Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs)

• In order to increase the amount of foreign direct investments (FDI) coming in, India is negotiating BITs with trade partners.

Context:

• Prior to 2015, India has bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with 83 nations or regions. However, India stopped its BITs with 68 nations or regions and asked to renegotiate using the model 2016 BIT. There are still six active BITs. The ban was brought on by multiple well-publicized losses in disputes between investors and states.

About Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs):

• These are mutually beneficial agreements between two nations to encourage and safeguard private foreign investments on each other’s soil.
• India had BIT agreements with 83 nations, of which 74 remained operative as of 2015.
• In 2016, India updated its Model BIT. Since 2015, India has dissolved its previous bilateral investment treaties (BITs) with 77 nations, signed new BITs with just four, and is in negotiations with 37 more.

Key features of Model BIT 2016:

• An enterprise that has been formed, organized, and run by an investor in good faith and in compliance with the national laws of the nation is referred to as an investment under the “enterprise” definition.
• nondiscriminatory treatment through the use of due process, with each party providing investors and assets with complete security and protection.
• National treatment and safeguards against expropriation since neither party is allowed to directly nationalize or expropriate an investor’s investment or use actions that would have the same effect as expropriation.
• Foreign investors should use the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) system only after they have exhausted all local remedies, preferably for a five-year term.

Existing issues/concerns with Model BIT:

• According to experts, India implemented Model BIT 2016 in response to several notifications it had received. Its excessive number of exceptions raises the bar for filing a claim under the BIT and restricts the host state’s culpability.
• The requirement that the investor exhaust domestic remedies for a minimum of five years prior to initiating arbitration under the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is widely regarded as the most controversial aspect of the arbitration mechanism.
• The notion of investment is made more limited by the enterprise-based definition.
• the “fair and equitable treatment” requirement is missing. It has been replaced with safeguards that must meet high thresholds in order to be activated or invoked. Furthermore, the concepts of “legitimate expectation” and the Most-Favorable Nation are also missing.
• It appears that the exclusion of taxation measures from the benefits provided by the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) is a declaration of sovereignty rather than a mechanism designed to safeguard international trade.
• Absence of professionals because there aren’t enough judges or attorneys in India with the necessary training and experience. As a result, global legal firms representing India in investment arbitration receive enormous fees.

INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMICAL UNION (IAU)

• The Chandrayaan-3 landing site name, Shiva Shakti, has been accepted by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

Context:

• According to the statement, the name’s origin is a “compound word from Indian mythology that depicts masculine (Shiva) and feminine (Shakti) duality of nature; landing site of Vikram Lander in Chandrayaan-3.”

About International Astronomical Union (IAU)

• The International Astronomical Union (IAU) is a prominent organization that oversees global professional astronomy operations.
• It was the first of many international associations for the promotion of particular scientific fields when it was founded in 1919.
• The IAU has its headquarters in Paris, France.
• Its goal is to use international cooperation to advance and defend astronomy science in all of its facets, including research, development, communication, and education.
• The IAU is composed of numerous commissions, working groups, and divisions that each represent a different aspect of astronomy education, research, and other endeavors.
• It is the only organization with professional recognition for astronomical body naming, and it only assigns names based on discoverer’s privilege, merit, or historical significance.
• Every three years, the IAU has a general assembly when astronomers from all over the world gather to debate research, new collaborative projects, and other topics of importance to the profession.
• The IAU also strives to advance astronomy-related public outreach, education, and research.

MARITIME ANTI-PIRACY ACT

• The Indian Navy’s efficiency during its 100-day campaign, dubbed “Operation Sankalp,” was greatly enhanced, in the opinion of Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar, by the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act.

Context:

• “Operation Sankalp” covered Somalia’s east coast as well as the Gulf of Aden and the North Arabian Sea.

About MARITIME ANTI-PIRACY ACT

• One important piece of legislation that India passed to combat the threat of piracy on the high seas is the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, 2022.
• On January 31, 2023, this Act was passed, and on February 22, 2023, it became operative.
• Its goal is to implement the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which addresses topics connected to the suppression of piracy on the high seas.
• Anyone found guilty of piracy, including those who attempt, abet, or collaborate to commit piracy, will be punished under the legislation.
• The Indian Navy and Coast Guard are able to board, apprehend, and detain pirates who are operating in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the high seas, and other areas thanks to the Maritime Anti Piracy Act.
• The offenders may be sentenced to life in jail, a fine, or both by Indian courts. Nevertheless, in cases where India has extraditable treaties with foreign nations, the Act also views the offense as extraditable. Since 2017, extradition of Somalian pirates has been permitted by an agreement between India and Somalia.

ELECTORAL TRUST

• Using electoral bonds, two electoral trusts have given corporate donations to political parties.

Context:

• The Election Commission made these facts public. While the Supreme Court intervened and ordered that all facts be made public, the electoral bonds scheme allowed contributors to remain completely anonymous; nevertheless, electoral trusts are required to reveal the identities of their donors.

About ELECTORAL TRUST:

• A non-profit corporation called an electoral trust was founded with the purpose of methodically gathering voluntarily donated funds from people or businesses. Following registration, these monies are given to Indian political parties.
• Electoral trusts are a concept that seeks to improve political funding transparency by channeling donations through a controlled structure.

Purpose and Establishment:

• Electoral trusts act as a middleman between political parties and funders, whether they be people or corporations.
• They were implemented in 2013 with the goal of promoting openness and streamlining the political finance process.

Eligibility and Registration:

• A non-profit organization registered under Section 29A of the Representation of People Act, 1951 is required to be an electoral trust.
• It serves as a middleman for obtaining donations and allocating them to political parties.

Donation Distribution:

• An Electoral Trust is required to distribute to registered political parties ninety-five percent of the funds it receives within a fiscal year.
• By notifying the Election Commission of India about contributions and beneficiaries, Electoral Trusts stress transparency in contrast to the Electoral Bonds (EB) Scheme, which permitted anonymous payments.

Transparency and Reporting:

• Electoral Trusts must provide the Election Commission with contribution reports that include all of their contributors and the political parties they have backed.
• The public can review these reports at their convenience.