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  • India seeks TRIPS waiver for Vaccines

    India and South Africa have jointly moved a proposal at the WTO’s Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) council for a waiver to help more countries get access to medicines and vaccines during the pandemic.

    Q.WTO and multilateralism is dying in the face of a greater reliance on plurilateral and bilateral trade pacts. Discuss. (250W)

    What is the TRIPS Agreement?

    • The TRIPS is an international legal agreement between all the member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
    • It establishes minimum standards for the regulation by national governments of different forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals of other WTO member nations.
    • Its agreement was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is administered by the WTO.
    • The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual property law into the multilateral trading system for the first time and remains the most comprehensive multilateral agreement on intellectual property to date.

    Why did India move such a proposal?

    • TRIPS waiver would deal with the question of equity along with global growth and livelihoods.
    • It is not only that we are coming in the way of life but it is very simple economics, asserted India’s ambassador.
    • For a commercial business of $30-40 billion of annual vaccine output of a few companies, we are coming in the way of $6-7 trillion of global GDP output in one year.

    Premise behind it

    • In 2001, developing countries, concerned that developed countries were insisting on an overly narrow reading of TRIPS, initiated a round of talks that resulted in the Doha Declaration.
    • The Doha declaration is a WTO statement that clarifies the scope of TRIPS, stating for example that TRIPS can and should be interpreted in light of the goal “to promote access to medicines for all.”

    Global response for the move

    • Fifty-seven WTO members have backed the proposal brought out by India.
    • But the EU, U.S., Japan and Canada have opposed the idea stressing the importance of intellectual property for innovation.

  • What is Stockholm+50?

    Stockholm+50 is a high-level meeting that the Government of Sweden plans to hold in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the first UN conference on the human environment – the 1972 Stockholm Conference.

    The 1972 Stockholm Conference

    • The UN Conference on the Human Environment, also known as the Stockholm Conference, was the first UN conference on the environment and was held between 5 and 16 June 1972 in Stockholm.
    • The meeting’s outcome document – the Stockholm Declaration – included several principles that are still important for environmental management.
    • Another result of the meeting was the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Environment Day, held annually on 5 June.

    Try this PYQ:

    Q.The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is an international treaty drawn at:

    (a) United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 1972

    (b) UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 1992

    (c) World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, 2002

    (d) UN Climate Change Conference, Copenhagen, 2009

    Background

    • It’s been a generation since global leaders met in Stockholm in 1972 to discuss environmental challenges.
    • Then the concerns were for the local environment; there was no talk of climate change or even the depletion of the ozone layer.
    • All that came later. In 1972, the discussion was on the toxification of the environment as water and air were foul.

    Progress for 50 years

    • The toxification of the environment is still a pressing concern; countries have indeed cleaned up locally but added to the emissions in the global atmosphere.
    • Now, we are out of time as climate change impacts are spiralling out of control.

    Perils of Ecological Globalization

    • The fact is we stitched up the global ecological framework in terms of the many agreements only.
    • During this time, we also signed another agreement on free-trade — the economic globalisation agreement.
    • But we never really understood how these two frameworks — ecological and economic globalisation — would counteract each other.
    • As a result, we have worked to build an economic model based on discounting the price of labour and of the environment.

    Expectations from Stockholm+50

    • The aim of Stockholm+50 is to contribute to concrete action.
    • It aims at leveraging sustainable consumption and production patterns and nature-based solutions in order to achieve climate-neutral, resilient, circular and inclusive economies.
    • The narrative and result will be further developed together with interested governments and other partners.

  • ISRO places Brazil’s Amazonia-1 satellite

    The successful launch of Brazil’s Amazonia-1 satellite by the Indian Space Research Organisation marks a new high point in space cooperation between the two countries.

    Note why Amazonia-1 Satellite is distinct in itself. It paves for statement based MCQs.

    Amazonia-1 Satellite

    • The Amazônia-1 or SSR- is the first Earth observation satellite entirely developed by Brazil.
    • It is optimized to peer at the cloud-covered region of its namesake, the Amazon forest since it has infrared capabilities that allow it to look at the forest cover regardless of the weather.
    • Brazil plans to use the satellite to “alert deforestation” in the region, Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said in an Amazonia 1 mission description.

    Significance of the launch

    • This confirms the infinite potential of the India-Brazil partnership to overcome our development challenges through high technology.
    • The launch also marked the first dedicated mission of ISRO’s commercial arm NewSpace India Ltd. (NSIL).

  • 1st March 2021| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement

    Important Announcement:  Topics to be covered on 2nd March-

    GS-1  Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.

    GS-4 Emotional intelligence-concepts, and their utilities and application in administration and governance. 

    Question 1)

    Analyse in what way redefining urban areas can have far-reaching impact on ease of living and economic development of the people in the country. 10 marks

    Question 2)

    What are the implications of the U.S.’s return to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) for West Asia? What are the challenges in the U.S’s return to it? 10 marks

    Question 3)

    India still has a long way to go as far as the metrics of scientific research such as research papers and patents are concerned. In light of this, examine the various aspect of the draft Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2020 (STIP2020) as it seeks a new path. 10 marks

    Question 4)  

    Explain social influence as fundamental feature of communication. 10 marks

    home

    Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.

    *In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.

    For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check  here: Click2Join

  • 1st March 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 558]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 558]

  • What does it take to clear UPSC IAS in one attempt?| Let us solve the issues with your preparation. Fill Samanvaya for IAS 2021-22 (Free 1-to-1 mentorship)

    What does it take to clear UPSC IAS in one attempt?| Let us solve the issues with your preparation. Fill Samanvaya for IAS 2021-22 (Free 1-to-1 mentorship)

    IAS exam, by design, is such that it should take just one attempt to clear it. Any further attempt, if you’re taking, should only be to improve your rank.
    Samanvaya: FREE 1-ON-1 MENTORSHIP SESSION (click)

    UPSC IAS preparation is not just about memorizing and information gathering. Neither is it about mindlessly picking up random NCERTs, standard books or spending 5 hours on the Hindu.

    Last month we had a discussion with around 1900 students who were not able to clear prelims even after more than 2 attempts. Many were stuck on mains.

    But why? Even after taking multiple attempts, covering the full syllabus, or taking tests?

    Lack of direction, no guidance, inability to make required necessary changes in their preparation, and an absence of a well-defined strategy were issues common to all. What issues are you facing? Tell us.

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    How to prepare for upsc 2021? Strategy for upsc 2021? Answer writing for 2020 Abhishek Saraf rank 8 Civilsdaily
    Abhishek has benefited from Civilsdaily’s approach, so did 70+ candidates who cleared UPSC IAS 2019

    Did you pick up NCERT or a standard book and started reading it, mindlessly, without purpose or process? Is doing current taking you 4-5 hrs but still you aren’t able to make sense of it for the exam? Is UPSC preparation becoming unmanageable for you with a job?

    More than 10.5 lakh applied, but only 796 are going to clear UPSC IAS 2020. It is going to be much more challenging in 2021 and 2022.

    Just stop wherever you are. It is not just about walking. It is about walking in the right direction. Take a deep breath and answer this question – Do you have a strategy?

    Fill the Samanvaya form given above to discuss your strategy and issues that you are facing.

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    For 2021 aspirants, your preparation should be highly outcome-oriented (enabling you to fetch more marks). Every action of yours must be very objectively defined, every step as a part of your strategy. Whatever you are learning must be utilizable in the exam (both pre and mains). Your preparation should have an element of measurability.

    Moreover, you need to balance both Prelims and Mains on one hand and current-static-optional on the other. Fill Samanvaya form to know how it should be done.

    It’s about how ‘you’ should be doing it instead of how someone else did it. That is the ‘elephant in the room’.

    All this stands true for 2022 aspirants as well. This is the right time to start preparation.

    Fill Samanvaya form given at the bottom of this post.

    Broadly, six factors determine your success in cracking this prestigious IAS exam and the most important being understanding the expectations of UPSC and according to that planning and strategizing; other being, Learning – Knowledge and information; Analyzing – making linkages, connections, etc.; Executing and utilizing information; and Constant course correction – because mistakes are inevitable, need to rectify them asap.

    These are the areas where most of the aspirants fail to create a balance. Where are you facing an issue?

    Integrate them in your preparation. We’ll tell you how to do it

    To address the problems in your preparation, guidance and mentorship are the first steps. And here comes our three tiered mentorship.

    CLICK HERE FOR A FREE 1-ON-1 MENTORSHIP SESSION: Samanvaya

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    How to prepare for upsc 2021? Strategy for upsc 2021? Answer writing for 2020
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  • Imparting direction to science in India

    The article elaborates on the various aspect of the 5th Science Policy.

    Scientific publication from India and issues with it

    • From the report published by the National Science Foundation of the U.S. in December 2019, India was the third-largest publisher of peer-reviewed science and engineering journal articles and conference papers, with 135,788 articles in 2018.
    • This milestone was achieved through an average yearly growth rate of 10.73% from 2008, which was greater than China’s 7.81%.
    • However, China and the United States had about thrice and twice the number, respectively, of India’s publications.
    • Also, the publications from India are not impactful.
    • From the report, in the top 1% of the most cited publications from 2016 (called HCA, or Highly Cited Articles), India’s index score of 0.7 is lower than that of the U.S., China and the European Union.
    • An index score of 1 or more is considered good.
    • The inference for India is that the impact, and hence the citation of publications from India, should improve.

    Patents filed by India

    • The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) through their Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is the primary channel of filing international patent applications.
    • In its report for 2019, WIPO says India filed a modest number of 2,053 patent applications.
    • Compared to the 58,990 applications filed by China and 57,840 by the U.S., India has a long way to go.
    • The Indian Government put in place the National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy in 2016 to “stimulate a dynamic, vibrant and balanced intellectual property rights system”.
    • One of the objectives is human capital development.
    • The mission to foster innovation, replicate it at scale and commercialise it is a work in progress consequent to the policy.

    India’s Science Policies

    • There have been four science policies till now, after 1947, with the draft of the fifth policy having been released recently.
    • India’s first science policy adopted in 1958.
    • It led to the establishment of many research institutes and national laboratories, and by 1980.
    • The focus in the second science policy, Technology Policy Statement, in 1983, was technological self-reliance and to use technology to benefit all sections of the society.
    • The Science and Technology Policy 2003, the first science policy after the economic liberalisation of 1991, aimed to increase investment in research and development and brought it to 0.7%.
    • The Scientific and Engineering Research Board (SERB) was established to promote research.
    • In 2013, India’s science policy included Innovation in its scope and was called Science, Technology and Innovation Policy.
    • The focus was to be one of the top five global scientific leaders, which India achieved.

    What 5th science policy seeks to achieve

    • The draft of the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2020 (STIP2020)  has an ambitious vision to “double the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) researchers, Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) and private sector contribution to the GERD every 5 years” .
    • It also aims to “position India among the top three scientific superpowers in the next decade”.
    • It also defines strategies to improve funding for and participation in research. India’s Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) is currently around 0.6% of GDP.
    • This is quite low when compared to the investments by the U.S. and China which are greater than 2% and Israel’s GERD is more than 4%.
    • The policy seeks to define strategies that are “decentralized, evidence-informed, bottom-up, experts-driven, and inclusive”.

    Solutions to improve funding

    • STIP2020 defines solutions to improve funding thus: all States to fund research, multinational corporations to participate in research, fiscal incentives and support for innovation in medium and small scale enterprises.
    • The new measures should not become a pretext to absolve the Union and State governments of their primacy in funding research; the government should invest more into research.

    Other critical focus areas

    • 1) Other critical focal areas ar inclusion of under-represented groups of people in research.
    • 2) Support for indigenous knowledge systems.
    • 3) Using artificial intelligence.
    • 4) Reaching out to the Indian scientific diaspora for collaboration.
    • 5) Science diplomacy with partner countries.
    • 6) Setting up a strategic technology development fund to give impetus to research.

    Conclusion

    More specific directives and implementation with a scientific temper without engaging in hyperbole will be key to the policy’s success; and its success is important to us because, as Carl Sagan said, “we can do science, and with it we can improve our lives”.

  • Who gets to decide what is legitimate free speech

    The article highlights the challenges in regulating the Big Techs.

    Controlling Big Tech

    • Recently, the Indian government announced a sweeping array of rules reining-in social media.
    • Specifically, social media platforms are required to become “more responsible and more accountable” for the content they carry.
    • India is by no means alone in taking steps to regulate at Big Tech.
    • The social media companies would argue that they are self-regulating.
    • The problem is that their actions are ad hoc, inconsistent and reactive 

    Issues

    • A user can be removed from the platform if his post threatens the “unity, integrity, defence, security or Sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign states, or public order, or causes incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence or prevents investigation of any offence or is insulting any foreign States”.
    • In other words, the government is giving itself plenty of room to cut Big Tech down to size.

    Why the issue needs government intervention: 3 arguments

    1) Conflict of interest

    • The government intervention rests on the presumption that it is never in the commercial interest of Big Tech to remove offensive speech.
    • This is because as such content goes viral more readily, bringing in more eyeballs, more data and more advertising revenue.
    • Big Tech proponents would contend that the companies are getting smarter about the risks of allowing such content on their systems and will inevitably find it in their self-interest to pre-emptively kill it.

    2) State is the guardian of public interest

    • A second argument in favour of government would be as follows: States are the guardians of the public interest.
    • In democratic societies, governments are elected to represent the will of the people.
    • So if there is a hard choice to be made about curtailing speech or permitting it, it seems only natural to turn to the public guardian.
    • The counter to this theory would be that, in practice, even democratically elected governments are far from perfect.
    • In fact according to The Economist Intelligence Unit’s Democracy Index, both India (ranked 53rd ) and the US (ranked 25th) are “flawed democracies”.
    • In parallel, the argument for Big Tech to be the upholder of the public interest could rest on the theory that well-functioning markets are superior to flawed democracies in optimising social welfare.
    • The counter-argument to this view would be that the tech industry is itself deeply flawed.
    • There is a lack of sufficient choice of platforms; there are asymmetries in power between the companies and users and Big Tech is amassing data on the citizens and using this information for its own purposes, which makes the disparity even greater.

    3) Bargaining power of BigTech

    • A third perspective is to acknowledge it doesn’t matter who is the “true” upholder of the public interest.
    • For all practical purposes, the outcome of the struggle between Big Government and Big Tech will be determined by relative bargaining power.
    • While governments technically have the ability to take entire platforms offline within the borders of their countries, these platforms are now so enormous that their users would revolt.
    • This is why we witnessed the audacity, recently, of Google and Facebook, threatening to de-platform Australia.

    Consider the question “What are the challenges in the regulation of Big Techs? Suggest ways to deal with these challenges.”.

    Conclusion

    While governments technically have the ability to take entire platforms offline within the borders of their countries, these platforms are now so enormous that their users would revolt. This is why we witnessed the audacity, recently, of Google and Facebook, threatening to de-platform Australia.

  • 10th century Buddhist Monastery uncovered in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh

    The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed a Buddhist monastery, believed to be at least 900 years old, buried under a mound in a village situated in a hilly area of Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand.

    Details of the excavation

    • The findings were significant since the monastery is on the old route to Varanasi, 10 km from Sarnath, where the Buddha gave his first sermon.
    • Archaeologists found four statues of the deity Tara in Varad Mudra and six statues of the Buddha in bhumisparsa Mudra
    • So it is a significant finding as deity Tara’s statues mean this was an important centre of the Vajrayana sect of Buddhism.
    • Vajrayana is a form of Tantric Buddhism, which flourished in India from the 6th to 11th century.

    Tap to read more about Buddhism at:

    Chapter 5 | Mauryan Period (400BC – 200BC)

    Learning: Various Mudra of Buddha

    PC: Pinterest

  • E-Daakhil portal for consumer grievance redressal

    The Union Government has informed that the ‘E-Daakhil’ portal for consumer grievance redressal is now operational in 15 states and Union Territories (UTs).

    Try this question from our AWE initiative:

    What are the objectives sought to be achieved through The Consumer Protection (E-Commerce) Rules, 2020 to regulate commercial transactions? What are the issues with the rules? 10 marks

    E-Daakhil

    • The Consumer Protection Act, 2019, which came into force on July 20, 2020, has a provision for e-filing of consumer complaints in the consumer commissions and online payment of the fees for filing a complaint.
    • A web application for e-filing of consumer complaints named ‘edaakhil.nic.in’ has been developed by NIC for the purpose.
    • E-filing was launched by the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) on September 7, 2020.
    • Delhi was the first state to implement it on September 8, 2020.

    Features of the portal

    • The E-Daakhil portal empowers the consumer and their advocates to file the consumer complaints along with payment of requisite fees online from anywhere for the redressal of their complaints.
    • It facilitates the consumer commissions to scrutinise the complaints online to accept, reject or forward the complaint to the concerned commission for further processing.
    • The digital software for filing consumer complaints has many features like e-notice, case document download link and virtual hearing link, filing written response by the opposite party, fling rejoinder by complainant and alerts via SMS/e-mail.
    • To facilitate the rural consumers for e-filing, it has been decided to integrate the common service centres (CSC) with the E-Daakhil portal.

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