The Office of Economic Advisor within the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has released the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) for September 2020.
Try this PYQ:
Q.In the ‘Index of Eight Core Industries’, which one of the following is given the highest weight?
(a) Coal production
(b) Electricity generation
(c) Fertilizer production
(d) Steel production
What is the Index of Core Industries?
As the title suggests, this is an index of the eight most fundamental industrial sectors of the Indian economy and it maps the volume of production in these industries.
It gives the details of these eight sectors — namely Coal, Natural Gas, Crude Oil, Refinery Products (such as Petrol and Diesel), Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
Since these eight industries are the essential “basic” and/or “intermediate” ingredient in the functioning of the broader economy, mapping their health provides a fundamental understanding of the state of the economy.
In other words, if these eight industries are not growing fast enough, the rest of the economy is unlikely to either.
ICI this year
This data is to focus on the trend of ICI growth over the past 6 months — that is, since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns.
A crucial factor in this regard would be the next wave of Covid-19 infections.
If there is a surge in the winter months — as is being witnessed in most Europe and the US — then India’s recovery will be dented yet again.
Three years after it was constituted, the Fifteenth Finance Commission has finalised its report for fund devolution from the Centre to States for the five years from 2021-22 to 2025-26.
Fifteenth Finance Commission
The Fifteenth Finance Commission (XV FC) was constituted on November 27, 2017.
It was constituted against the backdrop of the abolition of the Planning Commission and the distinction between Plan and non-Plan expenditure, and introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
What is the Finance Commission?
The FC was established by the President of India in 1951 under Article 280 of the Indian Constitution.
It was formed to define the financial relations between the central government of India and the individual state governments.
The Finance Commission (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1951 additionally defines the terms of qualification, appointment and disqualification, the term, eligibility and powers of the Finance Commission.
As per the Constitution, the FC is appointed every five years and consists of a chairman and four other members.
Since the institution of the First FC, stark changes in the macroeconomic situation of the Indian economy have led to major changes in the FC’s recommendations over the years.
Why in news now?
That report of the XV FC had pared the States’ share of the divisible tax pool from 42%, as recommended by the Fourteenth Finance Commission, to 41%, citing the creation of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
The Commission had then said that some of the key recommendations it was required to make would feature in its final report, including the viability of creating a separate defence and national security fund.
The panel is also expected to factor in unpaid GST compensation dues to States for this year while working out States’ revenue flow calculations for the years beyond 2022.
The central cooperative NAFED will soon begin importing onions in a bid to tame soaring prices before the festive season.
UPSC can frame statements based MCQ over the functions of NAFED.
NAFED
National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd (NAFED) is an apex organization of marketing cooperatives for agricultural produce in India.
It was founded on 2 October 1958 to promote the trade of agricultural produce and forest resources across the nation.
It is registered under the Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act.
NAFED is now one of the largest procurement as well as marketing agencies for agricultural products in India.
With its headquarters in New Delhi, NAFED has four regional offices at Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata, apart from 28 zonal offices in capitals of states and important cities.
Functions of the NAFED
To facilitate, coordinate and promote the marketing and trading activities of the cooperative institutions, partners and associates in agricultural, other commodities, articles and goods
To undertake purchase, sale and supply of agricultural, marketing and processing requisites, such as manure, seeds, fertilizer, agricultural implements and machinery etc.
To act as a warehouseman under the Warehousing Act and own and construct its own godowns and cold storages
To act as agent of any Government agency or cooperative institution, for the purchase, sale, storage and distribution of agricultural, horticultural, forest and animal husbandry produce, wool, agricultural requisites and other consumer goods
To act as an insurance agent and to undertake all such work which is incidental to the same
To collaborate with any international agency or a foreign body for the development of cooperative marketing, processing and other activities for mutual advantage in India or abroad
Now try this PYQ:
Q.In, India, markets in agricultural products are regulated under the:
(a) Essential Commodities Act, 1955
(b) Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act enacted by States.
(c) Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act, 1937
(d) Food Products Order, 1956 and Meat and Food Products Order, 1973
For several years now, doctors and researchers have known that 98.6°F is not really the gold-standard “normal” body temperature it was once considered to be.
The “normal” body temperature
In 1851, Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich pioneered the use of the clinical thermometer.
It was a rod a foot long, which he would stick under the armpits of patients at the hospital attached with Leipzig University, and then wait for 15 minutes for the temperature to register.
He took over a million measurements of 25,000 patients, and published his findings in a book in 1868, in which he concluded that the average human body temperature is 98.6°F.
Most modern scientists feel Wunderlich’s experiments were flawed, and his equipment inaccurate.
Another study concluded that the average human body temperature is closer to 98.2°F, and suggested that the 98.6°F benchmark be discarded.
The anomaly
Studies in the US and Europe have found average body temperatures declining over time.
In recent years, however, different studies have found the human body temperature averaging out differently, including at 97.7°, 97.9° and 98.2°F.
One of the largest such studies, published last year, found that body temperatures among Americans have been declining over the last two centuries.
Now try this PYQ based on health sciences
Q.Which of the following diseases can be transmitted from one person to another through tattooing?
Chikungunya
Hepatitis B
HIV-AIDS
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
The PM has inaugurated dynamic lighting for the Sardar Sarovar Dam.
Try this PYQ:
What is common to the places known as Aliyar, Isapur and Kangsabati?
(a) Recently discovered uranium deposits
(b) Tropical rain forests
(c) Underground cave systems
(d) Water reservoirs
Sardar Sarovar Dam
It is a concrete gravity dam on the Narmada River in Kevadiya near Navagam, Gujarat.
Four Indian states, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, receive water and electricity supplied from the dam.
The foundation stone of the project was laid out by then PM Jawaharlal Nehru on 5 April 1961.
The project took form in 1979 as part of a development scheme funded by the World Bank to increase irrigation and produce hydroelectricity, using a loan of US$200 million.
Food has deep ties to culture, religion, ethnicity and most Indians regard food as sanctified or holy. We celebrate, mourn, express, entertain, donate and thrive on the food, boasting of countless regional delicacies, inherited recipes, as we continue to seek pride in our spicy curries and rich sugary deserts.
The latest Global Hunger Index 2020 study does not make for cheery reading for India. The study has placed India 94th out of 107 countries in terms of hunger, locating it in the ‘severe’ hunger category. This puts India alongside the poorest African nations.
The Global Hunger Index (GHI)
The GHI has been brought out almost every year by Welthungerhilfe lately in partnerships with Concern Worldwide since 2000; this year’s report is the 14th one.
The reason for mapping hunger is to ensure that the world achieves “Zero Hunger by 2030” — one of the SDGs laid out by the UN.
A low score gets a country a higher ranking and implies better performance. It is for this reason that GHI scores are not calculated for certain high-income countries.
Each country’s data are standardised on a 100-point scale and a final score is calculated after giving 33.33% weight each to components 1 and 4 and giving 16.66% weight each to components 2 and 3.
GHI composition
India’s performance this year
In the 2020 GHI, India ranks 94th out of the 107 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2020 GHI scores.
With a score of 27.2, India has a level of hunger that is serious.
The situation has worsened in the 2015-19 period, when the prevalence of child wasting was 17.3%, in comparison to 2010-14, when it was 15.1%.
India fares worst in child wasting (low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition) and child stunting (low height for age, reflecting chronic undernutrition), which together make up a third of the total score.
In the region of the south, east and south-eastern Asia, the only countries which fare worse than India are Timor-Leste, Afghanistan and North Korea.
Worse among its neighbours
As per the study, roughly 14 per cent of the country’s population remains undernourished.
To put this into perspective, China and Brazil, perhaps the only two countries with populations comparable to India’s had under-nourishment rates under 2.5 per cent.
India has improved its rank by 8 positions from last year but still sits behind the majority of its South Asian neighbours – Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Myanmar.
Only Afghanistan, ranked 99th, is worse off than India.
The starvation challenge
According to ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ report compiled by the FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, WFP and WHO, India was home to 189.2 million (28 per cent) of the 673 million undernourished people in the world as of 2017-2019.
It also accounted for 28 per cent of the world’s stunted (low height-for-age) children under the age of five, and 43 per cent of the world’s wasted children (Low weight-for-height).
In terms of overall undernourishment, 14% of India’s population does not get enough calories, an improvement from almost 20% in 2005-07.
From a productivity standpoint, India ranks 158 (out of 195) in the Lancet human capital study owing to the anaemic, underweight or obese workforce.
Why are we still battling hunger?
“Often consumption of egg is as big a taboo as beef is, while one can consume sugar (ending up with diabetes) all day long and be religiously compliant.“
There is an interesting difference observed between child wasting in South Asia and the poorer nations of Africa, according to researchers.
African babies are usually healthy at birth, but as they grow up into their toddler years, undernourishment starts to kick in.
South Asian babies, on the other hand, show very high levels of wasting very early in their lives, within the first six months.
This reflects the poor state of maternal health, more than anything else.
(1) Poor Maternal health
Mothers are too young, too short, too thin and too undernourished themselves, before they get pregnant, during pregnancy, and then after giving birth, during breast-feeding.
Almost 42% of adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 have a low body mass index (BMI), while 54% have anaemia.
Almost 27% of girls are married before they reach the legal age of 18 years, and 8% of adolescents have begun childbearing in their teens.
Almost half of all women have no access to any sort of contraception. These poor indicators of maternal health have dire consequences for the child’s health as well.
(2) Poor sanitation
Poor sanitation, leading to diarrhoea, is another major cause of child wasting and stunting. At the time of the last NFHS, almost 40% of households were still practising open defecation.
Only 36% of households disposed of children’s stools in a safe manner. One in 10 children under the age of five suffers from diarrhoea.
(3) Food insecurity
Low dietary diversity in India is also a key factor in child malnutrition.
Although India has overall food security with record levels of foodgrain production in recent years, access to healthy food is still difficult for poor households.
A recent study showed that three out of four rural Indians cannot afford the cheapest possible diet that meets the requirements set by the government’s premier nutrition body.
(4) Poverty
Almost 50 million households in India are dependent on these small and marginal holdings.
Though we have surplus food, most small and marginal farming households do not produce enough food grains due to cash crops production.
The relative income of poorer section of people has been on the decline due to many factors (say COVID). This has adverse effects on their capacity to buy adequate food.
(5) Livelihood loss
The emaciated rural livelihoods sector and lack of income opportunities other than the farm sector have contributed heavily to the growing joblessness in rural areas.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2017-18 revealed that rural unemployment stood at a concerning 6.1 per cent, which was the highest since 1972-73.
The kinds of work a section of people has been doing are less remunerative or there is less opportunity to get remunerative works.
(6) Dietary habits
Indian diets typically involve copious consumption of staples such as rice and wheat, with limited dietary diversification toward micronutrient-rich foods like fruits, vegetables, and animal products.
The vegetarian vs non-vegetarian identity is usually determined by religion, irrespective of body type and nature of work.
Even when people have enough money they tend to gravitate towards expensive food and indulging in calories, like modern confectionary or fats.
(7) Policy failures
The national food security approach has been hung up in a ‘defeat the famine’ mode, which aims to provide gross calorie availability via the National Food Security Act (NFSA).
The MGNREGS continue to be the lone rural job programme that, too, had been weakened over the years through great delays in payments and non-payments, low wages and reduced scope of employment.
The public distribution system (PDS) fair price shops often fail to function due to supply delays.
While this stable and subsidised policy has helped counter the problem of absolute hunger, it limits the food choices and does not provide the needed nutrients and micro-nutrients.
What can be done?
Below are some multidimensional ideas which have proven to be effective over the past century across countries that can be helpful.
(1) Diversify food basket
The recent agro reforms which promote contract farming and scraps the archaic colonial tyrannical essential commodities act seem to be policy steps in the right direction.
States level agro agencies need to ensure effective implementation of these reforms and assist with appropriate means to cover for the need for fruits, micro-nutrients, pulses.
(2) Harness the legacy ICDS
India’s 1.4 million Anganwadi workers – the core component of the nation’s Integrated Child Development Services – play a vital role in ending the cycle of undernourishment witnessed particularly in rural areas.
There is a real need to further empower these workers towards improving the overall nutritional status of the country.
Allowing these workers to leverage digital technologies, for instance, in creating awareness over basic health and nutrition, could prove to be an invaluable intervention that leads to much-improved outcomes.
(3) Go beyond PDS stuffs
Learning from other low-income societies with successful micro-nutrient based interventions, we need to redefine the scope and mechanism of the PDS programmes to extend beyond funnelling cheap or free grains and generate higher fidelity using the vast local network.
Promising lessons can be seen in Mexico’s distribution system of nutrition pouches and the SMS-based digital PDS in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh where the distribution involves pulses and millets in addition to rice and salt.
(4) Biofortification of food
“Hidden hunger,” or micronutrient deficiency, that inhibits proper growth and development of the human mind and body, affects a large section of the Indian population.
Plenty of studies across the world show that bio-fortification can turn out to be an extremely cost-effective solution to improving households’ diet.
Biofortification can be a key food-based approach to tackle malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency, especially among the poor who cannot afford high-value foods.
(5) Empower the mother, before all
Studies have indicated that one of the chief determinants of malnutrition is that of the mother’s education.
India has made some headway in improving female literary, but as of 2015-2016, only 13.7 per cent of women had, reportedly, received higher education – a startlingly low figure.
A lack of basic facilities like separate female toilets in schools, along with the large distances between girls’ homes and schools are key factors that contribute to the high dropout rates witnessed among young females.
Way forward
To begin with, small steps can be taken to deal with the crisis. The government may create provisions to supply cooked nutritious food to the vulnerable section of society.
This has to be done in addition to the existing provisions of healthy diets from Anganwadi and schools through mid-day meals for children, mothers and students.
Rural employment schemes such as MGNREGA should be given a boost to increase employment and wages.
Finally, a strong inverse correlation exists between female education and under-nutrition, indicating that facilitating women’s education could have significant multiplier effects.
This can be reflected not just on food security, but in child feeding practices and sanitation.
Conclusion
Malnutrition continues to be the largest underlying epidemic in our society. In India, the Covid-19 containment measures have brought out the multi-dimensionality of India’s diverse food challenges.
The problem does not seem limited to the countryside and gets further complicated in developed areas which perceivably have enough food on the table.
For decades, India has accorded the highest priority to building roads and highways and power generation, considering these sectors are critical for economic growth.
Time is now ripe, in bridging the divide between short-term relief and long-term development goals for which food security is the important milestone.
Question of MSP regime while arguing in favour of recently passed agri bills has made the farmers apprehensive of the purpose of the bill. The article argues for allaying the fears of the farmers and explains the salience of the MSP.
Flawed argument over MSP
The recently enacted farm bills have triggered debate on the desirability of the MSP regime.
But, the bills do not facilitate a policy to do away with Minimum Support Prices (MSPs).
The bills allow free entry to agents who wish to set up markets — whether they be private individuals, producer collectives or cooperatives.
This means that the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and other associated agencies can procure in the traditional mandis, or in a new market established under this law — or in their own backyard.
So, the argument that if the mandis cease to exist, the procurement will also cease is, in fact, flawed.
Supporters of the bills have quoted the Shanta Kumar committee’s figures to argue that MSPs are anyway irrelevant for most of the farmers in the country.
This linkage of the farm bills with the MSP only adds to the apprehension that farmers have about the bills.
Significance of MSP
It is true that the procurement has remained confined to only a few crops.
But the benefits to the farmers even beyond Punjab and Haryana are certainly not negligible.
It is true that only a small fraction benefits directly from the procurement.
But one cannot ignore the indirect benefit of this to all foodgrain producers in the country.
As the procurement significantly exceeds the PDS requirement, this creates additional demand in the foodgrain market, pushing up the prices.
This has been a great help for all the grain producers in the country, especially when the international prices have remained low for a long time now.
The RBI’s annual report of 2017-18 on impact of MSP on the food prices conclusively shows that MSP is a leading factor influencing the output prices of the farm produce in the entire country.
The issue of MSP is all the more important for rain-fed agriculturists, being deprived of irrigation, they don’t derive benefit from subsidies on electricity and fertiliser as their use is limited.
So, at the moment, the only state support these farmers (primarily cotton and pulse producers) have is that of MSPs.
Conclusion
The debate on whom and how the state should support is an issue that should be addressed independently of the farm acts. Presenting these acts as an alternative to MSPs will not persuade farmers.
The President of India has signed the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas Ordinance, 2020.
Try this question from CS Mains 2015:
Q.Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata are the three megacities of the country but the air pollution is a much more serious problem in Delhi as compared to the other two. Why is this so?
About the Ordinance
The Ordinance seeks to create an overarching body to consolidate all monitoring bodies and to bring them on one platform so air quality management can be carried out in a more comprehensive, efficient, and time-bound manner.
It came within days of the hearing in ‘Aditya Dubey vs Union of India’ in the court of the CJI, where Solicitor General had indicated the setting up of such a Commission.
Why has the central government set up this Commission?
The monitoring and management of air quality in the Delhi NCR region have been done piecemeal by multiple bodies including the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the adjacent state PCBs and state governments.
They, in turn, are monitored by the Environment Ministry, and the Supreme Court itself, which monitors air pollution as per the judgment in ‘M C Mehta vs Union of India’, 1988.
Consolidating the efforts
The Centre seeks to relieve the Supreme Court from having to constantly monitor pollution levels through various pollution-related cases.
The body indicates the central government’s push to bring all stakeholders on one platform.
This is important because the management of air pollution in Delhi NCR will involve controlling stubble-burning (Agriculture Ministry and state governments), and the control of industrial emissions (Commerce and Industries Ministry), etc.
About the Commission
The Commission, which will be a permanent body, will have over 20 members and will be chaired by a retired official of the level of Secretary to the GoI or Chief Secretary of a state.
It will include a representative of the Secretary of the MoEFCC, five Secretary level officers who will be ex officio members and two joint secretary-level officers who will be full-time members.
The Commission will also have representation from the CPCB, ISRO, air pollution experts, and three representatives of non-government organisations (NGOs).
As associate members, the Commission will have representatives from various other Ministries including the Ministries of Agriculture, Petroleum, Power, Transport, Housing etc.
Power and functions
In matters of air pollution and air quality management, the Commission will supersede all existing bodies.
It will have the powers to issue directions to the states.
The Commission will also coordinate efforts of state governments to curb air pollution, and will lay down the parameters of air quality for the region.
It will have powers to restrict the setting up of industries in vulnerable areas and will be able to conduct site inspections of industrial units.
Penal powers
The Commission will have some penal powers.
If its directions are contravened, through say, the setting up of an industrial unit in a restricted area, the Commission will have the power to impose a fine of up to Rs 1 crore and imprisonment of up to 5 years.
Wasn’t EPCA effective?
The one body with powers similar to the new Commission’s was the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA).
It was not a statutory body but drew legitimacy from the Supreme Court, which has been looking at cases of air pollution as part of the judgment in M C Mehta vs Union of India (1988).
The EPCA was not, however, supported by a legal framework in the form of a law. It did have the authority to issue fines or directions and guidelines to the governments in other states.
How is the new commission expected to alter the situation?
By forming a new commission, the government has taken the issue of air pollution out of the purview of the judiciary.
As per the Ordinance, only NGT, and not civil courts, is authorised to hear cases where the commission is involved.
The central government has got itself out of the clutch of Supreme Court and closed down SC-appointed EPCA.
Challenges ahead
The Commission has a large number of members from the central government, which has not gone down well with the states.
It is full of officials from the central government. Taking away any say from the state government is not the way to go further.
Also, political differences will also now play a part in the functioning of the Commission because states are not happy with the overarching powers being vested in it.
Australian scientists have found a detached coral reef on the Great Barrier Reef that exceeds the height of the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following statements:
Most of the world’s coral reefs are in tropical waters.
More than one-third of the world’s coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.
Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests.
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1 and 3 only
About Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands.
It is stretched for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres.
The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, Australia.
It was world heritage listed in 1981 by UNESCO as the most extensive and spectacular coral reef ecosystem on the planet.
Why it is significant?
This is first such discovery in over 100 years.
The “blade-like” reef is nearly 500 metres tall and 1.5 kilometres wide.
It lies 40 metres below the ocean surface and about six kilometres from the edge of the Great Barrier Reef.
