My first visit to India has been a source of great
enthusiasm to me. After all, it is a country with which Brazil shares many
similarities and complementarities, be they social, economic or cultural. Cooperation
in the area of ethanol production is certainly a topic of much interest to all,
and I see a great opportunity for partnership between our two countries. Brazil
has developed a wide and successful biofuels programme, which uses crops as raw
materials for the generation of clean and renewable energy. Brazil and India
have been growing sugarcane for centuries, and both countries recognize the
major socio-economic importance of this crop. However, with regard to ethanol,
there is a great disparity between us. While Brazil is the world’s
second biggest producer, with over 30 billion litres per annum, India produced
only 1.5 billion litres in 2018.140 Replacing fossil fuels with clean energy, such as ethanol,
has the potential to reduce pollution in large urban centres, as160
biofuel-powered vehicles emit much less carbon dioxide than diesel or petrol
engines. In addition, the use of ethanol will contribute to reducing India’s
need for oil imports and, together with policy reforms in the sugar sector,
will provide a solution to excess global sugar supply, providing greater price
stability for this commodity, and thus benefiting both countries.
Another area of great interest to both of us
is that of genetic improvement. Brazil and India own large zebu cattle herds,
and we share an interest in exchanging genetic material to improve their
quality. During this trip, our countries signed a Joint Statement under
which the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation shall provide
training to Indian researchers on in vitro fertilization techniques. In
addition,280 our countries shall collaborate on the installation and
operation of a Centre of Excellence in Dairy Farming in India. With regard
to bilateral trade, there is great potential for expansion in several
sectors, and agriculture in particular. Our current trade320 agenda is
highly concentrated. There is, therefore, much room to expand and diversify our
exchanges in both directions. On this visit headed by the President of Brazil, we
took the first step towards that goal by opening the Indian market for Brazilian
sesame seeds, and the Brazilian market for Indian corn seeds. However timid
this step might seem, it ought to be considered the herald of a new age
in which both countries are committed to working together for the expansion of
their bilateral agenda. The Mercosur and India Preferential Trade Agreement has
been in force since 2009. However, the420 agreement is rather limited, especially with regard to
agriculture, where the coverage ratio is less than 10% of our bilateral trade. Brazil
is willing to engage in efforts to substantially expand this agreement in
order to further contribute to diversifying and increasing our trade. I,
therefore, believe it is essential that our countries continue to work together
in order to480 overcome the barriers that hinder the free movement of
goods. As I said at the beginning, we have a lot in common, and
our similarities and complementarities justify a much closer and deeper
relationship.
China is taking unprecedented
precautions by locking down at least 13 cities and effectively restricting the
movement of at least 41 million people to contain the new coronavirus outbreak.
The epicentre is a live animal market in Wuhan from where over 800 cases have
now been560 reported, alongside a few from other countries. The regimented
Chinese response this time is quite unlike the SARS contagion in 2003 that
caused nearly 800 deaths in at least 17 countries. Having courted blame at that
time for slow response and secrecy and now with an economy more
integrated with the world, China has rightly upped the stakes. India has also
made preparations like thermal screening at airports. Our public health
system must also gear up. In recent years, outbreaks640 of H1N1,
dengue, chikungunya, etc have kept health departments across the country busy.
During the 2018 Nipah outbreak, Kerala faced challenges like mobilising diagnostic
facilities, planning treatment protocols, setting up isolation wards, procuring
protective gear and vaccines, spreading awareness and instituting community
surveillance. Other States must also prepare for such contingencies. It
bears underlining that zoonotic transmissions have been blamed700 for several
recent viral outbreaks like SARS, Ebola and Nipah. Virologists point to
animals, some eaten as meat, carrying many more viruses waiting to invade
humans. Besides, unhealthy practices like injecting excessive antibiotics
or steroids and the climate emergency are rendering industrial livestock
farming unsustainable. There is a way out: lab-grown and plant-based
meats. Old ways of life are changing, so are the diseases, so we need
new solutions. Ultra-processed foods that would once have been
considered ‘unnatural’ are commonplace today. In like vein, the day should
not be far when eating meat from actual animals would be outmoded and800 meat
substitutes would be the norm.
The Government has yet again
announced an attempt to privatize Air India. This is a good idea. The
Government has no business running an airline. What is worse is that running a
loss-making airline840 that is loaded with debt of around Rs 60,000 crore
definitely falls in the category of a moral hazard. Can the State, in all conscionability,
allow a private airline to go bust? The deal this time is sweeter, which is
not surprising because there were no takers last time. In summary,
the Government will sell its entire stake, not just 76% like it planned to do
last time. No one wants to be in a joint venture with the Government
in a business like aviation, and definitely not in Air India with all its
unions. It is unfair to expect buyers to take on too much debt from the
airline. Allowing sale-and-lease back opens up a financing option that most960 airlines use
for capital. A lower net worth threshold will expand the universe of potential
buyers. Sure, buyers may not980 want to buy part of the ground handling subsidiary, but
what is on offer this time is all of a proper airline. Indian airlines that are
bidding will not have to meet the net worth criterion. Foreign airlines
can bid as long as their bids are in keeping with India’s rules
governing foreign investment in airlines, though that was the
case the last time too. Will this get investors to bite? That depends on what
the buyer is looking for, and its ability to fund and manage a turnover. Air
India, along with Air India Express, has 146 aircrafts, of which it owns 82,
but its fleet is not contemporary. It has slots, although it has given away
many key routes to foreign airlines. It has a brand, but one that needs to be
refurbished. It is also unclear whether1120 the buyer will
have the freedom to prune the number of employees, although the airline now
has only 15,000 employees. The sweeter deal signals the Government’s intent.
But it now needs a buyer with the intent to close.
India has just completed 70 years as a Republic, the
largest democracy in the history of humankind. To many Indians, it may seem
odd, perhaps even disconcerting, that the nation continues to debate fundamental
principles about the nature and structure of our Government.
However, to students of history, this is a familiar tussle. One of the most
contentious of these is the issue of federalism. The crux of the debate is about
the division of powers between the Union Government and the
States. At different times, different factors have energised this debate.
Currently, two developments have once again brought the issue to1260 the
forefront. One is the apparent resistance by some Opposition-governed States
to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and the other is1280 a judicial
challenge by one of them to the 2008 Act, creating the National
Investigation Agency.
In understanding federalism, it is instructive to look at
historical parallels. This tussle between central authority and decentralization
is relevant for democracies, especially large or diverse ones. It goes without
saying that there is no such debate in authoritarian countries, where
the outcome of any such tussle can only have one outcome, with central
authority prevailing. As such, it is a good sign for Indian democracy that
this is a matter of debate. Even in democracies, this debate is less
relevant for smaller, more homogeneous nations, although there are those
among them that have enough diversity for the issue to be germane. But it1400 is really
only in large, diverse democracies that this debate is the liveliest. The best
example of it from another country is the United States, the second largest
democracy. After its colonies declared Independence from the British in 1776,
it1440 still took many years of war before they prevailed. But
even after the US war of independence ended in 1783, for several years
the newly independent nation continued to be an unwieldy amalgamation
of the original 13 colonies, such as New York and Virginia. With inadequate
central authority, the US was ungovernable. That only changed in 1789,
with the adoption of its Constitution, and the creation of a Union Government,
with General Washington elected as President in 1792, and an independent
judiciary. Ever since, from time to time, its apex court issues
judgments that either limit or enhance federal authority. Many resisters of
central authority in India often refer to the Constitution’s description of our
Republic as a “Union of States.” If that was all there was to it, India too
would be ungovernable, as the US was 250 years ago. Fortunately, the drafters of
our Constitution were cognizant of history, especially Dr. BR Ambedkar, who
had in fact completed1600 his higher education in the US.
