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  • Cervavac: India’s first indigenously developed Vaccine for Cervical Cancer

    Cervavax

    Union Minister of Science and Technology has announced the scientific completion of Cervavac, India’s first indigenously developed quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer.

    What is Cervavac?

    • Cervavac was developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India in coordination with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
    • The project to develop the vaccine was implemented by the then secretary of the DBT, Dr. M K Bhan in 2011.
    • Since then, 30 meetings of scientific advisory groups and site visits conducted by DBT have helped review the scientific merit of the entire journey to develop the vaccine.
    • Cervavac received market authorisation approval from the Drug Controller General of India on July 12 this year.

    What is so unique about Cervavac?

    • HPV vaccines are given in two doses and data has shown that the antibodies that develop after both are administered can last up to six or seven years.
    • Unlike Covid vaccines, booster shots may not be required for the cervical cancer vaccine.
    • Until now, the HPV vaccines available in India were produced by foreign manufacturers at an approximate cost of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,500 per dose.
    • Cervavac is likely to be significantly cheaper, slated to cost approximately Rs 200 to 400.
    • It has also demonstrated a robust antibody response that is nearly 1,000 times higher than the baseline against all targeted HPV types and in all dose and age groups.

    Significance of the vaccine

    • Despite being largely preventable, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, according to the WHO.
    • In 2018, an estimated 57000 women were diagnosed with the disease and it accounted for 311,000 deaths across the world.

    How common is cervical cancer in India?

    • India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden of cervical cancer, with 1.23 lakh cases and around 67,000 deaths per year.
    • Almost all cervical cancer cases are linked to certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus that is transmitted through sexual contact.
    • The body’s immune system usually gets rid of the HPV infection naturally within two years.
    • However, in a small percentage of people, the virus can linger over time and turn some normal cells into abnormal cells and then cancer.

    How dangerous is cervical cancer?

    • Cervical cancer is preventable if detected early and managed effectively.
    • Screening and vaccination are two powerful tools that are available for preventing cervical cancer.
    • Still, there is little awareness among women about the prevention of this cancer and less than 10% of Indian women get screened.
    • All women aged 30-49 must get screened for cervical cancer even if they have no symptoms and get their adolescent daughters vaccinated with the HPV vaccine.

    What are the challenges?

    • The biggest task will be in allocating adequate resources and manpower for vaccinating the massive demographic of adolescent girls aged between 9 and 15, to ensure that they are protected from HPV early.
    • There is a huge need for stepping up awareness about the disease and the vaccine in the community.
    • Unlike Covid and the vaccination programme, there is very little awareness about cervical cancer.
    • Overall awareness and screening are very low in the community and that is a concern.
    • Since this is a preventable disease and hence a huge awareness programme is required

    Way forward

    • School-based vaccination programmes might work effectively.
    • Currently, none exist and therefore planning will have to be done along those lines.
    • Those accessing public health programmes will get the vaccine free of cost at government-aided schools.
    • However concerted efforts will have to be made to ensure the involvement of private healthcare facilities and NGOs towards an effective rollout.

     

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  • Heritage conservation

    heritage Context

    • Despite all the public talk of the importance of conserving our national heritage, the budget of the ASI, the primary institutional guardian of monuments, in 2021-22 has been reduced by more than Rs 200 cr.

    How do you define heritage?

    • Heritage is the full range of our inherited traditions, monuments, objects, and culture. Most important, it is the range of contemporary activities, meanings, and behaviours that we draw from them.

    Threats to Indian Heritage

    • Theft: The incidents of thefts have been observed usually from unprotected monuments, ancient temples. The thefts cases have also been seen in the protected monuments and museums as well. It is due to negligence of security guards in museums, monuments etc.
    • Smuggling: illicit traffic and smuggling in antiquities. Illicit traffic is motivated often by profit and sometimes by the demand for luxuries.
    • Tourism: Unregulated tourism, tourist activities run by touts, private agents have affected the art heritage places. The Culture Ministry of India has reported that up to 24 Indian monuments have been declared “untraceable” or “missing” by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
    • Issues with security of museums: Most of the museums are poorly guarded due to shortage of manpower leading to theft of artifacts, fire accidents etc.
    • Duplication: Fakes paintings and art forms leading to threat to livelihoods of artists.
    • Poor Maintenance: The state of the wall paintings in Ajanta caves is continuously getting worse, which can be attributed to humidity as well as to a lack of care.
    • Encroachment on monuments: Another miss from the ministry has been encroachments of monuments. Over 278 centrally protected monuments have been encroached upon or have illegal occupants, as per government data.

    heritage Why should we protect our heritage?

    • Evolution of human consciousness is a continuous process: History here serves as a laboratory and the past serves as a demarcation to understand the regional laws and social structures. This understanding helps in our progress towards an ideal society.
    • Pride of country: The art heritage is the identity and pride of our country. It is duty of every citizen to protect, preserve and perpetuate the cultural richness.
    • Tourism potential: for art monuments and museums is very high. Tourism generates revenue for the state as well as private artists due to the money-multiplier quality.
    • Infrastructure development: takes place in and around the areas. Eg. Hampi despite being a small town has excellent infrastructure.
    • Jobs: It creates jobs for a lot of people from art industry and tourism industry as well
    • Sense of belonging: It creates a feeling of oneness and a sense of attachment by enhancing a sense of belonging to a culture or a region.
    • Strengthen conviction: Every historical site has an important story to tell and these stories have inspired many people to strengthen their convictions and commitment to fight injustice and oppression.
    • Soft power: Art and culture is also a part of soft power in world politics.

    About Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)

    • The ASI is an attached office of the Ministry of Culture.
    • It was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham who also became its first Director-General.
    • Under the provisions of the AMASR Act of 1958, the ASI administers more than 3650 ancient monuments, archaeological sites and remains of national importance.
    • These can include everything from temples, mosques, churches, tombs, and cemeteries to palaces, forts, step-wells, and rock-cut caves.

    Initiatives by ASI

    • Museums: ASI’s museums are customarily located right next to the sites that their inventories are associated with “so that they may be studied amid their natural surroundings and not lose focus by being transported”. A dedicated Museums Branch maintains a total of 44 museums spread across the country.
    • Publications by ASI: Epigraphia Indica, Ancient India, Indian Archaeology: A Review (Annually).
    • Library: Central Archaeological Library in the National Archives building in Janpath, New Delhi.

    Issues and Challenges ahead of ASI

    • To restore or not: Issue is that technically speaking- ruins are seldom “restored” in original state. This is because in absence of documentation- archaeologists are left to conjecture what buildings may have looked like when they were originally built.
    • Personnel Management Issues: Higher Authorities of ASI are traditionally from IAS Cadre. In-house specialist must be promoted for better coordination b/w technical and managerial aspects of restoration
    • Issues explored in CAG Report: 92 monuments are untraceable with no database on artifacts. Poor Documentation of Protected Monuments/Artifacts. Paucity of funds (Eg- Red fort gardens lie unkempt).

    Conclusion

    • It is the duty of every citizen to value and preserve the rich heritage of our composite culture. Preservation and conservation of India’s rich cultural heritage and promotion of all forms of art and culture, both tangible and intangible, is essential and assumes a lot of importance.

    Mains question

    Q. Safeguarding the Indian heritage is the need of the moment. What are the challenges faced in safeguarding them? What steps would you suggest to protect them?

     

     

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  • Bhang, Ganja, and criminality in the NDPS Act

    While granting bail to a man arrested on June 1 for possessing 29 kg of bhang and 400 g of ganja, Karnataka High Court recently observed that nowhere in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act is bhang referred to as a prohibited drink or prohibited drug.

    What is Bhang?

    • Bhang is the edible preparation made from the leaves of the cannabis plant, often incorporated into drinks such as thandai and lassi, along with various foods.
    • Bhang has been consumed in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, and is frequently consumed during the festivals of Holi and Mahashivratri.
    • Its widespread use caught the attention of Europeans, with Garcia da Orta, a Portuguese physician who arrived in Goa in the 16th century, noting that, “Bhang is so generally used and by such a number of people that there is no mystery about it”.

    Bhang and the law

    • Enacted in 1985, the NDPS Act is the main legislation that deals with drugs and their trafficking.
    • Various provisions of the Act punish production, manufacture, sale, possession, consumption, purchase, transport, and use of banned drugs, except for medical and scientific purposes.
    • The NDPS Act defines cannabis (hemp) as a narcotic drug based on the parts of the plant that come under its purview. The Act lists these parts as:
    1. Charas: “The separated resin, in whatever form, whether crude or purified, obtained from the cannabis plant and also includes concentrated preparation and resin known as hashish oil or liquid hashish.”
    2. Ganja: “The flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant (excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops), by whatever name they be known or designated.”
    3. “Any mixture, with or without any neutral material, of any of the above forms of cannabis or any drink prepared therefrom.”
    • The Act, in its definition, excludes seeds and leaves “when not accompanied by the tops”.
    • Bhang, which is made with the leaves of the plant, is not mentioned in the NDPS Act.

    Cannabis and criminal liability

    • Section 20 of the NDPS Act lays out the punishment for the production, manufacture, sale, purchase, import and inter-state export of cannabis, as defined in the Act.
    • The prescribed punishment is based on the amount of drugs seized.
    • Contravention that involves a small quantity (100 g of charas/hashish or 1 kg of ganja), will result in rigorous imprisonment for a term that may extend to one year and/or a fine which may extend to Rs 10,000.
    • For a commercial quantity (1 kg charas/ hashish or 20 kg ganja), rigorous imprisonment of not less than 10 years, which may extend to 20 years, including a fine that is not less than Rs 1,00,000 but may extend to Rs 2,00,000.
    • Where the contravention involves quantity less than commercial, but greater than small quantity, rigorous imprisonment up to 10 years is prescribed, along with a fine which may extend to Rs 1,00,000.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Substance Abuse in India

     

     

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  • Why are the fisherfolk protesting over Vizhinjam Port Project?

    Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram, is on the boil due to the under-construction Vizhinjam Port Project, from both sea and land.

    Vizhinjam Port Project

    • The Vizhinjam International Transhipment Deep-water Multipurpose Seaport is an ambitious project taken up by Government of Kerala.
    • It is designed primarily to cater container transhipment besides multi-purpose and break bulk cargo.
    • The port is being currently developed in landlord model with a Public Private Partnership component on a design, build, finance, operate and transfer (“DBFOT”) basis.

    Why protests are erupted?

    • The protestors have been opposing the construction work by the Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited.
    • Adani group is developing the port on DBFOT basis.

    What lies at the heart of the protest?

    • According to fisherfolk, the port work has aggravated the coastal erosion along the coast of Thiruvananthapuram.
    • A scientific study to assess the impact of the port work on the shoreline has to be conducted urgently by stopping the construction.
    • Further, around 300 families along the coastline were shifted to relief camps after their houses were destroyed due to high-intensity coastal erosion.
    • The protesters demand a comprehensive rehabilitation package, an assured minimum wage when the sea turns rough due to inclement weather and subsidised kerosene for boats.

    Why the Vizhinjam project is considered important?

    • The port is located on the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula, just 10 nautical miles from the major international sea route and east-west shipping axis.
    • It has a natural water depth of more than 20 m within a nautical mile from the coast.
    • The Vizhinjam port is likely to play a pivotal role in the maritime development of the country and Kerala.
    • The commissioning of the port is expected to leverage the growth of 17 minor ports in the State along with creating thousands of employment opportunities.

     

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  • Old age poverty is getting worse if not addressed soon

    old age povertyContext

    • India’s old age poverty will be big by 2050. Only 2% informal workers have invested in NPS.
    • Poverty is about not having enough money to meet basic needs including food, clothing and shelter. However, poverty is more, much more than just not having enough money.

    Why is age a cause of poverty?

    • The “oldest-old”, aged 80 years or over, are less able to work than younger older persons; are more likely to have spent their savings; and are most in need of age-appropriate health and long-term personal care services.

    How age induces poverty in India?

    • India has no legal provisions for income security of the elderly, making the impacts of ageing far harsher for those who are already economically vulnerable.
    • Deteriorating brain and muscle capacity are largely non-negotiable facts of life, limiting one’s ability to get a job or remain employed.

    Reasons for old age poverty

    old age poverty

    • Dependency: A large section of the senior population in India is still dependent on the joint family set up for their senior care and post-retirement needs, with financial planning for retirement taking a back seat.
    • High population: An increase in the number of seniors in India will reduce the percentage of India’s human resource capital and its ability to drive economic growth.
    • Low insurance penetration: This highlights the inadequacy and underscores the critical need to streamline retirement planning schemes and strengthen the pension programs in the country. There is a lacks of social security framework.

    Data to remember

    People employed in the unorganised sector form around 90 per cent of India’s workforce.

    How to assure wellness and dignity to elders?

    • Income security in the form of monthly pensions either state-assured or employment-linked has been one of the most prevalent modes of assuring continued wellness and dignity against the life-shock of ageing.

    old age povertyAddressing the roadblock

    • Universal pension program: Income security in later years stems from multiple sources such as pensions, insurances (medical and life), Investments. This provides an opportunity for India to create a universal pension program for its 1.3 billion people.
    • Financial incentives: There is a pressing need to promote and facilitate fiscal planning in the early years and supplement it with senior-friendly tax structures and integrated insurance products. Such measures can help provide multiple income options to seniors to help them embrace a lifestyle of their choice.
    • Regulatory mechanism: A regulatory mechanism will set a viable base rate for the interest accrued on senior citizen deposits and ensure market dips don’t affect retirement income and senior-specific saving plans.

    Case study

    • Rwanda has achieved roughly 2 million voluntary micro-pension enrolments (30 per cent of its adult population) within three years by making digital account activation easy and simple for informal workers.

     

    Government intervention to improve elderly wellness

    • A strong and sustained political commitment,
    • A statutory pension sector regulator,
    • A well-designed and low-cost NPS product architecture,
    • Credible and well-regulated NPS intermediaries,
    • Securities market capable of delivering high returns,
    • Near-universal banking and mobile penetration,
    • The India Stack infrastructure with Aadhaar for easy eKYC, and UPI for secure digital payments.

    Conclusion

    • The government, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) and the NPS industry now need to urgently put their heads together and address the obvious supply and demand side barriers. Every day is precious. After all, pension exclusion is akin to climate change. It needs immediate attention. By 2050, India’s problem of old age poverty will have become way too large, too late, too expensive and entirely irreversible.

    Mains question

    Q. Nearly 400 million young, economically active Indians are slowly walking towards extreme old age poverty in this context how will you explain and analyse the term old age poverty? Suggest some dynamic measures to address this problem.

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  • Challenging the Special Marriage Act, 1954

    The Supreme Court has dismissed a writ petition challenging the Constitutional validity of certain provisions of the Special Marriage Act, 1954 under which couples seek refuge for inter-faith and inter-caste marriages.

    What is Special Marriage Act, 1954?

    • The Special Marriage Act, 1954 (SMA) was enacted to facilitate the marriage of couples professing different faiths, and preferring a civil wedding.
    • However, some practical problems arise in registering such marriages.
    • The law’s features on prior public notice being given and objections for the safety and privacy of those intending to marry across religions.
    • To overcome this, many settle for marriage under the personal law of one of them, with the other opting for religious conversion.

    What does the petition seek?

    • The Supreme Court dismissed a writ petition challenging the Constitutional validity of certain provisions of the SMA under which couples seek refuge for inter-faith and inter-caste marriages.
    • The writ petition has called these provisions violative of Article 21, which guarantees the right to privacy.
    • Under this act, the couples require to give a notice of 30 days before the date of marriage inviting objections from the public.
    • The provisions contravene Article 14 on prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste and sex as well as Article 15 on right to equality as these requirements are absent in personal laws.

    What did the court say?

    • The SC Bench rejected the writ petition on the grounds that the petitioner was no longer an aggrieved party as she had already solemnised her marriage under SMA.
    • The petitioner’s lawyers said that they were now deliberating on an alternative approach to initiate this litigation such as through a public interest litigation involving other victims.
    • Another writ petition is admitted by the Supreme Court in 2020 and the government’s reply to is awaited.

    What are the provisions that have been challenged?

    • Section 5 of the SMA requires couples getting married under it to give a notice to the Marriage Officer 30 days before the date of marriage.
    • Section 6 requires such a notice to be then entered into the Marriage Notice Book maintained by the Marriage Officer, which can be inspected by any person desirous of inspecting the same.
    • These notices have to be also affixed at a “conspicuous place” in the office of the Marriage Officer so that anyone can raise an objection to the marriage.
    • Section 7 provides the process for making an objection such as if either party has a living spouse, is incapable of giving consent due to “unsoundness of mind” or is suffering from mental disorder resulting in the person being unfit for marriage or procreation.
    • Section 8 specifies the inquiry procedure to be followed after an objection has been submitted.

    Why are these provisions contentious?

    • The provisions throw the personal information of the individuals open to public scrutiny. This may result into vigilantism.
    • This seriously damages one’s right to have control over her or his personal information and its accessibility.
    • By making the personal details of the couple accessible to everyone, the very right of the couple to be the decision makers of their marriage is being hampered by the state.

    How do these provisions make couples vulnerable?

    • These public notices have been used by anti-social elements to harass couples getting married.
    • For many who often marry without their parent’s consent this can be life-threatening.
    • Many states publicly share the details of couples marrying under SMA on their websites.
    • Many also complain about the behaviour of the staff at the SDM’s office who often delete or delay applications and dissuade couples from marrying under SMA.
    • With as many as 11 States passing anti-conversion (or so-called love-jihad) laws, parents and the State are now armed to punish and harass such couples.

     

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  • One Nation One Fertiliser (ONOF) Scheme

    The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers will implement One Nation One Fertiliser (ONOF) by introducing a Single Brand for Fertilisers and Logo under the fertiliser subsidy scheme named “Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna” (PMBJP).

    One Nation One Fertiliser (ONOF)

    • The single brand name for UREA, DAP, MOP and NPK etc. would be BHARAT UREA, BHARAT DAP, BHARAT MOP and BHARAT NPK etc. respectively for all Fertiliser Companies, State Trading Entities (STEs) and Fertiliser Marketing Entities (FMEs).
    • Also a logo indicating Fertiliser subsidy scheme namely Pradhanmantri Bhartiya Janurvarak Pariyojna will be used on said fertiliser bags.
    • Under the scheme, companies are allowed to display their name, brand, logo and other relevant product information only on one-third space of their bags.
    • On the remaining two-thirds space, the “Bharat” brand and Pradhanmantri Bharatiya Jan Urvarak Pariyojana logo will have to be shown.

    What is the government’s argument for introducing this scheme?

    The government’s logic for introducing a single ‘Bharat’ brand for all subsidised fertilisers being marketed by companies is as follows:

    (1) Subsidies normalization

    • The maximum retail price of urea is currently fixed by the government, which compensates companies for the higher cost of manufacturing or imports incurred by them.
    • The MRPs of non-urea fertilisers are, on paper, decontrolled.
    • But companies cannot avail of subsidy if they sell at MRPs higher than that informally indicated by the government.
    • Simply put, there are some 26 fertilisers (inclusive of urea), on which government bears subsidy and also effectively decides the MRPs;

    (2) Harmonizing markets

    • Apart from subsidising and deciding at what price companies can sell, the government also decides where they can sell.
    • This is done through the Fertiliser (Movement) Control Order, 1973.
    • Under this, the department of fertilisers draws an agreed monthly supply plan on all subsidised fertilisers in consultation with manufacturers and importers.
    • This supply plan is issued before the 25th of each month for the following month, with the department also regularly monitoring movement to ensure fertiliser availability as per requirement, including remote areas.

    (3) Farmers welfare

    • The government is spending vast sums of money on fertiliser subsidy (the bill is likely to cross Rs 200,000 crore in 2022-23).
    • By deciding where and at what price companies can sell, it would obviously want to take credit and send that message to farmers.

    What can be the drawbacks of the scheme?

    • It may disincentivise fertiliser companies from undertaking marketing and brand promotion activities.
    • They will now be reduced to contract manufacturers and importers for the government. Any company’s strength ultimately is its brands and farmer trust built over decades.
    • Currently, in case of any bag or batch of fertilisers not meeting the required standards, the blame is put on the company. But now, that may be passed on fully to the government.
    • Politically, the scheme might well boomerang rather than benefit the ruling party.

     

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  • NCRB releases ‘Crime in India’ Report

    A new edition of ‘Crime in India’, the annual report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), was released on August 29, for crime-related statistics in 2021.

    Why in news?

    • NCRB reports have been a valuable compilation of statistics over the years on offences ranging from crimes against women to economic and financial crimes.
    • It has provided honest and credible sets of crime related data in India.

    Crime in India: Key highlights

    • Overall, 2021 saw a 6 per cent decline in the number of crimes registered, as compared to 2020.
    • The crime rate per lakh population declined from 487.8 in 2020 to 445.9 in 2021.
    • However, crime statistics do not always tell the full story, and lower crimes reported in an area do not necessarily mean it is safe.
    • Crimes against women rose 15 per cent in India in 2021 and Delhi is the most unsafe metropolitan city.
    • Rajasthan reported the highest number of rape cases and Maharashtra topped the list when it comes to most suicides.
    • Around 1.73 lakh people died in traffic accidents. Uttar Pradesh saw the highest number of deaths (24,711) in traffic accidents.
    • Jammu and Kashmir registered the most Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) cases under the ‘special and local laws’ in 2021, as per NCRB data.
    • Of the total 814 cases under the UAPA in India, J&K lodged 289 cases last year, followed by Manipur (157), Assam (95), Jharkhand (86) and Uttar Pradesh (83).
    • Jharkhand and Maharashtra filed the highest cases of communal riots last year with 100 and 77 cases respectively.

    Who publishes the NCRB report?

    • The NCRB was established in January 1986 with the aim of establishing a body to compile and keep records of data on crime.
    • It functions under the Union Home Ministry.
    • Apart from publishing annual reports, its functions include “Collection, coordination and exchange of information on inter-state and international criminals to the respective states”.
    • NCRB also acts as a “national warehouse” for the fingerprint records of Indian and foreign criminals, and assists in locating interstate criminals through fingerprint search.

    How does the NCRB collect information for its report?

    • The NCRB report contains data received from the 36 states and Union Territories across the country.
    • Similar data is furnished for 53 metropolitan cities, or those having a population of more than 10 lakh as per the 2011 census, by respective state-level crime records bureaus.
    • This information is entered by state/UT police at the police station/ district level, and is then validated further at the district level, then the state level, and finally by the NCRB.

    Issues with NCRB data

    • By its own admission, the NCRB says there are limitations to its data.
    • Since the publication caters to the ‘Principal Offence Rule’ for classification of crime, the actual count of each crime head may go under-reporting.
    • The Principal Offence Rule states that in a case where multiple offences are registered, only the “most heinous crime”, carrying the most stringent punishment, is considered when counting.
    • For example, ‘Murder with Rape’ is accounted as ‘Murder’, leading to undercounting of the crime of rape.
    • Vacancies or a shortage of police officers at the local level may hinder the collection of data.
    • Also the data record the incidence of registered crime rather than of actual crime.

    Antithesis to NCRB data

    • Reported crimes against women in Delhi rose significantly in the aftermath of the 2012 Nirbhaya Gangrape case.
    • This is not because the heinous crimes got trivialized.
    • It may have been a reflection of increased awareness about the need for registering crimes, both among those affected and the police, rather than an actual increase in the incidence of crime against women.

     

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  • PARAKH: A new regulator for ‘uniformity’ in all board exams

    The Centre is planning to draw up a benchmark framework ‘PARAKH’ to assess students at the secondary and higher secondary level to bring about “uniformity” across state and central boards.

    What is PARAKH?

    • PARAKH stands for Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development.
    • The proposed regulator will act as a constituent unit of the NCERT.
    • It will also be tasked with holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement Surveys.
    • The benchmark assessment framework will seek to put an end to the emphasis on rote learning, as envisaged by the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
    • PARAKH, the proposed implementing agency, is also part of the NEP proposal.

    Response form States

    • Most states endorsed the proposal to hold board exams twice a year, including one for helping students improve their scores.
    • States are also on board regarding a proposal to offer two types of papers on mathematics — a standard exam, and another to test higher level competency.
    • It will help reduce the fear of maths among students and encourage learning.

    Significance of PARAKH

    • PARAKH will help tackle the problem of students of some state boards being at a disadvantage during college admissions as compared to their peers in CBSE schools.
    • It will develop and implement “technical standards for the design, conduct, analysis and reporting” of tests at all levels of school education.
    • PARAKH will eventually become the national single-window source for all assessment related information and expertise, with a mandate to support learning assessment in all forms, both nationally and where applicable, internationally.

     

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  • India-Srilanka Relations

     

    Context

    The present economic crisis in Sri Lanka has pushed it closer to India for immediate relief.

    Reasons for the Crisis

    The first wave of the pandemic in 2020 offered early and sure signs of distress.

    • In-migration: Thousands of Sri Lankan laborers in West Asian countries were left stranded and returned jobless.
    • Shut-down: Garment factories and tea estates could not function, as infections raged in clusters. Tourism sector to saw a big dip.
    • Domestic job losses: Thousands of youth lost their jobs in cities as establishments abruptly sacked them or shut down.
    • Forex decline: It meant that all key foreign exchange earning sectors, such as exports and remittances, along with tourism, were brutally hit.

    Reasons behind crisis

    • The Easter bomb blasts of April 2019 in churches in Colombo resulting in 253 casualties,consequently, dropped the number of tourists sharply leading to a decline in foreign exchange reserves.
    • The newly led government by Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019 promised lower tax rates and wide-ranging SoPs for farmers during their campaign.
    • No strategy: The lack of a comprehensive strategy to respond to the crisis then was coupled with certain policy decisions last year.
    • Ill-advised policies: It included the government’s abrupt switch to organic farming —widely deemed “ill-advised”, further aggravated the problem.
    • Food hoarding: The government declared emergency regulations for the distribution of essential food items. It put wide import restrictions to save dollars which in turn led to consequent market irregularities and reported hoarding.
    • Continuous borrowing: Fears of a sovereign default rose by the end of 2021, with the country’s foreign reserves plummeting to $1.6 billion, and deadlines for repaying external loans looming.

    Brief background of India-SL relations

    • India is the only neighbor of Sri Lanka, separated by the Palk Strait; both nations occupy a strategic position in South Asia and have sought to build a common security umbrella in the Indian Ocean.
    • There are deep racial and cultural links between the two countries. Both share a maritime border.
    • The India- SL relations have been however tested by the Sri Lankan Civil War and by the controversy of Indian intervention during the war.
    • In recent years Sri Lanka has moved closer to China, especially in terms of naval agreements.
    • India has signed a nuclear energy deal to improve relations and made a nuclear energy pact with Sri Lanka in 2015.

    India’s role in the Lankan Civil War

    • In the 1970s–1980s, the RAW and the state government of Tamil Nadu were believed to be encouraging the funding and training for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist insurgent force.
    • In 1987, faced with growing anger amongst its own Tamils, and a flood of refugees India intervened directly in the conflict for the first time.
    • This was after the Sri Lankan government attempted to regain control of the northern Jaffna region by means of an economic blockade and military assaults; India supplied food and medicine by air and sea.

    Why did India intervene?

    • Indian intervention in Sri Lankan civil war became inevitable as that civil war threatened India’s unity, national interest and territorial integrity.

    Outcomes

    • The peace accord assigned a certain degree of regional autonomy in the Tamil areas with a body controlling the regional council and called for the Tamil militant groups to lay down their arms.
    • Further India was to send a peacekeeping force, named the IPKF to Sri Lanka to enforce the disarmament and to watch over the regional council.
    • The accord failed over the issue of representations. The result was that the LTTE now found itself engaged in military conflict with the Indian Army.

    Areas of cooperation

    (1) Political Relations

    • Regular Exchange: Political relations between the two countries have been marked by high-level exchanges of visits at regular intervals.
    • Bilateral Cooperation: A joint statement covering all areas of bilateral cooperation, titled ‘MitratvaMaga’ was issued following the Virtual Summit of 2020.

    (2) Commercial Relations

    • ISFTA: The India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (ISFTA) in 2000 contributed significantly towards the expansion of trade in areas such as infrastructure, connectivity, transportation, housing, health, livelihood and rehabilitation, education, and industrial development.
    • Trading Partner: India has traditionally been among Sri Lanka’s largest trade partners and Sri Lanka remains among the largest trade partners of India in the SAARC.
      • In 2020, India was Sri Lanka’s 2nd largest trading partner with the bilateral merchandise trade amounting to about USD $ 3.6 billion.
    • India and Sri Lanka are member nations of several regional and multilateral organizations such as the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), South Asia Co-operative Environment Programme, South Asian Economic Unionand BIMSTEC.
    • India is Sri Lanka’s third-largest export destination, after the US and UK.
    • Exports: Sri Lankan exports to India have increased substantially since 2000 when ISLFTA came into force.
    • FDI: India is also one of the largest contributors to Foreign Direct Investment in Sri Lanka. According to BoI, FDI from India amounted to about US$ 1.7 billion during the period 2005 to 2019.

    (3) Development Cooperation

    • Grants: The overall commitment by GOI is to the tune of more than USD 3.5 billion.
      • Demand-driven and people-centric nature of India’s development partnership with Sri Lanka have been the cornerstone of this relationship.
    • The Indian Housing Project: India has so far committed to construct close to 62,500 houses in Sri Lanka, making it one of the largest projects undertaken by GoI abroad.
    • Emergency Ambulance Service: The Service which was initially launched in July 2016 is now expanded to all the Provinces.
      • At a total cost of more than USD 22.5 million, close to 300 ambulances were provided by GOI under this project.
    • Other Projects: India is also involved in projects for renovation of Palaly Airport, Kankesanthurai Harbor, construction of a Cultural Centre in Jaffna, interconnection of electricity grids between the two countries, construction of a 150-bed hospital in Dickoya and setting up a coal power plant in Sampur as a joint venture between National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
    • Latest Development: India-SL agreed for joint development of Trincomalee Oil Tank farmed in 2022 after 35 years of wait.

    (4) Projects under Lines of Credit

    • Sectors: 11 Lines of credit (LOC) have been extended to Sri Lanka by the Export Import Bank of India in the last 15 years.
      • Important sectors under these LOCs include: Railway, transport, connectivity, defense, solar.
    • Infrastructure: Some important Projects completed are- supply of defense equipments; up-gradation of the railway line from Colombo to Matara; track laying by IRCON on Omanthai-Pallai sector; reconstruction of the Railway line; signaling and telecommunication system; supply of engine kits for buses, diesel locomotives railways, DMUs, Carrier and fuel tank wagons etc.
    • Rehabilitation: A project for the rehabilitation of the Kankesanthurai harbor is being executed under a LOC of USD 45.27 million, bringing immense economic benefits to the Northern region of Sri Lanka.
    • Solar Energy: A US$ 100 million LoC for undertaking solar projects in Sri Lanka has been signed for rooftop solar units for Government buildings, rooftop solar units for low-income families and a floating solar power plant.
    • Security: In 2019, a LOC of USD 400 million for development and infrastructure projects and USD 50 million for security and counter-terrorism were announced.
      • These LOC Agreements are currently under discussion.

    (5) Cultural relations

    • India and Sri Lanka have a shared legacy of historical, cultural, religious, spiritual and linguistic ties that is more than 2,500 years old.
    • In contemporary times, the Cultural Cooperation Agreement signed by the Government of India and the Government forms the basis for periodic Cultural Exchange Programmes between the two countries.

    (6) People-to-people ties: Buddhism

    • Buddhism is one of the strongest pillars connecting the two nations and civilizations from the time when Emperor Ashoka sent his children Arhat Mahinda and Sangamitta to spread the teachings of Lord Buddha at the request of King Devanampiya Tissa of Sri Lanka.
    • Underlining the deep people-to-people connect and shared Buddhist heritage, the venerated relics of Lord Buddha from Kapilawasthu discovered in 1970 in India have been exhibited two times in Sri Lanka.
    • India in 2020, announced USD 15 million grant assistance for the protection and promotion of Buddhist ties between India and Sri Lanka.
      • It may be utilized for the construction/renovation of Buddhist monasteries, education of young monks, strengthening engagement of Buddhist scholars and clergy, development of Buddhist heritage museums, etc.
    • Transport- In July 2020, the GoI declared the Kushinagar Airport in India, the place of Lord Buddha’s Mahaparinibbana, as an international airport, to allow Buddhist pilgrims from around the world to visit the revered site associated with Lord Buddha with ease.
    • The Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre (SVCC)– since its inception in 1998, is actively promoting awareness of Indian culture by offering classes in Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Hindustani and Carnatic vocal, Violin, Sitar, Tabla, Hindi and Yoga.

    (7) Tourism

    • e-Visa- Tourism also forms an important link between India and Sri Lanka. GoI formally launched the e-Tourist Visa (eTV) scheme for Sri Lankan tourists on 14 April 2015.
    • Visa Fee- Subsequently, in a goodwill gesture, the visa fee for eTV was sharply reduced. In 2019, out of the total 1.91 million tourists, 355,000 tourists arrived from India.
    • Sri Lankan tourists too are among the top ten sources for the Indian tourism market.
    • Visa on arrival- On 24 July 2019 Sri Lanka included India in the free visa on arrival scheme and commenced the scheme on 1 August 2019.

    Plummeting relations

    • The ties began to worsen between the two since February, 2021 when Sri Lanka backed out from a tripartite partnership with India and Japan for its East Container Terminal Project at the Colombo Port, citing domestic issues.
      • However, later, the West Coast Terminal was offered under a public private partnership arrangement to Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd.
    • Sri Lanka in a state of economic emergency: Sri Lanka is running out of foreign exchange reserves for essential imports like food. It has recently declared a state of economic emergency.
    • Covid Impact:
      • Sri Lanka increased policy rates after the covid pandemic in response to rising inflation in August 2021 caused by currency depreciation.
      • Tourism sector has suffered since the Easter Sunday terror attacks of 2019, followed by the pandemic.
      • Earnings fell from $3.6 billion in 2019 to $0.7 billion in 2020, even as FDI inflows halved from $1.2 billion to $670 million over the same period.
      • Sri Lanka’s fragile liquidity situation has put it at high risk of debt distress. Its public debt-to-GDP ratio was at 109.7% in 2020, and its gross financing needs remain high at 18% of GDP.
      • Its gross official reserves slipped to $2.8 billion, which is equivalent to just 1.8 months of imports. More than $2.7 billion of foreign currency debt will be due in the next two years.

    Major outstanding issues

    1. Fishing disputes
    • There have been several alleged incidents of Sri Lankan Navy personnel firing on Indian fishermen fishing in the Palk Strait, where India and Sri Lanka are only separated by 12 nautical miles.
    • The issue started because of Indian fishermen having used mechanized trawlers, which deprived the Sri Lankan fishermen (including Tamils) of their catch and damaged their fishing boats.
    • The Sri Lankan government wants India to ban use of mechanized trawlers in the Palk Strait region, and negotiations on this subject are undergoing.
    • So far, no concrete agreement has been reached since India favors regulating these trawlers instead of banning them altogether.
    2.Alleged political interference
    • A media report from Colombo soon after Rajapaksa’s defeat in the January 8 elections of 2015 had said that an Indian Intelligence official was instrumental in uniting rival political parties — the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and the United National Party (UNP) — against him during the polls.
    • In October 2018, President Sirisena alleged that Indian intelligence agencies were plotting his assassination.
    3.Katchatheevu Island
    • It is an uninhabited island that India ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974 based on a conditional agreement called “Kachchativu island pact”.
    • Later on, Sri Lanka declared Katchatheevu, a sacred land given the presence of a Catholic shrine.
    • But Tamil Nadu claimed that Katchatheevu falls under the Indian Territory and Tamil fishermen have traditionally believed that it belongs to them and therefore want to preserve the right to fish there.
    4.China factor
    • Sri Lanka has a history of taking independent decisions even if they cause misgivings in India.
    • In the period of low profile relationship between the two nations, Sri Lanka apparently started favoring China over India.
    • China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral creditor: China’s loans to the Sri Lankan public sector amounted to 15% of the central government’s external debt, making China the largest bilateral creditor to the country.
      • Sri Lanka has increasingly relied on Chinese credit to address its foreign debt burden.
    • China’s Exports surpasses India: China’s exports to Sri Lanka surpassed those of India in 2020 and stood at $3.8 billion.
      • India’s exports were $3.2 billion.
    • Infrastructural Investment by China: Owing to Sri Lanka’s strategic location at the intersection of major shipping routes, China’s investment stands at $12 billion between 2006 and 2019.
      • Unable to service its debt, in 2017, Sri Lanka lost the unviable Hambantota port to China for a 99-year lease.
      • Sri Lanka passed the Colombo Port City Economic Commission Act, which provides for establishing a special economic zone around the port and also a new economic commission, to be funded by China.
      • The Colombo port is crucial for India as it handles 60% of India’s trans-shipment cargo.

    Why is Sri Lanka important to India?

    • India is Sri Lanka’s closest neighbor. Both sides have built upon a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction.
    • Sri Lanka has always been politically and economically important to India given its strategic geographical position in the Indian Ocean. The relationship has been marked by close contacts at all levels.
    • Sri Lanka sits at the epicenter of the arc connecting the Persian Gulf to the Strait of Malacca. An island nation with an economy that’s mainly reliant on tourism and tea exports, Sri Lanka’s blessed geography puts it at a crucial juncture of the busy shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean.
    • India also has a vital strategic stake in Sri Lanka for its own security interests. An unfriendly Sri Lanka or a Sri Lanka under influence of a power unfriendly to India would strategically discomfit India.
    • For the Indian Navy, Sri Lanka is important as the switching of naval fleets from the Bay of Bengal to the Arabian Sea and vice versa requires the fleets to go around the island nation.
    • Both countries share a common broad understanding on major issues of international interest and experience common social-political problems relating to community divides.

    How India has helped to boost Sri Lanka’s economy

    • Grants: The overall commitment by GOI is to the tune of more than USD 3.5 billion. Demand-driven and people-centric nature of India’s development partnership with Sri Lanka have been the cornerstone of this relationship.
    • The Indian Housing Project: India has so far committed to construct close to 62,500 houses in Sri Lanka, making it one of the largest projects undertaken by GoI abroad.
    • Other Projects: India is also involved in projects for renovation of Palaly Airport, Kankesanthurai Harbor, construction of a Cultural Centre in Jaffna, interconnection of electricity grids between the two countries, construction of a 150-bed hospital in Dickoya and setting up a coal power plant in Sampur as a joint venture between National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).
    • Latest Development: India-SL agreed for joint development of Trincomalee Oil Tank farmed in 2022 after 35 years of wait.

    sri lanka

    Impact of recent Economic crisis on India

    • Export:
      • Sri Lanka’s share in India’s total exports has declined from 2.16 percent in FY15 to just 1.3 percent in the first 10 months of FY22.
    • Shipping:
      • If the current situation in the island nation persists, it could cause a major disruption to the normal functioning of the Colombo Port.
      • This would be detrimental to India’s interest.
      • The port handles over 30 percent of India’s container traffic and 60 percent of its trans-shipment.
    • Investments:
      • India has had a substantial investment in Sri Lanka in areas including real estate, manufacturing, and petroleum refining. They all might be adversely affected if the crisis continued.
    • Migration:
      • Also, the continuing Sri Lankan crisis could compel many Sri Lankans to leave for India for their survival.
      • Already, scores of them have fled from the island nation to India.

    Opportunities for India for deeper engagement

    • Dairy sector: Sri Lanka imports a considerable quantity of milk powder. On average, Colombo annually imports dairy products worth $315 million. . India can help Sri Lanka develop its dairy sector.
    • Poultry sector: In this area, through its host of agricultural universities, India can share its knowledge on ways to increase both production and productivity.
    • Energy sector: Considering how the problem on the energy front exploded into a major political crisis in Sri Lanka, India’s participation in energy projects will be desirable.
    • Education sector: School education is another area where India’s presence could be more felt. India can expand its scheme of establishing smart classrooms and modern computer labs to cover all those institutions teaching children of hill country Tamils, the most underprivileged section in society.

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    Challenges

    • Possibility of greater economic collaboration: Whether this bonhomie can lead to greater economic collaboration between Sri Lanka and south India, not necessarily Tamil Nadu alone, given the historical baggage, is anybody’s guess.
    • Baggage of history: Some sections of the Sinhalese still hold the view that India had been a threat to them and it can still be a threat to them.
    • Modest investment in development: Despite India’s open willingness to take part in the development of Sri Lanka after the civil war, the scale of its involvement has been modest.
    • Incomplete projects due to lack of political will: After the cancellation of the tripartite agreement, India was later provided with projects such as the West Container Terminal, the Trincomalee oil tank farm and a couple of renewable projects, there were several proposals that envisaged India’s participation but did not see the light of day.

    Way forward

    • Infrastructure development: Even now, there is enormous scope for collaboration between the two countries in the area of infrastructure development.
    • Cross-border energy trade: The economic crisis has revived talk of linking Sri Lanka’s electricity grid with that of India.
    • Facilitating people-to-people interaction: The apprehension in the minds of sections of the Sinhalese majority about India being a threat can be dispelled only by facilitating greater people-to-people interaction, including pilgrimages by monks and other sections of  society to places of Buddhist importance not only in north India but also in the south (Andhra Pradesh).
    • No china factor indeed: Labeling governments in Sri Lanka as “pro-China” or “pro-India” is irrelevant. It is evident that China’s economic and strategic salience in the subcontinent is not tied to the regime leadership. Previous Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena who considered as pro-India came to power criticizing the Chinese projects in Sri Lanka, but within two years into power, it extended full backing to the Chinese projects.

    Conclusion

    • Given the history of bilateral ties, instances such as the Hambantota controversy are bound to arise. But what should not be glossed over is that a politically and economically stable Sri Lanka will be in India’s interest too.

    Mains question 

    Q. There is no such thing as charity in international politics. Critically analyse this statement showing how India can reap benefits of economic cooperation with Sri Lanka.