What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• What is Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)?
• BIMSTEC charter comes into force

Why in News?

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) can now accept new members and observers. This follows after the first charter of BIMSTEC came into force on May 20.

What is Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)?

• About
  • BIMSTEC It is an economic bloc that came into being in June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
    • BIMSTEC was initially formed with four member states- Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand on June 6, 1997.
    • Nepal became an observer state in 1998 and became full-time member of the bloc along with Bhutan in February 2004.
  • Members - Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Nepal and Bhutan.
  • Permanent Secretariat - Dhaka, Bangladesh
• Aim 
  • Its aim is to counter the onslaught of globalisation by accelerating regional growth through mutual cooperation by utilising regional resources and geographical advantages.
• Areas of cooperation
  • It is sector-driven cooperative organisation in which, initially, 6 sectors had been included:
    • Trade, Technology, Energy, Transport, Tourism and Fisheries
  • As of now, BIMSTEC has 14 priority areas of cooperation. 
    • Climate change was added as the 14th priority area of cooperation in 2008.
  • Among these priority areas, a member country chooses which of the 14 priority areas it is willing to take lead.
  • India is lead country for Transport & Communication, Tourism, Environment & Disaster Management, Counter-Terrorism & Transnational Crime.
• Importance of BIMSTEC
  • Around 22% of the world’s population live in the seven countries around the Bay of Bengal, with a combined GDP close to $2.7 trillion. 
  • All seven countries have sustained average annual rates of growth between 3.4% and 7.5% from 2012 to 2016. 
  • A fourth of the world’s traded goods cross the bay every year.
• Growth of BIMSTEC as a regional forum
  • The grouping had been largely ignored until India gave it a renewed push in October 2016, a month after the terrorist attack in Uri. 
  • Alongside the BRICS summit in Goa, India hosted an outreach summit with leaders of BIMSTEC countries.
    • After the Uri attack, various countries had supported New Delhi’s call for a boycott of the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) summit scheduled in Islamabad that November.
• Significance of BIMSTEC for all member countries
  • Bangladesh views BIMSTEC as a platform to position itself as more than just a small state on the Bay of Bengal.
  • Sri Lanka sees it as an opportunity to connect with Southeast Asia and serve as the subcontinent’s hub for the wider Indo-Pacific region. 
  • Nepal and Bhutan aim to connect with the Bay of Bengal region and escape their landlocked geographic positions. 
  • For Myanmar and Thailand, connecting more deeply with India would allow them to access a rising consumer market and, at the same time, balance Beijing and develop an alternative to China’s massive inroads into Southeast Asia.
  • For India, the region’s largest economy, a lot is at stake. It is a natural platform to fulfil India’s key foreign policy priorities of Neighbourhood First and Act East.
• Challenges
  • There is a growing discord between Bangladesh and Myanmar which has displaced more than a million Rohingya refugees who entered Bangladesh in 2017. 
  • Similar refugees from Myanmar have also streamed into Thailand ever since the February 2021 coup.
  • BIMSTEC has become a new battleground in the India-China battle for dominance.
    • China has undertaken a massive drive to finance and build infrastructure in South and Southeast Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative.
    • It has done so in almost all BIMSTEC countries, except Bhutan and India.

BIMSTEC charter comes into force

• Background
  • Following the pandemic, the leaders of the BIMSTEC nations met virtually on 30 March 2022 under the chairship of Sri Lanka and adopted the charter.
    • BIMSTEC charter was adopted during its 5th Summit in March 2022.
  • The chair of BIMSTEC was taken up by Thailand after the 5th leaders’ summit.
• Charter comes into force
  • In April 2024, Nepal’s parliament took up the BIMSTEC charter and ratified it which paved the way for the coming into force of charter.
  • As a result, BIMSTEC charter is said to have come into force on May 20, 2024.
• BIMSTEC has acquired a legal personality
  • With the coming into force of the charter, the BIMSTEC has acquired a ‘legal personality’.
    • Legal personality means that a person or entity has rights and duties in law.
  • Now, it will be able to enter into structured diplomatic dialogue with other groupings and countries. 
  • The coming into force of the charter will provide legal and institutional framework for meaningful cooperation and deeper integration of the Bay of Bengal region.

Q.1. What is legal personality?

Legal personality is the ability of an entity to have legal rights and obligations. It means that the entity can enter into contracts, sue and be sued, own property, and perform other legal actions. This status is granted to individuals (natural persons) and organizations (legal persons) like corporations, governments, and non-profits.

Q.2. What is SAARC?

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established on 8 December 1985. The Secretariat of the Association was set up in Kathmandu, Nepal, on 17 January 1987. SAARC has eight member countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri-Lanka).

Source: BIMSTEC acquires ‘legal personality’ after charter comes into force | MEA | The Print

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• Petitions Alleging Discrepancies in the Voter Turnout Data
• What is Form 17C and its Significance?
• What the ADR Petition is Seeking from the SC?
• What is the ECI's Response to the Claims of Disparities in the Voter Turnout Data?
• What do Experts Say on the Claims of Disparities in the Voter Turnout Data?

Why in News?

• The Supreme Court of India (SC) is slated to hear a petition filed by the NGO Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) questioning the authenticity of the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) voter turnout data.

Petitions Alleging Discrepancies in the Voter Turnout Data:

• The ADR has flagged a significant difference (of over 5%) in the initial turnout figures released by the ECI soon after the conclusion of polling and the final voter percentages published subsequently.
  • The Opposition has raised serious concerns over these discrepancies and the possibility of manipulation at the counting stage.
• In another petition before the SC, an independent candidate from the Rampur LS constituency has alleged that the concerned RO had not furnished copies of the Form 17C record of votes polled in his constituency.

What is Form 17C and its Significance?

• As per the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 (1961 Rules), the ECI has to maintain two forms - Forms 17A and 17C - that have data on the number of electors and the votes polled.
• While the Form 17A is used to record the details of every voter who comes into a polling booth and casts his or her vote, the Form 17C is an account of all the votes recorded.
• Under the 1961 Rules, a presiding officer is mandated to furnish a copy of the entries made in Form 17C to the polling agents of the candidates at the close of polling.
• The Form 17C has two Parts.
  • Part I contains crucial information -
    • The identification numbers of the EVMs used in the polling station,
    • The total number of electors assigned to the polling station,
    • The total number of voters as entered in the register for voters (Form 17A),
    • The number of voters who decided not to record their votes after signing the register,
    • The number of voters who were not allowed to vote,
    • The total number of test votes and votes recorded per EVM.
  • Part II contains the results of the counting carried out on the stipulated day.
    • The data in Form 17C is used by candidates to verify the results on counting day by matching it with the EVM count.
• In the event of any anomalies, an election petition may also be filed with the relevant High Court.

What the ADR Petition is Seeking from the SC?

• The ADR is seeking a direction to the ECI to upload polling station-wise voter turnout data on its website within 48 hours of the conclusion of polling for each phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
• According to the ADR, many times polling agents are not available at polling booths to obtain the Form 17C data.
  • This necessitates the publication of such crucial information online after each phase of polling in the General Elections 2024.

What is the ECI's Response to the Claims of Disparities in the Voter Turnout Data?

• In the hearing on the issue, the SC had asked why the EC could not upload voter turnout details.
• The ECI told the SC that there is no “legal mandate” to provide the Form 17C to any person other than the candidate or his agent.
  • However, it was the ECI’s voluntary and non-statutory initiative to disclose the voter turnout through voter turnout app, website and various press releases.
  • This was an initiative for transparency at a national level as prior to the app, information was gathered in a decentralised manner from returning parties, polling agents, sector magistrates, etc.
• The NGO had ignored the disclaimer that figures in the “non-statutory Voter Turnout App” were secondary and provisional data.
• According to the ECI, the petitions are part of a consistent mala fide campaign to raise doubts against the ECI in every possible way by voicing misleading allegations.

What do Experts Say on the Claims of Disparities in the Voter Turnout Data?

• The ECI always discloses absolute numbers of voter turnouts. However, this time they are only disclosing percentages.
• Unlike this time, the turnouts are generally released within 24 hours of the end of polling.
• Also, the increase in voter turnout in the final figures is unusually high this time.
• To infuse more transparency to the electoral process, the poll body should upload a scanned copy of Form 17C as soon as it is submitted by the Presiding Officer.

This is because smaller political parties cannot afford to have polling agents in all booths or constituencies due to financial constraints.

Source: No legal mandate to share voter turnout with anyone other than candidates and their agents, EC tells Supreme Court | THE HINDU

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• Israel- Palestine: Synopsis of the Conflict
• The issue of statehood to Palestine
• Ireland, Spain, Norway to formally recognise Palestine

Why in News?

Norway, Ireland and Spain have announced that they will formally recognise the state of Palestine. The recognition of Palestine is expected to take place on May 28.

This step may encourage other EU countries to do the same. This, in turn, could also lead to more action at the United Nations, further isolating Israel.

Israel- Palestine: Synopsis of the Conflict

• Early Phase
  • In the 19th century the land of Palestine was inhabited by a multicultural population (approx. 86% Muslim, 10% Christian, and 4% Jewish) – living in peace.
  • In the late 1800s, a group in Europe decided to colonize this land. Known as Zionists, their goal was to create a Jewish homeland.
    • They considered locations in Africa and the Americas, before settling on Palestine.
  • Hitler’s rise to power, led to increased Jewish immigration to Palestine. With the steady influx of Jews, the conflict in Palestine started to grow.
• UN Partition Plan
  • In 1947 the United Nations decided to intervene. However, it did not choose the principle of “self-determination of peoples.
  • Under considerable Zionist pressure, the UN recommended giving away 55% of Palestine to a Jewish state.
• 1947-1949 War 
  • Fighting began almost as soon as the Resolution of November 1947 was approved. 
  • On May 14, 1948, one day before the British Mandate (Palestine was a British colony) expired, Britain declared the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Israel, to be known as the State of Israel. 
  • This sparked a full-scale war (1948 Arab–Israeli War).
  • By the end of the war, Israel had conquered 78 percent of Palestine; and a new map was drawn up.
• Oslo peace process
  • In the 1993 a breakthrough agreement was negotiated between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Oslo, Norway.
  • Under this process, the Israeli government and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) agreed on a plan to implement a two-state solution.

The issue of statehood to Palestine

• Control of the Palestinian territories remains divided
  • The 1948 UN decision created Israel envisaged a neighboring Palestinian state.
  • However, even today, the control of the Palestinian territories remains divided and bids for UN membership have been denied.
    • The Palestine Authority currently has observer status at UN.
• Current status
  • Around 144 out of 193 member-states of the United Nations recognise Palestine as a state, including most of the global south, Russia, China and India.
  • However, so far, only a handful of the 27 EU members have done so, mostly former Communist countries as well as Sweden and Cyprus.
  • Britain, Australia and EU member Malta have indicated in recent months that they could soon follow suit.
• Increasing support in favour of Palestine
  • Recently, in May 2024, 143 of 193 countries in the United Nations (U.N.) General Assembly voted for full membership to the U.N. for the State of Palestine.
  • The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor has sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.
• Stand of Western Countries
  • The United States, Britain and other Western countries have backed the idea of an independent Palestinian state existing alongside Israel.
  • However, they insist Palestinian statehood should come as part of a negotiated settlement. 
    • There have been no substantive negotiations since 2009.
• Palestinian statehood and stand of India
  • India and Palestine have had a relationship since 1974, when India became the first non-Arab state to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
  • In 1988, India was one of the first countries to recognize the Palestinian State.
  • In 1996, India opened its Representative Office to Palestine in Gaza City which was shifted to Ramallah in 2003.
  • India has advocated the resumption of direct negotiations towards establishing a sovereign, independent and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognized borders, side by side at peace with Israel.

Ireland, Spain, Norway to formally recognise Palestine

• Recognition to State of Palestine 
  • Ireland, Spain and Norway announced that they would recognise a Palestinian state on May 28.
• Significance
  • Although the EU countries and Norway aren't recognizing a current Palestinian state, their support symbolizes a boost for the Palestinians' global image. 
  • This increases pressure on Israel to start peace talks.
  • Also, this would mark a significant accomplishment for the Palestinians, who believe it confers international legitimacy on their struggle.
• Israel’s response
  • Israel reacted rapidly by recalling its ambassadors to Ireland, Norway and Spain.
  • The Israeli government slams talk of Palestinian independence as a reward for the Hamas October 7 attack on southern Israel.
    • This attack killed 1,200 people and led to the abduction of over 250 others. 
  • It rejects any move to legitimize the Palestinians internationally.

Q.1. What is the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)?

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) was founded in 1964 with the purpose of liberating Palestine, achieving Palestinian self-determination, and securing the return of the refugees.

Q.2. What is the International Criminal Court?

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

Source: Spain, Ireland and Norway will recognize a Palestinian state on May 28. Why does that matter? | The Hindu | Indian Express