1) Remittance Inflow: According to the World Bank’s latest Migration and Development Brief, India, which saw a record-high of USD 111 billion in remittances in 2022, is expected to experience minimal growth of just 0.2% in remittance inflows in 2023.
Factors Affecting Remittance Flows to India:
- Top Sources of Remittances for India: Approximately 36% of India’s remittances originate from high-skilled Indian migrants in three high-income destinations: the US, United Kingdom, and Singapore.
- Threats to Remittance Flows to India:
- Slower Growth in OECD economies: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is a grouping of 38 high-income democratic countries. These countries are major destinations for high-skilled and high-tech Indian migrants, who account for almost 36% of India’s remittances.
- Lower Demand for Migrants in GCC countries: GCC is a political and economic alliance of six Middle Eastern countries—Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman. These countries are the single largest destination for less-skilled South Asian migrants, who account for about 28% of India’s remittances.
2) Addition of More Castes to Central OBC List: National Commission for Backward Classes(NCBC) is processing the request for the approval of about 80 more castes in six States, (Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, and Haryana) for the inclusion in the OBC list.
- The term OBC includes all classes of citizens who are socially and educationally backwards
- NCBC is a constitutional body that examines requests for inclusion of castes in Central OBC list.
- Under Article 15(4)of the Constitution, the State has the power to make special provisions for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward class i.e., the OBC.
- Under Article 16(4),the state is empowered to enact laws for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of OBCs.
- Union Government has added 16 communities to Central OBC list in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir since 2014.
3) Miyawaki Plantation Method: Prime Minister of India in his recent episode of ‘Mann ki Baat’, discussed the concept of Miyawaki plantation. He shed light on the Japanese technique of establishing dense urban forests in limited spaces.
- It was named after Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, this method involves planting two to four different types of indigenous trees within every square meter.
- The dense green cover of indigenous trees plays a key role in absorbing the dust particles of the area where the garden has been set up. The plants also help in regulating surface temperature.
