Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Vienna convention
Mains level: Paper 3- Italian marines case
The tribunal’s judgement in the Italian marines case was in Italy’s favour. But the basis used in the judgement could set a wrong precedent. India also ensures a fair trial against the marines in Italy. So, what would be the wrong precedent and why would be trial against marines will continue in Italy? Read to know…
Background
- On February 15, 2012 two Italian marines were held for killing two Indian fishermen
- Fishermen were in India’s Contiguous Zone, 20.5 nautical miles off the Kerala coast.
- And the marines were part of a security contingent on the Enrica Lexie, an Italian commercial oil tanker.
What is said in the judgement
- The tribunal was established by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
- ITLOS was under the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
- Only the operative portion of the tribunal’s award is available till now.
- It held that the marines were entitled to immunity in relation to the acts that they committed.
- The tribunal also said that India is precluded from exercising its jurisdiction over the Marines.
- However, the tribunal found that by firing on the fishermen Italy was guilty of “violating India’s freedom and right of navigation”.
- The tribunal majority agreed with the Italian plea that the marines had immunity for they were state officials.
The judgement could set the wrong precedent
- India’s stand was that UNCLOS is not concerned with issues relating to immunity.
- Immunity of state officials has to be governed by specific multilateral or bilateral treaties or agreements.
- It should not be invoked to settle issues of jurisdiction.
- Even if Italian marines are considered as state officials, they were serving on a commercial vessel.
- Italy did so unilaterally without the cover of any multilateral or bilateral arrangement.
- There is no convention that such persons as the marines in such cases are immune from local criminal jurisdiction.
- Only heads of states, heads of governments and foreign ministers customarily enjoy immunity abroad apart from accredited diplomats who are covered by the
- Countries may now enact specific laws to give immunity to their military and para-military personnel and others by declaring them state official.
- This can lead to an increase in tensions generally and especially between inimical states.
What should be the next course of action for India
- Indian government should ensure that Italy is made to pay fully for the loss of life and the suffering it has caused in this matter.
- The government should also ensure that it closely monitors the case proceedings in the Italian court against two marines.
- This is also a time for the executive and judicial branches of the Indian state to introspect on how they handled the whole affair politically, diplomatically and legally.
Consider the question “The judgement of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Italian marines case was based on the immunity of state officials. What could be the implication of invoking immunity of state official in this judgement? What should be the next course of action for India?”
Conclusion
As a good international citizen, India has accepted the tribunal’s award. Now it must ensure that Italy fully honours it. The matter remains open.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Policy changes and reforms needed for growth of India
There is no doubt that an economically prosperous India will be well placed to deal with China effectively. So, to achieve this prosperity India urgently needs to embark upon the path of reforms.
How much China has moved ahead
- In 1987, both countries’ nominal GDPs were almost equal.
- China’s economic opening-up has left India behind, contributing to a military imbalance.
- China’s economy was nearly five times larger than India’s in 2019.
- Not coincidentally, from rough parity in 1989, China’s military spending last year more than tripled India’s.
- Heightened vigilance along the LAC demands summoning scarce resources.
- If India cannot close the economic gap and build military muscle, Beijing may feel emboldened to probe the subcontinent’s land and maritime periphery.
Reforms: Key to progress
- In 1991, India enacted changes allowing markets to set commodity prices.
- But it did not similarly liberalise land, labour and capital.
- Now, the government has delivered mixed messages about a revitalised reform agenda.
- Some States have temporarily lifted labour restrictions.
- Some others intend to make land acquisition easier.
But a call for self-sufficiency could do harm
- India emphasis on self-reliance could inhibit growth and constrain investment in a more vigorous foreign and defence policy.
- Greater self-sufficiency is desired.
- Home-grown manufacturing of critical medicinal ingredients or digital safeguards on citizens’ personal data would reduce vulnerabilities.
- Imposing restriction to help the local defence industry would hamper acquisitions helping balance China.
Competition from other countries
- China is facing intense scrutiny for its role in the pandemic, geopolitical competition, trade wars, and economic coercion.
- Businesses are revisiting whether or not to diversify suddenly exposed international value chains.
- India’s competitors [like Bangladesh, Vietnam] are trying to attract the businesses shifting out form China.
- These countries are highlighting their regulatory predictability, stable tax policies, and fewer trade obstacles.
- While India remains outside the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, competitors are wooing companies seeking lower trade barriers.
- Asian countries are pushing ahead: Vietnam just inked a trade deal with the European Union that threatens to eat into India’s exports.
Way forward
- India needs increased exports and investments to provide more well-paying jobs, technology.
- Before committing to long-term, multi-billion investments, companies often want to test India’s market through international sales.
- Liberalisation remains the tried-and-true path to competitiveness.
- If India can unite its people and rapidly strengthen capabilities, it will likely discover that it can deal with China effectively.
Consider the question “Do you agree with the view that slowdown in the reforms in land, labour and capital after the reforms of 1991 restricted Indias economic progress? Give reasons in support of your argument.
Conclusion
The choices that India makes to recapture consistent, high growth will determine its future. Bold reforms offer the best option to manage Beijing and achieve greater independence on the world stage.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Export of India's agricultural products
Mains level: Paper 3- Increasing India's net agri-exports
India has been the net exporter of agricultural commodities since 1991, however, there is scope for increasing its net export. This article suggests the strategy to achieve this.
Foreign exchange reserve: then and now in terms of grains
- In the mid-1960s the country had about $400 million.
- If India had spent all its foreign currency reserves just on wheat imports, it could have imported about seven million tonnes (mt) of wheat.
- Today, India has foreign exchange reserves of more than $500 billion.
- Even if the country has to buy 20 mt of wheat at a landed cost of $250/tonne, it will spend just $5 billion it is just one per cent of its foreign exchange reserves.
- In that sense, the biggest reform in the last three decades that has led to “aatma nirbharta” in food is the correction of the exchange rate.
- Another factor is coupling and the gradual integration of India with the world economy.
- This has helped India increase its foreign exchange reserves from $1.1 billion in 1991 to more than $500 billion today.
India: Net exporter of agricultural products
- India has been the net exporter of agricultural products ever since the economic reforms began in 1991.
- The golden year of agri-trade was 2013-14 when net agricultural trade surplus was $24.7 billion.
- In 2019-20, agri-exports were just $36 billion, and the net agri-trade surplus at $11.2 billion.
- With this dull performance doubling agri-exports by 2022 looks almost impossible.
Let’s look at what India exports
- Marine products with $6.7 billion exports top the list.
- The second is rice at $6.4 billion of which basmati is at $4.6 billion and common rice at $2.0 billion.
- Next is spices at $3.6 billion.
- Other items are buffalo meat at $3.2 billion, sugar at $2.0 billion, tea and coffee at $1.5 billion, fresh fruits and vegetables at $1.4 billion, and cotton at $1 billion.
Strategy to increase export
- If one chalks out a strategy we would need to keep in mind the principle of “comparative advantage”.
- That means exporting more where we have a competitive edge, and importing where we lack competitiveness.
- Together power and fertiliser subsidies account for about 10-15 per cent of the value of rice and sugar produced on a per hectare basis.
- So, we should offer similar incentives for exports of high-value agri-produce like fruits and vegetables, spices, tea and coffee, or even cotton, as we do for rice and sugar?
Decreasing the edible oil imports
- On the agri-imports front, the biggest item is edible oils — worth about $10 billion i.e. more than 15 MT.
- India needs to decrease imports through augmenting productivity and increasing the recovery ratio of oil from oilseeds and in case of palm oil, from fresh fruit bunches.
- The maximum potential of increasing production lies in oil palm.
- This is the only plant that can give about four tonnes of oil on a per hectare basis.
- India has about 2 million hectares that are suitable for oil palm cultivation — this can yield 8 mt of palm oil.
- But it needs a long term vision and strategy.
Issue of subsidy to rice and sugar
- Rice and sugar cultivation are subsidised through free power and highly subsidised fertilisers, especially urea.
- It is leading to the virtual export of water because of their high water requirements.
- One kg of rice requires 3,500-5,000 litres of water for irrigation, and one kg of sugar consumes about 2,000 litres of water.
- This leads to increased pressure on scarce water and highly inefficient use of fertilisers.
- It may be worth noting that almost 75 per cent of the nitrogen in urea is not absorbed by plants.
- It either evaporates into the environment or leaches into groundwater making it unfit for drinking.
Consider the question “While India has been the net exporter of agricultural products ever since the economic reforms of 1991, it is far from realising its potential to become the leading agri-produce exporter. In light of this, suggest the strategy that India should follow to increase India’s net agri-exports.”
Conclusion
The government must focus on augmenting export and decrease import dependence in agricultural products which will further its goal of aatmanirbharta and doubling the farmers’ income.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Opening railways for private players
Mains level: Paper 3- India railways: Challenges and opportunities
Indian Railways has launched the process of opening up train operations to private entities on 109 origin-destination (OD) pairs of routes using 151 modern trains.
Practice question for mains:
Q. Indian Railways has been the lifeline of India’s growth story since Independence. Discuss various opportunities and challenges ahead of its privatization.
Why such a move?
- From a passenger perspective, there is a need for more train services, particularly between big cities.
- The Railway Board says five crore intending passengers could not be accommodated during 2019-20 for want of capacity, and there was 13.3% travel demand in excess of supply during summer and festival seasons.
Moving the paralyzed system
- The Railway Board has moved ahead with a long-pending plan, setting a tentative schedule for private train operations, expected to begin in 2023 and in 12 clusters.
- At present, scheduled passenger train services remain paralyzed during the COVID-19 pandemic, and various railways have been running only specials such as those for workers.
What is the background of the decision?
- The present bid is only for a fraction of the total train operations — 5% of the 2,800 Mail and Express services operated by Indian Railways.
- The overall objective, however, is to introduce a new train travel experience for passengers who are used to travelling by aircraft and air-conditioned buses.
- Without an expansion, and with the growth of road travel, the share of the Railways would steadily decline in the coming years.
Bibek Debroy Committee Recommendations
- Several committees have gone into the expansion and the modernization of Indian Railways.
- In 2015, the expert panel chaired by Bibek Debroy constituted by the Ministry of Railways a year earlier, recommended that the way forward for the railways was “liberalisation and not privatization”.
- It asked for entry of new operators “to encourage growth and improve services.”
- It also made it clear that a regulatory mechanism was a prerequisite to promote healthy competition and protect the interests of all stakeholders.
Why is the move significant for Indian Railways?
- For the Railways, one of the largest organisations in the country, operating not just trains for passengers and freight, but also social institutions such as hospitals and schools represents a radical change.
- It was estimated that a one rupee push in the railway sector would have a forward linkage effect of increasing output in other sectors by ₹2.50.
- Train services operated by Indian Railways cover several classes of passengers, meeting the social service obligation to connect remote locations, and adopting the philosophy of cross-subsidy.
- In more recent years, it has focused on revenue generation through dynamic demand-based pricing.
Private players will be game-changers
- Private operators are not expected to shoulder the burden of universal service norms, and will focus on revenue.
- Even the first IRCTC-run trains have a higher cost of travel between Lucknow and Delhi than a Shatabdi train on the same route that almost matches it for speed.
- So private operators would have to raise the level of their offering even higher, to justify higher fares, and attract a segment of the population that is ready to pay for this difference.
- The government would have to explain that it has monetized its expensive fixed assets such as track, signalling and stations adequately for the taxpayer, who has paid for them.
Challenges ahead
- Several critical issues remain unaddressed. For one, there will be questions over the financial viability of some routes.
- Railways also tend to cross-subsidise passenger fares through freight revenue.
- This translates to below-cost pricing, which will make it difficult for private players to compete.
- On the other hand, higher fares needed to cover costs might bring them in direct competition with airlines, pricing them out of the market.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Scattering of light
Mains level: Paper 3- Raman spectroscopy
Mumbai-based researchers have turned to Raman Spectroscopy to detect RNA viruses present in saliva samples.
Try this question from CSP 2017
Q.Which Indian astrophysicist and Nobel laureate predicted rapidly rotating stars emit polarized light?
(a) Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
(b) CV Raman
(c) Ramanujan
(d) Amartya Sen
The Raman Spectroscopy
- Raman spectroscopy is an analytical technique where scattered light is used to measure the vibrational energy modes of a sample.
- In 1928, Raman discovered that when a stream of light passes through a liquid, a fraction of the light scattered by the liquid is of a different colour.
- While Raman was returning from London in a 15-day voyage, he started thinking about the colour of the deep blue Mediterranean.
- He wasn’t convinced by the explanation that the colour of the sea was blue due to the reflection of the sky.
- As the ship docked in Bombay, he sent a letter to the editor of the journal Nature, in which he penned down his thoughts on this.
Subsequently, Raman was able to show that the blue colour of the water was due to the scattering of the sunlight by water molecules.
- By this time he was obsessed with the phenomenon of light scattering.
How does it work?
- The Raman Effect is when the change in the energy of the light is affected by the vibrations of the molecule or material under observation, leading to a change in its wavelength.
- Significantly, it notes that the Raman effect is “very weak” — this is because when the object in question is small (smaller than a few nanometres), the light will pass through it undisturbed.
- But a few times in a billion, light waves may interact with the particle. This could also explain why it was not discovered before.
- In general, when light interacts with an object, it can either be reflected, refracted or transmitted.
- One of the things that scientists look at when light is scattered is if the particle it interacts with is able to change its energy.
Applications
- Raman spectroscopy is used in many varied fields – in fact, any application where non-destructive, microscopic, chemical analysis and imaging is required.
- Whether the goal is qualitative or quantitative data, Raman analysis can provide key information easily and quickly.
- It can be used to rapidly characterize the chemical composition and structure of a sample, whether solid, liquid, gas, gel, slurry or powder.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Winter grade diesel
Mains level: Not much
India’s armed forces may soon be using winter diesel for operations in high altitude areas such as Ladakh, where winter temperatures plummet to extremely low as -30° Celsius.
This year BS-VI compliant fuel was in news. Try differentiating the Winter Diesel with the BS-VI fuel.
What is Winter Diesel?
- Winter diesel is a specialised fuel that was introduced by Indian Oil Corp. Ltd. last year specifically for high altitude regions and low-temperature regions such as Ladakh, where ordinary diesel can become unusable.
- The flow characteristics of regular diesel change at such low temperatures and using it may be detrimental to vehicles.
- Winter diesel which contains additives to maintain lower viscosity can be used in temperatures as low as -30°C and that besides a low pour point, it had higher cetane rating — an indicator is the combustion speed of diesel and compression needed for ignition.
- It has lower sulphur content, which would lead to lower deposits in engines and better performance.
Back2Basics: BS-VI fuel
- Sulphur content in fuel is a major cause for concern. Sulphur dioxide released by fuel burning is a major pollutant that affects health as well.
- BS-VI fuel’s sulphur content is much lower than BS-IV fuel.
It is reduced to 10 mg/kg max in BS-VI from 50 mg/kg under BS-IV.
This reduction makes it possible to equip vehicles with better catalytic converters that capture pollutants. However, BS-VI fuel is expected to be costlier that BS-IV fuel.
With inputs from:
[pib] Winter-grade diesel
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Art and culture
Mains level: Not much
During his day-long whirlwind visit, PM Narendra performed Sindhu Darshan Puja at Nimu, the forward brigade place in Ladakh.
Sindhu Darshan Puja.
⦁ Sindhu Darshan Festival is a festival of India held every year on full moon day (on Guru Purnima) in the month of June.
⦁ It is held at Leh, in Ladakh District of Ladakh. It stretches for three days.
⦁ It was first started in the October by veteran politician L.K. Advani, 1997 and continues to be held every year since then, attracting large number of foreign and domestic tourists.
⦁ The main reason behind the celebration of Sindhu Darshan Festival is to endorse the Indus River (Sindhu River) as an icon of the communal harmony and unity of India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SUP
Mains level: Paper 3- Plastic waste and its management
The threat posed by plastic waste to the environment is well established. The corona pandemic has led to an increase in plastic waste. This article suggests some ways to deal with the issue.
Rising plastic use during pandemic
- In 2018, a report by McKinsey estimated that, globally, we generate 350 million tonnes of plastic waste.
- Only 16 per cent of it is recycled.
- Today, due to pandemic the amount of plastic waste we are generating is much higher than that estimated in the McKinsey report.
- The Guardian recently reported that there are possibly more masks than jellyfish in the oceans today.
Management of plastic in India
- We have the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016, which were updated and amended in 2018.
- In fact, India saw incredible momentum in its fight for effective management of plastic waste in the last year.
- The Prime Minister made clarion calls for a jan andolan (people’s movement) to curb the use of single-use plastic(SUP).
- Jan andolan was also to ensure proper disposal of all plastic waste.
- Also, the entire country rallied together under the banner of the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign.
Why single-use plastic is different
- Plastic is not the problem, our handling of it is.
- We need plastic, but not SUP, which is difficult to dispose of effectively, and that is where the problem lies.
- It is important to understand this distinction.
- By understanding this distinction we may change our behaviour and our lifestyles, to balance our need for plastic with effectively managing its waste.
Way forward
- One way to approach the issue is to treat it not just as an environmental problem but as an economic opportunity.
- We require new business models which are designed for sustainability.
- In Uganda, they are melting plastic waste to make face shields which are being sold for just a dollar each.
- But, most of all, we need a tectonic shift in the behaviour of consumers.
- We need consumers to care about their role in the plastic waste value chain.
- Under phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen) village communities are now starting to plan for setting up waste collection and segregation systems, with material recovery facilities at the block- level.
- Change is possible when we take necessary steps to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and, when all else fails, Remove, or dispose of plastic waste safely and effectively.
- Raising awareness amongst the public of the harm caused by plastic pollution through education and outreach programs to modify behavior.
- A movement against plastic waste would have to prioritise the reduction of single-use plastic such as multi-layer packaging, bread bags, food wrap, and protective packaging.
- Promote Alternatives, before the ban or levy comes into force, the availability of alternatives need to be assessed, hence the government may:
- Provide economic incentives to encourage the uptake of eco-friendly and fit-for-purpose alternatives that do not cause more harm.
- Support can include tax rebates, research and development funds, technology incubation, public-private partnerships and support to projects that recycle single-use items and turn waste into a resource that can be used again.
- Reduce or abolish taxes on the import of materials used to make alternatives.
- Provide incentives to the alternative industry by introducing tax rebates or other conditions to support its transition from plastic industry.
- Expanding the use of biodegradable plastics or even edible plastics made from various materials such as bagasse (the residue after extracting juice from sugarcane), corn starch, and grain flour.
- Use of microbeads in personal care products and cosmetics must be prohibited.
- Target the most problematic single-use plastics by conducting a baseline assessment to identify the most problematic single-use plastics, as well as the current causes, extent and impacts of their mismanagement.
- Consider the best actions to tackle the problem of plastic waste management (e.g. through regulatory, economic, awareness, voluntary actions) given the country’s socio-economic standing.
- Assess the potential social, economic and environmental impacts (positive and negative) of the preferred short-listed plastic waste management measures/actions, by considering how will the poor be affected, or what impact will the preferred course of action have on different sectors and industries.
- Identify and engage key stakeholder groups like retailers, consumers, industry representatives, local government, manufacturers, civil society, environmental groups, and tourism associations in order to ensure broad buy-in.
- Explaining the decision and any punitive measures that will follow, as a result of non compliance of plastic management rule.
- Use revenues collected from taxes or levies on single-use plastics to maximize the public good, thereby supporting environmental projects or boosting local recycling with the funds and creating jobs in the plastic recycling sector with seed funding.
- Enforce the plastic waste management measure effectively, by making sure that there is clear allocation of roles and responsibilities.
- Monitor and adjust the plastic waste management measure if necessary and update the public on progress.
Consider the question “What are the legal provisions for plastic waste management in India? Suggest the ways to deal with the issue of plastic waste effectively.”
Conclusion
The corona pandemic crisis should not blind us to the plastic crisis and we should try to bring about the behaviour change when it comes to the use of plastic and devise the economic model.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: FDI
Mains level: Paper 3- Differentiating between trade and investment
Differentiating between trade and investment is necessary for reaping the benefits that come with foreign investment in firms. However, the concerns over the source of funds are not unfounded. So, some caution is warranted in dealing with FDI.
Let’s look into the debate
- Government is asking its citizens to aim for self-reliance.
- So, should India continue to allow investment inflows from China? This is the debate.
- China has invested $4 billion in Indian startups in the past 5 years.
- This amount would be higher if funds located in tax havens with Chinese ownership are also accounted for.
Some of the questions raised in the debate
- Is trade of products like buttons, crockery same as long-term foreign investments in high-risk new age technology-driven products?
- Is it economically prudent for a country to fulfil all its capital requirements or compromise on innovation due to lack of thereof?
Trade vs FDI
- Trade just helps the country fulfil its requirements of those goods and services (G&S) that may not available in the country.
- Investments provide the capital to build infrastructure that can plug the G&S deficit, even, sell it to other markets.
- Trade just provides entry of G&S.
- FDI inflow is a route for transferring capabilities, technology, building linkages, business capabilities etc.
- FDI helps generate employment, public assets, tax revenues and develop markets, none of this is contributed by the trade of merchandise.
- Foreign investment does have an adverse impact on domestic markets in the short-run by crowding out domestic competition or investment.
- In fact, attracting FDI in employment-intensive sectors can create positive economic and social spillovers.
- Possibilities to increase exports often arise from companies with significant levels of FDI.
- Foreign investor exposes itself to regulatory, economic and geo-political risks of the country.
Foreign investment in Indian firms: Two aspects to consider
- While discussing the funding composition of the likes of Paytm, OYO hotel chain or Ola, two aspects need to be considered.
- 1) These companies are Indian companies operating under the law of land, creating economic opportunities for the youth and contributing to the welfare of the Indian community.
- 2) Success of these ventures is not solely due to the investment, but because of the novelty of the product offering.
- Investments in start-ups involve high risk; the list of failed start-ups with Chinese investment is bound to be much longer.
- In the absence of technology giants in India, we may also end up draining the brain to countries with a stronger financial ecosystem for fresh ideas.
Apprehension over FDI in India
- Apprehensions related to investments from any country per se, are not unwarranted in India.
- This is mainly because history suggests foreign investment can potentially lead to economic colonisation.
- However, times have changed and so has the world order.
- Steady inflow of investments can exist without impacting the economic or political stability of the country.
- To do so we should practice some of the following recommendations.
How to address the concern over FDI
- Investment funds can be set up outside the home country of the investor or be routed through companies located at tax havens.
- It is not always possible to map the investor to the country.
How to solve this problem
- To solve this identify sectors based on sensitivity, the investment required, technology, employment and social impact.
- Tighten regulations related to data storage and access by companies through data localisation in these sensitive sectors.
- Modify the offset policy in defence to ensure a certain portion of the profits is invested in the SMEs.
- To further India’s interests in nascent sectors such as machine learning, HealthTech, maximum period for an investor to be invested in a greenfield should be limited to 10 years.
- All firms receiving foreign investment should have a plan to contribute to India’s exports within the product lifecycle and minimum employment generation.
- Ease listing norms for firms so that funds through public and private placement can be raised by wholly Indian owned companies.
- BSE SME & Start-ups Platform has helped 322 companies raise Rs. 3,320.48 crores from the market. Start-ups should be encouraged to make use of the platform wherever possible.
- Domestic procurement of raw material and intermediate goods has to be non-negotiable as far as possible.
Consider the question “What are the challenges and opportunities associated with foreign investment and suggest the ways to address the challenges.”
Conclusion
From being treated as a ‘dumping bazaar’ to now attracting investors, India does not need to shy away from investments; it certainly needs to be wary of pure trade which limits India’s potential and drive to produce indigenously.
Back2Basics: Offset policy
- The offset policy, introduced in 2005, mandates foreign suppliers to spend at least 30% of the contract value in India.
- It was first revised in 2006 and then again in 2011 and in 2016. Another round of tweaking is currently underway.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: APIs
Mains level: Paper 3- Indian pharmaceutical industry
Abrupt ban on import from China would harm the India pharmaceutical industry and disrupt the supply of several essential medicines. Any attempt at reducing the dependence on China for APIs should be strategies, argues the author.
Dependence of Indian pharma industry on China
- India is the third-largest producer of finished drugs in the world.
- However, India relies significantly on China for supplies of active pharmaceutical ingredients APIs.
- An estimated 70 per cent of API requirements of India’s pharmaceutical industry are sourced from China.
- For some drugs, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, this dependence is almost 100 per cent.
- This import reliance has been fuelled by environmental controls in India and competition with China, which has higher volumes of production and lower costs.
Implications of banning import from China
- Restricting or banning the import of APIs would cause significant disruption to the Indian pharmaceutical industry
- The pharmaceutical industry had $40 billion in revenues in 2018-19, according to Pharmexcil.
- Such a prospect is especially of concern to potential patients.
- Indian pharmaceutical industry annually exports $20 billion worth of medicine.
- An ad hoc or reactive decoupling could disrupt the production of a wide range of medicines in India and globally.
- Such disruption could affect the availability of Dexamethasone and painkillers, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, as well as antibiotics, such as penicillin.
- The impacts would be especially high in low and middle-income countries.
- In many African countries, in fact, India supplies almost 50 per cent of the medicines in value terms.
Lessons from the past: Policy initiative matters
- Market share of foreign-owned multinationals in India was 80-90 per cent in 1970 in the pharmaceutical industry.
- It fell to 50 per cent by the early 1980s, and down to 23 per cent today.
- The prices of medicines in India fell from being amongst the highest in the world to amongst the lowest.
- But this did not happen through sudden decoupling from foreign multinationals or a complete boycott or ban on imports.
- The 1970 Indian Patent Act removed product patent protection in pharmaceuticals.
- So, the 1970 Patent Act is widely lauded for facilitating the growth of India’s industry.
- India also benefited from the 1973 Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) and the subsequent New Drug Policy (1978).
- Thus, a series of policy initiatives succeeded in tilting the balance in favour of Indian-owned firms.
But does it mean we have to depend on China forever?
- No, but reducing dependence on China will not be easy to achieve.
- In India, any decoupling from China must be strategic, with significant policy support.
- It will take time for a paced indigenisation.
Government moves to reduce dependence for API
- In March, the government announced Rs 3,000 crore to develop three bulk drug parks.
- The government also announced Rs 6,940 crore to manufacturers of 53 bulk drugs over the next eight years.
- Planning ahead towards greater domestic production of APIs, as well as reduced dependence on China, is an understandable and sensible policy objective.
- Despite a decline in recent decades, India has a stronger starting point than most countries given the continued presence of some API production capabilities.
- Indian firms have capacities, for instance, to produce COVID-19 treatments, including Remdesivir.
Consider the question “What are the APIs? Why India depends on other countries for it and what are implications of it? Suggest ways to reduce this dependence.”
Conclusion
In the short run, boycotts or bans would be counter-productive for the Indian industry, while also affecting access to much-needed medicines to India’s citizens and beyond. In the long run, however, reducing dependence on China would be strategically prudent.
Back2Basics: What are APIs?
- Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), is the term used to refer to the biologically active component of a drug product (e.g. tablet, capsule).
- Drug products are usually composed of several components.
- The API is the primary ingredient.
- Other ingredients are commonly known as “excipients” and these substances are always required to be biologically safe, often making up a variable fraction of the drug product.
- The procedure for optimizing and compositing this mixture of components used in the drug is known as “formulation.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ladakh and its topography
Mains level: India-China border skirmishes and their impacts on bilateral relations
With the long-standing border standoff with China, Ladakh, a rugged, high-altitude region that is generally far removed from the lives and imagination of most Indians, has become part of our daily conversations and worries.
Let’s have a look at a short primer on the region, its history, and some of the places where Indian soldiers are locked in conflict with the Chinese army. Try remembering its geographical features.
Ladakh through the History
- Lying between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and Himalayas to the south, Ladakh was originally inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent.
- Historically the region included the valleys of Baltistan, Indus, and Nubra, besides Zanskar, Lahaul and Spiti, Aksai Chin, Ngari and Rudok.
- Located at the crossroads of important trade routes since ancient times, Ladakh has always enjoyed great geostrategic importance.
- At the beginning of the first century AD, Ladakh was part of the Kushan Empire. Till the 15th century, it was part of Tibet and was ruled by dynasties of local Lamas.
- Later it changed hands multiple times, alternating between the kingdoms of Kashmir and Zhangzhung.
- In 1834, Gen Zorawar Singh, a general of Raja Gulab Singh who ruled Jammu as part of the Sikh empire, extended the boundaries of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s kingdom to Ladakh.
Partition, Pakistan and Chinese occupations
Immediately after India’s Partition, tribal raiders (the disguised Pakistani Army) attacked Ladakh. They captured Kargil and were heading for Leh when they were confronted by the Indian Army, who got back Kargil.
- Although India has always considered Aksai Chin to be part of Jammu and Kashmir, in the 1950s the Chinese built a highway, called western highway or NH219, connecting Tibet with Xinjiang through this region.
- It was always more easily accessible to the Chinese than to the Indians, who were across the Karakoram.
- India learnt of this road in 1957, and it was one of the causes of the 1962 India-China war, after which China strengthened its control over this region.
- China today claims Aksai Chin to be part of Hotan County of its Xinjiang province.
- Pakistan ceded the Shaksgam Valley, which was part of the Baltistan region north of the Karakoram, to China following a Sino-Pakistani agreement signed on March 2, 1963.
Ladakh through the Chinese eyes
- China’s forays into the region began after the 1949 Communist Revolution, when Chairman Mao Zedong, a veteran of guerrilla warfare, began consolidating China’s periphery as part of his expansionist designs.
- The PLA occupied Tibet in 1951 and then began to eye Ladakh.
- The reason was that the road connecting Kashgar in Xinjiang to Lhasa in Tibet had to pass through Aksai Chin, which was held by Indians but was seldom patrolled by them.
Galwan Valley in the limelight
- The Tibetan revolt of 1959 and the Dalai Lama’s flight to India saw China further strengthening its military presence in Ladakh to ensure the security of NH 219.
- India reacted with its ‘forward policy’ as part of which it began setting up Army posts in the region to prevent Chinese expansion.
- This resulted in the initial clash between the Indian and Chinese forces in the Kongka Pass area in 1959.
- Later, Galwan Valley became the scene of action when the Indian Army established a post to cut off the Chinese post in the Samjunjling area, marking the beginning of the 1962 war.
Pangong Tso: The contested lake
- In the latest face-off, Indian troops first spied the Chinese on the banks of Pangong Tso.
- This lake, which is one-third in India and two-thirds in China, is of great tactical significance to the Chinese who have built infrastructure along both its sides to ensure the speedy build-up of troops.
- Chinese incursions in this region aim at shifting the LAC westward so that they are able to occupy important heights both on the north and the south of the lake, which will enable them to dominate the Chushul Bowl.
- The narrow Chushul valley, which lies on the road to Leh with Pangong Tso to its north, was an important target for the Chinese even during the 1962 war. It was here that the Battle of Chushul was fought.
Strategic SSN: To the far north
- The area spanning Galwan, Depsang plateau, and Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), is called Sub-Sector North (SSN).
- This enclave that lies to the east of the Siachen glacier is of immense significance given its proximity to the Karakoram Pass, close to China’s western highway or NH 219 going to Aksai Chin.
- It’s the SSN that provides land access to Central Asia through the Karakoram Pass.
- Domination of this area is also crucial for the protection of the Siachen glacier, lying between the Saltoro ridge on the Pakistani side and the Saser ridge close to the Chinese claim line.
- The Galwan heights overlook the all-weather Durbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) Road, which connects Leh to DBO at the base of the Karakoram Pass that separates China’s Xinjiang Region from Ladakh.
- Domination over these heights allows China to easily interdict this road.
Why is China stubborn on Galwan?
- Occupation of Galwan will neutralize the tactical advantage India gained by building the all-weather Durbuk-DBO road over the last two decades.
- Last year, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) made this rugged terrain even more accessible by completing the 430-metre-long bridge across the Shyok River.
- With this, the Darbuk route to DBO became available round the year, and the travel time of troops to the SSN was halved.
- It was this bridge, coupled with the ongoing work on a link road to LAC in this area, prompted the PLA to enter Galwan.
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The Indian Railways has announced that it achieved 100 per cent punctuality of its passenger trains on July 1, a never-before feat.
Try this question:
Q.Discuss various issues crippling the punctuality of the Indian Railways.
A big achievement for Railways
- Usually, the Indian Railways run over 13,000 passenger trains and over 8,000 freight trains every day.
- It is important to remember the context – very few trains are running now, and the punctuality of the Railways can hardly be compared with its own performance on this count in pre-COVID times.
- The 100 per cent punctuality has been achieved when the network is running just 230 passenger trains – along with about 3,000 loaded freight trains and 2,200 empty ones.
- This is no mean achievement – it is indeed not an easy task given all the constraints that the Railways usually face while running a train on its designated path and time slot.
Why do trains get delayed in India?
- There are a number of reasons, which is also why the achievement of the Railways is significant.
- There are unforeseen situations such as a failure of assets like the signalling system and overhead power equipment.
- Several types of breakdowns can occur, related to rolling stock, tracks, etc., that make a train lose time along the way.
- Then there are external unforeseen problems like run-over cattle and humans, agitations on the tracks, and the like.
And what have the Railways been doing right?
- The maintenance of tracks was carried out in a quick time during the COVID period in various critical sections, so the average speed increased, and stretches of slowing down were minimized.
- Better and modern signalling is also making an impact.
- Another reason is better planning and operations analysis.
How do the delays impact the overall system?
- In normal times, these failures take away a lot of scheduled time when the train is detained even for a short time because making up the lost time during the remainder of the journey is a tricky business.
- It’s not as though a train can just run faster to make up for a lost time. In a network chock-a-block with trains, a train hardly ever has such leeway built into its pre-set path.
- Any train that gets delayed inordinately due to whatever reason during the journey theoretically eats into the “path” – or time slot allotted on the track – of another train.
- It then becomes a matter of which train to prioritise. Conventionally, Rajdhanis and premium trains get priority of path over ordinary mail/express trains.
- Freight trains, whose runs are not exactly time-sensitive, are usually held up to make way for passenger trains.
But why do the Railways have to juggle operations in this way?
- It’s a constantly dynamic scenario in which railway operations professionals take calls all the time.
- At the heart of the problem are network capacity constraints. It basically means that there are more trains than the network can handle in a given time bracket.
- Around 60 per cent of all train traffic is on the Golden Quadrilateral, even though it represents just about 15 per cent of the total network.
- There are projects to enhance capacity by building additional lines and modernizing signalling systems, etc.
Minimizing the delays
- The Railways are working on what is called a “zero-based timetable”.
- In this concept, which is to be introduced soon, every train that enters the network is justified based on needs and costs.
- It is expected to make train operations more seamless.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MOM, Phobos
Mains level: Quest for Mars and its possibility to host life
The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars.
Try this question from CSP 2017:
Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?
(a) Aeolis Dorsa (b) Tharsis (c) Olympus Mons (d) Hellas
About Phobos
- Phobos is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos.
- Both moons were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall.
- Phobos is a small, irregularly shaped object with a mean radius of 11 km and is seven times as massive as the outer moon, Deimos.
- Phobos is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites.
- The violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta.
Back2Basics: Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)
- The MOM also called Mangalyaan is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
- It aims at studying the Martian surface and mineral composition as well as scans its atmosphere for methane (an indicator of life on Mars).
- It is India’s first interplanetary mission and it made it the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency.
- It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
- It was initially meant to last six months, but subsequently, ISRO had said it had enough fuel for it to last “many years.”
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: SBM , Prerak Dauur Samman
Mains level: SBM and its success
The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced a new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.
Try this question:
Q. The Prerak Dauur Samman recently seen in news is related to:
a) Swachh Bharat b) Literature c) Health Services d) Visual Arts
Prerak Dauur Samman
- The Prerak Dauur Samman has a total of five additional subcategories -Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) – with top three cities being recognized in each.
- In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’, this new category will categorize cities on the basis of six select indicator wise performance criteria which are as follows:
1) Segregation of waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard categories
2) Processing capacity against wet waste generated
3) Processing and recycling of wet and dry waste
4) Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste processing
5) Percentage of waste going to landfills
6) Sanitation status of cities
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hagia Sophia
Mains level: World History: Turkish renaissance under Ottoman Empire
Turkey’s highest court this week convened to decide whether Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia museum can be turned into a mosque.
Try this question:
Q. The iconic Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage site was recently in news. It is situated in:
a) Greece b) Turkey c) Israel d) Iran
What is the Hagia Sophia?
- The construction of this iconic structure in Istanbul started in 532 AD during the reign of Justinian I, the ruler of the Byzantine Empire when the city was known as Constantinople.
- The structure was originally built to become the seat of the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church and remained so for approximately 900 years.
- In 1453, when Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmet II’s Ottoman forces, the Hagia Sophia was ransacked by the invading forces and turned into a mosque shortly after.
- For a long time, the Hagia Sophia was Istanbul’s most important mosque.
- The 1,500-year-old structure, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was originally a cathedral before it was turned into a mosque.
What is the controversy about?
- In the 1930s, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, shut down the mosque and turned it into a museum in an attempt to make the country more secular.
- There have been calls for long from extremists groups to convert the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Right to access justice under Article 21
Mains level: Paper 2- Live-streaming of proceeding to make justice accessible
Livestreaming of the judicial proceeding goes a long way in increasing the access of justice which is granted under Article 21. This article examines the evolution in judiciary and making justice accessible.
Judiciary adapting to changes
- As the lockdown began, the Court had to quickly find the technology and create protocols for virtual courts and e-hearings.
- Before this, there was an open courtroom that the public could access.
- This protected the right to access justice, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.
Access to justice without physical classroom
- Now that the Court is proactively adopting technology, it must expand the right of access to justice by live-streaming proceedings.
- Further, court proceedings must also be documented and preserved for future generations.
- Both audio-visual recordings and transcripts of oral arguments should be maintained for this purpose.
Evolution of access to court
- The Supreme Court maintained no public record of its own proceedings in the past.
- Nor were its proceedings broadcast live for public viewing.
- Over time, security concerns meant that the public could only enter courtrooms in the SC with a pass.
- Due to space constraints, law students were not permitted to enter courtrooms on Mondays and Fridays when the Court heard fresh matters.
A case that led to live broadcast of the proceedings
- In its 2018 judgment in Swapnil Tripathi v Supreme Court of India, the Court recommended that proceedings be broadcast live.
- The SC held that live streaming proceedings is part of the right to access justice under Article 21 of the Constitution.
- Justice DY Chandrachud noted that open courts help foster public confidence in the judiciary.
- Further, publishing court proceedings is an aspect of Article 129, per which the Supreme Court is a court of record.
- Journalists, young lawyers, civil society activists and academics would all benefit from live streaming, the Court opined.
- The guidelines proposed live-streaming cases of constitutional and national importance as a pilot project including Constitution Bench cases.
- Matrimonial cases and those involving national security could be excluded.
Recording the proceedings- Examples
- Internationally constitutional court proceedings are recorded in some form or the other.
- In Australia, proceedings are recorded and posted on the high court’s website.
- Proceedings of the Supreme Courts of Brazil, Canada, England and Germany are broadcast live.
- The Supreme Court of the US does not permit video recording, but oral arguments are recorded, transcribed, and available publicly.
- Democracies aside, in China, court proceedings are live streamed from trial courts up to the Supreme People’s Court of China.
India stands alone
- India stands alone amongst leading constitutional democracies in not maintaining audio or video recordings or even a transcript of court proceedings.
- Court hearings can be turning points in the life of a nation: ADM Jabalpur comes readily to mind.
- More recently, there are a number of cases where the Supreme Court’s judgments have changed citizens’ lives — Aadhaar, Section 377, Sabarimala, NRC and the triple talaq judgments are among them.
Steps to make justice accessible
- The Court started providing vernacular translations of its judgments.
- Non-accredited journalists were permitted to live-tweet court proceedings.
- During the lockdown, journalists have been permitted to view virtual court proceedings in real time.
- If that technology is available, it could be extended to members of the public, who can then view court proceedings themselves.
- Due to pandemic for the next few years, Indian courts will have to adopt a combination of virtual and in-person hearings.
Consider the question “Live-streaming and recordings of the court proceeding helps in reinforcing the public faith in the judiciary. Comment.”
Conclusion
Openness and transparency reinforce the public’s faith in the judicial system. Livestreaming and recording of the proceeding will open the door to ensure the same.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNSC
Mains level: Paper 2- India as non-permanent member of the UNSC
As a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the next two years, India will have to navigate through a tumultuous world. Anti-terrorism will be top priority for India.
India at UNSC
- India will be back in the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2021.
- Two-year term will be a critical time in the history of the UN.
- It is hoped that by then COVID-19 will have subsided, a U.S. President will have been elected.
- And the contours of a new world order may have emerged.
How elections take place
- The basic contest for the non-permanent seats takes place in the respective regional groups and their sub-groups.
- Voting in the General Assembly is to fulfil the requirement of countries having to secure a two-thirds majority of the member states.
- But regional endorsement is becoming difficult.
- Last time, it was Kazakhstan which vacated the place for India.
- This time, it was Afghanistan. India could not have got the endorsement without such gestures from friendly countries.
What will be India’s priorities as a member of UNSC
- India will continue to provide leadership and a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system.
- How far the UN will be able to reform itself in the new situation remains uncertain.
- The UN did not succeed in either defining terrorism or in adopting the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
- Counter-terrorism will be one of the highest priorities for India at the UNSC.
Permanent member of India issue
- India’s election as a non-permanent member has understandably ignited the hope that its quest for permanent membership.
- Nothing is farther from the truth.
- Seeking to amend the Charter to add new permanent members is difficult task.
- None of the proposals has the possibility of securing two-thirds majority of the General Assembly and the votes of the five permanent members.
- A majority of the UN members are against the privileges of the permanent members, particularly the veto.
- India’s performance in the Council will not lead to its elevation to permanent membership as the opposition to any expansion is not India-specific.
Role of India as non-permanent member
- The non-permanent members have a collective veto over every resolution in the Council.
- As a part of collective veto, India will have a higher profile at the UN for the next two years
- Permanent members can prevent the adoption of resolutions by themselves through veto.
- But they need at least nine votes to get a resolution passed.
- India will also have a rare peep into the consultations chamber of the UNSC, which is closed to non-members of the Council.
- India will get involved in many issues in which it may not have any direct interest.
- Since India does not have a veto, it shall have to proceed cautiously not to offend anyone.
Consider the question “India has been chosen as the non-permanent member of the UNSC and will be there at the critical time in the history of the UNSC. What should be India’s priority and approach as a member of the UNSC?”
Conclusion
India’s mission in New York has earned a reputation that it is next only to the permanent members in influence. But whether it will be able to deal with traditional challenges in novel ways will depend on the turns and twists in an uncertain world.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MGNREGA
Mains level: Paper 3- Minimum income and issues
Providing a minimum basic income post-Covid will require some novel approach. This article proposes an approach with the mix of direct cash transfer and changes in the employment guarantee scheme.
Non-universal targeted programs
- It is true that a universal schemes are easy to implement.
- Non-universal targeted programmes face the problem of identification.
- Narrowly-targeted programmes will run into complex problems of identification.
- And the problem of identification gives rise to exclusion and inclusion errors.
How to solve identification problem
- There are three proposals which meet the objective of providing a minimum basic income.
- 1) Give cash transfers to all women above the age of 20 years.
- 2) Expand the number of days provided under MGNREGA.
- 3) Have a national employment guarantee scheme in urban areas.
- In all the three proposals, there is no problem of identification.
- A combination of cash transfers and an expanded employment guarantee scheme can provide a minimum basic income.
1) Cash transfer to all women
- One way of doing it will be to give it to all women say above the age of 20.
- This is an easily identifiable criterion because the Aadhaar cards carry the age of the person.
- The female population above the age of 20 is around 42.89 crore.
- Making available a minimum of Rs 4,000 annually as a cash transfer to all of them will cost Rs 1.72 lakh crore.
- Which is 0.84 per cent of GDP.
- The cost of the scheme to the government will be less if the well-off women choose not to take the cash transfer.
2) Expanding MGNREGA
- The Act guarantees 100 days of employment.
- At present, MGNREGA is availed of only for 50 days of employment.
- One way to help the poor and informal workers is to strengthen it.
- The government needs to increase the number of days under the scheme from 100 to 150 in rural areas.
3) Employment guarantee scheme for urban areas
- Introducing Employment Guarantee Act in urban areas would help also provide income.
- Providing employment for 150 days instead of 100 days will also prove beneficial.
Some facts and figures
- In 2019-20, the government spent Rs 67,873 crore for providing 48 days of employment to 5.48 crore of rural households.
- Out of this, the wage expenditure was Rs 48,762 crore.
- The government has increased the per day wage rate from Rs 182.1 in 2019-20 to Rs 202.5 in 2020-21.
- So, the estimated expenditure for 150 days of employment to 5.48 crore households in rural areas and 2.66 crore households in urban areas — together they account for 33 per cent of total households in the country.
- The additional expenditure needed for the new proposal proposal is Rs 1.9 to 2.5 lakh crore.
- This additional expenditure is around 1 to 1.22 per cent of GDP.
- The total cost of the three proposals would be Rs 4.9 lakh crore or 2.4 per cent of GDP.
But the total cost could be lower
- As the Employment Guarantee Programme is a demand-based programme, the number of days availed could be lower.
- This is happening even now.
- Second, on cash transfers, some women, particularly from richer classes, may voluntarily drop out of the scheme.
- Alternatively, we can provide that everyone receiving cash transfer must declare that her total monthly income is less than Rs 6,000 per month.
Where the additional money will come from
- Removing all exemptions in our tax system would give enough money.
- Tax experts advocate removing exemptions so that the basic tax rate can be reduced.
- Perhaps, out of the Rs 4.2 lakh crore which is needed, Rs 1 lakh crore can come out of phasing out of some of the expenditures.
- While another Rs 3 lakh crore must come out of raising additional revenue.
- Some of the non-merit subsidies, another item of expenditure, can be eliminated.
Consider the question “What are the issues non-universal schemes faces? Suggest the ways to do with the issue of identification which such schemes face.”
Conclusion
In the post-COVID-19 situation, we need to institute schemes to provide a minimum income for the poor and vulnerable groups and trying the mixed approach of cash transfer to women and modification of Employment Guarantee Acts could do that.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CBD, BDA
Mains level: Biodiversity and its governance
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The heavy engineering division of L&T dispatched a giant Cryostat lid, to International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) site in France from its Hazira unit in Gujarat.
Try this MCQ:
Q.With reference to International science projects, consider the following:
- Large Hadron Collider (LHC)– The God Particle
- Thirty Metre Telescope (TMT) – The World’s Most Advanced Telescope
- International-Thermonuclear-Experimental-Reactor (ITER) – Fusion Energy
- Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) – Antiproton and Ion Research
Which of the above projects have India’s active participation?
a) 1 only
b) 2 and 3 only
c) 1, 3 and 4 only
d) All of them
ITER Project
- ITER is international nuclear fusion research and engineering megaproject, which will be the world’s largest magnetic confinement plasma physics experiment.
- The goal of ITER is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful use.
Minutes of the project
- The project is funded and run by seven member entities—the European Union, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea and the United States.
- The EU, as host party for the ITER complex, is contributing about 45 per cent of the cost, with the other six parties contributing approximately 9 per cent each.
- Construction of the ITER Tokamak complex started in 2013 and the building costs were over US$14 billion by June 2015.
How does it work?
- ITER is the most complex science project in human history. The ITER aims to use a strong electric current to trap plasma inside a doughnut-shaped enclosure long enough for fusion to take place.
- Hydrogen plasma will be heated to 150 million degrees Celsius, ten times hotter than the core of the Sun, to enable the fusion reaction.
- The process happens in a doughnut-shaped reactor, called a tokamak 1, which is surrounded by giant magnets that confine and circulate the superheated, ionized plasma, away from the metal walls.
- The superconducting magnets must be cooled to -269°C (-398°F), as cold as interstellar space.
- Scientists have long sought to mimic the process of nuclear fusion that occurs inside the sun, arguing that it could provide an almost limitless source of cheap, safe and clean electricity.
- Unlike in existing fission reactors, which split plutonium or uranium atoms, there’s no risk of an uncontrolled chain reaction with fusion and it doesn’t produce long-lived radioactive waste.
Back2Basics: Nuclear Fusion
- Nuclear fusion is the process of making a single heavy nucleus (part of an atom) from two lighter nuclei. This process is called a nuclear reaction.
- The nucleus made by fusion is heavier than either of the starting nuclei. It releases a large amount of energy.
- Fusion is what powers the sun. Atoms of Tritium and Deuterium (isotopes of hydrogen, Hydrogen-3 and Hydrogen-2, respectively) unite under extreme pressure and temperature to produce a neutron and a helium isotope.
- Along with this, an enormous amount of energy is released, which is several times the amount produced by fission.
- Scientists continue to work on controlling nuclear fusion in an effort to make a fusion reactor to produce electricity.
How it is different from nuclear fission?
- Simply put, fission is the division of one atom into two (by neutron bombardment), and fusion is the combination of two lighter atoms into a larger one (at a very high temperature).
- Nuclear fission takes place when a large, somewhat unstable isotope (atoms with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons) is bombarded by high-speed particles, usually neutrons.
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