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  • Ayushman Sahakar Scheme

    The Agriculture Ministry has rolled out the Ayushman Sahakar Scheme to assist cooperatives in the creation of healthcare infrastructure in the country.

    Can you find the peculiarity of this scheme? Yes. It’s the Agriculture and not the Health Ministry.

    Ayushman Sahakar Scheme

    • The scheme is formulated by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), the apex autonomous development finance institution under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
    • The scheme would give a boost to the provision of healthcare services by cooperatives.
    • It specifically covers establishment, modernization, expansion, repairs, renovation of hospital and healthcare and education infrastructure.

    Why need such a scheme?

    • There is a huge need for medical and nursing education in rural areas. But the problem is a lack of infrastructure.
    • Co-ops find it difficult to access credit for such projects as banks may not give them loans for non-agricultural purposes.

    Financing the scheme

    • NCDC would extend term loans to prospective cooperatives to the tune of Rs 10000 Crore in the coming years.
    • Any Cooperative Society with a suitable provision in its byelaws to undertake healthcare-related activities would be able to access the NCDC fund.
    • NCDC assistance will flow either through the State Governments/ UT Administrations or directly to the eligible cooperatives.
    • Apart from working capital and margin money to meet operational requirements, the scheme will also provide interest subvention of 1% to women majority cooperatives.

  • AIDS & India

    The article highlights the achievement in the fight against AIDS. Most significant are the achievements in the prevention of transmission from mother-to-child.

    Significant gains

    • As per recently released 2019 HIV estimates by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO)/Ministry of Health and Family Welfare with the technical support of UNAIDS there has been a 66.1% reduction in new HIV infections among children and a 65.3% reduction in AIDS-related deaths in India over a nine-year period.
    • The number of pregnant women living with HIV has reduced from 31,000 in 2010 to 20,000 in 2019.
    • Overall, antenatal coverage has expanded, and HIV testing has increased over time and within target range.
    • Treatment coverage has also expanded.

    Progress in preventing mother to child transmission

    • Under the leadership of NACO, a ‘Fast-Tracking of EMTCT (elimination of mother-to-child transmission) strategy-cum-action plan’ was outlined by June 2019.
    • The plan entailed mobilisation and reinforcement of all national, State and partners’ collective efforts to achieve the EMTCT goal.
    • Additionally, in March 2020, we began efforts to minimise challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • From 2010 to 2019, India made important progress in reducing the HIV impact on children through prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.
    • This was done through education and communication programmes; increased access to HIV services with innovative delivery mechanisms for HIV testing; counselling and care; and treatment and follow-ups.
    • India made HIV testing for all pregnant women free and HIV treatment is offered the same way nationwide without cost to pregnant mothers living with HIV through the national ‘treat all’ policy.
    • For two years UNICEF has worked with the World Health Organization and NACO to identify high burden districts (in terms of density of pregnant women living with HIV) as the last mile towards disease elimination.
    • Since 2002, when the EMTCT of HIV programmes were launched in India, a series of policy, programmatic and implementation strategies were rolled out so that all pregnant women can access free HIV testing and free treatment regimens for life to prevent HIV transmission from mothers to babies.
    • This has been made possible in government health centres and grass-root level workers through village health and nutrition days and other grass-roots events under the National Health Mission.
    • Indeed, the approach being promoted by UNICEF in focusing attention and resources in high burden districts is supported by the HIV strategic information division of NACO and UNAIDS to better understand the locations and populations most HIV affected, so that technical support and HIV services can be directed towards these areas.

    Conclusion

    Using data-driven and decision-making approaches it is certain that AIDS will no longer be a public health threat for children in India by the end of 2030, if not before.

  • Security implications of Doha Accord for India

    We have been spared of some unfortunate news of terrorist attacks in the recent past, however, it would be mistake to discount the threat posed by the terrorist organisations especially when we consider the backdrop of Doha Accord. The article deals with the threat of terrorism.

    Declining support

    • Terrorist organisations like Taliban, al-Qaeda, Islamic State, Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) have been dormant during a pandemic.
    • This is partly explained by the fact that open terror attacks have been reducing, presumably because:
    • 1) Terror outfits lack resources.
    • 2) Because of temporary loss of support from those normally hostile to the non-Islamic world and tolerant Muslims.
    • However, given their past resilience, they continue to pose threats to modern society, especially to India and its neighbourhood.

    But threat persists

    • These terrorist organisations continue to be attractive to misguided youth in India whose loyalties are extraterritorial.
    • Their numbers may not be formidable, but they can cause a ripple effect that cannot be underestimated.
    • Terrorist cells are probably engaged in the quiet process of collecting resources for future lethal assaults against India and other countries in the neighbourhood.
    • Once the pandemic eases, we may see a resurgence of terror.
    • The aggravation of poverty in developing nations due to COVID-19 could offer a fertile ground for recruitment.
    • The al-Qaeda and the Islamic State are carrying out their recruitment undiminished by the problems posed by the pandemic.
    • Only these two outfits have an impressive global reach backed by global ambitions.

    What are the implications of Doha Accord?

    • The Doha Accord signed this year between the Taliban and the U.S., which has brought about an improved relationship between the two.
    • The U.S. has agreed to a near-total withdrawal of its troops in return for the Taliban’s promise to preserve peace in Afghanistan.
    • The Taliban and the al-Qaeda need each other in many areas.
    • Both are friendly towards Pakistan and could pose a problem or two to India in the near future.
    • Many recent raids by the National Investigation Agency point to an al-Qaeda network in India.
    • Once the situation gets better, the al-Qaeda, in cahoots with other aggressive Islamic outfits in and around Pakistan, is bound to escalate the offensive against India.
    • This is one factor that makes the al-Qaeda and other terror outfits still relevant to India’s security calculus.

    Consider the question “What are the implications of Doha Acord for India’s security architecture?”

    Conclusion

    The threat posed by the changing geopolitical landscape is bound to increase in the coming days and hence India should prepare itself to tackle the challenge.

  • [pib] Framework for Regulatory Sandbox

    The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) has introduced a framework for Regulatory Sandbox to tap into innovative Fin-tech solutions.

    Try answering this simple question:
    Q.What is Regulatory Sandbox? What are its salient features?

    Regulatory Sandbox

    • A regulatory sandbox usually refers to live testing of new products or services in a controlled/test regulatory environment for which regulators may permit certain regulatory relaxations for the limited purpose of the testing.
    • The objective of the sandbox is to foster responsible innovation in financial services, promote efficiency and bring benefit to consumers.
    • It provides a secure environment for fintech firms to experiment with products under supervision of a regulator.
    • It is an infrastructure that helps fintech players live test their products or solutions, before getting the necessary regulatory approvals for a mass launch, saving start-ups time and cost.

    Its inception

    • The concept of a regulatory sandbox or innovation hub for fintech firms was mooted by a committee headed by then RBI executive director Sudarshan Sen.
    • The panel submitted its report in Nov 2017 has called for a regulatory sandbox to help firms experiment with fintech solutions, where the consequences of failure can be contained and reasons for failure analysed.
    • If the product appears to have the potential to be successful, it might be authorised and brought to the broader market more quickly.

    What is the new framework?

    • IFSCA has introduced a framework for “Regulatory Sandbox”.
      Under this Sandbox framework, entities operating in the capital market, banking, insurance and financial services space shall be granted certain facilities and flexibilities.
    • It will experiment with innovative FinTech solutions in a live environment with a limited set of real customers for a limited time frame.
    • These features shall be fortified with necessary safeguards for investor protection and risk mitigation. The Regulatory Sandbox shall operate within the IFSC located at GIFT City (Gandhinagar).
    • IFSCA shall assess the applications and extend suitable regulatory relaxations to commence limited purpose testing in the Sandbox.

    Other propositions

    • As additional steps towards creating an innovation-centric ecosystem, the IFSCA has proposed the creation of an “Innovation Sandbox”.
    • It will be a testing environment where Fin-tech firms can test their solutions in isolation from the live market.
    • This would be based on market related data made available by the Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs) operating in the IFSC.
    • The Innovation Sandbox will be managed and facilitated by the MIIs operating within the IFSC.

    Back2Basics: GIFT City, Gandhinagar

    • GIFT city is India’s first operational smart city and international financial services centre (much like a modern IT park).
    • The idea for GIFT was conceived during the Vibrant Gujarat Global Investor Summit 2007 and the initial planning was done by East China Architectural Design & Research Institute (ECADI).
    • Currently approximately 225 units/companies are operational with more than 12000 professionals employed in the City.
    • The entire city is based on concept of FTTX (Fibre to the home / office).The fiber optic is laid in fault tolerant ring architecture so as to ensure maximum uptime of services.
    • Every building in GIFT City is an intelligent building. There is piped supply of cooking gas. India’s first city-level DCS (district cooling system) is also operational at GIFT City.

  • Malabar Naval Exercise

    Upping the ante against China amid the ongoing LAC confrontations, Australia has formally accepted India’s invite for the upcoming Malabar Exercise.

    About Ex. Malabar

    • Exercise Malabar is a trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners.
    • Originally begun in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, Japan became a permanent partner in 2015.
    • Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.
    • The annual Malabar series began in 1992 and includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers through Maritime Interdiction Operations Exercises.

    Significance of Australia’s inclusion

    • Earlier, India had concerns that it would give the appearance of a “quadrilateral military alliance” aimed at China.
    • Now both look forward to the cooperation in the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and the strengthening of defence ties.
    • This has led to a convergence of mutual interest in many areas for a better understanding of regional and global issues.
    • Both are expected to conclude the long-pending Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) as part of measures to elevate the strategic partnership.

  • What are District Development Councils (DDCs)?

    The Centre has amended the Jammu and Kashmir Panchayati Raj Act, 1989, to facilitate the setting up of District Development Councils (DDC).

    Tap to read more about: Reorganization of J&K

    What are DDCs?

    • DDCs structure will include a DDC and a District Planning Committee (DPC).
    • The J&K administration has also amended the J&K Panchayati Raj Rules, 1996, to provide for establishment of elected District Development Councils in J&K.
    • This system effectively replaces the District Planning and Development Boards in all districts, and will prepare and approve district plans and capital expenditure.

    Composition of DDCs

    • Their key feature, however, is that the DDCs will have elected representatives from each district.
    • Their number has been specified at 14 elected members per district representing its rural areas, alongside the Members of
    • Legislative Assembly chairpersons of all Block Development Councils within the district.

    Term of reference

    • The term of the DDC will be five years, and the electoral process will allow for reservations for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women.
    • The Additional District Development Commissioner (or the Additional DC) of the district shall be the Chief Executive Officer of the District Development Council.
    • The council, as stated in the Act, will hold at least four “general meetings” in a year, one in each quarter.

    What will be the process here onward?

    • The 14 constituencies for electing representatives to the DDC will have to be delimited.
    • These constituencies will be carved out of the rural areas of the district, and elected members will subsequently elect a chairperson and a vice-chairperson of the DDC from among themselves.

    Within the third tier, where do the DDCs fit in?

    • The DDCs replace the District Planning and Development Boards (DDBs) that were headed by a cabinet minister of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
    • For Jammu and Srinagar districts, as winter and summer capitals, the DDBs were headed by the Chief Minister.

    However, for Leh and Kargil districts, the Autonomous Hill Development Councils performed the functions designated for the DDBs.

    How will DPC work, then?

    • For every district there will be DPC comprising MPs representing the area, Members of the State Legislature representing the areas within the District etc. among others.
    • The MP will function as the chairperson of this committee.
    • The committee will “consider and guide” the formulation of development programmes for the district.
    • It would indicate priorities for various schemes and consider issues relating to the speedy development and economic uplift of the district.
    • It would function as a working group for formulation of periodic and annual plans for the district; and formulate and finalise the plan and non-plan budget for the district.

    Centre’s objective behind this new structure

    • The J&K administration in a statement said that the move to have an elected third tier of the Panchayati Raj institution marks the implementation of the entire 73rd Amendment Act in J&K.
    • The idea is that systems that had been made defunct by earlier J&K governments such as the panchayati raj system are being revived under the Centre’s rule in the state through the Lieutenant Governor’s administration.
    • In the absence of elected representatives in the UT, senior government officials argue that DDCs will effectively become representative bodies for development at the grassroots in the 20 districts of the UT.
    • They hope that this may draw some former legislators in as well.

  • [pib] Buldhana Pattern of water conservation

    Maharashtra’s ‘Buldana Pattern’ of water conservation’ has won national recognition and the NITI Aayog is in the process of formulating National Policy on water conversation based on it.

    Refer this link to read more about traditional water conservations systems in India:

    https://geographyandyou.com/ten-traditional-water-conservation-methods/

    What is ‘Buldhana Pattern’?

    • It is based on the synchronization of national highway construction and water conservation.
    • It was achieved for the first time in Buldana district of drought-prone Vidarbha region, by using soil from the water bodies, nallas and rivers.
    • This consequently leads to the increase in capacity of water storage across the water-bodies in Buldana district and it came to be known as ‘Buldana Pattern’.
    • Creation of State Water Grid and adopting water Conservations works under this pattern will increase the agriculture production and bring prosperity in farmer’s economic life in Vidarbha.

  • [pib] Exercise SLINEX-20

    The Eighth Edition of annual Indian Navy (IN) – Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) bilateral maritime exercise SLINEX-20 is scheduled off Trincomalee.

    About SLINEX-20

    • SLINEX-20 aims to enhance inter-operability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies.
    • In addition, the exercise will also showcase the capabilities of our indigenously constructed naval ships and aircraft.
    • SLINEX series of exercise exemplifies the deep engagement between India and Sri Lanka which has strengthened mutual cooperation in the maritime domain.
    • Interaction between the SLN and IN has also grown significantly in recent years, in consonance with India’s policy of ‘Neighbourhood First’ and the vision of ‘Security and Growth for all in the Region (SAGAR)’.

  • What are Hybrid Funds?

    This newscard is an excerpt from an originally FAQ published in TH.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.Which of the following is issued by registered foreign portfolio investors to overseas investors who want to be part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly?

    (a) Certificate of Deposit

    (b) Commercial Paper

    (c) Promissory Note

    (d) Participatory Note

    Hybrid Fund

    • A hybrid fund is one that invests in both equity and bonds. So, such funds ought to help investors with their asset allocation decision.
    • This refers to how you allocate your annual savings between equity and bond investments.
    • Suppose you are unsure of the proportion of equity and bond investments to have in your portfolio.
    • By investing in a hybrid fund, you could outsource your asset allocation decision to the manager of the fund, so the argument goes.
    • The issue is that each goal you pursue requires different asset allocation. For instance, the asset allocation for your child’s education portfolio must be different from your retirement portfolio.
    • Hybrid funds cannot consider your individual goal requirement as it is a collective investment vehicle.

    Tax efficiency of the fund

    • Based on current tax laws, a hybrid fund that holds 65% or more in equity is considered as an equity fund.
    • So, if you redeem your units in such hybrid funds after a holding period of more than 12 months, you have to pay long-term capital gains tax of 10%.
    • If a hybrid fund holds less than 65% in equity, you have to pay 20% capital gains tax with indexation if you sell your units after a holding period of more than 36 months.

    Back2Basics: Stocks vs. Bonds vs. Equity

    • A stock represents a collection of shares in a company which is entitled to receive a fixed amount of dividend at the end of the relevant financial year which are mostly called Equity of the company.
    • Bonds term is associated with debt raised by the company from outsiders which carry a fixed ratio of return each year and can be earned as they are generally for a fixed period of time.
    • Bonds are actually loans that are secured by a specific physical asset.
    • It highlights the amount of debt taken with a promise to pay the principal amount in the future and periodically offering them the yields at a pre-decided percentage.
    • Equity is ownership of assets that may have debts or other liabilities attached to them. Equity is measured for accounting purposes by subtracting liabilities from the value of an asset.

  • Analysing the trends in India’s population growth

    The article analyses some trends in India’s population growth as found in the Sample Registration System Statistical Report (2018).

    Context

    • There have been some encouraging trends in India’s population in the Sample Registration System (SRS) Statistical Report (2018) and global population projections made by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), US.

     Declining TFR

    • SRS report estimated the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), the number of children a mother would have at the current pattern of fertility during her lifetime, as 2.2 in the year 2018.
    •  It is estimated that replacement TFR of 2.1 would soon be, if not already, reached for India as a whole.
    • As fertility declines, so does the population growth rate.
    • This report estimated the natural annual population growth rate to be 1.38 per cent in 2018.
    • A comparison of 2011 and 2018 SRS statistical reports shows that TFR declined from 2.4 to 2.2 during this period.
    • Fertility declined in all major states.
    • In 2011, 10 states had a fertility rate below the replacement rate. This increased to 14 states.
    • The annual natural population growth rate also declined from 1.47 to 1.38 per cent during this period.

    So, when will India’s population stabilise

    • Duet to population momentum effect, a result of more people entering the reproductive age group of 15-49 years due to the past high-level of fertility, population stabilisation will take some time.
    • The UN Population Division has estimated that India’s population would possibly peak at 161 crore around 2061.
    •  Recently, IHME estimated that it will peak at 160 crore in 2048.
    • Some of this momentum effect can be mitigated if young people delay childbearing and space their children.

    Factors affecting fertility rates

    • Fertility largely depends upon social setting and programme strength.
    • Programme strength is indicated by the unmet need for contraception, which has several components.
    •  The National Family Health Survey (2015-16) provides us estimates for the unmet need at 12.9 per cent and contraceptive prevalence of 53.5 per cent for India.
    • Female education is a key indicator for social setting, higher the female education level, lower the fertility.
    • As the literacy of women in the reproductive age group is improving rapidly, we can be sanguine about continued fertility reduction.

    Declining sex ratio at birth: Cause for concerrn

    •  The SRS reports show that sex ratio at birth in India, measured as the number of females per 1,000 males, declined marginally from 906 in 2011 to 899 in 2018.
    • Biologically normal sex ratio at birth is 950 females to 1,000 males. 
    • The UNFPA State of World Population 2020 estimated the sex ratio at birth in India as 910, lower than all the countries in the world except China.
    • This is a cause for concern for following 2 reasons:
    • 1) This adverse ratio results in a gross imbalance in the number of men and women.
    • 2) Impact on marriage systems as well as other harms to women.
    • Increasing female education and economic prosperity help to improve the ratio.
    • It is hoped that a balanced sex ratio at birth could be realised over time, although this does not seem to be happening during the period 2011-18. 

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, there is an urgent need to reach young people both for reproductive health education and services as well as to cultivate gender equity norms. This could reduce the effect of population momentum and accelerate progress towards reaching a more normal sex-ratio at birth. India’s population future depends on it.

    Back2Basics: Total Fertility Rate and Replacement rate

    • Total fertility rate (TFR) in simple terms refers to total number of children born or likely to be born to a woman in her life time if she were subject to the prevailing rate of age-specific fertility in the population.
    • TFR of about 2.1 children per woman is called Replacement-level fertility (UN, Population Division).
    • This value represents the average number of children a woman would need to have to reproduce herself by bearing a daughter who survives to childbearing age.
    • If replacement level fertility is sustained over a sufficiently long period, each generation will exactly replace itself without any need for the country to balance the population by international migration.