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  • [pib] National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage

    Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA) is preparing the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

    National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage

    • SNA is an autonomous organization under the Ministry of Culture is the nodal agency for the Scheme for ‘Safeguarding the Intangible Cultural Heritage and Diverse Cultural Traditions of India’.
    • As of now, SNA is collaborating with Zonal Cultural Centers of Ministry, collating and preparing a list of ICH elements for National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
    • List of ICH elements is being compiled and at least 100 elements will be documented by March, 2020 and the aim is to document at least 20 new elements in ICH list every year.
    • Along with this establishment of an ‘Indian Institute for Culture’ is at conceptual stage and a mission called National Culture Mapping portal is being conceptualized for aggregating art forms and artists. It is in pilot phase.

  • [pib] Godavari and Cauvery River Linking Project

     

    The draft Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the Godavari and Cauvery River Linking Project has been completed by National Water Development Agency (NWDA).

    Godavari– Cauvery Link Project

    • The project consists of 3 links viz., Godavari (Inchampalli/Janampet) – Krishna (Nagarjunasagar), Krishna (Nagarjunasagar) – Pennar (Somasila) and Pennar (Somasila) – Cauvery (Grand Anicut).
    • This proposal to link Godavari, which is prone to flooding, and Krishna, which doesn’t have enough water, has been around for several decades.
    • While river-interlinking for the purposes of navigation as an idea was mooted by the British in India, in 1972, engineer and Union Minister KL Rao proposed the linking of Godavari and Krishna for irrigation.
    • The decades-old proposal finally took shape in the 2000s, and in 2016, the Andhra government linked the two rivers with the Pattiseema-Polavaram Lift Irrigation project, in Andhra’s West Godavari district.

  • [pib] Exercise AJEYA WARRIOR-2020

    Fifth edition of Joint Military Exercise AJEYA WARRIOR-2020 between India and United Kingdom will be conducted at Salisbury Plains, United Kingdom.

    Ex. AJEYA WARRIOR

    • Exercise AJEYA WARRIOR with United Kingdom is an important exercise in terms of the security challenges faced by both the nations in the realm of changing facets of global terrorism.
    • The exercise will comprise of 120 soldiers each from Indian and United Kingdom Army who would be sharing their experiences gained during conduct of various counter insurgency and counter terrorist operations in the past.
    • The aim of this exercise is to conduct company level joint training with emphasis on counter terrorists operation in Urban and Semi Urban areas.
    • The exercise is conducted alternatively in United Kingdom and India.

  • India’s rerun of its protectionist folly mars the liberalization era

    Context

    The latest budget’s import tariff hikes signal that a three-decade commitment to trade openness has been all but abandoned.

    Detrimental effects of protectionism

    • In brief, both economic theory and a vast weight of evidence point to the detrimental effects of protectionism. These are-
      • Fostering inefficiency: Far from jump-starting the domestic industry, tariffs, quotas and other trade restrictions foster inefficiency among domestic firms that survive only because of
      • And do not become more productive under it, as the government’s threat to withdraw the protection is never credible.
      • The consumer is the ultimate loser: Meanwhile, upstream industries suffer higher than necessary input costs.
      • Consumers of final goods end up footing the bill.
      • Governments earn some tariff revenue, but never enough to warrant the distortion costs to the economy.
    • Tariff inversion: The tariff “spikes” cause greater distortion than a revenue-equivalent uniform tariff, and may lead to the problem of tariff “inversion”.
      • What is tariff inversion? A situation in which intermediate goods are taxed more heavily than final goods, thus paradoxically further disadvantaging, rather than aiding, domestic producers of final goods.
    • Rent-seeking by domestic industries: Tariffs worsens rent-seeking by domestic industries-
      • Protectionism increases lobbying: A force which would be muted in a world where tariffs are locked at a uniform level by statute, and, as a result, industries individually have less of an incentive to lobby for tariffs that are to be applied economy-wide rather than only for their own benefit.
      • Economists Arvind Panagariya and Dani Rodrik had formalized this intuition many years ago, and it matches both common sense and observation.
      • The apparently random list of sectors that would benefit from tariff increases in the recent budget-strongly suggests the possibility of rent-seeking behaviour.

    Conclusion

    Ample experience of import substitution in economies across the emerging world and over many decades, including in India until 1991, attest to the fact that protectionism, especially abetted by rent-seeking behaviour, is like a rabbit-hole: once inside, one keeps going deeper and deeper, and egress is difficult at best.

  • Seeking a more progressive abortion law

    Context

    The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill doesn’t do enough to secure women’s choices and interests.

    Deaths due to unsafe abortion and previous attempts to legislate

    • Deaths due to unsafe abortions: Recent reports have shown that more than 10 women die every day due to unsafe abortions in India.
      • And backward abortion laws only contribute to women seeking illegal and unsafe options.
    • The Cabinet has recently approved the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (MTP Bill, 2020) which will soon be tabled in Parliament.
      • It seeks to amend the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (MTP Act) and follows the MTP Bills of 2014, 2017 and 2018, all of which previously lapsed in Parliament.

    Provisions of the current law

    • Foetus-age based division: The MTP Act divides its regulatory framework for allowing abortions into categories, according to the gestational age of the foetus.
      • Up to 12 weeks: Under Section 3, for foetuses that are aged up to 12 weeks-
      • Only one medical practitioner’s opinion is required to the effect that the continuance of the pregnancy would pose a risk to the life of the mother or cause grave injury to her physical or mental health.
      • Or there is a substantial risk that if the child is born, it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped.
      • Between 12 weeks and 20 weeks: But if the foetus is aged between 12 weeks and 20 weeks-
      • At least two medical practitioners’ opinions conforming to either of the two conditions are required.
      • What beyond 20 weeks? Beyond 20 weeks, termination may be carried out where it is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman.
    • Definition of grave injury: The MTP Act also specifies that ‘grave injury’ may be explained as
      • The anguish caused by a pregnancy arising out of rape, or the anguish caused by an unwanted pregnancy arising out of the failure of a contraceptive used by a married woman or her husband.

    What are the issues with the current law?

    • Several issues arise from the current framework under the MTP Act.
    • First-Lac of autonomy of women: At all stages of the pregnancy, the healthcare providers, rather than the women seeking an abortion, have the final say on whether the abortion can be carried out.
      • It is true that factors such as failure of contraceptives or grave injury are not required to be proved under the MTP Act.
      • However, to get the pregnancy terminated solely based on her will, the woman may be compelled to lie or plead with the doctor.
      • Thus, at present, pregnant women lack autonomy in making the decision to terminate their pregnancy and have to bear additional mental stress, as well as the financial burden of getting a doctor’s approval.
      • On request abortion in 67 countries: Indian’s law is unlike the abortion laws in 67 countries, including Iceland, France, Canada, South Africa and Uruguay, where a woman can get an abortion ‘on request’ with or without a specific gestational limit (which is usually 12 weeks).
    • Second-Prejudice against unmarried women: The MTP Act embodies a clear prejudice against unmarried women.
      • According to ‘Explanation 2’ provided under Section 3(2) of the Act, where a pregnancy occurs due to failure of any birth control device or method used by any “married woman or her husband”, the anguish caused is presumed to constitute a “grave injury” to the mental health of the pregnant woman.
      • While the applicability of this provision to unmarried women is contested, there is always the danger of a more restrictive interpretation, especially when the final decision rests with the doctor and not the woman herself.
    • Third-Restriction of 20 weeks’ limit: Due to advancements in science, foetal abnormalities can now be detected even after 20 weeks.
      • Danger to mother’s life only condition after 20 weeks: The MTP Act presently allows abortion post 20 weeks only where it is necessary to save the life of the mother.
      • Problem with this restriction: The above restriction means that even if a substantial foetal abnormality is detected and the mother doesn’t want to bear life-long caregiving responsibilities and the mental agony associated with it, the law gives her no recourse unless there is a prospect of her death.

    What does the bill fail to address?

    • While the MTP Bill, 2020, is a step in the right direction, it still fails to address most of the problems with the MTP
    • First, it doesn’t allow abortion on request at any point after the pregnancy.
    • Second, it doesn’t take a step towards removing the prejudice against unmarried women by amending the relevant provision.
    • And finally, it enhances the gestational limit for legal abortion from 20 to 24 weeks only for specific categories of women such as survivors of rape, victims of incest, and minors.
      • This means that a woman who does not fall into these categories would not be able to seek an abortion beyond 20 weeks, even if she suffers from a grave physical or mental injury due to the pregnancy.

    What are the provisions for the case of foetal abnormality in the bill?

    • Limit irrelevant if the foetal abnormality is diagnosed by the Medical Board: The Bill does make the upper gestational limit irrelevant in procuring an abortion if there are substantial foetal abnormalities diagnosed by the Medical Board.
      • This means that even if there is no threat to the mother’s life, she would be able to procure an abortion as soon as a substantial foetal abnormality comes to light.
      • While this is an important step and would have in the past helped many women who fought long battles in Court without recourse.
      • Rules against unnecessary delays: It is crucial that this provision is accompanied by appropriate rules for the Medical Boards that guard against unnecessary delays, which only increase the risks associated with a late abortion.

    Conclusion

    • Recognition of women’s right: The Supreme Court has recognised women’s right to make reproductive choices and their decision to abort as a dimension of their personal liberty (in  X v. Union of India,2017) and as falling within the realm of the fundamental right to privacy (in K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, 2017). Yet, current abortion laws fail to allow the exercise of this right.
    • The bill does not do enough: While it is hoped that MTP Bill, 2020 will not lapse in Parliament like its predecessors, it is evident that it does not do enough to secure women’s interests, and there is still a long road ahead for progressive abortion laws.

     

     

     

  • Why emergency response units are needed to ensure safety of sanitation workers

    • The Maharashtra government has directed all civic bodies in the state to set up Emergency Response Sanitation Units (ERSUs) to ensure safeguards for sanitation workers who clean manholes and sewers.
    • This move is in response to the multiple cases which were reported of workers dying from suffocation or inhalation of hazardous gases.

    PEMSR ACT, 2013

    • The Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation (PEMSR) Act came into force in 2013.
    • The law prohibits employing manual scavengers, manual cleaning of sewers and septic tanks without protective equipment and construction of insanitary latrines.
    • Those violating the law and getting sewers and septic tanks cleaned without protective equipment can face imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to Rs 2 lakh, or both.
    • Repeat offenders will face imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh, or both.

    The Supreme Court judgment

    • While hearing a case on manual scavenging in 2014, the Supreme Court had stated, “If the practice of manual scavenging has to be brought to an end, and also to prevent future generations from the inhuman practice… rehabilitation of manual scavengers will need to include steps to avoid sewer deaths.”
    • The court had said that making a sanitation worker enter sewer lines without safety gear should be a crime even in emergency situations.
    • In such instances, if a sanitation worker died due to the unsafe conditions, a compensation of Rs 10 lakh has to be given to the family of the deceased, stated the court.
    • The court had also directed authorities to identify the family members of sanitation workers who died while cleaning manholes and septic tanks since 1993, and give a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to them.

    Directives by National Commission for Scheduled Castes

    • To ensure effective implementation of the law banning manual scavenging, the commission issued various directives.
    • It said workers have to be fully equipped with safety apparatus and oxygen masks in case they have to clean sewers manually.
    • A first information report has to be lodged against officials or contractors responsible for sending a worker to clean sewers manually, without proper gear.
    • The commission also made it mandatory for all municipal corporations to get an insurance policy of Rs 10 lakh per worker, as per the Supreme Court’s directions.
    • The employers, in this case the civic bodies, will have to pay the policy premium.

    Emergency Response Sanitation Unit (ERSU)

    • In its directive on the setting up of ERSUs, the state government said the municipal commissioner of the civic body concerned will be the Responsible Sanitation Authority (RSA).
    • The ERSU should be headed by a senior civic officer and other civic officers should be on the ERSU advisory board to decide the standard operating procedure (SoP) for workers who enter manholes for cleaning purposes.
    • The civic body will also have to set up a dedicated toll-free number for the ERSU. The unit will impart training to sanitation workers.
    • Only workers trained and certified by an ERSU will be able to clean sewers, but the priority will be on using machines to get such work done.
    • In case a worker dies while cleaning a sewer, the civic body will have to hold an inquiry and register a police complaint.

    Workshop on creating awareness on the issue

    • All civic bodies have been asked to hold workshops to raise awareness on this issue in their respective jurisdictions.
    • The workshops are going to focus on latest technology for cleaning sewers and septic tanks, and the final objective is to find a way to clean septic tanks or manholes with machines.
    • The workshops will have sessions on laws pertaining to sanitation workers, the establishment of ERSUs and their roles, presentations on the latest equipment, machines and protective gear.
    • Sanitation workers, NGOs, social organisations, housing society members and government officials have to participate in the workshops.

  • Indian nationals living abroad

    There are over 1.36 crore Indian nationals living abroad, according to data tabled by the Ministry of External Affairs in Lok Sabha.

    Indians abroad

    • The highest number of Indians abroad are living in the United Arab Emirates, where the 34,20,000 Indians comprise about one-fourth of all Indians abroad.
    • The UAE is followed by Saudi Arabia (25,94,947), the US (12,80,000), Kuwait (10,29,861), Oman (7,79,351), Qatar (7,56,062), Nepal (5,00,000), UK (3,51,000), Singapore (3,50,000) and Bahrain (3,23,292).
    • The CPV (Consular, Passport and Visa) division of the ministry is the nodal division that coordinates with all missions / posts abroad regarding transportation of the mortal remains of Indians from abroad to their hometowns in India.

    Total remittances recieved

    • Citing RBI data, the ministry said that during 2018-2019, $76.4 billion was received as remittances from Indians abroad.
    • During 2019-2020 (April-September), $41.9 billion was received.

  • Genome India Project

     

    The Union Govt. has given clearance to an ambitious gene-mapping project, estimated to be worth Rs 238 crore.

    Genome India Project

    • The Genome India Project has been described by those involved as the “first scratching of the surface of the vast genetic diversity of India”.
    • It involves over 20 scientists from institutions including the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru and a few IITs.
    • One of the most comprehensive genome mapping projects in the world is the Human Genome Project (HGP), which began in 1990 and reached completion in 2003.
    • The international project, which was coordinated by the National Institutes of Health and the US Department of Energy, was undertaken with the aim of sequencing the human genome and identifying the genes that contain it.
    • The project was able to identify the locations of many human genes and provide information about their structure and organisation.

    What is Genome Mapping?

    • According to the Human Genome Project, there are estimated to be over 20,500 human genes.
    • Genome refers to an organism’s complete set of DNA, which includes all its genes and mapping these genes simply means finding out the location of these genes in a chromosome.
    • In humans, each cell consists of 23 pairs of chromosomes for a total of 46 chromosomes, which means that for 23 pairs of chromosomes in each cell, there are roughly 20,500 genes located on them.
    • Some of the genes are lined up in a row on each chromosome, while others are lined up quite close to one another and this arrangement might affect the way they are inherited.
    • For example, if the genes are placed sufficiently close together, there is a probability that they get inherited as a pair.
    • Genome mapping, therefore, essentially means figuring out the location of a specific gene on a particular region of the chromosome and also determining the location of and relative distances between other genes on that chromosome.

    Applications

    • Significantly, genome mapping enables scientists to gather evidence if a disease transmitted from the parent to the child is linked to one or more genes.
    • Furthermore, mapping also helps in determining the particular chromosome which contains that gene and the location of that gene in the chromosome.
    • Genome maps have been used to find out genes that are responsible for relatively rare, single-gene inherited disorders such as cystic fibrosis and Duchene muscular dystrophy.
    • Genetic maps may also point out scientists to the genes that play a role in more common disorders and diseases such as asthma, cancer and heart disease among others.
    • Researchers from several international institutions mapped the handful of genes whose mutation causes several different kinds of cancers.

  • Thwaites Glacier

     

    In the Antarctic floats a massive glacier, roughly the size of Britain, whose melting has been a cause of alarm for scientists over the years. Now, a new study has pinned the cause of the melting to the presence of warm water at a vital point beneath the glacier.

    Thwaites Glacier

    • The Thwaites Glacier is 120 km wide at its broadest, fast-moving and melting fast over the years.
    • Because of its size (1.9 lakh square km), it contains enough water to raise the world sea level by more than half a metre.
    • Studies have found the amount of ice flowing out of it has nearly doubled over the past 30 years. Today, Thwaites’s melting already contributes 4% to global sea level rise each year.
    • It is estimated that it would collapse into the sea in 200-900 years. Thwaites is important for Antarctica as it slows the ice behind it from freely flowing into the ocean.
    • Because of the risk it faces — and poses — Thwaites is often called the Doomsday Glacier.

    What has the new study found?

    • A 2019 study had discovered a fast-growing cavity in the glacier.
    • More recently researchers detected warm water at a vital point below the glacier.
    • Scientists dug a 600-m-deep and 35-cm-wide access hole, and deployed an ocean-sensing device called Icefin to measure the waters moving below the glacier’s surface.
    • The study reported water at just two degrees above freezing point at Thwaites’s “grounding zone” or “grounding line”.

    What is the grounding line?

    • The grounding line is the place below a glacier at which the ice transitions between resting fully on bedrock and floating on the ocean as an ice shelf.
    • The location of the line is a pointer to the rate of retreat of a glacier.
    • When glaciers melt and lose weight, they float off the land where they used to be situated. When this happens, the grounding line retreats.
    • That exposes more of a glacier’s underside to seawater, increasing the likelihood it will melt faster.
    • This resulted in the glacier speeding up, stretching out, and thinning, causing the grounding line to retreat ever further.

  • The high cost of raising trade walls

    Context

    India’s international trade posture appeared to turn protectionist in the past week, with two indicators the government sent out.

    What were the two indicators?

    • The first-Signal sent out in the Budget: The first indicator, which played out live on television was contained in the Union Budget.
      • Laying out the Budget for the year, the finance minister made several references to the problems with free trade and preferential trade agreements (FTAs and PTAs).
      • Raise in tariffs, changes in the act: The Budget raised tariffs on the import of more than 50 items and changed the Customs Act provisions substantially to penalise imports suspected to originate from third countries.
    • The second- India declined negotiations: The other indicator was that India declined to attend a meeting of trade negotiators in Bali that was discussing the next step in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement.

    Issues with the Free Trade Agreement

    • What the FM told Parliament: It has been observed that imports under Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are on the rise.
      • Undue claims of FTA benefits have posed a threat to the domestic industry.
      • Such imports require stringent checks, adding that the government will ensure that all FTAs are aligned to the conscious direction of our policy.
    • What could be the consequences of the Govt. policy?
      • Discouragement to imports: While the Govt. motive may be to protect Indian markets from dumping-primarily by Chinese goods-
      • The consequence of the changes will be to put Indian importers on notice and discourage imports in general.
      • Even as the government reserves the right to modify or cancel preferential tariffs and ban the import or export of any goods that it deems fit.

    The rise in the trade deficit and decision to walk out of FTA

    • The trade deficit with FTA partners: The government’s problem with FTAs was a key theme in its decision to walk out of the RCEP negotiations (of 16 countries) the rise in trade deficits with FTA partners.
    • Review of all agreements: The government says it will now review all those agreements and wants to “correct asymmetry” in negotiations with new partners. The agreement that would be reviewed includes-
      • TAs signed with the 10-nation ASEAN grouping (FTA).
      • Japan (Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, or CEPA).
      • And South Korea (CEPA).

    Why it would not be easy to negotiate bilateral treaties

    • The bilateral agreement would not be a priority for other countries: If India makes a complete break with RCEP, negotiating the bilateral trade agreements (TAs) will not be a priority for the other countries until RCEP is done.
      • The process of legal scrubbing is likely to take most of the year, and any talks with India will probably only follow that.
      • Difficulty in getting better deal: It is also hard to see any of them being able to offer India a better deal bilaterally once they are bound into the multilateral RCEP agreement.

    India’s pending talks on bilateral treaties

    • Negotiations of CECA with Australia: The case of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) being negotiated with Australia, will be a difficult task, not the least due to its history.
      • India and Australia began CECA talks in 2011.
      • However, talks hit a dead-end in September 2015. With the focus on RCEP, no progress has been made since then.
    • Negotiations of FTA with the UK: A similar scenario awaits the announcement of the India-United Kingdom FTA talks.
      • It is unlikely that the U.K. will actually be able to talk until next year after terms for the K.’s full withdrawal from the European Union (EU) are completed.
    • Negotiation of BTIA with the EU: Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) negotiation are also unlikely to make headway until the UK’s complete withdrawal from the EU.
      • Both sides will have to decide how to revive from where they left off in 2013.
      • Why the negotiations are pending? Making the negotiations harder is the government’s decision to scrap all bilateral investment treaties with 57 countries including EU nations, and bringing in a new Bilateral Investment treaty (BIT) model in 2015.
      • Only Kyrgyzstan, Belarus and most recently Brazil have agreed to sign a new investment treaty based on that model.
    • The US-India trade issue: Finally, there is the much-anticipated resolution of U.S.-India trade issues ahead of the visit of U.S. President.
      • The talks in that visit could also include talks on an FTA.
      • At present, there have only been some non-paper talks on the issue.
      • And given that the U.S. has expressed deep misgivings about India’s BIT model, these talks will also take several years to come to fruition.

    Why India should rethink its stand on FTA

    • First-Prospect of no dispute settlement mechanism: The decline of multilateralism, accelerated by the retrenchment of the U.S. and China’s intransigence have all meant the World Trade Organization (WTO) has lost steam as a world arbiter.
      • This leaves states that are not part of arrangements without a safety net on dispute settlement mechanisms.
    • The second-trade deficit of other countries with India: The government has invoked the massive $57-billion trade deficit with China to explain protectionist measures, but it forgets its own trade surpluses with smaller economies.
      • Particularly in the neighbourhood, where Indian exports form more than 80% of total trade with Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, respectively.
    • Third- The rise of regional agreements: It is clear that most of the world is now divided into regional FTAs, for example-
      • The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) for North America.
      • The Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR for its Spanish initials) for South America.
      • The EU, the Eurasian Economic Union (Russia and neighbours).
      • The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
      • The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) FTA in West Asia.
      • And now the biggest of them all, RCEP, which minus India, represents a third of the world’s population and just under a third of its GDP.
    • Fourth- Finally, the trend across the world does not favour trade in services the way it does in goods.
      • India’s strength in the services sector and its demand for more mobility for Indian employees, is thus becoming another sticky point in FTA negotiations.

    Conclusion

    India’s demographic might is certainly attractive for international investors, but only if that vast market has purchasing power and is not riven by social unrest and instability. India’s demographic might is certainly attractive for international investors, but only if that vast market has purchasing power and is not riven by social unrest and instability.