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

Powering the health-care engine with innovation

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

India needs to tap the potential of the health-care start-ups in India and make the necessary provision to deal with the problems in the adoption of innovations in health-care.

Expanding the supply side
- Need to increase the hospital empanelled: As the scale of this scheme grows, a key area of focus is-
  - To expand the secondary and tertiary hospitals empanelled under PM-JAY and
  - To ensure their quality and capacity while keeping the costs down.
- The ratio of doctors and beds: At present, there is one government bed for every 1,844 patients and one doctor for every 11,082 patients.
- 3% hospitalisation under the scheme: In the coming years, considering 3% hospitalisation of PM-JAY-covered beneficiaries, the scheme is likely to provide treatment to 1.5 crore patients annually.
  - This means physical and human infrastructure capacity would need to be augmented vastly.
- Need for more beds: Conservative estimates suggest that we would need more than 150,000 additional beds, especially in Tier-2 and -3 cities.
- Long-term strategy: While a comprehensive long-term strategy will focus on expanding hospital and human resources infrastructure, an effective near-term approach is needed to improve efficiencies and bridge gaps within the existing supply and likely demand.
- Mainstreaming innovation: A strong, yet under-tapped lever for accelerating health system efficiency and bridging these gaps is mainstreaming innovation in the Indian health system.
Transformative solutions
- India’s burgeoning entrepreneurial spirit combined with a systematic push for the development of a start-up ecosystem has led to a plethora of innovations in health care.
- It is estimated that there are more than 4,000 health-care technology start-ups in India.
- How do start-ups help? Today, start-ups are working to bring-
  - Innovative technologies and business models that leapfrog infrastructure.
  - Human resources.
  - Cost-effectiveness and efficiency challenges in Tier-2 and -3 cities.
- How other innovations could help?
  - Artificial Intelligence platforms that aid in rapid radiology diagnoses in low resource settings.
  - Tele-ICU platforms to bridge the gap in high-skilled critical care personnel.
  - Centralised drone delivery of blood, medicines and vaccines to reach remote locations cost-effectively and reliably are all no longer just theoretical ideas.
- Time to implement transformative solutions: It is high time for transformative solutions to make their way into our hospitals, especially in Tier-2 and -3 cities, to turbocharge the way health care is delivered at scale.
Challenges in mainstreaming healthcare innovations
- Lack of uniform regulatory standards: One challenge is non-uniform regulatory and validation standards.
  - Regulations evolving in India: Regulatory requirements, specifically for biomedical start-ups, are still evolving in India.
  - As a result, hospitals often rely on foreign regulatory certifications such as FDA and CE, especially for riskier devices and instruments.
  - Government to overhaul standards: The government is now pushing ahead to overhaul Indian med-tech regulatory standards and product standards which will help bridge this trust-deficit.
- Difficulty in the promotion of start-ups: Another problem in promoting start-ups is the operational liquidity crunch due to a long gestation period.
  - Health-care start-ups spend long periods of time in the early development of their product, especially where potential clinical risks are concerned.
  - Long gestation period: The process of testing the idea and working prototype, receiving certifications, performing clinical and commercial validations, and raising funds, in a low-trust and unstructured environment makes the gestational period unusually long thereby limiting the operational liquidity of the start-up.
- Lack of framework to adopt innovation: Another hurdle is the lack of incentives and adequate frameworks to grade and adopt innovations.
  - Health-care providers and clinicians, given limited bandwidth, often lack the incentives, operational capacity, and frameworks necessary to consider and adopt innovations.
  - This leads to limited traction for start-ups promoting innovative solutions.
- Procurement challenges: Start-ups also face procurement challenges in both public and private procurement.
  - They lack the financial capacity to deal with lengthy tenders and the roundabout process of price discovery.
  - Private procurement is complicated by the presence of a fragmented customer base and limited systematic channels for distribution.
Way forward
- Identify promising market-ready products: To accelerate the process of mainstreaming innovations within the hospital system in India-
  - We need to focus on identifying promising market-ready health-care innovations that are ready to be tested and deployed at scale.
- Facilitate standard operational validation studies: There is a need to-
  - Facilitate standardised operational validation studies that are required for market adoption.
  - To help ease out the start-up procurement process such that these solutions can be adopted with confidence.
  - This, in effect, will serve the entire ecosystem of health-care innovators by opening up health-care markets for all.
- Need to develop an interface between hospital and start-ups: A strong theme in mature health-care systems in other parts of the world is a vibrant and seamless interface between hospitals and health-care start-ups.
  - Through Ayushman Bharat, India has the unique opportunity to develop a robust ecosystem where-
  - Hospitals actively engage with health-care start-ups by providing access to testbeds, communicating their needs effectively and adopting promising innovations.
  - Start-ups as collaborators: Start-ups can be effective collaborators for the most pressing health-care delivery challenges faced by hospitals.
Conclusion

The dream of an accessible, affordable and high-quality health-care system for all, will be achieved when we work in alignment to complement each other and jointly undertake the mission of creating an Ayushman Bharat.
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US policy wise : Visa, Free Trade and WTO

USTR takes India off Developing Country List

op-ed snap | Agriculture | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
Context

The United States’s annual exercise of designating developing, and least developed countries has assumed importance for India this year: it has been dropped from the list of developing countries.

‘Developing’ or ‘developed’ country designation by the US
- Last week, the United States officially designated developing and least-developed countries for the purposes of implementing the countervailing measures.
  - The division is provided by the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM) of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
- Why the designation matters?
  - The higher level of subsidies allowed: According to the ASCM, developing countries are allowed to grant higher levels of subsidies as compared to the developed countries before countervailing duties (CVD) can be imposed.
  - What are the limits? The maximum limit of the subsidy is-
  - For developed country: Limit is maximum 1% of the import value of the investigated product.
  - For developing country: Limit is a maximum 2% of the import value of the investigated product.
  - If the limit is breached the importing country can impose a countervailing duty on the product.
India as a target by the US
- Provision of self-designation: Under the WTO rules, any country can “self-designate” itself as a developing country.
- No criteria specified by the WTO: The WTO does not lay down any specific criteria for making a distinction between a developed and a developing country member, unlike in the World Bank where per capita incomes are used to classify countries.
- Arbitrary criteria used to designate India: Despite this clearly laid down criterion in the WTO rules, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) employed an arbitrary methodology that took into consideration-
  - “Economic, trade, and other factors, including the level of economic development of a country (based on a review of the country’s per capita GNI) and a country’s share of world trade” to exclude India from list of designated developing countries.
- Second such instance after denying GSP: Excluding India from the lists of developing countries for the purposes of using countervailing measures or denying benefits of GSP are but two of the more recent initiatives that the U.S. has taken to challenge India’s status as a developing country in the WTO.
What would the impact on India?
- Loss of Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT): India would lose the ability to use the special and differential treatment (S&DT) to which every developing country member of the WTO has a right.
  - What is S&DT? In short, S&DT lessens the burden of adjustment that developing countries have to make while acceding to the various agreements under the WTO.
  - How S&DT benefited India?S&DT has been particularly beneficial for India in two critical areas: one, implementation of the disciplines on agricultural subsidies and, two, opening up the markets for both agricultural and non-agricultural products.
- Limits on subsidies: The WTO Agreement on Agriculture(AoA) provides an elaborate discipline on subsidies.
  - Subsidies are classified into three categories, but two of these are virtually outside the discipline since the WTO does not limit spending on these categories of subsidies.
  - Limits on price support measures: The discipline exists in case of price support measures (minimum support price) and input subsidies which is the more common form of subsidies for most developing countries, including in India.
  - Limits on spending on prices support measures: For developing countries, spending on price support measures and input subsidies taken together cannot exceed 10% of the total value of agricultural production.
  - In contrast, developed countries are allowed to spend only 5% of their value of agricultural production.
Shifting to DBT
- Why shifting to DBT necessary? India is a major user of price support measures and input subsidies.
  - And given the constraints imposed by the AoA, the government has spoken about its intention to move into the system of direct benefit transfer (DBT) for supporting farmers.
  - No limit on spending through DBT: A shift to DBT is attractive for India since there are no limits on spending, unlike in case of price support measures and input subsidies.
  - Rework subsidies’ programme: Faced with on-going farm distress, the government has had to rework its subsidies’ programme in order to extend greater benefits, especially to small and marginal farmers.
- Challenges in the implementation of DBT
  - Implementation of DBT in agriculture has several insurmountable problems.
  - Difficulty in identifying the beneficiary: Targeting potential beneficiaries of DBT seems difficult at this juncture for a number of reasons, including inadequate records of ownership of agricultural land on the one hand, and the presence of agricultural labour and tenants on the other.
  - This implies that in the foreseeable future, India would continue to depend on price support measures and input subsidies.
  - How it matters: Given this scenario, the government needs the policy space to provide adequate levels of subsidies to a crisis-ridden agricultural sector.
  - And therefore it is imperative that continues to enjoy the benefits as a developing country member of the WTO.
Issue of tariffs
- The issue of market access, or the use of import tariffs, is one of the important trade policy instruments.
- Provision of no reciprocal tariff cuts: It has some key provisions on S&DT, which the developing countries can benefit from. The most important among these is the undertaking from the developed countries that they would not demand reciprocal tariff cuts.
  - Over the past two years, the government of India has been extensively using import tariffs for protecting Indian businesses from import competition.
  - With the increasing use of tariffs, almost across the board, India’s average tariffs have increased from about 13% in 2017-18 to above 17% at present.
- Why it matters? Developed country members of the WTO have generally maintained very low levels of tariffs, and, therefore, India’s interests of maintaining a reasonable level of tariff protection would be well served through its continued access to S&DT, by remaining as a developing country member of the WTO.
Conclusion

With the changing stance of the US towards India, the government must ensure its international trade and agriculture at home is not adversely impacted.
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Zoonotic Diseases: Medical Sciences Involved & Preventive Measures

Explained: One Health Concept

Explained | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields
The concept of ‘One Health’ is gaining importance as most of the contagious diseases affecting humans are zoonotic (animal to man origin) in nature. It can be effectively implemented for reducing incidence of emerging zoonotic threats like COVID-19.

The One Health concept
- The World Organization of Animal Health, commonly known as OIE (an abbreviation of its French title), summarizes the One Health concept.
- It says that as “human health and animal health are interdependent and bound to the health of the ecosystems in which they exist”.
- Circa 400 BC, Hippocrates in his treatise On Airs, Waters and Places had urged physicians that all aspects of patients’ lives need to be considered including their environment; disease was a result of imbalance between man and environment.
- So One Health is not a new concept, though it is of late that it has been formalized in health governance systems.
Why accept this model?
- Of the contagious diseases affecting humans, more than 65% are of zoonotic or animal to man origin.
- One Health model is a globally accepted model for research on epidemiology, diagnosis and control of zoonotic diseases.
- One Health model facilitates interdisciplinary approach in disease control so as to control emerging and existing zoonotic threats.
- Increasing stress on animals due to loss of their habitat would increase scope of zoonotic diseases.
Why corona is so deadly?
- Current outbreak of COVID-19 still could not find out the actual source of virus.
- Even though genomics of the virus has been published ambiguity still exists whether it was from bats, snakes, pangolin, etc.
Frequent Outbreaks of Zoonotic Diseases
- Not so long ago, the widespread prevalence of avian influenza in poultry, or bird flu as it commonly became known, created nationwide panic resulting in the culling of millions of poultry birds.
- It was concern for human health that prompted the extreme reaction and subsequent establishment of protocols; containment of avian influenza is managed quite effectively now.
- Similarly in 2003, SARS or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome emanated suddenly in China and vanished soon.
Followed by hues and panic
- These outbreaks culminated emergency response that included extreme measures like travel bans and restrictions.
- In both cases, panic spread much faster than the virus.
- Besides drawing a response from governments, these events also brought forth the hitherto forgotten philosophy of One Health.
- This idea recognizes inter-connectivity among human health, the health of animals, and the environment.
Why rise in zoonotic outbreaks?
- As human populations expand, it results in greater contact with domestic and wild animals, providing more opportunities for diseases to pass from one to the other.
- Climate change, deforestation and intensive farming further disrupt environment characteristics, while increased trade and travel result in closer and more frequent interaction, thus increasing the possibility of transmission of diseases.
Need for a robust animal health system
- Private sector presence in veterinary services is close to being nonexistent.
- Unlike a physician, a veterinarian is always on a house call on account of the logistic challenge of transporting livestock to the hospital, unless they are domestic pets.
- There could not be a stronger case for reinventing the entire animal husbandry sector to be able to reach every livestock farmer, not only for disease treatment but for prevention and surveillance to minimize the threat to human health.
- Early detection at animal source can prevent disease transmission to humans and introduction of pathogens into the food chain. So a robust animal health system is the first and a crucial step in human health.
Conclusion
- Developing countries like India have a much greater stake in strong One Health systems on account of agricultural systems resulting in uncomfortably close proximity of animals and humans.
- This builds a strong case for strengthening veterinary institutions and services.
- Further delay may pave way for emergence of new communicable diseases.
Way Forward
- The most effective and economical approach is to control zoonotic pathogens at their animal source.
- It calls not only for close collaboration at local, regional and global levels among veterinary, health and environmental governance, but also for greater investment in animal health infrastructure.
- Need of the hour is to scale up such a model across the country and to establish meaningful research collaborations across the world.
- Health, veterinary, agriculture and life science research institutions and universities can play a lead role.
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Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED)

| Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Important Geophysical Phenomena
An extraordinary measure to protect 25 million people and important economic regions of 15 Northern European countries from rising seas has been proposed. It is called Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED) enclosing all of the North Sea.

Northern European Enclosure Dam (NEED)
- The scientists have proposed the construction of two dams of a combined length of 637 km — the first between northern Scotland and western Norway.
- It would be 476 km and with an average depth of 121 m and maximum depth of 321 m; the second between France and southwestern England, of length 161 km, and average depth of 85 m and maximum depth of 102 m.
- A/c to scientists, separating the North and Baltic Seas from the Atlantic Ocean is considered to be the “most viable option” to protect Northern Europe against unstoppable sea level rise (SLR).
- They have also identified other regions in the world where such mega-enclosures could potentially be considered, including the Persian Gulf, the Mediterranean Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Irish Sea, and the Red Sea.
The rationale behind
- The concept of constructing NEED showcases the extent of protection efforts that are required if mitigation efforts fail to limit sea level rise.
- While NEED may appear to be “overwhelming” and “unrealistic”, it could be “potentially favourable” financially and in scale when compared with alternative solutions to fight SLR, the research argues.
- The researchers classify the solutions to SLR into three categories of taking no action, protection, and managed retreat — and submit that NEED is in the second category.
- While managed retreat, which includes options such as managed migrations, may be less expensive than protection (NEED), it involves intangible costs such as national and international political instability, psychological difficulties, and loss of culture and heritage for migrants.
- NEED, the paper says, will have the least direct impact on people’s daily lives, can be built at a “reasonable cost”, and has the largest potential to be implemented with the required urgency to be effective.
Viability of NEED
- The researchers have estimated the total costs associated with NEED at between €250 billion and €550 billion.
- They referred to the costs of building the 33.9-km Saemangeum Seawall in South Korea and the Maasvlakte 2 extension of the Rotterdam harbour in the Netherlands as examples,
- If construction is spread over a 20-year period, this will work out to an annual expense of around 0.07%-0.16% of the GDP of the 15 Northern European countries that will be involved.
- Also the construction will “heavily impact” marine and terrestrial ecosystems inside and outside the enclosure, will have social and cultural implications, and affect tourism and fisheries.
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ISRO Missions and Discoveries

Aditya L1 Mission

| Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: Awareness in various sc and tech fields
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe launched on August 12, 2018 has completed its fourth close approach — called perihelion very recently, whizzing past at about 3.93 lakh km/h, at a distance of only 18.6 million km from the Sun’s surface.

Aditya L1: Exciting ahead
- The ISRO is preparing to send its first scientific expedition to study the Sun.
- Named Aditya-L1, the mission, expected to be launched early next year, will observe the Sun from a close distance, and try to obtain information about its atmosphere and magnetic field.
- ISRO categorizes Aditya L1 as a 400 kg-class satellite that will be launched using the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in XL configuration.
- The space-based observatory will have seven payloads (instruments) on board to study the Sun’s corona, solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and will carry out round-the-clock imaging of the Sun.
- Aditya L1 will be ISRO’s second space-based astronomy mission after AstroSat, which was launched in September 2015.
What is L1?
- L1 refers to Lagrangian/Lagrange Point 1, one of five points in the orbital plane of the Earth-Sun system.
- Lagrange Points, named after Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange, are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system (like the Sun and the Earth) produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
- These can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.
- The L1 point is home to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory Satellite (SOHO), an international collaboration project of NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).
- The L1 point is about 1.5 million km from Earth, or about one-hundredth of the way to the Sun.
But why is studying the Sun important?
- Every planet, including Earth and the exoplanets beyond the Solar System, evolves — and this evolution is governed by its parent star.
- The solar weather and environment, which is determined by the processes taking place inside and around the sun, affects the weather of the entire system.
- Variations in this weather can change the orbits of satellites or shorten their lives, interfere with or damage onboard electronics, and cause power blackouts and other disturbances on Earth.
- Knowledge of solar events is key to understanding space weather.
- To learn about and track Earth-directed storms, and to predict their impact, continuous solar observations are needed.
- Every storm that emerges from the Sun and heads towards Earth passes through L1, and a satellite placed in the halo orbit around L1 of the Sun-Earth system has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses.
Why are solar missions challenging?
- What makes a solar mission challenging is the distance of the Sun from Earth (about 149 million km on average, compared to the only 3.84 lakh km to the Moon).
- More importantly the super hot temperatures and radiations in the solar atmosphere make it difficult to study.
- NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has already gone far closer — but it will be looking away from the Sun.
- The earlier Helios 2 solar probe, a joint venture between NASA and space agency of erstwhile West Germany, went within 43 million km of the Sun’s surface in 1976.
Problem of Heat
- The Parker Solar Probe’s January 29 flyby was the closest the spacecraft has gone to the Sun in its planned seven-year journey so far.
- Computer modelling estimates show that the temperature on the Sun-facing side of the probe’s heat shield, the Thermal Protection System, reached 612 degrees Celsius, even as the spacecraft and instruments behind the shield remained at about 30°C, NASA said.
- During the spacecraft’s three closest perihelia in 2024-25, the TPS will see temperatures around 1370°C.
Hurdles for Aditya L1
- It will stay much farther away, and the heat is not expected to be a major concern for the instruments on board. But there are other challenges.
- Many of the instruments and their components for this mission are being manufactured for the first time in the country, presenting as much of a challenge as an opportunity for India’s scientific, engineering, and space communities.
- One such component is the highly polished mirrors which would be mounted on the space-based telescope.
- Due to the risks involved, payloads in earlier ISRO missions have largely remained stationary in space; however, Aditya L1 will have some moving components, scientists said.
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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

In news: 1946 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny

| | Mains Paper 1: Modern Indian History
Seventy-four years ago on February 18, 1946, some 1,100 Indian sailors or “ratings” of the HMIS Talwar and the Royal Indian Navy (RIN) Signal School in Bombay declared a hunger strike, triggered by the conditions and treatment of Indians in the Navy.

RIN Mutiny
- A “slow down” the strike was also called, which meant that the ratings would carry out their duties slowly.
- The morning after February 18, somewhere between 10,000-20,000 sailors joined the strike, as did shore establishments in Karachi, Madras, Calcutta, Mandapam, Visakhapatnam, and the Andaman Islands.
- One of the triggers for the RIN strike was the arrest of a rating, BC Dutt, who had scrawled “Quit India” on the HMIS Talwar.
- The day after the strike began, the ratings went around Bombay in lorries, waving the Congress flag, and getting into scraps with Europeans and policemen who tried to confront them.
Their demands

While the immediate trigger was the demand for better food and working conditions, the agitation soon turned into a wider demand for independence from British rule. The protesting sailors demanded:
- release of all political prisoners including those from Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA),
- action against the commander for ill-treatment and using insulting language,
- revision of pay and allowances to put RIN employees on a par with their counterparts in the Royal Navy,
- demobilisation of RIN personnel with provisions for peacetime employment,
- release of Indian forces stationed in Indonesia, and better treatment of subordinates by their officers
Upsurge of nationalism
- The RIN strike came at a time when the Indian nationalist sentiment had reached fever pitch across the country.
- The winter of 1945-46 saw three violent upsurges: in Calcutta in November 1945 over the INA trials; in February 1946, also in Calcutta, over the sentencing of INA officer Rashid Ali; and, in that same month, the ratings’ uprise in Bombay.
- This chain of events led to the “mounting fever of excitement affecting the whole political climate”.
- Soon, ordinary people joined the ratings, and life came to a virtual standstill in both Bombay and Calcutta. There were meetings, processions, strikes, and hartals.
- In Bombay, labourers participated in a general strike called by the Communist Party of India and the Bombay Students’ Union. In many cities across India, students boycotted classes in solidarity.
- The response of the state was brutal. It is estimated that over 220 people died in police firing, while roughly 1,000 were injured.
Significance of the events
- The RIN revolt remains a legend today. It was an event that strengthened further the determination among all sections of the Indian people to see the end of British rule.
- Deep solidarity and amity among religious groups was in evidence, which appeared to run counter to the rapidly spreading atmosphere of commuanal hatred and animosity.
- However, communal unity was more in the nature of organisational unity than a unity among the two major communities.
- Within months, India was to be devoured by a terrible communal conflagration.
Final nail in the coffin
- This revolt was different from the other revolts in the sense that, after 1857 it was the first time that the British realized that the Royal Indian forces were no more obedient to the British commands and were in concurrence with the overall defiant nationalist sentiments prevailing in the entire country.
- Mutinies are usually confined to a particular station, establishment or ship. However, this was the first instance when the entire service joined the revolt.
- Most striking feature was that it was directed against the British government and not against superior officers – not a single officer, British or Indian, was harmed.
- Fearless action by the masses was an expression of militancy in the popular mind. Revolt in the armed forces had a great liberating effect on the minds of people.
- It displayed that the armed forces no longer obeyed the British authority rather it was the nationalist leaders who held sway over them. The RIN revolt was seen as an event marking the end of British rule.
Aftermath
- The leaders realized that any mass uprising would inevitably carry the risk of not being amenable to centralized direction and control. Besides, now that independence and power were in sight, they were eager not to encourage indiscipline in the armed forces.
- It was immediately after this revolt that PM Atlee dispatched the Cabinet Mission to India, so it is also inferred that the mutiny hastened the process of transfer of power to India.
- It is also important to mention that the revolt came to an end after the nationalist leaders, Sardar Patel and Mohammad Ali Jinnah on receiving a request to intervene by the British, issued a statement calling upon the mutineers to surrender.
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New Species of Plants and Animals Discovered

Specie in news: ‘World’s largest’ subterranean fish

Prelims Only | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Geographical Features & Their Location
Systematic exploration of the Meghalayan caves has been underway for almost 30 years and hundreds of kilometres of cave passages have been explored and mapped. In a cave in a remote forested area of Meghalaya’s Jaintia Hills a research expedition found large specie of a subterranean fish (occurring under the earth’s surface).

About the fish
- The blind fish was over 40 cm. It has not been named so far.
- It is nearly five times the mean length (85mm/8.5 cm) for all known subterranean fish to date.
- The only other species exceeding 300mm (30 cm) in length are eel-like Synbranchidae with nothing like the bulk of the new fish.
- The 250-known subterranean (occurring under the earth’s surface) fish species around the world measure only around 8.5 cm on average.
- The specialists say that possibly one (or more) populations of these fish became isolated deeper in the caves and over generations became adapted to the dark, losing their eyes in the process.
Closest resemblance
- The experts feel that the fish species is very similar to the Golden Mahseer or the Tor Putitora, one of the most famous game fish of the Himalayan rivers.
- Unique characters that distinguishes it from the Golden Mahseer is the lack of pigmentation, a lack of eyes and of course, its subterranean habitat – being locked in caves.
- There are ‘normal’ Golden Mahseer in the area too but there is not much surface water (at least in the dry winter months) so fish end up in the cave pools and underground rivers.
Features of Subterranean ecosystems
- Subterranean ecosystems are considered extreme, high-stress environments characterised by darkness, truncated food webs and food scarcity.
- Despite this, they harbour exceptional vertebrate and invertebrate taxa (21,000+ species), many of which are evolutionarily unique, and relics of ancient fauna given their long-term isolation.
- Many cave fish show different adaptations – some don’t have eyes, some have reduced eyes, some don’t have fins, some have weird body shapes.
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Defence Sector – DPP, Missions, Schemes, Security Forces, etc.

May the Force be strengthened

| Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates
Context

The functioning of the CRPF needs to be revisited.

Historical background and present status of CRPF
- Crown Representative Police: In the wake of Independence, a contentious administrative issue was over the retention of CRP (Crown Representative Police).
  - The question over the relevance of the force: As the Constitution designated ‘law and order’ as a State subject, the relevance of having a Central police force was questioned by everyone
  - But Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel argued vehemently and boldly in favour of it.
- Present-day relevance of the force
  - From having just two battalions as the CRP, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has now expanded to being a three-and-a-half lakh-strong force.
  - Consisting of specialist wings like-
  - The Rapid Action Force.
  - The COBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action).
  - The Special Duty Group.
  - Largest Paramilitary force: It is the largest paramilitary force in the world and no other security force of the country has seen expansion at such a rapid rate.
- Importance of the force
  - Security to the country: Providing integrated security to a diverse country of continental size is not an easy task.
  - Immediate solution situation: Resolving certain conflicts requires immediate solutions for which regular armed forces cannot be deployed.
  - Peacekeeper of the nation: For the reason cited above, we require paramilitary forces, and the CRPF is the most sought-after one because of its flexibility and versatility.
  - The force has earned its place as the ‘peacekeeper of the nation’.
Problems faced by the CRPF
- A year after Pulwama attack, it is time for the nation to take a relook at the main agency dealing with conflicts in different territorial zones. The following 3 are the major concerns of the force.
- 1. Pressure taking its toll: The frequent movements lock, stock and barrel are taking its toll.
  - There are increasing cases of suicides and fratricides.
  - The anguish caused because of prolonged periods of duty away from one’s family members adds to the pressure experienced the soldiers having their fingers constantly on the trigger guard.
- What is being done or needs to be done to address the problem?
  - 100-days leave: Though the Home Minister recently stated that CRPF jawans would get to spend 100 days with their families every year, considering the present levels of commitment, 100 days of leave is an impossible dream for a soldier.
  - Need to revisit the decision of assigning exclusive operations: An easier way out here would be to revisit the government’s decision on tasking specific Central Paramilitary Forces exclusively with certain operations.
  - It should be compulsory for recruits to all Central Police Forces to be deployed to anti-insurgency roles during their first 15 years of service.
  - They can be shifted, in the next 10 years, to border duties.
  - The last phase of their career should be in static duties.
- 2. Rehabilitation of retired personnel
  - Care of welfare and morale: As the Force is deployed to the last man, the welfare and morale of the soldiers need to be taken care of.
  - No rehabilitation policy: A large number of personnels are taking voluntary retirement, but there is no rehabilitation policy.
- What is being done or needs to be done to address the problem?
  - The creation of a Welfare and Rehabilitation Board has not made any impact. Provision of canteen facilities, without tax exemption, hardly gives the soldiers any relief.
  - Another demand that needs to be considered is that of One Rank, One Pension scheme.
- 3. Leadership issue
  - It is high time the Force develops home-grown leadership.
  - Elements like healthy work culture, ethos and regimentation are very crucial for any armed force and they are best guarded by officers born on the cadre.
- Steps taken to address the issue
  - The long-overdue Non-Functional Financial Upgradation (NFU) materialised only after the judicial intervention.
  - However, the top leadership- made up of IPS officers on deputation- is reluctant to implement it.
Conclusion

The first anniversary of the Pulwama attacks should enable all stakeholders to devise ways and means to plug the loopholes and address the system failures in a Force that still remains the most formidable in internal security matters.
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Foreign Policy Watch: India-United States

When Yankee goes home

op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Effect Of Policies & Politics Of World On India’S Interests
Context

Delhi needs to unlearn some of the assumptions about US policy as it prepares to host Trump next week. While the diaspora is important and could be of some value in dealing with Trump, it can’t override the deeper forces animating American politics.

Changing America under Trump
- Restriction on immigration: Trump’s America wants the Americans to come home but is shutting the door on unrestricted immigration from the rest of the world.
  - Domestic critics say America has been a nation of immigrants and Trump is wrong to keep them out.
  - Why the restriction on immigrants? But Trump has much support among the working people who know-
  - Immigration keeps wages low.
  - Helps the capitalist class and-
  - Disrupts the familiar cultural and social landscape.
- Some want America out
  - Some chancelleries in the world demand that America must go home.
  - The president of the Philippines wants to end Manila’s century-old relationship with the US military.
  - Iran wants America out of the Gulf.
  - Russia and China would like to see the US forces out of Europe and Asia respectively.
  - The world is paying serious attention to the possibility of Yankee going home.
Downsizing of the US role and how the world is responding?
- Downsizing
  - In the Gulf, Trump wants the Asian powers to police the vital sea lines of communication.
- In Europe and Asia, he wants the allies to do more for their own security.
- How the world is responding?
  - Europe’s response In Europe, France and Germany are now talking about creating new defence capabilities for the European Union amidst the prospect for American security retrenchment.
  - How the Asian countries are responding? In Asia, Japan is debating a larger security role.
  - In the Gulf, America’s Arab allies are scrambling to diversify their security dependence.
America First policy
- What is America First policy? The idea of downsizing America’s role, along with the rejection of free trade and open borders, is at the very heart of Trump’s America First policy.
- Resistance to the policy: To be sure there is deep resistance in the US to these ideas that run counter to America’s post-war internationalism.
  - Wall Street on the East Coast and Silicon Valley on the West Coast along with the old foreign and security policy establishment in Washington all oppose Trump’s America First focus.
- Widespread support to the policy: Trump’s message, however, resonates across the political divide in the US.
  - Many candidates for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party agree with Trump’s goal of ending America’s “endless wars” in the Middle East.
  - Many in the working classes, who traditionally supported the Democrats, believe Trump is right in arguing that free trade has hollowed out American industry and eliminated manufacturing jobs.
How the changes matter for India?
- Prepare for the changes: America is at an inflection point; India needs to come to terms with the profound changes unfolding in the US.
- No intervention policy: The Indian political classes castigated the US for excessive interventions in the affairs of other nations.
  - Trump now says such interventions are counterproductive and all nations must strengthen their sovereignty.
- Critical of globalisation: Indians criticised the US for imposing globalisation on others; the US President is now one of the biggest critics of globalisation.
  - Trump’s America is not the one we have known.
- India’s sensitivity to the US domestic politics: As India broadened its engagement with America in the last two decades, Delhi has become more sensitive to the US domestic political dynamics.
  - In getting the US to ease off on Kashmir and nuclear issues, Delhi had to look beyond the foreign policy establishment to generate better US appreciation of India’s concerns and interests.
- Indian diaspora: One of the instruments that came in handy was the mobilisation of the Indian diaspora, it emerged as a key factor in elevating the bilateral relationship in the 21st century.
  - While the diaspora is important and could be of some value in dealing with Trump, it can’t override the deeper forces animating American politics.
Conclusion

Delhi’s success with the US will depend on the kind of strategic imagination it can display on trade cooperation, securing Afghanistan after America’s withdrawal, stabilising the Gulf and developing a new global compact on migration that is sensitive to domestic political considerations and yet contributes to the collective economic development.
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Economic Indicators and Various Reports On It- GDP, FD, EODB, WIR etc

The $5 trillion arithmetic

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy
Context

The Indian government has set itself a big target, namely, that the Indian economy will have an aggregate income or gross domestic product (GDP) of $5 trillion by 2024-25.

Lack of clarity
- There is little effort to take it beyond a slogan.
- When it comes to targets and aims pertaining to the economy, it is important to have-
  - The officials and advisers go beyond the headline.
  - To lay out the details and the road-map for the target.
- Matter for investors: For international observers and particularly investors, not to see these details creates doubts about professionalism.
What growth rate is required to reach that target?
- How long will it take to achieve the target at the present growth rate?
  - In 2018-19, India’s GDP was $2.75 trillion.
  - India’s latest official growth rate happens to be 5 per cent.
  - Target will be reached in 2032-33: Continue in the same fashion to compute the size of the GDP and it becomes clear that the target of $5 trillion will be reached not in 2024-25, but in 2032-33.
- What is the required rate? Set the target as $5 trillion dollars for 2024-25 the required rate turns out to be 10.48 per cent or, approximately, 10.5 per cent.
Why 10.5 rate is an ambitious target?
- The only example of any nation growing for six consecutive years at an average annual rate of over 10.5 per cent was China from 2003 to 2009.
- Can India achieve this rate?
  - From 1947 till now, India’s economy grew at over 10 per cent only twice — in 1988-89 and 2007-8.
  - Of these, the first may be dismissed because the previous year the economy had grown very slowly, by 3.5 per cent.
- What we can learn from the past growth rate?
  - The only example to learn from: The only example from which we can learn is the remarkable growth in 2007-8, made all the more remarkable by the fact that India had been growing well for several years, starting from 2003.
  - And from 2005, India was actually growing over 9 per cent.
  - What factors played the role in high growth?
  - This was a period of professional fiscal policy and steady effort at building infrastructure.
  - India’s economy was making big news in the international media and investment poured in.
  - India’s investment-to-GDP rate climbed to an all-time record of 39 per cent.
- Current investment-to-GDP ratio: Our investment-to-GDP ratio has crashed to 30 per cent and this takes time to re-build.
  - If we can get back to a growth rate of 7 per cent we will be lucky.
Can inflation make the target achievable?
- Combination of real growth and inflation can make it possible: Virtually all serious commentators agree that in purely real terms, the $5-trillion target is unreachable.
  - But maybe we can make it by a combination of real growth and inflation.
  - How the combination will work? One way India can get to the target is if alongside say 7 per cent growth, India has inflation of say 3.5 per cent.
  - Then India’s nominal GDP growth rate will be 10.5 per cent.
- Why the inflation argument is flawed?
  - The five trillion target is in dollar terms.
  - Inflation will lead to depreciation: Typically, if India has higher inflation than the US, the rupee would depreciate vis-à-vis the dollar to account for that.
  - For the sake of pure arithmetic, assume US inflation is zero, India’s inflation is 10 per cent, and India’s real growth rate is 0.
  - In that case, in rupee terms, India’s economy will grow by 10 per cent. But how much will India’s economy grow in dollar terms?
  - The answer is zero.
  - Why is it so? This is because the rupee will typically depreciate by 10 per cent to match the inflation differential, and so the larger GDP of India in rupee terms, when converted to dollars will show no growth.
- The other possibility of achieving the target?
  - What if the dollar loses value? But this should immediately make it clear that there is another way of getting to the target.
  - This can happen if the US dollar loses value.
  - We can then get to the target of $5 trillion because that will mean less in real terms.
Conclusion

There are two routes to achieve the target of $5 trillion: A huge policy initiative to boost real growth or the luck of dollar depreciation. The luck of dollar would mean nothing for us in the real term so the best course of action for the government is to seek the first option and try to achieve it.
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