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  • The missing piece in India’s defence jigsaw puzzle

    Context

    The country needs a clearly articulated white paper on its defence needs which sets out its strategic concerns.

    India’s defence deals in the pipeline

    • The first lot of Rafale fighter jets are expected shortly.
    • The final deal on the 200 Kamov Ka-226 light utility helicopters from Russia is in advanced stages and expected to be signed soon.
    • In October 2018, India and Russia had signed a $5.4-billion mega-deal for the S-400 Triumf Air Defence System.
    • Under contemplation today are yet another set of high-value U.S. defence deals, including additional purchases of P-8I Maritime Reconnaissance Aircraft and Apache Attack Helicopters.
    • NASAMS-II: Speculation is rife that India and the U.S. would sign a deal for the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System (NASAMS-II).
      • Which is intended as part of a multi-layered missile shield to protect Delhi.
    • The U.S. side is also hoping for two more mega defence deals, worth $3.5-billion to be signed for 24 MH-60 Romeo Multi-Mission Helicopters for the Navy and an additional six AH-64E Apache Attack Helicopters for the Army.

    Need for the white paper

    • Given India’s rising global profile, and with two major adversaries on its borders, India needs to be fully prepared.
    • A missing piece: What is lacking in the defence jigsaw puzzle is a well-considered and clearly articulated white paper on India’s defence needs.
      • The white paper would deal with?
      • It sets out its strategic concerns.
      • How it is positioning itself to meet these challenges.
      • The putative costs of meeting the country’s defence needs.
    • Explain the Pakistan threat: In the case of Pakistan, the threat motif is, no doubt, obvious.
    • India’s political and defence establishment are on record that India can easily defeat Pakistan, even if a “weaker” Pakistan possesses “nuclear teeth”.
      • What is needed? A great deal of effort is called for to-
      • Explain to the public, the true nature of the threat posed by Pakistan.
      • And why India is so confident of beating back the Pakistani challenge.
    • Explaining the China threat: Meeting the military, strategic and economic challenge from China is an entirely different matter.
      • Understanding the nature of the threat: China is not Pakistan.
      • While China and Pakistan may have established an axis to keep India in check, explaining the nature of the threat posed by China to India is a complex task that needs to be undertaken with care and caution.

    The China threat

    • Is China an existential threat for India?: There are many experts who express doubts as to whether China intends today to pursue its 19th Century agenda, or revert to its belief in ‘Tian Xia’.
      • Undoubtedly China aims to be a great power and an assertive one at that.
      • India’s defence planners should, however, carefully assess whether there are degrees of “assertiveness” in China’s behavioural patterns.
      • There is little doubt that regarding its claim to areas falling within the ‘nine-dash lines’ (the first island chain), China is unwilling to make compromises.
      • Whether this applies to other regions of Asia and the Indo-Pacific, calls for an in-depth study.
    • The analysis is needed: It would be premature for India without undertaking such an analysis, to adhere to a common perception that China is intent on enforcing a Sino-centric world order in which India and other countries would necessarily have to play a secondary role.
    • What after analysis? If after undertaking such an “analysis”, it appears that China does not pose a direct threat to India’s existence, strategic and military planners need to come up with a different set of alternatives.
    • Western influence over thinking about China: In recent years, much of India’s strategic thinking regarding China’s aggressive behaviour has been coloured by that of the U.S. and the West.
      • Though it is a proven fact that China has not used lethal military force abroad since the 1980s.
    • Concerns over BRI: China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) does convey an impression that China seeks to put itself at the centre of the world.
      • The speed with which many of the steps to progress the BRI are being taken again conveys an impression that China is intent on shrinking the physical and psychological distance between Europe and East Asia.
      • No intention of confrontation: This does not, however, necessarily mean that China is preparing to confront individual countries in Asia, such as India, which do not subscribe to the BRI.

    What would the white paper explain?

    • Answer to whether China is a threat to India? A defence white paper would provide a more definitive answer to such issues.
      • A detailed exercise to assess whether China is indeed a threat, rather than a challenge, to India should prove invaluable.
      • It is possible that a detailed study may indicate that China understands that there are limits to its strength and capabilities.
    • China’s weaknesses: Several instances of late have shown the frailties in China’s policies –Hong Kong, Taiwan, and even Xinjiang are instances that indicate that China has its own Achilles heel.
      • Consequently, China may not be ready, for quite some time at least, to seek a direct confrontation with India.
    • Conflict or furthering the influence? A defence white paper may also indicate that rather than a “conflict-prone” role, China is more intent on an “influence-peddling” one.
      • This is important from India’s point of view.
      • Converting economic heft into strategic influence: Already there is one school of thought that believes that Beijing is better at converting its economic heft into strategic influence, rather than employing force beyond certain prescribed areas.
    • Coming to understanding over the respective sphere of influence: If the above view is espoused by a defence white paper then, despite the vexed border dispute between India and China, the two countries could try and arrive at a subliminal understanding about respective spheres of influence.
      • What is India’s major concern? Today, one of India’s major concerns is that China is attempting to intrude into its sphere of influence in South Asia, and the first and second concentric circles of India’s interest areas, such as Afghanistan and parts of West Asia.
      • The peaceful co-existence: The defence white paper might well provide a strategic paradigm, in which India and China agree to peacefully co-exist in many areas, leaving aside conflict zones of critical importance to either, thus ensuring a more durable peace between them.
    • Is geo-economics is the primary arena of competition: One other outcome that the defence white paper could attempt is: whether China views geo-economics as the primary arena of competition today.
      • Avenue for cooperation: China has invested heavily in artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology, and perhaps, India needs to recognise that rather than blacklisting Chinese technology Tech firms, (which could prove counter-productive) there exist avenues for cooperation, paving the way for better state-to-state relations.

    Conclusion

    The defence white paper needs to underscore that a country’s domestic politics are an important pointer to a stable foreign policy. There could be different schools of thoughts within a nation, but equilibrium needs to be maintained if it is not to adversely impact a nation’s foreign policy imperatives. An impression that the country is facing internal strains could encourage an adversary, to exploit our weaknesses. This is a critical point that the defence white paper needs to lay stress on.

  • Why trade with the US matters to India?

     

    Context

    • US President Trump arrives in India months after he went on stage with PM Modi at the ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Texas.
    • Both countries have repeatedly resolved to strengthen trade ties — however, attempts at working out a short-term agreement have fallen apart in the past, and tensions have risen over tariffs.
    • The US often accuses India of taking decisions over the previous few years that prevented “equitable and reasonable access” for Americans to its markets.
    • Let’s have a look at the current state of play:

    Why trade with the US matters to India?

    • India’s existing and stalled bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs) started to receive attention from the government last year, even as the country worked to conclude the seven-year negotiations to join the RCEP, the world’s “largest” regional trade pact.
    • But by backing out of the RCEP in November, India shut the door on the large “integrated market” that the deal was offering.
    • Instead, it increased the pressure on itself to strengthen existing separate trade agreements with each member of the RCEP bloc.
    • Without these, it may not be able to tap a sizeable portion of the global market; also, it may not be able to easily access the products and services of these countries.

    Need for more bilateral activities

    • In the backdrop of the global economic slowdown, where India’s global exports have fallen consistently, it is important for the country to diversify and strengthen bilateral relations with other markets.
    • It has set its sights on “large developed markets”, improved access to which would help its industry and services sectors.
    • These include the US, which has, over the last two decades, become a crucial trading partner in terms of both goods and services.

    Trump’s advent

    • In March 2017, soon after taking office with election campaign focussing on “making America great again”, Trump ordered “first-ever comprehensive review” of trade deficits of the United States.
    • India was among the countries that exported more to the United States than it imported, and the latter was left with a trade deficit of over $21 billion in 2017-18.
    • While the US’s deficit with India is only a fraction of its deficit with China (over $340 billion in 2019), American officials have repeatedly targeted the “unfair” trade practices followed by India.
    • These include the tariffs that India imposes, which the Trump administration feels are too high — and over which the President has personally called New Delhi out on several occasions.

    Locating the main sticking points

    • Negotiations on an India-US trade deal have been ongoing since 2018, but have been slowed by “fundamental” disagreements over tariffs subsidies, intellectual property, data protection, and access for agricultural and dairy produce.
    • The office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) has underlined India’s measures to restrict companies from sending personal data of its citizens outside the country as a “key” barrier to digital trade.
    • The US wants India to strengthen patent regulations, and to ease the limitations American companies investing in India face.

    India’s tariffs

    • India is a “tariff king” that imposes “tremendously high” import duties, Trump has complained repeatedly.
    • The health cess on imported medical devices announced in the Budget for 2020-21 too, is seen as a negative for the American side, as the US is among the top three exporters of these categories of products to India.
    • However, India is working to finalise a proposal to move from caps on prices of medical devices to limiting the margins of those involved in the supply of the products.

    Agri sector

    • The US has long demanded greater access for American agriculture and dairy products.
    • For India, protecting its domestic agriculture and dairy interests was a major reason to walk out of the RCEP agreement.

    US retaliation

    1) Tariff on steel

    • In 2018, the US imposed additional tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imports from various countries, including India.
    • While India’s government claims the impact is “limited”, they brought down the US share in India’s steel exports to 2.5% in 2018-19 from 3.3% in 2017-18.
    • In March 2018, India challenged the US decision at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
    • India held off on imposing retaliatory tariffs until the US struck again — by removing it from a scheme of preferential access to the American market.

    2) GSP axe and response 

    • In June 2019, the US decided to terminate India’s benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) scheme, which provides preferential, duty-free access for over $6 billion worth of products exported from this country to the US.
    • The decision followed a warning earlier that year, after negotiations on a potential trade agreement had broken down.

    3) Labelling India as developed country

    • India was the largest beneficiary of the US GSP programme.
    • While duty-free benefits accrued to only around $200 million for the billions of dollars worth of exports, India is understood to have asked for restoration of these benefits in the ongoing trade negotiations.
    • Most recently, the USTR classified India as a “developed” country based on certain metrics. It is not clear whether the upgrade from “developing” will impact the restoration of benefits under the GSP scheme.

    The WTO tussle

    • India is one of the largest importers of almonds from the US, having imported fresh or dried shelled almonds worth $615.12 million in 2018-19.
    • Imports from the US of fresh apples stood at $145.20 million, of phosphoric acid at $155.48 million, and of diagnostic reagents at nearly $145 million that year.
    • Removal from the GSP list amidst rising trade tensions prompted India to finally impose retaliatory tariffs on several American imports, including almonds, fresh apples, and phosphoric acid.
    • This was a significant move — and the US approached the WTO against India.

    Whats’ next?

    • US administration appeared to suggest that while no deal was imminent, work on a longer-term agreement was progressing well, and that his personal chemistry with Prime Minister Narendra Modi might help.
    • India and the US could begin with some “low-hanging fruit” to indicate their willingness for a deeper economic commitment.
    • This includes the US reinstating India’s benefits under the GSP programme, and India doing away with duties on motorcycles.

  • Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020

     

    The Union Cabinet has approved the Assisted Reproductive Technology Regulation Bill, 2020 to monitor medical procedures used to assist people to achieve pregnancy.

    What is ART?

    • Assisted reproductive technology (ART) is used to treat infertility.
    • Assisted reproductive technology includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility.
    • This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, cryopreservation of gametes or embryos, and/or the use of fertility medication.

    Highlights of the bill

    • National Board: The Bill provides for a national Board which will lay down a code of conduct to be observed by those operating clinics.
    • Standardization: It will also formulate minimum standards for laboratory and diagnostic equipment and practices to be followed by human resources employed by clinics and banks.
    • National registry: Under the proposed law, a national registry and registration authority will maintain a database to assist the national Board to perform its functions.
    • Confidentiality clause: The Bill will also ensure confidentiality of intending couples and protect the rights of the child.

    Strict punishment:

    • India has one of the highest growths in the number of ART centres and ART cycles performed every year.
    • India has become one of the major centres of this global fertility industry, with reproductive medical tourism becoming a significant activity.
    • This has also introduced a plethora of legal, ethical and social issues; yet, there is no standardisation of protocols and reporting is still very inadequate.
    • The Bill thus proposes stringent punishment for those who practise sex selection; indulge in sale of human embryos or gametes and those who operate rackets.

    Other such Bills

    Taken together, theses proposed legislations create an environment of safeguards for women’s reproductive rights, addressing changing social contexts and technological advances.

    Surrogacy Regulation Bill 2020

    • The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2020 proposes to regulate surrogacy in India by establishing National Board at the central level and State Boards and Appropriate Authorities in the States and Union Territories.
    • The major benefit of the Act would be that it will regulate the surrogacy services in the country.
    • While commercial surrogacy will be prohibited including sale and purchase of human embryos and gametes, ethical surrogacy to the Indian Married couple, Indian Origin Married Couple and Indian Single Woman (only widow or Divorcee) will be allowed on fulfillment of certain conditions.
    • As such, it will control the unethical practices in surrogacy, prevent commercialization of surrogacy and will prohibit potential exploitation of surrogate mothers and children born through surrogacy.

    Medical Termination Pregnancy Amendment Bill 2020

    • The Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971 (34 of 1971) was enacted to provide for the termination of certain pregnancies by registered medical practitioners and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
    • The said Act recognised the importance of safe, affordable, accessible abortion services to women who need to terminate pregnancy under certain specified conditions.
    • Besides this, several Writ Petitions have been filed before the Supreme Court and various High Courts seeking permission for aborting pregnancies at gestational age beyond the present permissible limit on the grounds of foetal abnormalities or pregnancies due to sexual violence faced by women.

  • [pib] 22nd Law Commission of India

    The Union Cabinet has approved Twenty-second Law Commission of India for a period of three years from the date of publication of the Order of Constitution in the Official Gazette.

    Law Commission of India

    • It is an executive body established by an order of the Government of India. First law commission of independent India was established post the Independence in 1955
    • Tenure: 3 Years
    • Function: Advisory body to the Ministry of Law and Justice for “Legal Reforms in India”
    • Recommendations: NOT binding
    • First Law Commission was established during the British Raj in 1834 by the Charter Act of 1833
    • Chairman: Macaulay; It recommended for the Codifications of the IPC, CrPC etc.

    Composition

    The 22nd Law Commission will be constituted for a period of three years from the date of publication of its Order in the Official Gazette. It will consist of:

    1. a full-time Chairperson;
    2. four full-time Members (including Member-Secretary)
    3. Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs as ex-officio Member;
    4. Secretary, Legislative Department as ex officio Member; and
    5. not more than five part-time Members.

    Terms of reference

    • The Law Commission shall, on a reference made to it by the Central Government or suo-motu, undertake research in law and review of existing laws in India for making reforms therein and enacting new legislations.
    • It shall also undertake studies and research for bringing reforms in the justice delivery systems for elimination of delay in procedures, speedy disposal of cases, reduction in cost of litigation etc.

    The Law Commission of India shall, inter-alia: –

    • identify laws which are no longer needed or relevant and can be immediately repealed
    • examine the existing laws in the light of DPSP and Preamble
    • consider and convey to the Government its views on any subject relating to law and judicial administration that may be specifically referred to it by the Government through Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs);
    • Consider the requests for providing research to any foreign countries as may be referred to it by the Government through the Ministry of Law and Justice (Department of Legal Affairs);
    • take all such measures as may be necessary to harness law and the legal process in the service of the poor;
    • revise the Central Acts of general importance so as to simplify them and remove anomalies, ambiguities and inequities;

  • [pib] Scheme for formation and promotion of Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs)

    The Cabinet Committee has given its approval for 10,000 FPOs to be formed in five years period from 2019-20 to 2023-24 to ensure economies of scale for farmers.

    What are Farmer Producer Organizations?

    • A Producer Organisation (PO) is a legal entity formed by primary producers, viz. farmers, milk producers, fishermen, weavers, rural artisans, craftsmen.
    • A PO can be a producer company, a cooperative society or any other legal form which provides for sharing of profits/benefits among the members.
    • In some forms like producer companies, institutions of primary producers can also become member of PO.
    • FPO is one type of PO where the members are farmers. Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) is providing support forthe promotion of FPOs.

    About the Scheme

    • It would be a new Central Sector Scheme titled “Formation and Promotion of Farmer Produce Organizations (FPOs)” to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs.
    • Initially there will be three implementing Agencies to form and promote FPOs, namely Small Farmers Agri-business Consortium (SFAC), National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
    • States may also, if so desire, nominate their Implementing Agency in consultation with DAC&FW.
    • DAC&FW will allocate Cluster/States to Implementing Agencies which in turn will form the Cluster-Based Business Organization in the States.

    Modes for promotion

    • FPOs will be promoted under “One District One Product” cluster to promote specialization and better processing, marketing, branding & export by FPOs.
    • There will be a provision of Equity Grant for strengthening equity base of FPOs.
    • There will be a Credit Guarantee Fund of up to Rs. 1,000.00 crore in NABARD.

    Benefits

    • Small and marginal farmers do not have the economic strength to apply production technology, services and marketing including value addition.
    • Through the formation of FPOs, farmers will have better collective strength for better access to quality input, technology, credit and better marketing access through economies of scale for better realization of income.

  • 20th February 2020| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement

    Important Announcement: In the month of February, we will be covering UPSC Mains GS questions of 2019. This will give you real time experience of attempting GS questions of UPSC Mains.

     

    Question 1)

    What is water stress? How and why does it differ regionally in India? (15 Marks)

    Question 2)

    “The Attorney-General is the chief legal adviser and lawyer of the Government of India.” Discuss (15 Marks)

    Question 3)

    Elaborate on the policy taken by the government of India to meet the challenges of the food processing sector. (15 Marks)

    Question 4)

    You are heading the rescue operations in an area affected by severe natural calamity, thousands of people are rendered homeless and deprived of food, drinking water and other basic amenities. Rescue work has been disrupted by heavy rainfall and damaged to supply routes. The local people are seeding with anger against the delayed limited rescue operations. When your team reaches the affected area, the people there heckle and even assault some of the team members. One of your team members is even severely injured. Faced with this crisis some team member pleads with you to call off the operations freeing threats to their life. In such trying circumstances, what will be your response? Examine the qualities of a public servant which will be required to manage the situations. (20 marks)

    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

  • A just verdict

    Context

    SC ruling in favour of women officers in the Army is pathbreaking, extends arc of equality.

    What is said in the significance of the judgement?

    • The judgement took many constitutional steps further
    • First, the judgement said “engagement of women officers in the Army” has been an “evolutionary process”.
      • It acknowledges that the “physiological features of a woman have no significance to her equal entitlements under the Constitution”.
    • Second, it indicates “a need for change in attitudes and mindsets to recognise the commitment to the values of the Constitution”.
      • The judgement said that reliance on the “inherent physiological differences between men and women” rests on a deeply entrenched stereotypical and constitutionally flawed notion.
      • The above-flawed notion fails to ignore “the solemn constitutional values which every institution in the nation is bound to uphold and facilitate”.
    • Third, this change has to be based on “the right of women officers to equality of opportunity”, which has two “facets”:
      • Non-discrimination on the grounds of sex and-
      • Equality of opportunity for all citizens in employment.
      • State and civil society have to firmly internalise these rights to achieve even the minima of gender justice.
      • Fundamental fallacy: Removal of the “fundamental fallacy” demands non-discrimination and affirmation of the equality of opportunity in public employment. To rule otherwise will constitute “a travesty of justice”.
      • What does this mean for women? This means women now have the same terms of employment as men.
      • No longer will women be forced to retire after 14 years in service, irrespective of their record.
      • They will also have a full pension and other financial benefits.
    • Fourth, Article 14 of the Constitution has been pressed into service as prescribing “a right to rationality” that forbids any “blanket” and “absolute”
      • The burden to justify differentiation on Army: The burden to justify the differentiation between women and men falls “squarely on the Army”, which has to “justify such differentiation with reason”

    Judicial consciousness of policy consciousness

    • Achilles’ heel of the judgement: In fact, the brief remark outlining the judicial consciousness of policy limitations may well prove to be the proverbial Achilles’ heel in future courts.
    • One hopes that the stoic and heroic endeavours of the petitioner army officers and their counsel, will not be visited with the constitutional fates in which the judgement is reversed.
      • And this path-breaking judgment will forever vindicate gender equality and justice.

    Conclusion

    Making gender justice less contingent on the executive’s mood swings is the primary task of the judiciary. Making it immune from judicial re-visitations remains the paramount constitutional duty of all citizens, but more particularly of feminist citizens’ crusade for judicial consistency as a badge for constitutional rights and justice.

  • 19th February 2020 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 371]

  • Powering the health-care engine with innovation

    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.

  • USTR takes India off Developing Country List

    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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