CURRENT AFFAIRS

Recently, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Arunachal Pradesh government to submit an action taken report against the racial profiling and relocation of people belonging to the Chakma and Hajong communities.

Allocating ample money towards productive infrastructure investments holds the key to achieving immense economic potential as a nation, creation of gainful jobs, particularly for our underemployed youth and women.

The Supreme Court has once again addressed the ‘merit versus reservation’ debate, a misleading binary that has engaged public and judicial discourse for years and noted that “reservation is not at odds with merit” in open competitive examinations.

The annual Economic Survey (2021-2022) of the Department of Economic Affairs said that demand for work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme has dropped from the peak of the first lockdown, but is still higher than pre-COVID levels.

The rates of growth and changes in the structural composition of output and the workforce are the two important indicators of structural transformation in any economy. India has experienced fairly consistent changes in the rates of growth but the trend in employment has not revealed any consistent or clear pattern.

The Preamble to the Constitution declares that India is a ‘Republic’ which shows that India has a form of government in which "supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives" and the country is considered a "public matter", not the private concern or property of the rulers.

Recently, Oxfam International presented its annual global “Inequality Report” with title Inequality Kills. The report calculated and presented the quantum growth in wealth of a minuscule few, and the simultaneous impoverishment of millions of working people.

The Government has made several efforts to formalise the economy as the formal sector is more productive than the informal sector, and formal workers have access to social security benefits. Efforts based on the “fiscal perspective” of formalisation like currency demonetisation, introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST)..

The challenge to feed the 10 billion population by mid-century demands efficient ways of production that are both economically viable and ecologically sustainable.

The Budget allocation by the Central and State governments to education is always a matter of public concern and debate but after the pandemic it became more of concern as the country is facing an education emergency.