E. Editorials 

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. The implications of the expansion of BRICS

Syllabus: GS-2, Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting  India’s interests.

Mains: Implications of the expansion of BRICS

Background

• The 15th BRICS summit recently stated that the five-member organization has welcomed six new members: Argentina from Latin America, Egypt and Ethiopia from Africa, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from West Asia. 
• According to a study, 22 nations have formally applied for membership in the BRICS, out of the 40 nations that have expressed interest. 

Growing Significance of BRICS

• The BRICs have given birth to two key institutions: the New Development Bank (NBD) and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement, which assist nations experiencing short-term balance-of-payments challenges. 
• Members of the BRICS have all expressed discontent with Western-dominated international organizations including the World Bank, the UN, and more lately, the World Trade Organisation. 
• The BRICS nations oppose the West-led global order, encourage economic and political cooperation among themselves, and create institutions that are independent of the West.
• To take into account the existence and interests of rising economies, it vigorously advocates for comprehensive changes. 
• The Johannesburg Declaration clearly states that the strategic cooperation of the members would be focused on building a more equitable and representative international order. 

Arguments in favour of BRICS Expansion

• The rapid growth in the number of BRICS members has created a grouping with similar global perspectives and goals, and their combined economic might gives the expanded conclave significant economic influence. 
• 23% of world exports and 19% of global imports are accounted for by the five core members; with the addition of the additional members, these percentages will increase by 3.7% and 3%, respectively. 
• The energy sector will be the most affected; in 2022, the first five BRICS members accounted for 20% of world oil production, which will now account for 42% of global output.

Addition of Geo-Strategic value

• The BRICS will benefit greatly from the addition of the new members from a geostrategic perspective. 
• West Asians are already strongly connected to BRICS participants. Russia, which already supplies a significant amount of oil to China and India, is now considering Brazil as a market. Iran has expanded its oil output heading to China despite US sanctions. 
• While Argentina is the second biggest economy in Latin America, Egypt and Ethiopia are significant players in the strategically significant Horn of Africa and the Red Sea.
• The new BRICS members readily fit into this political and economic structure, especially those from West Asia. 
• Additionally, the UAE has improved relations with Iran and is concentrating on enlarging its marine presence throughout the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Horn of Africa. 

Way Forward

India and other BRICS members insist on asserting their strategic autonomy in a multipolar world order, with member nations demanding that their voices be heard and their interests respected, while Western writers continue to focus on the emerging global binary divide and the “new Cold War.” Therefore, it is not unexpected that the Johannesburg summit was referred to as a turning moment in contemporary history in a recent media article.

Nut Graf: The BRICS bloc has grown to include six additional member states, but this growth could complicate existing disagreements within it and lessen the group’s capacity to act decisively as a whole.

Category: GOVERNANCE

1. Laws governing forests of the Northeast

Syllabus: GS-2, Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Mains: Laws governing forests of the Northeast

Background

• Recently, a resolution rejecting the Forest (Conservation) Amendment Act, 2023 was overwhelmingly approved by the Mizoram Assembly.
• It strives to safeguard the interests and rights of the Mizorami people. 
• The amendment permits the rerouting of forest area for the construction of highways, railroads, or strategically important linear projects involving India’s external boundaries or lines of control.
• In accordance with the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA) of 1980, this is permitted without a forest clearance. 

Applicability of FCA to the Northeast

• Special constitutional safeguards, such as Article 371A for Nagaland and 371G for Mizoram, apply throughout the region.
• The application of any law passed by Parliament that interferes with Naga and Mizo customary law and process, as well as ownership and transfer of land and its resources, is prohibited under these rules. 
• Only if the Legislative Assemblies of these States agree in a resolution may such laws be applied to those States.
• The FCA is also applicable in the remaining Northeastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Tripura, which are all Sixth Schedule Areas. 
• In terms of FCA clearance, Arunachal Pradesh came out on top, followed by Tripura, Assam, Manipur, Sikkim, and Meghalaya.

What is a Recorded Forest Area (RFA)?

• Since 1980, the FCA has resulted in the diversion of more than a million hectares of forest countrywide. Under the Indian Forest Act of 1927 or its State variants, FCA was established to clear the forest. 
• Under the Godavarman case 1996, the Supreme Court extended the FCA to unclassified forests by defining “forest land” under the FCA to “not only comprise ‘forest’ as understood in the dictionary sense”. 
• These woods have been noted but not identified as such. The Northeast is made up of more than half Recorded Forest Area (RFA). 
• Of this, 53% are unclassified forests that are managed by private persons, clans, village councils, or communities and are subject to customary law and practices. The remaining area is state-controlled woodland that has been informed.

Applicability of FRA Act in the Northeast Region

• The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act (FRA) 2006 defines “forest land” as unclassified forests, undemarcated forests, existent or considered forests, protected forests, reserved forests, sanctuaries, and national parks.
• Nothing stops these States from taking suo motu notice of these rights already in existence and requesting approval from the relevant Gram Sabha before awarding titles. 
• Under Section 12 of the FRA, which permits this, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs may also provide orders that are enforceable in court. 
• It would provide traditional community forest tenure rights with an additional measure of legal stability.
• Except for Assam and Tripura, none of the Northeastern States have implemented FRA.  
• As needed by Article 371A, the Nagaland Assembly has not yet made up its mind about this bill. It has been under investigation for years by a committee.

Way Forward

• For a forest diversion request to be accepted in 2009, the Environment Ministry required FRA implementation and the Gram Sabha’s previous knowledge and permission. 
• The District Collector, who oddly also served as chairman of the District Committee that grants FRA titles, was given charge of the task. 
• The in-principle forest clearance for which the Collectors’ certificate of FRA compliance was issued was changed to the Stage II final clearance.
• The Ministry’s 2022 Forest Conservation Rules, however, completely abolished FRA compliance prior to final approval.
• Under the FRA, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs may also issue directives that are enforceable in court to acknowledge and resolve forest rights. 
• This gives the States and the Tribal Affairs Ministry a method to safeguard the forests while also giving forest residents some measure of tenurial security.

Nut Graf: States can develop and implement legislative mechanisms to guarantee required compliance with the FRA before approving a forest diversion scheme, as well as obtaining Gram Sabha approval before giving up forest land.