The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 23 December 2022

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 22 December 2022

• A Division Bench of the Andhra Pradesh High Court led by Chief Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra on Thursday directed the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to set up a five-member expert committee to look into the alleged violations of environment protection laws in the construction work being carried out atop the Rushikonda hill in Visakhapatnam.

The Hindu Editorial Today

• Gulf countries account for more than half of the Indian prisoners including undertrials and convicts lodged in foreign jails. According to data available with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), as many as 8,441 Indians including women are lodged in foreign jails in 69 countries in connection with various offences ranging from murder to domestic violence.
• Of them, 4,389 are lodged in jails of Gulf countries. Around 1,858 persons are lodged in prisons in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) alone, which accounts for the highest number of Indian convicts in a foreign country, followed by Nepal with 1,222.
• One Indian female was convicted on charges of drug trafficking in Finland which has been ranked as the world’s happiest country for the fifth consecutive year in 2022 in an annual UN-sponsored index, while the jails in Afghanistan which is ranked as the unhappiest country in the world, has no Indian convicts or undertrials.
• According to MEA, Kerala (1.12 crore) has the highest number of passport holders in the country. Kerala’s Malappuram is ranked third in the list of districts with the most number of passports issued (19,32,622), after Mumbai (35,56,067) and Bengaluru (34,63,405).

• meetings of the United Nations Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee, the No Money for Terror Conference, and an Interpol Conference in which terrorism figured prominently. The recurring theme has been the need to wage a coordinated fight against terrorism.
• Very little seems to have been discussed at these meetings on how to deal with the spate of newer terror groups
• The declining level of serious terrorist incidents do not, however, translate into a decline in terrorism.
• Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) that has been languishing in the offices of the UN (since India first proposed this in the 1990s), and finalise the list of items needed to check terrorism globally.

• In a significant development in international trade law, four separate World Trade Organization (WTO) Panel reports have ruled that the tariffs of 25% and 10% on steel and aluminium, respectively, that the United States (U.S.) had imposed during the presidency of Donald Trump are inconsistent with WTO law. The cases were brought by China, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey.
• The WTO panellists held that these tariff rates breached the U.S.’s obligations under Article II.1 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which obligates countries not to impose tariffs beyond bound rates. Further, these tariffs breached Article I of GATT because they discriminated between some foreign producers of steel and aluminium over others.
• Importantly, the U.S. tried to justify its tariff hikes under Article XXI of GATT which allows countries to deviate from their trade obligations on grounds of national security.

Introduction

• The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade between nations.
• It officially commenced operations on 1 January 1995, pursuant to the 1994 Marrakesh Agreement, thus replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that had been established in 1948
• The WTO is the world’s largest international economic organization, with 164 member states representing over 98% of global trade and global GDP
• Also, WTO is the only global international organization dealing with the rules of trade between nations

• Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Washington, his first overseas travel since Russia’s invasion on February 24, and the Biden administration’s decision to send a new $1.8 billion military aid package, including Patriot missile defence systems and precision-guided missiles, are a testament to the deep relationship Ukraine and the U.S. share in the time of war.
• The U.S. could help its ally but it should also push for a sustainable solution to the conflict. It should use its continued support to Ukraine to mount pressure on Russia — as its weapons play a critical role in Kyiv’s counterattacks — and persuade Ukraine to resume direct negotiations. At this point, no military solution seems likely.

• The Supreme Court of India goes on vacation for a week during Holi, 45 days during summer and for around two weeks during Deepavali and winter.
• Australia’s Supreme Court, for instance, has only 97 working days when oral arguments are adduced. India has around 190-195 working days. If you compare holidays, Singapore’s Supreme Court has 145 holidays, the U.K.’s Supreme Court has about 180 holidays, and Canada’s has about 120.

• India, along with Russia and China, abstained from a UN Security Council resolution criticising Myanmar’s military regime, and instead called for “quiet, patient” and “constructive” diplomacy with the junta.
• The vote, which marked the first Security Council resolution on the situation in Myanmar in decades, and in particular, since the military overthrew the National Unity Government (NUG) in February 2021, demanded an end to the violence and the release of all political prisoners, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
• “ASEAN” process, referring to the “five-point consensus” passed by the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) last year.

Sharing is caring!