Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: APIs, NLEM
Mains level: Paper 3-Issue of India's dependence on China for APIs.
Whether or not the drug pricing system in India resulted in the growing dependence on China for APIs is analysed in this article.
Incentives for domestic production of APIs
- The department of pharmaceuticals (DoP) has recently notified the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
- The scheme aims to encourage domestic production of 41 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), key starting materials (KSMs) and drug intermediaries (DIs).
- A Drug Security Committee constituted by the DoP had identified 53 APIs with high dependence on China.
Did drug price control policy increase dependence on China?
- India was self-reliant on APIs until the mid-1990s.
- Liberalisation in import restrictions led to a gradual influx of APIs from China.
- India had a more stringent price control policy before the 1990s.
- If price control system were the culprit, India would not have been self-sufficient in APIs until the mid-1990s.
- A cost-based price control system that existed until 2013 regulated the prices of both APIs and formulations.
- The approach to price control shifted from a cost-based to a market-based one since 2013.
- The new price control policy does not regulate the price of APIs.
- New price control policy regulates the prices of formulations of those APIs, which figure in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
- There are many APIs which do not fall under DPCO but are still imported in a significant way from China.
Understanding the growing dependence on China from the past perspective
- Even though India now has a less stringent drug price control policy, the dependence on Chinese imports has been growing.
- The share of China in India’s total import of APIs has increased from 61% in 2011 to 69% in 2019.
- The experience in India was that firms would tend to rely on imported APIs if they have an option.
- The Hathi Committee (1975), which had looked into why Indian firms were not engaging in the production of APIs, found that the capital invested to turnover ratio of APIs was much lower as compared to formulations.
- This ratio was 1:1 for APIs at best and 1:2.6 for formulations on average, and in some cases, as high as 1:7.2.
- Subsequently, various measures were adopted.
- The ‘ratio parameter’ mandatorily required the producers of formulations to produce a certain quantity of APIs.
- It was the government interventions to overcome the market failure that resulted in India attaining self-sufficiency in APIs.
Consider the question “What are the APIs? Examine the implications of India’s dependence on imports for API and suggest the measures to reduce such dependence.”
Conclusion
An enquiry into the causes of dependence on China needs to go much beyond price control policy and look into whether the state continued to play a proactive role during the post-1991 period to maintain an ecosystem to enhance the competence of Indian API industry.
Source-
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/drug-pricing-is-certainly-not-the-issue-in-growing-dependence-on-china/2046086/
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Nuclear deterrence and issues with it
On 6 August 1945 world witnessed the destructive potential of the nuclear weapons. Today’s nuclear weapons are several times more destructive than the one used there. This calls for the close scrutiny of the idea of the nuclear deterrence. This article dwells over the same issue.
Context
- While Hiroshima and Nagasaki have been the last two cities to be destroyed by nuclear weapons, we cannot be sure that they will be the last.
- Since 1945, several countries have armed themselves with nuclear weapons that have much more destructive power in comparison to those that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Vulnerability
- Over 1,26,000 nuclear weapons have been built since the beginning of the atomic age.
- There is no realistic way to protect ourselves against nuclear weapons.
- The invention of ballistic missiles has made it impossible to intercept nuclear weapons once they are launched.
- Neither fallout shelters nor ballistic missile defence systems have succeeded in negating this vulnerability.
- Nuclear weapon states are targets of other nuclear-weapon states, but non-nuclear-weapon states are vulnerable as well.
Idea of nuclear deterrence
The idea of nuclear deterrence consists of following two proposition.
- 1) That nuclear weapons are so destructive that no country would use them.
- 2) Such use would invite retaliation in kind, and no political leader would be willing to risk the possible death of millions of their citizens.
Issues with the idea of deterrence
- 1) It is claimed that nuclear weapons do not just protect countries against use of nuclear weapons by others, but even prevent war and promote stability.
- These claims do not hold up to evidence.
- 2) The apparent efficacy of deterrence in some cases may have been due to the more credible prospect of retaliation with conventional weapons.
- 3) Implicitly, however, all nuclear-weapon states have admitted to the possibility that deterrence could fail.
- they have made plans for using nuclear weapons, in effect, preparing to fight nuclear war.
- 4) The desire to believe in the perfect controllability and safety of nuclear weapons creates overconfidence, which is dangerous.
- Overconfidence is more likely to lead to accidents and possibly to the use of nuclear weapons.
So, what prevented the nuclear war if not deterrence?
- While a comprehensive answer to this question will necessarily involve diverse and contingent factors, one essential element in key episodes is just plain luck.
Consider the question “What are the problems involved in the idea of nuclear deterrence. Also, examine the factors responsible for the failure of nuclear disarmament.”
Conclusion
Humanity has luckily survived 75 years without experiencing nuclear war, can one expect luck to last indefinitely?
Original articles:
https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/taking-nuclear-vulnerabilities-seriously/article32279584.ece
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Debt financing versus money financing
The article addresses the issue of apprehensions over money financing. It also compares the option of borrowing from international institutions.
Issues with public spending
- Greater public spending will increase the fiscal deficit and this expansion has to be financed.
- Theoretically, it can be financed by higher taxes.
- But when the economy is in a recession, this option cannot be explored even though the balanced-budget multiplier is one.
- When the multiplier is one, output expands by exactly the same amount as the increase in government spending.
So, what are the options?
There are two options
1) Issuing debt to the public (Debt financing)
2) Borrowing from the RBI (Money financing)
Borrowing from World Bank and IMF?
This borrowing has 4 issues with it-
- 1) This borrowing will have to be paid back in hard currency.
- This would involve India having to earn hard currency by stepping up exports.
- If a stimulus of approximately 10% of the GDP is envisaged, with exports at 25% of the GDP, it would imply stepping up exports by close to 50%.
- This would be a herculean task under present circumstances.
- 2) There is the issue of conditionalities.
- It is not obvious what conditionalities will come along with the loan.
- 3) The loan is bound to take some time to be negotiated, taxing the energies of a government that ought to be engaged in the day to day battle with COVID-19.
- 4) The external debt is truly national which, arguably, government bonds held by the country’s private sector are not.
Issues with money financing
- The standard economic argument against money financing is that it is inflationary.
- However, whether a fiscal expansion is inflationary or not is related more to the state of the economy than the medium of its financing.
- When resources are unemployed, output may be expected to expand without inflation.
Consider the question “Examine the issues with the money financing of the fiscal deficit.”
Conclusion
There is no reasoned case for denying ourselves the option of money financing to take us back to pre-COVID-19 levels of output and employment.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Features of the Nagara Temple Architecture
Mains level: Temple Architecture of India
The grand temple at Rama Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya will follow the Nagara style of temple architecture.
Note the various features of the Nagara and Vesara style of temple architecture from your basic references.
What is Nagara style of temple architecture?
The basic form of a Hindu temple contains the following architectural elements:
- Garbhagriha – the small room where the principal deity/deities of the temple reside
- Mandapa – the portico or hall at the entrance of the temple generally designed to house a large number of people
- Shikhara – the mountain like spire which can have different shapes from pyramidal to curvilinear
- Vahana – the mount of the main deity placed generally in line of sight from Garbhagriha
- In this style, the temple is generally constructed on an upraised platform called Jagati.
- Mandapas are present in front of the These are adorned with the Shikhara, the tallest one being above the Garbhagriha.
- The shikhara over the mandapas in the pictures of the Ayodhya Ram temple can be seen having a square base, and a rectilinear outline.
- This is called the phamsana-style shikhara. Note that the mandapa shikhara right at the entrance has an octagonal base.
Similar to Khajuraho Temple
- There are different types of Shikhara found in Indian temples.
- A comparison with Khajuraho Vishwanath temple, also built in Nagara style, shows the similarity between the two.
- Note that the main shikhara of the two are remarkably similar.
- They rise upward in a curved pyramidal fashion, ending in a horizontal fluted disc called an Amalaka topped with a Kalasha. This is called the Latina-style shikhara.
Note: This newscard is an excerpt from an original article published in Swarajya Magazine.
Back2Basics: The Ramjanmabhoomi Case
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PPP
Mains level: Aadhaar and its limitations
Haryana CM Manohar Khattar has distributed ‘Parivar Pehchan Patra’ to the eligible families and announced that welfare schemes of all departments would be linked with the PPP within the next three months.
Practice question for mains:
Q.What is Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP) recently rolled out by Haryana Govt.? How it is beneficial compared to the Aadhaar?
What is Parivar Pehchan Patra (PPP)?
- It is an 8-digit Unique Identity Card number meant for each family to enable smooth and automatic delivery of several citizen-centric services.
- The government will establish the scheme-wise eligibility of a particular family using this 8-digit code according to the information available in the PPP of the family.
- The benefits, according to the schemes, shall automatically be transferred to the family using the same code.
- PPP will ensure that not a single beneficiary is left out from the government benefits that they are entitled to.
How is PPP different from the Aadhaar card?
- The PPP, mathematically, is an integral number of Aadhaar.
- While Aadhaar represents an individual as a unit, a PPP represents a family as a unit. Most of our government schemes are structured around the family.
- It is not structured around an individual.
- For example, ration eligibility is there for the family but the family can split it into various members as long as they are above 18 years and say they are separating entitlements for all individuals.
Will it be mandatory for every family of Haryana to get PPP?
- No, it will not be mandatory for every family of the state to obtain a PPP.
- But, PPP is mandatory for families availing benefits under government schemes.
- Also, whenever a family wants to avail any government scheme, it will have to first get a PPP to be eligible.
The logic behind
- Haryana officials said although there is a union government’s Aadhaar card, it contains individual’s details and does not cater to the entire family as a unit.
- In certain circumstances, it may not be possible for a state government to keep track of all the families residing in the state.
- Although the ration card system is there, it is not updated and does not contain adequate family records.
- With the PPP, it will be easier for the state government to maintain a complete database of all the state dwellers.
How would it work?
- To begin with, the government has already linked PPP with three social security schemes – old age Samman allowance, divyang pension, and the widow and destitute women pension scheme.
- For instance, when a family member turns 60, they will automatically get a message through the software and will automatically start getting benefits of the old-age pension if they meet the required criteria.
- Similarly, the teenagers will get messages on turning 18 years old and shall become eligible for various government schemes that will be notified to them through the software.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ammonium Nitrate and its uses
Mains level: Chemical disasters these days
The catastrophic explosion at Beirut port, Lebanon caused by the blast of over 2,700 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, has rocked the world.
Practice question:
Q. Despite a robust policy framework governing the hazardous chemicals in India, the recent gas leakage incident in Vizag highlights India’s unaddressed vulnerability to chemical disasters. Critically comment.
What is Ammonium Nitrate?
- In its pure form, ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) is a white, crystalline chemical which is soluble in water.
- A common chemical ingredient of agricultural fertilizers, the nitrogen-rich compound is also the main component of the explosive composition known as ANFO — ammonium nitrate fuel oil.
- It is the main ingredient in the manufacture of commercial explosives used in mining and construction.
- Many Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) used by terrorists around the world have ANFO as the main explosive, triggered by primary explosives like RDX or TNT.
- In the majority of terror attacks in India, ammonium nitrate has been used along with initiator explosives like RDX.
Ammonium nitrate as an explosive
- Pure ammonium nitrate is not an explosive on its own.
- It is classified as an oxidiser (Grade 5.1) under the UN classification of dangerous goods.
- If mixed with ingredients like fuel or some other contaminants, or because of some other external factors, it can be very explosive.
Stored ammonium nitrate is a major fire hazard
- Large quantities of stored ammonium nitrate are regarded as a major fire hazard, with multiple reported cases across the world.
- The explosion of large storage can happen primarily in two ways.
- One is by some type of detonation or initiation because the storage comes in contact with the explosive mixture.
- Second, the blast can result due to a fire which starts in the ammonium nitrate store because of the heat generated due to the oxidation process at large scale.
Regulations in India about ammonium nitrate
- Because it is used as an ingredient for the production of explosives, anaesthetic gases, fertilizers, cold packs and has a possibility of misuse, it is highly regulated in India.
- There exists the Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012, under The Explosives Act, 1884.
- It defines ammonium nitrate as the compound with formula NH4NO3 including any mixture or compound having more than 45 per cent ammonium nitrate by weight.
- The manufacture, conversion, bagging, import, export, transport, possession for sale or use of ammonium nitrate is covered under The Ammonium Nitrate Rules, 2012.
- The rules also make storage of ammonium nitrate in large quantities in populated areas illegal in India.
- For the manufacture of ammonium nitrate, an Industrial licence is required under the Industrial Development and Regulation Act, 1951.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bru Tribals
Mains level: Bru-Reang Repatriation Agreement
Non-Brus of Tripura has proposed six places for settling the displaced Brus from Mizoram and set a limit for the number of families to be accommodated in two subdivisions that have borne the brunt of the 23-year-old refugee crisis.
Try this PYQ:
Q. With reference to ‘Changpa’ community of India, consider the following statement:
- They live mainly in the State of Uttarakhand.
- They rear the Pashmina goats that yield fine wool.
- They are kept in the category of Scheduled Tribes.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2014)
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Who are the Brus?
- Reangs or Brus are the second largest ethnic group in Mizoram.
- Their exodus in 1997 was spurred by violent clashes in Mamith subdivision, a Reang-dominated area when they demanded the creation of an autonomous council that was vehemently opposed by Mizo groups.
- Around 34,000 people were forced to live in sub-human conditions in tents in Tripura. No solution could be reached all these years.
- These people were housed in temporary camps at Kanchanpur, in North Tripura.
Read the complete thread here:
[Burning Issue] Bru– Reang Repatriation Agreement
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Pokkali Rice
Mains level: Coastal farming and various hurdles
Farmers from West Bengal are betting on the Pokkali variety of rice from Kerala to tide over a crisis-like situation created by severe seawater incursion into paddy fields in vast areas of the Sundarbans after the cyclone Amphan.
Try this MCQ:
Q.Which of the following is the striking feature of the Pokkali Rice recently seen in the news?
a) It is bio-fortified rice for treating malnutrition
b) It is a saltwater resistant variety of rice
c) It is healthy rice used to treat diabetes
d) None of these
Pokkali Rice
- The Pokkali variety of rice is known for its saltwater resistance and flourishes in the rice paddies of coastal Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts.
- The uniqueness of the rice has brought it the Geographical Indication (GI) tag and is the subject of continuing research.
- It had been in the news because of its uniqueness and also because a group of people in Kerala have been trying to revive the cultivation of the rice variety in the State.
Why introduce in Sunderbans?
- About 80% of the rice paddies in the Sundarbans faced the problem of the saltwater incursion.
- If the Pokkali experiment succeeds, it would be a good step to turn around the fortunes of the farmers.
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