UPSC Key: Ladakh protests, Climate action plan, and Super Typhoon Ragasa

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Constitution of India —historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure, functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure.

What’s the ongoing story: Four persons were killed and at least 50 injured in Leh Wednesday as police opened fire after protesters, demanding statehood and seeking extension of Sixth Schedule protections to Ladakh, turned violent. The BJP office in Leh was also torched.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the Sixth Schedule of the Indian Constitution?

— Read about the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.

— What is the demand for the Sixth Schedule in Ladakh?

— What are the benefits of inclusion of state under Sixth Schedule?

— What are Autonomous District Councils?

— Can Ladakh be included in the Sixth Schedule?

Key Takeaways:

— Following the violence, climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was on a hunger strike for the past 35 days in support of Ladakh’s demands, called off his fast. The Leh administration has restricted the assembly of four or more people as a precautionary measure.

— The violence came ahead of talks scheduled between the Centre and the Leh Apex Body on October 6, after a gap of four months. Sources at the Centre said the government wanted Wangchuk to be kept out of the negotiations, seeing him as a hurdle in the negotiations.

From the Explained Page “Ladakh Protests: Demand for Statehood, Sixth Schedule Inclusion”

— The issue dates back to 2019, since Article 370 was repealed and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 was passed. The result was the bifurcation of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir with a legislature, and Ladakh without one.

— The political and legal status of Ladakh has remained contentious since, with the people of the UT finding themselves under direct central administration. Given that over 90% of Ladakh’s population belongs to the Scheduled Tribes, there has been a consistent demand to include the region under the Sixth Schedule.

— The Sixth Schedule under Article 244 of the Indian Constitution provides for the formation of autonomous administrative regions called Autonomous District Councils (ADCs), which govern tribal-majority areas in certain northeastern states.

— ADCs have up to 30 members with a term of five years and can make laws, rules and regulations on land, forest, water, agriculture, village councils, health, sanitation, village- and town-level policing, etc. Currently, there are 10 ADCs in the North East, with three each in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram, and one in Tripura.

— Sonam Wangchuk is an engineer and innovator of sustainable products. He is best known as having inspired a character essayed by Aamir Khan in the 2009 Hindi film 3 Idiots. In 2018, he was awarded the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, in recognition of “his uniquely systematic, collaborative and community-driven reform of learning systems in remote northern India, thus improving the life opportunities of Ladakhi youth, and his constructive engagement of all sectors in local society… setting an example for minority peoples in the world.”

Do You Know:

— Sixth Schedule contains provisions regarding the administration of tribal areas in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram.

— Inclusion under Sixth Schedule would allow Ladakh to create ADCs and ARCs. These are the elected bodies with the power to administrate tribal areas. This would include the power to make laws on subjects such as forest management, agriculture, administration of villages and towns, inheritance, marriage, divorce and social customs.

— The Schedule also grants ARCs and ADCs the authority to collect land revenue, levy taxes, regulate money lending and trading, gather royalties from licenses or leases for mineral extraction in their regions, and establish public amenities like schools, markets, and roads.

— In 2019, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes recommended that Ladakh be included under the Sixth Schedule. This recommendation was based on several factors:

(i) Ladakh has a predominantly tribal population, consisting of over 97 per cent.

(ii) There are restrictions preventing individuals from other parts of the country from purchasing or acquiring land in the region.

(iii) It has a unique cultural heritage that requires preservation.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge nugget of the day: Demand of Schedule 6 in Ladakh

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(1) With reference to the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution, consider the following statements:

1. This Schedule contains provisions regarding the administration of tribal areas only in the states of Assam and Meghalaya.

2. Inclusion under this Schedule would allow a State/U.T. to create Autonomous District and Regional Councils.

3. It provides the power to make laws on subjects such as forest management, agriculture and administration of villages.

4. It does not provide the power to collect land revenue and impose taxes.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Why are the tribals in India referred to as ‘the Scheduled Tribes? Indicate the major provisions enshrined in the Constitution of India for their upliftment. (UPSC CSE 2016)

 

GOVT & POLITICS

Ahead of COP30 Brazil and India to release its climate action plan

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies-II, III: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests. Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

What’s the ongoing story: India is likely to release an updated climate action plan during, or just ahead of, the COP30 climate meeting in Brazil in November, government sources said.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is UNFCCC’s Conference of Parties (CoP)?

— What are Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)?

— What are common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities (CBDR-RC)?

— Read about the Paris Agreement 2015.

— What are the focus areas of India’s climate action plan?

— By which year India targets to achieve net-zero emissions?

— What steps have been taken by the government to achieve the NDC targets?

Key Takeaways:

— Countries have to update their existing climate action plans, called Nationally Determined Contributions, or NDCs, in the language of the 2015 Paris Agreement, with a new set of targets to be achieved by the year 2035. The existing NDCs contain climate targets for the 2030 time-frame.

— Under the Paris Agreement, every country is mandated to finalise and submit these NDCs every five years, with every successive NDC representing a progression over the existing one.

— The NDCs have to specify the set of actions the country is taking to fight climate change. The first set of NDCs were submitted around the time the Paris Agreement was finalised in 2015, and these were then updated around the year 2020. Countries are now supposed to submit the third edition of their NDCs by the end of this year.

— India’s updated NDC is unlikely to promise anything new apart from making an upward revision of the three targets it has committed itself to in its existing NDC, the sources said.

— India’s climate action plan is focused on three objectives — progressively reduce the emissions intensity of its GDP (emissions per unit of GDP), progressively increase the share of clean and renewable sources in its energy mix, and expand tree and forest cover to enhance their carbon-capturing capabilities.

— In its first NDC, India had promised to reduce its emissions intensity by 33 to 35 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030, and to ensure that at least 40 per cent of its installed electricity generation capacity in the year 2030 came from non-fossil fuel sources. In its second NDC, submitted in 2022, India had made an upward revision in both these targets.

— The emission intensity reduction goal was increased to 45 per cent from 33 to 35 per cent, while the non-fossil fuel share in electricity target was upgraded to 50 per cent.

— In July this year, India announced that the share of non-fossil fuels, like solar, wind and nuclear, in its total electricity generation installed capacity had gone beyond 50 per cent. It meant that India had fulfilled one of its three NDC commitments five years ahead of schedule.

— India had made a third commitment as well, and it was unchanged in the first two NDCs. It had promised to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes through expansion of forest and tree cover. 

— Less than 50 countries have so far submitted their third NDCs. At least a few more are likely to do so on Wednesday to coincide with a special meeting on climate action called by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres in New York on the sidelines of the ongoing annual UN General Assembly session.

Do You Know:

— The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty, signed in 1992, that has provided a basis for climate negotiations. 

— The Framework Convention on Climate Change was opened for signature on 19 June 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Earth Summit. Alongside it, two other sister conventions were introduced: the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. The Framework Convention entered into force on 21 March 1994.

— The UNFCCC established foundational principles that guide international climate action. Chief among these principles is “common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities” (CBDR-RC), recognising the fact that while all countries share a responsibility to address climate change, their obligations differ according to their capacities and circumstances.

— Conference of the Parties or COP is the world’s only multilateral decision-making forum that brings together almost every country on the planet to formulate and implement policy responses to climate change collectively. Currently, there are 198 parties (197 countries plus the European Union) to the UNFCCC. 

— The first COP, held in Berlin, Germany, in 1995, is notable for the Berlin Mandate, which marked a significant step forward. During this meeting, the need for legally binding commitments for developed nations was agreed upon. 

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍COP29: Why it matters and what is the history behind it

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Describe the major outcomes of the 26th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on climate change (UNFCCC). What are the commitments made by India in this conference? (UPSC CSE 2021)

 

EXPLAINED 

Wind speeds of 280kmph: What made Super Typhoon Ragasa so intense?

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance, Geography 

Mains Examination: General Studies-I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc.

What’s the ongoing story: Super Typhoon Ragasa battered Hong Kong with fierce winds and pounding rain, and headed into southern China on Wednesday. It has forced two million people to evacuate in southern China and brought a “significant storm surge”, with waters in coastal areas rising more than 3 metres above the reference level in Hong Kong.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is a tropical cyclone?

— What are tropical depressions?

— What is a super typhoon?

— What is a ‘clean’ side and a ‘dirty’ side of a  tropical cyclone?

— What are the favourable conditions for the formation of tropical cyclones?

— What is the difference between cyclones and anti-cyclones?

— How is climate change impacting tropical cyclones?

— Why do Southern China and Hong Kong frequently witness typhoons?

Key Takeaways:

— This came after Ragasa left at least 14 people dead in Taiwan and at least two dead in northern Philippines.The storm is the most intense tropical cyclone recorded in 2025. At its peak, Ragasa was moving with the maximum sustained winds of 280 kmph. This was close to the upper limit of how intense storms can be on Earth.

— Tropical cyclones form over warm ocean waters near the equator. When the warm, moist air from the ocean surface rises upward, a lower air pressure area is formed below. Air from surrounding areas with higher air pressure rushes into this low-pressure area, eventually rising, and it becomes warm and moist.

— As warm, moist air rises, it cools down, and the water in the air forms clouds and thunderstorms. This whole system of clouds and winds gains strength and momentum using the ocean’s heat, and the water that evaporates from its surface.

— “The weakest tropical cyclones are called tropical depressions. If a depression intensifies such that its maximum sustained winds reach 39 miles per hour [63 kmph], the tropical cyclone becomes a tropical storm,” according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Storm systems with wind speeds of 119 kmph and above are classified as hurricanes, typhoons, or tropical cyclones.

— The category of a tropical cyclone is determined by its sustained wind speed, as measured by the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. It is classified into five categories — Category 1 to Category 5. While Category 1 tropical cyclones bring winds of 119 to 153 kmph, Category 5 tropical cyclones, which are the strongest, have winds of 252 kmph or higher. Storms that reach Category 3 and higher are considered major tropical cyclones due to their potential to inflict significant damage.

— Ragasa has been referred to as a super typhoon because it is a Category 5 tropical cyclone. 

— Scientists are yet to reach an agreement over how exactly climate change is impacting tropical cyclones. That is because there are several factors that determine whether a storm forms, how it develops, its strength, duration and overall characteristics. However, there is a consensus that with rising global temperatures, tropical cyclones are becoming more intense. 

— Given the extreme intensity of Ragasa, some scientists have observed that the storm almost reached the upper limit of what Earth is capable of producing. Current calculations of the maximum potential intensity of storms peak at roughly 322 kmph.

— Southern China and Hong Kong frequently witness typhoons during this time of the year. However, the impact of Super Typhoon Ragasa has been worse due to its location. The region has been affected by the ‘dirty side’ or ‘right-front quadrant’ of the storm.

— A tropical cyclone has a ‘clean’ side and a ‘dirty’ side. In the northern hemisphere, the right-hand side of the storm (relative to its motion) is called the ‘dirty’ side, and the left-hand side is known as the ‘clean’ side.

— The ‘dirty’ side can bring more devastation as the forward motion of the storm is added to the background rotating circulation of the system, which is always in an anti-clockwise direction. The location at which the two movements — rotation around the eye and forward motion — combine is where the most powerful winds are found.

— For instance, if a typhoon is moving at 48 kmph and has sustained winds of 161 kmph, the combination generates a wind speed of 209 kmph on the right-hand side

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(2) In the South Atlantic and South-Eastern Pacific regions in tropical latitudes, cyclone does not originate. What is the reason? (UPSC CSE 2015)

(a) Sea surface temperatures are low

(b) Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone seldom occurs

(c) Coriolis force is too weak

(d) Absence of land in those regions

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Tropical cyclones are largely confined to the South China Sea, Bay of Bengal and Gulf of Mexico. Why? (UPSC CSE 2014)

 

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Trajectory of irrelevance

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate

What’s the ongoing story: Syed Akbaruddin writes: At 80, the UN should be celebrating endurance. Instead, it faces an audit of relevance. The wars it cannot stop, the money it cannot raise, and the legitimacy it cannot turn into results all raise one question: Does it still matter?

Key Points to Ponder:

— What was the rationale behind constituting the UN?

— What are the various organs of the UN?

— “The UN’s defining task is peace. Yet in conflict after conflict, it has become a bystander,” what does it mean?

— What do you understand about multilateralism?

— What is the UN80 plan?

— Why is there demand for reform of the UN?

— What are the criticisms of the UN?

Key Takeaways:

— The UN’s founding promise was to maintain peace and security. Eight decades on, that promise is unfulfilled. From Gaza to Ukraine, Sudan to Haiti, today’s crises expose both the UN’s weakness and its necessity.

— In Gaza, Israel, the United States and regional actors have sidelined the UN with their own diplomacy. None has delivered aid at scale. 

— UNRWA, battered by cuts and political attacks, is still the only lifeline for millions of Palestinians. The UN is not keeping peace, only offering fragments of relief.

— In Ukraine, the Security Council is paralysed. General Assembly votes show solidarity is waning. Yet, if a ceasefire comes, the UN may be asked to do work it cannot refuse but is unprepared to deliver.

— Sudan’s war has pushed millions toward famine, with aid blocked deliberately. In Haiti, a Kenya-led mission falters while Washington presses for more force and UN logistics. Together these crises tell one story: The UN’s defining task is peace. Yet in conflict after conflict, it has become a bystander.

— Money is another issue with the UN. Security is prioritised while food, rights, and culture are neglected. This year’s dues remain unpaid, and past arrears linger. Exits from climate and health platforms, and disdain for the UN’s role on migration, have reduced multilateralism to a menu. Washington supports what suits it and ignores the rest.

— Others are also retreating. Europe speaks the language of rules but pays less to enforce them. Its pledges on peacekeeping, development assistance and humanitarian relief are thinning under domestic pressure.

— Inside the system, survival means austerity. UN Secretary-General António Guterres’s UN80 plan is triage. Mandates trimmed, procedures digitised, budget cut by 15 per cent, and staff reductions by nearly a fifth just to keep the lights on.

— Africa has come to see Security Council reform as distant. Its priority is ending the cycle of poorly resourced peacekeeping. Troops are sent without proper equipment or reimbursement. Peacekeeping has become the transfer of burdens without the transfer of resources. 

— In Congo or South Sudan, ceasefires could hold if properly supported. Without that, ad-hoc coalitions take over.

Do You Know:

— The founding mission of the United Nations is the maintenance of international peace and security in the post-war world. The United Nations carries out this central mission through conflict prevention, helping parties in peacemaking, deploying peacekeeping forces, and creating conditions for long-term peace.

— Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter empowers the Security Council to take actions, ranging from economic sanctions to military intervention. The General Assembly is also bestowed with deliberative functions to intervene in international security issues.

— Notably, peacekeeping is one of the United Nations’ most effective tools in mitigating conflicts. The Security Council provides the mandate for peacekeeping forces, and member countries provide troops. United Nations peacekeeping forces received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988 for their efforts.

— One of the criticisms of United Nations peacekeeping is that permanent members of the Security Council often appropriate its tools for their narrow political gains. For instance, in the absence of the USSR, the United States secured a Security Council resolution authorising force against North Korea.

— The veto power held by the permanent members often prevents the United Nations from effectively implementing peacekeeping measures, undermining the body’s neutrality and collective spirit in global security.

— The United Nations’ inability to mitigate conflicts in which the interests of P5 are involved stems from its structure, which reflects the post-1945 power dynamics. The structure of the United Nations is no longer seen as representing the current global realities, with limited representation of countries from Asia, Africa, and Latin America in the Security Council.

— Therefore, calls for reform center on expanding the number of permanent members of the Security Council, with the G4 countries (Brazil, Germany, India, Japan) pushing for permanent seats. Abolishing or limiting the veto power is also seen as essential for democratising the structure of the United Nations.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍United Nations Day 2024: India continues to push for Security Council Reform

📍Only comprehensive reform can enable UNSC to effectively manage global conflicts: India

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(3) With reference to the “United Nations Credentials Committee”, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2022)

1. It is a committee set up by the UN Security Council and works under its supervision.

2. It traditionally meets in March, June and September every year.

3. It assesses the credentials of all UN members before submitting a report to the General Assembly for approval.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct? 

(a) 3 only

(b) 1 and 3

(c) 2 and 3

(d) 1 and 2

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Discuss the impediments India is facing in its pursuit of a permanent seat in the UN Security Council (UPSC CSE 2015)

 

THE IDEAS PAGE

Swipe, tap, spend

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-II, III: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation, Inclusive growth and issues arising from it

What’s the ongoing story: Ishan Bakshi writes: The formalisation of the Indian economy can be viewed at multiple levels – formalisation of firms, workers and transactions. But, by far, the greatest headway appears to have been made in the formalisation of transactions, triggered by the rapid adoption of digital modes of payment by households. And this holds true across the income distribution.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is private final consumption expenditure?

— What do you understand about currency in circulation?

— How has UPI transformed the nature of household spending in India?

— How has digital transactions led to financial inclusion?

— Know about the technologies used in the UPI?

— What is the status of digital literacy and accessibility in India?

Key Takeaways:

— The scale of formalisation of household transactions, which were earlier dominated by cash, is staggering. In the first quarter of this year (April-June), 34.9 billion transactions (person to merchant) took place through the UPI platform amounting to Rs 20.4 lakh crore. 

— To put this in perspective – this is equal to almost 40 per cent of private final consumption expenditure during the quarter, up from 24 per cent two years ago. 

— Take the case of food and beverages, segments that involve millions of small transactions each day, which have typically been conducted through cash. Even in this category, digital payments have made a significant dent.

— Within the non-food category, digital payments are used for paying for a wide range of goods and services, ranging from payment of utility bills (electricity, water and gas) and petrol, to buying clothes, medicines, electronic goods and cigarettes, to paying for haircuts and taxi.

— But, it’s not just spending on items of routine consumption that are routed through UPI. In July 2025, households transferred Rs 93,857 crore to debt collection agencies presumably to repay loans, a significant share of which are taken to finance consumption.

— Some have argued that high levels of cash in the economy is perhaps more for the purpose of maintaining precautionary household savings amid growing uncertainty and its store in value functions. That may well have been the case. 

— Household currency holdings did surge in 2017-18 after demonetisation and in 2020-21 during the pandemic. But, data also shows that in the years after the pandemic, the share of currency in household financial savings has been on a consistent decline. In fact, currency holdings, which accounted for 12.5 per cent of gross household financial savings in 2020-21, have declined to just 3.4 per cent in 2023-24.

— This raises the question: If each year, incrementally, household currency demand for transaction purposes and precautionary holdings is falling, and the formalisation of firms and workers continues, though perhaps at a relatively slower pace, then, are we nearing an inflection point where incrementally currency in circulation will trend lower? There are some signs.

Do You Know:

— Palash Baruah and D L Wankhar wrote: Over two-thirds of Indians who use digital devices struggle with basic digital banking transactions, highlighting the persistent challenge of bridging the digital literacy and access gap.

— According to data from the Government’s Comprehensive Annual Modular Survey (CAMS-2022-23), only 31.7 per cent of people who use a digital device (mobile phone, computer, laptop, or tablet) are capable of carrying out digital financial activities like online payments. This isn’t just a gap — it’s a gaping blind spot, one that threatens to transform a well-intentioned digital revolution into a tool of exclusion.

— Perhaps the most troubling disparity revealed by CAMS data is the digital gender gap. While around 40 per cent of men can transact online, only 21 per cent of women can do so — a gap of nearly 20 percentage points. This isn’t merely about access to technology; it reflects entrenched gender inequality in education, employment, asset ownership, and digital autonomy.

— India is moving towards a two-speed digital economy — one inhabited by the digitally fluent who can transact, save, invest, and borrow; and the other by the digitally stranded, who remain dependent and are increasingly being left behind. This divide is not due to unwillingness but systemic barriers, which include linguistic exclusion, digital illiteracy, and cultural constraints.

— India’s digital revolution must be reimagined to serve every Indian — not just the urban, young, male minority that currently benefits the most. To ensure inclusiveness, targeted interventions are needed. 

— These can include rural digital literacy drives in local languages, special training for the elderly and simplified interfaces, empowering women with direct access to mobile technology and policies to include individuals in banking and tech ecosystems.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Swipe, tap, exclude: The uneven march towards financial inclusion

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:

(4) Which of the following is a most likely consequence of implementing the ‘Unified Payments Interface (UPI)’? (UPSC CSE 2017) 

(a) Mobile wallets will not be necessary for online payments.

(b) Digital currency will totally replace the physical currency in about two decades. 

(c) FDI inflows will drastically increase. 

(d) Direct transfer of subsidies to poor people will become very effective. 

 

ECONOMY

Choice or duty: Experts want government survey to check on women’s unpaid care work

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment.

What’s the ongoing story: Experts have called on the Indian government to find out if the unpaid work performed by women in taking care of their children and elders is because they want to do it or they feel it is their responsibility. The suggestion was made at a panel discussion held on Monday in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, at the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) data-user conference on the Time Use Survey.

Key Points to Ponder:

— What is the care economy?

— What are the key highlights of the Time Use Survey?

— “Unpaid care work is seen as one of the most important factors that stop women from working,” What do you understand by this statement?
— What do you understand about ‘time poverty’ among women?

— What is the Female Labour Force Participation Rate?

— What is the female LFPR in India?

Key Takeaways:

— MoSPI’s Time Use Survey shows how much time Indians spend on different activities, such as learning, paid work, unpaid domestic work, and caring for household members. However, the survey’s primary aim is to measure participation of men and women in paid and unpaid activities.

— Unpaid care work is seen as one of the most important factors that stop women from working. “This disproportionate burden of unpaid care work creates what is called ‘time poverty’, which inhibits women’s ability to dedicate time to paid work and acquire the skills necessary to seek better job opportunities,” an Observer Research Foundation paper noted in 2022.

— “Cross-country estimates in 2014 showed that a two-hour increase in unpaid labour commitments correlates with a decrease of 10 per cent in the FLFPR (Female Labour Force Participation Rate),” the paper, authored by Mitali Nikore, an economist, said.

— India suffers from very low involvement of women in the workforce. As per the government’s latest Periodic Labour Force Survey, the female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in August was just 33.7 per cent for those aged 15 years and above compared to 77 per cent for males. 

— For young females, or those in the 15-29 age bracket, the LFPR was even lower at 21.4 per cent. The same ratio for makes was nearly three times higher at 60.7 per cent.

— As per the results of the latest Time Use Survey for 2024, released earlier this year in March, Indians who performed unpaid caregiving services for household members spent 116 minutes a day, or almost two hours, on the same. However, for females, the time spent was higher at 137 minutes, while it was much lower at 75 minutes for males.

— The aforementioned panel discussion also saw two other suggestions being made to the statistics ministry through the Time Use Survey. 

— One, the ministry was called on to collect information on household members’ digital access, distinguishing between shared and exclusive use and to assess its impact on individual time-use patterns. Second, the experts pushed for capturing women’s passive or supervisory care needs.

Do You Know:

— TUS is different from other household surveys because it captures time disposition on different aspects of human activities, be it paid, unpaid, or other activities with such details which helps measure various aspects of gender statistics. It also provides information on time spent on learning, socializing, leisure activities, self-care activities, etc., by the household members.

— Unpaid activities include care for children, sick, elderly, differently-abled persons in their own households; production of other services for own consumption; production of goods for own consumption; voluntary work for production of goods & services in households and market/non-market units; unpaid trainee work and other unpaid work for production of goods and services.

— The International Labour Organisation (ILO) defines Care Economy as a “set of activities related to the provision of care and support to individuals, households, and communities, including both paid and unpaid work.” Care Economy encompasses a broad spectrum of labour and resources dedicated to meeting the care needs of individuals and families.

— One of the characteristics of the care economy is that women are disproportionately represented here. According to the World Health Organisation, women form 70% of the total workers in health and social sectors with a gender pay gap of around 28% on average, making it one of the most biased sectors in terms of wage payments.

— Labour force participation rate refers to the part of the population that supplies or offers to supply labour for pursuing economic activities for the production of goods and services and therefore, includes both ‘employed’ and ‘unemployed’ persons. 

— Under the current weekly status (CWS) approach, labour force refers to the number of persons either employed or unemployed on an average in a week before the date of the survey. LFPR is defined as the number of persons/ person-days in the labour force per 1000 persons /person-days.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Knowledge Nugget: What is the relevance of ‘Time Use Survey’ for UPSC?

📍What are key highlights of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and why is it UPSC essential

Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:

Distinguish between ‘care economy’ and ‘monetized economy’. How can care economy be brought into monetized economy through women empowerment? (UPSC CSE 2023)

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K visa: Why this could be China’s answer to Trump’s war on H-1B	The State Council of the People’s Republic of China recently revised the ‘Regulations on the Administration of the Entry and Exit of Foreigners’, adding a new visa category of K visa from October 1. This new visa category is specifically aimed at foreign science and technology talents who meet certain conditions and requirements. While this was done before Trump’s curbs on H-1B, it is well known that a restriction on this visa category was on the cards and broadly aligned with the new US administration’s hardline immigration policies. For the Chinese K visa, foreign youth who have graduated from “renowned domestic or international universities or research institutions” with a bachelor’s degree or higher in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and foreign professionals engaged in education and research in STEM-related fields would qualify. Compared to existing ordinary Chinese visa types, K visa holders have been promised greater flexibility in terms of entry frequency and validity period and have an expanded scope of activities. More importantly, applications will no longer require sponsorship from a local enterprise. The K visa is essentially being seen as an extension of the R visa for high-level talent introduced by China in 2013.

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1. (b)               2. (b)                 3. (a)                 4. (a)

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