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  • The Jal Jeevan and Swachh Bharat Missions are improving people’s well-being

    Context

    The performance of the Jal Jeevan and Swachh Bharat Missions highlights the importance of convergence as an operating principle of the government.

     Jal Jeevan Mission: Progress made so far

    • Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) is a flagship programme of the Government of India, launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on 15th August 2019.
    • Jal Jeevan Mission, is envisioned to provide safe and adequate drinking water through individual household tap connections by 2024 to all households in rural India.
    • Community approach: The Jal Jeevan Mission is based on a community approach to water and will include extensive Information, Education and communication as a key component of the mission.
    • Over 9.6 crore rural households get tap water supply; notably, more than 6.36 crore households have been provided tap water connections since the programme was announced in August 2019.

    Achievements of Swachh Bharat Mission

    • Universal sanitation coverage: To accelerate the efforts to achieve universal sanitation coverage and to put the focus on sanitation, the Prime Minister of India had launched the Swachh Bharat Mission on 2nd October 2014.
    • Under the mission, all villages, Gram Panchayats, Districts, States and Union Territories in India declared themselves “open-defecation free” (ODF) by 2 October 2019, the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
    • To ensure that the open defecation free behaviours are sustained, no one is left behind, and that solid and liquid waste management facilities are accessible, the Mission is moving towards the next Phase II of SBMG i.e ODF-Plus.
    • Swachh Bharat Mission Phase-2: The government has launched Swachh Bharat Mission Phase 2 with a focus on plastic waste management, biodegradable solid waste management, grey water management and faecal sludge management.
    •  Under Swachh Bharat Mission Phase-2, arrangements for solid and liquid waste management have been made in 41,450 villages; nearly 4 lakh villages have minimal stagnant water.
    • ODF Plus: Nearly 22,000 villages have been named “model village” under the ODF Plus scheme, and another 51,000 villages are on their way to achieving this tag.
    • Sludge treatment and plastic waste management: Before the government embarked on Swachh Bharat Mission, nearly 1,20,000 tonnes of faecal sludge was left untreated as two-thirds of all toilets were not connected to the main sewer lines
    • The scale of India’s plastic waste pollution is staggering.
    • Both these problems find themselves on the agenda of Swachh Bharat Mission’s Phase 2.
    • In a short time, 3.5 lakh villages have become plastic dump free and nearly 4.23 lakh villages have minimal litter.
    • Nearly 178 faecal sludge treatment plants and nearly 90,000 km of drains have been constructed.

    How convergence between SBM and JJM enabled each other

    • Principle of convergence: The late Arun Jaitley introduced convergence as one of the primary operating principles of the government in his first budget speech.
    • One enabling the other: The best exhibition of this can be found in the ways in which the Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission work in tandem, one enabling the other.
    • More than 10 crore toilets were built under SBM but this accomplishment could have been difficult had the government not had the foresight to build the toilets on a twin-pit design that has in-situ treatment of faecal sludge.
    • Now, providing tap water connections through the Jal Jeevan Mission is among the government’s top priorities.
    • Managing grey water discharge: The Jal Jeevan Mission faces a challenge similar to that faced by the Swachh Bharat Mission — managing grey water discharge.
    • Holistic sanitation: When household tap connections were provided, the Jal Jeevan Mission converged with the Swachh Bharat Mission to achieve holistic sanitation in which the treatment of grey water became a vital component.
    • Focus on women: The Jal Jeevan mission intends to relieve women of the drudgery of travelling long distances to fetch water.
    • The Swachh Bharat Mission too is centred around the dignity of women.
    • A joint study by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and UNICEF revealed that an overwhelming number (80 per cent) of the respondents stated that safety and security were the main drivers of their decision to construct toilets.
    • The Jal Jeevan Mission is catalysing change at the grass roots level by reserving 50 per cent seats for women in village and water sanitation committees.
    • In every village, at least five women have been entrusted with water quality surveillance and many of them have been trained as plumbers, mechanics and pump operators.

    Impact on growth and economy

    •  In 2006, a joint study by WSP, Asian Development Bank and UKAID revealed that inadequate sanitation cost India Rs 2.4 trillion — 6 per cent of India’s GDP at that time.
    • The Swachh Bharat Mission, apart from preventing GDP loss, provides annual benefits worth Rs 53,000 per household.

    Conclusion

    The success of Jal Jeevan Mission and Swachh Bharat Mission is a good example of convergence, one of the primary operating principles of the government.

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  • Next-Generation Corvettes for Indian Navy

    The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has given the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for the procurement of next-generation Corvettes for the Indian Navy at an approximate cost of Rs 36,000 crore.

    What is a Corvette?

    • A Corvette is the smallest class of naval ships and it falls below the warship class of a frigate.
    • These are highly agile ships and are categorised as missile boats, anti-submarine ships, coastal patrol crafts and fast attack naval vessels.
    • The word corvette itself is derived from French and Dutch origin.
    • During World War II, the term Corvette was used to describe vessels which had anti-submarine roles assigned to them.
    • Modern Corvettes can go up to 2,000 tons in displacement which helps in keeping them agile.

    What kind of Corvettes does the Indian Navy possess?

    • The Indian Navy at present has the Kamorta Class Corvettes, which are also known as Project 28.
    • These ships have an anti-submarine role and are manufactured at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata.
    • The four Kamorta Class Corvettes that the Indian Navy possesses are named INS Kamorta, INS Kadmatt, INS Kiltan and INS Kavaratti.
    • The first of these was commissioned in 2014 and the last one in 2020.

    What new capabilities will the new generation Corvettes have?

    • The next-generation Corvettes will be manufactured for various roles like surveillance missions, escort operations, deterrence, surface action group operations, search and attack and coastal defence.
    • It is worth noting that these roles will be in addition to the anti-submarine roles being already performed by the existing Corvettes in the Navy.
    • Corvettes will be constructed based on new in-house design of the Indian Navy using latest technology of ship buildings.
    • They would contribute to further the government’s initiative of Security and Growth for all in the region (SAGAR).

     

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  • Dostarlimab: The New Wonder Cancer Drug

    A trial on 18 colorectal cancer patients in the US found that cancer could be treated without chemotherapy or surgery. The world is sitting up and taking note of Dostarlimab, which has been called a wonder drug.

    What is Dostarlimab?

    • Dostarlimab is an experimental drug. It contains laboratory-produced molecules.
    • It acts as substitute antibodies. It is sold under the brand name Jemperli.
    • It was approved for medical use in the United States and the European Union in 2021.
    • Its side-effects include vomiting, joint pain, itching, rash, fever etc.

    What are the findings?

    • The trial showed that immunotherapy alone – without any chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery that have been staples of cancer treatment.
    • It could completely cure the patients with a particular kind of rectal cancer called ‘mismatch repair deficient’ cancer”.
    • All 12 patients had completed the treatment and were followed for six to 25 months after.
    • No cases of progression or recurrence had been reported during the follow-up.
    • The response too was rapid, with symptoms resolving in 81% of the patients within nine weeks of starting the therapy.

    Is Dostarlimab actually very effective?

    • Dostarlimab is not a new drug but a combination of drugs that are already approved for use in immunotherapy.
    • There is a possibility that Dostarlimab may improve the outcome and survival rate in rectal cancer patients but to say it as a magic drug for cancer is completely going overboard.

    How does this drug cure?

    • PD1 is a protein that regulates immune function and can sometimes keep T cells from killing cancer cells.
    • The therapy in the trial used PD1 blockades, allowing T cells to kill cancer cells.
    • ‘Mismatch repair deficient’ cancer is most common among colorectal, gastrointestinal, and endometrial cancers.
    • Patients suffering from this condition lack the genes to correct typos in the DNA that occur naturally while cells make copies.
    • Immunotherapy belongs to a category called PD1 blockades that are now recommended for the treatment of such cancers rather than chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

    Will Indian patients get access to the drug?

    • At present, Indian doctors seem to be generally wary of prescribing Dostarlimab for their patients.
    • Experts have termed as optimistic the findings of an ongoing trial—a group of rectal cancer patients showed no signs of a tumour after taking the drug for six months.
    • None of the participants reported any severe side-effects either.
    • Yet, doctors say they want to assess the duration of the response.

    What do we know about the clinical trial?

    • Cancer was treated in all the patients and could not be detected by physical examination, endoscopy, positron emission tomography, or magnetic resonance imaging.
    • Thus, there is a thought that cancer can be treated without chemotherapy or surgery.

    Is it too early to celebrate?

    • Cancer specialists said initial signals show how precision medicine is building the future but they need to test more patients from different areas and other types of cancers.
    • The combination of drugs was administered to a small number of patients and for a specific type of cancer.

     

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  • [pib] Children in Street Situations (CiSS) Application

    The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has launched a “CiSS application” under the Baal Swaraj portal to help in the rehabilitation process of Children in Street Situations (CiSS).

    CiSS Application

    • The CiSS application is used for receiving data of children in street situations from all the states and union territories, tracking their rescue and rehabilitation process.
    • The initiative is taken under the direction of the Supreme Court of India.
    • The program embodies Article 51 (A) of the Constitution of India, as it provides a platform to the public and organizations catering to the welfare of the children to report any child in need of assistance.
    • The platform serves to collect data and report to the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) for them to take necessary action.
    • It also provides a platform for professionals and organizations to provide any help that they can to children in need.
    • Help can be provided in the form of open shelters, counselling services, medical services, sponsorships, de-addiction services, education services, legal/paralegal services, volunteering etc.

    Its working framework

    • It categorizes any child under ‘Children in Street Situation’ if the child is living on the streets alone, living on the streets during the day, or living on the streets with the family.
    • The root cause of this phenomenon is the migration of families from rural to urban areas in search of a better standard of living.

    How does it work?

    It follows six stages framework for the rehabilitation of children.

    1. Collection of the child’s details, which is accomplished through the portal.
    2. Social Investigating Report (SIR)e. investigating the child’s background. This is done under the supervision of the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) by the District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) by conversing and counselling the child.
    3. Formulating an Individual Care Plan (ICP) for the child.
    4. Child Welfare Committee (CWC) based on the SIR submitted to the CWC.
    5. Allocating the schemes and benefits that the beneficiary can avail of.
    6. A checklist is made for the evaluation of the progress i.e. (Follow Ups).

     

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  • Environmental Performance Index (EPI), 2022

    India has objected to a report, called the EPI, 2022, that places the country last (along with Nigeria) on a list of 180 countries on managing climate change, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.

    Environmental Performance Index

    • The report is prepared by researchers at the Yale and Columbia universities.
    • It provides a data-driven summary of the state of sustainability around the world.
    • Using 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories, the EPI ranks 180 countries on climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.
    • These indicators provide a gauge at a national scale of how close countries are to established environmental policy targets.
    • The EPI offers a scorecard that highlights leaders and laggards in environmental performance and provides practical guidance for countries that aspire to move toward a sustainable future.

    Why the report is inherently biased?

    • The US placed itself at the 20th spot of the 22 wealthy democracies in the global west and 43rd overall.
    • The relatively low ranking has put all blame on the rollback policies during the Trump administration.
    • It goes on to preach that developing countries do not have to sacrifice sustainability for economic security.

  • Monetary tightening and its impact on growth

    Context

    A rate hike in the monetary policy committee’s June meeting was a foregone conclusion after the spike in inflation and an off-cycle surprise interest rate hike on May 4.

    Reasons fast forwarding of interest rate hike

    • 1] Broad based inflation: A confluence of factors has pushed inflation higher and made it persistent and broad-based. 
    • 2] Policy rates are still negative: Even with this hike, the repo rate, the signalling tool for bank interest rates, is still below pre-pandemic levels.
    • The real policy rate (repo rate less expected inflation) remains negative and has some distance to cover before it reaches positive territory — where the RBI would like to see it.
    • 3] Lag in effect: Monetary policy impacts growth, and thereafter, inflation with a lag.
    • To control inflation, the RBI needed to act faster by front loading rate hikes.
    • 4] Elevated inflation expectations: The risk of inflation expectations getting unmoored had risen.
    • Household and business inflation expectations remain elevated, as indicated by the RBI’s inflation expectations survey of households.
    • 5] Interest rate hike in the US: The aggressive stance of the US Federal Reserve and ensuing tightening financial conditions.
    • India is better placed today than in 2013 to face the Fed’s actions with a stronger forex shield.

    How US Fed’s actions affect India?

    • India is not insulated.
    • Capital outflow: The headwinds now are stronger than in 2013 and we have seen net capital outflows since October 2021.
    • S&P Global expects the US federal funds rate to be hiked to 3-3.25 per cent in 2023, higher than the pre-pandemic level, and highest since early 2008.
    • Despite a strong forex hoard, the RBI has had to deploy monetary policy to mute the impact of the Fed’s actions.

    Inflation and its impact

    • Upward pressure on food inflation: The pressure on food inflation has increased owing to the impact of the freak heatwave on wheat, tomatoes and mangoes, which is driving prices higher.
    • This is on top of rising input costs for agricultural production, the global surge in food prices and the expected sharper than usual rise in minimum support price.
    • Fuel inflation will remain high, duty cuts notwithstanding, as global crude prices remain volatile at elevated levels.
    • Core inflation, the barometer of demand, is a complex story.
    • Goods (despite only partial pass-through of input costs) are witnessing higher inflation than services.
    • That’s because services faced tighter restrictions during the Covid-19 waves, restricting their consumption and the pricing power of providers as well.
    • Service categories that are mostly regulated, such as public transport, railways, water and education, have over 50 per cent weight in core services.
    • However, prices of discretionary services such as airlines, cinema, lodging and other entertainment are rising.
    • Transportation-related services have seen the sharpest rise in the past six months due to fuel price increases.
    • Impact on the poor: For those at the bottom of the pyramid, high inflation hits harder because energy and food are a big chunk of their consumption basket.

    Growth prospects

    • S&P Global has recently cut the growth outlook for major economies for 2022 — that of the US to 2.4 per cent from 3.2 per cent, for Eurozone to 2.7 per cent from 3.3 per cent earlier, and for China to 4.2 per cent from 4.9 per cent.
    • This will hurt exports which are very sensitive to global demand.

    Monetary policy actions

    • Not all aspects of supply-driven inflation can be addressed via monetary policy.
    • So the authorities are complementing monetary policy actions by using the limited fiscal space to cut duties and extend subsidies to the vulnerable.

    Conclusion

    Monetary tightening impacts growth with a lag of at least 3-4 quarters and the fact that real interest rates are negative and borrowing rates still below pre-pandemic levels, implies monetary policy is unlikely to be growth-restrictive for this year.

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  • Healthcare in India is ailing. Here is how to fix it

    Context

    The lesson emerging from the pandemic experience is that if India does not want a repeat of the immeasurable suffering and the social and economic loss, we need to make public health a central focus.

    Need for institutional reforms in the health sector

    • The importance of public health has been known for decades with every expert committee underscoring it.
    • Ideas ranged from instituting a central public health management cadre like the IAS to adopting an institutionalised approach to diverse public health concerns — from healthy cities, enforcing road safety to immunising newborns, treating infectious diseases and promoting wellness.
    • Covid has shifted the policy dialogue from health budgets and medical colleges towards much-needed institutional reform.

    About National Health Mission (NHM)

    • The National Health Mission (NHM) seeks to provide universal access to equitable, affordable and quality health care which is accountable, at the same time responsive, to the needs of the people, reduction of child and maternal deaths as well as population stabilization, gender and demographic balance.
    • The Framework for Implementation of NUHM has been approved by the Cabinet on May 1, 2013.
    • NHM encompasses two Sub-Missions, National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) and National Urban Health Mission (NUHM).
    • The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in 2005 with a view to bringing about dramatic improvement in the health system and the health status of the people, especially those who live in the rural areas of the country.

    Learning from the failure of National Health Mission (NHM)

    • The National Health Mission (NHM) has been in existence for about 15 years now and the health budget has trebled— though not as a proportion of the GDP.
    • Despite this less than 10 per cent of the health facilities below the district level can attain the grossly minimal Indian public health standards.
    • Clearly, the three-tier model of subcentres with paramedics, primary health centres with MBBS doctors and community health centres (CHC) with four to six specialists has failed.
    • Lack of accountability framework: The model’s weakness is the absence of an accountability framework.
    • The facilities are designed to be passive — treating those seeking care.

    Suggestions

    • 1] FHT: Instead of passive design of NHM, we need Family Health Teams (FHT) like in Brazil, accountable for the health and wellbeing of a dedicated population, say 2,000 families.
    • The FHTs must consist of a doctor with a diploma in family medicine and a dozen trained personnel to reflect the skill base required for the 12 guaranteed services under the Ayushman Bharat scheme.
    • A baseline survey of these families will provide information about those needing attention.
    • Family as a unit: The team ensures a continuum of care by taking the family as a unit and ensuring its well-being over a period.
    •  Nudging these families to adopt lifestyle changes, following up on referrals for medical interventions and post-operative care through home visits for nursing and physiotherapy services would be their mandate.
    • 2] Health cadre: The implication of and central to the success of such a reset lies in creating appropriate cadres.
    • 3] Clarity to nomenclatures: There is also a need to declutter policy dialogue and provide clarity to the nomenclatures.
    • Currently, public health, family medicine and public health management are used interchangeably.
    • While the family doctor cures one who is sick, the public health expert prevents one from falling sick.
    • The public health management specialist holds specialisation in health economics, procurement systems, inventory control, electronic data analysis and monitoring, motivational skills and team-building capabilities, public communication and time management, besides, coordinating with the various stakeholders in the field.
    • 4] Move beyond doctor-led systems: India needs to move beyond the doctor-led system and paramedicalise several functions.
    • Instead of wasting gynaecologists in CHCs midwives (nurses with a BSc degree and two years of training in midwifery) can provide equally good services except surgical, and can be positioned in all CHCs and PHCs.
    • This will help reduce C Sections, maternal and infant mortality and out of pocket expenses.
    • 5] Counsellors and physiotherapists at PHC: Lay counsellors for mental health, physiotherapists and public health nurses are critically required for addressing the multiple needs of primary health care at the family and community levels.
    • 6] Review of existing system: Bringing such a transformative health system will require a comprehensive review of the existing training institutions, standardising curricula and the qualifying criteria.
    • Increase spending on training: Spending on pre-service and in-service training needs to increase from the current level of about 1 per cent.
    • 7] Redefining of functions: A comprehensive redefinition of functions of all personnel is required to weed out redundancies and redeploy the rewired ones.

    Conclusion

    Resetting the system to current day realities requires strong political leadership to go beyond the inertia of the techno-administrative status quoist structures. We can.

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  • Challenges in global growth recovery

    Context

    The global economy was well on its path to recovery until the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

    Uncertainties in global growth prospects

    • Divergent economic recoveries: Economic prospects have worsened since the Ukraine crisis, worsening the divergence between the economic recoveries of advanced economies and those of the developing ones.
    • The prevailing uncertainties in global growth prospects come in the aftermath of frequent disruptions to worldwide supply chains in the last two years.
    • Against this background, two key macroeconomic variables have a persistent effect on growth rebound.
    • 1] Price pressure: There is tenacious price pressure, leading to policy trade-offs especially in developing economies.
    • 2] Capital outflow: There have been capital outflows and a tightening of financial conditions, affecting investment and growth in the medium and long term.

    1] Price pressure

    • Global concern: In some of the advanced economies, inflation has reached its highest level in the last 40 years.
    • The major contributors to high inflation are energy and food prices.
    • A spike in oil and gas prices due to a tight fossil fuel supply and geopolitical uncertainty have led to substantial increases in energy costs worldwide.
    • In developing economies, rising food prices have had cascading effects, culminating in higher overall inflation.
    • This gets intensified if poor weather hits harvests and rising oil prices drive up the cost of producing and transporting fertilizers.
    • In developing economies, higher prices for food impacts different sections of the population differently, depending on the types of food consumed and the share of food expenditure in a household’s consumption basket.
    • Persistent short supply and increases in food and fuel prices could significantly increase the risk of social unrest as the poorer sections are pushed to the edge of heightened deprivation.

    2] Capital outflow

    • Emerging markets suffered their first portfolio outflows in a year in March 2022.
    • The Institute of International Finance (IIF) says “foreign net portfolio outflows for emerging markets came to $9.8 billion in March.
    • Investors have become more selective, as higher risk sensitivity mounts due to tighter monetary conditions and rising inflation.
    • Reasons for capital outflow: Interest rates tightening in the United States is associated with capital flow reversals from emerging markets.
    • Impact on developing economies: For developing economies, the result of sudden large capital outflows is currency depreciation and tighter external sector conditions, leading to growth fluctuations.

    Way forward

    • Monitor the pass-through of international prices: Though the factors contributing to high inflation (global supply shocks) are beyond the control of central banks, they need to carefully monitor the pass-through of rising international prices to domestic inflation to calibrate their responses.
    • Calibrate the pace of policy tightening: The pace of policy tightening needs to be attuned to prevailing economic situations and activity levels.
    • Communicate the importance of inflation targeting: Central banks could also signal a readiness to shift the monetary stance to maintain the credibility of their inflation-targeting frameworks by clearly communicating the importance of inflation stabilisation in their objectives and backing it with policy actions.
    • Foreign exchange interventions: As sudden capital flow reversals can threaten financial stability, foreign exchange interventions could address market imbalances.
    • Fiscal consolidation: There exists an imperative to prune expenditure and get back to the road of fiscal consolidation.
    • However, a push for consolidation should not prevent governments from prioritising spending to protect and help vulnerable populations affected by price increases and the pandemic.
    • Income support policies: In the post-pandemic global economy, there will be a likely cross-sectoral labour reallocation.
    •  These transitions require labour market and income support policies that are designed to provide safety nets for workers without hindering employment growth.

    Conclusion

    The message from the current phase of global growth is clear. Policymakers in the developing economies have to prepare for tighter financial conditions and spillovers from geopolitical volatility.

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  • [Burning Issue] India’s Afghan Outreach and Taliban

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    Context

    • For the first time since the Taliban takeover on 15 August 2021, India has sent an official delegation to Afghanistan.
    • India discussed a host of issues that included resumption of stalled infrastructure projects, activation of diplomatic ties, and restarting the issue of visas for Afghan students and patients.

    Points of Discussion

    1. Has India officially recognized the Talibans?
    2. Tashkent held recently meet excluded Pakistan. Is Pakistan out of the Afghan security scenario?

    Highlights of the discussion

    • With this, it appears that the Indian is now less divided about the need to engage formally with the Taliban and prevent Afghan people getting marginalised.
    • Afghanistan is vital to India’s strategic interests in the region where the people’s (and even Taliban’s) affection for India is legendary.

    Expected outcomes of the meet

    • Recognition of the Taliban government is not on the cards yet.
    • The visit may have paved the way for the reopening of the Indian embassy, albeit a downgraded one.

    India and Taliban: A quick timeline of engagement

    • Initial reluctance: From 1996 to now, India’s journey from first opposition, then diffidence to engaging with the Taliban is in no small measure a story of India’s problematic relationship with Pakistan.
    • Beginning of Kashmir Insurgency: In 1996, when the Taliban fought their way through warring mujahideen factions into Kabul for the first time, in India, fearing a spillover on Kashmir insurgency (there was indeed some).
    • 1999 hijacking: During the hijacking of IC814, when the Pakistani hijackers took the plane to Kandahar, the then ruling Taliban acted as a support arm of the hijackers.

    Since then, any engagement was a standstill.

    When did India reach out to the Talibans?

    • 9-11 terror attacks: After 9/11, under the US umbrella, India invested money and energy into the rebuilding of Afghanistan.
    • But by 2010, with increasing doubts about the US continuance, India was again considering reaching out to the Taliban.
    • New Delhi did not want to be left out or marginalised in the Afghanistan of the future.
    • After the execution of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011, the Obama Administration was getting ready to declare an end to the war.

    Since then, the way was paved for the talks.

    How did its neighbors capitalize on the Afghan Crisis?

    • Pakistan had delivered the Taliban to the Trump Administration for talks.
    • Russia was backing the Taliban fully as the future ruler of Afghanistan, seeing in this sweet revenge for its own defeat in Afghanistan by US-financed, Pakistan-trained mujahideen.
    • Iran was also glad at America’s defeat at the hands of the Taliban.
    • China leveraged its relationship with Pakistan to get a foot into Kabul.

    India’s considerations: Counter-intuitive timing

    • Radicalism: India’s cautious opening to the Taliban has come at a time when the group has made it clear it has not changed from its previous satanical radicalism.
    • Restrictions on women: This has increased, from not being allowed to attend school to curbs on free movement in public spaces and at work.
    • Patronage to terror outfits: Taliban continues to remain close to Al-Qaeda, with a significant presence of its multinational fighting force in Afghanistan.
    • Threats in Kashmir: They also flag the JeM and LeT training camps in Nangarhar and Kumar, close to the Pakistan border.

    Why is India engaging with the Taliban now?

    https://thedailyguardian.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/22wheat-af.jpg
    • Reducing Pakistan’s footprint: It is time to de-hyphenate Pakistan from the Taliban, especially as the Pakistan security establishment is finding the going tough with the Kabul regime.
    • Inducing political insight: Another reason advanced for India’s change in policy is that the Taliban in power are more divided than they were as a fighting force.
    • Averting another crisis: This situation may provide room for a layered political and diplomatic engagement with different actors.
    • Eliminating terrorism: It has also helped that the Taliban have made no hostile statements on Kashmir since taking over in Kabul.
    • Afghanistan impacts India’s security: It has, in the past, provided space to al Qaeda with which the Taliban had a special relationship. Afghanistan has an ISIS presence too.
    • Humanitarian assistance: India aims at facilitating humanitarian assistance through international organizations, and paving the way for access to consular services.
    • Protecting its investment: India built vital roads, dams, electricity transmission lines and substations, schools and hospitals, etc. Total assistance is now estimated to be worth well over $3 billion.

    Way forward

    • An engagement with the Taliban would at least give an opportunity to convey Indian concerns directly.
    • The visit has encouraged those elements within the group who wish to open up its diplomatic choices.
    • All in all, the sooner India establishes a permanent presence in Kabul the better for the pursuit of national interests in the external sphere.
    • This is not an exercise in evangelism but the cold and undeterred pursuit of interests, which often requires supping with the devil — of course, with a long spoon.

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  • Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)

    Setting the stage for appointment of the next Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the government has amended Service Rules of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

    The post of CDS has also been lying vacant since the demise of Late. Gen. Bipin Rawat.

    What is the update in rules?

    • The govt has allowed retired Service Chiefs and three-star officers eligible for consideration for the country’s top military post.
    • However, with an age limit that the retired officer should not have attained 62 years on the date of appointment.
    • Retired Service chiefs are largely ruled out, especially so for the present consideration.

    Office of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)

    • The CDS is a high military office that oversees and coordinates the working of the three Services, and offers seamless tri-service views and single-point advice to the Executive.
    • On long-term it provides for defence planning and management, including manpower, equipment and strategy, and above all, “joint manship” in operations.
    • In most democracies, the CDS is seen as being above inter-Service rivalries and the immediate operational preoccupations of the individual military chiefs.
    • The role of the CDS becomes critical in times of conflict.

    Duties and Functions of the CDS

    The Ministry of Defence has outlined various functions and duties for the post of CDS:

    • To head the Department of Military Affairs in Ministry of Defence and function as its Secretary.
    • To act as the Principal Military Advisor to Raksha Mantri on all Tri-Service matters.
    • To function as the Permanent Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee
    • To administer the Tri-Service organizations/agencies/commands.
    • To be a member of Defence Acquisition Council chaired by Raksha Mantri.
    • To function as the Military Advisor to the Nuclear Command Authority.
    • To bring about jointness in operation, logistics, transport, training, support services, communications, repairs and maintenance, etc of the three Services.
    • To implement Five-Year Defence Capital Acquisition Plan and Two-Year roll-on Annual Acquisition Plans, as a follow up of Integrated Capability Development Plan.
    • To bring about reforms in the functioning of three Services with the aim to augment combat capabilities of the Armed Forces by reducing wasteful expenditure.

    Why need CDS?

    • Tri-services coordination: The creation of the CDS will eventually lead to the formation of tri-service theatre commands intended to create vertical integration of the three forces.
    • Single-point military advisory: The CDS will be a single-point military adviser to the government and synergise long term planning, procurements, training and logistics of the three Services.
    • Efforts saving: This is expected to save money by avoiding duplication between the Services, at a time of shrinking capital expenditure within the defence budget.
    • Military diplomacy: This is today supporting conventional diplomacy. That can’t be done by different Services.

     

     

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