The UT of Jammu and Kashmir has won the bid to host the 50th annual Skal International Asia Area (SIAA) Congress in 2021 during the annual general meeting recently against four other cities.
Note: Skal International is not an affiliate of the United Nations. This is where a prelims question can pull a nerve.
Skal International
Skal International is a professional organization of tourism leaders around the world, promoting global tourism and friendship.
It is a Spain-based tourism body with 15,000 members and 150 chapters across the world.
The word Skal comes from Scandinavia and has a long tradition. The “Skal” is a bowl containing a welcome drink that is offered to visitors when entering a home.
Its members, the industry’s managers and executives meet at local, national, regional and international levels to discuss and pursue topics of common interest.
It is the only international group uniting all branches of the travel and tourism industry.
The Raychaudhuri Equation in General Relativity, derived by Raychaudhuri is in the spotlight after 2020 Physics Nobel was awarded to Penrose for throwing light on Black Holes.
Try this MCQ:
Q.The Raychaudhuri Equation is sometimes seen in news is related to:
Raychaudhuri (1923–2005) was an Indian physicist, known for his research in general relativity and cosmology.
In general relativity, the Raychaudhuri equation is a fundamental result describing the motion of nearby bits of matter.
It was discovered independently by the Indian physicist Amal Kumar Raychaudhuri and the Soviet physicist Lev Landau.
The equation offers a simple and general validation of our intuitive expectation that gravitation should be a universal attractive force between any two bits of mass-energy in general relativity, as it is in Newton’s theory of gravitation.
Scientists have discovered a new family of bony fish from the Western Ghats and named it Aenigmachannidae.
A stand-alone species being mentioned in the news for the first time (and that too from Southern India) find their way into the prelims. Make special note here. Usually, note the species and its habitat location (IUCN status if available), in the purview of a generic prelims question.
Aenigmachannidae
Aenigmachanna Gollum has a surprisingly large number of primitive characters, and detailed molecular phylogenetic analyses including of its Mitochondrial DNA suggested an ancient separation from Channidae.
Many such species were earlier found in the aquifers of Kerala.
Many of these species are blind, pigment-less, and have peculiar morphological characters that are otherwise not seen in species occurring in surface waters.
Significance of the discovery
The presence of two unique endemic families of freshwater fish in a small region like Kerala is unparalleled and indicates the exceptional diversity and endemicity of fishes in this part of the world.
The members of Aenigmachannidae are “living fossils” and comprise an ancient Gondwanan lineage that survived the break-up of the supercontinent and the northward drift of the Indian subcontinent.
A total of 322 projects in a length of 12,413 km have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana. Further, 2921 Km has been constructed under the Project till the date.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following pairs:
National Highway: Cities connected
NH 4: Chennai and Hyderabad
NH 6: Mumbai and Kolkata
NH 15: Ahmedabad and Jodhpur
Which of the above pairs is/are correctly matched?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 3
(d) None
Bharatmala Pariyojana
It is a centrally-sponsored and funded the Road and Highways project.
It is an umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing the efficiency of freight and passenger movement across the country by bridging critical infrastructure.
The total investment for 83,677 km committed new highways is estimated at ₹5.35 lakh crore making it the single largest outlay for a government road construction scheme.
It works for the development of Economic Corridors, Inter Corridors and Feeder Routes, National Corridor Efficiency Improvement, Border and International connectivity roads, Coastal and Port connectivity roads and Green-field expressways.
The ambitious umbrella programme has subsumed all existing Highway Projects including the flagship National Highways Development Project (NHDP), launched in 1998.
Abhishek scored 140 and 129 in UPSC Pre GS paper 1 when pre cut off was 105 and 98 respectively. This will be the second of three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf on IAS Prelims 2021 strategy.Link for playlist given in the bottom.
Abhishek Saraf, IAS, in this second of the three-part lecture series will be sharing his Prelims Strategy with you all. Today he will be discussing all the topics (subject wise) on which he made notes. He will also discuss how to deal with and use factoids. His third lecture will be made live in the evening.
Click on the video below and Set Reminder for 11 am.
Abhishek is a Civil Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur. An achiever through and through he scored this rank in his fourth attempt. Earlier he has scored a rank of 402 and 248 in UPSC 2017 (resigned in 15 days) and UPSC 2018 respectively. His optional was Civil Engineering. He is a manifestation of ‘hard work pays’ maxim. He has three research publications, two foreign internships, and a patent (pending).
This ia a three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf for Civilsdaily IAS. He has been a part of the Civilsdaily family for more than 4 years now and has been a strong supporter of our approach to IAS exam preparation.
The link for the second lecture will be shared after this lecture. Do subscribe to our Youtube channel and let us know what more we can share with you.
Abhishek scored 140 and 129 in UPSC Pre GS paper 1 when pre cut off was 105 and 98 respectively. This will be the first of three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf on IAS Prelims 2021 strategy.
Abhishek Saraf, IAS, in this three-part lecture series will be sharing his Prelims Strategy with you all. In the first lecture he will be explaining and discussing the basic approach, syllabus-wise booklist, then the need and approach to reading a newspaper. He will also be telling about notes making from newspapers and books.
Click on the video below and Set Reminder for 11 am.
Abhishek is a Civil Engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur. An achiever through and through he scored this rank in his fourth attempt. Earlier he has scored a rank of 402 and 248 in UPSC 2017 (resigned in 15 days) and UPSC 2018 respectively. His optional was Civil Engineering. He is a manifestation of ‘hard work pays’ maxim. He has three research publications, two foreign internships, and a patent (pending).
This ia a three-part lecture series by Abhishek Saraf for Civilsdaily IAS. He has been a part of the Civilsdaily family for more than 4 years now and has been a strong supporter of our approach to IAS exam preparation.
The link for the second lecture will be shared after this lecture. Do subscribe to our Youtube channel and let us know what more we can share with you.
The article analyses the implications of the recently concluded MPC meeting and predicts the trends for the future.
Highlights of the MPC meeting
In the October meeting of the monetary policy committee (MPC), repo rate were kept unchanged at 4%, with a continuation of an accommodative stance.
It chose to ignore elevated levels of CPI inflation as transitory and maintaining focus on supporting growth.
It appears that the MPC would maintain a status quo on rates through this fiscal year.
The scope for further easing is anyways limited to 0.50%, as any more easing may affect household financial savings and endanger financial stability.
Ensuring the rate transmission
With unchanged repo rates, the focus of the liquidity measures announced by the RBI is to further improve transmission of previous rate cuts across a spectrum of market rates and other instruments.
The RBI Governor assured market participants that the large supply of government bonds in the second half along with a likely pick-up in credit demand, would be accommodated through open market purchases of government bonds.
Reducing the cost of borrowing
The RBI may have to buy bonds worth ₹1,000 to 1,500 billion in these operations over 2HFY21 keeping pressure on yields [which affects interest rates].
In a related move, to reduce the cost of borrowings for state governments, the RBI for the first time will buy state government bonds, as a special case for this year.
Other measures
The extension of enhanced Held to Maturity (HTM) limit of banks on their government bonds portfolio to March 2022.
A new on-tap targeted LTRO window was announced, for banks to borrow up to ₹1,000 billion from the RBI at a floating rate linked to the repo rate, and invest in corporate paper issued by specific sectors and to provide loans to them.
In effect, the aim of the central bank is to ensure that lower policy rates determined by the macro-economic fundamentals, are reflected in lower cost of borrowings for the Centre, states and corporates.
Containing inflation
Inflation outlook for this fiscal and projections for next year indicate that CPI inflation would ease, from an average of 6.8% in Q2 to 4.5% in Q4 and 4.1% by Q4FY22.
Headline inflation is expected to fall, as supply conditions normalize with progressive unlocking and another year of bumper farm output helps pull down food inflation.
Higher fuel taxes and import duties are expected to provide an upward push though.
Effective supply management will therefore be crucial in controlling food inflation and ensuring that it does not turn persistent and feeds into non-food inflation.
Conclusion
The role of monetary policy in the is limited and the RBI focus will remain on improving transmission of policy signals through banking, bond and credit market channels.
Back2Basics: LTRO
Long-Term Repo Operation (LTRO) was introduced by the Reserve Bank in February, 2020.
Through this policy, the central bank would provide liquidity support to commercial banks for a period of 1 to 3 years at the current repo rate, and would accept government securities as collateral in return.
This is in contrast to the other measures it was providing such as Liquidity Adjustment Facility (LAF) and Marginal Standing Facility (MSF) which provide cash to banks for a period of 1 to 28 days only.
The article the need for liberal and realistic definition of the ‘urban’ area in the next Census and mention the implications of such change.
2 ways to define urban areas
1) Statutory town
These towns are defined by state governments and place India’s urbanisation rate at 26.7%.
A statutory town includes all places with a municipality, corporation, cantonment board or notified town area committee.
2) Census-based criteria
Census adopts three criteria to define what is urban.
The three criteria are:
i) a minimum population of 5,000;
ii) at least 75% of the male main working population engaged in non-agricultural pursuits, and
iii) a density of population of at least 400 persons per sq km
This, coupled with statutory towns, pegs India’s urbanisation rate at 31%.
Total number of towns (state and census) stands at 7,933, together constituting a 377-mn population.
Why there is a need for changing the definition of ‘urban’
There is growing evidence—mostly from satellite imagery—that India is way more urban than the 2011 Census estimate.
This is quite plausible because there is a large sum of money allocated for rural development, and it is in the interest of state governments to under-represent urbanisation.
Besides, the Census’s stringent definition was first carved out in 1961 which do not reflect the realities of the 21st century.
India won’t be alone in changing these definitions for Census 2021.
Many countries, such as China, Iran, the UK, among others, have changed the definition of ‘urban’ from one census to another.
Getting the right picture of urbanisation
A more liberal and realistic definition in the upcoming census will present the actual picture of urbanisation.
For instance, if we just use the population density criteria like 37 other countries, with the 400 people per sq km threshold, we will add around 500 mn people to the urban share of the population.
This pegs the urbanisation rate at over 70%!
What will be its implications?
First, the budgetary allocation will reflect the reality and scales will balance between rural and urban areas.
Second, the urban areas will not be governed through rural governance structures of Panchayati Raj Institutions.
Third basic urban infrastructure like sewerage networks, fire services, building regulations, high-density housing, transit-oriented development, piped drinking water supply.
Fourth, these newly defined urban areas could act as a new source of revenue for funding local infrastructure development.
This would ease pressure on state finances.
Lastly, the rethink of urban definition would have an impact on the regional and national economy.
These newly defined urban areas will open them to new infrastructure such as railway lines, discom services, highway connectivity, creation of higher education institutes which will together increase the connectivity and resource capability at the local level.
This will not only boost the local economy but also ease pressure on bigger cities and help in cluster level development.
Conclusion
A rethink of urban definition in Census 2021, particularly with some degrowth in urban areas due to Covid, will bode well for India for coming decades in more ways than one.
The Parliament has passed new versions of three labour codes — Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2020, Code on Social Security Bill, 2020 and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code Bill, 2020.
The Code on Social Security 2020, which received the Presidential Assent on 28 September 2020, subsumes major regulations relating to social security, retirement and employee benefits.
What is Social Security?
Social security is “any government system that provides monetary assistance to people with an inadequate or no income”.
It refers to the action programs of an organization intended:
to promote the welfare of the population through assistance measures guaranteeing access to sufficient resources for food and shelter and
to promote health and well-being for the population at large and potentially vulnerable segments such as children, the elderly, the sick and the unemployed
Why need Social Security?
India has a very basic social security system catering to a fairly small percentage of the country’s workforce.
Traditionally, Indians relied on their extended families for support in the event of illness or other misfortunes.
However, due to migration, urbanization, and higher social mobility, family bonds are less tight and family units much smaller than they used to be.
Social Security System in India
India’s social security system is composed of a number of schemes and programs spread throughout a variety of laws and regulations.
Keeping in mind, however, that the government-controlled social security system in India applies to only a small portion of the population.
Furthermore, the social security system in India includes not just an insurance payment of premiums into government funds (like in China), but also lump sum employer obligations.
Generally, India’s social security schemes cover the following types of social insurances:
Pension
Health Insurance and Medical Benefit
Disability Benefit
Maternity Benefit
Gratuity
While a great deal of the Indian population is in the unorganized sector and may not have an opportunity to participate in each of these schemes, Indian citizens in the organized sector (which include those employed by foreign investors) and their employers are entitled to coverage under the above schemes.
Code on Social Security 2020
The 3 bills which were passed are
Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020 &
Social Security Code, 2020
All the labour laws (29 in number) being amalgamated into 4 labour codes are :
Name of the Code
Amalgamated laws
Wage Code
4 laws – The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976
IR Code
3 laws – The Trade Unions Act, 1926 The Industrial Employment (Standing orders) Act, 1946 The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947
OS Code
13 laws – The Factories Act, 1948 The Plantations Labour Act, 1951 The Mines Act, 1952 The Working Journalists and other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1955 The Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958 The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961 The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970 The Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976 The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979 The Cine-Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers (Regulation of Employment) Act, 1981 The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986 The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996
Social Security Code
9 laws – The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923 The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948 The Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959 The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 The Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981 The Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Cess Act, 1996 The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008
Here are the key features of these bills:
(A) Social Security Code, 2020
The facility of ESIC would now be provided in all 740 districts. At present, this facility is being given in 566 districts only.
EPFO’s coverage would be applicable to all establishments having 20 workers. At present, it was applicable only on establishments included in the Schedule.
Provision has been made to formulate various schemes for providing comprehensive social security to workers in the unorganised sector.
A “Social Security Fund” will be created on the financial side in order to implement these schemes.
Work to bring newer forms of employment created with the changing technology like “platform worker or gig worker” into the ambit of social security has been done in the Social Security Code.
Provision for Gratuity has been made for Fixed Term Employee and there would not be any condition for minimum service period for this.
With the aim of making a national database for unorganised sector workers, registration of all these workers would be done on an online portal and this registration would be done on the basis of Self Certification through a simple procedure.
(B) Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020
Free health checkup once a year by the employer for workers which are more than a certain age.
A legal right for getting Appointment Letter given to workers for the first time.
Cine Workers have been designated as Audio Visual Worker so that more and more workers get covered under the OSH code. Earlier, this security was being given to artists working in films only.
(C) Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Efforts made by the Government for quickly resolving disputes of the workers include:
Compulsory facility for Helpline for redressal of problems of migrant workers.
Making a national database of migrant workers.
Provision for the accumulation of one day leave for every 20 days worked when work has been done for 180 days instead of 240 days.
Equality for women in every sphere: Women have to be permitted to work in every sector at night, but it has to be ensured that provision for their security is made by the employer and consent of women is taken before they work at night.
In the event of the death of a worker or injury to a worker due to an accident at his workplace, atleast 50 % share of the penalty would be given. This amount would be in addition to Employees Compensation.
Provision of “Social Security Fund” for 40 Crore unorganized workers alongwith GIG and platform workers and will help Universal Social Security coverage
Occupational Safety & Health Code to also can now over cover workers from IT and Service Sector.
14 days notice for Strike so that in this period amicable solution comes out.
Now let’s look up at the various loopholes of these Bills one by one:
A. The Code on Social Security, 2020
No robust entitlements:
To begin, the Code does not emphasise social security as a right, nor does it make reference to its provision as stipulated by the Constitution.
In addition, it does not stipulate a clear date for enforcement, which will leave millions of workers vulnerable without clear social protections.
2. No universalization
A model scheme covering the issues such as education, health, social security, pensions and other benefits which can assure a dignified life for workers.
It is essential that social security protections be made universal for the entire Indian workforce, i.e. that such protections be universal.
Instead of this, the Code makes arbitrary categorizations that will leave millions of working poor out of its protections. While the Code defines multiple categories, most definitions are ambiguous.
3. Migrant workers find NO special mention
Interstate migrant workers should have been mentioned as a separate category with the establishment of a sizable Welfare Fund with contributions by sending and receiving states and employers.
Given the particular distress faced by such workers in the last few months, there are no provisions established for migrant workers who face very specific vulnerabilities.
There is not even a provision for the portability of social security which takes into account their continuous movement within the country.
There is no consideration for unemployment protection for unorganised workers, which is particularly important at times of great recession and crisis.
4. Pro-employer
Finally, the Code makes it easier for employers to flout legally required social protection for workers.
For instance, there is no stringent penalty for non-contribution of Provident Fund dues by employer/contractor.
As an effective deterrent and policy tool to ensure timely payment of dues, penal provisions should be incorporated for large employers who have the capacity to pay regular Provident Fund contributions.
B. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
Ignores key economic activities
The Code excludes many branches of economic activities, most notably, the agriculture sector which employs more than 50% of total working population of India.
Further, the employees in other unorganised sectors such as small mines, hotels & eating places, machinery repairs, construction, brick kilns, etc find no mention.
Also those employed as informal workers in organized sectors, including new and emerging sectors such as IT and IT enabled services, digital platforms, e-commerce, have also not found coverage under the Code.
2. Ambiguous occupational safety
It is appalling that the Code has got away by not fixing any responsibility on employers with respect to safety and health.
It does not specify even minimum standards for Occupation Safety and Health, or daily and weekly working hours and everything has been delegated to the Central government to be stipulated through notification.
A minimum Occupation Safety and Health standard should have been specified in the Code itself.
3. Issue of fair treatment
The Code does not contain any provisions for equal treatment for contract labour that perform work of a similar nature as that of permanent workers in the same establishment.
Contract labour that is engaged in similar work in the same establishment should have been treated on par with permanent workers in the matter of wages and other conditions of employment.
C. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Restrictions on ‘Freedom of Association’
The definition of strike has been broadened to include “the concerted casual leave on a given day by fifty percent or more workers employed in an industry”.
This constrains workers’ ability to participate in collective bargaining processes and demonstrations.
Beside this, there are several restrictions made on right to strike – workers will be subject to penal sanctions for the mere fact of organizing or participating in a peaceful strike.
Imposing such sanctions on strikes that are justified amounts to a grave violation of the principles of freedom of association.
2. Definitional issues
The definition of “industry” includes terms like “charitable”, “philanthropic”, “social”, etc. which are undefined and can be misused.
A manufacturer of sanitary pads or toilet paper, for instance, may claim to be a social activity and therefore not an industry.
The change in the definition of “wage” is either the result of muddled thinking or made with malicious intent.
It will have the effect of reducing retrenchment compensation, subsistence allowance etc., which is deplorable.
3. Fixed-term contracts
There is an institutionalization of “fixed term contracts” as tenure of employment.
Workers employed on a fixed term basis may be terminated on the completion of their contract, even while there is an actual need for their services.
In other words, they may be terminated from service without any just and reasonable cause. This will further create instability and massive labour market unrest.
The fixed term employment does not guarantee the right to receive notice or wages in lieu of notice prior to the termination of services.
Conclusion
The government needs to work more to recognise that focusing on economic growth without redistribution of wealth leads to jobless growth and socially unaccountable prosperity.
Every law has to aim to maintain the best possible balance between competing interests and should try to give as much comfort to the weaker of the two sides, as much possible in the larger interest of our nation.
Ultimately these laws will be as good as their implementation, mere letters of law have no meaning.
The government has to ensure that they are implemented with honesty and integrity, then only the country will be able to achieve the desired goal of speeding up economic growth and unleashing the untapped potential of thousands and thousands of our industries, businesses and entrepreneurs to take the nation to new heights.
Human emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) — a greenhouse gas 300 times more potent than carbon dioxide (CO2) — increased by 30 per cent between 1980 and 2016.
Observe the above image carefully and try to find out the major contributor of nitrous oxide emission in the Global N2O Budget.
What is Nitrous oxide?
Nitrous oxide is a dangerous gas for the sustainable existence of humans on Earth.
It has the third-highest concentration — after CO2 and methane — in our atmosphere among greenhouse gases responsible for global warming.
N2O can live in the atmosphere for up to 125 years.
Most N2O emissions have come from emerging countries like India, China and Brazil.
About the research
Nitrous oxide global concentration levels have increased from 270 parts per billion (ppb) in 1750 to 331 ppb in 2018 — a jump of 20 per cent.
The growth has been the quickest in the past five decades because of human emissions.
The research was conducted through an international collaboration between the International Nitrogen Initiative (INI) and the Global Carbon Project of Future Earth, a partner of the World Climate Research Programme.
Why N2O matters?
N2O is also the only remaining threat to the ozone layer, for it accumulates in the atmosphere over a long period of time, just like CO2.
The increase in its emissions means that the climatic burden on the atmosphere is increasing from non-carbon sources as well, while the major focus of global climate change negotiations is currently centred on carbon.
A major proportion of the N2O emissions in the last four decades came from the agricultural sector, mainly because of the use of nitrogen-based fertilizers.
The growing demand for food and feed for animals will further increase global nitrous oxide emissions.
