IASbaba's Daily Current Affairs Analysis

IAS UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 3rd May 2019

(PRELIMS+MAINS FOCUS)

Cyclone Fani: Odisha evacuates over 11 lakh

Part of: GS Prelims and Mains I and III – Geography; Natural Hazards; Disaster Management

In news:

Odisha state government evacuated over 11 lakh people from low-lying areas in 15 districts.
The administration of coastal states of Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Tamil Nadu are bracing up to tackle the “extremely severe cyclone”.

Have you been wondering how do Cyclones get their names?

World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has a process in which countries give a list of name suggestions from time to time.
Countries like India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan and Thailand submit a list of names to the regional tropical cyclone committee for the cyclones developing in the North Indian Ocean.
All the eight countries have suggested eight names for naming future cyclones.
The name Fani for this cyclone was suggested by Bangladesh. Fani means snake.

Do you know?

Cyclone Titli which caused damage in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Odisha last year was named by Pakistan. Cyclone Ockhi hit Kerala and parts of Tamil Nadu in 2017. It was named by Thailand.

(MAINS FOCUS)

WOMEN/SOCIAL ISSUE

TOPIC: General studies 1

Role of women and women’s organization, women related issues, Social empowerment

General studies 2 and 3:

Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections

Indian economy and employment; Gender parity; Women participation in workforce

Factors responsible for poor participation of women in the workforce

Women participation in workforce in India

Currently, the participation of women in the workforce in India is one of the lowest globally.
The female labour force participation rate (LFPR) in India fell from 31.2% in 2011-2012 to 23.3% in 2017-2018. This decline has been sharper in rural areas.

Reasons for this poor performance:

low social acceptability of women working outside the household
lack of access to safe and secure workspaces
widespread prevalence of poor and unequal wages
dearth of decent and suitable jobs
engaged in subsistence-level work in agriculture in rural areas, and in low-paying jobs such as domestic service and petty home-based manufacturing in urban areas
rising levels of education for women (as women are refusing to do casual wage labour or work in family farms and enterprises)

Education and work

Social scientists have long tried to explain poor female labour force participation because of rising levels of education for women.

Studies revealed a strong negative relationship between a woman’s education level and her participation in agricultural and non-agricultural wage work and in family farms.
Women with moderately high levels of education do not want to do manual labour outside the household which would be perceived to be below their educational qualifications.
Women prefer salaried jobs as their educational attainment increases, but such jobs remain extremely limited for women.

Unpaid work

Women devote a substantial amount of their time to work which is not considered as work, but an extension of their duties, and is largely unpaid.
This includes unpaid care work such as childcare, elderly care, and household work such as collecting water.
The burden of these activities falls disproportionately on women, especially in the absence of adequately available or accessible public services.

The way ahead:

Any government which is serious about ensuring women’s economic empowerment and equal access to livelihoods must address the numerous challenges that exist along this highly gendered continuum of unpaid, underpaid and paid work.

Policies should facilitate women’s access to decent work by providing public services, eliminating discrimination in hiring, ensuring equal and decent wages, and improving women’s security in public spaces.
It must also recognise, reduce, redistribute, and remunerate women’s unpaid work.
Gender-responsive public services such as free and accessible public toilets, household water connections, safe and secure public transport, and adequate lighting and CCTV cameras to prevent violence against women in public spaces and increasing their mobility, will help.
Fair and decent living wages and appropriate social security including maternity benefit, sickness benefit, provident fund, and pension are other important areas.
Policies should also ensure safe and dignified working and living conditions for migrant workers.

Recognition as farmers

In addition, women have strongly articulated the need to enumerate and remunerate the unpaid and underpaid work they undertake in sectors such as agriculture and fisheries.
Their fundamental demand is that women must be recognised as farmers in accordance with the National Policy for Farmers.
Thereafter, their equal rights and entitlements over land and access to inputs, credit, markets, and extension services must be ensured.

Unless policymakers correctly assess and address the structural issues which keep women from entering and staying in the workforce, promising just more jobs is unlikely to lead to the socio-economic transformation India needs.

Connecting the dots:

Discuss the various factors responsible for poor participation of women in the workforce in India. Also discuss what measures are needed to improve the same.
Currently, the participation of women in the workforce in India is one of the lowest globally. How can we reverse that trend? Discuss.
Discuss some of the important initiatives needed to be taken to create gender parity in the economy.

SECURITY

TOPIC: General studies 3

Challenges to internal security

Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security

Lost lives: on Gadchiroli naxal attack

Introduction:

The death of 15 security personnel in a landmine attack in Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, is another grim reminder of the Indian state’s continued failure to crush naxalism.
Less than a month ago, a legislator and some security personnel lost their lives in a similar attack in the neighbouring State of Chhattisgarh ahead of polling.
The Gadchiroli incident shows not only the audacity of the perpetrators but also the unpreparedness of the security forces.
The attack comes a year after Maharashtra police gunned down 40 suspected Maoists in the same region. Clearly, the Maoists want to sent out a message that they still posses the firepower to take on the security forces and establish territorial dominance.
The Gadchiroli attack makes it clear that Maoists continue to pose a significant challenge to the country’s internal security.

Do you know?

The Maoist movement or CPI (Maoist), born out of splits in the communist movement in the 1960s, has reinvented itself many times to become an influential militarist political group.
Its cadre base too has shifted from peasants in the 1960s to tribals in the 1990s and thereafter.
However, a decade since the then prime minister, Manmohan Singh, described them as the gravest internal security threat, the ultra-left political movement is now restricted to pockets of Central India.
A focussed and co-ordinated effort by security agencies could further limit its footprint and finally end its violent run. That’s both a political and administrative challenge.

In the Arthashastra, Kautilya wrote that a state could be at risk from four types of threats –

internal,
external,
externally-aided internal, and
internally-aided external

He advised that of these four types, ‘internal threats’ should be taken care of immediately.

According to him, “internal troubles, like the fear of the lurking snake, are far more serious than external threats. The most dangerous enemy is the enemy within”.

Conclusion:

Synergy is essential to deal with India’s complex internal security operations.
We need a comprehensive centre-state strategy to deal with different insurgencies.
It should include broad-based domains of national and state policies including accelerated economic development and social justice, security and media policies.
Most importantly, it should address dedicated and effective governance through good administration, prompt and fair judiciary and a law and order machinery that inspires public confidence.

Connecting the dots: