THE BUDGET PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS 2022

DEFINITION UNDER THE STATE OF FOREST REPORT

THE CONTEXT:  In January 2022, the Environment & Forest Ministry released India State Forest Report 2021 (ISFR-2021), the forest cover figures are divided as ‘Inside Recorded Forest Area’ and ‘Outside Recorded Forest Area.’

THE EXPLANATION:

As per decision 19/Conference of Parties (CP) 9-Kyoto Protocol, the forest can be defined by any country depending upon the capacities and capabilities of the country as follows:-

Forest- Forest is defined structurally on the basis of

• Crown cover percentage: Tree crown cover- 10 to 30% (India 10%)
• The minimum area of stand: the area between 0.05 and 1 hectare (India 1.0 hectare) and
• Minimum height of trees: Potential to reach a minimum height at maturity in situ of 2 to 5 m (India 2m).

India’s definition of the forest has been taken on the basis of the above three criteria only and accepted by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for their reporting/communications.

The forest cover is defined as ‘all land, more than one hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10 per cent irrespective of ownership and legal status. Such land may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. It also includes orchards, bamboo and palm’. The definition of forest cover has clearly been defined in all the India State of Forest Report (ISFR) and in all the International communications of India.

The Interpretation of satellite data for classifying Very Dense Forest (VDF) is also supported by the ancillary data like field inventory data of FSI, ground-truthing data and high-resolution satellite imagery wherever required.

CHANDRAYAAN-3 IS SCHEDULED FOR LAUNCH IN AUGUST 2022

THE CONTEXT: According to the Budget Parliamentary proceedings of 2022, Minister for Science and Technology informed the parliament that India plans to execute the Chandrayaan-3 mission by August 2022.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2 of July 2019, which aimed to land a rover on the lunar South Pole. It was sent aboard the country’s most powerful geosynchronous launch vehicle, the GSLV-Mk 3.
• However, lander Vikram, instead of a controlled landing, ended up crash-landing on September 7, 2019, and prevented rover Pragyaan from successfully travelling on the surface of the moon. Had the mission been successful, it would have been the first time a country landed its rover on the moon in its maiden attempt.
• The ISRO has planned 19 missions until December consisting of eight launch vehicle missions, seven spacecraft missions and four technology demonstrator missions.
• The ISRO has been allotted ₹13,700 crores for this financial year, nearly ₹1,000 crores more than it spent last year. Despite the several missions planned this year, the budgeted outlay this year is less than the ₹13,949 crores allotted in the year 2021.

Decoding Chandrayaan-3

• Chandrayaan-3 is a lander-and rover-specific mission, which will demonstrate India’s capability of soft landing on a celestial body, with the rover then communicating with Earth via the existing orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 and taking images 100 km from Moon’s orbit. The orbiter has an estimated lifespan of seven years.
• The unique exploration of Chandrayaan-3 aims at studying not just one area of the Moon but all the areas combining the exosphere, the surface as well as the sub-surface in a single mission.
• With Chandrayaan-1, ISRO achieved immense success as the ‘Moon Impact Probe’ by Chandrayaan-1 lunar remote sensing orbiter detected water in vapour form in trace amounts. The discovery was done along with JPL-Brown University payload Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) that confirmed that the formation of Hydroxyl ions and water molecules on the lunar surface is an ongoing process.
• With Chandrayaan-3, India aims to further study the lunar surface, focusing on the dark side of the Moon that has not seen sunlight in billions of years, which is believed to have ice and vast mineral reserves.

KHADI PRAKRITIK PAINT

THE CONTEXT: Kumarappa National Handmade Paper Institute (KNHPI), Jaipur, a unit of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), under the administrative control of the Ministry of MSME, developed Khadi Prakratik Paint has been developed from cow dung.

THE EXPLANATION:

• It is envisaged that the manufacture of Khadi Prakratik Paint will promote local manufacturing, create sustainable employment and generate additional revenue for farmers and cow shelter homes and will also generate employment in the rural areas, which will improve the rural economy and help in controlling the migration from rural to urban areas, in the country.
• Cow dung is a major constituent used in the manufacture of Prakritik Paint. 100 kgs. of cow dung is utilized for making 500 litres of paint. Therefore, setting up paint units would be helpful in the utilization of cow dung and thereby help in cleaning the environment.
• KNHPI imparts training in manufacture of Khadi Prakritik Paint. Prakritik Paint manufacturing units are being set up under the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) scheme of the Ministry of MSME.

NATIONAL ADAPTATION FUND FOR CLIMATE CHANGE (NAFCC)

THE CONTEXT: According to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and climate change, the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) was established to support adaptation activities in the States and Union Territories (UTs) of India that are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change. NAFCC is implemented in project mode and to date, 30 projects are sanctioned in 27 States and UTs.

THE EXPLANATION:  

The Ministry has demarcated the Hazard Line for the entire mainland coast of India under its Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) project. Further, Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2019 has been notified to conserve and protect the unique environment of coastal stretches and marine areas to promote sustainable development.

The NAFCC projects implemented in the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh include activities relating to coastal areas and these projects are-

• Promotion of integrated farming system of Kaipad in coastal wetlands of North Kerala
• Management and rehabilitation of coastal habitats and biodiversity for Climate Change Adaptation and Sustainable Livelihood in Gulf of Mannar, Tamil Nadu and
• Climate Resilient interventions in Dairy Sector in coastal and Arid areas in Andhra Pradesh. To date, a sum of Rs. 6,35,68,108/- has been released to the State of Andhra Pradesh under NAFCC

Definition of Integrated Coastal Zone Management:

• Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) is a resource management system following an integrative, holistic approach and an interactive planning process in addressing the complex management issues in the coastal area
• The concept of Integrated Coastal Zone Management was borne in 1992 during the Earth Summit of Rio de Janeiro. The policy regarding ICZM is set out in the proceedings of the summit within Agenda 21.

HELI BORNE SURVEY TECHNOLOGY

THE CONTEXT: Central Ground Water Board (CGWB) has taken up a Heli-borne survey for the generation of aquifer related information and its management in certain Arid/Semi-Arid areas of Rajasthan, Gujarat and Haryana.

THE EXPLANATION:

Under Ground Water Management & Regulation scheme, a Central Sector Scheme, with an estimated cost of Rs 54.00 Cr and likely date of completion as 31 March 2022.

Heli Survey Technology

• The state-of-the-art technology, Heli Survey Technology, will be used to map the groundwater sources in arid regions. The survey will help in utilizing groundwater for drinking purposes.
• Heli-borne geophysical mapping technique will provide a high-resolution 3D images for sub-surface up to a depth of 500 meters below the ground level.

Aim of the project

This project has been developed with the aim of mapping potential groundwater sources and its management in providing safe drinking water to people in the water-scarce arid regions of India.

Two Phases of the project

The mega project worth Rs. 150 crores will be implemented in two phases. To implement the project, CSIR has collaborated with the Ministry of Jal Shakti under the “National Aquifer Mapping Project”.  This project will bring high visibility to CSIR to implement the Jal Jeevan Mission project.

Significance of the technology

Water technologies of CSIR from source finding to water treatment will positively contribute towards “Har Ghar Hal se Jal” scheme as well as “doubling farmer’s income goals”.

Arid areas in India

Arid areas in northwestern India are spread across the States of Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab. The area covers about 12% of the total geographical area in India and is home to about 8 crore people. Annual rainfall in arid areas is in the range of 100 to 400 mm. Thus, there is an acute shortage of water throughout the year.

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

NASA’S RETIREMENT PLAN FROM SPACE STATION

THE CONTEXT: According to NASA’s press release, NASA plans to retire the International Space Station at the end of 2030 and crash it into the Pacific Ocean in an area called Point Nemo.

THE EXPLANATION:

For over two decades, the International Space Station (ISS) has been orbiting Earth at a speed of about eight kilometres per second, while an international crew of astronauts and cosmonauts onboard conducted ground-breaking scientific investigations that have thrown open the doors for deep space exploration.

What is International Space Station?

• The International Space Station is a large spacecraft in orbit around Earth. It serves as a home where crews of astronauts and cosmonauts live. The space station is also a unique science laboratory. Several nations worked together to build and use the space station. The space station is made of parts that were assembled in space by astronauts.
• It orbits Earth at an average altitude of approximately 250 miles. It travels at 17,500 mph. This means it orbits Earth every 90 minutes. NASA is using the space station to learn more about living and working in space. These lessons will make it possible to send humans farther into space than ever before.

What’s next for the ISS?

According to NASA, once it retires, the ISS will be replaced by “one or more commercially-owned and -operated” space platforms. “The private sector is technically and financially capable of developing and operating commercial low-Earth orbit destinations, with NASA’s assistance.

What about India’s Space Station?

According to the ISRO, India will launch its first indigenously made space station by 2030, just a few years after the ‘Gaganyaan’ mission which will kick off starting 2022.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTION OF THE DAY 4^th FEBRUARY  2022

Consider the following statements about the recently published India State Forest Report 2021.

1. India’s forest and tree cover is published every year by the Forest Survey of India under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change.
2. According to the report, Northeastern states shows consistently increased in the forest cover.
3. For the first time, the report assessed forest cover in tiger reserves, tiger corridors and the Gir forest which houses the Asiatic lion.

Which of the given statements is/are correct?

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) 3 only

d) 1, 2 and 3

ANSWER FOR 3^rd FEB 2022

Answer: c)

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: Contracting Parties are expected (but not mandated) to manage their Ramsar Sites so as to maintain their ecological character and retain their essential functions and values for future generations.
• Statement 2 is correct: The convention specifies that “Contracting Parties shall (not may) formulate and implement their planning so as to promote the conservation of the wetlands included in the List”.
• Statement 3 is incorrect: Many important wetlands extend as one ecologically coherent whole across national borders. In these cases, COP can agree to establish Ramsar Sites on their territory as parts of a bigger Transboundary Ramsar Site.

1. SCHEME FOR GOOD SAMARITAN READ MORE
2. Uncover the inner strength to overcome problems READ MORE
3. For today’s India, lessons from Gandhi READ MORE

1. Why India values wetland conservation READ MORE
2. Biodiversity Act: Do recent changes consider climate concerns, commitments? READ MORE

1. India needs to check population growth READ MORE
2. India’s compensatory afforestation push is cutting off Adivasi women from forests and livelihoods READ MORE

1. A disjointed response: Regulatory clarity on crypto assets should have accompanied the tax on traders’ profits READ MORE
2. How to step clear of the IAS quagmire READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. Definition under State of Forest Report READ MORE
2. FLOOD MANAGEMENT SCHEME READ MORE
3. Chandrayaan-3 set for August launch READ MORE
4. Indian diplomats to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics READ MORE
5. Asteroid Sharing Earth’s Orbit Discovered – Could It Help Future Space Missions? READ MORE
6. New Research on Ring-Shaped Molecules Advances Clean Energy Solutions READ MORE
7. Explained: How NASA plans to retire International Space Station by late 2030 READ MORE

Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. National afforestation programmes to improve the forest cover READ MORE
2. India needs to check population growth READ MORE
3. India’s compensatory afforestation push is cutting off Adivasi women from forests and livelihoods READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. A disjointed response: Regulatory clarity on crypto assets should have accompanied the tax on traders’ profits READ MORE
2. How to step clear of the IAS quagmire READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. Need to boost labour income and consumption expenditure READ MORE
2. Fiscal management during a pandemic READ MORE
3. Digital rupee: Can help India make the most of virtual finance ecosystem READ MORE
4. Does Economic Inequality Matter? Indian policymakers must know markets cannot solve all problems. Without state intervention, India cannot reduce inequality, poverty or malnourishment. READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. Why India values wetland conservation READ MORE
2. Biodiversity Act: Do recent changes consider climate concerns, commitments? READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. SCHEME FOR GOOD SAMARITAN READ MORE
2. Uncover the inner strength to overcome problems READ MORE
3. For today’s India, lessons from Gandhi READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘It is imperative to make national population control laws for the unity and integrity of the entire country and implement these equally’. Analyse the statement.
2. “A combination of a distorted tax regime, declining social sector expenditure and unbridled privatisation policy have deepened inequality in India” Comment.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• A vote is like a rifle: Its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.
• Indian policymakers must know markets cannot solve all problems. Without state intervention, India cannot reduce inequality, poverty, or malnourishment.
• Regulatory clarity on crypto assets should have accompanied the tax on traders’ profits.
• There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. The direction of consolidation rather than a specific quantified path in an unprecedented time is the most appropriate consideration.
• We will uncover the inner strength to overcome our difficulties and stay happy and peaceful despite the turmoil surrounding us.
• The Government of India accords high significance to wetlands conservation and seeks to mainstream its full range of values at all levels of developmental planning and decision-making.
• Making the most of the virtual finance ecosystem can bring Indian economy closer to the $5-trillion dream.
• The Govt should begin by replacing those who are in non-bureaucratic assignments, with people of appropriate professional qualifications.
• The forest restoration drive is affecting the communities that rely on firewood and other natural products they gather and sell.

50-WORD TALK

• India rejected calls to boycott the Winter Olympics in China. China has responded with an event where a PLA officer injured in Galwan carried the Olympic torch. India hoped to overcome the toxic nationalism caused by the clash. Beijing seems determined never to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

THE CONTEXT: India is the second-most populous country of the world, counted among the most rapidly growing economies of the world. Realizing that a fast spread of COVID19 in India would wipe out a huge part of the world population, the government of India found itself in a dilemma of whether to save lives or livelihoods. Prioritizing lives for livelihood, the state governments are announcing lockdown. This measure is supposed to leave a lasting impact on the economy, especially on the working class and migrant labour. This article suggests measures to the government to balance between saving lives and the livelihood of these vulnerable classes.

BACKGROUND OF THE ISSUE

• The uncertain nature of the pandemic is making it extremely difficult for governments across the world to formulate policies. However, the challenge is bigger for India.
• Given the huge informal economy of the country filled with migrant labour, expectedly the lockdown led to the loss of livelihood for many, as a result of which hundreds and thousands of migrant labourers again started leaving their workplaces to go their respective hometowns, leading to lockdown violations.
• Loss of livelihoods of the migrant labour, however, is not the only problem that the country is staring at. The lockdown could spell havoc for a huge number of small and medium enterprises of the country, leading to further loss of jobs, causing slow demand, a slump in production, and the vicious cycle of economic downturn.
• Besides, with the crop harvesting around the corner, locking the farmers inside their houses may adversely affect the agricultural produce for the season.

WHY LIVES vs LIVELIHOOD HAS BECOME AN ISSUE IN INDIA?

Although, in 2020 and now in 2021 government gives priority to lives against the livelihood and imposed lockdown but this is the issue, why the debate is on high in the case of India? These are four major reasons behind this debate

• India is reporting an exponential increase in the number of cases tested positive for COVID-19. For the last ten years, India recorded more than 3 Lac cases per day.
• India is the second-most populous country in the world.
• India is mainly an agrarian economy with a high proportion of migrant labour.
• Indian economy is in a problem of sorts due to the rising fiscal deficit in the country.

In this situation, the government has very limited options related to both lives and livelihoods and facing a dilemma. During the pandemic in 2021, the government has given priority to lives on livelihood and imposed many lockdown (although, it is not notional-wide). This situation has impacted the poor labour class and migrant workers, especially and started reverse migration like 2020. Now this situation has again raised questions that how government can save both lives and livelihoods.

WHO ARE THE MOST VULNERABLE IN THIS SITUATION?

There is no doubt that poor urban people and their working class with the migrant Labour class is most vulnerable to this situation. Because;

• Job losses: When the government has given priorities to lives (like the present situation), it will affect the production of working units and there will be laid off.
• Lack of sustainable income and savings to ensure food: Most of the working class and urban poor are daily basis workers and their earnings is very low. So that they will face the issue of sustainable income.
• No safety net: Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 conferred on casual labour a legal status by providing a mechanism for registration of contractors engaging 20 or more workers. Though it was never effective. Although in 2020 the government made some reforms and brought Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 to replace all such Acts, the outcomes of these reforms is yet to come.
• Migrant labours are not the priority of government policy: During the pandemic, the government did not make any significant attempt the safeguard these vulnerable sections of society. Although, the government announced a free ration for 80 crore families under PMGKAY it is not sufficient to make any positive impact.

IMPACT OF THE SITUATION

1. REVERSE MIGRATION: It will start, reverse migration, which was seen in 2020 (in some parts of the country it is already started).
2. ISSUE OF WORKERS FOR URBAN UNITS: After reverse migration of labours, there will be a shortage of workers, which will hit the outcome of pandemic impacted units.
3. UNEMPLOYMENT: As government gives priority to lives, this is impacting small units at a large scale and many of them are suiting down, which will lead the unemployment after the pandemic.
4. POVERTY: As migrant workers and urban poor labours, who are already vulnerable to becoming poor, has no safety net, there is a chance that the present scenario will increase the poverty in India.
5. HEALTH CRISIS: When large-scale population migration occurs as a direct result of a health crisis, the movement mostly tends to be internal, temporary and early on in the health crisis.
6. INCREMENT IN FOOD INSECURITY: Another major challenge raised by the pandemic could be on food security and nutrition. The COVID-19 may bring hunger to millions of people around the world. Available evidence suggests that insecurity is one of the main reasons why people abandon their livelihoods and move to other places. Crisis increases food insecurity and limits the livelihood options of migrant populations.
7. IMPACT ON RURAL ECONOMY: The migrant worker population has led to a growing domestic remittances market, estimated to exceed Rs. 1.5 lakh crores annually. Effectively, this implies that migrants working in urban areas are sending money back to their families in villages worth two-and-half-times the annual NREGA budget.

These money transfers, from migrant labourers to villages, serve 10 per cent of households in rural India and finance over 30 per cent of household consumption in remittance-receiving households, buttressing the importance of urban growth for rural families.

• Of India’s workforce, around 90 per cent is in the informal sector, millions of whom have migrated from their villages in search of a better living. In terms of sheer numbers, these inter-state migrants make up for a colossal magnitude, underlining their importance in India’s economic structure.
• The Census 2011 pegs the total number of internal migrants in the country (accounting for inter-and intra-state movement) at a staggering 139 million.
• Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the biggest source states, followed closely by Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir and West Bengal. The major destination states are Delhi, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.
• The Economic Survey of 2017 used monthly data on unreserved railway passenger traffic between every pair of stations in India for the years 2011-2016.
• The key idea was to Usenet annual flows of unreserved passenger travel as a proxy for work-related migrant flow. This data shows that such migration within India is between 5 and 9 million annually.

PUSH AND PULL FACTORS OF MIGRATION

Pull Factors:

Economic motives loom large in all human movements but are particularly important with regard to migration.

Pull Factors:

• More jobs
• Better jobs
• Higher wages
• The promise of a “better life”

Push Factors:

Economic push factors tend to be the exact reversal of the pull factors:

Push factors:

• Overpopulation
• Few jobs
• Low wages
• Lockdown
• pandemic

WHY IS THERE A NEED FOR THE SUPPORT AND EMPOWER INDIA’S MIGRANT WORKERS?

• Migrant labourers are the backbone of India’s informal sector and micro, small and medium enterprises.
• Their crisscrossing of states for jobs signifies economic integration, and also inter-regional and rural-urban disparities. While empowering themselves, they also enrich their home and host states.
• The lockdown has threatened to unravel this fabric. Their exodus from host states has created a humanitarian and health security challenge, and a logistical nightmare.

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE?

To tackle the challenges posed by the situation, the governments announced should take some important steps.

Direct cash support: The government has to ensure that these people are able to survive themselves during the lockdown period. To make it happen, the government needs to distribute direct cash to such vulnerable populations.

Free food grain: Shortage or non-availability of food grains may cause damage. India has got 60 million tonnes of food grains stored in its warehouses. This is high time that the government distributes these food grains to the vulnerable population free of cost. This measure would complement the direct cash transfer in a big way.

Save SMSEs to save livelihoods: To restrict the loss of livelihoods, it is critical to saving the small and medium enterprises of the country. A package for the small and medium enterprises of the country cannot, therefore, be avoided. Also, on the lines of the innovative measures adopted by the UK and Finland, the government may also bear partial wages of the employees, once the lockdown ends.

Package for the agrarian sector: Given the agrarian nature of the Indian economy coupled with the fact that crop harvesting is around the corner, a harvesting-time relief package for the farming class may help survive the economy in a big way.

Increase social sector budgeting: The pandemic is a wake-up call for the government to increase the spending on improving the health and (medical) education infrastructure in the country.

Financial provisions: The financial system of India has performed overwhelmingly over recent times. To tackle the challenge of the pandemic, the Reserve Bank of India did cut the policy rates. The adoption of similar measures by all the banks in the country would augur well for helping the vulnerable population survive themselves.

• It is important to collect comprehensive migrant worker-related data and statistics that are skill, sector-, and gender-disaggregated, pan-India and state-wise. Its absence has blindsided all on the scale of the migrant labour challenge and frustrated efforts to reach them to help with food, cash health services, shelter or relocation to home/host state.
• The information asymmetry poor migrants faced to access information on relief, benefits and transport need to be addressed. Well-functioning hotlines, outreach systems and providing low-cost smartphones and IT education are crucial.
• Many migrant workers left cities for fear of disease and stigma, job, shelter, income, food insecurity, and to be with families. Others stayed in cities due to pulling factors: Better wages, jobs, economic and social upward mobility prospects.

CONCLUSION: Targeted ecosystem support for migrant workers is a major thrust of the government policies. A veritable Abhiyaan for migrant workers’ welfare and empowerment must be driven by state governments on a war-footing. At this time, migrant workers’ well-being and unleashing their potential is vital to India’s survival and economic revival.