The Ministry of Mines has notified the Mineral Conservation and Development (Amendment) Rules (MCDR), 2021.
About the Amendment
The MCDR have been framed under section 18 of the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957.
It aims to provide rules regarding conservation of minerals, systematic and scientific mining, development of the mineral in the country and for the protection of environment.
Key highlights of the amendments:
Digital aerial imaging of the mines
Digital mapping: All plans and sections related to mine shall be prepared by combination of Digital Global Positioning System (DGPS) or Total Station or by drone survey.
Drone Imaging: Lessees having annual excavation plans of 1 million tonne or more or having leased area of 50 hectare or more are required to submit drone survey images of leased area and up to 100 meters outside the lease boundary every year.
Satellite imaging: Other lessees submit high resolution satellite images obtained from CARTOSAT-2 satellite
This step will not only improve mine planning practices, security and safety in the mines but also ensure better supervision of mining operations.
Penalty Provisions
Penalty provisions in the rules have been rationalized. Amendment in the rules categorized the violations of the rules under the following major heads:
Major Violations: Penalty of imprisonment, fine or both.
Minor Violations: Penalty reduced. Penalty of only fine for such violations prescribed.
Decriminalization of Rules: Violation of other rules has been decriminalized. These rules did not cast any significant obligation on the concession holder or any other person
Financial Assurance
Amount of financial assurance increased to five lakh rupees for Category ‘A’ mines and three lakh rupees for Category ‘B’ mines from existing three and two lakh rupees, respectively.
Provision of forfeiture of financial assurance or performance security of the lease holder added in case of non-submission of final mine closure plan within the period specified.
Employment Opportunity
Allowed engagement of a part-time mining engineer or a part-time geologist for small mines which will ease compliance burden for small miners.
Diploma in mining and mine surveying is added in qualification for full-time Mining Engineer.
The informal economy is a global and pervasive phenomenon.
According to ILO approximately 60 percent of the world’s population participates in the informal sector.
Defining Informal Economy
As the International Labour Organization defined the informal sector in 2002, the informal sector does not include the criminal economy.
While production or employment arrangements in the informal economy may not be strictly legal, the sector produces and distributes legal goods and services.
The informal economy also does not include the reproductive or care economy, which is made up of unpaid domestic work and care activities.
It is part of the market economy, meaning it produces goods and services for sale and profit.
India and informal economy
In developing countries like India, large share of the population typically depends upon the informal economy.
According to Periodic Labour Force Survey over 90 percent of workers in India are informal workers.
Out of these those engaged in rural areas is significantly more than urban areas.
What makes an economy ‘informal’?
The informal sector is largely characterized by several qualities:
Skills gained outside of a formal education
Easy entry (meaning anyone who wishes to join the sector can find some sort of work which will result in cash earnings)
Lack of stable employer-employee relationships
Small scale of operations
What characterizes the informal economy in India?
Workers who participate in the informal economy are typically classified as employed.
The type of work is diverse, particularly in terms of capital invested, technology used, and income generated.
The spectrum ranges from self-employment or unpaid family labour to street vendors.
Most workers in the informal sector do not have access to secure work, benefits, welfare protection, or representation.
Many workers engage in informal ventures by choice, for either economic or non-economic reasons.
What makes informality grow in an economy?
There are three basic views to explain the causes of informality:
Informality due to overt regulation: Informal sector is a reservoir of potentially productive entrepreneurs who are kept out of formality by high regulatory costs, most notably entry regulation.
Informality for profiteering: Informal forms are “parasitic” which are productive enough to survive in the formal sector but choose to remain informal to earn higher profits by not complying with taxes and regulations.
Too unproductive to become formal: Informality is a survival strategy for low-skill individuals, who are too unproductive to ever become formal.
Distribution of Informal Workers
Rural: A large number of informal workers are engaged in farm or agricultural activities.
Urban: Those in urban areas are involved primarily in manufacturing, trade, hotel and restaurant; construction; transport; storage and communications; and finance, business and real estate.
Issues surrounding India’s informal sector
Work hazards: Most industries, especially mining, have inadequate safety and health standards. Environmental hazards are evident in the case of the informal sector.
Irregularities in Wages: The daily wages are below the minimum rate of wages for informal workers.
Long Hours of work: Long hours of work in the unorganised sector beyond the labour and regulatory norms are common in India.
Poverty and Indebtedness: Workers in the unorganised sector had a much higher incidence of poverty than their counterparts in the organised sector.
Inactivity of work: There are many times when a worker cannot be economically active. For instance, due to biological circumstances such as sickness or old age, on account of personal calamities such as an accident or unemployment.
No Social Security Net: There are no social security measures to provide risks coverage and ensure maintenance of basic living standards at times of crises such as unemployment or health issues.
Why does formalization matter?
Livelihood guarantee: Ignoring problems in the informal sector can be costly as it can lead to job and wage losses, higher inflation and even risk the livelihood of migrant workers.
Assuring minimum wages: For instance, following demonetisation, a disproportionately higher number of jobs were created in rural India which isn’t the positive it might seem as wages are 2.5 times lower than in urban India.
Migration control: Informal sector workers suffered far more from the national lockdown in 2020 than their formal sector counterparts. With an inadequate safety net, there were painful accounts of displaced informal workers trying to get back to their rural homes.
Inflation control: India was one of the few countries with high inflation throughout pandemic-stricken 2020. Some of this is likely to be associated with the disruption in informal firms, who in normal times are very active in the production of essential goods like food and textiles.
What does all of this mean for economic growth?
Ans.Formalization can be a double-edged sword
The constructive way to think about this is to differentiate between “forced” and “organic” formalisation.
Formalisation that comes only on the back of external pressure or leads to deep distress in the informal sector, may not be sustainable.
Formalisation that happens on the back of policy changes that help small and informal firms grow over time into medium or larger formal sector firms is more sustainable.
Various policy measures
(1) Labor legislations
The legal initiatives like the Employees State Insurance Act (1948), the Minimum Wages Act (1948), the Coal Mines Provident Funds Act (1948), The Employees Provident Fund Act (1952), the Maternity Benefit Act (1961) and the Contract Labour Act (1970) etc. are important for labour welfare.
(2) National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector
India is the first country to set up, a commission named National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector (NCEUS) in 2004 to study the problems and challenges being faced by the informal economy.
(3) Govt schemes
The Government of India initiated several poverty-related development schemes which indirectly benefited the urban informal sector since independence. Schemes like the MGNREGA and the Swarna Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana were launched to provide support to the poor who constitute bulk of the informal sector.
(4) Social security legislations
The govt has enacted the Unorganized Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008 in this regard. The government has also launched Atal Pension Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana etc.
(5) Skill development
To take care of the need for skills of workers in the informal economy, the government has started various programs such as the Skill India Mission, Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana, recognition of prior learning etc.
Way forward
Overhauling labour laws: Labour, as well as tax policies, are key to improving the business environment. Labour regulations have to allow for more flexible work arrangements. Moreover, the right to associate freely should be vigorously protected.
Preventing occupational hazards: Innovative means to prevent occupational accidents and diseases and environmental hazards need to be developed through cost-effective and sustainable measures at the work-site level to allow for capacity-building within the informal sector itself.
Local support: Building-on local institutional support to progressively extend social protection will be critical.
Sensitization: Special attention should be paid to the sensitization of policy makers, municipal authorities and labour inspection services to change their traditional role towards a preventive and promotional approach.
Regulatory ease: In the meantime, steps to promote reforms that are needed to help small businesses grow are critical. For example, lowering the regulatory burden associated with growing firms.
Social protection: The extension of occupational health care to workers in the informal sector should be promoted incorporating occupational health into public health care services at district and local levels and establishing a link between first aid and prevention at the work-site’s level.
Conclusion
India’s informal sector is the backbone of the economy.
The nation’s quality of life hinges on things becoming better for masses of informally employed people.
Over the longer term, the prospects for this group will depend on the progress of policy reforms and economic growth, which are the leading drivers of real wages.
Even though New Delhi has invested in renewable energy and announced a net-zero target, there is a gap between the announcements and the ground reality, as is evident from the promotion of coal.
India’s commitments
AT the COP 26 in Glasgow, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has set a target of net-zero carbon emissions by 2070.
India also updated its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs) that have to be met by 2030.
Its new pledge includes increasing the country’s installed renewable capacity to 500 GW, meeting 50 per cent of its energy requirements from non-fossil fuel sources.
India’s achievements on past commitments
At the COP 21 in Paris, India, made similar ambitious announcements and aimed to reduce the economy-wide emissions intensity by 33-35 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030.
In August, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy announced that the country has installed 100 GW of renewable energy capacity.
The majority of this 100 GW, about 78 per cent, is due to large-scale wind and solar power projects.
While this is a milestone, India is on track to accomplishing only about two-thirds of its planned renewable target of 175 GW installation by 2022.
To achieve its new goals, India will need to do more in different directions.
For instance, it has a target of achieving 40 GW of green energy from the rooftop solar sector by 2022, but it has not been able to achieve even 20 per cent of that so far.
In the transport sector, India has targeted a 30 per cent share of electric vehicles (EV) in new sales for 2030.
India’s climate actions against the Paris Agreement targets
The Climate Action Tracker, an independent scientific analysis that tracks government climate action against the Paris Agreement targets, deems India’s performance as “highly insufficient” simply because coal represents about 70 per cent of the country’s energy supply.
India also needs to cut down subsidies to the fossil fuel industry drastically — not the case currently.
While in the past seven years, the country has invested Rs 5.2 trillion in renewable energy, the investment in fossil fuel industry, though down by (only) 4 per cent from 2015-19, was Rs 245 trillion.
Coal production is estimated to increase to one billion tonnes by 2024 from 716 million tonnes in 2020-21.
According to the Central Electricity Authority, coal capacity is projected to increase from 202GW in 2021 to 266GW by 2029-30.
The Government of India is not actively discouraging such investments.
On the contrary, coal subsidies are still 35 per cent higher than the subsidies for renewables and coal-fired power generation receives indirect financial support from the government through income tax exemptions and land acquisition at a preferential rate.
Conclusion
It is also true that India’s energy transition would be in its own interest because, otherwise, economic growth will not be sustainable and human security will be at stake if dozens of millions of climate refugees are created due to the devastating consequences of climate change.
There has been quite a lot of debate on India’s dependence on coal against the backdrop of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) meeting. The crux of the theoretical argument is that India needs to develop, and development requires energy.
Carbon budget framework
India has neither historically emitted nor currently emits carbon anywhere close to what the global North has, or does, in per capita terms.
If anything, the argument goes, it should ask for a higher and fairer share in the global carbon budget.
There is no doubt that this carbon budget framework is an excellent tool to understand global injustice but to move from there to our ‘right to burn’ is a big leap.
However, the question is do the countries in the global South necessarily need to increase their share in the global carbon budget?
Why should developing countries aim for development without increasing carbon emission
1) Reducing the cost of renewable energy
Normally the argument in favour of coal is on account of its cost, reliability and domestic availability.
Recent data show that the levelised cost of electricity from renewable energy sources like solar (photovoltaic), hydro and onshore wind has been declining sharply over the last decade and is already less than fossil fuel-based electricity generation.
On reliability, frontier renewable energy technologies have managed to address the question of variability of such sources to a large extent and, with technological progress, it seems to be changing for the better.
As for the easy domestic availability of coal, it is a myth.
India is among the largest importers of coal in the world, whereas it has no dearth of solar energy.
2) Following different development model
During the debates of post-colonial development in the Third World, there were two significant issues under discussion — control over technology and choice of techniques to address the issue of surplus labour.
India didn’t quite resolve the two issues in its attempts of import-substituting industrialisation which worsened during the post-reform period.
But it can address both today.
The abundance of renewable natural resources in the tropical climate can give India a head start in this competitive world of technology.
South-South collaborations can help India avoid the usual patterns of trade between the North and the South, where the former controls technology and the latter merely provides inputs.
And the high-employment trajectory that the green path entails vis-à-vis the fossil fuel sector may help address the issue of surplus labour, even if partially.
Such a path could additionally provide decentralised access to clean energy to the poor and the marginalised, including in remote regions of India.
3) Limitation of addressing global injustice in terms of a carbon budget
The framework of addressing global injustice in terms of a carbon budget is quite limiting in its scope in more ways than one.
Such an injustice is not at the level of the nation-states alone; there is such injustice between the rich and the poor within nations and between humans and non-human species.
A progressive position on justice would take these injustices into account instead of narrowly focusing on the framework of nation-states.
Moreover, it’s a double whammy of injustice for the global South when it comes to climate change.
Not only is it not primarily responsible, but the global South, especially its poor, will unduly bear the effect of climate change because of its tropical climate and high population density along the coastal lines.
So, arguing for more coal is like shooting oneself in the foot.
Way forward
One of the ways in which this can be done is by making the global North pay for the energy transition in the South.
Chalking out an independent, greener path to development may create conditions for such negotiations and give the South the moral high ground to force the North to come to the table, like South Africa did at Glasgow.
Conclusion
Even if one is pessimistic about this path of righting the wrongs of the past, at the very least, it is better than the status quo.
GS-1 History of the World will include events from 18th century such as Industrial Revolution, world wars, Redrawal of National Boundaries, Colonization, Decolonization, political philosophies like Communism, Capitalism, Socialism etc.— their forms and effect on the society.
GS-2 Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.
GS-3 Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.
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The Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on petitions challenging the validity of amendments introduced in 2020 to the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, aimed at tightening the curbs on NGOs allowed to receive foreign funds.
About FCRA
The FCRA regulates foreign donations and ensures that such contributions do not adversely affect internal security.
First enacted in 1976, it was amended in 2010 when a slew of new measures was adopted to regulate foreign donations.
The FCRA is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations.
It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA.
The registration is initially valid for five years and it can be renewed subsequently if they comply with all norms.
Why was FCRA enacted?
The FCRA sought to consolidate the acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality by individuals, associations or companies.
It sought to prohibit such contributions from being used for activities detrimental to national interest.
What was the recent Amendment?
The FCRA was amended in September 2020 to introduce some new restrictions.
The Government says it did so because it found that many recipients were wanting in compliance with provisions relating to filing of annual returns and maintenance of accounts.
Many did not utilise the funds received for the intended objectives.
It claimed that the annual inflow as foreign contributions almost doubled between 2010 and 2019.
The FCRA registration of 19,000 organisations was cancelled and, in some cases, prosecution was also initiated.
How has the law changed?
There are at least three major changes that NGOs find too restrictive.
Prohibition of fund transfer: An amendment to Section 7 of the Act completely prohibits the transfer of foreign funds received by an organisation to any other individual or association.
Directed and single bank account: Another amendment mandates that every person (or association) granted a certificate or prior permission to receive overseas funds must open an FCRA bank account in a designated branch of the SBI in New Delhi.
Utilization of funds: Fund All foreign funds should be received only in this account and none other. However, the recipients are allowed to open another FCRA bank account in any scheduled bank for utilisation.
Shared information: The designated bank will inform authorities about any foreign remittance with details about its source and the manner in which it was received.
Aadhaar mandate: In addition, the Government is also authorised to take the Aadhaar numbers of all the key functionaries of any organisation that applies for FCRA registration or for prior approval for receiving foreign funds.
Cap on administrative expenditure: Another change is that the portion of the receipts allowed as administrative expenditure has been reduced from 50% to 20%.
What is the criticism against these changes?
Arbitrary restrictions: NGOs questioning the law consider the prohibition on transfer arbitrary and too heavy a restriction.
Non-sharing of funds: One of its consequences is that recipients cannot fund other organisations. When foreign help is received as material, it becomes impossible to share the aid.
Irrationality of designated bank accounts: There is no rational link between designating a particular branch of a bank with the objective of preserving national interest.
Un-ease of operation: Due to Delhi based bank account, it is also inconvenient as the NGOS might be operating elsewhere.
Illogical narrative: ‘National security’ cannot be cited as a reason without adequate justification as observed by the Supreme Court in Pegasus Case.
What does the Government say?
Zero tolerance against intervention: The amendments were necessary to prevent foreign state and non-state actors from interfering with the country’s polity and internal matters.
Diversion of foreign funds: The changes are also needed to prevent malpractices by NGOs and diversion of foreign funds.
Fund flow monitoring: The provision of having one designated bank for receiving foreign funds is aimed at making it easier to monitor the flow of funds.
Ease of operation: The Government clarified that there was no need for anyone to come to Delhi to open the account as it can be done remotely.
Citing economic recovery, the Union Cabinet has restored the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) till 2025-26.
What is the MPLAD scheme?
The Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS) is a program first launched during the Narasimha Rao Government in 1993.
It is a Central Sector Schemefully funded by Government of India.
It was aimed towards providing funds for developmental works recommended by individual MPs.
Funds available
The MPs then were entitled to recommend works to the tune of Rs 1 crore annually between 1994-95 and 1997-98, after which the annual entitlement was enhanced to Rs 2 crore.
The UPA government since 2011-12 raised the annual entitlement to Rs 5 crore per MP.
Implementation
To implement their plans in an area, MPs have to recommend them to the District Authority of the respective Nodal District.
The District Authorities then identify Implementing Agencies that execute the projects.
The respective District Authority is supposed to oversee the implementation and has to submit monthly reports, audit reports, and work completion reports to the Nodal District Authority.
The MPLADS funds can be merged with other schemes such as MGNREGA and Khelo India.
Guidelines for MPLADS implementation
The document ‘Guidelines on MPLADS’ was published by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation in June 2016 in this regard.
It stated the objective of the scheme to enable MPs to recommend works of developmental nature with emphasis on the creation of durable community assets.
Durable assets of national priorities viz. drinking water, primary education, public health, sanitation, and roads, etc. should be created.
It recommended MPs to works costing at least 15 percent of their entitlement for the year for areas inhabited by Scheduled Caste population and 7.5 percent for areas inhabited by ST population.
It lays down a number of development works including construction of railway halt stations, providing financial assistance to recognized bodies, cooperative societies, installing CCTV cameras etc.
Impact of the scheme continuation
It will restart the community developmental projects / works in the field which are halted / stopped due to lack of funds under MPLADS.
It will restart fulfilling the aspirations and developmental requirements of the local community and the creation of durable assets, which is the primary objective of the MPLADS.
It will also help in reviving the local economy.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2020:
Q. With reference to the funds under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS), which of the following statements are correct?
MPLADS funds must be used to create durable assets like physical infrastructure for health, education, etc.
A specified portion of each MP’s fund must benefit SC/ST populations.
MPLADS funds are sanctioned on a yearly basis and the unused funds cannot be carried forward to the next year.
The district authority must inspect at least 10% of all works under implementation every year.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
NASA will launch the agency’s first planetary defense test mission named the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART).
What is DART Mission?
The main aim of the mission is to test the newly developed technology that would allow a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid and change its course.
It is a suicide mission and the spacecraft will be completely destroyed.
The target of the spacecraft is a small moonlet called Dimorphos (Greek for “two forms”).
It is about 160-metre in diameter and the spacecraft is expected to collide when it is 11 million kilometres away from Earth.
Dimorphos orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos (Greek for “twin”) which has a diameter of 780 metres.
Is there any threat from this asteroid?
The asteroid and the moonlet do not pose any threat to Earth and the mission is to test the new technology to be prepared in case an asteroid head towards Earth in the future.
The spacecraft will navigate to the moonlet and intentionally collide with it at a speed of about 6.6 kilometres per second or 24,000 kilometres per hour.
Why Dimorphos?
Didymos is a perfect system for the test mission because it is an eclipsing binary which means it has a moonlet that regularly orbits the asteroid.
It is observable when it passes in front of the main asteroid.
Earth-based telescopes can study this variation in brightness to understand how long it takes Dimorphos to orbit Didymos.
How big is the spacecraft?
NASA states that DART is a low-cost spacecraft, weighing around 610 kg at launch and 550 kg during impact.
The main structure is a box (1.2 × 1.3 × 1.3 metres). It has two solar arrays and uses hydrazine propellant for manoeuvring the spacecraft.
E-Amrit is a one-stop destination for all information on electric vehicles—busting myths around the adoption of EVs, their purchase, investment opportunities, policies, subsidies, etc.
The portal has been developed and hosted by NITI Aayog under a collaborative knowledge exchange programme with the UK government.
Features of the portal
It intends to complement initiatives of the government on raising awareness about EVs.
It aims to sensitize consumers on the benefits of switching to electric vehicles.
Need for E-Amrit
In the recent past, India has taken many initiatives to accelerate the decarbonization of transport and adoption of electric mobility in the country.
Schemes such as FAME and PLI are especially important in creating an ecosystem for the early adoption of EVs.
The PM will launch two innovative customer-centric initiatives of the Reserve Bank of India.
What are the schemes?
[A] Integrated Ombudsman Scheme
It aims to further improve the grievance redress mechanism for resolving customer complaints against entities regulated by RBI.
The central theme of the scheme is based on ‘One Nation-One Ombudsman’ with one portal, one email and one address for the customers to lodge their complaints.
There will be a single point of reference for customers to file their complaints, submit the documents, track status and provide feedback.
A multi-lingual toll-free number will provide all relevant information on grievance redress and assistance for filing complaints.
[B] RBI Retail Direct Scheme
It is aimed at enhancing access to government securities market for retail investors.
It offers them a new avenue for directly investing in securities issued by the Government of India and the State Governments.
Investors will be able to easily open and maintain their government securities account online with the RBI, free of cost.
