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GS Paper: GS3

  • Mixed signals on growth-inflation dynamics

    Context

    We are now at that point in the cycle where all central banks — the RBI, the US Fed, the European Central Bank, Bank of England and others — have begun to signal, a process of normalisation from the unprecedented loose monetary policy stimulus post the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.

    Recovery momentum

    • Surveys and data prints are now signalling that the recovery momentum in the first half of 2021 is decelerating in many countries, although the direction and momentum may vary.
    • The RBI Governor notes that “the external environment, which had been supportive of aggregate demand over the past few months, may lose momentum for a variety of reasons”.
    • China — its policy and economy — is the most salient risk for a sustained global recovery.
    • The Chinese authorities’ seeming determination to push ahead with structural reforms, de-carbonising initiatives, and curbs on real estate appear designed to sacrifice some short-term growth for medium-term efficiencies, and reduce financial risks and inequality.
    • Inflation in almost all major economies continues to remain high.
    • The US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) survey measure of core inflation is running over 4 per cent.
    • The story is similar in Europe.

    Assessing India’s growth recovery

    • India’s growth–inflation dynamics are also becoming favourable, but are still subject to multiple risks.
    • In assessing India’s growth recovery, a risk of the global economy going into “stagflation”, going by US signals seems to be that if at all, it is likely to be mild.
    • The recovery of economic activity continues, although the high-frequency indicators we track suggest that the momentum observed in July and August has moderated.
    • Electricity consumption growth is also down from August levels, but part of this can be explained by both cooler, rainy weather, as well as coal shortage related cutbacks in many electricity-intensive manufacturing.
    • The residential real estate is reportedly doing exceptionally well, with low-interest rates on home loans, cuts in stamp duty and registration charges, and indeed behavioural shifts towards own home ownerships with hybrid and work from home shifts.
    • Even the commercial real estate sector is reviving.
    • The Union government also has large unspent cash balances, which can be judiciously deployed to boost both capex and consumption.
    • The overall inflation trajectory suggests a gradual glide path towards the 4 per cent target by March 2023 or a bit beyond.
    • There are risks of overshooting this forecast trajectory, despite a benign outlook on food prices.
    • This emanates from global metals, minerals, crude oil prices, and from supply bottlenecks persisting till well into 2022.

    Conclusion

    In summary, the growth–inflation signals remain mixed. Multiple episodes of global spillovers in the past couple of decades have taught us that imminent normalisation will have implications for all emerging markets.

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  • Guidelines released for safe rescue, release of Ganges River Dolphins (GRDs)

    The Jal Shakti Ministry has released a guide for the safe rescue and release of stranded Ganges River Dolphins.

    Gangetic Dolphin

    • The Gangetic river system is home to a vast variety of aquatic life, including the Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica).
    • The species, whose global population is estimated at 4,000, are (nearly 80%) found in the Indian subcontinent.
    • It is found mainly in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems.
    • It is one of five species of river dolphin found around the world.
    • Only three species of freshwater dolphins are remaining on the earth after the functional extinction of the Chinese river Dolphin (Baiji) in 2006.

    Conservation status

    1. The GRDs have been designated the National Aquatic Animal of India since 2010.
    • It is listed as:
    1. Endangered under IUCN Red List
    2. Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972)
    3. Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

    About the guidelines

    • The document has been prepared by the Turtle Survival Alliance, India Program and Environment, Forest and Climate Change Department (EFCCD), Uttar Pradesh.
    • The guide has been drawn from years of experience of the organization while rescuing 25 Ganges River Dolphins (GRDs) stranded in irrigation canals.

    Various threats

    • They often accidentally enter canal channels in northern India and are often entrapped, and die as they are unable to swim up against the gradient.
    • They are eventually harassed by the locals.
    • Opportunistic poaching for meat and oil in certain pockets of the country is another big threat.

     

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  • Why India needs a Ministry of Energy?

    Context

    The blame cannot be placed on the doors of any one entity or ministry for the shortage of coal.

    Ministries linked with coal shortage issue

    • The Ministry of Coal and Coal India must certainly accept that they slipped up somewhere — whether in managing the production process, planning supplies or leaving vacant crucial leadership positions.
    • The Ministry of Power/NTPC should also accept responsibility as they allowed coal inventories to fall below the recommended minimum in an effort to better manage their working capital.
    • But they can claim they had no other option because the state government electricity distribution companies do not pay their dues on time or fully.
    • The discoms will point a finger at their political bosses, who compel them to sell electricity to residential and agricultural sector consumers at subsidised tariffs.

    Structural issues

    • There is no one public body at the central or state government level with executive oversight, responsibility and accountability for the entirety of the coal value chain.
    • This is a lacuna that afflicts the entire energy sector.
    • It will need to be filled to not only prevent a recurrence of another coal crisis but also for the country to realise its “green” ambition.
    • The word “energy” is not part of the political or administrative lexicon.
    • At least not formally. As a result, there is no energy strategy with the imprimatur of executive authority.
    • The NITI Aayog may well challenge this statement.
    • For they have produced an energy strategy.

    Suggestions

    • Energy act: The government should pass an Act (possibly) captioned “The Energy Responsibility and Security Act.”
    • This Act should elevate the significance of energy by granting it constitutional sanctity; it should embed in law, India’s responsibility to provide citizens access to secure, affordable and clean energy.
    • The law should lay out measurable metrics for monitoring the progress towards the achievement of energy independence, energy security, energy efficiency and “green” energy.
    • Ministry of energy: Towards the fulfillment of this mandate, the government should redesign the existing architecture of decision-making for energy.
    • Preference would be for the creation of an omnibus Ministry of Energy to oversee the currently siloed verticals of the ministries of petroleum, coal, renewables and power.
    • The department would have a narrower remit than the other energy departments but by virtue of its location within the PMO, it would, de facto, be the most powerful executive body with ultimate responsibility for navigating the “green transition”.

    Benefits

    • It is important to stress the positive impact the above redesign will have on investor sentiment.
    • Several corporates have signaled their intent to invest mega bucks in clean energy.
    • Reliance has committed $10 billion, Adani $ 70 billion over 10 years; Tata Power, ReNew Power and Acme Solar have also placed their stakes in the ground.

    Conclusion

    Energy sector will be immensely benefited if the current fragmented and opaque regulatory, fiscal and commercial systems and processes were replaced by a transparent and single-point executive decision-making body for energy.

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  • Katol L6 Chondrite Meteorite

    Last month, researchers from the Geological Survey of India collected some meteorite fragments near the town of Katol in Nagpur in 2012. Studying this, IIT Kgp researchers have unravelled the composition expected to be present in the Earth’s lower mantle which is at about 660 km deep.

    Katol L6

    • Initial studies revealed that the host rock was mainly composed of olivine, an olive-green mineral.
    • Olivine is the most abundant phase in our Earth’s upper mantle.
    • Our Earth is composed of different layers including the outer crust, followed by the mantle and then the inner core.

    Key findings: Presence of Bridgmanite

    • The study reported for the first time, presence of veins of the mineral bridgmanite, which is the most abundant mineral in the interior of the Earth, within the Katol L6 Chondrite meteorite.
    • Bridgmanite consists of magnesium, iron, calcium aluminium oxide and has a perovskite structure. It is the most volumetrically abundant mineral of the Earth’s interior.
    • It is present in the lower mantle (from 660 to 2700 km), and it is important to understand its formation mechanism to better comprehend the origin and evolution of planetary interiors.

    What is the hypothesis of moon-formation?

    The discovery of Bridgmanite in Katol L6 adds evidence to the Moon-forming giant impact hypothesis.

    • The Moon-forming giant impact hypothesis occurred nearly 4.5 billion years ago.
    • The Earth collided with a planet the size of Mars named Thela.
    • The force of this impact was so huge as to melt the Earth down from the surface to a depth of 750 km to 1,100 km.
    • The hypothesis goes that this caused the Earth to be bathed in a magma ocean, and the ejecta from the collision led to the formation of the Moon.

    Note: Earth was an ocean of magma in the past.  The heavier iron and nickel went to the core while the lighter silicates stayed in the mantle.

    Future prospect of the study

    • This finding could help investigations of high-pressure phase transformation mechanisms in the deep Earth.

    Back2Basics: Interior of Earth

    Earths Structure

    ​​The earth is made up of three different layers: the crust, the mantle and the core.

    The crust

    This is the outside layer of the earth and is made of solid rock, mostly basalt and granite. There are two types of crust; oceanic and continental. Oceanic crust is denser and thinner and mainly com​posed of basalt.  Continental crust is less dense, thicker, and mainly composed of granite.

    The mantle

    The mantle lies below the crust and is up to 2900 km thick.  It consists of hot, dense, iron and magnesium-rich solid rock. The crust and the upper part of the mantle make up the lithosphere, which is broken into plates, both large and small.

    The core

    The core is the centre of the earth and is made up of two parts: the liquid outer core and solid inner core. The outer core is made of nickel, iron and molten rock. Temperatures here can reach up to 50,000 C.

     

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  • US research highlights Indian farming practices

    A paper has recently published in the US has found that Integrated farming with intercropping increases food production while reducing environmental footprint.

    What is the finding?

    This work found that:

    1. Relay planting enhances yield
    2. Within-field rotation or strip rotation allowing strips for planting other plants (such as grass, fruits) besides the major crop was more fruitful
    3. Soil munching that is, available means such as crop straw, in addition to the major crop such as wheat or rice, and
    4. No-till or reduced tillage, which increases the annual crop yield up by 15.6% to 49.9%, and decreasing the environmental footprint by 17.3%, compared with traditional monoculture cropping

    Various terms mentioned

    [A] Relay planting

    • Relay planting means the planting of different crops in the same plot, one right after another, in the same season.
    • Examples of such relay cropping would be planting rice (or wheat), cauliflower, onion, and summer gourd (or potato onion, lady’s fingers and maize), in the same season.
    • Benefits: It is less risk since you do not have to depend on one crop alone. It also means better distribution of labour, insects spread less, and any legumes actually add nitrogen to the soil.

    [B] Strip cropping

    • Strip cropping has been used in the U.S. (where the fields are larger than those in India), where they grow wheat, along with corn and soybean, in the same farm in an alternative manner.
    • However, this needs large lands. The land is divided into strips, and strips of grass are left to grow between the crops.
    • Benefits: Planting of trees to create shelters has helped in stabilising the desert in Western India.

    [C] Soil mulching and no-till

    • Soil mulching requires keeping all bare soil covered with straw, leaves, and the like, even when the land is in use.
    • Benefits: Erosion is curtailed, moisture retained, and beneficial organisms, such as earthworms, kept in place. The same set of benefits are also offered by not tilling the soil.

    Significance of the findings

    • This research has led to the conclusion that small farm holders can grow more food and have reduced environmental footprint.
    • Current statistics reveal that our country has a significant population of small farmers, many owning less than 2 hectares of land.
    • About 70% of its rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 82% of farmers being small and marginal.

     

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  • How to create a truly digital public

    Context

    Despite the push for the adoption of digital technologies, large segments of Indians still can’t access or haven’t learned to trust digital artefacts.

    Issue of exclusion

    • Recognising the power of technology to drive inclusion at a massive scale, the state is doubling down on technology to reach more citizens and serve them better.
    • However, often the paradigm of technology for such services is built around the “elite” citizen, who is comfortable with technology.
    • Often, this imagined citizen is male, urban, upper class.
    • Large segments of Indians still can’t access or haven’t learned to trust digital artefacts.
    • Many among marginalised groups struggle to access digital civic platforms, and instead rely on trusted human intermediaries.

    Suggestions to make digital space truly public

    1) Design with the citizen

    • Encouraging human-centric design, and mandating user-assessments prior to roll out of GovTech platforms should be a key priority.
    • This is a shift from the default “build first and then disseminate” approach.
    • For example, formative research and human-centric design was informative in the creation of the first UPI payments app, BHIM.
    • BHIM’s simple interface and onboarding, use of relatable iconography and multi-language capabilities played an important role in early adoption of UPI among non “digital natives”.
    • Similarly, as the “Human Account” project demonstrated, it is possible to start with users in designing pro-poor fintech products, like the “Postman Savings” product which India Post Payments Bank designed for the rural poor.

    2) Harness trusted human interface to serve those who are not comfortable with technology

    •  Local intermediaries, such as formal and informal community leaders and civil society organisations, can play a key role in bridging the digital divide.
    • Working with existing networks (for example ASHAs) or carefully setting them up (such as the Andhra Pradesh Ward Secretariat programme), where pre-existing trust, community knowledge, and embeddedness can play a significant role, should be prioritised.

    3) Institutionalise an anchor entity that brings together innovators, policy makers and researchers

    • Such an entity will help to push the frontier on citizen-centricity in GovTech.
    • Such a platform — like the Citizen Lab in Denmark — can play a role in generating formative research.
    • Embedding this research in practice by partnering with the government as well as market innovators, and working with civil society organisations to enhance access to GovTech.

    Conclusion

    As India makes rapid strides in its digitalisation journey, it is timely to invoke Gandhiji’s talisman and ensure that GovTech can serve its highest and greatest purpose, that is, serving those who are last in line.

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  • How ONDC seeks to democratize digital commerce?

    The department for the promotion of industry and internal trade (DPIIT) in the ministry of commerce and industry is building an open network for digital commerce (ONDC), designed to curb digital monopolies and standardize the onboarding of retailers on e-commerce sites.

    What does the ONDC aim to achieve?

    • The Unified Payment Interface (UPI) has disrupted the digital payments domain. ONDC seeks to achieve something similar for e-commerce.
    • It aims to “democratize” digital commerce, moving it away from platform-centric models like Amazon and Flipkart to an open network.
    • ONDC may enable more sellers to be digitally visible. The transactions will be executed through an open network.
    • The system may empower merchants and consumers.
    • It will eventually touch every business, from retail goods and food to mobility.

    How would ONDC work?

    • The ONDC is still work in progress and the details are not public.
    • But what we know so far is the network may make it easier for a small retailer to be discovered.

    A boon for retailers

    • Once a retailer lists its products or services using the ONDC’s open protocol, the business can be discovered by consumers on e-commerce platforms that follow the same protocol.
    • A consumer searching for the product can see the location of the seller and opt to buy from the neighbourhood shop that can deliver faster compared to an e-commerce company.
    • This may promote hyperlocal delivery of goods such as groceries, directly from sellers to consumers.

    What are the next steps?

    • A private sector-led non-profit unit will be set up to fast-track its roll-out.
    • It is expected to provide a startup mindset enabled by a management with a futuristic vision, deep understanding of commerce and comfort with cutting edge technology.
    • A non-profit company structure removes any incentive for profit maxi-mization,
    • It would keep focus on ethical and responsible behaviour while providing for trust, rigorous norms of governance, accountability and transparency.

     

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  • Farmer suicide

    The number of agricultural labourers who died by suicide in 2020 was 18% higher than the previous year, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.

    Farmers suicide in 2020

    • In 2020, 5,098 of these agricultural labourers died by suicide, an 18% rise from the 4,324 who died last year.
    • Overall, 10,677 people engaged in the farm sector died by suicide in 2020, slightly higher than the 10,281 who died in 2019.
    • They made up 7% of all suicides in the country.
    • Most of these deaths were among those whose primary work and main source of income comes from labour activities in agriculture or horticulture.
    • However, among farmers who cultivate their own land, with or without the help of other workers, the number of suicides dropped 3.7% from 5,129 to 4,940.
    • Among tenant farmers who cultivate leased land, there was a 23% drop in suicides from 828 to 639.

    State-wise data

    • The worst among States continues to be Maharashtra, with 4,006 suicides in the farm sector, including a 15% increase in farm worker suicides.
    • Other States with a poor record include Karnataka (2016), Andhra Pradesh (889) and Madhya Pradesh (735).
    • Tamil Nadu also bucked the national trend; although the total number of farm suicides in the State was slightly higher.

    Why more suicides despite a boom?

    • The farm sector was one of the few bright spots in the Indian economy since a year.
    • It recorded growth on the back of a healthy monsoon and the continuation of agricultural activities during a lockdown that crippled other sectors.
    • Hence, suicides among landowning farmers dropped slightly during the pandemic year.
    • Landless agricultural labourers who did not benefit from income support schemes such as PM Kisan may have faced higher levels of distress during the pandemic.

    General causes of farmers suicides in India

    Suicide victims are motivated by more than one cause however the primer reason is the inability to repay loans.

    • Debt trap: Major causes reportedly are bankruptcy/indebtedness, problems in the families, crop failure, illness and alcohol/substance abuse.
    • Lack of credit: Low access to credit, irrigation and technology worsens their ability to make a comfortable living.
    • Responsibility burden: In other words, debt to stress and family responsibilities as reasons were significantly higher than fertilizers and crop failure.
    • Disguised unemployment: This remains high. Fragmentation of land holdings has left far too many farmers with farms that are too small to be remunerative.
    • Mental health: One of the major causes behind suicidal intent is depression. Farmers are often subjected to fear of boycott due to societal pressures.

     

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    Back2Basics: National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)

    • The NCRB is an Indian government agency responsible for collecting and analysing crime data as defined by the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL).
    • It is headquartered in New Delhi and is part of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
    • It was set-up in 1986 to function as a repository of information on crime and criminals so as to assist the investigators in linking crime to the perpetrators.
    • It was set up based on the recommendation of the Task force, 1985 and National Police Commission, 197.
    • It merged the Directorate of Coordination and Police Computer (DCPC), Inter State Criminals Data Branch of CBI and Central Finger Print Bureau of CBI.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Farmers’ suicide in India

     

  • Nationwide Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) drive launched

    Union Health Minister has launched a nationwide expansion of Pneumococcal 13-valent Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) under the Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).

    Why such drive?

    • Pneumonia was a leading cause of death among children under five, globally and in India.
    • Pneumonia caused by pneumococcus is the most common cause of severe pneumonia in children.
    • Around 16% of deaths in children occur due to pneumonia in India.
    • The nationwide roll-out of PCV will reduce child mortality by around 60%.

    Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV)

    • The PCV is a mix of several bacteria of the pneumococci family, which are known to cause pneumonia—hence ‘conjugate’ is included in the name of the vaccine.
    • PCV prevents pneumococcal disease. It can protect both children and adults from pneumococcal disease.
    • Such conjugate vaccines are made using a combination of two different components.

    Pneumonia vs Pneumococcal pneumonia

    • Pneumonia is a lung disease.
    • Pneumococcal pneumonia, a kind of pneumonia, can infect the upper respiratory tract and can spread to the blood, lungs, middle ear, or nervous system.
    • Pneumococcal disease is a name for any infection caused by bacteria called Streptococcus pneumonia or pneumococcus.
    • Most people carry pneumococcus in their nose and throat, where the bacteria do not cause any symptoms.

    Take this yorker from CSP 2020:

    Q.What is the importance of using Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccines in India?

    1. These vaccines are effective against pneumonia as well as meningitis and sepsis.
    2. Dependence on antibiotics that are not effective against drug-resistant bacteria can be reduced.
    3. These vaccines have no side effects and cause no allergic reactions.

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 1 and 2 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

    [wpdiscuz-feedback id=”txjic5odbw” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]

     

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  • Mission Samudrayan: India’s First and Unique Manned Ocean

    Union Minister of Earth Sciences has launched India’s First Manned Ocean Mission Samudrayan at Chennai.

    Mission Samudrayan

    • The Samudrayan project has been undertaken by the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT).
    • It will be a part of the Rs 6,000 crore Deep Ocean Mission.
    • It is designed to carry 3 persons in 2.1meter diameter Titanium Alloy Personnel Sphere with an operational endurance of 12hrs and systems to support emergency endurance up to 96hrs.
    • It could work at a depth between 1000 and 5500 meters.

    Objectives

    • Samudrayan shall facilitate carrying out deep ocean exploration of the non-living resources such as polymetallic manganese nodules, gas hydrates, hydro-thermal sulphides and cobalt crusts.
    • The mission would carry out subsea activities such as high-resolution bathymetry, biodiversity assessment, geo-scientific observation, search activities, salvage operation and engineering support.

    Focus areas of the Project

    • Ocean climate change advisory services
    • Underwater vehicles
    • Underwater robotics-related technologies
    • Deep-sea mining: Exploitation of polymetallic nodules

    Components of the mission

    Some of the critical subsystems of the manned submersibles are:

    • Development of Titanium Alloy Personnel Sphere, Human support and safety system in enclosed space, low density buoyancy modules, Ballast and Trim System
    • Pressure compensated batteries and propulsion system, control and communication systems and Launching and Recovery System.

    Progress till date

    • The preliminary design of the manned submersible MATSYA 6000 is completed.
    • Sea trials of 500 metre rated shallow water version of the manned submersible are expected to take place in the last quarter of 2022 and the MATSYA 6000.
    • The deep-water manned submersible will be ready for trials by the second quarter of 2024.

    Why need such mission?

    • This manned submersible mission provides a feel of direct physical presence for researchers and has better intervention capability.
    • With the advancing subsea technologies, the recent Fendouzhe manned submersible developed by China in 2020 has touched ~11000m water depths.
    • With Samudrayan, India joins the elite club of nations such as USA, Russia, Japan, France and China to have such underwater vehicles for carrying out subsea activities.

    Back2Basics: India and International Seabed Authority (ISA)

    • The ISA, an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, allots the ‘area’ for deep-sea mining.
    • India was the first country to receive the status of a ‘Pioneer Investor’ in 1987 and was given an area of about 1.5 lakh sqkm in the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB) for nodule exploration.
    • In 2002, India signed a contract with the ISA, and after a complete resource analysis of the seabed, India surrendered 50%, and the country retained an area of 75,000 sqkm.
    • Further studies have helped narrow the mining area to 18,000 sqkm, the ‘First Generation Mine-site’.

     

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