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1 THE HINDU (6/6/17) Five Arab powers sever ties with Qatar Accuse it of backing militant and sectarian groups The Arab world s strongest powers cut ties with Qatar on Monday over alleged support for Islamists and Iran, reopening a festering wound two weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump s demand for Muslim states to fight terrorism. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain cut relations with Qatar in a coordinated move. Yemen, Libya s eastern-based government and the Maldives joined in later. Qatar denounced the move as based on lies about it supporting militants. It has often been accused of being a funding source for Islamists, as has been Saudi Arabia. Iran, long at odds with Saudi Arabia and a behind-the-scenes target of the move, blamed Mr. Trump s visit to Riyadh last month. Result of sword dance What is happening is the preliminary result of the sword dance, Hamid Aboutalebi, deputy chief of staff of Iran s President Hassan Rouhani, tweeted in reference to Mr. Trump s joining in a traditional dance with the Saudi king at the meeting. The diplomatic broadside threatens the international prestige of Qatar, which is home to a large U.S. military base and is set to host the 2022 World Cup. Qatar has for years presented itself as a mediator and power broker for the region s many disputes, but Egypt and the Gulf Arab states resent Qatar s support for Islamists, especially the Muslim Brotherhood, which they see as a political foe. Closing all transport ties with Qatar, the three Gulf states gave Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave. Aircraft banned In the harshest measures, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain s civil aviation bodies banned Qatari planes from landing in the kingdom s airports and banned them from crossing their airspace. Saudi Arabia accused Qatar of backing militant groups and broadcasting their ideology, an apparent reference to Qatar's influential state-owned satellite channel al Jazeera. [Qatar] embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at disturbing stability in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS (Islamic State) and al-qaeda, Saudi state news agency SPA said. It accused Qatar of supporting what it described as Iranian-backed militants in its restive and largely Shi'ite Muslim-populated eastern region of Qatif and in Bahrain. Qatar was also expelled from the Saudi-led coalition fighting a war in Yemen. Qatar denied it was interfering in the affairs of others. The campaign of incitement is based on lies that had reached the level of complete fabrications, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Page 1

2 India rejects Trump s allegation on Paris pact Did not sign agreement due to financial greed or fear of any country, says Sushma Swaraj India on Monday rejected U.S. President Donald Trump s allegation that it had joined the Paris climate agreement for a large financial incentive. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj described the allegation as unreal and said India did not join the agreement for financial greed. First of all, there is no reality [in Mr. Trump s allegation]. The Prime Minister has spoken about this issue and let me also emphasise that India has signed into the Paris agreement not because of pressure from any country nor for financial greed or fear of any country. We signed the agreement for our commitment to protection of climate, Ms. Swaraj said, explaining in Hindi the reasons for India joining the agreement. Rajasthan signs MoU to battle child malnutrition The Rajasthan government has signed a memorandum of understanding with three funding agencies to improve the nutritional status of children in 50 blocks of 20 districts. The new MoU was signed by the National Health Mission s (NHM) State unit and the State Women and Child Development Department with the Tata Trust, Action Contre La Faim (Action Against Hunger) of France and the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) on Saturday. State Medical and Health Minister Kalicharan Saraf was present on the occasion. NHM State Director Naveen Jain said a target had been set for treatment of 16,500 children suffering from severe acute malnutrition. 1,420 Nilgiri tahr in Kerala: survey A major part of the habitat of the species has been lost to plantations The first-ever Statewide population estimation of Nilgiri tahrs conducted by the Kerala Forests and Wildlife Department, using the bounded count method, has put the total population of the endangered species at 1,420, which include 664 at the Eravikulam National Park in Munnar. The survey covered the landscapes of Periyar, Thiruvananthapuram, Munnar, Parambikkulam, and Silent Valley. A comparison of the present count with earlier ones shows that there is not much variation in the State s tahr population. However, there were a number of locations where there was no sighting of the animal this time. A Statewide survey conducted in 2006 had reported sighting of 998 individuals in 11 populations, with the largest of 696 in the Eravikulam National Park. Page 2

3 It also reported an estimated population of 1,244 animals in different locations from direct observations and the department estimation figures in In the latest survey, the Thiruvananthapuram landscape with territorial and wildlife divisions and very good tahr habitats has reported only 173 animals. Of these, Varayattumudi shared 93 individuals and Sarkkarmotta and Varayadumotta have about 80 individuals. Experts say the Nilgiri tahr being confined to a narrow belt of higher elevation areas in a restricted geographical region and with specialised habitat requirement is all the more threatened. Threat to habitat A major part of the historical range of the tahr has been lost to plantations, including tea. Parts of the remaining grasslands have been planted with eucalyptus, wattle and pine. This is especially pervasive in the Nilgiris and Palani forests. Some plantations have also been established in the territorial forest divisions in Kerala posing threats to the adjoining tahr habitat, the report said. The population estimation was carried out by a technical committee chaired by P.S. Easa, member of the National Board for Wildlife. India successfully fires heaviest launch vehicle GSLV MkIII places heaviest satellite GSAT- 19 into orbit India on Monday leapfrogged into a select group of nations having their own indigenous cryogenic engine technology, when the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully launched its heaviest launch vehicle, GSLV MkIII-D1, and placed the country s heaviest satellite till date, GSAT-19, into a precise orbit. The rocket lifted off from the second launch pad into clear blue skies at 5.28 p.m., and soared above the moon which was rising in the evening, leaving a plume of smoke, a bright orange light shining below the rocket as the cryogenic engine fired up and took the rocket on its intended path. The GSAT-19, a communication satellite, expected to enhance India s communication infrastructure, was placed into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO), 16 minutes after launch, with a perigee (closest point to Earth) 170 km and apogee (farthest point from Earth) 35,975 km. It will take about two to three weeks to be placed in its intended orbit. The satellite weighs 3,136 kg. This successful launch will enable India to launch 4-tonne class satellites from India. These were earlier launched from launch pads abroad. The cryogenic engine, which ignited roughly about 5 minutes after lift-off, and was firing for 640 seconds, was a culmination of large amounts of work done over decades, A.S. Kiran Kumar, Chairman, ISRO, told a press conference after the launch. Page 3

4 Russian design ISRO has been trying to master development of an indigenous cryogenic for decades and has used indigenous cryogenic engines on earlier GSLV flights but modelled mainly on Russian design. On this GSLV, no technological element was borrowed or adapted from any other space organisation, Somanath S., Director, Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre (LPSC), ISRO, said. The cryo stage is a complex technology. We were making it for the first time; we faced no serious test failures or problems. That is a world record, he said, adding that despite limited resources, it is a marvel that we were able to achieve this. When the indigenous cryogenic engine started firing, the mood at Mission Control was upbeat, Mr. Kiran Kumar said. He said the engine was being tested and perfected since December More than 199 tests were done since December The entire team was confident, the Chairman said, however adding that there were some butterflies in the stomach. Business opportunities The GSAT-19 carries a Ka/Ku-band high throughput communication transponders. It also carries a Geostationary Radiation Spectrometer (GRASP) payload to monitor and study the nature of charged particles and the influence of space radiation on satellites and their electronic components, according to ISRO. The spacecraft will open up a lot of new vistas in the field of Internet connectivity, broadband connectivity, P.K. Gupta, project director, said. The successful launch of the GSLV MkIII- D1 also opens up business opportunities for ISRO. Definitely the credibility of the system goes up and customers will have greater confidence, Mr. Kiran Kumar said, adding that it would reduce insurance premiums. As far as Mk III is concerned, we are planning two launches every year, he said. More in the pipeline Two launches are coming up, which will however, happen from Ariane in French Guiana. The first one scheduled for June 28, will be the GSAT 18, a 3.3 tonne satellite, and the second one will be a 5.8 tonne satellite. Work is on to launch two approved missions Aditya-L1 and Chandrayaan-II in the next two years, Mr. Kiran Kumar said. Chandrayaan will be [launched] in the first quarter of next year, and Aditya around The Aditya-L1 will be placed in the halo orbit around the Lagrangian point of the Sun-Earth system, according to ISRO. Page 4

5 India s biodiversity riches jump up by 499 species Himalayas, Northeast and Western Ghats yield the most On World Environment Day, India has 499 reasons to cheer: 313 species of animal and 186 of plants have been discovered from various areas of the country last year. Animal Discoveries 2016, New Species and Records, brought out by the Zoological Survey of India on Monday, and Plant Discoveries 2016, by the Botanical Survey of India, bring the glad tidings. Wide variety Of the new animal species, 258 are invertebrates and 55 vertebrates. As many as 97 species of insects, 27 of fish, 12 species of amphibians, 10 of Platyhelminthes, nine of Crustacea and six of reptiles have been discovered and described by the scientists. There are 61 species of moths and butterflies (order Lepidoptera) and 38 of beetles (Coloeptera). ZSI Director Kailash Chandra said most of the new species were from the four biological hotspots of the country the Himalayas, the Northeast, the Western Ghats and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Animal Discoveries 2016 says that for the first time, the number of animal species in the country, including protozoa, has crossed one lakh 1,00,693 is the exact count. Till last year, India was home to 97,514 species of animals. Updated list A lot of species in different groups have been updated during the past one year. India is one of the 17 megadiversity countries and it has about 6.42 per cent of the global fauna, Mr. Chandra said. Plant Discoveries 2016 says that along with 186 new species, scientists have discovered seven new genera, four subspecies and nine new varieties from India, taking the number to 206. The publication lists 113 new records from India. The geographical distribution of the new plant species reveals that most discoveries were made in the Western Ghats (17%), followed by the Eastern Himalayas (15%), the Western Himalayas (13%), the Eastern Ghats (12%) and the west coast (8%). IMD to give malaria, chikungunya alerts 15-day advance warning linked to rain The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is working on a forecasting system to give 15-day warnings on the likelihood of a malaria or chikungunya outbreak, over different regions. Page 5

6 IMD Director-General K.J. Ramesh said such a service was part of a larger initiative by the department to provide custom, weather-related information to cope with challenges of a global warming and its associated impact of weather. Extreme rainfall events were on the rise, said Mr. Ramesh and this could also mean more instances of humid conditions and waterlogging that could precipitate vector-borne disease outbreaks. We have teamed up with the Medical Council of India and the Red Cross Society, Mr. Ramesh told The Hindu, and are customising our dynamical model (that simulates weather and forecasts, using supercomputers) for generating this information. Increased variation Speaking on the sidelines of a function marking World Environment Day, Mr. Ramesh said average Indian temperatures had risen 0.86 C since But the average annual rainfall (about 120 cm) hadn t changed much. This rain was now being distributed over fewer days. Also places that were once relatively drier are wetter and more humid [engendering conditions for water-logging and mosquito breeding] and our attempt is to give advance warnings to better prepare for outbreaks, he added. The IMD s National Climate Centre in Pune, traditionally tasked with forecasting the monsoon and documenting monsoon-related statistics, was being reorganised to provide such climate services. Diplomatic mayhem The Saudi-led bid to isolate Qatar could have far-reaching economicpolitical consequences The dramatic decision by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Egypt and Yemen to suspend diplomatic ties with Qatar could have far-reaching economic and geopolitical consequences. Tensions were brewing within the Gulf Cooperation Council for the past six years ever since Qatar started actively supporting the Muslim Brotherhood, a political Islamist movement that the Saudis and their close allies see as a threat to stability in West Asia. In 2014, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain had temporarily withdrawn their ambassadors from Qatar over this. But a suspension of diplomatic ties as well as air and sea travel to and from Qatar is unprecedented. Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain on Monday asked Qatari diplomats to leave their countries within 48 hours and Qatari citizens within 14 days. Saudi Arabia blames Qatar for harbouring a multitude of terrorist and sectarian groups that aim to create instability in the region. But such allegations can be raised against most Gulf countries. It is an open secret that both Saudi Arabia and Qatar back their proxy militant groups throughout West Asia. Take the case of Syria, where the Saudis back Salafi groups such as Ahrar al-sham, while the Qataris bankroll the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood. Both share the same goal: to overthrow the regime of Bashar al-assad. In Yemen, Qatar is part of the Saudi-led coalition that has been bombing the country for over two years. It is not immediately clear what drove Riyadh to take this extreme step. Emboldened by President Donald Trump s open embrace and anti-iran agenda, the kingdom could be making a Page 6

7 renewed attempt to rally Sunni countries under its leadership against Tehran. Qatar has historically played off both sides of the Saudi-Iran rivalry. Even as it joined the occasional GCC outbursts against Tehran, it maintained sound economic and diplomatic ties. Qatar s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who had a phone conversation with Iran s President Hassan Rouhani last week, is reportedly critical of the Saudi-led efforts to drive up an anti-iran agenda. It is to be seen whether Saudi Arabia has overplayed its hand. If Qatar continues to resist the GCC line, it could trigger a wider crisis in the region. Qatar is an economic powerhouse in the Gulf and hosts the headquarters of the U.S. military s Central Command. The air war command for the U.S.-led fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is also in Qatar. So any prolonged attempt to isolate the country would not only have economic consequences oil prices fluctuated soon after the decision was announced but also complicate the fight against the IS yet more. What West Asia requires is a united front against terror and lowering of Saudi- Iran tensions. Opening new fronts in the rivalry will only destabilise the region further. The case for a rate cut If the RBI wishes to do its bit to boost growth, it must keep its inflation target flexible Did demonetisation impact the economy badly? Observers have been awaiting the growth figures for the full year, , for a clear answer to the question. Well, the figures are out now. But the answer is not as clear as some would like to believe. Demonetisation happened on November 8, Observers had said its effects would be reflected in the figures for growth in the third quarter of the year (October-December). They were proved wrong. Growth held up quite well in Q3 compared to that in the previous quarter. Hold on, critics of demonetisation said, you will see the effect with a lag in the fourth quarter. It would appear they have been proved right. Growth, measured by Gross Value Added (GVA), did slow down from 6.7% in Q3 to 5.6% in Q4. But if demonetisation did impact the economy, growth for the year as a whole should have been lower than forecast before demonetisation. Check the timeline This has not happened. Growth in GVA for the year as a whole, at 6.6%, is in line with estimates prior to demonetisation. Growth in GDP, which is GVA plus net taxes, came in at 7.1% for This is what the Central Statistics Office (CSO) had forecast even before the impact of demonetisation became known. Some argue that the impact of demonetisation may not be reflected in aggregate growth but it is reflected in particular sectors that bore the brunt of demonetisation. Manufacturing slowed down from 8.2% in Q3 to 5.3% in Q4. The growth rate in construction over the two quarters changed from 3.4% to minus 3.7%. Segments of the services sector also slowed down sharply in Q4. The services sector as a whole was rescued by an acceleration in public administration, defence and other services. The difficulty is in disentangling the effect of demonetisation from that of other factors. Merely because growth in FY is lower than in or because there was a deceleration in Q4 of relative to Q3, we cannot conclude that demonetisation is primarily responsible. Page 7

8 In , the Indian economy reaped the benefits of a sharp drop in oil prices and the boost to consumption it gave. The Economic Survey of had estimated the potential gain for the next year at 2 percentage points of GDP. This gain was absent in when oil prices stabilised or even rose slightly. Private investment has continued to decelerate. The fall in GDP growth from 8% in to 7.1% in reflects these larger factors. Reserve Bank vs CEA So much for the impact of demonetisation. The fact remains that growth has decelerated over the past year. The policy question is: how should the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) respond? Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian and the RBI differ on this all-important question. Mr. Subramanian noted in an article last month that since the middle of last year (2016) there has been a noticeable deceleration in manufacturing activity. He went on to argue that there is a strong case for broad macro policy support, including monetary policy support, to reinvigorate the economy. (Mint, May 25, 2017.) That is not the line that the RBI has been taking. The minutes of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of April 20 noted that growth in GVA was poised to rise to 7.4% in from the then estimated level of 6.7% in Further, in its monetary policy report, the RBI noted that manufacturing activity had gained momentum in the second half of The RBI seemed to be saying: growth is recovering of its own accord, there isn t much that we need to do. This is not quite true. Even if growth were recovering, it would be below the output potential of the economy. We need to aim for higher growth. The case for the RBI to cut interest rates in order to support growth does not go away. But growth is not the primary mandate of the RBI today. The primary mandate is keeping inflation within a targeted band of 4% plus or minus 2%. The MPC s interpretation of this mandate has evolved. To start with, the MPC suggested that it only needed to ensure that inflation stayed with the overall band. In February 2017, the MPC made a significant shift: it signalled that its inflation target was 4%. Where do we stand in relation to this target? In his VKRV Rao memorial lecture last month, Mr. Subramanian argued that the economy has over-achieved on inflation. Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is well below the RBI s medium target. True core inflation, that is, inflation minus food, fuel and transport services, has been falling for the past several months. The central bank, however, is guided, not by past inflation, but by inflation expected in the future. In its monetary policy report of April 2017, the RBI noted that core inflation (CPI inflation minus food and fuel) was sticky. The RBI said it expected inflation to average 4.5% in the first half and 5% in the second half of There is every prospect that inflation in will be within the RBI s 4% target. However, if the RBI does not want to take chances, it can cite several factors that could cause the 4% Page 8

9 inflation target to be breached. GST might impact the price level adversely. The climatic factor known as El Niňo could disrupt food output. Commodity prices may harden. Allowances prescribed by the last Pay Commission could cause the inflation rate to edge up. And so on. For a government that is keen to push growth, the RBI s position does present a problem. A cut in the policy rate would help repair the balance sheets of banks and corporates and reverse the fall in the investment rate. It would further boost consumption. By checking the appreciation of the rupee we have seen over the past year, it would give a fillip to exports. Rupee not a worry Until December 2016, when the U.S. Federal Reserve announced the first of many interest rate increases expected in a tightening cycle, the concern was that any rate cut by RBI would lower the difference in yields on the rupee and the dollar, cause an exodus of funds from the Indian markets, and lead to a destabilising fall in the rupee exchange rate. This is not such a concern today when foreign inflows remain strong and the problem we have is of rupee appreciation. Whichever way you look at it, the Indian economy could use a rate cut today. However, the RBI s commitment to an inflation target of 4% renders a rate cut difficult. If the RBI wishes to do its bit to boost growth, there is only one way out. It must avail of the flexibility it has been provided under the inflation mandate. It must return to its initial commitment to the inflation band of 4% plus or minus 2% instead of being fixated on a 4% target. The alternative would be to squander a great opportunity for stepping up growth. T.T. Ram Mohan is a professor at IIM Ahmedabad. ttr@iima.ac.in Maha farm crisis Reforms that de-risk agriculture are required for a long-term solution to agrarian distress A strike by farmers in Maharashtra continues to affect normal life, despite the State government s announcement of an end to the strike last week. The farmers, whose demands include full waiver of farm loans, hikes in the minimum support price for agricultural produce and writing off of pending electricity bills, have been on an indefinite strike since June 1. As the strike nears the end of its first week, prices of essential goods such as milk, fruits and vegetables have risen steeply, causing distress to consumers. Some farmer groups agreed to call off their strike after Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis promised that his government would waive farm loans of small and marginal farmers worth about 30,000 crore, increase power subsidies, hike the price for milk procurement, and also set up a State commission to look into the matter of raising the MSP for crops. He also promised that buying agricultural produce below their MSP would soon be made a criminal offence. Other farmer groups, meanwhile, have stuck to their demand for a complete farm loan waiver and continued with their protest. It is notable that the protests have come soon after the Uttar Pradesh government waived farm loans earlier this year, setting off similar demands in other States. Yet, while Maharashtra s farmers have caught the Page 9

10 attention of the government, the focus on quick fixes has pushed aside the real structural issues behind the crisis. At the root of the crisis is the steep fall in the prices of agricultural goods. The price slump, significantly, has come against the backdrop of a good monsoon that led to a bumper crop. The production of tur dal, for instance, increased five-fold from last year to over 20 lakh tonnes in Irrespective of price fluctuations, MSPs are supposed to enable farmers to sell their produce at remunerative prices. But procurement of crops at MSP by the government has traditionally been low for most crops, except a few staples such as rice and wheat. This has forced distressed farmers to sell their produce at much lower prices, adding to their debt burden. Not surprisingly, the whole system of agricultural marketing has led farmers to feel cheated, and it was only a matter of time before they organised themselves to protest. Going forward, any long-term, wide-scale procurement of crops at MSPs looks unlikely; even a one-time full loan waiver is considered unrealistic by the Chief Minister, given the State s finances. The possible ban on buying produce below the MSP would just worsen the crisis by making it hard for farmers to sell their produce even at the market price. The only long-term solution is to gradually align crop production with genuine price signals, while moving ahead with reforms to de-risk agriculture, especially by increasing the crop insurance cover. Expediting steps to reform the Agricultural Produce Market Committee system and introduce the model contract farming law would go a long way to free farmers from MSP-driven crop planning. Finessing data collection Despite availability of employment statistics, data gaps need to be plugged The government has recently set up a task force headed by the Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog to recommend a methodology to generate timely and reliable employment data. India already has several globally respected sources of employment statistics, which include employment and unemployment surveys (EUS) conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) till at an interval of five years and annually with a thin sample; annual and subannual EUS by the Labour Bureau since ; the Census of India conducted every 10 years; an Economic Census conducted for agricultural (excluding crop production and plantation) or non-agricultural sectors at intervals; and other administrative data. However, with the changing times, new challenges need to be addressed. Filling in data gaps These include the need to collect detailed information on informal workers their earnings, and their working and living conditions, the need to reduce the time lag between the survey and release of data and the need to conduct short-term surveys for quick assessment of the impact of different policies on employment. A few data gaps need to be filled in, such as the absence of data on district-level employment for decentralised planning, data on circular migrant workers; the working and living conditions of women labour. Page 10

11 There are two more areas of employment statistics that need the attention of the task force. Complementing surveys Time-use surveys (TUS) to complement labour force surveys: It is now well accepted that TUS complement the labour force survey in two major ways. First, they can reduce, if not eliminate, underestimation of the workforce/labour force, which is known to be a major weakness of our employment statistics. This is because TUS, which collect comprehensive information on how people spend their time on different activities without missing any activity, are likely to capture even scattered, sporadic and irregular informal work of people. Also, under-reporting of workers due to the biases of investigators or of respondents is not likely to get in in this system of data collection. In addition, data on simultaneous activities are likely to net all work performed by people. They also throw additional light on the characteristics of the workforce-labour force that is not feasible under labour force surveys. This includes the scattered nature of work mainly of informal workers, multiple jobs performed by workers; the time spent on work in hours and minutes (useful in estimating underemployment); and measuring time stress experienced by workers as reflected in their total time spent on work as well as the time spent on simultaneous activities. Our study that has compared in details the NSSO ( ) and TUS data ( ) on the workforce has shown that a TUS provides valuable additional information on the labour force in India. The working group set up for the 68th EUS has already decided that a TUS should be conducted after an EUS in a staggered manner to collect additional and improved information on labour force. The ILO resolution The task force should also take note of the Resolution by ILO (2013) on Statistics of Work, Employment and Labour Underutilisation which intends to set new standards for work statistics to guide countries in updating and integrating their existing statistical programmes in the field. It defines work as any activity performed by persons of any sex and age to produce goods or to provide services for use by others or for own use (this definition is consistent with the concept of General Production Boundary under the System of National Accounts). Under the resolution, there are five distinguished forms of work. The resolution has also presented a new labour force status classification, which includes persons in employment, persons in unemployment and persons outside the labour force all defined slightly differently than earlier. In addition, there is a brand new concept of labour underutilisation, which includes time-related underemployment, unemployment reflecting an active job search by persons not in employment, and potential labour force, i.e. persons not in employment but who are willing to work under specific conditions. All countries including India are expected to develop their own system of work statistics keeping in mind its various uses and a national data collection strategy. As stated in the resolution, labour force surveys will be the main source of data for implementing the resolution. They will focus on employment and, where relevant, own use production of goods. Some countries may also include unpaid trainee work. Statistics on other forms of work will be collected periodically, either as Page 11

12 add-on modules to a labour force survey or as part of a stand-alone, special purpose survey, including a time use survey. A TUS is expected to supplement the labour force data to implement the resolution. Again, a national TUS will have to be conducted periodically using sound methods and concepts to complement the modified labour force survey to implement the resolution. Finally, the task force should recommend modifications in a manner that comparability with old and new data is maintained the new data should not be used to hide the declining rate of growth of employment of recent times. Unless policymakers know what is really happening, they will not be able to design correct policies. The President should be a voice for sanity and fairness A strong President can inspire us to stand up for all sections of the people, says Amartya Sen The President of India has an elevated standing as head of the Republic, and should be a voice for sanity and fairness, says Amartya Sen, Nobel laureate and economist. In the run-up to the presidential election, he answered questions via on the role of the President in a secular and federal democracy. An enlightened President has many things to do, but being a rubber stamp is not one of them, he says. Excerpts from the interview: President Pranab Mukherjee s term ends soon. Given that the President has only a formal, titular role, is it better to look for a candidate outside the realm of active politics? Is opening up the position for writers, artists, public intellectuals and so on more desirable? The President of India has an enormously important role in the leadership of the country. This is not only because of the particularly assigned duties of the President in special circumstances, as in a political crisis of governance, but also because of the elevated standing of the head of the Republic in motivating and inspiring the secular democracy of India, guided by the Constitution. While a number of statesmen and politicians have played that role with distinction, going back to Rajendra Prasad (the first President of India), leaders of thought from other walks of life including Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Zakir Husain, and K.R. Narayanan (among others) have also, by their prominent presence and stature, helped to lead India to remain faithful to itself reminding the country of the vision of fairness that gave birth to democratic and secular India after its long and hard fight for independence. At a time when sections of society are apprehensive about the secular credentials of the government at the Centre and there is criticism from abroad that religious freedom is under threat, what should be the role of the President in guiding the government and its policy? Should the President be activist by nature, or confine herself to the customary, constitutional role as a titular head of state? There are indeed serious reasons for concerns and apprehensions right now, based on observing the violations of human rights and of traditional protections that are going on in the country. The targeted victims come typically from vulnerable sections of the society from minority communities (particularly the poorer Muslims), Dalits and tribal people. The President has Page 12

13 potentially a hugely important role in insisting on fair treatment of all the people in the country and the immediate stopping of what The New York Times has alarmingly described, in its widely-read lead editorial of the day, vigilante justice in India. The recognition that India s image as a successful democratic country has dramatically declined across the world may be a minor concern (even though it does worry many Indians, and should have worried the Government of India as well), but the violations and wrongdoings themselves have reason to agitate all fair-minded people in India, whether they are themselves targeted or not. The President can be not only the face of India, but also a great voice for sanity and fairness. What sort of candidate would you endorse? Will you prefer someone with an independent mind, someone who will not be a rubber stamp, or someone who will take a strict, constructionist view of the Constitution and abide by its letter? Accountants need rubber stamps a country does not. The President not only has to exercise his or her own judgment, and to recognise that within the provisions of the Indian Constitution, he or she has a much bigger role than simply rubber-stamping decisions taken by others. A President can be quite tough and ultimately effective in asking the government to reconsider its priorities, especially when rights and fair treatment of countrymen are threatened, and also to take another area of serious transgressions when education, science and freedom of thought are undermined. There were very illuminating and quite long discussions in the Constituent Assembly on why certain provisions and articulations were necessary to stop the continuation of old injustices and the avoidance of new inequities. That background is extremely important in interpreting not only the nastiness of what are increasingly becoming the new rules of governance in India, but also for the determination to pursue equity to which the Indian Constitution made such an important contribution. An enlightened and strong President will have many things to do being a rubber stamp is not one of them. Given that the electoral college for electing the President of India is drawn partly from the State Assemblies, the President s office has a federal character. Doesn t this place an onus on the President to defend the rights of States? In practice, Presidents are often asked to endorse decisions adverse to State governments: for instance, imposition of Article 356 and appointment of Governors without consulting Chief Ministers. What should the role of the President be in such situations? You are absolutely right that the President of India has a natural role in ensuring India s constitutional federalism. When dictates of the Centre run counter to the legitimate rights and the traditional spheres of the States, the President certainly has a protective role that cannot be obliterated by the commands of the Centre. It would be absurd for the President to be guided only by the orders of the Centre when the Centre is itself an interested party. What qualities should a President have? The election of a President involves practical politics, but there are issues that go well beyond that. In building our future, we have to be careful not to shed the strength we have got from our past. Rabindranath Tagore wanted us to fight for freedom for all, with reason and determination. Mahatma Gandhi taught India the importance of public protest whenever we face inequities and Page 13

14 unfair treatment of vulnerable people (by the way, among the names suggested in the papers, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Mahatma s grandson, would be an excellent standard-bearer, given his knowledge, experience and wisdom). The President of India should fit into this broad, nonsectarian picture, inspired by the history of our fearless and shared movement for independence (a history that some leading politicians in India seem to have forgotten). Within his or her constitutional as well as evocative roles, a strong President can make a major contribution in inspiring us to stand up for fairness for all sections of the people. If we do not ask anything from our President except being a rubber stamp, we are very likely to get nothing more than a decorated rubber stamp. A passage through Europe While talking trade and terrorism, the Prime Minister also presented India as a defender of the global order Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Europe last week to galvanise India s ties with key European powers as well as to keep the momentum of his past visit to Europe going. In what has now become his signature style, he touched upon key aspects of Indian foreign policy interests pertaining to each of the four nations Germany, Russia, Spain and France. Despite Europe s inward-looking foreign policy orientation at the moment, several aspects of Mr. Modi s visit stand out which will help India over the long term. Trade, ties and terrorism The focus of the visit was clearly on boosting trade and economic ties with Europe. Mr. Modi s unabashed selling of India as an investment destination is the most striking aspect of his outreach to the West. One of the most important roles that leaders of major economies are expected to play in today s day and age is that of a salesman. And Mr. Modi is a salesman par excellence. Pledging a stable and transparent tax regime, he has been busy wooing global investors, arguing that development is not a mere political agenda but an article of faith for his government. In Germany, he addressed the Indo-German Business Forum while in Spain, he exhorted CEOs of leading Spanish companies to participate in initiatives like Make in India. To the Russian defence industry he sold the government s new policy of allowing Indian companies to manufacture defence equipment with foreign players. The other issue which took centre stage during Mr. Modi s tour was terrorism. Europe has been hit by a spate of terror attacks over the last two years, and the attacks in Britain have further underscored the enormity of the challenge facing the continent. In Russia, he urged the global community to block funding, weapons and communication modes of terrorists and to rise above the good terrorism/bad terrorism binary. Against the backdrop of growing concerns in India about Moscow s growing gravitation towards Pakistan, Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that India is facing a serious problem due to the threat of terrorism and that the situation is not an imaginary thing. Terrorism was also a common theme in Mr. Modi s discussions with the German, Spanish and French leaderships. Unlike in the past when Europe used to look at India s terror problem primarily through the lens of Kashmir, there is now a greater understanding of the changing nature of the terror threat and Page 14

15 how certain states abet the process of radicalisation. This has provided Mr. Modi with an opportunity to develop greater synergies with Europe in tackling this problem. This is also a time when Europe is concerned about its own future under the onslaught of Britain s impending exit from the European Union and America s flirtation with retrenchment under President Donald Trump. German Chancellor Angela Merkel gave vent to these concerns when she suggested that the times when we could completely rely on others are, to an extent, over. Partners for the future European powers now want to hunker down and are looking for new partners. China is wellpositioned to take advantage of this shift, given its economic heft. But European liberal values sit uneasily with Chinese authoritarian capitalism. India as a democratic rising power needs to position itself accordingly, and Mr. Modi was doing just that in Europe: presenting a subtle counter-narrative to China s rise. Towards this end, India under Mr. Modi wants to present itself as a defender of the global order: an order that has benefited India but is now under threat from Mr. Trump s isolationist tendencies and China s growing assertiveness. Describing the Paris agreement as a collective asset of the world, Mr. Modi assured the world during a joint news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, The protection of the environment and the mother planet is an article of faith. He wants to project India as a responsible global power interested in preserving the extant order. Mr. Modi s outreach, sustained over the last three years, has injected much-needed pragmatism in a relationship which was adrift for quite some time. Now the proverbial ball is in Europe s court. India rejects Trump s charge on Paris pact Worship of forests, worship of rivers, worship of mountains continue even now in India. These actions are part of India s ethos that are five thousand years old. These are all heritage of India. That is why I am rejecting the allegations completely and that is why India will continue to remain in the Paris agreement framework, whether the U.S. continues in it or not, she said. Ms. Swaraj also flagged the growing focus on H-1B visas in the U.S. as an Indian concern, and said the government was alert to the risks on this front. Since 2004 a cap has been in place for 65,000 visas. There are no changes in the lottery process and in visas for our Ph. D students; but, yes, we have concerns. I want to assure the country that we are in touch with U.S. Congress members and the Trump administration so that no amendments are brought to the law so that Indian interests are not hurt. She, however, downplayed the chances of growing disagreement between India and the U.S. affecting the bilateral ties after Mr. Trump became President. After the arrival of the Trump Page 15

16 administration, India-U.S. ties have not diminished. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mr. Trump spoke thrice on the phone. I spoke with my counterpart Rex Tillerson. Our Foreign Secretary met their officials. These meetings indicate that the Trump administration is trying to build the relationship between India and the U.S. as a relation of mutual benefit. The External Affairs Minister said that as of now, there were no plans of a meeting between Mr. Modi and his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines of the SCO summit scheduled in Astana for June 8 and 9. India to weather Qatar storm now More than half of the country s energy import needs are sourced from the Persian Gulf The government and energy officials said on Monday that the decision by seven West Asian countries, led by Saudi Arabia, to cut all ties with Qatar would have no impact on Indian interests. While most analysts say the move will not have an immediate effect, there will be repercussions for India too if the tensions continue and differences are not resolved. To begin with, India has tried to maintain a balance in the region, given the immense stakes and has traditionally stayed out of the Shia-Sunni, Arab-Persian or Wahabbi-Salafi divides thus far. With Qatar now estranged from Saudi Arabia and its allies, a further fragmenting West Asia will require even more deft diplomacy to keep these ties untouched by the tensions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Qatar and received Emir Al-Thani in 2016 and has also forged very close strategic partnerships with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which are crucial to his outreach in the region. Trade and manpower India sources more than half of its energy import needs from countries in the Persian Gulf. Six million Indians live and work in West Asia and they sent home about $63 billion last year. Energy imports may not be affected immediately, unless the Gulf countries follow through with sanctions. However, as in the case of Yemen, Libya, Lebanon and other countries, any tensions in the region have an immediate impact on thousands of Indian workers. In Qatar in particular, there are 6,00,000 Indian workers, many of them on projects related to the 2022 FIFA world cup. Several Indian companies such as L&T have won contracts in constructing stadiums. In addition, India has significant trade ties with the country (Qatar is India s 19th biggest trading partner, with about $9 billion in trade), though its trade ties are much stronger with the UAE and Saudi Arabia (which rank third and fourth, respectively, with about $49 billion and $26 billion, according to Commerce Ministry figures in 2015). After Mr. Modi s visits in the region, India had hoped for considerable investments from both the UAE and Qatar s Sovereign Wealth Funds. Air travel Page 16

17 Besides cutting off diplomatic ties, the Saudi coalition has also decided to cancel Qatar Airways flights to their countries. This will affect Indian passengers who want to use Doha as a hub to get to other destinations in the Gulf. At present, Qatar Airways flies about 24,000 passengers a week from India, ranking just behind the UAE s Emirates and Etihad Airways. In recent months, Qatar Airways has confirmed that it wants to set up a fully-owned subsidiary domestic airline in India, for which it is applying for clearances. It is unclear how those plans will be affected, if at all, with the latest developments. Fighting terror Saudi Arabia and the UAE are important partners for India on counter-terrorism cooperation and intelligence sharing. Yet it can t be denied that together with Qatar, these countries have supported extremist groups that now control parts of Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq. Saudi Arabia now accuses Qatar of supporting IS and Al-Qaeda, washing its hands of its own previous support to rebels. It remains to be seen what impact it will have on the global war on terror. China lauds PM s peaceful border remark Modi had said in Russia that despite the border dispute, not a single bullet had been fired in 40 years China on Monday welcomed remarks by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Russia regarding the status of ties with India, and said a positive relationship between Beijing and New Delhi was of global significance. We have noted the positive remark made by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the China-India [situation]. We welcome that, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at her regular media briefing. The two major countries, China and India, maintaining sound and steady bilateral relationship is of great significance, she observed. Ms. Hua was responding to a question regarding observations by Prime Minister in St. Petersburg, where he had stressed, during a panel discussion, that despite their border dispute, the China-India frontier was peaceful for the past four decades. It is true that we have a border dispute with China. But in the last 40 years, not a single bullet has been fired because of it, he had observed. During an interview with Russia Television (RT), Mr. Modi had said that the 21st century is the century of Asia. It means that both India and China will influence the situation of the world in the coming decades. Earlier in the day, China s Assistant Foreign Minister Li Huilai had welcomed the multiple meetings between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and pointed out that healthy relations between China and India would contribute to Asia [as well as] world peace stability. Page 17

18 Mr. Li, however, did not confirm whether the two leaders would meet on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), which gets under way in Kazakhstan s capital, Astana, on June 7. NSG membership In response to another question, Mr. Li said that India s bid for membership of the 48-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group is more complicated what was imagined previously. He added: China supports the NSG to have several consultations to reach a non-discriminatory and universally applicable solution to all the members of the NSG. Saudi, UAE seek to isolate Qatar Analysts say Arab nations cutting ties with Doha reflects tensions within Gulf Cooperation Council Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, emboldened by U.S. President Donald Trump s new approach to the region, have seized the chance to isolate Qatar, analysts said on Monday. Gas-rich Doha, which has long exercised an independent streak in its foreign policy, last month denied comments which appeared on its official news agency questioning U.S. hostility towards Iran. Qatar blamed hackers for a string of explosive remarks attributed to its Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani after Mr. Trump visited Saudi Arabia, its giant neighbour. The reputed remarks were a slap in the face to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, Sunni monarchies which have embraced Mr. Trump and his harder line against Shia-dominated Iran. On Monday, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Yemen, Bahrain and Egypt all severed diplomatic ties with Doha. This certainly represents an unprecedented uptick in tensions within the GCC, said Adam Baron, visiting fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, referring to the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council. Qatar has long had an independent streak that s led to resentment from its neighbours, notably Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, and particularly over Qatar s ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, Mr. Baron said. The Islamist group was founded in Egypt about 90 years ago and has spread throughout the region. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE all declared it a terrorist group after a Brotherhood government, led by Mohamed Morsi, won democratic elections in Egypt before being overthrown by the military in Qatar-backed Mr. Morsi in a dispute that led Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to withdraw their Ambassadors from Doha for several months in Doha, nonetheless, has continued to shelter many leaders of Mr. Morsi s Brotherhood. Jane Kinninmont, a senior research fellow at London s Chatham House, said the renewed tensions were not clearly linked to something new that Qatar has done. But with Riyadh and Page 18

19 Abu Dhabi boosting ties with the Trump administration, the action against Qatar seems like an attempt to seize an opportunity. Saudi bandwagon In a speech in Riyadh last month, Mr. Trump urged Muslim leaders from the Gulf and further afield to drive out extremists and terrorists, as Sunni jihadists carry out attacks in many countries. But he also named Iran for allegedly fuelling the fires of sectarian conflict and terror, echoing views long articulated by Saudi Arabia. James Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore, pointed to a Saudi and UAE-driven campaign to isolate Qatar and by extension Iran. The campaign aims to force non-arab states to take sides and persuade the Trump administration to come down hard on Qatar because of its refusal to join the anti-iranian Saudi bandwagon and its ties to Islamist and militant groups, Mr. Dorsey wrote. Qatar is also home to the former leader of Hamas, Khaled Meshaal, who has lived in exile for several years in Doha. Qatar has been criticised for supporting Islamist rebels in Syria, and in 2013, the Afghan Taliban opened a Doha office. *Afghanistan set to host Kabul Process summit KABUL The Afghan government says it s ready to host the so-called Kabul Process, in which security issues will be discussed among Afghans and officials from the region and around the world. Foreign Ministry spokesman Shakib Mustaghni said the government will host the first meeting on Tuesday here. AP * Nepal, China ink mega hydropower agreement To build 1,200 MW Budhi-Gandaki hydroelectric project Nepal has signed an agreement with a Chinese company to build the largest hydroelectric plant in the impoverished landlocked country, which suffers from a chronic energy shortage. Nepal s Energy Minister Janardan Sharma on Sunday signed the agreement for the China Gezhouba Group Corporation to build the long-mooted 1,200 megawatt Budhi-Gandaki hydroelectric project. The agreement was signed at the Prime Minister s residence, in the presence of outgoing Prime Minister of Nepal Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda and Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Yu Hong, The Kathmandu Post reported. Page 19

20 Estimates put the project cost at $2.5 billion. A financing agreement will be signed later, Ministry spokesman Dinesh Kumar Ghimire said. Water-rich Nepal has a mountain river system that could make it an energy-producing powerhouse, but instead it imports much of its electricity from neighbouring India. Experts say it could be generating 83,000 megawatts, but its total installed generation capacity currently stands at less than 2% of that. Demand for electricity has long outstripped supply in Nepal due to chronic under-investment and inefficiencies in the power network. The result has been crippling for domestic industry and deterred foreign investment. Crucial infrastructure development has flagged in the years of political paralysis that followed the end of the Maoist insurgency in 2006 and the overthrow of the monarchy two years later. India and China have vied for influence in the small country, with both pumping money into Nepal through large-scale infrastructure projects. The CGGC is currently building three smaller hydropower plants in Nepal and has completed another one, though critics have complained that the projects have consistently run over time and over budget. 900-yr-old stolen idol recovered, 2 arrested TIMES OF INDIA Buddhist Statue Worth Rs 2cr Stolen From Tawang An idol of Buddhist saint Pema Lingpa, which was stolen from a monastery in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang, was recovered by the crime branch of Delhi Police on Sunday. The gold idol, believed to be about 900 years old, was reported missing from the house of the head cheepa (chief lama). Police arrested the lama's former son-in-law, Tsundue and his girlfriend, Lobsang Gakey Sherpa, while they were trying to sell the idol worth about Rs 2 crore to a customer in Majnu Ka Tilla. The idol usually remains hidden at the house of the head lama and is shown to the public, especially during religious events in Arunachal Pradesh.The six-inch tall idol has a precious stone fixed in its hand. Page 20

21 On May 31, Arunachal Pradesh police had reported about a theft at the cheepa's house. A raid was conducted at the nearby localities during which cops found that the cheepa had fallen out with his son-in-law Ngawang Tsundue after the latter divorced his daughter in Tsundue had gone to the cheepa's house a few days before the incident. Police across the country were alerted about the theft. In the meantime, Delhi Police was informed about a group of Tibetan youths trying to sell an antique idol at the grey market in Majnu Ka Tilla. We were tipped off by one of the customers, who helped us identify the sellers. A team led by ACP Sanjay Sehrawat was formed to track them down. The team trailed them for three days after which a raid was conducted to nab them, said Madhur Verma, DCP, crime. Sehrawat's team also posed as customers, along with the informer, to reach the accused. Tsundue's girlfriend had kept the idol with her. She had removed the casket and the cloth covering the idol and hid it elsewhere to avoid suspicion. During interrogation, Tsundue disclosed that he is a permanent resident of Tibet and came to India in He started living in Dharamshala in Himachal Pradesh where he came in contact with the daughter of the head cheepa of Tawang. In 2011, the couple got married but the marriage did not last long. Qatar's isolation may hit your travel plans Page 21

22 Saurabh Sinha Impact Likely On Doha Route, Transit Flyers May Face Brunt : Qatar may be cut off from the rest of the Gulf countries but flights between India and Doha will operate as usual, for now. The travel time, however, is likely increase with countries like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain closing their airspace for flights from Qatar. The UAE has told Indian carriers that their aircraft overflying or crossing its airspace on the India-Doha route must take its permission before doing so. If they allow, it is okay. Otherwise flights from places other than north India, like Mumbai and the south, will have to take a much longer route: fly north over the Arabian Sea, enter Iran and then fly straight over the Persian Gulf to Doha. The same route will have to be taken on return if the UAE denies permission, said the operations head of an Indian airline. Three Indian carriers -Jet Airways, AI Express and IndiGo -and Qatar Airways (QA) fly between India and Doha. All QA flights between India and Doha will also be affected. Only flights from Delhi will not be affected as they will fly over Pakistan and then enter Iran. Indian carriers fly only between India and Doha and not beyond from there. For long-haul passengers on QA, direct routing of flights between Doha and Europe and North America, the two most popular destinations for Indians choosing the airline, may have to be changed that may lead to an increase in flying time. Senior pilots estimate flying time could increase by anywhere up to two hours for those going west and up to an hour for flights to and from west and south India. Flying more will mean fuelling more, which in turn will lead to fares going up, said an official. QA did not comment on this issue till the time of this report going to press. The other big worry for Indian carriers is that Bahrain is the alternative airport for their aircraft headed to Doha.Now, if an Indian aircraft has to divert for any reason, it will not be able to fly direct to Qatar from Bahrain. We are making plans to fly to some nearby place in Iran and then approach Doha from there.flying a diverted aircraft all the way back to India is not a viable option, said an Indian flight route planner. Page 22

23 QA is one of the most popular airlines for Indians travelling abroad. Last year, it was at the sixth spot in terms of standalone airlines flying people in and out of India.Over 21 lakh people to and from India flew QA in 2016, with almost 80% of them transiting via Doha. The Doha route changes will impact Indian travellers in a big way, especially in the ongoing peak summer travel season. Among Indian carriers, Jet Airways has five daily flights between Doha and Delhi, Mumbai, Cochin, Trivandrum and Calicut. Air India Express has a daily flight between Doha and Calicut; four times a week from Mumbai and thrice weekly from Mangalore. IndiGo has a daily flight from Delhi and Mumbai and plans to start from Kozhikode in July. QA lists 13 Indian cities as destinations, including all the metros. People travelling to Qatar on QA are mostly transit passengers to Europe and the US.Travellers on Indian carriers are mostly those working there, said an airline official. After Monday's political developments, at least six Gulf-based airlines -Emirates, Etihad, Air Arabia, Fly Dubai, Saudia and Gulf Air-said they would no longer fly to Qatar. QA also will not be able to fly to places whose airspace has been shut for its flights. So Indians who had booked tickets for internal travel from Doha will also be hit. FACING THE HEAT - Gulf tension may affect India's fuel import bill Sanjay Dutta Page 23

24 Qatar's dispute with its Arab neighbours will not immediately affect India's gas imports from that country, but rising crude is likely to impact pricing and affect New Delhi's oil import bill if tensions continue for long. Qatar is a major source of liquid gas for India but does not export any oil. In a limited sense then, it appears that oil imports are unaffected. But the problem lies in the fact that gas prices too react to global oil price as most of the gas deals are linked to crude. That is where the problem may lie for India. India had last year renegotiated its 25-year LNG (liquefied natural gas) contract with Qatar to bring it in tune with the slide in global oil prices since The reworked deal allowed India flexibility in pricing and payments. While government officials did not see immediate problem in supplies -either of oil or gas - there is a view that shipments of oil may be affected, going ahead. If that happens, industry watchers say, India may have to face the prospect of having to give up some of the comforts in its reworked gas deal with Qatar if oil prices sustain their high trajectory for long. High oil prices by themselves impact public finances.any resultant increase in gas prices magnifies the effect and shrinks the space for government to spend more on welfare programmes. That is why, the crisis comes at an inopportune time for India as the government is building upon low gas prices to push for a gas-based economy. `Centre will take Mamata on board while talking with Bangladesh on Teesta issue' External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said the government will take West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on board while negotiating with Bangladesh on the Teesta water issue. It is necessary to take the West Bengal CM on board (on the Teesta issue), Sushma Swaraj said in response to a question during a press meet.stating that efforts were fully on to resolve the issue, she, however, said no definite time line can be given as to when such problems can be solved. Both India and Bangladesh have moved forward on other sectors like power, investment and security but the Teesta water issue remains a vexed problem. How rain-rich Chennai depends on the sea for its water supply Page 24

25 Ekatha Ann Dropping crystals in clouds to induce rain, transporting water from other states by trains, covering a reservoir with thermocol to check loss of water to evaporation -there was no dearth of suggestions in Tamil Nadu's corridors of power as the state witnessed its worst drought in 142 years. It is one such idea, criticised as expensive and unviable, that now accounts for 40% of the water supply in capital Chennai: Tapping sea water. Desalination plants in Nemmeli and Minjur -with a capacity to produce 100 million litres of water per day (mld) each -are now the city's lifelines with traditional sources drying up. Chennai is almost entirely dependent on the monsoon for its water supply, the failure of which puts the city in a tight spot. Combined storage level in the four reservoirs that cater to Chennai stands at 3% against their total capacity. The supply of Krishna river water from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh under the Telugu Ganga project has been suspended for more than two months now. Chennai's nodal agency for water distribution, CMWSSB, has been coercing farmers in neighbouring districts to sell Chennai their water.officials are also trying to sourcing water from stone quarries 23km from the city. In all this, it is the treated seawater -that normally is an option in regions with no rains or other water sources -that meet the city's demand for water. But senior officials doubt the sustainability of the desalination projects.apart from environmental concerns, sourcing water thus is expensive. At present, CMWSSB pays Rs 60 per kilo litre for the water from Minjur, up from Rs 48 per kilolitre that it paid when the facility began operating in This works out to Rs 60 lakh for 100 mld of water. Water from the Nemmeli plant costs around Rs 30 per kilolitre. We're able to do this because the state is rich. I don't know if it's feasible in other states, a senior official said. Voltage fluctuations and adverse weather are a serious challenge too in operating the plants and hike the costs. But this has not deterred the state from proposing two new plants, of 150 mld and 400 mld capacity in Perur, close to Nemmeli. Page 25

26 At present, TN accounts for 24% of the total desalinated water capacity in India, second only to Gujarat. Experts meanwhile describe desalination as a last option.s Janakarajan, professor at Madras Institute of Development Studies, says that seawater desalination was conceived for rich, rain-starved countries like those in West Asia. Chennai's average annual rainfall is well over 1,200 mm. It should ideally be the last resort which, in this case, is not, Janakarajan said. With scant supply, water distribution is charted out daily by the CMWSSB. Our planning [daily distribution] hinges on how much water the desalination plants supply, Arun Roy, managing director of CMWSSB, said. On average, the two plants churn out around 180 mld of the 470 mld CMWSSB now supplies, against Chennai's demand of 1,300-1,400 mld.the plant in Minjur caters to industries and a few localities in north Chennai, while the Nemmeli plant caters to nearly lakh residents in south Chennai, which is also house to the city's IT hub. Reach out to 100 most backward dists: PM to secys PM Narendra Modi has asked all secretaries to put collective effort to improve the condition of 100 most backward districts in the country. In his interaction with the top bureaucrats on Page 26

27 Monday, the PM said this should be adopted on a mission mode and the various departments work as a team and not in silos to ensure the goal is achieved during definite short timeframes. Sources said Modi also reached out to the secretaries to talk frankly, which is being seen as an indication of how the PM is open to listen to their honest views on different issues. However, none of the secretaries raised the conviction of former coal secreta ry H C Gupta, though the bureaucrats' association has raised concern over this episode and serving officers have been airing their voices. Even IAS officers in Uttar Pradesh have demanded that the Centre expeditiously amend the Prevention of Corruption Act to protect honest officers. Making a strong pitch to rise above the administrative mechanisms of earlier centuries, the PM said the secretaries have an op portunity to transform the lives of one-sixth of humanity. He asked them to identify concrete goals to be achieved by the seventy-fifth anniversary of Independ ence, an official PMO re lease said. It was a brainstorm ing exercise where secre taries suggested what all steps can be taken even as they highlighted achieve ments. The focus was how we all can work together and the PM wants us to bring major improve ments in the 100 most back ward districts, an official who attended the meeting said. Modi also highlighted how working together has brought expected results in initiatives such as financial inclusion (Jan Dhan Yojana) and universal immunisation (Mission Indradhanush) in the last three years. He said institutions must be made outcomeoriented. `Baahubali' rocket boosts desi space heft Lays Foundation For Several Future Projects The country took another step on Monday to establish itself in the global heavy-payload market, successfully launching its most powerful rocket, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle-Mark III (GSLV-Mk III). Page 27

28 After the rocket, nicknamed `Fat Boy', fired by a highthrust indigenous cryogenic engine, lifted off at 5.28pm from the second launchpad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, a four-tonne communication satellite Gsat-19, India's heaviest, was placed in a geosynchronous transfer orbit minutes later, a few seconds earlier than scheduled. Isro has now demonstrated its mastery in developing a cryogenic engine, a technology denied to it years ago. The launch also proves the homegrown launch vehicle's capability of hurling up to four payloads into higher orbits. Isro chairman A S Kiran Kumar said, The GSLV-MkIII needs just one more developmental flight, planned in a year, before it can be declared operational. The boosters of Gsat-19 would be fired at 9.30am on Tuesday to make a series of manoeuvres in the next two days so that it would be placed in its orbital slot in two weeks, he said. The launch demonstrated an indigenous cryogenic engine which was in the works since 2002, a strong foundation for ambitious future projects, including Chandrayaan II scheduled for the first quarter of 2018 and a manned mission. It also showed the capability to make a nextgeneration satellite with a high reach. The satellite contains 50 new technologies which will be its mainstay in the next decade. The mood was upbeat at the mission control where scientists burst into applause when the cryogenic stage started to burn. On its maiden flight, the CE-20 engine was operational for 640 seconds.congratulating the scientists and others involved in the mission, Kumar said, The team has worked since 2002, he added. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre director Dr K Sivan said it was the commencement of complex technologies -a vehicle that can carry twice the payload weight and a high throughput satellite. Proud to say Isro has given birth to a Baahubali, said Tapan Misra, director of Isro's space applications centre. Satish Dhawan Space Centre director P Kunhikrishnan said Isro had made two new technologies for GSLV-Mk III at the launchpad. We made an acoustic suppression unit -a tower with 600 tonnes of water -and a solid propellant plant to prepare the Page 28

29 200 tonnes each of propellant loaded in each motor. The suppression unit splashed the water on the rocket when it lifted off. GSLV-Mk III breaks Isro jinx of failed debut rocket launches Surendra Singh When the first developmental flight of GSLVMk III pierced through the sky after its launch from the Sriharikota at 5.28pm on Monday, it finally broke Isro's jinx of failing to achieve success in maiden rocket launches. Isro's 640-tonne `Fat Boy' ended the phase of uncertainties when it placed the advanced communication satellite Gsat-19 into a geosynchronous transfer orbit around 16 minutes after the launch and helped the space agency achieve a new milestone of launching a fourtonne satellite Page 29

30 into the geostationary orbit. With this, India has entered the global market of heavy payload launches. Congratulating Isro scientists for the successful launch, PM Narendra Modi said, GSLV- MKIII D1Gsat-19 mission takes India closer to the next generation launch vehicle and satellite capability. The nation is proud. A jubilant Isro chiefa S Kiran Kumar called it a historic day. The PM called Kumar and congratulated each member of the Isro team. Though the US sanctions on India in 1992 prevented the country from getting cryogenic engine technology from Russia, it failed to halt Isro's relentless effort to develop rocket and cryogenic engine technologies. Starting from the first ex perimental launch of Satellite Launch Vehicle-3 (SLV-3) on August 10, 1979, thereafter the first developmental launch of Augmented Satellite Launch Vehicle (ASLV) on March 24, 1987, and later the developmental launch of Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) on September 20, 1993, Isro failed in all these debut rocket launches. Overcoming initial hurdles, the PSLV rocket has emerged as the most reliable workhorse launch vehicle with 38 consecutive successful missions since October The GSLV programme, too, faced many challenges. Despite initial bumps, GSLV Mk II was developed and the rocket had four consecutive successful launches since January A first: Def min moots public-pvt partnerships for 4 arms units Chethan Kumar In a first, the defence ministry has proposed to bring four arms manufacturing units under the PPP (public-private-participation) model, in keeping with the central government's intent to increase private participation in the sector. The proposal was mooted to various stakeholders at a meeting chaired by Ashok Kumar Gupta, secretary (defence production), on May 30, in presence of Ordnance Factory Board chairman S C Bajpai. Page 30

31 While there were indications of privatisation in general, a member of the Niti Aayog proposed that four small arms factories be converted into PPP units. This was seconded by the secretary (Gupta), a source privy to the developments told TOI.More meetings are expected to be held with the general managers of the manufacturing units in the coming days, the source said. The four units identified for the PPP model are Small Arms Factory (SAF) in Kanpur, Ordnance Factory Tiruchirappalli (OFT), Rifle Factory Ishapore (RFI) in Bengal and Ordnance Factory Korwa in UP. Sources, however, added that no private player had been identified yet. The four factories manufacture 9mm carbines, 7.62mm rifles, light machine guns (5.56mm), rifles (5.56mm), artillery guns and other infantry weapons alongside other items. Some stakeholders are believed to be sceptical of the move. They are already declaring many items produced by ordnance factories as noncore and allowing our customers (armed forces) to directly procure it from private players. With this (PPP model), even weapons will be in private hands, said a source. The NDA government has so far declared 143 items non-core and asked ordnance factories to focus on core items. The PPP proposal has already resulted in massive protest meetings organised by workers' unions at the four arms factories. EASE OF DOING BUSINESS - Lack of judicial reforms pulls down India's ranking Pradeep Thakur A World Bank assessment on the performance of India on ease of doing business shows the largest democracy lags behind many of the sub-saharan African countries and the east Asian nations in `enforcement of contract' largely due to the inefficient judicial system which has failed to keep up with the technological revolution that has changed the pace of the justice delivery across the world. Giving the example of Rwanda, it says the African country has implemented the integrated electronic case management system across all courts which allows for an automatic registration Page 31

32 of lawsuits, electronic organisation and scheduling of cases and automated claims processing. Many of the sub-saharan African countries have done better than India, which has failed to implement crucial judicial reforms when it comes to implementing the electronic case management system. Some of the basic services such as summons are still being served using the antiquated practice. The law on adjournments is not followed in 50% of cases across courts while there is hardly any adherence to the timeline fixed for resolution of disputes, as per the findings. An evaluation of the court structure and proceedings by the World Bank, while ranking countries on ease of doing business in its 2017 report, has painted a very grim picture for India compared to many of the sub-saharan African countries that have done better by adopting a set of good practices, including case management, court automation and alternative dispute resolution--some of the parameters which resulted in India being ranked overall 130 among 190 countries. The report refers to lack of electronic case management system for lawyers and judges in the courts dealing with commercial disputes in Delhi and Mumbai. There is no provision for pre-trial conference in these courts. In addition, as the complaints cannot be filed electronically be fore the competent court and the documents cannot be served electronically, we were not given any points on that front, a government task force has observed on why India has been ranked so low in the World Bank's ease of doing business. In India, as far as commercial disputes are concerned, the complaint cannot be filed electronically in the absence of a platform within the competent court.it is not even possible to carry out service of process electronically for claims filed before the court. Only the court fees can be paid electronically and the judgments can be accessed online. Though there are laws setting time limits for key court events in a civil case but these time standards are seldom followed (not even in 50% of the cases), according to the report of the task force that has analysed the World Bank's assessment. The low rating of the Indian judicial system is also on account of the unlimited adjournments granted by courts and non-adherence of the prescribed laws by the judiciary itself. Page 32

33 There is a law that regulates adjournments where the maximum number that can be granted is limited to three. But the rules of adjournments are followed in less than 50% of the cases, the report said. The World Bank has rated countries on the judicial indicators with a score ranging between 0 and 18, higher the score better and more efficient the judicial process and system. In the Bank's 2016 report, India had scored an overall of 7.5 out of 18 on its quality of judicial process. This improved marginally to 9 out of 18 in 2017 but that was primarily because of scoring high in `court structure' where it scored 4.5 out of 5. The other indicators such as in the `case management' category, India scored 0.5 out of 6; court automation 2 out of 4 and in the alternate dispute resolution category it scored 2 out of 3. Panel to look into ways to tackle dip in groundwater The government on Monday announced setting on Monday announced setting up a panel of secretaries to tackle the issue of groundwater depletion, which has been termed alarming. In its bid to clean the Ganga and Yamuna, the government has also approved works worth Rs 1,900 crore for setting up of sewage treatment facilities in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Delhi. With approval of these projects 100% sewage treatment facility will be made available for Haridwar, Rishikesh, Vrindavan, Varanasi, Allahabad and NCT of Delhi, a statement by the water resources ministry said. Earlier in the day Union water resources minister Uma Bharti said that a committee comprising rural development secretary, water resource secretary and environment secretary has been set up to tackle the issue of groundwater depletion. The minister also asked people to refrain from using plastic and polythene bags to reduce pollution. The use of plastic material is a major cause of pollution to river Ganga and should be stopped, she said. Bob Dylan finally delivers Nobel speech Page 33

34 Music icon and Nobel literature laureate Bob Dylan has delivered his Nobel lecture, the only requirement to claim the money that comes with the prize, the Swedish Academy said on Monday. The speech is extraordinary and, as one might expect, eloquent. Now that the lecture has been delivered, the Dylan adventure is coming to a close, Sara Danius, the permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, wrote in a blog post. In an audio link in which Dylan reads the speech aloud, the star reflects on the possible links between his lyrics and literature. When I first received this Nobel Prize for Literature, I got to wondering exactly how my songs related to literature, Dylan said. He then cited musicians who inspired him -including Buddy Holly, whose music changed my life and made him want to write songs when he was a teenager -and the classic novels that made a big impression on him, including Moby Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front and The Odyssey. Dylan will now be able to claim the eight million kronor ( 819,000, $923,000) associated with the prize. At Rs 15,000cr, SBI kicks off India's largest QIP Aimed at shoring up its capital base, State Bank of India, the country's biggest lender, on Monday launched its qualified institutional placement (QIP) offer to raise up to Rs 15,000 crore (about $2.3 billion). This is the largest QIP offer in India. SBI plans to dilute up to 6.7% of its capital in the price range of Rs 276 to Rs 287 per share, merchant banking sources said. At the Page 34