06 May 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – WTO: GS II – International Relations:

Context:

• India’s tariffs (between 7.5 and 20%) on some ICT items, such as mobile phones, are in violation of its WTO commitments, according to three WTO dispute settlement panels.

Background:

• One of the fundamental objectives of the WTO is to increase transparency and predictability in the global trading system.
• Therefore, WTO members are prohibited from enforcing tariff rates higher than those listed in their Goods Schedule by international law.

Which charges have been levelled against India?

• The WTO panels determined that the EU, Japan, and Taiwan’s complaints against India violated Article II of the GATT as a result of India’s tariffs breaking the GATT’s Goods Schedule.

India’s military :

• The ITA (which it signed in 1997) contains India’s legally binding tariff promises on ICT products; as a result, those agreements are not legally enforceable.

India’s argument was ignored by the WTO panels in that way:

• The Goods Schedule, not the ITA, constitutes the basis for India’s legal responsibilities with respect to tariffs.
• The panels also disagreed with India’s claim that the ITA’s duties are “static” and do not apply to products created as a result of technological breakthroughs made after the agreement was reached.
• A state’s consent to a treaty would be null and void if it contained a mistake, according to the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties.
• As a result, the committees recommended that India reduce its tariff rates and align them with its Goods Schedule.

Repercussions for India:

• In order to comply, India would have to break down the high tariff barrier it established to safeguard the manufacturing of domestic ICT products.
• In the event of non-compliance, the EU has the unilateral ability to impose trade sanctions against the losing nation.
• The EU can use this choice as leverage in the ongoing FTA negotiations with India even if trade sanctions are not put into effect.

India has several options, including:

• The WTO’s Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) offers the opportunity to contest the panel’s ruling.
• The Appellate Body hasn’t existed because the US has blocked the appointment of its members.
• The EU created the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement (MPIA), a distinct appeal structure implemented in accordance with WTO guidelines. However, India is not a participant in this.
• India won’t be legally required to follow the panel’s rulings until its appeal is heard.
• The EU is also unable to impose sanctions on India since the WTO statute prohibits trade restrictions while an appeal is pending.

The Goods Schedules and the Harmonised System of Nomenclature (HSN):

• These are based on the World Customs Organization’s classification scheme, which gives names and numbers to a list of traded products.
• Due to the continual appearance of new things as a result of technological advancements, the HSN system is frequently adjusted to represent new ones; this process is referred to as “transposition.”

The WTO’s IT Agreement (ITA):

• A small number of WTO members agreed to abolish import duties on IT products as part of an agreement in 1996.
• The duties under the ITA, however, only become legally binding on a country under Articles II of GATT if they are listed in the Goods Schedule.

Source The Hindu

2 – Wildlife Translocation Programs: GS III – Environmental Conservation:

Context:

• According to a recent study, human-related factors as well as biological and environmental issues must be taken into account while attempting to transfer wildlife in order to obtain the intended results.

Wildlife relocation:

• Animals are intentionally moved as part of conservation initiatives, which helps to prevent the extinction and loss of endangered species.
• Planning is essential, as is a careful examination of the habitat and the long-term prospects for the survival of the released animals.
• The implications of the release on society, the economy, and the environment are all taken into account.

Advantages:

• a vital tool for protecting animals that can aid in the recovery of harmed and endangered species in order to realise the goal of resettling communities in previously occupied areas.
• Population balance is the transfer of people from high- or overpopulated to low-population areas.

Risks associated:

• Legal and regulatory matters
• disease problems
• Stressed animal Translocation is not the consequence of planned or natural behaviour, in contrast to dispersal.
• An animal’s capacity to return to the area of its capture after being relocated is known as homing.

Relocating wildlife can be effective or ineffective depending on:

• Species that are evolving.
• if it can successfully replicate in its new environment.
• how much effort and resources are going into the process.
• anthropogenic outlook or coexistence with people.

Failure of a translocation programme could lead to:

• Possible outcomes include mistrust amongst stakeholders, resource depletion, and possibly the extinction or extirpation of entire populations or species.

India as a Case Study:

• The continuing Project Cheetah of the GoI has recently run into issues. Upon arrival in Namibia’s Kuno National Park, two cheetahs from South Africa both passed away from renal and cardiac failure.
• (2011) The Indian Gaur Relocation The project saw the first local extinction in Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve (MP) reversed with the arrival of 19 gaurs from Kanha Tiger Reserves (MP).

We really need to emphasise the significance of the anthropogenic angle:

• According to the IUCN Global Re-Introduction Perspective Series, the inclusion of human component objectives in wildlife translocation initiatives and programme effectiveness are related.
• Of the six main ways for implementing human dimension objectives, education was the most common.
• involving communities, bringing about economic benefits, encouraging increased social tolerance, enforcing norms, and bringing about cultural benefits.

Global projects – ICTC

• The International Conservation Translocation Conference (ICTC), a significant conference on the science of conservation translocation, is connected to the IUCN.
• As a result, national and international specialists can teach the government and policymakers how to plan and execute conservation translocations most successfully.

Conclusion:

• The problem with India’s Project Cheetahs is that the animal is being relocated from completely different countries and surroundings. Therefore, before the project is started, extensive scientific research must be done.

Source The Hindu

3 – Great Nicobar Island Project: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions:

Context:  

• The NCST, citing potential violations of the FRA 2006, has expressed concern about possible inconsistencies with regard to the forest clearance given for the GNI Project.

Background:

• The project received Stage-1 approval in October 2022, two years after the proposal was submitted.
• The Ministry of Tribal Affairs provides evidence that the island administration did not recognise or grant any indigenous groups ownership of any forest land as required by the FRA prior to Stage-I clearance being issued.
• Before any forest land can be diverted, the District Collector must first acknowledge and vest locals’ rights under the FRA in accordance with the 2017 Forest Conservation Rules.

The following is the A&N administration’s justification:

• The only statute that controls the ability to notify and de-notify area as a tribal reserve is the A&N Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Act, passed in 1956.
• As a result, the FRA 2006 does not contain a formal demand for settlement.

The GNI Project:

• NITI Aayog is in charge of a $72,000 billion megaproject for the “holistic development” of the Great Nicobar Island (GNI), which is situated at the southernmost point of the A&N group of Islands in the Bay of Bengal.
• It is being done by the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Integrated Development Corporation (ANIIDCO).

The plan is divided into four sections:

• A transhipment port worth 35,000 crores is located in Galathea Bay.
• a global airport that serves both civilian and military traffic.
• a source of power.
• a small area

Concerns:

• On 114 sq. km. of tribal reserve forest land, which will be utilised for the project, live the Shompen (a PVTG) and the Nicobarese.
• The northernmost tip of the project is situated within the biosphere reserve.

Source The Hindu

4 – Use of Regional Languages in Courts: GS II – Judiciary-related issues:

Context:

• The Union Law Minister believes that every state’s courts should use regional languages.

In relation to the languages that will be used in Indian courts:

Article 348(1)(a):

• All hearings before the Supreme Court and in every High Court shall be conducted in English, unless Parliament specifically specifies otherwise in legislation.

Section 348(2):

• With the prior approval of the President, a state’s governor may permit the use of Hindi or any other language used for official purposes in High Court proceedings, with the exception of any final judgements, decrees, or orders (which must be in English).
• States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh, for instance, have previously approved the use of Hindi.

The Official Languages Act of 1963:

• It gives the Governor of a state the authority to approve the use of Hindi, the state’s official language, in addition to English for the purposes of any verdict, decree, or order issued by the high court of that state, with the prior approval of the President. The verdict should, however, be followed by an English translation.

District Courts and other subordinate courts:

• regional tongue as determined by the state administration.

Source The Hindu