Natural resources form the backbone of any economic development. India, as one of the fastest growing economies with GDP at 2.6 trillion USD, has increased its material consumption to six times, from 1.18 billion tonnes (BT) in 1970 to 7 BT in 2015. The material consumption is expected to increase further to provide for an increasing population, rapid urbanization and growing aspirations. Enhancing resource efficiency and promoting the use of secondary raw materials has emerged as a strategy for ensuring that the potential trade-off between growth, resource constraints and environmental well-being can be minimized.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change released Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy, 2019 on 25.07.2019 inviting comments and suggestions from stakeholders including public/private organizations, experts and concerned citizens on the draft policy.

The Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy (NREP) envisions a future with environmentally sustainable and equitable economic growth, resource security, healthy environment (air, water and land), and restored ecosystems with rich ecology and biodiversity. The Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy is guided by the principles of (i) reduction in primary resource consumption to ‘sustainable’ levels, in keeping with achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and staying within the planetary boundaries, (ii) creation of higher value with less material through resource efficient and circular approaches, (iii) waste minimization, (iv) material security, and creation of employment opportunities and business models beneficial to the cause of environment protection and restoration.

The Draft National Resource Efficiency Policy provides an overarching collaborative framework for resource efficiency across all sectors in the country, covering both biotic and abiotic resources and life cycle stages and aspires for cross-sectoral stakeholder partnerships for the cause of resource efficiency for sustainable development.

The India-Maldives MoU on Training and Capacity Building Programme for Maldivian Civil Servants was operationalised following discussions between the senior officials of the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), the National Centre for Good Governance (NCGG) and the Maldives Civil Service Commission today in a ceremony held at the Civil Services Commission of Maldives at Male.

An Indian delegation led by Shri V.Srinivas, Additional Secretary Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances held delegation level discussions with a Maldives delegation led by Dr. Aly Shameem, Chairman of the Civil Services Commission of Maldives. The High Commissioner of India to Maldives Mr. Sanjay Sudhir graced the occasion with his presence.

Following delegation level talks, a consensus was reached between the 2 sides on the dates and participation levels for the first 10 training programmes from September, 2019 to December, 2020. The first 3 training programs under the MoU would be held in 2019 (a) September 16-28, 2019 and November 18-30, 2019 for 60 officers of the middle management level (b) December 2-14, 2019 for 30 officers of top management level.

Further on the sidelines of the training program for top management level civil servants, the National Center for Good Governance would collaborate with the Civil Services Commission of Maldives to convene a Conference on Good Governance & Innovations in Governance depicting the best governance practices between the two Nations.

A training calender reflecting the dates and program time-table was released by Dr. Aly Shameem, Mr Sanjay Sudhir and Shri V.Srinivas at the Civil Services Commission today. An academic committee would be established between the 2 institutions for enhanced cooperation in the implementing the training programs and would cover areas relating to subject matter, faculty and timelines of the trainings.

The Prime Minister of India in his visit to Maldives in June 2019, had emphasised India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy and assured India's full support to Maldives in realising its aspirations for broad based socio-economic development and strengthening of democratic and independent institutions. One of the MoUs signed during the visit was between the National Center for Good Governance, India and the Civil Services Commission of Maldives which envisaged capacity building activities for 1000 Civil Servants of Maldives at the National Centre for Good Governance over the next 5 years.

The Agreement envisaged that the National Center for Good Governance, India will be the nodal institution for designing customised training modules and its implementation taking into account the requirements of the Civil Service Commission of Maldives. The subject matter of the training programs include public administration, e-governance and service delivery, public policy and governance, information technology, urban development and planning, ethics in administration and challenges in implementation of SDGs.

Delimitation provisions of the J&K Constitution: Delimitation of Jammu and Kashmir’s Lok Sabha seats is governed by the Indian Constitution, but delimitation of its Assembly seats (until special status was abrogated recently) was governed separately by the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution and Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957.

As far as delimitation of Lok Sabha seats is concerned, the last Delimitation Commission of 2002 was not entrusted with this task. Hence, J&K parliamentary seats remain as delimited on the basis of the 1971 Census.

As for Assembly seats, although the delimitation provisions of the J&K Constitution and the J&K Representation of the People Act, 1957, are similar to those of the Indian Constitution and Delimitation Acts, they mandate a separate Delimitation Commission for J&K. In actual practice, the same central Delimitation Commission set up for other states was adopted by J&K in 1963 and 1973.

While the amendment of 1976 to the Indian Constitution suspended delimitation in the rest of the country till 2001, no corresponding amendment was made to the J&K Constitution.

Hence, unlike the rest of the country, the Assembly seats of J&K were delimited based on the 1981 Census, which formed the basis of the state elections in 1996. There was no census in the state in 1991 and no Delimitation Commission was set up by the state government after the 2001 Census as the J&K Assembly passed a law putting a freeze on fresh delimitation until 2026. This freeze was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Why is delimitation needed? Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes in population. In this process, the number of seats allocated to different states in Lok Sabha and the total number seats in a Legislative Assembly may also change.

The main objective of delimitation is to provide equal representation to equal segments of a population. It also aims at a fair division of geographical areas so that one political party doesn’t have an advantage over others in an election.

How is delimitation carried out? Delimitation is carried out by an independent Delimitation Commission. The Constitution mandates that its orders are final and cannot be questioned before any court as it would hold up an election indefinitely. Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census. Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission.

Composition: The commission is made up of a retired Supreme Court judge, the Chief Election Commissioner and the respective State Election Commissioners. Functions: The Commission is supposed to determine the number and boundaries of constituencies in a way that the population of all seats, so far as practicable, is the same. The Commission is also tasked with identifying seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; these are where their population is relatively large.

All this is done on the basis of the latest Census and, in case of difference of opinion among members of the Commission, the opinion of the majority prevails.

The draft proposals of the Delimitation Commission are published in the Gazette of India, official gazettes of the states concerned and at least two vernacular papers for public feedback.

The Commission also holds public sittings. After hearing the public, it considers objections and suggestions, received in writing or orally during public sittings, and carries out changes, if any, in the draft proposal. The final order is published in the Gazette of India and the State Gazette and comes into force on a date specified by the President.

How often has delimitation been done in the past? The first delimitation exercise in 1950-51 was carried out by the President (with the help of the Election Commission), as the Constitution at that time was silent on who should undertake the division of states into Lok Sabha seats.

This delimitation was temporary as the Constitution mandated redrawing of boundaries after every Census. Hence, another delimitation was due after the 1951 Census. Subsequently, the Delimitation Commission Act was enacted in 1952.

Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002. There was no delimitation after the 1981 and 1991 Censuses.

Why there has been no delimitation in recent past? The Constitution mandates that the number of Lok Sabha seats allotted to a state would be such that the ratio between that number and the population of the state is, as far as practicable, the same for all states. Although unintended, this provision implied that states that took little interest in population control could end up with a greater number of seats in Parliament. The southern states that promoted family planning faced the possibility of having their seats reduced.

To allay these fears, the Constitution was amended during Indira Gandhi’s Emergency rule in 1976 to suspend delimitation until 2001. Although the freeze on the number of seats in Lok Sabha and Assemblies should have been lifted after the 2001 Census, another amendment postponed this until 2026. This was justified on the ground that a uniform population growth rate would be achieved throughout the country by 2026.

So, the last delimitation exercise — started in July 2002 and completed on May 31, 2008 — was based on the 2001 Census and only readjusted boundaries of existing Lok Sabha and Assembly seats and reworked the number of reserved seats.

The new rules allow any person 21 and older to travel abroad without prior consent and any citizen to apply for a Saudi passport on their own.

Significance: In highly conservative Saudi Arabia, these steps, deemed natural almost everywhere else in the world, constitute key social reforms.

The changes are a potential game-changer for Saudi women’s rights in the kingdom. The legal system was long criticized because it treated women as minors throughout their adult lives, requiring that they have a husband or father’s permission to obtain a passport or travel abroad. In some cases, the male guardian was a woman’s own son granting her the necessary travel permissions.

Context: Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India have discovered two new species of freshwater fish from the north-eastern and northern parts of the country.

Key facts: Glyptothorax gopii is a new species of catfish. It was found in Mizoram’s Kaladan river. It is dark brown on its dorsal surface, and its ventral surface is of a yellowish-light brown.

Garra simbalbaraens is was found in Himachal Pradesh’s Simbalbara river. It has a yellowish-grey colour fading ventrally. Both fish, measuring less than seven centimetres, are hill stream fauna and are equipped with special morphological features to suit rapid water flow.

Context: National Sports Awards 2019 have been announced.

Key facts: National Sports Awards are given every year to recognize and reward excellence in sports.

Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award is given for the spectacular and most outstanding performance in the field of sports by a sportsperson over a period of four year.

Arjuna Award is given for consistency outstanding performance for four years. Dronacharya Award for coaches for producing medal winners at prestigious International sports events.

Dhyan Chand Award for life time contribution to sports development. Rashtriya Khel Protsahan Puruskaris given to the corporate entities (both in private and public sector) and individuals who have played a visible role in the area of sports promotion and development.

MAKA Trophy: Overall top performing university in inter-university tournaments is given Maulana Abul Kalam Azad (MAKA) Trophy.

Context: A proposal for establishment of the Odisha Maritime Board for administration, control and management of non-major ports and non-nationalised inland waterways was recently approved by the State Cabinet.

Functions: The Board will function as a single window facilitator for the overall maritime development of the State.

The Board will provide policy, guidelines and directions for the integrated development of ports and inland water transport keeping in view of the country’s security and defence related concerns.

Need: Odisha is endowed with a vast coastline of 480 km, having rich, unique and natural port locations and perennial rivers.

Context: In his second visit to Bhutan, the Indian Prime Minister has inaugurated the Mangdechhu hydroelectric power plant.

Key facts: The Mangdechhu hydroelectric project is a 720MW run-of-river power plant built on the Mangdechhu River in Trongsa Dzongkhag District of central Bhutan.

Mangdechhu is one of the ten hydroelectric projects planned under the Royal Government of Bhutan’s initiative to generate 10,000MW hydropower by 2020 with support from the Indian Government.

It is a vehicle to be used for creating awareness about Bihar State government’s water resources schemes and steps to save and conserve water. The vehicle will create awareness on the Jal-Jeevan-Hariyali (water-life-greenery) campaign via the audio-visual medium.

The Publicity Rath will also make people aware of the fact that groundwater is the only source of water in the event of less rainfall and people will have to go for rainwater harvesting to conserve water.

Context: The new Parliament passed the Code on Wages Bill, 2019 mandating a minimum wage across the country in its first session itself. This law mandates a universal minimum payment of ₹178 a day.

Issues with the bill: The wage prescribed is less than half the ₹375 a day recommended by a high-powered labour ministry panel. It is also miles away from the ₹700 fair wage that the 7th Central Pay Commission had arrived at.

The justification for a marginal increase is that this ₹178 is now a definitive minimum for all workers, and will be universal across the country, across all sectors. It will, therefore, allow for wages to rise in informal sectors and will address the issue of gender-based disparities as well.

What’s the issue? It is widely acknowledged that India has a serious wages problem. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2017-18, 45% of regular workers (those who are in the relatively stable, formal sector) are paid less than the minimum wage.

Need for labour law reforms: Indian industry is shackled by a number of socialist-era laws that prevent Indian companies from becoming competitive: workers cannot be fired, organization structures are not flexible, transfer policies are not nimble enough, and a high human resource cost prevents companies from growing bigger. More than 45 central laws and at least 100 state-level legislations create confusion, complexity, and chaos. The burden of compliance is huge is the conventional wisdom.

The process of determining the minimum wage is complex to say the least. The level of compliance too is abysmal. It is to address these issues that this new law was passed.

Origin of minimum wage: The debate on minimum wages started 80 years ago in the US when the Federal minimum wage was fixed at 25 cents an hour. In 2009, the wage went up to $7.25 a year.

India’s minimum wage system, according to the Economic Survey 2018-19, comprises of 1,915 minimum wages defined for various scheduled job categories across different states in the country.

Challenges ahead: The Indian government has chosen to increase minimum wages and push costs to businesses. The Centre will set standards and define minimum wages across industry, including for small businesses.

Given our diversity, this will not be easy. Beyond the complications that such calculations bring, the government must grapple with costs and requirements changing significantly across the country, from the low-wage economy of Tripura to highly labour scarce areas like Kerala.

It must also address questions on what constitutes fair wage and what defines a living wage. In India, small and unorganized businesses employ more than 90% of the workforce, an estimated 500 million people. This may lead to the threat of harassment from labour officials.

50% of the workforce is self-employed. Nearly 30% work on a causal basis, approaching the labour market in bursts and spurts. The new code therefore will actually only work for 20% of the total workforce. Even within this, more than half belong to very small enterprises that hire between one and five people. Making these tiny enterprises comply with new laws is, in any case, a tall order.

What needs to be done? A single mandate on minimum wages will not be enough to tackle inequality. There are two other ideas that could possibly be introduced to address some of India’s persistent economic woes:

Phelps idea of wage subsidies: Rather than state governments like Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka mandating jobs quota for locals, they could actually provide wage support to companies, thus incentivising investment and local hiring, while keeping wage bills low for firms operating in competitive environments.

The other idea comes from the labour ministry panel that had suggested a ₹1,430 housing allowance for city-based workers. This would allow for labour mobility and address the housing concern.