CURATIVE PETITION

Curative petition against Supreme Court’s 2013 section 377 ruling is closed.

Context:

• On Thursday, a five-judge Supreme Court bench ruled that, in light of the 2018 ruling that decriminalized homosexuality, the curative appeal against the 2013 ruling that upheld Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code—which criminalized homosexuality—had become futile.

Concerning Curative Petition: 

• When the review petition is denied or has run its course, the court’s final option is the Curative Petition.
• The Supreme Court of India developed this idea in the case of Rupa Ashok Hurra vs. Ashok Hurra and Anr., where the issue was whether a party who had been wronged may obtain some kind of remedy against the Supreme Court’s final ruling or order following the denial of a review petition.
• Its two goals are to prevent abuse of the legal system and miscarriages of justice.
• Article 137 of the Indian Constitution upholds the notion of the curative petition.

Conditions laid by SC for curative petition:

• The petitioner needs to prove that the ruling has harmed him and that natural justice standards were broken.
• The petition must expressly specify that it was dismissed by circulation on the grounds cited in the review petition.
• In order to seek a remedy, a bench consisting of the three most senior Supreme Court judges and, if available, the judges who rendered the relevant decision must receive a curative petition.
• The subject is scheduled before the same Bench if the majority of judges determine that it needs to be heard.
• A senior attorney may be asked to support the Bench as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) at any point during the curative petition process.

FREE MOVEMENT REGIME

• The Home Ministry suggests that the policy of free movement, which permits those living near the borders of India and Myanmar to go 16 kilometers into each other’s country, be immediately suspended.

Context:

• This decision was made primarily to protect domestic security, lessen the possibility of illegal immigration, human trafficking, and drug trafficking, and to mitigate the effects of the violence that has been raging in Myanmar since the military coup in February 2021.

About free movement regime:

• Under the Free Movement Regime (FMR), tribes residing on both sides of the border with India are permitted to enter Myanmar for up to 16 km without a visa.
• 2018 saw the implementation of the FMR as part of the government’s Act East policy, coinciding with an improvement in diplomatic ties between India and Myanmar.
  However, because of the turmoil in Myanmar after the military takeover in February 2021, India has halted the FMR till September 2022.
• The boundary between India and Myanmar stretches roughly 1,643 kilometers (1,021 miles), from the tripoint with Bangladesh in the south to the tripoint with China in the north.
• The states of Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km), and Mizoram (510 km) are on the boundary between India and Myanmar.

Monetary Policy Committee

Following a thorough analysis, the Reserve Bank of India’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) agreed on Thursday, February 8, 2024, to maintain the policy repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) at 6.50 percent.

Context:

After six straight rate increases totaling 250 basis points since May 2022, the repo rate increase cycle was halted in April of last year.

About MPC:

A country’s central bank uses a set of instruments known as monetary policy to regulate the total amount of money in circulation and foster economic expansion.

• The Central Government established the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which is headed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor.
• The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, which was modified by the Finance Act, 2016, established the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). This modification gave the MPC a codified, institutionalized framework.
• The MPC must convene at least four times a year, and following each meeting, its judgments must be published.
• The MPC Framework’s components that contribute to inflation target failure have also been published in the Gazette.
  
  Purpose of MPC:
  In order to keep inflation within a given goal range, the MPC was established with the primary responsibility of setting the benchmark policy interest rate, or repo rate. The rate at which the central bank extends credit to commercial banks is known as the repo rate.
• The committee’s present mandate is to keep annual inflation at 4% until March 31, 2026, with a 2% lower tolerance and a 6% maximum tolerance.
  
  Composition:
  
  Three RBI personnel and three outsiders appointed by the Indian government make up the MPC’s six members.
  The Central Government appoints members, who serve four-year terms of office.
  In the event of a tie, the governor has the casting vote. Decisions are made by majority.

KALADAN MULTI-MODAL TRANSIT TRANSPORT PROJECT (KMMTTP)

One of India’s premier connectivity projects, the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, has encountered a setback following the recent rebel group takeover of a significant town in Myanmar.

Context:

The goal of the Kaladan project was to address northeast India’s geopolitical and geoeconomic issues. India is building the $484 million project as part of the Grant in Aid Program.

About:

• India and Myanmar have mutually designated the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) as an important effort.
• Its main goal is to establish a multimodal method of transportation for the movement of goods from India’s eastern ports to Myanmar and from Myanmar to the northeastern region of India.
• The goal of the Kaladan Project is to cut the trip to Sittwe from Kolkata by about 1,328 kilometers (825 miles).
• It offers a different path that avoids the constrained Siliguri corridor, popularly referred to as the “Chicken’s Neck.”
• It improves communication between the northeastern states of India and the rest of the country.

Route and Components:

• The project builds a sea link between the seaports of Sittwe in Rakhine State, Myanmar, and Kolkata in eastern India.
• The Kaladan river boat route in Myanmar connects the Sittwe seaport to Paletwa in Chin State.
• The project continues by road to the northeast Indian state of Mizoram from Paletwa.
• All project elements have been finished, with the exception of the Zorinpui-Paletwa road, which is still under construction. These elements include the Paletwa jetty, Sittwe port, power, and river dredging.
• Conflicts in the area and the development of hydroelectric plants on the Kaladan River’s tributaries have presented difficulties for the project.

India Canada relationship

• In 2022, there was almost $9.5 billion in bilateral commerce in products and $6.5 billion in trade in services.
• With over 3% of the Canadian population being Indian, Canada is home to one of the largest Indian diasporas globally.
• The primary goal of the scientific and technology partnership is to advance industrial R&D by developing novel intellectual properties, procedures, prototypes, and goods. Canada and India have collaborated in space science since the 1990s. ISRO’s commercial division, ANTRIX, has launched multiple nanosatellites from Canada.
• As part of the 2010 Civil Nuclear Agreement, Canada was able to supply uranium for nuclear reactors in India.
• China is recognized as a “disruptive global power” in Canada’s Indo-Pacific Policy, which also highlights India as a “critical partner” for cooperation on common interests.
  
  
• Issues/Challenges in India-Canada Relations:
• India had a non-alignment strategy throughout the Cold War, whereas Canada was a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
• Canada supported a plebiscite in Kashmir despite the fact that it was against India’s interests.
• Canada momentarily suspended any possible nuclear cooperation with India following the latter country’s nuclear tests in 1998.
• Through Canada’s immigration system, people with a tumultuous past can become citizens and use their status to carry out actions that are hostile to other countries. This poses a significant challenge to maintaining strong bilateral relations in the linked world of today.
• The coalition of pro-Khalistan parties in Canada’s coalition government is what makes this particular stance possible.
• Between these nations, a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has been in the works since 2010. By 2035, the CEPA between them would increase bilateral commerce by up to $6.5 billion, resulting in a $3.8 billion to $5.9 billion GDP gain for Canada.