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Spirituality and students

palkeeb26
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Spirituality and students

Being a psychology student, made me thinking why is it nowadays that everyone seemed overworked and stressed? Why is everyone acting like a humanoid and not like an actual human being? Why everyone is chasing something or the other? Why everyone is competing with each other? So I started to delve myself into finding some answers for it, if not answers then at least some strategy to cope with it!

As a University Counselor, many students come up to me to help them overcome with issues they are facing and at times it leaves me amazed to see how some of them are finding it difficult to even deal with trivial issues (issues which I cannot mention due to the protocol of being a psychologist).

Interestingly from a very young age, I was always inclined and fascinated towards the idea of spirituality and this made me thinking how can I incorporate spirituality into my counseling sessions and help my clients cope with their issues. And voila! It worked wonders.

Now you might think I am going to bore you with all ideas of religion, philosophy and what not. Well not exactly. Because Spirituality is a broad concept with room for many perspectives. In general, it includes a sense of connection to something bigger than ourselves, and it typically involves a search for meaning in life. As such, it is a universal human experience, something that touches us all. People may describe a spiritual experience as sacred or transcendent or simply a deep sense of aliveness and interconnectedness. After a lot of research and brainstorming, Spirituality came as a refreshing idea for me to infuse in our mundane lives.

Spirituality means something different to everyone. For some, it’s about participating in organized religion: going to temple, church, synagogue, a mosque, and so on. For others, it’s more personal: Some people get in touch with their spiritual side through private prayer, yoga, meditation, quiet reflection, art, listening to music, writing poetry, reading or even long walks.

Spirituality may refer to almost any kind of meaningful activity, personal growth, or blissful experience.

After my researches and interacting with a lot of people who practices spirituality, I came to the conclusion spirituality in students plays a great role in facilitating the development of students’ positive qualities.

It is all researchers’ shared belief that spirituality provides a powerful argument for the proposition that higher education should attend more to students’ spiritual development, because spirituality is essential to students’ lives.

Assisting students’ spiritual growth will help create a new generation who are more caring, more globally aware, and more committed to social justice than previous generations, while also enabling students to respond to the many stresses and tensions of our rapidly changing technological society with a greater sense of equanimity.

Moreover, educational experiences and practices that promote spiritual development by exposing students to diverse people, cultures, and ideas through cross cultural studies, interdisciplinary coursework, service learning and other forms of civic engagement helps students value multiple perspectives as they confront the complex social, economic, and political problems of our time.

Meditation, contemplation and self-reflection are among the most powerful tools for enhancing and promoting students’ spiritual development.

Providing students with more opportunities to connect with their “inner selves” facilitates growth in their academic and leadership skills, contributes to their intellectual self-confidence and psychological well-being, and enhances their satisfaction with life.

Students become more spiritual and that growth is linked to a number of positive academic and personal outcomes.

Here, I use the term spirituality broadly, to mean people’s inner, subjective lives.

Helping students develop personal values and enhancing students’ self-understanding and efforts fit the concept of spirituality I want to convey.

“Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from our own actions.” – Dalai Lama

One of the great gifts of spiritual knowledge is that it realigns your sense of self to something you may not have even ever imagined was within you.

Spirituality has become a powerful tool in my life that keeps me away from all the negative vibes around me. It has also helped me overcome many difficulties. I hope it works wonders for you as well.

All the Best for your future endeavors!

Allow yourself to be filled with inspiration, which also translates into love, joy, wisdom, peacefulness, and service.

Feminism in India is nothing but social libertarianism in disguise

Akshay Saraswat
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Feminism in India is nothing but social libertarianism in disguise

Feminism is an ideology that has been discussed threadbare for decades if not centuries. However, two developments in the recent past have made the analysis of this belief system even more intense. One has been the ‘Me Too’ movement that has pulled the mask of decency away from many high-profile and formerly respected celebrities.

The other is the meteoric rise of a Canadian Psychologist Jordan Peterson. The latter is a professor of Psychology in Canada who has been a strong critic of feminism in its present form. The objections raised by Peterson has made him one of the most popular personalities on YouTube and has provided, possibly, the biggest intellectual challenge to feminism in its history.

The debate in the Western world over the beliefs of this ideology are very interesting, even arresting, to a casual observer. However, in India, before debating the pros and cons of feminism, one needs to ask a more fundamental question – Is there really anything called Feminism in India?

Why the question?

The reason for raising this doubt arises from the selectivity of self-proclaimed feminists. They berate endlessly the discrimination against women in Indian society but gush with pride on seeing burqa-clad women of Shaheen Bagh. They demand end to ‘regressive’ customs like Karva Chauth but don’t even whimper against institutionalized discrimination against women in Islam.

But there is an even deeper malaise with Indian Feminism, or what passes for it, that questions the bona fide of those who boast of being loyal to this ideology. It’s their attitudes to social mores and certain cultural values of our country.

Feminists love to talk about how Indian women are deprived of agency over their body because of the ‘patriarchal’ Indian society’s supposed obsession with a women’s virginity. They also rant about ‘double standards’ in India over things like alcoholism. According to the ‘feminists’ of this country, a man taking alcohol is no big deal but a woman doing so is scandalous.

The examples can go on. Basically, what they all boil down to is this core belief of Indian feminists: Indian society follows double standards of morality, one for men and one for women. On the face of it, it seems convincing. Many non-leftists, even right-wingers would agree with this proposition.

The reality

However, using this belief, the self-proclaimed feminists of this country are promoting libertarian amorality, the type prevalent in the western society, and presenting it as ‘liberation’ of women.

Take the two examples given above – virginity and alcoholism. Yes, Indian society values and even celebrates women’s virginity. But does it not value virginity among men? Anyone familiar with Indian culture knows the high regard for men who have been brahmacharis – a term which means not only celibacy but complete abstention from lustful activities and thoughts.

The devotion towards Hanuman, the reverence for Pitamah Bhishma, are just two examples of how much virginity, or brahmacharya, which is much more profound, is respected in India. The janeu which is supposed to be worn by Hindu boys after their upnayan sanskar also represents a vow to remain a true brahmachari through adolescence.

In other words, Hindu culture values control over mind and the spiritual strength to overcome urges of the senses in all humans, not just girls. The whole controversy over Sabarimala temple has its roots in Bhagawan Ayappa’s vow of naishtik brahmacharya.

However, the same feminists who berate ordinary Indians for believing in the value of a women’s virginity, decry Ayappa devotees’ determination to defend the vows taken by their lord in pursuance of his naishtik brahmachari lifestyle.

Let’s now talk about alcoholism. Yes, the ordinary unanglicized or unwesternized Indian doesn’t like to see women drinking. But do they consider alcohol to be a good thing for boys? The fact is, alcohol was never a common part of an Indian meal. Unlike Japan’s sake, or Russia’s vodka, or France’s wine, no alcoholic drink was a regular part of Indian cuisine.

Alcohol is regarded as a polluting agent and a foul drink by almost all Indians loyal to their culture. There would hardly be a case of an Indian parent encouraging, or even approving their sons to consume alcohol.

Most boys who do take alcohol, often hide this fact from their parents. And those families who don’t mind alcohol consumption are westernized in their lifestyle and wouldn’t be too bothered with their daughters doing so either.

Conclusion

This is why Feminism in India is nothing but western amoral hedonism disguised in a morally superior form. What exercises them aren’t all abuses against women. Their main target are traditional Indian cultural values. They want to malign them by claiming that they apply only to women.

They have every right to attack these values, even hold them in contempt. But in a sinister ploy, they target them for being ‘oppressive’ towards women. By doing so, they give themselves a moral high ground. They also make it difficult for people to oppose them because it would make their ideological rivals look averse to women empowerment.

What these activists and writers essentially want is Indian society to become spiritually bankrupt and morally degenerate. They want Indians to be as profligate in their vices as westerners are. They claim that moral rectitude is mean only for girls. But Indians want their sons to be as pious as their daughters, all good Indian do. Of course, a few rotten apples are present in every society.

Examples of selective indignation

Let’s now look at a couple of examples that illustrate this point better.

Barkha Dutt, a self-appointed leader of feminism in India, once described instance of women filing cases of rape against men who seduced them into sexual intercourse with the promise of marriage as ‘trivializing of rape.’ Why? If a man takes advantage of a woman and physically exploits her with a lie, why should that not amount to rape?

For Barkha Dutt and her ilk, it shouldn’t because sexual discipline is anathema. They see how sexual promiscuity is common in the western world and it not being so in India is a sign of our ‘backwardness.’ Because, of course, the western way is always correct and Indian values are always wrong.

In another example, when senior journalist and former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) member Ashutosh wrote a hideous article for NDTV claiming that a virgin girl is neither ‘hot’ or ‘cool,’ there was no opposition from these self-described feminists.

Nidhi Razdan, in fact, seemed angered by Sambit Patra for objecting to this article on her show rather than questioning why Ashutosh became an authority of a women’s attractiveness in the first place. Going one step further, Saba Naqvi, a guest on the same show, said that Ashutosh’s article is ‘provocative’ but her daughter didn’t find anything offensive.

Both the instances cited above shows how insults to women, when they are done from the libertarian side, are totally kosher, even laudable.

So, that’s what feminism in India is. It takes some of the most cherished ideals of Indian culture, and depicts them as applying solely on women. These feminists ignore the fact that the ‘freedom’ they want for women is one that no cultured Indian would want for men also.

Because in our culture, we seek ultimate freedom, which is only achieved when a person stops being a slave of his mind, seeking sensual pleasures. The real freedom comes when one discovers the higher meaning of life.

Darwin theory of avatars

Avinash Salarpuria
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Darwin theory of avatars

Since childhood, I had been hearing that Hinduism is a most illogical religion exists in the modern world which in turn makes me feel inferior to the western worlds. Even Hollywood movies show India’s slums and jungles but ignore to get into culture aspect of the land, which again as a teenager justifies my inferiority complexion. But during the same phase I also learned about many inventions by ancient and modern people of this land, will discuss those in some other time though that definitely reduces the negative complexion. Bharat has always been a land of seekers and story-teller but around 900 years long colonization suppressed the culture of this land. Now let fast pace to present Covid Era as article is about the theory not mine.

During the lockdown in India, I have undertaken a new habit “Reading”. While reading details about Lord Vishnu’s 10 avatars, I find it in correlation with the Darwin Theory of human evolution. I wonder why it has not realized in my mind when previously I had seen an animated movie based on that, may be because of reading. There is a wide disagreement on the actual timing of the sacred text but no one can deny its existence in BCE whereas naturalist Charles Darwin life span was from 1809 to 1882. Now let me point it out step by step very briefly:

We all have heard about tridev i.e. Brahma(Creator), Vishnu(Preserver) & Shiva(Destroyer) and hence according to sacred text Lord Vishnu’s avatars also indicates the life cycle of complete human evolution.

  • Darwin Theory says that first simple being existed in the water and has grown from a small size to a bigger size and the same theory is relatable to Matsya(Fish). From a small fish to a giant fish was the first avatar of lord Vishnu. Some may argue that Manu had found the fish from the water so human had existed at that time. Frankly I am also convinced with the valid logic but we also must not forget that the evolution is explained as a story and we need some diversification to make it more relatable.             
  • According to theory, 2nd form of evolution was a reptile which start coming out of water and can exist in land and water and this relates to Kurma(Turtle). Kurma was the second avatar of lord Vishnu. There again can be a disagreement on turtle as a first reptile but I would suggest to focus on indicative meaning rather than literal meaning.
  • 3rd form of evolution was a mammal who can travel long distance on land and need legs to do it and this can be related to Varaha(Boar). Reptiles evolved into semi-amphibians and then into mammals and avatar signify the same.
  • Then come the ape signify half human & half animal and can be related to Narasimha(Man-Lion). Avatar’s has a head of a lion but body of a man which indicates the transformation from animal to human form, the idea of a pre-human without a well-developed brain. Some may argue on this using lion head instead of ape/monkey. This may be to represent avatar as King god, lion had been used by many ancient king as a symbol of power & supremacy. We also can’t ignore that this form of evolution is continued to exist till Dwapar Yug.
  • Then comes the closet form to modern human which is looks human but not achieved human height similar to Vaman(Dwarf). It indicates the complete transition into human form and the beginning of intelligence in humans.
  • Then evolution shows early humans related to Parashuram. He used to lives in the jungle same as early humans used axe as a tool/weapon.

This is an end of biological evolution and then begins the social & cultural evolution which is also shown in later avatars.

This is a small proof how western has rewritten our ancient knowledge even without giving credit to us.

The US-China power struggle in the Pacific Ocean region

Rahul Das
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The US-China power struggle in the Pacific Ocean region

The Pacific region is becoming a pawn in the game of power politics among traditional and regional powers over recent years. The assertive and bold Chinese behaviour in the region has triggered the US to make a strong comeback to its backyard waters. Regional powers such as Australia, New Zealand and Japan bandwagon with the US to curtail Chinese expansionism and threatening power posturing in the Blue Pacific in general and South China Sea (SCS) region in particular. China on the other hand has exploited the isolationist foreign policy adopted by the inward-looking US president Trump to expand its global reach as quickly and effectively as possible, especially during the spread of COVID-19.

The outbreak of COVID-19, originating in China and causing a global pandemic, has brought the world to its knees with no signs of abating in sight. Nevertheless, the outbreak has created an opportune moment for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to flex its military muscles and expand its maritime reach particularly in the SCS and ‘harass’ its neighbours with Taiwan being particularly targeted. The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) sunk a Vietnamese fishing trawler in March. Also in March, Beijing conducted military exercises in the SCS.

These renewed Chinese posturings comes at a time when both regional and extra-regional powers are grappling with the fast-pace outbreak of the COVID-19 and are intensively preoccupied to arrest the transmission of the disease. In April, US warships halted their routine operations in the Asia-Pacific waters after the outbreak of COVID-19 aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt aircraft carrier where nearly 800 of its personnel were infected and one sailor died. Regardless of its strong denials the COVID-19 outbreak has provided PRC with the opportunity to ensure military gains beyond its continental shelf given that the US, would likely not react immediately due to the pandemic. For Beijing the situation was ripe to cast its net as wide as it possibly could given its close proximity to the region – giving it a comparative advantage over the US.

However, despite being in a disadvantaged position during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US has reacted strongly by rolling out technologically advanced weaponry and strategy in a bid to ‘close a wide missile gap’ with PRC. There are reports that the Trump administration is aiming to deploy ‘long-range, ground-launched cruise missiles’ to the Asia-Pacific region. It is also fast-tracking deployment of new ‘long-range anti-ship missiles’ in decades. These strategic moves has infuriated Beijing, which urged US to “be cautious in word and deed,” and “stop moving chess pieces around” the region, and to “stop flexing its military muscles around China.” It also warned that Beijing would “not stand by and firmly oppose that.”

Sinologists on the other hand argue, during the Russo-US cold war ideological rivalry, China mostly laid low and remained off the US radar. During this long period the US largely stood by while Chinese military strategists significantly expanded its military fire-power and technological advancements, given that it was not party to the cold war Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INFT). The treaty banned the US and former Soviet Union from developing ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with a range of 500 to 5500 kilometres. Now the PLA, China’s armed forces, possess some of the most sophisticated long range missiles that arguably out range those of US and its regional allies. It is due in large part to this ‘range war’ that the US is ramping up its military arsenal to counter Beijing’s upper hand in land-based cruise and ballistic missiles.

The Pacific region is becoming a microcosm of military confrontation between the two military giants. This begs the question as to why the PRC is interested in the Pacific. The first luring element is Beijing’s strategic interest in showcasing its military might and as part of its ‘island chain’ defence strategy to get military and navel access in the region. It is also claimed that in the event of a war with the US, China could resort to its sea denial strategy, which is basically meant to approach US ‘asymmetrically’. The region also provides an excellent opportunity for ‘Signals Intelligence Monitoring’. Before switching diplomatic allegiance to Taiwan, China had built a satellite tracking station in Kiribati. However, in 2019 the Kiribati government once again switched its diplomatic recognition to China. It is alleged that a Chinese satellite stationed in Kiribati could be used to monitor US defence system test site in Marshall Islands.

Furthermore, Beijing’s interest in the Pacific region also stems from its strategy to dislodge the United States as a dominant power. The geostrategic location of the Pacific islands have high strategic potential for the PLA to deny US military intelligence gathering and naval manoeuvring rights across the Indo-Pacific. Presence of PLA in this strategic location, which is link to second island chain, will threaten US military bases in the region as well as complicating its ability to operate unchallenged. In such an eventuality, the US activities will be severely curtailed and it would not remain a regional hegemon any more. It is in this spirit that PRC is using its soft power, foreign aid, with the Pacific Island Countries (PICs) to entrench its footprint there.

In addition, Beijing’s ‘dollar diplomacy’, as it is commonly known, has been successful in alluring the cash-starved island nations to recognise and adhere to the infamous ‘One China Policy’ in the interest of sustainable inflow of Chinese aid. Besides aid, China has also hiked up its foreign direct investment and bilateral trade and commerce particularly with countries that have diplomatic relations with Taipei. Beijing considers Taiwan, staunch US ally, as its renegade province and hence aims to isolate it diplomatically. In 2019 two of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies, Solomon Islands and Kiribati, switched side and opened diplomatic relations with PRC.

Soon after the opening of new diplomatic relations with Beijing, a Chinese company signed a secretive deal securing an exclusive development right in the strategically located island of Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. The Solomon government called it off later after perhaps realising its negative ramifications in the future. Prior to that, there were unconfirmed reports that Beijing was secretly negotiating the possibility of opening a naval base in Vanuatu after building a deep sea port on one of its strategic islands. Both governments later denied such a deal was in the making after it aroused a regional media frenzy particularly in Australia and New Zealand.

There is no doubt that PRC has grand global strategies. In recent years, Beijing has been projecting its economic power and military might in a quite brazen manner. Indeed, China likely has futuristic ambitions to become a global hegemon and introduce its own version of global order, which would significantly deviate from that of the current established Western version under the auspices of the US. Unlike the Western powers, which used their hard power to advance their ideological and territorial gains, for PRC it is the soft power, provision of much needed capital, to lead the way in expanding its ideational global reach. The Pacific developing and least developed island nations prefer to cooperate with China in a bid to secure its concessional loans and foreign direct investments – something that the traditional donors have largely neglected.

Strength in scrap

Veeresh Malik
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Strength in scrap

Have you noticed how the traditional household scrap trade has moved, almost all over India, into the hands and on the bicycles of “a particular community”? If you have, then read on, and if you haven’t, then please re-confirm and let the writer know if there is a discrepancy in what was just stated.

Many of Independent India’s largest manufacturing industries owe their birth or their evolution from trading to manufacturing to the sudden and huge boom in post World War II metal scrap all over Asia. It is also important to recall that the two major seaports in India then, for this trade to flow through, were Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Bombay (now Mumbai).

That these were the two major seaports for the movement of opium and one of them for tea is linked to the birth or evolution of slavery to the colonial trio of crown, cutlass and cross concept, but more on that later, for now I wish to concentrate on scrap and its importance to India.

Trading in scrap, globally, has been the single most important way to establish the strength of a community anywhere. Whether a new entrant to the mix of communities already existing, or from a wave of immigrants coming in for economic reasons, scrap has always been an easy starting point which very often the other “established” (read “lazier”) communities treat with disdain.

Whilst metal scrap always had a value, never before has the wide range of scrap items had such a huge value, for those willing to get down and dirty in any country. And with that, increasingly, comes control of the cash economy of a country. And further that, with control of the cash economy, comes control of a vast range of other cash only activities – narcotics, flesh, bullion, arms & ammo, and now more than ever before – terror.

Trying to explain this at length will make this essay unwieldy. But understand one simple Truth please – the middleman makes all the profits and establishes power, through scrap, and subsequent.

I have memories, after Partition, of how the religious bodies in the neighbourhood would provide easy financial assistance as well as protection to those from the refugee communities who got into the scrap and recycle trade. I have seen this in my own family, direct and extended, and it was a very co-operative affair, involving both genders. The men would go around collecting or buying the scrap, early in the morning, the children and the women would re-work the scrap through the day, the men would then sell at a profit in the evenings, and the protection came from the Community’s religious entities.

As simple as that. In due course of time, the man on the cycle acquired a space on a pavement or access to a small shop, or whatever else was needed – but the support and protection of the religion was always present.

As time moved on, the support became two-way, and everyone prospered. But what lingered was the dignity of labour aspect of the scrap trade – I still remember elderly relatives who had post Partition achieved high positions in Government jobs, never forgetting the lessons learnt, and always asking the Kabaadee Vala his name first.

(Same, by the way, for street food. Or barber. Or butcher. Or kirana. Or sweet-shop.)

We need to get the scrap trade, home and house and office upwards, back into our control.

Going forward, I shall present some ideas here, till then – do look around, who is buying the “kabaadee” from you.

A new Kashmir: One year after abrogation of Article 370 and 35(A)

Dipti Ojha
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A new Kashmir: One year after abrogation of Article 370 and 35(A)


A week after the official abrogation of Article 370 and 35(A) from the state of Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into the union territories of “Jammu and Kashmir” and “Ladakh”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Red Fort on the Independence Day said that finally the dream of One Nation, One Constitution had became a reality. 

For last several years, the state of Jammu and Kashmir remained as the land of terrorism and separatism. The heaven on earth has been turned into the netherworld thus impacting the social and economic development of the region. 

Before I list out what all developments have taken place since the abrogation, let us first understand what Article 370 and 35(A) are and how it impacted the region negatively?

– It provided dual citizenship to residents of Jammu and Kashmir, one of J&K and the other of India

– They had a different flag and criticising the Indian Tricolour was not a crime in J&K

– Elections were conducted every 6 years

– Indian Supreme court rules were not applicable in J&K

– If a Kshmiri girl married a non- Kashmiri Indian man, she lost her citizenship but If she married a Pakistani man, her husband got the customary citizenship of Kashmir

– Kashmir Pandits didn’t have any power, there was no reservation for minorities in the state.

– A person who was not a permanent resident of the state could not buy land, obtain job or apply in government colleges in the state of Jammu and Kashmir

As a result of these rules, the Kashmir remained an alien land to Industrailists and investors, there were no jobs thus driving youth towards terrorism. There was more corruption as compared to other states in India, the GDP was very low and the Indian government had control only over defense foreign affairs.

On 5th August, 2019, Union Home Minsiter Amit Shah tabled a resolution in the Parliament to abrogate Article 370 and 35(A) thus revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. 351 members of Lok Sabha supported the bill while only  72 voted against it.

International Media was critical of this decision and slammed the Indian government. At times it felt that these opinions and negative coverage were motivated and targetted at Narendra Modi.

Al Jazeera came out with a piece titled “Darkest Day: Uproar as India strips Kashmir of special status.”

Another international publication The Independent in its article  wrote that “From India’s perspective, the conundrum of Kashmir has been resolved – but in reality, the worst is yet to come”.

The Indian media too focused on the immediate side effects of the decision such as shutdowns and ban on internet, and photos of sponsored violence won prizes. But what International and Indian media missed since then is the development that has taken place in the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

I am going to discuss in brief  some of the developments:

– Agriculture operatins are going on smoothly, 18.34 lakh MTs of Fresh apples have been dispatched through National Agricultural Marketing Federation of India.

– The sericulture sector recorded a production of 813 MTs of silk cocoon in 2019.

– During the first quarter of FY 2019-20, handicrafts worth Rs. 688.26 crores were exported.

– Under the  Pradhan Mantri Awas yojana, more than 24000 houses have been built.

– The work of establishing connectivity, irrigation, hospitability, tourism-related schemes is in process.

– The work on developing institutions of higher educations like IITs, IIMs, AIIMS is going at speed.

– In order to boost tourism, Ministry of Tourism sanctioned Rs. 594 crores for 7 projects under SWADESH DARSHAN and PRASHAD schemes.

– GOI has issued a certificate of GI registration for the saffron grown in Kashmir.

Apart from all these, Jammu and Kashmir is going to witness a major boost in transport infrastructure. Several projects like satellite townships, Light Rail Transit System (LRTS) corridors etc, railway line, Zojila Pass tunnel have already been approved.

On 15th March 2020, Union Home Minister Amit Shah met a delegation from J&K and assured them that NDA government will take overall steps for the development of the region. He said that the demographic change in the state is temporary and assured that he will work with all the sections of the society to realise the hopes of statehood for J&K at an early opportunity.

So, we are moving rapidly towards a better and beautiful heaven on earth. People of Kashmir need to be a little more patient and supportive towards the Indian government.

BEPS 2.0: Re-writing the rules of International Corporate Tax?

rajujat
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BEPS 2.0: Re-writing the rules of International Corporate Tax?

Ever since the rules of international corporate taxation were written in 1920s by the League of Nations – the permanent establishment (PE) requirement for a multinational corporation for the source state to levy tax has not been removed. The present exercise by the OECD led Inclusive Framework reviews this notion after almost 100 years. What happens to the future of transfer pricing or arm’s length principle? At stake is the allocation of taxing rights between jurisdictions; fundamental features of the international tax system, such as the traditional notions of PE and the applicability of the arm’s length principle; the future of multilateral tax cooperation; the prevention of aggressive unilateral measures; and the intense political pressure to tax highly digitalised MNEs.

The current framework for international taxation goes back to 1920s when the League of Nations submitted a report on international taxation. From these, resulted Vienna convention, the model tax convention by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN). The UN model tax convention is similar to the OECD’s but for more emphasis on the right of source state to levy tax.

At a very simplistic level, according to the current international corporate tax rules, a multinational enterprise (MNE) operating across borders is liable to tax in the market/ source jurisdiction only where such MNE has a physical presence in the country. This physical presence is known as ‘Permanent Establishment’ or PE. With the growing advancements in technology, it has become easy for MNEs to participate in the economic life of market/ source country without a physical presence therein. Accordingly, the current rules for taxation of cross order activities seem outdated. The dissatisfaction with these rules begin to gain momentum in the aftermath of global financial crisis of 2008 when governments, particularly of emerging economies, found themselves struggling to mop up tax revenues in an era of tepid global growth.

In 2013, following a mandate from the G20 Finance Ministers, OECD and G20 countries, working together on an equal footing, adopted a 15-point Action Plan to address Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS). One of the biggest aims of the BEPS project was to secure revenues by realigning taxation with economic activities and value creation.

In 2015, the OECD released final reports on all 15 action plans. Amongst other things, the BEPS project will amend around 3,000 tax treaties with the help of a multilateral agreement or MLI1 . Action Plan 1 of the BEPS project dealt with ‘Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation’. In the absence of any consensus in the report, multiple interim solutions were suggested like ‘Significant Economic Presence’ or a withholding tax in the form of ‘equalization levy’. It was agreed that further work was required to be undertaken to reach a consensus based solution by 2020.

Unilateral Action by jurisdictions including India

Pending a consensus based solution and in an effort to ramp up tax revenues, countries across the globe started implementing unilateral uncoordinated measures, mostly outside the tax treaty framework, to tax digital companies. India introduced ‘equalization levy’ in Finance Act, 2016 – a 6% final withholding tax on payment to non-residents for online advertisement or any provision for digital advertising space or facilities/ service for the purpose of online advertisement. This levy is supposedly outside the tax treaty framework and therefore credit of tax paid is not creditable in the home jurisdiction. Finance Act, 2018 amendment section 9(1) (i) of the Act to provide that ‘Significant Economic Presence’ of non-resident taxpayers would also constitute taxable presence in the form of ‘business connection’ in India. The latter is within the tax treaty framework and is relevant for non-resident taxpayers coming from non-tax treaty covered jurisdictions. Similarly, other jurisdictions introduced unilateral measures.

Post BEPS work

Following up and pursuant to Action Plan 1 report, the OECD released in March 2018 – an interim report on ‘Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation’.

In May 2019, the OECD came out with a Programme of Work (“PoW”) to develop a consensus solution to tax challenges arising from Digitalisation of the Economy. This PoW was approved by Inclusive Framework2 countries and laid down two pillars on which further was required to be done. Pillar 1 is the profit allocation in case of highly digitalised businesses and Pillar 2 is the development of a Global Anti-Base Erosion or the ‘GLOBE’ proposal. In respect of pillar 1, three proposals were considered by the PoW namely “user participation”, “marketing intangibles”, and “significant economic presence”.

OECD’s public consultation document on Secretariat Proposal for a “Unified Approach” under Pillar One

Building on the public consultations and consistent with the objective of developing a consensus solution to Pillar 1 issues, the Secretariat prepared a proposed “Unified Approach” combining the elements of all these three proposals. The OECD floated a public consultation document providing an overview of the proposed unified approach

It is important to bear in mind that this is a proposal developed by OECD secretariat4 and does not represent the approach agreed by members. The broad contours of the “Unified Approach” are below.

  • Scope: Large consumerfacing businesses. There may be certain carve-outs like extractive industries
  • New Nexus: Not dependent on physical presence but largely based on sales. Could have threshold including country specific threshold.
  • The New Profit Allocation Rule: Going beyond the Arm’s length Principle (“ALP”) for attributing a portion of nonrouting profits to market jurisdiction.

Firstly, the scope of this approach is to cover highly digital consumer facing business models but includes certain B2B models. Extractive industries are assumed to be out of the scope. Secondly, the approach proposes a new nexus rule – not dependent on physical presence but largely based on sales. It would be designed as a new selfstanding treaty provision and may have country specific sales thresholds.

Thirdly, the approach propose going beyond the ALP and using a simple formulaic approach. The departure from the ALP appears to be for the determination of ‘residual profits’. The approach consists of three tier profit allocation mechanism consisting of Amount A, B and C.

Amount A is a share of deemed residual profit allocated to market jurisdictions using a formulaic approach, i.e. the new taxing right. This constitutes the primary response of the unified approach to the tax challenges of the digitalisation of the economy. Amount B is a fixed remuneration for baseline marketing and distribution functions that take place in the market jurisdiction. Amount C would be additional return over compensation of Amount B, if any, based on transfer pricing analysis. Amount C would also involve developing binding and effective dispute prevention and resolution mechanisms relating to all elements of the proposal.

Cost Inflation Index is a measure of inflation, used to calculate long-term capital gains from sale of capital assets. Capital gains is the profit that you make from selling an asset, which can be real estate, jewellery, stock, etc

The underlying objective is to improve tax certainty for taxpayers as well as tax administrations especially for countries which don’t have enough resources to monitor and administer a complex profit allocation system.

Given that the proposal amounts to fundamental rewriting of the international tax rules, it would be useful to see whether countries are able to reach a consensus. The PoW and the consultation paper note that ‘the stakes are very high. In the balance are: the allocation of taxing rights between jurisdictions; fundamental features of the international tax system, such as the traditional notions of permanent establishment and the applicability of the arm’s length principle; the future of multilateral tax co-operation; the prevention of aggressive unilateral measures; and the intense political pressure to tax highly digitalised MNEs.’

Update by OECD on 31st January 2020

Given that a lot of tech giants that would be impacted especially by Pillar 1 proposal are domiciled in the United States of America (“US”) – the global community was eagerly waiting for the US’s reaction to the both these proposals. As a background, it is important to note that while the USA was not part of BEPS 1 but is a part of the IF. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) of 2017 was significant and brought the US tax framework at par with a global post BEPS era framework.

With this background, the US’ secretary of the treasury wrote a letter to the OECD stating that US has serious concerns regarding potential mandatory departures from arm’s-length transfer pricing and taxable nexus standards – longstanding pillars of the international tax system upon which U.S. taxpayers rely. Instead, the US advocated that goals of Pillar 1 could be substantially achieved by making Pillar 1 a safe-harbor regime. The letter also stated that US supports a GILTI2 like Pillar 2 solution. In its reply, OECD replied that the consultations within the IF had not contemplated the notion that Pillar 1 could be a safe-harbour regime. Further, this may impact the ability of IF member countries to move forward within the tight deadline of achieving a consensus based solution by 2020.

Conclusion / Way Forward

Ever since the report issued by the league of nations in 1920s, a fundamental premise of the international tax system has been the prerequisite of an MNE constituting PE (mostly by a sustained physical presence) in source country for allocating taxation rights to the source country. This fundamental rule is set to change involving a host of other issues – some as outlined above. This initiative by the OECD and the IF comes at a time when multilateralism is under attack from all quarters – some examples include India not joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), US getting out of the Paris climate deal and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Hence, the ability to reach a consensus based solution and parting with tax sovereignty at least in a limited sense seems challenging.

After the 2008 global financial crises and in order to stimulate demand, many countries went on a spending spree and ran huge fiscal deficits. As such, the proposals are expected to increase tax revenues across the globe.

An important part of the OECD PoW released in May 2019 was to carry out more in-depth analysis of each proposal and their interlinkages with a particular focus on the importance of assessing the revenue, economic and behavioural implications of the proposals in order to inform the IF in its decision making. On 13 February 2020 – OECD gave a high level update on the economic analysis & impact assessment done so far.

The other side

Rituraj Baruah
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The other side

Many events took place during this pandemic and we got an opportunity to remain engaged with them very closely as we had enough time. One topic appealed me most, that is Nepotism.

Following Sushant Rajput’s unnatural death we started pointing the gun at certain section of the people in Bollywood for nepotism/favoritism. We were so annoyed and fed up with the system, we started reacting as if we were only waiting for Sushant to take this bold step to enable us to catch the culprits by neck. Mental Health experts had a trying time in boosting up the mental condition of the citizens. This is a reaction; quite natural, that too amidst negativity of the pandemic.

People come to Mumbai with various dreams, toil hard by spending time and money to achieve something, but, most of them have to return back or to settle down with something which they did not come for. Some of them have clouts, influences, godfather and manage to push through to fulfill their dreams.

But, the question comes – were we not aware of the system which has been prevalent since decades? The bitter truth is, we were aware of this, experienced this and unknowingly accepted this to make it a part of our society. Some quarters rightly argued, “if I have invested money why I will not promote my children or relatives”.

Another question comes – is it the scenario only in Bollywood? The answer is – certainly not. It is happening in corporates, politics, sports, families and everywhere in the society. When someone is in authority he/she can choose people as per his/her choice. This authority may come by way of investing money or by way of entrusting responsibility through a given system, like holding a position in an organization or in any body corporate. Then issue here is how many of those who are in authority can remain unbiased?

Exceptional talents cannot be suppressed by anybody, they will come out sooner or later. The problem is with the talents who are on border line or average. Strengths and weaknesses can be found in any human being. So, it is the privilege of the said authority what to showcase and here comes the biasness. This is the accepted system in our society in every walk of life. Every individual is a beneficiary and a victim at different given times and circumstances in different fields. The people who get benefit are happy and good friends, supporting and flattering the authority all the time. We all wait for our fortune to come.

We need to understand the reality and face it accordingly. To overcome this flaw, organizations train their employees how to promote themselves to make them visible. In today’s cu-throat competition no one will notice the silent average talent. That’s why we try to establish network, to have connections with people who are in authority, promote ourselves in different ways.

Moreover, once you break through and reach a particular level you have to sustain it. There will be a different kind of pressure. Fear of failure will doom you. There is a saying in cricket, “if you are scared of scoring zero, don’t play cricket”.

Let’s hope, the struggle with Covid will make us stronger to face the ground reality of life in a positive way.

Rituraj Baruah

Rise of a new era

harsh214
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Rise of a new era

After the long ages of conflict, suffering and struggle the auspicious occasion for the inauguration of the famous Shri ram Janambhoomi temple has come. Modern generations will never know how much it cost to our ancestors, Karsevaks and the ones who have struggled for this since decades. Ayodhya judgement was not just a matter of jurisdiction but it was faith of billions of Hindus living across the globe. From our birth we’re told that the lord Rama was born in Ayodhya but it was ridiculous that there was still fight for the reconstruction of the temple because during the medieval period the temple was attacked by a Muslim invader who made a mosque after plundering.

Spark for the reconstruction suddenly started rising in 90s when BJP, a political branch of RSS led a movement and rathyatra throughout the country. Rambhakts and Karsevaks turned to Ayodhya in large numbers. The disputed building was demolished in 1992 through Karsewa by Ram bhakts many of them were killed and imprisoned. Hindu society should never forget their sacrifice and struggle. Finally on 9th of November 2019, a five sitting bench of judges in supreme court delivered it’s decision in favour of ram bhakts.

After centuries the issue has come on the verge. Ram bhakts are rejoicing over triumph, Dharma has won and the new era has begun.

~ Harshvardhan Singh

It happens only in India – Part 1

soumita
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It happens only in India – Part 1

India is an extremely tolerant and resilient country. Even after centuries of foreign invasion, our civilization has not ceased to exist. Even after foreign forces have tried to forcibly convert Indians to other religions, we have still remained a country where the majority of the people are Hindus. But most surprisingly, despite foreign forces sent to convert Indians to other religions, Indians have always accepted the converts with open arms as their own brothers. India has always had the good sense to not attack its own people when they faltered under foreign pressure, and so even today it remains to be the most secular country in the world. However, it is important that we do not forget what our nation underwent over the last thousand years. Moreover, remembering the wrongs would help us redress the grievances of the past.

One of the most barbaric characters from our history has to be Taimur. History has a bias to paint a rosy picture of him saying he valued artisans and scholars, and the city of Samarkand is a living example. However, Taimur’s own track record defeats the purpose of such historians. To be blunt, he was a barbarian and his actions deserve condemnation even today. To quote William Shakespeare’s crafty lines from the play Julius Caesar:

The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
(spoken by Mark Antony)

But lucky Taimur, that has not been the case with him!

Taimur had looted every foot of the world in which he had put his foot on, and so historians would like him to be remembered as a great conquerer. He had had millions of people killed, not just during battles but even on other occasions to prevent a local revolt, and so historians would like him to be remembered as a great ruler. He had women and kids raped, but the historians would like the world to remember nothing of the sort. He had people kill their own slaves in order to prevent a backlash, and so historians would like him to be remembered as a great strategist. He had artisans and craftsmen from his latest expansion deported to the city of Samarkand, against their will, and so historians would like him to be ‘lovingly’ remembered as a great patron of the arts. He always won wars by attacking his neighbors when they were already occupied in an internal conflict, and so historians would like him to be remembered as a great military commander. He massacred the land in the name of religion, and so historians would like him to be remembered as the flag bearer of his religion!

As an Indian, Taimur disgusts me. He was the devil’s incarnate. He was nothing more than a barbarian, a sexist, a rapist, a cunning plunderer, and a religious hypocrite. What he really was can only be described as ‘religiously intolerant of humanity’. After all, it takes tremendous hatred for anyone to have pyramids built out of the skulls of those butchered.

The world abhors people who have a great capacity to commit crimes. It is normal behavior when people refuse to name their children after historic criminals of such high stature. It is only good sense to just leave them behind in history. That is why the sensible and compassionate world does not name its child Adolf, whether in Germany or anywhere else. But it is only in tolerant India that you would find a child named Taimur. Does it not reflect his prominent parents’ complete disregard towards the country’s sentiments? Does the act not exude arrogance under the shroud of ‘freedom of expression’? Or is it simply going by the statement ‘ignorance is bliss’, in which case they are undoubtedly not well-read people.

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