10th June – Editorials/Opinions Analyses

Contents

1. A three-fold test for new legislations
2. Being vocal on the right local
3. Flattening the climate curve

A THREE-FOLD TEST FOR NEW LEGISLATIONS

Focus: GS-II Governance

Introduction

When legislatures are not in session, as is currently the case, India’s Constitution empowers the government to make laws through executive action.

Recent Laws passed by Executive Action

1. Legislations which aim is to give a “boost to rural India and agriculture”,
2. Law to protect companies from insolvency proceedings for defaulting on their financial commitments,
3. Law giving power to the government to regulate the supply of food items like cereals, oils, pulses in extraordinary circumstances.

Are amongst the list of important legislations passed by executive action.

Effective law making

• Effective laws are the outcome of a robust law-making process, however, in certain situations a law can bypass some layers of scrutiny.
• Ordinances, which are laws made by the government to deal with an emergent situation when Parliament is not in session (such as those mentioned above) are one such example.
• The rationale for their existence is to tackle an emergent situation and it makes it critical that they be scrutinised carefully in a timely manner by Parliament.

Implementation Issues of such ordinances

Making a law is no guarantee that it will solve the intended problem, as sometimes there are no regular checks to ensure that it is working well on the ground, and whether there is a need for revising the law.

Law of Instrument

“If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

‘Law of Instrument’ – the axiom is a reference to the over-reliance on a familiar tool, irrespective of its suitability to solve a problem.

Laws during recent times with discussed issues

• The government directed employers to pay full wages to workers for the lockdown period to workers who were left with no source of livelihood, even as businesses themselves were facing financial trouble.
• When the lockdown was eased and there was a shortage of workers, state governments allowed factories to increase their working hours to 12 hours a day.

Conclusion

• The pandemic has led to calls for creating new laws to deal with the unprecedented situation.
• But for laws to be effective, they cannot be a simple exercise on paper. They have to be carefully made, regularly sharpened and judiciously used.

What is an Ordinance?

• An ordinance is a law that is promulgated by the President of India only when the Indian parliament is not in session. President promulgates an ordinance on the recommendation of the union cabinet.
• Similarly, Governor of Indian states can also initiate ordinances only when a legislative assembly is not in session when it is a unicameral legislature and when legislative assembly along with legislative council both are not in session when it is the bicameral legislature.

-Source: Hindustan Times

BEING VOCAL ON THE RIGHT LOCAL

Focus: GS-III Indian Economy

Why in news?

The Prime Minister called upon Indians to be “vocal for local” in a move to aid the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India).

Village demographics Change – Reverse Migration

• Pockets of virtually empty villages will become re-populated and many of the poorest parts of the country have experienced the largest inflows – Due to reverse Migration.
• Re-united families would like to stay together and they will search for local livelihoods and they desperately need immediate and substantial social transfers.
• Strengthening these communities by building schools, clinics and hospitals within easy reach, and opening windows of credit to those with ideas would show a real commitment to the right kind of local.
• Development policy should help the migrant labourers who have returned use their skills and new perspectives to reimagine their communities while they earn a living.

Way Forward: How to get it right?

• We have attained global competitiveness over the last two decades in many new fields such as software development, pharmaceuticals and engineering products – which have flourished through international collaboration and feedback from foreign consumers.
• It would be short-sighted to imagine that we would reach these consumers if we restricted access to our own markets.
• Many of our sustainable energy initiatives have also depended on government action elsewhere.
• If we adequately fund, support and trust local governments and remain open to absorbing both the knowledge and products that others produce better than us we can create a better society where everyone matters.

Make in India

• It is an initiative which was launched in 2014 with the objective of facilitating investment, fostering innovation, building best class manufacturing infrastructure, making it easy to do business and enhancing skill development.
• The initiative is further aimed at creating a conducive environment for investment, modern and efficient infrastructure, opening up new sectors for foreign investment and forging a partnership between government and industry through positive mindset.

Make in India 2.0

• Make in India initiative has made significant achievements and presently focuses on 27 sectors under Make in India 2.0.
• The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade is coordinating action plans for 15 manufacturing sectors
• Department of Commerce is coordinating action plans for 12 service sectors.
• At the same time, investment promotion and facilitation activities under the Make in India initiative are being undertaken by several Central Government Ministries/ Departments and various State Governments from time to time.

-Source: The Hindu

FLATTENING THE CLIMATE CURVE

Focus: GS-III Environment and Ecology

Consequences: Upward trends

• From the mid-19th century CO2 levels began to rise as humans burnt coal and oil to fuel the industrial revolution, and burnt forests to expand agriculture and settlements.
• From a mere 0.2 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions in 1850, annual emissions increased to 36 billion tonnes by 2018
• From 1850 onwards, for over a century, the global temperature showed a slight warming trend – nothing serious.
• From 1975 onwards, the temperature graph has shown a distinct, upward trend.
• By 2015, the globe had heated by a full degree Celsius relative to a hundred years previously.
• The years 2015-19 have globally been the warmest years on record.
• If all the countries largely fulfil their commitments under the Paris Agreement, it would keep average global temperature rise below 2˚C

Chain events

• Climate change involves not just a change in temperature but every other component of weather, including rainfall, humidity and wind speed. Indirect effects follow, such as a rise in sea levels from melting glaciers.
• Globally there have been several extreme weather events such as hurricanes, heat waves or droughts.
• While no single event can be directly attributed to climate change, the collective trends are consistent with climate change predictions.

Reducing the ill-effects

• Carbon emissions from fossil fuels have surely reduced in recent lockdown weeks.
• This is a make-or-break moment for the climate trajectory which has to be flattened within a few years if we are to avoid dangerous climate change.
• There seems to be wishful thinking that technology can be used to suck out billions of tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere and store this safely somewhere, but available ones are extremely slow and expensive.
• Technologists, economists and social scientists must plan for a sustainable planet based on the principles of equity and climate justice within and across nations.

-Source: The Hindu