The Capitals: New Delhi's bid to truly own its books of law

Hello and Welcome. This is The Capitals. Your weekly recap of some of the biggest stories from capitals all over the world.

Within and beyond the corridors of power in New Delhi, the capital of the world's largest democracy, often, the dishonest characterisation of an individual has a number: 420.

The number 420 is a Section that specifies criminal penalties for acts of cheating in the Indian Penal Code, the official criminal code of the world's largest democracy, created by the British imperialists in 1860.

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Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code could become Section 316 of proposed Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the new lawbook that could come to define the criminal code in the world's largest democracy.

Section 420; 355 other provisions as well as the Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act are set to be a matter of past.

The objective of what could soon be India's erstwhile justice system codes, was to "punish, not deliver justice", Amit Shah, the Minister for Home Affairs in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet said while introducing the three bills in parliament that will replace the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act.

My colleague C. Krishnasai details in this explainer what all will change once these proposed changes are enacted as laws by the Indian parliament.

Read more, in The Capitals this week.

Quito, Ecuador

In Ecuador, sandwiched between Colombia and Peru on South American continent, presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio was slayed by an assailant in broad daylight ahead of elections on August 20.

The killing of Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and drug crime that have beset Ecuador, reflected a crisis-riddensecurity situation in much of South America.

Villavicencio had claimed to have received multiple death threats from Mexico-basedSinaloa Cartel, an organised crime group that operates in Ecuador.

Washington DC, United States of America

From Washington this week came a remarkable assertion of security guarantee to Philippines, if the islands located more than 4,000 miles away across the Pacific is faced by an armed aggression from Beijing.

While all eyes have been on Taipei for its central role in the US-China confrontation forsemiconductor dominance, Manila, albeit unthinkably, could very well emerge as Beijing-Washington flashpoint in the Indo-Pacific.

The US State Department condemned China's aggression against the Philippines in what Beijing callsSouth China Sea but Manila asserts as West Philippine Sea.

"The United States reaffirms an armed attack on Philippine public vessels, aircraft, and armed forces—including those of its Coast Guard in the South China Sea—would invoke US mutual defence commitments under Article IV of the 1951 US Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty," the US statement warned China.

Wellington, New Zealand

For decades, Wellington was known for its "independent foreign policy", a foreign policy preposition popularised by New Delhi during the decades after cessation of Cold War. This week, a significant shift was marked in Wellington's defence posturing.

The countryreleased a roadmap for the future of defence and national security this week.

The new doctrines mark a major shift in New Zealand's foreign policy and suggest the government's intent to join AUKUS, an Anglophone tripartite alliance between Australia, the US and the UK.

New Zealand is going to embrace "Pillar Two" of the AUKUS pact: "AUKUS Pillar Two may present an opportunity for New Zealand to cooperate with close security partners on emerging technologies," the government document reads.

That's all for The Capitals this week. See you next weekend.

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