The Cost of Elections

KCR Dissolves Telangana House

Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao dissolved the state assembly, accusing opposition parties of stalling development projects and denting the morale of administration with unfounded allegations of large-scale corruption, and sought early elections.

Chandrashekar Rao, president of TRS, also announced a list of candidates for 105 out of 119 assembly constituencies, hoping to have the polls by November-end.

Addressing media immediately after the governor accepted his cabinet’s decision and advised him to head the caretaker government, Rao, popularly known as KCR, said his party would go solo in the polls to win at least 100 seats comfortably. He ruled out any alliance with BJP, and said TRS will remain a secular party come what may.

He said TRS will have a friendly relation with AIMIM in Telangana which had extended support to the TRS government during early days of Telangana state against attempts to destabilise the government.

Rao ended weeks-long suspense over dissolving of the state assembly on Thursday afternoon. He attributed the decision to opposition parties’ unfounded corruption allegations that, he claimed, were weakening the morale of the administration. The move will help curb growing ‘political fragility’ in Telangana, he said.

Rao said his colleagues and bureaucrats held discussions with the CEC’s office and hoped the poll notification would come by October first week and elections would be held in November for announcing results in December first week.

KCR is said to be against holding assembly elections along with the Lok Sabha elections, fearing adverse effects owing to national-level political alignments. In normal course, both the elections would have taken place together around April-May 2019.

Rainbow Nation: SC Decriminalises Sec 377

Defanging a 158-year-old Victorian era law, the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment, legalised consensual sexual relations among gay adults by partially striking down Section 377—a momentous event, perhaps the first step towards the gradual embrace of the LGBTQ community and hesitant acquiescence of alternative sexuality.

In a unanimous 5-0 verdict, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra led Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra in declaring that a two-judge bench’s decision in December 2013 in the Suresh Koushal case, which had re-criminalised Section 377, was “arbitrary, fallacious and retrograde”.

In the Suresh Koushal case, the SC had reversed a Delhi high court verdict which had decriminalised gay sex among consenting adults by reading down the controversial Section 377.

As it righted the error it made five years ago with yet another verdict which seeks to expand personal freedoms, the court invoked “transformative constitutionalism” and struck a confessional note, saying “history owed an apology to LGBTQ members and their families” for the wrongs inflicted on them.

In the four concurrent opinions cumulatively running into 493 pages that abhorred imposition of the majoritarian view on the LGBTQ community to snuff out their fundamental rights, Chief Justice Misra, writing for Justice Khanwilkar and himself, said targeting LGBTQ community members for their sexual preference violated their fundamental right to equality (Article 14), right to freedom of expression (Article 19) and right to choice coupled with right to dignity (Article 21).

Section 377 IPC, so far as it penalises any consensual sexual relationship between two adults, be it homosexuals (man and man), heterosexuals (man and woman) or lesbians (woman and woman), cannot be regarded as constitutional. However, if anyone, by which we mean both a man and a woman, engages in any kind of sexual activity with an animal, the said aspect of Section 377 is constitutional and it shall remain a penal offence under Section 377 IPC,” the CJI said.

The CJI, who read the judgment for Justice Khanwilkar and himself to begin the pronouncement of verdict, started by saying there were four separate but concurrent opinions. The tense anticipation inside the court melted the moment he said Section 377 was partially struck down to decriminalise gay sex. Only the strict court etiquette prevented gathered LGBTQ members from applauding in relief.

Justice Nariman said, “Persons who are homosexuals have a fundamental right to live with dignity... We further declare that such groups (LGBTQ) are entitled to the protection of equal laws, and are entitled to be treated in society as human beings without any stigma being attached to any of them. We further direct that Section 377 insofar as it criminalises homosexual sex and transgender sex between consenting adults is unconstitutional.” He directed the Centre to take all measures for wide publicity of the judgment at regular intervals through media and also initiate sensitisation programmes for society, government and police officials to “reduce and finally eliminate the stigma associated with such persons” by making them aware of the plight of the LGBTQ community.

Justice Chandrachud, who authored the lengthiest judgment at 181 pages, said it was axiomatic that lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgenders and queer members continued to be denied a truly equal citizenship seven decades after Independence. “The law has imposed upon them a morality which is an anachronism. Their entitlement should be as equal participants in a society governed by the morality of the Constitution. That in essence is what Section 377 denies to them. The shadows of a receding past confront their quest for fulfilment,” he said.Justice Chandrachud was cited by colleague judges for laying the foundation for liberating the LGBTQ community from Section 377 as he, in the Puttaswamy judgment in August last year, had ruled that sexual orientation was part of right to life and indirectly said that the Suresh Koushal judgment was not in sync with constitutional ethos.

“It is difficult to right the wrongs of history. But we can certainly set the course for the future. That we can do by saying, as I propose to say in this case, that lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders have a constitutional right to equal citizenship in all its manifestations. Sexual orientation is recognised and protected by the Constitution,” he said. Justice Malhotra, writing a 50-page judgment, said, “History owes an apology to the members of this community and their families, for the delay in providing redressal for the ignominy and ostracism that they suffered through centuries. The members were compelled to live in fear of reprisal and persecution. This was on account of ignorance of majority to recognise that homosexuality is a natural condition, part of a range of human sexuality.

“The misapplication of this provision (Section 377) denied them the fundamental right to equality guaranteed under Article 14. It infringed on the fundamental right to live a life of dignity. LGBT persons deserve to live life unshackled from shadows of being ‘unapprehended felons’.”

India-US: 2+2 talks

An intensifying strategic embrace marked the first India-US ‘2 plus 2’ dialogue with the inking of ‘Comcasa’, a defence pact that breaks historical barriers, allowing India to access encrypted technologies, and a pointed call to Pakistan to desist using terror proxies.

The dialogue and agreements commit New Delhi and Washington to working together on the open seas, with critical emphasis on the Indo-Pacific with its implied reference to China, sensitive technology and counter-terrorism even though trade and economic disputes remain unresolved.

The tone for the talks was set by the special gesture of foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman receiving counterparts Mike Pompeo and James Mattis at the airport on Wednesday evening.

The tenor of discussions on Thursday made it evident that there would be no combative negotiation on a laundry list of issues. The reference to Pakistan and use of terror proxies closely reflects India’s concerns and a growing impatience of the Trump administration, with Islamabad backing anti-US Taliban in Afghanistan even as it awaits the new government’s actions.

Sources said the four leaders set a broad direction, describing the talks as “positive and constructive”. With both sides willing to listen, convergence was the buzzword and after the dialogue, Pompeo and Mattis called on PM Narendra Modi, a meeting that lasted for almost an hour. The most important takeaway was the signature of Comcasa. The pact will facilitate access to “advanced defence systems and enable India to optimally utilise its existing US-origin platforms”, a joint statement said.

The “foundational” pact will help services of both countries to advance interoperability, as US becomes one of India’s closest defence partners. Comcasa comes into effect immediately, and is actually an enabling agreement, with terms that apply to all US-origin platforms that India has already bought or plans to buy.

In discussions on Iran sanctions, US made it clear that it expects a sharp reduction of energy imports by India. Swaraj insisted India was an energy-reliant economy. But it appears there may be a carve-out for Chabahar port, as was the case in previous sanctions legislation too. India has been developing the port as an access to Afghanistan free of Pakistan’s influence. At a press conference, Pompeo said the US understood that countries like India will “take time to unwind” even as he said India had been told that sanctions on Iranian crude oil will be enforced on November 4. Though waivers will be considered, US expects purchase of Iranian crude to go to zero.

While Indian officials said they did not raise CAATSA and sanctions on Russia (a major Indian defence partner), they were assured by Mattis that “legacy platforms” will be respected. Pompeo said, “With respect to S-400, no decision was made. We are working to impose CAATSA Section 231 in a way that is lawful and to exercise that waiver only where it makes sense.”

The joint statement “welcomed inclusion of India by the US among the top tier of countries entitled to license-free exports, re-exports, and transfers under License Exception Strategic Trade Authorization.” The two countries also announced readiness to begin negotiations on an industrial security annex to support closer defence industry cooperation.

As expected ‘Indo-Pacific’ took up most time. Pompeo said, “India and the US United States have a natural starting point for advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific.” The time taken on this issue signalled its importance as India and US seek to build a counter-narrative to China’s aggressive moves..

The Jio effect

Two years since Reliance Jio launched its services on Sept 5, 2016, consumers have been the absolute winners, with tariffs hitting rock bottom (voice almost free), data consumption increasing multifold. But the price wars have meant that smaller telcos have exited the market and even big ones such as erstwhile no. 2 and 3 operators — Vodafone India and Idea Cellular — have had to merge to be competitive. Take a look at some fundamental changes in the sector since Jio’s launch…

India’s Media & Entertainment Industry to Touch ₹2.66 trillion by 2022-23

The Indian media and entertainment industry is on the road to recovery after facing headwinds due to major regulatory interventions such as demonetisation, GST and real estate regulatory authority, resulting in lower consumption and advertising spends during FY18. Strong and consistent economic growth fuelled by a rise in consumption and growth in digitisation has enabled the sector to grow at 11% over FY17 to reach ₹1,436 billion in FY18, says a report by KPMG. The long-term outlook remains strong on the back of a buoyant economy, robust domestic demand, particularly in rural and regional markets and growing digital access and consumption, it added.

Telecom, Media and Technology convergence is now a reality and will likely cause significant disruptions across the value chain

Services growth slows : August 2018

India’s services sector activity fell in August from July’s 21-month peak as new business orders declined, following which firms raised their staffing levels at a modest pace amid rising input cost inflation.

The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services Business Activity Index fell from July’s peak of 54.2 to 51.5 in August owing to weakest growth in new work in three months.

In PMI parlance, a print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.

Meanwhile, the headline seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index fell to 51.9 in August from July’s 21-month high of 54.1, owing to weaker growth in both the manufacturing and service sectors.

On the price front, input cost inflation was the strongest in nine months.

On a positive note, business confidence rose to the highest level since May.