The Evening Wrap: PM Modi holds talks with Bhutan King

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck focusing on ways to bolster bilateral engagement in a range of areas including economic cooperation. “The two leaders covered the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and issues of national statements,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said after the meeting. The King began his two-day visit to India on Monday amid some concerns in New Delhi over China’s attempts to expand influence over Thimphu. Certain remarks by Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering on the Doklam tri-junction were seen by many as the Himalayan nation cosying up to Beijing though Bhutan maintained that there is no change in its stance on the border dispute. “India and Bhutan remain in close touch and coordination relating to our national interests and India has explicitly brought out our position on the demarcation of the (Doklam) trijunction,” Kwatra said after the meeting between the two leaders. Earlier on Monday, the Bhutanese King was received at the Delhi airport by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, in a special gesture reflecting the importance New Delhi has attached to the visit. On Monday evening, Jaishankar called on the visiting dignitary and said the King’s vision for Bhutan’s future and for strengthening the unique partnership with India is deeply appreciated. Bhutan is a strategically important country for India and the defence and security ties between the two sides have witnessed significant expansion in the last few years. The strategic ties witnessed an upward trajectory in the last few years in the backdrop of a 73-day face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Doklam tri-junction in 2017. The Doklam plateau is considered an important area for India’s strategic interest. The standoff at Doklam tri-junction in 2017 began after China tried to extend a road in an area that Bhutan claimed belonged to it. India had strongly opposed the construction as it would have impacted its overall security interests. The India-China face-off was resolved following several rounds of talks. In October 2021, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on a “three-step roadmap” to expedite negotiations to resolve their festering boundary dispute. Bhutan shares an over 400-km-long border with China and the two countries have held over 24 rounds of boundary talks in a bid to resolve the dispute. In a recent interview, the Bhutanese Prime Minister had said that China has an equal say in resolving the border dispute in Doklam. India has consistently been Bhutan’s top trading partner, and remains the leading source of investments in Bhutan. Invented names will not alter reality in Arunachal Pradesh: India India on April 4 rejected China’s renaming of several places in Arunachal Pradesh saying “invented names” will not affect the status of Indian sovereignty over the region. The official response came a day after China issued a list of eleven renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh. “This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,” said the official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. This is the third attempt by China to rename parts of Arunachal Pradesh. In 2017, China’s Ministry of Civil Aviation had issued a list of six places in Arunachal Pradesh and a similar list of 15 renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh were issued. The matter has also drawn the attention of the opposition Congress party which has accused Prime Minister Modi of giving a “clean chit to China in June 2020” after the Galwan clashes in East Ladakh that claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian soldiers. “Almost three years later, Chinese forces continue to deny our patrols access to the strategic Depsang Plains to which we previously had unimpeded access. And now the Chinese are attempting to undermine the status quo in Arunachal Pradesh,” said AICC Communications Chief Jairam Ramesh. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has also criticised PM Modi saying, “The country is suffering because of the clean chit that PM Modi gave the Chinese after Galwan.” “20,000 sq km land China has snatched, changing names of places — Prime Minister is silent. After all why so scared?” said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The April 3 announcement of renaming of eleven places in Arunachal in China came even as India is hosting the King of Bhutan which has announced that China has not occupied any of its territory with Prime Minister Lotay Tshering saying, “There is no intrusion”. The comments from PM Tshering indicated that Bhutan is giving priority to the Chinese position on the border issue which last flared up during the 2018 Doklam crisis. Lokpal disposed of 68% corruption complaints against public servants without any action: Parliamentary panel report Around 68% corruption complaints against public functionaries that landed with the Lokpal of India were “disposed off” without any action in the past four years. Only three complaints were fully investigated, according to information provided by the Lokpal’s office to a parliamentary panel. Nearly 90% complaints were not “in the prescribed format”. The Lokpal of India, the country’s first anti-corruption body instituted four years ago to investigate complaints against public functionaries, including the Prime Minister, submitted to a parliamentary panel that “it has not prosecuted even a single person accused of graft till date.” According to data provided by the Lokpal office to a parliamentary panel on the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), since 2019-20, the anti-corruption body received 8,703 complaints, out of which 5,981 complaints were disposed off. As many as 6,775 complaints were rejected for not being in the correct format. The office informed that only three complaints were fully investigated, and 36 complaints were at a preliminary stage. In 2022-23, as many as 2,760 complaints were received, out of which only 242 were in the prescribed format. On January 5, the Lokpal of India issued an order that henceforth, complaints received by the office of the Lokpal of India that were not in the prescribed form would not be entertained at any level. The report said: “The Committee infers from the data provided by Lokpal that a large number of complaints are being disposed of on the ground that the complaint is not in the prescribed format. Lokpal has submitted to the Committee that it has not prosecuted even a single person accused of graft till date.” Though the Act was passed in 2013, the country’s first Lokpal, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh, was appointed on March 19, 2019 along with eight other members. Justice Ghosh moved out of office in May 2022 after attaining 70 years of age and since then, Pradip Kumar Mohanty has been acting as the Chairperson of Lokpal. The Lokpal was allocated a budget of ₹197 crore in 2022-23 and till January 31, it incurred an expenditure of ₹152 crore. For the current fiscal, it has been allotted ₹92 crore. Last year, the Centre purchased a swanky office with an area of 59,504 sq. ft. for the Lokpal for ₹254.88 crore at the World Trade Centre in south Delhi. The panel, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Sushil Kumar Modi, said the Lokpal was set up to strengthen the legal and institutional mechanisms to deal with corruption in public life, “however, the performance of Lokpal seems to be far from satisfactory”. It said that the Lokpal was established in an effort to promote clean and responsive governance and therefore, the Lokpal should act as an enabler rather than an inhibitor. “The Committee recommends Lokpal not to reject genuine complaints merely on the technical ground that the complaint is not in the prescribed format. At this juncture when India is heading the G20 Anti Corruption Working group, Lokpal should rise to the occasion and make every effort to strengthen anti corruption landscape in the country,” the report said. Pakistan top court orders snap polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by May 15: report Pakistan’s Supreme Court said on April 4 the Election Commission’s decision to delay snap polls in two provinces was “illegal” and ordered that the elections be held between April 30 and May 15, Geo TV reported. The Election Commission of Pakistan had delayed polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces to October 8, citing a lack of resources. The elections were originally due to be held by April 30. The case’s hearing which lasted over a week witnessed high drama after two judges of the original five-member bench, Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Aminuddin Khan, recused themselves from hearing the case. Thereafter, the CJP constituted a bench comprising himself, Justice Ahsan and Justice Akhtar to proceed with the PTI petition. The apex court had in a 3-2 verdict, ruled on March 1 that elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, both of which have been under caretaker governments since the provincial assemblies were dissolved in January, should be held within 90 days. The government, however, had disputed the court directions, calling the verdict 4-3 instead after Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who were among the four judges who had written additional notes in the February 23 order, raised objections on the constitution of the bench as well as the invocation of the apex court’s suo motu jurisdiction by the chief justice, according to Dawn. The CJP, however, rejected the government’s request for a full court and instead suggested that a larger bench could be sought. In Brief: Seven people were killed, while 27 others have been rescued so far after 5 to 6 vehicles and around 30 tourists were hit by an avalanche at Nathu La in East Sikkim on April 4 morning. Search and rescue efforts are underway. “At about 11.30 a.m., a massive avalanche hit the Gangtok-Natu La road near MS 15. Approximately 5-6 vehicles along with 20-30 tourists on way to Natu La are feared to have been stuck under the snow,” officials said, adding that 27 people were rescued and taken to a nearby Army medical facility. However, seven persons succumbed to their injuries. Indian courts are jammed with cases and are seeing pendency increase by the day. At the same time, they are also functioning with fewer judges than the sanctioned number, the India Justice Report (IJR) 2022 said. As of December 2022, against a sanctioned strength of 1,108 judges, the High Courts were functioning with only 778 judges. The subordinate courts were found functioning with 19,288 judges against a sanctioned strength of 24,631 judges. Correspondingly, the number of cases pending per judge has been rising in most States over last five years while the sanctioned strength has remained more or less the same. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 04 April 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( PM Modi holds talks with Bhutan King; focus on bilateral ties, issues of national interest Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday [held talks with Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck]( focusing on ways to bolster bilateral engagement in a range of areas including economic cooperation. “The two leaders covered the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and issues of national statements,” Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said after the meeting. [Prime Minister Narendra Modi with King of Bhutan Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck during a meeting, in New Delhi, on April 4, 2023] The King began his two-day visit to India on Monday amid some concerns in New Delhi over China’s attempts to expand influence over Thimphu. Certain remarks by Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering on the Doklam tri-junction were seen by many as the Himalayan nation cosying up to Beijing though Bhutan maintained that there is no change in its stance on the border dispute. “India and Bhutan remain in close touch and coordination relating to our national interests and India has explicitly brought out our position on the demarcation of the (Doklam) trijunction,” Kwatra said after the meeting between the two leaders. Earlier on Monday, the Bhutanese King was received at the Delhi airport by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, in a special gesture reflecting the importance New Delhi has attached to the visit. On Monday evening, Jaishankar called on the visiting dignitary and said the King’s vision for Bhutan’s future and for strengthening the unique partnership with India is deeply appreciated. Bhutan is a strategically important country for India and the defence and security ties between the two sides have witnessed significant expansion in the last few years. The strategic ties witnessed an upward trajectory in the last few years in the backdrop of a 73-day face-off between Indian and Chinese troops in Doklam tri-junction in 2017. The Doklam plateau is considered an important area for India’s strategic interest. The standoff at Doklam tri-junction in 2017 began after China tried to extend a road in an area that Bhutan claimed belonged to it. India had strongly opposed the construction as it would have impacted its overall security interests. The India-China face-off was resolved following several rounds of talks. In October 2021, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on a “three-step roadmap” to expedite negotiations to resolve their festering boundary dispute. Bhutan shares an over 400-km-long border with China and the two countries have held over 24 rounds of boundary talks in a bid to resolve the dispute. In a recent interview, the Bhutanese Prime Minister had said that China has an equal say in resolving the border dispute in Doklam. India has consistently been Bhutan’s top trading partner, and remains the leading source of investments in Bhutan. Invented names will not alter reality in Arunachal Pradesh: India India on April 4 [rejected China’s renaming of several places in Arunachal Pradesh]( saying “invented names” will not affect the status of Indian sovereignty over the region. The official response came a day after China issued a list of eleven renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh. “This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,” said the official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. This is the third attempt by China to rename parts of Arunachal Pradesh. In 2017, China’s Ministry of Civil Aviation had issued a list of six places in Arunachal Pradesh and a similar list of 15 renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh were issued. The matter has also drawn the attention of the opposition Congress party which has accused Prime Minister Modi of giving a “clean chit to China in June 2020” after the Galwan clashes in East Ladakh that claimed the lives of at least 20 Indian soldiers. “Almost three years later, Chinese forces continue to deny our patrols access to the strategic Depsang Plains to which we previously had unimpeded access. And now the Chinese are attempting to undermine the status quo in Arunachal Pradesh,” said AICC Communications Chief Jairam Ramesh. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has also criticised PM Modi saying, “The country is suffering because of the clean chit that PM Modi gave the Chinese after Galwan.” “20,000 sq km land China has snatched, changing names of places — Prime Minister is silent. After all why so scared?” said Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The April 3 announcement of renaming of eleven places in Arunachal in China came even as India is hosting the King of Bhutan which has announced that China has not occupied any of its territory with Prime Minister Lotay Tshering saying, “There is no intrusion”. The comments from PM Tshering indicated that Bhutan is giving priority to the Chinese position on the border issue which last flared up during the 2018 Doklam crisis. Lokpal disposed of 68% corruption complaints against public servants without any action: Parliamentary panel report Around 68% corruption complaints against public functionaries that landed with the Lokpal of India were [“disposed off” without any action in the past four years](. Only three complaints were fully investigated, according to information provided by the Lokpal’s office to a parliamentary panel. Nearly 90% complaints were not “in the prescribed format”. The Lokpal of India, the country’s first anti-corruption body instituted four years ago to investigate complaints against public functionaries, including the Prime Minister, submitted to a parliamentary panel that “it has not prosecuted even a single person accused of graft till date.” According to data provided by the Lokpal office to a parliamentary panel on the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), since 2019-20, the anti-corruption body received 8,703 complaints, out of which 5,981 complaints were disposed off. As many as 6,775 complaints were rejected for not being in the correct format. The office informed that only three complaints were fully investigated, and 36 complaints were at a preliminary stage. In 2022-23, as many as 2,760 complaints were received, out of which only 242 were in the prescribed format. On January 5, the Lokpal of India issued an order that henceforth, complaints received by the office of the Lokpal of India that were not in the prescribed form would not be entertained at any level. The report said: “The Committee infers from the data provided by Lokpal that a large number of complaints are being disposed of on the ground that the complaint is not in the prescribed format. Lokpal has submitted to the Committee that it has not prosecuted even a single person accused of graft till date.” Though the Act was passed in 2013, the country’s first Lokpal, Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh, was appointed on March 19, 2019 along with eight other members. Justice Ghosh moved out of office in May 2022 after attaining 70 years of age and since then, Pradip Kumar Mohanty has been acting as the Chairperson of Lokpal. The Lokpal was allocated a budget of ₹197 crore in 2022-23 and till January 31, it incurred an expenditure of ₹152 crore. For the current fiscal, it has been allotted ₹92 crore. Last year, the Centre purchased a swanky office with an area of 59,504 sq. ft. for the Lokpal for ₹254.88 crore at the World Trade Centre in south Delhi. The panel, headed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member Sushil Kumar Modi, said the Lokpal was set up to strengthen the legal and institutional mechanisms to deal with corruption in public life, “however, the performance of Lokpal seems to be far from satisfactory”. It said that the Lokpal was established in an effort to promote clean and responsive governance and therefore, the Lokpal should act as an enabler rather than an inhibitor. “The Committee recommends Lokpal not to reject genuine complaints merely on the technical ground that the complaint is not in the prescribed format. At this juncture when India is heading the G20 Anti Corruption Working group, Lokpal should rise to the occasion and make every effort to strengthen anti corruption landscape in the country,” the report said. Pakistan top court orders snap polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by May 15: report Pakistan’s Supreme Court said on April 4 the Election Commission’s [decision to delay snap polls in two provinces was “illegal”]( and ordered that the elections be held between April 30 and May 15, Geo TV reported. The Election Commission of Pakistan had delayed polls in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces to October 8, citing a lack of resources. The elections were originally due to be held by April 30. The case’s hearing which lasted over a week witnessed high drama after two judges of the original five-member bench, Justices Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Aminuddin Khan, recused themselves from hearing the case. Thereafter, the CJP constituted a bench comprising himself, Justice Ahsan and Justice Akhtar to proceed with the PTI petition. The apex court had in a 3-2 verdict, ruled on March 1 that elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, both of which have been under caretaker governments since the provincial assemblies were dissolved in January, should be held within 90 days. The government, however, had disputed the court directions, calling the verdict 4-3 instead after Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah, who were among the four judges who had written additional notes in the February 23 order, raised objections on the constitution of the bench as well as the invocation of the apex court’s suo motu jurisdiction by the chief justice, according to Dawn. The CJP, however, rejected the government’s request for a full court and instead suggested that a larger bench could be sought. In Brief: [Seven people were killed, while 27 others have been rescued]( so far after 5 to 6 vehicles and around 30 tourists were hit by an avalanche at Nathu La in East Sikkim on April 4 morning. Search and rescue efforts are underway. “At about 11.30 a.m., a massive avalanche hit the Gangtok-Natu La road near MS 15. Approximately 5-6 vehicles along with 20-30 tourists on way to Natu La are feared to have been stuck under the snow,” officials said, adding that 27 people were rescued and taken to a nearby Army medical facility. However, seven persons succumbed to their injuries. Indian courts are jammed with cases and are seeing pendency increase by the day. At the same time, they are also functioning with fewer judges than the sanctioned number,[the India Justice Report (IJR) 2022 said](. As of December 2022, against a sanctioned strength of 1,108 judges, the High Courts were functioning with only 778 judges. The subordinate courts were found functioning with 19,288 judges against a sanctioned strength of 24,631 judges. Correspondingly, the number of cases pending per judge has been rising in most States over last five years while the sanctioned strength has remained more or less the same. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. 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