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GS Paper: GS2

  • Labour welfare necessity

    Context

    • One of the biggest economic fallout of the pandemic has been the deteriorating labour market conditions.
    • In the years ahead when the health crisis subsides and the economy witnesses a rebound, the healing of the labour market may take some more time. This is because the impact of recovery on this market is always felt with a lag.
    • Given the ebb and flow of the pandemic, the growth recovery is likely to be fragmented and will weigh on the number and types of jobs available.

    Definition

    • Labour welfare relates to taking care of the well-being of workers by employers, trade unions, governmental and non-governmental institutions and agencies.
    • Welfare includes anything that is done for the comfort and improvement of employees and is provided over and above the wages.

    What are labour rights?

    • Labour rights or workers’ rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labour relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labour and employment law. In general, these rights influence working conditions in relations of employment.

    Why labour law is needed

    • Labour law aims to correct the imbalance of power between the worker and the employer; to prevent the employer from dismissing the worker without good cause; to set up and preserve the processes by which workers are recognized as ‘equal’ partners in negotiations about their working conditions etc.

    Constitutional mandate

    • Article 41 – The state shall within the limits of its economic capacity and development make effective provision for securing the right to work, to education and to public assistance in cases of unemployment, old age, sickness and disablement and in other cases of underserved want.
    • Article 42 – The state shall make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.

    Necessity for welfare

    • There were only 25 million during the initial period of industrial growth, while the strength of the workers is increasing year after year and hence, need for a mechanism to look into the welfare of the labour.
    • Workers put in long hours of work in unhealthy surrounding and the drudgery of the factory work continues to have adverse effect. To counter these welfare measures were felt necessary.
    • As a result of hardwork, they fall prey to alchoholism, gambling and other immoral activities results in absenteeism and other problems in the organisation. Hence the need was felt.

    Scope for labour welfare in India

    • Contribute to the productivity of labour and efficiency of the enterprise.
    • Raise the standard of living of workers by indirectly reducing the burden on their purse.
    • Be in tune and harmony with similar services obtaining in a neighbouring community where an enterprise is situated.
    • Be based on an intelligent prediction of the future needs of industrial work and be so designed as to offer a cushion to absorb the shock of industrialization and urbanization
    • Be administratively viable and essentially development in outlook.

    Government steps in this direction

    • Social Security Measures: The social security measures would help man to face the contingencies as such it is difficult for him either to work or to get work and support himself and his family. Thus social security measure provides a self balancing social insurance or assistance from public funds.
    • Social Insurance: is described as the giving in return for contribution, benefits up to subsistence level, as of right and without a means test, so that an individual may build freely upon it.
    • Social Assistance: is provided as an supplement to social insurance for those needy persons who cannot get social insurance payments and is offered after a means test.
    • Public Service: is a programme constituting the third main type of social security. They are financed directly by the government from its general revenues in form of cash payments or services to every member of the community falling within a defined category.

    Case study of Finland

    • Universal basic income pilot project: For two years Finland’s government gave 2,000 unemployed citizens €560 a month with no strings attached. It was the first nationwide basic income experiment. The concept is slowly becoming difficult for people to ignore.

    Challenges in labour welfare in India

    • Technical glitches: Under the Constitution of India, Labour is a subject in the concurrent list where both the Central and State Governments are competent to enact legislation. As a result, a large number of labour laws have been enacted catering to different aspects of labour e.g. occupational health, safety, employment etc.
    • Loopholes: Because of the predominantly heavy-handed labour regulations (also called as Inspector Raj) with exploitable gaps, the MNCs and domestic organizations have resorted to alternate ways i.e. employing contract labour at less than half the payroll of a permanent employee.
    • Gaps in labour laws: One of the main reasons for labour reforms is the concept of contract labour. Trade Unions suggest that this concept itself should be removed. There is stringent hiring and firing process defined in Industry Disputes Act. It makes it mandatory for the organization to seek Government permission before removing an employee.

    Conclusion

    • Labour Welfare helps labourers improve their working conditions, providing social security and raising their standard of living.
    • Raise the employee’s morale use the workforce more effectively besides removing dissatisfaction help to develop loyalty in workers towards the organization.

    Mains question

    Q.What is labour welfare according to you? Why it is needed? Explain the challenges in front of Indian labour reforms.

     

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  • Justice Lalit appointed 49th CJI

    Justice Uday Umesh Lalit was appointed the 49th Chief Justice of India (CJI) after President Droupadi Murmu signed his warrant of appointment.

    How is CJI selected?

    • Justice U.U. Lalit is the senior-most judge in the Supreme Court now.
    • The ‘Memorandum of Procedure of Appointment of Supreme Court Judges’ says “appointment to the office of the CJI should be of the seniormost Judge of the SC considered fit to hold the office”.
    • The process begins with the Union Law Minister seeking the recommendation of the outgoing CJI about the next appointment.

    What is the time frame?

    • The Minister has to seek the CJI’s recommendation at the “appropriate time”.
    • The Memorandum does NOT elaborate or specify a timeline.

    Making final appointment

    The Memorandum says:

    1. Receipt of the recommendation of the CJI
    2. The Union Minister of Law, Justice and Company Affairs will put up the recommendation to the PM
    3. PM will advise the President in the matter of appointment
    4. President of India appoints the CJI

    Chief Justice of India: A brief background

    • The CJI is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian federal judiciary.

    Appointment

    • The Constitution of India grants power to the President to nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Parliament, appoint a chief justice, who serves until they reach the age of 65 or until removed by impeachment.
    • Earlier, it was a convention to appoint seniormost judges.
    • However, this has been broken twice. In 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed superseding 3 senior judges.
    • Also, in 1977 Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the chief justice superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna.

    Qualifications

    The Indian Constitution says in Article 124 (3) that in order to be appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court of India, the person has to fit in the following criteria:

    • He/She is a citizen of India and
    • has been for at least five years a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or
    • has been for at least ten years an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or
    • is, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist

    Functions

    • As head of the Supreme Court, the CJI is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law.
    • In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice allocates all work to the other judges.

    On the administrative side, the CJI carries out the following functions:

    • maintenance of the roster; appointment of court officials and general and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court

    Removal

    • Article 124(4) of the Constitution lays down the procedure for removal of a judge of the Supreme Court which is applicable to chief justices as well.
    • Once appointed, the chief justice remains in the office until the age of 65 years. He can be removed only through a process of removal by Parliament as follows:
    • He/She can be removed by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present.
    • The voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proven misbehavior or incapacity.

     

     

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  • Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC)

    US firm Microsoft has become the first big tech company to join the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC).

    What does Microsoft joining ONDC mean?

    • Microsoft getting on board the ONDC wagon means the project gets its first international marquee name ahead of its Bengaluru launch.
    • A number of participants are currently live on the ONDC network, offering a number of services in the e-commerce supply chain such as buying, selling and offering logistics services.

    Who else is on board

    • Among those that are live are Paytm, which has joined the platform as a buyer, and Reliance-backed Dunzo, which is offering logistics services for hyperlocal deliveries.
    • Companies like Kotak, PhonePe, Zoho and Snapdeal are in the “advanced stage of development”, according to the ONDC website.
    • Axis Bank, HDFC Bank and Airtel have already initiated integration with the network.
    • According to some media reports, e-commerce giants Flipkart and Amazon are also considering joining the network.

    What is ONDC?

    • ONDC seeks to promote open networks, which are developed using the open-source methodology.
    • The project is aimed at curbing “digital monopolies”.
    • This is a step in the direction of making e-commerce processes open-source, thus creating a platform that can be utilized by all online retailers.
    • They will encourage the usage of standardized open specifications and open network protocols, which are not dependent on any particular platform or customized one.

    What does one mean by ‘Open-sourcing’?

    • An open-source project means that anybody is free to use, study, modify and distribute the project for any purpose.
    • These permissions are enforced through an open-source licence easing adoption and facilitating collaboration.

    What processes are expecting to be open-sourced with this project?

    • Several operational aspects including onboarding of sellers, vendor discovery, price discovery and product cataloguing could be made open source on the lines of Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
    • If mandated, this could be problematic for larger e-commerce companies, which have proprietary processes and technology deployed for these segments of operations.

    What is the significance of making something open-source?

    • Making a software or a process open-source means that the code or the steps of that process is made available freely for others to use, redistribute and modify.
    • If the ONDC gets implemented and mandated, it would mean that all e-commerce companies will have to operate using the same processes.
    • This could give a huge booster shot to smaller online retailers and new entrants.

    What does the DPIIT intend from the project?

    • ONDC is expected to digitize the entire value chain, standardize operations, promote inclusion of suppliers, derive efficiencies in logistics and enhance value for stakeholders and consumers.

    Countering ‘Digital Monopoly’

    • Digital monopolies refer to a scenario wherein e-commerce giants or Big Tech companies tend to dominate and flout competition law pertaining to monopoly.
    • The Giants have built their own proprietary platforms for operations.
    • In March, India moved to shake up digital monopolies in the country’s $ 1+ trillion retail market by making public a draft of a code of conduct — Draft Ecommerce Policy, reported Bloomberg.
    • The government sought to help local start-ups and reduce the dominance of giants such as Amazon and Walmart-Flipkart.
    • The rules sought to define the cross-border flow of user data after taking into account complaints by small retailers.

    Processes in the ONDC

    • Sellers will be onboarded through open networks. Other open-source processes will include those such as vendor and price discovery; and product cataloging.
    • The format will be similar to the one which is used in the Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
    • Mega e-commerce companies have proprietary processes and technology for these operations.
    • Marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Zomato, BigBasket and Grofers will need to register on the ONDC platform to be created by DPIIT and QCI.
    • The task of implementing DPIIT’s ONDC project has been assigned to the Quality Council of India (QCI).

    Why such a move by the govt?

    • This COVID pandemic has made every business to go digital.
    • India is a country with 700 million internet users of whom large crunch of population are active buyers on e-coms.
    • There are 9 platforms in the world which are billion user platform and all are private. This is the monopoly which the govt aims to hit.
    • No country would ever want a few (foreign) companies to control their domestic e-commerce ecosystem.
    • Countries like US are struggling to control their monopoly over the e-commerce giants leaving no space for Indian legislations to control these overseas companies.
    • In India Amazon, Walmart, Uber are controlling larger crunch of share in the market leaving very less scope for domestic companies to cope up with.

    Scope for ONDCs success

    • Over last 50 years India is dealing with Big Tech companies with responsibility and pragmatic manner. Now it is also coming with new policies to control them.
    • The drafting panel has extraordinary persons like Mr. Nandan Nilekani and others who were in Aadhar, NPCI, MyGov, Retail industry and these make it inclusive and innovative.
    • India has successfully executed various public digital platforms like JAM Trinity, Aadhar linked projects. India for sure can handle its digital ecosystem better in e-coms too.
    • Open-sourcing will benefit society at large as did the UPI.

    Issues that can be raised

    • Draft E-Commerce policy can raise resistance from companies like Amazon, Flipkart, Walmart etc.
    • They may raise hues over operability and ease of doing business.
    • MSMEs have already raised the growing compliance burden for e-commerce.
    • They have argued that the govt is technologically and digitally motivating everybody to get online and on the other hand it is culling their very ability to reach out to the consumer to get more people on board.

    Possible issues with ONDC

    • Every platform has its own challenges so would the ONDC may have.
    • While UPI was ruled out (BHIM being the first) people were reluctant in using it due to transaction failures.
    • With subsequent improvements and openness people and businesses are using it in every walks of life. So it would work with ONDC.

    Conclusion

    • Once adopted, ONDC will make sure consumer and seller interest will be protected as the UPI did.
    • Best is yet to come and we are in 4th industrial revolution where the Govt should strengthen itself accordingly and make businesses inclusive and restrict the monopolies.

     

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  • Medical education in India

    Context

    • The increasing population (1.32 billion ) and the occurrence of diseases, demands Indian medical education and the training approach to be modified and ensure enhancing practical clinical skills, than just sticking with predominantly theoretical or classroom training.
    • The demand for medicine to be taught in language beside English has been made repeatedly over the years, and was reiterated by union home minister recently.

    Definition

    • Medical education consists of training aimed at ensuring physicians acquire the competencies, skills and aptitudes that that allow them to practice professionally and ethically at the highest level.

    Goal of medical education

    • The goal of basic medical education is to ensure that medical students have acquired the knowledge, skills, and professional behaviors that prepare them for a spectrum of career choices, including, but not limited to, patient care, public health, clinical or basic research, leadership and management, or medical education.

    Why medical education in India needs urgent reforms

    • Current Status: Despite being home to one of the oldest medicinal systems in the world, India is still struggling to bring its medical education at par with the leaders around the world. The 541 medical colleges in the country haven’t been able to reach the standard of education that could meet the healthcare needs of the country.
    • Deficiency: The doctor-patient ratio of 1:1655 in India as against WHO norm of 1:1000 clearly shows the deficit of MBBS. While the government is working towards a solution and targeting to reach the required ratio, there is a need to relook at the overall medical education.
    • Post pandemic scenario: The lag in formal medical education has come up evidently post-pandemic when the nation saw the medical fraternity struggling to fill the doctor deficit.
    • Structural issues: It also brought forth the outdated learning methods that most of the medical institutes were using. Due to lockdown and fear of Covid-19 spread, a lot of institutes cancelled lectures and practical sessions.

    Current challenges faced by medical education in India

    • Limited government seats: The number of seats available for medical education in India is far less than the number of aspirants who leave school with the dream of becoming doctors.
    • What data speaks: Of the 1.6 million students who appeared in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) in 2021, only 88,120 made it into the 562 medical colleges in the country. Others had to enrol in non-medical courses in India or seek admission to foreign medical colleges. While the number of medical colleges has now increased to 596 (with 89,875 seats), the entry barrier is still high.
    • Lack of skills: Though the institutes are managing to hire professors and lecturers, there is a lack of technical skills. Finding faculties in clinical and non-clinical disciplines is difficult and there are very few faculty development programs for upskilling the existing lot.
    • Lack of infrastructure: The gap in digital learning infrastructure is currently the biggest challenge the sector is facing. There is an urgent need to adopt technology and have resources available to facilitate e-learning.
    • Lack of research and innovation: The medical research and innovation needs an added push as there haven’t been many ground-breaking research here. The education system needs to focus more on increasing the quality of research. Additionally since industry academia partnership is not available, hence innovation also takes a back-seat.

    A recent analysis estimates that India has only 4.8 fully qualified and actively serving doctors per 10,000 population.

    Government steps in tackling these challenges and issues

    • NMC bill: The National Medical Commission Bill, 2019 was passed recently by the parliament. The bill sets up the National Medical Commission (NMC) which will act as an umbrella regulatory body in the medical education system. The NMC will subsume the MCI and will regulate medical education and practice in India. Apart from this, it also provides for reforms in the medical education system.
    • MCI suggestion: The Medical Council of India (MCI) launched the globally recognized Competency-based medical education (CBME) for MBBS students in 2019. The CBME curriculum seeks to step away from a content-based syllabus and more towards one that is more practical and aligned with the country’s increasing health demands.
    • Schemes: 22 new All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) were developed under this initiative, and MBBS classes have already commenced at 18 of the new AIIMS.

    About NMC

    The Aim of the National Medical Commission are to (i) improve access to quality and affordable medical education, (ii) ensure availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals in all parts of the country; (iii) promote equitable and universal healthcare that encourages community health perspective and makes services of medical professionals accessible to all the citizens; (iv) encourages medical professionals to adopt latest medical research in their work and to contribute to research; (v) objectively assess medical institutions  periodically in a transparent manner; (vi) maintain a medical register for India; (vi) enforce high ethical standards in all aspects of medical services; (vii) have an effective grievance redressal mechanism.

    Steps to be taken 

    • To cater to any unprecedented demand in the future and to bring up the quality of education, the Indian medical education system undoubtedly needs major reforms.
    • While the focus needs to be put on improving the curriculum to bring competency-based education, there are several ways that can help bring reform in the current medical education system. Some of these are;
    1. Leveraging technology to offer digital learning solutions
    2. Capitalizing on e-learning and facilitating infrastructure to support it
    3. Revising curriculum to have more practical training, competency-based skill development
    4. Inculcating problem-solving approach by situational/case-based examination
    5. A broad-based faculty development program to sharpen the competency of teachers
    6. Eliminating caste-based reservation and paving way for merit-based admission
    7. Industry academia collaboration to facilitate innovation

    Way forward

    • There should be a substantial step-up in public investment in medical education.
    • By establishing new medical colleges, the government can increase student intake as well as enhance equitable access to medical education.
    • Besides, it must allocate adequate financial resources to strengthen the overall capacity of existing medical colleges to enrich student learning and improve output.

    Try this question for mains

    Q. Considering the large diaspora of medical students across the globe do you consider there are problems in Indian medical education system? If there are any ,discuss them along with current health status and steps needed to counter them .

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  • The Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 is a colonial burden on Goa

    Context

    The Portuguese Civil Code of 1867, the so-called “common civil code” of Goa, is in the news again. A 28-member parliamentary standing committee recently visited the state to study it in the context of the demand for a uniform civil code.

    Background

    • Long before the arrival of the British imperialists in India, the Portuguese had occupied certain territories in the coastal regions with its capital in Cochin, later shifted to Goa.
    • They did not interfere with the local customs relating to family relations and framed, in the mid-19th century, three separate codes of religion-based customary laws of Goa, Daman and Diu.
    • The three codes were formally enforced as the law by royal decrees issued by the King of Portugal.
    • The Portuguese Civil Code of 1867 was extended to Goa, Daman and Diu by a royal decree of November 18, 1869, declaring that the code would apply to the natives subject to the local usages and customs “so far as they are not inconsistent with morality or public order”.
    •  In 1910, the Portuguese parliament enacted two civil marriage and divorce decrees and, in 1946, a canonical marriage decree for Catholics.
    • All of these too were extended to Goa, Daman and Diu.
    • The family law applied by the Portuguese, both at home and in the occupied Indian territories, was thus not a uniform code but a loose conglomeration of civil and religious laws.

    After Indian independence

    • Fourteen years after the advent of Independence, Goa and its affiliated territories were liberated and turned into a Union Territory (UT) under central rule.
    •  The Goa, Daman and Diu Administration Act of 1962 declared that all laws in force in these territories before their liberation would continue to be in force “until amended or repealed by a competent legislature or other competent authority” (Section 5).
    • None of the pre-liberation family laws was, however, amended or repealed.
    • Nor was any central law on family rights, including the four Hindu law Acts of 1955-56, extended to any of the three territories.
    • In 1987, the Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganisation Act made Goa a full-fledged state with its own legislative assembly and left Daman and Diu as a UT.
    • Twenty-five years later, the Goa state legislature enacted the Succession, Special Notaries and Inventory Proceedings Act, amending certain provisions, mainly procedural, of the 155-year old civil code.
    • In 2019, the UT of Daman and Diu was merged with another such territory – Dadra and Nagar Haveli (also ruled in the past by Portugal) — to form a single UT under central rule.
    • As laid down in Section 17 of the unifying Act, this development did not in any way change the family law system prevailing in either of these places since their liberation from foreign rule.

    Need for uniform civil code

    • The law ministry has told the concerned standing committee of Parliament that the Portuguese civil code and its later amendments as in force in Goa may — if required — be duly reviewed.
    • Uniform civil code: What has been said now by the law ministry about Goa is in the context of implementing the constitutional directive of Article 44 for a uniform civil code for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
    • However, while the 21st Law Commission had already given its opinion against the feasibility and need of such a code at this juncture
    • In recent months, the ministry has told Parliament about its reference on this issue to the Law Commission.
    • There is no justification for retaining over a century-old archaic law, 75 years after the independence of India.
    • Hindu law Acts of 1955-56 governing four religious communities in the rest of the country needs to be extended to the same communities in Goa, Daman and Diu.

    Conclusion

    The ministry has now reportedly told the parliamentary committee that enacting a uniform civil code would be possible only when a “sizeable majority” of the people seeks such a change.

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  • India-EU Relations

    Context

    • While India celebrates its 75th year of Independence, it also celebrates 60 years of diplomatic relations with the European Union (EU).
    • A cooperation agreement signed in 1994 took the bilateral relationship beyond trade and economic cooperation.

    Definition

    • Relations between the European Union and the Republic of India are currently defined by the 1994 EU–India Cooperation Agreement. The EU is a significant trade partner for India and the two sides have been attempting to negotiate a free trade deal since 2007.

    Common roadmap and shared vision

    • The road map highlights engagement across five domains: foreign policy and security cooperation; trade and economy; sustainable modernisation partnership; global governance; and people-to-people relations.

     

    Brief history

    • India-EU relations date to the early 1960s, with India being amongst the first countries to establish diplomatic relations with the European Economic Community.
    • At the 5th India-EU Summit at The Hague in 2004, the relationship was upgraded to a ‘Strategic Partnership’.
    • The two sides adopted a Joint Action Plan in 2005 (which was reviewed in 2008) that provided for strengthening dialogue and consultation mechanisms in the political and economic spheres, enhancing trade and investment, and bringing peoples and cultures together.

    What is strategic partnership?

    • A ‘strategic partnership’, as the term suggests, involves a shared understanding between the two or more states involved on the nature of threats in the environment and the place of their collective power in helping mitigate the threats.

    Why they are important?

    • As the world’s two largest democracies, the EU and India share a commitment to protecting and promoting human rights, a rules-based global order, effective multilateralism, sustainable development and open trade.

    Significance

    [A] Political Partnership

    • The Joint Political Statement signed in 1993, opened the way for annual ministerial meetings and a broad political dialogue.
    • The Cooperation Agreement signed in 1994 took the bilateral relationship beyond trade and economic cooperation.
    • A multi-tiered institutional architecture of cooperation has since been created, presided over by the India-EU Summit since 2000.
    • Today EU stands as a major reference for India’s legislative process in the field of Data security and privacy.

    [B] Economic Ties

    • Bilateral trade: The EU is India’s largest trading partner, while India is the EU’s 9th largest trading partner. It is the second-largest destination for Indian exports after the United States.
    • Investment: The EU’s share in foreign investment inflows to India has more than doubled from 8% to 18% in the last decade. This makes the EU an important foreign investor in India.
    • Preferential treatment: India is the benefactor of the unilateral preferential tariffs under the EU Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP).
    • Energy: Both sides have finalised civil nuclear cooperation agreement after 13 years of negotiations called as the European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM). It involves collaboration in the civil nuclear energy sector.
    • Development cooperation: Over €150 million worth of projects by EU are currently ongoing in India. European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing loans for Lucknow, Bangalore, and Pune Metro Projects.

    [C] Defence & Security

    • EU and India have instituted several mechanisms for greater cooperation on pressing security challenges like counterterrorism, maritime security, and nuclear non-proliferation.
    • Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region in New Delhi (IFC-IOR) has recently been linked-up with the Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSC-HOA) established by the EU Naval Force (NAVFOR).

    [D] Climate Change

    • EU and India also underline their highest political commitment to the effective implementation of the Paris Agreement and the UNFCCC despite US withdrawing from the same.
    • India-EU Clean Energy and Climate Partnership was agreed at the 2016 Summit – to promote access to and disseminate clean energy and climate friendly technologies and encourage R&D.
    • Energy cooperation is now ongoing on a broad range of energy issues, like smart grids, energy efficiency, offshore wind and solar infrastructure, and research and innovation.
    • EU and India also cooperate closely on the Clean Ganga initiative and deal with other water-related challenges in coordinated manner.

    [E] Research and Development

    • India-EU Science & Technology Steering Committee meets annually to review scientific cooperation.
    • Both have official mechanisms in fields such as Digital Communications, 5G technology, Biotechnology, artificial intelligence etc.
    • ISRO has a long-standing cooperation with the European Union, since 1970s. It has contributed towards the EU’s satellite navigation system Galileo.

    Future scope

    • Trade figures and Investments: Bilateral trade between the two surpassed $116 billion in 2021-22. The EU is India’s second largest trading partner after the U.S., and the second largest destination for Indian exports.
    • Job creation: There are 6,000 European companies in the country that directly and indirectly create 6.7 million jobs.
    • Green strategic partnership: between India and Denmark aims to address climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and the India-Nordic Summit focused on green technologies and industry transformation that are vital for sustainable and inclusive growth.
    • Energy security: Energy serves as an important aspect of the relationship between India and the EU. Given the impacts of climate change, this aspect has become extremely crucial today. Both entities have been pursuing cooperation for the joint development of clean energy.
    • Political cooperation: India and the EU may benefit from increasing cooperation in the resolution of issues such as terrorism and radicalization, cyber-security, coordinating on certain key and relevant aspects of foreign policy, and other humanitarian issues.
    • International support: It is crucial that Europe recognize India as a partner for peace that is committed to human rights, both regionally and internationally.

    Challenges before them

    • Deadlock over BTIA: The negotiations for a Broad-based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) were held between 2007 to 2013 but have remained dormant/suspended since then.
    • Export hurdles: Indian demands for ‘Data secure’ status (important for India’s IT sector) to ease norms on temporary movement of skilled workers, relaxation of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS), etc. stands largely ignored.
    • Trade imbalance: This heavily leans towards China. India accounts for only 1.9% of EU total trade in goods in 2019, well behind China (13.8%).
    • Brexit altercations: In the longer term of balancing of global powers, a smaller Europe without the key military and economic force UK, is much weaker in the wake of an ambitious China and an increasingly protectionist US.
    • EU primarily remains a trade bloc: This has resulted in a lack of substantive agreements on matters such as regional security and connectivity.
    • Undue references to sovereign concerns: The European Parliament was critical of both the Indian government’s decision to scrap Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in 2019 and the Citizenship (Amendment) Act.
    • China’s influence: EU’s affinity lies with China. This is because of its high dependence on the Chinese market. It is a major partner in China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
    • Ukrainian war: EAM S. Jaishankar’s witty reply about EU’s oil import from Russia has not been welcomed across the EU. It still expects India to criticize Russia.

    EU’s interests in India

    • Reducing dependence on China: It is necessary for both sides as it is making them highly vulnerable to Chinese aggression.
    • Western lobby: EU acknowledges its supply chain’s vulnerability, the risk posed by overdependence on China, and the need to strengthen the global community of democracies.
    • Healthcare: The on-going pandemic has shown the need for cooperation in global health. India and the EU have called for a reform of the World Health Organisation (WHO).
    • Perception of India as a huge market: EU still largely perceives India as huge market rather than a partner.
    • Promotion of multilateralism: Both sides are facing issues related to US-China trade war and uncertainty of the US’ policies. They have common interest in avoiding a bipolarised world and developing a rules-based order.

    India’s stakes in EU

    • Global leadership vacuum: Retreat of the U.S. from global leadership has provided opportunities for EU- India cooperation and trilateral dialogues with countries in the Middle Fast, Central Asia, and Africa.
    • Chinese Aggression: China’s increasing presence in Eurasia and South Asia is creating similar security, political and economic concerns for Europe and India.
    • Fall of the conventional global order: Trade war, crumbling WTO and break down of TPP etc. has made EU understand the economic importance of India.
    • BREXIT: Brexit is pushing India to look for new ‘gateways’ to Europe, as its traditional partner leaves the union. A renewed trade and political cooperation are the need of the hour.
    • Conformity over Indo-Pacific: The Indo-Pacific is the main conduit for global trade and energy flows. Rule-based Indo-pacific is of everyone’s interest with EU no exception.

    Way forward

    • A close bilateral relation between India and the EU has far-reaching economic, political and strategic implications on the crisis-driven international order.
    • Both sides should realise this potential and must further the growth of the bilateral ties with a strong political will.
    • As highlighted by EU strategy on India 2018, India-EU should take their relations beyond “trade lens”, recognizing their important geopolitical, strategic convergences.
    • India can pursue EU countries to engage in Indo-pacific narrative, geo-economically if not from security prism.

    Mains question

    What do you understand by the term strategic partnership? India and EU are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations trace their journey with significance and challenges in their ties.

     

    B2BASICS

    About European Union (EU)

    • The EU is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.
    • The union and EU citizenship were established when the Maastricht Treaty came into force in 1993.
    • The EU grew out of a desire to strengthen international economic and political co-operation on the European continent in the wake of World War II.
    • It has often been described as a sui generis political entity (without precedent or comparison) with the characteristics of either a federation or confederation.
    • The eurozone consists of all countries that use the euro as official currency. All EU members pledge to convert to the euro, but only 19 have done so as of 2022.

    Members of the EU

    • Through successive enlargements, the European Union has grown from the six founding states (Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) to 27 members.
    • This entails a partial delegation of sovereignty to the institutions in return for representation within those institutions, a practice often referred to as “pooling of sovereignty“.
    • In the 2016 ‘Brexit’ referendum, the UK voted to leave the EU. The UK officially left the EU in 2020

     

    Mains question

    What do you understand by the term strategic partnership? India and EU are celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations trace their journey with significance and challenges in their ties.

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  • Inclusive growth, social justice and income inequality

    Context

    • Key findings of the World Inequality Report 2022 related to India: National Income: In India, the top 10% and top 1% hold respectively 57% and 22% of total national income.

    What is inclusive growth?

    • Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines Inclusive growth as the economic growth that is distributed fairly across society and creates opportunities for all. It refers to ‘broad-based’, ‘shared’, and ‘pro-poor growth’.

    What is social justice?

    • Social justice is the view that everyone deserves equal economic, political and social rights and opportunities. Social workers aim to open the doors of access and opportunity for everyone, particularly those in greatest need.

    Meaning of Inclusiveness

    • Inclusiveness is a concept that encompasses equity, equality of opportunity, and protection in market and employment transitions and is, therefore, an essential ingredient of any successful growth strategy.

    Need of inclusive growth

    • Complete development: India is the 7th largest by area and 2nd by population and 12th largest economy at market exchange rate. Yet, India is away from the development.
    • Income inequality: Low agriculture growth, low quality employment growth, low human development, rural-urban divides, gender and social inequalities, and regional disparities etc. are the problems for the nation.
    • Human development: Reducing poverty and inequality and increasing economic growth are the main aim of the country through inclusive growth.

    Need of social justice

    • Equality: We should shift from equality of outcomes to equality of opportunities.
    • Peace and Order: If the majority disregards smaller sections in the community, it drives them to rebellion.
    • Dignity: To ensure life to be meaningful and liveable with human dignity.
    • Mitigate Sufferings: It is a dynamic device to mitigate the sufferings of the poor, weak Dalits, tribal and deprived sections of the society.
    • Human Resources: It will help in the conservation of human resource by provision of health and education facilities.
    • Freedom to form political, economic or religious institutions: It will help to eradicate the challenges of caste system, untouchability and other discrimination in the society.

    Challenges before inclusive growth and social justice

    • Wage Gap: When it comes to wages in the workplace, there is a noticeable differentiation between men and women. According to the American Association of University Women (AAUW), in 2018, the gender pay gap from men and women for the same job was 82 percent. Stated simply, women make 82 percent of what men make doing the same work. This can be further broken down into a pay gap for minority men and women.
    • LGBTQ Oppression: When it comes to oppression and human rights, individuals of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transsexual and Queer (LGBTQ) community face several forms of social injustice and oppression. For example, same sex marriages are outlawed in some states and countries. Additionally, transsexual students often face discrimination and bullying within school settings.
    • Education System: Globally, steps are being made to close the education gap between male and female students. However, there are still several areas around the world where girls may never set foot into a classroom at all. UNESCO notes that more than nine million girls never go to school, compared to only six million boys in areas of Africa.
    • Child Welfare: Social workers and human rights activists are working tirelessly to combat issues relating to children and their welfare. Despite their efforts, there are still several problems children face that are harmful to their health and mental wellbeing.
    • Forced Child Labour: Laws are in place around the world to ensure a safe work environment for children. These laws were drafted from historically harsh and dangerous working conditions for children. While many would like to believe that child labour is a thing of the past, it persists in some areas around the globe.
    • Child Abuse and Neglect: Thousands of children globally are being neglected. They’re also being physically, sexually and emotionally abused. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that as many as a quarter of adults have been abused as children. This abuse has both social and economic impacts that include mental health problems.

    Government measures to address this challenge

    • SETU(Self Employment and Talent Utilization)
    • Skill India
    • Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
    • Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana
    • MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency)Bank

    Way forward

    • Equality of opportunity is the core of inclusive growth, and the inclusive growth emphasises to create employment and other development opportunities through rapid and sustained economic growth, and to promote social justice and the equality of sharing of growth results by reducing and eliminating inequality of opportunity.

    Mains question

    Explain the term inclusive growth in brief. How we can achieve social justice through inclusive growth?

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  • Controversial visit of a Chinese vessel to Hambantota

    Much recently, Sri Lanka approved the arrival of a Chinese satellite-tracking vessel to its southern Chinese-funded Hambantota port.

    Why in news?

    • India has raised concerns over the ship’s visit.
    • Caught in a delicate diplomatic and geopolitical spot, Colombo gave its nod despites India’s requests to deny the permission.
    • It is asserted that bankrupt Sri Lanka succumbed to Chinese pressure after initially refusing the ship to dock.

    Yuan Wang 5: The vessel

    • Yuan Wang 5 was described by the Sri Lankan government as a “scientific research ship”.
    • The BRISL (Belt & Road Initiative Sri Lanka), a Colombo-based organisation studying China’s ambitious connectivity project, was the first to draw attention to the visit.
    • It said that the Yuan Wang 5 will conduct “satellite control and research tracking in the northwestern part of the Indian Ocean Region”.
    • Vessels of the Yuan Wang class are said to be used for tracking and supporting satellite as well as intercontinental ballistic missiles by the People’s Liberation Army Strategic Support Force.

    India’s reaction

    • India has expressed its concern over the Chinese vessel visit.
    • It is carefully monitoring any development having a bearing on its security and economic interests.

    How have other countries reacted?

    • The developments showed that Colombo was caught between the U.S. and India on the one hand, and China on the other.
    • That too at a time when the Sri Lankan government is counting on all their support as the island nation, hit by a devastating economic crisis, embarks on debt restructuring ahead of a promised IMF package.

    How did China respond?

    • China reacted strongly at Sri Lanka, following concerns voiced by India.
    • It clarified that Sri Lanka is a transportation hub in the Indian Ocean.
    • Scientific research vessels from various countries including China have made port calls in Sri Lanka for replenishment.
    • Secondly, it invoked Sri Lanka’s sovereignty and the right to develop relations with other countries based on its development interests.

    What is Sri Lanka’s stand?

    • It is reported that the US and Indian envoys were asked to provide concrete reasons for their objections.
    • Not satisfied with the reasons being sufficient to refuse entry to the Chinese vessel, SL decided to inform the Chinese embassy in Colombo to inform the ship to continue its journey to Hambantota.

     

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  • Panel moots district-level survey to bring more children into adoption ambit

    A report recently tabled on “Review of Guardianship and Adoption Laws” in Parliament has stated that- India despite a country with millions of orphans, there are only 2,430 children available for adoption.

    What is the news?

    • There are many enthusiastic parents who are ready to adopt children.
    • To address this paradox, a Parliamentary panel has recommended district-level surveys to proactively identify orphaned and abandoned children.
    • According to the report, there were 27,939 prospective parents registered with the Child Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) as on December 2021, up from nearly 18,000 in 2017.

    What is CARA?

    • Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is an autonomous and statutory body of the Ministry of Women and Child Development. It was set up in 1990.
    • It functions as the nodal body for the adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions.
    • CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, ratified India in 2003.
    • It primarily deals with the adoption of orphaned, abandoned and surrendered children through its associated and recognized adoption agencies.

    Adoption Process

    • The eligibility of prospective adoptive parents living in India, duly registered on the Child Adoption Resource Information and Guidance System (CARINGS), irrespective of marital status and religion, is Procedure for adoption adjudged by specialised adoption agencies preparing home study reports.
    • The specialized adoption agency then secures court orders approving the adoption.
    • All non-resident persons approach authorized adoption agencies in their foreign country of residence for registration under CARINGS.
    • Their eligibility is adjudged by authorised foreign adoption agencies through home study reports.
    • CARA then issues a pre-adoption ‘no objection’ certificate for foster care, followed by a court adoption order.
    • A final ‘no objection’ certificate from CARA or a conformity certificate under the adoption convention is mandatory for a passport and visa to leave India.

    What else regulates child adoption?

    • The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 permits the adoption of same-sex children, allowing biological or adopted parents to adopt a child of the same gender.
    • A single or divorced person can adopt under the JJ Act, but a single male cannot adopt a girl child.
    • According the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA), a Hindu parent or guardian can place a child for adoption with another Hindu parent under the Act.
    • A prospective parent can also adopt a male child if he has no other male children or grandchildren, or a female child if he has no other female children or grandchildren.

    Issues with child adoption in India

    • Parent-centrism: The current adoption approach is very parent-centred, but parents must make it child-centred.
    • Age of child: Most Indian parents also want a child between the ages of zero and two, believing that this is when the parent-child bond is formed.
    • Institutional issues: Because the ratio of abandoned children to children in institutionalised care is lopsided, there are not enough children available for adoption.
    • Lineage discrimination: Most Indians have a distorted view of adoption because they want their genes, blood, and lineage to be passed down to their children.
    • Red-tapism: Child adoption is also not so easy task after the Juvenile Justice Rules of 2016 and the Adoption Regulations of 2017 were launched.

     

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  • History of the PIN code, which turns 50 this I-Day

    The 75th Independence Day coincides with another milestone in the country’s history — it was on August 15, 1972, that the Postal Index Number (PIN) was introduced in India.

    As the PIN code turns 50 on Monday, we look at its history and evolution.

    Why was the PIN code introduced?

    • According to the Department of Posts, there were 23,344 post offices, primarily in urban areas, in India at the time of Independence.
    • But, the country was growing rapidly and the postal network had to keep pace.
    • The PIN code was meant to ease the process of mail sorting and delivery in a country where different places, often, have the same or similar names, and letters are written in a wide variety of languages.

    How does the PIN code work?

    • The PIN is made up of six digits.
    • The first number indicates the postal region — Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern; and number 9, which signifies the Army Postal Service.
    • The second number denotes a sub-region, and the third represents the sorting district.
    • The remaining numbers narrow the geography further to the specific post office making the delivery.

    Who was the person behind the initiative?

    • The person behind the initiative was Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Communications and a senior member of the Posts and Telegraphs Board.
    • Velankar was also a Sanskrit poet of eminence who had been conferred the President’s Award for Sanskrit in 1996, three years before he died in Mumbai.
    • He had set up a cultural group in Mumbai, called the Dev Vani Mandiram, which worked to create awareness about Sanskrit in India and foreign countries.
    • Velankar was also the chairman of the World Philatelic Exhibition, called Indipex, which was held in New Delhi in 1973 and featured 120 countries.
    • He retired from his government service on December 31, 1973.

    What are some parallel systems followed world over?

    • Globally, in the US, the Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code was introduced July 1, 1963, under the aegis of the Postal Service Nationwide Improved Mail Service plan to improve the speed of mail delivery.
    • Under the old system letters went through about 17 sorting stops – the new system was going to be considerably less time-consuming utilizing newer, more mechanical systems.

    Is the PIN code still relevant?

    • With the spread of the Internet, when people are sending fewer letters, it is easy to question the relevance of the PIN code.
    • But try to order food delivery or a parcel over online shopping and the importance of Velankar’s work in India will become evident.

     

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