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RaghukulCS
June 12, 2021

Daily Mains Newsletter For UPSC
| RaghukulCS

12 June 2021 - Saturday

Index

Mains Value Addition
Mains Analysis
Topic No	Topic Name	Source
1	Monsoon malady	The Hindu
2	The Cornwall Consensus	Indian Express

Mains Value Addition

Bru rehabilitation in Tripura hits NGT hurdle

Syllabus–GS 3: Environment, GS 1: Society

Analysis: –

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought replies from the Forest Department and a district administration in Tripura on a complaint that Bru refugees from adjoining Mizoram were being resettled in a forest.
On June 9, the Kolkata-based eastern zonal Bench of the NGT directed the Principal Secretary of Tripura’s Forest Department, the District Magistrate of North Tripura district and other officials to submit a report on the rehabilitation plan by July 14.

The order was issued on the basis of a complaint by Dhanishwar Debnath who cited an e-tender floated by the Tripura government on November 4, 2020, seeking “certain constructions within a forest area” in North Tripura district.
The complainant, who resides in the area, said the construction for resettling the Brus would be in a 250-hectare green belt. He pointed out that this would be in violation of Section 2 of the Forest Conservation Act of 1980.
“In our opinion, matter requires consideration,” the Bench of Judicial Member B. Amit Sthalekar and Expert Member Saibal Dasgupta said, allowing the complainant to implead the State’s Principal Chief Conservator of Forest and Head of Forest Force.

Supreme Court unhappy with slow migrant workers’ database work

Syllabus–GS 2: Government policy

Analysis: –

The government’s delay in completing a national database to identify and register migrant workers in order to provide them benefits in times of dire need stood out like a sore thumb in a Supreme Court hearing on Monday.
“We impress upon the Central government and the State Government[s] to complete the process of registration of organised workers at an early date so that unorganised workers are able to reap the benefit of different schemes of the Centre and the States which, without proper registration and identity card, seems to be difficult to implement on the ground,” a Bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M.R. Shah noted in its order.
The court acknowledged the submissions made by advocate Prashant Bhushan that such a database would have made it easier for the government to identify and provide essentials such as food and dry rations to stranded migrant labourers during the second wave of the pandemic.
During the hearing, Justice Shah pointed out that many of the workers would be illiterate and unable to register online.
It was a welfare government’s obligation to reach out to the workers, their employers and contractors.

Mains Analysis

Monsoon malady

Why in News?

Mumbai must urgently replace decrepit buildings to prevent houses collapsing in rain

Syllabus—GS 3 Disaster Management

Background: –

The monsoon over the greater Mumbai region has come to be characterised by the unsettling annual spectacle of collapsing buildings, and this year is proving to be no different.
An unsafe multi-storeyed building in a core area of the city has collapsed on to another, leaving at least 11 people dead and exposing once again, the decrepit base of dwellings in India’s much-romanticised economic powerhouse.
The distressing yearly spectacle of crumbling buildings throughout the greater Mumbai region has become synonymous with the monsoon, and this year is no exception.
An unsafe multistoried building in a core area of the city has collapsed on to another, leaving at least 11 people dead
It has highlighted decrepit base of dwellings in India’s much-romanticised economic powerhouse.

Impact of the incident –

People occupying hazardous and unlawful structures, and local authorities failing to act in a timely manner, have all been accused in the aftermath of the tragedy.
The overwhelmed city need a strategy for safeguarding the safety of its housing stock that is both time-bound and responsible.
The current strategy of municipal corporation to relocate residents of dangerous buildings proved inefficient as rehabilitation places were far from the current places of residence.

Geographical Condition –

Coastal Maharashtra is in the line of extreme monsoon weather events, which are expected to become more often as the Arabian Sea continues to warm.
In the aftermath of the flood a few years ago, scientists from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology stated that precise monsoon forecasting across central India, integrating variations in sea surface temperature, would help governments better prepare to preserve lives and farmland.

What needs to be done in Mumbai –

This implies that Mumbai will have to speed up the repair and rehabilitation of fragile structures, as well as replace those that cannot be saved.
The city urgently needs ways for massive amounts of water to flow out, as well as a strategy to develop new urban wetlands to retain precipitation where possible.
A revitalised Mithi river, whose planned cleanup has been postponed due to the COVID-19 situation, might provide some relief, but more waterbodies are required.
To make life safer for the thousands of people living in abodes, a mass housing initiative will be required.
A long-term strategy to move people from filthy buildings to modern ones is also necessary for their health; this should begin with the most risky constructions.
Moving beyond causes of disasters, it’s also unbecoming for political parties to use a calamity like the one in Malad as a political weapon against the government, given that Mumbai’s municipal infrastructure has been neglected for decades, regardless of who has been in power.

Way Forward:

The growing convergence of India’s & West’s interests does not mean everything is on good terms. The following are some divergent areas:
The economic role of the state
Democratic regulation of the social media & the technology giants.
Though it is not easy to translate the broad convergence between both into tangible cooperation.
But with sustained negotiations, the shared interests can be converted into concrete outcomes.
All these years, India has default political orientation is looking east & mobilizing the south.

Question: –

India while continues to strengthen its partnership in Asia & the global south, a more productive partnership with the West helps India to secure its growing national interests & adds new depth to its international relations. Comment.

The Cornwall Consensus

Why in News?

Pratap Bhanu Mehta writes: If the G-7 wants to truly exercise more leadership, it will have to convince the world that all its new principles are not simply ruses to serve only the interests of the developed world.

Syllabus—GS2: Important Global groupings

Background: –

The Cornwall summit of the G-7 hosted by the UK is expected to help determine the shape of globalization.
There has been discussion for the possibility to push for global coordination on minimum corporate taxation & clamping down on tax havens.

What is Group of 7 or G-7?

The Group of Seven (G7) is an informal club of wealthy democracies consisting of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The heads of government of the member states, as well as the representatives of the European Union, meet at the annual G7 Summit.
The G7 represents 58% of the global net wealth & more than 46% of the global gross domestic product (GDP) based on nominal values, and more than 32% of the global GDP based on purchasing power parity.

Why is this relevant now?

Since the 2008 financial crisis, the conventional wisdom of the West has been in terminal decline.
But due following factors G-7 has gained much traction:
- The rapid rise of China,
- Deepening divisions within the West during the Trump regime,
The chaotic response in the West to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Significance of Cornwall Summit:

The summit seeks to redefine the broader relationship between states & markets in three-way:
Firstly, Breaking away from the Neoliberalism notion that pushed states in the direction where the market leads or states step only where there is a market failure.
This relationship resulted in four deleterious consequences:
1. It provided a misleading picture regarding economies vibrant.
2. It led to a sense of loss of collective control over the economic future.
3. It led to great inequality.
4. It created new forms of corporate power in fields like Technology.
Now the summit aim is to reassert the state’s control over the terms in which the market operates.
Secondly, global groupings like G-7 act as a political steering committee for global capitalism.
However, until now their most useful roles were required only during/aftermath of a financial crisis that needs global financial coordination.
There was no attention to the systemic vulnerabilities due to supply chain distribution that globalization might create.
Though these vulnerabilities can be addressed through domestic action but global rules seemed to constrain them.
The COVID crisis showcased all of these vulnerabilities.
Finally, in the geopolitical context, two geopolitical cold wars that cast a shadow on the G-7 are:
First is China, At times when the geopolitical tensions with China rising, greater coordination & unity of purpose amongst the G-7 will become more important.
Second is a more diffuse threat of authoritarian disruption, where the forces that want to subvert democracy are now at the heart of many western democracies including the US & Europe.
Greater global disarray strengthens the possibility of giving political succor to these political tendencies.
It is important to demonstrate that the G-7 countries are part of a functional democratic civilization.

Challenges/Issues:

Even after reassuring the directional change, many of the central distributive conflicts that beset globalization are likely to continue.
The talk of global public goods works only in a context where the advanced economies themselves experience the globalization vulnerabilities.
For instance, in the proposal for the coordination of taxation, closing off taxes heavens & preventing a global race to the bottom may be difficult because
The US, Swiss & Singapore are amongst the highest on the Financial Secrecy Index.
So the visible corporate tax rate or taxing at the point of sales may just be the window dressing the global tax problems that allow countries to hold on to their privileges.
Also on climate change, there is a lot of encouraging talk of ambitious targets, investment-led transformations.
There is also going to be a renewed focus on the labour standards & linking them to trade.
The main issue of this it may repeat a pattern of regulation serving to preserve the dominance of advanced economies.
There is also the absence of discussions on finance in the new global economic order talks.
Rather than finance, trade liberalization & the winners & losers it produces get are more political attention.

Way Forward: –

According to Tax Justice Network 2020 report, the US, Netherlands & UK are the top 3 nations responsible for tax losses inflicted on other countries.

It is reassuring to watch the G-7 in the right direction, but if it wants to exercise true global leadership it has to convince the world that all its new principles, resilience, inclusion & public goods are not just to serve the interests of the developed world.

Question: –

The commitment of G-7 to provide one billion vaccine doses is a welcome step but whether this crisis-driven commitment will translate into an enduring & just framework for providing global public goods remains to be seen. Illustrate with example.