Willing to talk to Pakistan on pilgrim flights: India
Philippines inks $375 Mn BrahMos missile deal
Putin to attend Winter Olympics, meet Xi
Economic crisis tightens grip on Sri Lanka’s hinterland
Honduras gets its first woman President
GS-3
India’s largest electric vehicle charging station set up in Gurugram
Study raises concerns on NeoCov
The surge in oil prices amid Russia-Ukraine conflict and its impact on Budget, inflation
Willing to talk to Pakistan on pilgrim flights: India
India is “positive” and “willing to engage” in talks with Pakistan on upgrading the 1974 joint protocol on religious pilgrimages to allow air travel as well as increase the number of shrines pilgrims from both countries could visit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.
Pakistan government had sent a proposal from the Pakistan Hindu Council (PHC) to allow a group of 170 pilgrims to fly directly from Karachi and Lahore to places of worship in India.
High Commission’s tweets
The Pakistan High Commission here did not comment on the MEA statement. However, in a series of tweets about the impact of faith tourism and the newly reopened Kartarpur corridor, it said it had issued a visa to Indian national Sika Khan, who had reunited with his brother, Pakistani national Muhammed Siddique, after their separation during Partition, at Kartarpur this month.
“The story of the two brothers is a powerful illustration of how the historic opening of the visa-free Kartarpur Sahib Corridor in November 2019 by Pakistan is bringing people closer to each other,” the High Commission said.
The MEA spokesperson also struck a positive note on the ongoing discussions over India’s proposal to send 500,000 tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan as humanitarian aid that has been awaiting Pakistan government permissions for months despite a formal announcement by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan clearing the proposal in November. India has sent about 500,000 COVID-19 vaccines and 5.6 tonnes of medical assistance to Kabul via special flights.
Background
Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines 1974
The Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines 1974 is a bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan facilitating Indian and Pakistani nationals to visit certain religious shrines in both countries.
As of November 2018, fifteen locations in Pakistan and five in India are covered under this protocol.
In India
Ajmer Sharif Dargah, dedicated to sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer, Rajasthan
Nizamuddin Dargah, dedicated to sufi saint Nizamuddin Auliya, in Delhi
Amir Khusro, dedicated to Sufi musician Amir Khusro in Delhi
Sirhind Sharif, Mujaddid Alf Sani in Sirhind, Punjab, India
Kalyar Sharif, dedicated to sufi saint Alauddin Ali Ahmed Sabir, near Haridwar
In Pakistan
Shadani Darbar in Hyat Pitafi, Ghotki
Katasraj Dham in Lahore
Gurudwaras of Nankana Sahib
Gurudwara Panja Sahib, Rawalpindi
Samadhi of Ranjit Singh, Lahore
Gurudwara Dera Sahib, Lahore
Gurudwara Janam Asthan, Lahore
Gurudwara Deewan Khana, Lahore
Gurudwara Shaheed Ganj, Singhanian, Lahore
Gurudwara Bhai Tara Singh, Lahore
Gurudwara of Sixth Guru, Mozang, Lahore
Birthplace of Guru Ram Das, Lahore
Gurudwara Cheveen Padshahi, Mozang, Lahore
Shrine of Data Ganj Bakhsh, Lahore
Mirpur Mathelo, Sindh
Philippines inks deal worth $375 million for BrahMos missiles
Philippines on Friday signed a $374.96-million deal with BrahMos Aerospace Private 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, a joint product of India and Russia.
“As the world’s fastest supersonic cruise missiles, the BrahMos missiles will provide deterrence against any attempt to undermine their sovereignty and sovereign rights, especially in the West Philippine Sea,” he said. “Equipping our Navy with this vital asset is imperative as the Philippines continues to protect the integrity of its territory and defend its national interests.”
China Factor
Tensions have high between Philippines and China over the disputed islands in the South China Sea, and last November Manila had accused Chinese Coast Guard of “intimidation and harassment” of its Navy personnel.
Other Countries
Several countries have shown interest in acquiring the BrahMos missile. Discussions are in advanced stages with Indonesia and Thailand. India and Russia had long agreed on a negative export list for sale of the missile.
About BrahMos
BrahMos is a joint venture between DRDO (Defence Research and Development Organisation) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya and the missile derives its name from the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers.
It is capable of being launched from land, sea, sub-sea and air against surface and sea-based targets and has for long been inducted by the Indian armed forces.
The range of the missile was originally capped at 290 km as per obligations of the Missile Technology Control Regime. Following India’s entry into the club in June 2016, officials said the range would be extended to 450 km and 600 km at a later stage. The extended range missile has been tested earlier and tested twice- on January 11 from indigenous guided stealth missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam, and the Integrated Test Range, Chandipur, off the coast of Odisha, on January 20.
Putin to attend Winter Olympics, meet Xi
Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, and five Presidents from Central Asia will be among the around two dozen world leaders heading to Beijing next week for the opening of the Winter Olympics, China announced on Friday.
China, called on the U.S. to address Russia’s “legitimate concerns” over NATO’s security presence, in what was its strongest statement of support for Russia so far.
What are Winter Olympics?
The Winter Olympic Games is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority.
The original five Winter Olympic sports (broken into nine disciplines) were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing (consisting of the disciplines military patrol, cross-country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping), and skating (consisting of the disciplines figure skating and speed skating).
The 2022 Winter Olympics officially the XXIV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Beijing 2022, is an upcoming international winter multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing and venues near the neighboring towns of Yanqing and Chongli in China.
Beijing was elected as host city in July 2015 at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur. The 2022 Winter Olympics will be the first Winter Olympics in China, and the last of three consecutive Olympics in East Asia (after the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan).
Economic crisis tightens grip on Sri Lanka’s hinterland
Rising inflation
The country’s fast-depleting foreign reserves — $3.1 billion at the end of 2021 — have pushed the Rajapaksa administration into a corner. The government needs dollars to import basic food items, fuel, and medicines, which have frequently been in shortage in recent months. As has milk powder, which Sri Lanka mostly imports and widely consumes in place of fresh milk.
Scores of consumers are struggling to afford essentials such as rice, pulses, vegetables, fish, and meat whose prices are soaring, amid import restrictions imposed to save foreign exchange. Consumer price inflation hit 14% last week. Finding LPG cylinders, in short supply, remains a challenge.
And if the consumer is a daily-wage worker like Mr. Sundararajan, where his hard-won LKR 1,000 (?366) wage is tied to tedious production targets, forgoing a cup of tea or even a meal, like in the case of many poor families, is the only option.
The story of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis came to the fore amid the pandemic, which dealt a severe blow to the country’s crucial, foreign exchange earning sectors. Colombo has foreign debt obligations totalling nearly $7 billion this year, and Sri Lanka is “trying all options’” to avoid a default, Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa recently told the Financial Times.
India and China have extended emergency assistance by way of loans and currency swaps, but Sri Lanka is still on the edge. The national polity, policy makers and think tanks are debating if the country should opt for an IMF bailout. Some analysts are even arguing that Sri Lanka must prepare to default, and subsequently restructure its debt, although the government is determined to keep the country’s unblemished record in foreign debt servicing.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s plantation workers, like the nearly 900 employed in tea and rubber estates in Doloswala village, did not have to wait until the pandemic to know deprivation.
Even otherwise, Sri Lanka’s rubber estate workers get much less attention, compared to their counterparts working in the tea estates largely in the central highlands. This, despite rubber being the third largest item in Sri Lanka’s exports basket, after apparels and tea, and fetching nearly $1 billion in exports last year.
Note: Basically, Sri Lanka is in News because of 3-4 things like Food Emergency, Organic Fertilizer use issue, Economy Collapse, High Debt to GDP ratio, Trincomalee tankers, Cultural exchange Programs, Colombo east container terminal etc. So, you can read these all at once and prepare IR notes at once.
Honduras gets its first woman President
Leftist Xiomara Castro was sworn in on Thursday as the first woman President of Honduras, vowing to reform the crime-and poverty-stricken nation into a “socialist and democratic state.”
Ms. Castro, 62, took the oath at a massive ceremony attended by international dignitaries after an embarrassing week of fighting within her party that challenged her authority.
In her address at the Tegucigalpa National Stadium, Ms. Castro denounced “social and economic tragedy confronting Honduras” and vowed to improve education, healthcare, security and employment.
India’s largest electric vehicle charging station set up in Gurugram
India’s largest electric vehicle (EV) charging station, with 100 charging points for four-wheelers, was commissioned in Sector 52 in Gurugram. Before this, the country’s largest EV charging station was in Navi Mumbai, with 16 AC and 4 DC charging ports for such vehicles.
The EV charging station in Gurugram, with 72 AC slow-chargers and 24 DC fast-chargers, has been installed and is operated by a partner company of National Highways for Electric Vehicle (NHEV), as part of a pilot project to install charging stations on the Delhi-Jaipur and Delhi-Agra highways, and turn them into e-highways.
The pilot project is aimed at demonstrating the competitive advantage of owning a charging station business over petrol pumps, in terms of ease in getting the necessary licensing, designing, commissioning, installation, electrification and safety certifications.
Study raises concerns on NeoCov
A single molecular change in the lab enabled a coronavirus called Neocov to “efficiently infect” human cells using the same pathway that the SARS-CoV-2 uses to infect human cells, researchers from Wuhan University, Wuhan, China said in a report that is yet to be peer-reviewed.
Neocov has so far only been seen in bats and no instances have been reported in people, but being closely related to the Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses --traditionally more lethal but less transmissible than Sarscov2 --the study has raised concern that this too may lethally proliferate in people . Experts however say that such fears are unwarranted.
In their study, which is available on the online pre-print server bioRxiv.org, the scientists set out to find out they ways in which Neocov, a coronavirus known to be 85% similar to MERS coronaviruses, infected animal cells. MERS has a mortality rate of around 35%, far more than the coroanviruses.
The Sarscov2, for instance, spreads the way it does because it has figured out a way to use the enzyme called human angiotensin convertor 2 (hACE2) to infect cells. The scientists reported that they have, for the first time, shown Necov too uses bat ACE2. However, this ACE2 is specific to the sub-species of bat and when the scientists checked if the Neocov could use hACE2, it turned out to be a “less favourable” mode of entry.
A single molecular barrier, close to where the virus bound to cells, “restricted” the human ACE2 from aiding a NeoCoV infection. However, when a mutation was artificially introduced, it made the NeoCoV 15-30 times more efficient at infecting human ACE2. Moreover, they underline, the infection could not be supressed by antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 or MERS-CoV.
The surge in oil prices amid Russia-Ukraine conflict and its impact on Budget, inflation
Rising tensions between Russia and Ukraine are leading to a surge in oil prices, with Brent breaching the $90-a-barrel mark overnight on Thursday — the first time since 2014.
Some analysts predict oil prices to hit the $100-110-mark per barrel in the near future as prospects of supply disruptions and rising demand support prices. Rates have surged sharply from a low of $65.88 on December 2, 2021, and if the prices continue to rise, it will put a lot of pressure on both the Central and state governments to review taxes. The spike also impacts assumptions on the key metric that goes into Budget formulation.
Crude oil prices have risen sharply since the beginning of the year as a surge in Covid-19 cases around the world owing to the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus has not lowered demand for crude oil in line with expectations.
Geopolitical tension in the Middle East and fresh tensions between Russia and Ukraine are leading to speculations of supply disruptions. Key oil-producing countries have also kept increasing crude oil supplies despite rising demand. OPEC+ had agreed to sharp cuts in supply in 2020 owing to Covid-induced travel restrictions, but the organisation has been slow to boost production since then.
What is the impact on rising oil prices on Budget and inflation?
The Budget for this year has assumed that oil prices will hover around the $65-per-barrel mark. Between April and September, oil prices traded largely in the range of $60-75 per barrel. In October, it rose to $86 per barrel, before sliding down to $65.86 per barrel again. Prices have steadily risen since then to touch a post-Covid all time high of $90.5 on Wednesday.
Not only do rising prices feed into inflation, but also increase the amount of LPG and kerosene subsidy the government is required to pay. However, on the positive side, government revenues on taxes of oil and related products have also been rising over the last two years.
The country’s retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index, has already risen to a five-month high of 5.59 per cent in December. Wholesale price index-based inflation rose to 13.56 per cent during the same month.
High inflation will force the government to cut taxes on oil and related products, especially since rising prices are a key factor ahead of upcoming Assembly elections in five states.
“Oil prices are a big factor in the Budget that will be presented next week and the overall fiscal math of India as it imports more than 85 per cent of its crude requirements. The Oil import bill is already up by more than 70 per cent from last year and it affects the balance of payments adversely. Oil marketing companies haven’t increased retail prices for the last 80 days due to the upcoming polls and given the under recovery that is already built in, the Union Finance Minister may not have the headroom to increase excise duty.
Prices of petrol and diesel fell in November as the Central government cut excise duties by Rs 5 and Rs 10 per litre respectively. Most states have also reduced Value Added Taxes on petrol and diesel. Since the cut in taxes, Oil Marketing Companies have not revised their prices.
GIST:
Higher Inflation: Higher oil prices have a direct impact on inflation figures. The retail inflation of India or Consumer Price Index (CPI) has already touched 5.5 per cent in December. This is the highest in five months. On the other hand, the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) rose to 13.56 per cent. This rise in inflation pushes the government to cut the taxes on oil, leading to a smaller revenue.
Oil, LPG Subsidy: After cutting revenues, it becomes difficult for the government to pay the subsidies on LPG and Kerosene oil. This also impacts the lower-middle class and BPL part of the population in the country.
Imbalance in Balance of Payments: India imports over 85 per cent of its oil requirements. If the prices rise, so does the government’s bill of oils. With the high inflation figures, the government cannot further increase the excise duty on petrol and diesel. This may lead to a Balance of Payment (BoP) imbalance, which becomes a big problem in the Budget.
Low Tax Collection: With oil prices rising, the government may have to cut excise and VAT charged on petrol and diesel. This stops the Oil Marketing Companies from raising the petrol, diesel prices. But it comes with a big cost as thousands of crores are wiped off from the government’s coffers.
