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GS Paper: GS3

  • Gahirmatha beach witnesses Arribada

    About 2.45 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles crawled ashore on the Nasi-II beach of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary along the Odisha coast for laying eggs, marking one of the largest opening day arrivals of turtles at the site.

    Olive Ridley Turtles

    • The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
    • In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
    • The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
    • The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

    Special feature: Mass nesting

    • They are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.
    • Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
    • They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.
    • They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.

     

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  • Forging a social contract for data

    Context

    The Draft India Data Accessibility and Use Policy 2022 released in February for public consultation, is silent on the norms, rules, and mechanisms to bring to fruition its vision.

    Aims of the policy

    • The Draft Policy aims for harnessing public sector data for informed decision-making, citizen-centric delivery of public services, and economy-wide digital innovation.
    • It seeks to maximise access to and use of quality non-personal data (NPD) available with the public sector, overcoming a number of historical bottlenecks.
    • This GovTech 3.0 approach — to unlock the valuable resource of public sector data — does upgrade the OGD vision of the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), 2012.
    • It seeks to harness data-based intelligence for governance and economic development.

    What is lacking in the draft policy?

    • Lacking in norms and rules: The Draft Policy is silent on the norms, rules, and mechanisms to bring to fruition its vision of data-supported social transformation.
    • Ignores the canons of RTI: Any attempt to promote meaningful citizen engagement with data cannot afford to ignore the canons of the Right to Information (RTI), and hence, the need for certain citizen data sets with personal identifiers to be in the public domain, towards making proactive disclosure meaningful.
    •  The unfinished task of the NDSAP in bringing coherence between restrictions on the availability of sensitive personal information in the public domain and India’s RTI, therefore, has been lost sight of.
    • Risks to group privacy: With respect to government-to-government data sharing for citizen-centric service delivery, the Draft Policy highlights that approved data inventories will be federated into a government-wide, searchable database.
    •  But even in the case of anonymised citizen data sets (that is no longer personal data), downstream processing can pose serious risks to group privacy.
    • Lack of data trusteeship framework: The Draft Policy adheres to the NDSAP paradigm of treating government agencies as ‘owners’ of the data sets they have collected and compiled instead of shifting to the trusteeship paradigm recommended by the 2020 Report of the MEITY Committee of Experts on non-personal data governance.
    • The lack of a data trusteeship framework gives government agencies unilateral privileges to determine the terms of data licensing.

    Suggestions

    • Taking on board a trusteeship-based approach, the proposed Draft Policy must pay attention to data quality, and ensure that licensing frameworks and any associated costs do not pose an impediment to data accessibility for non-commercial purposes.
    • Create common and interoperable data spaces: In the current context, where the most valuable data resources are held by the private sector, it is increasingly evident to policymakers that socioeconomic innovation depends on the state’s ability to catalyse wide-ranging data-sharing from both public and private sector actors across various sectors.
    • The European Union, for instance, has focused on the creation of common, interoperable data spaces to encourage voluntary data-sharing in specific domains such as health, energy and agriculture.
    • Mandatory data sharing arrangement: Creating the right conditions for voluntary data-sharing is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for democratising data innovation.
    • In this regard, the data stewardship model for high-value data sets proposed by the MEITY’s Committee of Experts in their Report on Non-Personal Data Governance (2020) is instructive.
    • In this model, a government/not-for-profit organisation may request the Non-Personal Data Authority or NPDA for the creation of a high-value data set (only non-personal data) in a particular sector, demonstrating the specific public interest purpose.
    • Once such a request is approved by the NPDA, the data trustee has the right to request data-sharing from all major custodians of data sets corresponding to the high-value data set category in question – both public and private.

    Conclusion

    • What we need is a new social contract for data whereby:
    • a) the social commons of data are governed as an inappropriable commons that belong to all citizens;
    • b) the government is the custodian or trustee with fiduciary responsibility to promote data use for public good; and
    • c) democratisation of data value is ensured through accountable institutional mechanisms for data governance.

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  • Noise Pollution in India

    The city of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh is the second-most noise polluted city globally, according to a recent report title Frontier 2022 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

    What is Noise Pollution?

    • Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them harmful to a degree.
    • It is generally defined as regular exposure to elevated sound levels that may lead to adverse effects in humans or other living organisms.
    • The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport, and propagation systems.
    • Poor urban planning may give rise to noise disintegration or pollution, side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential areas.
    • Some of the main sources of noise in residential areas include loud music, transportation (traffic, rail, airplanes, etc.), maintenance, construction, electrical generators, wind turbines, explosions, and people etc.

    Defining Noise Pollution

    • Sounds with a frequency over 70 db are considered harmful to health.
    • The World Health Organization (WHO) had recommended a 55 db standard for residential areas in the 1999 guidelines, while for traffic and business sectors, the limit was 70 db.
    • The WHO set the limit of noise pollution on the road at 53 db in 2018, taking into account health safety.

    Noise Pollution in India

    • The report identifies 13 noise polluted cities in south Asia. Five of these, including Moradabad, are in India, which have recorded alarming levels of noise pollution:
    1. Kolkata (89 db)
    2. Asansol (89 db)
    3. Jaipur (84 db)
    4. Delhi (83 db)
    • The noise pollution figures given in the report relate to daytime traffic or vehicles.
    • Moradabad has recorded noise pollution of a maximum of 114 decibels (db). The Frontier 2022 report mentions a total of 61 cities.

    Case in the neighborhood

    • The highest noise pollution of 119 db has been recorded in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
    • At third place is Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, where the noise pollution level has been recorded at 105 db.

    Hazards created

    • High levels of noise pollution affect human health and well-being by having an effect on sleep.
    • This has a bad effect on the communication of many animal species living in the area and their ability to hear.
    • Regular exposure for eight hours a day to 85 decibels of sound can permanently eliminate the ability to hear.
    • Not only that, exposure to relatively low noise pollution for long periods in cities can harm physical and mental health.

     

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  • When Nehru took Pak to the UN over Kashmir in 1947?

    Finance Minister sought to remind Parliament that it was the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who internationalized the Kashmir issue by taking it to the United Nations.

    Kashmir at UN

    • The United Nations has played an advisory role in maintaining peace and order in the Kashmir region soon after the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947.
    • India took this matter to the UN Security Council, which passed resolution 39 (1948) and established the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate the issues and mediate between the two countries.
    • Following the cease-fire of hostilities, it also established the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to monitor the cease-fire line.

    Why did Nehru agree to these terms?

    • In December 1947, because the British perhaps suggested Nehru that this matter will not be resolved unless you take it to the UN.
    • British were convinced that an intermediary was needed.
    • Nehru, a loyalist to the British agreed upon the terms laid by Mountbatten.
    • It was Nehru who first put forth the idea of a referendum under the aegis of UN soon after independence.
    • There is evidence to believe Sardar Patel was uncomfortable with Nehru taking the matter to the UN, and thought it was a mistake.

    Issue: Adventurism by Pakistan

    • The discussions in the Security Council on our complaint of aggression by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir took a very unfavourable turn.
    • Pakistan then succeeded, with the support of the British and American members creating a western bias against India.
    • Pakistan is misusing this till date paving wave for third-party intervention.
    • It is an issue which should not have gone to a global forum, it is essentially an Indian issue.

    Article 35 of UN Charter

    • There has been some debate on whether India chose the wrong path to approach the UN.
    • In 2019, Home Minister said that had Nehru taken the matter to the UN under Article 51 of the UN Charter, instead of Article 35, the outcome could have been different.
    • India pointed out that J&K had acceded to India, and that the “Government of India considered the giving of this assistance by Pakistan to be an act of aggression against India.
    • Articles 33-38 of the UN Charter occur in Chapter 6, titled “Pacific (peaceful) Settlement of Disputes” :

    These Articles lay out that:

    1. the parties to a dispute that has the potential for endangering international peace and security are not able to resolve the matter through negotiations between them, or by any other peaceful means, or with the help of a “regional agency”
    2. the Security Council may step in, with or without the invitation of one or another of the involved parties, and recommend “appropriate procedures or methods of recommendation”
    3. Article 35 only says that any member of the UN may take a dispute to the Security Council or General Assembly
    4. Article 51, which occurs in Chapter 7, titled “Action With Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression”
    5. It says that a UN member has the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if attacked

    Issues with the internationalization of Kashmir

    • Kashmir issue no longer remains bilateral; it has thus been internationalized.
    • However, India has been successful in perhaps internationalizing terrorism but not the Kashmir problem.
    • But unwarranted statements against India’s sovereign concerns are increasing these days.

     

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  • GSAT 7B and India’s other Military Satellites

    The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh cleared the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of a GSAT 7B satellite.

    What are the GSAT 7 series satellites?

    • GSAT 7 satellites are advanced satellites developed by the ISRO to meet the communication needs of the defence services.
    • The satellite was injected into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.
    • The GSAT 7 satellite was launched in August 2013 from an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
    • It is a 2,650 kg satellite which has a footprint of nearly 2,000 nautical miles in the Indian Ocean region.

    Utility of this satellite

    • This satellite is mainly used by the Indian Navy for its communication needs.
    • The GSAT 7 provides a gamut of services for military communication needs, which includes low bit voice rate to high bit rate data facilities, including multi-band communications.
    • Named Rukmini, the satellite carries payloads in UHF, C-band and Ku-band, and helps the Navy to have a secure, real time communication link between its land establishments, surface ships, submarines and aircraft.

    What will be the role of the GSAT 7B satellite?

    • The GSAT 7B will primarily fulfil the communication needs of the Army.
    • Currently, the Army is using 30 per cent of the communication capabilities of the GSAT 7A satellite, which has been designed for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
    • The GSAT 7B will also help the Army enhance its surveillance in border areas.
    • While many features of this satellite are still a closely guarded secret, it is expected that the state of the art, multi-band, military-grade satellite shall be a shot in the arm for the communication and surveillance needs of the Army.

    What is the role of the GSAT 7A satellite, which is already operational?

    • The GSAT 7A was launched in 2018 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
    • It has gone a long way in boosting the connectivity between the ground radar stations, airbases and the airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) of the IAF.
    • It also helps in satellite controlled operations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which gives a great deal of reliability to the operations as compared to ground-controlled operations.
    • This satellite has 10 channels in Ku band with switchable frequency for mobile users, one fixed Gregorian or parabolic antenna, and four steerable antennae.

    Future plans

    • A GSAT 7C satellite is on the cards for the IAF, and a proposal to this effect was cleared by the DAC in 2021.
    • This satellite would facilitate real time communication with IAF’s software defined radio communication sets.
    • It will increase the capability of the IAF to communicate beyond the line of sight in a secure mode.

    What other kinds of military satellites does India have?

    • An Electromagnetic Intelligence Gathering Satellite (EMISAT), developed by ISRO, was launched in April 2020 through a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45).
    • It has an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) package called Kautilya, which allows the interception of ground-based radar and also carries out electronic surveillance across India.
    • The ELINT package provides the capability in direction-finding of radar and fixing their locations.
    • It is placed in a 748-km orbit, and is said to be based on the Israeli satellite system.
    • This satellite circles the globe pole-to-pole, and is helpful in gathering information from radars of countries that have borders with India.
    • India also has a RISAT 2BR1 synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, which was launched in December 2019 from Sriharikota.
    • It has the capability to operate in different modes including very high resolution imaging modes of 1×0.5 metre resolution and 0.5×0.3 m resolution with a swath of 5-10 km.

     

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  • Sovereign green bond (SGB)

    Context

    The other two major budget announcements pertain to the issuance of sovereign green bonds and a central bank digital currency. While geopolitical turbulence might make the current moment inopportune for experimentation, the government seems firm on both the proposals and they will most probably be rolled out.

    Sovereign green bond (SGB):  how it is different from a traditional bond

    • The sovereign green bond is a novel idea.
    •  It will be a part of the government’s borrowing programme.
    • The gross borrowing programme of the government is pegged at Rs 14.95 lakh crore.
    • The SGB (sovereign green bond) raised will be part of the aggregate borrowing programme and has to be used for projects which are ESG (environment, social and governance) compliant.
    • Hence, if the bond is being used to finance a power project or road, or in case it is used to finance revenue expenditure, it has to be ESG compliant.
    • If they succeed at the central level, green bonds can be replicated by states.

    Challenges for SGB

    • Pricing challenge: As these bonds are different from G-secs (government securities), they may have to provide a better return as all ESG compliant companies have to make special investments that will push up costs.
    • Low-interest rate: Further, given the low-interest rates prevailing today — real returns on deposits are negative — the SGBs can be issued as tax-free bonds, open to the public.
    • This will evince a lot of interest given that these are government-issued bonds.
    • The RBI and the government have been trying to get retail investors to participate in the government’s borrowing programme, and this move will expedite the process.

    Central bank digital currency (CBDC) and challenges

    •  For launching such a currency, the RBI has to address certain fundamental questions.
    • 1] Will it replace currency: Is a CBDC going to replace currency at some point in the future?
    • One must remember that there are several sections in India that are not conversant with technology.
    • 2] How will it be different from digital payments: If it is going to coexist with currency, how different will it be for the public from the digital payments that are being made today?
    • Will people need to choose between a mobile wallet and a CBDC wallet?
    • 3] Security of owner’s information: any issuance of CBDC on a voluntary basis also raises a question on the security of the owner’s information.
    • CBDC has to be clear on the issue of confidentiality as it is bound to be a matter of concern.
    • 4] The future of the banking system: If people have to be incentivised to move voluntarily to the CBDC, the cash exchanged must earn interest or else all money will go to bank accounts where a minimal interest rate can be earned.
    • Will we require savings bank accounts with commercial banks in case all cash goes to the RBI?
    • Will we then require ATMs for cash withdrawal? Will bank tellers become redundant? Will we need logistics companies that handle cash?
    • These finer issues need to be addressed by the RBI as the widespread use of CBDC will progressively lead to lesser need for banks.
    • 5] Issue of security: Any financial system that runs on technology can be hacked.
    • It has to be foolproof and power failure resistant.
    • There is a real danger of cyber fraud increasing as the majority of the population is not tech-savvy.
    • Similarly, there is always downtime for bank servers when banking transactions cannot be carried on.
    • This cannot be allowed to be the case with CBDC as it has to be available on a 24 x 7 basis.

    Consider the question “What are green bonds? How the green bonds can act as a tool to achieve the targets of sustainable development as a means of finance?”

    Conclusion

    The arguments for CBDC are compelling on the grounds of keeping up with the central banks of other countries, and the possibilities of taking advantage of new technologies like blockchain. But before embarking on these measures, it might be useful to keep in mind the issues flagged above.

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  • Exports in India

    India’s annual goods exports crossed the $400-billion mark for the first time ever.

    The achievement of $400 billion in merchandise exports represents a growth of over 21 per cent from $330 billion achieved in FY2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Do you know?

    China’s total exports stood at $3.3 trillion ($3300 Billions) in 2021! Almost eight times of what we are celebrating!

    How did India achieve this?

    • The milestone was achieved due to increase in shipments of merchandise, including engineering products, apparel and garments, gems and jewellery and petroleum products.
    • The agriculture sector too had recorded its highest-ever export during 2021-22 with the help of export of rice, marine products, wheat, spices and sugar.

    Reasons behind the surge

    • One of the major reasons for jump in exports is rise in pent up demand, which had fallen as the Covid pandemic forced nations to remain under strict lockdown, thereby impacting global trade.
    • Beside, boost in domestic manufacturing due to production-liked incentive (PLI) schemes and implementation of some interim trade pacts have also led to surge in exports.
    • The Centre implemented a series of steps to promote exports of both goods and services and that includes the introduction of Refund of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) and Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Schemes.

    External factors

    • One of the key factors driving the surge in exports is pent up demand that was not met during major waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    • Expansionary monetary policy by developed economies in response to the economic impact of the pandemic has also boosted demand for Indian exports.

    Where has been the increase in imports?

    • While exports have grown sharply, merchandise imports have grown even faster reaching $550 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal.
    • It has seen sharp growth in imports of crude oil, coal, gold, electronics and chemicals.
    • Rising prices of commodities including crude oil and coal have played a significant role in adding to India’s import bill and taking the trade deficit for the first 11 months to a record high of $176 billion.

    Why exports are important?

    • Exports are one of the fundamental drivers of growth for any economy.
    • It can influence a country’s GDP, exchange rate, level of inflation as well as interest rates.
    • A robust export data is beneficial as it leads to increase in job opportunities, enhances foreign currency reserves, boosts manufacturing and also increases government’s revenue collection.
    • It is also a good means by which a country can bring itself out of the recession phase.
    • Besides, it also plays a key role in strengthening the domestic manufacturing units by scaling up their quality to make India made products compete and stand out against global peers.

     

  • What is NASA’s Artemis I Mission?

    On March 17, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rolled out its Artemis I moon mission to the launchpad for testing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, United States.

    What is the Artemis I Mission?

    • NASA’s Artemis mission is touted as the next generation of lunar exploration, and is named after the twin sister of Apollo from Greek mythology.
    • Artemis is also the goddess of the moon.
    • Artemis I is the first of NASA’s deep space exploration systems.
    • It is an uncrewed space mission where the spacecraft will launch on SLS — the most powerful rocket in the world — and travel 2,80,000 miles from the earth for over four to six weeks during the course of the mission.
    • The Orion spacecraft is going to remain in space without docking to a space station, longer than any ship for astronauts has ever done before.
    • The SLS rocket has been designed for space missions beyond the low-earth orbit and can carry crew or cargo to the moon and beyond.

    Key objectives of the mission

    • With the Artemis Mission, NASA aims to land humans on the moon by 2024, and it also plans to land the first woman and first person of colour on the moon.
    • With this mission, NASA aims to contribute to scientific discovery and economic benefits and inspire a new generation of explorers.
    • NASA will establish an Artemis Base Camp on the surface and a gateway in the lunar orbit to aid exploration by robots and astronauts.
    • The gateway is a critical component of NASA’s sustainable lunar operations and will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the moon.

    Other agencies involved

    • Other space agencies are also involved in the Artemis programme.
    • The Canadian Space Agency has committed to providing advanced robotics for the gateway.
    • The European Space Agency will provide the International Habitat and the ESPRIT module, which will deliver additional communications capabilities among other things.
    • The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to contribute habitation components and logistics resupply.

    What is the mission trajectory?

    • SLS and Orion under Artemis I will be launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, U.S. in the summer of 2022.
    • The spacecraft will deploy the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS), a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen-based propulsion system that will give Orion the thrust needed to leave the earth’s orbit and travel towards the moon.
    • On its way to the moon, Orion will be propelled by a service module provided by the European Space Agency (ESA).
    • The spacecraft will communicate with the control centre back on Earth through the deep-space network.
    • It will fly around 100 km above the surface of the moon and use its gravitational pull to propel Orion into an opposite deep orbit around 70,000 km from the moon, where it will stay for approximately six days.

    What are the future missions in the Artemis programme?

    • The second flight under the programme will have crew on board and will test Orion’s critical systems with humans onboard.
    • Eventually, the learnings from the Artemis programme will be utilised to send the first astronauts to Mars.
    • NASA plans on using the lunar orbit to gain the necessary experience to extend human exploration of space farther into the solar system.

     

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  • Abel Prize awarded to American Mathematician

    The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters has awarded the Abel prize for the year 2022 to American Mathematician Dennis Parnell Sullivan, for his contributions to topology in its broadest sense, and in particular its algebraic, geometric and dynamical aspects.

    Abel Prize

    • The Abel Prize is a prize awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians.
    • It is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) and directly modeled after the Nobel Prizes.
    • It comes with a monetary award of 7.5 million Norwegian kroner (NOK) (increased from 6 million NOK in 2019).
    • Its establishment was proposed by the Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie when he learned that Alfred Nobel’s plans for annual prizes would not include a prize in mathematics.
    • The laureates are selected by the Abel Committee, the members of which are appointed by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

    Has any Indian won this prestigious prize?

    • R. Srinivasa Varadhan, an Indian-American citizen won the Abel Prize in the year 2007 for his valuable contribution in “probability theory and in particular for creating a unified theory of large deviation”.

     

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  • A blow to equitable access to essential medicines

    Context

    At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in October 2020, India and South Africa had tabled a proposal seeking a temporary waiver on COVID-19 related products from the TRIPS. Nearly 18 months later, 164 members of the WTO could not find common ground on the “waiver proposal”.

    How will the waiver help?

    •  The application and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRs) are affecting the timely provisioning of affordable medical products to patients.
    • Therefore, India and South Africa argued that therefore, argued that “rapid scaling up of manufacturing globally” was “an obvious crucial solution to address the timely availability and affordability of medical products to all countries in need”, and for doing so, IPRs must be waived for at least three years. 

    The EU solution

    • The EU had proposed in a submission in June 2021 that “[c]ompulsory licences are a perfectly legitimate tool that governments may wish to use in the context of a pandemic”.
    • India and South Africa, the movers of the “waiver proposal”, are among the four countries that found a “compromise outcome”.
    • Only vaccines are included: The solution is a severely truncated version of the “waiver proposal” in terms of product coverage, as only vaccines are included.
    • Generally, patent laws, including that of India’s, allow for the grant of compulsory licences if patent holders charge high prices on the proprietary medicines in exercise of their monopoly rights.
    • Moreover, such licences can usually be granted if efforts in obtaining voluntary licences from the patent holders have failed.
    • The EU proposal states there that in case of a medical urgency, as is the case now, this condition will be waived.
    • The proposal also provides that WTO members would be able to issue compulsory licences even if they do not currently have the provisions to issue them under their national patent laws.
    • Compulsory licences can even be granted using executive orders, emergency decrees, and judicial or administrative orders.

    Issues with the EU solution

    1] Eligible member criteria

    •  The waiver solution can be used only by an “eligible member”, defined as a “developing country member” of the WTO that “had exported less than 10 percent of world exports of COVID-19 vaccine doses in 2021”.
    •  This means that Bangladesh, which is still a least developed country, but has a growing pharmaceutical industry, is also excluded.
    • Restricting China: The eligibility condition seems to have been introduced to limit China’s expansion in the global vaccine market.
    • No concern for India: At the current juncture, India does not have to be concerned with the export restriction clause, as its share in global exports of vaccines was 2.4% as on January 31.

    2] Export restrictions in the form of eligibility criteria

    • While introducing the above-mentioned export restriction, the solution proposes to waive the obligation under Article 31(f) of the TRIPS Agreement.
    • Article 31(f) provides that the compulsory licences issued by any WTO member must be used “predominantly for the supply of the domestic market”.
    • But while they have proposed removal of Article 31(f), solution includes a more stringent export restriction in the form of the eligibility criteria mentioned above.

    3] Further conditions

    • The proposed condition of listing all patents covered under the compulsory licences is not a requirement under the TRIPS Agreement.
    • Similarly, there is no obligation to notify the details of licensee, the quantity and export destination under the TRIPS provisions.
    • But the EU proposal text proposes mandatory notification.

    4] Transfer of know-how is not ensured

    • According to the EU, when compulsory licences are granted, the “patent holder receives adequate remuneration”, but “[t]ransfer of know-how is not ensured”.
    • This demerit of compulsory licences would make it difficult to scale up production of COVID-19 vaccines, medicines, and medical devices in the developing world, thus constraining their availability at affordable prices.

    Conclusion

    It must be said that by accepting the “compromise outcome”, India and South Africa could jeopardise their high moral ground.  Consequently, the global community would lose an important opportunity to ensure that vaccines and medicines are accessible to all.

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