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  • [Yojana Archive] Samagra Shiksha: Skilling Youth for Future

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    February 2022

    Context

    • Historically, vocational education in schools has been accorded high priority since National Policy on Education, 1986, and Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) of Vocationalization of Secondary Education was launched in 1988.
    • Currently, the scheme is being implemented as part of the Centrally Sponsored Scheme ‘Samagra Shiksha’ and has been aligned with the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF).
    • The vocational subjects are introduced as an additional subject at the Secondary level and as a compulsory elective subject at Senior Secondary level.

    Need for Vocational Education in India

    • Demographic Dividend: India is a young country with an average age of just 28 years. In fact, more than 60% of the population in the country is in the working age (15-64 years).  
    • Demographic Disaster: However, due to low availability of adequate skill, the energy of youth is not being harnessed properly. Therefore, the youth is venting out their frustration in illegal activities. If the situation continues to persist, the demographic dividend may eventually turn into demographic disaster.
    • Increasing the employability: India is experiencing an enhancement in the literacy levels due to sustained efforts in the last few decades. However, increasing literacy is much more related to disseminating the basic numeracy and knowledge of language. It does not prepare an individual for the employment of the new age. Instead, it is skill upgradation which is critical to ensure the employability of individuals.
    • Demand-Supply Mismatch: The paradoxical problem India faces today is the huge availability of manpower and contradictory shortage of skilled personnel in the industry. Thus, the need of the hour is to update the curriculum as per the needs of the industry so that the imparted skills are useful in finding employment in the current scenario.
    • Decreasing the Pressure on Academic Higher Education: At the same time, it needs to be understood that scant resources are prioritized towards individuals who can use them in a more efficient manner. For e.g., an athlete, who has no interest in theoretical academics, may not be forced to complete a language course out of pure academic necessity.

    Features of Samagra Shiksha

    • The CSS of Vocationalization of Secondary Education was finally integrated as a part of Samagra Shiksha, which is also a Centrally Sponsored Scheme.
    • The scheme has been implemented in government schools and government-aided schools.
    • It provides for an additional subject at the secondary level and a compulsory elective in senior secondary level.
    • The scheme provides for creation of a trade specific laboratory setup within the school which is used to impart hands-on training to the students.

    Underlying principles

    • Age-appropriate education: The scheme seeks to provide age-appropriate education to the students so that they are able to achieve the required outcomes.
    • Informed choice on interests: Students choose their area of interest before secondary and senior secondary levels. However, before offering the choices, it is important that the students are able to out of the available collection.
    • Activity Based Learning: The aim of vocational education is to apply the knowledge gained till today to the real world. Therefore, the course seeks to decrease the distinction between the theoretical knowledge and its applications in the outer world. At the same time, the children will learn a new skill and also, take a conscious decision about their future path.
    • Sense of contribution: It is felt that the society does not perceive manual labour in the same manner as it perceives the high-paying, managerial jobs. Such jobs are looked down upon in the society. The scheme seeks to end this distinction by inculcating a sense of respect for the manual labour at the foundational age of a child.
    • Development of Soft Skills: Again, the scheme teaches the importance of values like teamwork, cooperation, aesthetics, quality consciousness and sustainability in the form of judicious use of raw materials. Such qualities are desirable in a student aspiring to play a bigger role in the society in the later stages of life.
    • Simulated training: Samagra Shiksha is unique in the sense that it provides real life experience to the students in the form of internship/On-the-Job Training. In fact, the State governments have already been advised to treat the vocational subjects taught in Samagra Shiksha at par with other academic subjects.
    • Value Addition: Apart from the knowledge of vocational subject, Samagra Shiksha also provides for imparting other skills like Communication, Entrepreneurship, Green skills, Self-management and IT Skills to the students, so that their employability is enhanced to a higher extent.
    • Career transition: The problem which the students pursuing vocational education face is related to transfer or migration from one place to another in pursuit of better opportunities and facilities. However, the scheme seeks to resolve the issue by providing for a credit-based education.  
    • Credit-based academics: The new system targets a specific number of credits to be achieved in a particular session or semester in a course. It is immaterial whether the credits are accumulated in a single institution or multiple institutions. This will facilitate transfer and movement of students to a new location even in the middle of a semester.
    • Hub and Spoke Model: To fulfil the gap created by lack of adequate infrastructure, hub and spoke model is being used in the country. In this model, schools in surrounding areas provide vocational education by sending their students to a nearby school having the infrastructure. This is being followed till all the schools have not been provided with adequate infrastructure.
    • Technology-based Solutions: It is critical to ensure that all learners benefit from the scheme, without any discrimination based on learning capabilities. Therefore, under the scheme, new technologies like Artificial Intelligence are being used to create curated courses for learners according to their present levels and speed of learning.

    Success of the scheme

    • Already 14.435 schools have been approved to impart education based on the Samagra Shiksha scheme.
    • There are 62 skill courses available in 20 sectors such as Agriculture, Electronics, Healthcare, IT/ITes, Plumbing, Retail, Tourism, Hospitality etc.
    • The scheme covers 1.5 million students currently being trained by trained instructors. The number increases to about 3.5 million, if CBSE schools are included.

    Challenges in implementation

    • Perceived Social Status Hierarchy: In India, vocational education is not looked upon as a career of choice. It is considered something which is taken up due to a lack of alternatives or as a formality to fulfil eligibility conditions for government jobs. This discourages pupils from taking up vocational education courses and creates a gap in availability of technically-trained workers.
    • Lack of Vertical Mobility: At the same time, students coming out of vocational courses are not perceived as good managers. Candidates having a management background are preferred for such high-paying jobs. This leads to a lack of promotional avenues and opportunities for future growth of a child pursuing a career in vocational education.
    • Integration with Mainstream Education: To encourage students to take up vocational education as a preferred career choice, there is a need to integrate vocational education with academics, even at the higher levels. The focus needs to shift towards application-based learning and solving practical real-life issues. This is also helpful in understanding the challenges faced by entry-level workers and coming up with feasible solutions for the same.
    • Rapidly Emerging Trends: The scheme needs frequent updates in the curriculum to make it aligned with the needs of the evolving world. It is also important to understand that technology based sectors need faster revision of curriculum than the other sectors, due to the rapid changes in the sectors. Therefore, a policy of differential updates can also be developed for the different sectors as per their requirement.

    Various supporting initiatives

    The Government of India has prioritized vocational education through various policy initiatives such as:

    • National Policy on Education, 1986: Vocational education was prioritized as a part of the National Policy on Education, 1986.
    • CSS of Vocationalization of Secondary Education, 1988: Vocationalization was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in the year 1988. The scheme was subsequently revised in 2011 and 2014.
    • National Skill Qualification Framework (NSQF): It is a series of courses, organized in levels to achieve competency in the workforce. NSQF emphasizes on the acquisition of these skills for better employability, as a part of formal training or informal training.

    Conclusion

    • Various predictions suggest that the demographic dividend currently being enjoyed by India will wane by the end of 2050s. After that, the country will face issues related to the care of the elderly as the bulge will shift towards higher age groups.
    • In such a context, it is critical to ensure that India maximizes its growth during the demographic dividend so that it can create better facilities in the future for the needy. The need is to ensure better implementation of the Samagra Shiksha scheme to develop vocational education sector in the country.

  • Ukraine invasion and the great geopolitical reset

    Context

    Major wars have significant consequences for the internal and international politics of the combatant nations. Wars between great powers are far more consequential.

    Geopolitical changes triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

    1] New dynamism in great power triangle

    •  Biden hoped to distance Russia from China and focus all of America’s energies on the Indo-Pacific.
    • But Putin chose to align with China and confront the US and Europe with an impossible set of demands including a sphere of influence in Central Europe and turning Ukraine into Moscow’s protectorate.
    • China’s public articulation has underlined “rock-solid” support for Moscow but it is under some pressure to balance between its Russian alliance “without limits” and its deep economic interdependence with the US and Europe.
    • Whichever way this plays out, the current crisis has revealed America’s pole position in the great strategic triangle.

    2] Reinforced US primacy amongst the great powers

    • The US primacy amongst the great powers has been reinforced by the restoration of strategic unity within the West.
    • While many trans-Atlantic differences remain on the nature and extent of sanctions against Russia, the crisis has revealed the enduring sources of Western unity.

    3] Disciplining of Europe

    • Third is the American disciplining of Europe, especially Germany, where illusions of normative soft power and the faith in mercantilism had blinded the continent to geopolitical challenges presented by Russia and China.
    • Europe’s belief that it can enrich itself in the Russian and Chinese markets while expecting Washington to do all the heavy lifting on security is no longer sustainable.
    • The German decision on rearmament announced in the wake of the Russian aggression marks a definitive geopolitical turn in Europe.

    4] EU’s dilemma in energy domain

    • Nowhere is the EU’s Russian dilemma more visible than in the energy domain where Europe is deeply tied to Russian imports of oil, natural gas, and coal.
    • The EU pays $110 billion a year to Moscow for these imports.
    • While stepping up pressure on Europe to drastically reduce energy imports from Russia, Washington is reaching out to Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Iran to fill the gap created by the planned blockade of Russian energy supplies.

    5] Asia is adapting to the change

    • Sensing the dangers from a Sino-Russian axis and fearing that Europe could distract America, Japan is rethinking its nuclear abstinence.
    • South Korea’s president-elect, Yoon Suk-Yeol wants to strengthen ties with the US, and explore potential cooperation with the Quad.
    •  While the ASEAN remains torn between the US and China, many in the region are waking up to the dangers of betting that Beijing’s rise is irreversible, and that the Western decline is terminal.

    Lessons for India

    • The first major conflict amongst the great powers in the 21st century has presented India with multiple challenges, including its long-standing reliance on Russian military supplies.
    •  More immediately, the crisis in Ukraine demands that Delhi move on a war-footing towards a rapid modernisation and expansion of its domestic defence industrial base that is so critical for sustaining India’s strategic autonomy.

    Conclusion

    Unless there is an early diplomatic breakthrough, the conflict between Russia and the West is likely to sharpen in the coming days. But this hinge moment in world politics is also an opportunity for Delhi to increase its heft in the changing global balance.

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  • Government seeks law on Rights of Foreigners

    The Union government has urged the Supreme Court to help lay down a law with a “long–lasting” implication for the country on the subject of Foreigners’ Right to approach local courts for relief after violating their visa conditions.

    Why in news?

    • The government’s request came during the hearing of petitions filed by foreign nationals who were charged with violating COVID-19 guidelines by participating in a religious congregation in New Delhi during peak COVID outbreak.

    Citizens vs. Foreigners Rights

    Fundamental Rights available to both Citizens and Foreigners (except enemy aliens)

    Fundamental Rights Available Only to Citizens of India
    • Article 14 – Equality before the law and equal protection of laws
    • Article 20 – Protection in respect of conviction for offences
    • Article 21 – Protection of life and personal liberty
    • Article 21A – Right to elementary education
    • Article 22 – Protection against arrest and detention in certain cases
    • Article 23 – Prohibition of traffic in human beings and forced labour
    • Article 24 – Prohibition of employment of children in factories etc
    • Article 25 – Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion
    • Article 26 – Freedom to manage religious affairs
    • Article 27 – Freedom from payment of taxes for promotion of any religion
    • Article 28 – Freedom from attending religious instruction or worship in certain educational institutions
    • Article 15 – Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth
    • Article 16 – Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment
    • Article 19 – Protection of six rights related to freedom – (a) of speech and expression; (b) to assemble peaceably and without arms; (c) to form associations or unions; (d) to move freely throughout the territory of India; (e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India; and (f) to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business
    • Article 29 – Protection of language, script and culture of minorities
    • Article 30 – Right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions

     

     

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  • Maternal Mortality in India

    Kerala has yet again emerged on top when it comes to maternal and child health, with the State recording the lowest Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of 30 (per one lakh live births) in the country.

    What is Maternal Mortality?

    • Maternal mortality refers to deaths due to complications from pregnancy or childbirth.
    • The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births during the same time period.
    • It depicts the risk of maternal death relative to the number of live births and essentially captures the risk of death in a single pregnancy or a single live birth.

    Trends in India

    • India’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) has improved to 103 in 2017-19, from 113 in 2016-18.
    • Seven Indian states have very high maternal mortality. These are Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha and Assam.
    • The MMR is ‘high’ in Punjab, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. This means 100-130 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
    • It is ‘low’ in Haryana and Karnataka.
    • The states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar have seen the most drop in MMR.
    • West Bengal, Haryana, Uttarakhand and Chhattisgarh have recorded an increase in MMR over the last survey.

    Various determinants of maternal health in India

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  • Retail Inflation climbs to 6.07%

    India’s retail inflation inched up to an eight-month high of 6.07% in February from 6.01% in January, with rural India experiencing a sharper price rise at 6.38%.

    What is Retail Inflation?

    • When we generally talk about retail inflation, it often refers to the rate of inflation based on the consumer price index (CPI).
    • The CPI tracks the change in retail prices of goods and services which households purchase for their daily consumption.
    • The CPI monitors retail prices at a certain level for a particular commodity; price movement of goods and services at rural, urban and all-India levels.
    • The change in the price index over a period of time is referred to as CPI-based inflation, or retail inflation.

    What is Consumer Price Index (CPI)?

    • It is an index measuring retail inflation in the economy by collecting the change in prices of most common goods and services used by consumers.
    • In India, there are four consumer price index numbers, which are calculated, and these are as follows:
      1. CPI for Industrial Workers (IW)
      2. CPI for Agricultural Labourers (AL)
      3. CPI for Rural Labourers (RL) and
      4. CPI for Urban Non-Manual Employees (UNME).
    • While the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation collects CPI (UNME) data and compiles it, the remaining three are collected by the Labour Bureau in the Ministry of Labour.
    • The base year for CPI is 2012.
    • To calculate CPI, multiply 100 to the fraction of the cost price of the current period and the base period.

    Significance of CPI

    • Generally, CPI is used as a macroeconomic indicator of inflation, as a tool by the central bank and government for inflation targeting and for inspecting price stability, and as deflator in the national accounts.
    • CPI also helps understand the real value of salaries, wages, and pensions, the purchasing power of the nation’s currency, and regulating rates.
    • CPI, one of the most important statistics to ascertain economic health, is generally based on the weighted average of the prices of commodities.
    • It basically gives an idea of the cost of the standard of living.

     

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  • [Burning Issue] One Nation-One Election

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    Context

    Recently, Chief Election Commissioner in an interview said the Election Commission is ready to hold simultaneous elections on the lines of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for ‘One Nation One Election’.

    What are simultaneous polls?

    • Currently, elections to the state assemblies and the Lok Sabha are held separately — that is whenever the incumbent government’s five-year term ends or whenever it is dissolved due to various reasons.
    • This applies to both the state legislatures and the Lok Sabha. The terms of Legislative Assemblies and the Lok Sabha may not synchronize with one another.
    • For instance, Rajasthan faced elections in late 2018, whereas Tamil Nadu will go to elections only in 2021.
    • But the idea of “One Nation, One Election” envisages a system where elections to all states and the Lok Sabha will have to be held simultaneously.

    Simultaneous polls in India

    • India had concurrent elections for the first two decades.
    • Starting from the first general elections of free India in 1951 and the next three cycles of elections, the country witnessed concurrent Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.
    • Exceptions to these were a few states like Kerala where a mid-term election was held in 1960 on the premature dissolution of the Assembly.
    • In Nagaland and Pondicherry where the Legislative Assembly was created only after the 1962 general elections.

    End of the era

    • The fourth Lok Sabha constituted in 1967 was dissolved prematurely in 1971 ahead of its normal term resulting in a mid-term Lok Sabha election.
    • This was the beginning of the end of simultaneous elections in India.
    • Extension of the term of Lok Sabha during the National Emergency declared in 1975 and the dissolution of Assemblies of some States after the 1977 Lok Sabha election further disturbed this cycle.
    • Currently, there are at least two rounds of Assembly general elections every year.

    Making simultaneous elections a reality

    • Sections 14 and 15 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, empower the Election Commission to notify elections any time during the last six months of the term of the House and not earlier than that.
    • Therefore, if the terms of the Houses are expiring within a window of three to four months, it would be legally possible to hold elections simultaneously to constitute the new Houses.
    • In other words, to contemplate simultaneous elections, we need, as a starting point, a situation where the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of all States and UTs have their terms ending together.

    Synchronizing the terms of the Houses

    • Both the Lok Sabha and Legislative Assemblies (ordinarily) have a term of five years.
    • Article 83 of the Constitution provides for the tenure of Lok Sabha. Identical provisions are present in Article 172(1) regarding the term of the Legislative Assemblies.

    There is no duplication of work in preparing the electoral rolls for the two elections and hence no extra labor or expenditure is involved on this count.

    What is required?

    • This necessarily calls for either extending the terms of several of the Houses or curtailing of terms or a combination of both, that too by two to three years in some cases.
    • For enabling such curtailing or extension of the term, the relevant Articles of the Constitution mentioned above will have to be suitably amended.

    Why Simultaneous Elections?

    Two seemingly relevant factors in favour of simultaneous elections as opposed to separate elections are:

    1. Effort saving: Simultaneous elections reduce labour, time and expenditure in the conduct of elections; and
    2. Instances of pause in governance are addressed if elections are conducted in one go instead of staggered elections.

    [1] How is effort saving possible?

    • Electoral roll: Polling stations for Lok Sabha and Legislative Assembly elections are the same. So is the electoral roll.
    • Labour: There is no duplication of work in preparing the electoral rolls for the two elections and hence no extra labour or expenditure is involved on this count.
    • Logistics: In the conduct of elections, all logistic arrangements are replicated for the two elections when the same drill can cater to both the elections if held together.
    • Security: This will also mean saving in terms of human resources. Another area of saving in simultaneous elections would be in the deployment of the Central Police Force.

    [2] Governance pause can be avoided

    • Instances of pause in governance is due to the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
    • MCC is a set of behavior guidelines for candidates and political parties that comes into operation from the date election is announced by the Election Commission.
    • A crucial part of the MCC is the restrictions on the party in power.  If all elections are held together, the restrictions under MCC will be through in one go.

    [3] Help reduce campaign expenses

    • Simultaneous elections can bring considerable savings in the election propaganda campaign expenditure for the political parties.
    • Given that political funding is a major factor in the increasing menace of corruption, the move to reduce campaign expenditure is a welcome initiative.

    [4] Voter turnout

    • A nationwide election could push up the voter turnout since a once-in-five-years event is bound to attract more enthusiastic participation across all sections.
    • Frequent elections can bring in the election-fatigue factor at least among some sections of electors.
    • The simultaneous elections help address the fatigue element and the usually observed urban apathy in voting. Better electors’ participation will further add to the credibility of the election.

    [5] Financial costs of conducting elections

    • The costs of conducting each assembly or parliamentary election are huge and, in some senses, incalculable.
    • Directly budgeted costs are around Rs 300 crore for a state the size of Bihar.
    • But there are other financial costs, and incalculable economic costs.
    • The costs of the millions of man-hours used are not charged to the election budget.
    • The economic costs of lost teaching weeks, delayed public works, badly delivered or undelivered welfare schemes to the poor have never been calculated.

    [6] Visible and invisible costs of repeatedly deploying security forces

    • There are also huge and visible costs of deploying security forces and transporting them, repeatedly.
    • A bigger invisible cost is paid by the nation in terms of diverting these forces from sensitive areas.

    Exceptions to this debate: Local Bodies’ Elections

    • The local bodies’ elections have not been considered for the analysis here.
    • This is for the reason that the elections to local bodies cannot be clubbed with the proposed simultaneous elections for the Lok Sabha.

    Why?

    • The elections to local bodies are conducted under the superintendence, direction, and control of a different constitutional authority, namely, the respective State Election Commission.
    • Holding local bodies’ elections along with the other elections will require the team of the same polling officials to report to and take instructions from two different authorities simultaneously.
    • There is a distinct set of polling stations too for local bodies’ elections.
    • Further, the litigation forum before which these elections can be challenged is different.

    Challenges in ensuring simultaneous elections in India:

    [1] Synchronizing the Houses

    • Bringing the terms of all the Houses to sync with one another necessarily calls for either extending the terms of several of the Houses or curtailing of terms or a combination of both.
    • This may be by two to three years in some cases.
    • For this, relevant Articles of the Constitution will have to be suitably amended.

    [2] Midterm dissolution cannot be controlled

    • Even if the terms of the Houses are in sync as a one-time measure, we will still need an adequate legal safeguard in place to avoid mid-term dissolution and protect the simultaneous elections cycle.
    • This can be a tough task in conventionally fragile states with smaller assemblies with coalitions.

    [3] EVM related expenses

    • One aspect that could offset the savings would be the doubling of expenses on electronic voting machines (EVMs).
    • Considering that the incidental recurring expense in the storage and security of the EVMs will also be a considerable amount.
    • The overall expenditure in holding elections may not see any substantial dip on account of simultaneous elections.

    Arguments against the idea

    • National and state issues are different, and holding simultaneous elections is likely to affect the judgment of voters.
    • Since elections will be held once in five years, it will reduce the government’s accountability to the people. Repeated elections keep legislators on their toes and increases accountability.
    • When an election in a State is postponed until the synchronized phase, President’s rule will have to be imposed in the interim period in that state.
    • This will be a blow to democracy and federalism.

    Way forward

    • We need an adequate legal safeguarding place to avoid mid-term dissolution and protect the simultaneous elections cycle.
    • For maintaining the electoral cycle, some countries have legal provisions to the effect that for a ‘no-confidence motion’.
    • Their proposed resolution also contains a constructive ‘vote of confidence in an alternative government to continue with the tenure.

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  • Geneva Conventions and the Russia-Ukraine War

    As the evidence of casualties in the civilian population continues to mount, the world will increasingly look to the Geneva Conventions in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

    Geneva Conventions Guidelines for Wartime

    • These are a set of four treaties, formalized in 1949, and three additional protocols, which codify widely accepted ethical and legal international standards for humanitarian treatment of those impacted by war.
    • The focus of the Conventions is the:
    1. Treatment of non-combatants and prisoners of war, and
    2. Not the use of conventional or biological and chemical weapons

    What are the four Geneva Conventions?

    (1) First Geneva Convention: Health and Medical Issues

    • It protects wounded and sick soldiers on land during war.
    • This convention extends to medical and religious personnel, medical units, and medical transport.
    • It has two annexes containing a draft agreement relating to hospital zones and a model identity card for medical and religious personnel.

    (2) Second Geneva Convention:  Offshore Protection

    • It protects wounded, sick and shipwrecked military personnel at sea during war.
    • This convention also extends to hospital ships and medical transports by sea, with specific commentary on the treatment and protections for their personnel.

    (3) Third Geneva Convention: Treatment of Prisoners of War (PoW)

    It applies to prisoners of war, including a wide range of general protections such as humane treatment, maintenance and equality across prisoners, conditions of captivity, questioning and evacuation of prisoners, transit camps, food, clothing, medicines, hygiene and right to religious, intellectual, and physical activities of prisoners.

    (4) Fourth Geneva Convention: Civilian protection of occupied territory ***

    • It particularly applies to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces.
    • It protects civilians, including those in occupied territory.
    • Comprising 159 articles, it outlines the norms for this critical dimension of conflict.

    Extent of the Fourth Geneva Convention amid the Ukraine-Russia War

    • Along with the Additional Protocols of 1977, the Fourth Convention expounds upon the:
    1. General protection of populations against certain consequences of war
    2. Conduct of hostilities and the status and
    3. Treatment of protected persons
    4. Distinguishing between the situation of foreigners on the territory of one of the parties to the conflict and that of civilians in occupied territory
    • This convention also spells out the obligations of the occupying power vis-à-vis the civilian population and outlines detailed provisions on humanitarian relief for populations in occupied territory.

    Which countries are signatories?

    • The Geneva Conventions have been ratified by 196 states, including all UN member states.
    • The three Protocols have been ratified by 174, 169 and 79 states respectively.

    Russia and these conventions

    • In 2019, perhaps anticipating the possibility of its invading Ukraine in the near future, Russia withdrew its declaration under Article 90 of Protocol 1.
    • By withdrawing this declaration, Russia has pre-emptively left itself with the option to refuse access by any international fact-finding missions to Russian entities.
    • Not withdrawing could have find Russia responsible for violations of the Geneva Conventions standards.
    • Further, the four conventions and first two protocols of the Geneva Conventions were ratified by the Soviet Union, not Russia.
    • Hence there is a risk of the Russian government of the day disavowing any responsibility under the Conventions.

    What would be the steps for potential prosecution under the Conventions?

    • Under Article 8 of the Rome Statute of the ICC, it is the ICC that has jurisdiction in respect of war crimes, in particular “when committed as part of a plan or policy or as part of a large-scale commission of such crimes.”

    To what extent have Geneva Conventions been upheld worldwide in recent years?

    • Amnesty International notes that there has been a blatant disregard for civilian protection and international humanitarian law in armed conflicts where four of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council are parties.
    • Specifically, Amnesty cited:
    1. US-led coalition’s bombing of Raqqa in Syria, which left more than 1,600 civilians dead
    2. Destruction of civilian infrastructure and lives in Aleppo and Idlib by Russian forces
    3. Leading to mass displacement of millions
    4. War in Yemen where the Saudi Arabia and the UAE-led coalition, backed by the West, killed and injured thousands of civilians, fuelling a full-blown humanitarian crisis

     

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  • What is Blockchain Gaming?

    Many Indian gaming companies have expressed their interest in introducing elements of Blockchain technology into their games in the near future.

    What is Blockchain?

    • Blockchain is a decentralised database that stores information.
    • It relies on technology that allows for the storage of identical copies of this information on multiple computers in a network.

    What are blockchain games?

    • To revisit our definition of blockchain games: they are online video games that are developed by integrating blockchain technology into them.
    • It can be diversified into the following components-

    (1) Non-fungible tokens

    • NFTs represent in-game virtual assets that can be owned by players, such as maps, armour or land.
    • These NFTs act as asset tags, identifying ownership of the in-game assets, and are stored on the blockchain.
    • Being on the blockchain allows the player to have a secure record of ownership of the in-game assets and also gives the assets the ability to outlive the game itself.
    • Based on the manner in which the games are designed, it also allows for the in-game assets to be transferred from one game to another.
    • It also creates transparency, since ownership records can independently be verified by any third party as well.
    • In doing so, it makes in-game assets marketable and creates a decentralized market, where they can be bought and sold by people.

    (2) Cryptocurrency

    • Cryptocurrency, such as tokens based on the Ethereum blockchain, may be used for the purchase of in-game assets.
    • These in-game purchases usually enable gamers to buy items like extra lives, coins and so on directly from the game.

    (3) Gaming coins

    • Gaming coins, such as Axie Infinity (ACS) and Enjin Coin (ENJ), are in-game cryptocurrency which may be acquired and then used for the purchase of in-game assets.
    • These gaming coins may be purchased from crypto exchanges (and eventually be traded on these crypto exchanges as well) or, in certain cases, be acquired as winnings in games that have adopted the ‘play-to-earn’ model.
    • In such games, gamers are rewarded for dedicating their time and skill to play the game with gaming coins and in-game assets.

    Need to regulate such games

    • By making in-game assets available for purchase, developers and publishers stand to earn revenue from the sale of such assets.
    • They may also embed certain rules when implementing the code for in-game assets such that a fee is paid to them every time a certain action is taken,
    • It also involves transfers of assets from one player to another.
    • It needs to be ensured that if it is permissible to offer such games in the Indian Territory and also offers protection in the form of intellectual property rights.
    • Other concerns, such as privacy and cyber security, along with how financial regulations would apply to blockchain games, would also need to be addressed.

    Regulatory aspects in India

    Most of the gaming laws were brought into effect prior to the internet era and, therefore, only contemplate regulation of gaming activities taking place in physical premises.

    (A) Legality Check

    • Since blockchain is merely the underlying technology, there is no express regulation in India.
    • It would, however, be relevant to explore the legality of the games from the lens of existing Indian gaming regulation.
    • Most Indian states regulate gaming on the basis of a distinction in law between ‘games of skill’ and ‘games of chance’.
    • Staking money or property on the outcome of a ‘game of chance’ is prohibited and subjects the guilty parties to criminal sanctions.
    • However, placing any stakes on the outcome of a ‘game of skill’ is not illegal per se and may be permissible.
    • As per two seminal judgments of the Supreme Court on this aspect, the Supreme Court recognized that no game is purely a ‘game of skill’ and almost all games have an element of chance.

    (B) Dominant Element Test

    • As such, a ‘dominant element’ test is to be utilized to determine whether chance or skill is the dominating element in determining the result of the game.
    • This ‘dominant element’ may be determined by examining whether factors such as superior knowledge, training, experience, expertise or attention of a player have a material impact on the outcome of the game.
    • While the outcomes of any ‘games of skill’ are affected by these factors, outcomes of ‘games of chance’ are premised on luck and are largely independent of the skills of the players involved.

    (C) Gaming house regulations

    • The Delhi District Court has, in the past, held that a gaming portal would be covered within the definition of a ‘common gaming house’.
    • This would be subjected to conditions where the gaming developers were to take commission / earn revenue from the game offered.
    • This is because such portals merely seek to replace the brick and mortar common gaming houses that Indian law currently envisages and has outlawed.

    Where does blockchain gaming lie within this framework?

    • There is currently a lacuna in gaming law and there are lingering question marks on its interpretation and applicability to online gaming.
    • As the law currently stands, each blockchain game must first pass muster as a ‘game of skill’, as against a ‘game of chance’, to legally be made available in most Indian states.
    • In the past, the Supreme Court has rejected the notion of video games being ‘games of skill’.

    Possible protections available to blockchain games

    (a) Patents:

    • For a blockchain game or any of its elements to be patented in India if it meets the requirements of novelty, involving an inventive step, and industrial application.
    • In terms of Section 3(k) of the Patent Act, 1970, computer programs are per se not inventions and hence, cannot be patented.
    • However, judicial pronouncements in the past have clarified that if an invention has a technical contribution or a technical effect and is not merely a computer program per se, then it would be patentable.

    (b) Trademarks:

    • A trademark is used as an identifying mark to determine the source of a particular good or service, and is obtained to protect the goodwill and reputation of the brand.
    • Any distinguishing mark in a blockchain game or NFT that would allow consumers to identify the source of that particular game or NFT may be trademarked.

    (c) Copyrights:

    • In India, artistic work, musical work, cinematographic films, dramatic works, sound recordings and computer software are capable being of being protected under copyright law.
    • Although there is no specific provision in the Copyright Act that deals with video games, copyright protection of video games may be sought under the category of ‘multimedia products’.
    • Similar to the position with trademarks, the process of obtaining a copyright for a blockchain game would be the same as any other online video game.

    Future roadmap

    • The Finance Ministry had announced in late-2021 that The Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 would seek to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies.
    • If the legislature does indeed successfully, then, to the extent that existing blockchain games rely on cryptocurrencies, they would be considered illegal in India.
    • Independent of this, the Budget announced that the income from the transfer of any ‘virtual digital assets’ (which include cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens) would be subject to income tax at the rate of 30%.
    • Policy pronouncements of this nature would need to be carefully considered by publishers of blockchain games while designing their pricing models.

     

     

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  • What is ‘Most Favoured Nation’ Status?

    The United States, the European Union, Britain, Canada and Japan are to move jointly to revoke Russia’s “most favoured nation” (MFN) status over its invasion of Ukraine.

    What is MFN status?

    • The World Trade Organization’s 164 members commit to treating other members equally so they can all benefit from each other’s lowest tariffs, highest import quotas and fewest trade barriers.
    • This principle of non-discrimination is known as most favoured nation (MFN) treatment.
    • There are some exceptions, such as when members strike bilateral trade agreements or when members offer developing countries special access to their markets.
    • For countries outside the WTO, such as Iran, North Korea, Syria or Russian ally Belarus, WTO members can impose whatever trade measures they wish without flouting global trading rules.

    Removal of MFN status

    • There is no formal procedure for suspending MFN treatment and it is not clear whether members are obliged to inform the WTO if they do so.
    • India suspended Pakistan’s MFN status in 2019 after a suicide attack by a Pakistan-sponsored group.
    • Pakistan never applied MFN status to India.

    What does losing MFN status mean?

    • Revoking Russia’s MFN status sends a strong signal that the US and its Western allies do not consider Russia a economic partner in any way, but it does not in itself change conditions for trade.
    • It does formally allow the Western allies to increase import tariffs or impose quotas on Russian goods, or even ban them, and to restrict services out of the country.
    • They could also overlook Russian intellectual property rights.
    • Ahead of MFN status removal, the United States had already announced a ban on imports of Russian oil and gas.

     

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  • What is Vibrant Village Programme?

    The Union government plans to open the villages along the Chinese border for tourists under the Vibrant Village programme announced in the Union Budget 2022-23.

    Vibrant Village Programme

    • The program aims to improve infrastructure in villages along India’s border with China.
    • Infrastructure will be improved in states like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Arunachal Pradesh.
    • Under the programme, residential and tourist centres will be constructed.
    • It will also provide for improvement in road connectivity and development of decentralized renewable energy sources.
    • Apart from that, direct access of Doordarshan and education related channels will be provided. Support will be provided for livelihood.

    Key focus areas

    • It focuses livelihood generation, road connectivity, housing, rural infrastructure, renewable energy, television and broadband connections.
    • This objective will be met by strengthening infrastructure across villages located near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

    Why need such scheme?

    • The programme is a counter to China’s model villages but the name has been carefully chosen so as to not cause any consternation in the neighbouring country.
    • China has established new villages along the LAC in the past few years particularly across the Arunachal Pradesh border.
    • While China has been settling new residents in border areas, villages on the Indian side of the frontier have seen unprecedented out-migration.

     

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