UPSC Key—27th March, 2024: Income Inequality, South China Sea dispute and India Employment Report 2024

Maximum City has maximum billionaires in India, fastest growing club in the world

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– India added 94 new billionaires in 2023, the most by any country other than the US, taking the total to 271, according to the 2024 Hurun Global Rich List. An individual with $1 billion in wealth is a billionaire.

• What is Hurun Global Rich?

• How many billionaires are there in India?

• For Your Information-The collective wealth of Indian billionaires amounts to US$ 1 trillion or 7 per cent of total wealth, emphasising the nation’s substantial economic influence, it said. The average age of Indian billionaires is 67 years.
Dominant industries which India’s billionaires represented include pharmaceuticals (39), automobile & auto components (27) and chemicals (24).

Mumbai was the fastest growing billionaire capital in the world with 92 billionaires, adding 26 in the year, taking it to third in the world and Asia’s billionaire capital. New York ranked number 1 with 119; London was in second spot with 97. Beijing dropped from first place last year to the fourth position with 91, just three billionaires less than India’s. New Delhi broke into the Top 10 for the first time. Mukesh Ambani is in the tenth position with a wealth of $115 billion and Gautam Adani is in the 15th position with a wealth of $86 billion, according to UK based Hurun.

At 52, Elon Musk (US $231 billion) reclaimed the title of the richest person in the world for the third time in four years, propelled by a surge in Tesla’s stock. Simultaneously, SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace venture, saw its valuation hit new heights on the back of successful launches, satellite internet ventures, and lucrative government contracts.

The biggest gainers of the year were Mark Zuckerberg, adding US$ 90 billion, and Elon Musk adding US$ 74 billion. Jensen Huang of Nvidia saw his wealth double to US$ 48 billion and a place in the Hurun Top 30.

Despite losing 155 billionaires, China is still the world capital for billionaires with as many as 814. The USA was just behind with 800 billionaires, adding 109. Between themselves, China and the USA — the ‘Big Two’ — have 49 per cent of the known billionaires on the planet, down 4 per cent, says the Hurun Rich List.

The 2024 Hurun Global Rich List underscores India’s ascension as a future economic titan, poised to secure its place as the world’s third-largest economy. Surpassing all but the United States, India’s unprecedented billionaire boom propels Mumbai past Beijing, crowning it as Asia’s billionaire epicentre,” said said Anas Rahman Junaid – Founder and Chief Researcher, Hurun India
The USA had a strong year on this latest Hurun Global Rich List, with its 800 entrants contributing a notable 37% of the overall wealth of the list. Adding 132 new faces, the American landscape continues to showcase entrepreneurial dynamism.

• What Is Income Inequality?

• How to measure income inequality?

• What are India’s inequality trends?

• What are the causes of rising inequality in India notwithstanding strong economic growth?

• What has been India’s recent track of economic growth?

• Why do India’s rich grow richer and the poor poorer?

• What is the poor and rich gap in India?

• What is inclusive growth?

• What steps are taken to Promote inclusive growth in India?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Oxfam report: In 2021, income of 84% households fell, but number of billionaires grew

📍The devil is in the footnote

EXPRESS NETWORK

India supports Philippines in upholding its sovereignty: Jaishankar in Manila

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s Interests

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Amid Manila’s dispute with Beijing over the South China Sea, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said Tuesday that India firmly supports the Philippines in upholding its national sovereignty and wants to explore new areas of cooperation, including in defence and security.

• Discuss India’s interest in South China Sea (SCS)

• South China Sea dispute-what you about the same?

• South China Sea dispute-which are the countries involved?

• Map Work-Mark South China Sea and Countries involved in the dispute

• What is the recent issue between China and the Philippines?

• The territorial disputes in the South China Sea-Know in detail

• What is the dispute between the Philippines and China over the South China Sea?

• Why are countries interested in these waters?

• Do You Know- China claims sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, including the Second Thomas Shoal, based on historical records dating to the Xia dynasty, nearly 4,000 years ago. Beijing has illustrated its claim to the critical maritime area – a key sea transport route – with a vague, U-shaped “nine-dash line” that cuts into the exclusive economic zones, or EEZs, of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

China’s growing presence in the South China Sea began decades ago. Beijing seized the Paracel Islands from Vietnam in 1974 and took control of Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands from the Philippines in 1995. But a tribunal at The Hague, based on a suit brought by the Philippines, ruled in 2016 that China had no “historic title” over the waters of the South China Sea and that its nine-dash line and historic claims were superseded by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Beijing has ignored the ruling, however. The South China Sea is a major shipping route. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development estimates that over 21% of global trade, amounting to $3.37 trillion, transited through these waters in 2016. It is also home to rich fishing grounds that provide for the livelihoods of millions of people across the region. More than half of the world’s fishing vessels operate in this area. Although largely uninhabited, the Paracels and the Spratlys may have reserves of natural resources around them. There has been little detailed exploration of the area, so estimates are largely extrapolated from the mineral wealth of neighbouring areas.

Experts say China wants control of the South China Sea to dominate a major trade through which most of its imported oil flows. Control of the sea lane would allow China to potentially disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, cargo shipments travelling to and from all countries in East and Southeast Asia.

China could also deny foreign military forces, particularly the United States’, access to the maritime region. Additionally, the South China Sea may contain massive oil and natural gas reserves beneath its seafloor. Sovereignty over the region could also give China a level of energy security and independence far beyond what it currently possesses. Since The Hague ruling, China has turned seven of the reefs it controls in the disputed waters into missile-protected military bases.

• What is the nine-dash line?

• Have they tried to reach a resolution?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: What’s behind diplomatic tensions in the South China Sea?

Bar on political activities as bail condition is rights violation, says SC

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Restraining someone from taking part in political activities as a condition precedent for bail would be violative of their fundamental rights, the Supreme Court ruled. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said this in its March 22 order while quashing a condition imposed by the Orissa High Court, which said “the appellant shall not create any untoward situation in public and shall not be involved in any political activities, directly or indirectly”

• How bail and bail conditions work?

• What was the Orissa HC order?

• What did the top court rule?

• SC on Andhra Pradesh HC bail conditions-Know in detail

• For Your Information-Bail refers to the temporary prison release of a person awaiting trial or an appeal. It is secured by depositing security before a legal authority as a guarantee for his eventual presence in court.

While exercising its discretion to release a person on bail, the court must ensure it acts “judiciously”, the Supreme Court observed in ‘Khilari vs. State of UP’ (2009). It also ruled that the appellate court must record its reasons while granting bail.
Additionally, Section 439 of the CrPC states that a high court or court of session can direct any accused person in custody to be released on bail.

It also allows them to impose any condition that they consider necessary for the purposes of Section 437(3), which lists conditions that can be imposed in cases of offences punishable with seven years or more in prison. These include ensuring the accused doesn’t commit a similar offence and that he doesn’t threaten persons associated with the case.

On March 22, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court set aside the Orissa HC order, saying that “imposition of such condition would breach the fundamental rights of the appellant and no such conditions could have been imposed.” Subsequently, the court said it was quashing and setting aside the condition. However, this wasn’t the first time the top court quashed bail conditions it deemed unreasonable.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: When the Supreme Court stepped in against bail conditions imposed by various high courts

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

How Delhi talks to world

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-C. Raja Mohan Writes: One of the subtle but significant changes in the conduct of India’s foreign policy over the last decade has been the evolution of its diplomatic vocabulary. However, that vocabulary has yet to filter down to the political class. The sharp political polarisation in the country slows this process. It delays the emergence of a new and widely accepted diplomatic lexicon that is necessary for India, which is rising on the global stage.

• India’s diplomatic vocabulary-Know in detail

• For Your Information-There is little political gain for the Opposition in quibbling about this prospect and questioning the data. Instead of dissing “India’s rise”, an idea that enthuses large parts of society, the Opposition should take at least some credit for India’s transformation. All major political parties, including the regional ones, have, after all, been part of various coalition governments since 1991 that steered India on an upward trajectory. Yet, there is persistent resistance in many quarters of the political class to thinking of India as a major power. In fact, many leaders and intellectuals insisted that India either cannot or should not become a major power. However, given the uneven pace at which different countries progress and the size of their populations, India’s weight in the international system will continue to grow for the foreseeable future. What the Opposition could do is remind the nation that India will remain a distant third to the US and China and that there are gigantic tasks at hand to reduce that gap.

Years of self-perception as a weak and vulnerable nation constrained India’s ambitions and constructed a diplomatic language that tended to be defensive, defiant and passive-aggressive. As Delhi recognises and responds to its changing position in the international hierarchy, India’s foreign policy lexicon has begun to move towards greater self-assurance. In the all-consuming debate on the India-US nuclear deal in the mid-2000s, many had insisted that Delhi would lose its “strategic autonomy” and its tradition of independent foreign policy if it moved closer to the US. Although India has not bought a single nuclear reactor from the US, Delhi is now closer than ever to Washington.

But as India’s economy grows, its diplomatic language has become ever more self-confident. While the new language of assertion enthrals many nationalists, others worry about Delhi emulating Beijing’s counter-productive “wolf warrior diplomacy”. How Delhi talks to the world has clearly changed — it is increasingly unabashed in its emphasis on national interests and global ambitions; it has avoided, so far, the dangers of looking too aggressive.

Thinking of India as the third-largest economy, which also has the third-largest armed force and the fourth-largest defence budget, does not square with the idea of “strategic autonomy”. It is an idea inherited from the era of post-colonial insecurity and the persistent anxiety about being hustled into unwanted decisions by major powers. But when you are a major power in your own right, your autonomy inevitably expands. Even so, there is no such thing as “absolute strategic autonomy” — not even the world’s most powerful nation, the US, has total freedom of action.

India’s growing aggregate power also brings greater responsibilities and opportunities to shape and maintain regional and global order. It demands a different diplomatic language. It is no surprise that references to “strategic autonomy” have declined over the last decade and have been replaced by references to India as a “leading power”, “Vishwa Mitra”, “net security provider”, “first responder” to regional crises, “like-minded coalitions”, “minilateralism”, “inter-operability”, and “global public goods”.
Strategic autonomy was never about setting goals; it was about abstract claims on retaining freedom of action. Once you are a power of reasonable size with assured autonomy, you must set concrete goals and objectives. For too long, the pursuit of strategic autonomy seemed to become an end in itself. That prevented the Indian political classes from articulating specific external goals. Successive governments in the 21st century have talked about developing and publishing a “national security strategy”. Yet, the long-standing tradition of avoiding a definitive analysis of the international situation and identifying India’s goals and policies has prevailed.

Although the aggregate size of its economy gives India some of the critical attributes of a major power, its low per capita income underlines the massive developmental challenges at home. Becoming a developed country in the next quarter of a century raises complex questions about economic strategy, industrial policy, new technologies, inequality, environmental degradation, and a changing global order.

• What are the main basic pillars of Indian foreign policy?

• “A critical assessment of India’s foreign policy during 1947–2022 should begin with the changing perceptions of this nation, internally and internationally”-Decode the statement

• What have you understood by the “National interest drives foreign policy, but more is at stake here: It is
realpolitik plus”?

• The fears of a “developing nation” can’t be the guiding principles for the diplomacy of a “developed nation”-Analyse the statement

• Why the changing nature of the Indian economy, evolution of external conditions, emergence of new regional challenges, and shifts in the global power hierarchy all demand new foreign policy strategies?

• Why India needs to overcome the residual legacies of Partition that continue to undermine Delhi’s geopolitical position?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Strategy and foreign affairs for India in 2024: dealing with realities, looking at opportunities

ECONOMY

Current account deficit narrows to 1.2% of GDP at $10.5 billion in Oct-Dec: RBI

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- India’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed to $10.5 billion, or 1.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), in the third quarter (October-December) of FY2024 from $16.8 billion, or 2 per cent of GDP, in the year-ago quarter.

In the second quarter of FY2024, the country CAD stood at $11.4 billion, or 1.3 per cent GDP.

• What do you understand by ‘Current account deficit’?

• What do you understand by “Current account surplus”?

• Why country’s current account deficit (CAD) narrowed sharply to $8.3 billion?

• Do You Know-Current account deficit is the difference between exports and imports of goods and services. It is a key indicator of the country’s external sector. During April-December 2023, the country’s current account deficit moderated to 1.2 per cent of GDP from 2.6 per cent of GDP in the corresponding period a year ago on the back of a lower merchandise trade deficit, the RBI data showed. The merchandise trade deficit at $71.6 billion (in Q3 FY2024) was marginally higher than $71.3 billion during Q3 FY2023. In the October-December quarter of the current fiscal, services exports grew by 5.2 per cent on a y-o-y basis on the back of rising exports of software, business and travel services.

“The current account deficit narrowed in Q4 (October-December 2023) despite a wider merchandise trade deficit, cushioned by a record high services trade surplus and secondary income,” said Rahul Bajoria, MD & Head of EM Asia (ex-China) Economics, Barclays.

In Q3 FY2024, net services receipts increased both sequentially and from a year ago that helped cushion the current account deficit. Private transfer receipts, mainly representing remittances by Indians employed overseas, amounted to $31.4 billion, an increase of 2.1 per cent over their level during the corresponding period a year ago, the RBI data showed. In the financial account, foreign direct investment recorded a net inflow of $4.2 billion as compared with a net inflow of $2 billion in Q3 FY2023. Foreign portfolio investment recorded a net inflow of $12 billion, higher than $4.6 billion during Q3 FY2023. Bajoria said positive FDI and FPI flows kept the BOP in surplus. He expects current account financing needs to remain manageable this fiscal year and next.

External commercial borrowings to India recorded a net outflow of $2.6 billion in Q3 FY2024 as compared with a net outflow of $2.5 billion a year ago. In the reporting quarter, non-resident deposits recorded a higher net inflow of $3.9 billion than $2.6 billion a year ago. There was an accretion of foreign exchange reserves (on a balance of payment (BoP) basis) to the tune of $6 billion in Q3 FY2024 as compared with an accretion of $11.1 billion a year ago, the RBI data showed. In April-December 2023, there was an accretion of $32.9 billion to the foreign exchange reserves (on a BoP basis that excludes valuation effects).

• Why this is a worrying sign?

• What do you understand by ‘Exports’ and ‘Imports’?

• Exports of India and Imports of India-Key Items under Exports and Imports

• What Is Balance of Trade (BoT) and Balance of Payments (BoP)?

• Balance of Trade (BoT) and Balance of Payments (BoP)-How they Connected?

• India’s CADs have both desirable and undesirable components-What is desirable and undesirable components?

• The countercyclical nature of India’s CAD is a matter of concern-Why?

• India is currently facing the twin-deficit problem of high fiscal and CADs-Elaborate further

• What is meant by foreign exchange reserves?

• Which country has highest forex reserves as of now? How do foreign exchange reserves increase?

• What is a Currency Reserve?

• Currency Reserve is a part of foreign exchange reserves?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: What is the Current Account Deficit?

India’s employment conditions continue to be poor: Report

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development-Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc.

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies I: Social empowerment

• General Studies II: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

• General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

• General Studies‐ III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment

• General Studies III: Inclusive growth and issues arising from it

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Even as overall labour force participation, workforce participation and employment rates improved in India in recent years after showing long-term deterioration during 2000-2019, the employment conditions remain poor, according to the ‘India Employment Report 2024’ released by the Institute for Human Development (IHD) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) on Tuesday.

• ‘India Employment Report 2024’-What are the key takeaways?

• For Your Information-The report said the slow transition to non-farm employment has reversed; women largely account for the increase in self-employment and unpaid family work; youth employment is of poorer quality than employment for adults, with a higher proportion of unpaid family work among youth than adults along with stagnant or declining wages and earnings.
The IHD-ILO report noted that youth employment and underemployment increased between 2000 and 2019 but declined during the pandemic years. However, unemployment among youths, especially those with a secondary level of education or higher, has intensified over time. “In 2022, the share of unemployed youths in the total unemployed population was 82.9 per cent.

The share of educated youths among all unemployed people also increased, from 54.2 per cent in 2000 to 65.7 per cent in 2022. Among the educated (secondary level or higher) unemployed youths, women accounted for a larger share (76.7 per cent) than men (62.2 per cent). This indicates that the problem of unemployment in India has become increasingly concentrated among the youth, especially educated youths and women in urban areas,” it said.

Economic policies are required to boost productive non-farm employment, especially in the manufacturing sector, with India likely to add 7-8 million youths annually to the labour force during the next decade or so, the report said. India needs to give primacy to labour-intensive manufacturing employment to absorb the abundant unskilled labour and also to combine with select services, it said.

More support needs to be provided to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, especially by providing a more supportive, decentralised approach including digitalisation and artificial intelligence and a cluster-based approach to manufacturing.
India needs to improve the quality of jobs by investing in and regulating sectors that are likely to be an important source of employment for young people, such as the care sector, digital economy. With a higher rate of urbanisation and migration expected in India, an inclusive urban policy is required to address the needs of migrants, women and impoverished young people, the report said.

Skills development and active labour market policies (ALMPs) need a more effective role in bridging the supply-demand gap in jobs and in making the overall labour market more inclusive, the report said, adding that a larger and more targeted role for state governments and stronger partnerships with the private sector and other stakeholders is also needed, along with greater contribution by the private and non-state sector.

The report highlighted five key policy areas for further action: promoting job creation; improving employment quality; addressing labour market inequalities; strengthening skills and active labour market policies; and bridging the knowledge deficits on labour market patterns and youth employment.

• What latest findings says in general??

• What latest findings says about Unemployment Rate in particular?

• Employment Rate (ER) and Unemployment Rate (UER)-Know in Detail

• What Is the Unemployment Rate? How it is Calculated by CMIE?

• Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)-Role and Under which Ministry/Organisation?

• Reasons for rise in Unemployment Rate?

• What latest findings says about Labour Force Participation Rate?

• What do you understand by Labour Force and Labour Force participation rate (LFPR)?

• What latest findings says about Female Labour Force Participation Rate?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍ExplainSpeaking: Why India’s workforce is becoming increasingly male-dominated

📍42.3% of graduates under 25 unemployed, finds latest State of Working India report

EXPLAINED

ICCC: farm data dashboard for customised solutions

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: e-technology in the aid of farmers.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Earlier this month, Agriculture Minister Arjun Munda inaugurated a Krishi Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) set up at Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi, a big-screen dashboard of all digital innovations in the sector. Officials described the ICCC as a “significant leap forward” in leveraging technology for the advancement of agricultural practices.

• What is the Krishi ICCC?

• What do you get as the visual output?

• What is the objective of the ICCC?

• Can the command and control centre generate individual farmer-specific advisories?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Follow norms, says Krishi Kendra review panel

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