AN APPRAISAL OF LPG POLICIES ( ECONOMIC REFORM) | 12 | LIBERALISATION , PRIVATISATION &GLOBALISA...

Saudi Arabia's furious response to Canada's criticism of the arrest of rights activists in the Kingdom (371) question Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's professed commitment to reform. Having ascended last June to be second in line to the throne, he had promised progressive economic and political change. Since then, Saudi Arabia has allowed women to drive, cracked down on hardliners among the clergy and projected itself as a moderate Islamic country that respects people's rights, compared to "extremist Iran". But when Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (372) release of Samar Badawi, a Saudi women's rights activist who was detained last week, and her brother Raif Badawi, Riyadh took a series of unilateral steps. Terming Ms. Freeland's appeal as interference in its domestic affairs, it expelled the Canadian Ambassador, called back its envoy from Ottawa, froze trade with Canada and said it would transfer out some 12,000 Saudi citizens studying in Canadian universities. Ms. Badawi (373) Saudi Arabia's guardianship laws that require all Saudi women to have a male guardian. Riyadh is (374) reasons for the arrest. Her brother, who ran a website critical of the Saudi religious establishment, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes in 2014. On overseas visits, Prince Mohammed has dwelt on his plan to improve women's rights and strengthen the economy. He is also obliquely (375) guardianship laws, saying they did not exist in Saudi Arabia before 1979 - the year of the Iranian revolution and the siege of the Grand Mosque at Mecca.

Saudi Arabia's furious response to Canada's criticism of the arrest of rights activists in the Kingdom (371) question Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's professed commitment to reform. Having ascended last June to be second in line to the throne, he had promised progressive economic and political change. Since then, Saudi Arabia has allowed women to drive, cracked down on hardliners among the clergy and projected itself as a moderate Islamic country that respects people's rights, compared to "extremist Iran". But when Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (372) release of Samar Badawi, a Saudi women's rights activist who was detained last week, and her brother Raif Badawi, Riyadh took a series of unilateral steps. Terming Ms. Freeland's appeal as interference in its domestic affairs, it expelled the Canadian Ambassador, called back its envoy from Ottawa, froze trade with Canada and said it would transfer out some 12,000 Saudi citizens studying in Canadian universities. Ms. Badawi (373) Saudi Arabia's guardianship laws that require all Saudi women to have a male guardian. Riyadh is (374) reasons for the arrest. Her brother, who ran a website critical of the Saudi religious establishment, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes in 2014. On overseas visits, Prince Mohammed has dwelt on his plan to improve women's rights and strengthen the economy. He is also obliquely (375) guardianship laws, saying they did not exist in Saudi Arabia before 1979 - the year of the Iranian revolution and the siege of the Grand Mosque at Mecca.

Saudi Arabia's furious response to Canada's criticism of the arrest of rights activists in the Kingdom (371) question Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's professed commitment to reform. Having ascended last June to be second in line to the throne, he had promised progressive economic and political change. Since then, Saudi Arabia has allowed women to drive, cracked down on hardliners among the clergy and projected itself as a moderate Islamic country that respects people's rights, compared to "extremist Iran". But when Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (372) release of Samar Badawi, a Saudi women's rights activist who was detained last week, and her brother Raif Badawi, Riyadh took a series of unilateral steps. Terming Ms. Freeland's appeal as interference in its domestic affairs, it expelled the Canadian Ambassador, called back its envoy from Ottawa, froze trade with Canada and said it would transfer out some 12,000 Saudi citizens studying in Canadian universities. Ms. Badawi (373) Saudi Arabia's guardianship laws that require all Saudi women to have a male guardian. Riyadh is (374) reasons for the arrest. Her brother, who ran a website critical of the Saudi religious establishment, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes in 2014. On overseas visits, Prince Mohammed has dwelt on his plan to improve women's rights and strengthen the economy. He is also obliquely (375) guardianship laws, saying they did not exist in Saudi Arabia before 1979 - the year of the Iranian revolution and the siege of the Grand Mosque at Mecca.

Saudi Arabia's furious response to Canada's criticism of the arrest of rights activists in the Kingdom (371) question Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's professed commitment to reform. Having ascended last June to be second in line to the throne, he had promised progressive economic and political change. Since then, Saudi Arabia has allowed women to drive, cracked down on hardliners among the clergy and projected itself as a moderate Islamic country that respects people's rights, compared to "extremist Iran". But when Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (372) release of Samar Badawi, a Saudi women's rights activist who was detained last week, and her brother Raif Badawi, Riyadh took a series of unilateral steps. Terming Ms. Freeland's appeal as interference in its domestic affairs, it expelled the Canadian Ambassador, called back its envoy from Ottawa, froze trade with Canada and said it would transfer out some 12,000 Saudi citizens studying in Canadian universities. Ms. Badawi (373) Saudi Arabia's guardianship laws that require all Saudi women to have a male guardian. Riyadh is (374) reasons for the arrest. Her brother, who ran a website critical of the Saudi religious establishment, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes in 2014. On overseas visits, Prince Mohammed has dwelt on his plan to improve women's rights and strengthen the economy. He is also obliquely (375) guardianship laws, saying they did not exist in Saudi Arabia before 1979 - the year of the Iranian revolution and the siege of the Grand Mosque at Mecca.

Saudi Arabia's furious response to Canada's criticism of the arrest of rights activists in the Kingdom (371) question Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's professed commitment to reform. Having ascended last June to be second in line to the throne, he had promised progressive economic and political change. Since then, Saudi Arabia has allowed women to drive, cracked down on hardliners among the clergy and projected itself as a moderate Islamic country that respects people's rights, compared to "extremist Iran". But when Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland (372) release of Samar Badawi, a Saudi women's rights activist who was detained last week, and her brother Raif Badawi, Riyadh took a series of unilateral steps. Terming Ms. Freeland's appeal as interference in its domestic affairs, it expelled the Canadian Ambassador, called back its envoy from Ottawa, froze trade with Canada and said it would transfer out some 12,000 Saudi citizens studying in Canadian universities. Ms. Badawi (373) Saudi Arabia's guardianship laws that require all Saudi women to have a male guardian. Riyadh is (374) reasons for the arrest. Her brother, who ran a website critical of the Saudi religious establishment, was sentenced to 10 years in jail and 1,000 lashes in 2014. On overseas visits, Prince Mohammed has dwelt on his plan to improve women's rights and strengthen the economy. He is also obliquely (375) guardianship laws, saying they did not exist in Saudi Arabia before 1979 - the year of the Iranian revolution and the siege of the Grand Mosque at Mecca.

Read the given passage below and answer the questions. India’s abstention from voting on a UN Human Rights Council draft resolution, in March this year, on the “situation of human rights in Myanmar” needs closer examination. Co-sponsored by the European Union (EU) and Bangladesh which is a home to several victims, the resolution “expresses grave concern at continuing reports of serious human rights violations and abuses in Myanmar”, particularly in Rakhine, Kachin and Shan States, and calls for a full inquiry into these by the Council’s own mechanism and the International Criminal Court (ICC). In its follow-up explanatory statement, India’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Rajiv Kumar Chander, said that it would “only be counter-productive” to support “extensive recommendations regarding legislative and policy actions” and “threatening Myanmar with punitive action, including at the ICC, to which that state is not a signatory”. It is understandable that as a non-signatory of the Rome Statute, New Delhi would register its dissent against any punitive interventions by the ICC on another non-signatory country (Myanmar). However, what is deeply unfortunate is India’s continued diplomatic and moral passivity on the Rohingya crisis. Despite the Myanmar Army facing charges of serious war crimes, including genocide — according to a UN Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) and several other international human rights organisations — India refuses to take a strong moral stand for the sake of maintaining cordial bilateral relations with Naypyidaw. India continues to toe Myanmar’s line on the issue, which harps on the “complexity” of the whole situation, lays emphasis on economic development rather than political rights for the Rohingya, lays stress on internal inquiries instead of international mechanisms, and even refuses to call the Rohingya community by its name. In fact, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not even publicly condemned the horrible atrocities that the Rohingya have faced at the hands of Myanmar’s security forces. On his last visit to Myanmar in September 2017, he simply expressed concern at the “loss of lives of security forces and innocent people due to the extremist violence in Rakhine State”. There was no reference to the excessive and arbitrary force used by security forces on Rohingya civilians in response to the “extremist violence”. Radhika Coomaraswamy, who was a part of the three-member UN FFM, during a recent briefing, said, “Acknowledging that human rights violations have been committed, holding people accountable and reforming the Tatmadaw is the only way forward.” India, for its part, continues to maintain ties with the Myanmar armed forces (Tatmadaw), supplying them with combat hardware and imparting UN peacekeeping training. An edition of the India-Myanmar bilateral army exercise, IMBEX 201819, took place this January at Chandimandir. Which of the following is an apt conclusion on the basis of the information provided? I. One analysis by the Dutch advocacy group, Stop Wapenhandel (Stop Arms Trade), claims that India transferred combat equipment in violation of international embargoes. II. For now, India is happy to be in a stable, but morally tenuous, friendswith-benefit relationship with Myanmar. The victims continue to be the stateless Rohingya. III. According to the arms transfer database of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India is one of Myanmar’s top arms suppliers, and weapons sales include military aircraft, artillery, naval vessels and reconnaissance equipment, armoured vehicles, anti-submarine torpedoes, and missiles.

Crisis of June 1991 Major elements of the crisis situation which led the Government of India to announce economic reform were : .A serious fiscal crisis in which the fiscal deficit reached the level of 6.6 per cent of GDP in 1990-91. Heavy internal debt which rose to about 50 per cent of GDP with interest payments draining about 39 percent of total revenue collections of the central government. Low GNP growth rate which fell to 14 per cent from the peak level of 10.5 per cent in 1988-89 (at 1980-81 prices). Low overall agricultural production, foodgrain production and industrial production showed negative growth rates of -2.8 per cent,-5.3 per cent and -0.1 per cent respectively. Soaring inflation rate based both on wholesale price index and consumer price index (for industrial workers) at 13-14 per cent Shrinkage of foreign trade, imports (in terms) fell by 19.4 per cent and exports by 15 per cent. Depreciation of rupee by 26.7 per cent vis-à-vis US dollars. Fall of foreign exchange reserves to such a low level that they were barely adequate to meet the import requirements of a few weeks Non-resident Indians (NRIS) were withdrawing their deposits at an alarmingly high rate The confidence of the international financial institutions was badly shaken and in just over a year its creditworthiness rating fell from AAA to BB+ (put on credit watch). The country was on the verge of defaulting on international financial obligations and the situation warranted immediate policy action to save the situation. In May 1991, the Government had to lease 20 tons of gold out of its stock to the State Bank of India to enable it to sell the gold with repurchase option after six months. In addition, Reserve Bank of India was allowed to pledge 47 tones of gold to the Bank of England to raise a loan of $600 million Name one component of business environment affected in the above case. Explain it briefly

Crisis of June 1991 Major elements of the crisis situation which led the Government of India to announce economic reform were : .A serious fiscal crisis in which the fiscal deficit reached the level of 6.6 per cent of GDP in 1990-91. Heavy internal debt which rose to about 50 per cent of GDP with interest payments draining about 39 percent of total revenue collections of the central government. Low GNP growth rate which fell to 14 per cent from the peak level of 10.5 per cent in 1988-89 (at 1980-81 prices). Low overall agricultural production, foodgrain production and industrial production showed negative growth rates of -2.8 per cent,-5.3 per cent and -0.1 per cent respectively. Soaring inflation rate based both on wholesale price index and consumer price index (for industrial workers) at 13-14 per cent Shrinkage of foreign trade, imports (in terms) fell by 19.4 per cent and exports by 15 per cent. Depreciation of rupee by 26.7 per cent vis-à-vis US dollars. Fall of foreign exchange reserves to such a low level that they were barely adequate to meet the import requirements of a few weeks Non-resident Indians (NRIS) were withdrawing their deposits at an alarmingly high rate The confidence of the international financial institutions was badly shaken and in just over a year its creditworthiness rating fell from AAA to BB+ (put on credit watch). The country was on the verge of defaulting on international financial obligations and the situation warranted immediate policy action to save the situation. In May 1991, the Government had to lease 20 tons of gold out of its stock to the State Bank of India to enable it to sell the gold with repurchase option after six months. In addition, Reserve Bank of India was allowed to pledge 47 tones of gold to the Bank of England to raise a loan of $600 million State the explain one feature of business environment as reflected in the above para