EducatorIAS

India has replaced 29 existing labour laws with four codes. The Code on Wages was enacted on 8 August 2019. The Codes on Industrial Relations (IR), Occupational, Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) and Social Security (CSS) were passed by the Indian parliament on 23 September 2020.   The new laws should facilitate the ease of doing business in the country and make labour regulations contemporary given the transformation in India’s labour market over the years. Flexibility of hiring workers would also increase while ensuring that all sections of the workforce, including the unorganised, (platform workers and gig workers)1 get social security. The underlying arguments behind labour reforms are to enable companies to adjust their labour requirements along with changes in market demand, ensure better compliance of labour laws through online modes, and shift of the labour inspection regime from a negative emphasis on ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ to a positive ‘inspector and facilitator’ a...

Malnutrition rates have been declining in India, but the absolute numbers of stunted (short for age) (46.6 million), wasted (low weight for height) (25.5 million), and anaemic children (73 million under-3 children) are still a concern. With a prodigious challenge of triple burden of malnutrition -- under-nutrition, over-nutrition and micro-nutrient malnutrition -- facing India and due to the cultural and geographical variance across states, combating malnutrition requires a granular approach.   Achieving the World Health Assembly’s Global Nutrition Target of a 40% reduction in the number of under-5 stunted children and to reduce wasting to less than 5% by 2025 is challenging. According to the recent CNNS survey, 35% of under-5 children in India were stunted while 17% were wasted. Hence, efforts to reduce malnutrition must be accelerated.   Malnutrition is multi-factorial, caused by the lack of wholesome and nutritious food, poor hygiene and sanitation, frequent illness, poor c...

Internet of Things (IoT), wireless applications, and cloud computing are some of the major factors leading to digital transformation across the corporate world. Today, they are playing a fantastic role in driving the Industrial Revolution 4.0. However, it is also not surprising to know that they have also proportionally raised serious concerns around data and information security, especially with increasing malicious activities including data breaches and leaks. Ransomware attackers have recognized that data is one of the most valuable assets a business has at its disposal. It is perhaps why they show no mercy when it comes to extorting large sums of money by seizing this asset. The Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2020 also highlights that the number of cyberattacks and breaches is rising with 46% of businesses being a victim to them in the past months. It’s obvious that attackers have a special interest in OT (Operational Technology) infrastructure such as the Industrial Control System...

The year that is shortly coming to an end has been an extraordinary one. In recent memory this is the first economic crisis that has been triggered by a non-economic factor. It is a pandemic, a novel coronavirus pandemic, which has literally brought the economy to a halt. The actions that have to be taken to prevent the spread of the virus such as the lockdown have impacted the economy severely. As the restrictions were slowly withdrawn, the economy has also started looking up. This can be seen very clearly from the performance of the Indian economy in Q1 and Q2 of 2020-21. In Q1, the economy declined by 23.9%; it declined by 7.5% in Q2, when the relaxations were eased. At the dawn of the New Year 2021, several questions rise in our mind. How bad was the performance of the Indian economy in 2020-21? What are the prospects for 2021-22? What should the stance of monetary policy be in the coming months? What should the Budget to be presented by the central government in February 2021 focu...

National Judicial Data Grid: Aimed at promoting transparency and access to information for all stakeholders in the justice delivery system, the NJDG public access page can be visited at the National eCourts portal, ecourts.gov.in'. 1)NJDG is a subset of the eCourts project, a scheme launched in 2007 by the Ministry of Law and Justice. 2)The project aims to integrate technology with the judicial system. However, a recent study by the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) found that eCourts data lacks in several aspects, which may make the recent Supreme Court directions difficult to achieve.  This is not a new issue, and the Law Commission of India has also faced challenges while depending on judicial data to calculate the caseload across various courts In particular, the problems in the data arise due to three reasons: Inconsistencies in what is reported, missing data and restricted access. As an example, the NJDG records only 24 case types. This is the form in wh...

Fiscal policy comprises a mix of budgetary instruments that government use to target  economic objectives of the country. It is the use of government spending and taxation to influence the economy.   The objectives of the fiscal policy are: the achievement of economic growth, distributive justice, price stability and full employment.  Fiscal policy is the policy of government related to its own expenditure and taxes in order to influence the aggregate demand (AD). The government employs either expansionary or contractionary fiscal policy. Expansionary fiscal policy via increase in government expenditure or reduction in taxes would increase the aggregate  demand whereas contractionary fiscal policy via reduction in government expenditure  and raise of taxes would reduce the aggregate demand. Changes in the level, timing and composition of government spending and taxation have an important effect on the  economy.   The fundamental objective of fiscal polic...

The Sixth Schedule was incorporated to protect the rights of the minority tribals living within a larger state dominated by the majority.  But in these largely tribal-dominated states, the indigenous enjoy overwhelming majority and a major political voice, with 90 per cent of the Assembly seats (55 out of 60 in Meghalaya) reserved for the tribals. Indeed, it is now the rights of minority non-tribals that need protection.  The existence of the Sixth Schedule in a full-fledged state with all powers is thus not only unnecessary but also illogical.  It undermines social harmony, stability and economic development of the state and the region.  The Sixth Schedule which applies to the Tribal Areas of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, provides for autonomy in the administration of these areas through  Autonomous District  Councils (ADCs) and the Regional Councils empowered to make laws in respect of areas under their jurisdiction, which cover land, forest, cul...

Here are few points which highlight the shocking status of our Health System: 1. Public spending stagnated to 1.2% of total GDP, compared to world average of 6-8%, India ranks 170 out of 188 countries in domestic general government health expenditure as a percentage of GDP. 2. India, ranks 145th among 195 countries in terms of quality and accessibility of healthcare — Lancet. 3. India ranks 94th out of the 107 countries in Global Hunger Index (GHI). 4. India ranks 144 out of the 156 countries in world happiness Index. 5. India ranks 129 among 189 countries human development index (HDI)-UN. 6. India ranks 150th in female health and survival among 153 countries — Gender Gap Index. 7. The fundamental aspect of healthcare — primary healthcare is in shambles. There is only one primary healthcare centre (often manned by one doctor) for more than 51,000 people in the country. 8. 40% of people(around 63 millions ) that are hospitalized are pushed either into lifelong debt or below the poverty ...

The HDI comprises three key baskets of data reflecting information on health through metrics such as life expectancy, capacity measured by years of schooling, and standard of living or Gross National Income per capita.  What it measures is health, cognitive capacity and productivity.? All three are heavily impacted by environmental factors.  Air pollution is a major problem in India; it affects human health by increased incidence of pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases and non-communicable diseases such as diabetes, it adversely affects life expectancy. It also impacts cognitive abilities and this is reflected in metrics relating to school attendance and performance. Health and education have a direct bearing on productivity, in turn, affecting national income.