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  • Public Wi-Fi Access Network Interface

    In a bid to improve wireless connectivity, the Union Cabinet approved setting up of the public WiFi was part of the Prime Minister WiFi Access Network Interface (PM- WANI).

    Do you know?

    According to TRAI, in most major economies, for 50%-70% of their total usage time, mobile users use WiFi technology to communicate. However, in India, this figure is less than 10%.

    PM- WANI

    • The WiFi will be provided through public data offices (PDOs) for which there will be no licence, registration or any other fees.
    • The PDO, to be set up along the lines of public calling office, can be a mom-and-pop store in the area or the common services centre present in various small towns, gram panchayats, and villages in the country.
    • The PDOs can either provide the internet on other own or lease it from other telecom and internet service providers.

    The centre-stage: Public Data Offices (PDO)

    • The idea of a PDO was first floated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in 2017.
    • Like a PCO, the PDO allows users to connect to a public WiFi system for a limited session depending on the internet pack chosen by the user.
    • These internet packages can either by charged on per minute or per hour basis by the PDOs.

    Licensing of PDOs

    • There will be no licence for PDOs. A simple registration system will be put in place for PDO aggregators as well as app providers, which will be approved within seven days of the application being submitted.
    • In addition to the PDOs, there will also be PDO aggregators, which will look after the authorisation and accounting of PDOs.

    A note for users

    • A third layer will of app providers, available for download on the Play Store as well as the Apple Store, will enable users to register for using the public WiFi at a particular place.
    • Users, however, will not be required to download different apps, as a single app will provide seamless connectivity to any PDO across the country.

  • [pib] Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA)

    The Union Ministry of Finance and UN-Based Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA) organized a joint Peer learning exchange on fintech solutions for responsible digital payments at the last mile.

    Make a note here that it is a BTCA is a global partnership with diverse funding, a UN office as its secretariat and Indian being its member.

    Better Than Cash Alliance

    • The BTCA is a global partnership of 75 governments, companies, and international organizations that accelerates the transition from cash to digital payments in order to reduce poverty and drive inclusive growth.
    • The United Nations Capital Development Fund serves as the secretariat. It was created in September 2012.
    • The Alliance is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Citi, MasterCard, Omidyar Network, USAID, and Visa Inc.
    • By the time it launched, the program was already being rolled out in Peru, Kenya, Colombia, and the Philippines.

    India and the BTCA

    • India became a member of the alliance in 2015 to digitize payments to achieve financial inclusion and to share success stories from Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, the world’s largest financial inclusion program.
    • The alliance is working with several state governments towards the goal of building knowledge and programs where people, governments, and businesses can make and receive digital payments.

  • Places in news: ‘Mini Kaziranga’

    Too many cattle are robbing the one-horned rhinos of Assam’s Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, referred to as ‘Mini Kaziranga’ for similar features, of their nutritious food.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q. Consider the following statements:

    1. Asiatic lion is naturally found in India only.
    2. Double-humped camel is naturally found in India only.
    3. One-horned rhinoceros is naturally found in India only.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    About Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary

    • Pobitora WLS is located on the southern bank of the Brahmaputra in Morigaon district in Assam.
    • It was declared in 1987 and covers 38.85 km2 (15.00 sq mi), providing grassland and wetland habitat for the Indian rhinoceros.
    • It provides a habitat and food resource for the Indian rhinoceros, hosting Assam’s second-largest population.
    • Other mammals occurring in the sanctuary are golden jackal, wild boar and feral water buffalo.
    • Barking deer, Indian leopard and rhesus macaque live foremost in the hilly parts. It is an Important Bird Area and home for more than 2000 migratory birds and various reptiles.

    Why in news?

    • Pobitora is running a successful Rhino breeding program within its sanctuary.
    • It is running under the government as “Indian Rhino vision 2020”.

    Back2Basics: Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve

    • The KNTPR is a national park in the Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Nagaon districts of the state of Assam.
    • The sanctuary, which hosts two-thirds of the world’s great one-horned rhinoceroses, is a World Heritage Site.
    • Kaziranga is home to the highest density of tigers among protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006 (now the highest tiger density is in Orang National Park, Assam).
    • The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer.
    • It is also recognized as an Important Bird Area by BirdLife International for the conservation of avifaunal species.

  • Need for avoiding misplaced optimism over economic recovery

    Overoptimism stemming from the signs of recovery shown by the figures for the second quarter could result in reduced spending and the rollback of the stimulus. However, other features indicate that fiscal conservatism at this moment is not a good idea.

    Hype over recovery

    •  India’s economy contracted by 7.5% in the second quarter of financial year 2020-21.
    • There are two ways to look at that figure:-
    • 1) That figure is far lower than the 23.9% contraction registered in the first quarter of this financial year.
    • 2) A 7.5% second quarter contraction is high both in itself and when compared with most similarly placed countries.
    • The government, however, has chosen to focus on the unsurprising evidence that GDP rose sharply, by 23%, between the first quarter and the second when restrictions were substantially lifted.
    • Based on that evidence, the Finance Ministry’s Monthly Economic Report, for November, speaks of a V-shaped recovery reflective of “the resilience and robustness of the Indian economy”.
    • The danger is that such optimism would provide the justification to avoid adoption of the measures crucially needed to pull the economy out of recession.

    India economy is still demand constrained: 3 signs

    • 1) The decline in private final consumption expenditure at constant prices, which accounts for 56% of GDP, has come down from minus 27% in the first quarter to minus 11% in the second, it still remains high.
    • Though there are signs of a short-run recovery in private consumption demand with the lifting of lockdowns, net incomes and consumer confidence are not at levels that can even restore last year’s levels.
    • 2) As is to be expected, with production restraints relaxed, depleted stocks are being replenished with a fall of 21% in the first quarter turning into an increase in stocking of 6.3% in the second quarter.
    • 3) The decline in fixed capital formation has fallen from a high minus 47% in the first quarter to minus 7% in the second, investment is still falling year-on-year.
    • These are all signs of an economy that is severely demand constrained, requiring a significant step up in government expenditure.

    Impact on spending by the Centre and the States

    • Figures from the Office of the Controller General of Accounts for the first seven months of 2020-21 (April to October) indicate that the total expenditure of the central government stood at only 55% of what was provided for in the Budget for 2020-21.
    • In fact, in a non-COVID-19 year, 2019-20, the ratio of actual spending by the central government over April-October relative to that budgeted figure was a higher 59%.
    •  Meanwhile, with Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenues having fallen from their lower-than-expected levels during the COVID-19 months, the States have been cash-strapped.
    • Yet, the government has decided not to compensate them for the shortfall, as promised under the GST regime.
    • States have been left to fend for themselves by going to market and borrowing at high interest rates, which they would find difficult to cover.
    • Needless to say, as a consequence, State spending has also been curtailed.

    Why government should avoid fiscal conservatism

    • The loss of jobs and livelihoods that happened during lockdown is sure to affect demand now.
    • This leads to increased indebtedness and the bankruptcies well after restrictions are relaxed.
    • So, the tasks of providing safety nets, reviving employment and spurring demand become crucial.
    • Since the market cannot deliver on those fronts, state action facilitated by substantially enhanced expenditure is crucial.
    • And since government revenues shrink during a recession, that expenditure has to be funded by borrowing.
    • This is no time for fiscal conservatism, as governments across the world have come to accept.
    • Trend suggests that allocations for welfare expenditures — ranging from subsidised food to minimal guaranteed employment — needed to support those whose livelihoods have been devastated by the pandemic, would be reduced over time.
    • As collateral damage, this frugality in a time of crisis is likely to prolong the recession.

    Conclusion

    The optimism that a V-shaped recovery is imminent, and that optimism, in turn, would justify the view that fiscal conservatism pays. It does not, as time would tell.

    Back2Basics: What is V-shaped recovery?

    • A V-shaped recovery is characterized by a quick and sustained recovery in measures of economic performance after a sharp economic decline.
    • Because of the speed of economic adjustment and recovery in macroeconomic performance, a V-shaped recovery is a best case scenario given the recession.
    • The recoveries that followed the recessions of 1920-21 and 1953 in the U.S. are examples of V-shaped recoveries.
    V-shaped recovery of the U.S. economy

  • The rise of the AI economy

    Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform the Indian economy. In the last few years, India made significant progress in its adoption. However, there are several areas India need to focus on to make the most of what AI offers.

    AI adoption and capacity building in India

    • NITI Aayog’s national strategy for AI envisages ‘AI for all’ for inclusive growth.
    • NITI Aayog identifies healthcare, agriculture, education, smart cities and infrastructure, and smart mobility and transportation as focus areas for AI-led solutions for social impact.
    • The Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra governments, among others, have announced policies and strategies for AI adoption.
    • Technology companies have established AI centres of excellence to create solutions for global clients.
    • India has a thriving AI start-up ecosystem.
    • Our talent pool in AI/ML (Machine Learning) is fast-growing, with over 5,00,000 people working on these technologies at present.

    AI will boost Indian economy

    • Nasscom believes that data and AI will contribute $450 billion-$500 billion to India’s GDP by 2025, which is around 10% of the government’s aspiration of a $5 trillion economy.
    • The growing AI economy will create employment opportunity by creating an estimated over 20 million technical roles.
    • AI can create not just niche solutions to specific problems that banks and other service providers are deploying, such as speeding up loan application processing or improving customer service; it can also provide solutions for better governance and social impact.
    •  AI can create not just niche solutions to specific problems that banks and other service providers are deploying, such as speeding up loan application processing or improving customer service; it can also provide solutions for better governance and social impact.

    Way forward: Focus on 3 areas

    1)Talent development

    • In 2019, we nearly doubled our AI workforce to 72,000 from 40,000 the year before.
    • However, the demand continues to outpace the supply.
    • That means our efforts to develop talent must pick up speed.

    2) Policies around data

    • Without data, there cannot be AI.
    • However, we need a balanced approach in the way we harness and utilise data.
    • We need a robust legal framework that governs data and serves as the base for the ethical use of AI.

    3) Providing the right amount of training data

    • Though the use of digital technologies has gone up, the level of digitisation continues to be low.
    • This poses a big challenge for organisations in finding the right amount of training data to run AI/ML algorithms, which in turn affects the accuracy of the results.
    • Then there is the problem of availability of clean datasets.
    • Organisations need to invest in data management frameworks that will clean their data before they are analysed, thus vastly improving the outcomes of AI models.

    Consider the question “What is Artificial Intelligence? How it could help in providing a boost to the India economy?”

    Conclusion

    The future for AI looks promising but to convert the potential into reality, India will need better strategies around talent development, stronger policies for data usage and governance, and more investments in creating a technology infrastructure that can truly leverage AI.

  • Fortified rice in PDS

    As the Odisha government is preparing to launch fortified rice in the Public Distribution System (PDS), some 100 activists have opposed the move.

    Q.What is Fortification of Food? Discuss its various advantages and limitations.

    What is Fortified Rice?

    • Rice can be fortified by adding a micronutrient powder to the rice that adheres to the grains or spraying of the surface of ordinary rice grains with a vitamin and mineral mix to form a protective coating.
    • Rice can also be extruded and shaped into partially precooked grain-like structures resembling rice grains, which can then be blended with natural polished rice.
    • Rice kernels can be fortified with several micro-nutrients, such as iron, folic acid and other B-complex vitamins, vitamin A and zinc.
    • These fortified kernels are then mixed with normal rice in a 1:100 ratio, and distributed for consumption.

    Its advantage

    • Fortified staple foods will contain natural or near natural levels of micro-nutrients, which may not necessarily be the case with supplements.
    • It provides nutrition without any change in characteristics of food or course of our meals.
    • If consumed on a regular and frequent basis, fortified foods will maintain body stores of nutrients more efficiently and more effectively than will intermittent supplements.
    • The overall costs of fortification are extremely low; the price increase is approximately 1 to 2 per cent of the total food value.

    Issues with fortified food

    • Fortification and enrichment upsets nature’s packaging. Our body does not absorb individual nutrients added to processed foods as efficiently compared to nutrients naturally occurring.
    • Supplements added to foods are less bioavailable. Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a nutrient your body is able to absorb and use.
    • They lack immune-boosting substances.
    • Fortified foods and supplements can pose specific risks for people who are taking prescription medications, including decreased absorption of other micro-nutrients, treatment failure, and increased mortality risk.

    Why did the activists protest?

    • Vitamin C and calcium are available in abundance in natural food. Vitamin C is water soluble.
    • If the rice is laced with Vitamin C, it will get washed away while the rice is cleaned before cooking.
    • It is a futile exercise to add Vitamin C to uncooked rice.
    • In our traditional cooking practices, lemon juice is squeezed into cooked food before its consumption.
    • The decision would lead to wasteful expenditure of taxpayers’ money.

    Note: Biofortification is the process by which the nutritional quality of food crops is improved through agronomic practices, conventional plant breeding, or modern biotechnology. It differs from conventional fortification in that Biofortification aims to increase nutrient levels in crops during plant growth rather than through manual means during the processing of the crops.

    Regulating fortification

    • FSSAI has formulated a comprehensive regulation on fortification of foods namely ‘Food Safety and Standards (Fortification of Foods) Regulations, 2016’.
    • These regulations set the standards for food fortification and encourage the production, manufacture, distribution, sale and consumption of fortified foods.
    • The regulations also provide for the specific role of FSSAI in promotion for food fortification and to make fortification mandatory.
    • WHO recommends fortification of rice with iron, vitamin A and folic acid as a public health strategy to improve the iron status of population wherever rice is a staple food.

    Why it is necessary ?

    • Reaching target populations
    • Avoiding over-consumption in non-target groups
    • Monitoring nutritional status

  • What is Molnupiravir?

    A new drug called Molnupiravir has been shown to stop the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in 24 hours.

    Must read:

    What is mRNA vaccine?

    Molnupiravir

    • Molnupiravir is an experimental antiviral drug which is orally active and was developed for the treatment of influenza.
    • It is a drug of the synthetic nucleoside derivative N4-hydroxycytidine, and exerts its antiviral action through introduction of copying errors during viral RNA replication.
    • Molnupiravir is being developed by the biotechnology firm Ridgeback Biotherapeutics in collaboration with pharmaceutical firm Merck.
    • The research team repurposed MK-4482/EIDD-2801 against SARS-CoV-2 and tested it on ferrets.
    • This is the first demonstration of an orally available drug to rapidly block SARS-CoV-2 transmission and it can be a game-changer.

  • Why Surge in FPI in India?

    While emerging economies have been facing the crunch of foreign capital due to the pandemic, India is witnessing the surge of FPI: a sign of investors confidence in the economy. 

    Surge in FDI: Sign of trust India has built

    • In the September quarter, FDI doubled year-on-year to $28.1 billion dollars.
    • While foreign portfolio investor (FPI) inflows across emerging economies witnessed a decline due to the pandemic, India recorded a surge to $13.5 billion – a testimony to investor confidence in India’s growth story.
    • This surge in foreign funds amid the pandemic has been possible because of the continuous effort of the government, businesses, and agencies to make India a sought-after destination.

    Strategies used by the government

    Various steps described below signalled the government’s intention to open up the economy to investments.

    Such steps include the following:-

    • Allowing NRI’s to acquire up to 100% stake in Air India.
    • 26% FDI in the digital sector.
    • Permitting 100% FDI through automatic route in the coal mining sector.
    • 100% FDI for insurance intermediaries.
    • The National Infrastructure Pipeline, a ₹13 trillion project to open up avenues for infrastructure investment for global investors.
    • Apart from these steps, the more recent Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme worth an estimated ₹1.5 lakh crore is also a testimony to the government’s intention to encourage entrepreneurship and investment in the country.
    • Steps to skill-train 3 lakh migrant workers the country to realign the rural youth towards industry-relevant jobs is also a step in the right direction.

    Reducing dependency

    • The urgency the Indian government has shown to reduce dependency on China as a hub of the global supply chain.
    • Also, providing an enabling alternative environment has struck the right chord with the world as we see global biggies contemplating a move to India.

    Consider the question “India witnessed a steady flow of foreign capital while the world was battling pandemic. What are the factors responsible for this? What are the risks associated with such capital in the economy?”

    Conclusion

    While persisting with its efforts to attract the capital, the government also needs to focus on improving the productivity and export competitiveness of the economy.

    Back2basics: Difference between FDI and FII

    • FDI is an investment that a parent company makes in a foreign country.
    • On the contrary, FII is an investment made by an investor in the markets of a foreign nation.
    • While FIIs are short-term investments, the FDI’s are long term investment.
    • FII can enter the stock market easily and also withdraw from it easily. But FDI cannot enter and exit that easily.

  • Debate over Coding for Kids

    Various edutech startups have been in the news for the past several months over the debate on the right age for children to start learning to code.

    Q.The National Education Policy, 2020 proposal for “coding activities” reads like Macaulay’s minute for English education in the early 19th century. Examine.

    What is Coding?

    • Computers have their own language called programming language which tells them what to do.
    • Coding is the process of using a programming language to get a computer to behave how you want it to.
    • In a broader sense, it is the process of designing and building an executable computer program to accomplish a specific computing result or to perform a specific task.

    In today’s digital age, most toddlers in their diapers, learn to swipe and click before they can speak apparently or walk. What an irony!

    Coding for children

    • In the age of digital revolution, India was able to produce a huge army of coders and programmers —essentially people who could create computer software.
    • As computing devices have taken over every aspect of life, the need for good programmers and coders has been increasing relentlessly.
    • This led to a trend to teach coding and programming to young students since their school ages.
    • In recent years, platforms and companies have started to claim that kids as young as those in elementary school must begin to learn to code.

    Proponents for coding

    • Leaders of technology companies around the world have pushed for coding to be included as a subject in middle or higher secondary school for students who may be interested to learn.
    • In 2018, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates wrote in a blog post that everyone could benefit from learning the basics of computer science.
    • The idea was to make coding as simple and accessible as the new age “mother tongue” for young children.

    Why should children learn to code?

    • Coding is a basic literacy in the digital age, and it is important for kids to understand and be able to work with and understand the technology around them.
    • It fosters creativity. By experimenting, children learn and strengthen their creativity. It enhances their problem-solving capability.
    • It helps children to be able to visualize abstract concepts, lets them apply math to real-world situations, and makes math fun and creative. Coding is present in many of today’s STEM programs.
    • Children who learn to code understand how to plan and organize thoughts.  This can lead to better writing skills that can be built upon as coding skills develop over time.

    Criticisms of early age coding

    • A metaphor that is often used is that children are being made to ride a bicycle before they have even learnt to walk.
    • There’s a reason why in mathematics addition is taught first, then subtraction, then multiplication, and then division.
    • It is necessary to learn several elements of mathematics and logical thinking before one can code.

  • Eco-ducts or Eco-bridges and their significance

    Ramnagar Forest Division in Nainital district, Uttarakhand, recently built its first eco-bridge for reptiles and smaller mammals.

    Q.Discuss how Eco-ducts or eco-bridges provide the best alternative for wildlife connectivity which is disrupted because of manmade highways. Also, discuss various challenges in building such bridges.

    What are Eco-bridges?

    • Eco-ducts or eco-bridges aim to enhance wildlife connectivity that can be disrupted because of highways or logging.
    • These include canopy bridges (usually for monkeys, squirrels and other arboreal species); concrete underpasses or overpass tunnels or viaducts (usually for larger animals); and amphibian tunnels or culverts.
    • Usually, these bridges are overlaid with planting from the area to give it a contiguous look with the landscape.

    Why need such bridges?

    • There are many roadkills on this route, especially of reptiles such as the monitor lizard.
    • The bridge is an awareness-building mechanism for this very congested tourist route.
    • These bridges are a way to see how we can preserve the ecosystem necessary for reptiles that feed on insects, for snakes that feed on reptiles, and for eagles that feed on snakes.

    Need of the hour

    • A 2020 study by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) noted that nearly 50,000 km of road projects have been identified for construction over the next five to six years.
    • Many highways are being upgraded to four lanes.
    • The National Tiger Conservation Authority had identified three major sites that were cutting across animal corridors.
    • These including National Highway 37 through the Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape in Assam, and State Highway 33 through the Nagarhole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.

    Some considerations

    • The span and distribution of eco-bridges should depend on animal movement patterns.
    • The bigger bridges will see sambar, spotted deer, nilgai, wild pig using them, while for tigers or leopards if the bridge is 5m or 500 m, it doesn’t bother them.
    • But some animals like the deers, which prefer closed habitats, need smaller bridges.

    Some successes

    • The observation on NH 44, which intersects Kanha-Pench and Pench-Navegaon-Nagzira corridors in various sections, is a success.
    • With five animal underpasses and four minor bridges on the 6.6-km road within the forests, it’s one of India’s success stories.

    Such bridges in news

    • One of the largest underpasses – 1.4km – for animal conservation in India is being built along the Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra border.
    • Other proposals include the Chennai-Bangalore National Highway, in the Hosur-Krishnagiri segment, near reserve forests for elephant crossings, and in the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Chandrapur, Maharashtra.