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A Gabon-flagged crude oil tanker, m.v Sai Baba, heading to India was hit by a one-way attack drone in the southern Red Sea, the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
The vessel had an all-Indian crew and is managed by an Indian company. No injuries were reported.
“At approximately 8 p.m. (Sanaa time), U.S. Naval Forces Central Command received reports from two ships in the Southern Red Sea that they were under attack,” CENTCOM said on X (formerly Twitter). USS Laboon responded to the distress calls, it said.
The vessel had received a certification from the Indian register of shipping, defence sources said. “All crew are safe and the vessel is heading towards India,” a source said.
States
Pesticide hazard eating away life and health of farmers in Maharashtra (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Nearly 40 kilometres from Yavatmal town, ringed in by agricultural fields, is Borisinh village. It is one of the many villages in Maharashtra where farmers suffer from pesticide poisoning.
Hiraman Sayam, 45, a farmer affected by pesticide poisoning in 2017, despairs that his body does not possess the strength as it once did. “I woke up feeling breathless and restless, which was followed by fits and seizures.
My shivering body gradually turned cold. My cousins tied me to a cot using a rope and sari because I was unable to lie still.
They carried me to the Akola Bazaar Prathmik Arogya Kendra Hospital, and from there I was referred to the Shri Vasantrao Naik Government Medical College and Hospital.
He had sprayed an insecticide based on a seller’s recommendation that it would significantly increase his cotton yield.
Editorial
India’s jobs crisis, the macroeconomic reasons (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
There are many indications everywhere that India continues to be going through a jobs crisis. Official data sources as well as many on-the-ground reports point to this fact.
At the outset, it is useful to distinguish the two types of employment that prevail in an economy such as India. The first is wage employment which is a result of labour demanded by employers in their pursuit of profits.
The second is self-employment where labour supply and labour demand are identical, i.e., the worker employs herself. A further useful distinction can also be made between wage labour and jobs.
The first includes all forms of labour done for an employer including daily wage work at one extreme and highly paid corporate jobs at the other.
But, jobs generally refer to relatively better paid regular wage or salaried employment. In other words, all jobs are wage labour, but all wage labour cannot be called jobs.
When we speak of a jobs problem, we are speaking of inadequate labour demand particularly for regular wage work.
The evolving role of the Colombo Security Conclave (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
In early December, India’s National Security Adviser (NSA), Ajit Doval, took part in the sixth NSA meeting of the Colombo Security Conclave (CSC).
The meeting reviewed the developments and progress made by the CSC in the last year and agreed upon a road map for the year 2024 to promote a safe, secure, and stable Indian Ocean.
The meeting also included member-states, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, and observer-states, Bangladesh and Seychelles. The Maldives, now under a new dispensation, was the only member-state that was absent, underscoring the impact of domestic politics over regional collaboration.
It is imperative for India to continue pushing for a proactive CSC to address the challenges in the Indian Ocean.
Opinion
Unpacking the first ever COP ‘Health Day’ (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The 28th UN Climate Change Conference (COP28), hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at Dubai, was held in a year when the planet is facing unprecedented challenges.
From it being the hottest year on record to wildfires that have devoured communities and floods that have wiped away cities, the evidence of the current crisis is crystal clear.
The climate crisis is a public health crisis. Severe temperatures, heat stress, excessive rainfall and floods, an increase in water- and vector-borne diseases, and more frequent extreme weather events are all evidence of this existential threat to our health security.
That is why the World Health Organization (WHO) declared “Climate change as the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century”. Marginalised communities are on the front lines of the worst impacts of the changing climate.
According to a World Bank estimate, “Climate change could drag more than 100 million people back into extreme poverty by 2030”.
Much of this reversal would be due to the “negative impacts on health”. The climate risk index shows that eight out of the 10 countries most impacted by extreme weather events are the low- and middle-income countries.
Explainer
India’s revised criminal law proposals (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three revised Bills in the Lok Sabha to replace British-era criminal laws: the Indian Penal Code (IPC) will be replaced by the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita Bill, 2023; the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita, 2023; and the Indian Evidence Act by the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill, 2023.
The Bills underwent review by a Parliamentary Standing Committee, leading to corrections of errors and over 50 recommended changes highlighted by Opposition MPs. Mr. Shah clarified that the revised Bills address suggestions and were introduced to avoid numerous official amendments.
Text & Context
Why ransomware attacks on Indian IT firms are a cause for concern? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
On 20 December, IT services provider HCL Technologies, in its quarterly report, shared that it was hit by a ransomware incident within a restricted cloud environment.
Following the attack, the company stated there was no “observable” impact on the overall HCL Tech network. However, news of the attack affected the company’s perception of the stock market, leading to a decline in its share prices.
HCL Tech is an Indian information technology company providing solutions in the digital realm, including end-to-end digital offerings, cloud-based solutions, and software.
News
Centre plans to revive tax cuts on sugar exports (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Union government is trying to work out a mechanism to provide tax remission benefits on exports of sugar, which was placed in the ‘restricted’ category in mid-2022, and is also considering a demand from tea exporters to raise their tax remission rates.
The Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme, launched in January 2021, is aimed at ensuring that no domestic taxes are added on to goods’ shipments meant for export.
Authorities had denied benefits under the scheme to sugar exporters after the sweetener was removed from the ‘free’ category in June 2022 as a pre-emptive measure to boost domestic availability and avoid a spurt in prices.
Any item which is restricted is not entitled for the RoDTEP benefits. So once sugar was brought into the restricted list, it has been prevented from getting RoDTEP.