Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Schedule H drugs
Mains level: Paper 3- E-commerce for medical drug
Context
A draft law to replace the 1940 Drugs and Cosmetics Act with a Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill 2022 was uploaded by the Union health ministry in early July, seeking public comments and objections.
Major provisions of the Bill
1] E-commerce for medical drugs
- Presently, online sales of medicines account for a fraction of the total pharma sales in India but are forecast to grow exponentially.
- The first major feature in the new Bill that affects consumers relates to e-commerce.
- Like all online shopping, the consumer gets the advantage of discounts and the comfort of shopping from home.
- In normal times, e-commerce can surmount three uniquely Indian disadvantages.
- Storage condition: The first relates to climatic conditions, which require medicines to be stored at below 30 degrees Celsius and 70 per cent relative humidity — unattainable in most of India.
- It can mandate establishing a back-end brick and mortar store for drug supply having good storage conditions.
- Compliance with regal provision: The second advantage of e-commerce could be fulfilling a legal requirement — providing a bill to the consumer and retaining one copy bearing the batch numbers and expiry dates of the drugs.
- In addition, the practice of accessing prescription drugs over-the-counter would reduce.
- In the case of e-commerce, registration of a pharmacy can require enrollment with the central and state drug control organisations and the practice of uploading a prescription from a registered medical practitioner can be enforced.
- Concern: Shopping for medical drugs on the internet could encourage overuse or incomplete use of drugs, increase dependency on habit-forming medicine — for example, sleep-inducing drugs or self-medication with products for weight loss, male enhancement, even treating mental illness — which is fraught with dangerous consequences.
- A greater focus on medical devices: The draft law also proposes according a greater focus on medical devices, which include thousands of engineered apparatuses like stents, joint implants, pacemakers, catheters, etc, which require quality regulation.
- Provision for advisory board: Rules for medical devices were notified in 2017 but now it is proposed to establish a statutory Medical Device Technical Advisory Board, with experts from the fields of atomic energy, science and technology, electronics, and related fields like biomedical technology to guide the process.
- This is a welcome move that will bring in the required expertise.
Issues not addressed in the Bill
- Mismanagement of trade: What the Bill does not address is the need to stop the continued mismanagement of the wholesale and retail drugs trade in India.
- Requirements for drug license not changed: Rule 64 (2) of the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945 lays down that a wholesale drug licence can be given to a qualified pharmacist or one who has passed the matriculation examination or its equivalent or a graduate with one year’s experience in dealing with drug sale.
- This is a relic from 80 years ago.
- When the country is reported to have over 7,00,000 pharmacists, this anachronism must be discarded.
- It is essential to introduce a binding and enabling provision to only licence qualified pharmacists and put the safety of millions of citizens before the self-preservation of a few thousand wholesalers and stockists.
Way forward
- There is need for ensuring digitisation of procurement, inventory control and accountability for dispensing drugs into a digital trail.
Conclusion
The debate should not be between e-commerce and retail sale. It should be between being compliant and non-compliant.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: TRIPS waiver
Mains level: Paper 3- WTO and India
Context
The 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was concluded recently. A cursory examination of the outcomes of the meeting leaves us in no doubt that the European Union (EU) and some other developed countries are the overwhelming winners, while India finds itself on the losing side.
Background of TRIPS waiver for Covid related treatment
- On October 2020, India and South Africa put forth a proposal seeking to temporarily suspend the protection of intellectual property rights such as patents, copyrights, industrial designs and trade secrets, so that the production of vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics could be ramped up to help overcome the crisis and fight the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The opponents of the proposal, i.e,. Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Switzerland and the United States, found themselves on the wrong side of the global opinion on this issue.
- In June-July 2021, the U.S. gave its support to the proposal, but limited it to vaccines.
- Pushed into a corner, the European Union (EU) made a counter-proposal to undermine the proposal made by India and South Africa.
- This counter proposal provided a cosmetic simplification in certain procedural aspects of compulsory licensing in patent rules.
- By March 2022, India and South Africa were corralled into accepting the EU’s proposal.
- This formed the basis of the final outcome at the MC12.
Gain for EU at MC12
- The ministerial outcome on the so-called TRIPS waiver represents the biggest gain for the EU.
- The ministerial outcome adds very little to what already exists in the WTO rulebook.
- The final outcome is almost unworkable; a big public relations victory for the EU.
- Change in institutional architecture: In the name of WTO reform, the EU sought to make fundamental changes to the institutional architecture of the WTO.
- It also sought to give a formal role to the private sector in WTO.
- Environmental issues: The EU has also managed to create a window to pursue negotiations on issues related to trade and environment at the WTO, an issue of concern for many developing countries.
Disappointments for India
- No solution to public stockholding issue: India, the issue of a permanent solution to public stockholding was identified by the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry as being its top most priority.
- Despite having the support of more than 80 developing countries, this issue has not found mention anywhere in the ministerial outcome.
- Instead, the WTO members have succeeded in diverting attention from India’s interest by agreeing that food security is multi-dimensional, requiring a comprehensive solution.
- No taxing electronic transmission: India has also failed in many of its other objectives, such as securing the right to raise revenues by taxing electronic transmissions.
- In the area of fisheries subsidies, it gets two years to have suitable regulatory mechanisms in place to monitor fish catch and reporting.
- Although it has secured a temporary reprieve to provide subsidies for enhancing its fishing fleets, it will have to fight an uphill battle on this issue in future negotiations.
Conclusion
Overall, the path ahead for India at the WTO is difficult. India’s negotiators need to undertake soul searching to learn lessons from the dynamics at the MC12, and make course corrections.
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Back2Basics: Public stockholding issue
- Under the WTO’s Agreement on Agriculture, government procurement for public stockholding programs is exempt from discipline if stocks are procured at current market prices.
- If procured at pre-announced administered prices, however, those outlays would potentially be counted toward a country’s overall limits on trade-distorting support.
- Some developing countries are concerned that their procurement of food at fixed prices under these programs may push outlays to exceed allowed limits, thus depriving them of the necessary policy space to meet domestic food security requirements.
- In this context, India and other members of the G33 developing country coalition have called for WTO members to agree to a “permanent solution,” following the 2013 Bali decision to exempt these programs from legal challenge under certain conditions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 5G technology
Mains level: 5G Rollout and related issues
The much-awaited auction for telecom spectrum, including for 5G airwaves, will begin tomorrow.
Spectrums for auctions
- A total of 72,097.85 MHz (or 72 Ghz) of spectrum with a validity period of 20 years will be put on the block.
- Airwaves across low (600 MHz, 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz), mid (3300 MHz) and high (26 GHz) frequency bands, valued at ₹4,316 billion ($56 billion) at least, will be put up for bidding.
What is (Electromagnetic) Spectrum?
- Devices such as cellphones and wireline telephones require signals to connect from one end to another.
- These signals are carried on airwaves, which must be sent at designated frequencies to avoid any kind of interference.
- The Union government owns all the publicly available assets within the geographical boundaries of the country, which also include airwaves.
- With the expansion in the number of cellphones, wireline telephone and internet users, the need to provide more space for the signals arise from time to time.
Spectrum allocations
- Spectrum refers to the invisible radio frequencies that wireless signals travel over. The frequencies we use for wireless are only a portion of what is called the electromagnetic spectrum.
- To sell these assets to companies willing to set up the required infrastructure to transport these waves from one end to another, the central government through the DoT auctions these airwaves from time to time.
- These airwaves called spectrum is subdivided into bands which have varying frequencies.
- All these airwaves are sold for a certain period of time, after which their validity lapses, which is generally set at 20 years.
What is 5G technology?
- 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
- It mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high-frequency spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
Three bands of 5G
(1) Low band spectrum
- It has shown great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
- This means that while telcos can use and install it for commercial cellphones users who may not have specific demands for very high-speed internet, the low band spectrum may not be optimal for the specialized needs of the industry.
(2) Mid-band spectrum
- It offers higher speeds compared to the low band but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
- Telcos and companies, which have taken the lead on 5G, have indicated that this band may be used by industries and specialized factory units for building captive networks that can be molded into the needs of that particular industry.
(3) High-band spectrum
- It offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
- Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G have been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (gigabits per second), while, in most cases, the maximum internet data speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps.
Where does India stand in the 5G technology race?
- On par with the global players, India had, in 2018, planned to start 5G services as soon as possible, with an aim to capitalize on the better network speeds and strength that the technology promised.
- Indian private telecom players have been urging the DoT to lay out a clear road map of spectrum allocation and 5G frequency bands so that they would be able to plan the rollout of their services accordingly.
- One big hurdle, however, is the lack of flow of cash and adequate capital with some companies due to their AGR dues.
Global progress on 5G
- More than governments, global telecom companies have started building 5G networks and rolling it out to their customers on a trial basis.
- In countries like the US, some companies have taken the lead when it comes to rolling out commercial 5G for their users.
- A South Korean company, which had started researching on 5G technology way back in 2011, has, on the other hand, take the lead when it comes to building the hardware for 5G networks for several companies.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Kuznets Curve
Mains level: Read the attached story
In India, there are fewer people employed in agriculture today, but the transformation has been weak. Those moving out of farms are working more in construction sites and the informal economy than in factories.
What is the news?
- India has too many people in agriculture and the inability to move surplus labour from farms constitutes a major policy failure of successive governments.
- In 1993-94, agriculture accounted for close to 62% of the country’s employed labour force.
- Overall, between 1993-94 and 2018-19, agriculture’s share in India’s workforce came down from 61.9% to 41.4%.
- In other words, roughly a third in 25 years. That isn’t insignificant.
- The declining trend continued, albeit at a slower pace, in the subsequent seven as well.
What is our point of analysis?
- Even the movement of workforce from agriculture that India has witnessed over the past three decades or more does not qualify as what economists call “structural transformation”.
- Such transformation would involve the transfer of labour from farming to others sectors – particularly manufacturing and modern services – where productivity, value-addition and average incomes are higher.
- The surplus labour pulled out from the farms is being largely absorbed in construction and services.
- The bulk of the jobs are in petty sectors such as retailing, small eateries, domestic help, sanitation, security staffing, transport and similar other informal economic activities.
- This is also evident from the low, if not declining, share of employment in organised enterprises, defined as those engaging 10 or more workers.
What is the crux of the story?
- Simply put, the structural transformation process in India has been weak and deficient.
- Yes, there is movement of labour taking place away from farms – even if stalled, possibly temporarily.
- But that surplus labour isn’t moving to higher value-added non-farm activities, specifically manufacturing and modern services.
- This is familiar to the ‘Kuznets Process’ named after the American economist and 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize winner, Simon Kuznets.
What is Kuznets’ Hypothesis?
- In the 1950s and 1960s, Simon Kuznets hypothesized that as an economy develops, market forces first increase and then decrease the overall economic inequality of the society.
- This is illustrated by the inverted U-shape of the Kuznets curve.
- For instance, the hypothesis holds that in the early development of an economy, new investment opportunities increase for those who already have the capital to invest.
- These new investment opportunities mean that those who already hold the wealth have the opportunity to increase that wealth.
- Conversely, the influx of inexpensive rural labor to the cities keeps wages down for the working class thus widening the income gap and escalating economic inequality.
Basis of this hypothesis
- The Kuznets curve implies that as a society industrializes, the center of the economy shifts from rural areas to the cities as rural laborers, such as farmers, begin to migrate seeking better-paying jobs.
- This migration, however, results in a large rural-urban income gap and rural populations decrease as urban populations increase.
- But according to Kuznets’ hypothesis, that same economic inequality is expected to decrease when a certain level of average income is reached.
- This process is triggered by the processes associated with industrialization, such as democratization and the development of a welfare state, take hold.
- It is at this point in economic development that society is meant to benefit from trickle-down effect and an increase in per-capita income that effectively decreases economic inequality.
What does the inverted Kuznets Curve mean?
- The inverted U-shape of the Kuznets curve illustrates the basic elements of the Kuznets’ hypothesis with income per capita graphed on the horizontal x-axis and economic inequality on the vertical y-axis.
- The graph shows income inequality following the curve, first increasing before decreasing after hitting a peak as per-capita income increases over the course of economic development.
Criticism of the theory
- Critics say that the Kuznets curve does not reflect an average progression of economic development for an individual country.
- Rather it is a representation of historical differences in economic development and inequality between countries in the dataset.
- It suits to the countries that have had histories of high levels of economic inequality as compared to their counterparts in terms of similar economic development.
- The critics hold that when controlling for this variable, the inverted U-shape of the Kuznets curve begins to diminish.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: RTE
Mains level: RTE, Corporal Punishment
Three private school teachers in Pune have been booked under the Juvenile Justice Act over allegedly thrashing three Class 10 students, and threatening to grade them poorly in internal assessments
What is Corporal Punishment?
- By definition, corporal punishment means punishment that is physical in nature.
- There is NO statutory definition of ‘corporal punishment’ targeting children in the Indian law.
- The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 prohibits ‘physical punishment’ and ‘mental harassment’ under Section 17(1) and makes it a punishable offence under Section 17(2).
Identifying corporal punishments
- According to the Guidelines for Eliminating Corporal Punishment in Schools issued by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), physical punishment is understood as any action that causes pain, hurt/injury and discomfort to a child, however light.
- Examples include hitting, kicking, scratching, pinching, biting, pulling the hair, boxing ears, smacking, slapping, spanking, hitting with any implement (cane, stick, shoe, chalk, dusters, belt, whip), giving electric shock and so on.
- It includes making children assume an uncomfortable position (standing on bench, standing against the wall in a chair-like position, standing with school bag on head, holding ears through legs, kneeling, forced ingestion of anything, detention in the classroom, library, toilet or any closed space in the school.
What else is included?
- Mental harassment is understood as any non-physical treatment that is detrimental to the academic and psychological well-being of a child.
- This includes sarcasm, calling names and scolding using humiliating adjectives, intimidation, using derogatory remarks for the child, ridiculing or belittling a child, shaming the child and more.
Safeguards against corporal punishment
- Section 17 of the Right to Education Act, 2009, imposes an absolute bar on corporal punishment.
- Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act prescribes punishment for cruelty to children.
- Violation would invite punishment of rigorous imprisonment upto five years and fine up to Rs 5 lakh.
- If the child is physically incapacitated or develops a mental illness or is rendered mentally unfit to perform regular tasks or has risk to life or limb, then imprisonment may extend upto ten years.
Exceptions
- The RTE Act does not preclude the application of other legislation that relates to the violations of the rights of the child.
- For example, booking the offenses under the IPC and the SC and ST Prevention of Atrocities Act of 1989.
- In theory, corporal punishment is covered by all the provisions under Indian law that punish perpetrators of physical harm.
What do NCPCR guidelines say about eliminating corporal punishment?
The NCPCR guidelines for eliminating corporal punishment against children require every school to develop a mechanism and frame clear-cut protocols to address the grievances of students.
- Drop boxes are to be placed where the aggrieved person may drop his complaint and anonymity is to be maintained to protect privacy.
- Every school has to constitute a ‘Corporal Punishment Monitoring Cell’ consisting of two teachers, two parents, one doctor, and one lawyer (nominated by DLSA).
Who is entrusted with the responsibility to ensure children are protected?
- There are relevant authorities earmarked to ensure the protection of children in schools.
- Under Section 31 of the RTE Act, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the State Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (SCPCRs) have been entrusted with the task of monitoring children’s right to education.
- The state governments under their RTE rules have also notified block/district level grievance redressal agencies under the RTE Act.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Disposal of Seized Narcotics
Mains level: Not Much
The Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) has destroyed 30,000 kg of seized drugs at four locations – Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi and Guwahati — in the virtual presence of Union Home Minister.
Destruction of Seized Narcotic Drugs
- Section 52-A of the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 allows probe agencies to destroy seized substances after collecting required samples.
- Officials concerned must make a detailed inventory of the substance to be destroyed.
- A five-member committee comprising the area SSP, director/superintendent or the representative of the area NCB, a local magistrate and two others linked to law enforcement and legal fraternity is constituted.
- The substance is then destroyed in an incinerator or burnt completely leaving behind not any trace of the substance.
Exact procedure that is followed
- The agency first obtains permission from a local court to dispose of the seized narcotic substances.
- These substances are then taken to the designated place of destruction under a strict vigil.
- The presiding officer tallies the inventory made at the storeroom with that material brought to the spot.
- The entire process is videographed and photographed.
- Then one by one, all the packets/gunny bags of the substance/s are put in the incinerator.
- As per rules, committee members cannot leave the place until the seized drugs have been completely destroyed.
Which agency is authorized to carry out such an exercise?
- Every law enforcement agency competent to seize drugs is authorized to destroy them after taking prior permission of the area magistrate.
- These include state police forces, the CBI and the NCB among others.
Why destroy seized drugs?
- The hazardous nature of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances, their vulnerability to theft, substitution, and constraints of proper storage space are among the reasons that make agencies destroy them.
- There have been instances when seized narcotics were pilfered from the storeroom.
- To prevent such instances, authorities try to destroy seized drugs immediately after collecting the required samples out of the seized substances.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Resolving judicial pendency
Over 59 lakh cases were pending in the High Courts until July 22, Law Minister said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.
What else?
- There are serving women judges in various courts, including 4 in the Supreme Court and 96 in the High Courts, as of July 25.
Indian Judiciary: A Backgrounder
- Our Judicial system has been the nation’s moral conscience keeper.
- It speaks truth to political power, upholds the rights of citizens, mediates between Centre-state conflicts, provides justice to the rich and poor alike, and on several momentous occasions, saved democracy itself.
- Despite its achievements, a gap between the ideal and reality has been becoming clear over the years.
- The justice delivery is slow, the appointment of judges is mired in controversy, disciplinary mechanisms scarcely work, hierarchy rather than merit is preferred, women are severely under-represented, and constitutional matters often languish in the Supreme Court for years.
- As Justice Chelameswar said in his dissent in the NJAC judgment, the courts must reform, so that they can preserve.
Challenges to the judicial system
- Lack of infrastructure of courts
- High vacancy of judges in the district judiciary
- Pendency of Cases
- Ineffective planning in the functioning of the courts
- Delay in the delivery of judgements
- Lack of transparency in appointments and transfers.
- Corruption
- Undertrials serving Jail
- Outdated laws ex. Section 124A IPC
What led to the underperformance of the Indian Judiciary?
The primary factors contributing to docket explosion and arrears as highlighted by the Justice Malimath Committee report are as follows:
- Population explosion
- Litigation explosion
- Hasty and imperfect drafting of legislation
- Plurality and accumulation of appeals (Multiple appeals for the same issue)
- Inadequacy of judge strength
- Failure to provide adequate forums of appeal against quasi-judicial orders
- Lack of priority for disposal of old cases (due to the improper constitution of benches)
Recent developments:
Proposal for the creation of National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation (NJIC)
- The CJI has pitched to set up a National Judicial Infrastructure Corporation (NJIC) to develop judicial infrastructure in trial courts.
- He indicated a substantial gap in infrastructure and availability of basic amenities in the lower judiciary.
- There is a dearth of court halls, residential accommodation, and waiting rooms for litigants in trial courts, especially in smaller towns and rural areas.
- Experience shows that budgetary allocation for state judiciary often lapses since there is no independent body to supervise and execute such works.
- NJIC is expected to fill this vacuum and overcome problems related to infrastructure.
Way forward
- Creating NJIC: It will bring a revolutionary change in the judicial functioning provided the proposed body is given financial and executive powers to operate independently of the Union and the State governments.
- Appointment reforms: There are many experts who advocate the need to appoint more judges with unquestionable transparency in such appointments.
- Creating All Indian Judiciary Services: It would be a landmark move to create a pan-India Service that would result in a wide pool of qualified and committed judges entering the system.
- Technology infusion: The ethical and responsible use of AI and ML for the advancement of efficiency-enhancing can be increasingly embedded in legal and judicial processes. Ex. SUPACE.
- Legal education: This should be in alignment with the evolving dynamics of the law and must be propagated in trial and constitutional courts. This will improve the competence of the judicial system.
- Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR): ADR mechanisms should be promoted for out-of-court settlements. Primary courts of appeal should be set up.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Issues with IAF, Defense modernization
In a tragic accident, a MIG-21 trainer jet of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed in Rajasthan killing both the high-ranked officer pilots onboard.
What is the status of the MIG-21 jets in the IAF?
- The MIG-21 was inducted into the IAF in the early 1960s and since then more than 800 variants of the supersonic fighter were inducted into service.
- It remained the frontline fighter jet of the force for a long time.
- During this period, there were over 400 accidents involving the jet which claimed the lives of around 200 pilots.
Nature of service
- Currently, there are four MIG-21 squadrons in service consisting of the upgraded Bison variant.
- IAF officials have stated that there is technical life still left in them.
- There are only four squadrons of the MIG-21 aircraft.
Why use outdated aircraft?
- With delays in new inductions, the IAF has been forced to continue the last four MIG-21 Bison squadrons in service.
- One squadron is set to be phased out in the next few months, while the remaining three squadrons are planned to be phased out in the next three years.
- This phase-out was worked out much before last week’s tragic incident.
What is the present fighter strength of the IAF?
- The IAF has an authorized strength of 42 fighter squadrons.
- As time passes, the drawdown is increasing as the total technical life is completed.
- However, the rate of new inductions is not matching the drawdown, depleting the overall number of fighter squadrons.
- Additionally, several frontline aircraft in the inventory including the Jaguars, and MIG-29s will begin phasing out by the end of the decade.
- For instance, by 2027-28 the first of the MIG-29s, inducted in the late 1980s, will start going out.
New squadrons to be inducted
- In the last few years, the IAF has inducted two squadrons of the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas and two squadrons of Rafale fighter jets procured from France which pushed the squadron strength to 32.
- In January 2021, the IAF had signed a contract with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for 83 of the more advanced LCA MK-1A which it will start receiving from early 2024 onwards.
- Along with that the to-be-acquired 114 Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) will help arrest the drawdown.
- A larger and even more capable LCA-MK2, as well as the fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), are under development.
- However, their availability in enough numbers will take some time.
Inherent limitations to the IAF
- Hardware/Technological Challenges: Technology is at the core of an air force – acquiring and assimilating it is our primary challenge. The lack of it curtails national options, impacting postures and doctrines. Denial and selective availability of technology are all enmeshed in international relations.
- Maintenance Challenges: Maintenance challenges determine how long aircrafts last and their cost-effectiveness. ‘Maintainability’, which includes logistical issues, is therefore, crucial.
- Relying on Upgrades: IAF is badly in need of new Fighter Aircraft to compete with new 5th generation Modern jets. At current there are old aircraft and it is mostly dependant on Super Manoeuvrable Modern Generation Fighter Jet Su 30 MKI.
- Delaying of Aircraft Delivery: The current order of IAF the Rafale is expected to be completed in 2024. The LCA Tejas of HAL has now produced 21 but still it has to manufacture in more number to replace the retiring MIG 21 BISON.
Roadmap to shore up fighter strength
- No easy roadmap: The IAF has acknowledged that they will not be able to achieve the desired strength for the time being and that they are doing the best they can.
- Indigenous aircraft: In addition to the indigenous aircraft coming up, the IAF is confident that increasing the low availability rates of Su-30 and other fighters in service will offset some of the shortfalls in the interim.
- Offsets of war: This could be potentially impacted due to the war in Ukraine even though officials have said that they are assessing the impact of the war and western sanctions.
Way forward
- Air power is becoming technologically more refined with unmanned platforms, cyber-space linkages and AI advances.
- The inherent trans-border nature of this military capability needs astute professional and political husbanding.
- Acquiring credible aerospace power with a meaningful degree of indigenization will need a greater degree of national resolve, professional integrity and resource allocation than is the case now.
- China has demonstrated the degree of suasion and intimidation that airpower can bring to bear in relation to Taiwan.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: AlphaFold
Mains level: Not Much
DeepMind, a company based in London and owned by Google, announced that it had predicted the three-dimensional structures of more than 200 million proteins using AlphaFold.
This is the entire protein universe known to scientists today.
What is AlphaFold?
- AlphaFold is an AI-based protein structure prediction tool.
- It is based on a computer system called deep neural network.
- Inspired by the human brain, neural networks use a large amount of input data and provide the desired output exactly like how a human brain would.
- The real work is done by the black box between the input and the output layers, called the hidden networks. AlphaFold is fed with protein sequences as input.
- When protein sequences enter through one end, the predicted three-dimensional structures come out through the other.
- It is like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
How does AlphaFold work?
- It uses processes based on “training, learning, retraining and relearning.”
- The first step uses the available structures of 1,70,000 proteins in the Protein Data Bank (PDB) to train the computer model.
- Then, it uses the results of that training to learn the structural predictions of proteins not in the PDB.
- Once that is done, it uses the high-accuracy predictions from the first step to retrain and relearn to gain higher accuracy of the earlier predictions.
- By using this method, AlphaFold has now predicted the structures of the entire 214 million unique protein sequences deposited in the Universal Protein Resource (UniProt)
What are the implications of this development?
- Proteins are the business ends of biology, meaning proteins carry out all the functions inside a living cell.
- Therefore, knowing protein structure and function is essential to understanding human diseases.
- Scientists predict protein structures using x-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, or cryogenic electron microscopy.
- These techniques are not just time-consuming, they often take years and are based mainly on trial-and-error methods.
- The development of AlphaFold changes all of that.
- It is a watershed movement in science and structural biology in particular.
What does this development mean for India?
- Vaccine development: Understanding the accurate structures of COVID-19 virus proteins in days rather than years will accelerate vaccine and drug development against the virus.
- Structural biology: From the seminal contribution of G. N. Ramachandran in understanding protein structures to the present day, India is no stranger to the field and has produced some fine structural biologists.
Back2Basics: Proteins
- Protein is found throughout the body—in muscle, bone, skin, hair, and virtually every other body part or tissue.
- It makes up the enzymes that power many chemical reactions and the hemoglobin that carries oxygen in your blood.
- At least 10,000 different proteins make you what you are and keep you that way.
- Protein is made from twenty-plus basic building blocks called amino acids.
- Because we don’t store amino acids, our bodies make them in two different ways: either from scratch or by modifying others.
- Nine amino acids—histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tryptophan, and valine—known as the essential amino acids, must come from food.
- Chemically, amino acids are organic compounds made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen or sulfur.
- There are seven types of proteins: antibodies, contractile proteins, enzymes, hormonal proteins, structural proteins, storage proteins, and transport proteins.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Foreign exchange reserves
Mains level: Paper 3- Depreciation of rupee
Context
The Indian rupee has been in free fall. Some commentators have pointed out that it has fallen less against the US dollar than a lot of other currencies.
Significance of foreign exchange reserves
- Decline by 10 per cent: A large part of the current relative strength of the rupee vis-à-vis other currencies is due to the sale of dollars by the RBI — it has lost more than 10 per cent of its foreign reserves in the space of about nine months.
- Why country needs foreign exchange: A developing economy needs foreign exchange to finance its international transactions for both the current account (goods and services) and capital account (assets) transactions.
- Cost involved: The benefits of this stock are obvious, but there are also costs associated with the holding of these.
- The larger the stock, the more its reassuring value.
- Typically, because of their “liquid” nature, the returns on these are low.
How RBI manages the foreign exchange reserves?
- How country accumulates foreign exchange reserves? A country can accumulate reserves by running current account surpluses that is, keeping its total expenditure below its gross national product, and/or by interventions in the foreign exchange markets.
- India (usually) runs a current account deficit.
- Its reserves are then accumulated solely through “sterilised” interventions.
- When foreign entities want to invest in Indian assets (stocks and debt), the RBI gives them rupees in exchange for foreign exchange.
- Mindful of the fact that this may cause a surge in inflation, the RBI then sells government bonds, sucking out the additional rupees.
- The foreign exchange reserves rise, and are matched by an increase in government bonds outstanding.
How outflow of foreign financial capital affects foreign exchange reserves?
- When capital inflows were taking place, the RBI accumulated foreign exchange and allowed some currency appreciation.
- As long as capital flows were strong, foreign reserves kept piling up and the currency (in real terms) was strong.
- Depreciation of rupee: In recent months, we have witnessed an outflow of foreign financial capital, with reserves falling and the rupee depreciating.
- International capital flows tend to be pro-cyclical, that is, they move with the world economic activity.
- Unlikely to increase export: A depreciation of our currency is unlikely to see our exports rise very much because the world income levels are down.
- Inflation: What this depreciation will cause is imported inflation and bankruptcies.
Analysing the RBI’s role
- Allowed outward remittances: The RBI threw caution to the winds and allowed outward remittances in foreign currency by Indian residents, with almost no questions asked (up to $2,50,000 annually).
- The RBI could have had a much larger supply of foreign exchange had they not generously handed out foreign currency to be frittered away.
- While they have not restricted outward remittances, they are trying to shore up reserves by making FCNR (B) and FRE deposits more attractive.
- It is not in any individual’s interest to bail out the RBI.
- The RBI has also committed to using reserves to ensure an orderly depreciation.
- Futility of RBI’s intervention: If the world financial markets want a depreciated rupee, the RBI’s intervention would not be able to prevent it.
- But in spite of this, the RBI, with its commitment to inflation targeting, would try to prevent a depreciation (because it causes the price of imported goods to rise).
- Possible impact on the poor: Having too open a capital account policy was always fraught with risks.
- When countries are confronted with a crisis, the IMF is asked to provide assistance.
- But assistance from IMF would involve a “structural adjustment”, including cutting back on subsidies for the poor and vulnerable.
Conclusion
We are standing at the edge of a precipice, but, hopefully, the world will pull back in the nick of time. If not, it would be the chronicle of a death foretold.
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Back2Basics: FCNR(B) Account
- An FCNR ( Foreign Currency Non-resident) account is a type of term deposit that NRIs can hold in India in a foreign currency.
- FCNR (A) was introduced in 1975 to encourage NRI deposits.
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guaranteed the exchange rate prevalent at the time of a deposit to eliminate risk to depositors.
- In 1993, the apex bank introduced FCNR (B), without exchange rate guarantee, to replace FCNR (A).
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: National flag
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Centre is set to launch a large-scale campaign to encourage Indians to fly the National Fag at their homes to mark the 75th Independence Day under the Har Ghar Tiranga Campaign.
Also, August 2 marks 146th birth anniversary of Pingali Venkayya, the designer of Pingali Venkayya.
Har Ghar Tiranga
- ‘Har Ghar Tiranga’ is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India’s independence.
- The campaign aims to have citizens hoisting our National Flag in their homes between August 13 and 15.
Why such move?
- Our relationship with the flag has always been more formal and institutional than personal.
- Bringing the flag home collectively as a nation in the 75th year of independence thus becomes a symbolic act of personal connection to the Tiranga.
- The idea behind the initiative is to invoke the feeling of patriotism in the hearts of the people and to promote awareness about the National Flag.
Story of our National Flag
- On July 22, 1947, the Constituent Assembly adopted our National Flag.
- The flag that was finally chosen underwent several changes since it was originally designed by Pingali Venkayya in 1923.
- Venkayya was not just the architect of the flag but also a freedom fighter.
- He was known as Jhanda Venkayya as he published a book in 1916 on 30 designs for the Indian flag.
- August 2 marks his 146th birth anniversary and citizens across this country will now know more of his contributions in designing the flag that we have today.
How this was made possible?
- First, the Flag Code was changed to make the flag more accessible and thus give every Indian the unique opportunity to hoist the flag at their homes.
- Subsequently, the government has taken various steps to ensure the supply of flags across the country.
- Flags are now available in all post offices in the country.
- State governments have tied up with various stakeholders for the supply of flags.
- The flag will be available on the government’s e-market marketplace (GEM) portal, on e-commerce portals, and with various self-help groups (SHGs).
What is the Flag Code of India?
- The Flag Code of India is a set of laws, practices and conventions that apply to the display of the national flag of India.
- The Code took effect from 26 January 2002 and superseded the “Flag Code-India” as it existed earlier.
- It permits the unrestricted display of the tricolour, consistent with the honour and dignity of the flag.
The Flag Code of India has been divided into three parts:-
- First Part: General Description of the National Flag.
- Second Part: Display of the National Flag by members of public, private Organisations & educational institutions etc.
- Third Part: Display of National Flag by Union or State Governments and their organisations and agencies.
Disposing of the national flag
- A/c to the Flag Code, such paper flags are not to be discarded or thrown on the ground after the event.
- Such flags are to be disposed of, in private, consistent with the dignity of the flag.
Do you know?: Hoisting the national flag is a fundamental right
- The bench headed by Chief Justice of India V. N. Khare said that under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, citizens had the fundamental right to fly the national flag on their premises throughout the year.
- However, it provided that the premises do not undermine the dignity of the national flag.
About Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act
- The law, enacted on December 23, 1971, penalizes the desecration of or insult to Indian national symbols, such as the National Flag, the Constitution, the National Anthem, and the Indian map, as well as contempt of the Constitution of India.
- Section 2 of the Act deals with insults to the Indian National Flag and the Constitution of India.
Do you know?
Article 51 ‘A’ contained in Part IV A i.e. Fundamental Duties asks:
To abide by the constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem in clause (a).
Back2Basics: Story of our National Flag
(1) Public display for the first time
- Arguably the first national flag of India is said to have been hoisted on August 7, 1906, in Kolkata at the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park).
- It comprised three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green, with Vande Mataram written in the middle.
- Believed to have been designed by freedom activists Sachindra Prasad Bose and Hemchandra Kanungo, the red stripe on the flag had symbols of the sun and a crescent moon, and the green strip had eight half-open lotuses.
(2) In Germany
- In 1907, Madame Cama and her group of exiled revolutionaries hoisted an Indian flag in Germany in 1907 — this was the first Indian flag to be hoisted in a foreign land.
(3) During the Home Rule Movement
- In 1917, Dr Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak adopted a new flag as part of the Home Rule Movement.
- It had five alternate red and four green horizontal stripes, and seven stars in the saptarishi configuration.
- A white crescent and star occupied one top corner, and the other had Union Jack.
(4) Final version by Pingali Venkayya
- The design of the present-day Indian tricolour is largely attributed to Pingali Venkayya, an Indian freedom fighter.
- He reportedly first met Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa during the second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), when he was posted there as part of the British Indian Army.
- Years of research went into designing the national flag. In 1916, he even published a book with possible designs of Indian flags.
- At the All India Congress Committee in Bezwada in 1921, Venkayya again met Gandhi and proposed a basic design of the flag, consisting of two red and green bands to symbolise the two major communities, Hindus and Muslims.
(5) During Constituent Assembly
- On July 22, 1947, when members of the Constituent Assembly of India, the first item on the agenda was reportedly a motion by Pandit Nehru, about adopting a national flag for free India.
- It was proposed that “the National Flag of India shall be horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (Kesari), white and dark green in equal proportion.”
- The white band was to have a wheel in navy blue (the charkha being replaced by the chakra), which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PMI
Mains level: Not Much
India’s manufacturing sector rebounded in July, with sales and output growing at the fastest pace since November. The PMI quickened last month to 56.4, from June’s 9-month low of 53.9.
Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI)
- PMI is an indicator of business activity — both in the manufacturing and services sectors.
- It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception of some key business variables from the month before.
- It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is constructed.
- The PMI is compiled by IHS Markit based on responses to questionnaires sent to purchasing managers in a panel of around 400 manufacturers.
How is the PMI derived?
- The PMI is derived from a series of qualitative questions.
- Executives from a reasonably big sample, running into hundreds of firms, are asked whether key indicators such as output, new orders, business expectations and employment were stronger than the month before and are asked to rate them.
How does one read the PMI?
- A figure above 50 denotes expansion in business activity. Anything below 50 denotes contraction.
- Higher the difference from this mid-point greater the expansion or contraction. The rate of expansion can also be judged by comparing the PMI with that of the previous month data.
- If the figure is higher than the previous month’s then the economy is expanding at a faster rate.
- If it is lower than the previous month then it is growing at a lower rate.
What are its implications for the economy?
- The PMI is usually released at the start of the month, much before most of the official data on industrial output, manufacturing and GDP growth becomes available.
- It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.
- Economists consider the manufacturing growth measured by the PMI as a good indicator of industrial output, for which official statistics are released later.
- Central banks of many countries also use the index to help make decisions on interest rates.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Creation of new districts
Mains level: Distrinct administration
The West Bengal cabinet has approved the creation of seven new districts in the state.
What are Districts?
- India’s districts are local administrative units inherited from the British Raj.
- They generally form the tier of local government immediately below that of India’s subnational states and territories.
- A district is headed by a Deputy Commissioner/ Collector, who is responsible for the overall administration and the maintenance of law and order.
- The district collector may belong to IAS (Indian Administrative Service).
- Districts are most frequently further sub-divided into smaller administrative units, called either tehsils or talukas or mandals, depending on the region.
How are new districts carved?
- The power to create new districts or alter or abolish existing districts rests with the State governments.
- This can either be done through an executive order or by passing a law in the State Assembly.
- Many States prefer the executive route by simply issuing a notification in the official gazette.
How does it help?
- States argue that smaller districts lead to better administration and governance.
- For example, in 2016, the Assam government issued a notification to upgrade the Majuli sub-division to Majuli district for “administrative expediency”.
Does the Central government have a role to play here?
- The Centre has no role to play in the alteration of districts or creation of new ones. States are free to decide.
- The Home Ministry comes into the picture when a State wants to change the name of a district or a railway station.
- The State government’s request is sent to other departments and agencies such as the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Intelligence Bureau, Department of Posts, Geographical Survey of India Sciences and the Railway Ministry seeking clearance.
- A no-objection certificate may be issued after examining their replies.
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