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10 DEMOCRACY AT WORK

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MUMBAI | 13 MAY 2018

CHATTERBOX

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New roles His own men are finding new slots in Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s Congress. RPN Singh has been given charge of Jharkhand, Jitender Singh Bhanwar has been given charge of Odisha, Sushmita Dev has already changed the face of the Mahila Congress since she was made the chief; while Madhu Yaskhi Goud, ex MP from neighbouring Telangana, has been handed the charge of crucial Karnataka. Disciplined official The most disciplined minister in the government ? It has to be Minister of State for External Affairs, General VK Singh. Whenever there is a natural disaster/crisis site to be visited, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj turns to Singh, who is ready to take on any journey, no matter how arduous (the last one he undertook was a seven hour trip in an Avro). He obeys the foreign ministry bureaucracy so scrupulously, they say it is a treat to work with him — never deviates from official speeches, not even by a comma or full stop. The result is that when he does decide to deviate from the script (like telling relatives of the Indians from Punjab killed by ISIS that the government could not be expected to gives jobs as if it were alms), there is an immediate outcry. Everyone knows the civilian government controls the Indian defence services. But such civilian control of retired defence officers! That’s real discipline for you.

DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?

CHECKLIST

FOR THE RECORD: HD DEVE GOWDA DURING THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN 22 March:“Let it start from Hassan. Come on Siddaramaiah. Don’t dismiss me because of my advanced age. I can still defeat Siddaramaiah in a political wrestling bout.”  4 April: “My son went with the BJP (in 2006) and they call him opportunistic. But what about Siddaramaiah, who left behind the party that groomed him and joined the Congress? One should never run after power, it must come to your doorstep.”  30 April: “The Shiv Sena is upset (with the BJP). The Telugu Desam Party has come out of (the BJP-led) NDA. Kumaraswamy (his son and former CM) had suffered when he joined with the BJP. All kinds of regional parties are suffering at either the hands of the BJP or the Congress. I have also suffered (by aligning/supporting the Congress). With this bitter experience, we don’t want to have one more bad experience.”  2 May: “Maybe, by praising me, he (the prime minister) wants to gain sympathy. That is all. That 

"Both the BJP and the Congress party have failed to give any direction to the nation. Bless me to enter national politics." Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao at a public meeting at Medak, May 10

OPINION MJ AKBAR

We must cooperate to eliminate cross border terrorism et me thank the Government of Tajikistan, the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and the European Union for organising this conference on terrorism. Such has been the rise of this viral menace to our lives and values that this gathering would be considered necessary almost anywhere on the map. But Dushanbe carries a special relevance. Tajikistan has successfully fought, defeated and reversed the brutal tide of terrorism, and it did so during what I would describe as the most dangerous of decades, the 1990s. It was a time when powerful interests, often backed by a state, mobilised to train and arm groups like Taliban, Al Qaeda and affiliates to spread havoc across targeted regions. Tajikistan, facing its own challenge, subdued the so-called United Tajikistan Opposition, among which was Islamic Rebirth Party of Tajikistan (IRPT). We must recognise and acknowledge the meaning of that achievement. Tajikistan thereby prevented a contamination that could have, perhaps would have, infected the whole of Central Asia, and linked with ideological partners upto the Caspian and Black seas, and into Levant and Iraq. I am not being fanciful. History teaches us a stern lesson: when things go wrong, they can spin viciously out of control. We must congratulate the leadership of President Emomali Rahmon, the valour of his security forces, and the spirit of the Tajik people, who made enormous sacrifices to prevent a critical challenge from becoming an unmanageable catastrophe. Equally, we must recognise that while a great battle was won two decades ago, the war is not over. New groups have appeared on the vanguard. A vortex of this global conflict remains Afghanistan, whose people display, daily, the courage of heroes, in incident after relentless incident, as they fight against adversaries in a merciless war of attrition, enemies who get succour and sanctuary from neighbourhood mentors. The world must stand by those who are defending the world with their blood. The long war against terrorism must be fought along three dimensions. The first is familiar; the battlefield, I can add with confidence that the security and intelligence services of every right-minded government are engaged in this field to the best of their abilities. The second dimension is more subtle. This is the battlefield within the mind, where seeds of radicalisation are being planted with profuse abandon by misleaders posing as leaders. We have to answer these advocates of suicide missions and champions of chaos with the courage of our convictions. Evasion, compromise or even a muffled voice only feeds into false justifications for terrorism. Let me offer an example, once again from the experience of our hosts, who have, displayed exemplary clarity in their thinking and conduct. Tajikistan has banned the Islamic Rebirth Party of Tajikistan (IRPT) as a terrorist organisation, without ifs and buts. Let me scale this decision into a dialectic response. What do the ideologues of this party mean by ‘rebirth’? As a Muslim I believe in the birth of Islam, because the birth came from God. This fake rebirth is the work of misguided men. God made Islam a message of peace. These malevolent men have turned Islam into an instrument of war. God made Islam into a faith of pluralism: the Holy Quran says, “La qum deen o qum wa il ya deen” [Your faith for you, and my faith for me]. The rebirth misleaders have distorted faith into a reason for oppression against people of other faiths. The third dimension is economic. The central aspiration of the young in the 21st century is equitable prosperity. If there cannot be economic equality, there must at the very least be economic equity. This is a defining answer to radicalisation; phrased in the words of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “Sab ka saath, sab ka vikaas” [Together we stay, together we prosper]. This philosophy applies to our external policy as well. We fight terrorism in Afghanistan in many ways — but chief among them is people-oriented development. Our assistance to Afghanistan is over three billion dollars and includes, at the moment, 116 new projects in 31 provinces. There are no short cuts. Terrorists and their sponsors attract the economically vulnerable into their suicide factories through lies, distortion, illusion and what I have described in an essay as the ‘romance of regression’. We in India face and blunt the threat of radicalisation through our shared cultural ethos and an abiding commitment to equality of faith and equitable economic opportunity. In India, every morning begins with the azaan, followed by the temple bells of a mandir, followed by the recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib in a gurdwara, followed, on a Sunday, by the peal of church bells. And because it is India, it is audible. We are gathered here, friends, to unite and defend our very lives and civilisation. We must identify not only the frontline enemy but all its support systems. We must have honest answers to candid questions. Where does terror financing come from? We must follow the drug money. Steps currently being taken by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) are most welcome, and we cannot falter in our pursuit of terror financing. We must cooperate to eliminate cross-border terrorism; indeed, terrorists do not believe in a nation state or nationalism. They believe in faith-based space. We sit today at the frontiers of humanism. Barbarians are at the door.

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Statement by M J Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs at the High-Level International Conference on Countering Terrorism and Preventing Violent Extremism (May 04 Dushanbe)

ILLUSTRATION: BINAY SINHA

India is the world's largest consumer of groundwater. Subsidised electricity for farmers, who use it to pump groundwater, is largely to blame, says Tushaar Shah, economist and public policy specialist. In an interview to Shreehari Paliath, Shah discusses the possibility of increasing farmers' income by using solar power and the need for restricting power subsidies to farmers. Excerpts:

‘Cultural resistance in sharing power’ International Water Management Institute's (IWMI) pilot project in Dhundi, Gujarat, led to the setting up of a solar pump irrigators’ cooperative, the first of its kind in the world, which seeks to develop solar power as an additional “remunerative crop”. Tell us about it. The cooperative was a small experiment designed to draw the attention of the nation to a bigger problem and a much bigger opportunity in solar energy. We found that the primary driver of groundwater crisis is perverse power subsidy. The western corridor of India has the highest concentration of overdeveloped [overused] groundwater blocks. In these parts, over the last three to four decades, farmers have been either getting free or subsidised power. There’s no political will to rationalise these power subsidies. It is possible to provide power subsidies in a manner to ensure that its impact on the aquifer [the underground layer of water-bearing rock] ecosystem is minimised. When solar pumps became commercially available, we thought the multiple issues relat-

ed to the water economy can be resolved if the introduction of solar pumps is planned well. Although removing subsidy may not be immediately possible, with Dhundi, we thought that farmers can be rewarded for conserving water and energy. We gave the local farmers solar pumps, connected them to a micro-grid, and then the national grid. The local power company was persuaded to treat the cooperative at par with independent power producers and offer a 25year power purchase contract to buy surplus energy at the best price possible, which in this case is ~4.63 per unit. With the government planning to incentivise farmers’ transition to solar pumps through schemes such as Kisan Urja Suraksha evam Utthaan Mahabhiyan (KUSUM), how prepared is the supporting infrastructure including distribution companies, banks (for loans), and farming communities? Is the model ready to be scaled nationwide?

does not mean there is an understanding (between BJP and JDS).”  3 May: “Before the 2014 elections, I had said I would resign my Lok Sabha membership if BJP gets a majority on its own. I decided to resign, but Modi persuaded me against doing so. He said the country needs the experience and services of senior leaders.”  4 May: “In the art of public speech, he (Modi) is sharper than Vajpayee (laughs). Even Vajpayee ji wanted to support my government when Congress brought it down in 1997. I refused. He has been a gentleman. I am a different person. Not a power hungry politician.”  10 May: “This Congress government is one of the worst governments we have seen. What type of government is this? They are concerned only with money, money, money. Karnataka has been looted in the last five years. I take responsibility when I make this charge.”

Until now, subsidised power came to farmers individual. The micro-grid will be a collective. with interruptions and mostly at night. With But at a feeder level, which is preferred by elecsolar power, famers have daytime power. [On tricity companies, there is no need for a microdays] when they do not need power for irrigation, grid or other infrastructure because the existthe surplus power offers a source of additional ing connections can be utilised and only a income. [It also helps] conserve groundwater-the meter needs to be added. farmers have started investing in pipes to reduce leakages that earthen canals were prone to, and India’s groundwater withdrawal we expect them to use drip irrigation more in increased 10-fold between 1969 and 2010, cases where it is suitable. In addition to this, it according to IWMI. You have advocated reduces the subsidy burden on distribution com- for a system of water management that encourages integrated use panies and reduces the carbon of rainwater, groundwater intensity of agriculture. and surface water at an This is a gain for electricity individual user-level. distribution companies. What are the hurdles? Financially, distribution companies and state governments We need to create communihave to fork out subsidies of ty-level governance organisa~90,000-95,000 crore annually. tions and local-level goverPart of it is recovered by chargnance mechanisms. Here, too, ing commercial and industrial perverse subsidies are a faccustomers a high tariff just tor. A state like Punjab, which TUSHAAR SHAH because the state governments in the 1960s had 70 per centSenior fellow, International want to provide free or sub80 per centcanal irrigation, Water Management Institute sidised power to farmers. today largely depends on An issue, as I see it, is that groundwater. A farmer will distribution companies have a cultural prob- continue to run a tube-well despite having a lem. They have been in the business of selling canal close to the field due to free power. power, now they have been asked to buy. So, Tubewell offers convenience and control that there is some cultural resistance. What we canal irrigation may not offer. We need to require to scale rapidly is the right kind of resolve these incentives that are leading to incentives. The budget announced the KUSUM groundwater depletion as a first step toward scheme, which I think can do the job. such management practices. Additionally, canal management needs to be improved. The installation of solar panels typically Many states have not hired irrigation engineers requires land and investment. Does in almost three decades. Resources must be encouragement of solar energy in irrigation allocated for the management of dams and (and agriculture) particularly favour rich canals. Large irrigation systems in Punjab and farmers with large land holdings? At an Gujarat are running without such measures. estimated cost of around ~1-1.5 lakh for solar pumps post-subsidy, is it feasible, The Bharatiya Janata Party government is especially as indebted rural households keen on doubling farmers’ income by owed, on average in 2013, ~1.03 lakh? 2022. Given the dire water situation due to All Dhundi farmers have landholdings of less high groundwater extraction and climatethan one acre. They, of course, were provided related issues such as erratic rainfall and capital subsidy from us [IWMI]. But under drought, is the target realistic? KUSUM, 30 per cent of the capital subsidy is to Even without our water crisis, doubling farmbe provided by the Ministry of New and ers’ income in five years is an unreachable tarRenewable Energy (MNRE), another 30 per get. However, there are things we can do to cent by the state government, 30 per cent is a enhance farmers' income. Ensuring on-farm priority-sector loan [sectors such as agricul- water control is top on the agenda, but for maxture, housing and renewable energy that banks imum beneficial income impact, more interare mandated to encourage, by the central gov- ventions are needed once water security is ernment and the Reserve Bank of India, with established. Examples of villages like adequate and timely credit]. Farmers are to Hiwrebazar, Pirewadi, and Ralegan Siddi [all in contribute only 10 per cent. For example, a Maharashtra] show that water security followed farmer will have to contribute ~25,000-30,000 by value-addition interventions and market for a 5-kilowatt pump, which I think is feasible linkages [for farm produce] can rapidly raise for even small and marginal farmers. farm incomes. The challenge is that a scheme like KUSUM Promoting solar power as a remunerative needs a champion at the highest level, which in crop that farmers can grow can also add riskmy opinion should be the MNRE. It must edu- free income to farmers’ livelihoods. If implecate the distribution companies that this can mented properly, KUSUM can majorly ramp up revolutionise the Indian energy economy, espe- farmers’ incomes. Nearly 30 million solar cially because the farm sector uses around 23 pumps proposed under KUSUM can [produce] per cent of the electricity generated but is up to 240 gigawatt-hours of solar energy to sell responsible for nearly 85 per cent of the losses. to distribution companies every year and can increase a farmer's net income by over Should the ownership pattern be ~100,000 a year, besides also increasing income through a collective or is individual through reliable on-farm water control. ownership as effective? The ownership of panels and pumps must be © 2018 Indiaspend

‘Cupping’ the issue The common goal of reducing environment waste led two women to launch Stonesoup that provides a range of solution to manage household and menstrual waste, writes Samali Basu Guha hen Malini Parmar and Smita Wings have been designed by us. We are 100 Kulkarni launched the “she cups” on per cent Made in India, unlike other menstruStonesoup, 5-10 per cent of the waste al cups available in the market,” says Parmar, being generated in Bengaluru was sanitary who started her solid waste management jourwaste. Parmar and Kulkarni, both having had ney in 2011. “We have applied for a patent as strong exposure to the corporate world, want- well. We want to be a global brand.” To date, Stonesoup has sold around 5,000 ed to provide solutions and products that would be eco-friendly, as well as economical. cups — that equals the use of around 9 million The common goal of reducing environmental sanitary pads. “As waste volunteers, we experienced that waste led them to launch Stonesoup in mid2015. 70 per cent people want to do the right thing as Stonesoup gets its name from long as someone else has done the thinking and work behind it. We saw Stone Soup, an old folk story in which hungry travellers convince solutions and products that could handle waste but either they were not the people of a town to share their food in order to make a meal that easily available or were a burden on everyone enjoys. The start-up prothe pockets. So we decided to make sustainable living easy,” adds Parmar. vides a range of solutions to manage household and menstrual “We conduct different donation programmes. We also have different waste — composting kits and THE OTHER groups. ‘Green the red’ is one examblocks, menstrual cups, cloth pads, cloth diapers and natural cleansers ple. Then there are campaigns like ‘Period love’ and ‘Bleed green’. Also, a to name a few. “Menstrual cups are waste-free, lot of households are micro financing the stuff. They spend around ~50 per healthier, economical, and above all, comfortable options for period care,” month each, and that translates into a considsays Parmar. erable sum,” says Kulkarni. “We also have “Women spend a minimum ~50-60 per something called StoneSoup consulting, which month on sanitary pads. Our menstrual cups works with companies, hotels, apartments and range from ~835 to ~1,200, and each cup can be other bulk generators to provide customised used for at least 10 years. Now compare that solutions.” with around ~6,000 spent on sanitary pads Volunteers of ‘green the red’ group include over that period. Menstrual cups help you save doctors as well. The idea is to include people from every sphere of life so that the message is that amount,” adds Kulkarni. There are variety of options — From the spread across. “We conduct lots of sessions ‘Regular Teal Cup’ to the ‘Soft Green Cup’, the with doctors. In most cases, even gynaecologists are not aware of the use and advantage of ‘Hard Yellow Cup’ and the ‘Fuchsia’! “Made of medical grade silicon, Stonesoup the cups,” says Kulkarni.

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INDIA

TOGETHER WE CAN The company works with ‘Saathis’ — entrepreneurs, home makers, students — basically anybody and everybody who wants to be a volunteer.

Stonesoup has approached the department of women and child development. It is working with gynaecologists across India, as well as municipalities, to promote the use of these cups. It also offers a range of kits to help people compost their wet waste — from the basic ‘Chutki’ to the more complex ‘Badhki’ or ‘Manjli’, or the community composting kit ‘Aaditi’. The start-up has sold more than 2,500 composting kits in the last one year and has saved more than one tonne of organic waste from going into landfills. The company works with ‘Saathis’ — entrepreneurs, home makers, students — basically

anybody and everybody who wants to be a volunteer. It is currently present in 25 cities across the country at 30-40 odd locations, mostly through distributors. Apart from online, the cups are also available in Metro Cash & Carry and Health & Glow stores. “It is not easy to convince retailers to stock products like menstrual cups. If one uses a product for 10 years, it does not make for a good business proposition,” says Parmar. But what about the economics of Stonesoup itself? “We share margins with volunteers. Also, for people looking for employment opportunities, this is a good option,” adds Parmar.

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OPINION 11 >

Volume XII Number 9

MUMBAI | 13 MAY 2018

Towards social security The latest draft Code is welcome, but needs to be fine-tuned he labour ministry’s latest Draft Social Security Code proposing a comprehensive cover for 500 million workers is a vast improvement over the earlier version. The Code, which is an amalgamation of 15 existing labour laws related to social security, provides clarity to several questions surrounding the first draft that was released last year. For instance, the earlier version was vague in its commitment to cover both organised and unorganised workers. It said the Code shall not apply to “such class of workers as may be specified”. The second draft has cleared the confusion by providing a detailed list of those who will

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not be covered. There were other omissions, too, in the first draft, which defined the unorganised sector as establishments where the number of workers was “below a threshold”. The latest draft has removed the confusion by saying that the Code will apply to all entities with five workers. The number can be even lower if the Centre or the state governments agree. The Code, which is based on the recommendations of the Second National Commission on Labour in 2002, should be great news for workers in the unorganised sector who do not have any social security cover. One of the biggest issues the Code has resolved is the ongoing

ambiguity on payment of social security contributions on wage components. The definition of ‘wages’ in the Code is more specific as compared to the social security laws enacted just after India’s independence. The Code envisages compulsory registration for all types of workers through an Aadhaar-based system, portable social security accounts (VIKAS) and a three-tier regulatory structure, with a National Social Security Council, headed by the Prime Minister, a Central Board and State/Union Territory Boards. What is uncertain, however, is the compliance issue in which India’s track record has been dismal. While it’s good that the Centre will align fines for social security law violations with retail inflation, the biggest question mark lies in the proclivity of companies to negotiate negligible penalties — an easy route in India where petty corruption is a way of life. Smaller establishments will obviously be reluctant to

implement the provisions because of higher cost. Employers at present contribute 8.33 per cent of basic pay to the provident fund, if a worker earns a monthly wage of over ~15,000. If the employee is eligible for employees’ state insurance, the employer contribution goes up by a further 4.75 per cent of wages. Under the proposed Code, the employer contribution to social security is estimated to go up to 17.5 per cent of wages, with reduced rates for industries having cess obligations. Apart from contributions towards the social security fund, there is also a requirement to make a two per cent contribution for gratuity benefits. The inclusion of self-employed professionals and the necessity of compulsory registration might also complicate matters. There are other uncertainties as well. The Code keeps the “income threshold” vague by stating that it will be “notified by the Central

Another challenge for the judiciary

The negatives of data localisation Mandating that Indian citizens’ payment data should be stored within the country may be counter-productive T V RAMACHANDRAN

ASHISH KABRA

he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently mandated that payment companies physically store Indian citizens’ payment data in India. Companies will have six months to comply. The RBI's aim is to protect the sensitive financial information of Indian citizens. Local Indian players are hailing the move as it would give them a time advantage while global players reorganise their data storage to comply with regulations. However, it is worthwhile for payment operators to consider the impact on the industry as a whole.

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Impact on payment industry India’s digital payment market is expected to hit $1 trillion by 2023 and contribute 15 per cent of the country’s GDP, according to a Credit Suisse report. This boom in the financial services industry is driven by global entrants such as WhatsApp, Google’s Tez and Amazon Pay. Paytm, FreeCharge (now owned by Axis Bank) and Bajaj Finance are fierce local competitors. UPI transactions are fast catching up with the amount of credit and debit card usage in the country. In this digital age, data is an incredibly valuable asset traded between borders. A 2016 McKinsey report indicates that cross-border data-sharing accounts for a greater share of the increase in global GDP than the global trade in physical goods. India, being the world’s biggest data processing centre, has benefited greatly. India’s IT-BPM (business process management) sector is worth $173-178 billion and constitutes 55 per cent of the world's outsourcing market. Forty-one per cent of IT exports come from the BFSI sector alone. The IT-BPM sector accounts for about eight per cent of India’s GDP, and it is one of the largest private sector employers, employing about four million people. These numbers showcase the importance of unhindered data flows to India’s economic progress, and the pivotal role the country plays in the global marketplace. Impact on small business Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) contribute 37 per cent of India’s GDP. This contribution could increase to 48 per cent through increased digitisation and these businesses benefit from cross-border data flows. Cloud-based computing is cost-effective for small businesses and consumers, enabling significantly reduced IT costs while being competitive in the global market against bigger players. Mandating that data be physically stored in India could drastically increase costs for MSMEs in particular, hindering the Digital India mission. Therefore, any policy boosting this industry greatly contributes to our growing GDP and the opposite could hamper growth rates. Impact on infrastructure With more customers preferring digital payments, the volume of data handled by payment operators is increasing exponentially. Large data centres will have to be physically located in India. Fundamental requirements for running these data centres are power, cooling, and sophisticated security measures. The biggest data centres consume an enormous amount of power — sometimes equivalent to a city of a million people. To protect data from damage or corruption, data centres require a large amount of cooling. Global players are migrating their data to Nordic countries to reduce the power required to cool their centres. Asian data centres however, require an incredible amount of power to handle their load. Failure to provide sustained cooling with uninterrupted power supply can result in irreversible data corruption and damage. Almost 32 million homes in India have no electricity. A proliferation of local data centres may negatively impact the initiative of providing electricity to all rural

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India’s digital payment market is projected to touch $1 trillion by 2023, contributing 15 per cent of the country’s GDP

areas, as well as power consumption in urban centres. Impact on the environment India pledged its commitment to the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement and has successfully begun lowering emissions, experiencing only a two per cent rise in emissions in 2017 over 2016. Government initiatives leveraging solar power, as well as a slowing economy, have contributed to these lowered emission rates. Emissions from industry — particularly carbon dioxide — trap heat and radiation within the earth’s atmosphere, causing global warming, weather changes, increased pollution and health risks. Data centres consume up to three A high level of per cent of all global electricity prodata protection duction and produce 200 million can be achieved tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the National Resources Defence by incentivising Council (NRDC). Companies with businesses to data as the main commodity have implement some of the highest carbon foottighter security prints, owing to their data centres. measures and Carbon emissions from Bangalore’s protocols Tulip data centre are as high as 900 grams per kilowatt-hour, due to the amount of power required to cool data centres in warmer countries. While India is on track to obtaining 10 per cent of its year-round power from renewable energy sources by 2019, the power generated will still be too low to sustain large data centre operations. Minimising the number of electricity-guzzling data centres in India might be an environmental advantage for India. Recommendations Consumers and businesses would welcome measures to

government from time to time”. Fears about bureaucratic interference are also real, as employers have no representation in the apex decision-making body. Then there is this hare-brained idea of penalising chief executive officers (CEOs) of companies that violate labour laws by prescribing community service instead of fines or jail sentences. The draft law reasons that violating social security legislation amounts to “an offence against society as a whole”, and therefore demands that the offender should be “reformed” by community service within two years of the court order. The notion of corporate CEOs being made to clean streets and public places, paint walls or serve the poor as a penalty for violating labour laws may be a tempting one, especially for workers whose rights have been violated. But the writers of the Code could have perhaps taken a more practical approach in their drive to reform offenders.

tighten security around sensitive data. But a high level of data protection can be achieved by incentivising businesses to implement tighter security measures and protocols. Sensitive data is often encrypted and legal justification is required prior to obtaining encryption keys. The physical location alone does not guarantee access to the data. Storing data in different jurisdictions mitigates the risk of damage due to natural disasters and ensures business continuity. India can leverage Mutual Legal Assistance in Trade Matters (MLATs), which enables data-sharing between countries in the event of fraud or security concerns. There are data privacy frameworks such as the APEC Privacy Framework and the Global Privacy Enforcement Network, which permit free trade while providing the necessary structure for interoperability and cooperation. The United States recently passed the CLOUD Act, which encourages bilateral agreements between the US and other countries to efficiently access data when required by the law, irrespective of where the data is stored. The policy-heavy European Union’s GDPR (Global Data Privacy Regulation) attempts to protect their citizens' information beyond the limitations of physical boundaries. Their jurisdiction extends to any organisation that works with their citizens’ data, regardless of where it is stored — around the globe or the cloud. Empowering authorities with greater bilateral understanding between countries will help prevent fraud while securing India’s position as a top player in global markets. The writer is Honorary Fellow, IET (London). The views are personal. Chandana Bala provided research inputs for this article

~300,000. However, the effect of this is that a wide array of disputes will or a government that likes now be decided by courts where the report cards, the World Bank’s judges are appointed by the governease of doing business rank- ment itself. It now remains to be seen whether ings has been a crucial grade. India’s recent spike in rankings has been this amendment will withstand a attributed to business reforms intro- challenge in court. The ordinance duced by this government since it requires the appointment of persons took over. One such reform was the at or below the level of district judge constitution of the designated com- as the judge of a commercial court. mercial courts for dealing with com- The Constitution of India provides mercial disputes of a specified value. that the appointment and posting of The government on May 3, 2018 district judges shall be made by the promulgated the Commercial Courts, governor in consultation with the Commercial Division and Comm- high court. This consultative process ercial Appellate Division of High has been held by the Supreme Court Courts (Amendment) Ordinance, to be mandatory (See Registrar 2018, amending the Commercial (Admn.), High Court of Orissa, Courts Act. The ordinance introduced Cuttack v. Sisir Kanta Satapathy, changes aimed at improving the ease (1999) 7 SCC 725). Further, the high court deterof doing business ranking of India. While the idea behind these changes mines the posting and promotion of is good, the government has also used judges below the level of district this as an opportunity to further judges. The control of the high court impinge upon judicial independence. over the subordinate judiciary is supA small but very significant chan- posed to be comprehensive, excluge made by the government is in the sive and effective, and it is to subappointment of judges to commercial serve a basic feature of the courts. The Commercial Courts Act Constitution — independence of the was based on the recommendations judiciary (see Prakash Singh Badal v. made in the 253rd Report of the Law State of Punjab, (2007) 1 SCC 1). It seems that the position Commission of India. The government’s of the high court and the The Law Commission independence of the had suggested that the assertion of power judiciary is being underover judges of judges of commercial mined through the concourts be appointed by commercial courts stitution of commercial the high courts. will hurt investor courts and appointment The Commercial sentiment. It may of judges thereof. Courts Act as passed by cause investors to Apart from the conParliament diluted the seek resolution of stitutional validity of the suggestion of the Law their disputes in change, this inherent Commission. It provided courts or tribunals inclination of a majority for appointment of outside India government to usurp judges by the state governments but with the mandatory dominion over those responsible for concurrence of the chief justice of the disseminating justice must be curbed. high court. However, pursuant to the History is full of examples where such new ordinance, this has been further conduct of parties in power has diluted. Now even the concurrence of resulted in grave deprivation of rights. the chief justice of the high court is not We face a stark reality where the mandatory. Thus, the government is actions, in this case commercial, of now the sole authority for appointing the government or those finding favour with the government, would judges to commercial courts. Coupled with such change is the be determined by those handpicked reduction in the pecuniary threshold by the government itself. This change would also have an for invoking the jurisdiction of commercial courts. Earlier, commercial impact on investor sentiment. courts exercised jurisdiction in relati- Investors normally seek to insulate on to claims of ~10 million or above. themselves from changes in the politNow, any commercial dispute exceed- ical landscape of a jurisdiction. The ing ~300,000 in value will be heard by role of the judiciary in this is critical, the commercial courts. This figure of as investors rely on it to ensure that ~300,000 has been chosen as the Wo- they receive a fair deal. Thus, the govrld Bank, while evaluating the ernment’s assertion of power over enforcement of contracts in India, judges of commercial courts may furtakes the sample claim value as $5,000. ther cause investors to seek resoluThis sample claim value led to the tion of their disputes in courts or triWorld Bank evaluating city civil bunals outside India. These are courts for their efficiency in dealing testing times for the judiciary and this with commercial claims, as opposed ordinance throws up another chalto commercial courts specifically lenge. We will now have to watch for constituted under the Commercial the judiciary’s response. Courts Act. Therefore, the government has now reduced the pecuniary The writer is with Nishith Desai jurisdiction of commercial courts to Associates

OTHER VIEWS

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A big deal for Walmart

But maintain equality of religions

Affirms attractiveness of Indian market

Centre must seize the moment, since the army, too, seems to recognise this

A chief minister may have made controversial remarks in the past, but it does not mean that he has no sense of the principle of a thing. True, Manohar Lal Khattar, the chief minister of Haryana, had said once that the largest minority community can live in this country if its members give up eating beef. That created a fuss. But this time, in the wake of the disruption of Friday prayers by rightwing forces in different spots in Gurgaon, he said that namaz should be read in mosques and idgahs, or at home, not in public spaces. There is eminent sense in the principle that a congregation in prayer should not obstruct public space. The lack of civic sense in taking up public space for the specific needs of one com-

Retail giant Walmart has finally acquired Flipkart, India's biggest and most significant e-commerce startup. This is a win-win for both parties — Flipkart shareholders made a neat profit and the American company accessed a huge, but underexplored market. About seven years ago, when oil giant BP had acquired a significant stake in exploration assets in India, it had candidly said it had paid a premium of $2.5 billion mainly for market access. Similarly, Walmart had been making efforts to capture the lucrative Indian retail market, which is still inaccessible because foreign control of multi-brand offline retail is prohibited. With this acquisition, it will have direct online interface with Indian

The cycle of violence that began with the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in 2016 has deepened the tragic fault lines in Kashmir: Pellets vs stones, army vs militant, state vs civilian. In principle at least, political parties in the state, the separatist leadership, Indian Army and the Union government have each, at different times, spoken of the need to break this deadlock and reopen spaces for dialogue. On Wednesday, an all-party meeting in Srinagar asked the Centre to declare a unilateral ceasefire in the state, as the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government had done in 2000, “so that the people can get relief”. Given that both Ramzan and the Amarnath yatra are approaching, the Indian government has an opportunity to initiate a pause in the violence and allow the state government some room for manoeuvre. The army, too, seems to recognise the need for such a move. Speaking to this newspaper, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat has reiterated that “there isn’t a military solution to this [Kashmir] issue” and said that he is “ready to suspend” military operations to avoid civilian casualties. A ceasefire does not mean an end to the zero-tolerance policy against terror. It could, however, lead to an easing of tensions. “Crackdowns,

encounters and search operations,” said Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti after the all-party meeting, “are causing a lot of hardship”. It is for the Centre to show sensitivity and act magnanimously. The Indian Express, May 11

munity is one of the problems of urban life in India. If prayers are to be held in mosques for one community, then all communities should maintain the same rules as these apply to their own demarcated holy spaces, temples, for example. To be impartial about civic order, he would also have had to come down heavily on the use of loudspeakers at prayer time for the majority and minority communities together. Trying to establish by rising sound the ascendancy of one religion over others at the slightest excuse has become in Indian cities one of the major sources of sound pollution that makes nonsense of both the law and of civic calm. The Telegraph, May 11

consumers. Now, it can aggressively tap tech-savvy consumers who would prefer home deliveries over showroom visits. This is, however, the time for Indian offline retailers to gear up. They must understand that technology is all pervasive and no political power can shield them from technological advancements for long. They need to adapt to the changing needs of the market or else they would be gradually pushed out. Although policies have so far protected them from the onslaught of foreign retail chains at offline trade, soon they will face intense challenge from their online counterparts. The Tribune, May 11

BS EDITORIAL 13.05.2018.pdf

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