UPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS (4TH OCTOBER, 2023)

Circular Migration

Syllabus: GS1/ Demography

News:

• The increased access to modern forms of transport and communication, social networks and the growth of multinational corporations have aided the advent of circular migration.

Definition:

• Circular migration is a repetitive form of migration wherein people move to another place (the destination country) and back (country of origin) according to the availability of employment.
• According to Philippe Fargues, migration can defined as circular if it meets the following criteria:
  • there is a temporary residence in the destination location ,
  • there is the possibility of multiple entries into the destination country, 
  • there is a freedom of movement between the country of origin and the country of destination during the period of residence, 
  • there is a legal right to stay in the destination country,
  • there is protection of migrants’ rights, and 
  • if there is a healthy demand for temporary labour in the destination country.
• It is a phenomenon mostly among low-income groups who migrate to avail of seasonally available jobs in another country, city, place etc.

Impacts of Circular Migration:

• The movement of citizens from the Global South to the West in search of more employment opportunities or a better standard of living creates brain drain for their origin countries and competition for the citizens of the destination countries. 
• Similarly, the flow of people moving from rural areas to more urban areas of the same country, results in the breakdown of infrastructure and agrarian stagnation. 
• Circular migration is now seen as the best way forward to balance the needs of development and individual economic advancement. It looks at migration not only from the point of view of the receiving country but also of the sending nation.
  • For the country of origin, migration, especially international migration, is beneficial due to the flow of remittances which will boost the economy ensuring more infrastructure, more jobs and by association, a better standard of living. 
  • The host countries, especially those of the West having lesser population and a higher access to education resulted in a large dearth of low-income low-skill jobs which migrants have been able to fill. 
• However, the influx of migrants have caused a wide range of anxieties and cultural conflicts in the host populations with most of them now calling for restrictions and outright ban on migration.
  • Circular migration aims to quell all these fears. The negative effects of brain drain will reduce and a sort of brain circulation will be encouraged, wherein the individual can use his talents in both countries and still contribute to remittances. 

Circular Migration Within India

• In India, internal migration has almost always been circular. With the advent of jobs in the manufacturing, construction and services sector, there has been a huge flow of migrants from rural areas to urban cities. 
• Between 2004–2005 and 2011–2012, the construction sector witnessed one of the largest net increases in employment for all workers, specifically for rural males.
  • This has led to rural populations and their economy dwindling and urban spaces, while booming, witnessing infrastructural collapse as they are unable to properly house incoming populations.
• In India, the uneven development post-liberalisation, has led to a lot of inter-State migration, with States like West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar having some of the highest rates of out-migration.
  • Initially, while most of the migration was to Delhi, nowadays it has increased to southern States as well. 
• A 2020 study of the circular migration of rural males of West Bengal states that most of the rural migrants were occupied in agricultural jobs in their origin States; and when they migrated a majority of them were engaged in low-skill jobs. 

Impacts of Such Migration:

• The positive outcomes of such inter-State migration include increased access to higher paying jobs when compared to origin States, better household welfare due to remittances, ease of mobility etc. 
• Some reports have even stated how women get more autonomy and decision-making power in the family due to the absence of men who migrate.
• However, in such migration, especially to southern States where the language barrier is a big obstacle, rural circular migrants are often at the mercy of middlemen or brokers. 
• They are made to work in unhygienic and unsafe conditions with little to no protective equipment. 
• They are routinely exploited and suffer significant ‘unfreedoms’ in host States. 
• Additionally, indigenous wage groups and unions resent these migrants as they are seen as taking away their jobs by agreeing to work for lower wages. 
• The 2020 study also says that this kind of migration is merely subsistence migration — it’s the bare minimum.
  • The migrants are able to barely provide for themselves and their families, with no scope for further asset creation or savings. 
  • There is also a certain precarity associated with these jobs as they are seasonal and often irregular.  This precarity was on clear display during the pandemic in 2020 when migrants en-masse started walking back to their hometowns.

Way Ahead:

• In destination areas, rural or urban, circular migrants remain at the margins of physical, social, cultural, and political spaces. It is high time that States start actively formulating policy to understand the extent of circular migration. 
• While some States like Kerala have announced health insurance schemes for migrant workers (Awaz Health scheme), there needs to be more effort to ensure migrants rights. 
• The precarity of workers needs to be addressed and there should be more efforts to integrate them in the destination States.

Facts In News

SHREYAS Scheme

Syllabus: GS2/Welfare Schemes for Weaker Sections

News

• The SHREYAS scheme has been making a substantial impact to empower economically disadvantaged Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

About

• The umbrella scheme of “SHREYAS” comprises 4 central sector sub- schemes namely “Top Class Education for SCs”, “Free Coaching Scheme for SCs and OBCs”, “National Overseas Scheme for SCs” and “National Fellowship for SCs”. 
• The scheme has been implemented over the past nine years, from 2014-15 to 2022-23.

Free Coaching Scheme for SCs and OBCs

• Objective: To provide coaching for economically disadvantaged Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) candidates to enable them appear in competitive and entrance examinations for obtaining appropriate jobs in Public/Private Sector as well as for securing admission in reputed technical and professional higher education institutions. 
• Eligibility criteria: The ceiling of the total family income under the scheme is 8 lakhs per annum. 
• Per annum 3500 slots are allotted. The ratio of SC: OBC students is 70:30 and 30% slots are reserved for females in each category.

Top Class Education for SCs

• Objective: The Scheme aims at recognizing and promoting quality education amongst students belonging to SCs, by providing full financial support. The Scheme will cover SC students for pursuing studies beyond 12th class. 
• Eligibility criteria:The ceiling of the total family income under the scheme is 8 lakhs per annum. 

National Overseas Scheme for SCs

• Objective: Under this scheme financial assistance is provided to the students for pursuing masters and Ph.D. level courses abroad. Under the scheme, total tuition fee, maintenance and contingency allowance, visa fee, to and fro air passage etc. are provided to the awardees.
• The Eligibility criteria is as:
  • The total family income including the candidate should be less than Rs. 8 lakhs per annum, 
  • The students should have more than 60% marks in the qualifying examination, below 35 years of age and secured admission in top 500 QS ranking foreign Institutes/ Universities.
  • The students will be selected from  SCs ; De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes ; landless agricultural laborers and traditional artisan categories. 

 National Fellowship for SC Students

• Objective: Under the scheme fellowship is provided to Scheduled Castes students for pursuing higher education leading to M.Phil/ Ph.D degrees in Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences in Indian Universities/Institutions/ Colleges recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC).
• The scheme provides for 2000 new slots per year who have qualified the National Eligibility Test- Junior Research Fellowship (NET-JRF) of UGC and Junior Research Fellows for Science stream qualifying UGC-Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (UGC-CSIR) Joint Test.

SAMPRITI-XI

Syllabus: GS3/ Defence

News

• India and Bangladesh commenced the 11th edition of annual joint military exercise, SAMPRITI in Umroi, Meghalaya.

About

• SAMPRITI-XI is scheduled for 14 days.It is centered on the conduct of Sub-Conventional Operations as per Chapter VII of the UN mandate and will include a Command Post Exercise (CPX) and a Field Training Exercise (FTX), culminating in a Validation Exercise.
• Representation:The Indian contingent is mainly made up of troops from a battalion of the RAJPUT Regiment.
• Significance: The exercise promises to further enhance defense cooperation between India and Bangladesh, fostering deeper bilateral relations, cultural understanding, and mutual benefits from shared experiences in Sub Conventional Operations.

International Criminal Court (ICC)

Syllabus: Prelims/Current Events of international importance, GS2/ International Bodies

News

• The Armenian parliament recently voted to join the International Criminal Court.

About:

• Armenia earlier this year indicted Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes connected to the deportation of children from Ukraine.
• Countries that have signed and ratified the Rome Statute that created the ICC are bound to arrest the Russian President if he sets foot on their soil.
  • In March 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for crimes related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Armenian officials say the effort to join the ICC has nothing to do with Russia and was prompted by Azerbaijan’s aggression against the country.

International Criminal Court (ICC)

• Established: 2002
• Mandate: To hold to account those guilty of worst crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
• Six Official languages: English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Spanish.
• Headquarters: The Hague, the Netherlands.
• Complementarity :The ICC is intended to complement, not to replace, national criminal systems; it prosecutes cases only when States do not are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely.
• Cooperation: As a judicial institution, the ICC does not have its own police force or enforcement body; thus, it relies on cooperation with countries worldwide for support.
  • While not a United Nations organization, the Court has a cooperation agreement with the United Nations. 
  • When a situation is not within the Court’s jurisdiction, the United Nations Security Council can refer the situation to the ICC granting it jurisdiction. This has been done in the situations in Darfur (Sudan) and Libya.

• Jurisdiction: The Court may exercise jurisdiction in a situation where genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes were committed on or after 1 July 2002 and
  • The crimes were committed by a State Party national, or in the territory of a State Party, or in a State that has accepted the jurisdiction of the Court; or 
  • The crimes were referred to the ICC Prosecutor by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) pursuant to a resolution adopted under chapter VII of the UN charter.
• States Parties to the Rome Statute:
  • There are 123 countries party to the Rome Statute. Some forty countries never signed the treaty, including China, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey. 
  • Several dozen others signed the statute, but their legislatures never ratified it. These include Egypt, Iran, Israel, Russia, Sudan, Syria, and the United States.

• Funding: Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by States Parties, it can also receive voluntary contributions.

Morocco

Syllabus: GS 1/Places in news 

In News

•  A powerful earthquake struck Morocco, claiming more than 2,800 lives.

About Morocco

• It is a mountainous country of western North Africa.
• It lies directly across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain.
• Capital: Rabat  
• It borders Algeria to the east and southeast, Western Sahara to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north.
• It is the only African country with coastal exposure to both the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
• Natural resources: phosphates, iron ore, manganese, lead, zinc, fish, salt
• Major mountain ranges: Atlas and Rif

Saint Sophia Cathedral and City of L’viv

Syllabus: GS 1/Places in news 

In News 

• UNESCO sites of Saint Sophia Cathedral and L’viv are inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger

About the Sites

• Saint Sophia Cathedral : It is  located in the historic centre of Kyiv(Ukraine).
  •  It symbolises the “new Constantinople”, capital of the Christian principality created in the 11th century in a region converted to Christianity after the baptism of Saint Vladimir in 988. 
  • The site has been on the World Heritage List since 1990.
• City of L’viv : It is the lar
  • Founded in the late Middle Ages, the city of L’viv flourished as an administrative, religious, commercial and cultural centre from the 13th to the 20th centuries. 
  • Its medieval urban topography has been preserved intact, in particular the traces of the different ethnic communities that lived there, as well as the magnificent Baroque and later buildings. 
  • The historic centre of L’viv was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998.

Rwanda 

Syllabus: GS 1/Places in news 

In News 

Rwanda stands out both in Africa and globally for its efforts in advancing gender equality and women’s empowerment, and particularly in the area of political participation.

•  Nearly two third (61%) of its parliamentary seats and 55% of cabinet position is held by women.

About Rwanda 

• Rwanda is a country situated in Central Africa.
• Capital City : Kigali
• It is  bordered to the North by Uganda, to the East by Tanzania, to the South by Burundi and to the West by the Democratic Republic of Congo. 
• It is also known as ’The Land of a Thousand Hills’
• It has five volcanoes, 23 lakes and numerous rivers, some forming the source of the River Nile.

Kongthong Village 

Syllabus :GS 1/Places in news 

In News

• Kongthong  has been honoured with the prestigious ‘Best Tourism Village (Bronze)’ award at the National Tourism Awards 2023 by the Ministry of Tourism

About Kongthong Village

• It is located in the East Khasi Hills district, around 65 kilometres from Meghalaya’s capital city Shillong.
• It is popularly known as the Whistling Village.
• It  has a unique oral tradition, Jingrwai lawbei, in which a song (Jingrwai) is sung in honour of the root ancestress – the clan’s first woman (Lawbei).
• This song is composed by the mother following the birth of her child, during the first few weeks while she is regaining her health.

Pygmy Hog

Syllabus: GS3/ Species in News

News

• Recently, eighteen captive-bred pygmy hogs were released in western Assam’s Manas National Park and Tiger Reserve.

About 

• Scientific Name: Porcula Salvania.
• Genus: It is the rarest species of pig in the world today, and is the only species in the genus Porcula. It is also the smallest species of pig.
• Description: The skin of the pygmy hog is a grayish-brown color, and its coat consists of blackish-brown bristles. 

Habitat and Distribution

• Habitat: They live in the wet high grasslands at the foothills of the Himalayas.
• Distribution: The only known population of pygmy hogs resides in Manas National Park in Assam, India.
• It is an indicator species. Its presence reflects the health of its primary habitat, the tall, wet grasslands of the region.

Conservation Status

• IUCN status: Critically Endangered. 
• It is protected under Schedule I of India’s WildLife (Protection) Act, 1972.
• It is also listed in CITES Appendix I. 

Pygmy Hog Conservation Programme (PHCP)

• The PHCP is a collaboration among Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust of UK, Assam Forest Department, Wild Pig Specialist Group of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Union Environment Ministry. 
• The PHCP target is to reintroduce 60 pygmy hogs in Manas National Park, by 2025.
• It is being implemented by NGOs Aaranyak and EcoSystems India.

Manas National Park

• It was one of the first tiger reserves under Project Tiger in 1973. It was declared as a National park in 1990.
• It is included as a site of international importance under UNESCO’s world heritage convention in 1988 as well as Biosphere Reserve in 1989.
• It is home to the Red Panda, Golden Langur, Pygmy Hog, Hispid Hare and Assam Roofed Top Turtle.
• Manas River, a major tributary of the Brahmaputra River, passes through it.