Your SandeshBox for the week

India

• Haldwani, Uttarakhand sees massive riots

  1. In Haldwani, Uttarakhand, conflicting versions surround the demolition of a mosque and madrasa. According to local authorities , the structures were deemed illegal and built on government land meant for public utilities. Despite prior notice, violence erupted during the demolition, with locals attacking the police after it concluded.

  2. However, residents claim officials refused to show demolition order documents, alleging mistreatment of women and injuries from police actions. There are reports of police firing at night, causing fear among residents.

  3. 30 people have been arrested according to the police with reports of six fatalities among rioters, and over a hundred individuals, including police and journalists, injured. Notably, all those who lost their lives appear to be from the Muslim community.

• SC declares Electoral bonds unconstitutional

  1. What is a electoral bond? Introduced in 2017, Electoral bonds are a financial tool allowing NGOs, trusts, or companies to make political donations. You can buy these bonds from any SBI branch, hand them over to your chosen political party, and they have 15 days to cash it. The bond is like cash, not recording the owner's details, making it anonymous. However, to purchase, you must go through a KYC process for identity verification. The bank keeps this information confidential, revealing it only if legally required.

  2. Arguments against it - The government can find out who buys electoral bonds through law enforcement agencies, but this information is not shared with the public or opposition. This gives the government an advantage, possibly allowing them to influence those supporting opposition parties. Notably, The BJP received the majority of funds (57%) through electoral bonds, totaling 6,566.11 crore, while the Congress received Rs 1,123 crore. Some argue that the undisclosed identity of donors infringes upon a citizen's constitutional "right to know," a right previously safeguarded by the Supreme Court under the umbrella of freedom of speech and expression.

  3. Arguments for it - The government defends electoral bonds with two main arguments. Firstly, it asserts that these bonds offer a legitimate and transparent means for party donations, as they require a KYC process, leaving a traceable paper trail. Secondly, the government contends that donors have a constitutional right to remain anonymous, similar to the privacy granted to voters

  4. What did the Supreme Court say? The Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Chandrachud concluded the electoral bonds violated the right to freedom of speech and expression.

  5. The court's orders include the immediate halt of electoral bond issuance by State Bank of India, the disclosure of all electoral bond donations made until March 6, to be shared with the Election Commission and published on its website by March 13. Additionally, the court struck down an amendment to Section 182 of the Companies Act, which removed the cap on company donations to political parties.

• Farmer protests, again!

  1. Background: Thousands for farmers protested for an entire year in 2021 against the farm laws introduced by the government. This eventually led to the govt. withdrawing the laws in November 2021. The key trigger was laws surrounding Minimum Support Price

  2. Farmers are planning to march on Delhi again after negotiations with the government collapsed.

  3. The key battle is again over the Minimum Support Price. This is the price paid by the government for key crops like wheat and rice to ensure that farmers make some kind of return on their harvest: Right now, the government only pays MSP for certain crops and in only certain states. The decision to do so rests entirely with the union government. The farmers want MSP to be guaranteed by law. They also have a long list of other demands.

  4. The protest march, which started on Tuesday, saw a clash between farmers and Haryana police when tear gas was deployed via drones at the Punjab-Haryana border. Approximately 60 farmers suffered serious injuries, leading the protesters to request a "ceasefire."

  5. Government officials asserted that guaranteeing a Minimum Support Price (MSP)—one of the farmers’ key demands—would be a “fiscal disaster” for India because there wouldn’t be much left for social and development goals

Business

• Paytm’s never ending worries

  1. Context: RBI dealt a severe blow to Paytm Payments Bank, imposing sweeping restrictions that prohibited the acceptance of fresh deposits and credit transactions, effective 29 February

  2. It doesn’t look like any relief is coming Paytm’s way from the RBI. In the wake of the central bank’s sweeping restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank, governor Shaktikanta Das on Monday said there’s “hardly any room for review”.

  3. To add to it’s worries, it may also have run into trouble with the ED which has been called in to investigate its payments bank’s records—for evidence of money laundering.

  4. RBI has also come with a full list of FAQ’s for ease of Paytm users while also clarifying that merchants accepting payments through a Paytm QR code, Soundbox will not be affected if it is not linked to a Paytm Payments Bank account. It has also extended the date from 29th Feb to 16 March for censure of Paytm Payments bank account services.

• RBI halts business payments via credit cards

  1. RBI has asked Visa & Mastercard to stop business payments made with commercial credit cards.

  2. Explanation: Traditionally, businesses made various payments like vendor bills, electricity through NEFT/RTGS. However, the rise of Fintechs has introduced the use of commercial credit cards for such transactions. Similar to how individual users can pay rent through credit cards with platforms like CRED and NoBroker, many Fintechs are now facilitating businesses to make payments through commercial credit cards.

  3. This situation arises because recipients end up indirectly receiving card payments through Fintech platforms, even if they are not allowed to accept such payments. This is a key reason why experts believe the Reserve Bank of India issued the notification.

Sports, Culture & Everything else

• Interesting tidbits

  1. Sony has acquired 50% of the late Michael Jackson's music and songwriting rights for $600 million which is likely to be the most for an individual artist’ work.

  2. Kansas City Chiefs, who won their third Super Bowl in five years, defeating San Francisco 49ers 25-22 in overtime and yeah, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift shared a great kiss after the game which has obviously gone viral. It garnered a record 123.4 million audience, making it the most-watched program in US television history.

  3. Lalit Modi, the ex-IPL commissioner, and N Srinivasan, owner of CSK is reportedly considering an investment & restructuring of England's The Hundred cricket competition.

  4. PM Modi and his UAE counterpart introduced UPI & RuPay card services in Abu Dhabi.

  5. Wharton has been ranked as the world’s best B-school according to the 2024 FT rankings. ISB & IIM-A also feature at 31 and 41 respectively.

  6. Trading was halted for four hours on the MCX on Tuesday after the country’s largest commodity and derivatives exchange platform was hit by a technical snag. 

  7. Britain and Japan are officially in recession. When an economy contracts for two consecutive quarters it is considered to be in recession

Global

• Pakistan Election Chaos

  1. Context: In March 2022, a coalition of opposition parties united to pass a vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Khan, primarily due to his strained relationship with the military, as he sought independence and control over them. Despite his popularity, he was imprisoned in 2023 and sentenced just before the election results in February. Also, Nawaz Sharif made a comeback & was the military’s favourite.

  2. However, in a surprising turn of events, independent candidates supported by PTI (Imran Khan’s party) secured 93 seats in the direct elections out of 266, surpassing the favorites Nawaz Sharif's PMLN with 73 seats and Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's PPP with 54 seats. None of the parties achieved the required majority of 134 seats.

  3. What now? Nawaz Sharif’s party has formed the government with support from Bhutto's PPP and other smaller parties which got them across the majority mark. Nawaz has nominated his brother ex-PM Shehbaz Sharif to lead the new government probably because he does not want to lead a minority government.

  4. Even though PML-N formed the government, PTI candidates getting the highest number of seats poses a serious question to the all-powerful Pakistani military and their dominance.

• Putin critic dies in prison

  1. Alexei Navalny, Russian President Putin's most formidable domestic opponent, fell unconscious and died on Friday after a walk at the "Polar Wolf" Arctic penal colony where he was serving a three-decade sentence. World leaders of several countries including US, France and Germany blame Vladimir Putin for his death.

  2. Who is Navalny? Alexei Navalny gained fame over a decade ago for exposing corruption and opulence among those in power in Putin's Russia. In August 2020, he was poisoned in Siberia, and after being brought to Germany for treatment, doctors found he had been poisoned with a type of nerve agent called Novichok, similar to the one used in the near-fatal attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England in 2018.

• Israel moves on ‘last refuge’ of Palestinians

  1. Context: In October 2023, the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise attack on southern Israel, killing more than 800 Israelis. In response, Israel launched a bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip followed by a a large-scale ground invasion. 

  2. Israel is preparing for a ground assault on Rafah, the final sanctuary for over a million Gaza residents. Everyone including the UN, are cautioning that such an action is likely to lead to a significant loss of life.

  3. In response to this, Egypt authorities are constructing an 8-square-mile walled enclosure in the Sinai Desert to accommodate potential refugees far away from Egyptian settlements if Israel attacks Rafah. This measure is aimed at preventing a flood of desperate Palestinians over the border.

  4. The Iran backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has said it fired dozens of rockets at a town in northern Israel in response to air raids that killed at least 10 civilians and 3 Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon. Experts speculate that both sides appear to be testing each other’s limits while keen on avoiding an all-out war.