[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 28 January 2023

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: Governance, Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment

Source: IE

 Direction: The article tries to give an overview of migration in India and the reasons for internal migration and the size of the migrant labour force, issues faced by them, etc.

Context: The first Jharkhand Migrant Survey (JMS) was recently conducted across 24 districts of the state.

Background:

• Nearly 8.5 lakh migrant workers belonging to the state travelled back to Jharkhand during the Covid crisis.
• The lessons from that journey have now prompted the state government to launch a key exercise for its migrant population,
  • To map the major sectors of engagement for migrant workers,
  • Find the social security benefits available to their families and
  • Identify the health hazards they face.
• The initiative is part of the state’s Safe and Responsible Migration Initiative (SRMI), which was launched in 2021-end and includes the preparation of a database of migrant workers.
• Jharkhand is not the only state to conduct migrant labour surveys. Kerala has been a pioneer in this field, followed by states like Tamil Nadu and Punjab.
• But there is a basic difference in labour movement between Kerala and Jharkhand. In Kerala, workers mostly go abroad (mainly to Gulf countries). However, the issue is internal migration in Jharkhand.

Overview of Migration:

• Migration is the movement of people away from their usual place of residence, across either internal (within the country) or international (across countries) borders.
• As per the 2011 Census data, India had 6 crore migrants in 2011 (38% of the population) compared to 31.5 crore migrants in 2001 (31% of the population).
• 99% of total migration was internal and immigrants (international migrants) comprised 1%.
• Internal migrant flows can be classified on the basis of origin and destination.
  • One kind of classification is i) rural-rural (largest – 54%), ii) rural-urban, iii) urban-rural and iv) urban-urban
  • Another way to classify migration is (i) intra-state, and (ii) inter-state. In 2011, intra-state movement accounted for almost 88% of all internal migration (39.6 crore persons).
  • As of 2011, UP (83 lakh residents) and Bihar were the largest source of inter-state migrants while Maharashtra (60 lakh people) and Delhi were the largest receiver states.

Reasons for internal migration and size of the migrant labour force:

• Overall, 8% of people moved within a state for work (21% of male migrants and 2% of female migrants).
• Movement for work was higher among inter-state migrants – 50% of male and 5% of female interstate migrants.
• As per the Census, there were 5 crore migrant workers in 2011, which, according to the Working Group Report on Migration, underestimates the migrant worker population.

Apart from this, one of the major reasons for inter-state or intra-state migration among women is Mairrage (Push factor).

Issues faced by migrant labour:

• Article 19(1)(e) of the Constitution, guarantees all Indian citizens the right to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India, subject to reasonable restrictions in the interest of the general public or protection of any scheduled tribe.
• However, people migrating for work face key challenges including:
  • Lack of social security and health benefits and poor implementation of minimum safety standards law,
  • Lack of portability of state-provided benefits especially food provided through the public distribution system (PDS) and
  • Lack of access to affordable housing and basic amenities in urban areas.

Steps taken by the government with regard to migrant labour:

Way ahead: Four labour codes – Code on Wages 2020, Industrial Relations Code 2020, Social Security Code 2020 and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020 – needs to be notified soon.

 Conclusion:

• In India, the Concurrent List includes the subject of labour. Therefore, it is necessary for the central and state governments to work together to develop a plan for the welfare of migrant workers.
• Before executing such a plan, an accurate estimation of migrant workers is required.

Insta Links:

 Remote voting for migrant workers

GS Paper 2

Syllabus: International Relations

Source: IE

 Direction: The article covers the Indus Waters Treaty and why it is a bone of contention between India and Pakistan.  It also briefly covers the current state of India-Pak relations.

Context: New Delhi has issued a notice to Islamabad seeking modification of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

Background:

• The notice follows Pakistan’s continued “intransigence” in implementing the treaty, by raising repeated objections to the construction of hydel projects on the Indian side.
• India is invoking Article XII (3) of the treaty to bring changes to the 1960 pact.

IWT and its dispute redressal mechanism:

• IWT is a water-distribution treaty between India and Pakistan, brokered by the World Bank (WB), to use the water available in the Indus River and its tributaries. It is often cited as an example of the possibilities of peaceful coexistence despite the troubled relationship.
• It was signed in Karachi in 1960 by then-Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru and then-Pakistani president Ayub Khan.
• The Treaty gives control over the waters of the three “eastern rivers” – the Beas, Ravi and Sutlej (BRS)- to India, while control over the waters of the three “western rivers” – the Indus, Chenab and Jhelum -has been given to Pakistan.
• India has about 20% of the total water carried by the Indus system while Pakistan has 80%.
• The treaty allows India to use the western river waters for limited irrigation use and unlimited non-consumptive use for such applications as power generation.
• India has the right to generate hydroelectricity through run-of-the-river (RoR) projects on the western rivers which, subject to specific criteria for design and operation, is unrestricted.
• The dispute redressal mechanism provided under the IWT is a graded 3-level mechanism.
• Under the IWT, whenever India plans to start a project, it has to inform Pakistan. The concerns have to be cleared at the levels of the Indus Commissioners → Neutral Expert → Court of Arbitration, in a graded manner.

The history of the dispute over the hydel projects:

• There has been a longstanding dispute over two hydroelectric power projects – one on the Kishanganga river (a tributary of Jhelum) and the other on the Chenab (Ratle).
• Pakistan has raised objections to these projects, and dispute resolution mechanisms under the Treaty have been invoked multiple times. But a resolution has not been reached.
• In 2022, the WB announced to concurrently appoint a Neutral Expert and a Chair of the Court of Arbitration to resolve the dispute, which as per India poses practical and legal challenges.
  • Pakistan had demanded the constitution of a Court of Arbitration, while India demanded a Neutral Expert to resolve the dispute.

What conclusions can be drawn from India’s most recent decisions?

• India has not fully utilised its rights over the waters of the Indus system.
• Over the last few years, especially since the Uri attack, there has been a growing demand in India to use the IWT as a strategic tool, considering that India has a natural advantage being the upper riparian state. In the aftermath of the Uri attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said, ‘blood & water can’t flow together at the same time.’
• Accordingly, India has been working to start several big and small hydroelectric projects that had either been stalled or were in the planning stages.

The treaty has remained “uninterrupted” because India respects its signatory and values transboundary rivers as an important connector in the region in terms of both diplomacy and economic prosperity.

Insta Links:

Indo-Pakistan relations

Mains Links:

Q. “Increasing cross-border terrorist attacks in India and growing interference in the internal affairs of member-states by Pakistan are not conducive for the future of SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).” Explain with suitable examples. (UPSC 2016)

GS Paper 2

Source: ET

Context: The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a campaign to drive an inclusive circular economy as part of its initiative to promote sustainability.

Key features of the campaign:

• The project is a scale-up of existing partnership under UNDP’s flagship Plastic Waste Management Programme to develop a sustainable model for plastic waste management in India
• End-to-end management of plastic waste by promoting:
  • Segregation of waste at the source
  • Collection of the segregated waste
  • Setting up Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) for recycling all kinds of plastic waste
• Partnership with the Private sector:g. Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) will also help build the capacities of Urban Local Bodies for adopting the MRFs or Swachhata Kendra
• Collaborations: The project is a collaboration between municipal corporations, corporates, Safai Saathis, and people to work together for cleaner and greener cities.
• Reach out: The project will reach out to 100,000 households for segregation at the source

7 Pillars of Circular Economy:

Initiatives towards Circular Economy:

• Global:
  • Germany and Japan have made the ‘Circular Economy’ part of their economic planning
  • China’s Circular Economy Promotion Law
• India:
  • Recognition of the circular economy concept in the 2022-23 Budget
  • Vehicle Scrappage Policy 2022: Private vehicles older than 20 years will be deregistered from June 1, 2024, if they fail the fitness test or their registration certificate is not renewed.
  • Niti Aayog along with the EU has prepared a strategy paper on ‘Resource Efficiency’
  • Battery Waste Management Rules 2022
  • Plastic Waste Management (Amendment) Rules 2022
  • e-Waste Management Rules 2022
  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) certificates

Inst Curious:

The Kabadiwala (a startup) was founded in 2014 and offered free doorstep scrap collection services to households, retailers, and industries in Bhopal.

Want to know about “How can you do your bit to fight climate change?” read these three innovative stories in today’s CME below.

Insta Links:

Clean energy should use the battery of a circular economy

Mains Links:

Q. Explain the concept of the circular economy. Giving examples, discuss its utility in India. (250 Words)

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Indian Economy

Source: TOI

Context: Google this week began to change the business model used in India to push its Android operating system (OS) and the Google Play Store.

• The change was triggered by the Supreme Court setting January 26 as the deadline for Google to comply with the Competition Commission of India’s rulings.

The Changes made by Google:

• In the new model, instead of creating a bouquet of apps, smartphone makers can license individual apps from Google.
• Google’s search engine will not necessarily be the default setting

What is the ‘walled garden approach’ adopted by Google:

Android’s dominance (under-walled garden approach) is based on a complex model of cross-subsidies. Google offers free services such as a search engine and email, thereby making a huge user base. This user base is then monetised for advertising revenue. Even third-party apps cannot all wish away Google. Google controls both sides of this advertising ecosystem- the users as well as third-party app developers, making it a walled garden.

Other initiatives taken to break Google’s monopoly:

• South Korea: It imposed curbs on the proprietary billing system of Google and Apple.
• EU’s upcoming Digital Markets Act: It will prevent “gatekeepers” from engaging in anti-competitive behaviour. It will no longer be business as usual for the Android OS ecosystem

Previously, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) had imposed a penalty ( and upheld by the supreme court) on Alphabet-owned Google for “abusing its dominant position” in markets related to the Android mobile device ecosystem.

• The CCI stated that Google contravened competition law due to mandatory pre-installation of the entire Google Mobile Suite (GMS)and there was no option to uninstall the same.

What are anti-trust laws? 

Antitrust laws are regulations that encourage competition by limiting the market power of any particular firm. Essentially, these laws prohibit business practices that unreasonably deprive consumers of the benefits of competition, resulting in higher prices for products and services. In India, The Competition Act, 2002 regulates such activities.

Insta Links

Apple faces antitrust case in India over apps issue

Prelims link

1. What is an anti-trust case?
2. CCI- roles, responsibilities and functions
3. Important anti-trust-related cases
4. Competition Commission Act

Mains link

Q. Ensuring fair competition in the Indian digital market is in the best interest of every stakeholder involved. Comment. (10M)

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Environment, Conservation

Source: TH

 Direction: The article highlights the significance of cheetah reintroduction in India.

 Context: India has signed an agreement with South Africa to translocate 12 cheetahs (seven male and five female) to the Kuno Palpur National Park (KNP) in Madhya Pradesh.

Background:

• ‘Cheetah’ (Acinonyx Jubatus Venaticus) originates from Sanskrit and means ‘the spotted one’.
• The Cheetah is the fastest land animal in the world.
• Its historical range includes the majority of Sub-Saharan Africa and extends eastward to India.
• It is the only large carnivore that went ‘Extinct’ in India due to overhunting and habitat loss.
• The last cheetah died in the Koriya district of present-day Chhattisgarh in 1947 and the species was declared extinct in 1952.
• According to the Wildlife Institute of India’s (WII) “Action Plan for Reintroduction of Cheetah in India,” 50 wild cheetahs that are ideal for starting a new cheetah population would be imported as a founder stock over five years initially.
• The PM of India released the first batch of eight cheetahs (five females and three males) from Namibia into a quarantine enclosure at Kuno last year.
• Some modifications have been made to the current bomas (wildlife cages constructed often for the treatment or quarantine of animals).

Significance of reintroducing cheetahs:

• In- situ Conservation of species.
• Beneficial to the entire ecosystem → save its prey base comprising certain threatened species and endangered species of the grasslands and open forest ecosystems.
• They pose no danger to humans or large livestock.

Why is KNP given the highest priority for reintroduction?

• Suitable habitat and adequate prey base.
• Assessed to be capable of supporting 21 cheetahs.
• Devoid of human settlements: Villages have been completely relocated from within the park.
• Enables the coexistence of the four big cats found in India – the tiger, lion, leopard, and cheetah, as they have in the past.

Why are cheetahs coming from Africa?

• Asiatic cheetahs found in Iran are categorised as critically endangered.
• The highest genetic variation, which is essential for a founding population stock, is found in African cheetahs.
• African cheetahs have been determined to be the ancestors of all other Cheetah

InstaCurious:

The other sites recommended for holding and conservation breeding of cheetahs in India, in controlled wild conditions are:

1. Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh
2. Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary – Bhainsrorgarh Wildlife Sanctuary complex, Madhya Pradesh
3. Shahgarh bulge in Jaisalmer, Rajasthan
4. Mukundara Tiger Reserve as the fenced enclosure, Rajasthan

Inta Links:

Cheetah reintroduction project

Prelims Links: (UPSC 2020)