• The Labour and Employment ministry introduced The Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha
• The Bill aims to consolidate and amend the laws relating to trade unions, conditions of employment in industrial establishment or undertaking, investigation and settlement of industrial disputes.
• The draft code on Industrial Relations has been prepared after amalgamating, simplifying and rationalizing the relevant provisions of following three Central Labour Acts viz: The Trade Unions Act, 1926, The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946 and The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
• The Union Cabinet approved the Industrial Relations Code, 2019 on November 20, 2019.

• Setting up of two-member tribunal (in place of one member) introducing a concept that some of the important cases will be adjudicated jointly and the rest by a single member resulting speedier disposal of cases.
• To impart flexibility to the exit provisions (relating to retrenchment etc.), for which, the threshold for prior approval of appropriate Government has been kept unchanged at 100 employees, but added a provision for changing ‘such number of employees' through notification.
• The re-skilling fund is to be utilised for crediting to workers in the manner to be prescribed.
• Definition of Fixed Term Employment and that it would not lead to any notice period and payment of compensation on retrenchment excluded.
• Vesting of powers with the government officers for adjudication of disputes involving penalty as fines thereby lessening the burden on tribunal.

Relevance IN - Prelims (about Yuwaah youth skilling Initiative)
What's the NEWS

• UNICEF has launched ‘YuWaah' Generation Unlimited in India

Know! more about the initiative

• According to UNICEF, Generation Unlimited, called YuWaah in India, is a multi-stakeholder alliance which aims to facilitate youth to gain relevant skills for productive lives and the future of work.
• The target age group of YuWaah includes adolescent girls a and boys and its key mission is to promote access to foundational, transferable and 21^st century skills for youth inside and outside formal education systems, which includes defining foundational skills, life skills and flexible learning and identifying and scaling impactful delivery models.
• YuWaah intends to create platforms to guide youth to market opportunities (career guidance, mentorship, internships, apprenticeships) and facilitate integration of career guidance in school education.

State Specific
Project of Rs 25.58 crores approved for Development of Loktak Inland Waterways Project in Manipur

Relevance IN - Prelims (about loktak lake)
What's the NEWS

• The Ministry of Shipping have given approval for the development of Loktak Inland Water ways improvement project in Manipur under the central sector scheme.
• The estimated cost of the project is Rs 25.58 crores. The Loktak Lake is the largest fresh water lake in North east located at Moirang in Manipur.
• The project will develop the Inland water transport connectivity in North East States and give boost to the tourism sector.

Know! about Loktak Lake

• Loktak lake is the largest freshwater lake in Northeast India and is famous for the phumdis (heterogeneous mass of vegetation, soil and organic matter at various stages of decomposition) floating over it.
• The lake is located at Moirang in Manipur state, India.
• Located on this phumdi, Keibul Lamjao National Park is the only floating national park in the world.
• The park is the last natural refuge of the endangered Sangai deer (state animal)

Government Schemes
Char Dham Programme

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Char Dham programme)
Know! about the programme

• The projects under Char Dham Programme include widening of existing roads along with adequate/sufficient slope protection by way of erection of retaining walls and breast walls and by deploying drapery system, netting, anchoring, reinforced wall etc. as per Detailed Project Reports.
• The projects also include mitigation measures/ stabilisation of chronic landslide & sinking spots/zones as standalone project or part of road widening projects to avoid land slide and safety of road users.
• Bio engineering methods like hydro seeding are being used for vegetative growth on fragile slopes for their stability. All these measures shall safeguard the highway and habitation against natural calamity.
• The works under Char Dham Pariyojna are being implemented on Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) mode of contract.

• These projects are being implemented by 3 executing agencies of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, viz, Uttarakhand State PWD, Border Road Organization (BRO) and National Highway & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).

Know! about EPC mode

• Under this EPC mode of contract, the contractor is directly responsible for ensuring quality of the work as well as rectification of defects and maintenance of the project stretch for a period of 4 years after completion of construction.

Know! more about the project

• Char Dham Expressway National Highway, is a proposed two-lane (in each direction) express National Highway with a minimum width of 10 metres in the state of Uttarakhand.
• Four Pilgrim-destinations namely Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath, and Badrinath, collectively known as Char Dham
• The proposed highway will compliment the under development Char Dham Railway by connecting the four holy places in Uttarakhand states
• The project includes 900 km national highways will connect whole of Uttarakhand state
• The total cost of INR Rs.12000 crores and the foundation stone of the project was laid by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 27 December 2016.
• The highway will be called Char Dham Mahamarg (Char Dham Highway) and the highway construction project will be called as Char Dham Mahamarg Vikas Pariyojana (Char Dham Highway Development Project) and is made to improve the connectivity to the Chota Char Dham centered in the Himalayas

Environment Conservation
UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2019
1.5°C "Almost Impossible" Without Deeper and Faster Cuts, Warns UNEP Emissions Gap Report

Relevance IN - Prelims (about emission gap report findings) + Mains (GS III environment conservation)
What's the NEWS

• The 2019 UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report provides the first-ever estimate of annual cuts needed to achieve the Paris Agreement on climate change, the report emphasizes that even if the current climate commitments are met, the world is on course to exceed 3°C in global temperature rise, and calls for accelerated cuts in annual global emissions of 7.6% to meet the 1.5°C goal, and 2.7% for the 2°C goal.

Know! more about the report findings

• The UNEP Emissions Gap Report 2019 highlights that China, USA, EU28 and India are the among top four greenhouse gas emitters.
• The ‘Emissions Gap Report 2019' presents the latest data on the expected gap in 2030 for the 1.5°C and 2°C temperature targets, exploring different scenarios, from no new climate policies since 2005 to full implementation of all national commitments under the Paris Agreement.
• The report estimates that to limit temperature rise, annual emissions in 2030 need to be 15 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent lower than current unconditional Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) imply for the 2°C goal; and 32 gigatonnes lower for the 1.5°C goal.
•  It notes that to deliver on these cuts, the levels of ambition in the NDCs must increase at least fivefold for the 1.5°C goal and threefold for the 2°C goal.
• The report's findings correspond to conclusions by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) laid out in its 25 November 2019 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, which finds a continuing long-term trend of record levels of heat-trapping GHGs in the atmosphere since global levels of CO2 "crossed the symbolic and significant 400 parts per million benchmark" in 2015.
• Similar conclusions are highlighted in two recent special reports by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC): the Climate Change and Land report examining climate change, desertification, land degradation, sustainable land management, food security and GHG fluxes in terrestrial ecosystems; and the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate report.

Suggestion given in the report

• The 2019 Emissions Gap Report identifies two critical entry points for accelerating emissions reduction: decarbonization of the energy sector through renewables and energy efficiency, which could help reduce emissions by 12.1 Gt - or the equivalent of the annual output of nearly 2.5 million coal power stations - by 2050; and electrification of transport, which could reduce the sector's carbon emissions by up to 72% in 2050.

Know! about the Emission Gap report

• The Emissions Gap Report is UNEP's annual flagship report that assesses the "emissions gap" - the gap between anticipated emission levels in 2030 and levels consistent with a 2°C/1.5°C target.
• Each year, the report analyzes the potential of specific sectors to deliver emissions cuts, with the 2019 report focusing on the energy transition.
• The report also marks the tenth anniversary of the publication, which also outlines key opportunities at sector and country level to close the emissions gap.
• The publication was released ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference taking place in Madrid, Spain, from 2-13 December 2019.
• Produced annually since 2010, the UNEP flagship report assesses the gap between anticipated emission levels in 2030 and levels consistent with a 2°C/1.5°C temperature target.
• A report released prior to the United Nations Climate Conference COP-25 to be held in Spain from December 2 states that GHG emissions have increased by 1.5 per cent since the last decade. Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions have reached an all-time high figure of 55.3 gigatons.
  
  

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