Category: Burning Issues

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Introduction

• Richard Bradly in 1940 called India a “begging bowl” due to its heavy import dependence of food grains from the USA.
• The Green Revolution was an endeavor initiated by Norman Borlaug in the 1960s. He is known as the ‘Father of Green Revolution’ in world.
• It led to him winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his work in developing High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of wheat.
• Green Revolution refers to the multiple growths in crop production in 3rd world countries based on the use of modern inputs, technologies, HYVs, farm mechanization, and irrigation facilities.

Green Revolution in India

• In India, the Green Revolution was mainly led by M.S. Swaminathan.

• In 1961, M.S. Swaminathan invited Norman who suggested a revolution like what has happened in Mexico, Japan, etc in Indian agriculture. 
• Green Revolution was introduced with the Intensive Agriculture District Program (IADP) on an experimental basis in 7 districtin India.
• In 1965-66 the HYV program was started which is the starting point of the Green Revolution in India.
• The Green Revolution, spreading over the period from 1967-68 to 1977-78, changed India’s status from a food-deficient country to one of the world’s leading agricultural nations.
• The Green Revolution resulted in a great increase in production of food grains (especially wheat and rice) due to the introduction into developing countries of new, high-yielding variety seeds, beginning in the mid-20th century.

History of Green Revolution in India

• The history of Green Revolution is drawn back to the 1940s when the USA established a scientific operation to help the development of agricultural technology in Mexico. HYVs were at the focus of the novel technology.
• Dr. Norman Borlaug, the Norway-born, U.S-based agricultural scientist was the innovator of ‘miracle seeds’ (HVY) of dwarf varieties of wheat.
• In 1943, India suffered from the world’s worst recorded food crisis; the Bengal Famine, which led to the death of approximately 4 million people in eastern India due to hunger.
• Even after independence in 1947, until 1967 the government largely concentrated on expanding the farming areas. But the population was growing at a much faster rate than food production.
• This called for an immediate and drastic action to increase yield. The action came in the form of the Green Revolution.
• The Green Revolution in India begun in the late 1960s. Green Revolution was functional in the period from 1967 to 1978 basically in parts of Punjab and Haryana.
• At this stage, the Green Revolution was concern only with Wheat & Rice. Dr. M S Swaminathan from India led the Green Revolution as the Project.
• In contrast, the agricultural growth in the 1980s (the second wave of the Green Revolution) involved almost all the crops including rice and covered the whole country.

What are the Objectives of Green Revolution?

1. Short Term: The revolution was launched to address India’s hunger crisis during the second Five Year Plan.
2. Long Term: The long term objectives included overall agriculture modernization based on rural development, industrial development; infrastructure, raw material etc.
3. Employment: To provide employment to both agricultural and industrial workers.
4. Scientific Studies: Producing stronger plants which could withstand extreme climates and diseases.
5. Globalization of the Agricultural World: By spreading technology to non-industrialized nations and setting up many corporations in major agricultural areas.

Basic Features of the Green Revolution

• High Yielding Varieties (HYVs): These are the genetically modified seed which can yield 2 to 3 times more than normal crop.
  • They are dwarf variety with dense canopy and needs grater amount of water, use of chemical fertilizer, protection from pest and weeds as it very tender and fragile.
  • It also requires on farm activities like soil preparation. It has short generation period and leads to greater production in short period of time.

• Irrigation facilities: The net irrigated area in 1960 was only 30 million hectare and it was a daunting task to extend irrigation to rest of India.
• Credit Requirements: Green Revolution required a good network of rural credit and micro financing for supporting the needs of farmers.
• Commercialization of agriculture: Introduction of Minimum Support Prices for crops gave farmers extra reason to grow more crops.
• Farm Mechanization: It was required for increasing the crop production.
• Command Area Development Program (CADP): CADP was introduced in 1974. It consisted of two methods:
  • On farm development activities: It includes construction of agricultural channels, ploughing, leveling, budding etc.
  • Off farm development activities: It includes construction of roads, rural connectivity, marketing, transportation communication etc.
• Use of chemical fertilizer: Indian soil is deficient in Nitrogen so NPK fertilizers were used with standard ratio of 4:2:1 but the actual ratio used was 3:8:1.
• Use of insecticide, Pesticide, weedicide
• Rural electrification: It was the precondition for increasing farm mechanization practices.
• Land holding and land reforms: Land holding refers to consolidation of land and land reforms involves various steps such as abolition of intermediaries, abolition of Zamindari, tenancy reforms etc.
• Important Crops in the Revolution:
  • Main crops were Wheat, Rice, Jowar, Bajra and Maize.
  • Non-food grains were excluded from the ambit of the new strategy.
  • Wheat remained the mainstay of the Green Revolution for years.

Phases of Green Revolution in India

(1) First Phase of Green Revolution (1965-66 to 1980)

• India was in ardent need of immediate food supply and self sufficiency in food grain production. Wheat revolution was successful in various 3rd world countries like Mexico, Egypt, etc.
• The first phase of green revolution was not only crop specific but also region specific because- 
  1. The agriculture infrastructure was well developed in Punjab while Haryana and Western Uttar Pradesh took advantage of its vicinity where irrigation facility could be easily extended.
  2. This region was free from natural hazards.

• This phase stared with IADP and IAAP program on experimental basis but main initiative was the HYV program during the Annual Plan of 1965-66.
• In 1974 with Command Area Development Program, Green Revolution was reemphasized.
• The food production in 1950-51 was merely 25 MT and it was 33 MT in 1965-66. In 1980 it jumped to 100 MT which was three times increase in a span of 10 years.
• It was more centralized towards wheat production which was increased by 2.5 times in 5 years. This was termed as Green Revolution.
• This provided India with self sufficiency in food grain production and the incidences of malnutrition, famine, poverty, starvation were mitigated. India was successful in coming out of the Begging Bowl image.

(2) Second Phase of Green Revolution (1980-1991)

• During the 6th and 7th plan, wet agriculture (mainly rice) was targeted.
• During the first phase, rice production was increase merely 1.5 times. The regions having rainfall more than 100 cm like West Bengal, Bihar, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Coastal plains were targeted.
• It met with partial success and Krishna-Godavari delta and Cauvery basin yielded the coveted results. West Bengal and Bihar also showed increased productivity.
• The full potential of productivity in rice was however not realized due to institutional factors like land reforms, tenancy etc.
• The traditional outlook of farmers was also a major limiting factor in the success of Second phase of Green revolution.

(3) Third Phase of Green Revolution (1991-2003)

• During the 8th and 9th plan, dry land agriculture was targeted and HYV was introduced in cotton, oilseeds, pulses, millets etc. This met with partial success.
• Integrated Watershed Management Programme was initiated to improve the conditions in sub- humid and semi-arid regions of India.
• However, it was not very successful except in the Narmada – Tapi doab and the Tungbhadra basin and also the Bhima – Krishna basin.
• After the end of 9th plan, there was a paradigm shift in approach of the govt policies. 
• The ecological repercussion in the green revolution areas led to relatively new concept of balanced Agriculture growth based on agricultural ecology, conversation method and sustainable development (10th plan).
• The entire agricultural sector was targeted and it is known as the Rainbow Revolution.
• The process of Rainbow Revolution had affiliated in 1980’s with Yellow revolution (oilseeds), Blue Revolution, White Revolution (milk earlier in 1970’s), Brown Revolution (fertilizers) and Silver revolution (poultry).
• In the 11th plan, the idea has been further elevated to sustainable agriculture with balanced growth referred to as inclusive growth.

Impact of Green Revolution in India

• Tremendous Increase in Crop Produce: It resulted in a grain output of 131 million tonnes in the year 1978-79 and established India as one of the world’s biggest agricultural producers.
• Reduced Import of Food-Grains: India became self-sufficient in food-grains and had sufficient stock in the central pool, even, at times, India was in a position to export food-grains.
  • The per capita net availability of food-grains has also increased.
• Benefits to the Farmers: The introduction of the Green Revolution helped the farmers in raising their level of income.
  • Farmers ploughed back their surplus income for improving agricultural productivity.
  • The big farmers were particularly benefited by this revolution by investing large amounts of money in various inputs like HYV seeds, fertilizers, machines, etc. It also promoted capitalist farming.
  • Green Revolution gave rise to capitalistic farming practices in India.
  • Surplus was generated in agriculture which led to its commercialization.
• Industrial Growth: The Revolution brought about large scale farm mechanization which created demand for different types of machines like tractors, harvesters, threshers, combines, diesel engines, electric motors, pumping sets, etc.
  • Besides, demand for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, weedicides, etc. also increased considerably.
  • Several agricultural products were also used as raw materials in various industries known as agro based industries.
  • Development of agro-processing industries, food-processing industries led to industrialization of tier – II/III towns. It led to higher rate of urbanization.
• Rural Employment: There was an appreciable increase in the demand for labour force due to multiple cropping and use of fertilizers.
  • The Green Revolution created plenty of jobs not only for agricultural workers but also industrial workers by creating related facilities such as factories and hydroelectric power stations.
  • Green Revolution led to the removal of hunger and famine.
  • Green Revolution led to the development of rural infrastructure which was a pre condition to Green Revolution.

Negative Effects of Green Revolution in India

• Focus on limited food-grains: Although all food-grains including wheat, rice, jowar, bajra and maize have gained from the revolution, other crops such as coarse cereals, pulses and oilseeds were left out of the ambit of the revolution.
  • Major commercial crops like cotton, jute, tea and sugarcane were also left almost untouched by the Green Revolution.
• Limited Coverage of HYVP: High Yielding Variety Programme (HYVP) was restricted to only five crops: Wheat, Rice, Jowar, Bajra and Maize.
• Economic Effects
  • Inter – personal disparity emerged which led to differences between people due to difference in earning at different places.
  • Inter – regional disparity emerged due to difference in crop production e.g. West UP vs. East UP.
  • Inter – state disparity emerged, for e.g. in 1960 Punjab and Bihar, both states contributed same in terms of crop production but due to Green Revolution there became a huge gap in crop production between the two states by 1990.
  • Due to increase in informal credit services labors and cultivators got into the vicious cycle of debt – trap.
• Excessive Usage of Chemicals: The Green Revolution resulted in a large-scale use of pesticides and synthetic nitrogen fertilisers for improved irrigation projects and crop varieties.
  • However, little or no efforts were made to educate farmers about the high risk associated with the intensive use of pesticides.
  • This causes more harm than good to crops and also becomes a cause for environment and soil pollution.
• Increased Water Consumption: The crops introduced during the green revolution were water-intensive crops.
• Impacts on Soil and Crop Production: Repeated crop cycle in order to ensure increased crop production depleted the soil’s nutrients.
  • To meet the needs of new kinds of seeds, farmers increased fertilizer usage.
  • The pH level of the soil increased due to the usage of these alkaline chemicals.
  • Toxic chemicals in the soil destroyed beneficial pathogens, which further led to the decline in the yield.
• Social Effects
  • Increased rural landlessness, smaller marginal farmers were rendered landless and became agricultural labourers which led to rural handicapness and health hazards.
  • Greater unemployment due to mechanisation.
  • Patriarchy was strengthened, female discrimination, female foeticide, dowry increased.
• Health Hazards: The large-scale use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides such as Phosphamidon, Methomyl, Phorate, Triazophos and Monocrotophos resulted in resulted in a number of critical health illnesses including cancer, renal failure, stillborn babies and birth defects.

Conclusion

• Green Revolution in India was directed towards food sufficiency for the country. The goal has been achieved. Thus it requires sustainable agricultural pattern.
• Also, much wider area could be brought under the Green Revolution and instead of Green Revolution it can be transformed into evergreen Revolution.
• It represented the successful adaptation and transfer of the same scientific revolution in agriculture that the industrial countries had already appropriated for themselves.
• However, lesser heed was paid to factors other than ensuring food security such as environment, the poor farmers and their education about the know-how of such chemicals.
• As a way forward, the policymakers must target the poor more precisely to ensure that they receive greater direct benefits from new technologies and those technologies will also need to be more environmentally sustainable.

Try this question for mains:

Q.  In spite of having several achievements, the green revolution has several defects. Examine

FAQs

Who started the Green Revolution in India?
The Green Revolution in India was primarily initiated by Dr. M.S. Swaminathan and supported by the Indian government, which adopted various agricultural policies and investments.

How is the Green Revolution relevant for UPSC?
The Green Revolution is an essential subject in the UPSC syllabus, covering aspects like its history, impact, and policies related to agricultural development in India. Understanding this movement is crucial for aspiring civil servants.

What was the impact of the Green Revolution in India?
The Green Revolution significantly increased food production, reduced famine risk, and improved farmers’ incomes. However, it also led to environmental concerns, such as soil degradation and increased pesticide use.

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Recently, the Lok Sabha has passed the Assisted Reproductive Technology (Regulation) Bill, 2021. The Bill seeks to regulate and supervise assisted reproductive technology clinics and banks, prevent misuse of the technology, and promote the ethical practice of the services. The bill has excluded live-in couples, single men, and the LGBTQ community.

What is Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART)?

• Assisted reproductive technology (ART) refers to fertility treatments and procedures that can help with difficulties or an inability to conceive children.
• ART techniques involve the manipulation of eggs, sperm, or embryos to increase the likelihood of a successful pregnancy.
• It works by removing eggs from a woman’s body. The eggs are then mixed with sperm to make embryos. The embryos are then put back in the woman’s body.
• In vitro fertilization (IVF) is the most common and effective type of ART.

Surrogate vs. gestational carrier

• ART procedures sometimes use donor eggs, donor sperm, or previously frozen embryos. It may also involve a surrogate or gestational carrier.
• A surrogate is a woman who becomes pregnant with sperm from the male partner of the couple.
• A gestational carrier becomes pregnant with an egg from the female partner and the sperm from the male partner.
• The most common complication of ART is a multiple pregnancy. It can be prevented or minimized by limiting the number of embryos that are put into the woman’s body.

What is Infertility?                     

• Infertility is when people cannot conceive after a period of regular sexual intercourse without the use of birth control.
• Primary infertility: Women who are currently married for more than 5 years, currently not pregnant, having no terminated pregnancy, never used contraceptives and have zero total children ever born.
• Childlessness: Women who are currently married for more than 5 years, currently not pregnant, having no terminated pregnancy, never used contraceptives and have no living children.
• Census of 1981 estimates infertility in India around 4-6 percent and according to NFHS-1 childlessness is around 2.4 percent of currently married women over 40 years in India.
• Childlessness in India is around 5.5 percent for 30-49 age group and 5.2 percent for 45-49 age group.
• According to World Health Organization estimate the overall prevalence of primary infertility in India is between 3.9 to 16.8%.
• In Indian states prevalence of infertility varies from state to state such as 3.7 percent in Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra, to 5 percent in Andhra Pradesh, and 15 percent in Kashmir and prevalence varies in same region across tribes and caste.

Childlessness: A cause of emotional and psychological distress

• The inability to have children affects couples and causes emotional and psychological distress in both men and women.
• Despite the various social, psychological, economic and physical implications, infertility prevention and care often remain neglected public health issues especially for low-income countries that are already under population pressure.
• But in recent years there is increased awareness to integrate infertility prevention, care and treatment into the basic health care services.

IVF

• IVF involves a doctor extracting eggs and fertilizing them in a special lab. Specialists can combine this with an embryo transfer (IVF-ET) and transfer the resulting embryos into a person’s uterus.
• The Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology states that IVF-ET accounts for 99% of ART procedures.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) lists the 2018 success rates of IVF treatments for one oocyte retrieval from people using their own eggs as:
  • 52% for people aged 35 or younger
  • 38.1% for people aged 35–37
  • 23.5% for people aged 38–40
  • 7.6% for those over the age of 40

Features of the ART Regulation Bill, 2020

(1) Defining ART

• The Bill defines ART to include all techniques that seek to obtain a pregnancy by handling the sperm or the oocytes (immature egg cell) outside the human body and transferring the gamete or the embryo into the reproductive system of a woman.
• Examples of ART services include –
  1. gamete (sperm or oocyte) donation,
  2. in-vitro-fertilization (fertilizing an egg in the lab), and
  3. gestational surrogacy (the child is not biologically related to surrogate mother)
• ART services will be provided through:
  1. ART clinics, which offer ART related treatments and procedures, and
  2. ART banks, which store and supply gametes.

(2) Regulation of ART clinics and banks

• The Bill provides that every ART clinic and the bank must be registered under the National Registry of Banks and Clinics of India.
• The National Registry will be established under the Bill and will act as a central database with details of all ART clinics and banks in the country.
• State governments will appoint registration authorities for facilitating the registration process.
• Clinics and banks will be registered only if they adhere to certain standards (specialized manpower, physical infrastructure, and diagnostic facilities).
• The registration will be valid for five years and can be renewed for a further five years. Registration may be cancelled or suspended if the entity contravenes the provisions of the Bill.

(3) Conditions for gamete donation and supply

• Screening of gamete donors, collection and storage of semen, and provision of oocyte donor can only be done by a registered ART bank.
• A bank can obtain semen from males between 21 and 55 years of age, and oocytes from females between 23 and 35 years of age.
• An oocyte donor should be an ever-married woman having at least one alive child of her own (minimum three years of age).
• The woman can donate oocyte only once in her life and not more than seven oocytes can be retrieved from her.
• A bank cannot supply gamete of a single donor to more than one commissioning couple (couple seeking services).

(4) Conditions for offering ART services

• ART procedures can only be carried out with the written informed consent of both the party seeking ART services as well as the donor.
• The party seeking ART services will be required to provide insurance coverage in the favor of the oocytes donor (for any loss, damage, or death of the donor).
• A clinic is prohibited from offering to provide a child of pre-determined sex. The Bill also requires checking for genetic diseases before the embryo implantation.

(5) Rights of a child born through ART 

• A child born through ART will be deemed to be a biological child of the commissioning couple and will be entitled to the rights and privileges available to a natural child of the commissioning couple.
• A donor will not have any parental rights over the child.

(6) National and State Boards

• The Bill provides that the National and State Boards for Surrogacy constituted under the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 will act as the National and State Board respectively for the regulation of ART services.
• Key powers and functions of the National Board include:
  1. advising the central government on ART related policy matters,
  2. reviewing and monitoring the implementation of the Bill,
  3. formulating code of conduct and standards for ART clinics and banks, and
  4. overseeing various bodies to be constituted under the Bill
• The State Boards will coordinate enforcement of the policies and guidelines for ART as per the recommendations, policies, and regulations of the National Board.

(7) Offences and penalties

• Offences under the Bill include:

1. abandoning, or exploiting children born through ART,
2. selling, purchasing, trading, or importing human embryos or gametes,
3. using intermediates to obtain donors,
4. exploiting commissioning couple, woman, or the gamete donor in any form, and
5. transferring the human embryo into a male or an animal

• These offences will be punishable with a fine between five and ten lakh rupees for the first contravention.
• For subsequent contraventions, these offences will be punishable with imprisonment for a term between eight and 12 years, and a fine between 10 and 20 lakh rupees.
• Any clinic or bank advertising or offering sex-selective ART will be punishable with imprisonment between five and ten years, or fine between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 25 lakh, or both.
• No court will take cognizance of offences under the Bill, except on a complaint made by the National or State Board or any officer authorized by the Boards.

Need for the ART Regulation Bill

• To regulate and standardize protocols
  • There are so many such ART clinics that have been running without regulation and there are implications on the health of those who undertake the procedure.
  • Without proper regulation, the unethical practices will increase.
• To Protect Women and Children
  • The need to regulate the Assisted Reproductive Technology Services is mainly to protect the affected Women and the Children from exploitation
  • The oocyte (a cell in an ovary) donor needs to be supported by an insurance cover. Multiple embryo implantations needs to be regulated and children born through ART need to be protected.
• Overcoming social stigmas: The ART Bill can overcome the social stigma of being childless and respecting the reproductive rights of a woman.
• Increasing popularity of ART technique in India
  • India is among countries that have seen the highest growth in the number of ART centers and ART cycles performed every year.
  • India has become one of the major centers of the global fertility industry (ART), with reproductive medical tourism becoming a significant activity the need to regulate it is a much needed step.

Concerns

(1) Excludes single men, cohabiting heterosexual couples, and LGBTQ+ individuals

• The Bill shows progressive attitude by allowing a married heterosexual couples and a woman above the age of marriage to use ARTs however, it excludes single men, cohabiting heterosexual couples and LGBTQ+ individuals and couples from accessing ARTs.
• LGBTQ+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or sometimes questioning), and others. The “plus” represents other sexual identities including pansexual, intersex, and asexual.
• The Bill seems to violate:

1. Article 14 of the Constitution
2. Right to Privacy (In the Puttaswamy case, the Supreme Court held that “the sanctity of marriage, the liberty of procreation, the choice of a family life and the dignity of being” concerned all individuals irrespective of their social status and were aspects of privacy.)
3. Court’s direction to the States to take positive steps for equal protection for same-sex couples (Navtej Singh Johar vs Union of India, 2018).

(2) No prohibition on foreign citizens accessing the ARTs: Foreigners can access ART but not Indian citizens in loving relationships. This is an illogical result that fails to reflect the true spirit of the Constitution.

(3) Bill restricts egg donation to a married woman with a child (at least three years old). Even here, egg donation as an altruistic act is possible only once a woman has fulfilled her duties to the patriarchal institution of marriage.

(4) Little protection for donors

• The Bill does little to protect the egg donor. Harvesting of eggs is an invasive process which, if performed incorrectly, can result in death.
• Need for counseling: The Bill requires an egg donor’s written consent but does not provide for her counseling or the ability to withdraw her consent before or during the procedure.
• Exploitation of women: A woman receives no compensation or reimbursement of expenses for loss of salary, time and effort. Failing to pay for bodily services constitutes unfree labor, which is prohibited by Article 23 of the Constitution.
• Only an insurance policy is not enough: The commissioning parties only need to obtain an insurance policy in her name for medical complications or death with no amount or duration specified.

(5) Ambiguity in disorders

• The Bill requires pre-implantation genetic testing and where the embryo suffers from “pre-existing, heritable, life-threatening or genetic diseases”, it can be donated for research with the commissioning parties’ permission.
• These disorders are not specified and the Bill risks promoting an impermissible programme of eugenics.
• Eugenics is the practice or advocacy of improving the human species by selectively mating people with specific desirable hereditary traits.

(6) Hides information

• Children born from ART do not have the right to know their parentage, which is crucial to their best interests and was protected under previous drafts.

(7) Possible Gamete Shortage

• Gamete shortage is likely to happen as there is no clarity on if gametes could be gifted between known friends and relatives now, which was not allowed earlier.
• Gametes are an organism’s reproductive cells. They are also referred to as sex cells. Female gametes are called ova or egg cells, and male gametes are called sperm.

(8) Poorly Drafted

• Further, Bill’s prohibition on the sale, transfer, or use of gametes and embryos is poorly worded and will confuse foreign and domestic parents relying on donated gametes.

(9) Enhanced Punishments

• The SRB and the Bill impose high sentences (8-12 years) and hefty fines.
• The poor enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 demonstrates that enhanced punishments do not secure compliance.

ART Bill vs. Surrogacy Bill

• Although the Bill and the SRB regulate ARTs and surrogacy, respectively, there is considerable overlap between both sectors. Yet the Bills do not work in tandem.
• Core ART processes are left undefined; several of these are defined in the SRB but not the Bill. Definitions of commissioning “couple”, “infertility”, “ART clinics” and “banks” need to be synchronized between the Bills.
• A single woman cannot commission surrogacy but can access ART. The Bill designates surrogacy boards under the SRB to function as advisory bodies for ART, which is desirable.
• However, both Bills set up multiple bodies for registration which will result in duplication or worse, lack of regulation, e.g. surrogacy clinic is not required to report surrogacy to National Registry.
• Also, the same offending behaviors under both Bills are punished differently; punishments under the SRB are greater. Offences under the Bill are bailable but not under the SRB.

Way Forward

• ART Regulation Bill 2020 follows the introduction in Parliament of the Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2020, and the approval of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill 2020. These legislative measures are path breaking steps to protect women’s reproductive rights.
• However, the above mentioned concerns have to be addressed in order to make India an egalitarian society.
• Heterosexual couples and LGBTQI community have fought a long way for recognition of their rights, to give them their equal share of rights is the duty of the law makers in the country.

Try this question for mains:

Q. What is Assisted Reproductive Technology? Discuss the salient features of ART Regulation Bill, 2020?

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UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

UPSC 2022 countdown has begun! Get your personal guidance plan now! (Click here)

Introduction

Nanotechnology is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale, which is about 1 to 100 nanometers. Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of extremely small things and can be used across all the other science fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and engineering.

Nanotechnology proposes the construction of new nanoscale devices that possess extraordinary properties as they are lighter, smaller and less expensive, and more precise. Materials reduced to the nanoscale can show properties compared to what they exhibit on a macro-scale, enabling unique applications.

Two main approaches are used in nanotechnology:

1. Bottom-up approach – materials and devices are built from molecular components that assemble themselves chemically by principles of molecular recognition.
2. Top-down approach – nano-objects are constructed from larger entities without atomic-level control.

Why do we need it?

(1) Health sector

• Nanomedicine: It has healthcare applications such as treatment and diagnostics of various diseases using nanoparticles in medical devices, as well as nanoelectronic biosensors and molecular nanotechnology.
• Smart pills: Nano-level electronic devices that are shaped and designed like pharmaceutical pills but perform more advanced functions such as sensing, imaging, and drug delivery.
• Cancer detection and treatment: Regular chemotherapy and radiation damages body’s healthy cells during the treatment. New nanomedicine approaches are being used in the treatment of skin cancer, which enables efficient delivery of drugs and other therapeutic treatments to specific tumor sites and target cells with low toxic side-effects.
• Nanobots: Nanobots are micro-scale robots, which essentially serve as miniature surgeons. They can be inserted into the body to repair and replace intracellular structures. They can also replicate themselves to correct a deficiency in genetics or even eradicate diseases by replacing DNA molecules. Nanobots can also be used to clear artery blockages by drilling through them.
• Nanofibers: Nanofibers are being used in wound dressings and surgical textiles, as well as in implants, tissue engineering, and artificial organ components.
• Nanotech-based wearables: Such wearables have embedded nanosensors in the cloth that record medical data such as heartbeat, sweat components, and blood pressure. It helps save lives by alerting the wearer and medical professionals of any adverse changes faced by the body

 (2) Food Industry

• Nanotechnology provides the potential for safe and better quality food and improved texture and taste of the food.
• A contamination sensor, using a flash of light can reveal the presence of E-coli.
• Antimicrobial packaging made out of cinnamon or oregano oil or nanoparticles of zinc, calcium, etc., can kill bacteria.
• The nano-enhanced barrier can keep oxygen-sensitive food fresh.
• Nano-encapsulating can improve the solubility of vitamins, antioxidants, healthy omega, etc.
• Nanobarcodes are used to tag individual products and trace outbreaks.

(3) Electronic components

Nanotechnology has greatly improved the capacity of electronic components by:

• Reducing the size of the integrated circuits’ transistors
• Improving the display screens of the electronic devices
• Reducing power consumption, weight, and thickness of the electronic devices.

(4) Energy-efficient

• This technology can improve the efficiency of the existing solar panels. It can also make the manufacturing process of solar panels cheaper and efficient.
• It can improve the efficiency of fuel production and consumption of petroleum materials.
• It is already being made use of in many batteries that are less-flammable, efficient, quicker-charging and are lightweight and higher power density.

(5) Textile industry

• Nanotechnology has already made revolutionary changes in the textile industry and is estimated to make a market impact worth hundreds of billions of dollars.
• Nanoscience has now produced stain and wrinkle resistant cloths and may further improve upon the existing innovations.

(6) Environment

• It has the potential to address the current problem of pollution.
• It can provide for affordable, clean drinking water through swift detection of impurities and purification of water.
• The nanotechnology can be used to remove industrial water pollutants in the groundwater through chemical reactions at a cheaper rate.
• Nanotechnology sensors and solutions also have the potential to detect, identify, filter and neutralise harmful chemical or biological agents in the air and soil.

(7) Transport

• Nanotechnology contributes to manufacturing lighter, smarter, efficient and greener automobiles, aircraft and ships.
• It also allows various means to improve transportation infrastructures like providing resilience and longevity of the highway and other infrastructure components.
• The nanoscale sensors and devices can also provide for cheap and effective structural monitoring of the condition and performance of the bridges, rails, tunnels, etc. They can also enhance transportation infrastructure that makes the drivers avoid collisions and congestions, maintain lane position, etc.

(8) Space

• Materials made of carbon nanotubes can reduce the weight of the spaceships while retaining or increasing the structural strength.
• They can also be used to make cables that are needed for the space elevator. Space elevators can significantly reduce the cost of sending materials to the orbit.
• The nanosensors can be used to monitor the chemicals in the spacecraft to look into the performance of the life support system.

(9) Agriculture

• The nanocapsule can enable effective penetration of herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and genes into the targeted part of the plant. This ensures a slow and constant release of the necessary substance to the plants with minimized environmental pollution.
• The nanosensors and delivery systems can allow for precision farming through the efficient use of natural resources like water, nutrients, chemicals etc.
• The nanosensors can also detect the plant viruses and soil nutrient levels.
• Nano-barcodes and nano-processing could also be used to monitor the quality of agriculture produce.

Carbon Nanotubes

• Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cylindrical molecules that consist of rolled-up sheets of single-layer carbon atoms (graphene).
• They can be single-walled (SWCNT) (dia<1nm) or multi-walled (MWCNT) (dia>100nm), consisting of several concentrically interlinked nanotubes. Their length can reach several micrometers or even millimeters.
• Like their building block graphene, CNTs are chemically bonded with sp2 bonds, an extremely strong form of molecular interaction

Applications:

• Used in electric wires to reduce losses
• It can replace silicon made transistors as they are small and emit less heat and it can revolutionise electronics
• Can be used in solar cell

Graphene

• Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb-like pattern. Graphene is considered to be the world’s thinnest, strongest and most conductive material – of both electricity and heat.
• All of these properties are exciting researchers and businesses around the world – as graphene has the potential to revolutionize entire industries – in the fields of electricity, conductivity, energy generation, batteries, sensors and more.

Issues in Nanotechnology

• The nanotechnology may pose a potential risk to the environment, health and other safety issues.
• Since this field is still at its nascent stage, the likely risks are contentious. As for whether or not this technology requires special government regulation, the issue is still debated.
• The regulatory authorities like the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Health and Consumer Protection Directorate of the European Commission have started assessing the potential risks posed by the nanoparticles.
• The organic food sector is the first to be regulated so that the engineered nanoparticles are excluded from the organic produce. It has been implemented in Australia, UK and Canada as well as all the food certified under the Demeter International Standards.
• Nanotoxicology is the study of potential health risks of nanomaterials.  The human body can easily take up the nanomaterials as they are small in size.
• However, there is a need for detailed research on how it would behave inside an organism. The behaviour of nanoparticles based on their size, shape and surface reactivity must be thoroughly analysed before launching them into the market.
• Nanopollution is the generic term that is used to describe the waste generated by the nanodevices or nanomaterials during the manufacturing process.
• Nanowastes may be of risk due to their size and different properties and interactions. Since the man-made nanoparticles are not naturally made, living organisms may not have the appropriate means to deal with them.
• The risk of nanotechnology on health, environment, society, economy, security, and trade is not yet fully assessed. This in itself is a threat.

Government Measures

• Nanotechnology regulatory board to regulate industrial nano products
• Nano technology institutes like Indian Institute of Nano sciences at Bangalore,Mumbai,kolkata
• Nano technology initiatives program by Department of Information technology and for nano electronic products
• Nano mission:1000 crore allotted for 5 years for development of nano technology
• Department of Science and Tech-Nanomission (nano-biotechnology activities) through DBT, ICMR, and CoE in Nanoelectronics by MeitY support nanoscience, nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology, and nanoelectronics activities.
• Eighteen sophisticated analytical instruments facilities (SAIFs) established by DST across India play a major role in the advanced characterization and synthesis of nanomaterials for various applications.
• The Center of Excellence in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology established by DSTNanomission helps research and PG students in various thrust areas.
• Thematic Units of Excellence (TUEs) for various areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology play a major role in product-based research to support nanotechnology.
• Visveswaraya Ph.D. fellowships offered by MeitY supports various nanotechnology activities in the country.
• INSPIRE scheme supports research fellows to work in interdisciplinary nanotechnology, nanoscience, and nano-biotechnology areas.
• DST-Nanomission supports more than 20 PG teaching programs to create a baseline for nanoscience and nanotechnology in India, out of about 70 PG programs currently running in India.

 Mission on Nano Science and Technology (Nano Mission)

• Launched in 2007.
• It is as an “umbrella capacity-building programme”.
• The Mission’s programmes will target all scientists, institutions and industry in the country.
• It will also strengthen activities in nano science and technology by promoting basic research, human resource development, research infrastructure development, international collaborations, among others.
• It will be anchored in the Department of Science and Technology and steered by a Nano Mission Council chaired by an eminent scientist.

 Outcomes and significance of the mission

• As a result of the efforts led by the Nano Mission, today, India is amongst the top five nations in the world in terms of scientific publications in nano science and technology (moving from 4th to the 3rd position).
• The Nano Mission itself has resulted in about 5000 research papers and about 900 Ph.Ds and also some useful products like nano hydrogel based eye drops, pesticide removal technology for drinking water, water filters for arsenic and fluoride removal, nanosilver based antimicrobial textile coating, etc.
• The Nano Mission has thus helped establish a good eco-system in the country to pursue front-ranking basic research and also to seed and nurture application-oriented R&D, focused on useful technologies and products.

Conclusion

Nanotechnology provides a bright future for humankind. However, much is yet to be known about its impacts and risks. The government, before indulging in the promotion and launch of this new technology, must invest more in basic research to understand this field.

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This month has the birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru and the 60th anniversary of the Non-Aligned Movement. The concept of a country’s policy not aligning with others can be traced to Congress of Vienna (1814–15) when Switzerland’s neutrality, by which that country would stay away from the conflicts of others, was recognized.

Not attending that last few summits, had signaled India’s sudden departure away from NAM and having adopted the policy of multi-alignment. This has raised eyebrows of those who still believe in the true spirit of Non-Alignment of which India has been the champion for a long time.

What is NAM?

• Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) is a forum of 120 developing world states that are not formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.
  • After the United Nations, it is the largest grouping of states worldwide.
• Drawing on the principles agreed at the Bandung Conference in 1955, the NAM was established in 1961 in Belgrade, SR Serbia, and Yugoslavia.
• It was an initiative of then PM Jawaharlal Nehru, Ghanaian President Kwame Nkrumah, Indonesian President Sukarno, Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito.
• The countries of the NAM represent nearly two-thirds of the United Nations’ members and contain 55% of the world population.

Membership of NAM

• Diverse members: Membership is particularly concentrated in countries considered to be developing or part of the Third World, though the NAM also has a number of developed nations.

The reason behind NAM creation

• Balancing the US and USSR: Non-alignment, a policy fashioned for the Cold War, aimed to retain the autonomy of policy (not equidistance) between two politico-military blocs i.e. the US and the Soviet Union.
  • The NAM provided a platform for newly independent developing nations to join together to protect this autonomy.

Relevance TODAY

• Changing with emerging scenarios: Since the end of the Cold War, the NAM has been forced to redefine itself and reinvent its purpose in the current world system.
• Focus towards development: It has focused on developing multilateral ties and connections as well as unity among the developing nations of the world, especially those within the Global South.

Fading significance of the NAM

• Loosing relevance: The policy of non-alignment lost its relevance after the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the emergence of unipolar world order under the leadership of the US since 1991.
• De-colonization was largely complete by then, the apartheid regime in South Africa was being dismantled and the campaign for universal nuclear disarmament was going nowhere.
• Freed from the shackles of the Cold War, the NAM countries were able to diversify their network of relationships across the erstwhile east-west divide.

India and the NAM

• Important role played by India: India played an important role in the multilateral movements of colonies and newly independent countries that wanted into the NAM.
  • India’s policy was neither negative nor positive.
• India as a leader: Country´s place in national diplomacy, its significant size and its economic miracle turned India into one of the leaders of the NAM and upholder of the Third World solidarity.
• The principle of ‘acting and making its own choices’ also reflected India’s goal to remain independent in foreign policy choices, although posing dilemmas and challenges between national interests on international arena and poverty alleviation.
• Preserving the state’s security required alternative measures: Namely, the economic situation with the aim to raise the population’s living standards challenged the country’s defense capacity and vice versa.
• Fewer choices: Wars with China and Pakistan had led India to an economically difficult situation and brought along food crisis in the mid-1960s, which made the country dependent on US food.
  • India’s position was further complicated due to agreements with the Soviet Union about military equipment.
  • This placed India again in a situation where on one hand the country had to remain consistent on the principles of NAM while on the other hand to act in a context with fewer choices.

What is meant by Strategic Autonomy?

• Strategic autonomy for India denotes its’ ability to pursue its national interests and adopt its preferred foreign policy without being constrained in any manner by other states.
• In its pure form, strategic autonomy presupposes the state in question possessing overwhelmingly superior power.
• This is what would enable that state to resist the pressures that may be exerted by other states to compel it to change its policy or moderate its interests.
• Today’s ideation of ‘strategic autonomy’ is much different from the Nehruvian era thinking of ‘non-alignment’.
• Strategic autonomy is today a term New Delhi’s power corridors are well-acquainted with. It is an issue & situation-based, and not ideological.

Beyond Power-Politics nexus

• Strategic autonomy for India is both about power-politics and responsibilities.
• India’s quest for strategic autonomy is more about justice in terms of creating the international system where all states’ voices will be heard and decisions are made on value-based consensus.
• Such an idea is often misunderstood and confused with ‘opposing some states and allying the others.’

What dictates India’s alignment now?

India acknowledged the importance of economic growth as a factor in domestic poverty alleviation and for the realization of national interests in the international arena.

(1) National security

• China’s rise and assertiveness as a regional and global power and the simultaneous rise of middle powers in the region mean that this balancing act is increasing in both complexity and importance, simultaneously.
• China’s growth presents great opportunities for positive engagement, but territorial disputes and a forward policy in the region raise concerns for New Delhi, particularly in the Indian Ocean and with Pakistan.

(2) Global decision-making

• Another distinctive feature of India’s foreign policy has been the aim to adjust international institutions consistent with changes in international system.
• The support for strengthening and reforming the UN as a multilateral forum, restructuring the international economic system and preserving independence in its decision-making has become an integral part of India’s foreign policy.

(3) Prosperity and influence

• India’s 21st century’s strategic partnerships with two of the biggest economies, the USA and EU rely heavily on trade and technology cooperation.
• In addition, the partnership with the USA has touched the boundaries of strategic issues like cooperation on counter-terrorism, defence trade, joint military exercises, civil nuclear cooperation and energy dialogue.

(4) Multi-polarism

• Another means to execute India’s foreign policy strategy of autonomy has been forming extensive partnerships with other emerging powers.
• India has been an active G4 country speaking for the reform of the UN Security Council and having been elected seven times as a non-permanent member.
• As a result, there is an overlap of countries in different platforms, as can be seen in cases of India’s partnership with BRICS, SAARC, etc.
• The purpose of India is to increase the participation and share of developing countries in global policy-making.

Benefits out of strategic alignment

• India needs investments, technology, a manufacturing ecosystem to employ millions of its young population and improve its living standards.
• It requires advanced weapons and technologies for its military. India is ambitious and wants to be a great power and the US and the Western world recognise this and are willing to partner India.
• US along with France, are India’s principal backers in the UN Security Council and also support its membership in it.
• The Quad of India, US, Japan and Australia is also slowly institutionalizing the multilateral partnership that is committed to an open, secure, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.

China’s “not-peaceful rise”

• India is a long term rival for China, which does not want India’s rise. It wants to keep India boxed into South Asia, and tries to keep it off balance using Pakistan which it arms and supports.
• It has made inroads into the region using the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It continues to block India’s membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and continues to needle in the UNSC over Kashmir.
• We all know the recent heat up after Ladakh standoff. It occupies parts of Indian Territory and also claims the entire state of Arunachal.

Hence, the Non-alignment is difficult because,

• We have to safeguard ourselves from a power which has trampled upon all her neighbours most blatantly and the whole world has seen and withstood them with deafening silence.
• China has kept our territory since 1962 violating all international norms and we could do nothing with this diplomatic tool called Non- Alignment.
• Any policy formulation has to serve the national interest.
• The US prefers its partners to pay for and manage their own security, but collaborate in all possible ways — weapons sale, sharing civil and military arsenals, diplomatic support, intelligence sharing etc.
• It will be pragmatic to take advantage of the great power rivalry by suitably aligning with a power that India can derive maximum benefit from.

But Wait, NAM still matters!

(1) Global perception of India

• India’s image abroad has suffered as a result of allegations that creep into our secular polity and a need arises to actively network and break out of isolation.
• India’s partnership with America faces an uncertain future in the post-pandemic period ahead of the regime change under Joe Biden.
• Indeed, India is overtly keen to upgrade a quadrilateral alliance with the US, Japan and Australia — but there too, we’re all dressed up and nowhere to go. There is no concrete commitment yet.
• We can sense the growing proximity between the NAM member countries and China.
• As it is, one-half of NAM comprises members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which remains highly critical of the plight of Indian Muslims.

(2) For the Impulsive U.S.

• For India complete dependence on the U.S. to counter China would be an error.
• As the U.S. confronts the challenge to its dominance from China, the classical balance of power considerations would dictate accommodation with Russia.
• A strong stake in India’s relations with the US could reinforce Russia’s affinity for China.
• Russia, these days looks less pragmatic to see Indian ties with its rivals as a joint venture, not an alliance in which they could pursue shared objectives to mutual benefit.

Importance of NAM: As a power booster for multilateralism

The NAM  can never lose its relevance because-

• Cold War has revitalized with time: Critics of NAM who term it as an outcome of the Cold War must also acknowledge that a new Cold War is beginning to unfold, this time between the US and China, which if reflected in Trade War, Protectionism, Indo-Pacific narrative, etc.
• NAM provides a much bigger platform:  NAM becomes relevant to mobilize international public opinion against terrorism, weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), nuclear proliferation, ecological imbalance, safeguarding interests of developing countries in WTO (World Trade Organization) etc.
• NAM as a tool for autonomy: NAM’s total strength comprises 120 developing countries and most of them are members of the UN General Assembly. Thus, NAM members act as an important group in support of India’s candidature as a permanent member in UNSC.
• A podium for India’s leadership: India is widely perceived as a leader of the developing world. Thus, India’s engagement with NAM will further help in the rise of India’s stature as the voice of the developing world or global south.
• NAM for multilateralism:  Though globalization is facing an existential crisis, it is not possible to return to isolation. In the world of complex interdependence, countries are linked to each other one way or another. With rising threats such as climate change, terrorism, and receding multilateralism, the global south and NAM countries find themselves in a precarious condition.
• NAM as a source for soft power: India can use its historic ties to bring together the NAM countries. India’s strength lies in soft power rather than hard power. Therefore, NAM cannot be based on the current political structure where military and economic power is often used to coerce countries.
• NAM as a tool for institutional reforms: Global institutions such as WTO and the UN are facing an existential crisis because only a few nations dictate their functions. India can use the NAM platform to push for reforms in these institutions for a more equal and democratic world order.

Way Forward

In the post-COVID-19 world, India will have to make a disruptive choice — of alignment.

• In the threat environment marked by a pushy China, India should aim to have both- American support and stay as an independent power centre by cooperation with middle powers in Asia and around the world.
• Complete dependence would be detrimental to India’s national interest such as its ties with Iran and Russia and efforts to speed up indigenous defence modernization.
• Rather than proclaiming non-alignment as an end in itself, India needs deeper engagement with its friends and partners if it is to develop leverage in its dealings with its adversaries and competitors.
• A wide and diverse range of strategic partners, including the U.S. as a major partner is the only viable diplomatic way forward in the current emerging multipolar world order.

Conclusion

Though sections of the Indian establishment still want to reinvent non-alignment under ever new guises, India is showing signs of pursuing strategic autonomy separately from non-alignment.

• India continues to practice a policy of non-alignment in an attempt to maintain sovereignty and oppose imperialism.
• Indo-US ties are complementary, and a formal alliance will only help realize the full potential of these relations.
• India, thus, emphasizes the relations with the region and emerging powers not only in terms of economic development but also as actors with similar understandings and expectations of the world system.
• In some way, the relations can be described as expectations without expectations. States interact with each other in expectations to change the international system, but without expectations to ‘ally or oppose.’
• India believes in making value-based decisions and maintains its coherent foreign policy. As it is familiar with the phrase ‘multi-vector’ foreign policy, it is high time to maximise its potential.

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Ports infrastructure is key to the development of any nation. India has a coastline spanning about 7,500 km. Around 90 percent of India’s external trade by volume and 70 percent by value are handled by ports. Imports of crude petroleum, iron ore, coal, and other essential commodities are all through the sea route. Twelve major ports and 205 non-major ports operate on India’s coast.

The blockage of the Suez Canal by the giant container ship had educated many about the necessity of state-of-the-art shipping and the dependence of the world trade on modernized ports. The alarm created by the shutdown raised fears of extended delays, goods shortages, and rising costs for consumers.

Background

What are ports?

A port can be defined as a harbor or an area that is able to provide shelter to numerous boats and vessels (transferring people or cargo) and can also allow constant or periodic transactions of shipment.

Types of the port according to cargo handled

1) Industrial Ports: These ports specialize in bulk cargo-like grain, sugar, ore, oil, chemicals, and similar materials.

2) Commercial Ports: These ports handle general cargo-packaged products and manufactured goods and passenger traffic.

3) Comprehensive Ports: Such ports handle bulk and general cargo in large volumes. Most of the world’s great ports are classified as comprehensive ports.

Types of port on the basis of location

1) Inland Ports: These ports are located away from the sea coast. They are linked to the sea through a river or a canal. Such ports are accessible to flat bottom ships or barges.

Eg. Kolkata is located on the river Hoogli.

2) Out Ports: These are deep water ports built away from the actual ports. These serve the parent ports by receiving those ships which are unable to approach them due to their large size.

Significance of port development and port connectivity for India

1) Reducing Logistics cost

• Defragmented logistics: The World Bank Logistics Index released in 2018 ranked India 44th, far behind the US at 14 and China at 26.
• Cost-effective: India aims to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14% of GDP to less than 10% by 2022 using coastal shipping and inland waterways as they would be 60 to 80 percent cheaper.

2) Blue Economy: Blue Economy as a concept includes all the economic activities related to oceans, seas, and coastal areas and emerges from a need for integrated conservation and sustainability in the management of the maritime domain.

• India’s blue economy supports 95% of the country’s business through transportation and contributes an estimated 4% to its GDP.
• India is also among the top 5 fish and aquaculture fish producing countries in the world.

3) Security

• Ensuring safety of strategic installations: Port development would result in development of India’s coasts that harbor several strategic installations such as naval bases, nuclear power plants, satellite and missile launching ranges.
• Curtailing transnational organized crime at sea: India is vulnerable to narcotic drug trafficking as it is located between two largest Opium producing regions of the world i.e. Golden Crescent (Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan) in the west and Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Thailand and Laos) in the east.
• Port development and efficient management of port resources would curtail such illegal practices and ensure safety of Sea Lanes of Communication (SLOC).

4) Keeping an eye on maritime traffic: Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is also the busiest maritime trade route, with 11,000 to 12,000 ships present in it at any given time.

• Monitoring these vessels and regulating their movement is challenging but a necessity for prosperity of the country.

5) International Relations

• Countering the influence of China: Through its Belt and Road Initiative, China has proactively exacerbated India’s pre-existing Sri Lanka-linked trans-shipment problem. Sri Lanka has already leased Hambantota port to China for 99 years. Therefore, port development and ensuring local trans-shipment facilities is a vital strategic necessity for India.
• Regional integration: India’s eastern seaboard can help recreate an integrated hub and spoke model for regional connectivity in the Bay of Bengal as South Asia remains one of the least integrated areas.
• Net Security Provider in the IOR: Many western countries are hedging on India’s ability to counter China in the IOR. India could hedge on their support to realize its ambition of Net Security Provider in the IOR by enhancing its coastal security and ensuring port modernizations and its connectivity with the hinterland.

6) Environment: The Indian Ocean is warming three times faster than the Pacific Ocean. Overfishing, coastal degradation, and pollution are also harming the marine ecosystem. Hence, good design and sound environmental impact management of construction and operational activities of the port are critical.

7) Social

• Inclusive development: Industries require a safe and cheap means of exporting finished goods and importing raw materials. Hence, most industries in the world are located in the coastal belts, in the vicinity of major ports.
• Sustainable livelihood development in the fisheries sector: India is the second largest fish producer in the world. By enhancing the capability to ship them to foreign countries, India could raise the income of fisher folk and secure the food security and nutrition security.

Examples of Port-led Development

1. Singapore: Singapore’s natural deep-sea ports and the geographical location at the crossroads of important shipping channels make its trade a major economic sector, next to production and services. 2. China: According to the Liner Shipping Connectivity Index (LSCI), several of China’s container ports rank among the most connected in the world. 3. UK: It is estimated that in 2017 the ports industry directly contributed to 61% of turnover, 57% of GVA, and 52% of employment.

Significance of Port-led development

• To improve the ease of trading across borders, port-led development is crucial.
• Developing ports enables efficient and cost-effective import and export.
• For this, India needs to develop major transshipment ports, provide last-mile connectivity to ports, develop linkages with new regions, and enhance multi-modal connectivity with ports.

Governance of ports in India

Ports in India are classified as Major and Minor Ports. Major Ports are owned and managed by the Central Government and Minor ports are owned and managed by the State Governments. India has 12 major and 205 notified minor and intermediate ports.

Major Ports:

• Major Ports are under the Union list of the Indian Constitution and are administered under the Indian Ports Act 1908 and the Major Port Trust Act, 1963.
• Each major port is governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Government of India. Their functions include planning, management and operations of ports.

Minor Ports

• Minor ports are managed at the State level by the department in charge of ports or the State Maritime Board, if created, as is the case in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu.
• The functions of the State maritime boards are similar to those of port trusts, and also include the authority to set tariffs.
• They also focus on attracting private investment by awarding concession contracts, providing incentives, exclusivity rights and assuring land acquisition.

Service port model vs. Landlord port model

• The service port model: The port authority owns the land and all available assets—fixed and mobile—and performs all regulatory and port functions.

• The landlord port model: The publicly governed port authority acts as a regulatory body and as landlord while private companies carry out port operations—mainly cargo-handling activities.
  • Here, the port authority maintains ownership of the port while the infrastructure is leased to private firms that provide and maintain their own superstructure and install own equipment to handle cargo.

The recent performance of India’s port sector

• Almost a quarter of India’s maritime trade is shipped through ports in other countries and over 80 percent of its trans-shipment cargo uses facilities at ports in Singapore, Colombo in Sri Lanka, and Klang in Malaysia.
• Trans-shipment costs are leading to Indian port industry losses of Rs 15 billion annually. Thus, India has huge potential to harness when it comes to port utilization.

Issues and challenges in India’s port connectivity

• High turnaround times: Ports in India suffer from high turnaround times for ships. For example, in Singapore, average ship turnaround time is less than a day. However, in India, it is over two days.
• Port congestion: Port congestion due to container volume, shortage of handling equipment and inefficient operations is a major concern. Eg. Nhava Sheva port
• Sub-optimal Transport Modal Mix: Lack of requisite infrastructure for evacuation from major and non-major ports leads to sub-optimal transport modal mix.
• Limited Hinterland Linkages: There is inefficiency due to poor hinterland connectivity through rail, road, highways, coastal shipping and inland waterways. This in turn increases the cost of transportation and cargo movement.
• Lengthy inspection and scrutiny: Though customs operations in India are rapidly going paperless and converting to digital, inspections and scrutiny continue to be lengthy for cargo and other shipping operations.
• Inadequate infrastructure and Technology Issues:
  • Lack of adequate berthing facility, number of berths, and sufficient length for proper berthing of the vessels at the Non-Major Ports.
  • Most Non-Major Ports do not have proper material handling equipment in place which could facilitate a quick turnaround.
  • lack of equipment for handling large volume
  • lack adequate navigational aids, facilities and IT systems
• Issues with Regulations:
  • Major and non-major ports fall under different jurisdictions. Further, the regulatory framework is rigid.
  • Foreign-flagged vessels are not allowed to ship cargo from one Indian port to another as that remains a protected turf for domestic shippers
  • Land acquisition and environmental clearances
• Issues with PPP Model:
  • Most port PPPs impose strict limits on what private operators are allowed to do, usually in terms of the types of cargo they are allowed to handle.
  • Until recently, Other problems were related to tariff regulation and absence of dispute resolution mechanism
• Environmental impact:
  • During the operation of ports, spillage or leakages from the loading and unloading of cargo and pollution from oil spills are common due to poor adherence to environmental laws and standards.
  • The water discharged during the cleaning of a ship and the discharge of ballast water is a threat to marine ecosystems
  • Dredging causes environmental problems (increased sedimentation) affecting local productivity of the local waters and its fisheries.
• Social impacts of Port Development:
  • Most port projects and development results in displacement (such as Gangavaram Port in Andhra and Mundra in Gujarat).
  • other important concern expressed by fishing communities is the restriction of access to fishing grounds around a port
• Manpower and Labor Issues: Lack of adequate training, falling manpower quality, opposition to reform are major issues
• Unhealthy Competition: Analysts have cited the concerns over development of multiple ports in close vicinity handling similar cargo as it might lead to ports competing for the same cargo arrivals.

Government initiatives

1) Sagarmala program

• It focuses on modernizing and developing ports, enhancing port connectivity, supporting coastal communities, and stimulating port-linked industrialization.
• Sagarmala aims to reduce the logistics costs for foreign and domestic trade. It also aims to double the share of water transportation in the modal mix.

2) Jal Marg Vikas project (JMVP)

• It is a project for the development of National Waterways in India.
• It was implemented as an initiative towards national integration with an aim to reduce rail and road congestion, carbon footprint, and minimal resource depletion.

3) Central Road and Infrastructure Fund

• The Ministry of Finance has amended the Central Road Fund Act, 2000 to include a list of projects and infrastructure sub-sectors, including inland waterways, for which the CRF could be used.
• The CRF has since been renamed the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund.

4) The Draft Indian Ports Bill 2021 aims to centralize the administration of minor ports that are currently managed by state governments.

5) The Inland Vessels Bill 2021

• Instead of distinct regulations created by the states, the bill attempts to include a single legislation for the country.
• The registration certificate will be valid throughout the country and state approvals will not be necessary.
• It also establishes a single database for recording vessel and crew information on an Internet portal.

6) Marine Aids to Navigation Bill 2021: It was passed by the Parliament, incorporating global best practices, technological developments and India’s international obligations in this field.

Way Forward

• Environmental clearances, Tariff norms, land acquisition etc. need to be standardized and implemented for the port sector so as to boost foreign investments
• It is important to provide rail and road connectivity to major and minor ports in order to ensure seamless multimodal transport and improve efficiency
• Priority should be given on expanding capacity and improving operational efficiency. Emphasis should be placed on installing advanced cargo handling processes, scalability in processes and mechanization of port operations.
• Technologies like big data and advanced GPS navigation systems should be optimally used for better functioning of ports
• The regulatory regime should be made less complex and less rigid. Further, there should be vertical integration of all stakeholders for holistic development of ports in India
• Port modernization and new port development, port connectivity enhancement, port-linked industrialization and coastal community development under the Sagarmala project has an immense scope for reduction in transportation and logistics costs and boosting export competitiveness.
• The government needs to open up the dredging market to attract more players, particularly international players, in dredging activities to increase and maintain draft depth at ports to attract large vessels and enable them to become hub ports.

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Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the central government will repeal all three farm laws. Farmers have been protesting against the farm laws and demanding their rollback since 2020.

The Modi government has been confrontational with farmers’ organizations, giving so far an impression that it would not repeal the laws as the protesting farmers didn’t represent the “real” farmers. These laws will be repealed in the Winter Session of Parliament.

Let us look at the topic in detail and try to understand the factors behind the policy retreat of the government.

Background

• Long pending reforms: Government wanted to convert the COVID-19 crisis into a reform opportunity by undertaking long pending reforms in agriculture marketing.
• Out of 11 measures, 3 measures seek to liberalize agricultural marketing and hence hailed as 1991 moment for agriculture.
• The 3 farms acts ware:  
  1. Act to promote Inter-state and Intra-State Trading
  2. Act to promote Contract farming
  3. Amendments to Essential Commodities Act
• However, these 3 farm Acts have been opposed by various stakeholders- Farmers, Traders and State Governments on account of various reasons:
  1. Discontinuation of MSP via open-ended procurement
  2. Gradual dismantling of the Public Distribution System (PDS),
  3. Loss of price discovery mechanism established by the APMC mandis
  4. Exploitation by the corporates,
  5. Fear of a reduction in the scope and size of PDS

In what circumstances were the laws passed?

• Ordinance route: The government initially cleared them as ordinances in June 2020, there were token protests with the country’s attention gripped by the first wave of Covid-19.
• Without consultation and haste: In Parliament, there was no thorough scrutiny of the Bills by a parliamentary panel. The government dismissed these demands and pushed the legislation through.
• Opposition disregard: The Opposition benches were suspended for a week for their “disorderly conduct” while protesting against the rushed passage of the laws.

The Three Contentious Laws: A quick recap

 (1) Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020:

• It expands the scope of trade areas of farmers produce from select areas to “any place of production, collection, and aggregation”. It allows electronic trading and e-commerce of scheduled farmers’ produce.
• It prohibits state governments from levying any market fee, cess or levy on farmers, traders, and electronic trading platforms for trade of farmers’ produce conducted in an ‘outside trade area’.

(2) Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020:

• It creates a national framework for contract farming through an agreement between a farmer and a buyer before the production or rearing of any farm produce.
• It provides farmers engaging with Agri-business firms, processors, wholesalers, exporters or large retailers for farm services and sale of future farming produce by a mutually agreed price framework.

(3) Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act 2020:

• It allows for the center to regulate food items through essential commodities. 
• It also requires that imposition of any stock limit on agricultural produce be based on price rise.

Why are farmers fuming over these laws?

These bills sought to bring much-needed reforms to the agricultural marketing system. However, farmers are apprehensive that the free market philosophy supported by these bills could undermine the MSP system and make farmers vulnerable to market forces.

Let us look at all their concerns one by one:

(1) Fear against the end of Mandi System

• The APMC regulates the mandi (marketplace) where farmers bring their produce, and therefore, guarantees that they receive the MSP.
• Since the state governments will not be able to regulate the trade outside the APMC markets, farmers believe the laws will gradually end the mandi system and leave farmers at the mercy of corporates.

(2) Fear over MSPs and procurement guarantee

• Farmers believe that dismantling the mandi system will bring an end to the assured procurement of their crops at MSP.
• Similarly, farmers believe the price assurance legislation may offer protection to farmers against price exploitation, but will not prescribe the mechanism for price fixation.
• They are demanding the government guarantee MSP in writing, or else the free hand given to private corporate houses will lead to their exploitation.

(3) Fear of Arhatiyas

• The arhatiyas (commission agents) and farmers enjoy a friendship and bonding that goes back decades.
• On an average, at least 50-100 farmers are attached with each arhatiyas, who takes care of farmers’ financial loans and ensures timely procurement and adequate prices for their crop.
• Farmers believe the new laws will end their relationship with these agents and corporates will not be as sympathetic towards them in times of need.

 (4) Fear over the end of subsidized electricity

• Farmers concerns are also fuelled by the proposed Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2020 which might end their access to subsidized electricity.
• The bill seeks to create an Electricity Contract Enforcement Authority (ECEA), a move aimed to further centralization.
• Another concern is the transfer of subsidies through DBT. Farmers will have to pay first from their own pocket, after which they will get subsidies.

(5) Fear over Contract Farming

• The FAPA Act formalizes contract cultivation through a “national framework” and explicitly prohibits any sponsor firm from acquiring the land of farmers through purchase, lease or mortgage.
• But farmers fear over the big corporate players’ monopoly over food processing industry and its supply chain dynamics.
• They fear that their ownership rights would be at risk as the Act provides for debt instruments for the companies which have their own recovery mechanisms.

(6) Fear over dispute resolution

• The FAPA Act provided for a three-level dispute settlement mechanism by the conciliation board, Sub-Divisional Magistrate and Appellate Authority.
• Since the highest level of appeal for the farmer against any private entity was the Appellate Authority, the farmer is effectively prevented from moving the Court.
• Thus, they claim that the Act was highly skewed in favor of private entity as the individual farmers did not have the resources that private companies had.

(7) Fear over EC Amendment Act

• The original EC Act de-regulated food items including cereals, pulses, potato, onion, edible oilseeds, and oils, and could only be regulated in the extraordinary circumstances.
• The new law states that government regulation of stocks will be based on rising prices.
• This stock-limiting puts farmers at the peril of the government and thus prevent them from making from any profit during any extra-ordinary circumstances as most of the time they only have to bear losses.

How were protests could sustain for so long?

• Unity: The leaders of farmers unions were very strategic in their approach to the protest and decided to work together very early in the agitation.
• Finances: The protest sites at the Delhi border needed a steady injection of resources to keep going. Aware of this need, the unions had begun making monthly collections.
• People: The unions behind the farm stir are well-organised machineries with committees at the level of villages, blocks and districts.
• Communication: Social media has been central to the scale of this agitation.
• Engagement: The unions kept the stakeholders engaged by ensuring that there was never a dull moment in this agitation.

In practical terms, what was the status of the three laws until the repeal?

• The farm laws were in force for only 221 days — June 5, 2020, when the ordinances were promulgated to January 12, 2021, when the Supreme Court stayed their implementation.
• The Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the three laws on January 12 this year.
• Since the stay, the laws have been suspended.
• The government has used old provisions of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 to impose stock limits, having amended the Act through one of the three farm laws.

Reasons for the repeal

There are contrasting suggestions about the timing of the decision to announce the repeal.

• Forthcoming elections: There are crucial Assembly elections early next year in five states, including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
• Public appeasement: The PM sought to announce this on Guru Nanak Jayanti probably in a move to appease a community, to which a significant segment of protesting farmers from Punjab belongs.
• Rising anxiety among Public: There was a risk that anxiety among the protesters could lead to tensions as there had been many deaths since the protests began.
• Fury over year-long protests: The protest had created a ruckus on the streets of capital due to continuous blockades even after the intervention of Supreme Court.
• Rising political differences: Given that it took the government a year to realise the socio-political costs, the repeal also signals a weakened political feedback mechanism within the party.

Significance of the repeal

• Reflects popularity of the govt: In the immediate term, the repeal exposes the government to charges of being on the wrong path and against popular sentiments, notwithstanding its claims to the contrary.
• Dedication over farmers cause: The govt moves were increasingly perceived as being not in tune with the needs of rural farming communities.
• Political stewardship: The PM was clearly balancing his political posture that has thrived on the image of a strong and decisive leadership.

Implications of the repeal

• CAA standpoint: Although the anti-CAA protests were called off,almost two years on, the Home Ministry has not yet framed the rules for implementation of the CAA.
• Statehood for J&K: There is no such unanimity over Article 370. Most of these parties have largely been united for the restoration of statehood to J&K, and early elections.

An analysis of the enactment-repeal conundrum

(1) Reforms are must

• There may be some deficiencies in the exact design and mechanism of the reforms proposed in the three farm laws.
• However, most advocates of agricultural reform would agree that they were in the right direction.

(2) Reforms don’t occur overnight

• These laws could be a great example for passionate reforms.  However, Legislative tapasya (penance) is all about listening to outer world (i.e the farmers), not inner self.
• It requires listening to those for whose benefit laws and policies are crafted. It can’t be a meditation in isolation and implementation as a divine ordeal.

(3) Answerability and consultation matters

• That the government chose to push these reforms through its own set of consultations left many stakeholders feeling left out, and created a backlash.
• The repeal underlines that any future attempts to reform the rural agricultural economy would require a much wider consultation.

(4) Success lies in the acceptance of reforms

• The better design of reforms ensures wider acceptance.
• The repeal would leave the government hesitant about pursuing these reforms in stealth mode again.

Way forward

• Parliamentary scrutiny is must: Parliament approved the laws even as dialogue around them was missing. While the Union government did speak to farmer leaders, it always maintained it would implement the laws.
  • It is very essential to take various stakeholders under consideration including opposition leaders.
• Consultation with Farmers: There were no dialogues or inputs from farmers. They were simply bulldozed into implementation, fuelling an impression that some vested private interests were guiding them.
  • That could be the reason why many such laws have been brought in as ordinances and were then approved in Parliament using brute majority. Public scrutiny for laws is always treated as seditious.
  • The government has to do away with such forceful imposition of laws on public without giving due consideration to their demands.
• A lesson for the upcoming legislations: Many similar legislations will be passed in the next few months. Amendments to the Forest Conservation Act will be one of them.
  • Here also there are many stakeholders at the receiving end government must consider their demands.
• No stopping here: Though not accepted, reforms are necessary and government should strive to bring them with necessary changes. Agriculture is the backbone of the majority of Indian population and their concerns and wellbeing should be the priority of the government.

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Context

The RBI has repeatedly reiterated its strong views against cryptocurrencies since it gained popularity in India following a sudden boom in Bitcoin prices. The central bank’s argument is that cryptocurrencies pose serious threats to the macroeconomic and financial stability of the country.

The development of Bitcoin and thousands of other cryptocurrencies in a little over a decade has changed the definition of money — and spawned a parallel universe of alternative financial services, allowing crypto businesses to move into traditional banking territory.

In recent times, new services and platforms have been introduced to help people manage bitcoin and other such digital coins in day-to-day finances. Let us learn about the topic in detail.

Cryptocurrencies

(1) Rise of Cryptocurrencies: After the growth and response received to bitcoin, many newer coins have also been introduced and their cumulative market value touched $2.5 trillion by May 2021.

(2) Significance of Cryptocurrencies

• Corruption Check: As blocks run on a peer-to-peer network, it helps keep corruption in check by tracking the flow of funds and transactions.
• Time Effective: Cryptocurrencies can help save money and substantial time, as it is conducted entirely on the Internet, involves very less transaction fees and is almost instantaneous.
• Cost Effective: Intermediaries such as banks, credit card and payment gateways draw almost 3% from the total global economic output of over $100 trillion, as fees for their services.
  • Integrating blockchain into these sectors could result in hundreds of billions of dollars in savings.

(3) Cryptocurrencies in India

• RBI’s apprehension: In 2018, The RBI issued a circular preventing all banks from dealing in cryptocurrencies. This circular was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in May 2020.
• Govt’s stand: Recently, the government has announced to introduce a bill; Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021, to create a sovereign digital currency.
• Boosting startups ecosystem: In India, the funds that have gone into the Indian blockchain start-ups account for less than 0.2% of the amount raised by the sector globally.
  • The current approach towards cryptocurrencies makes it near-impossible for blockchain entrepreneurs and investors to acquire much economic benefit.

What do crypto businesses offer?

• Lending and borrowing services: Generally, crypto businesses offer lending and borrowing services. One can earn interest on holdings of digital currencies, often a lot more than on cash deposits in a bank.
• Collateral to bank: Borrow with crypto as collateral to back a loan. Crypto loans generally involve no credit checks as transactions are backed by digital assets.

Benefits

• Fosters financial inclusion
• Unusually high return on their holdings for consumers
• Provide financial stability for customers in countries with volatile government-issued currencies.

What is cryptocurrency banking?

• The virtual currency is not held in physical form. Digital currency is decentralized by a ledger system called blockchain, which means that it is not controlled by a bank or central authority.
• Cryptocurrency banking mostly just allows people to hold their funds in a digital wallet or spend it like they would spend traditional money.
• People can manage their cryptocurrency balances on exchange platforms.
• These banking services can include simply holding a balance, making payments with a crypto debit card and even earning interest involving one or more cryptocurrencies.

Why such high yields?

• Similar to traditional banking: Crypto outfits pool deposits to offer loans and give interest to depositors, just as traditional banks.
• No reserve requirements: But by law, banks are required to have minimum reserves as a safety backup. Unlike this, crypto banks do not have the reserve requirements; the institutions they lend to can take risky bets.
• Other risks: Cyber attacks, extreme market conditions, or other operational or technical difficulties that could lead to a temporary or permanent halt on withdrawals or transfers.

What is a stablecoin?

Crypto is very volatile, making it less practical for transactions like payments or loans. That’s where stablecoins come in.

• Pegged to stable assets: stablecoins are cryptocurrencies pegged to stable assets, commonly the dollar.
  • They are meant to provide the steady value of government-issued money in digital form for blockchain transactions, but they are issued by private entities.
  • Popular dollar-tied tokens include Tether and USD Coin.
• High global appeal: The number of stablecoins in circulation globally has jumped from $29 billion in January to $117 billion as of early September.
• Keep the value of digital currency stable: It aims to do in digital form what government money does.
• But issued by private entities: They provide the steady value of government-issued money in digital form for blockchain transactions, but they are issued by private entities.

Risks involved

• Stablecoin issuers hold and monitor reserves, just as central bankers manage supply and demand.
• But there is no guarantee they actually hold the one-to-one dollar backing they claim.
• So, a sudden surge in withdrawals could lead to a collapse in one of those assets, putting clients and the broader economy at risk.
• Also, a central bank digital currency would render stablecoins irrelevant.

What is a central bank’s digital currency?

• Offer reliability: Central bankers are examining the potential for issuance of a government-issued cryptocurrency which would offer the convenience of crypto with the reliability of money controlled by a central bank.
• Growing innovation is a challenge: But governments catching up to the innovations in the market for years will be a challenge.
• Introducing India’s own cryptocurrency: The government is considering the possibility of introducing India’s own cryptocurrency, code-named “Lakshmi”.

What is the need?

• Crypto-currency is a digital currency that allows transacting parties to remain anonymous while confirming the transaction is valid.
• The provision of anonymity is widely misused especially in making cross-border transactions.
• They are widely used as a means for money-laundering, terror funding and drug trafficking, and other illegal activities.
• The increasing share and presence of bitcoins due to speculative trading for return on investments is getting to be a cause of concern.

How can legalizing help address this?

• Status of fiat currency: India’s attempt to legalize and introduce its own cryptocurrency would give it the status of a fiat currency.
• Good alternative: This formal government authorization could prove to be an alternative to popular non-fiat cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum.
• Syncing with the technology: “Lakshmi” would adopt a variation of the blockchain technology employed by bitcoin.
• Avoid dual transaction: The technology would help verify every trade and rule out the possibility of dual transactions employing the same coin.
  • Also, the new currency would be subject to the same capital account controls as the rupee, in terms of cross-border transactions.
• No manipulation in money supply: The money supply at every instant is known and cannot be manipulated, unlike with normal fiat currencies.
  • Besides, users would have to submit to the usual know-your-customer norms.

What are the challenges?

• The introduction of such a new cryptocurrency, would make it a legal tender alongside the rupee.
• This requires legislative action of making amendments to the Currency Act.
• Pegging it to rupee would have an impact on the rupee exchange rate along with the risk of fluctuations.

What is Decentralized finance (DeFi)?

• Alternative finance ecosystem: DeFi, refers to an alternative finance ecosystem where consumers transfer, trade, borrow and lend cryptocurrency.
  • Financial products become available on a public decentralized blockchain network, independently of traditional financial institutions and the regulatory structures.
• Eliminating middleman: DeFi aims to “disintermediate” finance, using computer code to eliminate the need for trust and middlemen from transactions.
  • It’s a computer-controlled market that automatically executes transactions.
• User governed: DeFi platforms are structured to become independent from their developers and backers over time and to ultimately be governed by a community of users.

What are the benefits of Crypto Finance?

• Financial Inclusion: Innovators argue that crypto fosters financial inclusion. Consumers can earn unusually high returns on their holdings, unlike at banks.
• Quick and Cheap Transactions: Crypto finance gives people long excluded by traditional institutions the opportunity to engage in transactions quickly, cheaply and without judgment.
• Low checks and hassles: As crypto backs their loans, the services generally require no credit checks, although some take customer identity information for tax reporting and anti-fraud purposes.
• Privacy: On a DeFi protocol, users’ personal identities are generally not shared, since they are judged solely by the value of their crypto.

What are some risks associated with DeFi?

• DeFi cuts out the third parties that financial regulators rely on to ensure market integrity.
• Licensed operators like banks and brokers play a quasi-governmental role in traditional finance, collecting and reporting data to the authorities, including information on capital gains, to ensure taxes are paid.
• By contrast, DeFi programs are unregulated apps created by coders interested in capital markets.
• Users’ assets can and have been hacked, and not all of the operations are built in good faith. Possibility of developers abandoning programs after investors contribute significant assets cannot be refused.

Way Forward

• Require new approach: New technology demands a new approach; novel risks can be addressed without necessarily restricting innovation.
  • E.g., Requirements like code audits and risk parameters, instead of mandating that DeFi protocols maintain the reserves of a bank and collect customer information.
• Controlling financial frauds: Using artificial intelligence and data analysis to monitor suspicious activity and tracking identity to fight financial fraud.
• Monitor suspicious activity: Using artificial intelligence and data analysis to monitor suspicious activity and working back to track identity.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread economic uncertainty globally, and coupled with the US-China trade war, has caused countries to adopt protectionist measures. While the regulations introduced by India, the US, the UK, and the European Union have taken different forms, the underlying concern is uniform – save homegrown companies, especially in strategic sectors, from being acquired by state-backed investors from other countries.

In this article, we will try to understand the world trade order in the Covid-19 pandemic and in what ways it has impacted globalization, and how the world has reacted to it in the form of protectionism to save the crumbling domestic industry.  

Let us first understand the basic terms so that we can understand the topic in detail.

What is meant by Globalization?

• It refers to the economic, social and political integration of nations. It entails the spread of products, technology, information and jobs across national borders and cultures.
• It is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture.
• In economic terms, it describes an interdependence of nations around the globe, fostered through free trade.

What are the factors aiding globalization?

1) Technology: It has reduced the speed of communication manifolds. The integration of technology in India has transformed jobs that required specialized skills and lacked decision-making skills to extensively-defined jobs with higher accountability that require new skills.

2) LPG Reforms: The 1991 reforms in India have led to greater economic liberalization which has, in turn, increased India’s interaction with the rest of the world.

3) Faster Transportation: Improved transport, making global travel easier.

4) Rise of WTO: The formation of WTO in 1994 led to a reduction in tariffs and non-tariff barriers across the world. It also led to the increase in the free trade agreements among various countries.

5) Improved mobility of capital: In the past few decades, there has been a general reduction in capital barriers. This has increased the ability for firms to receive finance and the global interconnectedness of financial markets.

6) Rise of MNCs: Multinational corporations operating in different geographies have led to a diffusion of best practices. MNCs source resources from around the globe and sells their products in global markets leading to greater local interaction.

Where globalization helps to bring global financial markets close to each other and increases their interaction, protectionism aims to protect domestic industries from dumping and other trade-distorting practices by other countries.

What is Protectionism?

• Protectionism is the practice of following protectionist trade policies.
• A protectionist trade policy allows the government of a country to promote domestic producers, and thereby boost the domestic production of goods and services by imposing tariffs or otherwise limiting foreign goods and services in the marketplace.
• Protectionist policies also allow the government to protect developing domestic industries from established foreign competitors.

Types of Protectionism

Protectionist policies come in different forms, including:

1. Tariffs

• The taxes or duties imposed on imports are known as tariffs. Tariffs increase the price of imported goods in the domestic market, which, consequently, reduces the demand for them.

2. Quotas

• Quotas are restrictions on the volume of imports for a particular good or service over a period of time. Quotas are known as a “non-tariff trade barrier.”
• A constraint on the supply causes an increase in the prices of imported goods, reducing the demand in the domestic market.

3. Subsidies

• Subsidies are negative taxes or tax credits that are given to domestic producers by the government. They create a discrepancy between the price faced by consumers and the price faced by producers.

4. Standardization

• The government of a country may require all foreign products to adhere to certain guidelines. For instance, the UK Government may demand that all imported shoes include a certain proportion of leather.
• Standardization measures tend to reduce foreign products in the market.

5. Anti-dumping duty

• Dumping is the process of selling goods far below market value to drive out competition. India is the highest initiator of anti-dumping measures aimed at shielding domestic industry from import competition.
• According to the WTO, from 2015 to 2019, India initiated 233 anti-dumping investigations, which is a sharp increase from 82 initiations between 2011 and 2014.

6. Rules of Origin

• India amended the Rules of Origin requirement under the Customs Act. India has imposed onerous burdens on importers to ensure compliance with the rules of origin requirement.
• The intent appears to be to dissuade importers from importing goods from India’s Free Trade Agreement (FTA) partners.

Why do countries adopt Protectionism?

• National security: The argument pertains to the risk of dependency upon other nations for economic sustainability. It is argued that in case of war, economic dependency can restrict one’s options. Also, the other country can affect other country’s economy in a negative way.
• Infant industry: It is argued that protectionist policies are required to protect industries in their initial stages. As if the market is kept open, global established companies can capture the market. This can lead to the end of domestic players in the new industry.
• Dumping: Many countries dump their goods (sell them at lower price than their cost of production or their cost in the local market) in other countries.
  • The objective of dumping is to increase market share in a foreign market by driving out competition and thereby create a monopoly.
• Saving jobs: It is argued that buying more domestically will drive up national production, and that this increased production will in turn result in a healthier domestic job market.
• Outsourcing: it is common practice for companies to identify countries having cheaper labor and easier systems of governance and outsource their job work. This leads to loss of jobs in domestic industries.
• Intellectual Property Protection: Patents, in a domestic system, protect the innovators. On a global scale, however, it is quite common for developing nations to copy new technologies via reverse engineering.

Arguments against Protectionism

• Trade Agreements: India has benefited immensely from international trade agreements. As per the Commerce Ministry data, India has entered into Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with about 54 individual countries.
  • They provide tariff concessions thereby giving opportunities for exports of products including those related to small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
• Against WTO Regulations: India has been a member of WTO since its inception. WTO’s regulations prohibit imposing restrictions on imports from other countries.
  • They can be imposed only for certain purposes like balance of payment difficulties, national security etc. Such barriers cannot be imposed to protect domestic industry from healthy competition.
• Inflationary in Nature: Protectionist policies by restricting imports, can lead to rising prices in the domestic market. Thus, hurting the interest of the consumers directly.
• Uncompetitive Domestic Industries: By protecting the local industries, they have no incentive to innovate or spend resources on research and development (R&D) of new products.

Increasing protectionism by India

• Increase in average tariffs: The simple average of India’s tariffs that stood at 8.9 per cent in 2010-11 has increased by almost 25 per cent to 11.1 per cent in 2020-21.
  • These increases in tariff rates have reversed the political consensus on tariff liberalization that India followed since 1991.
• Initiator of anti-dumping measures: India is the highest initiator of anti-dumping measures aimed at shielding domestic industry from import competition.
  • According to the WTO, from 2015 to 2019, India initiated 233 anti-dumping investigations, which is a sharp increase from 82 initiations between 2011 and 2014 (June).
• Expanding the scope of Article 11(2)(f): India recently amended Section 11(2)(f) of the Customs Act of 1962, giving the government the power to ban the import or export of any good if it is necessary to prevent injury to the economy.
  • Expanding the scope of Article 11(2)(f) to cover any good is inconsistent with India’s WTO obligations.
  • While, WTO allows countries to impose restrictions on imports in case of injury to domestic industry, not to the “economy”.
• Restrictive rules of origin: Undue claims of FTA benefits pose a threat to the domestic industry. Subsequently, India amended the rules of origin requirement under the Customs Act.
  • Rules of origin determine the national source of a product.
  • This helps in deciding whether to apply a preferential tariff rate (if the product originates from India’s FTA partner country) or to apply the most favored nation rate (if the product originates from a non-FTA country).
  • The intent appears to be to dissuade importers from importing goods from India’s FTA partners.
• Impact of vocal for local: The clarion call given by PM Modi to be “vocal for local” is creating an ecosystem where imports are looked at with disdain, upsetting competitive opportunities and trading partners.

Protectionist measures in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic by India

India has introduced protectionist measures in two ways.

1) Launch of the “Atmanirbhar Bharat” policy which translates to “self-reliant India”, to promote local industry and reach self-sufficiency in the near future.

2) Restriction on foreign direct investments in Indian companies from border sharing countries now requires prior approval of the Indian government.

• Applicable for: direct investments, as well as investments which are beneficially held by entities or citizens of neighboring countries.
• Aimed at: regulating investments from China and may also cover investments from entities based in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Self-Reliance through Artmnirbhar Bharat and impacts

As the majority of the businesses worldwide face disruptions and economic fallout after the COVID-19 pandemic, India will have the opportunity to build an economy that is more resilient, diversified, and attractive to global manufacturers and services. India with its large population has a big potential to become the manufacturing hub of the world.

• Identify Core Sectors: Indian companies need to re-look at their supply chain and start building domestic capacity for essential products to reduce dependence on China.
  • There is a need to identify and enlist core sectors in which India can become self-reliant and design a strategy to replace too much reliance on China for the imports, particularly Pharma APIs.
  • Shifting the supply chains from China may also offer FDI opportunities.
  • Such industries where we have to become more independent and where there is too much monopoly for example- APIs, support needs to be provided in the form of limited, sector-specific, and focused protection.
• Increasing Automation: With COVID-19 every industry will become less labor dependant and more automated. Labor-intensive sectors will take a hit.
  • Therefore there’ll be a need to produce more and more skilled labour force that could handle basic machines.
• Liquidity crunch: Businesses have started facing massive working capital/cash flow issues due to lockdown and they will continue even post that because of reduced demand. MSME and startups are the worst hits.
  • The liquidity needs of companies need to be addressed to help them remain solvent. Though the government has started taking steps via SIDBI to help MSMEs, we still need to do more.
• High taxes and competitiveness: The issue of higher taxes, credit risks, and liquidity crunch will be some of the glaring issues that need to be resolved in a time-bound manner.
  • The new policy to offer a reduced corporate tax rate of 15% to new manufacturing facilities set up after October 1, 2019, should attract people to set up manufacturing in India.
  • Cheaper credits and lesser taxation need to be provided to ensure the level playing field for manufacturers in India.
  • India needs more open trade and investment policies to drive competitiveness

Measures adopted by other countries

Measures in the US

• The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act came into force in the US.
• It empowers the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to address national security concerns regarding foreign exploitation of certain investment structures.
• Acquisition of minority interests in certain specified sectors, such as telecom, power, oil and gas, defense and finance, also have to be notified to the CFIUS.

Measures in the European Union

• Similarly, the European Union has also encouraged member states to adopt screening mechanisms for foreign investments which are likely to affect security or public order.
• To determine whether an investment is likely to affect security or public order, member states must consider whether the investment:
  • has an impact on critical infrastructure (such as water, energy, transport, health and communications);
  • has an impact on critical technologies (such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, defence and energy storage);
  • results in access to sensitive information, including, personal data; etc.
• Currently, among other members of the European Union, France, Italy, Germany and Spain have adopted national mechanisms to screen foreign investments.

Measures in the UK

• The National Security and Investment Bill has been introduced in the UK Parliament, which seeks to empower the Secretary of State to investigate certain acquisitions risking national security.

Way forward

India is not alone in imposing measures to protect national interests from opportunist acquisitions. However, the implications for India, as a developing economy, maybe far-reaching as compared to the developed countries.

1) Important to recognize FDI

• As the Indian economy recovers from the pandemic, it is important to recognize that foreign investment, including investment from neighboring countries.
• It represents a key mechanism for supporting domestic industries and rebuilding India’s economic capacity. After all, India received almost INR6.1 billion in direct equity inflows from China and Hong Kong in 2020.

2) Protecting national interests and attracting foreign investment

• Over the past two decades, India has gradually continued on the path of liberalization and opened up more sections of its market to foreign investment.
• Consequently, India has reaped the benefits of globalization, including, an increase in employment opportunities and exports, development of infrastructure and technological capabilities, and availability of a better quality of goods and services.
• It is important for India to strike a balance between protecting national interests and attracting foreign investment and to continue to be a part of the global economy.

3) Inclusive Approach

• Addressing the needs of the most vulnerable countries – measures, for example in relation to export restrictions and creation of regional stockpiles, could include specific exemptions or assistance to address the needs of the poorest countries.

4) De-bureaucratisation

• India needs to put in place such policies that improve its competitiveness, de-bureaucratize some sectors such as agriculture, and make labor laws less complicated.
• A holistic and easily accessible ecosystem, from the procuring of raw materials to the outlet of finished products, must be made available.

5) Alternative global alliance

• The sudden call for a video-conference by Indian Prime Minister, with SAARC leaders to chalk out a common strategy to fight COVID-19, sets an example to the world.
• India needs to now move beyond regional alliances and look forward to a cooperative alliance between like-minded countries in terms of trade such as the USA, EU, and Japan, to figure out an alternative to break the hegemony of China in the global supply chain.
• India needs to expand its cooperation programs into a global effort by engaging in the multilateral development of solutions to global policy challenges and share lessons and experiences to progressively strengthen public systems and state institutions worldwide.

6) Promote R&D and capacity building

• There’s a need to prioritize building capacity and policy framework to become cost-competitive and quality competitive.

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In the age of the digital economy, data is the “new oil” and the “new gold”. Lots of apps have no revenue generation, but their only benefit is data. This business model of the Internet is called Surveillance capitalism, where all social media apps and other such platforms make their money collecting data on users and monetizing that. Companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon have all built empires atop the data economy.

India is in a strong position to lead the world in the industry 4.0 revolution that relies on big data analytics and digital technology to improve manufacturing. The cheap cost of mobile data in India and the increasing use of digital technology to set up businesses will facilitate economic transactions and interaction with the government. Let us understand the topic in detail and try to understand what data is and why it has garnered such importance.

What is Data?

• Data refers to distinct pieces of information, usually formatted and stored in a way that is concordant with a specific purpose.
• Since the advent of computer science in the mid-1900s, however, data most commonly refers to information that is transmitted or stored electronically.
• Data has become the forefront of many mainstream conversations about technology. New innovations constantly draw commentary on data, how we use and analyze it, and broader implications for those effects.

What is Big data?

• Big Data is a phrase used to mean a massive volume of both structured and unstructured data that is so large it is difficult to process using traditional database and software techniques.
• Through the use of high-end computing and algorithms, Big data has been used in the industry to provide customer insights by analyzing and predicting customer behavior through data derived from social media.
• Big data analytics: The process of collecting, organizing, and synthesizing large sets of data to discover patterns or other useful information.

What is Data privacy?

• Data privacy or information privacy is a branch of data security concerned with the proper handling of data – consent, notice, and regulatory obligations.
• It got highlighted when identifiable data of about 50 million Facebook users was breached by an analytics firm.
• Privacy is a basic human right, in the digital age where life has so prominently got integrated with the digital world, data privacy has become a human right too.

What is Industrial Revolution 4.0?

• The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) is a term that describes present technological age. It is the fourth industrial era since the inception of the initial Industrial Revolution of the 18th century.
• The key elements of the fourth revolution are the fusion of technologies ranging from the physical, digital to biological spheres.

Characteristics of IR 4.0

• It is characterized by a fusion of technologies that is blurring the lines between the physical, digital, and biological spheres.
• It brings together digital technology and the physical world to create a new range of products and services.
• The possibilities of billions of people connected by mobile devices, with unprecedented processing power, storage capacity, and access to knowledge, are unlimited.
• And these possibilities will be multiplied by emerging technology breakthroughs in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, the Internet of Things, autonomous vehicles, 3-D printing, nanotechnology, biotechnology, materials science, energy storage, and quantum computing.
• The revolution is evolving at an exponential rather than a linear pace and it is disrupting almost every industry in every country.

Why data is so important?

• How data will be employed fruitfully, and its value captured, will decide a nation’s rank in the emerging new global geo-economic and geo-political hierarchies.
• The global digital or artificial intelligence (AI) economy is currently a two-horse race between the U.S. and China.
• It is feared that all other countries, including the European Union (EU) and major developing countries such as India, will have to become fully digitally dependent on one of these two digital superpowers.
• This will considerably compromise their economic and political independence, something referred to as digital colonization.
• The shift to digital power, and its concentration, is very evident. Seven of the top eight companies by market cap globally today are data-based corporations.
• A decade back, this list was dominated by industrial and oil giants. Almost all top digital corporations in the world are U.S. or Chinese.

What is Digital India

• Digital India is a campaign launched to ensure the Government’s services are made available to citizens electronically by improved online infrastructure and by increasing Internet connectivity or by making the country digitally empowered in the field of technology.
• The initiative includes plans to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks.
• Digital India consists of three core components: the development of secure and stable digital infrastructure, delivering government services digitally, and universal digital literacy.
• Key Projects include Digilockers, SBM Mobile app, e-Sign framework to enable citizens to digitally sign document online, online registration system launched under e-Hospital application, etc.

What is the digital economy?

• Digital economy is defined as an economy that focuses on digital technologies, i.e. it is based on digital and computing technologies.
• It essentially covers all business, economic, social, cultural etc. activities that are supported by the web and other digital communication technologies.
• There are three main components of this economy:
  1. e-business
  2. e-business infrastructure
  3. e-commerce

Data Requires Infrastructure

• Just as oil requires infrastructure for storage and transportation, data requires infrastructure in the form of software and hardware.
• Any business that wants to maintain data for analytics will need technology for collecting the data and storing the data.
• Good data infrastructure has the following qualities:
  1. Available — obviously, you should be able to retrieve data from the system in a reasonable amount of time. Especially if you plan to frequently reuse the data for analytics.
  2. Fault-tolerant — what happens if a machine suddenly fails and the data on it is lost or corrupted? You need a system that can handle events such as these without losing data. This is where distributed computing comes into play in big data applications.
  3. Cost-effective — data infrastructure that becomes unnecessarily expensive becomes a liability rather than an asset.

Why Digital Economy is important for India?

• Increase in Revenues: When the transactions are digitized, monitoring sales and taxes becomes convenient. This increase the revenue of the government resulting in growth of the overall financial status of the country.
• Removal of Black Economy: When the transactions are made digitally, they can be easily monitored. There will be no means for illegal transactions to occur. By restricting the cash-based transactions can efficiently expel the black economy.
• Empowerment to People: One of the biggest advantages of moving towards digital economy is that it gives an empowerment to the citizens. When the payments move digital, each and every individual is bound to have a bank account, a mobile phone, etc.
  • The government can easily transfer the subsidies directly to Aadhaar-linked bank accounts of people.
• Creation of New Jobs: The digital economy has a lot of potential to enhance job opportunities in new market as well as increasing employment opportunities in some of the existing occupations in the government.
• Paves the Way to e-Governance: The quicker, safe, and more efficient alternative traditional governance, e-governance will be the ultimate outcome of the digital economy. Thus, it is convenient for people to access the information they need on the go.

What is digital market imbalance and how to fix it?

• Due to inability of government to address this market concentration, it has resulted in the creation of digital market oligarchy because larger players like Facebook, Google, Amazon etc enjoy significant returns to scale.
• Thereby the digital economy poses a problem for competition policy.
• Economic policies must itself move towards digitization to remain relevant in this digital era. This can be done by:
  1. India must protect its startups from becoming proprietary of foreign brands (through takeovers), this can be done by allowing preferential shares.
     • For eg: Take over of Flipkart by Walmart.
  2. Data must be monetized on part of data subjects, data subjects must be paid a royalty for use of their data.
  3. The government must lay down policies that put a check on anti-competitive policies of these digital companies. In this light, Draft e-commerce policy is a welcome step.
  4. India till now has no law to stop apps from sharing your data with data brokers or data analytics firms.
  5. An ideal data protection law must reflect the Supreme Court’s recent decision: That all interference with the right to privacy must be necessary and proportionate.
  6. Data protection law must incorporate inspiration from the European Union’s implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and BN Srikrishna report.
  7. The law must also lay down norms of accountability on part of digital tech giants.
  8. Also, the government must clear the air around the use of Aadhaar that has raised speculations about the surveillance state.

What is mean data protection?

• Data protection is the process of safeguarding important information from corruption, compromise or loss.
• Data is the large collection of information that is stored in a computer or on a network.
• The importance of data protection increases as the amount of data created and stored continues to grow at unprecedented rates.

What is the need for data protection?

• Large number of web users: There are about 504 million active web users and India’s online market is second only to China.
• Data as a source of profit: Large collection of information about individuals and their online habits has become an important source of profits.
• Concern of privacy: It is also a potential avenue for invasion of privacy because it can reveal extremely personal aspects.
  • Companies, governments, and political parties find it valuable because they can use it to find the most convincing ways to advertise to you online.

Laws for Data Protection across the Globe:

• European Union: The primary aim of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is to give individuals control over their personal data.
• US: It has sectoral laws to deal with matters of digital privacy such as the US Privacy Act, 1974, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act etc.

Initiatives in India

1) Information Technology Act, 2000

• It provides for safeguard against certain breaches in relation to data from computer systems. It contains provisions to prevent the unauthorized use of computers, computer systems and data stored therein.

2) Personal Data Protection Bill 2019

• The Supreme Court maintained the right to privacy as a fundamental right in the landmark decision of K.S. Puttaswamy vs Union of India 2017 after which the Union government had appointed Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee for proposing skeletal legislation in the discipline of data protection.
• The Committee came up with its report and draft legislation in the form of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018.
• In 2019, Parliament again revised the Bill and much deviation from the 2018 Bill was evident. The new Bill was named as Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019.
  • The purpose of this Bill is to provide for protection of privacy of individuals relating to their Personal Data and to establish a Data Protection Authority of India for the said purposes and the matters concerning the personal data of an individual.

Way Forward

• In this digital age, data is a valuable resource that should not be left unregulated.
  • The time is ripe for India to have a robust data protection regime.
• Policies need to be reformulated to ensure that it focuses on user rights with an emphasis on user privacy. A privacy commission would have to be established to enforce these rights.
• The government would also have to respect the privacy of the citizens while strengthening the right to information.
• Additionally, the technological leaps made in the last two to three years also need to be addressed knowing that they have the capacity of turning the law redundant.

Conclusion

• The digital economy seems to be growing and flourishing very well even without such regimes.
• Disengaging from signing binding agreements on uninhibited data flows across borders does not mean that a country would simply localize all data.
  • Some kinds of data may indeed need to be localized, while others should freely flow globally.
• It just means that a country retains complete data policy space, and the means to shape its digital industrialization, and thus its digital future.
• Appropriate data policies must ensure that the required data is actually available to Indian digital businesses.

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The institutionalization of police brutality, as an unofficial policy of the State, poses a serious challenge to every modern civilization. It doesn’t just raise obvious questions around respect for human rights and the rule of law but is also a serious threat to the survival of democracy in a state where the Constitution is supreme. This threat stares in our faces today.

While the debate around police reforms across the globe has slowly intensified, there is a lack of any meaningful discourse on the same in India. There is very little public outrage and, in many cases, strong public support for police misconduct. It is the failure of the citizenry to meaningfully engage with the State on critical and key issues that have led to such an unfortunate development. Let us critically analyses key issues with the help of several recent domestic developments.

Understanding police brutality

• Cases of custodial deaths, extra-judicial killings, torture, and violence against protesters, are all illustrations of this form of brutality.
• Methods of torture by the police include inhuman, degrading and barbaric practices that fall squarely within the description of third-degree torture.
• These are not sporadic incidents of police brutality, but appear to be part of the police administration machinery and have been normalized to an alarming extent in society at large.

In complete defiance of the Constitution and the laws

• Extra-judicial killings by the police, for instance, are legally permitted and do not amount to a criminal offence in only three types of cases:
  1. when it is caused in the exercise of the right to private defense under Section 96 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
  2. when it is caused under Section 100 (when the right of private defense of the body extends to causing death) or Exception 3 of Section 300 of the IPC (when the public servant exceeds his power for the advancement of justice).
  3. if it is necessary to exert force against the accused to arrest him for a crime punishable with death or imprisonment for life. This is mandated under Section 46 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).
• Constitutional provisions such as Article 21, which guarantees the right to life and personal liberty and Article 22 which grants every accused person the right to an advocate stand violated in cases of fake police encounters.

A collective failure

• The rise in police brutality in India is due to the failure of three key stakeholders:
  1. the Parliament and the Executive (that is, the political component of the State),
  2. the Judiciary, and
  3. the citizenry
• The failure of the parliament to decolonize statutes, remove unreasonable immunity granted to police officers under the laws and create foolproof legislations after due consultation from every stakeholder, is evident.
• The failure of the executive to control and discipline the police force is equally obvious. Accountability for law enforcement misconduct is flawed, and has huge structural problems.
• The judiciary has also failed in the sense that its judgments are given little importance and are virtually not implemented for all practical purposes by police officers on the ground.
  • For instance, in its landmark judgment in the case of Prakash Singh & Ors. vs. Union of India (2006), the Supreme Court issued several directives for police reforms.
  • 15 years since that judgment was delivered, no state or Union territory has fully complied with its directives.
• Failure of implementation of landmark judgments: Landmark judgments like this therefore end up becoming good pieces of jurisprudential literature and only have a symbolic value.
  • It makes no sense when landmark judgments that prohibits the police to commit acts of torture and violence and yet, there are large scale violations of those judgments that take place regularly.

A citizens’ failure

• Failure of the citizenry is critical: The failure of the State is a consequence of the failure of the citizenry to meaningfully engage with it and raise questions that are vital for democratic survival.
• The political system is merely a reflection of its masses: As a key stakeholder, citizens form the backbone of any democracy and act as counter-narrative to forces that promote democratic backsliding.
  • Their actions and nature of engagements define politics and policies of the State.
• In the case of police brutality there are three issues that the citizens have failed to engage with the State on:
  1. the rise in majoritarian politics,
  2. increasing corruption, and
  3. the rise in predatory capitalism.

Rise in majoritarianism

• India is a democracy and not a rule of the majority: While democracy functions with the belief that the majority will continue to change with changing issues, majoritarianism, on the other hand, is characterized by an organized majority.
  • Majoritarianism is forged by introducing factors (such as religion) that make the division between the majority and the minority more definite and permanent.
• Use the police force as a tool for political mobilization: Majoritarianism has led to huge transformation in the Indian political ecosystem. It has inter alia given birth to populist leaders and their politics of appeasement.
  • It is because of this rise in the latter that we now see a new tendency of the State to use the police force as a tool for political mobilization.
  • It is happening in Uttar Pradesh where the state government highlights encounters as its achievements on a Republic Day. The trend in UP has now spilled over to states like Assam and other areas.
  • In the communal riots broke out during the anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests and post the police attacks on the Jamia Milia Islamia University campus, almost 53 citizens lost their lives.
• All of the above instances are examples of how a majoritarian state suppresses the minority in order to reinforce and perpetuate the division on which its politics survives. Such a suppression is in the form of police brutality.

Increasing corruption

• Police force is by far, the most corrupt institution in India. There are two kinds of corruption within the police force in this country:
  • One is the monetary compensation that police officers receive from common citizens to deliver preferential treatment in matters of law enforcement.
  • Second is a specific kind of political corruption in the form of receiving personal gains, career advancements and such other kinds of favors from their political bosses in return for acting or not acting in a certain way.
• A report by IndiaSpend states how 28% of police respondents mentioned that political pressure is the biggest hindrance in police investigations.
• Public outrage against corruption in the police force has been rare and discourse over its relationship with police brutality rarer still. Corruption within the police force is directly proportional to police brutality.
• It is purely an economic model – the ones who pay will get away and the ones who don’t will either be met with state sponsored violence or eventually faces the wrath of an extremely hostile administration.
  • This is primarily also because of the huge powers and discretion that the police enjoy under our laws.

Support for predatory capitalism

• The police force in India was formed under the British Raj through the Indian Councils Act of 1861.
• The idea for a special police force was inherited from the East India Company, which had introduced the ‘Cornwallis System’ or the ‘Daroga System’ in 1764.
• The company had brought in the Cornwallis system only to strengthen its hold over the Indian population and to check any act of conspiracy or revolution against the company.
• This is evidence of the fact that the origin of the police force itself was to protect the capitalists and their interests and not prevention of crime.
• Capitalism itself has undergone massive transformation. From being once regarded as a tool to prosperity, it has now become a means to oppress the working class and further deepen divides and differences among people.
• The gap between the rich and poor is at an all-time high. Human relationships and social interactions are increasingly shaped by economic considerations through a cost and benefit analysis.

The role of the state in perpetuating capitalism

• In a State where there is increasing level of competition, cops do policing only to serve the interest of the capitalist class and protect the ‘rule of the capital’.
• The role of the State under a capitalist system has also changed. It has today assumed the position of a facilitator rather than a regulator. This is primarily because of its financial dependence on businesses.
• For predatory capitalism to succeed the working class will have to be necessarily silenced. That’s when the capitalists, with the help of bourgeois politicians, use the police to propagate violence against the working class in order to suppress their voices of dissent.

The state of police infrastructure and capitalism

• The state of police infrastructure in the country is also evidence of how the police exist today to further the interests of the capitalists.
  • The unequal distribution and subsequent utilization of resources for police infrastructure in Delhi vis-à-vis rural Bihar shows how we treat those who are at the bottom of the pyramid versus those at the top.
• This also shows that support for predatory capitalism and resentment against police brutality cannot go hand in hand and are rather contradictory.
  • One cannot protest against police brutality without protesting against predatory capitalism and its excesses.
• This has not been seen in India. Public outrage has therefore been misplaced, and will need an overhaul to tackle the problem more effectively.

The Way Forward

• Curbing Criminalization of Politics: The criminal nexus with politics will have to be broken and reforms must start with the political system. Thus, there is a need for laws which debars persons with serious criminal cases from entering the assemblies and the Parliament.
• Revamping Criminal Justice System: There is a need to incorporate the Menon Committee and Malimath Committee recommendations for devising a national policy paper on the criminal justice system. Some of the key recommendations are as follows:
  • Creation of a fund to compensate victims who turn hostile from the pressure of culprits.
  • Setting up of separate authority at the national level to deal with crimes threatening the country security.
  • A complete revamp of the entire criminal procedure system.
• Independent Complaints Authority: The Supreme Court has observed that there is a need to have an independent complaints authority to inquire into complaints of police misconduct.
• The Model Police Act, 2006 requires each state to set up an authority comprising retired High Court Judges, civil society members, retired police officers and public administrators from another state.
• Implementing the Supreme Court’s Directive: The Supreme Court’s directions in Prakash Singh case 2006 on police reforms must be implemented. The court laid out seven directives where considerable work in police reforms is still needed.

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On 27 November 1895, Alfred Nobel signed his last will and testament, giving the largest share of his fortune to a series of prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace – the Nobel Prizes. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank (Sweden’s central bank) established ‘The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences’ in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

Let us learn more about the Nobel Prize laureates in 2021 here and what is their contribution to society.

The Nobel Prize in Physics 2021

The 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics is awarded one half jointly to Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and the other half to Giorgio Parisi “for groundbreaking contributions to our understanding of complex physical systems.”

• This is the first time climate scientists (Manabe and Hasselmann) have been awarded the Physics Nobel. Last year, the award was given for the research into black holes.
• Three scientists received the Nobel Prize in Physics for work that is essential to understanding how the Earth’s climate is changing, pinpointing the effect of human behaviour on those changes and ultimately predicting the impact of global warming.

Who are the laureates?

• The winners were Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann of Germany, and Giorgio Parisi from Italy.
• In 2015, at a UK-based climate-focused online publication sought to identify the three most influential climate change research papers ever published.
• The paper that received the most votes was one by Syukuro Manabe and Richard Wetherald way back in 1967.
• These reports for the first time, had described the impact of carbon dioxide and water vapour on global warming.

Citation for their Climate Model

• Manabe is a senior meteorologist and climatologist at Princeton University.
• In the 1960s, he led ground-breaking research into how increased levels of carbon dioxide lead to higher temperatures on the surface of the Earth.
• This laid the foundation for the development of current climate models.
• Hasselmann is a German physicist and oceanographer who greatly advanced public understanding of climate change through the creation of a model that links climate and chaotic weather systems.
• Parisi has focused on quantum field theory and complex systems.

Why it is a significant feat?

• This is the first-time climate scientists have been awarded the Physics Nobel.
• The IPCC had won the Peace Nobel in 2007, an acknowledgement of its efforts in creating awareness for the fight against climate change.
• A Chemistry Nobel was also awarded to Paul Crutzen in 1995, for his work on the ozone layer, is considered the only other time someone from atmospheric sciences has won this honour.
• The recognition of Manabe and Hasselmann, therefore, is being seen as an acknowledgement of the importance that climate science holds in today’s world.

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021

• The 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Benjamin List and David MacMillan for their development of a precise new tool for molecular construction: organocatalysis.
• This has had a great impact on pharmaceutical research, and has made chemistry greener.
• Last year, the honour went to Frenchwoman Emmanuelle Charpentier and American Jennifer Doudna, for developing the gene-editing technique known as CRISPR-Cas9 – DNA snipping “scissors”.

What are Catalysts?

• When two or more compounds react to form new compounds, the process is often aided by other chemicals that do not change themselves but help speed up the reaction.
• These catalysts have been known at least since the middle of the 19th century, and are used in virtually every chemical process these days.
• Till around 2000, only two kinds of chemicals were known to act as effective catalysts: metals, mainly heavier metals; and enzymes, naturally occurring heavy molecules that facilitate all life-supporting biochemical processes.
• Both these sets of catalysts had limitations.

Issues with conventional catalysts

• Heavier metals are expensive, difficult to mine, and toxic to humans and the environment.
• Despite the best processes, traces remained in the end product; this posed problems in situations where compounds of very high purity were required, like in the manufacture of medicines.
• Also, metals required an environment free of water and oxygen, which was difficult to ensure on an industrial scale.
• Enzymes on the other hand, work best when water is used as a medium for the chemical reaction.
• But that is not an environment suitable for all kinds of chemical reactions.

Nobel invention: Organo-catalysis

• List and MacMillan, the both, started experimenting with simple organic compounds.
• Organic compounds are mostly naturally occurring substances, built around a framework of carbon atoms and usually containing hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, or phosphorus.
• Life-supporting chemicals like proteins, which are long chains of amino acids (carbon compounds containing nitrogen and oxygen) are organic.
• Enzymes are also proteins, and therefore, organic compounds.
• List and MacMillan started working with individual amino acids in enzymes — and struck gold.

What is asymmetric catalysis?

• Substances can have exactly the same chemical composition and molecular formula; yet differ widely in their properties. They are known as isomers.
• One type of isomers are those that differ in the way individual atoms are oriented in three-dimensional space.
• Two molecules could be exactly the same, except that they are mirror images of each other, like our hands.
• For simplicity, scientists often refer to these molecules as left-handed or right-handed.
• This simple difference can sometimes have enormous consequences because it allows the molecules to bind in different locations when they interact with other molecules.
• The end product in a chemical reaction is usually a mixture of left-handed and right-handed molecules.
• List and MacMillan discovered that by using a natural compound like an amino acid as a catalyst, they were obtaining only one specific mirror image of the end-product.
• This was later named asymmetric catalysis.

Significance of their discovery

• The new catalysts, derived from naturally occurring chemicals, were greener and cheaper and ensured that the end product of the chemical reaction was of a specific variety.
• The end product need not go through a purification process to yield the desired type of compound.
• The discovery being awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2021 has taken molecular construction to an entirely new level.
• Its uses include research into new pharmaceuticals and it has also helped make chemistry greener.

Nobel Prize for Economic Sciences 2021

• The 2021 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences has been awarded in one half to Canadian-born David Card and the other half jointly to Israeli-American Joshua D Angrist and Dutch-American Guido W Imbens.
• David Card has been awarded for his empirical contributions to labor economics. Joshua D Angrist and Guido W Imbens won the award “for their methodological contributions to the analysis of causal relationships.”
• The 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Paul R Milgrom and Robert B Wilson “for improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats”.
• Unlike the other Nobel prizes, the economics award wasn’t established in the will of Alfred Nobel but by the Swedish central bank in his memory in 1968.

What makes this year’s award special?

• This is the first time the economic prize has been divided in this fashion with one half going to one awardee and other half divided across two awardees.
• In the past, prize money was divided equally between the awardees even if the prize was for different topics as is the case this time around.
• It may appear that the Nobel Prize has been given for two different contributions, but there is a common theme: “natural experiments.”

What are Natural Experiments?

• Economists are often interested in causal questions such as the impact of education on incomes, impact of COVID-19 on poverty and so on.
• They are also interested is understanding the direction of causality.
• Economists have used two kinds of experiments to study these causality and direction of causality questions: random experiments and natural experiments.

(I) Random experiments

• Under randomized experiments, the researchers allocate say medicines to a treatment group and compare the effect of the medicine with the control group which is not given the medicine.
• In 2019, the Nobel Committee gave awards to three scholars for their contribution to the field of randomized experiments.
• However, one cannot randomize experiments to study issues such as why certain people and regions are more unequal or have fewer educational opportunities and so on.

(II) Natural experiments

• In natural experiments, economists study a policy change or a historical event and try to determine the cause and effect relationship to explain these developments.
• The trio used such natural experiments to make some landmark contributions to economic development.
• Natural experiments are more difficult for two reasons. The first is to identify what will serve as a natural experiment.
• Second, in a random experiment, the researcher knows and controls the treatment and control groups which allows them to study the cause and effect of medicine.
• But in natural experiments, such clear differentiation is not possible because people choose their groups on their own and even move between the two groups.
• Despite the limitations, the researchers could use the natural setting to answer some big policy questions.

Natural experiments conducted by David Card

• One question of interest for policymakers is to understand the impact of higher minimum wages on employment.
• Earlier studies showed that increasing minimum wages leads to lower unemployment.
• Economists were also not sure of the direction of causation between minimum wages and employment.
• Say a slowdown in the economy leads to higher unemployment amid lower income groups.
• This could lead to lower income groups demanding higher minimum wages. In such a case, it is higher unemployment which leads higher minimum wages.

Contribution of Angrist and Imbens

• Angrist and Imbens showed how natural experiments can be used to identify cause and effect precisely.
• We have discussed above how natural experiments make it difficult to separate control and treatment groups. This makes it difficult to establish causal relations.
• In the 1990s, the duo developed a methodology – Local Average Treatment Effect (or LATE) – which uses a two-step process to help grapple with these problems of natural experiments.
• Say, one is interested in finding the impact of an additional year of schooling on the incomes of people.
• By using the LATE approach, they showed that effect on income of an additional year of education is around 9%.
• While it may not be possible to determine individuals in the group, one can estimate the size of the impact.

What is the importance of the award today?

• Earlier it was difficult to identify natural experiments and even if one identified them, it was difficult to generate data from these experiments.
• With increased digitalization and dissemination of archival records, it has not just become easier to identify natural experiments but also get data.
• Economists have been using natural experiments to help us understand the impact of past policies.
• As the 2020 pandemic struck, economists used the natural experiments approach extensively to analyze how previous pandemics impacted different regions and tried to draw policy lessons.

India context

• The methodology date back to the early and mid-90s and they have already had a tremendous influence on the research undertaken in several developing countries such as India.
• For instance, in India, too, it is commonly held that higher minimum wages will be counterproductive for workers.
• It is noteworthy that last year, in the wake of the Covid-induced lockdowns, several states, including UP, had summarily suspended several labour laws.
• This included the ones regulating minimum wages, arguing that such a move will boost employment.
• The main learning is that minimum wages can be increased in India without worrying about reducing employment.

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2021

• Recently, two United States-based scientists, David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, have been awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine for their discoveries of receptors for temperature and touch.
• Their discoveries have unlocked one of the secrets of nature by explaining the molecular basis for sensing heat, cold and mechanical force, which is fundamental for our ability to feel, interpret and interact with our internal and external environment.
• They have focused their work on the field of somatosensation, that is the ability of specialized organs such as eyes, ears and skin to see, hear and feel.

Who are the Laureates?

• David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, working independently in the United States, made a series of discoveries in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
• They figured out the touch detectors in our body and the mechanism through which they communicate with the nervous system to identify and respond to a particular touch.

What did they discover?

• They discovered the molecular sensors in the human body that are sensitive to heat, and to mechanical pressure, and make us “feel” hot or cold, or the touch of a sharp object on our skin.
• In 1997, Dr. Julius and his team published a paper in Nature detailing how capsaicin, or the chemical compound in chili peppers, causes the burning sensation.
• They created a library of DNA fragments to understand the corresponding genes and finally discovered a new capsaicin receptor and named it TRPV1.
• This discovery paved the way for the identification of many other temperature-sensing receptors.
• They identified another new receptor called TRPM8, a receptor that is activated by cold. It is specifically expressed in a subset of pain-and-temperature-sensing neurons.
• They identified a single gene PIEZO2, which when silenced made the cells insensitive to the poking. They named this new mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1.

How do they work?

• The human ability to sense heat or cold and pressure is not very different from the working of the many detectors that we are familiar with.
• When something hot, or cold, touches the body, the heat receptors enable the passage of some specific chemicals, like calcium ions, through the membrane of nerve cells.
• It’s like a gate that opens up on a very specific request. The entry of the chemical inside the cell causes a small change in electrical voltage, which is picked up by the nervous system.
• There is a whole spectrum of receptors that are sensitive to different ranges of temperature.
• When there is more heat, more channels open up to allow the flow of ions, and the brain is able to perceive higher temperatures.

Therapeutic implications

• Breakthroughs in physiology have often resulted in an improvement in the ability to fight diseases and disorders. This one is no different.
• There are receptors that make us feel pain. If these receptors can suppress, or made less effective, the person had felt less pain.
• Chronic pain is present is a number of illnesses and disorders. Earlier, the experience of pain was a mystery.
• But as we understand these receptors more and more, it is possible that we gain the ability to regulate them in such a way that the pain is minimized.

The Nobel Peace Prize 2021

• Recently, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to journalists Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia for their efforts to safeguard freedom of expression, which is a precondition for democracy and lasting peace.
• In 2020, the award was given to the World Food Programme (WFP), a United Nations (UN) agency.
• The Norwegian Nobel Committee is convinced that freedom of expression and freedom of information are crucial prerequisites for democracy and protect against war and conflict.
• The 2021 peace prize laureates are representative of all journalists who stand up for this ideal in a world in which democracy and freedom of the press face increasingly adverse conditions.

Maria Ressa:

• She is an investigative journalist; in 2012 she co-founded Rappler, a digital media platform for investigative journalism, which she continues to head.
• Rappler has focused critical attention on President Rodrigo Duterte’s regime’s controversial, murderous anti-drug campaign.
• In the 2021 World Press Freedom Index, the Philippines ranked 138 of 180 nations (India was ranked lower, at 142).
• She has also authored Seeds of Terror: An Eyewitness Account of Al-Qaeda’s Newest Center, and From Bin Laden to Facebook: 10 Days of Abduction, 10 Years of Terrorism.

Dmitry Muratov:

• Muratov has for decades defended freedom of speech in Russia under increasingly challenging conditions.
• Russia has ranked 150 in the 2021 World Freedom Index.
• He along with around 50 colleagues started Novaya Gazeta (Newspaper) in 1993, as one of its founders. He has served as the newspaper’s editor-in-chief since 1995.
• Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based non-profit, had felicitated Muratov as one of its International Press Freedom awardees in 2007.
• Six of Muratov’s colleagues have been killed since the newspaper started, which has often faced harassment, threats, violence and murder from its opponents.
• Despite the killings and threats, editor-in-chief Muratov has refused to abandon the newspaper’s independent policy.

What is the significance?

• Free, independent and fact-based journalism serves to protect against abuse of power, lies and war propaganda.
• Without freedom of expression and freedom of the press, it will be difficult to successfully promote fraternity between nations, disarmament and a better world order to succeed in our time.

World Food Programme

• The WFP is the food-assistance branch of the United Nations and the world’s largest humanitarian organization focused on hunger and food security.
• Founded in 1961, it is headquartered in Rome and has offices in 80 countries.
• In addition to emergency food aid, WFP focuses on relief and rehabilitation, development aid, and special operations, such as making food systems more resilient against climate change and political instability.
• It is an executive member of the United Nations Development Group, which collectively aims to fulfil the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), and has prioritized achieving SDG 2 for “zero hunger” by 2030.

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United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC), also known as COP26 is scheduled to be held in the city of Glasgow, Scotland, between 31 October and 12 November 2021.

Let us look at in detail the UNFCCC and the latest COP26.

Climate change: A disaster in making

• Anthropogenic climate change can be traced back to the industrial revolution.
• The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) greenhouse gas has increased to 415 parts per million (ppm) from 280 ppm since then.
• A global momentum, therefore, was required to get all countries on board.

Realization of climate action: Birth of UNFCCC

• The idea led to the formation of the United Nations Framework for Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC, also known as ‘The Convention’) in 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
• The convention divided the countries on the basis of their differing commitments: Annex I and II consisted of industrialized and developed countries and Non-Annex I comprised developing countries.

A timeline

The Conference of Parties (CoP) is the supreme decision-making body at the convention and comprises states that are party to it.

COP 1:

• At CoP1 in Berlin 1995, the Convention highlighted the shortcomings of UNFCCC — the voluntary nature of the agreement.
• It stressed how no substantive action was taken to address the cause against climate change, which in turn put forward the need for “legally binding” actions.

COP 2:

• The proposal of legally binding targets was further emphasised upon in COP2 in Geneva in 1996.

COP 3:

• In COP3 in Kyoto in 1997, the legally binding targets were approved of by different countries. They came to be known as the Kyoto Protocol.
• It is considered to be one of the most important steps despite its late acceptance for it paved the way for further negotiations through legally binding targets for Annex I countries and establishment of carbon markets.
• The mechanisms proposed by Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions included Joint Implementation, Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) and Emissions Trading.

COP 4 and COP 5:

• In COP4 in 1998 and COP5 in 1999, the rulebook for implementing the Kyoto Protocol was on the process with the adoption of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action in COP4, along with continued negotiation efforts in COP5.

COP 7:

• In COP7 in Marrakesh in 2001, the guidelines for flexible mechanisms of joint implementation, CDM markets, emissions trading was agreed upon. It came to be known as the Marrakesh Accord.
• It was particularly important because mitigation efforts had already started and special attention was given to developing countries.
• It asked them to build their capacities and ensuring technology transfer through least developed countries (LDC) Fund, special climate change fund (SCCF) and adaptation fund.

COP 8:

• The COP8 in 2002, which was held in “New Delhi”, emphasised on adaptation measures and stressed that poverty alleviation and development were the utmost priority of developing countries.

COP 10:

• The future course of action was discussed in COP10 in Montreal in 2005 after Russia ratified the Protocol in 2004 at COP10 in Argentina.
• A two-track approach was formed, which included the constructive implementation of UNFCCC as well as formation an ad-hoc committee for the Kyoto Protocol.

COP 15:

• Copenhagen COP 2009 was set by the ad-hoc working group on Kyoto protocol formed during Montreal COP 2005.
• The group agreed to have a deal in 2009 regarding a legally binding climate regime from 2012-2020.
• The discussions lost track when developed countries started advocating for burden-sharing with developing countries.

COP 16:

• The disappointment of Copenhagen was turned into an opportunity in Cancun 2010, where the Copenhagen Accord was accepted.
• It looked forward to a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol and established the Cancun Adaptation Framework.
• For the first time, a temperature target of 2 degrees Celsius was included. The Green climate fund was formed and developed countries agreed to contribute.

COP 17:

• Following Cancun, Durban COP 2011 took place wherein the seed of the Paris Agreement was sown.
• The seed started sprouting in Doha COP 2012, where countries decided to avoid the gap between Kyoto and next legal climate regime.
• So, the second regime of Kyoto was decided from 2012-2020. The third pillar of loss and damage was incorporated for the first time.

COP 20:

• In COP in Lima in 2014, countries submitted their own climate ambitions in the form of intended nationally determined contributions (INDCs).

COP 21: The Pathbreaker

• In 2015, the Paris agreement was finally adopted and the INDCs were annexed to it.
• It was agreed that the Paris agreement would start from 2021.
• 2015 was known as a year of multilateral agreements because, in addition to the Paris agreement, sustainable development goals and Sendai Framework was also adopted.
• 2015, therefore, came out to be a successful year.

Being a very important conference with respect to climate change, let us look at the topic in short.

• The key vision of Paris Agreement is to keep global temperatures “well below” 2.0C (3.6F) above pre-industrial times and “endeavour to limit” them even more, to 1.5C.
• Paris Accord talks about limiting the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by human activity to the same levels that trees, soil and oceans can absorb naturally, beginning at some point between 2050 and 2100.
• It also mentions the need to review each country’s contribution to cutting emissions every five years so they scale up to the challenge.
• Rich countries should help poorer nations by providing “climate finance” to adapt to climate change and switch to renewable energy.
• The Paris Agreement has a ‘bottom up’ structure in contrast to most international environmental law treaties which are ‘top down.
• The agreement is binding in some elements like reporting requirements, while leaving other aspects of the deal such as the setting of emissions targets for any individual country as non-binding.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC)

• The national pledges by countries to cut emissions are voluntary.
• The Paris Agreement requires all Parties to put forward their best efforts through “nationally determined contributions” (NDCs) and to strengthen these efforts in the years ahead.
• This includes requirements that all Parties report regularly on their emissions and on their implementation efforts.
• In 2018, Parties will take stock of the collective efforts in relation to progress towards the goal set in the Paris Agreement.
• There will also be a global stock take every 5 years to assess the collective progress towards achieving the purpose of the Agreement and to inform further individual actions by Parties.

India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC)

• India’s INDC include a reduction in the emissions intensity of its GDP by 33 to 35 per cent by 2030 from 2005 level.
• India has also pledged to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.
• India will anchor a global solar alliance, INSPA (International Agency for Solar Policy & Application), of all countries located in between Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn.

COP22 :

• To move forward on writing the rule book of the Paris Agreement.
• Launched the Marrakech Partnership for Climate Action.

COP23:

• Countries continued to negotiate the finer details of how the agreement will work from 2020 onwards.
• First set of negotiations since the US, under the presidency of Donald Trump, announced its intention earlier this year to withdraw from the Paris deal.
• It was the first COP to be hosted by a small-island developing state with Fiji taking up the presidency, even though it was being held in Bonn.

COP 24:

• It finalized a “rulebook” to operationalise the 2015 Paris Agreement.
• The rulebook covers climate financing facilities and the actions to be taken as per Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).

COP25, Madrid:

• It was held in Madrid (Spain).
• There were no concrete plans regarding the growing climatic urgency.

Why COP26  is important?

The agreement works on a five-year cycle of climate actions, which is part of the reason COP26 is so important to tackle climate change: it’s the first five-year meeting since Paris.

The agreement required signatories to:

• Announce ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDCs) – i.e., the self-determined goals to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change (required update in 2020 and every 5-years after);
• Provide a long-term strategy to decarbonise their economies by 2050; and 
• For ‘developed’ countries to collectively scale up their climate finance under the UNFCCC to at least a collective USD $100 billion per year by 2020.

COP26

What are the COP26 goals?

According to the UNFCCC, COP26 will work towards four goals:

(1) Secure global net-zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach

• Countries are being asked to come forward with ambitious 2030 emissions reductions targets that align with reaching net zero by the middle of the century.
• For achieving these ambitious targets, countries will have to follow the following roadmap:
• Accelerate the phase-out of coal
• Curtail deforestation
• Speed up the switch to electric vehicles
• Encourage investment in renewables.

(2) Adapt to protect communities and natural habitats

• Countries will work together to ‘protect and restore ecosystems and build defences, warning systems and resilient infrastructure and agriculture to avoid loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives.’

(3) Mobilise finance

• To deliver on first two goals, developed countries must make good on their promise to mobilise at least $100bn in climate finance per year by 2020.

(4) Work together to deliver

• Another important task at the COP26 is to ‘finalise the Paris Rulebook’.
• Leaders will work together to frame a list of detailed rules that will help fulfil the Paris Agreement.

Why COP26  is important?

The agreement works on a five-year cycle of climate actions, which is part of the reason COP26 is so important to tackle climate change: it’s the first five-year meeting since Paris.

The agreement required signatories to:

• Announce ‘nationally determined contributions’ (NDCs) – i.e., the self-determined goals to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change (required update in 2020 and every 5-years after);
• Provide a long-term strategy to decarbonise their economies by 2050; and 
• For ‘developed’ countries to collectively scale up their climate finance under the UNFCCC to at least a collective USD $100 billion per year by 2020.

What Needs to Happen at COP26

• COP 26 is shaping up as the most important meeting since 2015. Not only is it the first 5-year review, but it also encompasses several important issues that were deferred from COP25.
• The meeting will “set the trajectory for future generations” and will be the “last, best chance of making progress” towards meeting the 2015 Paris Agreement goals.
• Member states have the opportunity to re-evaluate their targets against more recent climate science. This is especially important because current targets will fall short of the Paris goals for global temperature rise.
• Climate Action Tracker, a leading independent research organization that assesses climate policies, estimates that current pledges would only limit global heating to 3⁰C.

What India could do to reach its targets?

1. Update NDCs: It is time for India to update its Nationally Determined Contributions or NDCs. (NDCs detail the various efforts taken by each country to reduce the national emissions)
2. Effective planning: Sector by sector plans are needed to bring about development. We need to decarbonise the electricity, transport sector and start looking at carbon per passenger mile.
3. Energy transition: Aggressively figure out how to transition our coal sector
4. Robust legal framework: India also needs to ramp up the legal and institutional framework of climate change.

What is next after COP26

• COP26 may well be the most important climate meeting of our generation. Not only does it mandate a review of progress towards the 2015 Paris Agreement.
• But it allows members to re-evaluate 2015 goals in the light of new science and generate new targets.

Conclusion

• Asia and particularly India’s size, population, and economic might is critical to any global climate change targets. COP26 is a great opportunity for Asia to show leadership and be a positive example for other regions.
• Asia has started to make good strides towards a cleaner future, in particular with clean energy investment.
• However, the latest predictions show that all nations must continue to drive towards ever-decreasing emissions if we are to limit global warming to 1.5⁰C.
• This trend will continue to create opportunities for public and private investment in Asia’s growing renewable energy network.

What are the goals for UNFCCC COP26 and why it is so important? What India can do to reach the targets? (250 words)

Post your answers in comments below.

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5G is the next-generation wireless cellular technology that will provide faster and more reliable communication with ultra-low latency. A government panel report points out that with 5G, the peak network data speeds are expected to be in the range of 2-20 Gigabit per second (Gbps). This can help in good governance and can lead to higher economic growth in India.

Being a game-changer technology in many aspects, be it an economy or a science and technology or development, knowing about it is very important from an exam point of view. So let us look at the topic in detail.

What is 5G technology?

• 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
• 5G enables a new kind of network that is designed to connect virtually everyone and everything together including machines, objects, and devices. 
• It’s a unified platform which is much more capable than previous mobile services with more capacity, lower latency, faster data delivery rate and better utilisation of spectrum.

The low, mid, and high-frequency spectrum

• 5G mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high frequency spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
• The low band spectrum has a great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange but the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
• So Telcos can use and install it for commercial cell phone users who may not have specific demands for very high speed internet, the low band spectrum may not be optimal for specialized needs of the industry.
• The mid-band spectrum offers higher speeds compared to the low band, but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
• This band may be used by industries and specialized factory units for building captive networks that can be moulded into the needs of that particular industry.
• The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
• Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G has been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (giga bits per second), while, in most cases, the maximum internet data speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps.

Timeline: Evolution from 1G to 5G

• 1G: Launched in the 1980s. Analog radio signals and supported only voice calls.
• 2G: Launched in the 1990s. Uses digital radio signals and supported both voice and data transmission with a Bandwidth (BW) of 64 Kbps.
• 3G: Launched in the 2000s. With a speed of 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps it has the ability to transmit telephone signal including digitized voice, video calls and conferencing.
• 4G: With a peak speed of 100 Mbps-1 Gbps it also enables 3D virtual reality.
• 5G: with a speed of more than 1Gbps, it is capable of connecting entire world without limits.

How is 5G different from 4G?

5G	4G
5G uses utilize much higher radio frequencies of 28 GHz.	4G uses lower reading frequencies of 700 MHz to 2500 MHz.
5G transfers more data over the air at faster speeds.	4G speed is lesser with less data transfer.
5G has lower latency i.e the delay before a transfer of data begins following an instruction. Latency for 5G is predicted to be below 10 milliseconds and in best cases around 1 millisecond.	4G has higher latency as compared to 5G. The latency for 4G is around 20-30 milliseconds.
5G uses a millimeter-wave spectrum which enables more devices to be used within the same geographic area supporting around one million per square kilometer.	4G supports a lesser number of devices of about 4,000 devices per square kilometer.
5G uses a new digital technology that improves coverage, speed, and capacity.	4G has led to more congestion and lesser coverage as compared to 5G.

Salient features

• Capability: 5G will provide much faster mobile broadband service as compared to the previous versions and will provide support to previous services like mission critical communication and the massive Internet Of Things (IoT).
• Upgraded LTE: 5G is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
• Speed: With peak delivering rate of up to 20 Gbps and an average of 100Mbps, it will be much faster as compared to its predecessors. The speed increment is partly achieved partly by using higher-frequency radio waves than previous networks.
• Capacity: There will be up to 100 x increase in traffic capacity and network efficiency.
• Spectrum usage: Will provide better usage for every bit of spectrum, from low bands below 1 GHz to high bands.
• Latency: It’s expected to have lower latency with better instantaneous, real-time access of the data. The 5G, like 4G LTE, also uses Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) but the new 5G NR (New Radio) air interface will enhance OFDM and provide better flexibility in data delivery.
• Millimeter wave spectrum: The 5G networks will operate in the millimeter wave spectrum (30-300 GHz) which has the advantage of sending large amounts of data at very high speeds because the frequency is so high, it experiences little interference from surrounding signals.

Applications of 5G technology

1. High-Speed mobile network: 5G will revolutionize the mobile experience with supercharged wireless network. Compared to conventional mobile transmission technologies, voice and high-speed data can be simultaneously transferred efficiently in 5G.
2. Entertainment and multimedia: 5G can provide 120 frames per second, high resolution and higher dynamic range video streaming without interruption. Audiovisual experience will be rewritten after the implementation of the latest technologies powered by 5G wireless. Augmented Reality and virtual Reality services will be better experienced over 5G.
3. Internet of Things:  IoT applications collects huge amount of data from millions of devices and sensors and thus requires an efficient network for data collection, processing, transmission, control and real-time analytics which 5G network is a better candidate.
4. Smart cities: Smart city application like traffic management, Instant weather update, local area broadcasting, energy management, smart power grid, smart lighting of street, water resource management, crowd management, emergency response etc can use a reliable 5G wireless network for its functioning.
5. Smart farming: 5G technology will be used for agriculture and smart farming in the future. Using smart RFID sensors and GPS technology, farmers can track the location of livestock and manage them easily. Smart sensors can be used for irrigation control, access control and energy management.
6. Mission critical applications: Like telemedicine services, remote control of critical infrastructure and vehicles. It has the potential to transform industries with highly reliable, low latency link.
7. Better Governance: Better speed and connectivity would reduce red tapism. It will enhance speedy completion of projects and better implementation of policies. It will enable accountability in the system through a better monitoring system and will reduce corruption.
8. Employment generation: 5G wireless technology will open greater opportunity for new device manufactures and application developers. New VoIP devices and smart devices will be introduced in the market and thus more job opportunities as well. This will help in inclusive growth reaping demographic dividend.
9. Enhanced Security: 5G wireless technology is one the best solution for security surveillance due to higher bandwidth and unlicensed spectrum. It will enhance better coordination among various agencies. Smart appliances which can be configured and accessed from remote locations, closed circuit cameras will provide high quality real-time video for security purposes.
10. Logistics and shipping: Logistic and shipping industry can make use of smart 5G technology for goods tracking, fleet management, centralized database management, staff scheduling and real-time delivery tracking and reporting.
11. Industrial Growth: Future industries will depend on smart wireless technologies like 5G and LTE advanced for efficient automation of equipment, maintenance, safety, tracking, smart packing, shipping, logistics and energy management.
12. Agricultural applications: 5g technology can be used for agriculture and smart farming in future. Using smart RFID sensors and GPS technology, farmers can track location of livestock and manage them easily. Smart sensors can be used for irrigation control, access control and energy management.
13. Healthcare and mission critical applications: 5G technology will support medical practitioners to perform advanced medical procedures with reliable wireless network connected to another side of the globe. Doctors can connect with patients from anywhere anytime and advice them when necessary. Scientists are working on smart medical devices which can perform remote surgery. Smart medical devices like wearable will continuously monitor patient’s condition and activate alert during emergency.

What are India’s Plans for 5G technology?

• India is working on technologies that would enable to launch its Indigenous 5G.
• This will help running its IOT platforms on indigenous technology for civilian as well as military applications.
• PM is pushing for Aatamnirbharta (self-reliance), with the success of Digital India being a priority.
• India banned Chinese apps & blocked its hardware supply chains to protect India’s business and security interests.
• Scientists and Industries should work together to bring 5G technology quicker rather than getting entangled in policy processes & bureaucratic rift.
• The implementation of 5G technology can make India a good alternative to China.
• All the private telecom players in India have been urging the DoT to lay out a clear road map of spectrum allocation and 5G frequency bands, so that they would be able to plan the roll out of their services accordingly.

What are the hurdles?

• Enabling critical infrastructures: 5G will require a fundamental change to the core architecture of the communication system. The major flaw of data transfer using 5G is that it can’t carry data over longer distances. Hence, even 5G technology needs to be augmented to enable infrastructure.
• Financial liability on consumers: For transition from 4G to 5G technology, one has to upgrade to the latest cellular technology, thereby creating financial liability on consumers.
• Capital Inadequacy: Lack of flow of cash and adequate capital with the suitable telecom companies (like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea) is delaying the 5G spectrum allocation.

National Digital Communications Policy 2018

• The new National Digital Communications Policy – 2018 has been formulated, in place of the existing National Telecom Policy-2012, to cater to the modern needs of the digital communications sector of India.
• It will enable India to enter the era of modern technological advancements in the Telecom Sector such as 5G, loT, M2M etc.
• It will introduce a ‘customer focused’ and ‘application driven’ policy for the Indian Telecom Sector, which can form the main pillar of Digital India by addressing emerging opportunities for expanding not only the availability of telecom services but also telecom based services.

Objectives

1. Broadband for all;
2. Creating four million additional jobs in the Digital Communications sector;
3. Enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector to 8% of India’s GDP from ~ 6% in 2017;
4. Propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017;
5. Enhancing India’s contribution to Global Value Chains; and
6. Ensuring Digital Sovereignty.

In pursuit of accomplishing these objectives by year 2022, it envisages three Missions:

1. Connect India: Creating Robust Digital Communications Infrastructure To promote Broadband for All as a tool for socio-economic development, while ensuring service quality and environmental sustainability.
2. Propel India: Enabling Next Generation Technologies and Services through Investments, Innovation and IPR generation To harness the power of emerging digital technologies, including 5G, AI, IoT, Cloud and Big Data to enable provision of future ready products and services; and to catalyse the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) by promoting Investments, Innovation and IPR.
3. Secure India: Ensuring Sovereignty, Safety and Security of Digital Communications To secure the interests of citizens and safeguard the digital sovereignty of India with a focus on ensuring individual autonomy and choice, data ownership, privacy and security; while recognizing data as a crucial economic resource.

High-Level 5G India 2020 forum

The government has constituted the High-Level 5G India 2020 Forum with three Secretaries of key Ministries/Departments Telecom, Meity, and DST, and also comprising renowned experts. The primary aims of the forum are:

• early deployment of 5G in India.
• A globally competitive product development and manufacturing ecosystem targeting 50% of India market and 10% of global market over next 5 to 7 years.

The 5G Club ‘D10’

• The Britain is proposing a ‘D10’ club of democratic partners that groups the G7 nations with Australia and the Asian technology leaders South Korea and India.
• It would include G7 countries – UK, US, Italy, Germany, France, Japan and Canada – plus Australia, South Korea and India.
• It is aimed for channeling investments into existing telecommunication companies within the 10 member states.
• The group aim to create alternative suppliers of 5G equipment and other technologies to avoid relying on China.

The China Factor

China is taking its 5G technological advancement into other countries to digitally encircle the world.

What are China’s plans for 5G technology in Nepal & outcomes of it?

• China and Nepal recently agreed to increase the height of Mount Everest by three metres.
• Infrastructure development by China in mountaineering sites will make Nepal’s borders vulnerable & keeps it under China’s control.
• Nepal’s tourism industry might get attracted to Chinese cheap loans leading to a strategic debt trap.
• Chinese 5G technological inroads in Nepal could affect Nepal’s business interests.
• Nepal has to depend on Chinese 5G for Real-time information on weather, routes, map/terrain details, logistics and rescue programmes, etc.

What are the other Chinese Investments across the world?

• Chinese companies have made huge investments across the world to spread a 5G network.
• They aim to encircle the planet digitally through technology.
• Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) will aid this aim & China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is a clear example of how easily a country can be encircled.
• Pakistan is today a virtual vassal state of China.
• During pandemic, many countries who do not have indigenous 5G military capabilities had to depend on China.
• These countries later became hostage to Chinese technology.

Conclusion

• India should not miss the opportunity and should proactively work to deploy 5G technology. We should focus on strengthening our cyber infrastructure.
• Funds should be allocated and local technology and telecom firms should be incentivized to develop their internal capacities which would in turn help 5G technology succeed in the country.
• 5G start-ups that enable this design and manufacturing capabilities should be promoted. This will spur leaps in the coverage, capacity and density of wireless networks.
• It will power a surge in IoT technology and usher in a new era of technological capabilities.
• This 5G Technology would bring low latency communication systems which can be used in agriculture, manufacturing sector and retail verticals too.
• 5G however is still at a nascent stage in India and no commercial development has taken place so far.  Experts say that the move to adopt 5G technology and AI would usher into totally different use cases.

What is 5G technology? Discuss the challenges and advantages of 5G technology for India. (250 words)

Post your answers in comments below.

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India, with a population of over 1.3 billion, has seen tremendous growth in the past two decades. Gross Domestic Product has increased 4.5 times and per capita consumption has increased 3 times. Similarly, food grain production has increased almost 2 times. However, despite phenomenal industrial and economic growth and while India produces sufficient food to feed its population, it is unable to provide access to food to a large number of people, especially women and children.

In recently published the Global Hunger Index (GHI), India has slid down, falling behind its South Asian neighbors to rank 101 out of 116 countries. The government has dismissed the report’s ‘unscientific’ methodology.

Poverty and hunger have been a universal and increasing menace to humankind. Let us learn about these issues in detail.

Hunger

• Hunger is the condition where both adults and children cannot access food constantly and have to decrease food intake, eat poor diets, and often go without any food. (Dillon and Marquand, 2011).
• According to Amartya Sen, the real cause for hunger is the lack of ability to pay for food.

Root causes of hunger

• World hunger has many annoying factors and major causes, such as insufficient economic systems, misinformation, and climate changes.
• But the main unbearable factor is poverty as poverty always has led to people going without regular meals because they cannot afford to eat.
• There are majority of people in developing countries such as Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia that are in desperate need of food. With the growth of population, the number of hungry people also increases at an uneven rate.
• Climate change is also a major issue for world hunger.
  • With the amount of rain that a country gets increases, it can possibly lead to serious flooding. Flooding adversely affects how much food is produced and available to the impoverished and raises the costs.
• Among numerous issues, Hunger and malnutrition are closely associated in Indian scenario.
  • The Global Study revealed that 42% children in India are underweight and 58% of children are stunted by two years of age.
  • Malnutrition occurs when a person’s body receives little or no nutrients. People who are malnourished get sick more often and as a result in many cases die.
  • Malnutrition is consequently the most important risk factor for the problem of disease in developing countries.
  • It is the direct cause of about 300,000 deaths per year and is indirectly responsible for about half of all deaths in young children.
• It can be said that world hunger must be taken seriously and should be approached with all deliberate and instant policies.
• There are different issues of world hunger but the three main ones are poverty, climate changes, and also feeble economies.

Poverty

• In India, 21.9% of the population lives below the national poverty line in 2011.
• In India, the proportion of the employed population below $1.90 purchasing power parity a day in 2011 is 21.2%.
• For every 1,000 babies born in India in 2017, 39 die before their 5th birthday.
• Poverty is a condition characterized by lack of basic needs such as water, health care, foods, sufficient access to social and economic services, and few opportunities for formal income generation.
• Poverty is often described in terms of the income level below which people are unable to access sufficient food for a healthy working life.
• Hunger and food insecurity are the most serious forms of extreme poverty.
• Progress in poverty reduction has been concentrated in Asia and especially East Asia. In other areas, the number of people in extreme poverty has increased especially in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Poverty in India is primarily due to improper government policies and the misuse of the financially weaker section by the wealthier community.
• The main outcome of poverty is hunger. Hunger’s seriousness can be understood easily from the fact that every year, 5.8 million children die from hunger related-causes around the world (FAO Hunger Report 2008).
• Poverty involves more than the lack of income and productive resources to ensure sustainable livelihoods. Its manifestations include hunger and malnutrition, limited access to education and other basic services, social discrimination and elimination as well as the lack of participation in decision-making.

Poverty in India and other developing countries

Reports of the World Bank revealed that India is one of the poorest countries in the world.  Some of the main issues associated with prevalent poverty in India are poor health services, and insufficient education and training. Almost half of India’s population drops out of school by the age of thirteen and only one in ten people receive some form of job training.

• Poor health services: It has been observed that People of India have less access to good health services as compared to industrialized nations. The relationship between poverty and access to health care can be seen as part of a larger cycle, where poverty leads to ill health and ill health maintains poverty.
• Child malnutrition: The occurrence of under-nutrition in India is amongst the highest levels found in any country in the world and in spite of the development in food production, disease control and economic and social development; India is facing an acute problem of child malnutrition.
• Insufficient education and training: In developing countries, children do not have access to basic education because of inequalities that originate in sex, health and cultural identity. It has been revealed in reports that illiteracy and lack of education are common factor that lead to poverty.
  • Governments of developing countries often cannot have enough money to provide for good public schools, especially in rural areas.
  • Poor people also often sacrifice schooling in order to concentrate on making a minimal living.
  • Additionally, developing countries tend to have few employment opportunities, especially for women. As a result, people do not want to attend school.
• Corruption and warfare: Political power is unreasonably centralized. This often causes development problems. In these situations politicians make decisions about places that they are unaware with, lacking sufficient knowledge about the context to design effective and appropriate policies and programs.
  • Another issue related with poverty is corruption often accompanies centralization of power, when leaders are not accountable to those they serve. Corruption hinders development.
  • Warfare also lead to entrenched poverty by diverting scarce resources allocated for reducing poverty to maintaining a military.
• Environmental degradation: It is also a major issue in increasing poverty.
  • In the developing world, the poor communities depend on natural resources to fulfill their basic needs.
  • Therefore, the depletion and impurity of water sources directly impend the livelihoods of those who depend on them.
• Inequality: One of the more deep-rooted sources of poverty around the globe is social inequality that stems from cultural ideas about the relative worth of different genders, races, ethnic groups, and social classes.
• Other causes include:
  1. Population Rise
  2. Low Productivity in Agriculture
  3. Under-Utilized Resources
  4. Low Rate of Economic Development
  5. Price Rise
  6. Unemployment
  7. Shortage of Capital and Able Entrepreneurship
  8. Social Factors

Global Hunger Index (GHI)

The Global Hunger Index is a peer-reviewed annual report, jointly published by Concern Worldwide and Welthungerhilfe.

• It determines hunger on a 100-point scale, where 0 is the best possible score (no hunger) and 100 is the worst.
• It is designed to comprehensively measure and track hunger at the global, regional, and country levels.
• The aim of the GHI is to trigger action to reduce hunger around the world.

For each country in the list, the GHI looks at four indicators:

1. Undernourishment (which reflects inadequate food availability): calculated by the share of the population that is undernourished (that is, whose caloric intake is insufficient)
2. Child Wasting (which reflects acute undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are wasted (that is, those who have low weight for their height)
3. Child Stunting (which reflects chronic undernutrition): calculated by the share of children under the age of five who are stunted (that is, those who have low height for their age)
4. Child Mortality (which reflects both inadequate nutrition and unhealthy environment): calculated by the mortality rate of children under the age of five

India’s (poor) performance

• India is among the 31 countries where hunger has been identified as serious.
• Only 15 countries fare worse than India.
• Some of these include Afghanistan (103), Nigeria (103), Congo (105), Mozambique (106), Sierra Leone (106), Timor-Leste (108), Haiti (109), Liberia (110), Madagascar (111) and Somalia (116).
• India was also behind most of the neighbouring countries.
• Pakistan was placed at 92 rank, Nepal at 76 and Bangladesh also at 76.

Reasons for such poor performance

• Poor maternal health: Mothers are too young, too short, too thin and too undernourished themselves, before they get pregnant, during pregnancy, and then after giving birth, during breast-feeding.
• Poor sanitation: Poor sanitation, leading to diarrhoea, is another major cause of child wasting and stunting.
• Food insecurity: Low dietary diversity in India is also a key factor in child malnutrition.
• Poverty: Almost 50 million households in India are dependent on these small and marginal holdings.
• Livelihood loss: The rural livelihoods loss after COVID and lack of income opportunities other than the farm sector have contributed heavily to the growing joblessness in rural areas.

Issues with GHI

• The GHI is largely children-oriented with a higher emphasis on undernutrition than on hunger and its hidden forms, including micronutrient deficiencies.
• The first component — calorie insufficiency — is problematic for many reasons.
• The lower calorie intake, which does not necessarily mean deficiency, may also stem from reduced physical activity, better social infrastructure (road, transport and healthcare) and access to energy-saving appliances at home, among others.
• For a vast and diverse country like India, using a uniform calorie norm to arrive at deficiency prevalence means failing to recognise the huge regional imbalances in factors that may lead to differentiated calorie requirements at the State level.

Understanding the connection between stunting and wasting and ways to tackle them

• India’s wasting prevalence (17.3%) is one among the highest in the world.
• Its performance in stunting, when compared to wasting, is not that dismal, though.
• Child stunting in India declined from 54.2% in 1998–2002 to 34.7% in 2016-2020, whereas child wasting remains around 17% throughout the two decades of the 21st century.
• Stunting is a chronic, long-term measure of undernutrition, while wasting is an acute, short-term measure.
• Quite possibly, several episodes of wasting without much time to recoup can translate into stunting.
• Effectively countering episodes of wasting resulting from such sporadic adversities is key to making sustained and quick progress in child nutrition.
• Way forward: If India can tackle wasting by effectively monitoring regions that are more vulnerable to socioeconomic and environmental crises, it can possibly improve wasting and stunting simultaneously.

Low child mortality

• India’s relatively better performance in the other component of GHI — child mortality — merits a mention.
• Studies suggest that child under nutrition and mortality are usually closely related, as child under nutrition plays an important facilitating role in child mortality.
• However, India appears to be an exception in this regard.
• This implies that though India was not able to ensure better nutritional security for all children under five years, it was able to save many lives due to the availability of and access to better health facilities.

Initiatives by Government to Curb Poverty in India

Ending poverty in all its forms is the first of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The government of India took several initiatives to eradicate poverty from the country.

1. Saansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) – Ministry of Rural development initiated the scheme in 2014. The scheme aims to develop five ‘Adarsh Villages’ or ‘Model Villages’ by 2024.
2. National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) – Ministry of Rural Development started NRLM 2011 to evolve out the need to diversify the needs of the rural poor and provide them jobs with regular income on a monthly basis.
3. Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) – In 2005 Ministry of Rural Development initiated MGNEREGA to provide 100 days of assured employment every year to every rural household. One-third of the proposed jobs would be reserved for women.
4. National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) – In 2013, NULM was commenced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs focusing on organizing urban poor in Self Help Groups, creating opportunities for skill development leading to market-based employment, and helping them to set up self-employment ventures by ensuring easy access to credit.
5. Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) – the Ministry of Finance in 2014 initiated PMJDY that aimed at direct benefit transfer of subsidy, pension, insurance, etc., and attained the target of opening 1.5 crore bank accounts. The scheme particularly targets the unbanked poor.

Hunger and Poverty are the biggest challenges for good governance in India still today. Evaluate how far successive governments have progressed in dealing with these humongous problems. Suggest measures for improvement. (250 words)

Post your answers in comments below.

Initiatives by Government to fight against Hunger in India

The Government of India took several initiatives to fight against hunger across the nation.

1. National Nutrition Mission (NNM), Poshan Abhiyan – NNM was started in 2018 by the Ministry of Women and Child Development to reduce the level of under-nutrition and also enhance the nutritional status of children in the country.
2. National Food Security Mission – Ministry of Agriculture initiated NFSM in 2007 to increase the production of rice, wheat, pulses, and coarse cereals through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner.
3. Zero Hunger Programme – launched on October 16, 2017 with the aim to make farm inventions, organizing the farming system for nutrition, setting up genetic gardens for biofortified plants and initiating zero hunger training.

4. Eat Right India Movement: An outreach activity organized by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) for citizens to nudge them towards eating right.
5. Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana: A centrally sponsored scheme executed by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, is a maternity benefit programme being implemented in all districts of the country with effect from 1st January, 2017.
6. Food Fortification: Food Fortification is the addition of key vitamins and minerals such as iron, iodine, zinc, Vitamin A & D to staple foods such as rice, milk and salt to improve their nutritional content.
7. National Food Security Act, 2013: It legally entitled up to 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population to receive subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System.
8. Mission Indradhanush: It targets children under 2 years of age and pregnant women for immunization against 12 Vaccine-Preventable Diseases (VPD).

Global Initiative against Poverty and Hunger

Food is at the core of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Goal 2 of SDG deals with Zero Hunger. Given below are some global level initiatives to fight poverty and hunger-

1. The End to Poverty Initiative – This Centenary Initiative is designed specifically as the vehicle to take forward the ILO’s work in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to alleviate poverty.
2. Zero Hunger By World Food Programme – with humanitarian food assistance, provide nutritious food to those in urgent need. Meanwhile, the complementary programs address the root causes of hunger and build the resilience of communities.
3. Fight Hunger First – With a vision to have a world without hunger and poverty, Welthungerhilfe- WHH has been implementing several initiatives in rural areas of India and Bangladesh. It was set up by a UN agency FAO.
4. Zero Hunger Challenge (Save Food) by FAO – The 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, also known as Rio+20, launched the Zero Hunger Challenge which includes addressing the sustainability of all food systems and the vision of zero food loss and waste (FLW).

Conclusion

Food insecurity remains an alarming issue due to such entitlement failures in India. While the government has rejected the findings of the Global Hunger Index as “unscientific”, we cannot ignore the dismal ground realities. India faces a malnutrition challenge that is not only large but worsening. It is time for the government to face up to these inconvenient truths and pursue the means and mechanisms needed to improve the situation. A safe and bright future for our children will translate into a safe and bright future for the country. And that’s the message we want every fellow citizen to internalize — Sahi Poshan, Desh Roshan.

There is a growing divergence in the relationship between poverty and hunger in India. The shrinking of social expenditure by the government is forcing the poor to spend more on non-food essential items squeezing their food budget. Elucidate. (250 words)

Post your answers in comments below.

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India has achieved its long-pending goal of 100% electrification of its villages. But there is still a long way to go in providing electricity to all households in the country. According to Central Electricity Authority (CEA), a village is considered electrified only if the Gram Panchayat certifies that the basic infrastructure has been provided to the inhabited area, including Dalit hamlets, and 10% of the households are electrified.

Rural Electrification in India

• Rural electrification is considered to be the backbone of the rural economy.
• The electricity generation capacity in India is the fifth largest in the world.
• India is the sixth largest consumer of electricity and accounts for 3.4 percent of the global energy consumption.
• The year 2022, has been earmarked for achieving the target of ‘24×7 Power for All’.

Rural electrification has five major facets:

1. Setting up of Rural Electricity Infrastructure
2. Providing connectivity to households
3. Adequate supply of desired quality of power
4. Supply of electricity at affordable rates
5. Providing clean, environmentally benign and sustainable power in efficient way

When a village is called an Electrified Village?

Prior to October 1997

A Village should be classified as electrified if electricity is being used within its revenue area for any purpose whatsoever.

After October 1997

A village will be deemed to be electrified if the electricity is used in the inhabited locality, within the revenue boundary of the village for any purpose whatsoever.

As per the new definition, a village would be declared as electrified, if:

• Basic infrastructure such as Distribution Transformer and Distribution lines are provided in the inhabited locality as well as the Dalit Basti hamlet where it exists.
• Electricity is provided to public places like Schools, Panchayat Office, Health Centers, Dispensaries, Community centers etc.
• The number of households electrified should be at least 10% of the total number of households in the village.

What is Rural Electrification provides for?

1. Increase in agriculture yield.
2. Business of Small and household enterprises shall grow resulting into new avenues for employment.
3. Improvement in Health, Education, Banking (ATM) services.
4. Improvement in accessibility to radio, telephone, television, internet and mobile.
5. Betterment in social security due to availability of electricity.
6. Accessibility of electricity to schools, panchayats, hospitals and police stations.
7. Rural areas shall get increased opportunities for comprehensive development.

Energy source and Percentage Share in installed capacity

National Electricity Policy 2005

• In compliance with section 3 of the Electricity Act 2003 the Central Government notified the National Electricity Policy.
• The National Electricity Policy aims at laying guidelines for accelerated development of the power sector, providing supply of electricity to all areas and protecting interests of consumers and other stakeholders keeping in view availability of energy resources, technology available to exploit these resources, economics of generation using different resources, and energy security issues.
• The National Electricity Policy was evolved in consultation with and considering views of the State Governments, Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and other stakeholders.

The aims and objectives of the policy

1. Access to Electricity – Available for all households in next five years
2. Availability of Power – Demand to be fully met by 2012. Energy and peaking shortages to be overcome and adequate spinning reserve to be available.
3. Supply of Reliable and Quality Power of specified standards in an efficient manner and at reasonable rates. Per capita availability of electricity to be increased to over 1000 units by 2012.
4. Minimum lifeline consumption of 1 unit/household/day as a merit good by year 2012.
5. Financial Turnaround and Commercial Viability of Electricity Sector.
6. Protection of consumers’ interests.

National Rural Electrification Policy, 2006

1. Goals include provision of access to electricity to all households by the year 2009, quality and reliable power supply at reasonable rates, and minimum lifeline consumption of 1 unit/household/day as a merit good by year 2012.
2. For villages/habitations where grid connectivity would not be feasible or not cost effective, off-grid solutions based on stand-alone systems may be taken up for supply of electricity. Where these also are not feasible and if only alternative is to use isolated lighting technologies like solar photovoltaic, these may be adopted. However, such remote villages may not be designated as electrified.
3. State government should, within 6 months, prepare and notify a rural electrification plan which should map and detail the electrification delivery mechanism. The plan may be linked to and integrated with district development plans. The plan should also be intimated to the appropriate commission.
4. Gram panchayat shall issue the first certificate at the time of the village becoming eligible for declaration as electrified. Subsequently, the Gram Panchayat shall certify and confirm the electrified status of the village as on 31st March each year.
5. The state government should set up a committee at the district level within 3 months, under the chairmanship of chairperson of the Zilla Panchayat and with representations from district level agencies, consumer associations, and important stakeholders with adequate representation of women.
6. The district committee would coordinate and review the extension of electrification in the district and consumer satisfaction, etc.
7. Panchayat Raj institutions would have a supervisory / advisory role.
8. Institutional arrangements for backup services and technical support to systems based on non-conventional sources of energy will have to be created by the state government.

National policy for renewable energy-based micro and mini-grids

• Introduced by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
• It targets setting up of at least 10,000 projects with a minimum capacity of 500MW by 2021
• The draft policy proposes to extend energy services beyond lighting

Draft National Electricity Policy 2021

• NEP 2021 covers multiple areas– grid operation, power markets, regulatory process, energy efficiency, optimal generation mix, transmission, distribution and many more.
• The draft talks about the creation of Electric Vehicle charging stations, Smart meters, power markets, environment and more.
• Ministry of Power has created a committee of experts to submit suggestions to the draft NEP 2021 within two months of the release of the draft.
• The members of the committee include members from state governments, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), NITI Aayog, and the Central Electricity Authority.

Areas of improvement:

• It lacks a fair and coherent approach to energy transition from coal to renewable.
• It mentions the addition of coal capacity, despite the clear writing on the wall that thermal power is becoming unviable.
• New coal capacity should be considered only if shown essential based on rigorous modelling studies.
• Since many coal plants are going to retire, NEP should give policy directions to generating companies to take responsibility post-retirement for waste management as well as restoration of the land, water bodies and air quality in their project areas.
• Prevention of electricity accidents requires focus, the current NEP has provisions for efforts to build consumer awareness, but this is sadly missing in the new draft. 

What is the actual scenario of rural electrification?

• Recently Union government announced it has achieved 100% rural electrification.
• The definition of electrification was limited to the provision of basic infrastructure such as transformers, of electricity in public places like schools and panchayats, and electrification of at least 10% households in the village.
• India continues to harbour energy poverty with 31 million rural households and about five million urban households still unconnected to the electricity grid.
  • A significant portion of connected rural households are yet to get adequate quantity and quality of supply.

What are the plans of the government on electrification?

• Union government under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS) planning to provide universal electrification.
• By which it has an ambitious target of connecting all remaining households by the end of March 2019 and made budgetary allocations to cover the cost of electrification.
• As part of a Centre-State joint initiative on 24×7 ‘Power for All’, State governments have already committed to ensuring round-the-clock supply to all households from April 2019.

What are the challenges for India’s electrification target?

• Regional imbalances in electricity access is persisting in seven States namely Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Assam, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, which account for 90% of un-electrified households.
• Coincidentally, these States are ranked poorly in social development indices and house about two-thirds of the population living below the poverty line.
• There are a range of implementation shortcomings in universal electrification by state governments due to sluggish finance structure of the union government.
• Most of the Indian power distribution companies (discoms) in these states are bankrupt and are unable to purchase power and provide it to consumers.
• As a result, discoms don’t have the capacity to sign power purchase agreements (PPAs).
• Add to this the issue of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, heightened by the rampant problem of power theft.
• Given the context, it is uncertain whether the goal of electrifying all ‘willing households’ by March 2019 would translate into universal access to electricity.

Related Schemes

(1) Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY)

Aim

• To ensure electrification of all the un-electrified villages by 2017 in mission mode
• The Scheme draws its inspiration from the similar pioneering scheme implemented by the Government of Gujarat
• It will enable to initiate much awaited reforms in the rural areas

Objectives

• To provide electrification to all villages
• Feeder separation to ensure sufficient power to farmers and regular supply to other consumers
• Improvement of Sub-transmission and distribution network to improve the quality and reliability of the supply
• Metering to reduce the losses

 (2) Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana –“Saubhagya”

• The Saubhagya is a scheme to ensure electrification of all willing households in the country in rural as well as urban areas.
• It was launched in September 2017.
• The Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC) is the nodal agency for the operationalization of the scheme throughout the country.

Objective

• To provide energy access to all by last mile connectivity and electricity connections to all remaining un-electrified households in rural as well as urban areas
• To achieve universal household electrification in the country

Beneficiaries of the project

• The beneficiaries for free electricity connections would be identified using Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data.
• However, un-electrified households not covered under the SECC data would also be provided electricity connections under the scheme on payment of Rs. 500 which shall be recovered by DISCOMs in 10 installments through electricity bill.
• The solar power packs of 200 to 300 Wp with battery bank for un-electrified households located in remote and inaccessible areas, comprises Five LED lights, One DC fan, One DC power plug.
• It also includes Repair and Maintenance (R&M) for 5 years.

Expected outcomes of the scheme

What are the issues involved?

1. Definition: Only 1 in 10 households need to have electricity supply for the village to be officially electrified. According to 2011 census, only 55.3% of all rural households had access to electricity
2. Quality: Around 67% of electrified villages suffer from erratic and unreliable power supply. Low voltage was widely reported.
3. The distribution transformers catering to villages had the capacity to support the load of only 10% of the households and thus the instances of overloading and transformer breakdowns are significant.
4. Only 7%–10% rural locations receive supply during the full evening hours (5 pm to 11 pm).
5. In Bihar, Jharkhand and UP, more than one-third of electrified households received less than four hours of supply during the day and voltage fluctuations are also common.
6. Metering: More than 28% electrified villages reported overcharging and ad-hoc billing. One-time connection charges also differed from village to village.
   • There are also instances of billing delays, particularly in issuing the first bill after connection. This increases the likelihood of payment defaults leading to disconnection of supply.
7. Accountability: 52% villages face issues with contractors, repair persons and power distribution companies. Either no one turns up to address complaints or repairs are done after paying bribes or residents get repairs done at their own cost.
8. Inaccessibility: Geographical terrain is posing a problem to grid expansion in at least 13% of all villages.
9. NPA: Banks do not lend to mini-grid developers due to poor recovery of loans
10. Kerosene dependence: Despite having electricity connection.
11. Affordability: Among the most energy deprived states, while most villages and more than two-thirds of the households had electricity connections, less than 40 per cent had meaningful access to electricity.
12. Financial Issues: High upfront cost is the major reason behind consumer disinterest in taking up and sustaining  an electricity connection.
13. Implementation and operational roadblocks: Network investments for rural electrification have been slower than planned. Lack of timely network investments jeopardizes the provision of reliable, affordable power supply.
14. Operational issues: In the first phase of RGGVY, rural franchisees were expected to manage distribution operations in newly electrified areas. However, most of them are not operational and DDUGJY does not envisage such franchisees.

Way forward

• Metering and data management using ICT: Use information technology to monitor metering at feeder and distribution transformer levels to allow proper auditing of power supply.
  • Parameters such as DT failure rate, hours of supply (especially during evening hours), metering and billing information, information on consumer disconnections, new connections for entrepreneurial use, electrification of rural institutions., could be tracked and reported on the national dashboards on a monthly basis for every district or division.
  • With usage technology to monitor hours of supply, the duration of supply and interruptions can be recorded without manual intervention and tracked at a disaggregated level. This information can be used by SERCs and consumers to make DISCOMs more accountable for power supply.
• Expansion:
  • The first step towards the target would be to provide new connections to un-electrified households and legalising existing illegal connections.
  • Improving uptake of connections by addressing financial hurdles and awareness barriers is to be taken up.
  • Financial constraint: While BPL households already receive a free connection under the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), APL families could be given a low-cost EMI based connection.
• Awareness: Empowering and encouraging local authorities to organise awareness campaigns and enrolment camps in habitations exhibiting limited awareness are also essential.
• Best practice: Bihar has currently evolved a good model both awareness campaigns subsidy for APL families.
• Supply situation: Improving the supply situation for already electrified households is to be done.
• DISCOM reforms: DISCOMs need to better plan for their infrastructure, factoring in near-term increase in demand, strengthening maintenance, and improving supply.
• Innovative Business: As managing rural customers, particularly in remote areas, is a challenge innovative business models need to be explored.
• Accountability: There is a need to hold DISCOMs accountable for monitoring of supply quality and operation and maintenance efforts in rural areas in order to ensure uninterrupted supply.
• Tariff changes:
  • In many states, small industrial and commercial consumers pay tariff rates comparable to large industrial units and commercial complexes. There needs to be innovation in tariff design to encourage home-based or small enterprises in newly electrified villages
  • Currently, supply of one unit of power costs the DISCOMs about Rs. 7 and this cost will most likely increase at a rate of more than 4% per unit in the coming years. As such costs will be unaffordable for many consumers, and with the contribution of cross-subsidies reducing, substantial subsidy support will be necessary.
• Research:
  • Even after the targets of connections are met, there is a need for a national institution, with rural electrification as its key focus.
  • Its mandate need not be to operate the rural distribution businesses but to provide knowledge and financial support to DISCOMs for maintaining and strengthening the rural network and ensuring supply.
  • Success mainly depends on curbing DISCOM losses and ensuring consumer honesty. It is hoped that electrification would lead to improved consumer satisfaction, as electricity truly becomes an enabler of prosperity in rural India.
  • Concerted efforts to monitor supply hours for rural, remote and newly electrified households are needed.

Discuss how the rural electrification has the potential to become a driver of rural economic growth. (250 words)

Post your answers in comments below.

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With rising power demands in the domestic sector, Indian utilities are facing a severe shortage of coal, which is the primary fuel powering 70 percent of India’s energy consumption. More than half of the country’s 135 coal-fired power plants are running on fumes – as coal stocks run critically low. India’s thermal power plants currently have an average of four days worth of coal stock against a recommended level of 15-30 days, with a number of states highlighting concerns about blackouts as a result of the coal shortage.

Coal has become a priceless commodity of late in a white-hot market with an over 100 percent jump in prices, which is driven mainly by China and India – the two largest consumers of thermal coal globally.

What is the extent of the current coal crisis?

A number of states including Delhi, Punjab, and Rajasthan have raised concerns about potential blackouts as a result of low coal inventory at thermal power plants and have already reported load shedding. India is the world’s second-largest importer of coal despite also being home to the fourth-largest coal reserves in the world.

Increase in power demand

• The shortage in coal is a result of a sharp uptick in power demand as the economy recovered from the effects of the pandemic.

Global factors

• A sharp increase in the international prices of coal due to a shortage in China have also contributed to the coal shortage.
• Unseasonal rains in Indonesia, Covid-induced production cuts in Australia have ensured a once-in-a-lifetime bull run in coal prices.
• A balance is possible if and when the global supply chain – both in terms of prices as well as availability – improves.
• China consumes nearly half of the coal produced globally and Indonesia and Australia happen to be two of the largest exporters.
• India sources 43 per cent of its imported coal from Indonesia and 26 per cent from Australia.

Low accumulation of stocks by Thermal power plants

• Low accumulation of stock by thermal power plants has contributed to the coal shortage in India.
• Heavy rains in coal bearing areas had also led to a slowdown in the supply of coal to thermal plants.
• Coal and lignite fired thermal power plants account for about 54 per cent of India’s installed power generation capacity but currently account for about 70 per cent of power generated in the country.

Increase in the price of the other fuels

• Incidentally, the demand for coal has also gone up because other sources of generating power – natural gas, for instance – have become even costlier.
• The price of natural gas, too, has increased nearly 100 per cent in 2021 alone.
• This has hampered the plan to grow the share of renewable energy as well.

Legacy issues

• Legacy issues of heavy dues of coal companies from certain states viz., Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, UP, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh also contributed to this coal shortage.
• Power plants that usually rely on imports are now heavily dependent on Indian coal, adding further pressure to already stretched domestic supplies.

Why is the demand for natural gas surging?

• Nations across the world are committed to reducing carbon emissions. China has committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2060.
• To reduce its emissions, China needs to give up coal, reduce consumption of other dirty fossil fuels and adopt cleaner energy such as natural gas and renewables.
• The country is also taking harsh measures to reduce pollution in Beijing before the February 2022 Winter Olympics and thus display its commitment to decarburization.
• The targets China has set for itself is seen to have escalated the current energy crisis in the nation where two-thirds of the electricity was generated from burning coal.
• European Union has targeted to become carbon neutral by 2050 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 2005 levels.

Why are prices between domestic and global coal widening?

• Domestic coal prices in India are largely decided by Coal India. An increase in coal prices generally has a knock on effect on power prices and inflation..
• Coal India has kept prices steady over the last year despite global coal prices rising steeply in the same period.
• Meanwhile, Asia’s coal price benchmarks have hit record highs in the recent times, buoyed by global demand for power generation fuels as economies open up.
• A major power crisis in China is the latest event driving global demand for the fuel.

Why are utilities unable to pass on higher costs?

• India’s power tariffs, set by the respective states, are among the lowest in the world as state-run distribution companies have absorbed higher input costs to keep tariffs steady.
• This has left many of these companies deeply indebted, with cumulative liabilities running into billions of dollars.
• This triggered delayed payments to power producers, often affecting cash flows and disincentivising further investment in the electricity generation sector.
• Indian power producers locked in long-term agreements with distribution utilities often cannot pass on higher input costs unless clauses are included in their contracts.

What does the deepening energy crisis mean for India?

• The sharp rise in global coal prices came as a boon for domestic suppliers such as Coal India.
• As the supply crunch in the key overseas markets grew and prices soared, the demand for coal from domestic sources climbed. Coal India and other producers increased output, yet supply remains quite tight.
• Over 70% of India’s power is generated from burning coal while the share of natural gas is just about 5%. Thus, rising natural gas prices had a limited impact on the cost of power generation in India.
• India, however, suffered a scare when the inventory of coal with power plants reached critically low levels, as demand surged about 11%. The situation was resolved by diverting coal away from non-power uses.
• The power demand is set to climb higher when more restrictions are eased, including those on cinema halls and multiplexes.
• While efforts are on to provide an uninterrupted supply of coal to power plants, non-power users are likely to suffer.
• Indian households were more affected by the rise in prices of petroleum products as consumption of cooking gas, petrol and diesel grew.

What does it mean for global recovery?

• Higher fuel prices are only one part of the problem. Temporary closures of factories in China will slow the repair of global value chains that broke down last year when countries locked down their economies.
• These shutdowns will lead to another round of disruption in the supply of parts to makers of various goods across the globe.
• The temporary shutdowns also mean missed deadlines for delivery of merchandise ahead of the November-January holiday season sales in many parts of the world.
• When power rationing was ordered, factories in China were racing to meet the global and domestic demand for everything from apparel to mobile phones and other gadgets.
• Higher fuel prices and shortages will add to inflationary pressures in the global economy and hurt the recovery of demand in lower-income economies.

What are the recent Reforms in Coal Sector?

• Commercial mining of coal allowed, with 50 blocks to be offered to the private sector.
• Entry norms will be liberalized as it has done away with the regulation requiring power plants to use “washed” coal.
• Coal blocks to be offered to private companies on revenue sharing basis in place of fixed cost.
• Coal gasification/liquefaction to be incentivized through rebate in revenue share.
• Coal bed methane (CBM) extraction rights to be auctioned from Coal India’s coal mines.

Challenges posed

• The desire to cut its reliance on heavily polluting coal burning power plants has been a major challenge for the government in recent years.
• The question of how India can achieve a balance between meeting demand for electricity from its almost 1.4bn people has to be answered.

Way Forward

Ramp-up domestic coal production

• The efforts are being taken to fill the shortage of coal from domestic mines and to do so the government is working closely with coal producing companies to ramp up domestic production of coal.

Reduce demand-supply mismatches

• Load shading is not new to India. Rationing of power supply in rural and semi-urban areas will be the immediate solution for the power distress in industrial areas.

Rationalize the coal imports

• India will need to amplify its imports despite the financial cost. The gap in the coal demand after domestic production has to be filled by the imports from Indonesia and Australia.

Focus on Hydro-power generation and natural gal

• India has the immense potential in the Hydro-power generation and is among the most important sector for generating electricity after thermal power plants.
• The sector performs at its peak around the rainy season which typically extends from June to October.
• There could be a larger role for natural gas to play, even with global prices currently surging.

Increasing the share of Renewable energy

• Experts advocate a mix of coal and clean sources of energy as a possible long-term solution.
• It’s not completely possible to transition and it’s never a good strategy to transition 100% to renewables without a backup.
• Long term investment in multiple power sources aside a crisis like the current one can be averted with better planning.

Increased coordination

• There is need for closer coordination between Coal India Limited – the largest supplier of coal in the country and other stakeholders.
• For now, the government is working with state-run enterprises to ramp up production and mining to reduce the gap between supply and demand.

Decentralized power generation

• The main issue is that we are dependent on large, centralized power generation.
• The only way our power sector can absorb shocks better is if large power plants are augmented by decentralized generation sources at village level.
• This can be a template for better resilience to future power crises.

Coal stocking norms

• To avoid such a crisis situation in future, the Ministry of Power has worked out a strategy which includes tweaking the coal stocking norms. If the power plants do not follow them, then there will be a penal provision.
• To overcome the storage issue in the generation of electricity from renewable sources, the government is working on a provision for creating more storage facilities in the grid.

Conclusion

India can learn a lesson from Europe’s power crisis. While Europe has gas power plants to stand in, India doesn’t have similar options. As we move more towards greening our power sources, we need to provision for paying for standby thermal generation to avoid a mega-crisis. Adequate liquidity for backup reserve capacity needs to be planned and provisioned for.

Probably, the present situation is a good opportunity to rethink and fine-tune the energy policy without further delay. Bits and pieces reforms will not work anymore, as the chain has to been broken and a complete overhaul is required.

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Global elites continue to exploit the cracks in tax laws and the lax jurisdiction in tax havens to ring-fence their assets, through complex offshore structures, from scrutiny by authorities. The leak of financial documents, called the Pandora Papers, follows similar such exposés in the past, for instance, the Panama Papers and the Paradise Papers. While the earlier revelations had forced governments to tighten the regulatory architecture, owing to worries over these channels being used to launder money and evade taxes, the uncovering of this trove of 12 million documents now only underlines the challenges that the authorities continue to face.

There are at least 300 persons of Indian nationality in the Pandora Papers. The papers consist of as many as 12 million documents from 14 companies in offshore tax havens with details of ownership of 29,000 offshore companies and Trusts.

Let us look at the issue in detail.

What is Pandora papers leak?

• The Pandora Papers show that over 300 Indians have set up such offshore structures. It is the largest trove of leaked data exposing tax haven secrecy in history.
• It includes over 11.9 million leaked files from 14 global corporate services firms which set up about 29,000 off-the-shelf companies and private trusts in not just obscure tax jurisdictions.
• Such structures are typically used to not pay taxes, to launder money gotten through illegal means, and to sequester assets.
• They provide a rare window into the hidden world of offshore finance, casting light on the financial secrets of some of the world’s richest people.
• Businessmen, who have declared themselves bankrupt before recovery tribunals, hold billions through such offshore entities. Some have set up offshore trusts to hold assets.
• The use of such structures may not necessarily be illegal; they do raise questions over the nature of the transactions.
• These documents relate to the ultimate ownership of assets ‘settled’ (or placed) in private offshore trusts and the investments including cash, shareholding, and real estate properties, held by the offshore entities.

What do these papers reveal?

• They reveal how the rich, the famous and the notorious, many of whom were already on the radar of investigative agencies, set up complex multi-layered trust structures for estate planning.
• This is particularly in jurisdictions that are loosely regulated for tax purposes, but characterized by air-tight secrecy laws.
• The purposes for which trusts are set up are many, and some genuine too.

But a scrutiny of the papers also shows how the objective of many is two-fold:

1. Tax Avoidance: to hide their real identities and distance themselves from the offshore entities so that it becomes near impossible for the tax authorities to reach them and,
2. Tax Evasion: to safeguard investments — cash, shareholdings, real estate, art, aircraft, and yachts — from creditors and law enforcers.

How is Pandora different from the Panama Papers and Paradise Papers?

• The Panama and Paradise Papers dealt largely with offshore entities set up by individuals and corporates respectively.
• The Pandora Papers investigation shows how businesses disguised as Trusts have created a new normal with rising concerns of money laundering, terrorism funding, and tax evasion.

What is a Trust?

• A trust can be described as a fiduciary arrangement where a third party, referred to as the trustee, holds assets on behalf of individuals or organizations that are to benefit from it.
• It is generally used for estate planning purposes and succession planning.
• It helps large business families to consolidate their assets — financial investments, shareholding, and real estate property.
• A trust comprises three key parties:
  1. Settlor — one who sets up, creates, or authors a trust;
  2. Trustee — one who holds the assets for the benefit of a set of people named by the ‘settlor’; and
  3. Beneficiaries — to whom the benefits of the assets are bequeathed.
• A trust is not a separate legal entity, but its legal nature comes from the ‘trustee’.
• At times, the ‘settlor’ appoints a ‘protector’, who has the powers to supervise the trustee, and even remove the trustee and appoint a new one.

Is setting up a trust in India or one offshore/outside the country illegal?

• The Indian Trusts Act, 1882 gives legal basis to the concept of trusts.
• While Indian laws do not see trusts as a legal person/ entity, they do recognize the trust as an obligation of the trustee to manage and use the assets settled in the trust for the benefit of ‘beneficiaries’.
• India also recognizes offshore trusts i.e., trusts set up in other tax jurisdictions.

If it’s legal, what’s the investigation about?

• There are legitimate reasons for setting up trusts — and many set them up for genuine estate planning.
• A businessperson can set conditions for ‘beneficiaries’ to draw income being distributed by the trustee or inherit assets after her/his demise.
• For instance, while allotting shares in the company to say, four siblings, the father promoter set conditions that a sibling can get the dividend from the shares and claim ownership of the shares.
• This could be to ensure ownership of the enterprise within the family.
• But trusts are also used by some as secret vehicles to park ill-gotten money, hide incomes to evade taxes, protect wealth from law enforcers.

Why are the trusts set up overseas?

Overseas trusts offer remarkable secrecy because of stringent privacy laws in the jurisdiction they operate.  From the investigation, some key tacit reasons why people set up trusts are:

(1) Maintain a degree of separation

• Businesspersons set up private offshore trusts to project a degree of separation from their personal assets.

(2) Hunt for enhanced secrecy

• Offshore trusts offer enhanced secrecy to businesspersons, given their complex structures. The Income-Tax Department can get information only with the financial investigation agency or international tax authority.

(3) Avoid tax in the guise of planning:

• Businesspersons avoid their NRI children being taxed on income from their assets by transferring all the assets to a trust.
• Further, the tax rates in overseas jurisdictions are much lower than the 30% personal I-T rate in India plus surcharges, including those on the super-rich (those with annual income over Rs 1 crore).

(4) Prepare for estate duty eventuality

• There is pervasive fear that estate duty, which was abolished back in 1985 when Rajiv Gandhi was PM, will likely be re-introduced soon.
• Setting up trusts in advance, business families have been advised, will protect the next generation from paying the death/ inheritance tax, which was as high as 85 per cent.

(5) Flexibility in a capital-controlled economy

• India is a capital-controlled economy. Individuals can invest only $250,000 a year under the Reserve Bank of India’s Liberalized Remittance Scheme (LRS).
• To get over this, businesspersons have turned NRIs, and under FEMA, NRIs can remit $1 million a year in addition to their current annual income, outside India.

(6) The NRI angle

• Offshore trusts, as noted earlier, are recognised under Indian laws, but legally, it is the trustees — not the ‘settlor’ or the ‘beneficiaries’ — who are the owners of the properties and income of the trust.
• An NRI trustee or offshore trustee taking instructions from another overseas ‘protector’ ensures they are taxed in India only on their total income from India.

Can offshore Trusts be seen as resident Indians for tax purposes?

• There are certain grey areas of taxation where the Income-Tax Department is in contestation with offshore trusts.
• After the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, came into existence, resident Indians — if they are ‘settlors’, ‘trustees’, or ‘beneficiaries’ — have to report their foreign financial interests and assets.
• NRIs are not required to do so — even though, as mentioned above, the I-T Department has been sending notices to NRIs in certain cases.

What are the grey areas of Indian taxation

• There are certain grey areas of taxation where the Income-Tax Department is in contest with offshore trusts.
• After the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015, came into existence, resident Indians have to report their foreign financial interests and assets.
• NRIs are not required to do so.
• The I-T Department may consider an offshore trust to be a resident of India for taxation purposes if the trustee is an Indian resident.
• In cases where the trustee is an offshore entity or an NRI, if the tax department establishes the trustee is taking instructions from a resident Indian, then the trust may be considered a resident of India for taxation purposes.

What are the government initiatives on Indian Taxation?

(1) Legislative Action

• The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018

It seeks to confiscate properties of economic offenders who have left the country to avoid facing criminal prosecution or refuse to return to the country to face prosecution.

• The Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017

Uniform SGST and IGST rates will reduce the incentive for evasion by eliminating rate arbitrage between neighboring States and that between intra and inter-state sales.

• The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016
  • It is designed to curb black money and passed by parliament in came into effect.
  • Persons indulging in benami transactions may face up to 7 years’ imprisonment and fine.
  • Furnishing false information is punishable by imprisonment up to 5 years and fine.
  • Properties held benami are liable for confiscation by government without compensation.
  • Initiating Officer may pass an order to continue holding property and may then refer case to Adjudicating Authority which will then examine evidence and pass an order.
  • Appellate Tribunal will hear appeals against orders of Adjudicating Authority. High Court can hear appeals against orders of Appellate Tribunal.
• The Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015
  • It penalizes the concealment of foreign income and provides for criminal liability for attempting to evade tax in relation to foreign income.
  • The Act gave a one-time opportunity to Indian residents to declare undisclosed foreign income and assets.
  • The concerned person had to pay tax at the rate of 30% and an equal amount by way of penalty if found having undisclosed overseas wealth.
  • However, in case of non-declaration, the provisions included slapping of tax at the rate of 30% along with a penalty equal to three times the amount of tax evaded or 90% of the undisclosed income or the value of the asset.
  • The Act provides for punishment of jail for 3-10 years for the willful evasion.
• Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002
  • The PMLA was enacted in 2002 and it came into force in 2005. The chief objective of this legislation is to fight money laundering, that is, the process of converting black money into white.
  • The Act enables government authorities to confiscate property and/or assets earned from illegal sources and through money laundering.
  • Under the PMLA, the burden of proof lies with the accused.

(2) International cooperation

• Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs): India is proactively engaging with foreign governments with a view to facilitate and enhance the exchange of information under Double Taxation Avoidance Agreements (DTAAs)/Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs)/Multilateral Conventions.
• Automatic Exchange of Information: India has been a leading force in the efforts to forge a multilateral regime for proactive sharing of financial information known as Automatic Exchange of Information which will greatly assist the global efforts to combat tax evasion.
• Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act of USA: India has entered into an information sharing agreement with the USA under the act.

Way Forward

• In the current running economy, the measures taken by the governments are not sufficient enough to solve the problems of over growing scams and other economic crimes.
• There is need of strict provisions to deal with such problems.
• The governments are required to bring out certain reforms to overcome these issues such as to govern the crimes of economics the government should revamp the laws since the existing laws are not so harsh.
• Also the enforcement agencies should try to keep bars on the benefits arising out of such crimes by the offenders or scam.
• Side by side, all the private or public agencies such as income tax department, custom offices, police departments, SEBI, etc. should work in a coordination to quickly get rid of these economics crimes.

Conclusion

• It is clearly evident from the aforementioned cases that the occurrence and re – occurrence of such scams can only be attributed to the weak financial regulations and a failure of corporate governance in finance.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission via video conferencing. Currently, the program is being implemented on a pilot basis in six Union Territories. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has the potential to bring revolutionary changes to our health facilities. It marks a new phase in 7-year efforts to strengthen health facilities.

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will create a seamless online platform that will enable interoperability within the digital health ecosystem and will now connect the digital health solutions of hospitals across the country with each other. Under the New Mission, every citizen will now get a digital health ID and their health record will be digitally protected.

Background

Before knowing about the latest initiative, let us look at India’s flagship ‘Ayushman Bharat Scheme’.

What is Ayushman Bharat Scheme?

• The Government announced two major initiatives in health sector, as part of Ayushman Bharat programme.
• Health and Wellness Centre
• National Health Protection Scheme
• Aimed at making path breaking interventions to address healthcare problems holistically, in primary, secondary and tertiary care systems.
• Covers both prevention and promotion of health.

Need for Ayushman Bharat

1. India is in a state of health transition.
2. Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, H1N1 pandemic influenza and antimicrobial resistance are a threat.
3. Also the country is facing the emerging problem of chronic non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer which are now the leading cause of mortality.
4. New factors are emerging that threatens the country’s health security like ageing population, climate change, globalization, urbanization and changing lifestyles.
5. We lag behind in addressing healthcare delivery across the length and breadth of the country.
6. We have one of the highest levels of out-of-pocket spending on health.
7. Average cost of treatment in private hospitals is 4 times higher than that of public. This pushes many people below poverty line.
8. Funding for healthcare has been a major concern.
9. Several states have implemented or supplemented their own health protection schemes. Ayushman Bharat programme builds on these schemes.
10. Failure of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).

Health and Wellness Centre

1. Health and Wellness Centres will be the foundation of country’s health system.
2. 1.5 lakh centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people.
3. Will provide comprehensive health care, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services.
4. Will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services.
5. Also provide mental health services, vaccinations against selected communicable diseases, and screening for hypertension, diabetes, and some cancers.
6. Allocation of Rs. 1200 crore for this flagship programme.
7. Contribution of private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres is also envisaged.

National Health Protection Scheme

1. National Health Protection Scheme will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families or around 50 crore people.
2. Will provide coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
3. Identification of eligible families through the socio-economic caste census (SECC) data.
4. World’s largest government funded health care programme.
5. National Health Agency will govern the implementing mechanism.
6. Adequate funds will be provided for smooth implementation of this programme.
7. Cost of packages will be decided by National Health Agency.

Significance of Ayushman Bharat

1. Move towards the goal of universal health coverage
2. Creating Swasth Bharat.
3. Accessible healthcare at secondary and tertiary level institutions for the bottom 40% of the population.
4. High involvement of states as the states are the custodians and the implementers of the scheme.
5. Ensures enhanced productivity, well being and avert wage loss and impoverishment.
6. Generation of lakhs of jobs, particularly for women.
7. Like Jan Dhan scheme did for financial inclusion, Ayushman Bharat will create huge awareness of health insurance
8. A higher life expectancy.
9. The country will meet its social development goals.
10. With respect to infrastructure and trained medical professionals, tertiary healthcare faces a big challenge. This problem is more acute in rural areas. AB will address this challenge.
11. Will improve access to healthcare and bridge the demand-supply gap.

National Digital Health Eco-system

It is a National Digital Health Eco-system that supports Universal Health Coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely, and safe manner, through the provision of a wide range of data, information, and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems, and ensuring the security, confidentiality, and privacy of health-related personal information.

Knowing in detail the main scheme, let us look at the current developments and initiatives by the government to bring the health sector and Digital India mission in confluence to provide better services to the people of India and increasing governance through ICT.

What is Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission?

• It aims to provide digital health IDs for all Indian citizens to help hospitals, insurance firms, and citizens access health records electronically when required.
• The pilot project of the Mission had been announced by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15th August 2020.
• The project is being implemented in the pilot phase in six States & Union Territories.

Features of the Mission:

Use of technology

• There had also been an unprecedented expansion of telemedicine in the corona period- so far about 125 crore remote consultations completed through e-Sanjeevani.
• The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission would now connect the digital health solutions of hospitals across the country with each other.

Health ID:

• It will be issued for every citizen that will also work as their health account. This health account will contain details of every test, every disease, the doctors visited, the medicines taken and the diagnosis.
• Health ID is free of cost, voluntary. It will help in doing analysis of health data and lead to better planning, budgeting and implementation for health programs.

Healthcare Facilities & Professionals’ Registry:

• The other major component of the programme is creating a Healthcare Professionals’ Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registry (HFR), allowing easy electronic access to medical professionals and health infrastructure.
• The HPR will be a comprehensive repository of all healthcare professionals involved in delivering healthcare services across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.
• The HFR database will have records of all the country’s health facilities.

Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Sandbox:

• The Sandbox, created as a part of the mission, will act as a framework for technology and product testing that will help organizations, including private players intending to be a part of the national digital health ecosystem become a Health Information Provider or Health Information User or efficiently link with building blocks of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.

Who will be the implementing agency for the mission?

• National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

What are the intended benefits of the mission?

• Indians will be able to use IT-enabled tools to share prescriptions, blood test reports and X-ray diagnostics with doctors, irrespective of where they were generated.
• It involves the creation of a unique health ID for every citizen and a digital registry that aims to facilitate seamless interactions between healthcare experts.
• This is a much-needed intervention given that management of chronic diseases has become a critical public health challenge in the past 15 years.
• Data portability could expedite the treatment of the critically ill, especially those who suffer from more than one ailment.
• The severity of Covid-19 effects amongst those with comorbidities has highlighted the need for a repository that alerts a doctor to a patient’s medical history at the click of a computer mouse.
• In the long run, the creation of a health record system could improve public health monitoring and advance evidence-based policymaking.
• It ensures ease of doing business for doctors and hospitals and healthcare service providers.
• Enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
• Create integration within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in revolutionizing payments.
• Old medical records cannot get lost as every record will be stored digitally. The Digital Ecosystem will also enable a host of other facilities like Digital Consultation, Consent of patients in letting medical practitioners access their records, etc.  
• Based on the foundations laid down in the form of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity and other digital initiatives of the government, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will create a seamless online platform.
• Through this platform, the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information.

Global learning

• Globally, the tryst with e-health innovations has been a mixed one.
• The UK’s National Health Service was one of the first to deploy a digital system to make patients’ records accessible to doctors across the country.
• The programme did not earn the trust of doctors and failed to adequately address issues related to data confidentiality. Aborted in 2011, the project is regarded as amongst the most expensive failures in IT history.
• In the US and Australia, where digital healthcare has enjoyed a relatively better outing, the creation of a patient and physician-centric e-healthcare ecosystem remains a work in progress.
• The US medical system has witnessed regular debates on what must be jotted down in hospital records and prescriptions.

What are the challenges and concerns?

• The lack of a data protection bill could lead to the misuse of data by private firms and bad actors.
• Exclusion of citizens and denied healthcare due to faults in the system are also a cause of concern.
• Evolving a language of communication in the digital health ecosphere could pose unforeseen problems in India given the country’s diversity and its chronic shortage of doctors, especially in public health centres — the main source of medical care for a vast number of people in the country.
• Poor internet speeds could make data entry an onerous proposition for the rural healthcare provider.

Way Forward

• The NDHM still does not recognize Health as a justifiable right. There should be a push draft at making health a right, as prescribed in the draft National Health Policy, 2015.
• Learning from the global experiences, India has to wisely draft the policy rules and implement according to current infrastructural limitations and present needs. The experience out of corona pandemic will be the key guiding factor behind the implementation of the mission.
• The standardisation of NDHM architecture across the country will need to find ways to accommodate state-specific rules.
• It also needs to be in sync with government schemes like Ayushman Bharat Yojana and other IT-enabled schemes like Reproductive Child Health Care and NIKSHAY etc.
• The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission gives patients the option to choose the records they want to share. The areangements should be accordingly made to protect the privacy of the people and save them from further exploitation.

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The concept of Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB) gained widespread popularity in the early 20th century when budgets began to be regarded as a significant fiscal innovation tool to achieve gender equality. Since then, more than 80 countries have adopted some variant of gender budgeting. This list includes India, where in the past 16 years, finance ministers have all promised to improve women’s welfare through higher and more gender-focused government expenditures.

COVID-19 pandemic and need of the GRB

• The COVID-19 pandemic — which has exacerbated pre-existing economic inequalities within India’s patriarchal society — rigorous and concentrated GRB efforts are needed more than ever.
• The GRB process could, in fact, help governments identify gender needs, allocate resources to programs by applying a gender lens, and prioritize gender-specific outcomes.
• Given this context, it becomes important to understand how useful past Indian gender budgets have proven to be and analyze whether India’s first pandemic gender budget (2021-2022) will be able to facilitate a gender sensitive economic recovery in the face of the current crisis.

What is Gender Responsive Budgeting (GRB)?

• Gender Budgeting in India: India adopted gender budgeting in 2004-05 based on the recommendations of an expert group committee constituted by the Ministry of Finance on “Classification of Budgetary Transactions”.
• Objective: Gender budgeting, a fiscal innovation was envisioned and incorporated into the financing mechanism to tackle gender inequalities in India.
• Gender Responsive Budgeting is concerned with gender sensitive formulation of legislation, programmes and schemes; allocation of resources; implementation and execution; audit and impact assessment of programmes and schemes; and follow-up corrective action to address gender disparities.
• GRB is a powerful tool for achieving gender mainstreaming so as to ensure that benefits of development reach women as much as men.
• GRB entails dissection of the Government budgets to establish its gender differential impacts and to ensure that gender commitments are translated in to budgetary commitments.
• It does not seek to create a separate budget but seeks affirmative action to address specific needs of women and monitors expenditure and public service delivery from a gender perspective.
• The impact of government budgets on the most disadvantaged groups of women is a focus of special attention.

Rationale Behind Gender Budgeting

• Women, constitute 48% of India’s population (according to 2011 census), but they lag behind men on many social indicators like health, education, economic opportunities, etc.
• Hence, they need special attention due to their vulnerability and lack of access to resources.
• Women face disparities in access to and control over services and resources.
• Bulk of the public expenditure and policy concerns are in ‘‘gender neutral sectors”.
• Gender responsive budgets policies can contribute to achieving the objectives of gender equality, human development and economic efficiency.

Who implements a Gender Responsive Budget in India?

Though the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD)  is the nodal agency to implement GRB in India, it is the Ministry of Finance in coordination with the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP) that carries out the pioneering study on GRB to design the matrices of gender budgeting.

Why Gender Responsive Budgeting is important?

• Eliminating gender inequalities: GRB has both intrinsic and instrumental relevance.
  • GRB is critical for eliminating gender inequalities with significant improvements in social, educational, health and economic indicators of a country. 
• Economic rationale: Persistent gender inequality hinders the overall growth and development of a nation. The economic rationale for promoting a gender-sensitive budget also emanates from efficiency and equity perspectives.
  • It addresses budgetary gender inequality issues, such as how gender hierarchies influence budgets, and gender-based unpaid or low paid work.
• Achieving social goals: Gender inequality is correlated with a loss in human development due to inequality.
  • Gender inequality translates into other areas of human development, threatening progress across the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• Public expenditures with gender implications:
  • While some public expenditure is by nature ‘non-excludable’ and ‘non-rival’, such as defence, road/bridge-building, etc.
  • Some public expenditure like on education, health, sanitation may have intrinsic gender implications and require separate assessment/monitoring/evaluation of gender-specific needs.
  • Rationale for gender budgeting arises from the recognition of the fact that national budgets impact men and women differently through the pattern of resource allocation.

Gender Responsive Budgeting and India

• Increasing trend in the Budget allocation: Over the last 16 years, India’s gender budget has witnessed a six-fold increase in absolute terms, growing from 242 billion rupees in 2005-2006 to 1.4 trillion rupees in 2020-21.
• The gender budget statement has been divided into two parts:
  • Part A reflects schemes with 100 percent allocation for women, such as the maternity benefit scheme or widow pension scheme; and
  • Part B entails schemes with nearly 30 percent of funds allocated for women, such as the rural livelihood mission and mid-day meals program.
• Stands out globally: India’s gender budgeting efforts stand out globally because they have not only influenced expenditure but also revenue policies (like differential rates for men and women in property tax rates and reconsideration of income tax structure) and have extended to state government levels.
• Gender budgeting efforts in India have encompassed four sequential phases:

(i) knowledge building and networking,

(ii) institutionalizing the process,

(iii) capacity building, and

(iv) enhancing accountability.

• Gender budgeting in India is not confined to an accounting exercise. The gender budgeting framework has helped the gender-neutral ministries to design new programs for women.
• Gender Budgeting Cells (GBC) as an institutional mechanism has been mandated to be set up in all Ministries/Departments.
  • GBCs conduct gender based impact analysis, beneficiary needs assessment and beneficiary incidence analysis to identify scope for re-prioritization of public expenditure and improve implementation etc.

What are the shortcomings in India’s GRB?

• Lack of amount allocated towards women’s welfare: Despite such a large growth in Budget (in monetary term), the amount allocated toward women’s welfare has stagnated in the last 13 years.

• Dominance of Part B of Gender Budget: Since its inception, schemes that partly benefit women have continued to dominate the gender budget, with allocations under Part B accounting for at least two-thirds of the total gender budget.
  • Women in India have remained deprived of schemes that are entirely targeted toward their development and have therefore only partially benefited from the introduction of the gender budget statement.
• Omission of schemes beneficial schemes: The gender budget is a summation of funds allocated by different ministries toward the goal of women’s empowerment but in doing so, it has also ended up omitting several schemes that are actually beneficial for women.
  • e.g.: Jal Jeevan Mission — a scheme aimed at providing rural households with tap connections which will particularly improve the quality of life for women, the Department of Water and Sanitation has not reported any part of the allocation under the gender budget.
• Unequal allocations of funds across ministries under GRB: Only five government ministries and departments have cornered nearly half of the total gender budget allocations in the last three years.
  • These include the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and Ministry of Human Resource Development.

Are outcomes of GRB satisfactory?

• Omission of schemes and women-led-programs, along with unequal allocations of funds across ministries, continue to pose severe disadvantages for women in India, limiting the facilitation of an equitable access of resources and services for all.
• This is particularly concerning as India has lots of ground to cover with regards to its gender equality goals.
• India, in fact, slipped from 108th position among 153 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2018 to 112th in 2020.
• According to the report, it will take nearly 100 years to close the gender gap across politics, economic, health and education.
• In light of these limitations, it would be fair to state that India’s GRB process has resulted in a lack of outcome-oriented budgeting.
• Government ministries and departments in India have merely reduced GRB to an aggregation exercise, with the central goal of achieving gender parity often taking a back seat.

Pandemic Gender Budget: Beneficial or Not?

• Despite emerging evidence about the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women and young girls, India’s first pandemic gender budget has continued to follow the worrying historical trends.
• In fact, the gender budget outlay in the Union Budget 2021-22 was cut by 26 percent, plummeting from 2.1 trillion rupees in 2020-21 (revised estimate) to 1.5 trillion rupees in 2021-22 (budget estimate).
  • It therefore, accounts for merely 4.4 percent of the total budgetary expenditure and 0.7 percent of GDP, which is considerably insufficient.
• These allocations are particularly disappointing for a time when economic activities have reduced to a bare minimum, with women standing at the forefront of layoffs, job losses, and wage cuts.
• The GRB 2021-22 has remained concentrated within a few ministries and traditional schemes or programs, where only 34 of more than 70 central ministries and departments have reported some kind of allocations.
  • Yet, the same five ministries that dominated the former gender budgets have received 87 percent of the allocations even in the current financial year.
  • For an effective and adequate mainstreaming of gender concerns, all ministries and departments should receive some amount of funding.
• The new priority areas that have emerged in the wake of the pandemic — including digital literacy, domestic violence, skill training, and more — have only received 2 percent of the budget allocation in 2021-22.
  • As per the United Nations, these are some of the key short-terms priorities that need government action not only to reduce the disproportionate burden of the pandemic on women’s shoulders but also to bring about the gender-sensitive social and economic recovery of a country.

Conclusion

The current budgetary provisions as specified in the Union Budget 2021-22 may turn out to be incompetent to tackle the mounting problems of job losses faced by women, the high dropout rates of young girls, increasing gender-based violence, and so on.

The GRB process in India has clearly been marred by various limitations that often result in suboptimal outcomes, with gender inequality remaining rife in every aspect of Indian life. These inequalities are nonetheless being reinforced and, to some extent, deepened in the current COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, a greater focus needs to be laid on the gender budgets in India.         

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Sustained economic growth is the key to India’s power. Infrastructure without a doubt lies at the heart of this growth story. Infrastructure is inextricably linked to growth by its inherent ability to supports livelihoods, drive businesses, generate employment, and in effect determine the quality of life. Top-quality well managed Infrastructure holds the key to growth and job creation.

Recently, the government has announced an ambitious program of asset monetization. It hopes to earn ₹6 trillion in revenues over a four-year period. At a time when the government’s finances are in bad shape, that is money the government can certainly use. Getting asset monetization right is quite a challenge, though.

The creation of the National Monetization Pipeline (NMP) is the government’s pioneering initiative and a step in the right direction to establish a medium-term pipeline along with a roadmap for “monetization ready” assets.

Covid pandemic and its effect on economic activity in the country

• Need of infrastructure investment: With the COVID taking an unprecedented toll on the economic activity in the country, significantly enhanced level of infrastructure investment is required for reviving growth.
• Sustainable infrastructure systems: Covid has also bought to fore, the need for resilient, sustainable and advanced infrastructure systems.
• Need for Long-term capital: Investing huge sums into creating world class infrastructure will lead to a high trajectory of growth, but this essentially hinges on availability of long-term capital at scale.
  • Financing of infrastructure thus requires a diversified set of alternatives, especially so in economies at the cusp of transformation such as India.
  • Meeting the required scale of infrastructure spending can only be made possible through a re-imagined approach.

In this context, Asset Monetization merits a seat on the table.

What is Asset Monetization?

• In asset monetization, the government parts with its assets — such as roads, coal mines — for a specified period of time in exchange for a lump sum payment.
• At the end of the period, the assets return to the government. Unlike in privatization, no sale of government assets is involved.
• By monetizing assets it has already built, the government can earn revenues to build more infrastructures.
• Asset monetization will happen mainly in three sectors: roads, railways and power.
• Other assets to be monetized include: airports, ports, telecom, stadiums and power transmission.

What is the objective of Asset recycling and monetization?

Asset recycling and monetization serves two critical objectives –

1) Firstly, it unlocks value from public investment in infrastructure, and;

2) Secondly, it taps private sector efficiencies in operations and management of infrastructure.

How it is different from privatization?

• In privatization, there involves sale of public assets to private sector like land, Public Sector Enterprises, etc. But this is not the case with asset monetization.
• Government doesn’t transfer ownership of assets to private entities in asset monetization.
• Asset Monetization at its core, is a distinct shift from ‘privatization’ and ‘slump sale’ of assets to ‘structured partnerships’ with private sector within defined contractual frameworks.
• The driver for Asset Monetization is beyond its fiscal impact.
• It is not just a funding mechanism, but an overall paradigm shift in infrastructure operations, augmentation and maintenance.

Why private sector is important in infrastructure development?

• India has made massive strides in creating a mesh of infrastructure through flagship build-out programmes in recent years.
• For most sectors, this has been driven by the public sector or public funding. Today, India holds one of the largest brownfield stocks of fixed assets in the world.
• However, while public sector can build infrastructure, it is rarely able to run it efficiently. It is a widely accepted fact the private sector has much greater resource efficiencies, when it comes to developing and managing infrastructure.
• Increasingly, therefore, government looks to partner with the private sector as a partner. However, for effective co-working between the public and private sector, PPP models are now demanding a reboot.

India and PPP ecosystem

• India has a robust PPP ecosystem involving institutional mechanisms, model contractual frameworks, regime of standards and financing institutions.
• Concepts such as preservation of ownership with government, transfer back of asset at the end of concession and key Performance Indicators are well engrained in our PPP eco-system.
• However, over the last few years there has been reduced appetite of private sector and debt financiers for Greenfield infrastructure.
• This necessitates innovative mechanisms, structured around mature brownfield assets, for tapping private investment.
• Asset Monetization, therefore strives to tilt the axis from greenfield to brownfield models.
• Increased appetite for brownfield assets is evidenced by the flow of private and institutional capital into sectors such as roads, power and telecom.
• Private sector has very effectively utilized risk managed structures to monetize assets such as toll roads, transmission towers, pipelines and telecom towers thus bringing in a new investor class into India’s Infrastructure.

Recent successful examples of asset monetization:

• From the public sector, NHAI has monetized close to 1,400 km of toll roads through TOT concessions and has raised Rs. 17,000 crore.
• Powergid successfully launched the first ever public sector InvIT monetizing its first batch of transmission assets and raising Rs. 7,700 crore.
• Airports Authority of India successfully monetized 6 brownfield AAI airports through OMDA model raising upfront proceed and private investment towards augmentation of the airports.
• Indian Railways also launched the strategic foray into PPP in station redevelopment and running of passenger trains.

Role of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) & Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)

• Innovative structured vehicles such as Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) & Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are a capital market play.
• They are created and operated under the regulatory framework of SEBI and targets pooled long term capital.
• Since the launch of regulations for these vehicles by SEBI in year 2014, India’s private sector has very effectively unlocked its invested equity by employing these vehicles and bringing in capital from global pension and sovereign funds.
• Assets Under Management (AUM) of Rs. 1 lakh crore from the private sector alone, is held by these vehicles.
• Through the Asset Monetization programme, public sector entities will also tap into long term institutional capital and build on the recent success of PowerGrid’s InvIT.
• More importantly, India’s common public can also invest in InvITs and REITs as retail investors.
• These models interest a different investor class comprising of global pension and sovereign wealth funds and also retail investors.
• The SEBI Regulations bring transparency for investors and also efficiency in asset management.

What is National Monetization Pipeline (NMP)?

• The NMP comprises a four-year pipeline of the Central Government’s brownfield infrastructure assets.
• It will serve as a medium-term roadmap for the Asset Monetization initiative of the government, apart from providing visibility for the investors.
• Incidentally, the 2021-22 Union Budget, laid a lot of emphasis on Asset Monetization as a means to raise innovative and alternative financing for infrastructure.
• It has to be noted that the government views asset monetization as a strategy for the augmentation and maintenance of infrastructure, and not just a funding mechanism.

Framework

The framework for core asset monetization has three key imperatives:

• The pipeline has been prepared based on inputs and consultations from respective line ministries and departments, along with the assessment of total asset base available therein.
• Monetization through disinvestment and monetization of non-core assets have not been included in the NMP.
• Further, currently, only assets of central government line ministries and CPSEs in infrastructure sectors have been included.
• Process of coordination and collation of asset pipeline from states is currently ongoing and the same is envisaged to be included in due course.

Estimated Potential

• The aggregate asset pipeline under NMP over the four-year period, FY 2022-2025, is indicatively valued at Rs 6.0 lakh crore.
• The estimated value corresponds to ~14% of the proposed outlay for Centre under NIP (Rs 43 lakh crore). This includes more than 12-line ministries and more than 20 asset classes.
• The sectors included are roads, ports, airports, railways, warehousing, gas & product pipeline, power generation and transmission, mining, telecom, stadium, hospitality and housing.
• The top 5 sectors (by estimated value) capture ~83% of the aggregate pipeline value. These top 5 sectors include: Roads (27%) followed by Railways (25%), Power (15%), oil & gas pipelines (8%) and Telecom (6%).

Implementation & Monitoring Mechanism

• As an overall strategy, significant share of the asset base will remain with the government.
• The programme is envisaged to be supported through necessary policy and regulatory interventions by the Government in order to ensure an efficient and effective process of asset monetisation.
• These will include streamlining operational modalities, encouraging investor participation and facilitating commercial efficiency, among others.
• Real time monitoring will be undertaken through a separate dashboard.

What are the challenges involved?

• Realizing adequate value: The First and foremost criticism is whether adequate value from the assets will be realized or not.
  • This depends on the quality of the bidding process and whether enough private players are attracted to bid.
• Ensuring sufficient participation from bidders: The only way of ensuring that asset monetization doesn’t lead to cronyism is to make the bidding conditions such that the people eligible to bid are not a small, predetermined set.
  • However, because of the capital intensity of the project, not everybody is going to be able to bid. Even so, you can ensure that there is sufficient participation.
• Execution Risk: There will be execution risk in such a large programme. However, this is exactly why NMP is not adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Issue of Taxpayers’ Money: The taxpayers have already paid for these public assets — and, so, why should they pay again to a private party to use them.
• Suboptimal Contractual Enforcement: A criticism is born out of scepticism about a sub-optimal contractual and judicial framework to make such a plan a success.
• Monopolistic Outlook: A few business houses will corner the bulk of the assets offered under NMP.
• Right and targeted policy planning and implementation: There is a need to systematically adopt these initiatives across varied asset classes and streamline the frameworks and modalities of such alternatives in a programmatic manner which can be readily absorbed, evaluated and replicated.
• Involvement of states: Any of the center’s objectives can’t go in full throttle without apt cooperation from the states. The growth of the states is a precondition for the overall growth of India.

Conclusion

• A well laid out pipeline gives a comprehensive view to investors & developers of brown-field investment avenues in Infrastructure and helps them plan their fund raising and due-diligence activities.
• A diverse and sustained National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) not only provides visibility to the investors on potential financing opportunities but also driving preparedness of public authorities to structure and launch transactions in a systematic and transparent manner.
• Contribution of States is essential: States are an equal partner in India’s Infrastructure story. India cannot grow faster unless states grow at higher rates and hence there is a need to work closely with states.
  • States, too present a significant potential for leveraging assets such as tolled State Highways, Transmission towers, discoms, bus terminals, sports stadiums and state warehouses to mobilize capital for Infrastructure investment which can have multiplier effects on the state economies.
  • Recognizing the criticality of enhanced capital expenditure, the “Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Expenditure” to boost capital expenditure by state governments reeling under the financial impact of COVID-19 pandemic, is a path breaking measure.
  • Under the Scheme, incentive is provided to the States in the form of 50-year interest free loan.
• In order to give the needed fillip to the monetization initiative, following three aspects need concerted efforts and interventions.
  1. Firstly, a relentless focus on implementation is the key.
  2. Secondly developing brownfield models and frameworks will provide the needed pace.
  3. Lastly, driving states and partnering with them in undertaking monetization in a structured manner.

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