Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Drugs and Cosmetics Act
Mains level: Paper 2- Blackmarketing during pandemic
The article highlights the issue of black-marketing of drugs during the pandemic and the factors responsible for it.
Problem of fake and sub-standard drugs
- There have been reports of fake remdesivir amid the Covid pandemic.
- It is difficult to quantify the morbidity and mortality effects of fake or sub-standard drugs, but they are substantial.
- Legally, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act (DCA) has different categories of misbranded, adulterated and spurious drugs.
- In 2003 Mashelkar Committee noted that although the Drugs and Cosmetics Act has been in force for the past 56 years, but the level of enforcement in many States has been far from satisfactory.
- The committee also noted that the problems in the regulatory system in the country were primarily due to inadequate or weak drug control infrastructure at the State and Central level.
Steps taken to deal with the issue
- Assistance has also been provided under the World Bank assisted Capacity Building Project to upgrade testing facilities and to establish new drug testing laboratories.
- The Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 has recently been amended in 2008 for providing more stringent penalties to those involved in the trade of spurious drugs.
- There are specially designated courts and regulatory infrastructure has been strengthened.
- There is also a whistle-blower scheme.
Distinction between hoarding and black-marketing
- A hoarder is anyone who stocks up items.
- The crime isn’t hoarding per se but of selling a drug without a licence.
- Data on prosecutions, and convictions when prosecuted, of crimes under Drugs and Cosmetics Act, are not encouraging.
- Incidentally, courts have ruled police officers can’t register FIRs, arrest and prosecute (for cognisable crimes) under this law.
- That’s the job of drugs inspectors.
- The notion of a black market is different, though the two can be related.
- In this context, it means charging a premium when there is a shortage.
- A black market occurs when the price at which a product is sold is higher than an administratively determined price.
Conclusion
Action not taken in the best of times now strikes back at us in the worst of times.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Need for ethics policy in EdTech
The article highlights the privacy concerns associated with EdTech apps in the absence of a regulatory framework.
Privacy risks associated with EdTechs
- Since the onset of the pandemic, online education has replaced conventional classroom instruction.
- This has given rise to several EdTech apps which have become popular.
- To perform the process of learning customisation, the apps collect large quantities of data from the learners through the gadgets that the students use.
- These data are analysed in minute detail to customise learning and design future versions of the app.
- The latest mobile phones and hand-held devices have a range of sensors like GPS, gyroscope, accelerometer, magnetometer and biometric sensors apart from the camera and microphones.
- These provide data about the learner’s surroundings along with intimate data like the emotions and attitudes experienced and expressed via facial expressions and body temperature changes.
- In short, the app and device have access to the private spaces of the learner that one would not normally have access to.
Informed consent in research
- Researchers dealing with human subjects need to comply with ethics rules along with global standards.
- One of the cardinal rules that should never be broken is informed consent.
- Before any research on human subjects is undertaken, researchers have to submit detailed proposals to their respective ethics committees and obtain their permissions.
- Further, a researcher working with children, for example, would also have to convince schoolteachers, parents, and school managements about the nature of the research to be undertaken, type of data to be collected, method of storage, the potential harmful effects of such data, etc.
Minimal safeguards in EdTech
- The safeguards that traditional researchers are subject to are either missing or minimal in research that the EdTech industry promotes.
- The concept of informed consent is not meaningful since there are no proper primers to explain to stakeholders the intricacies in layperson terms.
- Since India does not have protection equivalent to the GDPR, private data collected by an EdTech company can be misused or sold to other companies with no oversight or protection.
Way forward
- Given these realities, it is necessary to formulate an ethics policy for EdTech companies.
- Such a policy draft should be circulated both online and offline for discussions and criticism.
- Issues of fairness, safety, confidentiality and anonymity of the user would have to be dealt with.
- EdTech companies would have to be encouraged to comply in the interest of a healthier learning ecosystem.
Consider the question “What are the challenges associated with the adoption of online education mode? Suggest the ways to deal with these challenges.”
Conclusion
The lack of a regulatory framework in India along the lines of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe could impinge on the privacy of students. What we need is ethics policy in online education space.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ICAI
Mains level: Paper 2- MoU between ICAI and QFCA
Signing of MoU
- The Union Cabinet approved the signing of a pact between the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) and the Qatar Financial Centre Authority (QFCA)
- The ICAI has more than 6,000 members in the Middle East.
Increase opportunities and enhance cooperation
- The MoU would enhance cooperation between the institutes to work together to strengthen the accounting profession and entrepreneurship base in Qatar.
- The MoU would provide the ICAI members in the entire Middle East better recognition, together with working to support Indian businesses desirous of doing business in Qatar
- The MoU will endeavour to increase opportunities for ICAI members to provide professional services in Qatar in the areas of assurance and auditing, advisory, taxation, financial services and allied areas.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GSM-21
Mains level: Paper 2- GSM-21
Fostering relations with maritime neighbours
- Towards fostering friendly relations with its maritime neighbours, Indian Navy hosted ‘GMS-21’.
- The event for the first time was hosted in virtual mode, with online participation of Naval representatives from 13 Indian Ocean Littoral countries.
- The 13 countries included India, Bangladesh, Comoros, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Myanmar, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
- The theme for GMS-21 was focused on “Maritime Security and Emerging Non-Traditional Threats: A Case for Proactive Role for IOR Navies,” with emphasis on capacity building amongst the IOR Navies to tackle emerging common maritime threats.
Bringing together the stakeholders
- With the Indian Ocean becoming the locus of 21st century strategic landscape, the symposium will play a constructive role in bringing together the stakeholders who have a role in evolving strategies, policies and implementation mechanisms on the issues of common interest in maritime domain.
- In addition to presenting cooperative strategies for enhancing interoperability among partner maritime agencies, the event provided a forum for articulation of views on the crucial maritime issues, followed by theme based discussions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MLA-LAD scheme
Mains level: Paper 2- Using MLA-LAD funds for Covid vaccination
MLA-LAD Fund for buying vaccine
- As part of the efforts to mobilise financial resources for COVID-19 vaccination, Rajasthan Chief Minister has approved a proposal to provide ₹3 crore each from the MLA Local Area Development (LAD) Fund.
- For meeting the expenses, the fund for each legislator has been increased from ₹2.25 crore to ₹5 crore a year.
- The 200 MLAs in the State will contribute a total of ₹600 crore to the vaccination fund account under the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.
- From the remaining ₹2 crore in the MLA-LAD Fund, ₹1 crore will be spent on strengthening the medical infrastructure, purchase of equipment and setting up of model community health centres.
About MLA-LAD Fund
- Member of Legislative Assembly Local Area Development is a scheme that enables each MLA to undertake small developmental works in his/her constituency.
- The MLALAD Scheme is intended to be utilised for small but essential projects/works based on the felt needs of the local public.
- Under this scheme, funds will be provided in the State’s Plan Budget every year.
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