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  • Citizenship and Related Issues

    Defining who is ‘Assamese’: Attempts, Challenges

    | Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Population & Associated Issues

    Last week, the Assam government informed the Assembly that nearly 1.44 lakh illegal foreigners had been identified in the state this year based on the 1985 Assam Accord, and around 30,000 of them had been deported to their country of origin.

    Who is a foreigner under the Assam Accord?

    • The Assam Accord was signed in 1985 by the Centre and the Assam government with the All Assam Student Union (AASU) and the All Assam Gana Sangram Parishad.
    • This movement had spearheaded the 1979-85 Assam Movement against migration from Bangladesh.
    • It was against all migrants from Bangladesh, irrespective of religion.
    • The Accord set March 24, 1971 as a cut-off. (The Assam Movement had demanded 1951 as the cut-off.)
    • Anyone who had come to Assam before midnight on that date would be an Indian citizen, while those who had come after would be dealt with as foreigners.
    • The same cut-off was used in updating the National Register of Citizens (NRC).

    What are the expressions for which the definitions have not been determined? Why are they important?

    • The definitions of phrases mentioned in the Accord such as ‘Axomiya janagan’ (Assamese people), ‘khilonjia’ (indigenous) and ‘adi basinda’ (original inhabitants) were yet to be determined.
    • The context is Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which promises “constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the Assamese people”.
    • However, it doesn’t  provide clear cut definitions to identify who would be the “Assamese people”.
    • Clause 6 is important because many felt the 1971 cut-off was inadequate.

    Issues with the cut-off date

    • The cut-off for the rest of India is 1948, many noted that the Assam Accord would grant citizenship to a section of migrants who would be counted as foreigners elsewhere in the country.
    • Clause 6 was, therefore, seen as a protective provision which would guarantee certain benefits to the Assamese people, while excluding some sections among those granted citizenship on the basis of the 1971 cut-off.

    Why is the ‘Assamese’ definition difficult?

    • Because Assam’s demography has been shaped by decades of migration.
    • Many of the migrants had settled here during the colonial era.
    • While they might not be native speakers of an indigenous language, such as Assamese or Bodo or Karbi, the question was whether the definition of “Assamese” could exclude someone, for example, whose family might have lived in Assam for 100 years.

    Have any definitions been proposed?

    • A key committee came in 2019, when Assam was rocked by protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which proposes to grant citizenship to various categories of foreigners including Hindus from Bangladesh.
    • The government set up the committee as a means to quell the protests.

    This committee recommended following persons as Assamese:

    1. All citizens who are part of the Assamese community
    2. Any person of indigenous tribal community of Assam
    3. Any other indigenous community of Assam
    4. Any other citizens of India residing in the territory or Assam on or before January 1, 1951 and
    5. Descendants of these categories
    • In essence, this definition includes not only the indigenous people but also all other Indian citizens, irrespective of mother tongue, as long as their ancestors were staying in Assam before 1951.

     

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  • River Interlinking

    Par Tapi Narmada River-Linking Project

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    The tribals in Gujarat held a public meeting in Kaprada in Valsad district to protest against the Centre’s Par Tapi Narmada (PTN) river-linking project.

    Par Tapi Narmada river-linking project

    • The PTN link project was envisioned under the 1980 National Perspective Plan under the former Union Ministry of Irrigation and the Central Water Commission (CWC).
    • The project proposes to transfer river water from the surplus regions of the Western Ghats to the deficit regions of Saurashtra and Kutch.
    • It proposes to link three rivers — Par, originating from Nashik in Maharashtra and flowing through Valsad, Tapi from Saputara that flows through Maharashtra and Surat in Gujarat, and Narmada originating in Madhya Pradesh and flowing through Maharashtra and Bharuch and Narmada districts in Gujarat.

    Components of the project

    • The link mainly includes the construction of seven dams (Jheri, Mohankavchali, Paikhed, Chasmandva, Chikkar, Dabdar and Kelwan), three diversion weirs and two tunnels.
    • Of these, the Jheri dam falls in Nashik, while the remaining dams are in Valsad and Dang districts of South Gujarat.

    Centre’s role

    • A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between Gujarat, Maharashtra and the central government on May 3, 2010.
    • It envisaged that Gujarat would get the benefit of the Par Tapi Narmada link project through en-route irrigation from the link canal and in the drought-prone Saurashtra Kutch region by way of substitution.

    Issues with the Project

    • About 6065 hectares of land area will be submerged due to the proposed reservoirs.
    • A total of 61 villages will be affected, of which one will be fully submerged and the remaining 60 partly.
    • The total number of affected families would be 2,509 of which 98 families would be affected due to the creation of the Jheri reservoir, the only one in Maharashtra, spread over six villages.
    • The affected families may lose their lands or houses or both in the submergence when the reservoirs are created.
    • The districts where the project will be implemented are largely dominated, by tribals who fear displacement.

     

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  • Innovations in Sciences, IT, Computers, Robotics and Nanotechnology

    Kinzhal Advanced Hypersonic Missile

    Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields

    Russia said that it had unleashed hypersonic missiles against an arms depot in Ukraine, the first use of the next-generation weapons in combat.

    Kinzhal Missile

    • It is a nuclear-capable air-launched ballistic missile that flies at 10 times the speed of sound and can overcome air-defence systems. Kinzhal means ‘dagger’.
    • The missile has a range of approximately 1,500-2,000km and can carry a nuclear payload or conventional payload of 480 kg.
    • The Kinzhal was one of an array of new weapons Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address in 2018. Putin had termed Kinzhal as “an ideal weapon”.
    • This is the first time that Russia has admitted to using the high-precision weapon in combat.
    • Following launch, the Kinzhal rapidly accelerates to Mach 4 (4,900 km/h), and may reach speeds of up to Mach 10 (12,350 km/hr).

    What is a hypersonic weapon?

    • They are normally defined as fast, low-flying, and highly manoeuvrable weapons designed to be too quick and agile for traditional missile defence systems to detect in time, according to Bloomberg.
    • Unlike ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons don’t follow a predetermined, arched trajectory and can maneuver on the way to their destination.
    • The term “hypersonic” describes any speed faster than five times that of sound, which is roughly 760 miles (1,220 kilometers) per hour at sea level.
    • At hypersonic speeds, the air molecules around the flight vehicle start to change, breaking apart or gaining a charge in a process called ionization.
    • This subjects the hypersonic vehicle to “tremendous” stresses as it pushes through the atmosphere.

    Types of hypersonic weapons

    • There are two main types of these weapons — glide vehicles and cruise missiles.
    • Most of the attention is focused on the former, which are launched from a rocket before gliding to their target, because of the challenges of achieving hypersonic propulsion of missiles.
    • The missiles have engines called scramjets that use the air’s oxygen and produce thrust during their flight, allowing them to cruise at a steady speed and altitude.

    Who has these weapons?

    • US, China and Russia have the most advanced capabilities.
    • Several other countries are investigating the technology, including India, Japan, Australia, France, Germany and North Korea, which claims to have tested a hypersonic missile.
    • In fact, India is also closing in on having such weapons in its arsenal.
    • Last year, India successfully tested its hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSTDV), powered by a scramjet engine.
    • The HSTDV will serve as a crucial building block in the development of long-range hypersonic weapons, which will take at least another four to five years to become a reality.

    Back2Basics: Types of Missiles

    (1) Subsonic missiles

    • They travel at a rate slower than the speed of sound.
    • Most well-known missiles, such as the US Tomahawk cruise missile, the French Exocet, and the Indian Nirbhay, fall into this category.
    • These travel at about Mach-0.9 (705 mph), and are slower and easier to intercept, but they continue to play a significant role in modern battlefields.
    • They significantly less expensive to produce because the technological challenges have already been overcome and mastered.
    • Due to their low speed and small size, subsonic missiles provide an additional layer of strategic value.

    (2) Supersonic missiles

    • They are the one that travels faster than the speed of sound (Mach 1) but not faster than Mach-3.
    • Most supersonic missiles travel at speeds ranging from Mach-2 to Mach-3, or up to 2,300 mph.
    • The Indian/Russian BrahMos, currently the fastest operational supersonic missile capable of speeds of around 2,100–2,300 mph, is the most well-known supersonic missile.

    (3) Hypersonic Missiles

    Explained above

     

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  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Global Implications

    What Quad can learn from NATO’s blunders

    | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Context

    The Russian invasion of Ukraine offers several lessons to the Quad countries.

    Negligence on part of NATO

    • This article is admittedly written in hindsight, but there is a continuing thread to the western blunders in the approach to dealing with Moscow, particularly concerning Putin.
    • He has had a dramatic rise in the political hierarchy of Moscow, with many of his successes unexplained but for the strong behind-the-scenes backing of the FSB.
    •  Unfortunately, it was ignored in the West, and particularly in Europe, which was busy with civilianising and militarily downgrading NATO.
    • The western leaders were overcome with hubris and dismantled the military intellectual content of NATO headquarters, reducing NATO forces to a rapid reaction force under the political control of a civilian secretary-general.
    • The West, therefore, failed to connect Putin’s invasion of Georgia with his continuing vision to fight the regime change in Ukraine in 2015.

    What can Quad learn?

    • War in Indo-Pacific will be maritime war:  War in the Indo-Pacific will be a maritime war fought in accordance with maritime strategy and space assets.
    • The greatest difference is that peaceful maritime reconnaissance is a legitimate activity with the help of which situational awareness can be built up, enabling the delivery of a crippling conventional first strike in the first stages of a possible conflict.
    • Avoid making Quad a diplomatic grouping: To call the Quad a “diplomatic grouping” is a catastrophic error.
    • Implication of calling Quad a diplomatic grouping: In actual fact, the Quad, is all about maritime domain awareness, underwater domain awareness, and information sharing — all of them purely naval activities, which need continuous communication (that is catered for), a command organisation and a secretariat, neither of which we have because Quad is a diplomatic grouping.
    • The military is trained to think structurally, cast future scenarios, do contingent planning, find alternatives and plan for victory. Diplomats have no such background.
    • Confusing Beijing by calling it a diplomatic grouping will certainly lead to a misunderstanding of the Quad nations’ resolve and possible Chinese adventurism.

    Way forward

    • The Quad needs to be represented by the owners of the maritime assets used to obtain domain awareness and a staff with command communications and a depth of intellectual planning.
    • The great maritime strength of the Quad is its force of Maritime Patrol Aircraft.
    • Japan and the US are particularly rich in those resources.
    • India’s force of P-81s is substantial and with the help of Australia, a maritime domain awareness can be built up that denies the PLA navy the chance to hide in the vastness of the ocean.
    • The Indo-US communication agreement was presumably established to keep the four-nation search group on a common grid.
    • Quad meetings should be headed by naval officers, with diplomatic support.

    Conclusion

    West failed to read Putin’s ambitions and downgraded NATO. The same mistakes should not be repeated in Indo-Pacific by the Quad.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Japan

    India and Japan: A special partnership

    | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Context

    Seventy years after diplomatic relations were established, here in India today, a metro system built with the support of Japanese official development assistance (ODA) is in operation, cars built by Japanese companies run on the streets, and a high-speed rail will make its debut in the future.

    The realisation of new form of capitalism

    • Japan has been concentrating on measures to overcome Covid-19, and working towards the realisation of a “new form of capitalism” that will revive the economy through a virtuous cycle of growth and distribution.
    • As part of such measures, it is focusing on finding solutions to various social challenges, including digital, climate change and economic security in the growth strategy. 
    • For Japan, India is certainly the best partner to have when seeking to realise a “new form of capitalism,” as showcased in India’s contribution in response to the global health crisis as a major manufacturing base, leadership in decarbonisation efforts, including through the International Solar Alliance, engagement in advanced digital society initiatives such as Aadhaar, and the promotion of economic security initiatives, including measures for supply chain resilience.

    Challenges to the global order

    •  Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a clear violation of international law as well as an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force.
    •  Upholding the core principles of the international order is indispensable from the perspective of diplomacy and security in the Indo-Pacific, where the situation has been rapidly worsening.
    •  In the recent Japan-Australia-India-US (Quad) Leaders’ Video Conference, leaders concurred that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo by force, such as this time, must not be tolerated in the Indo-Pacific region.
    • There is a challenge of protecting the rules-based international order, building resilient supply chains and reinvigorating the economy.
    • We need strategies to respond to new international challenges like cybersecurity and climate change.
    • Both Japan and India are committed to taking bold measures to tackle such challenges.

    Way forward for India-Japan relations

    • People to people contact: Although the Covid-19 situation remains challenging, people-to-people exchanges between two countries are also being advanced.
    • Cooperation in security: Cooperation has also taken great strides in the area of security, including joint exercises between the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Indian Armed Forces.
    • Quad: Cooperation is also rapidly developing between Japan, Australia, India and the United States, four countries that share fundamental values, and the next leaders’ summit is under coordination.
    • Cultural bond: As the name “Special Strategic and Global Partnership” suggests, Japan-India relations have evolved into an inclusive and multi-layered relationship based on cultural bonds, firm friendship, and common universal values.

    Conclusion

    As Japan’s prime minister comes on visit to India, his visit to India will open a new chapter in bilateral relations that will deepen the “Japan-India Special Strategic, and Global Partnership” even further.

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  • Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Global Implications

    India’s Crude Oil Trade with Russia

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways Etc.

    The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) has bought two million barrels of Russian crude oil as Indian energy majors forge ahead with attempts to secure a part of the Russian energy supply.

    What is the news?

    • India is exploring alternative payment channels for trade with Russia and the possibility of sourcing additional oil at a discount, even as the West reduces its exposure to Russian oil.
    • Now India needs to make some necessary adjustments in the financial front because of the challenges posed by the American sanctions.

    India’s import dependence and Russia

    • India is heavily dependent on oil imports, the bulk of which comes from the Middle East, Africa, Europe, North America, South America, and South-East Asia.
    • Russia’s oil-related exports to India are only about $1 billion.
    • However, Russia is keen to scale this up even as the US has announced a ban on oil imports from the country and the UK has adopted a more gradual reduction.
    • This offers the opportunity for a lucrative supply deal with the second largest oil exporter after Saudi Arabia.

    Do you know?

    India’s nuclear power project in Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu is built with Russian collaboration.

    What is at stake in oil trade with Russia?

    • India, however, needs to find alternative payment channels due to the evolving crisis.
    • This is also crucial for bilateral non-oil trade.

    Risks posed by payment crisis

    • Western curbs cutting off some Russian banks from the SWIFT payment system has proven to be a setback for bilateral trade.
    • Many payments worth $500 million to Indian exporters for goods already shipped reportedly being stuck.
    • A steady supply of critical commodities such as fuel and fertilizer from Europe is crucial in India’s efforts to manage inflation.
    • A spike in natural gas in global markets is pushing up the cost of procuring commonly used urea, which is sold at a subsidized price to farmers.

    Why is oil supply from Russia important?

    • As much as 85% of India’s oil requirement is met through imports.
    • The government has tried diversifying its supply sources.
    • This would add more gas into the energy basket, giving a strong push to electric mobility, building strategic reserves and blending ethanol in auto fuel to reduce oil import dependence.
    • Extra oil supplies from Russia could aid in this effort.

    How’re the two nations handling the situation?

    • India and Russia are exploring a Rupee-Rouble trade mechanism using currency of a third country as a reference.
    • This would allow Indian exporters to be paid in rupees.
    • This would need an Indian and a Russian bank opening shop on each other’s soil.
    • Another option is routing payments via a bank with limited overseas exposure so that it will not attract curbs.
    • For additional Russian oil shipments, India needs access to more vessels and containers.
    • Indian refiners’ ability to process larger quantities of crude oil also needs to be assessed.

    Extending the collaborations

    • New Delhi has for long followed the policy of acquiring energy assets abroad to reduce risks related to heavy import dependence on oil.
    • Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd’s investment in Russia’s Sakhalin project is one example.
    • Besides, Russian company PJSC Rosneft Oil Co. is a stakeholder in Nayara Energy Ltd that runs the second largest single-site refinery in Gujarat.

     

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  • Women Safety Issues – Marital Rape, Domestic Violence, Swadhar, Nirbhaya Fund, etc.

    What is POSH Act?

    | Governance | Mains Paper 1: Role Of Women & Women Organization

    The Kerala High Court has asked organizations associated with the film industry to take steps to constitute a joint committee to deal with cases of sexual harassment of women, in line with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013.

    Why in news?

    • During the #MeToo movement, a number of women in India called out influential men — actors, standup comics, senior journalists — for alleged sexual harassment.
    • Hence the HC underlined that film production units must comply with the law against sexual harassment, commonly known as the prevention of sexual harassment at workplace (SHW) or POSH Act.

    What is the POSH Act?

    • The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in 2013.
    • It defined sexual harassment, lay down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry, and the action to be taken.
    • It broadened the Vishaka Guidelines, which were already in place.

    What are Vishakha Guidelines?

    • The Vishakha guidelines were laid down by the Supreme Court in a judgment in 1997. This was in a case filed by women’s rights groups, one of which was Vishakha.
    • In 1992, she had prevented the marriage of a one-year-old girl, leading to the alleged gangrape in an act of revenge.

    Guidelines and the law

    • The Vishakha guidelines, which were legally binding, defined sexual harassment and imposed three key obligations on institutions :
    1. Prohibition
    2. Prevention
    3. Redress
    • The Supreme Court directed that they should establish a Complaints Committee, which would look into matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.

    The POSH Act broadened these guidelines:

    • It mandated that every employer must constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.
    • It lay down procedures and defined various aspects of sexual harassment, including the aggrieved victim, who could be a woman “of any age whether employed or not”, who “alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment”.
    • This meant that the rights of all women working or visiting any workplace, in any capacity, were protected under the Act.

    Definition of Sexual Harassment

    Under the 2013 law, sexual harassment includes “any one or more” of the following “unwelcome acts or behaviour” committed directly or by implication:

    • Physical contact and advances
    • A demand or request for sexual favours
    • Sexually coloured remarks
    • Showing pornography
    • Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.

    The Ministry of Women & Child Development has published a Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace with more detailed instances of behaviour that constitutes sexual harassment at the workplace. These include, broadly:

    • Sexually suggestive remarks or innuendos; serious or repeated offensive remarks; inappropriate questions or remarks about a person’s sex life
    • Display of sexist or offensive pictures, posters, MMS, SMS, WhatsApp, or emails
    • Intimidation, threats, blackmail around sexual favours; also, threats, intimidation or retaliation against an employee who speaks up about these
    • Unwelcome social invitations with sexual overtones, commonly seen as flirting
    • Unwelcome sexual advances.

    Unwelcome behavior

    • The Handbook says “unwelcome behaviour” is experienced when the victim feels bad or powerless; it causes anger/sadness or negative self-esteem.
    • It adds unwelcome behaviour is one which is “illegal, demeaning, invading, one-sided and power based”.

    Circumstance amounting to SHW

    The Act mentions five circumstances that amount to sexual harassment implied or explicit:

    1. Promise of preferential treatment in her employment
    2. Threat of detrimental treatment
    3. Threat about her present or future employment status
    4. Interference with her work or creating an offensive or hostile work environment
    5. Humiliating treatment likely to affect her health or safety

    Procedure for complaint

    • Technically, it is not compulsory for the aggrieved victim to file a complaint for the ICC to act.
    • The Act says that she “may” do so — OR any member of the ICC “shall” render “all reasonable assistance” to her to complain in writing.
    • If the woman cannot complain because of “physical or mental incapacity or death or otherwise”, her legal heir may do so.
    • Under the Act, the complaint must be made “within three months from the date of the incident”.
    • However, the ICC can “extend the time limit” if “it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the woman from filing a complaint within the said period”.
    • It provides that “no monetary settlement shall be made as a basis of conciliation”.
    • The ICC may either forward the victim’s complaint to the police, or it can start an inquiry that has to be completed within 90 days.
    • The identity of the woman, respondent, witness, any information on the inquiry, recommendation and action taken, the Act states, should not be made public.

    After the ICC report

    • If the allegations of sexual harassment are proved, the ICC recommends that the employer take action “in accordance with the provisions of the service rules” of the company.
    • These may vary from company to company.
    • It also recommends that the company deduct from the salary of the person found guilty, “as it may consider appropriate”.

    Compensation is determined based on five aspects:

    1. Suffering and emotional distress caused to the woman;
    2. Loss in career opportunity;
    3. Her medical expenses;
    4. Income and financial status of the respondent;
    5. Feasibility of such payment.

    Appeal in Court

    • After the recommendations, the aggrieved woman or the respondent can appeal in court within 90 days
    • Section 14 of the Act deals with punishment for false or malicious complaint and false evidence.
    • In such a case, the ICC “may recommend” to the employer that it take action against the woman, or the person who has made the complaint, in “accordance with the provisions of the service rules”.
    • The Act, however, makes it clear that action cannot be taken for “mere inability” to “substantiate the complaint or provide adequate proof”.

     

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  • Terrorism and Challenges Related To It

    In news: Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

    IOCR | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Important International Institutions

     

    In a highly notorious move, the OIC has invited Kashmiri separatist leaders in the Foreign Ministers’ meet in Islamabad.

    What is OIC?

    • The OIC — formerly Organisation of the Islamic Conference — is the world’s second-largest inter-governmental organization after the UN, with a membership of 57 states.
    • The OIC’s stated objective is “to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world”.
    • OIC has reserved membership for Muslim-majority countries. Russia, Thailand, and a couple of other small countries have Observer status.

    Do you know?

    Guyana and Suriname (from South America) are members of OIC.

    India and OIC: A Backgrounder

    • At the 45th session of the Foreign Ministers’ Summit in 2018, Bangladesh suggested that India, where more than 10% of the world’s Muslims live, should be given Observer status.
    • In 1969, India was dis-invited from the Conference of Islamic Countries in Rabat, Morocco at Pakistan’s behest.
    • Then Agriculture Minister Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was dis-invited upon arrival in Morocco after Pakistan President Yahya Khan lobbied against Indian participation.

    Recent developments

    • In 2019, India made its maiden appearance at the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Abu Dhabi, as a “guest of honor”.
    • This first-time invitation was seen as a diplomatic victory for New Delhi, especially at a time of heightened tensions with Pakistan following the Pulwama attack.
    • Pakistan had opposed the invitation to Swaraj and it boycotted the plenary after the UAE turned down its demand to rescind the invitation.

    What is the OIC’s stand on Kashmir?

    • It has been generally supportive of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir and has issued statements criticizing India.
    • Last year, after India revoked Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan lobbied with the OIC for their condemnation of the move.
    • To Pakistan’s surprise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — both top leaders among the Muslim countries — issued nuanced statements, and were not as harshly critical of New Delhi as Islamabad had hoped.
    • Since then, Islamabad has tried to rouse sentiments among the Islamic countries, but only a handful of them — Turkey and Malaysia — publicly criticized India.

    A group of hippocrats

    • The OIC has been making factually incorrect and unwarranted references to Jammu and Kashmir.
    • The so-called religious group is covertly silent over the persecution of Rohingyas, Uighurs, Kurds etc.

    How has India been responding?

    • India has consistently underlined that J&K is an integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India.
    • The strength with which India has made this assertion has varied slightly at times, but never the core message.
    • It has maintained its “consistent and well known” stand that the OIC had no locus standi.
    • This time, India went a step ahead and said the grouping continues to allow itself to be used by a certain country “which has a record on religious tolerance, radicalism, and persecution of minorities”.

    OIC members and India

    • Individually, India has good relations with almost all member nations. Ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, especially, have looked up significantly in recent years.
    • The OIC includes two of India’s close neighbors, Bangladesh and Maldives.
    • Indian diplomats say both countries privately admit they do not want to complicate their bilateral ties with India on Kashmir but play along with OIC.

    Way ahead

    • India sees the duality of the OIC as untenable, since many of these countries have good bilateral ties and convey to India to ignore OIC statements.
    • But these countries sign off on the joint statements which are largely drafted by Pakistan.
    • India feels it important to challenge the double-speak since Pakistan’s campaign and currency on the Kashmir issue has hardly any takers in the international community.

     

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  • Air Pollution

    13% reduction in air pollution deaths due to UJJAWALA Scheme

    Schemes | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    Greater penetration and usage of LPG as a cooking fuel is estimated to have prevented at least 1.5 lakh pollution-related premature deaths in the year 2019 alone, according to the first independent impact assessment of the government’s flagship Ujjwala program.

    About the PM Ujjwala Yojana

    • Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) was launched in 2016, with the aim to provide Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) connections to five crore women members of below poverty line (BPL) households in the first phase.
    • he scheme was expanded in April 2018 to include women beneficiaries from seven more categories (SC/ST, PMAY, AAY, Most backward classes, tea garden, forest dwellers, Islands).
    • In the second phase the target was expanded to eight crore LPG connections.

    Why was this scheme launched?

    • Indoor air pollution is also responsible for a significant number of acute respiratory illnesses in young children.
    • Providing LPG connections to BPL households will ensure universal coverage of cooking gas in the country.
    • This measure has empowered women and protected their health. It reduced drudgery and the time spent on cooking.
    • It will also provide employment for rural youth in the supply chain of cooking gas.

    Ujjwala 2.0

    • Under Ujjwala 2.0 migrant workers would no longer have to struggle to get address proof documents to get the gas connections.
    • Now migrant workers would only be required to submit a self-declaration of their residential address to get the gas connection.
    • Along with a deposit-free LPG connection, Ujjwala 2.0 will provide the first refill and a hotplate free of cost to the beneficiaries.

    Significance of Ujjwala 2.0

    • LPG infrastructure has expanded manifold in the country due to the Ujjwala scheme.
    • In the last six years, more than 11,000 new LPG distribution centres have opened across the country.
    • The LPG coverage in India is now very close to becoming 100 per cent.

     

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  • MGNREGA Scheme

    Caste-based NREGS Wages Payment System

    Schemes | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies

    Parliament’s Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has asked the government to roll back the system of caste-based wages, under which NREGS workers are paid based on whether they belong to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, or Others.

    Back in news: MGNREGA

    What is the caste-based payment system?

    • Last year, the Rural Development Ministry sent an advisory to states asking them to take necessary action for payment of wages to NREGS workers according to their categories — SC, ST, and Others.
    • Under the new system, if 20 individuals (say, six SCs, four STs and 10 others) work together at a site under MG-NREGA, a single muster roll would be issued.
    • But payment would be done by issuing three separate Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs), one for each of the three categories.
    • Due to this, some beneficiaries started complaining that despite working at the same site and registering on the same muster roll, they were getting their wages at different times depending on their categories.
    • Beneficiaries in the ‘Others’ category, which includes the ‘General’ and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories, especially complained of delays.

    What was the earlier system of payment?

    • The Rural Development Ministry notifies wage rates for states and Union Territories under Section 6(1) of The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005.
    • Until 2020-21, the wages were being paid to NREGS beneficiaries through a single funds transfer order.
    • In other words, if 20 beneficiaries, including SCs, STs and Others work at a site under MGNREGA, all received their wages at the same time, through a single muster roll and a single funds transfer order.

    Why was the system of caste-based wage payment introduced?

    • According to the Ministry, the system of category-wise payment of wages was introduced to “accurately reflect on the ground flow of funds to various population groups”.
    • Last year, a process of “streamlining” of the new system was taken up.

     

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