Table of Contents
Walking the tightrope
- 6 month waiver on sanctions
- China, India’s main Asian competitor and perceived by the U.S. as its main security threat, has also been granted a waiver.
- President Donald Trump’s explanation is that he is going slow on sanctions with the intent of avoiding a shock rise in global oil prices.
- April 2018: Strategic Energy Partnership
- November 2017: U.S. National Security Strategy
- energy dominance
- exports from the U.S. to India have risen
- 2017: India imported 8 million barrels of American crude
- Until this July it had imported more than 15 million barrels of U.S. crude.
- Today’s global energy market: interdependent nature
- India’s offer to pay for oil in rupees is unattractive to Iran.
- On the security front, India’s cooperation with Iran has to be seen against the broader context of its regional rivalries with Pakistan and China.
- India and Iran share regional interests.
- December 2017, India made its first shipment of wheat to Afghanistan via the port.
- It has a good chance of remaining on the tightrope.
Cool it
- 2017: 153 billion hours of labour
- We are not doing enough to dramatically curb greenhouse gas emissions.
- Lancet: India lost about 75 billion hours of work
- agricultural sector
- At stake: health of millions
- India 2015: premature death of half a million people
- India should cut back emissions
- If the Centre and State governments can arrive at a consensus on the strong climate link to the excessive rain in Kerala and Cyclone Gaja in Tamil Nadu, for instance, a case could be made for climate funds under the Paris Agreement.
- Such a claim has to be supported by a perspective plan that identifies vulnerable regions and communities, and incorporates transparent systems for funds utilisation.
The case for a progressive international
- India is facing legal claims from international investors in as many as 23 arbitration cases, before various tribunals.
- These claims, worth billions of dollars, arise out of bilateral investment treaties between India and other states.
- One striking feature of such treaties is that they allow international investors (primarily MNCs) to initiate a dispute directly in an international tribunal, bypassing the state’s own constitutional system and its courts.
- Often, the disputes revolve around measures that were triggered by public health emergencies, economic crises or other matters directly involving public welfare — which would therefore be permissible under the Constitution, but which a corporation believes have negatively impacted its financial interests.
- Today issues are getting more and more transnational character.
- Patent Act: India has come under pressure from the U.S. and the European Union (at the behest of prominent pharmaceutical companies)
- Response cannot succeed if it is unilateral.
- Democracy in Europe Movement 25: DiEM25
- Movements such as DiEM25, which have sprung up in various parts of the world, serve as potential blueprints and models for what a “progressive international” may look like.
Important News
- Imran looks for fresh start
- Not in Pakistan’s interest to allow terror attacks from its territory, says PM
- Taking Verma off his duties not a transfer, says Centre
- Fuel prices fall on oil slip, rupee gain
- Lioness found dead in Gir forest
- “Preliminary investigation has revealed that the feline died due to natural causes, ”
- Nothing secret about Taj vision document: SC
- The Supreme Court on Thursday told the Uttar Pradesh government that the vision document on protecting Taj Mahal, being prepared by School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), Delhi, should be made public once finalised as there was “nothing secret” about it.
- Jaitley moots new federal bodies
- Indian healthcare and agriculture sectors need a federal institution similar to the GST Council to coordinate State and Central policies and schemes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said.
- Reggae gets into heritage list
- UNESCO, the world body’s cultural and scientific agency, added the genre that originated in Jamaica to its collection of “intangible cultural heritage” deemed worthy of protection and promotion.
Download Free PDF – Daily Hindu Editorial Analysis
WhatsApp