💥Join UPSC 2027,2028 Mentorship (August Batch) + XFactor Notes & Microthemes PDF
Talk to Mentor

Civilsdaily

Login

Archives: News

  • Decoupling pharmaceutical industry from China should be strategic

    Abrupt ban on import from China would harm the India pharmaceutical industry and disrupt the supply of several essential medicines. Any attempt at reducing the dependence on China for APIs should be strategies, argues the author.

    Dependence of Indian pharma industry on China

    •  India is the third-largest producer of finished drugs in the world.
    • However, India relies significantly on China for supplies of active pharmaceutical ingredients APIs.
    • An estimated 70 per cent of API requirements of India’s pharmaceutical industry are sourced from China.
    • For some drugs, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, this dependence is almost 100 per cent.
    • This import reliance has been fuelled by environmental controls in India and competition with China, which has higher volumes of production and lower costs.

    Implications of banning import from China

    • Restricting or banning the import of APIs would cause significant disruption to the Indian pharmaceutical industry
    • The pharmaceutical industry had $40 billion in revenues in 2018-19, according to Pharmexcil.
    • Such a prospect is especially of concern to potential patients.
    •  Indian pharmaceutical industry annually exports $20 billion worth of medicine.
    • An ad hoc or reactive decoupling could disrupt the production of a wide range of medicines in India and globally.
    • Such disruption could affect the availability of Dexamethasone and painkillers, such as paracetamol and ibuprofen, as well as antibiotics, such as penicillin.
    • The impacts would be especially high in low and middle-income countries.
    • In many African countries, in fact, India supplies almost 50 per cent of the medicines in value terms.

    Lessons from the past: Policy initiative matters

    • Market share of foreign-owned multinationals in India was 80-90 per cent in 1970 in the pharmaceutical industry.
    • It fell to 50 per cent by the early 1980s, and down to 23 per cent today.
    • The prices of medicines in India fell from being amongst the highest in the world to amongst the lowest.
    • But this did not happen through sudden decoupling from foreign multinationals or a complete boycott or ban on imports.
    •  The 1970 Indian Patent Act removed product patent protection in pharmaceuticals.
    • So, the 1970 Patent Act is widely lauded for facilitating the growth of India’s industry.
    • India also benefited from the 1973 Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) and the subsequent New Drug Policy (1978).
    • Thus, a series of policy initiatives succeeded in tilting the balance in favour of Indian-owned firms.

    But does it mean we have to depend on China forever?

    • No, but reducing dependence on China will not be easy to achieve.
    • In India, any decoupling from China must be strategic, with significant policy support.
    • It will take time for a paced indigenisation.

    Government moves to reduce dependence for API

    • In March, the government announced Rs 3,000 crore to develop three bulk drug parks.
    • The government also announced Rs 6,940 crore to manufacturers of 53 bulk drugs over the next eight years.
    • Planning ahead towards greater domestic production of APIs, as well as reduced dependence on China, is an understandable and sensible policy objective.
    • Despite a decline in recent decades, India has a stronger starting point than most countries given the continued presence of some API production capabilities.
    • Indian firms have capacities, for instance, to produce COVID-19 treatments, including Remdesivir.

    Consider the question “What are the APIs? Why India depends on other countries for it and what are implications of it? Suggest ways to reduce this dependence.”

    Conclusion

    In the short run, boycotts or bans would be counter-productive for the Indian industry, while also affecting access to much-needed medicines to India’s citizens and beyond. In the long run, however, reducing dependence on China would be strategically prudent.

    Back2Basics: What are APIs?

    • Active pharmaceutical ingredient (API), is the term used to refer to the biologically active component of a drug product (e.g. tablet, capsule).
    • Drug products are usually composed of several components.
    • The API is the primary ingredient.
    • Other ingredients are commonly known as “excipients” and these substances are always required to be biologically safe, often making up a variable fraction of the drug product.
    • The procedure for optimizing and compositing this mixture of components used in the drug is known as “formulation.”

  • Ladakh and its Geo-strategic Importance

    With the long-standing border standoff with China, Ladakh, a rugged, high-altitude region that is generally far removed from the lives and imagination of most Indians, has become part of our daily conversations and worries.

    Let’s have a look at a short primer on the region, its history, and some of the places where Indian soldiers are locked in conflict with the Chinese army. Try remembering its geographical features.

    Ladakh through the History

    • Lying between the Kunlun mountain range in the north and Himalayas to the south, Ladakh was originally inhabited by people of Indo-Aryan and Tibetan descent.
    • Historically the region included the valleys of Baltistan, Indus, and Nubra, besides Zanskar, Lahaul and Spiti, Aksai Chin, Ngari and Rudok.
    • Located at the crossroads of important trade routes since ancient times, Ladakh has always enjoyed great geostrategic importance.
    • At the beginning of the first century AD, Ladakh was part of the Kushan Empire. Till the 15th century, it was part of Tibet and was ruled by dynasties of local Lamas.
    • Later it changed hands multiple times, alternating between the kingdoms of Kashmir and Zhangzhung.
    • In 1834, Gen Zorawar Singh, a general of Raja Gulab Singh who ruled Jammu as part of the Sikh empire, extended the boundaries of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s kingdom to Ladakh.

    Partition, Pakistan and Chinese occupations

    Immediately after India’s Partition, tribal raiders (the disguised Pakistani Army) attacked Ladakh. They captured Kargil and were heading for Leh when they were confronted by the Indian Army, who got back Kargil.

    • Although India has always considered Aksai Chin to be part of Jammu and Kashmir, in the 1950s the Chinese built a highway, called western highway or NH219, connecting Tibet with Xinjiang through this region.
    • It was always more easily accessible to the Chinese than to the Indians, who were across the Karakoram.
    • India learnt of this road in 1957, and it was one of the causes of the 1962 India-China war, after which China strengthened its control over this region.
    • China today claims Aksai Chin to be part of Hotan County of its Xinjiang province.
    • Pakistan ceded the Shaksgam Valley, which was part of the Baltistan region north of the Karakoram, to China following a Sino-Pakistani agreement signed on March 2, 1963.

    Ladakh through the Chinese eyes

    • China’s forays into the region began after the 1949 Communist Revolution, when Chairman Mao Zedong, a veteran of guerrilla warfare, began consolidating China’s periphery as part of his expansionist designs.
    • The PLA occupied Tibet in 1951 and then began to eye Ladakh.
    • The reason was that the road connecting Kashgar in Xinjiang to Lhasa in Tibet had to pass through Aksai Chin, which was held by Indians but was seldom patrolled by them.

    Galwan Valley in the limelight

    • The Tibetan revolt of 1959 and the Dalai Lama’s flight to India saw China further strengthening its military presence in Ladakh to ensure the security of NH 219.
    • India reacted with its ‘forward policy’ as part of which it began setting up Army posts in the region to prevent Chinese expansion.
    • This resulted in the initial clash between the Indian and Chinese forces in the Kongka Pass area in 1959.
    • Later, Galwan Valley became the scene of action when the Indian Army established a post to cut off the Chinese post in the Samjunjling area, marking the beginning of the 1962 war.

    Pangong Tso: The contested lake

    • In the latest face-off, Indian troops first spied the Chinese on the banks of Pangong Tso.
    • This lake, which is one-third in India and two-thirds in China, is of great tactical significance to the Chinese who have built infrastructure along both its sides to ensure the speedy build-up of troops.
    • Chinese incursions in this region aim at shifting the LAC westward so that they are able to occupy important heights both on the north and the south of the lake, which will enable them to dominate the Chushul Bowl.
    • The narrow Chushul valley, which lies on the road to Leh with Pangong Tso to its north, was an important target for the Chinese even during the 1962 war. It was here that the Battle of Chushul was fought.

    Strategic SSN: To the far north

    • The area spanning Galwan, Depsang plateau, and Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO), is called Sub-Sector North (SSN).
    • This enclave that lies to the east of the Siachen glacier is of immense significance given its proximity to the Karakoram Pass, close to China’s western highway or NH 219 going to Aksai Chin.
    • It’s the SSN that provides land access to Central Asia through the Karakoram Pass.
    • Domination of this area is also crucial for the protection of the Siachen glacier, lying between the Saltoro ridge on the Pakistani side and the Saser ridge close to the Chinese claim line.
    • The Galwan heights overlook the all-weather Durbuk-Shyok-Daulat Beg Oldie (DSDBO) Road, which connects Leh to DBO at the base of the Karakoram Pass that separates China’s Xinjiang Region from Ladakh.
    • Domination over these heights allows China to easily interdict this road.

    Why is China stubborn on Galwan?

    • Occupation of Galwan will neutralize the tactical advantage India gained by building the all-weather Durbuk-DBO road over the last two decades.
    • Last year, the Border Road Organisation (BRO) made this rugged terrain even more accessible by completing the 430-metre-long bridge across the Shyok River.
    • With this, the Darbuk route to DBO became available round the year, and the travel time of troops to the SSN was halved.
    • It was this bridge, coupled with the ongoing work on a link road to LAC in this area, prompted the PLA to enter Galwan.

  • What did it take for the Indian Railways to achieve 100% punctuality?

    The Indian Railways has announced that it achieved 100 per cent punctuality of its passenger trains on July 1, a never-before feat.

    Try this question:

    Q.Discuss various issues crippling the punctuality of the Indian Railways.

    A big achievement for Railways

    • Usually, the Indian Railways run over 13,000 passenger trains and over 8,000 freight trains every day.
    • It is important to remember the context – very few trains are running now, and the punctuality of the Railways can hardly be compared with its own performance on this count in pre-COVID times.
    • The 100 per cent punctuality has been achieved when the network is running just 230 passenger trains – along with about 3,000 loaded freight trains and 2,200 empty ones.
    • This is no mean achievement – it is indeed not an easy task given all the constraints that the Railways usually face while running a train on its designated path and time slot.

    Why do trains get delayed in India?

    • There are a number of reasons, which is also why the achievement of the Railways is significant.
    • There are unforeseen situations such as a failure of assets like the signalling system and overhead power equipment.
    • Several types of breakdowns can occur, related to rolling stock, tracks, etc., that make a train lose time along the way.
    • Then there are external unforeseen problems like run-over cattle and humans, agitations on the tracks, and the like.

    And what have the Railways been doing right?

    • The maintenance of tracks was carried out in a quick time during the COVID period in various critical sections, so the average speed increased, and stretches of slowing down were minimized.
    • Better and modern signalling is also making an impact.
    • Another reason is better planning and operations analysis.

    How do the delays impact the overall system?

    • In normal times, these failures take away a lot of scheduled time when the train is detained even for a short time because making up the lost time during the remainder of the journey is a tricky business.
    • It’s not as though a train can just run faster to make up for a lost time. In a network chock-a-block with trains, a train hardly ever has such leeway built into its pre-set path.
    • Any train that gets delayed inordinately due to whatever reason during the journey theoretically eats into the “path” – or time slot allotted on the track – of another train.
    • It then becomes a matter of which train to prioritise. Conventionally, Rajdhanis and premium trains get priority of path over ordinary mail/express trains.
    • Freight trains, whose runs are not exactly time-sensitive, are usually held up to make way for passenger trains.

    But why do the Railways have to juggle operations in this way?

    • It’s a constantly dynamic scenario in which railway operations professionals take calls all the time.
    • At the heart of the problem are network capacity constraints. It basically means that there are more trains than the network can handle in a given time bracket.
    • Around 60 per cent of all train traffic is on the Golden Quadrilateral, even though it represents just about 15 per cent of the total network.
    • There are projects to enhance capacity by building additional lines and modernizing signalling systems, etc.

    Minimizing the delays

    • The Railways are working on what is called a “zero-based timetable”.
    • In this concept, which is to be introduced soon, every train that enters the network is justified based on needs and costs.
    • It is expected to make train operations more seamless.

  • Phobos: The closest and biggest moon of Mars

    The Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars.

    Try this question from CSP 2017:

    Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?

    (a) Aeolis Dorsa (b) Tharsis (c) Olympus Mons (d) Hellas

    About Phobos

    • Phobos is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos.
    • Both moons were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall.
    • Phobos is a small, irregularly shaped object with a mean radius of 11 km and is seven times as massive as the outer moon, Deimos.
    • Phobos is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites.
    • The violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta.

    Back2Basics: Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

    • The MOM also called Mangalyaan is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
    • It aims at studying the Martian surface and mineral composition as well as scans its atmosphere for methane (an indicator of life on Mars).
    • It is India’s first interplanetary mission and it made it the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency.
    • It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
    • It was initially meant to last six months, but subsequently, ISRO had said it had enough fuel for it to last “many years.”

  • Prerak Dauur Samman

    The Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) announced a new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.

    Try this question:

    Q. The Prerak Dauur Samman recently seen in news is related to:

    a) Swachh Bharat b) Literature c) Health Services d) Visual Arts

    Prerak Dauur Samman

    • The Prerak Dauur Samman has a total of five additional subcategories -Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) – with top three cities being recognized in each.
    • In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’, this new category will categorize cities on the basis of six select indicator wise performance criteria which are as follows:

    1) Segregation of waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard categories

    2) Processing capacity against wet waste generated

    3) Processing and recycling of wet and dry waste

    4) Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste processing

    5) Percentage of waste going to landfills

    6) Sanitation status of cities

  • What is the Hagia Sophia?

    Turkey’s highest court this week convened to decide whether Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia museum can be turned into a mosque.

    Try this question:

    Q. The iconic Hagia Sophia, a UNESCO World Heritage site was recently in news. It is situated in:

    a) Greece b) Turkey c) Israel d) Iran

    What is the Hagia Sophia?

    • The construction of this iconic structure in Istanbul started in 532 AD during the reign of Justinian I, the ruler of the Byzantine Empire when the city was known as Constantinople.
    • The structure was originally built to become the seat of the Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church and remained so for approximately 900 years.
    • In 1453, when Constantinople fell to Sultan Mehmet II’s Ottoman forces, the Hagia Sophia was ransacked by the invading forces and turned into a mosque shortly after.
    • For a long time, the Hagia Sophia was Istanbul’s most important mosque.
    • The 1,500-year-old structure, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was originally a cathedral before it was turned into a mosque.

    What is the controversy about?

    • In the 1930s, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, shut down the mosque and turned it into a museum in an attempt to make the country more secular.
    • There have been calls for long from extremists groups to convert the Hagia Sophia back into a mosque.

  • Making justice accessible through live streaming

    Livestreaming of the judicial proceeding goes a long way in increasing the access of justice which is granted under Article 21. This article examines the evolution in judiciary and making justice accessible.

    Judiciary adapting to changes

    •  As the lockdown began, the Court had to quickly find the technology and create protocols for virtual courts and e-hearings.
    • Before this, there was an open courtroom that the public could access.
    • This protected the right to access justice, guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

    Access to justice without physical classroom

    • Now that the Court is proactively adopting technology, it must expand the right of access to justice by live-streaming proceedings.
    • Further, court proceedings must also be documented and preserved for future generations.
    • Both audio-visual recordings and transcripts of oral arguments should be maintained for this purpose.

    Evolution of access to court

    • The Supreme Court maintained no public record of its own proceedings in the past.
    • Nor were its proceedings broadcast live for public viewing.
    • Over time, security concerns meant that the public could only enter courtrooms in the SC with a pass.
    • Due to space constraints, law students were not permitted to enter courtrooms on Mondays and Fridays when the Court heard fresh matters.

    A case that led to live broadcast of the proceedings

    • In its 2018 judgment in Swapnil Tripathi v Supreme Court of India, the Court recommended that proceedings be broadcast live.
    • The SC held that live streaming proceedings is part of the right to access justice under Article 21 of the Constitution.
    •  Justice DY Chandrachud noted that open courts help foster public confidence in the judiciary.
    • Further, publishing court proceedings is an aspect of Article 129, per which the Supreme Court is a court of record.
    • Journalists, young lawyers, civil society activists and academics would all benefit from live streaming, the Court opined.
    • The guidelines proposed live-streaming cases of constitutional and national importance as a pilot project including Constitution Bench cases.
    • Matrimonial cases and those involving national security could be excluded.

    Recording the proceedings- Examples

    • Internationally constitutional court proceedings are recorded in some form or the other.
    • In Australia, proceedings are recorded and posted on the high court’s website.
    • Proceedings of the Supreme Courts of Brazil, Canada, England and Germany are broadcast live.
    • The Supreme Court of the US does not permit video recording, but oral arguments are recorded, transcribed, and available publicly.
    • Democracies aside, in China, court proceedings are live streamed from trial courts up to the Supreme People’s Court of China.

    India stands alone

    • India stands alone amongst leading constitutional democracies in not maintaining audio or video recordings or even a transcript of court proceedings.
    • Court hearings can be turning points in the life of a nation: ADM Jabalpur comes readily to mind.
    • More recently, there are a number of cases where the Supreme Court’s judgments have changed citizens’ lives — Aadhaar, Section 377, Sabarimala, NRC and the triple talaq judgments are among them.

    Steps to make justice accessible

    • The Court started providing vernacular translations of its judgments.
    • Non-accredited journalists were permitted to live-tweet court proceedings.
    • During the lockdown, journalists have been permitted to view virtual court proceedings in real time.
    • If that technology is available, it could be extended to members of the public, who can then view court proceedings themselves.
    • Due to pandemic for the next few years, Indian courts will have to adopt a combination of virtual and in-person hearings.

    Consider the question “Live-streaming and recordings of the court proceeding helps in reinforcing the public faith in the judiciary. Comment.”

    Conclusion

    Openness and transparency reinforce the public’s faith in the judicial system. Livestreaming and recording of the proceeding will open the door to ensure the same.

  • In an uncertain world a seat at the UNSC

    As a non-permanent member of the UNSC for the next two years, India will have to navigate through a tumultuous world. Anti-terrorism will be top priority for India.

    India at UNSC

    • India will be back in the United Nations Security Council for a two-year term beginning January 1, 2021.
    • Two-year term will be a critical time in the history of the UN.
    • It is hoped that by then COVID-19 will have subsided, a U.S. President will have been elected.
    • And the contours of a new world order may have emerged.

    How elections take place

    • The basic contest for the non-permanent seats takes place in the respective regional groups and their sub-groups.
    • Voting in the General Assembly is to fulfil the requirement of countries having to secure a two-thirds majority of the member states.
    • But regional endorsement is becoming difficult.
    • Last time, it was Kazakhstan which vacated the place for India.
    • This time, it was Afghanistan. India could not have got the endorsement without such gestures from friendly countries.

    What will be India’s priorities as a member of UNSC

    • India will continue to provide leadership and a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system.
    • How far the UN will be able to reform itself in the new situation remains uncertain.
    • The UN did not succeed in either defining terrorism or in adopting the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism.
    • Counter-terrorism will be one of the highest priorities for India at the UNSC.

    Permanent member of India issue

    • India’s election as a non-permanent member has understandably ignited the hope that its quest for permanent membership.
    • Nothing is farther from the truth.
    • Seeking to amend the Charter to add new permanent members is difficult task.
    • None of the proposals has the possibility of securing two-thirds majority of the General Assembly and the votes of the five permanent members.
    • A majority of the UN members are against the privileges of the permanent members, particularly the veto.
    • India’s performance in the Council will not lead to its elevation to permanent membership as the opposition to any expansion is not India-specific.

    Role of India as non-permanent member

    • The non-permanent members have a collective veto over every resolution in the Council.
    • As a part of collective veto, India will have a higher profile at the UN for the next two years
    • Permanent members can prevent the adoption of resolutions by themselves through veto.
    • But they need at least nine votes to get a resolution passed.
    • India will also have a rare peep into the consultations chamber of the UNSC, which is closed to non-members of the Council.
    • India will get involved in many issues in which it may not have any direct interest.
    • Since India does not have a veto, it shall have to proceed cautiously not to offend anyone.

    Consider the question “India has been chosen as the non-permanent member of the UNSC and will be there at the critical time in the history of the UNSC. What should be India’s priority and approach as a member of the UNSC?”

    Conclusion

    India’s mission in New York has earned a reputation that it is next only to the permanent members in influence. But whether it will be able to deal with traditional challenges in novel ways will depend on the turns and twists in an uncertain world.

  • Safety net of income post Covid

    Providing a minimum basic income post-Covid will require some novel approach. This article proposes an approach with the mix of direct cash transfer and changes in the employment guarantee scheme.

    Non-universal targeted programs

    •  It is true that a universal schemes are easy to implement.
    • Non-universal targeted programmes face the problem of identification.
    • Narrowly-targeted programmes will run into complex problems of identification.
    • And the problem of identification gives rise to exclusion and inclusion errors.

    How to solve identification problem

    • There are three proposals which meet the objective of providing a minimum basic income.
    • 1) Give cash transfers to all women above the age of 20 years.
    • 2) Expand the number of days provided under MGNREGA.
    • 3) Have a national employment guarantee scheme in urban areas.
    • In all the three proposals, there is no problem of identification.
    • A combination of cash transfers and an expanded employment guarantee scheme can provide a minimum basic income.

    1) Cash transfer to all women

    • One way of doing it will be to give it to all women say above the age of 20.
    • This is an easily identifiable criterion because the Aadhaar cards carry the age of the person.
    • The female population above the age of 20 is around 42.89 crore.
    • Making available a minimum of Rs 4,000 annually as a cash transfer to all of them will cost Rs 1.72 lakh crore.
    • Which is 0.84 per cent of GDP.
    • The cost of the scheme to the government will be less if the well-off women choose not to take the cash transfer.

    2) Expanding MGNREGA

    • The Act guarantees 100 days of employment.
    • At present, MGNREGA is availed of only for 50 days of employment.
    • One way to help the poor and informal workers is to strengthen it.
    • The government needs to increase the number of days under the scheme from 100 to 150 in rural areas.

    3) Employment guarantee scheme for urban areas

    •  Introducing Employment Guarantee Act in urban areas would help also provide income.
    • Providing employment for 150 days instead of 100 days will also prove beneficial.

    Some facts and figures

    • In 2019-20, the government spent Rs 67,873 crore for providing 48 days of employment to 5.48 crore of rural households.
    • Out of this, the wage expenditure was Rs 48,762 crore.
    • The government has increased the per day wage rate from Rs 182.1 in 2019-20 to Rs 202.5 in 2020-21.
    • So, the estimated expenditure for 150 days of employment to 5.48 crore households in rural areas and 2.66 crore households in urban areas — together they account for 33 per cent of total households in the country.
    •  The additional expenditure needed for the new proposal proposal is Rs 1.9 to 2.5 lakh crore.
    • This additional expenditure is around 1 to 1.22 per cent of GDP.
    •  The total cost of the three proposals would be Rs 4.9 lakh crore or 2.4 per cent of GDP.

    But the total cost could be lower

    •  As the Employment Guarantee Programme is a demand-based programme, the number of days availed could be lower.
    •  This is happening even now.
    • Second, on cash transfers, some women, particularly from richer classes, may voluntarily drop out of the scheme.
    • Alternatively, we can provide that everyone receiving cash transfer must declare that her total monthly income is less than Rs 6,000 per month.

    Where the additional money will come from

    • Removing all exemptions in our tax system would give enough money.
    • Tax experts advocate removing exemptions so that the basic tax rate can be reduced.
    • Perhaps, out of the Rs 4.2 lakh crore which is needed, Rs 1 lakh crore can come out of phasing out of some of the expenditures.
    • While another Rs 3 lakh crore must come out of raising additional revenue.
    • Some of the non-merit subsidies, another item of expenditure, can be eliminated.

    Consider the question “What are the issues non-universal schemes faces? Suggest the ways to do with the issue of identification which such schemes face.”

    Conclusion

    In the post-COVID-19 situation, we need to institute schemes to provide a minimum income for the poor and vulnerable groups and trying the mixed approach of cash transfer to women and modification of Employment Guarantee Acts could do that.

  • Biodiversity Governance: The agreements and laws that help enforce it