The National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR) has recognized the Manda buffalo, found in the Eastern Ghats and plateau of Koraput region of Odisha, as the 19th unique breed of buffaloes found in India.
Manda Buffalo
The Manda are resistant to parasitic infections, less prone to diseases and can live, produce and reproduce at low or nil input systems.
These buffaloes have ash grey and grey coat with copper-coloured hair.
The lower part of the legs up to the elbow is light in colour with copper colour hair at the knee. Some animals are silver-white in colour.
Four breeds of cattle — Binjharpuri, Motu, Ghumusari and Khariar — and two breeds of buffalo — Chilika and Kalahandi — and one breed of sheep, Kendrapada, have already received NBAGR recognition.
Their economic significance
The small, sturdy buffaloes are used for ploughing in their native habitat of the Koraput, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts.
There are around 1,00,000 buffaloes of this breed in the native tract mostly contributing to the family nutrition of households and assisting in all the agricultural operations in the undulated hilly terrain for generations.
The average milk yield of these buffaloes is 2 to 2.5 litres in single milking with more than 8% fat. However, a few of those yield up to 4 litres.
After going through the findings, the NBAGR made an assessment and recognised it as an indigenous and unique buffalo.
Now pls do not ignore this PYQ:
Q.What is/are unique about ‘Kharai Camel’, a breed found in India?
It is capable of swimming up to three kilometres in seawater.
It survives by grazing on mangroves.
It lives in the wild and cannot be domesticated.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
[wpdiscuz-feedback id=”7b5fqwlhhm” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]
India recently announced the launch of the National Hydrogen Mission (NHM) with an aim to cut down carbon emissions and increase the use of renewable sources of energy. The broad objective of the mission is to scale up Green Hydrogen production and utilization and to align India’s efforts with global best practices in technology, policy and regulation. Accordingly, the Government of India has allotted Rs 25 crore in the Union Budget 2021–22 for the research and development in hydrogen energy.
The NHM aims to leverage the country’s landmass and low solar and wind tariffs to produce low-cost green hydrogen and ammonia for export to Japan, South Korea, and Europe. In this regard, there are immense possibilities for India to collaborate with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries that have also invested significantly in developing hydrogen as a future source of energy.
What is National Hydrogen Energy Mission?
Focus: The main aim of the mission is on generation of hydrogen from green power resources and to link India’s growing renewable capacity with the hydrogen economy.
Goal: India’s ambitious goal of 175 GW by 2022 got an impetus in the 2021-22 budget which allocated Rs. 1500 crore for renewable energy development and NHM.
Sustainable energy and help in reduce import: The usage of hydrogen will not only help India in achieving its emission goals under the Paris Agreement, but will also reduce import dependency on fossil fuels.
The mission will include all aspects including research and exploration of areas where hydrogen can be used.
Green Hydrogen Mission is not only essential to decarbonise heavy industries like steel and cement but it will equally clean electric mobility that doesn’t depend on rare minerals to be explored.
What is Hydrogen Energy?
Hydrogen is an important source of energy since it has zero carbon content and is a non-polluting source of energy in contrast to hydrocarbons that have net carbon content in the range of 75–85 per cent.
Hydrogen energy is expected to reduce carbon emissions that are set to jump by 1.5 billion tons in 2021.
It has the highest energy content by weight and lowest energy content by volume.
As per International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Hydrogen shall make up 6 per cent of total energy consumption by 2050.
Hydrogen energy is currently at a nascent stage of development, but has considerable potential for aiding the process of energy transition from hydrocarbons to renewable.
Hydrogen as an energy source:
Hydrogen is the lightest (travels up in the atmosphere and rarely found in purity) and first element on the periodic table.
Most hydrogen on Earth is bonded to oxygen in water and to carbon in live or dead and/or fossilized biomass. It can be created by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen.
At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a nontoxic, nonmetallic, odorless, tasteless, colorless, and highly combustible diatomic gas.
Hydrogen fuel is a zero-emission fuel when burned with oxygen. It can be used in fuel cells or internal combustion engines. It is also used as a fuel for spacecraft propulsion.
Hydrogen can be sourced from natural gas, nuclear power, biomass, and renewable power like solar and wind.
Why is India focusing on Hydrogen to fulfill its energy demands?
The enthusiasm about hydrogen has a simple reason: whether it’s used in a fuel cell or burned to create heat, wherever hydrogen replaces fossil fuels, it slows global warming.
Inclusion of “Hydrogen” as an energy carrier in the future energy portfolio presents a unique opportunity to address emerging energy vectors, including power to gas, power to power, and power to mobility and even vehicle to grid applications.
India remains committed to environmental and climate causes with a massive thrust on deploying renewable energy and energy efficiency measures.
In the past six years, India has increased its renewable power portfolio from 32 GW to almost 100 GW and is well on track to achieve 450 GW target of renewable energy generating capacity by 2030.
Diversification of our energy basket would be the key lever enabling this transition. That’s why the emergence of hydrogen at the centre stage is a welcome development.
How Hydrogen can be produced?
Commercially viable Hydrogen can be produced from –
1. Hydrocarbons including natural gas, oil and coal through processes like steam methane reforming, partial oxidation and coal gasification
2. Renewables like water, sunlight and wind through electrolysis and photolysis and other thermo-chemical processes.
The current global demand for hydrogen is 70 million metric tons per year, more than 76 per cent of which is being produced from natural gas, 23 per cent comes from coal and the remaining is produced from electrolysis of water.
Storage: Hydrogen can be stored in cryo-compressed tanks in gaseous form apart from being kept in liquefied and solid state.
Primarily uses
Presently, Hydrogen is mostly used in industry sector including those dealing with oil refining, ammonia production, methanol production and steel production.
It has huge potential in transportation sector as a direct replacement to fossil fuels.
Shipping and aviation have limited low-carbon fuel options available and represent an opportunity for hydrogen-based fuels.
What Is Grey, Blue, And Green Of Hydrogen?
Hydrogen has been color-coded based on the source of production and the emphasis is on the use of Green Hydrogen as it helps in reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases and increases the share of renewables in total energy consumption.
Grey Hydrogen
The most common form of hydrogen, it’s created from fossil fuels and the process releases carbon dioxide which is not captured.
There is also a gasification process which uses coal as a feedstock, creating brown hydrogen, which also releases carbon dioxide and can be put in the same category as grey.
Blue Hydrogen
Blue hydrogen uses the same process as grey, except this time the carbon is captured and stored. This makes it much more environmentally friendly, but comes with added technical challenges and a big increase in cost.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been around a while, with the technology being used by heavy industry and power generation companies burning fossil fuels.
The technology can capture up to 90% of the CO2 produced, so it isn’t perfect but clearly a massive improvement.
Green Hydrogen
Green hydrogen will be a unique energy vector that can enable deep decarbonization of many sectors such as transportation, industry, and power. One of the most common methods of generating green hydrogen is by electrolysis of pure water through electrolyzers.
We will discuss it in detail as it is very important for today’s world to rely on such a source of energy which can redefine the GHGs emission and sustainable use of energy resources while keeping global warming in check.
How is green hydrogen produced?
In a world struggling to address the issue of climate change and growing carbon footprint, green hydrogen is being heralded as the future of energy.
Unlike gray hydrogen, green hydrogen is fully renewable in both its source material and its energy supply.
For source material, green hydrogen today is typically generated from water through a process known as electrolysis, which uses an electric current to split water into its component molecules of hydrogen and oxygen.
This is done using a device called an electrolyzer, which utilizes a cathode and an anode (positively and negatively charged electrodes).
This process produces only oxygen – or steam – as a byproduct.
As for energy supply, to qualify as “green hydrogen,” the source of electricity used for electrolysis must derive from renewable power, such as wind or solar energy.
Currently the production of green hydrogen is two or three times more expensive than blue hydrogen.
How can green hydrogen be used?
Hydrogen can be used in broadly two ways. It can be burnt to produce heat or fed into a fuel cell to make electricity.
fuel-cell hydrogen electric cars and trucks
container ships powered by liquid ammonia made from hydrogen
“green steel” refineries burning hydrogen as a heat source rather than coal
hydrogen-powered electricity turbines that can generate electricity at times of peak demand to help firm the electricity grid
H-CNG can be used as a as a substitute for natural gas for cooking and heating in homes and automotive.
What makes Hydrogen one of the best options in disguise?
1. Its availability
2. Its efficiency: The energy in 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of hydrogen gas contains about the same as the energy in 1 gallon (6.2 pounds, 2.8 kilograms) of gasoline.
3. Its characteristics of a clean fuel: The only byproduct or emission that results from the usage of hydrogen fuel is water.
2H2 (g) + O2 (g) → 2H2O (g) + energy
With a wide range of methods to produce and use Hydrogen as a fuel, it thereby allows the impetus to a circular economy.
What are the challenges in producing Green Hydrogen?
India’s transition towards a green hydrogen economy (GHE) can only happen once certain key issues are addressed.
Supply chain issues: GHE hinges upon the creation of a supply chain, starting from the manufacture of electrolysers to the production of green hydrogen, using electricity from a renewable energy source.
Technology: Green hydrogen needs electrolysers to be built on a scale larger than we’ve yet seen.
Transportation and Storage: Either very high pressures or very high temperatures are required, both with their own technical difficulties. It is hazardous because of its low ignition energy and high combustion energy.
Risk to use as a fuel: Automotive fuels are highly inflammable, but a vehicle laden with hydrogen is likely to be more vulnerable in case of a major accident.
Cost: To become competitive, the price per kilogram of green hydrogen has to reduce to a benchmark of $2/kg. At these prices, green hydrogen can compete with natural gas.
Electricity: Creating green hydrogen needs a huge amount of electricity, which means an enormous increase in the amount of wind and solar power to meet global targets.
Lack of proper infrastructure, only 500 Hydrogen stations exist globally.
Only countable manufacturers are involved as market players in this technology.
Integration with other energy vectors using information and communication infrastructure.
Low user acceptance and social awareness.
Developing after-sales service for hydrogen technology.
Hydrogen Energy in India
At present, bulk of the global energy consumption comes from hydrocarbons.
Government as well as non-government funding agencies are engaged in R&D projects pertaining to hydrogen production, storage, utilisation, power generation and for transport applications.
National Hydrogen Energy Board formed in 2003and in 2006 the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy laid out the National Hydrogen Energy Road Map identifying transport and power generation as two major green energy initiatives.
By 2050 India intends to produce three-fourths of its hydrogen from renewable resources.
R&D projects in India focus on improving the efficiency of water-splitting reaction, and finding newer materials, catalysts and electrodes to accelerate the reaction.
What are the policy challenges?
Economic sustainability: One of the biggest challenges faced by the industry for using hydrogen commercially is the economic sustainability of extracting green or blue hydrogen.
Technological challenges: The technology used in production and use of hydrogen like Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) and hydrogen fuel cell technology are at nascent stage.
Cost Factor: These technologies are expensive which in turn increases the cost of production of hydrogen and will require a lot of investment which in turn add fiscal pressure on government.
Higher Maintenance costs: Maintenance costs for fuel cells post-completion of a plant can be costly.
Commercial sector’s role is crucial: The commercial usage of hydrogen as a fuel and in industries requires mammoth investment in R&D of such technology and infrastructure for production, storage, transportation and demand creation for hydrogen.
Need for legal and administrative adherence, certification mechanisms, recommendations, and regulations for different components of the system.
Way forward
India’s National Hydrogen Mission is a futuristic vision that can help the country not only cut down its carbon emissions but also diversify its energy basket and reduce external reliance.
Hydrogen energy is at a nascent stage of development but has significant potential for realizing the energy transition in India.
Having missed out on many technology-led innovations in the past, hydrogen presents India with the opportunity to lead the change. The parts of the puzzle just need to be put together.
Green hydrogen has the potential to decarbonise the sectors, which currently have the largest carbon footprint in the world.
With the capability to provide a zero-emission fuel, green hydrogen is well placed to be integrated into the transport sector and replace the use of coal and coke in the industrial sector.
India’s transition towards a green hydrogen economy can be a testament to the world on the achievement of energy security, without compromising the goal of sustainable development.
The GoI, therefore, must strongly pursue the objective of creating a GHE to make India a global manufacturing hub of green hydrogen and place itself at the top of the green hydrogen export market.
Maintaining consistency is one of the biggest issues faced by IAS Aspirants. Streak’s initiative is to help Aspirants in their day-to-day preparation. You can follow the monthly, weekly, and daily timetables and continue this streak until you find yourself on the final list.
UPSC PRELIMS-2021 || Current Affairs Based Most Probable Questions on Polity || by Sukanya Rana
Q1) Consider following statements with respect Collegium System in Judicial Appointments
A Supreme Court collegium is led by its Chief Justice and four other senior most judges of that court.
Names recommended for appointment by a High Court collegium reaches the government only after approval by the CJI and the Supreme Court collegium.
Government cannot raise any objections and seek no clarifications regarding the Collegium’s choices.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 1 and 3 only
C. 2 and 3 only
D. 1, 2 and 3
Q2) Which of the following statement(s) is/are correct with respect to Rohini Commission
It was established to work out the mechanism in a scientific approach for sub-categorisation within OBCs.
It recommended 33% reservation in jobs and education under the central and state government for OBCs.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2
Q3) Consider the following statements with respect to DNA Technology Bill
Under the Bill, DNA testing is allowed only in respect of matters listed in the Schedule to the Bill.
The Bill provides for the establishment of a National DNA Data Bank and Regional DNA Data Banks, for every state, or two or more states.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are correct?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2
Q4) Which of the following statements are incorrect with respect to Registered Unrecognised Political Parties
These are political parties which have contested at least in one Assembly or General Elections since being registered.
These Parties do not enjoy all the benefits extended to the recognised parties.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2
Q5) Consider the following statements with respect to Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT)
It exercises original jurisdiction in relation to recruitment and all service matters of all-India services, the Central civil services, civil posts under the Centre and members of the defence forces.
The appeals against the orders of the CAT could be made only in the Supreme Court and not in high courts.
Which of the statement(s) given above is/are incorrect?
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. Both 1 and 2
D. Neither 1 nor 2
UPSC PRELIMS-2021 || Most Probable Questions on Environment and Ecology || by Santosh Gupta
Q1) Which of the following are related to Ozone depletion?
Montreal Protocol
Kyoto Protocol
Vienna Convention
Kigali agreement
Which of the above statements are true?
A. 1, 2 and 3 only
B. 2, 3 and 4
C. 1, 3 and 4 only
D. All of them
Q2) How does the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA) help in protecting Indian agriculture?
1. NBA checks the biopiracy and protects the indigenous and traditional genetic resources.
2. NBA directly monitors and supervises the scientific research on genetic modification of crop plants.
3. Application for intellectual Property Rights related to genetic resources cannot be made without the approval of NBA.
4. NBA was set up under obligation for Convention on biological diversity
Which of the above statements are true?
A. 1 and 2 only
B. 2 and 3 only
C. 1,3 and 4
D. all of them
Q3) Which of the following is related to protection of biodiversity?
1. Convention of biological diversity
2. Nagoya protocol
3. Aichi targets
4. Minamata convention
5. UNESCO world heritage convention
Which of the above statements are true?
A. 1, 2 and 3 only
B. 2, 3 and 4 ony
C All of them
D. 1, 2, 3 and 5
Q4) Consider the following regarding outcomes of Rio earth summit, 1992
Agenda 21
Convention on biological diversity
UNFCCC
Foundation of IPCC
Global Environment Facility (GEF)
Which of the above statements are true?
A. 1, 2 and 3
B. 2, 3 and 4 only
C. 1, 2, 3 and 5 only
D. All of them
Q5) Which of the following are true about the aims of the Basel Convention?
1. The reduction of all hazardous waste generation
2. The restriction of trans-boundary movements of hazardous wastes including radioactive waste.
3. Creating a Regulatory system for trans boundary movement
4. Promote information sharing through prior informed consent
While it is undeniable that affirmative action has been one of the protagonists of Indian democracy’s success stories, these have also accumulated a fair share of problems and call for immediate policy attention and debate.
Problems with the current policy of reservation
With the reservation of seats in political and public institutions of the state, it was thought that the hitherto marginalised groups would be able to find place in the power sharing and decision-making processes.
This strategy of removal of disabilities has not translated into an equalisation of life chances for many groups in our heterogeneous society.
What are the problems?
1) Problem of reification
The Justice G. Rohini Commission’s report on the sub-categorisation of OBCs based on the last five years’ data on central government jobs and OBC admissions to central higher education institutions highlights this problem.
The commission concluded that 97% of central OBC quota benefits go to just under 25% of its castes.
As many as 983 OBC communities — 37% of the total — have zero representation in both central government jobs and admissions to central universities.
Also, the report states that just 10% of the OBC communities have accrued 24.95% of jobs and admissions.
Clearly, the assumption that the disadvantages of every sub-group within each category are the same is severely misplaced.
Consequently, asymmetrical distribution of reservation has severely deterred political projects of unified subaltern solidarity.
2) Insufficiency of data
There is a dire need of accurate data pertaining to the socio-economic condition of different social groups.
Though caste-based reservations have been pivotal in animating upward social mobility we hardly have sufficient data about the actual reach and access of this policy measure.
We do not know what liberalisation has done to castes which remained tied to more traditional sources of income and were incapable of realising the new opportunities provided by the opening of the economy.
What is urgently required is a mechanism that can address this lacuna and make the system more accountable and sensitive to intra-group demands.
Way forward
Since every further categorisation will only lead to reification and fragmentation in the long run, two things are required.
Evidence based policy option: We need to develop a wide variety of context-sensitive, evidence-based policy options that can be tailored to meet specific requirements of specific groups.
Institution: We need an institution alike the Equal Opportunities Commission of the United States or the United Kingdom which can undertake two important but interrelated things:
1) Make a deprivation index correlating data from the socio-economic-based census of different communities.
2) Undertake an audit on performance of employers and educational institutions on non-discrimination and equal opportunity and issue codes of good practice in different sectors.
This will make the formulation of policy and its monitoring simpler at an institutional level.
Similar suggestions were made a decade ago in the recommendations that the expert committee for an Equal Opportunities Commission (2008) made in its comprehensive report that it submitted to the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
Conclusion
As evident, a socio-economic caste-based census becomes a necessary precondition to initiate any meaningful reform in the affirmative action regime in India.
Recently, FM announced the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) to lease a slew of “brownfield” (already developed) but underutilised public sector assets to the private sector with the objective of raising Rs 6 lakh crore.
About the NMP
The assets identified for lease include roads, railways, ports, power, mining, aviation, oil and gas pipelines, warehouses, hotels and even two sports stadia.
The idea is to create “structured public-private partnerships” to unlock value from public sector assets and to recycle the revenues so raised into new infrastructure.
But the move raises several concerns.
3 concerns with NMP
1) Government is preferring financial value of assets over public welfare
The design of the NMP is out of sync with existential challenges — global warming, pandemics, geopolitical chaos and fundamentalism.
The assets are valued on the basis of conventional financial metrics (enterprise value, book value, net present value, the costs of comparable assets).
The model seemingly absolves the government from the responsibility to unlock the intrinsic “social” (to include “smart” and “clean” ) value of these assets.
2) It will lead to concentration of capital
NMP is designed to attract deep-pocketed financial institutions (PE firms) and industrial conglomerates.
This is because the valuations are so high that few other entities will have the resources or the risk carrying capacity to respond.
The result will be a deepening of the concentration of capital and existing inequalities.
There will be economic and social implications.
3) Addressing the system problem
The government should have asked itself a fundamental question before placing a substantial share of public assets on the block:
Why have these assets been so poorly managed?
Was it because of bad leadership, inadequate talent within the PSEs, and/or systemic and structural shortcomings?
If the reason for low productivity was poor leadership or lack of talent, the transfer of these assets to a different, private sector-led organisational and investment structure would make sense.
Structural issues: But if the reason had to do with structural impediments, then such a change may not be warranted, at least not in the first instance.
The example, gas pipelines GAIL are hugely underutilized, but this is not because of the “inefficiency” of GAIL, the PSE operator.
It is because of structural factors such as the shortage of domestic gas supplies; the regressive taxation system; the relatively uncompetitive price of gas and the perennial tussle between the Centre and state governments over land access.
A similar point can be made about most of the other assets identified for monetisation.
Their low productivity is because their PSE operators have faced a combination of systemic hurdles related to weak dispute resolution mechanisms; regulatory miasma; lack of transparency in governance; pricing distortions and intrusive bureaucratic intervention.
Way forward: So, until and unless these systemic problems are addressed, the private sector will find it difficult to harness the full value of these assets and the transfer of operatorship to them will offer at best a partial palliative.
Conclusion
Private-public investment structures make sense, but they must be modeled to also generate social value. In today’s world, there are no shortcuts to sustainable development.
We have spoken with over 3,000 UPSC aspirants personally and realised a shocking fact! We found out that only 2 in every 50 students who studied without the help of a dedicated mentor were able to qualify for Mains. BUT 40 out of every 50 aspirants who studied with a mentor qualified for UPSC Mains. The students who DID NOT get the guidance of a dedicated mentor found the following 4 problems:
Difficulty to cope with the syllabus
Poor guidance
Poor time management
Ineffective answering techniques
Fact: Successful UPSC aspirants don’t fight the syllabus, they learn how to tackle the 4 problems mentioned above.
Here are 3 examples of common mistakes that most aspirants make and how mentors help them:
Trying to read each and everything – Most aspirants spend a lot of time reading each and everything in the newspaper, in the books they buy, and the study material they get. This happens because no one tells them what to study and what not to study. This practice makes the syllabus even more vast and difficult to cope with. But if you know how to avoid reading unimportant things or if you receive good guidance, coping with the syllabus becomes extremely easy.
Following Topper’s advice blindly – Most UPSC aspirants watch videos and read a lot about what the toppers did and follow it blindly. They forget that – every student learns at a different pace and through different techniques. The students at Civilsdaily have a dedicated mentor who understands your learning pace and guides you at your pace. This personal guidance makes learning easier and improves their consistency.
Poor answer-writing practice – If you practice answer-writing in the correct way you can improve your accuracy, your speed, your recalling capacity, and your revision time. Most students, however, write answers without a direction. They practice answers blindly. But if you have a mentor who assesses your answers, corrects your mistakes, and gives you a direction, your scoring ability improves immediately.
In fact, there are 20 more common mistakes that most students make and fail to qualify. These mistakes can be corrected with the right guidance as a mentor knows how to identify these mistakes and correct them.
So, if you are an aspirant who wants to avoid these mistakes from the start or correct them now, just get in touch with our mentors using the form below and our senior mentors will get in touch with you immediately.
Do not wait! Every moment you spend in the wrong direction takes you away from your goal.
A recent UNICEF report stated that nearly 12 lakh children could die in low-income countries in the next six months due to a decrease in routine health services and an increase in wasting. Nearly three lakh such children would be from India.
Problem of nutrition in India and factors responsible for it
The National Family Health Survey (NFHS 5) indicates that since the onset of the pandemic, acute undernourishment in children below the age of five has worsened.
According to the latest data, 37.9 per cent of children under five are stunted, and 20.8 per cent are wasted — a form of malnutrition in which children are too thin for their height.
Comparison with other countries: This is much higher than in other developing countries where, on average, 25 per cent of children suffer from stunting and 8.9 per cent are wasted.
Factors: Inadequate dietary intake is the most direct cause of undernutrition.
Several other factors also affect nutritional outcomes, such as contaminated drinking water,poor sanitation, and unhygienic living conditions.
According to the World Health Organisation, 50 per cent of all mal- and under-nutrition can be traced to diarrhoea and intestinal worm infections.
Nutrition and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are intricately linked, and changes in one tend, directly or indirectly, to affect the other.
Poor hygiene and sanitation in developing countries lead to a sub-clinical condition called “environmental enteropathy” in children.
Environmental enteropathy is a disorder of the intestine which prevents the proper absorption of nutrients, rendering them effectively useless.
Childhood diarrhoea is a major public health problem in low- and middle-income countries, leading to high mortality in children under five.
According to NFHS 4, approximately 9 percent of children under five years of age in India experience diarrhoeal disease.
Way forward
Investment in WASH: The link between WASH and nutrition suggests that greater attention to, and investments in, WASH are a sure-shot way of bolstering the country’s nutritional status.
Addressing nutrition sanitation problems together: Both WASH and nutrition must be addressed together through a lens of holistic, sustainable community engagement to enable long-term impact.
One of the first instances of the link between WASH and nutrition appeared in the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1989, which urges states to ensure “adequate nutritious foods and clean drinking water” to combat disease and malnutrition.
Safe drinking water, proper sanitation, and hygiene can significantly reduce diarrhoeal and nutritional deaths.
Multistructural approach: What we require is a coordinated, multisectoral approach among the health, water, sanitation, and hygiene bodies, not to mention strong community engagement.
WHO has estimated that access to proper water, hygiene, and sanitation can prevent the deaths of at least 8,60,000 children a year caused by undernutrition.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, all sides are working towards a common goal: A safe and healthy population and the hope that the 75th year of Independence becomes a watershed moment in India’s journey.
The 13th BRICS summit is set to be held on September 9 in digital format under India’s chairmanship
Challenges and opportunities for BRICS
The importance of BRICS is self-evident: it represents 42% of the world’s population, 30% of the land area, 24% of global GDP and 16% of international trade.
Weathering geopolitical challenges: Member states have been carrying BRICS forward in an era of complex geopolitics.
They have bravely continued holding dozens of meetings and summits, even as India-China relations were strained after Galwan valley incident.
Internal challenges: There is also the reality of the strained relations of China and Russia with the West, and of serious internal challenges preoccupying both Brazil and South Africa.
On the other hand, a potential bond emerged due to the battle against COVID-19.
Challenges to trade ties: BRICS has been busy deepening trade and investment ties among its member states.
The difficulty stems from China’s centrality and dominance of intra-BRICS trade flows.
How to create a better internal balance remains a challenge, reinforced by the urgent need for diversification and strengthening of regional value chains.
China’s aggression: Beijing’s aggressive policy, especially against India, puts BRICS solidarity under exceptional strain.
Lack of support: BRICS countries have not done enough to assist the Global South to win their optimal support for their agenda.
Does BRICS truly matter?
The grouping has gone through a reasonably productive journey.
Acts as a bridge: It strove to serve as a bridge between the Global North and Global South.
It developed a common perspective on a wide range of global and regional issues.
It established the New Development Bank; created a financial stability net in the form of Contingency Reserve Arrangement; and is on the verge of setting up a Vaccine Research and Development Virtual Center.
Immediate goals: 4 priorities
As the current chair, India has outlined four priorities.
Reforms of multilateral institutions: The first is to pursue reform of multilateral institutions ranging from the United Nations, World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to the World Trade Organization and now even the World Health Organization.
Reform needs global consensus which is hardly feasible in the current climate of strategic contestation between the U.S. and China and the devastation caused by COVID-19.
Nevertheless, Indian officials rightly remind us that BRICS emerged from the desire to challenge dominance (by the U.S.) in the early years of the century, and it remains committed to the goal of counter-dominance (by China) now.
Combating terrorism: Tragic developments concerning Afghanistan have helped to focus attention sharply on this overarching theme, stressing the need to bridge the gap between rhetoric and action.
China, for example, feels little hesitation in supporting clear-cut denunciations of terrorist groups and supports Pakistan, which is host to several international terrorist groups.
BRICS is attempting to pragmatically shape its counter-terrorism strategy by crafting the BRICS Counter Terrorism Action Plan.
Counter Terrorism Action Plan contains specific measures to fight radicalisation, terrorist financing and misuse of the Internet by terrorist groups.
Technology and digital solution: Promoting technological and digital solutions for the Sustainable Development Goals and expanding people-to-people cooperation are the other two BRICS priorities.
Conclusion
It is necessary for leaders, officials and academics of this grouping to undertake serious soul-searching and find a way out of the present predicament.
Eight of India’s major banks — State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IDFC First Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank and Federal Bank has joined the Account Aggregator (AA) network that will enable customers to easily access and share their financial data.
What is an Account Aggregators (AA)?
According to the RBI, an AA is a non-banking financial company engaged in the business of providing, under a contract, the service of retrieving or collecting financial information pertaining to its customer.
It is also engaged in consolidating, organizing, and presenting such information to the customer or any other financial information user as may be specified by the bank.
The AA framework was created through an inter-regulatory decision by RBI and other regulators.
These regulators include SEBI, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) through an initiative of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC).
The license for AAs is issued by the RBI, and the financial sector will have many AAs.
The framework allows customers to avail themselves of various financial services from a host of providers on a single portal based on a consent method, under which the consumers can choose what financial data to share and with which entity.
What does an AA do?
Reduce bank traffic: It reduces the need for individuals to wait in long bank queues, use Internet banking portals, share their passwords, or seek out physical notarization to access and share their financial documents.
Data security: An AA is a financial utility for the secure flow of data controlled by the individual.
Data flow: AA is an exciting addition to India’s digital infrastructure as it will allow banks to access consented data flows and verified data.
Reduced cost: This will help banks reduce transaction costs, which will enable us to offer lower ticket size loans and more tailored products and services to our customers.
Transaction security: It will also help us reduce fraud and comply with upcoming privacy laws.
How does it work?
It has a three-tier structure:
Account Aggregator
FIP (Financial Information Provider) and
FIU (Financial Information User)
A FIP is the data fiduciary, which holds customers’ data. It can be a bank, NBFC, mutual fund, insurance repository, or pension fund repository.
An FIU consumes the data from a FIP to provide various services to the consumer.
An FIU is a lending bank that wants access to the borrower’s data to determine if the borrower qualifies for a loan.
Banks play a dual role – as a FIP and as an FIU.
An AA should not support transactions by customers but should ensure appropriate mechanisms for proper customer identification.
An AA should share information only with the customer to whom it relates or any other financial information user as authorized by the customer
What purpose does it serve?
AA creates secure, digital access to personal data at a time when Covid-19 has led to restrictions on physical interaction.
It reduces the fraud associated with physical data by introducing secure digital signatures and end-to-end encryption for data sharing.
These capabilities in turn open up many possibilities.
For instance, whereas physical collateral is usually required for an MSME loan, with secure data sharing via AA, ‘information collateral’ (or data on future MSME income) can be used to access a small formal loan.
HDFC Bank and Axis Bank have been using AA for auto loans, Lending Kart for MSME loans, and IndusInd Bank for personal finance management.
What data can be shared?
An Account Aggregator allows a customer to transfer his financial information pertaining to various accounts such as banks deposits, equity, mutual fund, and pension funds to any entity requiring access to such information.
There are 19 categories of information that fall under ‘financial information, besides various other categories relating to banking and investments.
For sharing of such information, the FIU is required to initiate a request for consent by way of any platform/app run by the AA.
Such a request is received by the individual customer through the AA, and the information is shared by the AA, after consent is obtained.
The AA framework is an excellent initiative that will compile all the digital footprints of the customer in one place and make it easy for lenders like us to access it.
It will enable us to provide very quick turnarounds to our customers.
Can an AA see or store data?
Data transmitted through the AA is encrypted. AAs are not allowed to store, process and sell the customer’s data.
No financial information accessed by the AA from a FIP should reside with the AA.
It should not use the services of a third-party service provider for undertaking the business of account aggregation.
User authentication credentials of customers relating to accounts with various FIPs shall not be accessed by the AA.
