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  • The world cannot ignore the Palestinian question

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Effect Of Policies & Politics Of World On India’S Interests

    The article discusses the types of response the recent violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict would invoke across the world and also explains the perils of ignoring the conflict.

    Three types of responses

    • The deadly riots in Israel and the war in Gaza, is likely to evoke three kinds of responses: The indifferent, the imperial, the humanitarian.

    1) Moral indifference

    •  Instead of becoming the symbol of the unfinished tasks of decolonisation, and a human rights catastrophe, the Palestinian question is now mostly an occasion to vent cynicism.
    • The moral questions the oppression of Palestinians poses is avoided by claiming that in this conflict we can assigning rights and wrongs equally to both sides.
    • There is the spectacle of civilians on both sides living in terror.
    • There is the fanaticism of the right-wing in Israel and there is the fanaticism of Hamas and Fatah.
    • Blaming both sides also whitewashes the fact that there is a monumental injustice to the Palestinians at the heart of the problem.

    2) The imperial response

    • The events leading up to the recent clashes at the Al-Aqsa Mosque can be seen as part of a long pattern of pushing out Palestinians from territory Israel wants to claim.
    • American administration has not been able to significantly roll back this project of pushing the Palestinians out.
    • Palestine will once again be the site where the Biden administration’s liberal internationalism will face challenge.

    3) Humanitarian response

    • This third response is to dig beneath the politics and find bridges in shared humanity and suffering.
    • This is also the tack of the peace movements that use culture and a history of shared suffering to build bridges.
    •  They emphasise that dispossession and exile is something both communities share; they, of all the people, should be able to understand each other.
    •  Humanity and culture, even when deeply internalised, collapse quickly when subject to fear.
    • And they always fall short of acknowledging the core issue at stake: Political equality between two peoples.

    Geopolitical implications of conflict

    • The violence of Israel will beget more terrorist violence of Hamas and Fatah, with every world power from Russia to Iran influencing the chaos.
    • Israel needs to be reminded of the blowback of imperial politics: The ultimate consequence of trying to dominate a people is that you end up destroying the moral legitimacy of your own claims.
    • No amount of military capacity can compensate for the images of lynching, rioting, and provocations that we have seen this week.

    Conclusion

    We continually risk conflict if the Palestinian question is simply treated as an object of geo-political opportunism, not as a question of basic dignity and justice.

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  • Remittance received by India remain unaffected by pandemic

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    What the World Bank report says

    • India received over USD 83 billion in remittances in 2020, according to a World Bank report.
    • In 2019, India had received USD 83.3 billion in remittances.
    • The report said India’s remittances fell by just 0.2 per cent in 2020.
    • Much of the decline was due to a 17 per cent drop in remittances from the United Arab Emirates, which offset resilient flows from the United States and other host countries.
    • The World Bank, in its latest Migration and Development Brief, said despite COVID-19, remittance flows remained resilient in 2020.

    Trend analysis

    • China, which received USD 59.5 billion in remittances in 2020 against USD 68.3 billion the previous year, is a distant second.
    • India and China are followed by Mexico (USD42.8 billion), the Philippines (USD34.9 billion), Egypt (USD29.6 billion), Pakistan (USD26 billion), France (USD24.4 billion) and Bangladesh (USD21 billion).
    • Remittance outflow was the maximum from the United States (USD68 billion), followed by UAE (USD43 billion), Saudi Arabia (USD34.5 billion), Switzerland (USD27.9 billion), Germany (USD22 billion), and China (USD18 billion).
    • The relatively strong performance of remittance flows during the COVID-19 crisis has also highlighted the importance of timely availability of data.
    • Given its growing significance as a source of external financing for low- and middle-income countries, there is a need for better collection of data on remittances, in terms of frequency, timely reporting, and granularity by corridor and channel.

    B2BASICS

    Remittances

    • Remittances are usually understood as financial or in-kind transfers made by migrants to friends and relatives back in communities of origin.
    • These are basically sum of two main components – Personal Transfers in cash or in kind between resident and non-resident households and Compensation of Employees, which refers to the income of workers who work in another country for a limited period of time.
    • Remittances help in stimulating economic development in recipient countries, but this can also make such countries over-reliant on them.

    Remittance and the Indian Economy

    Benefits

    • Increased inward remittance is a boon for the economy at both macro and micro levels.
    • At the macro level, remittances contribute to maintaining stable foreign reserves.
    • Remittances help Indian Rupee hold its value against the US dollar and forms a significant part of the GDP.
    • On a micro level, remittances have shown a positive impact on healthcare, entrepreneurship, education, and overall economic development of the recipient families.

    Issues

    An increase in outward remittances however, raises an alarm. It causes the rupee to weaken against the dollar, which in return impacts the businesses exposed to foreign exchange, and the economy overall.

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  • Judicial Reforms

    App to view live proceedings of SC launched for media persons

    | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary

    App to view virtual proceedings

    • Chief Justice of India launched a mobile app that would allow media persons to view the Supreme Court’s virtual proceedings live on their mobile phones.
    • The role of the media assumes importance in the process of disseminating information.
    • Justice A.M. Khanwilkar said the facility, which is now temporary, could be made permanent in the future depending on the operational issues.

    ‘Indicative Notes’ on the SC website

    • The CJI also launched a new feature in the Supreme Court’s official website called ‘Indicative Notes’.
    • This feature is aimed at providing concise summaries of landmark judgments in an easy-to-understand format.
    • This will serve as a useful resource for media persons and the general public who wish to be better informed about the rulings of the court.

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  • Citizenship and Related Issues

    Issues with MHA notification for OCI

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    About notification

    • The Home Ministry’s March 4 order that required professional Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs), such as journalists, engineers and researchers, to notify the Ministry about their activities in India.
    • The notification said that OCIs shall be required to obtain a “special permission or a special permit” from the competent authority or the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) or the Indian mission “to undertake research, missionary or Tabligh or mountaineering or journalistic activities or internship in any foreign diplomatic missions
    • The Ministry issued a gazette notification that OCI cardholders could claim “only NRI (Non-Resident Indian) quota seats” in educational institutions.

    Issues with the notification

    • This will place undue burden on scientific, pharmaceutical, medical, biotechnology and other research fields.
    • Even if an OCI student has secured a high rank in an exam like NEET, several institutions of repute do not have NRI seats.
    • The exorbitantly high fees under the NRI quota cannot be afforded by many OCIs as they live and work in India.
    • India-domiciled OCI students are deprived of domicile status both in India [country of residence] as well as the country of their citizenship.
    • The notification equates India-domiciled OCIs with a foreigner.

    About OCIs

    • OCIs are of Indian origin but hold foreign passports.
    • India does not allow dual citizenship but provides certain benefits under Section 7B(I) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 to the OCIs.
    • So far, 37.72 lakh OCI Cards are said to have been issued.

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  • Coronavirus – Health and Governance Issues

    India resists Community Transmission tag despite soaring cases

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    How other countries are classifying themselves

    • Inspite of adding the highest number of cases in the world every day, India continues to label itself as a country with no community transmission (CT) according to the latest weekly report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on May 11.
    • India opts for the lower, less serious classification called ‘cluster of cases’.
    • Countries such as the United States, Brazil, United Kingdom, France have all labelled themselves as being in ‘community transmission.
    • Among the 10 countries with the most number of confirmed cases, only Italy and Russia do not label themselves as being in community transmission.
    • Both countries have been on a declining trajectory for at least a month and together contribute less than 20,000 cases a day — about 5% of India’s daily numbers.
    • India, since the beginning of the pandemic has never marked itself as being in community transition.

    Understanding the classification

    • Broadly, CT is when new cases in the last 14 days can’t be traced to those who have an international travel history, when cases can’t be linked to specific cluster.
    • Instead, the classification, ‘cluster of cases’ says “Cases detected in the past 14 days are predominantly limited to well-defined clusters that are not directly linked to imported cases”.
    • The WHO guidelines further suggest four subcategories within the broader definition of CT.
    • CT-1 implying “Low incidence of locally acquired, widely dispersed cases…and low risk of infection for the general population.
    • The highest, a CT-4 suggests very high incidence of locally acquired, widely dispersed cases in the past 14 days.
    • Very high risk of infection for the general population.

    Why right classification matters

    • If cases were still a cluster, it would mean that the government ought to be prioritising testing, contact tracing and isolating to prevent further infection spread.
    • CT, on the other hand meant prioritising treatment and observing advisories to stay protected.
    • CT — far from being stigmatic or an indicator of failure — has a bearing on how authorities addressed a pandemic.

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  • Coronavirus – Health and Governance Issues

    Black marketing during the pandemic

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    The article highlights the issue of black-marketing of drugs during the pandemic and the factors responsible for it.

    Problem of fake and sub-standard drugs

    • There have been reports of fake remdesivir amid the Covid pandemic.
    • It is difficult to quantify the morbidity and mortality effects of fake or sub-standard drugs, but they are substantial.
    • Legally, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (DCA) has different categories of misbranded, adulterated and spurious drugs.
    • In 2003 Mashelkar Committee noted that although the Drugs and Cosmetics Act has been in force for the past 56 years, but the level of enforcement in many States has been far from satisfactory.
    • The committee also noted that the problems in the regulatory system in the country were primarily due to inadequate or weak drug control infrastructure at the State and Central level.

    Steps taken to deal with the issue

    • Assistance has also been provided under the World Bank assisted Capacity Building Project to upgrade testing facilities and to establish new drug testing laboratories.
    • The Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 has recently been amended in 2008 for providing more stringent penalties to those involved in the trade of spurious drugs.
    • There are specially designated courts and regulatory infrastructure has been strengthened.
    •  There is also a whistle-blower scheme.

    Distinction between hoarding and black-marketing

    • A hoarder is anyone who stocks up items.
    • The crime isn’t hoarding per se but of selling a drug without a licence.
    • Data on prosecutions, and convictions when prosecuted, of crimes under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, are not encouraging.
    • Incidentally, courts have ruled police officers can’t register FIRs, arrest and prosecute (for cognisable crimes) under this law.
    • That’s the job of drugs inspectors.
    • The notion of a black market is different, though the two can be related.
    • In this context, it means charging a premium when there is a shortage.
    • A black market occurs when the price at which a product is sold is higher than an administratively determined price.

    Conclusion

    Action not taken in the best of times now strikes back at us in the worst of times.

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  • Right To Privacy

    EdTech needs an ethics policy

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters,Health & Education

    The article highlights the privacy concerns associated with EdTech apps in the absence of a regulatory framework.

    Privacy risks associated with EdTechs

    • Since the onset of the pandemic, online education has replaced conventional classroom instruction.
    • This has given rise to several EdTech apps which have become popular.
    • To perform the process of learning customisation, the apps collect large quantities of data from the learners through the gadgets that the students use.
    • These data are analysed in minute detail to customise learning and design future versions of the app.
    • The latest mobile phones and hand-held devices have a range of sensors like GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer and biometric sensors apart from the camera and microphones.
    • These provide data about the learner’s surroundings along with intimate data like the emotions and attitudes experienced and expressed via facial expressions and body temperature changes.
    • In short, the app and device have access to the private spaces of the learner that one would not normally have access to.

    Informed consent in research

    • Researchers dealing with human subjects need to comply with ethics rules along with global standards.
    • One of the cardinal rules that should never be broken is informed consent.
    • Before any research on human subjects is undertaken, researchers have to submit detailed proposals to their respective ethics committees and obtain their permissions.
    • Further, a researcher working with children, for example, would also have to convince schoolteachers, parents, and school managements about the nature of the research to be undertaken, type of data to be collected, method of storage, the potential harmful effects of such data, etc.

    Minimal safeguards in EdTech

    • The safeguards that traditional researchers are subject to are either missing or minimal in research that the EdTech industry promotes.
    • The concept of informed consent is not meaningful since there are no proper primers to explain to stakeholders the intricacies in layperson terms.
    • Since India does not have protection equivalent to the GDPR, private data collected by an EdTech company can be misused or sold to other companies with no oversight or protection.

    Way forward

    • Given these realities, it is necessary to formulate an ethics policy for EdTech companies.
    • Such a policy draft should be circulated both online and offline for discussions and criticism.
    • Issues of fairness, safety, confidentiality and anonymity of the user would have to be dealt with.
    • EdTech companies would have to be encouraged to comply in the interest of a healthier learning ecosystem.

    Consider the question “What are the challenges associated with the adoption of online education mode? Suggest the ways to deal with these challenges.”

    Conclusion

    The lack of a regulatory framework in India along the lines of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe could impinge on the privacy of students. What we need is ethics policy in online education space.

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  • Cabinet clears MoU between ICAI and Qatar Financial Centre Authority

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

    Signing of MoU

    • The Union Cabinet approved the signing of a pact between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA)
    • The ICAI has more than 6,000 members in the Middle East.

    Increase opportunities and enhance cooperation

    • The MoU would enhance cooperation between the institutes to work together to strengthen the accounting profession and entrepreneurship base in Qatar.
    • The MoU would provide the ICAI members in the entire Middle East better recognition, together with working to support Indian businesses desirous of doing business in Qatar
    • The MoU will endeavour to increase opportunities for ICAI members to provide professional services in Qatar in the areas of assurance and auditing, advisory, taxation, financial services and allied areas.

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  • [pib] Goa Maritime Symposium (GMS) – 2021

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

    Fostering relations with maritime neighbours

    • Towards fostering friendly relations with its maritime neighbours, Indian Navy hosted ‘GMS-21’.
    • The event for the first time was hosted in virtual mode, with online participation of Naval representatives from 13 Indian Ocean Littoral countries.
    • The 13 countries included India, Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
    • The theme for GMS-21 was focused on “Maritime Security and Emerging Non-Traditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for IOR Navies,” with emphasis on capacity building amongst the IOR Navies to tackle emerging common maritime threats.

    Bringing together the stakeholders

    • With the Indian Ocean becoming the locus of 21st century strategic landscape, the symposium will play a constructive role in bringing together the stakeholders who have a role in evolving strategies, policies and implementation mechanisms on the issues of common interest in maritime domain.
    • In addition to presenting cooperative strategies for enhancing interoperability among partner maritime agencies, the event provided a forum for articulation of views on the crucial maritime issues, followed by theme based discussions.

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  • Rajasthan to use MLA fund for vaccination

    Prelims Only | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Governance, Transparency & Accountability, Citizens Charters

    MLA-LAD Fund for buying vaccine

    • As part of the efforts to mobilise financial resources for COVID-19 vaccination, Rajasthan Chief Minister has approved a proposal to provide ₹3 crore each from the MLA Local Area Development (LAD) Fund.
    • For meeting the expenses, the fund for each legislator has been increased from ₹2.25 crore to ₹5 crore a year.
    • The 200 MLAs in the State will contribute a total of ₹600 crore to the vaccination fund account under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
    • From the remaining ₹2 crore in the MLA-LAD Fund, ₹1 crore will be spent on strengthening the medical infrastructure, purchase of equipment and setting up of model community health centres.

    About MLA-LAD Fund

    • Member of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development is a scheme that enables each MLA to undertake small developmental works in his/her constituency.
    • The MLALAD Scheme is intended to be utilised for small but essential projects/works based on the felt needs of the local public.
    • Under this scheme, funds will be provided in the State’s Plan Budget every year.

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