Dhwani 2.0

RESEARCH TEAM Abhishek Sureka Irene Issac (Research POCs) Aakanksha M Akhil Ranadheer K Ananya Surapaneni Aparna David Chitra Sharma CH Tirumala

Devyani Dwivedi Harshita Vunnava Indhuja Pathivada Karan Talwar Lahari Bachineni Muskaan Aggarwal

Palak Dhall Rajya Lakshmi Rashmitha Gurram Saranya Tanvi Rana Designed & Edited By:

Abhishek Sureka & Irene Issac 2

RESEARCH POCS LETTER It gives us immense pleasure to announce about the upcoming magazine of Sankalp’s Research Vertical – ‘Dhwani 2.0’. Dhwani as a name signifies great sense of information in the voice of the readers itself. The purpose behind this initiative is to introduce and educate the readers with the modern corporate and geopolitical relations alongside projecting the implications of various policy changes by the administrative authorities around the world.

Dhwani 2.0 aims to cover an extensive selection of information ranging from the current corporate governance issues to the ripple effect caused by the past decisions taken from a geo-political stand-point. This magazine successfully encapsulates an magnificent outcome by the research team of Sankalp.

Our team is dedicated towards the vision of spreading awareness in-form of the right information. Please do check out – www.sankalpibs.wordpress.com for more such information. We would love to hear your valuable feedback.

Please write to us at – sankalpresearchibsh@gmail.com Thank You Abhishek Sureka Irene Issac Research POCs Sankalp

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CONTENTS TOPICS

Page Nos.

FASTag System- A Blessing in disguise?

5-7

A Better Way Ahead!

8-9

OTT Platforms replacing the theatre experience- Way Ahead!

10-11

One Sun One World One Grid- initiative by India

12-13

Amazon v Reliance on future deal

14-15

Airtel One Web Deal- The Constellation that connects people

16-18

Blow to India: Cairn Energy wins the International Arbitration Award

19-20

Disinvestment: Air India’s Maharaj finally taking off

21-22

Privatisation of Public Sector Banks

23-24

Privatisation of LIC

25-26

The Long and Winding Road to BPCL Privatisation

27-28

Exploitation of GST- Fake Invoice Frauds

29-30

Zero MDR: Positive and Negative Implications

31-32

Reforms to harvest the true potential of Indian agriculture?

33-34

The United States v China Saga on Tibet and the Indian Stance

35-36

Changing Geopolitical relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan

37-39

Nepal Political Crisis

40-41 4

FASTag System-A Blessing in Disguise?

- Rashmitha Gurram FASTag: The Public Highways Authority of India (PHAI) has turned out a program for Electronic Toll Collection on Toll Plazas on National Highways to be called FASTag. FASTag is a reloadable label which empowers programmed allowance of cost charges and allows you to go through the cost court ceaselessly for the money exchange. FASTag is connected to a prepaid record from which the pertinent cost sum is deducted.

The tag utilizes Radio-recurrence Identification (RFID) innovation and is appended on the vehicle's windscreen after the label account is dynamic. RFID labelling is an ID framework that utilizes little radio recurrence distinguishing proof gadgets for ID and following purposes. Progressively, RFID labelling is utilized in production networks by executives as a choice to standardized identification innovation. Albeit more costly to use than the standardized tag stickers, RFID labels don't get filthy or tumble off or require an unhampered view between the tag and the peruser.

FASTag has a legitimacy of 5 years: From December 15, 2019, FASTag, a paid ahead of time battery-powered tag for cost instalments, on public interstates will get compulsory for all vehicles. The Ministry of Road Transport and

Highways has given a Gazette Notification as per which each of the four-wheel engine vehicles sold on or after first December 2017 will have FASTags' fitted on them by the maker of the vehicle or its approved seller, all things considered. If there should be an occurrence of vehicles that are sold as drive away suspension without windscreen, FASTag should be fitted by the vehicle proprietor before it is enlisted. FASTag is pertinent for all classifications, sorts, makes and kinds of vehicles Indian Highways Management Company Limited (IHMCL) (an organization fused by National Highways Authority of India) and National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) are actualizing this program. Vehicles without legitimate FASTag entering FASTag path will be charged twofold the relevant cost sum in real money. Further, bank unbiased FASTag "NHAI FASTag" have been dispatched for simple accessibility at petroleum siphon and on online business website Amazon. NHAI FASTag is a 'bank-unbiased' FASTag i.e., no bank is pre-allocated to the FASTag at the hour of procurement by client.

Advantages of utilizing FASTag: 1. Simplicity of installment: No compelling reason to convey money for the cost exchanges, saves time 5

2. Close to relentless development of vehicles prompting lower fuel cost.

3. Online Recharge – FASTag can be energized online through Credit Card/Debit Card/NEFT/RTGS or Net banking 4. SMS alarms for cost exchanges, low equilibrium, and so forth 5. Online Portal for clients 6. Legitimacy of 5 Years 7. Motivator: You can profit a cashback of 10% on all Different advantages: (a) Environmental advantage: Reduced air contamination, Reduced utilization of paper (b) Social advantage: Reduced cost installment bothers, Analytics for better parkway the executives The incorporated framework gives legitimate and constant information to government organizations for better investigation and strategy definition. (c) Economic advantage: Reduced exertion in administration at cost square, Reduced exertion in observing midway Stopping income spillages and lessening the expense of deferrals and fuel utilization, which is likewise prone to chop down the country's GDP misfortune.

Reduces the expense of overseeing cost squares.

With more than 2.30 crore FASTag clients, it offers over 75% of the absolute cost assortment," the NHAI said.

The assertion came after the public authority reported the compulsory rollout of FASTag from January 1, 2021, however it has permitted half and half paths on National Highways till February 15 to evade bother to individuals.

The public authority has commanded fitment of FASTag in M and N classifications of engine vehicles sold before 1 December 2017. Class 'M' represents an engine vehicle with at any rate four wheels utilized for conveying travelers. Classification 'N' represents an engine vehicle with in any event four wheels utilized for conveying merchandise, which may likewise convey individuals notwithstanding products.

"The committed endeavors of NHAI, open methodology of Highways Users and Other partners prompted fantastic expansion in appropriation of advanced method of the exchange at the Toll Plazas. To accomplish 100% e-ringing, all cost installments will be made through FASTag from 15 Feb 2021," the NHAI said. FASTag was dispatched in 2016 and four banks together gave almost a lakh of them. By 2017, their numbers went up to seven lakh and in excess of 34 lakh FASTags were given in 2018.

FASTag cost assortment ascends by ₹201 crore in December to reach ₹2,304 crore Cost assortment through FASTag saw a huge increment of ₹201 crore over December to log an aggregate of ₹2,303.79 crore, the National Highways Authority of India said on Tuesday.

Likewise, cost exchanges through FASTags recorded extensive development of 1.35 crore in December 2020. FASTag recorded 13.84 crore exchanges in December, which is 10.83 % more when contrasted with 12.48 crore exchanges in November 2020.

Legitimacy and cost of FASTtag: The expense of a FASTag is distinctive for each class of vehicle. According to the authority site, a FASTag will cost you Rs 200, which is a one-time charge.

There is likewise a Re-issuance expense of Rs 100, and refundable security store of Rs 200. The sum may likewise differ contingent upon the bank you are choosing as each bank may have their own strategies with respect to issuance charges and security stores. Clients will get FASTag at a much lower cost in the event that they get it through a cost square.

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Do take note of that a FASTag sticker On the off chance that you are as of now will stay substantial for a very long time a client, at that point you simply need the beginning the date of issuance.

RC duplicate. The equivalent applies to Airtel and PayTM clients as well.

How to apply for FASTag on the web?

Clients can purchase FASTag from a Checking FASTag balance on the bank office or POS set up by a bank. The web: rundown of banks that are right now To check your FASTag balance, you need supporting FASTags incorporate HDFC to visit the site of your backer Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Bank, Axis organization/bank/versatile wallet. At Bank, Bank of Baroda and State Bank of that point, sign into the FASTag gateway India. On the off chance that you have on the site with your login accreditations FASTag with a ledger, at that point you to see your equilibrium subtleties. will just have to enter your vehicle According to the authority site, clients subtleties to enact the Sticker. will get a SMS with essential subtleties For this, you can introduce the My to his enlisted versatile number when the FASTag application on your cell phone. cost exchange happens. "Intermittent Clients additionally have the alternative proclamation of record may likewise be to purchase FASTag from Amazon, gotten on the site of the Issuer Agency PayTM, Google Pay or Airtel Payment after enrollment by the client." One can App. You can get it conveyed at your likewise call client care if some home too with the assistance of these unacceptable sum is deducted. administrations.

The FASTag is likewise being given at the NHAI's retail locations at all cost courts, and Road Transport Authority (RTA) workplaces. One can apply for FASTtag online as well. ICICI Bank has collaborated with Google, so clients can pay for the FASTag utilizing Google Pay. They simply need to visit the authority site of the banks, search and snap on the 'Get FASTag'/'Apply for FASTag' and afterward register.

Records needed for enlisting FASTag: To enlist in a bank, you need the accompanying archives.

These incorporate KYC report, enlistment testament (RC) of your vehicle, visa size photo, Pan Card, and address and ID verification. One can likewise present a legitimate permit for address and ID confirmation.

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A Better Way Ahead!

- Tanvi Rana What if technology could connect to the internet and benefit from a direct connection with much faster speeds and benefit from it?

We use technology in all aspects of our everyday lives, like the use of radio technology such as Wi-Fi and cellular touches. These are the majority of the services on which we depend. The number of devices that we use is increasing due to new technology such as automation, internet of things and many more. Google has announced a planned rollout in India of using light beams to bring all the rural areas of the planet online. Alphabet’s X, a company which was previously known as Google X has associated with a telecom operator in the Indian state Andhra Pradesh which is home to over 50 million people. The company has tied up to use Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC), it is a technology that uses beams of light to deliver high-speed and optimal connectivity over long distances.

The government has taken a keen interest towards this as the initiative also ties to a government initiative that plans to connect 12 million households to the internet. The state FiberNet has introduced 2000 FSOC links to add additional support to the network backbone in the state. The project aims to access major critical points like the celltowers and Wifi hotspots that can support thousands of people.

Google aims to the high altitude balloons as base stations to enable internet access in possible places through the sky where it is hard to reach or specifically the underdeveloped regions around the world. The FSOC links will be based on light beams and will deliver high-speed connectivity for long distances without using the fibre optic cables.

The engineers used the FSOC connections over a distance of more than 100 km. The project work in the stratosphere has brought the technology to the ground and solved the connectivity The technology allows users to receive problems in areas with expensive fibre and transmit information through LED net. light beams, so the light bulb acts as a How will the project benefit the general router and transfers data using common public? household LED light bulbs and has a One of the key advantages of this speed of approximately 224 gigabits per technology is that the data range is 1000 second. The project is an innovative times greater than the RF spectrum, technology that has the potential to allowing wider bandwidths and higher overcome the problems faced by the data rates to be powered by more conventional internet provider, it is also capacity.

A speed of 224 Gbps was considered to be more secure and free of demonstrated by the developers and this interference and also safer than wireless is 100 times faster than traditional Wi-Fi. or cellular radio technology.

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The data contained within the tight area, there will be less interference and it is highly secure. This system can be used in intelligent office spaces by offering highbandwidth domestic hotspots in areas such as living rooms and bedrooms. The technology will be more effective because it uses visible light technology and because our offices and homes also have LED light bulbs, it is possible to use the same light source to relay data wirelessly.

The cost of using the light beam technology will be quite less because offices won’t use a point-to-point array and buildings can stay connected without the use of additional cables Which are typically positioned from one point of access to another. The availability of technology is plentiful since there is a link everywhere there is light. Another main benefit of using light beam technology is protection, the light will not pass through solid and opaque structures, and users inside a room would be able to access the internet and users in other rooms or buildings will not penetrate it.

The advantage may also be brought in the crowded radio spectrum where a new wireless LAN standard is launched and those data rates are delivered in reality because the wireless channel is given and data rates are delivered over a much more stable and effective medium by promising to move the contact to another band that is the light band.

Another drawback of the technology is that it uses light and light cannot penetrate through walls and the range of the signal is limited by the physical barriers so despite having a high capacity bandwidth, this can be a little annoying due to these physical barriers.

Interference of other sources of light could also be a drawback and one of the biggest drawbacks is the interception of signals outdoors where sunlight will interfere with the Signals, which may contribute to a broken internet. The lights would have to remain on throughout the day to be able to access the internet, and this does not make it the most energyefficient technology.

Clearly, light beam technology has many benefits over disadvantages, but lightbased communication or technology depends on the line of sight to function and is often seen as a substitute rather than a corresponding technology to current wireless solutions.

Technology always comes with a few drawbacks!

The light beam technology is a lightsource reliant and cannot be used without a light source and this could limit the locations and situations where the technology could probably be used.

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OTT Platforms Replacing the Theatre Experience- Way Ahead.

- Chitra Sharma The pandemic outbreak has changed the life of every individual. Work from home has become a new way of life and the world is slowly accepting the fact that, life after COVID-19 will not be the same as the pre-pandemic era .There is a whole shift in the paradigm from offline to online, it is natural that cinema being one of the biggest medium of entertainment in the world, will also follow the same trend due to the pandemic. Producers decided to realise their movies directly on OTT platforms rather than theater because, we don’t see a normal functioning of the theatre anytime soon. The entertainment industry initially was on a hike and later witnessed a crippling blow. It is the beginning of a dark era or end of the glorious movie-making era, but the impact of coronavirus is unprecedented.

When everything got restricted because of COVID-19 in the vicinity of our homes- each one turned towards OTT platforms for entertainment. And the biggest virtue of the OTT platform is the accessibility, a user can access it anywhere-anytime via any digital device like - in the parking lot while waiting for their friends, in the office lunch breaks, or on a boring weekend .

OTT platform gives you the luxurious feeling of watching your favourite movie at your preferred time and preferred place which is not possible in a theatregoing experience. It is giving its viewers fresh and new content which makes them spend more and more time streaming applications. To cater the sudden increase in demand of OTT platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Netflix and Zee5 made a few of their shows free to watch.

Under the #BeCalmBeEntertained initiative, Zee5 also started offering premium content which includes movies and the first episode of some of its original series for free; Amazon Prime have always been providing some free content for the kids on its platform in India. Even the viewership for movies has gone up across the platforms.

After COVID-19 three out of four Indians prefer watching movies on OTT platforms compared to one out of four who still love to watch movies in the theatre. One survey by MoMagic found that 44% of the consumers said that they are excited to go and watch a movie with that family in the theatre, 15% of consumers not finding any pleasure because of COVID-19. Also more than 75% of people have purchased new subscriptions to OTT platforms after the lockdown.

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A survey from market research firm Velocity MR with a small sample size of 3,000 found that 75% people started watching Youtube and Hotstar, while Netflix and Amazon Prime saw an increase of 65% and 67% respectively.

Recent releases of movies like - Gulabo sitabo and Shakuntala devi caused an additional loss of 100-125 crore.

While the filmmakers believe that, this is the time to experiment with some other platforms to release the films. The rising cases in the country forced the state government to put the reopening of the theatres to a halt. So rather than incurring losses by shelving the movie for too long, releasing it on an OTT platform seems like a viable option. But, once the theatres start functioning as normal, people would be back watching their favourite actors on the big screen alongside several films that are expected to be lined up for the screening. Theatres deliver you an unique cinema hall Also, In free time during lockdown 52% experience which OTT could only do at of the people found an opportunity to the cost of user’s infrastructure. upgrade their skills by enrolling in online courses. So more people watch more The coexistence of both theatres and content online for study and even for OTT platforms in the long-run is entertainment during the self- isolation something that we can foresee in the period . According to the Boston future. While people can watch OTTs on consulting group report, it says that OTT the weekends, and movies over the platforms in India are currently secured weekends. It is totally safe to assume that $0.5 billion, but it's expected to rise by customers today have a wide range of $5 billion by 2023. options to choose from and the freedom On the other side of the coin, INOX to choose any of them as per their released a statement criticizing the film interest. It is up to the various mediums industry which is not standing up with to adapt the changing scenario. them in these pandemic times as cinemas and exhibitions share a century-old relationship. Cinemas were not being consulted before announcing their release on Amazon prime, Netflix and etc. The theatre owners are emphasising on this point because of the huge investments that have been made on the infrastructure and development of theatres. Also, around 2 lakh people are dependent on this industry as INR10,000-15,000 crore of revenue is annually generated from the box office.

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OSOWOG- Initiative by India - Indhuja Pathivada

Shri Narendra Modi, the hon’ble Prime Minister of India mentioned the mega plan of a trans-national electricity grid supplying solar energy across the world or "One Sun, One World, One Grid" (OSOWOG). The thought was first floated by Modi in 2018 during the primary assembly of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

Later in June 2020, the ministry of latest and renewable energy came out with an invitation for Proposal (RFP) to rent consultants for converting this concept into policy. Several policy experts cited it as a part of India’s answer to China’s One Belt One Road infrastructure initiative which entails investment on the brink of 70 countries.

OSOWOG will associate 140 nations through a standard lattice which will be utilized to move sun powered energy.

"The vision behind the OSOWOG mantra is "the Sun never sets" and is reliable at some land territory, around the world, at some arbitrary reason for your time. The sun powered range can undoubtedly be isolated into two expansive zones viz. Far East which might include countries like Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Lao, Cambodia and much West which might cover the centre East and therefore the Africa Region.”

The plan is split into three phases: the primary phase will connect the Indian grid with the centre East, South Asia and South-East Asian grids to share solar and other renewable energy resources. The second phase will connect the primary phase nations with the African pool of

renewable sources. The third phase are going to be the concluding step of worldwide interconnection Why is OSOWOG needed?

Several countries including China have initiated infrastructure projects in other countries, which is seen as a symbol of asserting supremacy by several policy experts. While India might be an accomplice country with most exchange relationships, with ISA and OSOWOG, it's having the chance to take an administrative role.

"It is plainly the great and noteworthy undertaking. But it's also clear that a replacement energy sector paradigm is required as we face an enormous inflexion point in electricity generation and consumption. Potential benefits include widespread proportion in energy access, abatement in carbon emissions, lower cost and improved livelihoods.

India will need a robust coalition of international partners to understand this vision. It'll be interesting to ascertain a practical outline and the way the government intends to travel about actual execution," said Vinay Rustagi, director, Bridge to India, a search agency tracking the renewable sector in India. PM Modi in his Independence Day speech even mentioned an increased partnership with the ASEAN nations. “For India, neighbours aren't just ones we share a boundary, yet in addition those with whom we share feelings and qualities.

Today, India has close relations within the greater neighbourhood.

.

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We are working together and have tons of mutual respect for every other.

ASEAN nations not just have an excellent partnership with us today, but have shared values and cultures for hundreds of years,” Modi said.

Geo-politically, this is often being touted as an ingenious strategy however technology-wise, this is often yet to form sense. With battery and storage technology becoming cheaper, electricity consumption at source end may be a more feasible idea for solar energy.

However, a shortage of land banks and limited hours of sunshine tip the balance towards expanding the sourcing of solar power to other nations. Several African nations are barren of reliable electricity supply which makes them a ready marketplace for electricity infrastructure and in recent times, for renewable energy development. Off-grid solar systems have found large acceptability in Kenya where it has also been a way to deal with poverty and illiteracy.

Chinese organizations are now dynamic in a few African business sectors. While India has taken baby steps with ISA, a serious investment drive remains missing. This is often planned to be achieved through OSOWOG. In July, the MNRE placed on hold the RFP to rent a consultant for OSOWOG until further notice. Officials said COVID was one among the explanations for delaying the method. Given the size and size of this ambitious project, the earlier it commences, the higher.

How novel is that idea?

Having international associations isn't a replacement trend for the energy sector which already features strong political organisations like OPEC. Authoritatively declared during the UN worldwide environmental change Conference in Paris in 2015, the ISA might be an association of sunlight-based asset rich nations. At present, there are 121 nations that have consented to be individuals for ISA. Most of those are countries with

large participation from Africa, Southeast Asia and Europe. Pakistan and China aren't a neighbourhood of ISA. Also, India has power exchange with Bhutan and hydropower project improvement settlement with Nepal. A year ago, the Central Electricity administrative organization gave its gesture to new guidelines of 'Cross-line power exchange', along these lines making the exchange of power to neighbouring nations more consistent.

This included fixing of nodal agency for bilateral trade of electricity, monitoring and planning by central agencies, and similar technology interface at both ends.

However, to possess an inter-continent power infrastructure may be a fairly new idea. Australia based Sun Cable is developing the Australia-ASEAN Power Link (AAPL), under which it'll supply renewable electricity from Australia to Singapore and later to Indonesia. consistent with the web site of Sun Cable, “the project will integrate three technology groups - the world’s largest battery, the world’s largest solar farm, and a 4,500km high voltage DC (HVDC) transmission from the sun oriented/storeroom to Darwin (Australia), Singapore and in the end Indonesia."

It is ruined with the issues of multifaceted international relations, troublesome financial aspects, unjustifiable globalization and unnecessary centralization that demonstrate against the idea.

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Amazon Vs Reliance on Future Deal - Lahari Bachineni Reliance is trying to establish itself in all sectors like petroleum, retail, telecom, etc. In the past few years, many giant investors like Google, Facebook, Silverlake, etc., had invested in reliance.

This shows how much trust and confidence investors have in Reliance.

But the increase in the investments also leads to an increase in the competition.

For example Airtel and Vodafone Idea (VI) for Jio in the telecom industry, Dmart, Walmart, Amazon, etc., for Reliance Retail. Reliance is trying to establish a monopoly in every sector like Jio in the Telecom sector. Now, it is aiming at the retail industry. Reliance acquiring future groups is an example of this. This deal created a sensation in the markets and media with Reliance’s rival company, Amazon objecting it. So what exactly is the deal between Future and Reliance?

Future-Reliance deal: The Future Group faces enormous pressure to handle its debt from its lenders, led by the State Bank of India.

The deal is seen as the group's attempt to reduce its costs. And to add more to that, the national lockdown in March to contain the Covid-19 spread had caused the Future Group's retail company to be

even more stressed.

Sales in many of Foodhall and Brand factory's luxury food sales arm had come to a near halt in the lockdown that lasted more than two months. To resolve this, Biyani's Future Group entered into an agreement in August this year with Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of the umbrella Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) group, to sell to Reliance Retail its Big Bazaar supermarket chain, premium food unit Foodhall and fashion and clothing supermarket Brand Factory's retail and wholesale unit.

Even before this deal, Biyani had been wooing several business groups to sell shares in several companies of the Future Group in an attempt to cut down on the debt but had not seen much success.

Now, what did reliance gain from this deal? Let us see. Reliance Retail sector is not available in all cities whereas Big bazaar is available in all cities. From this deal, Reliance is getting accessibility to 1800 stores of Future group. In this competitive world where one company takes years to enter into a city, Reliance is doing it with a single deal. This will strengthen Reliance Retail. Everything seems fine with the deal till now. But why Amazon is objecting to the deal?

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Amazon objection to the future deal: Biyani's Future Retail signed a contract with global e-commerce giant Amazon worth Rs 2000 crore last year. Amazon purchased a 49 percent stake in Future Coupons, Future Retail's promoter group, as part of the deal. Amazon also retains a 3 percent interest in Future Party following this deal. While this 3 percent seems like a minute percent, Amazon got powers on Future Group. Future retail is able to position its products on the online marketplace of Amazon from the Amazon-Future offer. They also decided that Potential Retails products would also be part of the current Amazon initiative to offer products within two hours of being ordered by a customer. This deal also gave Amazon the power to acquire all or part of the promoter of Future Coupon, the shareholding of Future Retail in the company, within 3-10 years of the agreement.

After Future deal with Reliance, Amazon said the deal was a violation of a noncompete clause and a right-of-firstrefusal pact it had signed with the Future Group. The deal also said that Future group has to inform Amazon before entering into third party agreements.

Though Future Group claimed that it did not sell any stake in the company but was only selling its assets and had not violated any terms of the contract, Amazon sent a letter to SEBI, BSE, and NSE asking them not to approve the Future-Reliance deal. Before this, Amazon took Future group to Singapore Arbitration Forum over the Reliance deal, where SIAC ordered an interim stay on the deal. Amazon warned that if the deal went ahead even the stay order, it would show the world that India is not respecting the orders of reputed tribunals.

FRL appeal to Delhi High court: The company had appealed in Delhi High Court seeking relief against Amazon.com’s NV Investment Holdings to stop Amazon from interfering in its deal with RIL and RRVL(Reliance Retail Ventures Limited). It also informed BSE, NSE, and SCSTL(Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited) that Amazon is misusing the interim order passed by SIAC and the application had been moved to the high court on the same.

Though Delhi courts order says the statutory authorities and regulators can take a view on the deal in respective to law, it also held the award given by the arbitrator as valid. Therefore Amazon is ahead in the case and Future Retail failed to stop Amazon from presenting itself in front of government bodies.

We can see that though the actual dispute is between Amazon and Reliance to step its foot in the Indian Retail market, Future Group is the one suffering in between. However, we have to wait and see for further orders by Delhi High Court to know whether the deal goes ahead or not.

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Airtel One Web Deal: The Constellation that connects people - Aakanksha. M Internet usage in India has risen in the last decade, due to the penetration of smartphones and economical mobile data plans. However, there is still a wide chunk of the population who do not have access to internet facilities or rely on 2G networks.

Bharti Airtel’s founder Sunil Mittal had undertaken a mission to connect Indians from Srinagar to Kanyakumari, about 16 years ago. Airtel, now ranked the 2nd largest telecom operator of India after Reliance Jio has served its purpose of voice call network throughout India. But mobile internet services remain considerably weak in many regions. The deal with OneWeb could help solve this problem.

In July 2020, Bharti Enterprises won a bid to purchase a 45% stake for 500$mn in OneWeb. OneWeb is a UK-based global communications company that aims to provide affordable wireless internet services in any part of the world through a collection of satellites. They intended to provide wireless internet at a speed of 100mbps to governments, businesses, and communities even in remote areas.

This would be accomplished through “mega constellation” of thousands of satellites reaching every corner of the world.

However, OneWeb started facing

financial problems, a lack of capital to complete the satellite network and filed for bankruptcy in March 2020. Bharti Enterprises and the UK government acquired a 45% stake each and the remaining 10% was given to existing shareholders like Hughes, Virgin Group, Qualcomm, etc.

So how is Airtel going to benefit from this deal?

Airtel tries to provide services across India and Sub-Saharan Africa. Despite the multitude of data plans available, telecom operators find it difficult to provide swift 4G connections to meet the increasing demand. The low-orbit satellites of OneWeb which travel at a speed of 17,000 miles per hour, will create a tower of networks in space. This will reduce the need to set up towers in close proximities in many areas and also reduce costs to some extent. Low earth orbit (LEO)satellites that function between 500 to 2000km above the Earth’s surface enable a low latency rate for critical data transmission. Since Low earth orbit satellite is now a sought-after segment in the space race, this deal could give Airtel an edge over Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper.

The dependence on low latency broadband connections or conventional fibre or terrestrial radio connectivity 16

systems will be reduced through these satellites. Additionally, setting up this satellite constellation will ensure uniform wireless internet and not require mobile operators to upgrade repeatedly from 2G to 3G to 4G, etc., with each upgrade requiring more investment. The satellite network would act as a one-time establishment with minimal additional inputs and costs.

With special emphasis on connecting the rural population, Sunil Mittal assures the government that they would be most benefited by this development. It is also beneficial for people working remotely.

The Ministry of Defence of the UK is also approaching Airtel to enable connectivity for critical operations in remote locations.

Airtel’s mission to reduce the digital divide does also comes with some challenges: 1. Pricing challenge: Satellite networks are more expensive as compared to Airtel’s range of inexpensive data plans.

Convincing customers to switch over to a costlier facility would be challenging for the telecom giant. Unless aggressive and informative advertising campaigns are adopted, acquiring a big customerbase would be a challenging task.

2. The mobile phones we use currently are not programmed to detect satellite signals. The company would have to install a medium that receives and transmits signals in a way that can be comprehended by a normal smartphone.

Although this requires more effort from the company, it can be seen as an opportunity for Airtel to get more visibility compared to its competitors, by collaborating with mobile manufacturers who can design phones that transmit satellite signals in the future.

3. Network Resilience is something that Airtel and OneWeb will have to tackle. If multiple satellites are functioning in an area, there can be chances of signals dropping if a person moves continuously.

The network will have to be planned carefully.

When it comes to Airtel – One Web’s competitors, Airtel can have a slight edge over Jio through this mission. Earlier in 2018 Reliance Jio had set up a Jupiter System to provide 4G/LTE service to rural and remote areas. Since Airtel did not have adequate funds and resources to set up signal towers in almost every region like Jio, this unified network could finally help Airtel get on par with Jio’s customer base, if not surpass it.

Hughes Network Systems which was earlier in talks to collaborate with Reliance Jio is also contributing $50mn to the OneWeb project. Elon Musk has launched nearly 500 broadband satellites through SpaceX’s rockets as a part of the Starlink constellation. Jeff Bezos’ Project Kuiper has reportedly finalized nearly 12,000 satellites along with supplements.

An advantage Airtel’s OneWeb mission has over these giants is that Starlink and Project Kuiper are not yet equipped to cover every nook and cranny of the world through their network as Airtel is hoping to do.

The space network segment is very sought after and poses numerous challenges for companies but it can solve the demand of a world hungry for stable internet connections during a global pandemic. The pandemic has slowed down the pace but the Airtel -OneWeb tandem has successfully launched 110 of the expected 648 LEO satellite fleet which is expected to be the World’s first LEO constellation.

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OneWeb is trying to bounce back from its bankruptcy condition by rapidly returning to operations, hiring more staff, building ground station work, etc.

According to a statement made by Sunil Mittal, by May-June 2022, every square inch of the globe would be covered by OneWeb's satellites. There is more funding required of at least $2.5bn, but it seems doable. This deal has definitely put both India and the UK out in the global space race giving SpaceX a run for their money. In a way, both OneWeb and Bharti Airtel have mutually benefited from this deal as Airtel can pull out the former from bankruptcy and can take a step towards connecting and acquiring customers across geographies.

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BLOW TO INDIA: CAIRN ENERGY WINS THE INTERNATIONAL ARBITRATION AWARD - Rajya Lakshmi Another defeat to India in the international arbitration forums after Vodafone. India has lost an arbitration case against UK based Cairn energy after an international arbitration overturned the tax demanded retrospectively. On dec rd 23 India was ordered to pay cairn energy up to USD 1.4 Billion. Let’s try to gain more clarity about this case.

Cairn energy is one of the leading oil and exploration and development companies in Europe. Cairn India, which is a subsidiary under Cairn energy PLC was an oil and gas exploration and production company headquartered in Gurgaon, India. The company was responsible for discovering Mangala oil field in Rajasthan which was one of the biggest hydrocarbon discoveries in India. In 2006, Cairn India acquired its entire share capital from Cairn UK holdings, which was 69% to go IPO in India against the issued shares to Cairn UK holdings. In FY2011, the holding company of Cairn India Limited, Cairn UK Holdings Limited, along with its holding company, Cairn Energy PLC(ultimate holding company) agreed to sell a considerable part of its shareholding to Vedanta Limited. But before all the shares were transferred, 9.8% of the stake were barred by the Income tax department retrospectively.

In 2014 Indian government demanded Cairn to pay Rs.10,247 crores under retrospective taxation for the capital gains it made when it transferred ownership from Cairn UK holding to Cairn India in 2006.

What is retrospective taxation ? It allows a country to charge taxes on companies from a time behind the date on which the law is passed.

In 2012, Government of India (Ministry of Finance) amended Section(9) of Income-tax Act, 1961 and provided that shares or interest in any foreign company or entity shall be deemed to be situated in India if such shares or interest derives its substantial value from assets located in India. Any capital gain from transfer of such shares or interest in foreign company deriving its substantial value from assets located in India was brought under tax levy. Government did not stop at this amendment of the new levy but made it an effective retrospective from 1962.

Income tax department seized the remaining shares in 2014 and also froze the payment of dividend by Cairn India Limited to Cairn Energy. Cairn took the case to arbitration in 2015 against the demand made by Indian government. But the argument here is, India ended its BIPA (Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement) with the UK in 2017 which promotes and protects investment in each other’s countries.

Though BIPAs are signed by governments, the investment protection 19

is given to the business entities in other countries. In 2015 when Cairn took the case to the Permanent Court of Arbitration, a bilateral investment treaty with the UK was still existing, so Indian government was bound to protect the investments made by Cairn energy. This was an arguable point. In its judgement , the Permanent Court of Arbitration at the Hague, Netherlands said Cairn tax issue was not just a tax related issue but an investment related dispute.

Cairn’s claim was brought under the terms of the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty and hence the proceedings were under the jurisdiction of the international arbitration court.

Cairn submitted its argument that the retroactive application of newly enacted tax law is a breach by India of its obligations under the treaty (BIPA) to treat Cairn and its investments fairly and equitably and to refrain from expropriating the Cairn’s investments unlawfully. While determining whether the 2012 amendment was in breach of the treaty between India and UK the tribunal held that India did not have a specific purpose that would justify the application of the 2012 amendment to past transactions.

each party nominated members, ruled against India unanimously. Even the party nominated by India voted against India. So the submission (retrospective taxation under the 2012 tax amendment) that India made against Cairn energy is ruled out as it breached the bilateral investment treaty between India and UK which still existed when the arbitration was taken to the tribunal in 2015.

Cairn Energy won the arbitration award and PCA tribunal has directed Indian government to pay over $1.23 billion and over $22 million in legal and arbitration costs and this is the final ruling which both the parties must follow.

I would agree with the ruling of PCA tribunal in this particular case because during the time India asked Cairn Energy to pay the tax for its capital gains back in 2014 freezing the dividends from Vedanta, bilateral investment treaty between India and the UK was still existing, which means India should protect and promote the investments from the UK. But the treaty was breached asking for retrospective taxation. The 2012 Tax Amendment (retrospective taxation) might discourage other foreign investments to come to India and cases these will act as an “By retroactively applying, without a example. The concept globalisation and specific justification, a new tax burden liberalization are at the risk of being on a transaction that was not taxable at questioned due to such laws. the time it was carried out, the Respondent deprived the Claimants of their ability to plan their activities in consideration of the legal consequences of their conduct, in violation of the principle of legal certainty, which the Tribunal considers to be one of the core elements of the FET standard, and of the rule of law more generally...“ Stating this, The PCA tribunal headed by three members, one neutral member and 20

DISINVESTMENT: AIR INDIA’S MAHARAJ FINALLY TAKING OFF

- Saranya Air India founded by J.R.D. in April 1932 Tata was initially started by Tata Air Services which was later renamed to Tata Airlines. This airline grew into an international airline owned by the Indian government which serves in southern and east Asia, the United States, the Middle East, Canada, Europe and Africa. The first scheduled service was inaugurated by J.R.D Tata in 1932, flying mail and passengers between Karachi, Bombay, Ahmedabad, Bellary, and Madras. In the First year of operation, this Tata airline flew 160,000 miles carrying 9.72 tons of mail, 155 passengers and made a profit of 60,000.

In 1946, Tata Airlines was transformed into a public company and renamed as Air-India Limited. Two years later, to inaugurate international services between Geneva and London, Bombay (Mumbai) and Cairo, Air-India International Limited was formed. In 1953 India nationalized all Indian airlines, created two corporations called Indian Airlines for domestic purpose and Air-India International Corporation, Corporation (merging Air-India Limited with six lesser lines) for international service. The latter’s name was then changed to Air-India in 1962.

• PRIVATISATION OF AIR INDIA: The first ever trial for a strategic sale of the airline was made in 2001 by Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s NDA government, when the airline's equity was 40%.

Initially a number of foreign airlines including Air France-Delta, Emirates, Lufthansa, Swissair, British Airways and Singapore Airlines expressed their willingness in buying the airline along with the corporate houses like Tata Group and Hinduja Group. But when the government announced that any foreign airline will have to partner with an Indian company to bid, most of the airlines pulled themselves out of the race. The remaining one was Singapore Airlines which has already partnered with Tata Group. In 2001, the bombing at Colombo airport was one main factor, in which several of Singapore Airlines’ aircraft were destroyed causing massive financial losses to the carrier. Without Singapore Airlines, the Tata group did not want to bid alone for the partnership given that the former would have brought in the expertise to run the airline. Air India underwent numerous changes in which the 2007 merger with its domestic sister was considered as the most important change.

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During 2007, the state-owned airline group accumulated a huge amount of debt exceeding Rs 50,000 crore. While the airline’s routes and slots at some of the potential locations like New York and London, and a wide-bodied aircraft fleet made the airline to be an attractive proposition. But the debt remained a sticking point which made the government to disinvest its stake once again. In 2018, however, the government decided to hold on to 24% of the equity in the airline therefore putting only 76% on the block along with a portion of its debt. India's largest airline IndiGo expressed their interest, which even before the government formally kicked off the process, they wrote to the civil aviation ministry saying it was interested in buying Air India’s international operations.

GOVERNMENT’S DECISION IN 2020: In January 2020, the government of India brought Air India back to the sale table with crucial changes in the terms and conditions.

More specifically, the government said it would migrate 100% of its stake in Air India. Over the past two years, the government has allocated few parts of Air India’s debt to a special purpose vehicle, also in this round of the disinvestment process, the buyer was to take Rs 23,286 crore of debt out of a total Rs 60,074 crore. Nevertheless, this seems like a hurdle for a new investor since apart from the existing debt, the airline would need further investment for it to become healthy. The debt situation intensified the disinvestment process just after the announcement, COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns hit the airline industry globally, making it the worst ever period for the sector in world's history. In October 2020, the government once again modified the bidding parameters and the game changer was that the centre took a call to allow prospective bidders the flexibility to decide themselves for the level of debt they wish to take. The

government said that potential bidders will be allowed to place their bids on the basis of enterprise value, which accounts for both equity as well as debt of the company.

AIR INDIA’S ROAD AHEAD The government will analyze the various expressions of interest from the bidders and select which among those are qualified bidders. After the bidders are listed, they should make a financial bid for the airline based on the enterprise value. The winning entity will be decided on the basis of highest enterprise value and then they have to pay at least 15 percent of the quoted enterprise value to the government, while the remaining can be taken as a debt. Reports have said the US- based firm called Interrupts Incorporated and Tata Group along with a section of Air India’s staff, are currently in the race. Acquiring Air India will give the Tata Group or SpiceJet a dominant domestic presence, in the aviation industry being second highest market share by far, after IndiGo. The AI-TATA deal would make TATA the second largest player in the industry thus holding a 51% stake in Vistara and a majority stake in AirAsia India. Vistara, Air India and Air Asia accounts for a combined domestic market share of 22.9% in October, according to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). Every asset or investment is valued only till a certain price, if the bids are relatively high then the game becomes challenging. The acquiring should make rational operational changes for running the business smoothly.

Corporate giants like Tatas, with deep pockets and a love for the aviation business, could make this acquisition productive only if they streamline or consolidate its other various aviation operations.

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Privatisation of Public Sector Banks - Akhil Ranadheer K Since the nationalization of major banks within the 1970s, the contributions of Public Sector Banks are widely acknowledged. Public Sector Banks became a reason for opening more bank branches, particularly in unbanked and rural areas. Public Sector Banks expanded agricultural credit, short term agricultural credit (crop loans). Notably, Public Sector Banks pioneered the concept of ‘priority sector lending’, which opened many sectors bereft of banking credit to access loans.

Differential Interest loans to the very poor were also the brainchild of public banking. Public Sector Banks extended loans to women’s self-help groups, which is critical for women's empowerment. Liberal education loans are another category of importance, that an enormous amount has been issued by Public Sector Banks annually. Public Sector Banks funded rural infrastructure through the agriculture Infrastructure Development Fund and pioneered financial inclusion.

Evolution of banking policy over the years From a sole Public Sector Banks (State Bank of India) within the 1950s to bank nationalization within the 1970s to open competition within the post-liberalization era, Indian banking has come to a full cycle. Diluting the government’s holding to not but 55 percent to completely privatizing Public Sector Banks, have also been done. As concerned to private banks, Public Sector Banks disappoint on

many financial ratios, capitalization, and management competence. Yet, there is a widely held view, especially among the middle classes and so the poor that Public Sector Banks must be nurtured, a notion that indeed holds logic.

Privatization help in addressing the banking crisis The scandal involving the Punjab commercial bank (PNB) has revived the demand for privatization as a part of comprehensive banking sector reforms. As a general proposition, a scam has nothing to try and do with ownership and far larger bank scams have occurred in private banks in many countries. Also, a Public Sector Bank branch is subject to seven main audits like internal, concurrent, snap, recovery, statutory, external, and stock audit.

Benefits of Privatization: Increased Efficiency: The private sector banks in India are already more advanced and way ahead than public sector banks. Even though the nationalized banks have an oversized depositor base, they are always playing a game of catch up. This situation is maybe visiting worsen over the years.

This is often because foreign investments are now being allowed by private sector banks also. Hence, foreign banks are likely to accumulate stakes in a very number of those banks. They are going to also introduce several of the operational efficiency that foreign banks are known 23

for, in Indian banks. On the other hand, private sector banks are reeling from loan frauds then on. The point is that these banks are simply not competitive.

Compliance and Risk Mitigation: Experts within the banking sector are bewildered at the inefficiency displayed at Punjab commercial bank. How is it that with the connivance of a couple of junior-level bank officials, a businessman was ready to defraud the bank of $1.8 billion? This sort of incident isn't reported at banks like Citibank and J.P. Morgan albeit they operate in several nations and have more complex operations. Privatization of banks will make sure that they enjoy compliance norms and risk mitigation processes followed at these banks.

Problem Associated with Privatization No Buyers: The Indian banking sector has received some very bad PR within the recent past. The entire world knows that the loan book of those banks is a smaller amount than optimum. It is a covered truth that had these banks not been backed by the government and most of them would are bankrupt by now. The balance sheets of those banks show positive equity only because they need several of the priciest real estates that the govt owns. The government will not like to sell its real estate and hence, the sole thing that they might be selling may be a banking license with a dysfunctional portfolio. Most analysts in the banking sector think that the government would be lucky to find even a single buyer given the situation at these banks.

Private players within the financial sector are susceptible to failure: the planet felt the shock waves because the financial markets collapsed in 2008, caused by over-reaching private players.

In what has been documented copiously

because of the subprime mortgage crisis, this resulted in the biggest economic downturn since the good depression of the 1930s hurting many people. A deeper crisis was averted only with the US federal, and other governments, providing the bailout. What is remarkable about this crisis is this, not one banker or executive of a financial organization went to jail for this extraordinary level of fraud imposed on the world. In these 20 years from 2001 to 2020, as many as 559 private banks with total assets of $721 billion failed in the US. The principle followed by private banks is this. When they make profits, it goes to shareholders. When they make losses, it gets socialized and falls within the lap of the govt to form well the deposits either through insurance or taxpayer bailout. This has happened again and again.

Worker unions: Also, these government banks have an enormous payroll. Their employees are considered government employees and cannot be easily sacked.

The instant they hear about privatization, it is likely that they will panic. This can be likely to begin protests and political fights everywhere in the nation.

Managing the workforce goes to be one in all the foremost important challenges that the Indian government will face if they conceive to privatize these ailing banks.

How does the future look?

The government fussed over the recapitalization of banks and declared that it might give funds only to those banks that undertook reforms. T he massive fraud in PNB and maybe in other banks too indicates that tiny has changed within the systems of PSBs. and ‘Seven-pronged Approach’, were nothing quite mere acronyms.

Reform may be a plan that's conceived, well-designed, and implemented with transparent specialization in the intended outcomes.

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Privatisation of LIC - Aparna David “Privatization may seem bitter, but can be cured” Privatization means channelizing the holding and organization of the public sectors undertaking to the private sector.

Government services and operations are also privatized. Private entities are charged with the help of government plans or with the execution of government help. Some of the examples include enforcing the law, collecting the revenue and many more. Privatization takes place in many ways. Two of them are listed Transfer of ownership, they are: 1. Disinvestment: Let us understand why did the government need to privatize LIC? The government had decided to get LIC in the listed markets. This decision was taken by the Finance Minister. This move happened because it was in line with the government's aim to look at the stake sale in government entities to bring up its finances and allow the PSU’s to raise resources and funds. The government felt it would be better to privatize LIC as LIC has the potential to push the insurance and finance sector towards greater efficiency and performance. The government is very sure of this drastic move because of IPO not being touched. Privatizing LIC is no mean feat.

In the year 2020, there were protests of people going on streets to stop LIC from getting privatized. Privatization will take a huge toll on people working in this company. Many people have protested to withdraw the proposal as it will affect the employees.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is one of the most trusted corporations in India where people rely for their safety of money or any form of investment. LIC in its symbol signifies life and benefits of insurance for people. But now LIC is in the crossroads of where the danger of the flame is put off to real possibility. In less than 60 years, 28 crore Indian have been benefited by the policies of LIC. LIC had been providing 2000 crore dividend to the government, contributing to the five year plans, drinking water scheme, farmers scheme and irrigation scheme. It also helped the farmers cause. Their assets grew faster and at a higher rate. The government which is talking about Aatma Nirbhar Bharat had to give its wings to strengthen LIC. But LIC has taken this step to give away this prized possession of India to the greed of the private profits.

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The Covid-19 has taught a great lesson to the world that private companies have least contributed to social responsibility.

Public sector has come forward to address the needs of people. IC as a whole has come with the latest technologies and operations which are helping them to address and help the needs of the customers. The customer grievances are being addressed and all the claims are getting settled to the entire satisfaction of the policy holders.

Some of the outcomes of Privatizing LIC are: 1. The privatization has brought a lot of opportunities to the players. They are being more competitive.

2. Privatising LIC is made with a view to increase the corporation's efficiency.

3. LIC has more than 76% share of the company insurance market even after the insurance regulatory allowed the private players to compete with.

4. The disclosure for the IPO will bring more transparency to the opaque balance sheet of LIC. 5. They have purchased companies which are weak and gave them life which the government planned to sell off 6. It helps in bringing positive benefits to the shareholders as well as the company 7. Privatizing LIC helped by stepping in to invest in weak PSU’s.

8. It helped the government to meet its targets rather than optimizing on the returns.

9. The resource allocation in the economy might improve. Focusing on weak PSU’s and using the resources on them will help improve their efficiency and bring greater productivity.

10.This decision will help the government to achieve their economic targets.

11.It will help retailers in participating in wealth creating journeys with these corporations by granting them high investments.

After private companies become the shareholders of LIC, the need for social responsibility will no longer exist. The drive to earn profits will consume peoples life. As a result people will lose confidence and the affinity with LIC will eventually fade away. The mission or goal of this corporation will be turned upside down. People can no longer be able to invest in this corporation.

The government came up with the concept of Aatma Nirbhar and few other slogans to help the people during crisis and hardships. The department of investments and public assets management was given the task of disinvestment of LIC which was known as the Jewel on the crown. LIC has given the people and the country a lot of benefits and advantages over the last 64 years. It has helped all the sectors to boost their profits. By taking this big step of privatizing LIC, it is going to displace LIC and cater to the private needs of the shareholders. By privatizing with a private company the need for greed and money flows in.

The entire LIC will drastically get remoulded and this corporation comes to an end. This is the beginning of the traitorous killing of LIC. This marks the first step to give away the pride of this nation into the wimps and fancies of the private capital . While the nation is struggling with Covid-19, the private sector has failed and the public sectors are still going strong yet the government is going for this.

Thus, LIC getting privatized will help the corporation in a better way to compete with its new players in the market. A public sector who has never faced competition earlier will have to compete with new players which will help them boost productivity and a rich experience.

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The long and winding road to BPCL privatization - Devyani Dwivedi

Shri Narendra Modi, in his second term has been advancing the privatization drive at a perilous speed. The government is on a selling spree getting rid of all public sector industries one by st one. On the 21 of November 2019, the Government of India approved the privatization of Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL).

Bharat Petroleum Corporation limited is an Indian Public sector oil and Gas company. It’s headquarter is in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Bharat Petroleum is India’s nd 2 largest downstream oil company.

BPCL is one of the eight ‘Maharatna’ companies with 53.29 percent of shares owned by the central government.

Earlier in the news it had been reported that the US oil giant EXXON Mobil Corp, Reliance Industries Limited and the French Energy Company were in the forefront to buy BPCL SHARES. The profit of the company had been on a rise throughout the years. It was Rs 5,085 crore in 2014-15 and Rs 7,138 crore in the last financial year. The contribution to the national income has also seen a rise. It was Rs 67,719.17crore in 2015-16 and rose to Rs 95,035.24 crore in 2018-19. The company has almost one- fourth share in the Indian oil market.

The government cites that the reason for the sale of BPCL is the present economic

crisis in the country which is somewhat true, the Indian Economy is in deep crisis because of which some employees feel their role, position and place of posting will change as BPCL gets privatized. The officials have also said that 5 to 10 percent of the employees are expected to opt for VRS i.e. Voluntary retirement scheme 2020, all employees who have completed 45 years of age will be eligible for this scheme.

But there is a twist to this tale.

Privatization of Bharat Petroleum would be a good thing for the investors as this privatization would realize a higher price, and may help take politics out of the auto fuel pricing. It would also ensure IOC’s ability to pay a hefty dividend to the government of India is not impaired and will certainly improve the market sentiments.

• The privatization of BPCL will give the buyers access to 15.3 percent of India's oil refining capacity and 22 percent of the fuel market share in the world's fastest-growing energy market.

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited has a market capitalization of about Rs 97,247 crore and the government stakes at current prices are worth over Rs 51,500 crore. The successful bidder will also have to make an open offer to other shareholders for acquiring another 26 per cent at the acquisition price.

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The government has earlier sold its stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corp. Ltd to oil and natural Gas Corp. Ltd at roughly 18% premium to the prevailing prices.

An analyst believes that the premium could be much higher in the case of privatization as HPCL along with BPCL and IOC are commonly called as the ‘OIL MARKETING COMPANIES’.

Moreover after privatization, a merger with IOC would create an unusually large behemoth in the energy sector.

According to the ICICI Securities, BPCL’s stake sale to IOC would further raise the latter’s market share dominance in transportation feels, which may discourage proposed private sector investment in these areas.

The offer of the larger part stake in BPCL is basic for Government of India fundamentally because of two parallelly drawn reasons. Right off the bat, the amount of INR 40,000 crore that the exchange tries to bring would assume an urgent job in assisting the government with taking care of its disinvestment focus of INR 2.1 crores, that is about 7% of its all out extended incomes for 202021. Truth be told, thinking about the effect that the pandemic has had on assessment incomes, these disinvestment continues to become even more crucial for the economy. Furthermore, the Government of India has shown this disinvestment of BPCL as a fairly large illustration of a significant exchange that clears the route for more privatization in the Indian economy, as additionally guaranteed by the money offered on various events.

Thus, BPCL could be a turning point for the government of India’s disinvestment program. India today faces a precarious decrease in government incomes and financial movement because of the episode of COVID-19.

Stoppage in utilization, controls on movement and different limitations represent an emotional danger to supportability of different organizations.

While the current normal catastrophe may not influence all sections of an industry, the way that it will influence certain parts of activities somehow or another or the other, the entire chain remains at the danger of being hindered.

Regardless of whether we save the situation in India aside for a second, the circumstance is comparative or more awful in other unfamiliar economies that manage India straightforwardly and convey activities with Indian organizations.

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Exploitation of GSTFake Invoice Frauds - Muskaan Aggarwal GST is called the Levy on Goods and Services. It is an indirect tax that has replaced many Indian indirect taxes, such as excise duty, VAT, tax on utilities, etc.

In other words, the production of products and services is subject to GST (Goods and Service Tax). India's Goods and Services Tax Law is a comprehensive, multi-stage, destinationbased tax imposed on any additional value. For the whole country, GST is a single domestic indirect tax statute. On 29 March 2017, the Goods and Service Tax Act was introduced in Parliament and came into force on 1 July 2017.

In just over two years, bogus companies, fake invoices and false input tax credit statements have been the biggest headaches for the goods and services tax (GST) tax administration. So what went wrong with the ambitious indirect tax scheme introduced in July 2017 by India, which was supposed to create an electronic trail of all transactions through a seamless chain to make it difficult to evade?

Failure to serve as a deterrent against evasion by technology, initial lack of oversight and supervision, and nonexistent tax return forms that would have helped fit invoices and remove any fake transactions.

After the GST rollout, tax avoidance has been rampant, with different instances coming to light of taxpayers using ingenious strategies to escape indirect taxation. Taxmen have discovered many modus operandi and use technology and current data to search evasion vigorously, from e-way bills and GST returns.

The degree, however, has taken even the taxmen by surprise. The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) initiated a compliance push, which saw several tax evasion cases come to the fore, after overlooking evasion for the first GST fiscal to help taxpayers adapt to the new regime.

The CBIC has come across several modes of activity to evade taxes in the two years since the GST was rolled out, three officials administering the central and state GST said. False invoices created without any real movement of goods are reported in one of the most rampant ways, and then these invoices are used to fraudulently demand input tax credit, the officials said.

Another practice was the under-invoicing of transactions in order to reduce the outgoing tax.

Last year, for example, the CBIC's GST intelligence arm uncovered a scam in which one person created 90 fake companies and issued bogus invoices worth over Rs 7,000 crore with GST involving over Rs 700 crore. Some larger companies in the cotton yarn spinning industry then used these fabricated invoices and the consequent fraudulent input tax credit to cover their tax liabilities. Another way to demand cash refunds against the input tax credit has also been found by tax evaders. In the case of an inverted duty structure, the GST law provides for a cash refund where the tax paid on inputs exceeds the tax applicable on final production.

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Fraudsters were found to have floated many dummy companies in a number of cases recorded by the tax authority, received GST registrations, issued counterfeit GST invoices for goods and services without real service provision, and passed on ineligible ITCs accrued from counterfeit invoices to commission customers who subsequently used them to make GST payments resulting in government losses. For example, the Vadodara tax unit arrested an individual in 10 states on 9 December for operating 206 dummy companies who illegally transferred Rs 154 crore to customers by issuing fake Rs 1,101 crore invoices to the ITC. In several other cases, the tax department found that the promoters of such firms routed counterfeit invoices through a series of shell companies and, in circular transactions, moved input tax credits from one firm to another to increase the company's turnover. This not only helped them evade GST, but because of increased turnover, they also used higher bank loans and credit facilities. A case in point is a Mumbai trading firm that has been booked for a Rs 220 crore ITC scam. The Probe Agency found that to inflate its revenue, the company made circular transactions with 22 related firms.

According to tax officials, the lack of due diligence during GST registration is one of the key reasons for a spike in companies using ITC fraudulently. The registration process was made simple and hassle-free by the government in order to enable companies to be easily incorporated into the system. However, this meant that, in the absence of scrutiny or physical verification of the registered address of the firms, a number of dummy companies had received GST registration. In addition, officials said, the lack of data sharing between law enforcement agencies and banks has also contributed to a rise in cases of fraud.

All of this is symptomatic of a larger inability, as envisaged, to enforce the tax.

Note that, with a series of failures slowing return filing, invoice matching and refunds, the GST Network, the infrastructure core of the new tax regime, got off to such a poor start that it had to be debugged. In doing away with the need for invoice claims to be matched with actual GST payments by suppliers, an expedient solution to the issue was found. However, such a scheme was bound to expose itself to manipulation without transactions carried out along a value chain being reconciled.

Although it is nobody's case that tax authorities can turn the other way, it is uncertain whether our GST mess is a good way out of an identity-focused strategy that categorizes taxpayers by confidence. As long as tax officials have discretionary authority and are likely to be motivated even more by the proposals of the panel, any clear categorization of that kind will threaten abuse and harassment.

As the tallying of input bills was supposed to do, it is one thing to catch individual cases of fraud, and quite another to mark taxpayers and create new obstacles for companies seeking to become legal. In court, even the very foundation of such an experiment might be contested. And from a realistic point of view, though certain rotten elements can be held out of this way, for serious reasons, it would be at the expense of enrolling low-end entrepreneurs whose profits may be unpredictable and records messy. It would go against the objective of formalizing our economy if too many fears were labelled dubious. The government needs to get back to the conceptual strategy of GST, not go in for overkill, to resolve the danger of fake invoices.

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Zero MDR- Positive and Negative Implications - Karan Talwar The negative economic effect of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been survived by most digital/IT related services. However, in the last few months, the digital payments industry has been hit hard by the COVID-19 lockdown with a dramatic decline in ecommerce and online travel and event booking transactions. UPI transactions dropped from 1.3 million in December 2019 to 1.25 million in March 2020, a drop of 500,000. On the retailer side, online transactions for PhonePe are down by 60 percent -70 percent; the business of Razorpay is down by 40 percent -50 percent . However, at the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic could also lead to greater digital payment adoption.

Payments would also have to take place remotely for companies and utilities to go remote. Both the RBI and NPCI have urged people to use digital payments, with bank notes considered to be possible carriers of the COVID-19 virus.

However, unlike other products, digital payment products are a commodity.

Some have better success rates. Others have better API integrations. But, in essence, they all offer the same serviceenabling digital payment transactions.

Without any fundamental difference between their products, digital payment players compete on margins i.e. the amount of money they make on each transactions also known as 'merchant discount rate’. However, the earnings of digital payments players may be threatened by the government's zero MDR policy.

Nandan Nilekani, who had chaired the RBI's committee on deepening digital payments, had said that MDR should not be subject to any kind of government intervention- it will automatically reduce to zero as a result of market force.

What is MDR? The margin earned by digital payments service providers on each transaction is their 'rozi-roti', and in industry-speak it's called merchant discount rate or 'MDR'.

Whenever you make a transaction at a point-of-sale ('PoS') (which can be a card machine, a PoS terminal at a shop, or an app like Paytm), the seller (or 'merchant') pays a fee to the payment gateway on every such transaction for transferring the money to the merchant's account.

This fee is known as MDR. Depending on various factors (such as turnover of the merchant and the transaction amount), MDR can vary from 0.4% to 0.9% of the transaction amount. MDR is an important revenue component for most stakeholders in the digital payments ecosystem. This includes the payment gateway/aggregator, the acquiring bank (i.e. the bank which facilitates the transaction) and the PoS infrastructure providers. The various kinds of processing fees paid in a digital payment transaction (such as the interchange fee paid by the acquiring bank to the issuing bank i.e. the customer's bank, or any other processing fee) are paid from the revenue earned through MDR. 31

Thus, MDR acts as a financial incentive for banks and payment aggregators to acquire merchants, and it supports the entire chain of stakeholders in the digital payments ecosystem. The RBI does not permit merchants to pass on to customers the MDR fee (on debit cards).The zero MDR policy, however, could lead to banks passing on this cost through various opaque and secret charges to merchants (who would ultimately pass them on to customers).

Currently, large merchants (with annual turnover greater than INR 50 crore) profit from the zero MDR scheme, although it is actually the smaller merchants who need this relaxation to easily embrace digital payments. This was also the reason behind the RBI in implementing differential MDR in 2017 based on merchant turnover: smaller merchants (with turnover up to INR 20 lakh during the previous financial year) were charged a lower MDR. It has always helped it with government reimbursement whenever the government has withdrawn MDR for certain types of transactions. The MDR costs were borne by the central government in February 2017, when MDR charges were waived for debit card transactions for all payments made to the government. It was reimbursed by the government when MDR was waived on transactions up to INR 2,000 for debit card, BHIM UPI and Aadhaar Pay transactions from 1 January 2018 to 31 December 2019. Under the latest elimination of MDR charges, the government has not indicated that it will bear this cost. The NPCI has itself written to the government to devise a compensation method for banks to recover the lost revenue of MDR charges on UPI transactions. It could hurt the adoption of digital payments and pass on the expense of digital payments to consumers and remove any potential advantage of the zero MDR policy. For example, Axis Bank charges its customers INR 2.5 (after the first 20 free UPI transactions) for transactions below

INR 1,000 and INR 5 for transactions above INR 1,000. Prominent Indian and international investments have attracted payment intermediaries and digital payment providers. The revenue stream of these players is greatly affected by a zero MDR policy and fuels regulatory confusion about the potential reach of such a policy. This could deter investments in this sector and damage the 'Startup India' initiative of the government. A zero MDR strategy would also force payment players to look for other business models to cross-sell other items, such as using payment data (from retailers and customers). But the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 ("PDP Bill"), which make it difficult to cross-sell other goods using payment/transaction data. The PDP Bill incorporates the 'list' and 'intention' limitation principles. Therefore, payment firms can only use data for the reason for which it has been obtained. For example, if Paytm collects data from a merchant to set up and provide a point-of-settlement based on QR code, it may not be able to use this data to sell an insurance policy to the merchant. To do this it may need to take separate consent from the merchant.

What are the alternatives to the zero MDR policy?

A limited-MDR regime could be promoted by the government (instead of zero MDR). The government can implement reduced MDR prices for small merchants under a capped-MDR regime, as the RBI did in December 2017. The government could intensify the 'Acceptance Creation Fund' initiative.

This fund was proposed by the Committee on deepening digital payments to establish new merchants in poorly served areas. The implementation of benefits such as income tax incentives based on digital transactions for individuals and merchant tax credits for goods and services based on the amount of digital payments accepted could help a large chunk of digital payments go digital.

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Reforms to harvest the true potential of Indian Agriculture?

- Harshita Vunnava Indian agriculture sector provides a livelihood to nearly 70 percent of the country's 1.3 billion people and accounts for around 15 percent of the $2.7-trillion economy, Agriculture contributes 17% to India’s GDP but employs 55% of the workforce as the rural population has limited options outside agriculture.

According to the finance ministry, India hands out an estimated $32 billion in subsidies to farmers annually.

Until the 1960s, India was a food deficit country, dependent on aid from the United States, in the later years Indian agriculture went through a major transformation due to The "Green Revolution" of the 1970s where farmers used high-yielding seeds along with fertilizers and lots of water. This new technology allowed farmers to dramatically increase agricultural productivity and transform India into a wheat and rice surplus country from a country facing regular food shortages. But for the past few decades, Farm incomes have remained largely stagnant and the sector is in dire need of investment and modernisation. The fundamental reasons for the crisis are monsoon-dependent agriculture ,lack of access to technology that can boost productivity, and lack of institutional finance at affordable terms although Several measures have been launched but their impact is very negligible. The former Indian governments have a history of making big promises to farmers as they are a crucial and a majority vote bank for elections and the Modi government was

no exception; they vowed to double the farmers incomes by 2022.In September 2020, parliament passed three laws and the government’s reasoning for having proposed these bills is to promote growth and development of the rural economy and these bills will apparently attract investments for development of the agricultural sector. The laws are: 1st law: Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act 2020 - Farmers can sell their produce anywhere outside the state-regulated mandis without the burden of taxes or fees.

2nd law: Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance Farmers can enter into direct contracts with companies, even prior to the production of crops.

3rd law: Farm Services Act, 2020 and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 - No restrictions for production storage & distribution unless under extraordinary circumstances . A steep price rise can impose stock limits on the produce.

Before these laws were made, the government had set up purchasing agents across wholesale markets known as the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committee(APMC) to buy any quantity of grain that farmers may offer and the farmers could not sell outside the APMC where they might have secured a higher price for their harvest. These markets were set up to save the farmers from exploitation and pay a 33

minimum support price (MSP) for certain produce. MSP serves as an effective price floor because farmers can always sell to the government’s purchasing agent and it is a safety net, as they can escape all the competition.

India has enacted new laws that lift restrictions on where and to whom farmers can sell their crops and allows farmers the freedom to sell their produce to customers of their choice which will enable them to earn a little more due to high competition and savings made after cutting off all the transportation costs but the Indian farmers are very sceptical about these laws as the farmers perceive the new system to be risky and favouring big corporations. Many facts prompt us to question the impact of these bills for the betterment of the majority of the farmers. The government believes the laws will improve price stability, while farmers fear that this will end the age-old mandi system but all these new laws seem like a scheme for big corporations to take over the farming sector.

Contract farming is expected to facilitate farmers to enter into a contract with a huge corporate business on prenegotiated prices for their output but there is a very low probability that the farmers will enjoy the expanded pool of buyers for their produce and collaborating with the private players.

Prior to the Essential Commodities Act, stocking limits and restrictions on essential commodities were imposed randomly and abruptly and this new law attempts to eliminate the uncertainty of how stocking limits are set and try to boost transactions between private entities and farmers.

Are these Laws supporting the backbone of the country or for the power hungry businesses?

Government Vs Farmers According to the government's explanation - Farmers will be free to choose their markets and the MSP system will continue, Farmers will get to have equal say in setting the sale price and they can withdraw from the contract at any stage without penalty however corporate buyers will have to pay an agreed price and penalty for breaching the contract, To help farmers in dealing with corporates more than 10,000 Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs) will be set up across country .

The farmers fear that these new laws will eventually end MSP support unless there's a legal guarantee that no procurement will happen below MSP anywhere in the country and the Corporates will have an upper hand in fixing prices. In case anything goes south with the contracts to resolve all the disputes in courts will cost a lot for the farmers and they will be left in the lurch as corporates wouldn't want to deal with them.

We need bills and laws which will empower the farmers which can guarantee them improved productivity and increase their income. For these bills to work, Government should supplement farmers with other measures such as giving enough bargaining power to negotiate with the corporate businesses, Insurance against crop failures, teaching cost-effective and efficient irrigation facilities along with providing a decent level of income during normal conditions to prevent all the poor and vulnerable farmers from falling into a debt trap.

These supportive measures can help the new laws become imperative. Otherwise, the responsibility of ensuring that the benefits reach all the small and marginal farmers depends upon the private players who generally do not share the same motive, at least in the conventional sense.

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THE UNITED STATES vs CHINA SAGA ON TIBET AND THE INDIAN STANCE - Ananya Surapaneni Tibet is a region in Asia spanning about 2.4 million square kilometres. It is on the Tibetan Plateau, called the highest region on Earth and home to the Mount Everest.

Tibet is the homeland for the Tibetan people and many other minority ethnic groups.

China has occupied and is ruling Tibet since 1951 which was often termed as a systematic and a calculated strategy to destroy national and cultural identities.

The Tibetans and other ethnic minorities have called it cultural genocide. In 1959, the Tibetans rebelled to overthrow the Chinese government which was not successful and led to the Dalai Lama fleeing Tibet and seeking refuge in India.

The former Nehru led government provided a haven for the Dalai Lama and hundreds of his followers and he has lived in exile ever since the uprising.

The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and political leader for the region and the people. He is also the international advocate for Buddhism, its values and traditions. He is believed to be born in the service of humanity. The present Dalai Lama traditionally chooses his successor and this process is called the Panchen Lama.

The conflict between China and Tibet has been a long-standing one; it has been about Chinese superiority and Tibetan sovereignty. When the next Dalai Lama was named, the 6-year-old boy was abducted by the Chinese government; it was condemned by the Dalai Lama, the United Nations and multiple human right activists. The boy has been missing since 1995 and most people wonder if the world's youngest political prisoner is still alive.

The Chinese appointed their candidate as the Panchen Lama, which was declared illegitimate by the 14’Th Dalai Lama Ever since Tibet has been recognised by the world to be one of the most unstable regions and has been a victim of multiple human rights violations, Tibetans were tortured and executed by the Chinese. Hundreds of them were killed fighting in the Chinese occupation, they were starved to death and many more thousands died by suicide.

Today, Tibet still does not have freedom of speech or religion and thousands of Tibetan refugees including the Dalai Lama are in exile in India. This has always been a sour spot for China but has been widely appreciated by the international communities. As of today, Tibetans reside in India with a stay permit which is given with a registration certificate and is renewed annually. The Indian government has put in multiple efforts by building schools and providing health care.

Mike Pompeo the US Secretary of State announced that the US would restrict visa access for Chinese officials involved in human rights violations in Tibet. Robert Destro, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour was appointed as the special coordinator for Tibet.

China's Involvement in the selection and reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is being heavily criticized. The House and Senate recently passed an act on Tibetan policy, which essentially gives the United States the right to impose sanctions on China in case they get involved.

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The Tibetan Policy and Support Act(TSPA) was passed as an amendment to the $900 billion coronavirus relief package and $1.4 trillion government spending bill. It will soon be signed into law by President Donald Trump.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry criticized the bill stating that issues on Tibet, Taiwan and Hong Kong are China's internal affairs and the US had no say in them.

This move by the United States highlights that China's rise over the past decade is not normal or acceptable, says Mr Avinash Godbole who was a part of the Indian council of world affairs. With Joe Biden winning the presidential election, he is likely to abandon some of Trump's Tibet initiatives to reset ties with China.

However, the Biden administration will still impose sanctions against Chinese officials engaged in human rights violations against Tibetans and other religious minorities.

The Tibetan Government in exile called it a “momentous landmark for the Tibetan people”. The TPSA shows the USA's support for Tibet and declared it on the world stage that China's interference in Dalai Lama's succession for political motives will not be accepted and will have repercussions as long as China continues to violate human rights.

New Delhi’s support of Tibet has been mild in the past few years, while it might be beneficial for India to oppose China‘s interference it’s still walking on a tightrope because Tibet has always been an issue between Indo-China relations.

When the Dalai Lama was granted refuge by the Nehru government, it led to the Indo-China war in 1962. Supporting the United States completely would mean a confrontation with China.

The confrontation will blow things out of proportion since China has been waiting for the past two decades to have a conflict with India.

In conclusion, China has grown massively in the past two decades and it would not be possible for the United States to sanction China after an extent, it was able to bypass the US before and can do it to a large extent.

India's involvement in the matter could be a double-edged sword as the world largest democracy cannot stay silent on democratic and human rights issues and at the same time cannot support the United States a hundred per cent which will lead to Chinese Retaliation. The future and impact of what will follow the action are still uncertain. Meanwhile, India could maintain its diplomatic stance and watch from the side-lines when these two mega countries lock horns.

As for the people of Tibet and Tibetans staying outside of Tibet the wait has been long, and they are still hoping to go back to home which is conflict-free, peaceful and humane.

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Changing Geopolitical relations between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan - CH Tirumala In August 2020 Pakistani army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa travelled to Riyadh the capital city of Saudi Arabia expecting to meet the crown prince Mohammad bin Salman of Saudi Arabia and hold talks regarding a loan concession, medal and hold talks on Saudi Arabia’s stand on India’s policies in Kashmir.

However, he was met by a royal snub from Saudi side. The meeting didn’t happen resulting in Pakistan’s General returning back with the typical expression of tale between the legs.

The crown prince who turned down the General was the same person who called himself the “ambassador of Pakistan in Saudi Arabia”, during his visit to Pakistan in February of 2020. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have always shared a strong strategic relationship that dates back to pre-partition days. So, what happened between the countries that the Pakistani General was royally snubbed by Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia – Pakistan pre-partition In 1940, the All-India Muslim League welcomed Saudi delegates in Karachi. In 1943, when Bengal was hit by famine, the Gulf country sent a foreign aid of 10,000 pounds to India as a response to a call made

by Mohammad Ali Jinnah. In 1946, Saudi came forward to the help of the All-India Muslim League in the United Nations, when the league was facing issues in their engagements by the Indian National Congress.

• Relations after partition The core of Saudi-Pakistan relation has been mutual cooperation from both sides, while Saudi provided Pakistan financial support, Pakistan helped the country on the security front. Since 1960, Pakistan has been providing the Saudis with its own soldiers to protect the kingdom.

Pakistan provided training to Saudi soldiers and pilots. During the Iran-Iraq war (from 1980-1988) tens of thousands of Pakistani soldiers were sent to Saudi.

Saudi lent its full support to Pakistan in its quest for nuclear research by providing financing to the country, in return for the highly assumed understanding that, in case a need arises the technology will be transferred to the kingdom. And even as the leaders in either of the countries kept changing, the changes were followed by quick meetings among the top level, to reconfirm the nuclear agreements.

The kingdom upon the request of the then Prime Minister of Pakistan provided the country with 50,000 barrels a day of free crude oil whose total worth was $2 billion on deferred payments between 1998 and 1999. This was done following the sanctions imposed on Pakistan due to the five underground nuclear tests 37

conducted by the country near the border with Afghanistan. A major portion of the amount was later converted to a grant and the facility was extended in the subsequent years.

ware, fruits, vegetables, spices & flavours, couch linen, sporting goods. The Pakistani import from Saudi Arabia consists of petrol and petroleum products, plastics and plastic stuff, nourishments, copper & copper goods, aluminium & aluminium goods, and During the 2005 earthquake in Pakistan, so on.

Saudi provided a grant of $10 million, when Pakistan was hit by floods in 2010/11 then also the gulf country came Year Total Export of Total Import of to the aid of its allies and provided the Pakistan Pakistan grant of $170 million.

24,613.70 42,813.30 In 2014, Pakistan was going through an 2012 economic crisis with its foreign exchange reserves drying up, Pakistani currency 2013 25,120.90 43,775.20 devaluation against the US dollar. Once again Pakistan sought the help of Saudi and the country granted $1.5 million to 2014 24,722.20 47,544.90 Pakistan. There are around two million Pakistani’s living in Saudi Arabia and the 2015 22,089.00 43,989.70 remittances they send back to their country amounts to over $5 billion every year.

2016 20,533.80 47,155.00 In 2018, when the newly-elected Pakistani government faced a severe 2017 21,877.80 57,440.00 financial crisis, Saudi announced a $ 6 billion bailout to the Pakistani economy.

23,630.90 60,162.80 In return for all the favours by Saudi, 2018 Pakistan has been providing the kingdom with security, military issues. In 2018, Bilateral trade between Saudi Arabia the Future Investment Initiative hosted

by Saudi Arabia was boycotted by many and Pakistan (2012-2018) ($US Million) counties amid the allegations of the country being behind the killing of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Pakistan was one of the countries that stood by Saudi and attended the conference.

Trade Relations Saudi Arabia is one of the 15 export partners of Pakistan with the mutual trade volume between the two countries having worth more than $4 billion. The major export of Pakistan to Saudi Arabia consists of- rice, fresh cotton, fibre materials, shelter mango, silk, rugs, foot 38

Foreign Policy of the countriesIn 2014, both countries issued a joint policy statement on Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Palestine. In the statement, Saudi stated that it hoped for a peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN resolutions.

Both countries committed their support for the political process in Afghanistan through elections. Both the countries resolved to continue their support for the Palestine cause.

Cracks in friendship – In 2015, Saudi asked Pakistan to join the coalition (led by Saudi) against the Iranbacked Houthis. However, Pakistan which was already engaged in the battle against terrorism on its own soil politely declined the offer and chose to take a neutral stand on the matter. Later, the gulf country also tried to get Pakistan to join its blocs against the Syrian regime, Houthi rebels. Pakistan agreed to join hands with Saudi but made it clear that its troops will only protect the kingdom.

Saudi sees Iran as a threat to its security due to the country’s growing involvement and salience in regional politics. While Pakistan wants to maintain a balanced relationship with both Saudi and Iran, which has left the gulf country unhappy as they want Pakistan to lend its support to them.

On the other hand, Pakistan is worried about India’s growing relations with Saudi Arabia and other West Asian countries.

Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), an international organization consisting of 57 members.

The organization was formed to be the collective voice of the Muslim world.

Pakistan wanted to raise the issue of Kashmir in the OIC last year regarding the scrapping of Kashmir’s special status

by India in 2019, and while most of the member nations supported the. Kashmir cause, Saudi Arabia and UAE chose not

to stand by Pakistan. Petroleum which is the main source of income for Saudi Arabia is a renewable resource, which will get exhausted one day, and with the world being more environmentally conscious and the emergence and growing popularity of electric vehicles can pose a threat to Saudi. Therefore, the country has started focusing on getting foreign direct investment into their country and India has a lot more than Pakistan to offer to Saudi on investment font. Also, India’s bilateral trade with Saudi is $33 billion which is ten times more than Pakistan. In December 2020 when the Indian army general MM Naravane visited Saudi to strengthen the bilateral defence cooperation was warmly greeted and welcomed by the Saudi government. Pakistan is forming relations with Turkey, the country with whom Saudi has not been on a good page. While Pakistan has been getting support from both Iran and Turkey on its position regarding Kashmir. China is seen replacing Saudi Arabia as the principal economic and political support of Pakistan as Beijing sees Pakistan as an effective balancing force against their common rival India.

In May 2020 Saudi stopped the oil supply to Pakistan over deferred payments when the deal signed by the countries for the provision of $3,2 billion worth of fuel expired. This $3.2 billion was part of the $6.2 billion packages announced by Saudi for Pakistan in November 2020.

Pakistan used emergency financial aid by China to repay this loan as the pressure to repay the loan was increasing from Saudi’s side.

Both the countries are having different takes on their foreign policies and this difference of opinion has surely created a major strain on the relation of these longterm ally nations.

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Nepal Political Crisis - Palak Dhall

In 2015, Nepal transitioned from monarchy into a federal democratic republic after the propagation of a new constitution. Just two years after that, the first General Election was held wherein the charter gave clear mandate to the alliance of the then CPN- UML and CPN (Maoist Center) incumbent NCP (Nepal Communist Party) that is now in power.

By way of this change, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli came into power.

According to the above scenario, the next general election in Nepal was scheduled to be held in 2022. Since the last two months, a lot of protests have been observed in Nepal where hundreds took to streets in Kathmandu demanding Reestablishment of the Constitutional Monarchy. This has caused a lot of political instability in Nepal. Groups of protesters with banners such as “Nationalist Civic Society” staged demonstrations in Jamal of Kathmandu demanding restoration of Monarchy and also to declare Nepal as a Hindu state.

Hundreds of Monarch supporters participated in an organised and welladvertised rally on December 5 demanding the same The main reasons for the protest, claimed by observers in Kathmandu is that the current government has miserably failed to cater to the needs of the public.. Due to this very reason, a trail of protests also took place in the year 2017-2018 and recurred in 2020 as well.

KP Sharma Oli has also introduced an ordinance to amend the Constitutional Council Act (Functions, Duties, Procedures) 2010, in which a meeting of the council can be convened even if it is short of the quorum required to begin the meeting. After this ordinance was sent by PM Oli, it got approved within an hour by the President Bidya Devi Bhandari thus giving him the right to convene meetings and take decisions in presence of merely three members. This created a big rift among the public as well as the opposition on grounds of it being “undemocratic”. Even the members in NCP felt betrayed as the decision was taken without consulting with them, example- Jhalnath Khanal, the former Prime Minister and senior leader of the NCP said that Oli will have to pay a big price for taking this “extreme and unconstitutional act” without taking party into confidence. Also, another senior leader of the NCP as well as the former PM Madhav Kumar suggested that this move should be immediately withdrawn. Now this power tussle th reached its peak on 20 December amidst which Nepal PM Oli dissolved the parliament. Basically the conflict is among senior members of the Nepal Political Party, one is PM Oli and other is Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda. Amid the failed negotiations between the party co- chairman and dissident leader, the parliament was dissolved.

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The fact is that this conflict of interest between the had been ongoing since th quite some time for example on 13 November in the party’s secretariat meeting, Mr Prachanda presented his 19 page political document where he criticised Oli for not running the government properly and accused him on the topic of “corruption”. Many legal and political experts believe that this decision might be challenged in the court. Talking about the opposition i.e.

NC’s president and former Prime Minister- Sher Bahadur Deuba accused the current government of an intention to create totalitarian rule in the country.

Also he came down aggressively upon the Oli government for corruption even in the process of dealing with COVID19 pandemic. So, amid this chaos, President Bhandari has announced that the national polls are to be held between th 30 April and May 10 of 2021. Also, China has included itself as a mediator in this crisis but such interest from China needs to be evaluated carefully by Nepal.

In my opinion, Nepal needs to go for a long term planning with reference to its economic and security cooperation.

Jingoism should be controlled and clear agendas as to basic amenities, infrastructure, etc. should be followed.

There should also be a regulation over media that portrays anti India sentiment in Nepal as this can be detrimental to international politics.

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THANK YOU TEAM SANKALP

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