GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

In a demonstration of the nations' shared commitment to peace and security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), India’s Defence Minister handed over two 'Made in India' platforms, a Fast Patrol Vessel and a Landing Craft Assault ship, to the Maldives National Defence Forces.

Defence & Security Cooperation with Maldives

• Neighbourhood First
• Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR)
• Greater Male connectivity project: In August last year, both countries started the India-funded Greater Male connectivity project, billed as the largest infrastructure initiative in the island nation.
  • Under the Greater Male Connectivity Project (GMCP) project, a 6.74 km long bridge and causeway link will be built to connect the capital city Male with adjoining islands of
    • Villingli
    • Gulhifalhu
    • Thilafushi
  • The two sides already exchange high-level visits and there are mechanisms in place to deepen this cooperation including several bilateral exercises like — Ekuverin; Dosti; Ekatha.
  • India is playing a very important role in the training and capacity building of the Maldivian National Defence Force.
  • India has helped Maldives with the Coastal Radar System with ten radars and control stations and this was inaugurated back in 2019.

Significance of the Maldives for India

• Strategic Importance: The Maldives is geographically positioned like a ‘toll gate’ between the western Indian Ocean chokepoints of the Gulf of Aden and the Strait of Hormuz on the one hand and the eastern Indian Ocean chokepoint of the Strait of Malacca on the other. 
• Economic Value: It is situated at the hub of commercial sea lanes running through the Indian Ocean. More than 97% of India’s international trade by volume and 75% by value passes through the region. It's the potential to allow a third nation’s naval presence in the area.
• Political and Regional Security:
  • Since China’s naval expansion into the Indian Ocean, Maldive's significance has steadily grown and now it’s at the heart of international geopolitics.
  • Moreover, the Maldives is an important aspect of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
  • ‘India First’ has been a stated policy of the Government of Maldives.
  • Maldives is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)and the South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC).
• Indian Community in the Maldives: There is a significant Indian diaspora in the Maldives. Innumerable Indians work across the hospitality, education, and healthcare sectors of the Maldives economy.

The Union Government told the Supreme Court that it is considering appointing an expert committee to examine if there can be a method less painful than hanging by neck for execution in death penalty cases in the country. 

• In 2017, a PIL was filed seeking to abolish the present practice of executing a death row convict by hanging and replace it with less painful methods such as "intravenous lethal injection, shooting, electrocution or gas chamber".

What is the death penalty in India?

• Hanging and shooting are the two methods of the death penalty in India.
  • According to the Criminal Procedure Code, hanging is the method of execution in the civilian court system.
  • The Army Act, of 1950, however, lists hanging and shooting as official methods of execution in the military court-martial system.
• Under the provisions of criminal procedure, the death penalty must be awarded as an alternative punishment to life imprisonment which the offenders may be sentenced to in 'rarest of rare cases'.

Gaps in the current sentencing framework

• Law Commission: In 2015, a Law Commission report called for its abolition, except for in terrorism-related cases.
• Supreme Court: In 2022, for the first time in 42 years, the Supreme Court acknowledged the gaps in the current sentencing frameworkand put together another constitutional bench to resolve them.
  • But as the Supreme Court seeks ways to reform death penalty sentencing, trial courts across India continue to hand down capital punishment.

Why capital punishment should be abolished?

• Violation of human rights: In 2015, a Law Commission report argued that the death penalty is unconstitutional and an infringement of Article 14 (right to equality before law) and Article 21 (right to life) of the Indian constitution.
• Endless suffering: The appeals procedure for death sentences is lengthy. Due to this, persons sentenced to death are sometimes brutally made to suffer extended periods of uncertainty about their fate.
• Economic burden: Abolishing the death penalty will ease, not enhance, the tax-payer’s burden. The annual cost of maintaining a prisoner is about ?30,000. 

Conclusion

The capital sentencing framework as it stands today raises concerns about our commitment to the rule of law and poses a serious threat to the right to fair trial of the accused. Any attempts to repair the broken nature of capital sentencing in India must necessarily involve addressing the glaring normative, substantive and procedural deficiencies.

Wayanad, Kerala has become the first district in the country to be declared ODF (open defecation-free) Plus.

ODF+ and ODF++

• India has been running the Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 scheme, an extension of the first phase launched in 2014, since February 2020.
• ODF+ and ODF++ are aimed at the proper maintenance of toilet facilities and the safe collection, conveyance, treatment, or disposal of faecal sludge and sewage.
• ODF+ focuses on toilets with water, maintenance and hygiene
• ODF++ focuses on toilets with sludge and septage management

The recent strike by Zomato-owned Blinkit delivery agents has once again brought to the forefront the issues plaguing the gig economy in the country and the reforms required to stop the exploitation of such workers.

Who is a ‘gig worker’?

• Gig workers refer to workers outside of the traditional employer-employee relationship.
• There are two groups of gig workers—
  • Platform workers: When gig workers use online algorithmic matching platforms or apps to connect with customers, they are called platform workers
  • Non-platform workers: Those who work outside of these platforms are non-platform workers, including construction workers and non-technology-based temporary workers.

Are gig workers ‘employees’ or ‘independent contractors’?

• Whether gig workers should be categorised as ‘employees’ or as ‘independent contractors’ has been a frequent debate. 
• However, given the unique nature of gig work, gig workers display characteristics of both employees and independent contractors and thus do not squarely fit into any rigid categorisation.
• As a result, gig workers have limited recognition under current employment laws and thus fall outside the ambit of statutory benefits.

What is the proposed law for gig workers?

• In keeping with the National Commission on Labour’s recommendation to consolidate central labour laws, the Ministry of Labour and Employment introduced the Code on Social Security, 2020 which brings gig workers within the ­ambit of labour laws for the first time.
• Definition: Under Section 2(35) of the Code, a ‘gig worker’ is defined as a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of a traditional employer-employee relationship’.
• Benefits: Although the Code recognises ‘gig workers’ including platform workers, it distinguishes between such workers and employees.
  • While employees have benefits such as gratuity, employee compensation, insurance, provident fund, and maternity benefits, the Code only stipulates that Central and State Governments must frame suitable social security schemes for gig workers on matters relating to health and maternity benefits, old age security, education, provident funds, accident benefits, life insurance, disability insurance among others.
• Compulsory registration: The Code also mandates the compulsory registration of all gig workers to avail of benefits under the social security fund for gig workers.
  • National Social Security Board: The Code also envisages the constitution of a National Social Security Board by the Central government to monitor the implementation of such schemes.

What are the major concerns?

• Exclusion from major security codes: Out of the four new labour codes proposed, gig work finds reference only in the Code on Social Security. As a result, gig workers remain excluded from vital benefits and protections offered by other Codes such as minimum wages, occupational safety and health benefits, and overtime pay.
• Limited rights: They cannot create legally recognised unions and access a national minimum wage that applies to all forms of employment.
• No guarantee on minimum wages: The proposed law does not guarantee minimum wages for gig workers.
• No remedy for grievances: Gig workers also remain excluded from accessing the specialised redressal mechanism under the Industrial Disputes Act, of 1947, thus denying them an effective remedy for grievances against their employers. 

A survey on the degree of innovation among manufacturing firms found that Karnataka, overall, is the most “innovative” State, followed by Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu (DNH&DD), Telangana, and Tamil Nadu.

Key-highlights

• Highest and lowest share: Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu had the highest share of innovative firms at 46.18%, 39.10% and 31.90%, respectively, with Odisha, Bihar, and Jharkhand reporting the lowest share of such firms at 12.78%, 13.47% and 13.71%, respectively.
• No innovation: Nearly three-fourths of the 8,000-odd firms surveyed, most of them micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME), neither made any innovative product nor business process innovation during the survey period of financial years 2017-2020.

What are the barriers to innovation?

• lack of internal funds
• high innovation costs
• lack of financing from external sources
• low demand for innovations in the market
• organisational rigidities within the firms 
• insufficient innovation potential and lack of qualified personnel