Mandi Fenton Ganj.

He added that several government officials have still not able to clear the the questions pertaining to GST. “No one knows how much time it will take to bring things to normal, but we need accountants urgently,” he added.

A senior official of Jalandhar Sports market association said that though workshops are being organised educate traders but still there is a need for accountants.

“We have been organising workshops to educate the traders but still there is a need for accountants to cope up with the initial pressure and confusion,” said Ravinder Dhir, a senior official of Jalandhar Sports market association.

Puneet Oberoi, a CA and who had delivered hundreds of lectures on GST across the state, said that not only there is confusion, but markets are also moving very slowly.

“There is 10-fold increase of traders and businesses under tax regime post GST in Jalandhar itself,” he said, adding, “In India there is no such institution that prepares qualified accountants.”

Bankruptcy code next to gst only

Today is a historical day for economic reforms in India when the Rajya Sabha passed the major economic reform Bill moved by the Government i.e. ‘Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016’. This is considered as the biggest economic reform next only to GST...

Read more at: http://www.livelaw.in/parliament-passes-insolvency-bankruptcy-code/

Ethics and empathy

Ethics. . Evil as the lack of empathy.. the shared human values and the inability to connect to ones suffering

The british nolan committee said no to empathy and placed emphasis on objectivity.

However indian administration given the level of socio economic empowerment of  citizen. An empathetic approach is best suited.

2nd arc has called for a code of ethics regulating bureaucrat behavior which has empathy as one of the important pillars.

Banality of evil. ..the defendants were nt gyilty alone it was sanctioned by the society which came to accept it
From the nuremberg trials

ordinance

The seminal question that came up in reference before the seven-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India T.S. Thakur dealt with the constitutionality of seven successive re-promulgations of The Bihar Non-Government Sanskrit Schools (Taking Over of Management and Control) Ordinance of 1989. The State government had approached the Supreme Court after the High Court of Patna declared that repeated re-promulgation of the ordinances was unconstitutional after relying on the D.C. Wadhwa judgment on the dos and don’ts of promulgation of ordinances by another Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in 1986.

Confirming the High Court’s view, Justice Chandrachud, supported by Chief Justice Thakur in a separate judgment, held that “re-promulgation of ordinances is a fraud on the Constitution and a subversion of democratic legislative processes.”

Mandatory obligation

“The requirement of laying an ordinance before Parliament or the State Legislature is a mandatory constitutional obligation cast upon the government,” Justice Chandrachud held in the common judgment

RTI

As of today, the Second Schedule will have the following organisations:1. Intelligence Bureau.
2. Research and Analysis Wing of the Cabinet Secretariat.
3. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence.
4. Central Economic Intelligence Bureau.
5. Directorate of Enforcement.
6. Narcotics Control Bureau.
7. Aviation Research Centre.
8. Special Frontier Force.
9. Border Security Force.
10. Central Reserve Police Force.
11. Indo-Tibetan Border Police.
12. Central Industrial Security Force.
13. National Security Guards.
14. Assam Rifles.
15. Sashastra Seema Bal. 
16. Directorate General of Income-tax (Investigation) .
17. National Technical Research Organisation.
18. Financial Intelligence Unit, India.
19. Special Protection Group.
20. Defence Research and Development Organisation.
21. Border Road Development Board.

RTI draft amendments 

1. Proof of service should be submitted by the appellant.. 
suggestion - Registery should provide the proof of service if appellant unable to

2. Proof of complaint to be served by the appellant made compulsory

3. Appeal closed in case of death of appellant 

4. CIC can dismiss the appeal without a chance hearing to the appellant 
suggesstion this is draconian measure and should be done away with 

5. Different fromats for appeal and  complaint.

Information commissioners will continue to wield an iron fist but inside velvet gloves, since, until the information
commission becomes a constitutional body, it will continue to face the Sword of Damocles — that of the governor, who is the appointing authority for information commissioners on the recommendation of the CM, cabinet minister and leader of the Opposition. But for the removal of the information commissioner, as per Section 17 of the RTI Act, a Supreme Court inquiry is necessary on the governor’s referral. During the period of inquiry, the governor can
suspend or even prohibit the information commissioner from holding office.

This issue needs to be addressed as it conclusively transpires that the actual punishing authority is not the governor but the SC, whereas the appointing authority is the governor. What also deserves mention is that the first UP information commissioner was unceremoniously ousted from office. The SC inquiry had found him innocent. It’s another matter that the inquiry report came out after he had passed.

2nd arc has said that CJI should be included within the selection commuttee

at state level too High court chif justice 

Sanno Devi, a person with speech and hearing impairment, who possessed an Antodyaya ration card, which is provided to the poorest of the poor, recalled how her ration was stopped in 2012 and it was the CIC which finally ordered a compensation of Rs 18,000 each to her and seven others whose ration had been stopped similarly. But the Delhi government challenged the order and took the matter to court. It lost there too but still did not release the compensation amount. It was only after the Delhi high court ordered a compliance of the order in December 2015 that Sanno Devi and others received the compensation amount.

All these cases highlighted the importance of the RTI Act in the lives of the poor and the needy.

The study had taken into consideration all the 27 RTI Act related orders of the Supreme Court, nearly 300 orders of the high courts from across the country and about 2,000 orders of the CIC and the state information commissions of Bihar, Assam and Rajasthan for a preparation of the study report.

non   imposition of penalty on PIO


 National Coordination Committee (NCC) may be set up under the chairpersonship of the Chief Information Commissioner with the nodal Union Ministry, the SICs and representatives of States as members. A provision to this effect may be made under Section 30 of the Act by way of removing difficulties. (para 5.6.4.d)

1 Section 30 of the Act stipulates as follows: “30 (1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the Central Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make such provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removal of the difficulty: Provided that no such order shall be made after the expiry of a period of two years from the date of the commencement of this Act” 8.1.2 The implementation of the Act is yet to stabilize and it is perhaps too early to identify difficulties that may be encountered. The Commission however has identified some initial difficulties which could impede smooth implementation of the Act. These have been highlighted in the preceding chapters of this Report. Some of these would require taking recourse to Section 30 of the Act. These are reproduced below for ready reference:

255 law commission on electoral reform

Law Commission Report on Electoral Reforms headed by A.P. Shah.

Wide Ranging Reforms Proposed- After extensive and in-depth analysis of various issues by the commission and due consideration and deliberations with the stake holders including of registered national and state political parties suggested a very comprehensive measures for changes in the law

 The Main focus– (1) Curbing criminalization of politics and needed law reforms’; and

                                  (2) Consequences and impact of candidates filing false affidavits and needed law reforms to check such practice’..

 Some of the reforms suggested are as follows in brief-

1. Election Finance-

The Commission does not consider a system of complete state funding of elections or matching grants to be feasible, given the current conditions of the country. Instead, it supports the existing system of indirect in-kind subsidies, with section 78B of the RPA being possibly amended in the future to expand these subsidies

a. Regulating the election expenses incurred or authorized by candidates or their election agents- currently extends from the date of nomination to the date of declaration of results. This period should be extended from the date of notification of the elections to the date of declaration of results

 b. Contribution from the company’s funds to a political party should be decided at the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) instead of its Board of Directors.

  c .Political parties should be required to maintain and submit annual accounts, duly audited by a qualified chartered accountant These accounts will fully and clearly disclose all the amounts received by the party and the expenditure incurred by it. The ECI will then upload these accounts online or keep them on file for public inspection on payment of fee.

  d  “statement of election expenditure” to be filed by every party  with an EC ,contesting an election within 75 days of the Assembly elections and 90 days of the General elections election;

 e. For a failure to lodge an account of election expenses -The disqualification of a candidate should be extended from the current three period up to a five year period,

2. Proportional Representation

 It is also clear, from the experience of other countries that any changes in India’s electoral system will have to follow a hybrid pattern combining elements of both direct and indirect elections It is clear that both the electoral systems come with their own merits and demerits – proportional representation theoretically being more representative, while the FPTP system being more stable.

 This, in turn will necessitate an increase in the number of seats in the Loksabha, which raises concerns regarding its effective functioning.

3. Anti Defection Law in India

The Law Commission recommends a suitable amendment to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which shall have the effect of vesting the power to decide on questions of disqualification on the ground of defection with the President or the Governor, as the case may be, (instead of the Speaker or the Chairman), who shall act on the advice of the ECI. This would help preserve the integrity of the Speaker’s office.

 4.Strengthening the office of the Election Commission of India

 The ECI should be strengthened by 

1. By giving equal constitutional protection to all members of the Commission in matters of removability

2. making the appointment process of the Election Commissioners and the CEC consultative-made by the President in consultation with a three-member collegium or selection committee, consisting of the Prime Minister; the Leader of the Opposition of the Loksabha (or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Loksabha in terms of numerical strength); and the Chief Justice of India.

 3. Creating a permanent, independent Secretariat for the ECI-

 5. Paid News and Political Advertisements

 a.       The definitions of “paying for news”, “receiving payment for news” and “political advertisement” should be inserted in section 2 of the RPA.

b.      The consequences attached to those indulging in such practices should be delineated by creating an electoral offence of “paying for news” / “receiving payment for news” in a newly inserted section 127B of the RPA

c.       In order to curb the practice of disguised political advertisement, disclosure provisions should be made mandatory for all forms of media.

6.Opinion Polls

At present EC prohibits the display of any election matter forty-eight hours before polling begins, is limited to display by means of “cinematograph, television or other similar apparatus”;has to be extended to the print media. And EC at present does not deal with the independence and robustness of the opinion polls.

The regulation of opinion polls is necessary to ensure that credentials of the organisations conducting the poll known to the public and to assess by the public about the validity of the methods used in conducting the opinion polls.

 7. Compulsory Voting

 The Law Commission does not recommend the introduction of compulsory voting in India and in fact, believes it to be highly undesirable for a variety of reasons described above such as being undemocratic, illegitimate, expensive, unable to improve quality political participation and awareness, and difficult to implement.

8. Election Petitions

 a.         The introduction of one or more “election benches” in each High Court, exercising jurisdiction over all election disputes under the RPA.  

b.        The procedure for presenting election petitions should be made simpler and less formalistic

 c.   The trial of election should be expediated-1.daily trial,

                                                                         2. minimising adjournments

 d.      The trial should be concluded within six months from the date of presentation of the petition; pass its order under section 98 within ninety days from the conclusion of arguments.

 (report should be sent to the Chief Justice of the High Court explaining the reasons for the delay of trial)

  Appeals to the Supreme Court should now only be on the basis of a question of law, instead of the earlier provision permitting appeals on questions of fact or law as grounds for appeal

 9. NOTA and the Right to Reject

 The Law Commission currently rejects the extension of the NOTA principle to introduce a right to reject the candidate and invalidate the election in cases where a majority of the votes have been polled in favour of the NOTA option.

10.The Right to Recall

The Law Commission is not in favour of introducing the right to recall in any form because it can lead to an excess of democracy, undermines the independence of the elected candidates, ignores minority interests, increases instability and chaos, increases chances of misuse and abuse, is difficult and expensive to implement in practice, especially given that India follows the first past the post system.

11.Totaliser for Counting of Votes

Totaliser for the counting of votes recorded in EVMs to prevent the harassment of voters in areas where voting trends in each polling station can be determined. Using a totaliser would increase the secrecy of votes during counting, thus preventing the disclosure of voting patterns and countering fears of intimidation and victimisation.

 Prior to the introduction of EVMs, ballot papers could be mixed under Rule 59A of the Election Rules, although this was not permitted for EVMs. 

12.Restriction on Government Sponsored Advertisements 

The Commission recommends regulating and restricting government sponsored advertisements six months prior to the date of expiry of the House/Assembly to maintain the purity of elections; prevent the use of public money for partisan

13. Restriction on the Number of Seats from which a Candidate May Contest

 In view of the expenditure of time and effort; election fatigue; and the harassment caused to the voters, section 33(7) should be amended to permit candidates to stand from only one constituency .(now from up to two constituencies.).

14. Independent Candidates

 provide for only political parties registered with the ECI under section 11(4) to contest Loksabha or Vidhansabha elections. The Law Commission recommends that independent candidates be disbarred from contesting elections because it allows a proliferation of independents, who are mostly dummy/non-serious candidates or those who stand (with the same name) only to increase the voters’ confusion.

 15. Preparation and Use of Common Electoral Rolls– The Law Commission endorses the ECI’s suggestions regarding the introduction of common electoral rolls for Assembly, Parliamentary, and local body elections. However, require an amendment in the State laws pertaining to the conduct of local body elections