24 December 2023

• Qatar: Eight Indian Navy officers had their death sentences commuted by the Emir of Qatar. They had been convicted on espionage charges.
• Argentina: President Javier Milei confirmed Argentina's rejection of the BRICS membership offer it had received before the 2023 election.
• Navy: INS Imphal, India's third Visakhapatnam-class destroyer, was commissioned.
• CEC Bill: The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill passed Parliament amid controversy over the appointment committee.

GS area: International Relations, Security

The Emir of Qatar commuted the death sentences of eight former Indian Navy officers:

• Background: The eight men, retired naval officers working for Doha-based Dahraa Global Technologies, were arrested in August 2022. Qatar charged them with espionage, allegedly related to Italian submarine U212 I technology.
• Sentence: They were sentenced to death in October 2023 by a Qatari court in a verdict that was not publicly released.
• Diplomatic effort: India conducted intensive diplomatic engagement at the highest levels including PM Modi's direct intervention through a meeting with the Qatari Emir.
• Commutation: The death sentences were commuted to prison terms in December 2023. The officers were eventually released and returned to India in early 2024.
• India-Qatar relations: Qatar is the world's largest exporter of liquefied natural gas. India is one of Qatar's largest LNG buyers. About 8 lakh Indians live in Qatar.

Static linkage: India's foreign policy, Gulf diaspora, international law.

GS area: Polity (elections, constitutional bodies)

Parliament passed the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill 2023:

• What changed: The Bill creates a three-member selection committee comprising the Prime Minister, a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM, and the Leader of the Opposition.
• What it removes: The Supreme Court had ruled in Anoop Baranwal vs Union of India (March 2023) that until Parliament made a law, the Chief Justice of India should be on the selection committee. The Bill excludes the CJI.
• Controversy: Critics argued that excluding the CJI gives the ruling government a 2-1 majority on the appointment panel, compromising the Election Commission's independence.
• Article 324: Vests superintendence, direction, and control of elections in the Election Commission. The Chief Election Commissioner's tenure and removal conditions are designed to match those of a Supreme Court judge.

Static linkage: Election Commission, constitutional bodies, Article 324.

GS area: Security, Defence

INS Imphal was commissioned as India's third Visakhapatnam-class guided missile destroyer:

• Class: The Visakhapatnam class are India's largest and most powerful destroyers, built under Project 15B.
• Armament: BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles, Barak-8 long-range surface-to-air missiles, and anti-submarine torpedoes.
• Significance: INS Imphal is named after a northeastern city, following the Project 15B tradition of naming destroyers after state capitals (Visakhapatnam, Mormugao, Imphal). This is the first large warship named after a city in the northeast.
• Indigenous content: Over 75 per cent.

Static linkage: India's defence, naval modernisation, northeast India.

GS area: International Relations

Argentina formally rejected the BRICS membership invitation under newly elected President Javier Milei:

• BRICS invitation: Argentina had been invited to join BRICS (along with five other countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, Ethiopia, and Iran) at the 2023 BRICS summit in South Africa in August.
• Milei's position: The libertarian president expressed ideological objection to BRICS's founding members (Russia and China) and preference for alignment with the United States and Israel.
• BRICS composition: Original members are Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. The 2023 expansion invitations were accepted by all except Argentina.
• India-Argentina relations: India and Argentina have strong ties through the G20 (Argentina hosted in 2018). Bilateral trade covers oil seeds, vegetable oils, and pharmaceuticals.

Static linkage: International Relations, BRICS, South America.

GS area: Economy (banking)

The Reserve Bank of India updated its list of Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs):

• D-SIBs: Banks that are "too big to fail." Their failure would have severe consequences for the financial system and the broader economy.
• Current list: State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank.
• Change: SBI and HDFC Bank were moved to higher buckets, requiring them to hold more Common Equity Tier 1 capital as an additional buffer above the minimum capital requirement.
• Rationale: Larger systemic footprint requires higher loss-absorbing capital cushion.

Static linkage: Economy, banking regulation, RBI, financial stability.

GS area: Science and Technology, International Relations

Russia and the United States agreed to extend collaboration on the International Space Station through 2025:

• ISS: Launched in 1998, a joint project of NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and CSA.
• Background: After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many areas of space cooperation were suspended. The ISS continued as an exception given its physical interdependence between Russian and US modules.
• India's ISS status: India is not a current ISS partner. India's Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme will place India's own crew in low Earth orbit.

Static linkage: International Relations, space exploration.

• Neora Valley National Park tigers: Tigers were confirmed at an altitude of 10,509 feet in Neora Valley National Park in West Bengal, one of the highest confirmed tiger habitats. More than 10 tigers are estimated to be present. Neora Valley was established in 1986.
• Litchi geography: Litchi cultivation has expanded to 19 Indian states. Bihar contributes about 40 per cent of India's total production. Litchi contains the toxic compound methylenecyclopropylglycine (MCPG) which can cause encephalopathy in children who eat litchis on an empty stomach, as seen in the Muzaffarpur outbreaks.