Editorial 1: Terror in Poonch
Context:
- The attack on an Army truck in Poonch in Jammu that killed five soldiers highlights the continuing vulnerability of this border area in spite of tiers of security — the army at the Line of Control, the Rashtriya Rifles in areas proximate to the border and the police in the hinterland.
Cross Border terrorism
- India has one of the longest and most varied of international borders. Historical and political reasons have left India with an artificial unnatural border.
- The term ‘cross-border’ implies a movement or an activity across a border between the two countries. Cross-Border Terrorism is a form in which soil of one country is used to create terror in bordering countries.
Causes of high cross border terror incidents
- Support from non-state actors
- Porous borders
- Corruption
- Organized crime linkages
- Support from the locals
Recent incidents
- In January, police held cross-border terrorists responsible for the atrocity perpetrated against civilians in Dangri village in the Rajouri district, a border district neighbouring Poonch.
- Six people were killed. Despite an extensive search of the area, the assailants were not caught. Thursday’s attack took place near the site of a 2021 ambush in which nine soldiers were killed.
- An intense search operation for over a month by security forces was not successful in locating the militants.
Poonch and Rajouri’s historic Vulnerabilities
- In the 1990s phase of militancy, Poonch and Rajouri were seen as easy gateways for cross-border infiltrators.
- But for a good part of the last 20 years, the hostility of the local communities towards militants had ensured they did not linger there too long.
- The increasing number of incidents in the two borders have shown the ease with which these elements are able to remain untraced, even as they mingle in local communities for food and shelter.
- This change should worry those in charge of the UT’s security. Equally worrying are the drone deliveries of weapons in the border areas, as pointed out by India at the UN Security Council just last week.
Conclusion
- Clearly, those behind the ambush are hoping to throw a spoke into India’s planning for the G20 meeting on tourism scheduled to be held in the Kashmir Valley next month. But such cowardly actions can only strengthen Delhi’s resolve to go ahead with its plans for the meeting.
Editorial 2: Amendment will empower competition law, but glitches remain
Context:
- On April 12, the Competition (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act) received presidential assent and became law. The Act is a result of over four years of discussions on empowering the Competition Commission of India (CCI) to effectively eliminate anti-competition.
Competition Commission of India
- It was established on the on the recommendations of Raghavan committee. Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002, it was duly constituted in March 2009.
- The Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969 (MRTP Act) was repealed and replaced by the Competition Act, 200.
- CCI aims at establishing a competitive environment in the Indian economy through proactive engagement with all the stakeholders, the government, and international jurisdiction. The objectives of the Commission are:
- To prevent practices that harm the competition.
- To promote and sustain competition in markets.
- To protect the interests of consumers.
- To ensure freedom of trade.
Role of CCI
- It eliminates practices having adverse effect on competition, promote and sustain competition, protect the interests of consumers and ensure freedom of trade in the markets of India.
- It gives opinion on competition issues on a reference received from a statutory authority established under any law and to undertake competition advocacy, create public awareness and impart training on competition issues.
- It is India’s competition regulator, and an antitrust watchdog for smaller organizations that are unable to defend themselves against large corporations.
- It has the authority to notify organizations that sell to India if it feels they may be negatively influencing competition in India’s domestic market.
Issues/challenges
- Challenges posed by digitization and emerging business models.
- The constant and continuous change in the way businesses is undertaken and the evolving antitrust issue is proving to be a significant challenge for the CCI.
- Less number of benches of CCI.
- The inclusion of parameters in the competition and antitrust laws such as data accessibility, network effects, etc. is important to ensure that the Competition laws are relevant in a digital economy.
- Lack of adequate infrastructure.
Conclusion
- The CCI plays significant role in ensuring that the Indian market stays competitive. The focus shall now move to addressing the key challenges, to ensure efficiency and effective implementation of the act.