Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: `Paper 3- Role of data analytics during pandemic
The article highlights how data played an important role in decision-making in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Importance of data in decision making
- The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted globally how important data is to governments in decision-making.
- Epidemiological data is of paramount significance for targeting and implementing control measures for public health in a timely manner
- Such data was used effectively in the evidence-based response and decision-making in countries like South Korea.
- Modern response to pandemics has focused on exploiting all the available data to inform policy action in real time.
How data analysis helped during pandemic
- Data analysis has revealed the need for continuous and repeated tracking of case numbers, fatalities and recoveries.
- The epidemiological concept of flattening the curve and its predictions are results of data analysis and modelling.
- Understanding testing adequacy or lack thereof allows us to measure our preparedness, prognostic versus diagnostic ability, and shape our responses to identify, manage, and care for new cases.
- Epidemic outbreak data like case data, medical and treatment data can be used to understand disease pathogenesis and severity.
- Genome sequencing surveillance helps identify and track viral genome sequence variants in real time and the evolution of the virus.
- The concept of open access to various data enables models to improve forecast and study the spread of the disease.’
Integration and analysis of multiple datatypes
- The integration and analysis of multiple heterogeneous datatypes eventually would yield a holistic picture.
- This helps guide policy decisions for control and management of public health.
- When genome surveillance data is correlated with the magnitude of cases and their outcomes, then we can understand the transmissibility or infectivity of the virus.
- Geographical mapping of prevalence of mutants allows us to understand viral spread and explain recoveries or deaths in a specific area.
- The roll out of vaccinations can shape viral evolution and drug-treatment strategies.
- Surveillance through studying genome sequencing of the virus, coupled to other epidemiological data allows us to identify these connections.
Challenges
- Part of the challenge lies in the standardisation of data collection, curation, annotation and the integration of data analytics pipelines for outbreak analytics.
Way forward
- Ensuring data availability and quality under operational constraints is critical.
- The use of data standards instils consistency, reduces errors and enables transparency.
- Embedded in the idea of data sharing lies the concept of data security and confidentiality.
- Concerns of privacy and security calls for a systemic infrastructure with built-in safeguards to ensure data encryption while preserving anonymity and ensuring privacy.
- As our dependence on data-based decisions becomes more and more critical, an urgent charter for standardised digital health data in India is required.
Consider the question “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted globally how important data is to governments in decision-making. Explain how data helps in decision making and challenges in evidence-based decision making based on data.”
Conclusion
Rational and scientific methods necessitate data without which neither can we have information, nor knowledge or wisdom. Data sharing, and transparency and timely dissemination of data are critical to overcome the pandemic.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Midday Meal Scheme
Mains level: Food and nutrition security measures
The Centre has decided to give about ₹100 each to children studying in Class 1 to Class 8 in government schools, who are beneficiaries of the Mid Day Meal scheme.
Mid Day Meal Scheme
- The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.
- It is a wholesome freshly-cooked lunch served to children in government and government-aided schools in India.
- The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in government, government-aided, local body and alternate innovative education centres, Madarsa and Maqtabs.
- Serving 120,000,000 children in over 1,265,000 schools and Education Guarantee Scheme centres, it is the largest of its kind in the world.
- The programme has undergone many changes since its launch in 1995. The Midday Meal Scheme is covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.
The scheme aims to:
- avoid classroom hunger
- increase school enrolment
- increase school attendance
- improve socialization among castes
- address malnutrition
- empower women through employment
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.An objective of the National Food Security Mission is to increase the production of certain crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner in the identified districts of the country. What are those crops?
(a) Rice and wheat only
(b) Rice, wheat, and pulses only
(c) Rice, wheat, pulses, and oilseeds only
(d) Rice, wheat, pulses, oilseeds, and vegetables
What is the new move?
- The money, ₹1200 crore in total, will be given to 11.8 crore children through direct benefit transfer as a one-time payment.
- The money comes from the cooking cost component of the scheme, it said.
- This decision will help safeguard the nutritional levels of children and aid in protecting their immunity during challenging pandemic times.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Engage with Nepal without intervening
The article suggests recalibration of India’s approach towards political turmoil in Nepal.
Nepal in political crisis
- For the second time in weeks, Prime Minister K P Oli has persuaded President Bidya Devi Bhandari to dissolve parliament and call for fresh elections.
- That is, unless the Supreme Court decides to declare the dissolution of parliament as unconstitutional, as it had done in the recent past.
- The current dissolution has been challenged in the court by five political parties.
Medhesi demand fulfilled
- Prime Minister Oli has also delivered on the longstanding Madhesi demand to reverse a constitutional provision which denied citizenship to children born of Nepali mothers who had foreign husbands.
- The widespread unrest in the Terai adjoining India in 2015 was triggered by this attempt to deny equal rights to the Madhesi population.
- This provision had directly targeted the Madhesi population, which has close kinship and marital ties across the border with India.
- While this provision has now been removed through a presidential ordinance, it could well be reversed in future by Nepali political parties dominated by the higher caste.
Steps India needs to take
- Political uncertainty in a neighbouring country is never good news for India, particularly in Nepal with whom we share a long and open border.
- The Indian government has maintained a studied silence on the current political developments in Nepal and this may be the right thing to do.
- But this silence should not imply the lack of a proper assessment of the political situation in Nepal and what would serve the interests of India best.
- Following are the steps India need to take:
1) India should declare it does not support the revival of monarchy
- The abolition of the monarchy is a net gain for India and the government must firmly and unambiguously declare that it does not support the revival of the monarchy, which has already been rejected by its people.
- India should declare its unconditional support to Nepal’s republican democracy.
2) Remain engaged with Nepal
- India should remain fully engaged with Nepal at all levels and across the political spectrum.
- The safeguarding of India’s vital interests demands such sustained engagement.
- A hands-off policy will only create space for other external influences, some of which, like China, may prove to be hostile.
- However, engagement must dispense with the recurrent tendency to label Nepali political leaders as friends or enemies.
- India should advocate policies rather than persons.
3) Recognise the role of Madhesi population
- In India’s engagement with Nepal, the Terai belt and its large Madhesi population plays a critical and indispensable role.
- In an effort to win over the Kathmandu political and social elite, one should be careful not to neglect citizens living in the plains.
- Our engagement with Nepal must find an important place for Nepali citizens who are our immediate neighbours and act as a kinship, cultural and religious bridge between our two countries.
4) Appreciate people-to-people link
- India needs to appreciate that the people-to-people links between our two countries have an unmatched density and no other country, including China, enjoys this asset.
- The challenge to our Nepal policy lies in leveraging this precious asset to ensure a stable and mutually-productive state-to-state relationship.
- India has every reason to approach its relations with Nepal with confidence and assurance.
Consider the question “What are the factors that make India-Nepal relationship special? What are the recent challenges impacting this special relationship? ”
Conclusion
The safeguarding of India’s vital interests demands India’s engagement with Nepal without intervening in its politics. A hands-off policy will only create space for other external influences.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India's oil import
Mains level: Impact of covid on food basket
Edible oil prices have risen sharply in recent months.
How much have edible oil prices rising?
- The prices of six edible oils — groundnut oil, mustard oil, vanaspati, soya oil, sunflower oil, and palm oil — have risen between 20% and 56% at all-India levels in the last year.
- The prices of soya oil and sunflower oil, too, have increased more than 50% since last year.
- In fact, the monthly average retail prices of all six edible oils soared to an 11-year high in May 2021.
- The sharp increase in cooking oil prices has come at a time when household incomes have been hit due to Covid-19.
Trends of oil consumption in India
- With rising incomes and changing food habits, consumption of edible oils has been rising over the years.
- While mustard oil is consumed mostly in rural areas, the share of refined oils —sunflower oil and soyabean oil — is higher in urban areas.
How much is produced domestically and how much is imported?
- In 2019-20, domestic availability of edible oils from both primary sources (oilseeds like mustard, groundnut etc.) and secondary sources (such as coconut, oil palm, rice bran oil, cottonseed) was only 10.65 million tonnes against the total domestic demand of 24 million tonnes.
- Thus, India depends on imports to meet its demand.
- In 2019-20, the country imported about 13.35 million tonnes of edible oils or about 56% of the demand.
- This mainly comprised palm (7 million tonnes), soyabean (3.5 millon tonnes) and sunflower (2.5 million tonnes).
- The major sources of these imports are Argentina and Brazil for soyabeen oil; Indonesia and Malaysia palm oil; and Ukraine and Argentina again for sunflower oil.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2019:
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
Global prices rising
- The increase in domestic prices is basically a reflection of international prices because India meets 56% of its domestic demand through imports.
- In the international market, prices of edible oils have jumped sharply in recent months due to various factors.
- Even the FAO price index (2014-2016=100) for vegetable oils, an indicator of the movement of edible oil prices in the international market, has soared to 162 in April this year, compared to 81 in April last year.
But why are international prices rising?
- One of the reasons is the thrust on making biofuel from vegetable oil. There is a shifting of edible oils from food basket to fuel basket.
- There has been a thrust on making renewable fuel from soyabean oil in the US, Brazil and other countries.
- Other factors include buying by China, labour issues in Malaysia, the impact of La Niña on palm and soya producing areas, and export duties on crude palm oil in Indonesia and Malaysia.
What are the options before the government?
- One of the short-term options for reducing edible oil prices is to lower import duties.
- However, the edible oil industry is not in favor of reducing duties.
- If import duties are reduced, international prices will go up, and neither will the government get revenue nor will the consumer benefit.
- The government can rather subsidize edible oils and make them available to the poor under the Public Distribution System.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Neglected Tropical Diseases
Mains level: Burden of NTD in India
The ongoing World Health Assembly has declared January 30 as ‘World Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) Day’.
Neglected Tropical Diseases
- NTDs are a group of infections that are most common among marginalized communities in the developing regions of Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
- They are caused by a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and parasitic worms.
- These diseases generally receive less funding for research and treatment than malaises like tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS and malaria.
- Some examples of NTDs include snakebite envenomation, scabies, yaws, trachoma, Leishmaniasis and Chagas disease.
Significance of global recognition
- NTDs affect more than a billion people globally, according to the WHO. They are preventable and treatable.
- However, these diseases and their intricate interrelationships with poverty and ecological systems — continue to cause devastating health, social and economic consequences.
- A major milestone in the movement to recognize the global burden of these diseases was the London Declaration on NTDs that was adopted January 30, 2012.
- The first World NTD Day was celebrated informally in 2020. This year, the new NTD road map was launched.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Tree transplantation and its feasibility
The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) wants to transplant over 1,800 trees which are inside what used to be the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) complex, as part of the Central Vista redevelopment project.
Transplantation of trees
- The transplantation of trees is a complex and delicate process whose outcome cannot be predicted.
- A tree cannot be transplanted by simply uprooting it and placing it in a pit dug elsewhere. The process involves multiple steps and requires significant expertise.
How it is done?
- First, the soil around the tree is dug up to isolate the roots. The big branches are lopped off, leaving only small shoots for regeneration. This is done to make transportation of the tree to the new location easier.
- The root system is covered with wet gunny bags to protect the roots and to keep the tree hydrated.
- The tree has to be first sent to a nursery to acclimatize to a new kind of soil, and to regenerate.
- Once new shoots start sprouting, the tree is lowered into a pit created in its new spot.
What factors determine the success of a transplant?
- Even after all steps are meticulously followed, a lot depends on luck. The survival rate of a transplanted tree is about 50%.
- Not all trees can be transplanted. While peepal, ficus, semal and sheesham are tolerant to transplantation, trees such as dak, palash, arjun, shahtoot and jhilmil are not.
(1) Roots
- Any tree that has a tap root system cannot be transplanted, as the root goes deep into the soil, and it is not possible to isolate it without damage.
(2) Size
- Transplanting any tree with a trunk girth of more than 80-90 cm is not advisable as the tree cannot bear the shock, and will eventually die.
(3) Age
- That effectively means that big, old trees cannot, in most cases, be removed to another location.
(4) Soil
- It is important to consider soil type before transplantation.
- A tree growing on, say, the Delhi Ridge will not easily acclimatize to the soil in the Yamuna floodplain, as the two ecosystems are entirely different.
How expensive is transplantation?
- The cost of transplanting an average-sized tree might come to around Rs 1 lakh, which included post-transplantation care.
- For larger trees, the cost could go up to Rs 3 lakh.
- Private and voluntary organizations, however, claim that the cost is between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000 per tree.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lakshadweep and its location
Mains level: Not Much
A series of regulations proposed by the Lakshadweep administrator has caused widespread resentment and fear among its residents.
What are the new regulations?
[1] Cow slaughter & beef
- An order from the Administration seeks to ban the slaughter of cow, calf, bull, and buffalo without a certificate from a competent authority.
- It prohibits the sale, transport, and storage of beef and beef products. Penalties include a jail term of up to one year and a fine of Rs 10,000.
- The Administration has not provided an explanation on why the rule was brought in.
- Residents view the rule as a direct infringement on their culture and eating habits. They allege the rule was decided without consultation with local bodies.
[2] Two-child policy
- Under the Draft Panchayat Regulation 2021, the Administration aims to bar people with more than two children from becoming a member of the gram panchayat.
- For those who already have more than two children, the regulation does not disqualify them provided they do not have further children after the date on which the rule comes into effect.
[3] Serving liquor to tourists
- The Administration has decided to allow liquor to be served at resorts on inhabited islands.
- Currently, prohibition is in place on all inhabited islands, with liquor served only at resorts on the uninhabited Bangaram Island.
- The Dist Collector clarified that liquor permits would be given only to resorts for tourists, not for locals.
- Residents have alleged that the move will lead to a proliferation of liquor sales on the island, which had been observing near-prohibition until now.
[4] Land acquisition powers
- The Administration brought in a draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation (LDAR) to oversee the development of towns on the islands, with sweeping changes in the way land can be acquired and utilized.
- It talks of the declaration of ‘planning areas’ and constitution of ‘planning and development authorities’ for preparing a land-use map and register, ostensibly for large projects.
- Residents have protested against the way it was prepared and pushed through without consultation.
- They fear large infrastructure and tourism projects can destabilize the ecology, and that the notification gives powers to the Administration to remove small landholdings of ST residents.
[5] Anti-social activities regulation
- The draft Lakshadweep Prevention of Anti-Social Activities Regulation provides for powers to detain a person for up to one year to prevent him from “acting in any manner prejudicial to the maintenance of public order”.
- It allows for detention for anti-social activities from six months to a year without legal representation.
- The Collector said while the island remains peaceful, there have been reports of drugs being found along with weapons and live ammunition.
- He said the regulation is required to keep the “youth from getting misguided by illegal businesses”.
- Residents are skeptical of the need for such stringent law in a UT with one of the lowest crime rates in the country. They allege it has been brought in to arrest those opposed to the Administration.
Back2Basics: Lakshadweep Islands
- There are 36 islands across 12 atolls, closest to Kerala, on which it depends for essential supplies. Only 10 of the islands are inhabited.
- Once a part of the Malabar district of the Madras Presidency, Lakshadweep was given Union Territory status following Kerala state’s formation in 1956.
- With a population of 65,000 (2011 Census), Lakshadweep is India’s smallest Union Territory.
- It has the highest population share of Muslims (96%) and Scheduled Tribes (94.8%) among the UTs.
- Residents speak Malayalam and Dhivehi.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: INDIAai
Mains level: AI promotion moves by the government
The ‘National AI Portal (https://indiaai.gov.in)’, celebrated its first anniversary on May 28, 2021.
National AI Portal
- INDIAai is the National AI Portal of India – a central hub for everything AI in India and beyond.
- A joint initiative of MeitY, NeGD and NASSCOM, the website aims to be the trusted content powerhouse in the backdrop of India’s journey to global prominence in Artificial Intelligence.
- It serves as a central hub for AI related news, learning, articles, events and activities etc., in India and beyond.
- It has been set up to prepare the nation for an AI future.
- It is the single central knowledge hub on artificial intelligence and allied fields for aspiring entrepreneurs, students, professionals, academics, and everyone else.
- The portal focuses on creating and nurturing a unified AI ecosystem for driving excellence and leadership in India’s AI journey, to foster economic growth and improve lives through it.
B2BASICS
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a wide-ranging branch of computer science concerned with building smart machines capable of performing tasks that typically require human intelligence. AI is an interdisciplinary science with multiple approaches, but advancements in machine learning and deep learning are creating a paradigm shift in virtually every sector of the tech industry.
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