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  • Killing of Iranian nuclear scientist and its implications

    The assassination of Iran’s nuclear scientist has implication for the future of JCPOA and the peace and the stability of the region. The article explains why.

    Context

    • Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, the Iranian scientist who led Iran’s nuclear weapons programme until it was disbanded, was assassinated last week.

    JCPOA and U.S. Presidential election’s link with the

    • Assassinations in which Israeli hands were suspected had stopped after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was signed.
    • The U.S. withdrew from the agreement when Trump became the U.S. President.
    • In retaliation of the withdrawal, Iran began enriching uranium and stockpiling it beyond JCPOA limits.
    • With that, the strategy of targeted assassinations seems to be back.
    • This strategy has assumed urgency with the election of Joe Biden in the U.S., who has expressed his desire to return to the JCPOA.

    Understanding the Israel link

    • Israel government is apprehensive that Mr. Biden will imperil Israel’s nuclear monopoly in West Asia.
    • The assassination of Fakhrizadeh appears to be part of a larger Israeli plan in conjunction with Saudi Arabia to force the U.S. into taking military action against Iran.
    • An Israeli-Saudi nexus on this issue, when combined with President Trump’s, could culminate in a major military strike on Iran before he leaves office.

    Win-win situation for Israel

    • If the Iranian government launches revenge attacks Mr. Netanyahu would be able to persuade the U.S. to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities.
    • If Iran shows restraint, Israel would have shown up the Iranian regime as weak while augmenting anti-American feelings in the country.
    • That anti-American feeling would make it difficult for the Biden administration to resume negotiations with Tehran on reviving JCPOA.

    Conclusion

    The fallout of the assassination, while benefiting Israel, will add to the instability in the region.

  • The Paris agreement is no panacea

    The article highlights the fact that the provisions of the Paris Agreement would not be enough to avert the catastrophic and irreversible changes resulting from the global emissions. 

    Past efforts for environmental protection

    • The most hopeful time for global cooperation in protection of the planet was between the time of the Stockholm Conference (1972) and the time of the Rio Conference (1992).
    •  Scientific evidence about role anthropogenic emission in global warming led to political initiatives to harmonise development and environment.
    • The historic consensus in Rio led to the adoption of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC).
    • A distinction was made between the “luxury emissions” of the developed countries and the survival emissions of the developed countries, which were allowed to increase.
    • Moreover, a huge financial package was approved to develop environment-friendly technologies in developing countries.

    Copenhagen Accord: Abandonment of Rio Principles

    • After the adoption of UNFCC, Conference of the Parties was held in Berlin in 1995 where developed countries backed off from their commitments.
    • Though the G-77 was split, the Rio principles were maintained.
    • The Kyoto Protocol enshrined the Rio principles.
    • It fixed emission targets for developed countries and a complex set of provisions was included to satisfy their interests.
    • The end of the Kyoto Protocol and the abandonment of the spirit of the Rio principles were reflected in the Copenhagen Accord (2009).
    • Argument given was that a global climate action plan would be possible only if all reductions of the greenhouse gases were made voluntary.

    Paris Agreement: Making emission reduction voluntary

    • The Paris Agreement moved away from the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities.
    • All countries were placed on an equal footing by making reduction of greenhouse gas emissions voluntary.
    • It requires all parties to put forward their best efforts through nationally determined contributions (NDCs)

    Shortcomings in Paris Agreement

    • The NDCs so far submitted will not result in the desired objective of limiting increase of global warming to below 2°C.
    • The Paris Agreement requires that all countries — rich, poor, developed, and developing — slash greenhouse gas emissions.
    • But no language is included on the commitments the countries should make.
    • Nations can voluntarily set their emissions targets and incur no penalties for falling short of their targets.
    •  Further temperature rise, even of 1.5°C, may result in catastrophic and irreversible changes.
    • Even a 1°C hotter planet is not a steady state, says a report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

    Conclusion

    The IPCC report acknowledges that “the pathways to avoiding an even hotter world would require a swift and complete transformation not just of the global economy but of society too”. This will only be possible if the world rejects nationalism and parochialism and adopts collaborative responses to the crisis. The Paris Agreement falls short of that imperative.

  • Farmers’ protest

    Farmers all across the Punjab and Haryana have marched to New Delhi over the new legislations.

     Major cause of Farmers’ protest

    • Much of the opposition really is just to one of the three laws. It is the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation)  Act and its provisions that are seen as weakening the APMC mandis.
    • Even in that one — the act — there are only some contentious provisions, which, although key, can still leave doors open for negotiation.

    A fight for privilege

    • Farmers, if anything, would gain from removal of stocking restrictions on the trade, as it potentially translates into unlimited buying and demand for their produce.

    The contentious one: FPTC Act

    • The FPTC Act is a bone of contention. It permits sale and purchase of farm produce outside the premises of APMC mandis.
    • Such trades (including on electronic platforms) shall attract no market fee, cess or levy “under any State APMC Act or any other State law”.
    • An issue here is the very right of the Centre to enact legislation on agricultural marketing.
    • Article 246 of the Constitution places “agriculture” and “markets and fairs” in the State List.
    • But entry 42 of the Union List empowers the Centre to regulate “inter-State trade and commerce”.

    An example of Central hegemony

    • While trade and commerce “within the State” is under entry 26 of the State List, it is subject to the provisions of entry 33 of the Concurrent List.
    • Under this, the Centre can make laws that would prevail over those enacted by the states.
    • Entry 33 of the Concurrent List covers trade and commerce in “foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils”, fodder, cotton and jute.
    • The Centre, in other words, can very pass any law that removes all impediments to both inter- and intra-state trade in farm produce, while also overriding the existing state APMC Acts. The FPTC Act does precisely that.

    Farmers question

    • Some experts make a distinction between agricultural “marketing” and “trade”.
    • Agriculture per se would deal with everything that a farmer does — right from field preparation and cultivation to also sale of his/her own produce.
    • The act of primary sale at a mandi by the farmer is as much “agriculture” as production in the field.
    • “Trade” begins only after the produce has been “marketed” by the farmer.

    The centre’s overriding logic behind

    • Going by this interpretation, the Centre is within its rights to frame laws that promote barrier-free trade of farm produce (inter- as well as intra-state) and do not allow stockholding or export restrictions.
    • But these can be only after the farmer has sold.
    • Regulation of first sale of agricultural produce is a “marketing” responsibility of the states, not the Centre.

    What do farmers’ want?

    • Farmers would want no restrictions on the movement, stocking and export of their produce.
    • For example, Maharashtra’s onion growers have vehemently opposed the Centre’s resort to ban on exports and imposition of stock limits whenever retail prices have tended to go up.
    • But these restrictions relate to “trade”.
    • When it comes to “marketing” — especially dismantling of the monopoly of APMCs — farmers, especially in Punjab and Haryana, aren’t very convinced about the “freedom of choice to sell to anyone and anywhere” argument.

    Where lies the major issue?

    • Much of government procurement at minimum support prices (MSP) — of paddy, wheat and increasingly pulses, cotton, groundnut and mustard — happens in APMC mandis. 
    •  In a scenario where more and more trading moves out of the APMCs, these regulated market yards will lose revenues.
    • They may not formally shut, but it would become like BSNL versus Jio.
    • And if the government stops buying, farmers will be left with only the big corporates to sell to.

    What could be negotiated?

    • If the protesting farmer union leaders were to sit down at the negotiating table, the government can possibly get them to agree to drop the demand on repealing all the three laws.
    • Their problem is essentially about the FPTC Act and its provisions that they see as weakening the APMC mandis.
    • These may be just fears, but they aren’t small.
    • From the government’s standpoint, the elephant in the room would be if the farmers insist on an additional demand: Making MSP a legal right.
    • This  would be still impossible to meet, even if the three farm laws were to be put on hold.

     

  • Is allowing Ayurvedic doctors to perform surgery legally and medically tenable?

    The Central Council of Indian Medicine, a statutory body set up under the AYUSH Ministry has allowed postgraduate (PG) Ayurvedic practitioners to receive formal training for a variety of general surgery, ENT, ophthalmology and dental procedures.

    Debate over Ayurvedic surgeries

    • The Indian Medical Association (IMA) decrying it as a mode of allowing mixing of systems of medicine by using terms from allopathy.
    • The debate revolves Ayurveda doctors allowing  ‘Shalya’ (general surgery) and ‘Shalakya’ (dealing with eye, ear, nose, throat, head and neck, oro-dentistry) to perform 58 specified surgical procedures.
    • The AYUSH Ministry has clarified that the ‘Shalya’ and ‘Shalakya’ postgraduates were already learning these procedures in their (surgical) departments in Ayurvedic medical colleges as per their training curriculum.

    Broader issue

    • The broader issue is the feasiblity of short-term training equip them to conduct surgeries and if this dilutes the medicine standards in India.
    •  As such, the postgraduate Ayurvedic surgical training is not short-term but a formal three-year course.
    • Whether the surgeries conducted in Ayurvedic medical colleges and hospitals have the same standards and outcomes as allopathic institutions requires explication and detailed formal enquiry, in the interest of patient safety.

    Why such a move?

    • The shortage and unwillingness of allopathic doctors, including surgeons, to serve in rural areas is now a chronic issue.
    • The government has tried to address this by mechanisms such as rural bonds, a quota for those who have served in rural service in postgraduate seats.
    • However, it would probably still continue to fall short of enough trained specialists in rural areas.

    Are there any restrictions on Ayurveda practitioners?

    •  As of now, no such restriction exists that limits non-allopathic doctors, including those doing Ayurvedic surgical postgraduation, to rural areas.
    • They have the same rights as allopathic graduates and postgraduates to practise in any setting of their choice.

    Is it sensible to allow Ayurvedic surgeons to only assist allopathic surgeons, rather than perform surgeries themselves?

    • The AYUSH streams are recognised systems of medicine, and as such are allowed to independently practise medicine.
    • They have medical colleges with both undergraduate and postgraduate training, which include surgical disciplines for some systems, such as Ayurveda.
    • There is, however, a difference in approach in the systems of medicine, and hence models, which allow for cross-pathy.

    Various risks associated

    • An apprenticeship model for Ayurvedic surgeons working with allopathic surgeons might fall into a regulatory grey zone.
    • It might require re-training Ayurvedic practitioners in the science of surgical approaches in modern medicine.
    • Even then, there might be a limit to what they are allowed to do. Any such experiment can put patient safety in peril, and hence, will need careful oversight and evaluation.

    Can this lead to substandard care?

    • Many patients prefer to receive treatment exclusively from AYUSH providers, while some approach this form of treatment as a complement to the existing allopathic treatment they are receiving.
    • For invasive procedures, like surgery, the risk element can be high.

    A matter of rights

    • Patients have a right to know and understand who their surgeon would be, what system of medicine they belong to, and their expertise and level of training.
    • There should not be a difference in quality of care between urban and rural patients — everyone deserves a right to quality and evidence-based care from trained professionals.

    Way forward

    • We need to explore creative ways of addressing this gap by evidence-based approaches, such as task-sharing, supported by efficient and quality referral mechanisms.
    • The advent of mid-level healthcare providers, such as Community Health Providers in many States, is also an opportunity to shift some elements of healthcare (preventive, promotive, and limited curative) to these providers, while ensuring clarity of role and career progression.

  • RT-LAMP: a new technology for detecting COVID-19

    Indian Council of Medical Research has recently validated the LAMP technology for COVID-19 testing.

    What is RT-LAMP?

    • RT-LAMP stands for Reverse Transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification) technology.
    • Agappe Diagnostics has recently developed the technology indigenously, and their kit has been validated and approved by the ICMR for marketing.
    • It is named LUME Screen nCoV.

    How does it work?

    • RT-LAMP technology is a one-step nucleic acid amplification method to multiply specific sequences of RNA of the coronavirus.
    • The RNA is first made into cDNA (copy DNA) by the usual reverse transcription. Then, the DNA is amplified by the LAMP technique.

    Current method

    • •The current method diagnosis is the real time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test which detects the presence of viral nucleic acids in nasopharyngeal swab samples.
    • But it has certain shortcomings.
    • The test requires complex and costly equipment. It requires extensive training for potential users.

    Benefits of LAMP over RT-PCR

    • The LAMP technology is superior to the PCR technology–based COVID-19 kits where specificity is around 95% only.
    • As the specificity and sensitivity of the test is about 95%, there is a possibility of false negative results.
    • The turnaround time is about 10 hours, so that the result will be available only by the next day.
    • In remote places, the turnaround time further increases depending on the distance the samples need to travel.
    • In short, the RT-PCR does not have the capacity to keep pace with the increasing demand.
    • The LAMP technology does not need laborious preparation as in the case of RT-PCR. LAMP is cost effective and does not need complex expensive equipment.

     

  • Recap of Best Practices

    In the cut-throat competition of civil services, each mark counts. “How can I make my answers different from the lot?”  is every aspirant’s constant worry. One way to do so is by quoting EXAMPLES in your answer. So, scroll down and find a list of contemporary best practices in various social sectors. Use these practices as examples in your mains papers to get that extra edge

    [I] HEALTH AND NUTRITION

    1) Arogya Kunji (Chatra Dist. Jharkhand)

    Arogya Kunji initiative is an endeavor to ensure accessibility and availability of healthcare facilities in the district. It aims to extend the outreach and efficacy of timely medical aid and healthcare services in rural areas of this district through medical kits.

    2) Centralised Kitchens for Better Nutrition (Nandurbar Dist. Maharashtra) 

    In order to tackle deep-rooted problems of Malnourishment and Anaemia in the tribal-dominated district, the District Administration has established a Centralised Kitchen to provide hot and nutritious meals to children in residential schools, also known as Ashram Shalas.

    3) Model Anganwadi Centres (Ramgarh Dist. Jharkhand)

    The District Administration has established Model Anganwadi Centres across blocks to encourage best practices in management and improve learning outcomes.

    These Anganwadis host regular outreach and awareness campaigns in the community to promote better health and hygiene, such as VHSNDs (Village, Health, Sanitation & Nutrition Days) that have been benefiting families across blocks. The Model Anganwadis include an upgraded in-house kitchen where nutritious meals are prepared for children to ensure a balanced diet.

    4) ‘Hamar Swasthya’ App (Rajnandangaon in Chhattisgarh)

    It helps for early detection of Non-Communicable diseases (NCDs) and registers the medical record of patients so that doctors and health workers have access to the medical history of patients and initiate timely treatment and subsequent follow-ups.

    5) Hostels for pregnant tribal women (Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh)

    The District Administration has constructed Hostels for pregnant women of these villages. Pregnant women are brought to the Hostel one month prior to the Expected Delivery Date (EDD). There, they are provided with home-like care and support along with nutritional food and intensive medical care, under the close observation of gynaecologists.

    6) Kanya Taru Yojana (Hailakandi in Assam)

    For encouraging Hospital Delivery parents of girl children born in any of the Government Hospitals are gifted with 5 saplings (Coconut, Litchi, Assam Lemon, Guava & Amla).

    Parents are asked to take care of the saplings like their daughters. The fruits of the trees can be used to feed the child to develop her immunity through Vitamin C in Amla, fight malnutrition by Coconut and the profits earned from the sales could be redirected to investing in the girl’s education and improving green cover of the district.

    [II] EDUCATION

    1) Aakar Residential School for differently-abled (Sukma in Chhattisgarh)

    To ensure inclusion of differently-abled students and to reduce their dropout rates, the District has started Aakar Residential School. The School undertakes other special activities catering to the overall need of these children including therapies for their cognitive development.

    2) BALA- Building as Learning Aid (Shrawasti in Uttar Pradesh)

    It is an innovative concept for teaching through child-friendly, learning and fun-based physical environment by building new infrastructure or refurbishing the existing School and Anganwadi buildings. The concept was originally developed by Vinyas, Centre for Agricultural Research and Design with the support of UNICEF. BALA includes the development of the entire physical environment of the School – indoor, outdoor and semi-open spaces.

    3) Shiksha Saarthi Yojna (Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh)

    Shortage of teachers in schools of rural areas is a major reason for poor learning outcomes. The main reason for the shortage is that teachers from urban areas are unwilling to move to rural areas due to lack of infrastructural facilities. To address this issue and ensure the availability of teachers in primary schools, Shiksha Saarthi Yojna was launched.

    After the appointment of Shiksha Saarthis, student enrolments, attendance and proficiency level in all subjects have risen.

    [III] AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES

    1) Agriculture Entrepreneur Scheme (Ramgarh in Jharkhand)

    It is a promising example of coordination between District Administration, CSOs and local citizens to develop a sustainable and scalable model of Agricultural development. The scheme involves imparting training to selected ‘Agri-Entrepreneurs’ for the incorporation of best practices in farming for a cost-effective and profitable model of Agricultural development.

    2) Horticulture Price Agreement Initiative (Chhatarpur in Madhya Pradesh)

    To make farming a profitable venture, this initiative was launched. The initiative has forward and backward linkages and guarantees procurement at maximum price & partnership in local microprocessing units for farmers, while generating employment for the local youth. The target groups in this Scheme are small and marginal farmers, families with female heads, families with specially challenged people as head of the family and farmers of deprived castes.

    3) Sarvajal Project (Udham Singh Nagar in Uttarakhand)

    The project involves the installation of customised and decentralized drinking water solutions.

    It leverages technology to bring community-level safe drinking water to the underserved. The solar-powered, cloud-connected water dispensing kiosks installed under the project have enabled citizens residing in remote areas, accessibility to clean palatable water.

    4) ‘Taanka’ technique for rainwater harvesting and water conservation (Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh)

    Taankas are underground rainwater storage tanks up to the capacity of 25,000 litres. This initiative follows the standard rainwater harvesting technique wherein rainwater from rooftops is collected through gutters and then made to pass through a sieve before being stored. Use of taankas has helped the district save enough water for lean summer months when the water demand is at its peak and supply invariably falls short.

    [IV] FINANCIAL INCLUSION AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

    1) Solar MAMAs (Gumla in Jharkhand)

    In the remote district, few hamlets have not yet been electrified due to scattered settlements, difficult topography and challenges of inaccessibility. To mitigate this challenge, the District Administration had organised local women in SHGs and trained them with skills needed for fabrication of solar panels, lights and photovoltaic circuits. These women are fondly addressed as Solar Mamas.

    2) Khawa cluster concept (Osmanabad in Maharashtra)

    In order to keep themselves afloat during severe droughts, farmers, within a Khawa cluster have come together, as an alternative to selling only milk. Khoya or Khawa (reduced dry milk) as a product has more demand and shelf life than milk and every farmer makes a profit for every litre. Farmers have organised themselves in cooperatives and are pooling their cattle for making Khawa (milk solids) from their daily milk production.

    [V] BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE

    1) Green technologies in Road Construction (Goalpara in Assam)

    Depleting natural resources and closure of stone quarries had gravely hampered the progress of all-weather road construction. Despite this challenge, in order to provide all-weather connectivity to citizens, the district adopted various Green technologies for the construction of roads. Through this measure, apart from reducing dependence on natural resources and recycling waste plastic, the district has also been able to bring down the cost of construction and maintenance.

    The technologies deployed by the district for construction of roads are-  Waste Plastic Technology, Cell Filled Concrete Technology, Geogrid Technology (Tenax 3D Grids), Cold Mix Technology and Interlocking Concrete Pavement Block (ICBP).

    2) ‘Liter of Light’ Portable Lights (Ranchi in Jharkhand)

    Here, women of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) are being trained to lighten the lives of villagers in the district by producing portable room lights, designed and developed by the students of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai.

    Recycled plastic bottles filled with water and a bit of bleach are fitted into the roof to provide lighting during the day, while at night, the same is upgraded with an LED bulb, micro-solar panels and a battery to provide a low-cost night lighting system.

    3) Patsendri: A model colony under PMAY (Mahasamund in Chhattisgarh)

    A Model Colony has been developed under the PM Awas Yojana (PMAY), with convergence between various physical work-related schemes and social sector schemes. Further expanding on this initiative, the District Administration has initiated convergence of various social sector schemes in Patsendri, and created a self-sustainable model for capacity building, employment generation, development & positive use of social capital, with a focus on the Patsendri Community.

    Firstly, the convergence of schemes has led to the development of a Model Colony, wherein the houses, community hall, drainage, CC road have been built under PMAY, toilets are built under NREGA, electricity connection is provided under the Saubhagya Yojana, transformers, poles, etc. are provided under the Mukhya Mantri Majra-Tola Vidyutikaran Yojana, & water supply is provided under the Nal-Jal Yojana by the Public Health Department.

    4) Swajal Water Testing (Barpeta, Assam)

    The greatest threat to public health from Arsenic originates from contaminated groundwater. High levels of inorganic Arsenic is naturally present in the groundwater of the Aspirational District of Barpeta in Assam. Contaminated water used for the purpose of food preparation and drinking poses a great threat to the public. With community ownership and through participative planning, villagers, especially women in Barpeta, were sensitized about safe water practices and trained to use Field Testing Kits to ascertain the quality of drinking water.

    [VI] GOVERNANCE

    1) BDO Scorecards (Hazaribagh in Jharkhand)

    To motivate the Block Development Officers (BDOs) who are the true foot soldiers of rural development in our country, here the District Administration has taken a first-of-its-kind initiative by devising a ‘BDO Scorecard’ to assess the performance of the BDOs in a transparent manner while taking into account the officers’ self-assessment.

    Civil Servants are the first point of contact for citizens with the Government, and a motivated civil service is the best instrument to achieve outcomes desired by the State and society.

    2) Lok Sewak App (Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh)

    This district has established a new dimension in the direction of good governance by using the Lok Sewak App; an e-attendance and field monitoring tool that uses Geo-tagging technology. Through this App, the district has ensured the presence of Government officials at workplace thereby leading to significant improvement in the quantum and quality of work and facilitating their accessibility to the public.

    The App has also ensured the availability of ASHA, Anganwadi workers, teachers and other key frontline workers involved in the implementation of various programmes.

    3) Infrastructure Snapshot App (Goalpara in Assam)

    Infrastructure Snapshot App, an innovative Android-based mobile application is a one-of-its-kind application developed specifically for the monitoring of Public Institutions like Government Offices, Schools, Health Centres and effective implementation of Government Schemes.

    The App has smart features like GPS location-based service to capture current location in both online and offline modes with data sync facility, filing grievances for issues pertaining to infrastructure, recording absence of Government personnel like doctors, teachers, Anganwadi workers, etc. along with pictorial evidence.

    The objective of the App is to reduce the gap between the public and the Administration and provide stepping stones for good governance through harnessing ICT.

    The App has led to an increment in the resolution of public grievances and fast service delivery to the public. The App has also multiplied the community’s involvement in uplifting and ameliorating the District Infrastructure.

    4) Maha Land Bank System (Washim in Maharashtra)

    This district has created a unique repository of Government Land on a Portal, as a part of a State-wide programme in Maharashtra. The Land Bank serves as a repository of information for taking policy decisions on the allocation of Government Land such as the provision of Affordable Housing, Irrigation, Public Supply, Self-supplied Industries, Aquaculture, Mining, Tree Plantation, etc.

    5) Meekosam Meal Scheme (Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh)

    Labourers and daily wage workers coming to file their grievances and attend proceedings of the grievance cell, from places as far as 100 km will henceforth not have to return empty stomach.

    For a meal worth ` 28/-, ` 10/- is collected from the petitioner and balance ` 18 is directly paid to the owner of the canteen. This initiative has resulted in a sharp rise in the number of petitioners attending grievance cell meetings.

    For more insights into other best practices, you can refer to the document below. But the list above is also comprehensive and sufficient for mains exams.

    With inputs from:

    NITI Aayog Report on Best Practices in Aspirational Districts

  • aws

  • To be taken seriously, Quad needs military heft

    The article suggests projection of naval power to ensure the stability in the Indian Ocean. 

    Quad conducts Malabar exercise

    • In November, the Quad converged to continue the Malabar series, with a total of just eight ships.
    • The idea of Quad is to form a grouping of democratic nations in the Indian Ocean, and use naval power to convey a message to Beijing.
    • The message a grouping of eight ships would convey to a nation thinking in terms of five aircraft carriers remains would not be taken seriously.

    Importance of naval power in ensuring oceanic stability

    • There is no substitute for naval power to ensure oceanic stability, but one alternative lies in the area of Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA). 
    • Perhaps, some thought may already have been given to MDA in the twin agreement to BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement), and Maritime Information Sharing Technical Agreement (MISTA) signed between India and the US.
    • There is little information available in the public domain about MISTA.
    • But MISTA should cover an omnibus agreement for Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) operating and information sharing for the entire Indo-Pacific.
    • The Pacific has a high density of MPA assets, while they are sparse in the Indian Ocean, particularly the western Indian Ocean.
    • The Australians can cover the Malacca Straits, but for the west Indian Ocean, the US will probably have to base a squadron of P-8 aircraft at Masirah or Diego Garcia.
    • Today, the primary weapon system of most warships is the surface-to-surface missile, with ranges of up to 200 km.
    • The ships’ sensor range is only up to 100 km.
    • So, accurate target information has to be supplied beyond 100 km by aircraft or helicopters in what is called Over the Horizon Targeting (OTHT).
    • With the Indo-Pacific fully covered by the MPAs of the Quad, a PLAN ship in the Indian Ocean is in imminent danger of being sunk at will

    Conclusion

    A public announcement of a division of the Indo-Pacific into areas of responsibility for MDA, between members of the Quad will send an unmistakable signal to Beijing. With a desultory Quad naval exercise, once a year of a few ships, Beijing will only be amused that a “threat” exists to its ambition to become a global power.

  • Stepping out of the shadow of India’s malnutrition

    The article takes stock of the food insecurity and malnutrition in India with the aid of two recently published reports.

    Reports about food security in India

    • Two recent reports — “The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020” by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations and the 2020 Hunger report, “Better Nutrition, Better Tomorrow” by the Bread for the World Institute  – document staggering facts about Indian food insecurity and malnutrition.
    • The reports use two globally recognised indicators, Prevalence of Undernourishment (PoU) and the Prevalence of Moderate or Severe Food Insecurity (PMSFI).
    • Using these indicators, the reports indicate India to be one of the most food-insecure countries, with the highest rates of stunting and wasting among other South Asian countries.

    Comparing rate of reduction in malnutrition with neighbouring countries

    • Malnutrition in India has not declined as much as the decline has occurred in terms of poverty.
    • On the contrary, the reduction is found to be much lower than in neighbouring China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
    • The decline in China is way higher than that of India, even though it had started with lower levels of PoU in 2000.

    Food security during pandemic and National Food Security Act 2013

    • Two crucial elements still got left out in the National Food Security Act – 2013.
    • These two elements are the non-inclusion of nutritious food items such as pulses and exclusion of potential beneficiaries.
    • Because of this, the current COVID-19 pandemic would make the situation worse in general, more so for vulnerable groups.
    • Though States have temporarily expanded their coverage in the wake of the crisis, the problem of malnutrition is likely to deepen in the coming years.
    • Hence, a major shift in policy has to encompass the immediate universalisation of the Public Distribution System which should definitely not be temporary in nature.

    Conclusion

    The need of the hour remains the right utilisation and expansion of existing programmes to ensure that we arrest at least some part of this burgeoning malnutrition in the country.

  • Linking Aadhaar to residence for targeted aid

    The article suggests the provision for a safety net with geographic targeting in case of disasters as most disasters are location specific.

    Safety net in the U.S.

    • The US Congress enacted in March a Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to sends $1,200 to each individual below the income threshold of $75,000.
    • Nonetheless, as The Washington Post reported, even in October, millions of households were yet to receive their stimulus payments.
    • The tax authorities who were charged with disbursing the funds had no way of knowing how to send the cheques.
    • But the poor had to cross several hurdles to get this money and the computer system did not make it easy for them to register their claim.

    Safety net in India and issues with it

    • In contrast to U.S., 23 per cent of Indians living in Delhi-NCR received a payment of Rs 500 in their Jan Dhan accounts within three weeks of the lockdown being declared.
    • Farmers registered for PM-KISAN also received Rs 2,000 in their accounts immediately.
    • However, there were some issues for example, recipients of PM-KISAN were not amongst the poorest households, nor were these the households that were most affected by the COVID-related lockdown.
    • The PM-Kisan Yojana applies to landowners, thereby excluding agricultural labourers as well as the urban informal sector workers who were most affected by the lockdown.
    • Similarly, for the PMJDY payment, BPL and non-BPL households record similar receipt transfers.

    Twin challenges in designing social safety nets

    • Unless a registry containing data about individuals and their bank accounts exists, money cannot be transferred expeditiously.
    • 1) Registries based on specific criteria (for example, identified BPL households) may not identify individuals most vulnerable to crises.
    • 2) Factors that contribute towards alleviating poverty may differ from the ones that push people into it — indicating the challenge of targeting welfare beneficiaries in response to shocks.
    • About 40 per cent of the poor in 2012 were pushed into poverty by special circumstances and would not have been classified as being poor based on their 2005 conditions.
    • Such exclusion errors can get magnified in the event of large-scale disasters when using pre-existing databases, since many people are likely to fall into poverty from an economy-wide negative shock, leading to coverage errors.

    Way forward

    • Recent estimates from the World Bank suggest that 88 to 115 million people could slide into poverty in 2020.
    • These observations suggest that in a disaster response situation, we cannot rely on registries based on individual characteristics to identify beneficiaries.
    • Most disasters are geographically clustered.
    • If there is a way for us to set up social registries that identify individuals, their place of residence, and their bank accounts, these linkages can be used to transfer funds to everyone living in the affected area quickly.
    • Aadhaar linkages of individuals and bank accounts already exist.
    • If residential information in the Aadhaar database can be efficiently structured, this would allow for geographic targeting.
    • Issue of violation of individual privacy can be addressed by providing that such social registries store only basic information such as location, instead of more sensitive identifiers.

    Consider the question “Disasters underscores the importance of social safety nets. However, designing a social safety net that identifies and reach the vulnerable suffers from several challenges. What are these challenes. Suggest ways to address these challenges.” 

    Conclusion

    As we try to disaster-proof future welfare programmes, these are some of the considerations that deserve attention.

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