Getting ties with UAE on track United Arab Emirates Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The two leaders have met three times in the last 18 months, each meeting more full of warmth than the previous one. That the UAE Crown Prince, who is also the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Emirati armed forces, was invited as Chief Guest at the Republic Day parade, Indicates the importance India invests in him and in ties with the Gulf country. India s interest in the UAE rests on several pillars: 1)- trade ties of about $50 billion, energy and oil supplies from the world s fifth largest exporter, 2)- the welfare of 2.6 million Indians who remit billions of dollars home annually, 3)- and defence and security. While bilateral ties have been robust for decades, the defence and security partnership is clearly the new driver for ties between the two governments;-the signing of the strategic partnership agreement The contours of this partnership are now being set: 1)-joint military exercises, 2)-joint manufacturing and purchase of equipment and spare parts from India, 3)-as well as cooperation on fighting terror.
The joint statement also contained strong words on states ponsored terror, that the government believes is an indication that the UAE shares India s frustration on cross-border terrorism from Pakistan, especially in the wake of the bomb blast in Kandahar on January 10, in which five UAE offials were among the victims. Strategic partnership that India envisions with the UAE must be based on clarity and concrete measures- 1)-This should include a crackdown on the shadowy businesses owned by Dawood Ibrahim 2)-as well as more steps to curb terror financing of the Taliban and groups in Pakistan and Afghanistan; such money is often routed through expatriate remittances from the UAE. India s hopes of investment from the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, one of the world s largest at $500 billion, will not be realised until New Delhi steps up efficiency at its end. That it took more than a year for the government to fully set up the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund mechanism for the UAE funds is a case in point. The delay resulted in the memorandum of understanding for investment of a possible $75 billion over 10 years falling through. Personalised leader-to-leader bilateral diplomacy is a great conversation-starter, but not sufficient to energise ties
A sovereign wealth fund (SWF) is a state-owned investment fund that invests in real and financial assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, precious metals Sovereign wealth funds invest globally Most SWFs are funded by revenues from commodity exports or from foreign-exchange reserves held by the central bank Despite the drop, India is likely to top the list of countries receiving remittance. The World Bank said in 2016, India is expected to receive a remittance of $65.5 billion, followed by China ($65.2 billion). Pakistan positioned at number five is estimated to receive $20.3 billion in 2016 12% of the world's remittances in 2015- Remittances to India stood at US$68.91 billion in 2015, accounting for over 4% of the country's GDP. As per the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs (MOIA), remittance is received from the approximately 25 million members of the Indian diaspora
The politics of demonetisation Demonetisation has been the most hotly debated topic since November 8, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the high-denomination notes then in circulation would cease to be legal tender. In a single stroke, nearly 86% of the currency in an economy powered by cash transactions, with 54% people without bank accounts, was wiped out. The move disrupted the lives of ordinary people, led to widespread hardship for the poor, major job losses and over a hundred deaths. Despite the huge distress and disruption, the general sentiment seemed to be in favour of the decision. The shock move invited widespread criticism. It provoked protests and a lot of anger and agitation, but most of it was directed against local irritants, particularly banks. There are numerous reports of angry crowds locking up banks and jamming roads to protest against the non-disbursement of cash. As for more organised opposition, the winter session of Parliament saw Opposition parties locking horns with the government over demands for a vote on demonetisation. The tussle between the government and the Opposition washed out the entire winter session- The question that needs to be asked concerns the relative importance of social and political influences that generated greater support than opposition against demonetisation
Diversionary tactic- Much of the debate on the demonetisation move has focussed on its economic consequences; not enough attention has been paid to the politics of this drastic decision. One of Mr. Modi s big campaign promises was to end corruption- But that didn t happen. The growing criticism of the government s failure to deliver on the promise of bringing back black money stashed abroad and depositing 15 lakh into every bank account as promised at the time of the, Lok Sabha polls led the Prime Minister to do something bold to offet the negative feelings in the context of impending State elections. It was seen as a dramatic measure that would enhance the regime s credibility in fighting corruption and black money and divert attention from its perceived failures on this and other fronts. Instead of finding ways to tackle graft through the tightening of regulations and controls on real estate and political party funding, demonetisation was promised as the ultimate solution. As a political decision, demonetisation was aimed at setting the agenda for State Assembly elections- The timing of the decision clearly indicates this: it was announced three months before five Assembly elections, particularly in the crucial State of Uttar Pradesh (Mini India) It was unleashed as a political strategy to checkmate regional parties (by threatening their cash reserves) and expand the BJP s support base in the Hindi heartland by projecting demonetisation as a pro-poor measure.
Shifting goalposts Given the failure of the initial drive against black money, controlling terrorism the goalpost was changed from curbing black money to cashless economy to digital transactions, all this to justify the move which had caused so much disruption. Good intent, bad management Further evidence of the overwhelming influence of what might be loosely termed as political constraints emerges from the fact that even critics assume demonetisation was motivated by good intent, which makes it more difficult to go against it. But the poor and people working in the informal sector have not only been inconvenienced, they have been dislocated and their livelihoods irreparably damaged- Standing in a queue or being late to work is an inconvenience, but collapsing businesses and losing jobs go beyond inconvenience At the social level, demonetisation was presented as a great moral project to clean up the national -The idea that the rich are suffring because this was a measure that caused problems for them is undoubtedly appealing to poor people
Three other reasons can be adduced to explain the relative shortage of protest. 1)-First is the general climate of fear and the government s intolerance of dissent which deters people from expressing opposition against the move. 2)-Second is the Indian obsession with black money- For the past few decades, black money has become the single greatest marker of what is wrong with India today. Successive anti-corruption movements have played a major role in creating this perception. Thanks to Bollywood films and their good-and-evil stories with an unremitting focus on corruption and black money, they fire the popular imagination like no other issue can. Hence, visible action against black money successfully channels the anger of the people in favour of those who are seen to be doing something to eradicate it. 3)-Third, to strengthen his position, the Prime Minister has repeatedly offered the trope of nationalism so that anyone opposing demonetisation is denounced as corrupt and anti-national- war against corruption is also designed to do this, to make people participate in a sacrifice for cleaning up the nation. Thus, the Prime Minister compared the war on black money to the external aggressions India faced in 1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999 (Kargil), when the intrinsic strength of citizens was on display. Hyper-nationalism and grandiloquent(आड बरप र ण) rhetoric are constant responses of this govt every time it finds itself on the defensive- BJP - not lost any elections, local or otherwise, since demonetisation.
Session of parliament The Parliament = President of India +Rajya Sabha (Council of States) + Lok Sabha (House of the People). The period during which the House meets to conduct its business is called a session. The Constitution empowers the president to summon each House at such intervals that there should not be more than a six-month gap between the two sessions. Hence the Parliament must meet at least twice a year. In India, the parliament conducts three sessions each year: Budget session: February to May Monsoon session: July to September Winter session: November to December
Zero Hour as the the critical moment or the moment of decision, in parliamentary- it is referred as the time gap between the end of Question Hour and the beginning of the regular business. Zero Hour doesn t find a mention in the Rules of Procedure Questions Hour are one of the ways Parliament can hold the Executive accountable.
The Rajya Sabha (meaning the "Council of States") is the upper house of the Parliament of India. Telangana elects 7 seats and they are indirectly elected by the state legislators of Telangana. The number of seats, allocated to the party, are determined by the amount of seats, a party possesses during nomination and the party nominates a member to be voted on. After Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Member are allotted to Telangana state first time by lucky draw Following the bifurcation of existing Andhra Pradesh state, the successor states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh will have 17 and 25 Lok Sabha seats respectively.