Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Indian diaspora in the Gulf countries
The pandemic has exacerbated the plight of the migrant workers in the Gulf countries. This article examines the issue and suggests the ways to deal with it.
Context
- The Covid-19 exposed the precarious conditions of migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.
- Employers have used the crisis as an opportunity to retrench masses of migrant labourers without paying them wages or allowances.
Impact of Covid-19
- The South Asia-Gulf migration corridor is among the largest in the world.
- The South Asian labour force forms the backbone of the Gulf economies.
- The pandemic, the shutdown of companies, the tightening of borders, and the exploitative nature of the Kafala sponsorship system have all aggravated the miseries of South Asian migrant workers.
- They have no safety net, social security protection, welfare mechanisms, or labour rights.
- Now, thousands have returned home empty-handed from the host countries.
- Indians constitute the largest segment of the South Asian workforce.
- Gulf migration is predominantly a male-driven phenomenon.
- A majority of the migrants are single men living in congested labour camps.
- The COVID-19 spike in these labour camps has mainly been due to overcrowded and unsanitary living conditions.
Nationalisation of labour in Gulf
- Now, the movement for nationalisation of labour and the anti-migrant sentiment has peaked in Gulf countries.
- Countries like Oman and Saudi Arabia have provided subsidies to private companies to prevent native lay-offs.
- However, the nationalisation process is not going to be smooth given the stigma attached to certain jobs and the influence of ‘royal sheikh culture’.
Challenges and solutions
- The countries of origin are now faced with the challenge of rehabilitating, reintegrating, and resettling these migrant workers.
- The Indian government has announced ‘SWADES’ for skill mapping of citizens returning from abroad.
- But implementation seems uncertain.
- Kerala, the largest beneficiary of international migration, has announced ‘Dream Kerala’ to utilise the multifaceted resources of the migrants.
- Countries that are sending migrant workers abroad are caught between the promotion of migration, on the one hand, and the protection of migrant rights in increasingly hostile countries receiving migrants, on the other.
Way forward
- The need of the hour is a comprehensive migration management system for countries that send workers as well as those that receive them.
- No South Asian country except Sri Lanka has an adequate migration policy.
Conclusion
The pandemic has given us an opportunity to voice the rights of South Asian migrants and to bring the South Asia-Gulf migration corridor within the ambit of SAARC, the ILO, and UN conventions.
Original article:
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/the-south-asian-gulf-migrant-crisis/article32215146.ece
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SCO
Mains level: Paper 2-India's relations with Russia and China
RIC engagement started on the promising note but the geopolitical changes over the last two decades have set the three countries on diverging paths. It is against this backdrop, the article articulates why RIC is still relevant.
Background of RIC
- The RIC dialogue commenced in the early 2000s.
- At that time the three countries were positioning themselves for a transition from a unipolar to a multipolar world order.
- It was not an anti-U.S. construct though.
- The initial years of the RIC dialogue coincided with an upswing in India’s relations with Russia and China.
- The 2003 decision to bring a political approach to India-China boundary dispute and to develop other cooperation, encouraged a multi-sectoral surge in relations.
- An agreement in 2005, identifying political parameters applicable in an eventual border settlement, implicitly recognised India’s interests in Arunachal Pradesh.
Growing India-U.S. relations
- During the same period in which RIC dialogues took place, India’s relations with the U.S. surged.
- This involved trade and investment, a landmark civil nuclear deal and a burgeoning defence relationship.
- This rising relations with the U.S. met India’s objective of diversifying military acquisitions away from a near-total dependence on Russia.
- The U.S. saw value in partnering with a democratic India in Asia as China was rapidly emerging as a challenger.
How India-U.S. relations affected RIC
- China went back on the 2005 agreement.
- It launched the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and worked to undermine India’s influence in its neighbourhood.
- And expanded its military and economic presence in the Indian Ocean.
- As U.S.-Russia relations imploded in 2014 after the annexation/accession of Crimea.
- Russia’s pushback against the U.S. included cultivating the Taliban in Afghanistan and enlisting Pakistan’s support for it.
- The western campaign to isolate Russia drove it into a much closer embrace of China.
Thus, the RIC claim of overlapping or similar approaches to key international issues, sounds hollow today. But it is still holds significance.
Why RIC is still significant for India
1) SCO
- Central Asia is strategically located, bordering our turbulent neighbourhood.
- Pakistan’s membership of SCO and the potential admission of Iran and Afghanistan heighten the significance of the SCO for India.
- It is important for India to shape the Russia-China dynamics in this region, to the extent possible.
- The Central Asian countries have signalled they would welcome such a dilution of the Russia-China duopoly.
- The ongoing India-Iran-Russia is an important initiative for achieving an effective Indian presence in Central Asia, alongside Russia and China.
2) Significant bilateral relations
- India’s defence and energy pillars of partnership with Russia remain strong.
- Access to Russia’s abundant natural resources can enhance our materials security.
- With China too, while the recent developments should accelerate our efforts to bridge the bilateral asymmetries, disengagement is not an option.
3) The Indo-Pacific issue
- For India, it is a geographic space of economic and security importance, in which a cooperative order should prevent the dominance of any external power.
- China sees our Indo-Pacific initiatives as part of a U.S.-led policy of containing China.
- Russia’s Foreign Ministry sees the Indo-Pacific as an American ploy to draw India and Japan into a military alliance against China and Russia.
- India should focus on economic links with the Russian Far East and the activation of a Chennai-Vladivostok maritime corridor.
- This may help persuade Russia that its interests in the Pacific are compatible with our interest in diluting Chinese dominance in the Indo-Pacific.
4) Strategic autonomy of India
- The current India-China stand-off has intensified calls for India to fast-track partnership with the U.S.
- National security cannot be fully outsourced.
- India’s quest for autonomy of action is based on its geographical realities, historical legacies and global ambitions.
Consider the question “The changing geopolitical landscape should not dampen the importance of India’s engagement in the RIC (Russia-India-China) triangle. Comment.”
Conclusion
India should continue its engagement in the RIC while keeping and protecting its interests.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 10th Schedule
Mains level: Paper 2- Power of the Speaker/Chairman, Kohito Hollohan case
The article examines the larger issue of powers of the Speaker under 10th Schedule and the current interim order of the Rajasthan High Court.
Context
- The Rajasthan High Court had admitted the petition by the Congress faction group challenging the notice of the Speaker.
- In the interim order, the High Court had ordered to maintain the status quo.
Why Kihoto Hollohan Case matters
- The Kihoto Hollohan decision of the Supreme Court delivered in 1992 forms the basis in such decisions.
- The Constitution Bench which heard it was split 3:2.
- The majority on the bench upheld the constitutionality of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution.
- The High Court is not empowered to unsettle Kihota Hollohan and must apply its ratio that the Chairman/Speaker is the final arbiter on the disqualification of a member.
- Rajasthan High Court has raised the issue about whether disqualification under Tenth Schedule is applicable in the case of “intra-party dissent”.
- Para 2(1) a of 10th Schedule deals with disqualification of a member of a House belonging to any party “if he has voluntarily given up his membership of such political party”.
Let’s look at what the Supreme Court said in Kihoto Hollohan case:
“paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution is valid. Its provisions do not suffer from the vice of subverting democratic rights of elected members of Parliament and the legislatures of the States. It does not violate their freedom of speech, freedom of vote and conscience as contended”.
Consider the question “Examine the issue of powers of Speaker/Chairman in the matters of disqualification of the member against the powers of the Courts in such matters. What are the reasons for frequent frictions between the two authorities on this matter?”
Conclusion
The high courts and the Supreme Court routinely refuse to interfere in matters where the concerned authority has merely issued a show-cause notice or granted an opportunity of being heard. So, it must fix the issue raised by the Rajasthan High Court interim order.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pre-Pack
Mains level: Asset reconstructions process under IBC
The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has set up a committee to look into the possibility of including what is called “pre-packs” under the current insolvency regime to offer faster insolvency resolution.
Practice question for mains:
Q.What are the key features of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code? Discuss how operationalization of IBC is hindered by the slower resolutions of insolvency cases. Suggest measures for faster resolution.
What is Pre-pack?
- A pre-pack is an agreement for the resolution of the debt of a distressed company through an agreement between secured creditors and investors instead of a public bidding process.
- This system of insolvency proceedings has become an increasingly popular mechanism for insolvency resolution in the UK and Europe over the past decade.
Why need Pre-packs?
- Slow progress in the resolution of distressed companies has been one of the key issues raised by creditors regarding the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) under the IBC.
- Under the IBC, stakeholders are required to complete the CIRP within 330 days of the initiation of insolvency proceedings.
A case for India
- In India’s case, such a system would likely require that financial creditors agree on terms with potential investors and seek approval of the resolution plan from the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
- This process would likely be completed much faster than the traditional CIRP which requires that the creditors of the distressed company allow for an open auction for qualified investors to bid for the distressed company.
- The process needs to be completed within 90 days so that all stakeholders retain faith in the system and cases that take more than this time should be taken through the normal CIRP.
What are the other key benefits of a pre-pack?
- Pre-packs would mostly be used for businesses that are running; the investors would likely need to maintain good relations with operational creditors.
- In the case of pre-packs, the incumbent management retains control of the company until a final agreement is reached.
- The transfer of control from the incumbent management to an insolvency professional as is the case in the CIRP leads to disruptions in the business and loss of some high-quality human resources and asset value.
Some limitations
- The key drawback of a pre-packaged insolvency resolution is the reduced transparency compared to the CIRP.
- Financial creditors would reach an agreement with a potential investor privately and not through an open bidding process.
- This could lead to stakeholders such as operational creditors raising issues of fair treatment when financial creditors reach agreements to reduce the liabilities of the distressed company.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Green-Ag Project
Mains level: Sustainable agriculture and its significance
The Union government has launched the Green-Ag Project in Mizoram, to reduce emissions from agriculture and ensure sustainable agricultural practices.
Note the following things about Green-Ag Project:
1)Core objective
2)Implementing agencies
3)Regions of Implementation
Green-Ag Project
- The Green-Ag project is designed to achieve multiple global environmental benefits in at least 1.8 million hectares (ha) of land in five landscapes, with mixed land-use systems.
- It aims to bring at least 104,070 ha of farms under sustainable land and water management.
- The project will also ensure 49 million Carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq) sequestered or reduced through sustainable land use and agricultural practices.
Implementing agencies
- The project is funded by the Global Environment Facility, while the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers’ Welfare (DAC&FW) is the national executing agency.
- Other key players involved in its implementation are the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Environment Ministry (MoEF&CC).
Regions of implementation
The project has been launched in high-conservation-value landscapes of five States namely
- Madhya Pradesh: Chambal Landscape
- Mizoram: Dampa Landscape
- Odisha: Similipal Landscape
- Rajasthan: Desert National Park Landscape
- Uttarakhand: Corbett-Rajaji Landscape
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Nitrogen pollution
Mains level: Preventing river pollution
For the second time in a week, the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) had to reduce water production capacity by 25 per cent after high levels of ammonia were detected in the Yamuna River.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:
Q. Consider the following statements:
- Agricultural soils release nitrogen oxides into the environment.
- Cattle release ammonia into the environment.
- Poultry industry releases reactive nitrogen compounds into the environment.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
What is Ammonia and what are its effects?
- Ammonia is a colourless gas and is used as an industrial chemical in the production of fertilizers, plastics, synthetic fibres, dyes and other products.
- Ammonia occurs naturally in the environment from the breakdown of organic waste matter, and may also find its way to ground and surface water sources through industrial effluents or through contamination by sewage.
- If the concentration of ammonia in water is above 1 ppm it is toxic to fishes.
- In humans, long term ingestion of water having ammonia levels of 1 ppm or above may cause damage to internal organs.
A cause of concern
- The level of ammonia in raw Yamuna water was 1.8 parts per million (ppm).
- The acceptable maximum limit of ammonia in drinking water, as per the Bureau of Indian Standards, is 0.5 ppm.
Where does Ammonia come from?
- Ammonia is produced for commercial fertilizers and other industrial applications.
- Natural sources of ammonia include the decomposition or breakdown of organic waste matter, gas exchange with the atmosphere, forest fires, animal and human waste, and nitrogen fixation processes.
How is it treated?
- The DJB at present does not have any specific technology to treat ammonia.
- The only solution it adapts is to reduce production at its water treatment plants.
- In addition to this, the board mixes raw water that carries a high concentration of ammonia with a fresh supply.
- The amount of chlorine added to disinfect raw water is also increased when high levels of ammonia are detected.
What is the long-term solution to the problem?
- Stringent implementation of guidelines against dumping harmful waste into the river, and making sure untreated sewage does not enter the water are two things pollution control bodies are expected to do.
- But, a more organic method agreed upon by environmentalists and experts is to maintain a sustainable minimum flow, called the ecological flow.
- This is the minimum amount of water that should flow throughout the river at all times to sustain underwater and estuarine ecosystems and human livelihoods, and for self-regulation.
- The lack of a minimum ecological flow also means an accumulation of other pollutants.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Project Tiger
Mains level: Tiger conservation
India’s tiger population has reached a new high at 2,367.
Before reading this newscard, try these PYQs:
- The term ‘M-STrIPES’ is sometimes seen in the news in the context of: (CSP 2017)
(a) Captive breeding of Wild Fauna
(b) Maintenance of Tiger Reserves
(c) Indigenous Satellite Navigation System
(d) Security of National Highways
Q.Consider the following protected areas: (CSP 2012)
- Bandipur
- Bhitarkanika
- Manas
- Sunderbans
Which of the above are declared Tiger Reserves?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1, 3 and 4 only
(c) 2, 3 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
All India Tiger Estimation
- The tiger count is prepared after every four years by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) provides details on the number of tigers in the 18 tiger reign states with 50 tiger reserves.
- However, this time, the census also included data collected from the rough terrains of north-eastern states which were not possible due to logistic constraints before.
- The entire exercise spanned over four years is considered to be the world’s largest wildlife survey effort in terms of coverage and intensity of sampling.
- Over 15, 000 cameras were installed at various strategic points to capture the movement of tigers. This was supported by extensive data collected by field personnel and satellite mapping.
Details of the report
- India has 70% of the world’s tigers, says the report.
- Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of tigers at 526, closely followed by Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442).
- Chhattisgarh and Mizoram saw a decline in tiger population and all other States saw a “positive” increase, according to a press statement.
Implementing CATS frameworks
- India had embarked upon assessing management interventions through the globally developed Conservation Assured | Tiger Standards (CA|TS) framework.
- This framework will now be extended to all fifty tiger reserves across the country.
Back2Basics: Project Tiger
- Project Tiger is a tiger conservation programme launched in April 1973 during PM Indira Gandhi’s tenure.
- In 1970 India had only 1800 tigers and Project Tiger was launched in Jim Corbett National Park.
- The project is administrated by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
- It aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal tigers in their natural habitats, protecting them from extinction etc.
- Under this project the govt. has set up a Tiger Protection Force to combat poachers and funded relocation of villagers to minimize human-tiger conflicts.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Underthrusting, TTSZ
Mains level: Himalayan Orogeny
Earthquake prone zones in India:
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