China defends choice of PLA Galwan soldier as torchbearer
HC grants Centre two weeks to decide on marital rape
Universalise maternity benefit scheme, say activists
GS-3
RBI’s digital currency plans
The BrahMos deal and India’s defence exports
China defends choice of PLA Galwan soldier as torchbearer
China on Monday defended choosing a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regiment commander who fought in the Galwan clash as an Olympics torchbearer, a move that led India to carry out a diplomatic boycott of the games in Beijing.
Qi Fabao, who was regiment commander and later received military honours after sustaining a head injury in the June 15, 2020 clash, was among the 1,200 torchbearers who took part in last week’s relay, two days before the opening of the Winter Olympic Games on February 4.
His participation was widely publicised by the media in China. India termed the move “regrettable” and on February 3 said its top official in Beijing would not attend the opening and closing ceremonies of the games, although India’s lone athlete participating in the games, skier Arif Khan, took part in the opening ceremony.
Asked about the decision to select the PLA commander, the Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday defended the move, and instead put the onus on India “to view this in a rational and objective light”.
“I want to stress that the torchbearers of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games are broadly representative, and they meet relevant standards. We hope that the relevant sides can view this in a rational and objective light and do not read too much into it from a political perspective,” spokesperson Zhao Lijian said at a press conference.
China earlier hit out at Western countries for “politicising” the games after the U.S., U.K., Australia and Canada said their officials would not attend the opening ceremony because of human rights violations in Xinjiang.
The selection of the PLA commander came amid continued coverage in the Chinese state media on the Galwan clash. Last week, state channel China Central Television (CCTV) broadcast a five-part documentary on PLA soldiers of the Xinjiang military command stationed along the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
Insight: It’s more or less a rejuvenated Cold war and India has found a reason to stick with western side now.
HC grants Centre two weeks to decide on marital rape
Deferring the hearing of a case seeking criminalisation of marital rape to February 21, the Delhi High Court on Monday granted the Centre two weeks to place its final stand on the issue before it and told the government that it does not gel with it as a court to keep the matter pending. The legal question has remained undecided before the court since 2015.
The government last week had urged the court to defer the proceedings in the matter to await the outcome of a consultative process with various stakeholders. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta reiterated the government request on Monday and said the legal question should not be treated merely a question of constitutional validity.
On 22 dates between January 7 and February 7, the division bench of Justices Rajiv Shakdher and C Hari Shankar heard the petitions challenging Exception 2 that protects men, who have forced non-consensual intercourse with their wives, from criminal prosecution under Section 376 IPC.
Undertaking to provide a time-bound schedule within which it will carry out the consultative process on the issue, the Centre last week said the matter has been pending since 2015 and if it waits for such “fruitful exercise” for some time, no prejudice would be caused and that it will be possible for the government to assist the court meaningfully.
“In the most respectful submission of the central government, considering the social impact involved, the intimate family relations being the subject matter and this Hon’ble Court not having the privilege of having been fully familiarised with ground realities prevailing in different parts of society of this large, populous and diverse country, taking a decision merely based upon the arguments of few lawyers may not serve the ends of justice,” the Ministry of Home Affairs said in an affidavit before the court.
Stating that what “may appear to be marital rape” to a wife “may not appear so to others”, the central government in 2017 had submitted that striking down the exception “may destabilise the institution of marriage apart from being an easy tool for harassing the husbands”. It had also cited the “rising misuse of Section 498A of IPC” – cruelty by husband or husband’s relative against a woman – to show how laws dealing with violence against women can be misused “for harassing the husbands”.
Universalise maternity benefit scheme, say activists
The government’s recent announcement that the maternity benefit programme which provides ?5,000 for first child will be extended to cover the second child only if it is a girl has met with sharp criticism from activists who have demanded that it be universalised.
The Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY), launched in 2017, provides ?5,000 for the birth of the first child to partially compensate a woman for loss of wages. It also aims to improve the nutritional well-being of the mother and the child. The amount is given in three instalments upon meeting certain conditions. It is combined with another scheme, Janani Suraksha Yojana, under which nearly ?1,000 is given for an institutional birth, so that a woman gets a total of ?6,000.
“Under the revamped PMMVY under Mission Shakti, the maternity benefit amounting to ?6000 is also to be provided for the second child, but only if the second is a girl child, to discourage pre-birth sex selection and promote the girl child,” Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani told the Lok Sabha last week.
“Firstly, to provide maternity benefit only to the mother of the first-born is illegal as the National Food Security Act, 2013 lays down that every pregnant woman and lactating mother are entitled to it. Then to couch it to say that it is to promote the birth of a girl child is nothing but posturing” says Jashodhara Dasgupta, co-convener, Feminist Policy Collective.
She says that adding more conditions to the scheme will prove to be a bureaucratic nightmare, which can be overcome if the scheme is universalised.
“During COVID-19 in the past two years, ASHA [accredited social health activist] workers have not been giving out contraceptive supplies. When the State has failed to provide contraceptive services, why is it penalising women for having babies,” asserts Ms. Dasgupta.“The new announcement implies that women will be able to access the scheme only after the delivery, which will not have any impact on their nutritional uptake during the course of their pregnancy,” says Raghwesh Ranjan, Director, Social and Economic Empowerment, IPE Global.
One of the objectives of the scheme is to also improve health seeking behaviour of women and, therefore, the first instalment of ?1,000 is given after ascertaining early registration of pregnancy and the second instalment of ?2,000 is given after an ante-natal check after six months of pregnancy and the final instalment of ?2,000 is given after the registration of the child birth and vaccinations for the newborn. Though the Minister shared the information days after the Union Budget, the allocation for the scheme has not shown a notable increase. The scheme is clubbed with several other programmes under the Samarthya scheme. The allocation of ?2,522 crore for the umbrella scheme last fiscal was almost the same as the allocation of ?2,500 crore for the PMMVY alone the year before. For financial year 2022-2023, the umbrella scheme has seen a total increase of ?100 crore.
RBI’s digital currency plans
In the Budget presented for 2022-23, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced the introduction of India’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and that the digital rupee would give a ‘big boost’ to digital economy. She had indicated that technologies such as blockchain would be used by the Reserve Bank of India to issue the currency, starting 2022-23. The Reserve Bank had, in July 2021, indicated that it would soon begin work on the ‘phased implementation’ of the CBDC.
What is a Central Bank Digital Currency?
A CBDC is no different from the cash that we hold in our wallets, except that it exists in a digital form. The CBDC will be held in a digital wallet that is supervised by the Central bank. In India, it will be the RBI that supervises the digital rupee although it may delegate some power to banks. However, it does seem probable that the RBI will take steps to encourage the use of its digital currency over physical cash. It should be noted that the RBI’s digital rupee will not directly replace demand deposits held in banks. Physical cash will continue to be used by banks, and people who wish to withdraw cash from banks can still do so. But they can also opt to convert their bank deposits into the new digital rupee.
Why are central banks issuing digital currencies?
Central banks claim that there is an increasing demand for digital currencies, which they wish to satisfy. They point to the rise of private digital currencies such as bitcoin and also to the increasing use of digital payments as examples of this secular trend. Central bank digital currencies are promised as reliable, sovereign-backed alternatives to private currencies which are volatile and unregulated. Critics, however, note that the demand for private currencies comes primarily from people who have lost faith in fiat currencies issued by Central banks. They argue that governments across the world have been debasing their respective currencies by printing them in excessive amounts, thus forcing many to switch to private currencies whose supply is limited by design. So, the mere digital version of a national currency like the rupee or the U.S. dollar is unlikely to affect the demand for private currencies, they believe.
Central banks also believe that the cost of issuing digital currencies is far lower than the cost of printing and distributing physical cash. The RBI can create and distribute the digital rupee at virtually zero cost since the creation and the distribution of the digital rupee will happen electronically. Another likely reason for the introduction of digital cash may be to bring down the use of physical cash. Unlike physical cash, which is hard to trace, a digital currency that is monitored by the RBI can be more easily tracked and controlled by the Central bank. This feature of digital currencies, however, has raised various concerns regarding their privacy and could slow down their adoption. In fact, it is worth noting that the need for privacy has been one of the primary reasons behind the switch to private digital currencies.
Is CBDC becoming common across the world?
It is worth noting that several countries, including the United States, those in the European Union and China, have been working seriously towards issuing their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in recent years. In October 2020, the Bahamas launched the world’s first CBDC. However, a few countries, including Finland and Denmark —have taken a step back and have said they had cancelled efforts to introduce a digital currency, according to CBDCTracker.org.
What are the risks in adopting digital currencies issued by Central banks?
Many, including various central bankers, fear that people may begin withdrawing money from their bank accounts as digital currencies issued by Central banks become more popular. This concern was flagged by the RBI Deputy Governor as well. Remember that many people currently use bank accounts to safely store their cash. When the digital wallet offered by the RBI can serve the same purpose, people could very well begin converting their bank deposits into digital cash.
One thing that could prevent any large flight of capital from bank accounts to digital currencies is the fact that bank accounts, unlike digital currencies, offer interest on deposits. But in developed economies, where interest rates are near zero or even negative, the risk of people rushing their money out of bank accounts and into digital currencies is real. This may not be an immediate concern for banks in India which still offer returns that are positive, at least in nominal terms, to their depositors.
The withdrawal of bank deposits can also affect the amount of loans created by banks. However, this could happen not simply because banks will have fewer cash deposits to lend to borrowers. Contrary to popular belief, banks do not loan out actual cash deposits. Instead, they use cash deposits as a base on which they create a pyramid of electronic loans far in excess of the cash deposits. So banks hold lower amounts of cash in their vaults than what their depositors and borrowers could demand from them anyway. The real reason banks will be able to create fewer loans is that when customers convert their bank money into CBDCs, banks will be forced to surrender at least some cash and will thus possess an even smaller base on which to create loans. Also, when bank customers convert their deposits into digital rupee, the RBI will have to take these liabilities from the books of banks and onto its own balance sheet.
What lies ahead?
There is speculation already that Central banks will cap the amount of money that an individual can hold in the form of CBDCs. This is to prevent the mass withdrawal of deposits from banks. Some even believe that some Central banks, such as the European Central Bank, may impose a negative penalty on their digital currencies. This could be done to force people to spend their digital currencies and to discourage the withdrawal of deposits from banks that impose negative interest rates.
Central banks may also have to inject fresh money into banks to ensure that the ability of banks to create loans is not affected by depositors’ rush to digital currencies.
The BrahMos deal and India’s defence exports
On January 28, Philippines signed a $374.96 million deal with BrahMos Aerospace Pvt. Ltd. for the supply of shore based anti-ship variant of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. This is the first export order for the missile which is a joint product between India and Russia and also the biggest defence export contract of the country. This adds impetus to the efforts to boost defence exports and meet the ambitious target set by the Government to achieve a manufacturing turnover of $25 billion or ?1,75,000 crore including exports of ?35,000 crore in aerospace and defence goods and services by 2025.
What is the BrahMos missile system?
The Philippines contract includes delivery of three BrahMos missile batteries, training for operators and maintainers as well as the necessary Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) package. The coastal defence regiment of the Philippine Marines, which is under the Navy, will be the primary employer of the missile system.
BrahMos is a joint venture between India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russias NPO Mashinostroyeniya. The missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers. Beginning with an anti-ship missile, several variants have since been developed and it is now capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against surface and sea-based targets and has constantly been improved and upgraded. The missile has been long inducted by the Indian armed forces and the Army recently deployed BrahMos along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh.
The range of the BrahMos was originally limited to 290 kms as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) of which Russia was a signatory. Following India’s entry into the club in June 2016, plans were announced to extend the range initially to 450 kms and subsequently to 600 kms. BrahMos with extended range upto 450 kms has been tested several times since.
Which other countries are in discussion for the BrahMos missiles?
In addition to the deal signed last week by Philippines, there is another long pending deal under discussion for BrahMos missiles for the Philippines Army which could see progress in the near future, officials said. The procurement for Philippines Army (PA) is included in the Horizon 3 Modernisation programme of Philippines (Year 2023-2027), diplomatic sources had stated.
While the first export order for BrahMos took a long time, the next order is likely to be concluded soon with negotiations with Indonesia and Thailand in advanced stages. There is reportedly interest for BrahMos from countries in West Asia as well.
Philippines is also looking at several other military procurements from India and South East Asia as the region has emerged as a major focus area for India’s defence exports. For instance, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has received interest from Philippines Coast Guard for procurement of seven Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopters and eight Dornier Do-228 aircraft under the $100mn Line of Credit (LoC) extended by India. Progress on this has been delayed due to the pandemic situation, officials said.
Kanpur based company MKU has supplied Bullet Proof Jackets (BPJ) to Philippines in the past and is now in the race for bigger contracts for BPJs and helmets. In addition, maritime domain and ship building is another potential area for Indian companies in the Philippines.
What is the status of defence exports?
From 2016-17 to 2018-19, the country’s defence exports have increased from ?1,521 crore to ?10,745 crore, a staggering 700% growth. The value of exports of defence items including major items in Financial Year 2014-15 and 2020-21 was ?1,940.64 crore and ?8,434.84 crore respectively. As per data given by the Government, defence exports for 2020-21 stood at ?8434.84 crore and the export target for financial year 2021-22 was ?10,000 crore.
There have been a series of measures announced to incentivise and promote domestic defence manufacturing as well as efforts to boost exports which include simplified defence industrial licensing, relaxation of export controls and grant of No Objection Certificates (NOC), extending Line of Credit (LoC) to foreign countries to import defence products and empowering Defence Attaches in Indian missions abroad to promote defence exports. The draft ‘Defence Production _amp; Export Promotion Policy (DPEPP) 2020’ is expected to be finalised soon.
In December 2020, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) approved the export of indigenous Akash Surface to Air (SAM) missile systems which several countries in South East Asia and West Asia have expressed interest in.
To provide faster approvals for export of major defence platforms, a committee comprising of the Defence Minister, External Affairs Minister and National Security Advisor was set up. The Defence Ministry had said in December 2020, that “This Committee would authorise subsequent exports of major indigenous platforms to various countries. The Committee would also explore various available options including the Government-to-Government route.”
In the last few years, India has put out a range of military hardware on sale which includes various missile systems, Light Combat Aircraft (LCA), helicopters, warship and patrol vessels, artillery guns, tanks, radars, military vehicles, electronic warfare systems in addition to other weapons systems.
BrahMos
The BrahMos (designated PJ-10) is a medium-range ramjet supersonic cruise missile that can be launched from submarine, ships, aircraft or land. It is notably one of the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world.
It is a joint venture between the Russian Federations NPO Mashinostroyeniya and Indias Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), who together have formed BrahMos Aerospace.
It is based on the Russian P-800 Oniks cruise missile and other similar sea-skimming Russian cruise missile technology. The name BrahMos is a portmanteau formed from the names of two rivers, the Brahmaputra of India and the Moskva of Russia.
It is the worlds fastest anti-ship cruise missile currently in operation.
The land-launched and ship-launched versions are already in service. An air-launched variant of BrahMos appeared in 2012 and entered service in 2019.
A hypersonic version of the missile, BrahMos-II, is also presently under development with a speed of Mach 7–8 to boost aerial fast strike capability. It was expected to be ready for testing by 2024.
India wanted the BrahMos to be based on a mid-range cruise missile like the P-700 Granit. Its propulsion is based on the Russian missile, and missile guidance has been developed by BrahMos Aerospace. The missile is expected to reach a total order of US$13 billion.
In 2016, as India became a member of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), India and Russia are now planning to jointly develop a new generation of Brahmos missiles with 800 km-plus range and an ability to hit protected targets with pinpoint accuracy. In 2019, India upgraded the missile with a new range of 650 km with plans to eventually upgrade all missiles to a range of 1500 km.
