- Green jobs and the problem of gender disparity
- The transition to low carbon development has the potential to add about 35 million green jobs in India by 2047.
- Globally men are likely to transition to green jobs faster than women. Women comprise merely 11% of workers in the solar rooftop sector even as India increased its renewable energy capacity by 250 percent between 2015 to 2021.
- 85% of the training for green jobs and skills are imported to men while over 90% of women believed that social norms limited their participation in training for green jobs. In India despite 42.7% of the total women of STEM graduates being women, they represent only 30.8% in Engineering manufacturing and construction programmes which are the key sectors for green transition.
- Green jobs are a class of jobs that directly have a positive impact on the planet, and contribute to the overall environmental welfare. They’re aimed at reducing the negative environmental impact of economic sectors and furthering the process of creating a low-carbon economy.
2. Maharashtra’s latest Maratha quota law
- The Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed a bill granting 10% reservation in education and government jobs to the Maratha community.
- The bill does not disturb the existing OBC quota and its distinct from the Maharashtra government’s earlier notification on the issuance of Kunbi caste certificates to eligible marathas for inclusion within the OBC category.
- The law has been formulated based on a report by the Justice Sunil B Shukre led Maharashtra state backward Class Commission.
- The committee concluded that the Marathas Constitute 28% of the state’s population with 84% of them qualifying as not advanced.
- The law is unlikely to pass the judicial scrutiny as it contradicts the 50% cap on reservation set up by the Supreme Court in Indira Sawhney case.
- In the Indra Sawhney case of 1992, the Government notice reserving 10% of government posts for economically depressed classes among the upper castes was invalidated by the Supreme Court while preserving the 27% quota for lower castes
3. Why did Google delist some Indian apps from play store?
- Google on March 1 announced that it was pulling the apps of almost a dozen firms out of its marketplace for Android apps.
- Google collects a fee of anywhere between 11 to 30% per transaction for all in app purchases that involve a purely digital service such as an e-book purchase or an OTT streaming subscription.
- Indian developers like many global counterparts see these fees as a high price to pay. The issue revolves around Google’s requirement for developers to pay fees for in-app purchases made by their customers
4. Indian troops out, Maldives inks defence pact with China
- The Maldivian Defence Minister announced signing a military pact with China days after a technical team from India arrived in the Maldives to replace troops.
- The country’s signed an agreement on China’s provision of military assistance gratis to the Republic of Maldives fostering stronger bilateral ties.
- It also coincides with New Delhi’s apparent compromise with Male agreeing to withdraw its troops stationed in the island nation instead replacing them with a technical team to help operate India-gifted aircraft.
- The diplomatic and political relationship between India and the Maldives dates back to 1965 when the British relinquished control of the islands. Located south of India, the Maldives holds immense strategic importance in the Indian Ocean, acting as a gateway to the Arabian Sea and beyond.
5. Philippine and Chinese vessels collide in disputed South China Sea
- Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard vessels collided in the disputed S China Sea and four Filipino crew members were injured.
- The shoal has been the site of several tense skirmishes between Chinese and Philippine Coast Guard ships last year.
- The long simmering territorial disputes in the South Tennessee are expected to be discussed at a summit of leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian nations and their Australian counterpart on Wednesday in Melbourne.
- The South China Sea is bordered by China and Taiwan to the north, the Indo-Chinese peninsula (including Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore) to the west, Indonesia and Brunei to the south, and the Philippines to the east (referred to as the West Philippine Sea)
