Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: TRIPS
Mains level: Paper 2- Option to waiver from IP rights for vaccine production
There has been growing clamour across the world for waiver of intellectual property protection for Covid-19 vaccines under TRIPS. The article suggests alternatives to achieve the desired production of vaccines without setting the precedent for a waiver.
Waiver from TRIPS
- Last October, India and South Africa moved a motion at the WTO asking its council on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) to provide a waiver on intellectual property protection for pharmaceutical patents.
- Many developing countries have since supported the joint move.
- While most advanced countries, home to the world’s major pharmaceutical companies, have opposed it.
- Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz, along with activist Lori Wallach, penned an opinion piece making a case for such a waiver.
Voluntary licensing
- Alternative to waiver could be voluntary licensing arrangements between pharmaceutical companies and countries that wish to make vaccine doses for their own use.
- This is exactly what has occurred in India’s case, with a licensing agreement between AstraZeneca and Serum Institute of India.
- The recent difficulties with this arrangement are a result of India diverting some doses intended for export (or for Covax) to its domestic vaccination drive.
- But India will soon begin making other important global vaccines under similar licence arrangements, and a waiver would do nothing to speed up this process.
Compulsory licensing
- In the event that India needs to ramp up production more than is feasible via licences from global manufacturers, there is another alternative available, which is ‘compulsory licensing’.
- Such an approach would not permit the export of vaccine doses made under a compulsory licence.
- This approach should be taken by any developing country, if, for some reason, global pharmaceutical companies are unwilling to license a life-saving vaccine for domestic manufacture and distribution in that nation.
Why TRIPS waiver won’t help
- India’s limiting factors are a shortage of raw materials and low production capacity, neither of which would be cured with the supposed magic bullet of a WTO waiver.
- Not only would a WTO waiver not do anything to address the real bottlenecks that constrain the global production and distribution of vaccines, it would also set a bad precedent.
- It is true that governments, including the US and others, have significantly subsidized or incentivized in other ways the research and development activities of private pharmaceutical companies that now hold patents for major covid vaccines.
- Yet, these governments required the ingenuity of private enterprise to invent these vaccines.
Consider the question “What are the legal provisions to ensure the accessibility of life-saving drugs in the country?”
Conclusion
While it may seem appealing, a WTO waiver on intellectual property protection is an inappropriate priority. It’s a distraction from the heavy lifting needed to create the capacity to fight the scourge of covid.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hottest known planet
Mains level: Paper 3-Hottest known planet discoverd
About the plane
- TOI-1431b, also known as MASCARA-5b, was found 490 light-years from Earth and could be the hottest planet in the known universe.
- Researchers at the University of Southern Queensland’s Centre for Astrophysics in Toowoomba led the global team that made the discovery.
- NASA’s Training Exoplanet Survey Satellite first flagged TOI-1431b as a possible planet in late 2019.
- Dayside temperature reaches approximately 2700 degrees celcius and nightside temperature approaches approximately 2300 degrees celcius – no life could survive in its atmosphere.
- This temperature is significantly greater than the melting point of most metals, many of which will turn to liquid at under 2000 degrees celcius.
- Titanium melts at 1670 degrees, platinum at 1770 degrees, and stainless steel at between 1375 and 1530 degrees.
Planet with a retrograde orbit
- These types of planets, known as ultra-hot Jupiters, are rarely discovered but this particular one is even more unusual due to its retrograde orbit.
- In our Solar System, all the planets orbit in the same direction that the Sun rotates and they’re all along the same plane.
- This new planet’s orbit is tilted so much that it is actually going in the opposite direction to the rotation of its host star.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CoRe-Competitive and Resilient Partnership
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Japan relations
The article discusses the areas in which India-Japan are cooperating and also highlight the areas in which both countries can expand cooperation.
Issues discussed in US-Japan summit
- The discussion focused on their joint security partnership given the need to address China’s recent belligerence in territorial disputes in the South and East China Seas as well as in the Taiwan Strait.
- Both sides affirmed the centrality of their treaty alliance, for long a source of stability in East Asia, and pledged to stand up to China in key regional flashpoints such as the disputed Senkaku Islands and Taiwan.
- Both sides acknowledged the importance of extended deterrence vis-à-vis China through cooperation on cybersecurity and space technology.
- Discussions also touched upon Chinese ambitions to dominate the development of new age technologies such as 5G and quantum computing.
- Given China’s recent pledge to invest a mammoth $1.4 trillion in emerging technologies, Washington and Tokyo scrambled to close the gap by announcing a Competitiveness and Resilience Partnership, or CoRe.
- Both sides have also signalled their intent to pressure on China on violations of intellectual property rights, forced technology transfer, excess capacity issues, and the use of trade-distorting industrial subsidies.
- Both powers repeatedly emphasised their vision of a Free and Open Indo-Pacific.
Issues that need to be discussed in Japan PM’s visit to India
1) Continuation of balancing security policy
- First, one can expect a continuation of the balancing security policy against China that began in 2014.
- Crucially, India’s clashes with China in Galwan have turned public opinion in favour of a more confrontational China policy.
- In just a decade, New Delhi and Tokyo have expanded high-level ministerial and bureaucratic contacts, conducted joint military exercises and concluded military pacts such as the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA) logistics agreement.
- Both countries need to affirm support for a Free and Open Indo-Pacific and continued willingness to work with the Quad.
- Both countries need to take stock of the state of play in the security relationship while also pushing the envelope on the still nascent cooperation on defence technology and exports.
2) Expanding cooperation in various sectors
- The two powers will look to expand cooperation in sectors such as cybersecurity and emerging technologies.
- Digital research and innovation partnership in technologies from AI and 5G to the Internet of Things and space research has increased between the two countries in the recent past.
- There is a need to deepen cooperation between research institutes and expand funding in light of China’s aforementioned technology investment programme.
- Issues of India’s insistence on data localisation and reluctance to accede to global cybersecurity agreements such as the Budapest Convention may be discussed in the summit.
3) Economic ties
- Economic ties and infrastructure development are likely to be top drawer items on the agendas of New Delhi and Tokyo.
- Though Japan has poured in around $34 billion in investments into the Indian economy, Japan is only India’s 12th largest trading partner.
- Trade volumes between the two stand at just a fifth of the value of India-China bilateral trade.
- India-Japan summit will likely reaffirm Japan’s support for key manufacturing initiatives such as ‘Make in India’ and the Japan Industrial Townships.
- Further, India will be keen to secure continued infrastructure investments in the strategically vital connectivity projects currently under way in the Northeast and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
4) Joint strategy toward key third countries
- In years past, India and Japan have collaborated to build infrastructure in Iran and Africa.
- Both countries have provided vital aid to Myanmar and Sri Lanka and hammer out a common Association of Southeast Asian Nations outreach policy in an attempt to counter China’s growing influence in these corners of the globe.
- However, unlike previous summits, the time has come for India and Japan to take a hard look at reports suggesting that joint infrastructure projects in Africa and Iran have stalled with substantial cost overruns.
- Tokyo will also likely try to get New Delhi to reverse its decision not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
Consider the question “Changes on the geopolitical horizon offers India-Japan relations multiple avenues to deepen their ties. In light of this, discuss the areas of cooperation and shared concerns for India and Japan.”
Conclusion
Writing in 2006, Shinzo Abe, expressed his hope in his book that “it would not be a surprise if in another 10 years, Japan-India relations overtake Japan-U.S. and Japan-China relations”. Thus far, India has every reason to believe that Japan’s new Prime Minister is willing to make that dream a reality.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Operation Samudra Setu
Mains level: Paper 3- Operation Samudra Setu II
Operation Samudra Setu II
- In support of the nation’s fight against Covid-19 and as part of operation ‘Samudra Setu II’, seven Indian Naval ships have been deployed for shipment of liquid medical oxygen-filled cryogenic containers and associated medical equipment from various countries.
- Indian Navy also has the surge capability, to deploy more ships when the need arises to further nation’s fight against COVID-19.
- It is pertinent that the ships are combat ready and capable of meeting any contingency in keeping with the attributes of versatility of sea power.
Operation Samudra Setu I
- It may be recalled that Operation Samudra Setu was launched last year by the Navy and around 4000 Indian citizens stranded in neighbouring countries, amidst COVID 19 outbreak, were successfully repatriated back to India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Olive Ridley turtle
Mains level: Paper 3- Mass nesting of Olive Ridley turtles
No mass nesting this year
- The annual spectacle of the mass nesting of millions of Olive Ridley sea turtles near the Rushikulya river mouth in Odisha is likely to be missed this year, as the time for it is almost over.
- It’s been around one month since the mass nesting of last year.
- If they do skip the beach, this won’t be the first time.
- In 2002, 2007, 2016 and 2019, the turtles had not shown up at Rushikulya.
- The Rushikulya river mouth is considered the second-biggest rookery in India after Gahirmatha.
- Mass nesting in the Gahirmatha marine sanctuary occurred from March 9-23, 2021 and over 349,000 eggs were laid during this period.
What could explain the miss in mass nesting
- It is a natural phenomenon. During some years, they did not turn up for mass nesting even though a huge number had congregated in the sea.
- Beach erosion might be one of the causes for the turtles staying away this year.
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