EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU 6 EDITORIAL WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2021 EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE The construct behind the ‘Shining U.P.’ card ’s ‘status’ as India’s top State is in contradiction of evidence and felt experiences the end, Mr. Adityanath had his deaths of Government employees country. This is besides the gang way. The Gujarat cadre retired IAS who had contracted COVID­19 rapes that have regularly hit the officer, said to have been Mr. Mo­ while on polling duty in the pan­ headlines. The State BJP’s sweep Choppy waters di’s nominee for the State Cabinet, chayat elections that were held ir­ of the recently held block pra­ India must push for ratification of UNCLOS by got appointed to an ornamental responsibly at the peak of the se­ mukh elections came amidst wi­ party post. If indeed there was a cond wave. The Government at despread violence and allegations all major maritime powers, including the U.S. Vidya Subrahmaniam conflict over this, it made sense for first denied the deaths, but has of booth capturing and intimida­ hen Prime Minister Narendra Modi took the both sides to sue for peace. U.P. is now confirmed them by awarding tion. Clearly, in the current day stage to address the UNSC on a debate on the all important State that the compensation to the families of ov­ U.P., law and order has come to maritime security — the first Indian premier hese days, India’s national Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has to er 2,000 employees who fell to mean just one thing: the State go­ W capital, , is a sight to be­ win, and win by a wide margin. COVID­19 after being on election vernment’s aggression against mi­

to do so — he might have hoped to keep the focus of the FILE PHOTO/PTI Thold — strangely, not for rea­ What has followed is a mammoth, duty. norities and its crackdown on al­ discussion on building maritime ties and developing sons connected to the city­S tate. nothing­left­to­chance effort to re­ continues to be hounded by her The horror of U.P.’s second leged gangsters and anti­nationals, maritime infrastructure through regional cooperation As a matter of fact, a visitor might brand Mr. Adityanath as the leader cries and remains inconsolable ov­ wave is too recent and too graphi­ many of whom are in fact students initiatives. Yet, once more the discussion veered toward think she was in neighbouring Ut­ of India’s best­run State. er not being able to save her des­ cally captured for it to be so easily and rights’ activists. major nations trading barbs on continuing strategic dis­ tar Pradesh seeing the profusion In their speeches, Mr. Modi and pite his access to higher­ups in the forgotten. To insist that the virus U.P.’s self­appointed status as In­ sonance in this sphere. At the heart of the strident of posters and flex boards featur­ Mr. Shah have attributed qualities Government. The sad truth is that was controlled with “incompara­ dia’s top State is ironic considering claims and counterclaims regarding allegations of ing its Chief Minister, Yogi Aditya­ to the U.P. Chief Minister that are U.P failed its citizens during the se­ ble efficiency”, therefore, it was at the bottom among large nath, and Prime Minister Naren­ in embarrassing contradiction of cond COVID­19 crisis — the better amounts to a reconstructed truth, States in an index (Public Affairs abuse of maritime resources and disrespect of territ o­ dra Modi, all of them claiming that evidence and felt experiences. off died trying in vain to work the an alternative reality intended to Index) compiled by the Public Af­ rial sovereignty rights of nations were the U.S., on the U.P. is today India’s number one Some of the flattery and claims political system for beds and oxy­ replace the original memories by fairs Centre, a not­for­profit organ­ one hand, and China and Russia on the other. Mr. Modi State. were so over­the­top that fact­ gen. The worse off died anyway, the time the 2022 Assembly elec­ isation headed by K. Kasturiran­ deserves credit for bringing to the table a five­prong checking sites such as Alt News in­ some of them abandoned by their tion is held. gan, formerly chairman of the plan to enhance maritime security worldwide through Bagging the top rank stantly demolished them, among kin and turning up as bloated There have been other exagger­ Indian Space Research Organisa­ cooperation, including removing barriers to legitima te U.P. as India’s number one S tate? them the astonishing one that the corpses in the swirling waters of ations in the project to build Mr. tion. Released in October 2020, maritime trade, settling maritime disputes peacefully The miracle owes to an award that Chief Minister’s handling of the se­ the Ganga. Adityanath as a brand, among the index used 50 indicators to was given out this summer by the cond COVID­19 wave was “unpa­ The floating bodies, discovered them claims that U.P. has topped measure the quality of S tate­level and based on international law, jointly facing natural Union Housing and Urban Affairs ralleled”. The situation in U.P. at along the length of the G anga by the charts for COVID­19 testing governance on the three pillars of disasters and maritime threats created by non­state ac­ Ministry under the Smart Cities the time was indeed unparalleled, the reporting teams of the Hindi and administration of vaccine equity, growth and sustainability. tors, preserving maritime environment and resources, Mission (https://bit.ly/3yAAPJx). but not in the glowing manner it newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar, have shots and also that it has provided Unsurprisingly, Kerala was ad­ and encouraging responsible maritime connectivity. In­ Tamil Nadu, with an exemplary re­ has been imagined and told. Quite since become a metaphor for all a violence­free environment to its judged the best­governed S tate deed, the acceptance at the UNSC of the legislative fra­ cord on development and welfare, the opposite with images of float­ that is wrong with U.P. The U.P. go­ residents. The State does have im­ while U.P. came last (in the large mework for UNCLOS, the “legal framework applicable was placed third on the list after ing corpses and mass burning of vernment and the Chief Minister pressive absolute numbers for States category). to activities in the oceans, including countering illi cit Madhya Pradesh. If anyone had pyres making it to the internation­ have underplayed the deaths and both COVID­19 testing and vaccine quibbles about the line­up , they al media. passed them off as jal samadhis — shots but plunges close to the bot­ Political impact activities at sea”, is seen as an important achievem ent had to lump it. U.P. and its Chief the ancient practice of burying the tom once the figures are adjusted So what are the BJP’s opponents in during India’s month at the helm of the Council. The Minister were going to savour the In the pandemic’s grip dead in shallow river beds. for population. U.P. has so far U.P. doing to counter the party’s sustained interest of India in promoting maritime se­ trophy which had most conve­ As the second wave raged, there However, the explanation has lagged behind even the national public relations offensive? Not curity also draws from Mr. Modi’s SAGAR vision plan niently arrived in the months was no sign that U.P. had become a not convinced many. In his report average on both counts. much as both the Samajwadi Party aimed at strengthening economic and security connec­ ahead of the 2022 S tate Assembly shining example of good gover­ dated May 22, 2021 (https:// (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party tions with regional maritime nations. election. By another coincidence, nance. Hundreds lost their lives in bit.ly/37sZTGu), The Hindu’s Omar Crime data (BSP) seem focused on chasing the If there are strategic barriers to creating momentum it was also the first time that States the scramble for hospital beds, Rashid cites residents who had On general law and order and wo­ elusive Brahmin vote in U.P. This is in achieving these goals, they are associated with specif­ had been picked for the award. ambulances and oxygen. Men and watched the bodies wash up as men’s safety, the less said the bet­ baffling logic considering the well­ In the days since the award, the women collapsed unattended and saying they had not witnessed ter. Women’s safety, a key promise known Brahmin affinity to the BJP. ic regions of maritime tension including the South Chi­ Chief Minister has found himself many died begging for oxygen. floating bodies on this scale be­ in the BJP’s election campaigns, The SP and the BSP both came to na Sea and the Black Sea. Regarding the former, U.S. Se­ hit by an avalanche of praise, most These deaths were not statistics fore. For Vishwambhar Nath Mis­ has been callously treated in U.P. power on rainbow alliances of the cretary of State Antony Blinken decried the “dangerous notably from the Prime Minister that the Government could hide or hra, the head priest of Varanasi’s An Alt News analysis of national forward and backward castes. encounters between vessels at sea and provocative ac ­ and the Union Home Minister, dispute. These happened in real Sankat Mochan temple, the float­ crime data placed U.P. on top for Having lost that platform to the tions to advance unlawful maritime claims ”, rejecting Amit Shah. The praise also settled time as friends and families ing bodies represented a truth that custodial rapes and dowry deaths. BJP, they now watch as Mr. Aditya­ “actions that intimidate and bully other states from law­ speculation that Mr. Adityanath watched helplessly. A could not be hidden. “Ganga has Further, National Crime Records nath plays his ‘Shining U.P.’ card. fully accessing their maritime resources”. Similarly, re­ and Mr. Modi were in conflict over journalist’s last cries for help are revealed the truth,” he told Mr. Bureau data show that the number a State­level appointment pro­ recorded in the phone of an editor Rashid. of dowry deaths per one lakh peo­ Vidya Subrahmaniam is a senior garding the Black Sea, the Kerch Strait, the Sea of Azov, posed by the Prime Minister. In friend she desperately called. He Mr. Rashid also reported on the ple in U.P. is the highest in the journalist Mr. Blinken at the UNSC debate hit out at what Washing­ ton considered “continued aggressive actions against Ukraine... which are disrupting commerce and energy access”. Although India’s presidency of the Council is Unpacking the resiliency of global trade, yet again brief, its sustained commitment to promoting maritime security and boosting trade through sea routes will re­ Going by past experiences and historic ruptures, there is hope for global trade recovery in the post­COVID­19 world quire it to be adroit in negotiating with these squabbling World Bank and International Mo­ century. Businesses will aim to value added products, beyond the powers and creative in seeking resolution of the very netary Fund (IMF) and Interna­ harness data for innovation to re­ traditional exports basket com­ real conflicts at the heart of their disputes. While some tional Trade Organisation (ITO) main ahead of the curve in a post­ prising refined petroleum pro­ may deride UNCLOS as lacking teeth for enforcement, were created to help rebuild the COVID­19 world. However, in­ ducts, pharma, gems and jewel­ ultimately it is the only comprehensive framework of shattered post­war economy. The creasing use of data and automa­ lery, textiles and garments, laws available to maritime powers to assert their rights General Agreement on Tariffs and tion will make nations vulnerable engineering items, rice, oil meals Dammu Ravi consistent with the rules­based international order. Trade (GATT) was negotiated in to job losses. Rapid growth in e ­ and marine products (Source: 1947 as a means to reducing bar­ commerce and the virtual world DGCI&S). Through its UNSC presidency and beyond, New Delhi riers to international trade. The oil GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTO will demand entirely new skills Building an ecosystem that in­ must faithfully advocate for ratification of UNCLOS b y n the last year, the devastating shocks of the 1970s led to the esta­ remained dormant for long are ex­ from the workforce. Therefore, centivises value­added manufac­ all major maritime powers, including the U.S. impact of COVID­19 pandemic blishment of the International pected to be resilient to help re­ economic policies are likely to fo­ turing and technology­induced Ihas shrunk the world economy Energy Agency (IEA) in 1974 to vive manufacturing with lower cus on stronger safety nets for finished products should form a by 4.4% and global trade by 5.3%; manage oil supply disruptions and production costs, induce invest­ workers; income protection, skill part of our long­term strategy. Undermining justice job losses have been estimated to went on to create awareness on ments and promote technology training, health care and educa­ Plug and play manufacturing units The Government must explain the unusual be to the tune of 75 million. the need for global energy securi­ transfers. tional support for families. under Production Linked Incen­ Around the world, countries have ty. The financial crisis of 2008 led In a post COVID­19 world, mem­ tive Scheme (PLI) schemes, if care­ delay in filling up vacancies in courts, tribunals responded to pandemic­induced to the G20 Leaders Summit, an bers of the World Trade Organiza­ India’s outlook fully nurtured, could lead the in­ t was only a matter of time before the controversy shortages with protectionist reac­ elevation from the G20 Finance tion are expected to stitch trade fa­ India’s challenges during the CO­ dustry on that path. Beyond the over the Union government delaying judicial ap­ tions and nationalist aspirations Ministers forum in 1999, in a bid to cilitating rules that may impinge VID­19 pandemic have been no dif­ timely stimulus packages for mi­ with the potential to disrupting take cooperation beyond the G7 in on national sovereign policy space ferent from those faced by other cro, small and medium enterpris­ pointments hit the headlines again. In recent days, I complex cross­border supply a global quest to control inflation with a collective resolve to disci­ countries: its GDP contracted by es (MSMEs), supporting them with the Supreme Court has voiced concern over the G o­ chains. The blame game on trade due to fiscal expansion. These de­ pline errant nations that are 7.3% according to the National Sta­ cheaper input costs, including raw vernment’s lackadaisical attitude towards the large openness and trade agreements velopments had a consequential known to dumping goods and tistical Office; and about 10 million material and intermediate goods number of vacancies in High Courts and tribunals. for widening trade deficits, in­ impact on global trade, with dra­ erecting trade barriers through jobs were lost according to the would help sustain them with job Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana confronted the G o­ come inequalities and growing un­ matic surges in volumes; from a multilateral rules. Mutually benefi­ Centre for Monitoring Indian Eco­ creation at the local level. Deve­ vernment with a list of 240 vacancies in various tri bu­ employment are all but natural mere $60.80 billion in 1950 to cial trade arrangements that seek nomy Pvt. Ltd; trade remained loping a synergistic relationship nals. He asked rather bluntly whether there was a plan domestic reactions. These trends $2,049 billion in 1980; $6,452 bil­ deeper economic integration will subdued at $493 billion (goods at between the big industry and make projections for the post­CO­ lion in 2000; $19,014 billion in be entered into at the bilateral and $290 billion and services at $203 MSMEs is at the core of a success­ to close down some tribunals. Many tribunals lack pre­ VID­19 world even more dismal 2019 (Source: wto.org). regional levels to create win­win billion). The projections of the In­ ful Atmanirbhar Bharat; the form­ siding officers, and recommendations made by selec­ and depressing. situations for all stakeholders, in­ ternational Monetary Fund for In­ er should be encouraged to move tion committees have not been acted upon. The vacan­ Future prospects cluding consumers, who tend to dia’s economic growth ahead are into technology space and finished cies in High Courts are at a staggering 455, as on August Past trends The patterns above leave much benefit from lowered barriers and positive and in line with the gener­ products, while the latter feeds 1. It appears that exhortations from the courts, and Going by past experiences, histor­ hope for optimism for global trade harmonised standards. al trends world­wide, assuming them with locally made inputs at even a judicial order from the topcourt in April — fixing ic ruptures often generate and ac­ in the post­COVID­19 crisis in the Countries that harness technol­ that the widespread vaccination competitive prices. Skills upgrada­ time­frames for the Intelligence Bureau and the G o­ celerate new global links that lay collective belief that international ogy are expected to dominate in­ might limit the COVID­19 agony. tion to global standards should foundations for institutional trade is vital for development and ternational trade in future with a Unleashing trade potential is ex­ form a part of India’s strategy in a vernment to process names forwarded by the Collegi­ changes, seeking enduring coop­ prosperity, while competition is transformational impact on the pected to have a ripple effect on post­COVID­19 world. um for making appointments to the High Courts or re­ eration among nations. The Se­ central to generating competence. global economy. Just as the steam the economy. Merchandise ex­ turning files and for accepting names reiterated by the cond World War created sustain­ Stimulus packages and forced sav­ engine in the 19th century and ports for the second quarter of Dammu Ravi is a serving Foreign Service judges’ body — has not imparted a sense of urgency. A ing multilateral institutions; ings in several countries in the last computing power in the 20th cen­ 2021 from April­June at $95 billion Officer, currently working in the Ministry two­judge Bench has noted that the Centre’s delay in besides the United Nations, the year have created financial buff­ tury, data will be the main driver (+6%), is indeed encouraging, but of External Affairs. The views expressed making appointments to the High Courts is adversely Bretton Woods Institutions such as ers. Global supply chains that have of economic growth in the 21st would need to remain focussed on are personal affecting the adjudication of commercial disputes. The judiciary’s concern over the vacancies in the tri­ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials. bunals is quite justified, as the jurisdiction previously To read more letters exercised by High Courts is now being exercised by the The starkest warning nations are being made to With nations unable to come devastating floods and forest A struggle online, scan the QR code tribunals, and the failure to adjudicate or dispose of dis­ The Sixth Assessment pay heavily for the to any meaningful fires. It is time to stop the It is the practice of putes in these fields would amount to denial of justi ce report of the environment­damaging conclusions on measures, usual finger pointing at corporates, large business Things are indeed grave and to the parties. The present regime’s eagerness to under­ Intergovernmental Panel on activities of the earlier there seems to be very little India, China, Brazil and houses and governments to one wonders what awaits mine the independent functioning of tribunals is quite Climate Change is carbon emitters, such as chance of pulling away from South Africa, because their bestow on sportspersons, households in the State apparent. It has been repeatedly framing rules that seek foreboding. The current the West, who have a the brink. per capita emissions are still accolades, cash awards and already struggling with the overall global warming historic responsibility Anthony Henriques, lower when compared to the other benefits after they win. costs of petrol, diesel and to provide for greater executive control over the tenure, trends are likely to lead to towards mitigating global industrialised western But there is also the reality. cooking gas. Incidentally, emoluments and conditions of service of those man­ increased rainfall, flooding warming and are now nations. Merely talking, There are also sportspersons reliable sources cannot ning the tribunals. If specialisation, domain expertise and heat waves. As India looking the other way. It is ■ To those living in the procrastinating and business who struggle hard to find a recollect any precedent of a and relatively quicker adjudication are the reasons for has a 7,517 km coastline, the unfortunate that the IPCC’s Global South, the latest as usual policies of the past sponsor, training equipment, white paper submission. which certain kinds of disputes are being resolved warming of the Indian report is long on warnings report is nothing but old will most certainly make the and even funds to buy the Mani Nataraajan, through tribunals, these purposes are lost if these bo­ Ocean, leading to a rise in but short on suggestions for wine in a new bottle. The world completely basics such as a pair of shoes dies are rendered nearly dysfunctional through a large sea levels, makes southern concrete actions to reduce reasons are simple, because uninhabitable for all. or a hockey stick. There are India particularly climate change. even prior to the Paris G. Parameswaran, tales of personal suffering ■ The white paper is a grand number of vacancies. To compound the problem, the vulnerable. Nalini Vijayaraghavan, Agreement, many of these Coimbatore and sacrifice. Sports culmination of reckless Union government has been inexplicably reluctant to Aggravating matters for Thiruvananthapuram countries were experiencing enthusiast corporates and populism followed by the create a national body for overseeing the work relat ed India is that it is already severe coastal flooding, ■ The report, though philanthropists need to Dravidian majors. With scant to the appointment of members on tribunals as well as sitting on a powder keg ■ The report only reiterates irregular rainfall and alarming, is not surprising. identify talent and help such regard for financial prudence the appraisal of their functioning. As far as higher jud­ with indiscriminate what we already know. The extreme drought. Every region on earth is sportspersons blossom. It or administration, successive iciary appointments are concerned, there is little to en­ encroachment into water world is standing at the edge The gargantuan “heat dome” being impacted by adverse also takes political will. governments have burnt a lighten the public on what is causing the delay. Whether bodies, mining and of a precipice due to our in America has finally driven conditions which are Tharcius S. Fernando, massive hole in the State’s deforestation. complete neglect of home to many complacent increasingly becoming Chennai finances. Electricity and it is a dispute over the undoubtedly problematic mem­ A developing, fossil­fuel environment concerns in our Americans and Canadians irreversible. Every citizen on transport are the top money orandum of procedure, or the desire of the executive to dependent nation such as developmental projects. that this current crisis can the planet is responsible for White paper burners, with freebies given subject the Collegium recommendations to its own pol­ India, is now finding itself India is more vulnerable also spell tragedy to them averting a catastrophe. It is It is a surprise that the Tamil away at will. Power and itical scrutiny is not clear. In any case, the delay is caus­ between the devil and the than the other industrialised and not just to the distant time to act, or die. Nadu Finance Minister has transport must be privatised. ing great harm to India’s justice delivery system. deep sea. What is grossly nations because of its Third World. It is the same B. Ramakrishnan, submitted a white paper on K. Ramachandran, unfair is that the developing dependence on agriculture. case in Europe, after Cherrybrook, NSW, Australia Tamil Nadu’s finances. Chennai

CM M ND-NDE YK