January 2021 International Affairs

Sakshi Education

Construction on 'Own Territory' Normal, Says China on Report of Arunachal Village
China stated that the villages built across the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh are “beyond reproach” because it has “never recognized” Arunachal.

The Ministry of External Affairs of India also stated that it has understood the construction process.

The village was built between November 2019 and November 2020.

It is located a few kilometers across the LAC, outside the border that India considers to separate Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet, on the banks of the Tsari Chu River in the Upper Subansiri District of Arunachal Pradesh.

The site of the village is close to the location where China attacked the Assam rifles post in the so-called Longju incident in 1959. It is at least 2 kilometers south of the McMahon Line and China does not recognize it.

After the 1962 war, India stopped patrolling that area. Another village built last year, called Pangda, was built in another disputed area within 2-3 kilometers of Bhutan’s territory.
BSF launches operation ‘SardHawa’ at Rajasthan border
Operation SardHawa was launched by border guards on the western border of Rajasthan. The main purpose of this operation is to check the penetration of dense fog in the area.

The operation has also been launched to strengthen security before Republic Day. The operation will continue until January 27, 2021.

This operation was carried out to keep an eye on the international borders. In this operation, these jaws will use advanced weapons to patrol the police station area near the border.

This operation increased the number of Khoba deployed at the border. During Operation Thad Hawa, the intelligence department of the border troops will also be active.

Due to the dense fog in the desert area in winter, there is a possibility of infiltration in this area. Attempts have been made to use this haze to infiltrate from the border. In this case, border guards have increased their patrols under special operations such as Operation ThaadHawa.

They also monitor the border through vehicles and on foot. Jaws also go on foot hikes. During the trekking, camels, vehicles and pedestrians used by intruders will be detected.

India’s border troops are also known as "the first line of defence in Indian territory." It was established after the Indo-Pakistani War in 1965.

The main function of the Border Security Force is to ensure the security of the Indian border. It is led by an officer of the Indian Police Service. The BSF also took defensive operations during the war to liberate the Indian Army to attack.

The BSF also assists the Central Reserve Police Force and the Indian Army in counter-insurgency operations. The BSF has a naval wing, air wing, commando and artillery regiments. Currently, BSF is the largest border guard in the world.
When is the International Day of Education observed?
International Education Day is observed on January 24th Every year. The day is to celebrate the role of education in peace and development. The purpose of this day is to remind people that without inclusive and fair quality education, there is no lifetime opportunity for everyone.

International Education Day reminds countries that without education, they cannot successfully achieve gender equality and break the cycle of poverty.

Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights contains the right to education. The declaration provides free and compulsory basic education.

The right to education was inserted into Article 21-A of the Indian Constitution through the 2002 Constitution (Article 86 Amendment). It makes the right to education a basic right for children aged 6 to 14.

The United Nations General Assembly designated January 24 as International Education Day on December 3, 2018. The United Nations (UN) report states that more than 258 million children and young people are still out of school. The theme of 2021 'Recover and Revitalize Education for the COVID-19 Generation'.
IMF more upbeat on global economy, but warns new Covid variants could derail growth
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has issued the World Economic Outlook Update.

According to the IMF, multiple vaccines currently being rolled out around the world raised the prospect of an eventual end to the coronavirus pandemic in 2021.

Like 2020, 2021 economic outlook is still closely related to COVID-19, which is still the only factor driving everything at this point.

The strength of the projected recovery varies across countries, "depending on the severity of the health crisis, the extent of domestic disruptions to activity (related to the structure of the economy and its reliance on contact-intensive sectors), the exposure to cross-border spillovers, and effectiveness of policy support to limit persistent damage."

The pandemic-induced acceleration in inequality by reiterating that close to 90 million people are likely to fall below the extreme poverty threshold during 2020-21

The global economy is projected to grow 5.5% in 2021 and 4.2% in 2022.

For the Emerging Market and Developing Economies category, Asian economies are projected to do much better – at 8.3 percent overall, leading by India (11.5 percent) and China (8.1 percent), compared with Sub-Sahara Africa at only 3.2 percent.

China stands out as the only major economy in the world that booked a positive GDP growth figure at 2.3 percent in 2020. The IMF's forecast for China is 8.1 percent in 2021 and 5.6 percent in 2022.

IMF has estimated that India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will grow by 11.5% in the Financial Year (FY) 2021-22 , 2.7% higher than the projection made in October, 2020. In FY 2022-23, the economy will likely grow 6.8%.

This revision for the current fiscal is higher than the government’s first advance estimate of 7.7% and also the RBI’s estimate of 7.5%.

This great divergence in growth in the aftermath of a major pandemic has historic precedents, and the economics academic across the world termed it as the K-shaped recovery, valid across different social strata within the same country.
Ageing dams in India, U.S., and other nations pose growing threat: UN report
The United Nations released a report entitled "Ageing Water Infrastructure: An Emerging Global Risks", which involved the aging of India's dams. The report was edited by the United Nations University's Institute of Water, Environment and Health in Canada.

The decommissioning or aging of dams in the United States, Canada, France, Japan, India, Zambia and Zimbabwe were analyzed.

The report emphasized that by 2025, there will be thousands of large dams in India that will be used for about 50 years. It warned that this aging structure around the world poses a growing threat.

The report also pointed out that by 2050, most people on the planet will live downstream of thousands of dams built in the 20th century.

According to the report, between 1930 and 1970, 58,700 dams were built worldwide. The design life of these dams is 50 to 100 years.

The report also emphasized that the world will witness another dam-building revolution similar to the mid-20th century. But these dams will show their age.

The report emphasizes that 32,716 dams have been discovered in four Asian countries (China, India, Japan and South Korea), accounting for 55% of the world's total.

If India’s Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala collapses, about 3.5 million people will be at risk. The dam was built more than 100 years ago. The dam is constructed from concrete surkhi, which is a mixture of limestone and burnt brick powder.

Mullaperiyaru Dam is a masonry

gravity dam that is located on the Periyar River in Kerala. Mullaperiyaru is located 881 m above mean sea level. It is located on the Cardamom Hill in the Western Ghats in the Idukki District of Kerala.

The dam was built by John Pennycuick between 1887 and 1895. Periyar National Park is located near the dam reservoir. It was built at the confluence of Mullayar and Periyar rivers. The dam is located on the Periyar River in Kerala but is operated and maintained by Tamil Nadu.
Biden Signs ‘Buy American’ Executive Order
The US President Joe Biden signed an executive order in a bid to tighten the "Buy American" requirements in federal government procurement. This move by the president is the first step in fulfilling his campaign promise.

In 2019, the federal government spent $586 billion on goods and service contracts

The President has vowed to invest hundreds of billions of dollars in purchasing American products and materials to modernize our infrastructure.

In turn, this will help improve the competitive strength in the competitive world.

They also pledged to invest heavily in strategic areas such as artificial intelligence to improve the competitiveness of the United States.

This move is also aimed at countering the "Made in China 2025" campaign initiated by the Chinese government.

An executive order was signed with the purpose of strengthening the country’s manufacturing industry.

In addition, the government hopes that it will be more difficult for government agencies to purchase foreign products.

It also aims to increase the percentage of local content (US Made).

The order will also include job creation in the definition of U.S.-made.

Finally, it tried to extend the regulations to information technologies that are currently exempted.
Pakistan permits Dubai Royals to hunt “Houbara Bustard”
UAE’s royal family members arrived in Panjgur district in Balochistan recently to hunt the internationally protected and vulnerable Houbara Bustard under a licence issued by the Pakistan Foreign Ministry to strengthen the country’s relations with Gulf nations.

They kill the bird for sport and also because its meat is supposed to have aphrodisiac qualities.

This is not the first time royals from the Gulf and their wealthy friends have reached the deserts of Pakistan to hunt the rare bird. These controversial private hunting expeditions date back over four decades and have continued even after Pakistan’s Supreme Court imposed a blanket ban on the killing of the houbara bustard in 2015, which was later reversed in 2016.

Houbara is a large terrestrial bird found in parts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The North African Houbara (Chlamydotisundulata) and the Asian Houbara (Chlamydotismacqueenii) are separate species.

The Asian Houbara is related to the critically endangered great Indian bustard native to India.After breeding in Central Asia during the spring, Asian houbara bustards migrate south to spend the winter in Pakistan, the Arabian peninsula and nearby Southwest Asia. Some Asian houbara bustards live and breed in parts of Iran, Pakistan and Turkmenistan.

According to the International Fund for Houbara Conservation (IFHC), roughly 42,000 Asian houbara bustards and over 22,000 of the North African houbara bustards remain today.THREATS are Poaching, unregulated hunting and the degradation of its natural habitat.
Russia announces exit from Open Skies treaty after US departure
Russia announced that it was pulling out of the Open Skies treaty as this pact allows unarmed surveillance flights over member countries, had been seriously compromised by the withdrawal of the US.

The US left the Open Skies arms control and verification treaty in November, accusing Russia of violating it, something denied by Moscow as it had made specific proposals to other members to mitigate against the impact of the US exit but that those proposals were not backed by Washington’s allies.

The Open Skies treaty allows surveillance flights from member countries to gather information on military activities. Russia fears that even though the US has exited the treaty, it will continue to have access to overflight intelligence gathered by its allies who are still signatories.

Russia exited the pact reportedly after others refused to give assurances that they would not share this intelligence with US.
Nepal raises Kalapani boundary issue with India
Nepal has raised the Kalapani boundary dispute with India during the Joint Commission meeting between both countries Foreign ministers since the issue erupted in November 2019 prompting Nepal to unveil a new political map that showed the Kalapani-Lipulekh-Limpiyadhura region of Pithoragarh district as part of the country’s sovereign territory.

Nepal also requires vaccines to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and it has approved Serum Institute of India’s (SII) Covishieldvaccine.Indo-Nepal boundary dispute existed in “two segments” and Kathmandu wished to find a solution to the matter urgently.

Nepal has started the demarcation and mapping of the boundary since 1981. At that time, a Joint Technical Committee was founded which had tenure till 2007. It produced 182 strip maps which depicts the border but for various reasons [work on] two segmentsSusta and Kalapani were not completed.
China GDP grows 2.3% in 2020, slowest in more than four decades
China’s economy expanded in 2020 by 2.3%, the slowest pace of growth since the end of Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution in 1976

China will, however, likely be the only major economy to have avoided a contraction in a pandemic-hit year, underlining its strong recovery after weeks of lockdown at the start of the year brought economic activity in the Asian giant to a near-standstill.

China will be the only major economy to have avoided a contraction in a pandemic-hit year.

It underlined its strong recovery after weeks of lockdown at the start of the year brought economic activity in the Asian giant to a near-standstill.

China’s economy contracted 6.8% in the first quarter. The stringent lockdown allowed it to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The economy recovered to grow 3.2% in the second quarter, 4.9% in the third and 6.5% in the last quarter of 2020.

While China is currently dealing with the return of clusters of local outbreaks, the fact that the spread was limited and controlled meant the impact on the economy would be “controllable”.

China had also crossed the landmark of 100 trillion yuan ($15.4 trillion) for the first time in 2020.

A range of stimulus measures, largely led by spending on infrastructure projects, was the main driver of growth in 2020 along with a rebound in exports, which grew 10.9% in December and 4% last year.

Value-added industrial output was up 2.8%, as the last quarter saw growth of 7.1%. Fixed asset investment grew 2.9%. Retail sales, however, contracted by 3.9% last year, after expanding 8% in 2019.

The post-pandemic government support measures helped create 11.86 million new urban jobs, beating the 9 million target and marking a turnaround after the first quarter’s massive job losses.
Italy 'Ndrangheta group: Biggest mafia trial in decades opens
Italian authorities believe that the Ndrangheta Mafia is responsible for controlling the large amount of cocaine entering Europe from South America. After the large-scale Mafia trial against the Ndrangheta group, the Italian government confirmed this.

The Ndrangheta is a famous Italian Mafia in the region of Calabria. The Mafia began in the 18th century.

During the reign of the Bourbon of Naples, the first official report of Ndrangheta was submitted in 1792.

According to US, money laundering activities, drug trafficking accounts for 3% of Italy’s GDP. Ndrangheta's annual revenue is approximately US$50 billion to US$60 billion.

Ndrangheta is also active in other countries, such as Albania, Australia, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Brazil, Colombia, the Netherlands, Germany, Malta, Switzerland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom, Uruguay and the United States.

According to EUROPOL (European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation), in the whole world Ndrangheta is the most powerful organized crime group.

Calabria is a region located in southern Italy. The region borders the Ionian Sea to the east and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. The Strait of Messina separates Calabria from Sicily. The Mafia in Sicily is considered to be one of Ndrangheta's closest allies.

The Allies of the Ndrangheta Mafia are Camorra, Sacra Corona Unita, Societafoggiana, Stidda, Albanian Mafia, American Mafia, PrimeriroComando da Capital.

The Camorra, Safian Mafia, Sacra Corona Unita, Stidda and Societafoggiana are located in Italy. PrimeiroComando da Capital is located in Brazil.
Pakistan successfully tests medium-range missile “Shaheen-III”
Pakistan has successfully test-fired the Shaheen-III missile.

Aimed at revalidating various design and technical parameters of the weapon system.

Nuclear-capable surface-to-surface ballistic missile which can strike targets up to 2,750 km.

Pakistan is one of eight nations worldwide with stated nuclear weapons capability.

Its eastern neighbour and rival India, with whom it has fought three full-scale wars since both countries gained independence from Britain in 1947, also has nuclear weapons.

The Shaheen III is Pakistan’s longest-range missile system, developed with the intention of being capable of reaching Indian island territories to deny Indian forces the ability to establish a “second strike capability”.

Both South Asian countries routinely conduct missile tests, of which they notify the other in advance as per a 2005 bilateral missile test pact.
Government: Equalisation levy not discriminatory, will take appropriate action
The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) Section 301 has said that the digital taxation regime in India, Italy and Turkey is not in sync with US companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple and Amazon.com, referred to as the GAFA tax and are inconsistent with international tax principles.

The issues of contention are the application of taxation to revenue rather than income, extraterritorial application, and failure to provide tax certainty.

USTR is responsible for developing and coordinating US international trade, commodity, and direct investment policy, and overseeing negotiations with other countries. It is an agency of professionals dealing with trade issues.

The Section 301 report (US Trade Act), a flagship publication of USTR, gives the USTR broad authority to investigate and respond to a foreign country’s action which may be unfair or discriminatory as well as negatively affect US commerce. It also allows the US President to impose tariffs or other curbs on foreign nations.

India has described the 2% equalisation levy as a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory tax against U.S. companies aimed at all offshore digital economy firms accessing the local market. It applies uniformly across all non-resident e-commerce operators.

According to the Commerce and Industry Ministry, the intention of imposing such a levy is to create an ecosystem that fosters fair competition and reasonableness.

It also aims to exercise the sovereign right of the government to tax businesses that have a close nexus with the Indian market through their digital operations.
Growth silver lining but food inflation may be dark cloud
United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released its latest Food Price Index (FPI) number for December 2020.

This index – reflecting international prices of a basket of food commodities against a base year (2014-16) value of 100– averaged 107.5 points for the month. It was the highest since November 2014. This marks the seventh month of consecutive increase.

FPI has soared since May 2020. From falling to a four year low of 91 points then, it has hit a more than six-year high in December.

This extreme global price volatility can be seen across farm commodities.

There are three main reasons for international agri-commodity prices firming up in the past few months.

The first is a steady normalization of demand as most countries, including India, have unlocked their economies after May 2020. Even as demand has gradually recovered, restoration of supply chains post-Covid is taking time. Dry weather in major producing countries such as Thailand, Brazil, Argentina and Ukraine, plus a shortage of shipping containers, has only aggravated the supply- demand imbalances.

The second reason is stockpiling by China, which has stepped up imports of everything – from corn, wheat, soyabean and barley to sugar and milk powder– to build strategic food reserves amid rising geopolitical tensions and pandemic uncertainties.

The third reason may have to do the ultra-low global interest rates and floodgates of liquidity opened by major central banks. This money, which has already flowed into equity markets, could well find a home next in agricommodities– more so, in a scenario of tightening world supplies.
US tweaks H1B visa rules again, higher wage is key factor now
US administration has once again amended its H-1B visa regime to give priority to higher wages and skills instead of the prevailing lottery system for selection of candidates looking to work in the country.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will first select registrations where the “proffered wage equals or exceeds” the prevailing level in that area of employment.

The proffered wage is the wage that the employer intends to pay the beneficiary. The wage level ranking will occur first for the regular cap selection and then for the advanced degree exemption.

Every year, the US administration issues 85,000 H-1B work permits. Of these, 65,000 are for people with specialty occupations, while the rest are reserved for foreign workers who have earned a Master's or a higher university degree in the US.

Until now, the selection of H- 1B work visas was done by a randomized lottery system, which did not take into account factors such as wage, experience or any other requirements and demands.

Since the number of applications from Indian companies as well as individuals is much higher than any other nationality, a lion's share of these work visas is cornered by Indians.

The constant changes in H-1B visa approval systems have been opposed by Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Twitter. Though Indian companies have gradually reduced their dependency on these work permits, many giant tech corporations still look to hire from the pool of H-1B workers.
When is the World Hindi Day observed?
The day is commemorated every year with the objective to promote use of the Hindi language abroad.

On this day in 2006, the First World Hindi Conference was held in Nagpur with the aim to promote the language worldwide and since then, every year 10th January is being observed as the World Hindi Day.

The Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Missions abroad also observe the day annually.

The languages play an important role in the social, political and cultural development of a country.

It is an important link in the unity and integrity of the entire nation. The Hindi language is the key to establishing unity in diversity.

Hindi is one of the most spoken languages of the world. On World Hindi Day, people celebrate linguistic diversity to better understand each other.
US Vice President Mike Pence refuses to invoke 25th Amendment to remove President Trump from his post
US Vice President Mike Pence has said that he will not "yield to pressure" to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from his post. In a letter to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representative, Mr Pence condemned last week's riot in the Capitol. He said he did not yield to pressure to exert power beyond his constitutional authority to determine the outcome of the Presidential election. He said that he did not believe that impeachment is in the best interest of the nation or consistent with the US constitution. Mr Pence also said that just eight days are left in the President's term.

The Vice President reiterated his commitment to work in good faith with the incoming administration to ensure an orderly transition of power. His letter came just hours before the House of Representatives was to vote on a resolution that calls on Mr Pence to initiate the 25th Amendment process.
WHO team to arrive in Wuhan from Singapore to investigate origins of novel coronavirus
The World Health Organization (WHO) team of international experts to investigate the origin of the novel coronavirus will arrive in the Chinese city of Wuhan from Singapore on Thursday. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told this to the media at a regular news briefing in Beijing on Tuesday. However, He did not respond to a question on whether the team would have to go into quarantine upon arrival and gave no further details on the mission’s itinerary. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said his organisation looked forward to working with China on the mission to identify the source of the virus and how it entered the human population. He had previously said he was “very disappointed” when the experts were denied entry earlier in the month, forcing two members of the team to turn back. China said there had been a “misunderstanding”.

The coronavirus was first detected in the central city of Wuhan in late 2019 and has since spread around the world, infecting more than 90,500,000 people and killing nearly 2 million. Ahead of the team’s visit, China has been trying to change the narrative that the pandemic broke out in a wet market in Wuhan, with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi saying “more and more studies” showed it emerged in multiple regions.
First rice, now wheat: India rides on global grain trade bandwagon
India will become a major exporter of wheat after rice due to increasing international prices from Chinese stockpiling and ultra-low interest rate money increasingly finding its way into agri-commodity markets.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased its forecast of Indian wheat exports for 2020-21 (July-June) to 1.8 million tonnes (mt), as against its earlier estimate of one mt. That would be the highest ever in the last six years.

Reason is Rising global prices opened up possibilities for Indian exports to nearby markets, especially Bangladesh that buys mostly from Russia. Bangladesh “is beginning to shift its purchases towards India”. Traders, however, believe that Indian wheat is still not competitive at the government’s minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 19,750 per tonne.

The above price is higher than the major exporters such as Australia, France, US, Russia and Canada are quoting for March-April shipments. In all, given our MSP, India is $25 or so per tonne costlier today.

This can be overcome if wheat is sourced at below MSP from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra, where not much government procurement happens.

The new crop arriving in these markets from March onwards and this wheat can be exported by rail rakes to Bangladesh or shipped to the Middle East (UAE, Oman and Bahrain) and Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia).

The USDA report, meanwhile, has also estimated India’s rice imports to have hit a record. The country’s closest competitors – Thailand and Vietnam – have seen their exports during this period fall. Both have had drought-reduced crops, with Vietnam recently even contracting 70,000 tonnes of Indian rice for the first time, following China in December 2020.

USDA has projected India’s rice imports in 2021 at 14 mt. Bangladesh, which imported just 80,000 tonnes in 2020, is expected to buy one mt this year. The beneficiary of it will again be India.

Despite concerns about the availability of shipping containers, which is impacting rice exports from Vietnam and Thailand, India can export to Bangladesh via rail and truck.

All this export demand isn’t bad at a time when India’s own domestic production of rice and wheat touched an all-time-high in 2019-20. Government agencies also procured a record amount of rice and wheat. This year, too, similar bumper crops are likely.

The key driver of global price turnaround seems to be China. USDA data has forecast record Chinese imports of oilseeds (mainly soyabean) and coarse grain (maize and sorghum) in 2020-21 (October-September), apart from end-year stocks of rice and wheat. The reasons for its building strategic stockpiles of everything aren’t as fully clear as their effect on international prices.
Trump Administration Redesignates Cuba As State Sponsor Of Terrorism
The USA State Department has designated Cuba as a State Sponsor of Terrorism for repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbour to terrorists.

Four countries remain on the list: Syria, Iran, North Korea and Cuba.

Cuba was delisted in 2015 and has been blacklisted again.

The State Department of the USA can place four categories to enlist any country as sanctioned:

Restrictions on foreign assistance by the USA.

A ban on defence exports and sales.

Certain controls over exports of dual use items.

Sanctions can also be placed on countries and persons that engage in certain trade with designated countries.

The USA government had been accusing the Castro regime for:

Illegitimate interference in internal politics Venezuela.

Oppressing the people of Cuba.

Supporting international terrorism.

Subversion of the USA justice.
Life sized picture of a wild pig is the world's oldest cave painting from 45,000 years ago
Archaeologists have discovered the world’s oldest known cave art — a life-sized picture of a wild pig that was painted at least 45,500 years ago in the limestone cave of LeangTedongnge in South Sulawesi, Indonesia.

The cave painting consists of a figurative depiction of a warty pig, a wild boar that is endemic to this Indonesian island.

The finding also represents some of the earliest archaeological evidence for modern humans in the region.

The cave is in a valley that is enclosed by steep limestone cliffs, and is only accessible by a narrow cave passage in the dry season, as the valley floor is completely flooded in the wet season.

It shows a pig with a short crest of upright hairs and a pair of horn-like facial warts in front of the eyes, a characteristic feature of adult male Sulawesi warty pigs.

Painted using red ochre pigment, the pig appears to be observing a fight or social interaction between two other warty pigs.

These pigs were the most commonly portrayed animal in the ice age rock art of the island, suggesting they have long been valued both as food and a focus of creative thinking and artistic expression.

The previously oldest dated rock art ‘scene’ at least 43,900 years old, was a depiction of hybrid human-animal beings hunting Sulawesi warty pigs and dwarf bovids.

It was discovered by the same research team at a nearby limestone cave site.

Rock art produced in limestone caves can sometimes be dated using Uranium-series analysis of calcium carbonate deposits (‘cave popcorn’) that form naturally on the cave wall surface used as a ‘canvas’ for the art.
Post COVID-19, ILO calls for national-level policy on those working from home
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO) in the report titled Working from home: From invisibility to decent work, there is a need to develop effective policies for home-based workers and ensure their proper implementation even as the practice had increased since the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

10 countries had ratified the Convention on Homework nearly 25 years since it was adopted by the International Labour Conference June 20, 1996.

Few governments had a comprehensive policy for working from home in place. As a result, those working from home, especially in low-income countries, continued to work in poor working conditions.

Despite contributing significantly to the economy, home-based working had remained “invisible”.

It also noted that the propensity of women to work from home — 11.5 per cent — was much higher than that of men (5.6 per cent).

Industrial home-based workers, who are involved in the production of goods including artisanal production, such as making of handicrafts, rolling of beedis, making of laces, etc

Teleworkers, who use information and communication technologies to perform their work remotely

Home-based digital platform workers, who are ‘crowdworkers’ that perform service-sector tasks as specified by employers or intermediaries

Governments need to play a major role to protect home-workers. It strongly recommended them to adopt a national policy on home-based work.

It called upon governments to develop and implement a gender-responsive legal and policy framework that provided equal treatment for all categories of home-based workers in relation to other wage earners.

This included facilitating the transition of informal workers to formal employment.

Home-based workers needed to be counted better to record their earnings, hours worked and other conditions of employment.

The labour registries needed to be revised to incorporate “place of work” and count those home-based workers who went missing due to poor labour registries. Few countries had labour inspection schemes adapted for home-based work.

Need for better compliance, legal protection, occupational safety and social security for industrial home-based workers.
Iran plans to enrich uranium to up to 20% purity at Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant: IAEA
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has revealed that Iran plans to enrich uranium to up to 20 percent purity, a level it achieved before its 2015 accord, at its Fordow site buried inside a mountain.

Iran was prohibited enrichment at the Fordo facility until 2031. It also committed to converting the underground facility into a nuclear, physics and technology center.

Fordow was built inside a mountain, apparently to protect it from aerial bombardment, and the 2015 deal does not allow enrichment there.

Iran is already enriching at Fordow with first-generation IR-1 centrifuges.

The move is the latest of several recent announcements by Iran to the International Atomic Energy Agency that it plans to further breach the deal, which it started violating in 2019 in retaliation for Washington’s withdrawal from the JCPOA agreement and the imposition of United States sanctions against Tehran.

By walking out of the JCPOA, the U.S. government has overturned the precept that such international agreements are made by “States” not just with prevailing governments or regimes.

It would take Iran's nuclear enrichment program to pre-2015 levels, when it entered the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with the P5+1 countries.

India has been extremely supportive of the Iran nuclear deal and recognizes Iran’s right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. On the other hand, it has thus maintained that the Iranian nuclear issue should be resolved peacefully.

Iran, on its part, should observe strategic patience and give diplomacy another chance.
China amends defence law to boost war preparedness
China amended its National Defence Law, giving the Central Military Commission (CMC), headed by the President, greater sway in mobilizing resources to protect a new and broader definition of what constitutes the national interest.

The change comes amid a push for closer civil-military fusion, with a target to make China’s army a “world-class” military, or on par with the United States military, by 2049, when China turns 100.

The revised regulations on military equipment focus on “war preparedness and combat capabilities”.

This step will transfer some decision-making previously exercised by the State Council, or cabinet, that runs the government, to the CMC. The broader goal is to speed up the modernization plans Army.

Theater commands would also be given a greater role "to provide the direction for the future development of weaponry based on the demand of winning a future war.”

The amendment underlines the need "to build a nationwide coordination mechanism for the mobilization of state-owned and private enterprises to take part in research into new defencetechnologies covering conventional weapons, as well as the non-traditional domains of cyber security, space and electromagnetics.”

It broadened the scope of key security fields beyond land borders, maritime and air defence and includes outer space and electromagnetic networks.

It would "weaken the role of the State Council” in "formulating military policy” by "handing decision-making powers to the CMC”.

The new moves have "expanded the power” of the CMC "to mobilize military and civilian resources in defence of the national interest, both at home and abroad”.

The revised regulations would push Chinese military development “in two major aspects”, push faster research and development as well as improve management of existing military equipment.
When is the World Braille Day observed?> GK> Days
Every year, the United Nations and several other international organizations celebrate World Braille Day on January 4. The purpose of celebrating Braille day is to make people realize the importance of Braille as a means of communication to realize the human rights of the blind.

January 4th is a celebration, because this day is the birthday of Louis Braille, the creator of the writing system. He was born in France in 1809. The first World Braille Day was celebrated in 2019.

Braille is a letter and number symbol represented by six dots. Dots represent letters and numbers as well as math, music, and science symbols. Braille was invented in France in the 19th century by Louis Braille.

India adopted a unified braille code in 1951 to represent different languages. India established its first Braille factory in Dehradun, the Central Braille Factory. In 1954, a central Braille printing press was established to produce Braille electrical appliances.

The printing press produces simple devices such as braille boards, stylus pens and arithmetic braille boards. GoI promulgated the "Disabled Persons Act" of 1995. The bill provides special categories called "low vision" and blind people.

In addition, the bill also complies with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. India has accepted several UN resolutions on disabled persons. These include the 1981 International Year of Disabled Persons commemorating activities and the 1983-92 United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons commemorating activities.

India has also complied with the "Asia-Pacific Decade for the Disabled" announced by ESCAP. ESCAP is the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. It is a regional think tank that provides analysis and opinions on the social, economic and environmental dynamics of the region.
World Bank expects global economy to expand by 4% in 2021
The World Bank highlighted in its January 2021 Global Economic Prospects that the global economy is expected to expand 4% in 2021 after shrinking 4.3% in 2020.

Although global economic output is recovering from the collapse triggered by COVID-19, it will remain below pre-pandemic trends for a prolonged period. The pandemic has exacerbated the risks associated with a decade-long wave of global debt accumulation. It is also likely to steepen the long-expected slowdown in potential growth over the next decade.

It also warned that rising COVID-19 infections and delays in vaccine distribution could limit the recovery to just 1.6% in 2021.

The World Bank showed the collapse in activity due to the coronavirus pandemic was slightly less severe than previously forecast, but the recovery was also more subdued and still subject to considerable downside risk.

With successful pandemic control and a faster vaccination process, global growth could accelerate to nearly 5%.

Shallower contractions in advanced economies and a more robust recovery in China helped avert a bigger collapse in overall global output, but disruptions were more acute in most other emerging market and developing economies.

Aggregate gross domestic product in emerging markets and developing economies - including China - is expected to grow 5% in 2021 after a contraction of 2.6% in 2020.

Excluding China, emerging market and developing economies were seen expanding 3.4% in 2021 after shrinking 5% in 2020.

Per capita incomes have dropped in 90% of emerging market and developing economies, tipping millions back into poverty, with reduced investor confidence, increasing unemployment and loss of education time seen dampening prospects for future poverty reduction.

The crisis also triggered a surge in debt levels among emerging market and developing economies, with government debt up by 9 percentage points of GDP - the largest one-year spike since the late 1980s.
Iran Moves to Outlaw Sexual Violence and Harassment of Women
Iran’s government approved a Bill that criminalises violence and sexual misconduct against women and specifies punishments for perpetrators.

This Bill will be the first law of its kind in Iran’s penal code— comes in the aftermath of a groundbreaking #MeToo movement and shocking reports of so-called honor killings that have gripped the public over the past six months.

Last year, both ‘honor killings’ that got national attention and the #MeToo movement in Iran, have increased the pressure on the government to push this Bill.

Bill still fell short of international standards and did not address all the aspects of violence that women face. Still, it marked a step forward and reflected the shifting dynamics of Iranian society, and steps ahead of the government on issues of violence against women.

According to the Bill, “any act that causes physical or emotional or reputational harm” to a woman or results in curbing her freedom and social rights is considered a crime. It also addresses sexual harassment and coercing women into sexual acts short of intercourse as crimes.
German cabinet agrees quota for women on company boards
The Government in Germany approved legislation to force larger listed companies to have atleast one woman on their management boards.

The law builds on a 30% quota for supervisory boards introduced in 2015 and will apply to listed companies with more than three management board members.

This law is a milestone for more women in leadership positions. Before that not many changes are made voluntarily, and progress was very slow.

The new law affects around 70 companies, of which around 30 currently have no women on their management boards at all.

The percentage of women on corporate supervisory boards crossed the 30% threshold in 2017, and stood at 35.2% in November 2020.

On management boards of the largest roughly 100 listed companies, women accounted for only 11.5% of positions. The German legislation also sets out stricter gender equality rules for government-controlled companies, where boards with more than two members will have to have at least one woman on them.

According to the DIW economic think tank, the new quota will have a limited impact. It won’t turn the minimum participation of women on boards on its head right away. It applies to too few companies to do that.

Women make up one third of executive boards in Europe’s biggest companies but occupy only a small minority of leadership roles, according to a study published last year, with Norway ranking top for gender diversity, followed by France.
World of Coriander Webinar held to Accelerate Quality Production & Export of Coriander
Webinar on World of Coriander was happened to improve the high-quality products and also to enhance the export of Coriander.

The Spices Board of India and therefore the DBT-SABC Biotech Kisan Hub together with ICAR-NRCSS, Rajasthan State Agricultural Marketing Board (RSAMB) and Kota Agricultural University.

The South-East Rajasthan’s Hadoti region and the Guna district, Madhya Pradesh is known for the production of coriander i.e., Coriandrum sativum L., which contributes a major share in coriander export from the country.

The Hadoti-Guna region has great potential for exporting whole coriander and other processed products such as coriander split (daal), powder and essential oils.
MISSION SAGAR III - INS KILTAN ARRIVES AT HO CHI MINH CITY
The Indian Naval Ship “Kiltam” reached the coast of the Vietnamese city, As part of the Sagar-III mission. The Sagar mission is an initiative by India to provide Covid-19-related assistance to the countries in the Indian Ocean Littoral States.

In accordance with the vision of the Prime Minister SAGAR (Security and Growth of All People in the Region), execute the Sagar III mission.

The mission reaffirmed India’s status as a reliable partner and reaffirmed the status of the Indian Navy as the Preferred Security Partner and First Responder.

The mission also emphasized the importance it attaches to ASEAN countries and further strengthened existing ties.

The civilizational relationship between India and Vietnam has a history of two thousand years.

Due to active economic participation and increasing integration on issues of common interests, bilateral relations have recently become stronger.

The bilateral relationship was upgraded to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2016.
China defends progress of Pak. corridor
Beijing defended the progress of the CPEC plan, following reports in the Pakistani press last week that concerns over Pakistan’s ability to pay back loans as it grapples with the impact of the pandemic had emerged in recent negotiations.

The China had sought additional guarantees before sanctioning a $6 billion loan. The issue of the Debt trap being reported by Pak media.

Background:
India has voiced concerns about the CPEC plan, one main reason why it has stayed out of the BRI, as it includes projects in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) as part of a corridor connecting Xinjiang with Pakistan.
US Plans for a “Nuclear Power Plant” on Moon Will Drag China into Space Colonization Race
The USA plans to build the first nuclear reactor on the moon by the end of 2026, a new directive recently issued by the White House.

The President of the United States issued the "National Strategy for Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion." The US Department of Energy, in cooperation with the NASA, also plans to solicit industry design suggestions for the same purpose in early 2021. According to the instructions, NASA is required to launch the fission surface power for lunar surface demonstration by 2027 with scalability to a power range of 40 kilowatt-electric and higher to support a sustained lunar presence and exploration of Mars.

NASA’s goal is to build a flight hardware system that is ready to be integrated with the lunar lander by the end of 2026.

Fission power systems (called nuclear reactors) will benefit future robotic and human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars.

Providing a safe, efficient, and readily available power source is essential for these missions, and fission surface power systems can meet these requirements.

The fission surface power system will be manufactured and assembled entirely on Earth and integrated on the lander as a payload.

The system consists of four main subsystems: nuclear reactors, an electric power conversion units, cooling arrays, and power management and distribution subsystems.

It will be designed to operate for up to 10 years.
WHO clears Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for emergency use
The World Health Organization says it has cleared the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for emergency use. This means poorer countries may soon get access to the shot already available in Europe and North America.

Every country that has a drug regulatory body will have to issue its own approval for any COVID-19 vaccine, but countries with weak systems usually rely on WHO to vet the shots.

The global body said yesterday that the decision to issue its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine opens the door for countries to expedite their own regulatory approval processes to import and administer the vaccine.

The UN health agency said its review found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has already received clearance in the United States, Britain, the European Union and a dozen other countries, met the must-have criteria for safety and efficacy set out by WHO.
Australia changes word in national anthem to honour indigenous people
On new year eve, Australia has changed one word in its national anthem to reflect “the spirit of unity” and the country’s Indigenous population.

Prime Minister of Australia Scott Morrison announced that the second line of the anthem, Advance Australia Fair, has been changed from For we are young and free to For we are one and free.