Major positive shift in world perception over

Major positive shift in world perception over

Feature Notwithstanding his critics’ remarks that holdalls are always ready at the 7 Race Course Road for foreign trips, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted that it was a matter of pride and satisfaction for him that a major positive shift was taking place in the world about India, its potential and prospects.     In an interview to United News of India (UNI) recently on completing one year in office, Mr Modi observed that the world was new for him and he was new for the world.  Changing image and perception about India in the world was a compulsion and “I did accept this challenge – I will go myself to hold dialogues to effectively tell the world about India, its potentials and prospects,'' he said. Mr Modi said that it should be a matter of pride for all countrymen that India's proposal  before UN of the idea of the International Yoga Day was supported by as many as 177 countries  for the first time in the history of the world body and passed within 100 days.  The world is now gearing up to observe the Yoga Day on June 21. Mr Modi said that at the onset of the 21st century, the concept of BRICS emerged and it was believed that the present century would be driven by members of the grouping. Soon this impression started emerging that India was weak in BRICS and the entire hypothesis was upset.  “This situation put responsibility on my government. I was aware of the impact of the challenges.” Mr Modi gave full credit to the people for  giving him a decisive mandate to form an absolute majority government  after three decades, which, he said, had helped his regime to enjoy the  image of a ‘decisive administration with confidence’ in the world. From his remarks in the interview, it is quite obvious that Mr Modi is unfazed by the barrage of criticism by his detractors that he has no time to undertake inland tours so extensively vis-a-vis foreign lands. In any case, Mr Modi appears to have brought a rare energy to India’s  foreign policy, infusing it with a dash of colour and his own personal  warmth in ties with world leaders even as he has kept up a frenetic pace  in his diplomatic engagement –- visiting 18 countries in the course of  his first year in office. Mr Modi brought in his own distinctive style right from the day he took over on May 26, 2014. His gesture to invite seven South Asian neighbours, from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and Mauritius, to his swearing-in was an assertion of his government’s neighbourhood policy. The surprise invite and the sight  of so many leaders from neighbouring countries, including Pakistan, were  hailed as a major foreign policy coup. Mr Modi has not looked back since. He has met the leaders of all the ‘Permanent Five’ (P5) members of the UN - the US, Russia, China, Britain and France – interacting with some of them more than twice. Mr Modi has helped revitalise India’s relations with not just neighbours and the Southeast Asian region, but with the West, the Middle East, and even Latin America and the distant islands of Seychelles. Besides Mr Modi’s foreign visits and interactions with heads of state and government during their India visits, his External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been quietly busy in cementing India’s ties across the world, with Minister  of State VK Singh actively chipping in.  The year-long hectic diplomatic calendar saw 162 diplomatic engagements with 101 countries between Mr.Modi, Ms Swaraj and MoS VK Singh. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which stormed to majority on its own strength in the Lok Sabha elections, had in its poll manifesto promised to focus on India’s ties with neighbours. The neighbourhood outreach started in right earnest, beginning with key strategic neighbour Bhutan, which Mr Modi chose as his first port of call.  Bhutan, India’s closest ally for decades, also shares a border with China. Besides visits to immediate neighbours Bhutan, Nepal, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and most recently Bangladesh, Mr Modi has travelled to Europe – visiting France and Germany, the US, Canada, China, and Australia and became the first Indian prime minister to visit Mongolia. Mr Modi has visited Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Mauritius, Seychelles, Fiji and Brazil. He has attended several multilateral summits, including BRICS, ASEAN, EAS and G20. Adding to the neighbourhood outreach, Mr. Modi signalled his government’s determined push to the ‘Look East’ Policy, by terming it ‘Act East’, and following it up with active engagement with the Southeast Asian region. To make the 'Act East' policy really work, the government is giving a major push to connectivity projects through India’s northeast to the ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations) countries – a region where China has a strong presence.  Mr Modi has followed it up with his 'Link West' policy, engaging with countries on India’s west, including the Middle East region. A hallmark of Mr Modi’s foreign policy is his stress on  economic diplomacy, which he does through actively promoting his government’s 'Make in India' initiative, and assuring the foreign governments and the top corporates of ease of doing business in India. As part of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, the Prime Minister has urged foreign governments to participate in India’s railways sector, in manufacturing, infrastructure, defence, smart cities, urban planning and other sectors. He has also been seeking active participation of foreign countries in his government’s other initiatives like Digital India, Skill India, Clean Ganga Mission, Swachch Bharat Mission and Renewable Energy.  Another important aspect of his foreign policy is interacting personally with top CEOs during overseas visits. The Prime Minister has met with the leading CEOs of most top companies in the world, inviting them to participate in the India story.  Mr Modi’s US visit was the most-watched event in the diplomatic calendar in 2014, where he shrugged off any bitterness due to being  denied a visa by the US government in 2005, and bonded with US President  Barack Obama. In a major diplomatic coup, the Prime Minister got President Obama to be the Chief Guest at India’s Republic Day Parade on January 26, 2015. Mr Obama became the first US president to attend the Republic Day parade, and also the American President to visit India twice during his term. He had previously visited India in 2010.Mr.  Obama, who has called Prime Minister Modi a “man of action”, and shares a warm chemistry with him, also addressed a joint “Mann ki Baat” radio address with him during his visit to India in January this year. Even though India shares close economic ties with China, the relationship is overshadowed by unease over the unsettled boundary question, Mr. Modi has, however, tried to build a healthy relationship with the Chinese leadership. He has  met Chinese President Xi Jinping four times in the past one year –  possibly the most times he has interacted with any other world leader.  When President Xi came to India in September, Mr Modi invited him over to Ahmedabad and the two confabulated while taking a walk along the Sabarmati river front, amid a colourful backdrop with performances by folk dancers and folk musicians on the waterfront. In this, Mr Modi  signaled a breakaway from the formal stiff diplomatic interactions –  that have been the norms for decades in India – and also introduced  states as equal participants in India’s foreign policy.Reciprocating the  Prime Minister’s gesture, President Xi received Mr.Modi in his hometown  of XI’an in Shaanxi province during his May visit to China and accorded  him a spectacular traditional welcome.Though the boundary question did  not see much progress during his China visit, both countries have made  progress in cementing people-to-people ties and economic relations. With Russia, Mr Modi has emphasised India’s close traditional ties. During his coming visit to Russia in July for the BRICS and SCO summits, he would be having his fourth meeting with President Vladimir Putin. The government has stated firmly that India is against Western sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis. However, with Pakistan, India’s difficult western neighbour, the ties have only plummeted. The relationship, which started off on a  promising note with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif attending the May 26,  2014, swearing-in of Mr Modi and their short bilateral talks  thereafter,  petered out following Pakistan’s insistence on hobnobbing with Kashmiri  separatists just four days ahead of the foreign secretary-level talks on  August 25 last year. India has always maintained that there could be no third party in talks between the two countries. The persistent firing on the border and the deaths of Indian soldiers and civilians has also added to the bitterness. Pakistan has also been constantly raising the Kashmir issue at international forums and has recently released 26/11 mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi from jail, adding to the bitterness in ties. Mr Modi’s latest tour to friendly eastern neighbour Bangladesh was a historic one, resulting in both countries ratifying the 41-year-old Land Boundary Agreement, one of the two outstanding issues which Dhaka has been keen on India to conclude. Mr Modi, during his talks with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his public speech at Dhaka University,  assured Bangladesh that his government will continue to strive to reach  an accord on the Teesta water sharing, while keeping all stakeholders on  board. With Japan, another friendly country, India upgraded its ties  to special strategic global partnership during Mr Modi’s meeting with  Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in September last year. He shares a close rapport with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, with both sharing warm hugs during his visit to Brisbane last November. With South Korea, where he visited recently in May, both countries elevated their ties to Special Strategic Partnership and to hold the diplomatic and security dialogue in the “2 plus 2” format - between their foreign and defence secretaries. Till now India used to hold such a dialogue with Japan. During his speech at the UN General Assembly in September last year, which was in Hindi, the Prime Minister proposed instituting an International Yoga Day, which was adopted in a record time. In December  last year, the UN General Assembly adopted the India-led resolution  declaring June 21 as 'International Day of Yoga’ with 175 nations  joining as co-sponsors, the highest number ever for any UN General  Assembly resolution. A major change that Mr Modi has brought to India’s foreign policy is in removing the diplomatic jargon from the language that was traditionally followed by South Block for decades. Mr Modi’s speeches have an informal, simple style, in keeping with his own image where he likes to interact informally with people.Mr.Modi also brought in the use of Hindi into India’s foreign policy – which was earlier considered the sole preserve of the English language. Mr Modi, who began his diplomatic engagements in Hindi initially, aided by a translator, has now begun giving speeches in English – keeping in mind the audience. But while speaking informally to large audiences abroad, especially the diaspora, Mr Modi is at his best in Hindi.A major part of the Prime Minister’s interactions abroad has been with the Indian  diaspora. Right from the time he held thousands of ecstatic Indians  spell-bound with his speech at New York’s Madison Square Garden in  September last year, he has made it a point to bind with the diaspora,  and also urged them to participate in the India story in a big way. The Prime Minister announced the decision to merge the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards with its Overseas Citizen of India cards, in a major relief, and lifelong visa to PIOs.Another important facet of Mr Modi’s foreign policy has been his outreach on Twitter and Facebook, not just with his multitude of fans and supporters but with global leaders too.  He is on tweeting terms with Australian PM Tony Abbott, Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, among others. The Prime Minister’s instant tweets and pictures of his interactions during diplomatic engagements give his followers a close look at developments in Indian foreign policy. Mr Modi has also added the 'selfie' to India’s diplomacy, clicking selfies with many world leaders and posting them on twitter. The selfie diplomacy has proved a huge hit, including with the prime minister’s fans.

india, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh Sign a landmark Motor Vehicles Agreement

india, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh Sign a landmark Motor Vehicles Agreement for seamless movement of road traffic among Four SAARC Countries in Thimpu

India, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh signed a landmark Motor Vehicles Agreement (MVA) for the Regulation of Passenger, Personnel and Cargo Vehicular Traffic among the four South Asian neighbours in Thimpu, Bhutan today. The MVA agreement between sub-grouping of four SAARC nations, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) will pave the way for a seamless movement of people and goods across their borders for the benefit and integration of the region and its economic development. The BBIN MVA Agreement was signed by the Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping Mr. Nitin Gadkari on behalf of India.

Mr. Gadkari headed the Indian delegation at the Transport Ministers conference of the BBIN. Others who participated included Mr. Obaidul Quader, Minister of Road Transport and Bridges of Bangladesh, Mr. Lyonpo D. N. Dhungyel, Minister of Information and Communications, Bhutan, and Mr. Bimalendra Nidhi, Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport, Nepal.

Earlier, addressing the BBIN Transport Ministers conference, Mr. Nitin Gadkari said, “This indeed is a momentous achievement for all the four neighbours. This historic agreement will further promote our cooperation in trade and commerce apart from further cementing our age old cultural ties.” Mr. Gadkari further said, “The Motor Vehicles Agreement is the “Over arching” frame work to fulfill our commitment to enhance regional connectivity. This will need to be followed through with formulation of the required protocols and procedures in the shortest time possible to realize the ultimate objective of free movement of people and goods in the region. This would further need to be supplemented through building and upgrading roads, railways and waterways infrastructure energy Grids, communications and air links to ensure smooth cross border flow of goods, services, capital, technology and people. Taken together, this provides enormous opportunity for integration and development of our region.”

Mentioning about the initiative to strengthen connectivity of the sub-region to ASEAN, the Minister said, “In this regard a major breakthrough has been achieved between India-Myanmar and Thailand. Three nations have agreed to develop a similar framework motor vehicle agreement on the lines of draft SAARC Motor vehicle agreement. Secretary level discussions were successfully concluded in Bengaluru this month and consensus has been reached on the text of Agreement. On conclusion of this Agreement, our sub-region will get access to the larger ASEAN market through seamless passenger and cargo movement.” 

CSIR contributes to India’s National Programme on Micro Air Vehicles

CSIR provided a boost to the India’s National Programme on Micro Air Vehicles (NP-MICAV) jointly coordinated by the Defence Research & Development Organization (DRDO) and the Department of Science & Technology of Government of India,. CSIR has set up a Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel in the CSIR-National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) campus--the first of its kind in India to test the fixed-wing, flapping-wing and rotary-wing MAVs in the 500 mm wingspan category.

Micro Air Vehicle Aerodynamics Research Tunnel

This state-of-the-art facility would address all the aerodynamic, propulsion and aero-elastic issues related to MAVs. The tunnel has a provision for either closed test section for the study of aerofoil sections/3D wing-body models or open jet test section for the flapping and rotary wing studies.

 CSIR-NAL is playing a lead role in this national level programme jointly with many academic institutions. Fixed wing MAVs of Black Kite, Golden Hawk and Pushpak with a 300-450 mm span, 300 g weight, 2 km range and endurance of 30 minutes have been developed. These MAVs have been demonstrated for ITBP, CRPF, Punjab Police, NDRF, IDS, Artillery Training School etc. A high altitude mini UAV named Slybird with1.6 m wing span, 1.3 m length and 2 kg weight with an operational range of 10 km and endurance of 1 hr has also been developed successfully and flight tested at Leh-Ladak (12000 ft above sea level). 

Govt sets up Rs 1,500 cr nuclear insurance pool

The government has launched an insurance pool to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore which is mandatory under the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLND) in a bid to offset financial burden of foreign nuclear suppliers.

This was announced by Minister of State in the Department of Atomic Energy Jitendra Singh here today, noting that several projects such as the long-pending Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna (GHAVP) that were held up in its absence, are now expected to move forward after setting up of the pool.

Clauses in the CLND Act, which give the operator the Right to Recourse and allow it to sue the suppliers in case of any accident were seen as being a major hindrance to the growth of the nuclear industry. These concerns led to to the formation of the Indian nuclear insurance pool.

R K Sinha, Secretary in the Department of Atomic Energy, said this would be a solution for suppliers’ concerns about liability from nuclear risks.

Under the Rs 1,500 crore pool, set up by General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) and 11 other non-life insurers including New India, Oriental Insurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance from the public sector apart from private insurance companies, policies offered will be a nuclear operators liability insurance policy and a nuclear suppliers’ special contingency (against right to recourse) insurance policy.

Y Ramulu, General Manager of of General Insurance Corporation (GIC), the fund operator, told PTI that the “shortfall of Rs 600 crore” was met when a domestic insurance company chipped in with Rs 100 crore more. “Remaining gap of (Rs 500 crore) was filled in by the British Nuclear Insurance Pool,” he said.

“This will address the concern of the suppliers like that of the Gorakhpur Haryana project and also of foreign players. Now we have a policy for the entire nuclear industry of the country,” he said, adding that foreign contribution “would not result in foreign inspector inspecting the plants”.

“The GHAVP was supposed to be a pressurised heavy water reactor which was sanctioned by the previous govt. It had met with some problems there were problems of tenders not getting matured due to absence of an insurance pool. The launch of the pool would now enable the concerned parties to come forward for the project,” Singh said.

Highlighting “another aspect” of the move, Singh said that it would also help in bringing North Indian states into the fold of the nuclear industry. “This would give the atomic energy programme a pan-Indian image.”

Singh, who is also the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, said the pool would help the government in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “vision of tripling energy generation from nuclear sector in the next five years”.

Bibek Debroy Committee on the restructuring of Indian Railways has submitted its final report

Bibek Debroy Committee on the restructuring of Indian Railways has submitted its final report to the Union Ministry of Railways. The committee has suggested measures for restructuring the Railway Board and its departments so that policy making is separated from day-to-day operations. Recommendations of Bibek Debroy committee Establishment of an independent regulator Railway Regulatory Authority of India (RRAI) with a separate budget and to be independent of the Ministry. RRAI will decide on tariffs to revamp the cash-strapped railways. Railway Budget should be phased out with gross budgetary support to Indian Railways. There is need to improve the internal resource generation and explore varied methods of financing but also to improve utilisation of available resources. No privatisation of Indian Railway but allowed participation of private sector in the railway projects. Separation of activities like running of hospitals, schools, real estate development, catering, manufacturing of locomotives, coaches and wagons from the core business of running trains. State governments should be asked to entirely fund the Government Railway Police (GRP). General Managers should have the freedom to choose between private security guards and RPF for security on trains. The recommended changes should be implemented only by Union Railways ministry in the first five years including the resolution of the social cost issue. Background Union government had constituted the high-level committee in September 2014 to restructure the Railways and suggest ways for resource mobilisation. It was seven-member panel headed by eminent economist and NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy. The other 6 members are former cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Gusharan Das, Ravi Narain, Partha Mukhopadhyay, Rajendra Kashyap, Ajay Tyagi and Ajay Narayan Jha.

The Ukraine imbroglio

The G-7 nations put on a brave face against Russia at a summit held this week in the Bavarian Alps and decided to continue their sanctions against President Vladimir Putin for what they called his war in Ukraine. U.S. President Barack Obama in fact accused Mr. Putin of “wrecking his country in pursuit of a wrong-headed desire to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire”. Russia countered by warning that it would prolong its own counter-sanctions, indicating there would not be any change in its Ukraine policy. While all this is happening, a fresh outbreak of violence between government troops and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine is threatening to derail a tenuous ceasefire. Ukraine is paying a heavy price for this stand-off. It has lost Crimea to Russia, is fighting a deadly civil war in the east, and its economy is in a state of collapse, it having contracted by nearly 18 per cent in the first quarter of 2015.

The real crisis of Ukraine is that it is caught in a game of one-upmanship between the West and Russia. The West wants to punish Russia for its annexation of Crimea and for helping separatists in eastern Ukraine. Moscow, on the other hand, sees Western involvement in the ouster of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow President Viktor Yanukovych, and seems determined to resist the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation’s outreach to its backyard. If the West’s real intention is to get Russia to change its policy towards Ukraine, it should rethink its sanctions regime, which has been demonstrably ineffective over the past 15 months. Supporters of the sanctions might argue that those worked in the case of Iran and might work in Russia’s case as well. But Russia is not Iran. It is a geopolitical giant, a former superpower and a huge country that still has substantial leveraging power in Central Asia and Eastern Europe. Given the way policy-making works in the Kremlin, it is illogical to believe that any kind of coercion would work against Mr. Putin. Besides, there is little to suggest that the Western policy of isolating Russia is working at all. More than a year after Russia was suspended from the G-8 following its annexation of Crimea, the leading powers still need Russia to deal with pressing global issues ranging from the Iranian nuclear talks to the Syrian civil war. So a more pragmatic approach would be to start a diplomatic engagement in a mutually conducive environment. The inept handling by both sides of what was a domestic issue in Ukraine has turned it into a regional problem. Left unchecked, the problem could well turn into a war. It is high time the West and Moscow set aside rhetoric and started addressing the problem directly.

In (partial) defence of the IAS

There are four types of comments on the civil services. Some politicians are openly contemptuous of a lack of commitment to their policies on the part of civil servants. Retired officers are nostalgic about the 'good times' of the past and concerned about latter-day relations with the political executive. Analysts generally take a descriptive approach documenting institutional evolution with a focus on implementation failures rather than how policy is made. Then there are those, like this author, for whom the underlying issue is the changing role of the IAS with respect to governance.

The Indian Civil Service, not the army, constituted the "steel frame" of the Empire, and the primary task of the district magistrate (DM) was to secure the public interest. A provision was made in the Criminal Procedure Code, Section 144, providing for overriding powers to give any direction to persons in the district in the public interest. This extended to institutions of the central government. For example, any resolution of the Cantonment Board could be stayed in the public interest and referred to the central government. Similarly, under the Railways Act traffic could be restored after an accident only after the DM concluded relief work. The DM also had superintendence over the police and powers of conservator under the Forest Act in community forests. The Police Commission of 1902 records that the inspector general of police was equivalent in rank to the DM. A small group of civil servants were the 'guardians' because that is where the buck stopped.

The situation is different now, as it should be, in a democracy seeking rapid economic and social change with the pivotal role of the DM replaced by dual leadership of a department by the minister and the secretary, making the relation between them of crucial importance. However, even after 65 years the roles of the political executive and the permanent executive have not been clarified. Defining the 'competent authority' is a key issue now before the courts in the coal scam.

The prime minister has rightly focused on transforming an agrarian economy into an industrial, urban and knowledge economy which is expected to be at 10 times the speed and 100 times the scale of what happened during the industrial revolution in Britain. China did this over a 20-year period of continuous and rapid growth in an authoritarian set-up. We will have to chart a very different course.

Administration is an evolving process, responding to the transformation of a diverse country and requiring the civil service to constantly re-invent itself to meet new challenges. First, positive steps are needed for the discharge of statutory responsibilities and duties of the administration so that it becomes accountable to the law of the land and to the people. Second, the civil service needs to deliver better service through a digital platform where citizens can access all services; a system that is more trusting of citizens can deliver better service. Third, leadership has to be devoid of management jargon and focus on stating views with clarity, inspiring others and moving away from managing departments to building skills to steer systems that overcome fragmentation. Government is being challenged to do more by the public themselves, and they do not distinguish between the political and permanent executive.

The core of this issue was examined by the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) in 2009. It stressed the need to prepare a Civil Service Act. The Government of India agreed with the recommendation and decided on a Civil Services Performance Standard and Accountability Bill.

The proposed Act is to include (i) a vision for civil services, (ii) a code of ethics for civil servants, (iii) principles for civil services management, (iv) a framework for performance management for civil services, (v) civil services management - organisation, structure and functions, and (vi) an implementation mechanism for the Act. The Government of India also decided the state governments would be advised to take similar action after the proposed Act is passed by the central government. This exercise is still on-going.

The ARC has also examined the relations between the political executive and civil servants, and pointed out that "there is need to safeguard the political neutrality and impartiality of civil services, and the onus for this lies equally on the political executive and the civil services", and suggested that this aspect should be included in the code of ethics for ministers as well as the code of conduct for public servants.

The Commission has also recommended that "abuse of authority unduly favouring or harming someone" and "obstruction of justice" should be classified as an offence, and this recommendation has not been accepted by government.

Another issue that has yet to be adequately addressed is the training of senior IAS officers for their role in policy development, because relations with the political executive are considered a sensitive matter. Policy development often starts with an ideology or an insight that the political executive is advancing. The questions the bureaucrat then has to ask are: 'how good are these insights?' and 'what does the ideology tell us, and what does it not tell us, about a sound policy?'

Successful governments around the world have a clear understanding of the importance of appropriate evidence. It requires a comparative understanding of how policy can make a difference as well as how to evaluate the many different forms of evidence available. Routine work is declining and knowledge-based work is increasing, for both ministers and secretaries.

The buck now stops with the minister. The prime minister should review their performance against three elements - setting direction, engaging people and getting results. The secretaries must also provide their objectives for review. New systems are needed, and here the IAS has not done enough; but there is no option to a civil service based on merit.

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