Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Success models of reforestation
Jadav Payeng, known as ‘The Forest Man of India’, takes us through his journey of grit that saw a desert turning into a forest. His story is been depicted through an upcoming trilingual film.
We knew about the mountain man in India. We have also had the Forest Man of India who is also a living inspiration for successful afforestation. We can quote such examples in essays very well.
Who is Jadav Payeng?
- Jadav “Molai” Payeng (born 1963) is an environmental activist and forestry worker from Majuli Island popularly known as the Forest Man of India.
- He was born in the indigenous Mising tribe of Assam.
- Over the course of several decades, he has planted and tended trees on a sandbar of the river Brahmaputra turning it into a forest reserve.
- The forest, called Molai forest after him is located near Kokilamukh of Jorhat, Assam, India and encompasses an area of about 1,360 acres / 550 hectares.
- In 2015, he was honoured with Padmashri, the fourth highest civilian award in India.
His work
- The forest, which came to be known as Molai forest, now houses Bengal tigers, Indian rhinoceros, and over 100 deer and rabbits.
- Molai forest is also home to elephants and several varieties of birds, including a large number of vultures.
- Bamboo covers an area of over 300 hectares.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: E-Sanjeevani
Mains level: Telemedicine and its effectiveness
In a landmark achievement, eSanjeevani, Health Ministry’s national telemedicine initiative today completed 9 lakh consultations.
Although telemedicine brings with it many benefits, there are some downsides to it as well. Discuss.
What is E-Sanjeevani?
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has launched two variants of eSanjeevani namely – doctor to doctor (eSanjeevani AB-HWC) in the hub and spoke model and patient to doctor (eSanjeevaniOPD).
- E-Sanjeevani OPD (out-patient department) is a telemedicine variant for the public to seek health services remotely; it was rolled out on 13th of April 2020 during the first lockdown in the country.
- It enables virtual meetings between the patients and doctors & specialists from geographically dispersed locations, through video conferencing that occurs in real-time.
- At the end of these remote consultations, eSanjeevani generates electronic prescriptions which can be used for sourcing medicines.
- Andhra Pradesh was the first state to roll out eSanjeevani AB-HWC services in November 2019.
Benefits of telemedicine
Telemedicine benefits patients in the following ways:
- Transportation: Patients can avoid spending gas money or wasting time in traffic with video consultations.
- No missing work: Today, individuals can schedule a consultation during a work break or even after work hours.
- Childcare/Eldercare Challenges: Those who struggle to find care options can use telemedicine solutions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RCEP countries
Mains level: Paper 3- India's decision to not join RCEP
The article analyses government’s decision to stay out of RCEP and factors responsible for it.
What India chose not to join RCEP
- By joining RCEP, India would have further risked a flood of cheap Chinese imports in sectors like electronics.
- India had tried and failed to win substantial concessions in areas like work visas for its information technology-enabled services.
- Two of India’s proposals—an RCEP business travel card and an RCEP service supplier card—failed to find favour with a majority of the bloc’s members.
Arguments in favour of India joining the RCEP
- First argument made is RCEP would have provided an excellent opportunity for Indian firms to get integrated with regional value chains.
- However, merely joining a trade bloc does not automatically result in integration with global value chains.
- The complex nature of global production networks requires a lot of economic and trade policy reforms on the domestic front.
- Second important argument made is that India would lose an opportunity to access RCEP’s common market.
- But this argument too doesn’t hold much water if Indian producers are not competitive.
- Competitiveness is driven by factors both within and beyond the control of domestic industry.
- So it would be an over-simplification to assume that Indian industry does not have the capability or appetite to be competitive.
- Often, global competitiveness inside factory gates gets diluted by costs borne outside those gates.
What past data suggests
- India’s merchandise exports grew at an annual rate of more than 18% between 2000-01 and 2010-11, which was largely a pre-FTA period.
- In this period, India activated only two FTAs—with Sri Lanka and Singapore.
- India joined the FTAs in a big way from 2010 onwards.
- It operationalized big trade agreements with the 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan, Korea, and separately with Malaysia.
- However, despite these deals, India could realize annual merchandise export growth of only 2.5% between 2010-11 and 2019-20.
- This disappointing performance shows that FTAs are not conducive for exports.
Conclusion
While RCEP may theoretically offer India new opportunities for exports and integration with pan-Asian production networks, we have a lot of work to do internally before we are in a position to make the most of free-trade deals.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Farmers protest against farm laws
The article suggests the policy options with the government to deal with the protest of the farmers against the recently enacted farm laws.
Context
- Farmers have protested against the recently enacted farm laws by converging on Delhi’s highways connected to neighbouring states.
Why farmers are protesting
- There is a gross communication failure on the part of the central government to explain to farmers what these laws are, and how they are intended to benefit them.
- Neither do the laws say anything about it, nor is the MSP/APMC system going to disappear with these laws.
- Nothing can be further from the truth.
1) Should government repeal the laws
- Punjab farmer leaders, including two major political parties, demand repeal of these laws.
- However, repealing would mean bringing back controls, licence raj and the resultant rent-seeking.
- Milk, poultry, fishery, etc. don’t go through the mandi system and their growth rates are 3 to 5 times higher than that of wheat and rice.
- Overall, almost 90 per cent of the agri-produce is sold to the private sector.
2) Should the government make MSP legally binding
- Another demand is making the MSP statutory and legally binding even on the private sector.
- This is impractical as there are 23 commodities for which MSPs are announced, but in actual practice only wheat and rice enjoy MSPs in any meaningful manner, and that too only in 6-7 states.
- Punjab is the biggest gainer as its 95-98 per cent of market arrivals of wheat and paddy are procured at MSP by state agencies on behalf of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).
- The FCI is overloaded with grain stocks that are more than 2.5 times the buffer stock norms.
- Such high stock indicates massive economic inefficiency in the grain management system.
- If the government cannot cope up with excess production of just wheat and rice in any meaningful way, think of how it will handle 23 commodities under MSP.
- In case of excess production the government will not have the wherewithal to buy all and stock them without any viable outlet.
- It will massively distort markets, make Indian agriculture non-competitive and stocking of these will be financially unsustainable.
- And then, why only 23 commodities, why not 40?
- This type of state socialism is a sure path to financial disaster.
3) Optio of the Price Stabilisation Scheme
- The third policy option is to use the Price Stabilisation Scheme to give a lift to market prices by pro-actively buying a part of the surplus whenever market prices crash.
- It can be done directly by NAFED-type agencies that are already active in the case of pulses and oilseeds.
- Farmers can use Commodity Derivatives Exchanges where farmers can buy “put options” at MSP before they even sow their crops, and if the market prices at the time of harvest turn out to be below MSP, government can compensate them partly for lower market prices.
4) Decentralise MSP: Let the states decide it
- The fourth option is to totally decentralise the MSP, procurement, stocking, and public distribution system (PDS).
- MSP and procurement exist basically to support farmers for supplying grains to the FCI to feed into the PDS.
- So, the whole money on food subsidy can be allocated to states on the basis of their share in all-India poverty/proportion of vulnerable population, all-India wheat and rice production, all-India procurement of wheat and rice, etc.
- A step further could include another Rs 1,00,000 crore of fertiliser subsidy and free up fertiliser prices from any controls.
- Still further, even include another Rs 1,00,000, say, of MNREGA.
- Let the Finance Commission work out a formula for distribution of this Rs 3,00,000 crore amongst states based on some tangible performance indicators.
- And the Centre should get off from MSP, PDS, fertiliser subsidy, and MNREGA.
Conclusion
This would be true decentralisation, and can be accomplished provided enough ground work is done well in advance. But will this be acceptable to farmer leaders/opposing states/activists? Only time will tell.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: APMC Act
Mains level: Paper 3- Addressing the farmers apprehension about MSP
Farmers are protesting the farm laws which brought changes in the agri-produce marketing and the contract farming. Farmers are also demanding the legal backing of MSP. The article analyses the issues and suggests the measures to address them.
Analysing merits and feasibility of demands of protesting farmers
1) The Farmer Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act
- The Act creates a new “trade area” outside the APMC market yards/sub-yards.
- Any buyer with a Permanent Account Number (PAN) can buy directly from farmer sellers outside APMC market.
- The state government can’t impose any taxes on such a transaction.
- Therefore, it is expected that this would lower buying costs for buyers and that would automatically mean higher prices for farmers.
Concerns with the law
- Buyers buying at lower cost does not necessarily mean they would pass on the cost saved on procurement to selling farmers.
- The claim is also made that now farmers would have a choice of channels.
- However, the majority of the farm produce across India with the exception of states like Punjab and Haryana does not go through APMCs.
- Anybody with a PAN card allowed to buy agricultural produce could mean a free-for-all situation, which is not desirable.
2) The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act
What necessitated law on contract farming?
- Contract farming has shown that marginal and small farmers are generally excluded.
- The problems they face include the following-
- Highly one-sided i.e. pro-contracting agency contracts.
- Delayed payments.
- Undue rejections and outright cheating.
- Poor enforcement of contract farming regulation by the state governments.
Concerns with the law
- The Act defined FPOs (farmer producer organisations) as farmers, which restricts them to the supply side.
- But there is hardly any FPO in farm production.
- Further, the contract farming Act does not provide for remedies when companies cancel contracts or there is delay in taking delivery of produce.
- The Act says that sponsor would also pay, besides the minimum guaranteed price, a premium or bonus which will be linked to APMC or e-trading price.
- This goes against the very concept of contract farming.
- The contract price should be left to the contracting parties to decide.
- Further, if the understanding is that mandis are not discovering prices well, then why peg the contract price to such mandi price?
Lessons from 2003 APMC Act
- The government must go back to the 2003 Model APMC Act, which also had model contract agreement with mandatory and optional provisions in a contract.
- In the 2003 Model APMC Act, the APMC was supposed to resolve the disputes.
- Further under 2003 APMC Act when a licence is given to a trader or commission agent, there is a counterparty risk assurance.
Apprehensions about MSP
- The Shanta Kumar Committee report and the CACP reports had suggested reducing procurement and an end to open-ended procurement from states like Punjab to cut down costs of FCI.
- It is feared that FCI itself may start procuring directly from the new trade area to cut down buying costs like market fees and arhtiya commission.
- It is more about the changes in the “social contract” between the state’s farmers and the Union government.
- The demand for legal backing to MSP also arises from the fact that the government has been announcing MSP for 23 crops, but procurement is limited to a few crops.
- Also, CACP in one of its reports in 2017-18 (kharif) suggested that “to instil confidence among farmers for procurement of their produce, a legislation conferring on farmers ‘the right to sell at MSP’ may be brought out.”
- Punjab’s amendments to farm Acts — making MSP mandatory for wheat and paddy are ill-advised as this law will discourage private buyers from buying.
- It is difficult to enforce such a law. Private agricultural markets cannot be run through such diktats.
- By creating stringent rules (fine or imprisonment), the government may create a situation where farmers would not be able to sell at all.
- Maharashtra attempted this legality in 2018 in its APMC Act but had to reverse it after protests by traders.
Consider the question “What are the factors that necessitated the robust contract farming Act? What are the issues related to the Act? Suggest the measures to address these issues.”
Conclusion
Apprehension among the farmers related to the farm laws needs to be addressed and the concern in the laws need to be addressed.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MSP calculation
Mains level: Fixation of MSP and its legal backing
Talks between farmer unions and the government failed to reach a resolution. The main bone of contention in these talks is the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for crops, which farmers fear the new laws will do away.
Try this:
Q.There is also a point of view that agriculture produce market committees (APMCs) set up under the state acts have not only impeded the development of agriculture but also have been the cause of food inflation in India. Critically examine. (CSM 2014)
What is MSP?
- The MSP assures the farmers of a fixed price for their crops, well above their production costs.
- MSP, by contrast, is devoid of any legal backing. Access to it, unlike subsidised grains through the PDS, isn’t an entitlement for farmers.
- They cannot demand it as a matter of right. It is only a government policy that is part of administrative decision-making.
- The Centre currently fixes MSPs for 23 farm commodities based on the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) recommendations.
Why in news yet again?
- The Union Budget for 2018-19 had announced that MSP would be kept at levels of one and half times of the cost of production.
- This year the govt. has increased the MSP for all mandated Kharif, Rabi and other commercial crops with a return of at least 50 per cent of the cost of production for the agricultural year 2018-19 and 2019-20.
- This is the ambiguity from where this 1.5 times formula arrived at.
How did the government fix the MSPs of crops before every planting season?
- The CACP considered various factors while recommending the MSP for a commodity, including the cost of cultivation.
- It also takes into account the supply and demand situation for the commodity; market price trends (domestic and global) and parity vis-à-vis other crops; and implications for consumers (inflation), environment (soil and water use) and terms of trade between agriculture and non-agriculture sectors.
What changed with the 2018 budget?
- The Budget for 2018-19 announced that MSPs would henceforth be fixed at 1.5 times of the production costs for crops as a “pre-determined principle”.
- Simply put, the CACP’s job now was only to estimate production costs for a season and recommend the MSPs by applying the 1.5-times formula.
How was this production cost arrived at?
- The CACP projects three kinds of production cost for every crop, both at the state and all-India average levels.
- ‘A2’ covers all paid-out costs directly incurred by the farmer — in cash and kind — on seeds, fertilisers, pesticides, hired labour, leased-in land, fuel, irrigation, etc.
- ‘A2+FL’ includes A2 plus an imputed value of unpaid family labour.
- ‘C2’ is a more comprehensive cost that factors in rentals and interest forgone on owned land and fixed capital assets, on top of A2+FL.
Now try this PYQ:
Q.The economic cost of food grains to the Food Corporation of India is Minimum Support Price and bonus (if any) paid to the farmers plus:
(a) Transportation cost only
(b) Interest cost only
(c) Procurement incidentals and distribution cost
(d) Procurement incidentals and charges for godowns
Which production costs were taken in fixing the MSPs?
- In 2018, then FM Arun Jaitley’s did not specify the cost on which the 1.5-times formula was to be computed.
- But the CACP’s ‘Price Policy for Kharif Crops: The Marketing Season 2018-19’ report stated that its MSP recommendation was based on 1.5 times the A2+FL costs.
What are the farmer’s demands?
- Farm activists, however, had said that the 1.5-times MSP formula should have been applied on the C2 costs.
- CACP considers A2+FL and C2 costs, both while recommending MSP. It reckons only A2+FL cost for return.
- However, C2 costs are used by CACP primarily as benchmark reference costs (opportunity costs) to see if the MSPs recommended by them at least cover these costs in some of the major producing States.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vaccine for COVID
Mains level: Universalization of vaccines and associated challenges in India
The US drugmaker Moderna said it was applying for emergency use authorisation for its vaccine in India.
Practice question for Mains:
Q. What is Vaccine Nationalism? Discuss various ethical issues involved and its impact on vulnerable populations across the globe.
Emergency Use Authorisation (EUA)
- Vaccines and medicines, and even diagnostic tests and medical devices, require the approval of a regulatory authority before they can be administered.
- In India, the regulatory authority is the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO).
- The approval is granted after an assessment of their safety and effectiveness, based on data from trials. In fact, approval from the regulator is required at every stage of these trials.
- This is a long process, designed to ensure that medicine or vaccine is absolutely safe and effective.
- The fastest approval for any vaccine until now — the mumps vaccine in the 1960s — took about four-and-a-half years after it was developed.
Exceptions for emergency
- In emergency situations, like the current one, regulatory authorities around the world have developed mechanisms to grant interim approvals.
- However, there should sufficient evidence to suggest a medical product is safe and effective.
- Final approval is granted only after completion of the trials and analysis of full data; until then, EUA allows the medicine or the vaccine to be used on the public.
What is the process of getting a EUA in India?
- India’s drug regulations do not have provisions for a EUA, and the process for receiving one is not clearly defined or consistent.
- Despite this, CDSCO has been granting emergency or restricted emergency approvals to Covid-19 drugs during this pandemic — for remdesivir and favipiravir in June, and itolizumab in July.
Associated risks
- The public has to be informed that a product has only been granted a EUA and not full approval.
- In the case of a Covid-19 vaccine, for example, people have to be informed about the known and potential benefits and risks.
Not a compulsion
- There has been an ongoing debate over whether people have the option of refusing to take the vaccine.
- Incidentally, no country has made vaccination compulsory for its people.
- Initially, all vaccines are likely to be deployed on emergency use authorizations only. Final approval from may take several months, or years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Octane number
Mains level: India's oil sector
The Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas has launched world-class premium-grade Petrol (with Octane number 100) in the country.
What is XP100?
- It is petrol developed by Indian Oil with octane number 100.
- The availability of XP100 puts India in an elite group of countries, having access to such high-quality oil. It will provide high quality and power to the engine.
- It will be rolled out in 15 identified cities across the country in two phases.
- Worldwide, 100 Octane petrol has a niche market for luxury vehicles that demand high performance and is available only in six countries like Germany, USA, etc.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Lead, ingested or inhaled, is a health hazard. After the addition of lead to petrol has been banned, what still are the sources of lead poisoning?
- Smelting units
- Pens pencils
- Paints
- Hair oils and cosmetics
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
(a) 1, 2 and 3 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
What is Octane numbering of Petrol?
- Octane number, also called Antiknock Rating, a measure of the ability of a fuel to resist knocking when ignited in a mixture with air in the cylinder of an internal-combustion engine.
- Engine knock is a tapping, pinging sound that gets louder and more obnoxious as we accelerate.
- The octane number is determined by comparing, under standard conditions, the knock intensity of the fuel with that of blends of two reference fuels: iso-octane, which resists knocking, and heptane, which knocks readily.
- The octane number is the percentage by volume of iso-octane in the iso-octane–heptane mixture that matches the fuel being tested in a standard test engine.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: World Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS)
Mains level: Old irrigation systems in India
Four sites in India have received the World Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS) tag this year.
Try this PYQ:
Q.The FAO accords the status of ‘Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS)’ to traditional agricultural systems. What is the overall goal of this initiative?
- To provide modern technology, training in modern farming methods and financial support to local communities of identified GIAHS so as to greatly enhance their agricultural productivity.
- To identify and safeguard eco-friendly traditional farm practices and their associated landscapes, agricultural biodiversity and knowledge systems of the local communities.
- To provide Geographical Indication status to all the varieties of agricultural produce in such identified GIAHS.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 3 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
World Heritage Irrigation Structure (WHIS)
- The International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) annually recognizes irrigation structures of international significance like UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites.
- The recognition is aimed at recognizing and tracing the history of and understanding the evolution of irrigation in civilizations across the world.
- It also aims at understanding the philosophy and wisdom on sustainable irrigation from these structures and to preserve them for posterity.
Criteria for consideration
- Major criteria for WHIS entail that a structure should be more than 100 years old, should be functional, achieving food security and have archival value.
- Each site is evaluated based on its merits first by the state government.
- The proposal is then sent to the Centre and a team from CWC carries out an on-ground survey to verify details.
Which are the Indian sites?
- The sites are Cumbum Tank, Kurnool-Cuddapah Canal, Porumamilla Tank (Anantharaja Sagaram) in Andhra Pradesh and 490-year-old Dhamapur Lake in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district.
- In 2018, Pedda Cheru Tank in Kamareddy district and Sadarmat Anicut in Nirmal district, both in Telangana, were named as WHIS sites.
Other sites
- The rest include Tianbao Weir in China at number one followed by Longshou Canal and ancient Luohe river irrigation district, China.
- It also includes Zarch and Moon Qanat both in Iran and Tenguiwa, Bizenkyo and Jyosai Gokuchi irrigation systems in Japan with Goseong Dumbeong in the Republic of Korea.
About ICID
- The ICID, established in 1950 is a leading scientific, technical, international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization.
- It is a professional network of experts from across the world in the field of irrigation, drainage, and flood management.
- The main mission is to promote ‘Sustainable agriculture water management’ to achieve ‘Water secure world free of poverty and hunger through sustainable rural development’.
- ICID mission covers the entire spectrum of agricultural water management practices ranging from rainfed agriculture to supplemental irrigation, land drainage, deficit irrigation to full irrigation, etc.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Countries of the Middle East
Mains level: Paper 3- Trends from the Middle East and implications for the Indian subcontinent
Three broad trends emerging from the Middle East and its implication for the region have been discussed here.
Growing vulnerability of Iran and implications for subcontinent
- The brazen murder of a top Iranian nuclear scientist highlights the Islamic Republic of Iran’s growing strategic vulnerabilities.
- This geopolitical turbulence in the Middle East has major consequences for the subcontinent.
- Whether they want to or not, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh must deal with three broad trends that define the new Middle East.
3 Trends in the Middle East
1) Iran’s growing isolation
- The Trump administration and the Republicans, Israel and the Gulf Arabs have a shared interest in preventing the next US President from renewing nuclear diplomacy with Iran and ending Tehran’s isolation.
- The assassination of Fakhrizadeh is about achieving that political objective.
- If Iran retaliates vigorously, it will invite an all-out confrontation with Israel and the US.
- Holding back will expose Iran’s weakness and sharpen internal divisions between pragmatists who want to engage the US and the hardliners.
- The frequent attacks on high-profile Iranian targets indicate hostile penetration of its society such that domestic opponents of the regime are now willing to collaborate with foreign security agencies, including Israel’s Mossad.
- Iran’s internal political weakness is compounded by the massive economic pain imposed by the Trump administration through sanctions.
- Iran has much goodwill in South Asia, but India and its neighbours have no desire to get sucked into Tehran’s conflicts with the Arabs or the US.
2) Transformation of Arab relations with Israel
- The fear of Iran has been driving Gulf Arabs to embrace Israel.
- In the last few months, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have normalised ties with Israel.
- There is speculation of an impending normalisation of ties between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
- Pakistan’s Prime Minister has talked of pressure, apparently from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, on recognising Israel.
- If Pakistan recognises Israel, Bangladesh would not want to be left behind.
- Economic and technological collaboration with Israel will give Bangladesh’s economy and foreign policy a big boost.
- For Israel, having Bangladesh and Pakistan, two of the world’s largest Islamic nations, recognise it would be a great ideological and political bonus
- An India that proclaims the virtues of engaging all sides in the Middle East can’t grudge the same privilege for Israel in South Asia.
3) Rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Turkey
- While Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE want to return the Middle East towards political and religious moderation, the once secular Turkey has become the new champion of political Islam.
- Turkey’s contestation with Saudi Arabia is already having an impact on India and Pakistan.
- Turkey is now hostile to India and has joined Pakistan in taking up the Kashmir question at international forums.
- For Pakistan, this seemed a useful counter to the Gulf Arabs, who were ramping up strategic ties with India.
- However, UAE and Saudi Arabia have the option to put massive costs on the Pakistani economy that can’t be plugged by Turkey or Malaysia.
Conclusion
Although India has made some important adjustments to its engagement with the Middle East in recent years, Delhi can’t take its eyes off the rapid changes in the region.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Recalibrating India-Nepal ties
The article suggests the need for a relook at the India-Nepal ties in the changing geopolitical circumstances.
Unchanging perspective on of each other
- Many in Nepal continue to equate being anti-India with being nationalistic.
- Politicians and political parties whip up such sentiment especially before an election.
- Prime Minister K.P. Oli won the 2017 election partly because he projected himself as someone who stood up to India during the blockade.
- He again whipped up nationalistic sentiments when he got the Nepal map amended to add new territory.
- India continues to think that by providing aid and development projects in Nepal, it can win Nepali hearts.
- But despite pouring billions of rupees into Nepal over decades, it has still not been able to do so.
- Therefore, it needs to reflect on what it is not doing right.
India’s aid Vs Chines aid to Nepal
- Two issues are important to understand here.
- First, all aid to Nepal from countries other than India and China go through the Plans of the Government of Nepal.
- Indian aid is seen in Nepal as a favour bestowed on a constituency it wants to garner support from rather than a contribution to Nepal’s planned development.
- Second, India competes with China in providing aid outside government budgets.
- And China picks up projects of visibility and strategic location.
- Chinese involvement in Nepal has increased since the April 2015 earthquake and Nepal is surely an area of strategic influence in China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
People-to-people ties
- In the past two decades, two significant changes have happened.
- 1) Indian workers in Nepal constitute a big part of the workforce and send about $3 billion to India every year.
- In terms of remittances to India, Nepal ranks eighth.
- So, the Government of India needs to keep in mind that many households in India are being run with remittances from Nepal.
- 2) Nepalis have migrated in the past 20 years to more than a hundred countries; India is not the only country that Nepalis rely on for jobs or education.
- This is a new Nepal comprising young people with global aspirations.
- Meanwhile, Nepal needs to plan how it engages with the youth in mainland India for whom Nepal is just like Bangladesh or Myanmar.
Consider the question “The unchanging perspective of each other in both countries calls for the recalibration of India-Nepal ties. Examine the factors that India should consider while having a relook at its ties with Nepal”
Conclusion
There are some fundamentals that we simply cannot forget: geography will not change, the border will remain open as millions of livelihoods on both sides depend on it, and China is going to be a big global player with varied interests in the neighbourhood. Therefore, the India-Nepal relationship has to be recalibrated.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FPTC Act 2020
Mains level: Paper 3- Agri marketing and related issues.
The article examine issue of agriculture produce marketing. The passage of FPTC Act 2020 sought to address the challenges faced by the farmers. However, these are several issues the Act fails to resolve. These issues are discussed here.
Why do farmers sell outside mandis?
- Official data show that even for paddy and wheat, respectively, only 29% and 44% of the harvest is sold in a mandi.
- In other words a large proportion of Indian harvest is not directly sold in a mandi.
- Farmers are forced to sell outside the mandis for two reasons.
1) There are not enough mandis
- The National Commission on Agriculture (NCA) had recommended that every Indian farmer should be able to reach a mandi in one hour by a cart.
- Thus, the average area served by a mandi was to be reduced to 80 km2.
- For this, the number of mandis was to increase to at least 41,000.
- But there were only 6,630 mandis in 2019 with an average area served of 463 km2.
- Using another set of criteria, a government committee in 2017 had recommended that India should have at least 10,130 mandis.
- So, by all counts, India needs not less but more mandis.
2) Transport cost
- Most small and marginal farmers, do not find it economical to bear the transport costs to take their harvests to mandis.
- Thus, they end up selling their harvest to a village trader even if at a lower price.
- Even if private markets replace mandis, small and marginal farmers will continue to sell to traders in the village itself.
- The situation will change only if economies of scale rise substantially at the farm-level.
Why there is poor private investment in markets?
- Already, 18 States have allowed the establishment of private markets outside the APMC; 19 States have allowed the direct purchase of agricultural produce from farmers; and 13 States have allowed the establishment of farmer’s markets outside the APMC.
- Despite such legislative changes, no significant private investment has flowed in to establish private markets in these States.
- The reason for poor private investment in markets is the presence of high transaction costs in produce collection and aggregation.
- When private players try to take over the role of mandis and the village trader, they incur considerable costs in opening collection centres and for salaries, grading, storage and transport.
- Corporate retail chains face additional costs in urban sales and storage, as well as the risk of perishability.
- This is why many retail chains prefer purchasing from mandis rather than directly from farmers.
Issue of mandi tax
- Many commentaries treat taxes in mandis as wasteful. This assertion is not fully true for two reasons:
- 1) Much of the mandi taxes are reinvested by APMCs to improve market infrastructure.
- A fall in mandi taxes would reduce the surplus available with APMCs for such investment.
- 2) In States such as Punjab, the government charges a market committee fee and a rural development fee.
- The Punjab Mandi Board uses these revenues to construct rural roads, run medical and veterinary dispensaries, supply drinking wate etc.
- Such rural investments will also be adversely affected if mandis are weakened.
Weakening of MSP regime
- Many policy signals point to a strategic design to weaken the MSPs.
- 1) Rising input and labour costs necessitates a regular upward revision of MSPs to keep pace with costs of living.
- However, MSPs are rising at a far slower rate over the past five to six years than in the past.
- 2) The government has not yet agreed to fix MSPs at 50% above the C2 cost of production.
- As a result, farmers continue to suffer a price loss of ₹200 to ₹500 per quintal in many crops.
- 3) The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) has been recommending to the government that open-ended procurement of food grains should end.
- These policy stances have set alarm bells ringing among farmers.
- The farmers Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh feel that if mandis weaken and private markets with no commitment to MSPs expand, they fear a gradual erosion of their entitlement to a remunerative price.
Steps to be taken
- 1) India needs an increase in the density of mandis, expansion of investment in mandi infrastructure and a spread of the MSP system to more regions and crops.
- 2) This increase in density should happen hand-in-hand with a universalisation of the Public Distribution System.
- 3) APMCs need internal reform to ease the entry of new players, reduce trader collusion and link them up with national e-trading platforms.
- The introduction of unified national licences for traders and a single point levy of market fees are also steps in the right direction.
Consider the question “The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 was passed with a view to address the challenges faced by the farmers in selling their produce. However, there are concerns with the provision of the Act and its efficacy to addresss these challenges. What are the issues with the Act? Suggest the measures to address these issues.”
Conclusion
The government’s must try to allay the fears of farmers over the Farm Bills and it is never too late to rethink. Unconditional talks with farmers would be an appropriate starting point.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: OIC
Mains level: Internationalization of Kashmir Issue
India has hit out at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for making factually incorrect and unwarranted references to Jammu and Kashmir.
What is OIC?
- The OIC — formerly Organisation of the Islamic Conference — is the world’s second-largest inter-governmental organisation after the UN, with a membership of 57 states.
- The OIC’s stated objective is “to safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony among various people of the world”.
- OIC has reserved membership for Muslim-majority countries. Russia, Thailand, and a couple of other small countries have Observer status.
India’s relationship with OIC
- At the 45th session of the Foreign Ministers’ Summit in 2018, Bangladesh suggested that India, where more than 10% of the world’s Muslims live, should be given Observer status.
- In 1969, India was dis-invited from the Conference of Islamic Countries in Rabat, Morocco at Pakistan’s behest.
- Then Agriculture Minister Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed was dis-invited upon arrival in Morocco after Pakistan President Yahya Khan lobbied against Indian participation.
Recent developments
- In 2019, India made its maiden appearance at the OIC Foreign Ministers’ meeting in Abu Dhabi, as a “guest of honour”.
- Then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressed the Inaugural Plenary.
- This first-time invitation was seen as a diplomatic victory for New Delhi, especially at a time of heightened tensions with Pakistan following the Pulwama attack.
- Pakistan had opposed the invitation to Swaraj and it boycotted the plenary after the UAE turned down his demand to rescind the invitation.
What is the OIC’s stand on Kashmir?
- It has been generally supportive of Pakistan’s stand on Kashmir and has issued statements criticizing India.
- These statements over the last three decades became an annual ritual, of little significance to India.
- Last year, after India revoked Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan lobbied with the OIC for their condemnation of the move.
- To Pakistan’s surprise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE — both top leaders among the Muslim countries — issued nuanced statements, and were not as harshly critical of New Delhi as Islamabad had hoped.
- Since then, Islamabad has tried to rouse sentiments among the Islamic countries, but only a handful of them — Turkey and Malaysia — publicly criticised India.
How has India been responding?
- India has consistently underlined that J&K is an integral part of India and is a matter strictly internal to India.
- The strength with which India has made this assertion has varied slightly at times, but never the core message.
- It has maintained its “consistent and well known” stand that the OIC had no locus standi,
- This time, India went a step ahead and said the grouping continues to allow itself to be used by a certain country “which has a record on religious tolerance, radicalism and persecution of minorities”.
OIC members and India
- Individually, India has good relations with almost all member nations. Ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, especially, have looked up significantly in recent years.
- The OIC includes two of India’s close neighbours, Bangladesh and Maldives.
- Indian diplomats say both countries privately admit they do not want to complicate their bilateral ties with India on Kashmir but play along with OIC.
What lies ahead with OIC?
- India now sees the duality of the OIC untenable, since many of these countries have good bilateral ties and convey to India to ignore OIC statements.
- But these countries sign off on the joint statements which are largely drafted by Pakistan.
- South Block feels it is important to challenge the double-speak since Pakistan’s campaign and currency on the Kashmir issue has hardly any takers in the international community.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Swasthya Sathi
Mains level: Ayushman Bharat
West Bengal CM has recently extended the Swasthya Sathi health insurance scheme to cover the entire population of the state.
Do you know?
Delhi, Telangana, Odisha and West Bengal have not implemented the Ayushman Bharat Scheme.
Swasthya Sathi
- The scheme was launched in West Bengal in 2016.
- It is a basic health cover for secondary and tertiary care up to Rs five lakh per annum per family.
- It is quite popular among rural and economically deprived sections of the state’s population.
Highlights of the expanded scheme
- Every family, every citizen irrespective of the age group will be included in this scheme
- This is a basic health cover for secondary and tertiary care up to Rs 5 lakh per annum per family
- The scheme is completely funded by the state government
- To cover the entire population of the state, each and every family will be given one smart card to avail the benefits under this scheme, where they will get cashless treatment
- All state-run and private hospitals are going to come under the Swasthya Sathi
- The card will be issued to the female guardians of families
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 5G Technology
Mains level: 5G Technology and the Huawei issue
India, which has the highest average monthly mobile data traffic per smartphone, is expected to surpass 350 million 5G subscriptions by 2026, according to a report by Swedish telecom equipment maker Ericsson.
Also read:
[Burning Issue] 5G Technology
Ericsson Mobility Report, 2020
- As per the report, four out of every ten mobile subscriptions in 2026 will be 5G globally with 5G subscriptions forecast to reach 3.5 billion.
- In the India region, LTE (long-term evolution technology) subscriptions are forecast to increase from 710 million in 2020 to 820 million in 2026” by which time 3G will be phased out.
- LTE remains the dominant technology in 2020, accounting for 63%.
- Based on the reported timeline for spectrum auction for 5G services, India could have its first 5G connection in 2021.
Internet usage in India
- In India, the reliance of people on mobile networks to stay connected as well as work from home during the pandemic has resulted in average traffic per smartphone is the global highest.
- Low prices for mobile broadband services, affordable smartphones and increased time spent by people online all contribute to monthly usage growth in India.
Back2Basics: 5G Technology
- It is the next-generation cellular technology that will provide faster and more reliable communication with ultra-low latency.
- A government panel report points out that with 5G, the peak network data speeds are expected to be in the range of 2-20 Gigabits per second (Gbps).
- This is in contrast to 4G link speeds in averaging 6-7 Megabits per second (Mbps) in India as compared to 25 Mbps in advanced countries.
- Once 5G becomes commercial, users will be required to change their current devices in favour of 5G-enabled ones.
- However, it is likely that the primary use of the technology will go beyond the delivery of services on personal mobiles devices.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hayabusa2 Probe
Mains level: Not Much
A Japanese spacecraft is nearing Earth after a yearlong journey home from a distant asteroid with soil samples. It is set to land in Australia.
Try this PYQ:
Which of the following is/are cited by the scientists as evidence/evidence for the continued expansion of the universe?
- Detection of microwaves in space
- Observation of redshirt phenomenon in space
- Movement of asteroids in space
- Occurrence of supernova explosions in space
Codes:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1, 3 and 4
(d) None of the above can be cited as evidence.
Hayabusa2 Probe
- Hayabusa2is an asteroid sample-return mission operated by the Japanese space agency, JAXA.
- It follows on from the Hayabusa mission which returned asteroid samples in 2010.
- It was launched on 3 December 2014 and rendezvoused with near-Earth asteroid 162173 Ryugu on 27 June 2018.
- It surveyed the asteroid for a year and a half and took samples. It left the asteroid in November 2019.
- It carries multiple science payloads for remote sensing, sampling, and four small rovers that investigated the asteroid surface to inform the environmental and geological context of the samples collected.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Arunachal Kiwi
Mains level: Organic farming in India
Recently, the ‘Wild’ Arunachal Kiwi has received organic certification by the Mission Organic Value Chain Development for the North East Region.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Among the agricultural commodities imported by India, which one of the following accounts for the highest imports in terms of value in the last five years?
(a) Spices
(b) Fresh fruits
(c) Pulses
(d) Vegetable oils
Arunachal Kiwi
- The kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa Chev.) is a deciduous fruiting vine native to Yangtze River valley of south and central China.
- In Arunachal Pradesh, a domesticated variety of kiwi was introduced as a commercial fruit only in 2000.
- The Ziro Valley specifically located at 1,500-2,000 metres above sea level is the most ideal for kiwi.
- It is also called “China’s miracle fruit” and “Horticulture wonder of New Zealand”.
Benefits of certification
- Certification helps producers and handlers; they receive premium prices for the products and have access to fast-growing, local, regional and international markets.
Organic certification in India
- An agricultural practise/product is considered organic when there are no chemical fertilizers or pesticides involved in its cultivation process.
- Such certifications in India can be obtained after a strict scientific assessment done by the regulatory body, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Zebrafish
Mains level: Not Much
Indian scientists have used the Zebrafish model and identified its genes that can promote heart regeneration.
Try this PYQ:
Q.With reference to India’s Biodiversity, Ceylon frogmouth, Coppersmith Barbet, Gray-chinned minivet and White-throated redstart are-
(a) Birds
(b) Primates
(c) Reptiles
(d) Amphibians
Zebrafish
- Zebrafish is a small (2-3 cm long) freshwater fish found in the tropical and subtropical regions.
- The fish is native to South Asia’s Indo-Gangetic plains, where they are mostly found in the paddy fields and even in stagnant water and streams.
- The fish become adults at three months and survive 2-3 years in a laboratory condition.
- Its unique characteristics lie in its transparency during its embryonic stages, allowing observing all organs, including beating heart and blood circulation.
Ability to heal their heart
- The ability of Zebrafish to heal their heart after injury makes them an attractive model to investigate mechanisms governing the regenerative process.
- Researchers worldwide are actively working to understand the mechanism behind the heart regeneration in Zebrafish for the last two decades.
- Years of efforts have helped them identify the cellular communication network factor 2a (ccn2a), a gene that can promote heart regeneration by enhancing cardiomyocyte proliferation.
- They have also observed that this gene resolves the transient collagenous fibrotic scar resulting in faster regeneration.
Significance for humans
- Cardiovascular diseases are the number 1 cause of deaths globally, taking an estimated 17.9 million lives each year, according to the World Health Organisation.
- Humans cannot regenerate their hearts upon myocardial damage and a person who suffered a heart attack cannot functionally heal the damaged heart muscle, resulting in reduced pumping efficiency.
- While on the other hand, this unique fish has the full potential to regenerate its heart and restore its function after injury.
- Till now, there is no treatment available to restore the damaged heart function in humans. Hence scientists have sought to decode the heart regeneration processes using this model animal.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Annapurna idol
Mains level: Not Much
PM has announced that an ancient idol of the goddess Annapurna, stolen from India about a century ago, is being brought back from Canada.
Must revise: Gandhara and Mathura school of Art
[Static Revision] Chapter 6 | Post Mauryan Period (200BC to 300AD)
Annapurna Idol
- Annapurna, also spelt Annapoorna, is the goddess of food.
- This 18th-century idol, carved in the Benares was stolen from a temple of Varanasi and smuggled out around 100 years ago somewhere around 1913.
- Now is part of the University of Regina, Canada’s collection at the MacKenzie Art Gallery.
- The idol holds a bowl of kheer in one hand and a spoon in the other.
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