Bolstering Indo-Japanese Strategic Relationship

Fumio Kishida has chosen India for his first-ever bilateral visit since his appointment as Prime Minister of Japan. A well-charted out partnership with India can help both the countries achieve a natural balance which is strategically, commercially and politically stable.

While India becomes both an inspiring growth story and one of the fastest growing economies, Japan holds a sturdy position in the Indo-Pacific region when it comes to maturity, sophistication and experience in international economic engagements. India’s recent undertakings of global importance, now proven track record of large scale implementation, enhanced economic calibre and positive political outlook have certainly caught the world’s attention. Japanese technological marvels, business strategies and management & design skills are second to none.

The absence of any historical baggage or major strategic disagreement further solidifies the chances of strong strategic Indo-Japan ties. The trust factor also lies in the fact that India has extended to Japan the distinction of being the only foreign power that has been allowed to undertake infrastructure and other projects in its strategically sensitive Northeast region (which shares borders with Tibet, Myanmar, Bangladesh and Bhutan). Not only this, Japan is also helping in developing the Andaman and Nicobar islands, which are important in terms of the trade routes and maritime security.

A strong partnership between both the nations becomes important for the entire region which has been witnessing growing Chinese incursions and its bad trade and political practices. China’s aggressive foreign policy initiatives in East China Sea and South China Sea, in addition to its attempts of establishing new Chinese naval facilities across the sea routes carrying Japanese trade items have irked many states across the globe, including Japan. Despite the world’s attempts to stop China’s illegitimate pracrices, the latter has continued with militarization of the seas. This mandates Japan (which shares sea routes with China) and India (which already has plenty of experience in keeping a vigil over the Indian Ocean) to devise workable policies to protect the concerned trade routes and play a bigger role in protecting the South Asian interests.

India and Japan are also working to build even stronger commercial and developmental relationship. In April 2020, Japanese government had proposed building an economy that is less dependent on one country – China, so that the nation can avoid supply chain disruptions. It strongly urged its companies to relocate production bases to Japan and diversify the locations of production facilities to other countries. It soon announced a USD 221 million China-exit subsidy for Japanese companies to shift their base to India and other South Asian regions. Later in August 2020, reports surfaced regarding the beginning of discussions between India, Japan and Australia on launching a trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI), a move proposed by Japan itself to reduce dependency on China, necessitated by Beijing’s aggressive political and military behaviour.

Over 1455 Japanese companies are currently operating across India. Some of the prominent Japanese investments in India include Maruti Suzuki, Uniqlo, Mitsubishi Group, Mitsui, Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd., Hitachi, Panasonic, Honda, Toshiba, Canon, and Yamaha. Talking about stable investment, Japan ranks fifth among major investors in India. Japan, which invested USD 36 billion in India between 2000-2021, is now looking to invest a historic USD 42 billion in the country. Besides, Japan has already been providing technical and financial assistance to India for Mumbai-Ahemedabad high speed rail project, the western dedicated freight corridor and 6 metro rails (Ahmedabad Bangalore Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata & Mumbai). India’s imports from Japan also showed a growth of approx. 73% in a span of 13 years reaching USD 10.9 billion in 2020-21 from USD 6.3 billion in 2007-08.

Indo-Japan strategic partnership can become a gamechanger in the Asian region, given both the nations continue to add concrete security content to their relationship. While boosting trade and investment need great emphasis, it must be garnished with greater strategic collaboration. Besides deepening defence and maritime security cooperation, both the countries must explore collaboration possibilities on infrastructure and other projects in third countries, including Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and in Africa. This may greatly help in enhancing strategic connectivity in the Indo-Pacific.

Commissioning Permanent Empowerment

India continues to invest in health, education, protection, skill-building, including financial literacy, and promoting gender-equitable attitudes and practices among India’s children and youth. This has started showing good results. For the first time since availability of records, India has more females as compared to males. The number of females per 1,000 males has increased from 991 in 2015-16 to 1,020 in 2019-21. The sex ratio at birth has also witnessed an increase from 919 in 2015-16 to 929 in 2019-21. Further, India’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has dropped by 10 points, which is a notable achievement. From 113 in 2016-18 to 103 in 2017-19, this ratio is witnessing an 8.8 % decline. Also, the data shows a decline in the crime against women during the year 2020 (3,71,503) as compared to 2019(4,05,326).

Defence is one domain where women have traditionally not been able to break the glass ceiling. Not anymore. Today women are not only working in every wing of the Indian Army, but now they are also getting permanent commissions. The number of women officers has almost tripled in last 6 years. In 2014-15, the number of women officers in the armed forces was around 3,000 in comparison to the 9,118 women officers, who are presently serving in the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force.

Notably, apart from flying aircrafts in the Navy and Air Force, Indian Army has also paved the way for women pilots by starting the ‘Army Aviation course’. Till recently, women were only part of ground duty in the Indian Army. To recruit women officers in Army Aviation, the Indian Army began the course from July 2021. Earlier, In May 2021, the Indian Army inducted its first batch of 83 female soldiers into the Corps of Military Police (CMP). Till November 2021, the Indian Army granted ‘Permanent Commission’ to 577 women officers since the Supreme Court verdict in February 2020. A Permanent Commission gives a full-time career in the Army till an officer retires. It simply means that if an officer gets selected through Permanent Commission entry, he/she can serve the nation up to the age of retirement (60).

For the first time in history, NDA will recruit women officers, a total of 20, including 10 for army, 3 for navy and 6 for airforce. It is noteworthy that the total number of applicants for the exam was 5,75,856, of which 1,77,654 women appeared for the exam. Earlier, In October last year, the Union Cabinet approved the affiliation of 100 Schools in the Government and private sector with Sainik School Society, which will provide an opportunity for girls to join the Armed Forces and contribute to national security.

Since, the Vedic times, women play a crucial role in the upliftment of society, and by paving way for more & more avenues for women, in not just defence but also in other sectors would lead to a ‘New India’ where men & women are making equal contribution in the overall development of the nation.

Role of Holi for GenAlpha

The pandemic has accelerated the rise of robotics, digitalisation and the onset of the Fifth Industrial Revolution, where humans and machines will dance together, metaphorically. GenAlpha is already beginning to lead a life complemented by artificial intelligence and in a world of immersive experiences of augmented and virtual reality. Today, across the country, these kids are asking the question, why should we go out and celebrate this festival of colours, smells and flavours?

Few years back, University of Sydney (Department of Theatre and Performance Studies) had carried out a research which showed that actors experience significantly higher levels of depression,anxiety and stress than general population, and both men and women actors use alcohol at levels well above WHO guidelines for healthy consumption and 80 percent of actors are active users of either legal or illicit drugs. It had found that around 40 percent of actors had difficulties in relaxing or ‘letting go’ after performing an emotionally and physically demanding role.

The adjective ‘virtual’ means ‘being almost or nearly something’ or ‘made to appear to exist by computer’. Similarly, dictionary meaning of ‘artificial’ is ‘not genuine or natural but made by people’ or ‘not what it appears to be’. The immersive experiences of the world of virtual reality is not very different to performing an emotionally and physically demanding role. Therefore, getting out of role of ‘virtual reality’ and immersing into ‘real reality’ is essential for these kids. Holi is perhaps the best occasion for this reality check.

Holi is one of the most joyous and invigorating festivals of the country. Marking the beginning of Spring, it celebrates life and all of its colours in unanimity and reflects the very essence of this season. It is undeniable that the vibrancy of colors brings in joy and a lot of positivity in our life. Holi also has its historic, spiritual, religious, social and psychological sides, which make it much more exciting, giving us the reason to heartily enjoy and cherish the occasion.

This festival of sumptuous food, exotic aroma, and humorous pouring and throwing of colours has a healing effect on all of us. Letting GenAlpha immerse into ‘real reality’ is new positioning of this ancient tradition, Holi.

Diverse Success of Indian Equities

India is a diverse country in many ways and perhaps one such arena is the age of successful companies in the country. On one hand, India boasts the third largest startup ecosystem with an increasing number of unicorns, and on the other hand, the listed companies are breaking their own record when the Indian equity market enters the top five clubs.

For the first time, India’s equity market has entered the top five clubs in the world in terms of market capitalization. The country’s total market cap stands at $3.21 trillion, ahead of some of the most loved markets of the world, namely, the UK ($3.19 trillion), Saudi Arabia ($3.18 trillion), and Canada ($3.18 trillion). At the start of this year, the UK and France were ranked fifth and sixth with a market capitalization of $3.7 trillion and $3.5 trillion, respectively.

The tumultuous situation around the globe, in the background of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, has overturned the ranking of market capitalisation. The dent, perhaps, has been borne massively by European Nations. Case in point, Germany, which was formerly one of the top five markets, is now ranked tenth. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has climbed three places from 10th to 7th. The country, especially its largest firm Aramco, will benefit from a jump in oil prices this year.

The recovery of Indian markets over the last few days could be a reflection of the positive wave seen after election results, in addition to the ongoing peace talks regarding the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Further, now in India the long-term capital gains on listed equity shares, units etc. are liable to a maximum surcharge of 15 per cent, while the other long term capital gains are subjected to a graded surcharge which goes up to 37 per cent. There is a cap on the surcharge on long term capital gains arising on transfer of any type of assets at 15 per cent. These steps will give a boost to the startup community for sure.

Today India has the third-largest number of Unicorns in the world. More than 10 thousand start-ups have been registered in the last 6 months. Recent exponential growth in the number of unicorns in India is not only backing innovative solutions but also large scale deployments.

India has become a hotbed of start-ups including some of the difficult domains like defence. India has also deregulated many sectors like Drones, Space, Geo-spatial mapping and made major reforms in the outdated telecom regulations related to IT sector and BPO. The spirit of Entrepreneurship is high and shining bright in the times of Atmanirbhar Bharat. This strengthening of Indian Equity market’s standing in the global ranking bodes well for these wealth creators.

Advanced Fuels to Fuel Advancement

The 21st century India has rightly adopted an agile approach for its growth and a lot of focus has been on transforming the way the economy creates value. Last few years have gone into laying foundations for new avenues and Smart solutions, especially ones that are helping to save environment, that too exponentially.

The auto-industry is brewing with many such solutions and many of them have already hit the ground. The use of Alternative Fuels are also being looked upon with keen endorsement. From electricity run cars and propane vehicles to natural gas-powered buses and trucks running on bio-diesel, the use of alternative fuels is becoming a craze like never before. Unlike conventional energy sources, alternative fuels have various sources to be harnessed for varied purposes. Also, in a country where we need millions of new jobs every year, renewable energy creates new jobs opportunities also.

Alternative fuels are non-conventional and advanced fuels, which can be used in place of existing fossil fuels like petroleum products, coal, natural gas and others. They are being highly preferred over conventional fuels because of their obvious advantages like relatively low cost, environmental and emission benefits, domestic availability, employment generation, storage benefit etc. Bio-diesel, bio-alcohol like methanol, ethanol, butane, refuse or waste-derived fuel, chemically stored electricity like batteries and fuel cells, hydrogen, non-fossil methane, non-fossil natural gas, vegetable oil, propane and other biomass sources are some of the alternative fuels, being used worldwide. Alternative fuels are often low-cost and they also produce less waste and particulate matter, carbon monoxide, unburnt hydrocarbons and sulphur dioxide.

The world’s most advanced technology – developed Green Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV) Toyota Mirai was also very recently launched in the country. It is an important initiative which will promote clean energy and environmental protection by reducing dependence on fossil fuels, thereby making India ‘Energy Self-reliant’ by 2047. Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle (FCEV), powered by Hydrogen is one of the best Zero Emission solutions, which is completely environment friendly with no tailpipe emissions other than water.

The government is said to be working plans to shift public transportation to 100% clean energy sources. It has been stated that the automobile companies will start manufacturing flex-fuel variants within six months and that most vehicles in India will soon run on 100% ethanol. Though the most commonly used flex-fuels use 85% petrol and 15% ethanol presently, the upside of ethanol-based fuels is that the ratio of ethanol to petrol can be adjusted to any combination. It is also important to mention that unlike CNG cars, flex-fuel requires minimal modifications to the fuel system and engine to effectively use the fuel. Therefore, flex-fuel compatibility has to be factory-engineered and cannot be fitted or modified in the after-market. India has permitted ethanol production from B-heavy molasses, C-heavy molasses, grains unfit for human consumption, sugarcane juice, sugar, sugar syrup, surplus rice and maize, so that they don’t cause food shortage. Contrary to the popular notion with regard to an aversion to changes, Bihar became the first state in the country to have its own ethanol policy. Ethanol Production Promotion Policy, 2021 of the state permits ethanol production in Bihar from all feed stocks allowed by National Policy on Biofuels, 2018, and also by National Biofuel Co-ordination Committee.

Protecting Rights of Digi-Consumer

The definition of consumerism has changed as the world scouts through technological leaps, digital deliveries, virtual reality, booming entrepreneurship and compound collaborations. All these undertakings have opened gates to many new facets of consumerism, presenting both opportunities and alarms. In 2021, retail e-commerce sales amounted to approx. 4.9 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide, thanks to the pandemic-induced digital activities around the globe. This figure could reach about 7.4 trillion dollars by 2025. While non-physical buying like e-commerce, social media shops, stocks & insurance, tickets & bookings, infotainment subscriptions, e-property dealings etc. grows outrageously, the absence of centralised prescribed rights of the digital buyers & consumers is adding to the backlog of cases and issues which may jeopardise global future endeavours.

The requirements are not just regarding not just the grievance reddressal of the e-buyer(s) but also their data protection and digital security. One could refer to the ‘Right to be forgotten’ on these lines, which empowers individuals to ask organisations to delete their personal data. The concept has been discussed and put into practice in several jurisdictions, including Argentina, the European Union (EU), and the Philippines. The European Court of Justice, in fact, legally solidified the “right to be forgotten” as a human right when the court ruled against Google in the ‘Costeja’ case in May 2014. Such a right can be a good point to start with for India too, which however, has much more complex systems, restrained resources and a flood of data breach cases waiting for just a proper redressal system to be in place.

The recent release of the detailed guidelines by RBI are an effort worth appreciating. The guidelines aim to strengthen India’s digital payments structure and improve security, control and compliance among banks, gateways, wallets and other non-banking entities that are contributing for India to meet its goal of going cashless. The new rules come at a time when India’s payments ecosystem is also vulnerable to frauds and cyber breaches.

RBI’s efforts for consumer protection had begun in 1995 with the setting up of the Complaints Redressal Cell. Later, three Ombudsman schemes of RBI namely the Banking Ombudsman Scheme (2006), the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies (2018) and Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions (2019) were launched. These three were merged to launch a more systematic and centralised scheme i.e. the Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) in November 2021. Some other steps by RBI include launch Complaint Management System (2019) and formulation of the Charter of Customer Rights, etc.

When it comes to traditional buying also, India has taken various measures to safeguard the consumer rights of the citizens. At top of this, is the Consumer Protection Act, 2019 that provides for the establishment of three-tier quasi-judicial machinery, called Consumer Commissions, to provide simple and speedy redressal of consumer disputes. Further, provisions have been made for e-filing and e-payment, video conferencing based hearing, court-monitored mediation, etc. to facilitate early disposal of cases. The Act also lays down provisions for E-Commerce Rules, 2020 and Direct Selling Rules, 2021. As per the latest data available, there are 632 Consumer Commissions operational in the country. 2,83,889 cases were disposed of from 2019 to 2021. As for the enhancement of consumer grievance redressal mechanism, the Department of Consumer Affairs has expanded “E-Daakhil” facility across 11 more states/UTs in the last one year (facility available now in total 23 states/UTs). Helpline number of the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal ( i.e. 155260) has also been added to the NCH portal for filing grievances relating to financial cyber frauds.