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Type: IOCR

  • [pib] Coalition for Disaster resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)

    The Prime Minister has recently addressed the third edition of the annual conference of the Coalition for Disaster resilient Infrastructure (CDRI).

    What is CDRI?

    • The CDRI is an international coalition of countries, UN agencies, multilateral development banks, the private sector, and academic institutions that aim to promote disaster-resilient infrastructure.
    • Its objective is to promote research and knowledge sharing in the fields of infrastructure risk management, standards, financing, and recovery mechanisms.
    • It was launched by the Indian PM Narendra Modi at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in September 2019.
    • CDRI’s initial focus is on developing disaster-resilience in ecological, social, and economic infrastructure.
    • It aims to achieve substantial changes in member countries’ policy frameworks and future infrastructure investments, along with a major decrease in the economic losses suffered due to disasters.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) to Reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants is a unique initiative of G20 group of countries
    2. The CCAC focuses on methane, black carbon and hydrofluorocarbons.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

    Its inception

    • PM Modi’s experience in dealing with the aftermath of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake” as the chief minister led him to the idea.
    • The CDRI was later conceptualized in the first and second edition of the International Workshop on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (IWDRI) in 2018-19.
    • It was organized by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), in partnership with the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the UN Development Programme, the World Bank, and the Global Commission on Adaptation.

    Its diplomatic significance

    • The CDRI is the second major coalition launched by India outside of the UN, the first being the International Solar Alliance.
    • Both of them are seen as India’s attempts to obtain a global leadership role in climate change matters and were termed as part of India’s stronger branding.
    • India can use the CDRI to provide a safer alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as well.

  • World Air Quality Report, 2020

    Delhi remained the most polluted capital city in the world but India, on the whole, had improved its average annual PM 2.5 (particulate matter) levels higher in 2020 than in 2019, according to a report from World Air Quality Report Air.

    Try this question from CS Mains 2015:

    Q.Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are the three megacities of the country but air pollution is a much more serious problem in Delhi as compared to the other two. Why is this so?

    World Air Quality Report

    • It is released by a Swiss air quality technology company IQAir.
    • IQAir is an air quality technology company that since 1963 seeks to empower individuals, organizations and communities to breathe cleaner air through information, collaboration and technology solutions.
    • The 2020 Report is based on PM2.5 data from 106 countries that have been measured by ground-based monitoring stations.

    Highlights of the report

    • Of the 14 most polluted cities, 13 were in India.
    • When ranked by cities, Hotan in China was the most polluted, with an average concentration of 110.2 µg/m³, followed by Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh at 106.
    • Delhi’s concentration level, based primarily on data from the Central Pollution Control Board, was 84.1 µg/m³ in 2020, a 15% improvement from the 98.6 µg/m³ recorded in 2019 — a consequence of the lockdown.
    • Bangladesh and Pakistan were the countries in 2020 with worse average PM 2.5 levels than India, says the report.
    • China ranked 11th in the latest report, a deterioration from the 14th in the previous edition of the report. In the 2020 report, 106 countries were evaluated.

  • ACT-Accelerator Coalition

    ACT-Accelerator, a global coalition formed in April 2020 to fight the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is facing a severe fund crunch to meet its goals for 2020-21.

    ACT-Accelerator

    • The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT Accelerator) is a G20 initiative announced on 24 April 2020.
    • A call to action was published simultaneously by the World Health Organization (WHO).
    • The ACT Accelerator is a cross-discipline support structure to enable partners to share resources and knowledge.
    • It comprises four pillars, each managed by two to three collaborating partners:
    1. Vaccines (also called “COVAX”)
    2. Diagnostics
    3. Therapeutics
    4. Health Systems Connector
    • India is an active donor in this alliance.

    Try this PYQ based on a global coalition:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) to Reduce Short Lived Climate Pollutants is a unique initiative of G20 group of countries.
    2. The CCAC focuses on methane, black carbon and Hydrofluorocarbons.

    Which of the above statements is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

  • Maritime border dispute between Kenya and Somalia

    In a move that is set to further undermine stability in East Africa, Kenya has said that it will not take part in proceedings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its maritime border dispute with neighbouring Somalia.

    Can you recall the terms like “Scramble for Africa”, “Paper Partition of Africa”? If yes, then you know very well the malady of the present-day Continent of Africa.

    What is the news?

    • Nairobi has accused the top UN body of bias.
    • The move comes after Somalia’s decision to sever diplomatic relations with Kenya in December after it accused Nairobi of meddling in its internal affairs.
    • The maritime dispute is said to form a crucial part of the diplomatic quarrel between the two countries.

    The disputed area

    • The main point of disagreement between the two neighbours is the direction in which their maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean should extend.
    • According to Somalia, the sea border should be an extension of the same direction in which their land border runs as it approaches the Indian Ocean, i.e. towards the southeast.
    • Kenya, on the other hand, argues that the territorial southeast border should take a 45-degree turn as it reaches the sea, and then run in a latitudinal direction, i.e. parallel to the equator.
    • Such an arrangement would be advantageous for Kenya, whose coastline of 536 km is more than 6 times smaller than Somalia’s (3,333 km).

    Why is this area important?

    • The triangular area thus created by the dispute is around 1.6 lakh sq km large and boasts of rich marine reserves.
    • It is also believed to have oil and gas deposits.
    • Both Somalia and Kenya have accused each other of auctioning off blocks from this area, Al Jazeera reported.

    How have Kenya and Somalia tried to resolve the dispute?

    • After negotiations to resolve the issue bilaterally failed, Somalia in 2014 asked the ICJ to adjudicate.
    • Kenya resisted, arguing that the world court did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.
    • In 2009 both countries had a commitment to settle the dispute out of court.
    • However, in February 2017, the ICJ ruled that it did have the right to rule in the case, and in June 2019 said that it would begin public hearings.
    • These hearings never took place, as Kenya successfully applied to have them postponed thrice– the last one being in June 2020, when it cited difficulties due to the Covid-19.

  • Explained: The Cairn Tax Dispute

    In December 2020, a three-member tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Netherlands ruled against India in its long-running tax dispute with the U.K.-based oil and gas company Cairn Energy.

    PCA Ruling against India

    • The tribunal ordered India to pay about $1.4 billion to the company.
    • Following this, Cairn Energy has successfully moved courts in five countries, including the US and the UK to recognise its claim as per the arbitration award.
    • The Netherlands, France, and Canada are the other three countries.
    • Such recognition by courts opens the door for Cairn Energy to seize assets of the Indian government in these jurisdictions by way of enforcing its claim, in case the latter doesn’t pay its dues.

    What is the dispute about?

    • The dispute started in early 2014 when Indian tax authorities started questioning Cairn Energy requesting information on the group’s reorganization in the financial year 2006-07.

    Issue over the tax due

    • This escalated, and by 2015, the authorities had sent the company a draft assessment order, assessing in the process that there was a principal tax amount of $1.6 billion that was due.
    • The year in reference, 2006-07, was one in which big corporate changes and developments took place in Cairn Energy.

    Basis of the tax demand: Sale of Shares

    • It was the year in which it not only undertook a corporate reorganization but also floated an Indian subsidiary, Cairn India, which in early 2007 got listed on the Indian Stock Market.
    • Through the corporate reorganization process, Cairn Energy had transferred all of its India assets, which were until then held by nine subsidiaries in various countries, to the newly-formed Cairn India.
    • But the tax authorities claimed that in the process of this reorganization, Cairn Energy had made capital gains worth ₹24,500 crores.
    • This, the department asserted, was the basis of the tax demand.

    Is this case similar to Vodafone’s battle with the government?

    • The Vodafone case in 2007 was triggered by Hong Kong’s Hutchinson Telecommunications’ sale of its stake in India’s Hutchinson Essar to Vodafone based out of the Netherlands.
    • The Hong Kong firm made a capital gain on this, which the Indian tax authorities deemed fit to tax.
    • They held that Vodafone should have withheld the tax, and therefore imposed liability on it.
    • The Supreme Court quashed the taxman’s demand that the sale of shares, in this case, would amount to transfer of a capital asset within the meaning of Section 2(14) of the Indian Income Tax Act”.

    What governs the Sale of Shares?

    • In the Union Budget of 2012, the Income Tax Act, 1961 was amended to make sure that even if a transfer of shares takes place outside India, such a transfer can be taxed.
    • This was done when the value of those shares is based on assets in India. And this was applied retrospectively.

    Cairn won over Retrospection

    • The action against Cairn Energy was based on this move.
    • India lost its arbitration case against Vodafone as well, with the government being asked to fork out around ₹80 crores.

    What happened after the tax claims in the Cairn Energy dispute?

    • After receiving a draft assessment order from the tax authorities, Cairn UK Holdings Ltd. appealed before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.
    • The tribunal, while providing the company relief from back-dated interest demands, however, upheld the main tax demand.
    • The company had initiated proceedings of arbitration under the U.K.-India bilateral investment treaty.
    • But during this time, the government sold Cairn’s almost 5% holding and seized dividends totalling ₹1,140 crore due to it from those shareholdings and set off a ₹1,590-crore tax refund against the demand.

    What was the main argument of Cairn Energy during the arbitration?

    • The claimants, Cairn Energy and Cairn UK Holdings argued that till the amendment was made to tax retrospectively in 2012, there was no tax on indirect transfers.
    • Indirect transfers here meant transfer by a non-resident of shares in non-Indian companies which indirectly held assets in India.
    • The application of the 2012 amendments, they alleged, constituted “manifest breaches” of the U.K.-India bilateral investment treaty.

    What was India’s defence during the arbitration?

    • India’s counter to the main charge of Cairn Energy was that its 2006 transactions were taxable irrespective of the 2012 amendments.
    • It argued that “Indian law has long permitted taxation where a transaction has a strong economic nexus with India”.
    • It said even if it is retrospective, it is “valid and binding applying the longstanding constitutional, legislative and legal framework in which the claimants have invested”.

    What did the arbitration tribunal rule?

    • The tribunal said the tax demand violated the U.K.-India bilateral investment treaty.
    • The tribunal said India “failed to accord Cairn Energy’s investments fair and equitable treatment” under the bilateral protection pact it had with the United Kingdom.
    • It also ordered India to compensate Cairn Energy and its subsidiary for “the total harm suffered” as a result of the breaches of the treaty.

    India’s way ahead

    • It has been reported in the media that India will appeal against the tribunal’s decision.
    • If enforcement proceedings are initiated, India is confident of addressing them and will strongly defend its interests.

    Back2Basics: Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA)

    • It is an intergovernmental organization located in The Hague, Netherlands.
    • It is not a court in the traditional sense but provides services of arbitral tribunal to resolve disputes that arise out of international agreements between member states, international organizations or private parties.
    • The cases span a range of legal issues involving territorial and maritime boundaries, sovereignty, human rights, international investment, and international and regional trade.
    • The PCA is constituted through two separate multilateral conventions with a combined membership of 122 states.
    • The organization is not a United Nations agency, but the PCA is an official United Nations Observer.

  • What is OPEC+?

    India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer, has said that the decision by major producers to continue with output cuts as prices move higher could threaten the consumption led-recovery in some countries.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The term ‘West Texas Intermediate’, sometimes found in news, refers to a grade of

    (a) Crude oil

    (b) Bullion

    (c) Rare earth elements

    (d) Uranium

    What is the news?

    • The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a group known as OPEC+, agreed not to increase supply in April as they await a more substantial recovery in demand amid the COVID-19.
    • Crude prices rose after the announcement and are up 33% this year (meanwhile India flaring up prices to 100 Rs/litres for Petrol).

    What is OPEC+?

    • The non-OPEC countries which export crude oil along with the 14 OPECs are termed as OPEC plus countries.
    • OPEC plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan, and Sudan.
    • Saudi and Russia, both have been at the heart of a three-year alliance of oil producers known as OPEC Plus — which now includes 11 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC nations — that aims to shore up oil prices with production cuts.

    Concerns for India

    • Rising oil prices are posing fiscal challenges for India, where heavily-taxed retail fuel prices have touched record highs, threatening the demand-driven recovery.
    • India imports about 84% of its oil and relies on West Asian supplies to meet over three-fifths of its demand.
    • As one of the largest crude-consuming countries, India is concerned that such actions by producing countries have the potential to undermine consumption-led recovery.
    • This would hurt consumers, especially in our price-sensitive market.

  • [pib] India’s rebuttal to Freedom House Report

    The Freedom House report titled “Democracy under Siege” in which it has been claimed that India’s status as a free country has declined to “partly free”, is misleading, incorrect, and misplaced.

    The US who claims to be the champion of Human Rights has turned another sermon to India through its Freedom House Report. This report presents an inherently flawed and biased analysis of Indian democracy.

    Rebuttal to specific points

    (1) Discriminatory policies against Minorities

    • The GoI treats all its citizens with equality as enshrined under the Constitution of the country and all laws are applied without discrimination.
    • Due process of law is followed in matters relating to law and order, irrespective of the identity of the alleged instigator.
    • With specific reference to the North East Delhi riots in February 2020, the law enforcement machinery acted swiftly in an impartial and fair manner.
    • Proportionate and appropriate actions were taken to control the situation.
    • Necessary legal and preventive actions were taken by the law enforcement machinery on all complaints/calls received, as per law and procedures.

    (2) Use of Sedition Law

    • “Public Order’ and ‘Police’ are State subjects under India’s federal structure of governance.
    • The responsibility of maintaining law and order, including investigation, registration, and prosecution of crimes, protection of life and property, etc., rests primarily with the concerned State governments.
    • Therefore, measures as deemed fit are taken by law enforcement authorities to preserve public order.

    (3) Government response to COVID-19 through Lockdown

    • Between March 16 to 23, most State governments/UT resorted to partial or full Lockdown in their respective State/ UT based on their assessment of the COVID-19 situation.
    • Any mass movement of people would have spread the disease rapidly throughout the country.
    • The government was fully conscious that during the period of an inevitable Lockdown, people should not face undue distress.
    • India has, on a per capita basis, registered one of the lowest rates of active COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 related deaths globally.

    (4) Government response on human rights organizations

    • The Indian Constitution provides for adequate safeguards under various statutes, including the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993 for ensuring the protection of human rights.
    • This Act provides for the constitution of an NHRC and SHRC in the States for better protection of human rights and for matters connected to this subject.

    (5) Intimidation of academics and journalists and crackdown on expressions of dissent by media

    • The Indian Constitution provides for freedom of expression under Article 19. Discussion, debate, and dissent are a part of Indian democracy.
    • The GoI attaches the highest importance to the safety and security of all residents of the country, including journalists.
    • It has issued a special advisory to States and UTs on the safety of journalists requesting them to strictly enforce the law to ensure the safety and security of media persons.

    (6) Internet shutdowns

    • Temporary suspension of the telecom services, including the internet, is governed under the provisions of the Temporary Suspension of Telecom Services (Public Emergency or Public Safety) Rules, 2017.
    • Hence, the temporary suspension of telecom/internet services is resorted to with the over-arching objective of maintaining law and order under strict safeguards.

    (7) FCRA amendment leading to freezing of Amnesty International’s assets has led to declining in ranking

    • Amnesty International had received permission under the FCRA Act only once and that too 20 years ago.
    • Since then Amnesty International, despite its repeated applications, has been denied FCRA approval by successive governments since as per law it is not eligible to get such approval.
    • However, in order to circumvent the FCRA regulations, Amnesty U.K. remitted large amounts of money to four entities registered in India, by misclassifying the remittance as FDI.
    • A significant amount of foreign money was also remitted to Amnesty India without MHA’s approval under FCRA.
    • This malafide rerouting of money was in contravention of extant legal provisions.
    • Owing to these illegal practices of Amnesty, the previous government had also rejected the repeated applications of Amnesty to receive funds from overseas.

  • Food Waste Index Report 2021

    The Food Waste Index Report 2021 was recently released by the UNEP.
    Even though the world produces enough food to feed twice the world’s present population, food wastage is ironically behind the billions of people who are starving.

    Food Waste Index

    • The Food Waste Index is released by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and partner organisation WRAP.
    • It measures tons of wasted food per capita, considering a mixed stream of products from processing through to consumption.
    • It was prepared by using data from 54 countries and then extrapolated to the remaining countries.
    • Contrary to belief, the study by the UNEP revealed that food waste was a global problem and not that of just the developed world.

    Highlights of the 2021 report

    • The report has revealed that 17 per cent of all food available at consumer levels was wasted in 2019.
    • That year, some 690 million people had to go hungry.
    • The food waste amounted to a whopping 931 million tonnes of food sold to households, retailers and restaurants.
    • Waste at household, foodservice and retail amounted to 79, 26 and 13 kilogram /capita / year respectively.
    • The data, though scarce, revealed that food waste was substantial, regardless of income level.

    Data on India

    • The report notes that food waste at the consumer level happens in almost every country, regardless of income level.
    • In South Asia, while 50 kilograms of food is wasted per person each year at the household level in India.
    • Others include- 65 kilograms of this happening in Bangladesh, 74 kilograms in Pakistan, 76 kilograms in Sri Lanka, 79 kilograms in Nepal and 82 kilograms in Afghanistan.

    Why it is important to prevent food wastage?

    • Food waste also has a substantial environmental, social and economic impact.
    • Food loss and waste cause about $940 billion per year in economic losses. Reductions can save money for farmers, companies, and households.
    • For example, 8-10 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions are associated with food that is not consumed.
    • Reducing food waste would cut greenhouse gas emissions, slow the destruction of nature through land conversion and pollution, enhance the availability of food and thus reduce hunger and save money.

  • Freedom in the World Report, 2021

    Freedom in the World 2020: A Leaderless Struggle for Democracy

    US-based human rights watchdog Freedom House has accused the present government of driving India toward authoritarianism with a lockdown scapegoating of minorities and a crackdown on critics, and downgraded India’s status from ‘Free’ to ‘Partly Free’, in its annual report.

    Freedom in the World Report

    • It is Freedom House’s flagship annual report, assessing the condition of political rights and civil liberties around the world.
    • It is composed of numerical ratings and supporting descriptive texts for 195 countries and 15 territories.
    • The report has been published since 1973, allowing Freedom House to track global trends in freedom over more than 40 years.
    • Freedom House, which is largely funded through U.S. government grants, has been tracking the course of democracy since 1941.

    What did the report say?

    Political and civil rights

    • India’s freedom score, calculated using indicators of political rights and civil liberties, dropped four points to 67 this year, pulling the country down into the ‘Partly Free’ category.
    • India appears to have abandoned its potential to serve as a global democratic leader, elevating narrow nationalist interests at the expense of its founding values of inclusion and equal rights for all.

    Reference to Kashmir

    • In a year when social media censorship has been hotly seated, while the government shut down Internet connectivity in Kashmir as well as on Delhi’s borders, India’s Internet freedom score dropped to just 51.

    Crackdown on protesters

    • Last year, the government intensified its crackdown on protesters opposed to a discriminatory citizenship law and arrested dozens of journalists who aired criticism of the official pandemic response.

    Judicial Independence

    • It noted that judicial independence had also come under strain.
    • It pointed to the case of a Delhi HC judge who was transferred immediately after reprimanding the police for taking no action during riots in the capital that leftover 50 people dead.

    Religious freedom

    • Minorities were disproportionately blamed for the spread of the virus and faced attacks by vigilante mobs.
    • Uttar Pradesh’s law prohibiting forced religious conversion through interfaith marriage was also listed as a concern.

    Rising Authoritarianism

    • Rather than serving as a champion of democratic practice and a counterweight to authoritarian influence from countries such as China, the government is tragically driving India itself toward authoritarianism, the report stated.

  • LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021

    The Opportunity Index 2021 highlights the difference in perception of available opportunities in the market for men and women in India.

    LinkedIn Opportunity Index 2021

    • The report seeks to understand how people perceive opportunities and the barriers that stand in the way of achieving them.
    • This year’s report dives deep to understand how women perceive opportunities, and how the gender gap is further slowing down career progress for working women in India amid the pandemic.

    LinkedIn is an American business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Launched on May 5, 2003, the platform is mainly used for professional networking and allows job seekers to post their CVs and employers to post jobs

    Highlights of the report

    India’s working women still face the strongest gender bias across Asia Pacific countries.

    • Covid impact: Nine in 10 (89%) women state they were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • General Bias: 1 in 5 (22%) working women in India said their company’s exhibit a ‘favourable bias’ towards men at work when compared to the regional average of 16%.
    • Work opportunity: While 37% of India’s working women say they get fewer opportunities than men, only 25% of men agree with this.
    • Pay: This disparity in perception is also seen in conversations about equal pay, as more women (37%) say they get less pay than men, while only 21% of men share this sentiment.
    • Promotion: In India, more than 4 in 5 working women (85%) claim to have missed out on a raise, promotion, or work offer because of their gender, compared to the regional average of 60%.
    • Family burden: Lack of time and family care stop 7 in 10 Indian women from progressing in their careers.
    • Maternity: Consumer sentiment from the report shows that more than 7 in 10 working women (71%) and working mothers (77%) feel that managing familial responsibilities often come in their way of career development.

    Scope for equality

    • The report shows that even though 66% of people in India feel that gender equality has improved compared to their parents’ age.
    • In India, the top three job opportunities sought by both men and women are job security, a job that they love, and a good work-life balance.
    • But despite having similar goals, more women (63%) think a person’s gender is important to get ahead in life when compared to men (54%).

    Barriers faced by Indian women

    • Lack of required professional skills and a lack of guidance through networks and connections are also some of the other barriers that get in the way of career development for working women in India.

    What next?

    • Organisations should step up to provide robust maternity policies and flexibility programs.
    • Reduced and flexible schedules, more sabbaticals, and new opportunities to upskill and learn are critical offerings that can help organizations attract, hire, and retain more female talent.