Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for investment in public healthcare in South Asia
The article contrasts the public healthcare system in South Asian countries with that of their Southeast Asian peers and highlights the shortcomings.
Subpar public healthcare system
- Super spreader events, a fragile health infrastructure neglected for decades, citizens not following health protocols, and logistical mismanagement were the factors responsible for the destruction in the second Covid-19 wave.
- What has exacerbated the situation is a subpar public healthcare system running on a meagre contribution of a little over 1% of India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
- While the private medical sector is booming, the public healthcare sector has been operating at a pitiful 0.08 doctors per 1,000 people, World Health Organization’s (WHO) prescribed standard ois1:1000.
- India has only half a bed available for every 1,000 people, which is a deficient figure even for normal days.
- Bangladesh and Pakistan fare no better, with a bed to patient ratio of 0.8 and 0.6, respectively, and a doctor availability of less than one for every 1,000 people.
- While ideally, out-of-pocket expenditure should not surpass 15% to 20% of the total health expenditure, for India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, this figure stands at an appalling 62.67%, 73.87% and 56.24%, respectively.
Lack of investment in healthcare
- Major public sector investments by the ‘big three’ of South Asia, i.e., India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, are towards infrastructure and defence, with health taking a backseat.
- While India has the world’s third-largest military expenditure, its health budget is the fourth-lowest.
- Indian government in this year’s budget highlighted an increase of 137% in health and well-being expenditure, a closer look reveals a mismatch between facts and figures.
- In Pakistan, even amidst the pandemic, the defence budget was increased while the spending on health remained around $151 million.
- Not too far behind is Bangladesh, with decades of underfunding culminating in a crumbling public healthcare system.
- Major public sector investments by the ‘big three’ of South Asia, i.e., India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, are towards infrastructure and defence, with health taking a backseat.
- A quick look at pre-pandemic sectoral allocations explains the chronically low status of human development indicators in the three countries.
Learning from Southeast Asia
- Southeast Asia has prioritised investments in healthcare systems while broadening equitable access through universal health coverage schemes.
- Vietnam’s preventive measures focused on investments in disease surveillance and emergency response mechanisms.
- Even countries like Laos and Cambodia are making a constant effort towards improving the healthcare ecosystem.
- All have done much better than their South Asian peers.
Conclusion
Learning from the devastation unleashed by the pandemic, South Asian countries must step up investment in their public healthcare sectors to make them sustainable, up to date and pro-poor; most importantly, the system should not turn its back on citizens.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Scrutinising the States
The article highlights the excessive focus on the Union government and the lack of scrutiny of the functioning of the States in various areas.
Need for focus on the States
- In discussions on reforms or debates about public expenditure, there is an excessive focus on the Union government.
- This focus reflects our mindset that there is a “Centre”, though constitutionally, there is no “Centre”. There is the Union government.
- There is not as much interest in State Finance Commissions and their recommendations as it is in the Union Finance Commission’s recommendations.
- Alternatively, there is limited scrutiny of state-level expenditure, or fiscal devolution and decentralisation of decision-making within states, or tracking functioning of state legislatures.
- Most factor markets we seek to reform are on the concurrent list or the state list.
The Annual Review of State Laws 2020: Key findings
- PRS Legislative Research published this report and it focuses on the legislative work performed by states in the calendar year 2020.
- The annual review has been done in the pandemic year as 2020 saw the first wave of the pandemic.
- It covers 19 state legislatures, including the Union territory of Delhi, which together accounts for 90 per cent of the population of the country.
1) Low Productivity
- As a benchmark, the Parliament met for 33 days in 2020.
- Pre-2020, these 19 states met for an average of 29 days a year.
- In 2020, they met for an average of 18 days.
- When they met in 2020, States passed an average of 22 Bills (excluding Appropriation Bills).
- Karnataka passed 61 Bills, the highest in the country.
- The lowest was Delhi which passed one Bill, followed by West Bengal and Kerala, which passed two and three Bills respectively.
2) States pass Bills without scrutiny
- The report states that the State legislatures pass most Bills without detailed scrutiny.
- In 2020, 59 per cent of the Bills were passed on the same day that they were introduced in the legislature.
- A further 14 per cent were passed within a day of being introduced.
- In Parliament, Bills are often referred to Parliamentary Standing Committees for detailed examination.
- In most states, such committees are non-existent.
3) Information not shared by the legislature
- Information and data on state legislatures is not easily available.
- While some state legislatures publish data on a regular basis, many do not have a systematic way of reporting legislative proceedings and business.”
- Typically, information becomes available when countervailing pressure is generated.
- Reports like this help to do that.
Consider the question “In discussions on reforms, or debates about public expenditure, there is an excessive focus on the Union government. However, on reforms and public expenditures, we also need to focus on scrutinising the states”. Comment.
Conclusion
Scrutinising States on various areas of their functioning is important to hold them accountable. The availability of data from state legislatures is an opportunity to monitor them better.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MSP system
Mains level: Issues over MSP
The Central government has hiked the minimum support price (MSP) for the coming Kharif season. The decision was taken by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2018 in the comment box:
Q.Consider the following:
- Areca nut
- Barley
- Coffee
- Finger millet
- Groundnut
- Sesamum
- Turmeric
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has announced the Minimum Support Price for which of the above?
(a) 1, 2, 3 and 7 only
(b) 2, 4, 5 and 6 only
(c) 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 only
(d) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7
What is the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system?
- MSP is a form of market intervention by the Govt. of India to insure agricultural producers against any sharp fall in farm prices.
- MSP is price fixed by GoI to protect the producer – farmers – against excessive fall in price during bumper production years.
Who announces it?
- MSP is announced at the beginning of the sowing season for certain crops on recommendations by Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices(CACP) and announced by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the PM of India.
Why MSP?
- The major objectives are to support the farmers from distress sales and to procure food grains for public distribution.
- They are a guaranteed price for their produce from the Government.
- In case the market price for the commodity falls below the announced MSP due to bumper production and glut in the market, government agencies purchase the entire quantity offered by the farmers at the announced MSP.
Historical perspective
- Till the mid-1970s, Government announced two types of administered prices:
- Minimum Support Prices (MSP)
- Procurement Prices
- The MSPs served as the floor prices and were fixed by the Govt. in the nature of a long-term guarantee for investment decisions of producers, with the assurance that prices of their commodities would not be allowed to fall below the level fixed by the Government, even in the case of a bumper crop.
- Procurement prices were the prices of Kharif and rabi cereals at which the grain was to be domestically procured by public agencies (like the FCI) for release through PDS.
- It was announced soon after harvest began.
- Normally procurement price was lower than the open market price and higher than the MSP.
Crops Covered
- Government announces minimum support prices (MSPs) for 22 mandated crops and fair and remunerative price (FRP) for sugarcane.
- The mandated crops are 14 crops of the kharif season, 6 rabi crops and two other commercial crops.
- The list of crops is as follows:
- Cereals (7) – paddy, wheat, barley, jowar, bajra, maize and ragi
- Pulses (5) – gram, arhar/tur, moong, urad and lentil
- Oilseeds (8) – groundnut, rapeseed/mustard, toria, soyabean, sunflower seed, sesamum, safflower seed and nigerseed
- Raw cotton
- Raw jute
- Copra
- De-husked coconut
- Sugarcane (Fair and remunerative price)
- Virginia flu cured (VFC) tobacco
Exception for Sugar
- The pricing of sugarcane is governed by the statutory provisions of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 issued under the Essential Commodities Act (ECA), 1955.
- Prior to 2009-10 sugar season, the Central Government was fixing the Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane and farmers were entitled to share profits of a sugar mill on 50:50 basis.
- As this sharing of profits remained virtually unimplemented, the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 was amended in October 2009 and the concept of SMP was replaced by the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bitcoin
Mains level: Cryptocurrencies regulation in India
El Salvador, a small coastal country in Central America, on became the first in the world to make Bitcoin, a digital currency, legal.
Lessons for India
While there are many precedents El Salvador sets for a global debate on cryptocurrency, we explore what this means in the Indian context.
(1) Not a precedent for monetary policy
- The development in El Salvador changes little in terms of Indian monetary calculations around cryptocurrencies.
- The dynamic underpinning the whole move is that El Salvador has no monetary policy of its own and hence, no local currency to protect.
- The country was officially ‘dollarized’ in 2001 and runs on the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve.
- The move is in part motivated by loose and expansionary Federal Reserve policy.
(2) Coexistence with USD
- The dollar will continue to remain the dominant currency in the country and Bitcoin would exist side by side.
- Indeed, some analysts have pointed out how bitcoinization might change nothing on the ground if “legal tender” is to be considered by its strict legal definition.
- However, as a result of this development, El Salvador becomes a most interesting case study of how the dollar and bitcoin would coexist side by side, and how that would play out for Bitcoin adoption.
(3) Not merely currency but technology
- The overall use of Bitcoin appears less motivated by its use as a currency and much more by the image and investment boost this could give the country towards innovation.
- El Salvador believes that this move will be good for luring “technology, talent, and new ideas” into the country.
- The move into Bitcoin ties in with larger efforts to revive a stalling economy and bring back growth into the country post-Covid.
(4) Potential shift in remittances
- The impact Bitcoin has on these remittance inflows would be worth monitoring for India, which is home to the largest remittance market in the world.
- Remittances make up close to 20% of El Salvador’s GDP with flows approximating $6 billion annually.
- Many citizens lack a bank account and digital banking has low penetration.
- In this scenario, there are multiple intermediaries in the remittance chain who take cuts of as high as 20%.
(5) Impact on money laundering
- The implication of this move for money laundering is unclear at the moment.
- Currently, El Salvador is not considered deficient under the FATF money laundering requirements.
- However, with large scale cryptocurrency inflows and outflows, it would be expected that El Salvador would comply with the 2019 FATF guidance on Virtual Currencies.
Conclusion
- The overall takeaway for India from the El Salvador case is not in the monetary sense at all.
- This is the wealth that India has in spades and has barely protected with policy.
- While deliberations continue in India on the monetary and financial regulations around cryptocurrency.
- It is important that attention be paid to incentives for India’s developers working on key innovations in the space.
Back2Basics: Bitcoin
- Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, without a central bank or single administrator, that can be sent from user to user on the peer-to-peer bitcoin network without the need for intermediaries.
- Transactions are verified by network nodes through cryptography and recorded in a public distributed ledger called a blockchain.
- The cryptocurrency was invented in 2008 by an unknown person or group of people using the name Satoshi Nakamoto.
- The currency began to use in 2009 when its implementation was released as open-source software.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ethanol blended petrol
Mains level: Ethanol blended petrol (EBP) Program
The government of India has advanced the target for 20 per cent ethanol blending in petrol (also called E20) to 2025 from 2030. E20 will be rolled out from April 2023.
What is the move?
- A government-appointed panel has recommended to the Centre to keep the price of ethanol-blended petrol lower than normal petrol in view of lower calorific value as also to incentivize people to go for the clean fuel.
- This measure is aimed at reducing the country’s oil import bill and carbon dioxide pollution. This new initiative is also part of measures to improve energy security and self-sufficiency measures.
Roadmap for Ethanol Blending
- The central government has released an expert committee report on the Roadmap for Ethanol Blending in India by 2025.
- The roadmap proposes a gradual rollout of ethanol-blended fuel to achieve E10 fuel supply by April 2022 and phased rollout of E20 from April 2023 to April 2025.
- Currently, 8.5 per cent of ethanol is blended with petrol in India.
- In order to introduce vehicles that are compatible the committee recommends roll out of E20 material-compliant and E10 engine-tuned vehicles from April 2023 and production of E20-tuned engine vehicles from April 2025.
What is included in the roadmap?
(1) Energy security
- The Union government has emphasized that increased use of ethanol can help reduce the oil import bill.
- India’s net import cost stands at $551 billion in 2020-21. It is estimated that the E20 program can save the country $4 billion (Rs 30,000 crore) per annum.
- Last year, oil companies procured ethanol worth about Rs 21,000 crore.
- Hence it is benefitting the sugarcane farmers.
- Further, the government plans to encourage the use of water-sparing crops, such as maize, to produce ethanol, and the production of ethanol from the non-food feedstock.
(2) Fuel efficiency
- There is an estimated loss of six-seven per cent fuel efficiency for four-wheelers and three-four per cent for two-wheelers when using E20, the committee report noted.
- These vehicles are originally designed for E0 and calibrated for E10.
- The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers informed the expert committee that with modifications in engines (hardware and tuning), the loss in efficiency due to blended fuel can be reduced.
(3) Recalibrating engines
- The use of E20 will require new engine specifications and changes to the fuel lines, as well as some plastic and rubber parts due to the fuel’s corrosive nature.
- The engines, moreover, will need to be recalibrated to achieve the required power-, efficiency- and emission-level balance due to the lower energy density of the fuel.
- This can be taken care of by producing compatible vehicles.
(4) Vehicles rollout
- E20 material compliant and E10 compliant vehicles may be rolled out across the country from April 2023, the committee noted.
- These vehicles can tolerate 10 to 20 per cent of ethanol-blended petrol and also deliver optimal performance with E10 fuel.
- Vehicles with E20-tuned engines can be rolled out all across the country from April 2025.
- These vehicles would run on E20 only and will provide high performance.
(5) Flex-fuel
- A flexible-fuel vehicle (FFV) is an alternative fuel vehicle with an internal combustion engine designed to run on more than one fuel and both fuels are stored in the same common tank.
- The Union ministry of road transport and highways issued a gazette notification March 2021 mandating stickers on vehicles mentioning their E20, E85 or E100 compatibility.
- This will pave the way for flex fuel vehicles.
Why such a move?
(1) Fuel efficiency
- Considering just the end use also indicates that CO2 emissions from blended fuel are lower than that for petrol since ethanol contains less carbon than petrol and produces less CO2.
- The blended fuel burns more efficiently with a more homogenous mixture, which leads to a decrease in CO2 emissions compared with pure petrol.
- The carbon dioxide released by a vehicle when ethanol is burned is offset by the carbon dioxide captured when the feedstock crops are grown to produce ethanol.
- Comparatively, no emissions are offset when these petroleum products are burned.
(2) Emission reduction
- Use of ethanol-blended petrol decreases emissions such as carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the expert committee noted.
- Higher reductions in CO emissions were observed with E20 fuel — 50 per cent lower in two-wheelers and 30 per cent lower in four-wheelers.
- HC emissions reduced by 20 per cent with ethanol blends compared to normal petrol.
- Nitrous oxide emissions, however, did not show a significant trend as it depended on the vehicle / engine type and engine operating conditions.
- The unregulated carbonyl emissions, such as acetaldehyde emission were, however, higher with E10 and E20 compared to normal petrol.
- However, these emissions were relatively lower. Evaporative emission test results with E20 fuel were similar to E0.
Global shreds of evidence
- An increase in the ethanol content in fuels reduced the emissions of some regulated pollutants such as CO, HC and CO2.
- However, no such change in emissions was observed for nitrogen oxides emissions.
- The addition of ethanol, with a high blending octane number, however, allowed a reduction in aromatics in petrol.
- Such blends also burn cleaner as they have higher octane levels than pure petrol but have higher evaporative emissions from fuel tanks and dispensing equipment.
Challenges ahead
- Petrol requires extra processing to reduce evaporative emissions before blending with ethanol.
- It is crucial to study the emissions from flexible fuel vehicles not only for the regulated gases but also the unregulated ones.
- But producing and burning ethanol results in CO2 emissions.
- Hence, net CO2 emission benefit depends on how ethanol is made and whether or not indirect impacts on land use are included in the calculations.
- In summary, as we progress towards higher blending of ethanol, careful monitoring and assessment of emissions changes will be needed to make sure that emission reduction potential can be enhanced.
Back2Basics: EBP Programme
- Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) programme was launched in January, 2003 for supply of 5% ethanol blended petrol.
- The programme sought to promote the use of alternative and environment-friendly fuels and to reduce import dependency for energy requirements.
- OMCs are advised to continue according to priority of ethanol from 1) sugarcane juice/sugar/sugar syrup, 2) B-heavy molasses 3) C-heavy molasses and 4) damaged food grains/other sources.
- At present, this programme has been extended to the whole of India except UTs of Andaman Nicobar and Lakshadweep islands with effect from 01st April 2019 wherein OMCs sell petrol blended with ethanol up to 10%.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: QS World University Ranking
Mains level: State of higher education in India
The Prime Minister has congratulated IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi and IISc Bengaluru for top-200 positions in QS World University Rankings 2022.
QS World University Rankings
- QS World University Rankings is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS).
- It comprises the global overall and subject rankings (which name the world’s top universities for the study of 51 different subjects and five composite faculty areas).
- It announces ranking for five independent regional tables (Asia, Latin America, Emerging Europe and Central Asia, the Arab Region, and BRICS).
Highlights of the 2022 Report
- IIT Bombay ranks joint-177 in the world, having fallen five places over the past year.
- IIT Delhi has become India’s second-best university, having risen from 193 ranks in last year’s ranking to 185 in the latest ranking. It has overtaken IISc Bangalore, which ranks joint-186.
- The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, has been ranked the “world’s top research university.
- The top three institutions globally are — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Oxford, and Stanford University ranked at number one, two, and three respectively.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sardar Sarovar Dam
Mains level: NA
The Sardar Sarovar Dam is providing irrigation water in summer for the first time in history.
Sardar Sarovar Dam
- The Sardar Sarovar Narmada Dam is a terminal dam built on the Narmada river at Kevadia in Gujarat’s Narmada district.
- Four Indian states, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, receive water and electricity supply from the dam.
- The foundation stone of the project was laid out by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 5 April 1961.
- The project took form in 1979 as part of a development scheme funded by the World Bank through their International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity
- Called the ‘lifeline of Gujarat’, it usually has no water for irrigation during summers.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which one of the following pairs is not correctly matched?
Dam/Lake River
(a) Govind Sagar: Satluj
(b) Kolleru Lake: Krishna
(c) Ukai Reservoir: Tapi
(d) Wular Lake: Jhelum
A successful model of river water sharing
- River Narmada is a classic case of Integrated River Basin Planning, Development, and Management, with water storage available in all major, medium, and minor dams on the main river and its tributaries.
- Its water is shared amongst four party states – Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra — in the ratio stipulated by the 1979 award of the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal.
How has it saved water for summers?
- During the monsoon from July to October, the reservoir operation is well synchronized with the rain forecast in the catchment area.
- The strategic operation of River Bed Power House (RPBH) ensures that minimum water flows downstream into the sea and maximum water is used during the dam overflow period, which is not calculated in the annual water share.
- These measures help in maximizing the annual allocation of water share.
- Similarly, in non-monsoon months, the measures for efficient use of the allocated share typically include minimizing the conventional and operational losses.
- It includes: avoiding water wastage, restricting water-intensive perennial crops, adopting of Underground Pipelines (UGPL); proper maintenance and operation of canals on a rotational basis.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dihing Patkai NP
Mains level: NA
The Assam government has notified Dihing Patkai as a National Park, four days after creating the 422-sq. km Raimona National Park in western Assam’s Kokrajhar district.
Dihing Patkai NP
- Dihing Patkai, in focus a year ago for illegal coal mining in the vicinity, encompasses the erstwhile Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary, the Jeypore Reserve Forest and the western block of the Upper Dihing Reserve Forest.
- The 234.26-sq. km Dihing Patkai straddling eastern Assam’s Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts is a major elephant habitat and 310 species of butterflies have been recorded there.
- The park has 47 species each of reptiles and mammals, including the tiger and clouded leopard.
Answer this PYQ in the comment box:
Q.Which one of the following National Parks has a climate that varies from tropical to subtropical, temperate and arctic?
(a) Khangchendzonga National Park
(b) Nandadevi National Park
(c) Neora Valley National Park
(d) Namdapha National Park
NPs in Assam
- Assam now has the third most National Parks after the 12 in Madhya Pradesh and nine in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
- The five older National Parks in the State are Kaziranga, Manas, Nameri, Orang and Dibru-Saikhowa.
- Kaziranga and Manas are UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
- They are also tiger reserves along with Nameri and Orang.
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