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  • Electoral Reforms In India

    Independent panel to appoint EC members

    | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Constitutional Bodies

    A petition was filed in the Supreme Court seeking the constitution of an independent collegium to appoint members of the Election Commission.

    Election Commission of India (ECI)

    • The ECI is a constitutional body responsible for administering elections in India according to the rules and regulations mentioned in the Constitution of India.
    • It was established on January 25, 1950.
    • The major aim of the election commission of India is to define and control the process for elections conducted at various levels, Parliament, State Legislatures, and the offices of the President and Vice President of India.
    • It can be said that the Election Commission of India ensures the smooth and successful operation of the democracy.

    Functions

    According to Article 324 of the Indian Constitution:

    • the ECI has superintendence, direction, and control of the entire process for conduct of elections to Parliament and Legislature (state legislative assembly & state legislative council) of every State and to
    • the offices of President and Vice-President of India

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. The Election Commission of India is a five-member body.
    2. Union Ministry of Home Affairs decides the election schedule for the conduct of both general elections and bye-elections.
    3. Election Commission resolves the disputes relating to splits/mergers of recognized political parties.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2017)

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) 2 and 3 only

    (d) 3 only

    Its composition

    • Initially, the commission had only a Chief Election Commissioner. Presently, it consists of a Chief Election Commissioner and two Election Commissioners.
    • For the first time, two additional Commissioners were appointed on 16th October 1989 but they had a very short term till 1st January 1990.
    • Afterwards, on 1st October 1993, two additional Election Commissioners were appointed.
    • The concept of a multi-member Commission has been in operation since then, with decision-making power by majority vote.

    Appointment & Tenure of Commissioners

    • The President has the power to select Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners.
    • They have a tenure of six years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
    • They have the same status and receive pay and perks as available to Judges of the Supreme Court of India.
    • The CEC can be removed from office only through accusation by Parliament.
    • The election commissioner or a regional commissioner shall not be removed from office except on the recommendation of the CEC.

    Why such demand for independent collegium?

    • The plea filed has said that the practice of government making the appointments is a violation of the Basic Structure of the Constitution and creates a dent in free and fair elections in a democracy.
    • The petition said the recommendation to have a neutral collegium to fill up vacancies in the Election Commission has been given by several expert committees, commissions from 1975.
    • The recommendation was also part of the Law Commission in its 255th report in March 2015.

    Basis for such demand

    • The EC is not only responsible for conducting free and fair elections, but it also renders a quasi-judicial function between the various political parties including the ruling government and other parties.
    • In such circumstances, the Executive cannot be the sole participant in the appointment of members of the Election Commission as it gives unfettered discretion to the ruling party.
    • Therefore it could appoint someone whose loyalty is ensured and thereby renders the selection process vulnerable to manipulation.

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  • Capital Markets: Challenges and Developments

    SEBI proposes framework for Gold Exchange

    Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    The Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has floated a consultation paper on the proposed framework for Gold Exchange in India.

    Why such a move?

    • According to SEBI, the proposed exchange would bring in more transparency in the gold trading market in terms of spot price discovery, quality of the gold and enable greater integration with the financial markets.

    What is a Gold Exchange?

    • As the name suggests, this would offer trading facilities in the precious metal.
    • Entities like retail investors, banks, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), jewellers and bullion dealers among others would be allowed to trade on the exchange.
    • While there are existing commodity exchanges that offer trading in gold contracts, those are derivative instruments while the proposed gold exchange would allow trading akin to the spot market.
    • This move assumes significance as India is the second-largest consumer of gold – after China – with an annual demand of around 800-900 tonnes.

    Answer this PYQ:

    Q.What is/are the purpose/purposes of the Government’s ‘Sovereign Gold Bond Scheme’ and ‘Gold Monetization Scheme’?

    1. To bring the idle gold lying with India households into the economy
    2. To promote FDI in the gold and jewellery sector
    3. To reduce India’s dependence on gold imports

    Select the correct answer using the code given below

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    What are the ways in which one can invest in gold now?

    • For those wanting to buy physical gold, a visit to the neighbourhood jeweller would suffice.
    • Meanwhile, there are online platforms such as Paytm, Kuvera and Indiagold among others that allow an individual to buy gold in digital form.
    • The advantage of buying gold in digital form is that one can put in a very small amount as well with some platforms allowing a minimum investment of just Rs 100.
    • Digital gold products have become quite popular among millennials. Then there are sovereign gold bonds issued by the government.
    • One can even look at Gold ETFs or gold funds by mutual funds.
    • Even gold derivative contracts traded on the exchanges have the option of physical settlement, which means investors can get physical delivery of gold.

    How can one trade on a gold exchange?

    • The SEBI has proposed an instrument called ‘Electronic Gold Receipt’, or EGR.
    • The gold exchange, along with intermediaries like the vault manager and the clearing corporation, would facilitate the creation of EGR and its trading.
    • So, participants can convert their physical gold into EGR, which can then be bought or sold on the exchange like any normal equity share of a listed company.
    • The EGR can even be converted back into physical gold. As part of the draft regulations, SEBI has proposed three denominations of EGR – one kilogram, 100 grams and 50 grams.
    • It has, however, added that EGRs of five grams or 10 grams can also be allowed for trading to increase the liquidity of the market and attract more participants.

    How can one convert physical gold into EGRs?

    • An entity that intends to convert physical gold into EGR will have to go to a ‘Vault Manager’.
    • According to the proposed framework, any entity registered in India and with a net worth of at least Rs 50 crore can apply to become a vault manager.
    • After the receipt of the gold, the vault manager would create an EGR for which the depository will assign an International Securities Identification Number, or ISIN, which is a unique code to identify the specific security.
    • Once the ISIN is issued, the EGR can be traded on the gold exchange just like any other tradable security.

    Can EGRs be again converted into physical gold?

    • To convert an EGR into physical gold, the owner of the EGR will have to surrender the EGR to the vault manager who will deliver the gold and extinguish the electronic receipt.
    • Considering the logistics and delivery challenges, it has been proposed that conversion of an EGR into physical gold should be allowed only if a minimum of 50 grams of gold has been accumulated in electronic form.

    Issues with gold exchange

    • Since the EGRs would be traded on an exchange, Securities Transaction Tax (STT) would be levied. Also, GST would be applicable when EGRs are converted into physical gold for withdrawal.
    • If in case the buyer and seller are from different states then levying state GST could be cumbersome. SEBI is mulling if only IGST or Integrated Goods and Services Tax can be levied to resolve this issue.
    • As far as transactions are concerned, SEBI working groups have suggested that an entire transaction be divided into three tranches.

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    Brain drain of India’s health worker

    op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    The article highlights the issue of shortage of healthcare workers in India even as it exports its healthcare workers to other countries.

    India as an exporter of healthcare workers

    • For several decades, India has been a major exporter of healthcare workers to developed nations particularly to the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Europe and other English-speaking countries.
    • As per OECD data, around 69,000 Indian trained doctors worked in the UK, US, Canada and Australia in 2017.
    • In these four countries, 56,000 Indian-trained nurses were working in the same year.
    • There is also large-scale migration of health workers to the GCC countries but there is a lack of credible data on the stock of such workers in these nations.
    • There is no real-time data on high-skilled migration from India as in the case of low-skilled and semi-skilled migration.

    Shortage of nurses and doctors

    • The migration of healthcare workers is part of the reason for the shortage in nurses and doctors.
    • If we look at the figures for countries where we export our healthcare workers, we see just how big the difference is between the sending and the receiving countries.
    • As per government reports, India has 1.7 nurses per 1,000 population and a doctor to patient ratio of 1:1,404.
    • This is well below the WHO norm of 3 nurses per 1,000 population and a doctor to patient ratio of 1:1,100.
    • But, this does not convey the entire problem.
    • The distribution of doctors and nurses is heavily skewed against some regions.
    • Moreover, there is high concentration in some urban pockets.

    Factors driving migration

    • There are strong pull factors associated with the migration of healthcare workers, in terms of higher pay and better opportunities in the destination countries.
    • However, there are strong push factors that often drive these workers to migrate abroad.
    • The low wages in private sector outfits along with reduced opportunities in the public sector plays a big role in them seeking employment opportunities outside the country.
    • The lack of government investment in healthcare and delayed appointments to public health institutions act as a catalyst for such migration.

    Measures to check brain drain and issues with it

    • Over the years, the government has taken measures to check the brain drain of healthcare workers with little or no success.
    • In 2014, it stopped issuing No Objection to Return to India (NORI) certificates to doctors migrating to the US.
    • The NORI certificate is a US government requirement for doctors who migrate to America on a J1 visa and seek to extend their stay beyond three years.
    • The non-issuance of the NORI would ensure that the doctors will have to return to India at the end of the three-year period.
    • The government has included nurses in the Emigration Check Required (ECR) category.
    • This move was taken to bring about transparency in nursing recruitment and reduce the exploitation of nurses in the destination countries.
    • The government’s policies to check brain drain are restrictive in nature and do not give us a real long-term solution to the problem.

    Way forward

    • We require systematic changes that could range from increased investment in health infrastructure, ensuring decent pay to workers and building an overall environment to motivate them to stay in the country.
    • The government should focus on framing policies that promote circular migration and return migration — policies that incentivise healthcare workers to return home after the completion of their training or studies.
    •  It could also work towards framing bilateral agreements that could help shape a policy of “brain-share” between the sending and receiving countries.
    • The 2020 Human Development Report shows that India has five hospital beds per 10,000 people — one of the lowest in the world.
    • Increased investment in healthcare, especially in the public sector, is thus the need of the hour.
    • This would, in turn, increase employment opportunities for health workers.

    Consider the question “What are the factors driving the migration of healthcare workers from India? Suggest the measure to stem their migration.”

    Conclusion

    India needs systematic changes that could range from increased investment in health infrastructure, ensuring decent pay to health workers and building an overall environment that could prove to be beneficial for them and motivate them to stay in the country.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

    The costs of relying on China to become more apparent to India’s neighbours

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    The article explains the implications of China’s assertive foreign policy for India’s neighbours.

    Chinese warning to Bangladesh

    • The Chinese ambassador to Bangladesh warned Bangladesh against joining the Quad and added that it will risk “significant damage” to its relationship with Beijing if it warms up to the Quad.
    • This came as a surprise as China was warning Bangladesh against joining a club that has no plans to invite new members, let alone Bangladesh.
    • China always used tough language when it came to issues of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.
    • The aggressive style now covers a much broader range of issues.
    • Beijing is conscious that Bangladesh’s impressive economic performance in recent years as well as its location at the top of the Bay of Bengal littoral lends a new strategic salience to Bangladesh.
    • China notes India’s growing diplomatic investment in developing a strategic partnership with Bangladesh.
    • China is also not blind to the emerging interest in US and Japan to expand cooperation with Dhaka.
    • Bangladesh, which supports China’s Belt and Road Initiative, is open to similar infrastructure cooperation with the US, Japan and India.

    China’s wolf worrier diplomacy

    • The new wolf warrior diplomacy confronts head-on any criticism of China in the public sphere.
    • India has been at the receiving end of this policy for a while — especially during the recent crises of Doklam and Ladakh.
    • But India’s South Asian neighbours, all of whom enjoy good relations with China, are only now getting a taste of Beijing’s new diplomatic medicine.
    • Chinese Ambassador’s public remarks about the Quad were about telling Bangladesh to resist any Indo-Pacific temptation.
    • Pre-emption is very much part of Beijing’s strategic culture.

    What such assertive diplomacy mean for South Asia

    • Delhi has learnt after long that too much diplomatic interference in the Subcontinent has tended to undermine the pursuit of India’s regional objectives.
    • China, as the world’s newest superpower, probably bets that its substantive leverages — including economic, diplomatic, and military — will limit the costs while deterring smaller nations from crossing the markers that it lays down.
    • South Asian elites have always seethed at India meddling in their internal affairs; they have held up China’s non-interventionist policy as a welcome alternative.
    • The controversy in Bangladesh over China’s remark on joining Quad should help update their past images of Beijing
    • India is now more circumspect than before about interventions in the region.
    • It recognises that avoiding knee-jerk interventions is a sensible policy.
    • Our neighbours have always complained about India’s inefficiency in implementing economic projects and contrasted this with China’s speed and purposefulness.
    • But they are also discovering the flip side of Chinese economic efficiency — the capacity to set and implement terms of cooperation that are not always in favour of the host nation.
    • All the regimes in the region have had access to different sections of the Indian elite and some capacity to shape the discourse on neighbourhood policies.
    • They have no political recourse at all in China’s closed political system.

    Consider the question “As Beijing becomes ever more assertive in South Asia, the costs of relying on China are likely to become more apparent to South Asia’s smaller nations. Comment.”

    Conclusion

    Until now, Chinese support against India seemed free of cost. As Beijing becomes ever more assertive in South Asia, the costs of relying on China are likely to become more apparent.

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  • Need for West Asia’s diplomatic resets

    op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    The article highlights the unprecedented engagement among the countries of West Asia even among the rivals and explains its significance.

    New diplomatic engagements in West Asia

    • Recently, there have been interactions between senior Saudi and Iranian officials, the first since diplomatic ties were broken in January 2016.
    • Following the removal of the diplomatic and economic blockade on Qatar that was imposed by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt, Doha has made efforts to mend ties with both Saudi Arabia and Egypt, in tandem with similar initiatives of its doctrinal and political ally, Turkey.
    • On May 5, Turkey and Egypt had their first diplomatic meeting in Cairo after they had broken diplomatic ties in 2013.
    • The two countries, on opposite sides on almost all regional issues, are now exploring how to address their differences.

    Driving force behind these engagements

    • The driving force behind these unprecedented engagements is the advent of the Biden administration at the helm of politics in the United States.
    • He has taken a tough line on Saudi Arabia, scrutinising its human rights record and opposition to the war in Yemen.
    • Besides concerns in West Asian capitals, the broader message is that the U.S. is now likely to be less engaged with the region’s quarrels.
    • These signals of new U.S. policies have occurred even as the novel coronavirus pandemic is devastating West Asia.
    • Finally, one major factor is the recognition that the ongoing regional conflicts, in Syria, Yemen and Libya, despite the massive death and destruction, have yielded no military outcome and now demand fresh diplomatic approaches.

    Long way to go in resolving differences

    • Egypt remains uneasy about Turkey’s ties with the Brotherhood and its regional ambitions.
    • Saudi Arabia has similar concerns about Turkey’s doctrinal affiliations and its relations with Iran.
    • There are difficulties in reshaping Saudi-Iran relations as well.
    • Iran may ease the pressure on the kingdom in Yemen and gradually yield ground in Iraq.
    • However, Syria will test their diplomatic skills as they explore how to accommodate their competing strategic interests in that devastated country.

    Historic period for West Asian diplomacy

    • This is truly a historic period for West Asian diplomacy.
    • The major states are displaying unprecedented self-confidence in pursuing initiatives without the involvement of western powers that have dominated regional affairs for at least a couple of centuries.
    • This has left a pervasive sense of insecurity across West Asia and made the countries dependent on western alliances to ensure their interests.
    • This has left a pervasive sense of insecurity across West Asia and made the countries dependent on western alliances to ensure their interests.

    Role for India

    • Given that regional contentions are inter-connected, third-party facilitators will be needed to promote mutual confidence and prepare the ground for a comprehensive regional security arrangement.
    • This will bring together regional and external states with a stake in West Asia security.
    • This arrangement will have provisions for participating states to uphold regional peace and promote mutually beneficial cooperation in energy, economic and logistical connectivity areas.
    • Given its close ties with all the regional states, India is well-placed to build an association of like-minded states — Japan, Russia, South Korea — to shape and pursue such an initiative for West Asian peace.

    Conclusion

    These new diplomatic engagements with erstwhile rivals could in time overturn existing regional alignments and possibly end ongoing conflicts.

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  • Intellectual Property Rights in India

    India should walk the talk on TRIPS waiver

    op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Intellectual Property Rights

    The article highlights the variance in India’s stand on intellectual property rights waiver for Covid related drugs on the international level and domestic level. 

    Removing the IPR barrier

    • When the pandemic hit the globe, India and South Africa piloted the proposal to waive key provisions of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement on COVID-19 vaccines, drugs, therapeutics, and related technologies.
    • The core idea is that IPRs such as patents should not become barriers in scaling up production of medical products essential to combat COVID-19.
    • The TRIPS waiver proposal, now backed by the U.S. would give immunity to member countries from a legal challenge at the WTO if their domestic IPR laws suspend or do not enforce IP protection on COVID-19 medical products.
    • Member countries of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are under an obligation to ensure that their domestic intellectual property rights (IPR) laws conform to the requirements of the TRIPS agreement.

    No use of compulsory licencing in India

    • The existing flexibilities under the Patents Act of 1970, such as compulsory licences, which are consistent with the TRIPS agreement, can be used to increase the supply of COVID-19 medical products.
    • However, despite the nudging by the judiciary and others, the government inexplicably hasn’t made use of compulsory licences in the pandemic.
    • While issuing compulsory licences for COVID-19 vaccines in the absence of technology transfer is easier said than done, they can be used to augment the supply of drugs and other therapeutics.
    • For instance, there are demands that compulsory licences be issued for drugs such as Remdesivir to augment supply.
    • Natco, an Indian pharmaceutical company, has requested a compulsory licence under Section 92 of the Patents Act for Baricitinib, a COVID-19 drug.
    • This is ironic because India has historically played a leading role in mainstreaming TRIPS flexibilities like the compulsory licence at the WTO.
    • The Central government, in an affidavit filed before the Supreme Court, states that the main constraint in boosting the production of drugs like Remdesivir is the unavailability of raw materials and essential inputs.
    • The affidavit further states, “it is presumptuous to assume that the patent holder will not agree to more voluntary licences”.

    Issues with the government’s stand

    •  If that is the real bottleneck, and not IPR-related legal hurdles, why is India pushing for a TRIPS waiver at the WTO?
    • The first step in advocating for the removal of IPR-related impediments at the WTO is to make use of the existing lawful means.
    • Therefore, the government’s stand before the Supreme Court is not only contradictory with India’s position at the WTO but also severely undermines it.

    Way forward

    • To make its TRIPS waiver stand convincing, the government needs to make aggressive use of Sections 92 and 100 of the Patents Act to license all patents necessary to make COVID-19 medical products.
    • The government should not only transfer Covaxin’s technology to domestic pharmaceutical companies, to boost national supplies, but also offer it to foreign corporations. 
    •  By unlocking its vaccine technical know-how to the world, India would demonstrate its resolve to walk the talk on the TRIPS waiver.

    Conclusion

    India must take a consistent stand on IPRs on COVID-19 medical products internationally and domestically.

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  • Labour, Jobs and Employment – Harmonization of labour laws, gender gap, unemployment, etc.

    Why has Indian manufacturing been losing jobs since 2016?

    | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Issues relating growth and development, employment

    The State of Working India (SWI) 2021 has documented the impact of one year of Covid-19 in India, on jobs, incomes, inequality, and poverty.

    Highlights of the SWI 2021

    • The SWI 2021 showed that the pandemic had forced people out of their formal jobs into casual work, and led to a severe decline in incomes.
    • There is a sudden increase in poverty over the past year.
    • Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, contributed disproportionately to job losses.
    • Unsurprisingly, these are also the states that suffered the maximum Covid caseload.

    Labour Participation Rate (LPR) is the ratio of the labour force to the population greater than 15 years of age. It is defined as the section of working population in the age group of 16-64 in the economy currently employed or seeking employment.

    Worsened with COVID

    • It pointed to an ailment of the Indian economy that has not only been a longstanding one but also one that has gotten worse over the past few years even without the help of Covid.
    • Agriculture, mines, manufacturing, real estate and construction, financial services, non-financial services, and public administrative services sectors account for 99% of total employment in India.
    • The number of people employed in the manufacturing sector of the economy has come down from 51 million to 27 million — that is, almost halving in the space of just four years!
    • For instance, the number of people employed in agriculture is going up.
    • Equally disheartening is that employment in non-financial services (such as providing education and entertainment industry etc.) has fallen sharply.

    Why are these trends worrisome?

    • It is important to understand that traditionally Indian policymakers have been of the view that the manufacturing sector is our best hope to soak up the surplus-labour otherwise employed in agriculture.
    • Manufacturing is well suited because it can make use of the millions of poorly educated Indian youth, unlike the services sector, which often requires better education and skill levels.
    • For the longest time, India has struggled to get its manufacturing industries to create a growing bank of jobs.
    • But, and this is what the CMIE data shows, what is happening in the past 4-5 years is that far from soaking up excess labour from other sectors of the economy, manufacturing is actually letting go of workers.

    Return to Agriculture

    • India has seen a hike in the number of people “employed” in agriculture over the past year.
    • This is nothing but disguised unemployment.
    • Essentially, labourers and workers are returning to their rural homes in the absence of jobs either in manufacturing or services.

    Why is Indian manufacturing failing to create jobs?

    • On the face of it, every past government has come out with a policy to boost manufacturing jobs. But still, the situation is getting worse.
    • There are different ways to look at this question.
    1. One is to look at why manufacturing has struggled to create as many jobs in the past
    2. The second is to look at the specific reasons why manufacturing has been bleeding jobs, instead of creating them, since 2016-17.

    Let’s tackle the historical question first.

    • If one looks at any of the sectors in the economy — agriculture, industry, services — starting a manufacturing unit requires the highest amount of fixed investment upfront (relative to the output that may be generated later).
    • In other words, it is a big commitment on the part of an entrepreneur to put up a huge amount of money without necessarily knowing how it will all pan out.
    • What has traditionally made this truly risky is the highly extractive nature of governments.
    • In simpler terms, far too often governments have been corrupt, with officials and politicians extracting bribes.

    Less focus on manufacturing goods

    • As regards the demand for manufacturing goods, experts point out that Indians have always consumed relatively less of manufacturing goods and relatively more of food and services.

    There are two possible reasons for this.

    1. One, most Indians are quite poor and hence most of the income is spent on food.
    2. Two, repairs and maintenance are a very high part of our consumption choice.
    • In other words, when Indians buy a manufactured product — say a refrigerator — they tend to use it for much longer than in developed countries.

    Core of the problem

    • The trouble lies with policymakers repeatedly neglecting the labour-intensive industries.
    • Since the second five year plan, the P C Mahalanobis strategy was to gain self-reliance by investing in capital intensive industries so that India does not have to import machines etc. from other countries.
    • The hope was that the demand from Indian consumers will make the domestic industry viable.
    • But Indian domestic demand was quite anaemic due to poverty levels.

    Other policy lacunas

    • As against the capital intensive industries, which were involved in making heavy machines, the labour-intensive ones (such as leather, handicrafts, textiles etc.) were reserved for the small-scale industry framework.
    • But while the labour-intensive manufacturing firms could not match the capital-intensive firms in terms of GDP value or growth of output, they did have a distinct advantage of creating more jobs.
    • But, by treating them as small-scale industries, policies held back their growth.
    • Moreover, India did not push for integrating its labour-intensive manufacturing in the global supply chains by aggressively following exports.
    • Instead, the idea was to substitute imports in the name of self-reliance.

    What has happened since 2016-17?

    • Things have become worse over the past five odd years despite the Indian government unveiling its ambitious Make in India (MII) initiative and the latest Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.
    • For one India is repeating the same mistakes with MII and PLI schemes.
    • They are again aimed more at capital intensive manufacturing, not labour intensive ones.
    • Moreover, India is reverting to the protectionist approach, aimed at self-reliance, yet again in recent years.
    • Further, much like in the past, this time, too, the domestic demand is weak for aggressively boosting labour-intensive industries aimed at capturing the export markets.

    Conclusion

    • The growing rift in the fortunes of informal and formal manufacturing could be the reason why India is seeing such a massive decline in manufacturing jobs.
    • The government has tried its level best to push for greater formalization but it has often been accused of not understanding the nature and functioning of India’s informal economy.

    Way forward

    • For the same level of employment, formality is good.
    • But if there is a trade-off between formality and employment generation, choosing formality may not be so beneficial. And this trade-off appears to be quite sharp in India.
    • Indian manufacturing is still at best hope for creating new jobs and soaking up excess unskilled labour through better infrastructure and easier regulatory support — to create millions of new jobs.

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  • Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

    ICMR drops Plasma Therapy for COVID-19

    | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

    The use of convalescent plasma has been dropped from the recommended treatment guidelines for COVID-19, according to an advisory from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

    Q.What is convalescent plasma therapy and what are the issues involved in its adoption?

    Convalescent Plasma Therapy

    • The therapy seeks to make use of the antibodies developed in the recovered patient against the coronavirus.
    • The whole blood or plasma from such people is taken, and the plasma is then injected into critically ill patients so that the antibodies are transferred and boost their fight against the virus.
    • A COVID-19 patient usually develops primary immunity against the virus in 10-14 days.
    • Therefore, if the plasma is injected at an early stage, it can possibly help fight the virus and prevent severe illness.

    How often has it been used in the past?

    • This therapy is no new wonder. It has been used several times.
    • The US used plasma of recovered patients to treat patients of Spanish flu (1918-1920).
    • In 2014, the WHO released guidelines to treat Ebola patients with convalescent whole blood and plasma.
    • In 2015, plasma was used for treating MERS patients.

    How is it done?

    • The process to infuse plasma in a patient can be completed quickly.
    • It only requires standard blood collection practices and extraction of plasma.
    • If whole blood is donated (350-450 ml), a blood fractionation process is used to separate the plasma.
    • Otherwise, a special machine called aphaeresis machine can be used to extract the plasma directly from the donor.
    • While blood is indeed extracted from the donor, the aphaeresis machine separates and extracts the plasma using a plasma kit, and the remaining blood components are returned into the donor’s body.

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  • Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

    Places in news: Leang Sakapao Caves

    India Mapping | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena

    Researchers have reported that Pleistocene-era rock paintings dating back to 45,000-20,000 years ago in cave sites in southern Sulawesi, on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, are weathering at an alarming rate.

    Have you ever found the mention of ‘Altamira Caves’ in your NCERTs?

    Leang Sakapao Caves

    • This cave art of Sulawesi is much older than the prehistoric cave art of Europe.
    • The artwork in the area includes what is believed to be the world’s oldest hand stencil (almost 40,000 years ago), created by pressing the hand on a cave wall and spraying wet red-mulberry pigments over it.
    • A nearby cave features the world’s oldest depiction of an animal, a warty pig painted on the wall 45,500 years ago.

    Impact of climate change

    • The artwork made with pigments was decaying due to a process known as haloclasty, which is triggered by the growth of salt crystals due to repeated changes in temperature and humidity.
    • This is caused by alternating wet and dry weather in the region.
    • Indonesia has also experienced several natural disasters in recent years, which have quickened the process of deterioration.

    Note:

    Mark all islands of the Indonesian Archipelago in your Atlas.

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  • Foreign Policy Watch: India-Iran

    Farzad B Gas Field

    India Mapping | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    Iran gave the Farzad B gas field to a domestic gas producer in a setback move to India.

    Farzad B Gas Field

    • Farzad-B is an off-shore natural gas field 20 kilometres off Farsi Island in Iran.
    • The gas field was discovered in 2008 by a consortium of three Indian companies, led by the state-owned ONGC Videsh with a 40% stake; the other companies were Indian Oil Corporation (40%) and Oil India (20%).

    Deal soured after US sanctions

    • Negotiations between the consortium and the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) to develop the gas field stalled due to secondary sanctions against Iran by the US and the European Union in the early 2010s.
    • Following the lifting of sanctions after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was signed in July 2015 the consortium was close to an agreement to invest $US5 billion to develop the gas field.
    • After the United States withdrawal from the JCPOA in May 2018, and the reinstatement of U.S. sanctions against Iran, the negotiations between the consortium and NIOC broke down.

    Consider the question “Balancing the contrasts has been the basis of India’s relations with Iran. Comment.”

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