PIB Summary- 5th May, 2021 | PIB (Press Information Bureau) Summary - UPSC PDF Download

Global Innovation Partnership

Context:

Cabinet gives ex-post facto approval to MoU between India and UK on Global Innovation Partnership (GIP).

Details:

• GIP will support Indian innovators to scale up their innovations in third countries thereby helping them explore new markets and become self-sustainable. It will also foster the innovative ecosystem in India. GIP innovations will focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related sectors thereby assisting recipient countries achieve their SDGs.
• Through seed funding, grants, investments and technical assistance, the Partnership will support Indian entrepreneurs and innovators to test, scale up and take their innovative development solutions to select developing countries.
• The innovations selected under GIP would accelerate the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals and benefit the base of the pyramid populations thus promoting equity and inclusivity in recipient countries.
• GIP will also develop an open and inclusive e-market place (E-BAAZAR) for cross border innovation transfer and will focus on results based impact assessment thereby promoting transparency and accountability.

MoU between India and the UK

Context:

The Cabinet has approved the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Migration and Mobility Partnership between India and the United Kingdom.

Objectives of the MoU:

• The MoU is aimed at liberalising issuance of visas promoting mobility of students, researchers and skilled professionals and strengthen cooperation on issues related to irregular migration and human trafficking between the two sides.

Benefits:

• The MoU would benefit Indian students, academics, and researchers, migrants for professional and economic reasons and those willing to contribute through various projects to the economic development of both countries without consideration of caste, creed, religion or gender.
• This MoU can support the innovation ecosystem in both countries by facilitating free flow of talent.

Social Security Code, 2020

Context:

Section 142 of the Social Security Code, 2020 notified.

Details:

• Section 142 of the Social Security Code, 2020 has been notified by the Ministry of Labour & Employment covering the applicability of Aaadhar.
• The notification of the section will enable the Ministry to collect Aaadhar details for the database of beneficiaries under various social security schemes.

Labour Reforms Background

In India, labour is a subject in the Concurrent List. 

• Since it is in the Concurrent List, both the Parliament and the state legislatures can enact laws on it.
• As per the Central Government, before the new labour codes were passed, there were more than 40 central laws and more than 100 state laws on labour and related matters.
• The Second National Commission on Labour (2002) recommended that the central labour laws should be integrated into groups like:
  (i) Industrial relations
  (ii) Wages
  (iii) Social security
  (iv) Safety
  (v) Welfare and working conditions
• This was recommended by the Commission because the existing labour laws were archaic, complex and had inconsistent definitions. The Commission suggested simplification of the labour codes for the sake of transparency and uniformity.

In 2019, the Central Government introduced four bills on labour codes to consolidate 29 central laws. These are:

• Code on Wages
• Industrial Relations Code
• Social Security Code
• Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code

While the Wages Code was passed in 2019, the other three bills were referred to a Standing Committee on Labour. As per the recommendations of the Committee, the government replaced these bills with new ones in September 2020, and these were passed in the same month.
The Rules for all the four labour code bills would be notified in one go according to the Labour Ministry. Hence, even though the draft Rules for the Wages Code had been circulated in 2019 itself, the Ministry withheld its finalisation and implementation.