By TNV Desk

This is a weekly foreign media digest that tells you how India has been covered in the global media from August 06 to August 12

 

Khaleej times – Indian government proposes overhauling colonial-era criminal laws

• India’s government moved three bills in the lower house of parliament on Friday aimed at overhauling some colonial-era criminal laws, ranging from the controversial sedition law to strengthening laws that protect women and minors.
• On the last day of the monsoon session of the parliament, Federal Home Minister Amit Shah presented bills to repeal and replace the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act, many implemented by the British before the country’s independence in 1947.
• The new legislation “will aim to give justice, not punishment,” said Shah, adding that the overhaul was imperative as the colonial laws have been at the core of the criminal justice system for over a century.
• Some legal experts said the bills, if approved by Parliament, may create disruptions and add complexity to the legal process as courts will have figure out procedural implications and positions on tens of thousands of existing trials.
• But those in favour of the changes said they enable fresh discussions on the need to reform several laws protecting females and minors, and also adds a fresh layer of transparency to criminal codes.
• The bill seeks to replace the colonial-era sedition law which was mainly used against Indian political leaders seeking independence from British rule.
• The proposed bill seeks to replace it with a section on acts seen as endangering the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has scrapped scores of obscure laws in recent years to modernise the legal system and free India from its colonial past.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/asia/indian-government-proposes-overhauling-colonial-era-criminal-laws)

 

Reuters – India plans welfare measures for gig workers ahead of elections

• India plans to roll out welfare measures for “gig” workers employed through platforms like Amazon, Uber and India’s Zomato as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government prepares for elections, government and trade union officials said.
• The plan, part of the Social Security Code enacted in 2020, could include accident, health insurance and retirement benefits, said a senior government official with direct knowledge of the plan.
• “There is an urgency to announce relief measures for gig workers,” said a government official, citing meetings with trade unions, gig platforms and state officials.
• Gig workers need state protection, given rising exploitation by employers, said Ashwani Mahajan, an economic official at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh group, which has close ties to Modi’s government.
• India’s gig workers, those outside traditional employer-employee relationships, are rapidly becoming an important part of the world’s fifth-biggest economy as the sector surged under COVID-19 restrictions and has been boosted by high unemployment.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-plans-welfare-measures-gig-workers-ahead-elections-2023-08-11/)

 

 

Khaleej Times – India: Mobile phones, tearing of documents, laughing out loud will not be allowed in UP Assembly

• Once passed, the Rules of Procedures and Conduct of Business of Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, 2023 will replace the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business of UP Legislative Assembly, 1958
• The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly is all set to pass a new set of rules under which members will not be able to take their mobile phones inside the House, tear documents or stand or sit with their backs towards the Speaker.
• Under the new set of rules, MLAs will not be able to tear any document in the House. They will also not point towards anyone in the gallery while delivering a speech or praise him/her. The legislators will neither be able to stand nor sit with their backs towards the Speaker. They will also not be able to bring or display weapons in the House.
• The members cannot smoke nor can they talk or laugh loudly in the lobby.
• The rules state that the members of the legislative assembly (MLAs) should show respect by bowing towards the Speaker’s chair, and not show their backs while entering or leaving the House or while sitting or rising from their seats.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/world/asia/india-mobile-phones-tearing-of-documents-laughing-out-loud-will-not-be-allowed-in-up-assembly)

 

 

Khaleej Times – Look: Indian warship, destroyer arrive in Dubai to conduct bilateral exercise with UAE Navy

• Two ships of the Indian Navy, INS Visakhapatnam and INS Trikand, under the command of Rear Admiral Vineet McCarty, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF), arrived at Port Rashid in Dubai to conduct bilateral exercise ‘Zayed Talwar’ to enhance interoperability and synergy between the two navies.
• India and the UAE established diplomatic relations in 1972. UAE opened its Embassy in Delhi in 1972, whereas India opened its Embassy in Abu Dhabi in 1973, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.
• The traditionally strong bilateral relations enjoyed by India and UAE received an impetus with the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to UAE on August 16-17, 2015, which marked the beginning of a new strategic partnership between the two countries.
• Bilateral Defence Interaction between India and UAE has been steadily growing in accordance with other aspects of the bilateral relationship.
• There have been regular high-level and functional level exchanges between the two countries. The ships of the navies of both countries have regularly made port calls to enhance bilateral defence cooperation.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/look-indian-warship-destroyer-arrive-in-dubai-to-conduct-bilateral-exercise-with-uae-navy)

 

Arab news – Indian Navy seeks to boost defense ties with Saudi Arabia

• India is working to boost defense cooperation with Saudi Arabia, the Indian Navy has said after one of its vessels visited Jeddah last week and conducted an exercise with the Royal Saudi Navy.
• The Indian Navy’s largest, indigenously designed missile destroyer INS Chennai was deployed for a mission on the Red Sea on Aug. 3
• INS Chennai followed the port call with a passage exercise after leaving Jeddah on Saturday, the Indian Navy said.
• India appears to be deepening its defense ties with Saudi Arabia as the two countries navigate a changing global order, said Kabir Taneja, a strategic affairs program fellow at Delhi-based Observer Research Foundation.
• Ranjit Kumar, a Delhi-based strategic affairs analyst, said that India and Saudi Arabia are expanding the scope of their relations.
• The increased frequency of high-level defense interactions is indicative of a strong commitment between the two countries to broaden the scope of cooperation to the strategic arena, Kumar told Arab News.
• The South Asian nation and the Kingdom established in 2019 the Strategic Partnership Council, which is focused on four areas: political issues, security, socio-cultural relations and defense cooperation.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.arabnews.com/node/2351646/world)

 

BBC – Modi wins no-trust vote over India ethnic violence

• India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defeated a no-confidence vote in the parliament after a three-day debate.
• This is the second time that Mr Modi’s government has defeated a no-confidence motion since it came to power in 2014.
• In 2018, a lawmaker had moved a motion over the issue of granting a special category status to southern Andhra Pradesh state. It was defeated after a 12-hour debate

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66458482)

 

Wall street Journal – Russia Aims to Restore Prestige in Race to Moon’s South Pole

• Russia’s launch of its first lunar lander in nearly 50 years on Friday, an attempt to become the first country to reach the south pole of the moon, is a symbolic moment for a country anxious to prove it still has the technological capabilities befitting a great world power.
• Russian scientists are also racing against a similar mission from India, and expect to land their own probe first.
• India’s Chandrayaan-3, a spacecraft with an orbiter, lander and a rover, is also projected to land at the lunar south pole later this month. In May, China sent its first civilian astronaut into orbit as part of a new crew for its space station.
• India and more than two dozen other countries have agreed to U.S.-backed principles for space exploration, while Russia is collaborating with China in the International Lunar Research Station that plans to man a base on the moon by 2036. Since 2011, China has been excluded by U.S. law from working with NASA.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-aims-to-restore-prestige-in-race-to-moons-south-pole-86c25170?mod=Searchresults_pos1&page=1)

 

The Economist – The transformation of digital payments in America, China and India

• Non-cash payments are on the rise all over the world. Our writers explain how digital technology has changed the way consumers shop in three important markets: America, China and India. How are these countries’ approaches to digital finance different, and what can we learn from them?

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.economist.com/films/2023/08/10/the-transformation-of-digital-payments-in-america-china-and-india)

 

Bloomberg – Households in India See Prices Moderating, RBI Surveys Say

• Indian households expect inflation to moderate in the coming months after a spurt in the current period, mainly on account of food prices, according to surveys by the Reserve Bank of India.
• The Reserve Bank of India on Thursday kept policy rates unchanged but raised its inflation forecast by 30 basis points to 5.4% for the year ending in March due to an increase in food prices. The rise is temporary and can be ignored, Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-10/households-in-india-see-prices-moderating-rbi-surveys-say?leadSource=uverify%20wall#xj4y7vzkg)

 

Reuters – India broadens access to ‘vostro’ accounts to facilitate rupee trade

• India has allowed banks in 22 partner countries, including Russia and the United Kingdom, to open “vostro” accounts in the country, the government told parliament on Tuesday, to help facilitate trade in rupees.
• Vostro accounts are accounts a domestic bank typically holds on behalf of a foreign bank, denominated in the currency of the former.
• India has been encouraging partner countries to promote trade denominated in rupees, keen to cut transaction costs associated with currency conversions.
• The Reserve Bank of India has allowed banks from 22 countries, including Bangladesh, Russia, Germany, Israel, Sri Lanka and UK, among others, Bhagwat Karad, India’s junior finance minister told parliament.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-broadens-access-vostro-accounts-facilitate-rupee-trade-2023-08-08/)

 

Bloomberg – The Global South Breaks Away From the US-Led World Order

• Let Trade Run Free. Tie your currency to the US dollar. Align your foreign policy with America’s. The US and its Western partners wrote these economic rules, a cornerstone of the world order prevailing since World War II. Now developing countries, often called the Global South, are quietly revising them.
• The Global South sees a chance to chart its own future. Nirupama Menon Rao, a former Indian foreign secretary, points to her country’s spreading of digital payments to developing nations. “India’s outreach to countries in the Global South has been ­successful,” the onetime ambassador to the US told Bloomberg Television in June.
• India is buying Russian oil in defiance of US-led sanctions. “Energy is not about altruism or philanthropy,” oil minister Hardeep Singh Puri told Bloomberg TV in February

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-08/india-brazil-and-rest-of-global-south-break-away-from-the-us-led-world-order#xj4y7vzkg)

 

Reuters – Exclusive: India bars makers of military drones from using Chinese parts

• India in recent months has barred domestic manufacturers of military drones from using components made in China over concerns about security vulnerabilities, according to four defence and industry officials and documents reviewed by Reuters.
• But as the nascent Indian industry looks to meet the military’s needs, the defence and industry figures said India’s security leaders were worried that intelligence-gathering could be compromised by Chinese-made parts in drones’ communication functions, cameras, radio transmission and operating software.
• India’s approach, reported by Reuters for the first time, complements phased import restrictions on surveillance drones since 2020 and is being implemented through military tenders, documents show.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has sought to build India’s drone capability to thwart perceived threats, including from China, whose forces have clashed with Indian soldiers along their disputed border in recent years.
• India has set aside 1.6 trillion rupees ($19.77 billion) for military modernisation in 2023- 25 24, of which 75% is reserved for domestic industry.
• Sameer Joshi, founder of Bengaluru -based NewSpace Research and Technologies, a supplier of small drones for India’s military, said 70% of goods in the supply chain were made in China.
• India relies on foreign manufacturers for both parts and entire systems as it lacks the know -how to make certain types of drones.
• Still, Narang said there was little investment in research and development by India’s big private -sector companies. Joshi said venture capitalists eschewed military projects because of long lead times and the risk that orders may not eventuate.
• “If today I buy equipment from China but I say I want to make it in India, the cost will go up 50%,” he said. “We as a nation need to be ready to help the ecosystem build here.”

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/india-bars-makers-military-drones-using-chinese-parts-2023-08-08/)

 

Globe and Mail – I’m 75 and still travelling to India on my own

• “I’m going to India! For a month!” I messaged my family and friends one day in late October. Let’s just say this Opinion Media House: Globe & Mail Canada 22 announcement was not met with a lot of enthusiasm. Naturally there was some concern that this 75-year-old who walks with a stick (not a cane!) and whose balance is precarious at best was going alone to such a faraway place. They knew I’d spent time in India in the 1970s, but that was a long time ago. As I said, not a lot of enthusiasm for what could well be my last great adventure.
• My plan was to go to an Ayurvedic centre in the southernmost state of Kerala. Ayurveda, the ancient traditional medicine of India, is a holistic approach to healing and health that had always appealed to me But I knew that the heart of India would still be the same and I was dying to get there. Besides, I wanted to test myself, to see if I could manage such an ambitious journey.
• But first we had a few roadblocks to navigate. India was displeased with our government’s policy of leniency toward the movement to establish an independent Sikh state of Khalistan and had inconveniently stopped issuing tourist evisas to Canadians. After four months and some sleepless nights they finally arrived – just five days before we left!
• I fell into India’s warm embrace. It felt like I was coming home. • The next four weeks were indeed an adventure. Everything and nothing had changed. While supermarkets and shopping malls dot the cityscapes selling the same goods that we have, at its core India is still India.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/first-person/article-im-75-and-still-travelling-to-india-on-my-own/)

 

The Guardian – Indian couple who starred in Oscar-winning film say director backed out of pay promises

• The couple who were the subject of an Oscar-winning Indian documentary have accused the film’s director, Kartiki Gonsalves, of reneging on payments they say were due to them. The couple told The Hindu newspaper on Saturday that they had filed a legal petition accusing Gonsalves of failing to give them a “promised” house, car, a lump sum in cash for the time they spent on the project and payment for the education of their granddaughter.
• The film’s Oscar win was a feelgood moment for many Indians, and the couple became famous overnight, prompting celebrities and politicians to lavish praise on them and seek photo opportunities.
• Several awards ceremonies took place to honour them, including a lavish function where they met M K Stalin, the Tamil Nadu chief minister, and a meeting with Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, when he visited the camp in April.
• The Chennai-based social activist Pravin Raj, who says he knows the couple, told the Press Trust of India that they had not benefited financially from all the travelling and meeting they did to help generate publicity for the film

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/aug/07/indian-couple-who-starred-in-oscar-winning-film-say-director-backed-out-of-pay-promises)

 

Bloomberg – India House Approves Privacy Bill in Boon for Google, Meta

• India’s lower house of parliament Monday approved a bill that seeks to ease data storage, processing and transfer norms for BigTech companies as well as local firms seeking growth abroad.
• Roughly half of India’s 1.4 billion people use internet, making the region a key growth market for global technology giants. India, like governments around the world, is trying to balance the needs of businesses with individuals’ rights to data privacy.
• The bill requires companies to get consent before collecting personal data and prevents them from using it for any purposes other than those mentioned in the contract between the parties. That means companies can’t anonymize personal data and use it for products such as artificial intelligence models.
• The bill gives sector-specific regulators, such as the central bank for fintech companies, a wider say over data rules for the industries they oversee. The bill needs the approval of the upper house of parliament, where Modi’s ruling coalition does not have majority.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-07/india-s-lower-house-of-parliament-approves-data-privacy-bill#xj4y7vzkg)

 

AP News – Vivek Ramaswamy’s Hindu faith is front and center in his GOP presidential campaign

• Vivek Ramaswamy is as comfortable talking about Bible stories as he is sharing the message of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most sacred Hindu texts.
• He is also only the nation’s second Hindu presidential candidate. Tulsi Gabbard, the former Hawaii congresswoman, ran as a Democrat in 2020. “I was raised in a belief system where there is one true God who empowers each of us with our own capacities,” he said. “As we say in the Hindu tradition, God resides in each one of us. In the Christian tradition, you say we’re all made in the image of God.”
• The child of immigrants from southern India, Ramaswamy grew up in Cincinnati speaking Tamil at home with his religious parents who performed pujas — a form of worship rituals. He heard stories from Hindu epics, offered daily prayers to deities and attended temples in Dayton and Cincinnati. He and his wife, Apoorva, a physician, plan to raise their two sons as Hindus.
• Most Hindu Americans and Indian Americans, on the other hand, tend to vote Democratic and be progressive on social issues like abortion, immigration and LGBTQ rights. They are divided over Ramaswamy’s candidacy; some are particularly irked by his eagerness to equate Hindu and Christian teachings.
• Ria Chakrabarty, policy director of Hindus for Human Rights, said she is concerned by Ramaswamy’s attempt to “package Hinduism in the family values mold, talking about it as a monotheistic religion to appeal to the Abrahamic faiths.”
• For other Hindu Americans who may disagree with Ramaswamy’s views, his candidacy still represents an important shift in American politics. Suhag Shukla, executive director of the Hindu American Foundation, said that when Hindu Americans run for any office “it’s inspirational for kids to know they can be who they are and be proud of their heritage and values.”

(For detailed report click on the link – https://apnews.com/article/vivek-ramaswamy-hindu-republican-presidential-campaign-68a09925f38fb23d69fa31a2271c0ca8)

 

BBC – Chandrayaan-3: Historic India Moon mission sends new photos of lunar surface

• India’s space agency has released the first images of the Moon taken by the Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft, which entered lunar orbit on Saturday.
• The images show craters on lunar surface getting larger and larger as the spacecraft draws closer.
• Chandrayaan-3’s lander and rover are due to reach the surface on 23 August.
• If successful, India will be the first country to perform a controlled “soft landing” near the south pole.
• It will also become only the fourth to achieve a soft landing on the Moon after the US, the former Soviet Union and China.
• After the spacecraft orbited the Earth for about 10 days, it was sent into the translunar orbit last Tuesday and successfully injected into the lunar orbit on Saturday.
• India mission enters Moon orbit, aiming for south pole. Indian Space Research Agency (Isro) said that all checks showed that Chandrayaan-3 was in good “health”.
• Scientists say Chandrayaan-3, the third in India’s programme of lunar exploration, is expected to build on the success of its earlier Moon missions.

(For detailed report click on the link – https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66425524)

 

(The report is curated by Dr Vinay Nalwa)