Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: KAPILA scheme
Mains level: IPR regime
Context
- Increasing the efficiency of processing patent applications and wider academia-industry collaboration are crucial steps for patent system.
What is patent system?
- A patent system is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention.
Why are patents important?
- A patent is important because it can help safeguard our invention. It can protect any product, design or process that meets certain specifications according to its originality, practicality, suitability, and utility. In most cases, a patent can protect an invention for up to 20 years.
How to get patent?
- To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application.
- The patent owner may give permission to, or license, other parties to use the invention on mutually agreed terms.
- The owner may also sell the right to the invention to someone else, who will then become the new owner of the patent.
- Once a patent expires, the protection ends, and an invention enters the public domain; that is, anyone can commercially exploit the invention without infringing the patent.
- Patents may be granted for inventions in any field of technology, from an everyday kitchen utensil to a nanotechnology chip.
- An invention can be a product – such as a chemical compound, or a process, for example – or a process for producing a specific chemical compound.
- Patent protection is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years from the filing date of the application.
- Patents are territorial rights. In general, the exclusive rights are only applicable in the country or region in which a patent has been filed and granted, in accordance with the law of that country or region.
How patents can support inventors and improve lives
- Recognize and reward: Patents recognize and reward inventors for their commercially-successful inventions. As such they serve as an incentive for inventors to invent. With a patent, an inventor or small business knows there is a good chance that they will get a return on the time, effort and money they invested in developing a technology. In sum, it means they can earn a living from their work.
- Economic opportunity: When a new technology comes onto the market, society as a whole stands to benefit – both directly, because it may enable us to do something that was previously not possible, and indirectly in terms of the economic opportunities (business development and employment) that can flow from it.
- Research and development (R&D): The revenues generated from commercially successful patent-protected technologies make it possible to finance further technological research and development (R&D), thereby improving the chances of even better technology becoming available in the future.
- Opportunities for business growth: A patent effectively turns an inventor’s know-how into a commercially tradeable asset, opening up opportunities for business growth and job creation through licensing and joint ventures, for example.
- Commercialization of a technology: Holding a patent also makes a small business more attractive to investors who play a key role in enabling the commercialization of a technology.
- Spark new ideas: The technical information and business intelligence generated by the patenting process can spark new ideas and promote new inventions from which we can all benefit and which may, in turn, qualify for patent protection.
- No freebies: A patent can help stop unscrupulous third parties from free riding on the efforts of the inventor.
What is KAPILA Initiative?
- Full form: KAPILA is an acronym for Kalam Program for IP (Intellectual Property) Literacy and Awareness.
- Guidelines for patent Filing: Under this campaign, students pursuing education in higher educational institutions will get information about the correct system of the application process for patenting their invention and they will be aware of their rights.
- Encouragement to students: The program will facilitate the colleges and institutions to encourage more and more students to file patents.
Thing to remember
Remember one thing, ‘KAPILA’ Program is related to IP awareness. It sounds much like an animal husbandry related initiative.
Way ahead
- As the patent system is a critical aspect of the national innovation ecosystem, investing in the patent ecosystem will help in strengthening the innovation capability of India.
- The right interventions should be made for the promotion of the quality of patent applications and collaboration between academia and industry.
Mains question
Q. A patent can help stop unscrupulous third parties from free riding on the efforts of the inventor. Discuss this statement in context of protection of innovative ecosystem in India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: various judgments
Mains level: human rights
Context
- Four years after landmark LGBTQ verdict: The march to full citizenship.
Why in news?
- On September 6, 2018, exactly four years ago, in Navtej Singh Johar and Ors v Union of India, a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court, in a beautifully elaborate decision, liberated LGBTQI Indians from the darkness of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860.
- LGBTQ is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity.
What is Section 377 of the IPC?
- It reads – Unnatural offences: Whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal shall be punished with imprisonment for life, or with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to ten years, and shall also be liable to fine.
- The terms “carnal intercourse” and “against the order of nature” are not defined precisely anywhere in the code.
Role played by the judiciary hitherto
- The Delhi High Court’s verdict in Naz Foundation vs Government of NCT of Delhi (2009) was a landmark in the law of sexuality and equality jurisprudence in India.
- The court held that Section 377 offended the guarantee of equality enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution, because it creates an unreasonable classification and targets homosexuals as a class.
- In a retrograde step, the Supreme Court, in Suresh Kumar Koushal vs Naz Foundation (2013), reinstated Section 377 to the IPC.
- However, the Supreme Court in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. vs Union of India (2018) declared that the application of Section 377 IPC to consensual homosexual behaviour was “unconstitutional”.
- This Supreme Court judgment has been a great victory to the Indian individual in his quest for identity and dignity.
- It also underscored the doctrine of progressive realisation of rights.
What’s next?
- Overarching legislation is needed to guarantee equality to all persons on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, sex, caste, religion, age, disability, marital status, pregnancy, nationality, and other grounds.
- The law should impose obligations of equality and non-discrimination on all persons, public and private, and in the areas of education, employment, healthcare, land and housing and access to public places.
- It should provide for civil remedies to stop discriminatory behaviour, costs and damages, and positive action to make reparations.
- We need an equality law to define what equality would encompass.
- Supreme Court comes held in its privacy judgment in K.S. Puttuswamy v. Union of India (2017) that equality and liberty cannot be separated, and equality encompasses the inclusion of dignity and basic freedoms.
Way forward
- Schools and colleges must effect changes in curricula for a better understanding of the community.
- People of a different sexual orientation or gender identity often narrate harrowing tales of bullying, discrimination, stigma and ostracization.
- Gender-neutral restrooms should be compulsory in educational institutes and other places.
- Parents too need to be sensitised, because the first point of misunderstanding and abuse often begins at home, with teenagers being forced to opt for “conversion” therapies.
Conclusion
- Justice Chandrachud, speaking on the fourth anniversary of Johar and the journey ahead, while quoting the Beatles classic “All you need is love”, notes that “simply love is not enough”. Rights are necessary. Which will enhance dignity of the community.
Mains question
Q. “Silent segregation” on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation preferences are followed in several houses. Elucidate in context of LGBTQ issues. What Legal remedies are needed for its victims?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Health care sector reforms
Context
- Doctor shortages are creating hurdles in health emergency response
What is the crux of the article in simple words?
- Medical qualification and expertise is necessary to deliver quality health services by medical professionals unlike by general health care workers who lack competency.
What is public health?
- Public health has been defined as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals”.
Why there is need of qualification?
- Lack of training: Health workers have no training in public health; they are grassroots-level service providers. Asking them to be part of public health cadre trivialises the profession of public health.
- Separate profession: It is important to understand that public health is a separate profession with a specific set of competencies.
What are 4 pillars of public health?
- Academics: Academics refers to a good understanding of evidence generation and synthesis by having a good grounding in epidemiology and biostatistics. These competencies are also critical for monitoring and evaluating programmes, conducting surveillance, and interpreting data and routine reporting.
- Activism: Public health is inherently linked to ‘social change’ and an element of activism is core to public health. Public health requires social mobilisation at the grassroots level by understanding community needs, community organisation, etc. This requires grounding in social and behavioural sciences.
- Administration: Administration refers to administering health systems at different levels from a primary health centre to the district, State, and national level. This includes implementing and managing health programmes, addressing human resource issues, supply and logistical issues, etc. It includes microplanning of programme delivery, team building, leadership as well as financial management to some extent.
- Advocacy: In public health, there is little that one can do at an individual level; there must be communication with key stakeholders to change the status quo at different levels of government. This requires clear enunciation of the need, analysis of alternative set of actions and the cost of implementation or non-implementation. Good communication and negotiation skills are critical to perform this function. The related subjects are health policy, health economics, health advocacy and global health.
What are the hurdles in absorbing others as public health professionals?
- Lack of skill: Many doctors and other health professionals work at the grassroots level and develop a good sense of public health due to their inclination. But they do not become public health professionals as they may not have the necessary skills. Nevertheless, they are valuable.
- Lack of critical expertise: Clinicians with training in epidemiology and biostatistics would not qualify to be public health professionals as they lack not only other essential and critical expertise but also an appropriate perspective.
- Compromise on quality:
- Deficiency: The doctor-patient ratio of 1:1655 in India as against WHO norm of 1:1000 clearly shows the deficit of MBBS. While the government is working towards a solution and targeting to reach the required ratio, there is a need to relook at the overall medical education.
- Post pandemic scenario: The lag in formal medical education has come up evidently post-pandemic when the nation saw the medical fraternity struggling to fill the doctor deficit.
- Limited government seats: The number of seats available for medical education in India is far less than the number of aspirants who leave school with the dream of becoming doctors.
- Lack of skills: Though the institutes are managing to hire professors and lecturers, there is a lack of technical skills. Finding faculties in clinical and non-clinical disciplines is difficult and there are very few faculty development programs for upskilling the existing lot.
- Lack of infrastructure: The gap in digital learning infrastructure is currently the biggest challenge the sector is facing. There is an urgent need to adopt technology and have resources available to facilitate e-learning.
- Lack of research and innovation: The medical research and innovation needs an added push as there haven’t been many ground-breaking research here. The education system needs to focus more on increasing the quality of research. Additionally since industry academia partnership is not available, hence innovation also takes a back-seat.
Conclusion
- By establishing new medical colleges, the government can increase student intake as well as enhance equitable access to public health as separate profession. This will attract the best and the brightest people into this discipline, which is very important for the nation’s health. This is one lesson that we should learn from the pandemic.
Mains question
Q. What do you understand by public health? Do you think it is a separate profession requiring a specific set of competencies? Examine.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: particulars of IIP
Mains level: economic indicator
Context
- India’s statistics ministry generates only one high-frequency gauge of economic activity. And that lone barometer, the index of industrial production (IIP), is completely broken.
What is IIP?
- The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index that indicates the performance of various industrial sectors of the Indian economy. It is a composite indicator of the general level of industrial activity in the economy.
How is IIP calculated?
- IIP is calculated as the weighted average of production relatives of all the industrial activities. In the mathematical calculation Laspeyre’s fixed base formula is used.
What are the Core Industries in India?
- The main or the key industries constitute the core sectors of an economy.
- In India, there are eight sectors that are considered the core sectors.
- They are electricity, steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilizers.
Which has highest weightage in IIP?
- The eight core sector industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.
Why is IIP important?
- IIP is the only measure on the physical volume of production. It is used by government agencies including the Ministry of Finance, the Reserve Bank of India, etc. for policy-making purposes. IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP estimates.
Who releases IIP data?
How useful are monthly IIP figures to draw a conclusion about India’s growth?
- IIP figures are monthly data and as such it keeps going up and down.
- In fact, the release calls them “quick estimates” because they tend to get revised after a month or two.
IIP Index Components
- Mining, manufacturing, and electricity are the three broad sectors in which IIP constituents fall.
- The relative weights of these three sectors are 77.6% (manufacturing), 14.4% (mining) and 8% (electricity).
- Electricity, crude oil, coal, cement, steel, refinery products, natural gas, and fertilizers are the eight core industries that comprise about 40 per cent of the weight of items included in the IIP.
Basket of products
- Primary Goods (consisting of mining, electricity, fuels and fertilisers)
- Capital Goods (e.g. machinery items)
- Intermediate Goods (e.g. yarns, chemicals, semi-finished steel items, etc)
- Infrastructure Goods (e.g. paints, cement, cables, bricks and tiles, rail materials, etc)
- Consumer Durables (e.g. garments, telephones, passenger vehicles, etc)
- Consumer Non-durables (e.g. food items, medicines, toiletries, etc)
IIP base year change
- The base year was changed to 2011-12 from 2004-05 in the year 2017.
Way ahead
- IIP remains extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance GDP (Gross Domestic Product) estimates.
Mains question
Q. What do you understand by IIP? How it helps us to understand economic health?
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: members of G20
Mains level: opportunities for India
Context
- India is going to be at the centre stage of geopolitical spectrum as India will be hosting G20 summit presidency from December 2022. As Harsh V. Shringla, India’s chief G20 coordinator and former Foreign Secretary, (Amitabh kant is G20 Sherpa of India) recently said, “Our G20 Presidency would place India on the global stage, and provide an opportunity for India to place its priorities and narratives on the global agenda.”
What is G20 (Group of Twenty)?
- Composed of most of the world’s largest economies: 19 countries plus European Union, including both industrialized and developing nations. Together, its members represent more than 80% of the world’s GDP, 75% of international trade and 60% of the world’s population.
- Role: To address major issues related to the global economy such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development.
- It is an Intergovernmental forum.
- Strategic role: The G20 holds a strategic role in securing global economic growth and prosperity.
India and the presidency of G20 summit
- In November this year, the 17th G20 Heads of State and Government Summit will take place in Bali.
- After Indonesia, India will assume the presidency of the G20 from December 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023.
- By hosting the summit of the G20, India will have the opportunity to assume centre stage in proposing and setting the global agenda and discourse.
- India can assert its political, economic and intellectual leadership while hosting the G20 presidency.
- Further it Provides India an opportunity to also champion the causes of developing and least developed countries.
- India could invite and engage countries from Africa and South America to ensure better and more balanced representation at the G20.
Challenges before India:
Global
- World affected by the pandemic: Uneven vaccine availability has been flagged by many countries. Vaccine issue upset some countries.
- Ukraine conflict: According to external affairs ministers Dr.S.Jaishankar due to Ukraine conflict world is divided and this poses the challenge for India to bring rival camp on same stage
- Climate change: Divergent view of developed and developing countries on climate change can be the bone of contention between west and the rest.
- The rise of an assertive China: To maintain the delicate balance between NATO, G7 on the on hand while Russia and china on the other (as India is part of both QUAD and SCO).
Domestic
- Economic challenges: Such as stagflation, unemployment, exchange rate, declining prospects for exports and rising trade deficit.
- Terrorism: Cross border terrorism emanating from Pakistan.
Indonesia has focused on three key pillars in its presidency of G20 presidency:
- Global health architecture: president of Indonesia Joko Widodo talked about a global contingency fund for medical supplies, building capacity in developing countries to manufacture vaccines and the creation of global health protocols and standards.
- Sustainable energy transition: as part of its roadmap to reach net zero by 2060, Indonesia had slashed the coverage area of forest fires sevenfold. The country has restored peatlands and rehabilitated 50,000 hectares of mangrove forests.
- Digital transformation
What India can address?
- Issues of global concern: Terrorism, climate change, stagflation etc.
- Domestic and regional: economic recovery, trade and investment, unemployment, patent waivers on diagnostics, therapeutics, vaccines etc.
- Greater co-operation and co-ordination: free trade agreements, supply chain resilience mechanism, stressing on green and digital transformations in the economy and its impact on societal well-being.
- Other important Areas :such as technology transfer, assistance towards green economy, greater access to trade for developing countries, addressing debt distress of countries by offering sustainable aid and loan programmes, tackling food and energy prices/security for vulnerable economies etc.
Why G20 summit presidency is an opportunity for India?
- India exchange the G20 presidency with Indonesia and chose 2023 instead of 2022 to host the G20 countries.
- India wanted to showcase its prowess in its 75th year of independence as cornerstone of new emerging world order. As India is part of Quad and SCO BRICS -the warring factions at world stage, it’s an opportunity in crisis to become the bridge of the divided world.
- India is hosting the summit in Kashmir. World media will be in the Kashmir. In the direct message to world India will again assert that Kashmir is an integral part of India.
Way ahead
- As India will be hosting G20 and SCO summits, India will be central in outlining key priority areas. India can assert its political, economic and intellectual leadership which will have to address issues that help in cement the Fault-line in the world order.
- India’s leadership could define the coming years and decades of global discourse and avenues of cooperation.
Other related Information
SCO (Shanghai Co-operation Organization):
- The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is a Eurasian political, economic and security organization. It is the world’s largest regional organization, 40% of the world population, and more than 30% of global GDP.
- Members: The Shanghai Five group was created on 26 April 1996; China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.
QUAD:
- Known as the ‘Quadrilateral Security Dialogue’ (QSD), the Quad is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely – United States of America (USA), India, Australia and Japan.
- One of the primary objectives of the Quad is to work for a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
G7:
- The Group of Seven (G7) is an inter-governmental political forum consisting of Canada, France Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States. In addition, the European Union is a ‘non-enumerated member.
Mains Question
Q. India can take advantage of G20 for its economic growth and security architecture. Discuss.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: environment conservation
Context
- This is the world’s first intercontinental translocation of a carnivore. It is even more unique because this is the first time cheetahs has reintroduced in an unfenced protected area (PA).
- The Government is preparing to translocate the first batch from South Africa and Namibia to Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh.
About Asiatic Cheetah
- Feature: Cheetah, the world’s fastest land animal was declared extinct in India in 1952.
- Status: The Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.
- Reintroduction: It was expected to be re-introduced into the country after the Supreme Court lifted curbs for its re-introduction.
- Extinction: From 400 in the 1990s, their numbers are estimated to have reached to 50-70 today, because of poaching, hunting of their main prey (gazelles) and encroachment on their habitat.
What caused the extinction of cheetahs in India?
- Reduced fecundity and high infant mortality in the wild
- Inability to breed in captivity
- Sport hunting
- Bounty killings
Why reintroduce Cheetahs?
- Climate Change Mitigation: It will enhance India’s capacity to sequester carbon through ecosystem restoration activities in cheetah conservation areas and thereby contribute towards the global climate change mitigation goals.
- Reintroductions of large carnivores have increasingly been recognized as a strategy to conserve threatened species and restore ecosystem functions.
- The cheetah is the only large carnivore that has been extirpated, mainly by over-hunting in India in historical times.
- India now has the economic ability to consider restoring its lost natural heritage for ethical as well as ecological reasons.
Why was Kuno National Park chosen for Cheetah Reintroduction?
- Both Cheetah and Asiatic Lions share the same habitats semi-arid grasslands and forests that stretch across Gujarat, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh.
- The rainfall, temperature, and altitude in the Sheopur district, where Kuno is situated, are equivalent to those of South Africa and Namibia.
- In addition, Kuno contains a diverse population of prey species, including peafowl, wild pigs, gazelle, langurs, chital, sambhar, and nilgai.
What are the Other Recent Initiatives for Wildlife Conservation in India?
Legal Framework:
- Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
- Environment Protection Act, 1986
- The Biological Diversity Act, 2002
India’s Collaboration with Global Wildlife Conservation Efforts:
- Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
- Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS)
- Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
- Global Tiger Forum (GTF)
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: tourism as economic driver
Context
- Ministry of Tourism identified Tourism Industry’s potential as a Sunrise Industry.
- There is a need for tourism analysts to hold tourism planners accountable.
What is tourism?
- Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours.
Types of tourism
- Domestic tourism: Refers to activities of a visitor within their country of residence and outside of their home (e.g. a Indian visiting other parts of India)
- Inbound tourism: Refers to the activities of a visitor from outside of country of residence (e.g. a Spaniard visiting Britain).
- Outbound tourism: Refers to the activities of a resident visitor outside of their country of residence (e.g. an Indian visiting an overseas country).
What does sustainable tourism mean?
- Sustainable tourism is defined by the UN Environment Program and UN World Tourism Organization as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.”
What is the main importance of tourism?
- Tourism boosts the revenue of the economy, creates thousands of jobs, develops the infrastructures of a country, and plants a sense of cultural exchange between foreigners and citizens.
Why tourism is needed?
- Tourism is not a fad. It is a compulsion driven by the urge to discover new places. Because we have this compulsion to venture into the unknown, we need each other. When humans travel, meet and exchange ideas, civilisation flourishes.
What should be done to promote tourism?
- National Tourism Authority: A separate National Tourism Authority (NTA) should be established for executing and operationalizing various tourism related initiatives. Simple, flexible and elegant processes will be laid down to allow for nimbleness.
- National Tourism Advisory Board: A National Tourism Advisory Board (NTAB) should be set up to provide overall vision, guidance and direction to the Development of Tourism Sector in the country.
- Creating Synergy in Tourism Eco System: In order to ensure synergy at various levels of Government and with the Private Sector, it is important to have a well-defined framework in place.
- Quality Tourism Framework: A robust framework for quality certification of products and services across all segments like accommodation providers, tour operators, adventure tour operators, service providers like spa and wellness, guides, restaurants etc. should be laid down.
- Enhancing the existing luxury tourism products: The existing tourism products such as Nilgiri Mountain Railway, Palace on Wheels etc. should be enhanced and their numbers will also be increased. Haulage charges will be rationalised to make luxury trains viable.
- Railways can be a game changer: For tourism Railways have presence in most parts of the country. Most of the tourist destinations in the country are connected by rail. Railways is also in the process of connecting more places especially the strategic locations that also are tourist places with limited connectivity at present. Indian Railways is working towards promoting tourism in the country by operating more trains connecting tourists’ destinations and also by providing an array of products starting from luxury tourist trains to budget catering tourist trains
- The acronym “MICE” stands for “Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions”, and is essentially a version of business tourism that draws domestic and international tourists to a destination.
- The policy aims to make Gujarat one of the top five MICE tourism destinations in the country.
Way forward
- Enhance the contribution of tourism in Indian economy by increasing the visitation, stay and spend
- Create jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities in tourism sector and ensure supply of skilled work force
- Enhance the competitiveness of tourism sector and attract private sector investment
- Preserve and enhance the cultural and natural resources of the country
- To ensure sustainable, responsible and inclusive development of tourism in the country
Conclusion
- We know that India has the highest tourism potential of any country. That is because we have every terrain and climate zone, and a range of customs, traditions, cuisines, crafts, art forms and festivals unmatched by any other nation. We should monetize our potential through putting comprehensive National tourism policy in place.
Mains question
Q. What should be done to transform our tourist destinations to provide world class visitor experience making India one of the topmost destinations for sustainable and responsible tourism?
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: national integration
Context
- Recent events of targeted killings of Kashmiri pandits and other Hindus by the militants in the valley lead to the protests which once again brought forward the question of their right to return and the safety of minorities living in the valley
Who are the Kashmiri pandits?
- The Kashmiri Pandits are one of the highest ranked Brahman castes who are the natives of the valley, locally known as pundits.
- They were the minority in the valley comprising only 5% of the total population.
- Traditionally dependent on agriculture and small-scale business and one of the favored sections in the administration.
- Radical Islamists and militants started targeting the Kashmiri pundits putting in front the option of either of conversion or persecution.
- The Growth of militancy in the 1990s forced Kashmiri pandits to leave the valley in greater numbers. They started migrating to the other states, leaving every belonging behind and seeking refuge in other parts.
- While many of them started migrating some decided to stay back in their homeland.
- Conflict arose between radical Islamists organization and the Hindus leading to the mass killings of the Kashmiri Hindus in waves which is termed as exodus.
What has been done so far?
- After the Pandit exodus from the Valley in the 1990s, the first few years of this century saw government efforts to send Pandits back to the Valley.
- Under the Prime Minister’s return and rehabilitation of Kashmir migrants scheme, created government postings in the Valley for Kashmiri Pandit “migrant” youth.
- Mostly, teachers and these government employees have lived in protected high security enclaves, but their work requires them to leave these enclaves and mingle with the rest of the population. Another segment, known as “non-migrant” Pandits because they never left the Valley, has lived in their own homes, without state-provided protection.
What is CDR?
- Centre for dialogue and reconciliation (CDR) is a Delhi-based think-tank incorporated in March 2001, aims to be a catalyst for peace in South Asia.
- CDR working for the peace-building process in Jammu Kashmir, supported the initiative of dialogue between the two communities as a part of self-assessment, acknowledging the mistakes.
What did CDR do in Kashmir?
- CDR supported the initiative for a dialogue proposed by two prominent young Kashmiris one a Muslim and the other a Pandit both who have witnessed the violence of 1990 and the subsequent years.
- They believe in the principle of talking could lead to healing.
- It led to CDR’s ‘Shared Witness’, a Pandit-Muslim dialogue series, in December 2010.
- Public intellectuals and other influential persons from both communities were participants
Observations of the dialogue
- The dialogue series coincided with the launching of the Prime Minister’s job scheme.
- Dialogues created a social environment that enabled Kashmiri Pandits to take up government postings in the Valley.
- They focused on the events in and around 1990, and the incidents that triggered the displacement of the Pandit community.
- By the third dialogue, participants were sharing individual experiences that did not fit into the narrative that each community had built about the other.
- The process of the conversation lead them to think on the actual reason behind the conflict, was it communal differences, or was it only religion?
From the eyes of the pandits
- Pandits were aggrieved that the Muslims did not protest the Pandit killings, not even when the killers claimed them. That greater responsibility lay with the Muslims as they were the majority.
- If some social organizations had acted quickly, the exodus could have been stopped.
- They observed that the Pandit community too had suffered from a lack of leadership.
- They demand an apology and to set up of possible “Truth commission”
What do the Muslims say?
- The Muslim participants felt the Pandits were in denial of the struggle of the Muslims in the Valley, who were facing violence from the system.
- The Kashmiri Muslim was always portrayed as being misguided, aided, and abetted by Pakistan.
- The protest in Kashmir was not against religion but against structures of power and oppression.
What is the Current situation?
- The fresh spate of targeted killings of Kashmir pandits created an environment of fear and provided a major setback to their rehabilitation in the Kashmir valley.
Way ahead:
- We need urgent civil society engagement between communities in Kashmir once again.
- The government can enable it, but individuals and civil society will need to create conditions on the ground. They will have to encourage people to give up the blame game.
Mains question
Q. Dialogue can bring peace in Kashmir valley. Critically examine.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: farmers welfare
Context
- The increasing cost of production and the increase in GST on apple cartons has triggered protests in Himachal Pradesh’s apple farmers.
What is the issue?
- The cost of production of agricultural items increased substantially, denying remunerative prices to the poor and marginal apple farmers.
Reason for crisis in apple farming
- Increase in cost of production: The input cost of fertilizers, insecticides, and fungicides has risen in the last decade by 300%, as per some estimates. The cost of apple cartons and trays and packaging has also seen a dramatic rise. In the last decade, the cost of a carton, for instance, has risen from about ₹30 to ₹ The cost borne to market the Produce has also risen.
- High taxation: The increase in the Goods and Services Tax on cartons from 12% to 18%. This was done to ensure that farmers are forced to sell their produce to big buyers instead of selling it in the open market. Just as the three farm laws were designed on the pretext of getting rid of the middlemen, the argument here was that commission agents, who fleece the apple farmers, will be forced to exit the picture. But this leaves the apple growers at the mercy of large giants in procurement, who have precedence of even deciding the procurement price.
- No MSP in Himachal: Unlike in Jammu and Kashmir, where there is a minimum rate for procurement, there is no such law in Himachal. The government also does not seem prepared to bring in such a law. The farmers are demanding that legally guaranteed procurement at a Minimum Support Price (C2+50%) should be ensured to improve apple farmers condition.
How to address this issue?
- Need for a regulator: What is required is an independent body that is duly supported and trusted by the farmers. Such a body should have representatives of apple growers, market players, commission agents and the government. This must be a statutory body that is also given the task of conducting research in the apple economy.
- Directional efforts: Issues such as high input cost, lack of fair price and unavailability of infrastructure such as cold chains should be addressed.
- Required research to support improvements in apple farming systems: Over the past few decades, the priorities in research projects and government policies on apple production were focused on the improvement of tree productivity and product quality. This was important to enhance the net incomes and living standards of apple producers in India. This research should be further enhanced by introducing European varieties in India.
- Focussing on Alternative Market Channels: The alternative market channel works on the principles of decentralisation and direct-to-home delivery. The idea is to create smaller, less congested markets in urban areas with the participation of farmers’ groups and Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) so that farmers have direct access to consumers.
- Logistics transformation: To sustain the demand for agricultural commodities, investments in key logistics must be enhanced. Moreover, e-commerce and delivery companies and start-ups need to be encouraged with suitable policies and incentives. The small and medium enterprises, running with raw materials from the agriculture and allied sector or otherwise, also need special attention so that the rural economy doesn’t collapse.
Conclusion
- Agriculture is dying, not as in the production of food but as a desirable profession. One bad yield, whether due to errant rains, pests, etc., and most farmers have no buffer available. The last point worth considering is that food and agriculture are not the same. Expenditures on food span the value-add, including processing, preparation, service in restaurants, etc. Farmers in India merely get paid for their product and not for the food we eat.
Mains question
Q. Do you think there is urgent need to extend MSP to horticulture sector also? Discuss what can be done to solve the apple farmer crisis in Himachal Pradesh.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: multi drug resistant TB
Mains level: TB control
Context
- People’s participation in the ‘TB-Mukt India’ campaign can help eliminate the disease by 2025.
What is TB?
- A potentially serious infectious bacterial disease that mainly affects the lungs.
How TB is caused?
- Tuberculosis (TB) is caused by a type of bacterium called Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It’s spread when a person with active TB disease in their lungs coughs or sneezes and someone else inhales the expelled droplets, which contain TB bacteria.
What does TB do to humans?
- It mainly affects the lungs, but it can affect any part of the body, including the tummy (abdomen), glands, bones and nervous system.
How long has the TB infected us?
- TB is as old as humanity itself, infecting us for at least 5,000 years. The infecting agent, a bacterium, was identified way back in 1882, by Robert Koch, signalling one of the landmark discoveries which laid the foundation of modern medicine
Is TB painful?
- If TB affects your joints, you may develop pain that feels like arthritis. If TB affects your bladder, it may hurt to go to the bathroom and there may be blood in your urine. TB of the spine can cause back pain and leg paralysis. TB of the brain can cause headaches and nausea.
Can we get TB if vaccinated?
- BCG is a vaccine for TB. This vaccine is not widely used in the United States, but it is often given to infants and small children in other countries where TB is common. The BCG vaccine is not very good at protecting adults against TB. We can still get TB infection or TB disease even if you were vaccinated with BCG.
When do TB symptoms start?
- TB disease usually develops slowly, and it may take several weeks before you notice you’re unwell. Your symptoms might not begin until months or even years after you were initially infected. Sometimes the infection does not cause any symptoms. This is known as latent TB.
Is TB curable permanently?
- TB can usually be completely cured by the person with TB taking a combination of TB drugs. The only time that TB may not be curable is when the person has drug resistant TB.
- Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) is a form of antimicrobial resistance that is difficult and costly to treat. It is caused by TB bacteria that are resistant to at least one of the first-line existing TB medications, resulting in fewer treatment options and increasing mortality rates.
Risk factors for TB include
- Poverty
- HIV infection.
- Being in jail or prison (where close contact can spread infection)
- Substance abuse.
- Taking medication that weakens the immune system.
- Kidney disease and diabetes.
TB statistic for mains
We are home to 1 in 4 of the world’s TB patients.
Over 2.5 million Indians are infected.
Government initiatives
- Nikshay Poshan Yojana: in which TB patients receive Rs 500 every month while on treatment was launched. Nikshay Poshan Yojana ensure that the patients have economic support and nutrition during the required period.
- TB Harega Desh Jeetega Campaign: was launched to accelerate the efforts to end TB by 2025. The campaign aims to initiate preventive and promotive health approaches.
- Community-led approach: By applying “multi-sectoral and community-led” approach, the government is building a national movement to end TB by 2025.
- Ni-kshay Mitra: Any individual or organisation can register as Ni-kshay Mitra on the Ni-kshay 2.0 portal to support people affected by the disease. The initiative intends to provide essential nutritional and social support to people with TB and root out stigma and discrimination against them.
Some positive suggestions to eliminate TB
- Sincere efforts need to be made to make our health systems more accessible and reliable.
- It also required to ensure that those seeking care trust the healthcare system and get the appropriate care for completing treatment.
- There is a need to create more labs, point of care tests, an assured drug pipeline, access to new drugs.
- The government should also ensure counselling and support for those affected.
- Every patient who is diagnosed late and does not receive timely treatment continues to infect others.
- To break this cycle, government machinery at the field level should work with communities and provide free diagnosis and treatment to every affected individual.
Conclusion
- We have ignored TB for too long. It’s time we acknowledge the magnitude of the disease, and work harder at offering individuals equitable healthcare access and resources that the disease warrants.
Mains question
Q. Do you think we can eliminate TB by 2025? Discuss the roadmap and give some affirmative actions to be taken by government.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: disaster management
Context
- Bengaluru floods are alarming us to go for robust disaster management strategies.
What is flood?
- Floods are the most frequent type of natural disaster and occur when an overflow of water submerges land that is usually dry. Floods are often caused by heavy rainfall, rapid snowmelt or a storm surge from a tropical cyclone or tsunami in coastal areas.
Causes of frequent urban floods
Natural
- Meteorological Factors:Heavy rainfall, cyclonic storms and thunderstorms causes water to flow quickly through paved urban areas and impound in low lying areas.
- Hydrological Factors: Overbank flow channel networks, occurrence of high tides impeding the drainage in coastal cities.
- Climate Change: Climate change due to various anthropogenic events has led to extreme weather events.
Anthropological
- Unplanned Urbanization:Unplanned Urbanization is the key cause of urban flooding. A major concern is blocking of natural drainage pathways through construction activity and encroachment on catchment areas, riverbeds and lakebeds.
- Destruction of lakes: A major issue in India cities. Lakes can store the excess water and regulate the flow of water. However, pollution of natural urban water bodies and converting them for development purposes has increased risk of floods.
- Unauthorised colonies and excess construction: Reduced infiltration due paving of surfaces which decreases ground absorption and increases the speed and amount of surface flow
- Poor Solid Waste Management System: Improper waste management system and clogging of storm-water drains because of silting, accumulation of non-biodegradable wastes and construction debris.
- Drainage System:Old and ill maintained drainage system is another factor making cities in India vulnerable to flooding.
- Irresponsible steps: Lack of attention to natural hydrological system and lack of flood control measures.
Impact of the devastation due to floods:
- On economy: Damage to infrastructure, roads and settlements, industrial production, basic supplies, post disaster rehabilitation difficulties etc.
- On human population and wildlife:Trauma, loss of life, injuries and disease outbreak, contamination of water etc.
- On environment:Loss of habitat, tree and forest cover, biodiversity loss and large scale greenery recovery failure.
- On transport and communication: Increased traffic congestion, disruption in rail services, disruption in communication- on telephone, internet cables causing massive public inconvenience.
Solutions for effective flood management
- Improved flood warning systems: effective flood warning systems can help take timely action during natural calamities and can save lives. Pre-planning can significantly reduce the effects of floods, giving people time to migrate to safer locations and stock up essentials.
- Building flood-resilient housing systems: concreting floors can be very useful during floods. Houses should be water proofed and electric sockets should be placed at higher levels up the walls to reduce the chances of shocks.
- Constructing buildings above flood levels: buildings should be constructed a metre above from the ground to prevent flood damage and evacuation during floods.
- Resilience to Climate change: drastic climate changes have increased the frequency of natural disasters in many parts of the world. Governments should bring about environment-friendly policy level changes and eliminate the ones hazardous to the environment to tackle the problem of global warming.
- Create wetlands and encourage reforestation: creating more and more wetlands can help soak up excessive moisture since wetlands act as sponges. Wooded areas can also slow down heavy water flow, minimizing the effects of floods. Reforesting upstream regions can significantly reduce the effects of flood damage.
- Improve soil conditions: improper soil management, animal hooves, and machinery can make soil compacted. As a result, instead of holding water in and absorbing moisture, the water runs off immediately. Properly drained soil can absorb large amounts of rainwater and can prevent it from flowing into the rivers.
- Installing flood barriers: these are flood gates designed to prevent the area behind the barrier from flooding. They can also be kept around buildings to keep floodwaters outside the boundary created.
- Development of GIS– Geographical Information System (GIS) based National Database: for disaster management. GIS is an effective tool for emergency responders to access information in terms of crucial parameters for disaster-affected areas.
- Developing a Federal flood management plan: with responsibilities of union and state clearly defined.
- Creation of 2nd flood commission: (Rashtriya Barh Aayog, created in 1976) to study the flood situation in India under rising challenges of climate change and propose a national-level flood resilience and management plan.
Way forward
- Resilience of people: The rapid transformation in rainfall characteristics and flooding patterns demand building people’s resilience.
- Reconsider projects: Construction projects that impede the movement of water and sediment across the floodplain must be reconsidered.
- Use of technology: At the same time, climate-imposed exigencies demand new paradigms of early-warning and response systems and securing livelihoods and economies.
Conclusion
- We can learn to live with nature, we can regulate human conduct through the state and we can strategically design where we build. We need to urgently rebuild our cities such that they have the sponginess to absorb and release water without causing so much misery and so much damage to the most vulnerable of our citizens.
Mains question
Q. We need to urgently rebuild our cities such that they have the sponginess to absorb and release water. Discuss the statement in context of urban flood management strategy in India.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: road safety
Context
- A horrific car accident killed Cyrus Mistry and Jehangir Pandole. This tragedy got plenty of people thinking about road safety measures. Sadly, neither Mistry nor Pandole was wearing their rear-seat safety belts this highlights importance of following road safety norms.
What’s the meaning of road safety?
- Road safety means methods and measures aimed at reducing the likelihood or the risk of persons using the road network getting involved in a collision or an incident that may cause property damages, serious injuries and/or death.
What is road safety education?
- The aim of education, training and encouragement in Road Safety is to educate all road users in the proper and safe use of roads in order to change user attitudes and behaviour and to stimulate an awareness of the need for improvement in road safety.
What affects road safety?
- Several factors most notably speed, traffic density, flow, congestion, demographics (namely age gender and deprivation), driving behaviour (involving alcohol consumption, helmet or seat belt usage) and land use, such as residential or economic zones, were found to have mixed effects on road safety.
What are examples of road safety?
- Pedestrian crossing warning;
- Left turn driver assistance; and
- Approaching emergency vehicle warning.
Road Accidents in India A lookover
- In spite of several years of policymaking to improve road safety, India remains among the worst-performing countries in this area.
- Total 1,47,913 lives lost to road traffic accidents in 2017 as per Ministry of Road Transport and Highways statistics.
- The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figure for the same year is 1,50,093 road accident deaths.
Do you know?
The ‘golden hour’ has been defined as ‘the time period lasting one hour following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care.
Causes of Road Accidents in India
- Sub-standard roads: The life of roads is not good due to the substandard raw materials and potholes accidents caused.
- Traffic: The increasing traffic on roads and conditions of roads are not proportionate to each other.
- Use of mobile phone: Most of the people are on call while driving thus they drive recklessly and accidents happen as most of the Indians now have mobile phones.
- Drunk Driving: Drinking makes people lose the ability to focus and function properly. This makes it dangerous for the driver to operate the vehicle.
- Dis-obedience for traffic rules: Indian drivers are quick to learn to drive but they don’t learn traffic rules and the purpose of such rules.
- Malpractices: Malpractices such as over-speeding, triple riding, underage driving, etc are reducing the safety of road users.
- Implementation drawbacks: Police are supposed to execute the rules but, it may be a lack of workforce or lack of intention, they also fail to execute.
- Corrupt practices: Mostly police use the rules to mint money either officially by Chalan or in person.
Key data for value addition
Despite being home to only 1% of the world’s vehicles, India shoulders 11% of the global road crash fatality burden.
- Road Safety: In the area of road safety, the Act proposes to increase penalties to act as deterrent against traffic violations. Stricter provisions are being proposed in respect of offences like juvenile driving, drunken driving, driving without licence, dangerous driving, over-speeding, overloading etc. Stricter provisions for helmets have been introduced along with provisions for electronic detection of violations.
- Vehicle Fitness: Automated fitness testing for vehicles has been made mandatory. This would reduce corruption in the transport department while improving the road worthiness of the vehicle. Penalty has been provided for deliberate violation of safety/environmental regulations as well as for body builders and spare part suppliers.
- Recall of Vehicles: The Act allows the central government to order for recall of motor vehicles if a defect in the vehicle may cause damage to the environment, or the driver, or other road users.
- Road Safety Board: A National Road Safety Board, to be created by the central government through a notification to advise the central and state governments on all aspects of road safety and traffic management. This would include standards of motor vehicles, registration and licensing of vehicles, standards for road safety, and promotion of new vehicle technology.
- Protection of Good Samaritan: The Act lays down the guidelines and provides rules to prevent harassment of Good Samaritan to encourage people to help road accident victims.
- Cashless Treatment during Golden Hour: The Act provides for a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims during golden hour.
Value addition for good marks
The 4 ‘E’ Approach
- The Government of India put forth Engineering, Economy, Enforcement and Education as the fundamental areas to focus on in order to ensure road safety.
Way forward
- Road safety education from the primary level: Those already using our roads and driving or riding on it could have formed bad habits that are difficult to change or undo. So it’s important that we catch them young and start educating children on road safety and correct behaviour on the road.
- Better first aid and paramedic care: In most cases, the public and police are the first ones to reach the site of an accident. But sadly, neither has any first aid training and the police don’t even have even simple things like a first aid box or stretcher. This initial trauma care has to improve.
- Stricter criteria for driving licenses: Fortunately, the government has recognized the need for this, and getting a driving license is no longer as easy as before. Lots of the process has been digitalized and made more stringent. But it’s still far from perfect and lots more needs to be done
- Better road design, maintenance, and signage: Many of our roads are poorly designed with badly placed junctions, acute corners, uneven gradients, sudden speed-breakers, etc. And this is made worse by poor road maintenance and many accidents occur because a driver suddenly swerves to avoid a pothole.
- Heavy crackdown against non-compliance: This is one of the leading causes of road accidents in India and while we do have strict laws, the enforcement, particularly on our highways is quite lax. Consumption of drugs by truck drivers while driving is rampant, and this needs to stop completely.
- Stricter enforcement of traffic rules: The Amended Motor Vehicles Act has higher penalties and punishment to deter people from committing traffic offenses and driving rashly. It’s high time we enforced our traffic rules and imposed discipline while driving and using the road.
- Encouraging better road behaviour: The people should motivate themselves to behave in a better manner on the road. The campaigns such as “Be the Better Guy”, need to be applauded, encouraged and expanded.
Mains question
Q. In spite of several years of policymaking to improve road safety, India remains among the worst-performing countries in this area. Critically analyse.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: anglicist orientalist controversy
Mains level: qulaity education outcomes
Context
- English should be taught effectively not as the medium, but as a second language
- Over the years, there has been a raging debate over the need for children to have their mother tongue as the medium of instruction in schools.
- While educationists have emphasised the importance of learning in the mother tongue to enhance a child’s learning and overcome glaring inequities, there has been an equally steady demand for English-medium schools in several States.
Historic context to this debate
- Orientalist: Orientalists were the group of people who wanted to give education to Indian people in the Indian language. The emphasis was on the knowledge of the East. They wanted Indians to learn about Indian philosophy, science, and literature. In the Initial stage, company officials favoured oriental learning.
- Anglicist: Anglicists were those people who supported the teaching of modern western education to Indian people in the English language. People who favoured Anglicists were Thomas Babington, Macaulay, James’s mill, Charles wood, Charles Trevelyan, and Elphinstone. The Anglicists were supported by the most advanced Indians like Raja Ram Mohan Roy.
Why mother tongue is important?
- Suitability to child: There is an almost-complete consensus among educationists, linguistic experts and psychologists that the mother tongue, or the language of the region where the child lives, is the only appropriate language of learning for the child.
- Incomprehension: A child can be taught any number of languages, particularly later in life, but the medium of learning should be the mother tongue. As a number of classrooms today are stalked by the curse of incomprehension.
- Pressure of English language: There are a growing number of schools, mostly private, that teach in English. Government schools too in States like Tamil Nadu, unable to bear the pressure from parents and to stop students from migrating to private schools, are switching to English medium.
- Development in every way: The mother tongue, home language or the first language educationally means the language which the child is using to connect to the world, to people, to nature, to the environment, and to make sense of everything that’s going on. This is the language which helps the child to build, grow and develop in every way.
- Inability to learn: English medium education is a profound tragedy in Indian education today. Millions are languishing because of their inability to learn in English not English as a language but as a medium through which they acquire any knowledge of any subject.
Why English Should Be the Medium of Instruction in Schools, Colleges?
- Connectivity with The Rest of the World: To communicate and be on par with the world, the first language that stands common is English. With English, a student can remain on par with what is happening across the globe. Lack of English knowledge or alone mother tongue does not allow children to progress with the rest of the world.
- Technologies Can Be Used Only With English Instruction: Most of the modern technologies are invented, reinvented and modernized in foreign shores. The inventors keep the English language for the instruction manual of the technological gadget so that the gadget can be used worldwide.
- Higher Education Emphasizes on The English language: The main focus of teaching medium in higher secondary as well as in graduation and post-graduation colleges in India. There is no doubt that lecturers also teach in Hindi or other regional languages. However, question design comes in both English and regional language. But most of the classes are taught in English.
How multilingual approach helps
- Firstly, multilingualism gives equal status to all languages and there’s enough work, history and research on this.
- Second, children come from different backgrounds, and in some cases, they are first-generation learners with not much support at home.
- The multilingual approach thus, is much more flexible, closer to the child, and inclusive. It is democratic, and it accepts that the teacher is not coming from a place of authority and is only correcting spellings and pronunciations.
Conclusion
- This myth must be broken that our education system is class and caste neutral. A powerful political movement will have to take place to make the language of learning a choice that is made democratically.
Mains question
Q. Should the mother tongue or English be the medium of instruction? Critically explain.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: future preparedness for pandemics
Context
- The outline of an essential global pandemic treaty.
Purpose of the treaty
- A pandemic treaty under the umbrella of the World Health Organization would build coherence and avoid fragmentation of response.
Severity of this pandemic demands such treaty
- COVID-19 would count as being among some of the most severe pandemics the world has seen in the last 100 years. An estimated 18 million people may have died from COVID-19, according various credible estimates, a scale of loss not seen since the Second World War.
- Further, with over 120 million people pushed into extreme poverty, and a massive global recession, no single government or institution has been able to address this emergency singlehandedly.
- This has given us a larger perspective of how nobody is safe until everybody is safe.
Catchy line for value addition
Nobody is safe until everybody is safe
There is widespread inequity in healthcare
- Gross inequity in distribution: Health-care systems have been stretched beyond their capacity and gross health inequity has been observed in the distribution of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics across the world.
- Irreversible consequences: While high-income economies are still recovering from the aftereffects, the socioeconomic consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic are irreversible in low and low middle-income countries.
- The monopolies: Held by pharma majors such as Pfizer, BioNTech, and Moderna created at least nine new billionaires since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and made over $1,000 a second in profits, even as fewer of their vaccines reached people in low-income countries.
- Skewed distribution: As of March 2022, only 3% of people in low-income countries had been vaccinated with at least one dose, compared to 60.18% in high-income countries. The international target to vaccinate 70% of the world’s population against COVID-19 by mid-2022 was missed because poorer countries were at the “back of the queue” when vaccines were rolled out.
India’s lead role
- Dynamic response: India’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and reinstating global equity by leveraging its own potential has set an example to legislators worldwide.
- Vaccine diplomacy: India produces nearly 60% of the world’s vaccines and is said to account for 60%-80% of the United Nations’ annual vaccine procurement “vaccine diplomacy” or “vaccine maitri” with a commitment against health inequity.
- We lead by example: India was unfettered in its resolve to continue the shipment of vaccines and other diagnostics even when it was experiencing a vaccine shortage for domestic use. There was only a brief period of weeks during the peak of the second wave in India when the vaccine mission was halted.
- A classic example of global cooperation: As of 2021, India shipped 594.35 lakh doses of ‘Made-in-India’ COVID-19 vaccines to 72 countries a classic example of global cooperation. Among these, 81.25 lakh doses were gifts, 339.67 lakh doses were commercially distributed and 173.43 lakh doses were delivered via the Covax programme under the aegis of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
Why the treaty is needed for?
- Data sharing: A treaty should cover crucial aspects such as data sharing and genome sequencing of emerging viruses.
- Rapid response mechanism: It should formally commit governments and parliaments to implement an early warning system and a properly funded rapid response mechanism.
- Health investments: Further, it should mobilise nation states to agree on a set of common metrics that are related to health investments and a return on those investments. These investments should aim to reduce the public-private sector gap.
Conclusion
- A global pandemic treaty will not only reduce socioeconomic inequalities across nation states but also enhance a global pandemic preparedness for future health emergencies. India must take the lead in this.
Mains question
Q. Nobody is safe until everybody is safe. What do you understand by this? Why there is need of global pandemic treaty?.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Food security
Context
- Disruption of supply chains due to Ukraine war has implications for India’s food security
What is supply chain in simple words?
- A supply chain is the network of all the individuals, organizations, resources, activities and technology involved in the creation and sale of a product.
Is supply chain management related to agriculture?
- Agribusiness, supply chain management (SCM) implies managing the relationships between the businesses responsible for the efficient production and supply of products from the farm level to the consumers to meet consumers’ requirements reliably in terms of quantity, quality and price.
What are two types of food chain?
- Agriculture food supply chains for fresh agricultural products: (such as fresh vegetables, flowers, fruit). In general, these chains may comprise growers, auctions, wholesalers, importers and exporters, retailers and speciality shops and their input and service suppliers. Basically, all of these stages leave the intrinsic characteristics of the product grown or produced untouched. The main processes are the handling, conditioned storing, packing, transportation and especially trading of these goods.
- Agriculture food supply chains for processed food products: (such as portioned meats, snacks, juices, desserts, canned food products). In these chains, agricultural products are used as raw materials for producing consumer products with higher added value. In most cases, conservation and conditioning processes extend the shelf-life of the products.
- Shelf-life constraints for raw materials, intermediates and finished products and changes in product quality level while progressing the supply chain (decay).
- High volume, low variety (although the variety is increasing) production systems.
- Importance of production planning and scheduling focusing on high capacity utilization.
- Highly sophisticated capital-intensive machinery leading to the need to maintain capacity utilization.
- Variable process yield in quantity and quality due to biological variations, seasonality, random factors connected with weather, pests and other biological hazards.
What should we do to ensure nutritional security?
- Strengthening and shortening food supply chains: reinforcing regional food systems, food processing, agricultural resilience and sustainability in a climate-changing world will require prioritising research and investments along these lines.
- Infrastructure: Lastly, infrastructure and institutions supporting producers, agripreneurs and agricultural micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in their production value chain are central to the transition.
- Potential for crop diversification: Data compiled in the agro-climatic zones reports of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research and the erstwhile Planning Commission of India reveal enormous potential for crop diversification and precision for enhanced crop productivity based on soil type, climate (temperature and rainfall), and captive water resources.
- Holistic policy approach: In the context of the intensifying economic, environmental and climate challenges and crisis, the need of the hour is a good theory of transition encompassing the spatial, social and scientific dimensions, supported by policy incentives and mechanisms for achieving a sustainable, resilient and food secure agriculture.
- Agro-climatic approach: An agro-climatic approach to agricultural development is important for sustainability and better nutrition.
Way forward
- Transparency: The Indian government could ensure more transparency on food stocks and regulate the private sector.
- Set restriction on hoarding: For that, there is a need to set restrictions on the reserves that the private sector can hold, as they often tend to hoard food stocks to later sell at a profit.
- Speculation should be regulated: This will help prevent the opaqueness of private sector reserves, which often fuels speculation by large international financial actors.
- Positional limits: Internationally, positional limits could be set on speculators but that would require a multilateral accord, a topic which should be on the agenda at the next G-20 meeting.
Mains question
Q. What role supply chain play in nutritional security? Discuss the constraints in supply chain along with way forward.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: particulars of funding
Mains level: corporate governance
Context
- The evolving role of CSR in funding NGOs
What is NGO?
- A non-governmental organization is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically non-profit entities, and many of them are active in humanitarianism or the social sciences; they can also include clubs and associations that provide services to their members and others.
- Corporate social responsibility CSR is a form of international private business self-regulation which aims to contribute to societal goals of a philanthropic, activist, or charitable nature by engaging in or supporting volunteering or ethically oriented practices.
Why NGO’s are important?
- When COVID-19 spurred a nationwide lockdown in India in 2020, a grave need for localised social support emerged. Giving, both private and public, flowed to NGOs working towards combating pandemic-induced challenges such as loss of livelihood for vulnerable communities, food banks, and health and medical support.
CSR key fact
All companies with a net worth of Rs 500 crore or more, a turnover of Rs 1,000 crore or more, or net profit of Rs 5 crore or more, are required to spend 2 per cent of their average profits of the previous three years on CSR activities every year.
Issues with CSR funding to NGO
- No organization development: CSR funders mostly contribute little or no money to organisational development and limit what they pay for indirect costs to a fixed rate often below 5%. 2020 primary research showed that NGOs’ indirect costs range from 5% to 55%, depending on their mission and operating model, much as a corporate’s sales and administration costs vary significantly by industry and product.
- Regulatory framework: These practices are partly a consequence of CSR funders’ focus on regulatory compliance amendments to the CSR law in 2021 include substantial financial penalties for noncompliance.
- Errors on safety: Many CSRs make errors on safety with the unintended consequence of leaving an NGO with unpaid bills or worse still, drawing on its scarce core funding from other donors to pay for these essential costs.
How to improve CSR governance?
- Increase transparency: Transparency is the ultimate trust-builder, and should be considered a guiding principle for any socially responsible company. This concept should apply to goals, ongoing initiatives, and ultimate progress or results.
- Focus on equity: Equity is a vital lens through which to evaluate business practices and CSR strategy, at both a micro and macro level. Not only is ensuring that program furthers social and racial justice a cornerstone of the very essence of corporate responsibility, but study after study establishes that improved diversity and inclusion leads to better outcomes for everyone from increased innovation and competitiveness, to stronger ethics and team culture.
- Deepen community connections: Deepening your organization’s connection to those on the other side of your CSR projects will have far-reaching benefits. These could likely include developing a more impactful program, as you strengthen your understanding of the needs of the community served.
- Encourage creativity: Creativity as a principle may feel out of place in a discussion of how to improve CSR. Yet it’s a concept increasingly invoked in philanthropic thought leadership, and for good reason.
Conclusion
- The idea is to move beyond signing cheques to recognising that, ultimately, what’s good for Indian society is also good for business.
Mains question
Q. why the role of CSR is becoming important in NGO funding? What are the issues with CSR? Discuss the way forward.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian national army particuars
Mains level: Modern Indian history developments
Context
- In the year of ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’, the nation pays tribute to Subhas Bose on September 8 as his statue rises tall next to India Gate.
Crux of this article in simple words
- The transfer of power to India took place on August 15, 1947. Had Bose and his Indian National Army (INA) succeeded, India would have attained freedom, not inherited it through a transfer of power.
Brief of historical account of his career
- Bose was the ninth child in 14 and the sixth son to Janakinath Bose, a lawyer from the Kayasth caste.
- He passed matriculation in 1913 from Cuttack and joined the Presidency College in Kolkata (then Calcutta).
- The teachings of Swami Vivekananda and Ramakrishna Paramhansa led to a spiritual awakening in Bose at the young age of 15.
- Subhash Chandra Bose reached Singapore on July 2, 1943, at the invitation of Rash Behari Bose. He took charge as the President of the Indian Independence League and took over as the leader for East Asia.
- On October 23 1943, with the help of the Japanese Army, Netaji declared war on the United States and Britain.
- He was fondly called Netaji and was arrested 11 times in his freedom struggle and died under mysterious circumstances in an air crash over Taipei.
His vision for INA march in India
- Creating revolutionary conditions: Bose had hoped to capture Imphal. That would give the INA a large number of Indian soldiers. Once this was achieved, fighting in India would create revolutionary conditions.
- Organization of INA divisions at border: When the fighting commenced, the INA had only one division stationed on India’s borders. Another was on the move towards Burma. And the third was in the process of formation. All three divisions were expected to be in Burma by the time Imphal fell.
- Rapid invasion from north east: Bose was confident of raising three more divisions from among the Indian troops that would fall to him after the capture of Imphal. With six divisions, the INA would be the single largest force in the region. The rapid advance into India would create the right conditions for the Indian army to switch sides along with the people of the Northeast.
His famous quotes for value addition
“It is our duty to pay for our liberty with our own blood.”
“No great change in history has ever been achieved by discussions”
Azad Hind Radio
- This radio station was created to encourage countrymen to fight for freedom under the leadership of Subhas Chandra Bose.
- The radio station used to broadcast news at weekly intervals in various languages like English, Hindi, Tamil, Punjabi, Urdu, etc.
- The main aim for the formation of the Azad Hind Radio was to counter the broadcast of allied radio stations and to fill Indian nationals with pride and motivation to fight for freedom.
The Rani Jhansi Regiment
- Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a firm believer of women’s power and women were also greatly inspired by his words.
- He had always wanted to form an only women’s regiment and his dream came to fruition with the formation of the Rani Jhansi Regiment on 12th July 1943.
- About 170 women cadets joined the force and their training camp was set in Singapore.
- They were given ranks according to their educational background.
- By November of 1943, this unit had more than 300 cadets as camps were also established in Rangoon and Bangkok.
- The women cadets were given military and combat training, weapons training, and route marches. Some of them were also chosen for advanced training and some were also chosen for training as a nurse.
- The Rani Jhansi Regiment mainly worked as care and relief givers.
- The unit later disbanded after the fall of Rangoon and the withdrawal of the Azad Hind Government.
Conclusion
- Bose maintained that the Congress leaders wanted freedom in their lifetime. He believed that no revolutionary leader had the right to expect that. A movement, a fight, had to be passed on. Expecting freedom in one’s lifetime was bound to lead to compromises.
Mains question
Q. Netaji Subhas Bose was an exceptional leader who turned his vision into action. Critically analyse.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: manodarpan initiative
Mains level: mental health
Context
- How to deal with mental wellness challenges in the uniformed forces
What is stress?
- Stress is a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body’s reaction to a challenge or demand.
What is mental wellness?
- Mental wellness encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences cognition, perception, and behaviour. It also determines how an individual handles stress, interpersonal relationships, and decision-making.
Why is Mental Health Important?
- Mental health is more important now than ever before; it impacts every area of our lives. The importance of good mental health ripples into everything we do, think, or say.
- Stigma to seek help: The staggering figures are void of millions of others directly, or indirectly impacted by the challenge and those who face deep-rooted stigma, many times rendering them unable to seek help.
- Lack of awareness: This growing challenge in dealing with mental health issues is further compounded by a lack of information and awareness, self-diagnosis, and stigma.
- Psycho-social factors: Institutions like gender, race and ethnicity, are also responsible for mental health conditions.
- Post-Treatment gap: There is a need for proper rehabilitation of the mentally ill persons post/her treatment which is currently not present.
- Rise in Severity: Mental health problems tend to increase during economic downturns, therefore special attention is needed during times of economic distress.
Ongoing challenges in mental wellness regime
- There is a need to expand understanding of the full scope of what uniformed Services and other mental health experts can achieve.
- Stigma regarding mental health both domestically and around the world remains strong.
- There is a lack of trained personnel and healthcare and public health systems in many areas of the world.
- Training needs are broad and reach beyond direct patient care, especially regarding cultural competence, crisis communication, and consultation.
- There is a need for expanded support for the value of multi-professional and multi-organizational integration and collaboration.
Government Policy initiatives
- National Mental Health Program (NMHP): To address the huge burden of mental disorders and shortage of qualified professionals in the field of mental health, the government has been implementing the NMHP since 1982.
- Mental HealthCare Act 2017: It guarantees every affected person access to mental healthcare and treatment from services run or funded by the government.
- Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2017: The Act acknowledges mental illness as a disability and seeks to enhance the Rights and Entitlements of the Disabled and provide an effective mechanism for ensuring their empowerment and inclusion in the society
- Manodarpan Initiative: An initiative under Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan aims to provide psycho-social support to students for their mental health and well-being.
What needs to be done?
- Open dialogue: The practice of open dialogue, a therapeutic practice that originated in Finland, runs through many programmes in the Guidance. This approach trains the therapist in de-escalation of distress and breaks power differentials that allow for free expression.
- Increase investment: With emphasis on social care components such as work force participation, pensions and housing, increased investments in health and social care seem imperative.
- Network of services: For those homeless and who opt not to enter mental health establishments, we can provide a network of services ranging from soup kitchens at vantage points to mobile mental health and social care clinics.
Conclusion
- Persons with mental health conditions need a responsive care system that inspires hope and participation without which their lives are empty. We should endeavour to provide them with such a responsive care system.
Mains question
Q. Mental disorders are now among the top leading causes of health burden worldwide, with no evidence of global reduction since 1990. Examine.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: environment impact of sand mining
Context
- From flora and fauna to human residents, no one has been left untouched due to the wanton extraction of sand mining from Yamuna River.
What is sand?
- Sand is a granular material made up of finely divided rock and mineral fragments. According to The Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulations) Act of 1957, sand is classified as a “minor mineral”.
What is Sand mining?
- Sand mining is the extraction of sand, mainly through an open pit but sometimes mined from beaches and inland dunes or dredged from ocean and river beds. Sand is often used in manufacturing, for example as an abrasive or in concrete.
Sand Mining overview
- Least regulated: Sand and gravel are the second largest natural resources extracted and traded by volume after water, but among the least regulated.
- Uneven distribution: Sand is created by slow geological processes, and its distribution is not even.
- Desert sand: Available in plenty, is not suited for construction use because it is wind-smoothed, and therefore non-adherent.
- Environmental impact: While 85% to 90% of global sand demand is met from quarries, and sand and gravel pits, the 10% to 15% extracted from rivers and sea shores is a severe concern due the environmental and social impacts.
Concerns of excessive mining
- Deteriorating river banks: Their extraction often results in river and coastal erosion and threats to freshwater and marine fisheries and aquatic ecosystems, instability of river banks leading to increased flooding, and lowering of ground water levels.
- Critical hotspot: The report notes that China and India head the list of critical hotspots for sand extraction impacts in rivers, lakes and on coastlines.
- Broken replenishment: system exacerbates pressures on beaches already threatened by sea level rise and intensity of storm-waves induced by climate change, as well as coastal developments.
- Aesthetic sense is reduced: There are also indirect consequences, like loss of local livelihoods an ironic example is that construction in tourist destinations can lead to depletion of natural sand in the area, thereby making those very places unattractive and safety risks for workers where the industry is not regulated.
- No comprehensive assessment: Despite this, there is no comprehensive assessment available to evaluate the scale of sand mining in India.
- Damage to the environment: Regional studies such as those by the Centre for Science and Environment of the Yamuna riverbed in Uttar Pradesh have observed that increasing demand for soil has severely affected soil formation and the soil holding ability of the land, leading to a loss in marine life, an increase in flood frequency, droughts, and also degradation of water quality.
- Loss to exchequer: It is not just damage to the environment. Illegal mining causes copious losses to the state exchequer.
Innovative use of technology
State governments such as Gujarat have employed satellite imagery to monitor the volume of sand extraction and transportation from the riverbeds.
- Where to mine and where to prohibit mining: District Survey Report for each district in the country, focusing on the river as a single ecological system. ISRO, remote sensing data, and ground truthing are all used.
- Sustainable mining: It involves extracting only the amount of material that is deposited each year.
- District authorities’ participation in the process: The District Collector chairs the District Environment Impact Assessment Authority (DEIAA). The District Collector will be assisted by the District Level Expert Appraisal Committee (DEAC), which is led by the Executive Engineer (Irrigation Department) and is tasked with granting environmental clearance for up to 5 hectares of mine lease area for minor minerals, primarily sand.
Conclusion
- Protecting sand mineral requires investment in production and consumption measurement and also monitoring and planning tools. To this end, technology has to be used to provide a sustainable solution.
Mains question
Q. A growing global population increasingly living in cities has led to a spiralling rise in the extraction of sand and aggregates, with serious environmental, political and social consequences. Examine.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Economics, Infrastructure,Transport
Context
- The Indian Railways’ experiment to introduce AC III tier economy class coaches has started to pay off. Since its introduction, in the last one year, these coaches have earned the Railways more than Rs.230 crore in revenue.
What is AC III tier economy class coach?
- The AC 3 tier economy class in Indian Railways is a milestone concerning pocket-friendly traveling experience for common man.
- With fare slightly more than sleeper class and lower than conventional AC class.
- The objective of the railway is to move sleeper class passengers to a comfortable AC class with luxurious facilities. AC-3 tier comprises air-conditioned coaches with 64 sleeping berths.
When it is introduced?
- The Indian Railway has introduced the first AC III tier Economy Class for North Central Railway Zone in 2021 to provide a convenient traveling experience to the passengers.
- As of now 7 trains are equipped with AC III tier economy class coaches are running on the tracks
Features of the AC III tier economy coach:
- Pocket friendly: According to the Indian Railways, the fair in these coaches are cheaper than the normal AC three-tier coach. Fares in AC III tier economy are 6%-7% cheaper than the AC III tier class. The economy class has a capacity of 83 berths compared to 72 in the regular coach.
- Divyang friendly and modern designs: The coaches were specially designed for the convenience of the divyangs. Providing Improved and modular design of berths and ergonomically designed ladder for accessing the middle and upper berths etc.
- Modern features: In these, modern arrangements have been made for mobile phones and magazine holders, fire safety, personalised reading lights, AC vents, USB points, mobile charging points.
- Optimum Speed: These air-conditioned three-tier economy class coaches are capable of running at an optimum speed of 160 kilometers per hour.
- More Capacity: The economy class has a capacity of 83 berths compared to 72 in the regular coach.
What is the current status of AC III tier class?
- AC- III tier, the favorite mode of train travel of people falling in the bottom rung of the middle class, is the only class that earns the Railways profit among all its passenger services.
- The AC III tier is the only class of service which has generated consistent profits for the Railways. Between FY16 and FY20,
- AC III tier coaches carried only 1% of the total passengers, but were responsible for 21% of the earnings from travelers. Such a low-passenger, high-revenue dichotomy was not seen in any other class.
- It is not as expensive as the other AC classes and at the same time, its share in revenue has not been impacted by the relatively low pricing
- The overall revenue of Indian Railways at the end of August 2022 was Rs 95,486.58 crore, showing an increase 38 per cent over the corresponding period of last year.
- Goods revenue climbed by Rs 10,780.03 crore (or 20 per cent) to Rs 65,505.02 crore till August-end this year
- The revenue from passenger traffic was Rs 25,276.54 crore, an increase of Rs 13,574.44 crore (116 per cent) year-on-year.
- Passenger traffic also increased compared to last year in both the segments — reserved and unreserved
- Railways’ total revenue during the entire last fiscal (2021-22) stood at Rs.1,91,278.29 crore.
What are the issues faced by Indian railways to increase its revenue?
- Cross Subsidized: The cross-subsidiszation in respect of second class, ordinary class and suburban services has increased continuously in the past five years with subsidy on ordinary class being the maximum,
- Concessional fare: The revenue forgone in passenger earnings due to concessions to various categories of passengers (physically challenged persons, patients, senior citizens, Izzat monthly season tickets, press correspondents, sport persons and war widows among others) increased from Rs 1,994.83 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 2,058.61 crore in 2019-20.
- Low -Revenue dichotomy in Expensive class: A high-passenger, low-revenue dichotomy was seen in the inexpensive classes. For instance, over 90% passengers travelled by second class which accounted for only 37% of the earnings.
- Operational Loss: Operational losses (in crore) incurred while operating various classes of service. For instance, in operating AC first class service, the Railways incurred a loss of 403 crore in FY20
Conclusion
- Adding more AC III tier economy class coaches is a step in the right direction as it has shown positive result in revenue generation for railways and it provides a travel with dignity to a common man. But If Indian railway has to benefit it have to work extensively on operational loss incurred out of low Revenue dichotomy in Expensive classes.
Mains Question
Q. Indian Railways is often referred to as the lifeline of the country but runs at a loss when it comes to running class-divided coaches. In this context discuss the utility of class divided coaches.
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Various Policy Initiatives by government
Supply chain issues 
Reasons for Persistence of 
Revenue of