Trump's tariffs hurting India, number of jobs already lost: Shashi Tharoor
Singapore (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday described US President Donald Trump as "mercurial", whose tariffs on goods have started to hit Indian businesses, and a number of jobs have already been lost.
The US has imposed a 50 per cent tariff, including 25 per cent as a penalty for buying Russian oil, on exports from India.
India needs to diversify export markets to mitigate the impact of tariffs, Tharoor said, adding that 1.35 lakh people have lost jobs in the gems and jewellery business, and seafood and manufacturing sectors.
"Trump is a very mercurial individual, and the American system gives the President an amazing amount of leeway," he said while replying to a query related to Indo-US relationship and imposition of tariffs at a conference organised by CREDAI, India's apex industry body for the real estate sector.
Tharoor further said: "Even though there have been 44 or 45 presidents before him, no one has ever seen this kind of behaviour coming down from the White House".
The Congress leader described Trump as an "unusual President" by every yardstick, who does not honour the conventional standards of diplomatic behaviour.
"I mean, have you ever heard any world leader openly saying that he deserves a Nobel Peace Prize. It never happened before. Have you heard of any world leader saying things like, 'Oh, all the countries in the world want to come and kiss my ass'," Tharoor said.
"Have you heard of any world leader who has basically said India and Russia are dead economies. 'I don't care if they go down the drain together'," he said, quoting Trump, and added that this was not the kind of language ever heard from any head of government.
"So, Trump is unusual, and I would beg you not to judge our performance by his behaviour," the Congress leader told a gathering.
On the impact of tariffs, Tharoor said the truth is that the tariffs are having a "very, very" negative impact on India.
"I don't want anyone to have any illusions that we can just wash it up."
"Already, people are losing jobs. 1.35 lakh people in Surat have been laid off in the Gems and jewellery business," he said, adding that there are potential job losses in the seafood and manufacturing sectors.
Tharoor pointed out that exports of many products became unviable because of the initial 25 per cent tariff, and the additional penalty of 25 per cent has made it virtually impossible to enter the US market, with India's competitors having lower tariffs.
India, he said, has no choice but to tighten its belt and move on.
"We are finding it very difficult to get into the American market. And I am pleased to say that we are actually negotiating, knowing very well that we need some access to America," he said, adding that there are possibilities of a reduction in the initial basic 25 per cent tariff imposed by the US.
"The imposition of an additional 25 per cent is not a tariff. It is actually a sanction, and it is a sanction against us for buying oil from Russia. But that's totally unfair, because China is importing more oil and gas from Russia," the Congress leader said.
Tharoor said the US should have a uniform policy for every country which buys oil from Russia.
"This entire sanction policy seems to be completely bizarre and unsustainable," he said.
Tharoor said there is a need to diversify export markets, and hoped that the recent trade agreement with the UK would boost India's exports.
Apart from exploring other export markets, he said, "We also have to diversify our lines of political communication to other countries...we can't just afford to sit there and say we have no other option".
Tharoor mentioned that the Indian Prime Minister has gone to China recently, and the Russian President is coming to India later this year.
"We are essentially showing a serious intent, at least to move away from a confrontation conversation with China. Even though we've had some very, very tough times in that relationship, I think we will find ourselves trying to open up very much more for China than we have done in the last 5-6 years," he noted.
On Russia, Tharoor said the relationship was always reasonably stable, and it might become "warmer" now.
The Congress leader advocated that India should find common cause with European countries and try to create an Indo-European pole, which would have some clout and heft in the world.
More than 1,000 delegates, including real estate developers and consultants, are attending a three-day conference, CREDAI-NATCON in Singapore.
Later, talking to the media on the sidelines, Tharoor said real estate is an extremely important sector for the growth of the Indian economy.
"The population is still growing, and land is not growing. So, the real estate sector becomes a very important sector in terms of not just creating housing that people can live in, but also modes of life are changing. We're having more vertical growth. There's more urbanisation taking place," he added.
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Ordinance issued to increase number of Supreme Court judges from 34 to 38
New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.
The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.
So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.
The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.
With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.
A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.
The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.
The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.
This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.
The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.
A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.
Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.
An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.
The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.
