EU joins chips race with €43billion bid to rival Asia
Macron sees path to ease Russia crisis
Sri Lanka to launch its own ‘Aadhaar’
Renewing Indo-Lanka relations after a period of strain
The Governor’s role in approving a Bill
GS-3
New COVID-19 test with shorter result duration
Charminar to be freed from tangle of wires
The Archaeological Survey of India is taking steps to make the wiring discreet and light up the national monument in a better way.
The improved system will also make the 430-year-old monument in Hyderabad more accessible with better lighting inside the minarets that take visitors to the upper storey.
Another challenge to the Hyderabad landmark has been a series of efforts to lay pipelines, sewerage lines and other utilities by digging near the site using pneumatic devices.
About Charminar
The Charminar constructed in 1591, is a monument located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The landmark has become known globally as a symbol of Hyderabad and is listed among the most recognised structures in India.
It has also been officially incorporated as the Emblem of Telangana for the state of Telangana. The Charminars long history includes the existence of a mosque on its top floor for more than 400 years.
The Charminar is situated on the east bank of Musi river. To the west lies the Laad Bazaar, and to the southwest lies the richly ornamented granite Makkah Masjid. It is listed as an archaeological and architectural treasure on the official List of Monuments prepared by the Archaeological Survey of India.
History of Charminar
The fifth ruler of the Qutb Shahi dynasty, Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah, built the Charminar in 1591 after shifting his capital from Golkonda to the newly formed city of Hyderabad.
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), the current caretaker of the structure, mentions in its records, There are various theories regarding the purpose for which Charminar was constructed. However, it is widely accepted that Charminar was built at the centre of the city, to commemorate the eradication of plague, a deadly disease which was wide spread at that time.
According to Jean de Thévenot, a French traveller of the 17th century whose narration was complemented with the available Persian texts, the Charminar was constructed in the year 1591 CE, to commemorate the beginning of the second Islamic millennium year (1000 AH). ?Due to its architecture it is also called as Arc de Triomphe of the east.
It is of Indo-Islamic architecture style, incorporating Persian architectural elements.
EU joins chips race with €43billion bid to rival Asia
The EU on Tuesday unveiled a plan to quadruple the supply of semiconductors in Europe by 2030, hoping to limit the bloc’s dependence on Asia for a key component used in electric cars and smartphones.
The production of chips has become a strategic priority in Europe as well as the United States, after the shock of the pandemic choked off supply, bringing factories to a standstill and emptying stores of products.
The manufacturing of semiconductors overwhelmingly takes place in Taiwan, China and South Korea and the European Union wants factories and companies inside the bloc to take on a bigger role.
Chips Act
The highly anticipated EU Chips Act will “mobilise more than €43 billion ($49.1 billion) of public and private investments” and “enable the EU to reach its ambition to double its current market share to 20% in 2030”, the European Commission said.
“We’ve set ourselves the goal to have 20% of the global market share of chips production here in Europe,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. Getting to that level “means basically quadrupling our efforts” given the huge increase in global demand, she said.
If approved, the EU plans could generate a total of €43 billion via existing EU budget money as well as by loosening existing rules on public subsidy from member states.
Approval of members
The proposal will need the approval of the EU member states and European Parliament, where opinions will vary between the ambitions of industrial heavyweights such as Germany, France and Italy and those of smaller states that are worried about closing off valuable supply chains with Asia.
Some member states, led by the Netherlands and Nordic nations, will also resist any plan to widen the scope for state aid, with the commission planning to make it easier for EU governments to pump money to chip-makers.
“We don’t want to end up in a position with a huge U.S. company getting a bunch of EU money to open a factory in one big member state,” an EU diplomat said.
Macron sees path to ease Russia crisis
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday he saw a path forward on easing tensions with Russia over Ukraine, after conducting an urgent round of shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Kiev.
Mr. Macron held talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kiev a day after a five-hour meeting at the Kremlin with Russia’s Vladimir Putin, as the West scrambles to defuse fears Moscow could invade its ex-Soviet neighbour.
The French leader said he now saw the “possibility” for talks involving Moscow and Kiev over the festering conflict in the east of the country to move forward, and “concrete, practical solutions” to lower tensions between Russia and the West.
Summit talks
Mr. Macron — who now heads to Berlin for talks with the leaders of Germany and Poland — said Mr. Putin had told him that Russia “would not be the source of an escalation”, in the situation, despite amassing more than 1,00,000 troops and military hardware on Ukraine’s border. Mr. Zelensky said he hoped a meeting of high-ranking officials on Thursday in Berlin could pave the way for a summit with the leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany aimed at reviving the stalled peace plan for Kiev’s conflict with Moscow-backed separatists.
Mr. Putin — who has demanded sweeping security guarantees from NATO and the United States — said after his talks with Mr. Macron that Moscow would “do everything to find compromises that suit everyone”.
He said several proposals put forward by Mr. Macron could “form a basis for further steps” on easing the crisis over Ukraine, but did not give any details.
French proposals
At the same time as sending its military hardware to Ukraine’s borders, Mr. Putin has issued demands the West says are unacceptable, including barring Ukraine from joining NATO and rolling back alliance forces in eastern Europe.
The French presidency said Mr. Macron’s counter proposals included an engagement from both sides not to take any new military action, the launching of a strategic dialogue and efforts to revive the peace process for Ukraine’s conflict.
Kiev has laid out three “red lines” that it says it will not cross to find a solution — no compromise over Ukraine’s territorial integrity, no direct talks with the separatists and no interference in its foreign policy.
As Mr. Macron sought a diplomatic solution with Kiev, U.S. President Joe Biden ramped up the pressure on Moscow on Monday by warning he would “end” the controversial new Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Europe if tanks rolled into Ukraine. Mr. Biden’s declaration at a press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was the bluntest so far on the fate of the massive pipeline, which is complete but has yet to begin funnelling natural gas.
Sri Lanka to launch its own ‘Aadhaar’
India has agreed to provide a grant to Sri Lanka to implement a ‘Unitary Digital Identity framework’, apparently modelled on the Aadhaar card. The Rajapaksa government will “prioritise” the implementation of the Framework as a national level programme, Sri Lanka’s Cabinet decided on Monday.
“Under the proposed Unitary Digital Identity Framework, it is expected to introduce a personal identity verification device based on biometric data, a digital tool that can represent the identities of individuals in cyberspace, and the identification of individual identities that can be accurately verified in digital and physical environments by combining the two devices,” according to a media statement released by the Department of Government Information on Tuesday.
The initiative follows bilateral talks between President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2019. Sri Lanka’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal made by Mr. Rajapaksa, in his capacity as the Minister of Technology, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with India, in order to obtain the grant and take the project forward. It also comes amid substantive economic assistance from India – totalling $ 1.4 billion since the beginning of this year – to Sri Lanka, to help the island nation cope with its dollar crunch, and import food, medicines and fuel amid frequent shortages.
While India has confirmed support for Sri Lanka’s effort to transition to a digital identity system, there is no official information yet on the value of the grant, and whether it would include technological support or training. Queried on the specifics of the agreement, Colombo-based official sources said the terms of the agreement are “being worked out”.
This is not the first time that Sri Lanka is attempting to digitise its citizens’ identities. Just a few years ago, the predecessor Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe administration, in power from 2015 to 2019, mooted a similar Electronic-National Identity Card — or E-NIC —that privacy advocates opposed on grounds that the state would have full access to citizens’ personal data in a central database. The former Mahinda Rajapaksa government tried initiating the project as early as 2011. Neither project was implemented.
Renewing Indo-Lanka relations after a period of strain
Sri Lanka’s Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris met_nbsp; S. Jaishankar in New Delhi, as part of the ongoing high-level, and increasingly frequent, bilateral engagement between the neighbours.
After a year marked by strain and a trust deficit, recent developments signal a “fresh energy” in Indo-Lanka ties, according to Mr. Peiris.
Why India?
Before the pandemic struck, and soon after, it was India that the ruling Rajapaksas first approached with requests for a debt freeze and currency swap. However, for about two years there was no response from Delhi. Meanwhile, Colombo also sought and obtained financial assistance from China through the pandemic years, by way of new loans and a currency swap. China also provided about 80% of the vaccines administered by Sri Lanka, where about 65% of the population is fully vaccinated. Colombo also received some assistance from other countries, such as Bangladesh.
Is there a shift?
The last year saw a dramatic turn in Indo-Lanka relations, beginning with Colombo’s sudden decision in February 2021, to unilaterally cancel a 2019 agreement to jointly develop a strategic port (East Container) terminal in Colombo with India and Japan.
New Delhi and Tokyo were shocked. They expressed their displeasure at the Rajapaksa government’s decision unambiguously. However, Colombo soon offered what it called a “compromise deal” to India, roping in the Adani Group as the main investor in a neighbouring, West Container Terminal.
India quickly took the offer but its concerns over a long-pending agreement on the joint development of the World War II-era oil tanks in the strategically located, eastern Trincomalee district remained. It was a key talking point during Sri Lankan Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa’s visit to New Delhi end of last year, when he discussed a “four-pronged” approach with India to address Sri Lanka’s food and energy security.
Mr. Basil sort emergency assistance from India when Sri Lanka’s foreign reserves dropped to $1.6 billion in November 2021, leaving no dollars for importing essentials, or meeting debt obligations.
New Delhi’s assistance, diplomatic sources indicated, was contingent on Colombo firming up the Trincomalee project agreement. Sure enough, Sri Lanka soon announced that it would sign the Trincomalee oil tank farm deal with India.
On January 6, 2022, the two sides inked the agreement, marking a major milestone in the long-dragging project. A week later, India confirmed a $400 million currency swap for Sri Lanka, while deferring another $500 million due for settlement to the Asian Clearing Union (ACU). On February 2, 2022, the Export Import Bank (EXIM) of India and the Government of Sri Lanka signed a $500- million Line of Credit agreement to ease Sri Lanka’s fuel imports.
Are there other sources of tension?
Yes. The Palk Bay fisheries conflict, involving fishermen of Tamil Nadu and their counterparts in war-affected northern Sri Lanka has escalated in recent weeks, following mid-sea clashes between fishermen from both sides.
Two fishermen from Sri Lanka’s northern Jaffna district were found dead after one such clash, triggering massive protests. The Sri Lankan fishermen protested Indian fishermen’s use of the destructive bottom trawling fishing method along their coast, despite their voicing concern over its impact on marine resources and their post-war livelihoods for years now.
Bilateral talks between governments and fisher leaders have proved unsuccessful so far, with Tamil Nadu fishermen reluctant to move away from the practice of bottom trawling that yields high profits.
Another aspect in bilateral engagement is the pending political solution to Sri Lanka’s Tamil question. Arguably, India’s emphasis on the rights of Tamils has come down in recent years, with a growing China pre-occupation dominating its Sri Lanka policy.
India and Sri Lanka’s Tamil leadership continue to engage on this aspect. Prominent Tamil leaders recently wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, seeking India’s intervention in ensuring a durable political solution to Sri Lanka’s historic ethnic question. However, it remains to be seen if India has the leverage to influence the Rajapaksa administration to decisively address the Tamils’ long-pending concerns, in the new Constitution promised by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
The Governor’s role in approving a Bill
The Tamil Nadu Assembly has once again adopted a Bill that was earlier returned by Governor R.N. Ravi. The Bill seeks to grant exemption from the mandatory National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET) for seats allotted by the Government in undergraduate medical and dental courses in Tamil Nadu. Last week, the Governor returned the Bill, contending that it was against the interests of rural and poor students.
What is the Governor’s function in passing a Bill?
Under Article 200, the Governor may
(a) grant assent
(b) withhold assent
(c) return for reconsideration by the Legislature
(d) reserve for the consideration of the President any Bill passed by the State legislature and presented to him for assent.
There is no timeframe fixed in the Constitution for any of these functions. The Constitution makes it mandatory that the Governor should reserve for the President’s consideration if, in his opinion (a phrase that means he exercises his own discretion in this), a Bill that “so derogates from the powers of the High Court as to endanger the position which that Court is by this Constitution designed to fill”.
In other words, any Bill that seems to clip the wings of the High Court or undermine its functioning will not become law without the President’s assent.
What happens when the President considers the Bill?
Once again, there is no timeframe. Article 201 says when a Bill is reserved by a Governor for his consideration, “the President shall declare either that he assents to the Bill, or that he withholds assent therefrom”. He may also direct the Governor to return the Bill, if it is not a Money Bill, to the Legislature along with a message.
The House or Houses will have to reconsider the Bill within a period of six months from receiving it. It may pass the Bill again with or without any change. The Bill shall again be presented to the President for his consideration. The article ends with that. This means that the Bill will become law if the assent is given, but nothing can be done if the Bill is denied assent by the President or if he makes no decision.
Does the Governor have any discretion in this regard?
Section 75 of the Government of India Act, 1935, contained the words ‘in his discretion’ while referring to the Governor’s grant of assent to Bills. The phrase was consciously omitted when Article 175 in the draft Constitution (later renumbered as the present Article 200) was enacted. Commentators generally agree that the Governor, who normally functions on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, is bound to go by the advice in the matter of granting assent. It may seem unusual to say the Governor should act on ministerial advice even when withholding assent and returning a Bill for reconsideration.
However, a reading of the Constituent Assembly debates shows that this was indeed what the framers of the Constitution intended. It was explained on behalf of the drafting committee that there may be a situation when the Council of Ministers feels that a Bill has been hastily adopted or that it requires changes.
In such a situation, the Constitution must provide for the possibility that the Council may want to recall its Bill, and accordingly advise the Governor to return it.
While analysing the provision, the Sarkaria Commission on Union-State Relations points out that the Constitutional Adviser’s note said there could be occasions for even withholding assent on the advice of the Ministers.
For instance, if after a Bill is passed the Ministers resign before the Bill gets the Governor’s assent, the new Ministry may not want to go ahead with the Bill and might advise against assent being given. These examples suggest that no discretion was ever envisaged for the Governor in dealing with Bills.
In a Nutshell
The Tamil Nadu Assembly has once again adopted a Bill on the exemption of the NEET exams that was earlier returned by Governor R.N. Ravi. The Governor returned the bill stating that it was against the interests of rural and poor students.
The Governor will now have to grant his assent to the Bill as mandated by Article 200 of the Constitution. The first proviso of the article enables the Governor to return a Bill for reconsideration. If the Bill is passed again and presented for assent, “the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom”.
The Governor does not have discretion on matters of the Assembly and is bound to follow the advice of the ministerial Council even on matters where he/she might be withholding assent.
New COVID-19 test with shorter result duration
Chinese scientists say they have developed a new coronavirus test that is accurate as a PCR lab test but gives results within four minutes.
In a peer-reviewed article published on Monday in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, the team said their sensor — which uses microelectronics to analyse genetic material from swabs — can reduce the need for time-consuming Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests conducted in COVID labs.
The researchers said their method offers speed, ease of operation, high sensitivity and portability.
