CURRENT AFFAIRS
14 JULY 2020
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) SC gives ex-royals right to manage deity’s property.
On July 13, the Supreme Court held that the erstwhile Travancore royal family is the human ministrant or the shebait (manager) of the properties belonging to Sree Padmanabha, chief deity of the famed and fabulously rich Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala. A Bench of Justices U.U. Lalit and Indu Malhotra, in a judgment, brought quietus to a dispute of over a decade on whether the temple and its considerable assets should devolve to the Kerala government following the death of Travancore ruler Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma in July 1991. Arguments were raised both to and fro — senior advocate Krishnan Venugopal for the royals and some devotees represented by a team of advocates of P.B. Suresh, Vipin Nair and Karthik Jayashankar — on whether the 26th Constitutional Amendment, which put an end to privy purses enjoyed by erstwhile rulers, would nudge the temple and properties into the hands of the State. In fact, the Kerala High Court, in 2011, directed the State to take over the temple and exhibit its treasures for public viewing in a museum.
Justice Lalit, who wrote the judgment, categorically held that the death of a ruler does not affect the royal family’s shebaitship of the temple. “ Shebaitship was always in the royal family and the Ruler represented the unbroken line of shebaits,” the judgment said. Shebaitship does not lapse in favour of the State by principle of escheat (reversion of property to the State). Accepting the royals’ submission that the temple is a public temple, the court issued a slew of directions for its transparent administration in the future. It directed the setting up of an administrative committee, with the Thiruvananthapuram district judge as its chairperson. The other members would be a nominee of the trustee (royal family), the chief thanthri of the temple, a nominee of the State and a member nominated by the Union Ministry of Culture. The panel would take care of the daily administration of the temple.
B) Will invest $10 billion in India, says Google chief.
On July 13, CEO of google Mr. Sundar Pichai said that technology giant Google will invest $10 billion (₹75,000 crore) in India over the next five to seven years with a focus on digitizing the economy and building India-first products and services. Speaking at the company’s annual event, he also said that they will do this with the help of a mix of equity investments, partnerships and operational, infrastructure and ecosystem investments. Four major areas will be focused in the investments, First is key to digitization by enabling affordable access and information for every Indian in their native language, building products and services that are deeply relevant to India’s unique needs, empowering businesses on their digital transformation journey, and leveraging technology and artificial intelligence for social good in areas such as health, education and agriculture. Mr. Pichai also spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi via videoconference early on Monday. Mr. Modi tweeted that the interaction was “extremely fruitful”.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Corps Commanders’ talks today at Chushul.
India and China are scheduled to hold the fourth round of Corps Commanders talks at Chushul on July 13, in which the details of the second phase of disengagement along the border would be discussed. The focus of the talks, scheduled around 11.30 a.m, would also be on pulling back the massive deployment of troops and equipment along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The troops of India and China have completed the first phase of disengagement from the stand-off areas in Galwan Valley, Hot Springs and Gogra and a partial disengagement from Pangong Tso last week.
B) Iran drops India from Chabahar rail project, cites funding delay.
Four years after India and Iran signed an agreement to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan, the Iranian government has decided to proceed with the construction on its own, citing delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project. Last week, Iranian Transport and Urban Development Minister Mohammad Eslami inaugurated the track-laying process for the 628 km Chabahar-Zahedan line, which will be extended to Zaranj across the border in Afghanistan. Officials told The Hindu that the entire project would be completed by March 2022, and that Iranian Railways will proceed without India’s assistance, using approximately $400 million from the Iranian National Development Fund. The development comes as China finalises a massive 25-year, $400 billion strategic partnership deal with Iran, which could cloud India’s plans.
The railway project, which was being discussed between the Iranian Railways and the state-owned Indian Railways Construction Ltd (IRCON), was meant to be part of India’s commitment to the trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan to build an alternate trade route to Afghanistan and Central Asia. In May 2016, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tehran to sign the Chabahar agreement with Iranian President Rouhani and Afghanistan President Ghani, IRCON had signed an MoU with the Iranian Rail Ministry.
C) Iran, China set to clinch 25-year deal
Iran and China are close to finalising a 25-year Strategic Partnership which will include Chinese involvement in Chabahar’s duty-free zone, an oil refinery nearby, and possibly a larger role in Chabahar port as well. According to leaked versions of the 18-page “Comprehensive Plan for Cooperation between Iran and China”, being finalised by officials in Tehran and Beijing, the cooperation will extend from investments in infrastructure, manufacturing and upgrading energy and transport facilities, to refurbishing ports, refineries and other installations, and will commit Iranian oil and gas supplies to China during that period.
The proposed tie-up comes even as Iran decided last week to go ahead on its own with the construction of a railway line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, in Afghanistan for which an MoU had been signed with the PSU Indian Railways Construction Ltd. (IRCON) four years ago. The MoU, signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Tehran in 2016, was to construct the Chabahar-Zahedan railway as “part of transit and transportation corridor in trilateral agreement between India, Iran and Afghanistan”. However, despite several site visits by IRCON engineers, and preparations by Iranian railways, India never began the work, ostensibly due to worries that these could attract U.S. sanctions. The U.S. had provided a sanctions waiver for the Chabahar port and the rail line to Zahedan, but it has been difficult to find equipment suppliers and partners due to worries they could be targeted by the U.S. The Ministry of External Affairs and IRCON declined to comment. However, asked if the MoU with IRCON had been cancelled, India could still join at a later date.
