EU mulls sweeping forced labour (GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Why in news?
- German industry is back in the spotlight as it grapples with the challenges of balancing an increasingly intrusive Chinese business environment with the human rights concerns of its investors and governments.
Details:
- Recent issues involve Volkswagen (VW) -owned brands’ vehicles impounded in the U.S. due to Uyghur Forced Labour Prevention Act (UFLPA) violations.
- BASF, another German firm, accelerates Xinjiang petrochemical plant sales amid allegations of staff from a government-owned joint venture sharing evidence to Chinese authorities about the Uyghur communities. The U.S. State Department and UN Human Rights Commissioner’s reports highlight Uyghur repression as genocide and potential crimes against humanity.
How do big corporations respond to such allegations?
- Outright denial, or attempts to distance themselves from reports of illegality found by internal audits, have mostly been the standard response of multinationals with operations in China and their suppliers.
- For instance, VW has said that it had no knowledge of the component’s origin until links were traced to an indirect supplier, prompting the firm to notify U.S. authorities and raise the matter with its Chinese partner.
- In a separate case relating to the use of forced labour, VW claimed in December that its factory in Xinjiang was cleared of wrongdoing by an auditor. However, most of the staff from the consultancy firm distanced themselves from the findings, leading its owner to issue counterclaims.
- BASF has dismissed any evidence of the existence of forced labour in its supply chains while maintaining that the allegations were incompatible with its values. German media claim that audits carried out by BASF show that erroneous practices by its Chinese partner were pervasive.
How stringent is the U.S. law?
- The 2021 Act aims to penalise domestic firms for human rights violations including torture, arbitrary detentions and forced labour of some one million Uyghur Muslims in the country’s north-western region’s so-called internment camps for over a decade.
- The U.S. law presumes that all inbound imports sourced from Xinjiang were produced using forced labour and labels them “high priority” areas.
- One key provision in the UFLPA requires public companies to certify to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that their products are free from forced labour from Xinjiang.
- Companies were apprehensive that the latter provision could prove a headache, much like the one in the Dodd-Frank Act that obliges firms to declare that their products did not contain controversial minerals from Congo, posing a hurdle for gold imports.
- During the legislative stage, the Bill passed the House of Representatives 403-to-6 and even called out specific companies for inappropriate practices. Predictably, this triggered industry backlash in the Senate to dilute some of its provisions.
How has China dealt with the fallout from this controversy?
- It initially denied the existence of the internment camps or dismissed such claims as outright lies. The government has since played down the significance of these facilities as merely vocational training centres, designed to create employment and combat religious and separatist extremism in the Uyghur Muslim population.
- In response to the U.S. law, the Chinese government has moved detainees to other parts of the country and routed exports from outside Xinjiang.
- While Nike and H&M are among the firms that have been hit by the restrictions on the use of Xinjiang cotton, Chinese customers have in retaliation boycotted their products.
What is the status of the EU legislation?
- Unlike the U.S. ban’s focus on imports from Xinjiang, the European Union (EU) has proposed a more comprehensive law targeting all products reliant on forced labour, including those made within the 27-member bloc.
- There is concern that country-focused bans could be viewed as discriminatory measures under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.
- The law aims to apply the International Labour Organisation (ILO)’s definition of forced labour and concentrate enforcement on large companies. The EU trade officials are sceptical that a ban on imports is the best way to prevent rights abuses.
- Meanwhile, a separate EU-wide Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, targeting social, environmental and human rights abuses in supply chains, has also stalled since 2022.
- The proposal would oblige companies to report and prevent abuses in the environmental and social governance arenas, and even empower civil society groups to mount legal challenges against any adverse impact.
Law in France & Germany:
- France has enacted a national law on the subject. But it has called for banks not to be held liable for the shortcomings of clients in the EU Directive, a clause some European parliament members insist is much needed in the enforcement of greater accountability on investment decisions.
- A German proposal for national legislation on supply chain sustainability met with fierce resistance from different Ministries and multinationals. But Berlin used its rotating presidency of the EU Council in 2020 to table a proposal for the entire EU.
Way Forward:
- When the forced labour Regulation and the due diligence Directive are in place, the EU would set yet another precedent in establishing governance standards for world bodies to emulate. VW’s current woes are likely to provide a major push in that direction.
CBSE open book exam plan
(GS Paper 2, Education)
Why in news?
- The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has proposed a pilot study to check the feasibility of open book exams for Classes 9 to 12.
- The pilot will be held in select schools in November-December for subjects like English, Mathematics and Science for Classes 9 and 10, and English, Mathematics and Biology for Classes 11 and 12.
Details:
- The CBSE has proposed this form of assessment based on the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) released last year.
- Through this pilot, the Board aims to study the time taken by students to complete such tests and gather feedback from teachers and students.
- The pilot test will be designed and developed by June, for which the CBSE has sought Delhi University’s help.
What is an open book exam?
- In an open book exam (OBE), students are allowed to refer to their books and notes to answer questions.
- OBEs can be either of a restricted type or a free type. In a restricted open book assessment, only the study material approved by the exam-conducting authority is allowed during the exam. In a free type, students can bring any material they find relevant.
- Unlike a closed book exam, the test questions in OBEs are structured in a way that students have to apply concepts, instead of just copying information from the available material.
- They aim to test whether a student understands the big picture and can apply analytical skills on the concepts learnt.
Is this a new concept for Indian students?
- Contrary to popular assumption, open-book exams are not a new idea. In 2014, CBSE had introduced an Open Text Based Assessment (OBTA) to relieve the students from the burden of mugging up, and acquiring skills of information processing.
- Back then, OTBA was introduced in Class 9 for Hindi, English, Mathematics, Science and Social Science, and final examination of Class 11 in subjects such as Economics, Biology and Geography. Students were allowed to refer to learning material provided to them four months ahead of the exam.
- The Board, however, discontinued the practice in the 2017-18 academic year, because of its inability to cultivate “critical abilities” among students.
- In higher education, OBEs are fairly common. In 2019, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) allowed open book exams in engineering colleges based on the recommendation of an advisory body.
- During the pandemic, several Central universities like Delhi University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Jawaharlal Nehru University and Aligarh Muslim University conducted an open book test to assess students. IIT Delhi, IIT Indore and IIT Bombay also conducted online OBEs.
- More recently, Kerala’s higher education exam reforms commission recommended the open book format, but only for internal or practical examinations.
Why has CBSE proposed the open book exam now?
- The CBSE’s proposal falls in line with the larger reforms planned in the school education system.
- While there is no mention of the open book examination per se in the National Education Policy 2020, one of the primary reforms it suggests is transition from rote memorisation to competency-based learning.
- For instance, a student should be able to not just learn the concept of photosynthesis but also demonstrate the process and the impact of sunlight on plants through a practical project.
- Similarly, the National Curriculum Framework for School Education also highlights the need to reform the current assessment process, which is at its best “focused on measuring rote learning” and at its worst “creates fear”.
- The NCF SC suggests assessments that can accommodate different learning styles of students, provide constructive feedback, and support learning outcomes.
Are Interpol notices being politically exploited?
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Context:
- The International Criminal Police Organization, more commonly known as Interpol, comprising 194 member countries, plays a crucial role as an information-sharing network to enable national police forces to combat transnational crimes.
- Concerns have been raised about the misuse of Interpol’s notice system, especially the issuance of blue corner notices, which are less scrutinised than their red corner notices.
- Critics argue that countries often exploit existing protocols to target political refugees and dissidents. While efforts have been made to address this, questions remain about striking a balance between facilitating police cooperation and preventing misuse of this powerful tool.
What is a “blue corner” notice?
- There are seven types of notices issued by Interpol: Red Notice, Yellow Notice, Blue Notice, Black Notice, Green Notice, Orange Notice, and Purple Notice.
- A blue corner notice also known as an “enquiry notice” allows police forces in member states to share critical crime-related information such as obtaining a person’s criminal record, and location and, having his or her identity verified among others.
- For instance, in January 2020, Interpol issued a blue corner notice to help locate fugitive self-styled godman Nithyananda.
How does it differ from a “red corner” notice?
- A red corner notice is issued by a member state to arrest a wanted criminal through extradition or any other similar lawful action. Such notices are issued against persons wanted by national jurisdictions for prosecution or to serve a sentence based on an arrest warrant or a court decision.
- The country issuing the request need not be the home country of the fugitive, Interpol acts even on the request of a country where the alleged crime has been committed.
- While blue corner notices are issued prior to the filing of criminal charges, red corner notices generally follow criminal convictions. The concerned individual can be stopped and arrested while travelling through a member state. There will also be other detrimental consequences such as the closure of bank accounts.
- However, Interpol cannot compel law enforcement authorities in any country to arrest the subject of a red corner notice as the exercise of such powers is entirely discretionary.
Is the notice system prone to misuse?
- Although Interpol’s Constitution explicitly forbids any activities of a political character, activists have accused it of failing to enforce this rule. Much of this outrage is directed at Russia, which has repeatedly issued notices and diffusions for the arrest of Kremlin opponents.
- According to the U.S. rights organisation Freedom House, Russia is responsible for 38% of all public red notices.
- International human rights groups have also accused China, Iran, Turkey, and Tunisia, among others, of abusing the agency’s notice system for authoritarian ends.
- In response to the mounting criticism, Interpol toughened the oversight of its red notice system. However, vulnerabilities remain when it comes to the issuance of blue notices with experts flagging that such notices are less likely to be reviewed before publication. The agency’s data shows that blue notices have roughly doubled in number over the past decade.
