BRICS: A New Global Pattern

The BRICS are now five years old, and the modest agreement on establishing a development bank and pooling of currency reserves moves the grouping beyond a dialogue forum to cooperative mechanisms challenging the 60 year hegemony of the undemocratic Bretton Woods Institutions.

The next step must be a transition in ideas and principles to share global governance and prosperity in an interdependent world.

The BRICS have 20 per cent of world GDP, 23 per cent of the global population, 40 per cent of combined foreign reserves, but only 15 per cent voting rights in the World Bank and IMF.

However, much of the collective clout derives from China’s economic miracle, which is also a quarter larger than the other four combined. China must reassure the others of its commitment to a collective approach, only then will the BRICS move beyond a new version of NAM to reflect the shift into a multi-polar world.

The Development Bank signifies that the BRICS, and others, will not look to the West for developmental guidance and will evolve their own state-driven infrastructure led frameworks that will support sustainable development.

The new framework should look at transformational shifts in growth pathways driven by infrastructure development with a focus on consumption, rather than production, and with human welfare measured not just in terms of economic activity but through broader criteria including ecosystem services and societal considerations.

Under the current system, redistribution has also been kept out of the UN, with its stress on political and human rights to the exclusion of economic and social rights, which were relegated to the non-democratic Bretton Woods Institutions with governance based on ‘one dollar one vote’ rather than ‘one country one vote’.

Reforming World Bank

While institutions matter, the new bank is not a ‘litmus test’ of the BRICS coming of age but a major step in reforming the World Bank, including towards infrastructure projects. Similarly, agreements on conducting trade in local currencies (expected to reach $500bn in 2015), exchange-rate stability and a rating agency will dilute and democratise the role of the IMF.

So far the BRICS countries have not taken a view of the way global rules in the World Trade Organization are now sought to be reshaped not through multilateral ‘give and take’ but through regional trading rules amongst the developed countries being imposed on the multilateral institution.

In the area of security, BRICS is rightly focusing on preventive diplomacy and mediation. A broader definition of ‘ecological’ security will also shift the focus on promoting peace rather than managing conflict.

The success of this rebalancing will depend on pragmatism in developing and setting the global agenda.

The BRICS should consider Chinese leadership of the new Development Bank, even to internationalise the Renminbi. The think-tank of the BRICS could be located in India with its strong tradition of conservation, for charting the course of the United Nations towards a more equitable and sustainable future.

South Africa could be tasked with developing rules for infrastructure development and mining, avoiding a repeat of the scramble that took place in Africa, and also monitor their implementation.

Brazil could look at food security, the valuation of ecosystem services and intellectual property rights based on their use. Russia is well placed to develop global rules on long term energy access and a fair pricing mechanism to replace the current system of interference in internal affairs of energy suppliers.

No doubt, the BRICS will continue to rely on a global rule-based system but with new approaches responding to new challenges, through resolutions and treaties, around the UN Economic and Social Council rather than the undemocratic Security Council and Bretton Woods Institutions.

Despite common ground on areas of importance, pitfalls remain in reforming a global system that served the natural resource and security needs of 20 per cent of the population to one that will share prosperity with all of humanity.

Hunger And Poverty Facts

Statistics on hunger can be shocking and show that 2 hungry people out of 3 live in 7 countries, namely India, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Congo, Indonesia, China and Pakistan. In 1970, the United Nations took up the issue of hunger on a priority basis and 126 nations agreed to 0.7 percent of their income for foreign aid. Today, just 5 countries, namely Sweden, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands, have managed to keep their end of the pledge.

Have a look at this infographic which provides the important hunger and poverty facts.

The world produces enough food to feed all 7 billion people who live in it, but those who go hungry either do not have land to grow food or money to purchase it. 13.1 per cent of the world’s population is hungry. That’s roughly 925 million people who go undernourished on a daily basis, consuming less than the recommended 2,100 calories a day.
Poverty is the main cause of hunger, and hunger is a cause of poverty. When people go malnourished, they lose brain functionality and the mental resources to be a productive asset in society or earn money. In 2010, an estimated 7.6 million children — more than 20,000 a day — died from hunger.

This infogrpahic lets you know:

•  The presents status of global hunger
•  Availability of food
•  The worst affacted areas
•  Possible Solutions

Key Indicators Of Employment And Unemployment

The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has released the key indicators of Employment and Unemployment in India, from the data collected in its 68th round survey conducted during the period July 2011 – June 2012. The NSS surveys on employment and unemployment are conducted quinquennially starting from 27th round (October 1972 – September 1973) and the last quinquennial survey was conducted in NSS 66th round (July 2009- June 2010) for which, the results have already been released. The NSS 68th round was the ninth quinquennial round on the subject.
The indicators are based on the Central Sample of 1,01,724 households (59,700 in rural areas and 42,024 in urban areas) surveyed from 7,469 villages in rural areas and 5,268 urban blocks spread over all the States and Union Territories except (i) interior villages of Nagaland situated beyond five kilometres of the bus route and (ii) villages in Andaman and Nicobar Islands which remained inaccessible throughout the year.

Lead Indicators

1. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
2. Worker Population Ratio (WPR)
3. Proportion Unemployed (PU)
4. Unemployment Rate (ER)

In defining the lead indicators of Labour force participation rate (LFPR i.e. ratio of labour force to population), Worker Population Ratio (WPR i.e. ratio of workforce to population), Proportion Unemployed (PU i.e. ratio of unemployed to population) and Unemployment Rate (UR i.e. ratio of unemployed to labour force) in NSS surveys, persons are classified into various activity categories on the basis of the activities pursued by them during certain speci­fied reference periods. Three reference periods used in NSS surveys are (i) one year (ii) one week and (iii) each day of the reference week.  Based on these three periods, three different measures of activity status are arrived at. Activity status determined on the basis of reference period of one year is known as the Usual Status (US) of a person, that determined on the basis of a reference period of one week is known as the Current Weekly Status (CWS) of the person and the activity status determined on the basis of the activities pursued by a person on each day during the reference week is known as the Current Daily Status (CDS) of the person. In US approach, there are two indicators viz. one based on principal activity called Usual Principal Status (ps) and other based on both principal and subsidiary activities taken together termed as Usual Status (ps+ss). The unit of measurements in case of US and CWS is persons and in case of CDS, it is person-days.

These indicators and also the other important statistics relating to distribution of workers according to employment status and industry and also on wage rates of regular wage/salaried employees and casual labourers from the survey are summarized as below:

Labour force participation rate (LFPR) in Usual Status (ps+ss)

• About 40 per cent of population belonged to the labour force – 41 per cent in rural areas and 37 per cent in urban areas
• LFPR for males was nearly 56 per cent and it was 23 per cent for females
• LFPR was about 55 per cent for rural males and about 56 per cent for urban males. It was about 25 per cent for rural females and about 16 per cent for urban females

 Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in usual status (ps+ss)

• WPR was 39 per cent at the all-India level- 40 per cent in rural areas and 36 per cent in urban areas
• WPR for males was nearly 54 per cent and it was 22 per cent for females
• WPR was nearly 54 per cent for rural males and 25 per cent for rural females. It was nearly 55 per cent for urban males and 15 per cent urban female

Unemployment rate (UR) in usual status (adjusted)

• UR in the usual status (ps+ss) termed as UR in usual status (adjusted) was nearly 2 per cent at the all-India level. It was about 2 per cent in rural areas and about 3 per cent in urban
• In the rural areas, UR for both males and females were almost at the same level (nearly 2 per cent) while in 

  Growth in employment between 66th  round and 68th  round

  According to the  usual status (ps+ss), the workforce at the all-India level, was about 459.0 millions (rural male: 231.9, rural female:104.5, urban male: 99.8 and urban female: 22.8) as on 1st January 2010 (NSS 66th round) which increased to 472.9 millions (rural male: 234.6, rural female:101.8, urban male:109.2 and urban female: 27.3) as on 1st January 2012 (NSS 68th round), indicating a growth of about 13.9 millions of the workforce at the all-India level between 66th round and 68th round.

  Distribution of usual status (ps+ss) workers  by employment status

  • In the total workforce of usual status (ps+ss) at the all-India level, the shares of self-employed, regular wage/salaried employees and casual labour were 52 per cent, 18 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively
  • In the rural areas, the shares of self-employed, regular wage/salaried employees and casual labour were 56 per cent, 9 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively
  • In the urban areas, the shares of self-employed and regular wage/salaried employees were 42 per cent and 43 per cent, respectively and the rest (15 per cent) were casual labours
  • The shares of self-employment in total workforce were 55 per cent for rural males, 59 per cent for rural females, 42 per cent for urban males, 43 per cent for urban females. The corresponding shares of casual labour were 36 per cent, 35 per cent, 15 per cent and 14 per cent for rural males, rural females, urban males and urban females, respectively urban areas, UR for females was about 5 per cent as compared to 3 per cent for males.
  •    Industry-wise distribution of usual status (ps+ss) workers
    • Among the workers in the usual status (ps+ss), about 49 per cent, 24 per cent and 27 per cent were engaged in agricultural sector, secondary sector and tertiary sector, respectively
    • In rural areas, nearly 59 per cent of the usual status (ps+ss) male workers and nearly 75 per cent of the female workers were engaged in the agricultural sector. Among the male workers, 22 per cent and 19 per cent were engaged in secondary and tertiary sectors, respectively. The corresponding proportions for female workers were 17 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively
    • In urban areas, nearly 59 per cent of male workers and 55 per cent of the female workers were engaged in the tertiary sector. The secondary sector employed nearly 35 per cent of the male and 34 per cent of the female workers. The share of urban workforce in agricultural sector was nearly 6 per cent for male workers and 11 per cent for female workers

    Wage Rates of Regular Wage/Salaried Employees and Casual Labourers (age 15-59 years)

    • At the all-India level, average wages received by regular wage/salaried employees was Rs. 396 per day. This was Rs. 299 in the rural areas and Rs. 450 in the urban areas
    • In the rural areas, wages received per day by a regular wage/salaried employee was was Rs. 322 for males and Rs. 202 for females, indicating the female-male wage ratio as 0.63. In the urban areas, this was Rs. 470 for males and Rs. 366 for females, indicating the female-male wage ratio as 0.78
    • Daily wages received by casual labours engaged in works other than public works was Rs. 139 in rural areas and Rs. 170 in urban areas. In the rural areas, wage received (per day) was Rs. 149 for males and Rs. 103 for females. In the urban areas, the corresponding rates were Rs. 182 and Rs. 111 for males and females, respectively.
    • Daily wages received by casual labours of rural areas engaged in public works other than MGNREG public works was Rs. 121. This was Rs. 127 for males and Rs. 111 for females. Daily wages received by casual labours of rural areas engaged in MGNREG public works was Rs. 107. This was Rs. 112 for males and Rs. 102 for females
     

India’s First Navigation Satellite Launched

ISRO’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, PSLV-C22, successfully launched IRNSS-1A, the first satellite in the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS), on July 1 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota. This is the twenty third consecutively successful mission of PSLV. The ‘XL’ configuration of PSLV was used for the mission. Previously, the same configuration of the vehicle was used thrice to launch Chandrayaan-1, GSAT-12 and RISAT-1  satellites. After a flight of 20 minutes 17 seconds, the IRNSS-1A Satellite, weighing 1425 kg, was injected to the intended elliptical orbit of 282.46 km X 20,625.37 km.

IRNSS-1A is the first of the seven satellites constituting the space segment of the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System. IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system designed to provide position information in the Indian region and 1500 km around the Indian mainland. IRNSS would provide two types of services, namely:

• Standard Positioning Services (SPS) – provided to all users
• Restricted Services (RS) provided only to authorised users

A number of ground stations responsible for the generation and transmission of navigation parameters, satellite control, satellite ranging and monitoring, etc., have been established in as many as 15 locations across the country.

Payloads

IRNSS-1A carries two types of payloads — navigation payload and ranging payload. The Navigation payload of IRNSS-1A will transmit navigation service signals to the users. This payload will be operating in L5 band (1176.45 MHz) and S band (2492.028 MHz). A highly accurate Rubidium atomic clock is part of the navigation payload of the satellite. The ranging payload of IRNSS-1A consists of a C-band transponder which facilitates accurate determination of the range of the satellite. IRNSS-1A also carries Corner Cube Retro Reflectors for laser ranging.

Applications of IRNSS

• Terrestrial, Aerial and Marine Navigation
• Disaster Management
• Vehicle tracking and fleet management
• Integration with mobile phones
• Precise timing
• Mapping and geodetic data capture
• Terrestrial navigation aid for hikers and travellers
• Visual and voice navigation for drivers

IRNSS Overview

IRNSS is an independent regional navigation satellite system being developed by India. It is designed to provide accurate position information service to users in India as well as the region extending up to 1500 km from its boundary, which is its primary service area. The Extended Service Area lies between primary service area and area enclosed by the rectangle from Latitude 30 deg South to 50 deg North, Longitude 30 deg East to 130 deg east.

IRNSS will provide two types of services, namely, Standard Positioning Service (SPS) which is provided to all the users and Restricted Service (RS), which is an encrypted service provided only to the authorised users. The IRNSS System is expected to provide a position accuracy of better than 20 m in the primary service area.

IRNSS consists of a space segment and a ground segment. The IRNSS space segment consists of seven satellites, with three satellites in geostationary orbit and four satellites in inclined geosynchronous orbit. IRNSS ground segment is responsible for navigation parameter generation and transmission, satellite control, ranging and integrity monitoring and time keeping.

The entire IRNSS constellation of seven satellites is planned to be completed by 2015-16.

• ISRO Navigation Centre (INC) at Byalalu, is the nerve centre of the IRNSS Ground Segment. INC primarily generates navigation parameters
• IRNSS Range and Integrity Monitoring Stations (IRIMS) perform continuous one way ranging of the IRNSS satellites and are also used for integrity determination of the IRNSS constellation
• IRNSS CDMA Ranging Stations (IRCDR) carry out precise two way ranging of IRNSS satellites
• IRNSS Network Timing Centre (IRNWT) at Byalalu generates, maintains and distributes IRNSS Network Time
• Spacecraft Control Facility (SCF) controls the space segment through Telemetry Tracking & Command networks. In addition to the regular TT&C operations, IRSCF also uplinks the navigation parameters generated by the INC

India And The Arctic

Arctic region, the enormous area around the North Pole spreading over one-sixth of the earth’s landmass (approximately the size of Russia, China and India put together), is increasingly being effected by external global forces — environmental, commercial and strategic and in turn is poised to play an increasingly greater role in shaping the course of world affairs.

By far Climate Change and the resultant rapid melting of the Arctic Ice cap is the most important phenomenon that is redefining the global perspective on the Arctic. Current scientific consensus indicates the Arctic may experience nearly ice free summers as early as 2030’s opening up enormous opportunities as well as challenges not only for the littoral states but also the international community as a whole. While the attraction of Arctic oil and gas reserves, unexploited marine living resources and shorter shipping routes connecting the Pacific and the Atlantic Oceans is undeniable, the adversarial impact of melting Arctic Ice cap on the indigenous communities, the marine ecosystems and aggravation of global warming is equally undeniable.

Antarctica, though uninhabited, is governed by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty ensuring that it is used for exclusively peaceful purposes. There is no similar international regime for the Arctic. This was perhaps because of the particular characteristics of the Arctic but also because of the Cold War. In the Post Cold War era a move towards cooperative arrangements for managing the Arctic region led the establishment of Arctic Council.

Arctic Council

The Arctic Council is a high level intergovernmental body set up in 1996 by the Ottawa Declaration to promote cooperation, coordination and interaction among the Arctic States together with the indigenous communities and other Arctic inhabitants. The Council has the eight circumpolar countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark (Greenland and Faroe Islands), Canada, US and Russia) as member states and is mandated to protect the Arctic environment and promote the economies and social and cultural well-being of the indigenous peoples whose organizations are permanent participants in the council.

Observer status in the Arctic Council is open to Non-governmental organizations, Non-littoral states as well as to Intergovernmental and Inter-Parliamentary organisations. With 6 new countries inducted as observers in May 2013 the Arctic Council currently has 12 observers.

Working Group

The Council members meet biannually and the Chairmanship if the Arctic Council rotates every two years. There are six working groups a) Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP); Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP); (c) Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF);(d) Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR); (e)Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME); and (f) Sustainable Development Working Group(SDWG). On the agenda of the Arctic Council are issues relating to shipping regulations, maritime boundaries, search and rescue responsibilities and to devise strategies to mitigate the adversarial impact of the melting of Arctic ice cap.

Countries have nuclear weapons

There are an estimated 20,000 warheads in the world's combined stockpile of nuclear weapons.

Of these, almost 5,000 are considered operational and about 2,000 belonging to the US and Russia are believed to be ready for use at short notice.

Although the exact number of nuclear weapons in each country's possession is top secret, the Federation of American Scientists has made best estimates about the size and composition of national nuclear weapon stockpiles based on publicly available information.

Their sources include the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and theStockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Countries and their nuclear weapons
Country	Operational and strategic weapons*	Total arsenal**
SOURCE: FEDERATION OF AMERICAN SCIENTISTS, AS OF 6 MARCH 2012
Russia	2,430	10,000
US	1,950	8,500
France	290	300
China	0	240
UK	160	225
Pakistan	0	90-110
India	0	80-100
Israel	0	80
North Korea	0	Fewer than 10

*Strategic weapons are designed to target cities, missile locations and military headquarters as part of a strategic plan

**Total arsenal inventory includes non-strategic and non-deployed weapons as well as stockpiles

India’s Sustainability Challenges.....

“India has the potential to significantly increase its energy security to support continued rapid growth, while securing sustainability that exceeds current expectations,” says McKinsey Report,” India: Taking on the green-growth challenge”.

The report highlights that “India has a tremendous opportunity to increase its level of sustainability beyond what it expects to achieve through the ambitious programs already inaugurated. Achieving just a portion of this theoretical potential would yield immense economic and social benefits that would not only enable India to maintain its recent rapid rate of growth and increase its energy security but also to increase the quality of life of its citizens by expanding energy inclusion, increasing access to quality food and water, and improving air quality. And by acting quickly, India has the opportunity to establish itself as a hub for a range of clean-tech industries, thus laying the foundations for new avenues of growth.”

Over the next two decades, India is expected to grow at a rate of 7 to 8 percent. And during that same period, it will build approximately 80 percent of the physical assets i.e., infrastructure, commercial and residential real estate, vehicle stock, and industrial capacity which will constitute the India of 2030.

Growth of this magnitude will bring tremendous benefits, but it also poses many challenges, particularly regarding sustainability.  However, the report reiterates,” India has already taken steps to curb expected increases in GHG emissions, including launching efforts to increase the efficiency with which it uses resources, reduce consumption, and accelerate the adoption of clean technologies.”

” India: Taking on the green-growth challenge”, the reports discusses:

• How can India reduce energy consumption and GHG emissions without compromising its prospects for growth?
• How is India going to develop solutions to long-standing challenges in financing, regulation, skills, and technological and business-model uncertainty?
• What should India do to retain its global competitive positioning?