GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

The Ministry of Home Affairs notified the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), facilitating citizenship for undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, passed by Parliament in December 2019.

1. Dimension- Impact of CAA

Citizenship: CAA was introduced to benefit the six minorities from the neighbouring countries of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh. The citizens of India will not be impacted by the CAA.

Preservation: The objectives of the CAA are centred around removing legal barriers that impede the resettlement and attainment of Indian citizenship for migrants, thereby preserving their cultural, linguistic, and social identity. 

Economic benefits: Furthermore, the legislation aims to ensure economic, commercial, freedom of movement, and property acquisition rights for these migrants.

Why only these three countries? The CAA deals with religious persecution in three neighboring countries where the Constitution provides for a specific state religion. Followers of other religions have been persecuted in these three countries.

1. Dimension- Concerns vs Significance

Concerns

• Discrimination against Muslims: Critics argue that the CAA discriminates against Muslims. However, Muslims are not included in CAA as they are not in minority in the specified countries.
• Potential Impact on NPR and NRC: There are apprehensions about the potential implications of the CAA on the National Population Register (NPR) and the proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC).

Significance

• The Centre has defended the CAA on several grounds:
• Historical Obligation: India bears a historical responsibility and moral obligation to provide refuge to persecuted minorities from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh.
• Humanitarian Grounds: The CAA is framed as a humanitarian response to the plight of religious minorities who have endured persecution in the neighboring countries.
• Protection of Religious Minorities: The primary aim of the CAA is to offer legal protection and a pathway to citizenship for religious minorities.

2. Dimension- Connection with NRC

• The National Register of Citizens (NRC) has only thus far been introduced in Assam, a region battling challenges due to illegal immigration. The aim is two-pronged: to expunge unauthorised entries and act as a deterrent against prospective migrations.
• CAA has no link with NRC. 

In what could be a "very game-changing" development for India's trade with the world, many economies big and small have expressed willingness to start trading in rupee with India.

1: Dimension: India's push for using the rupee globally

• More and more countries are realising the advantages of trading in their own domestic currencies and a shift towards direct transactions between local currencies is gaining traction.
• Some of these countries include neighbours like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as well as nations from the Gulf.
• India has already commenced trade in rupees with neighboring countries like Nepal and Bhutan. Additionally, the rupee has been included in Sri Lanka's list of designated foreign currencies to facilitate trade.
• India's push for using the rupee globally began with its first-ever payment in rupees for crude oil purchased from the UAE.
• This initiative has encouraged the world's third-largest energy consumer to seek similar arrangements with other suppliers.
• To support the use of the Indian Rupee in international trade, changes have been made to the Foreign Trade Policy (FTP).
  • These alterations allow for trade settlement in rupees and aim to establish the INR as a global currency.
  • In July 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) authorised Indian banks to open and maintain special rupee Vostro accounts for partner trading countries' banks. These accounts hold the foreign banks' rupee holdings with their Indian counterparts.

2: Dimension: The Economic Perspective (significance)

• Reduced transaction cost: By avoiding the need to convert transactions into a third currency, both parties can significantly reduce transaction costs.
• Stability: Trade using the Indian Rupee is also advantageous because the currency remains stable against most international currencies. This stability has attracted different nations to build trade relations based on rupee trade.
• Solution for dollar shortage: Besides, the rupee trade mechanism has proven beneficial for countries experiencing a shortage of US dollars.

In a major technological leap for India’s nuclear deterrent, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) conducted India’s first successful flight test of the indigenously developed Agni-V missile. 

• The flight test was named Mission Divyastra.
• The weapon is equipped Multiple Independently Targetable Re-entry Vehicle (MIRV) technology.

About Agni-5 missiles

• Agni Vis a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile. 
• It has a range of up to 5,000 km.
• It is road-mobile and can be transported by a truck and launched via a canister.
• This system is also equipped with indigenous Avionics systems and high-accuracy sensor packages that ensure that the re-entry vehicles reach the target points with the desired accuracy.
• With its range, it can bring almost the entire Asia including the northernmost part of China as well as some regions in Europe under its striking range.
• It will greatly enhance India's national security — delivering multiple warheads to different targets with precision. 
• The country has already deployed the Agni 1 to 4 missiles — with ranges from 700 km to 3,500 km.

India continues to be the world’s top arms importer, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Key-highlights of the Report

• The period between 2014 and 2018 was the first five-year stretch in 50 years (since 1960-1964) when deliveries from Russia or the erstwhile Soviet Union (prior to 1991) made up less than half of India’s arms imports.
• India was the world’s top arms importer. Its arms imports increased by 4.7 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23. Although Russia remained India’s main arms supplier (accounting for 36 per cent of its arms imports), this was the first five-year period since 1960–64 when deliveries from Russia (or the Soviet Union prior to 1991) made up less than half of India’s arms imports. 
• The increase in French arms exports was largely due to deliveries of combat aircraft to India, Qatar and Egypt. India was the largest single recipient of French arms exports, accounting for nearly 30 percent in the period 2019-2023.
• France’s overall arms exports increased by 47 percent between 2014–2018 and 2019–2023. This is the first time that the country became the second-biggest arms exporter after the US and just ahead of Russia.
  • The Indian Air Force operates 36 Rafale fighter jets customised in accordance its needs, which were procured after a Euro 7.87 billion deal the two countries signed in September 2016.
  • Furthermore, India is in talks for 26 Rafale Marine jets to be procured for the Navy’s aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. 
• Pakistan significantly increased its arms imports by 43 percent. Pakistan was the fifth largest arms importer in 2019-23 and China became even more dominant as its main supplier, providing 82 percent of its arms imports.
• For the first time in 25 years, the US has become the largest supplier to Asia and Oceania.

The Indian economy is likely to transition to an upper-middle income country, with per capita income of USD 4466, between the financial years 2033 and 2036, as per India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).

• Until 2006, the World Bank classified India as a low-income country. In 2007, India moved to the lower-middle income country and since then has remained there.
• India’s per capita GDP stood at USD 2,390 in 2022.
• A country with per capita income in the range of USD 4,466 to USD 13,845 is categorised as upper-middle income economy.

1. Citizenship by Naturalisation: It is a common route to citizenship and usually applies to those who have entered the country through legal means, such as political asylum or having lawfully lived there for a mandated period. If a person has been a normal resident of India for 12 years (during the 12 months preceding the date of application and 11 years in total in an aggregate of 14 years) and meets all of the requirements in the Citizenship Act's third schedule, he or she can apply for citizenship by naturalization.
2. Foreign Trade Policy: It is a set of guidelines and instructions established by the DGFT in matters related to the import and export of goods in India. The Government of India, Ministry of Commerce and Industry announces Export Import Policy every five years.
3. Low Income Country: The World Bank classifies economies for analytical purposes into four income groups: low, lower-middle, upper-middle, and high income. The Low Income designation is defined by the World Bank as all countries with a gross national income per capita less than USD 1,036.
4. National Register of Citizens (NRC): The National Register of Citizens (NRC), established in 1951, serves as a comprehensive database of Indian citizens. It is kept within the administrative domains of deputy commissioners and sub-divisional officers.
5. Nuclear Capable Missile: Simply put, it is the ability to carry a nuclear warhead. It can carry either a conventional warhead or a nuclear one.
6. Oceania, collectivename for the islands scattered throughout most of the Pacific Ocean. The term, in its widest sense, embraces the entire insular region between Asia and the Americas.