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  • Major oil and gas producers form Net Zero Producers’ Forum

    About the Net Zero Producers’ forum

    • Five of the world’s major oil and gas producers are working together to ‘develop pragmatic net-zero emission strategies’.
    • Qatar, the US, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Norway, collectively responsible for 40% of global oil and gas production, will come together to form a cooperative forum that will develop pragmatic net zero-emission strategies.
    • Energy producers are faced with unique responsibilities to furnish the world with energy but the climate crisis requires serious leadership and a strong alliance to deliver a path to net-zero.

    Strategies and technologies

    • The Net Zero Producers’ Forum will consider strategies and technologies which include methane abatement, circular carbon economy approach, development and deployment of clean energy and carbon capture and storage technologies, diversification from reliance on hydrocarbon revenues etc.

    Source:

    https://www.energy.gov/articles/joint-statement-establishing-net-zero-producers-forum-between-energy-ministries-canada

  • 30th April 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 615]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 615]

  • Finding the balance between work and UPSC IAS preparation | Samanvaya for working aspirants

    Finding the balance between work and UPSC IAS preparation | Samanvaya for working aspirants

    Click here to fill the Samanvaya form for 1-1 mentorship. We will call you within 24 hours. (Also provided at the bottom of the article)

    Working junta is mature. To lecture them about working hard and smart is a duplication of effort because they already are active and smart. There is no dearth of samanvaya between them and their dream and it is evident from the fight Aishwarya Sheoran had put up by clearing upsc 2019 and obtaining 93rd rank. She didn’t only break the stereotypes but also became an example for all those who are in pursuit of their samanvaya.

    Samanvaya is not about correcting the mismatch or spending money around bogus conversation. But it’s the touch of balance that keeps the necessary spark on for the goal to be realised.

    Working aspirants have known the world up close and have faced many socio-economic-political issues firsthand. For them, the need to clear an exam that brings social prestige and recognition becomes even more important. But guys, to begin with, this exam has many components and it’s the last one which many are willing to cherish.

    What about the ones before the final phase of appreciation and glory? How to manage the months of mental stress and work-life imbalance that keeps many out of the much-needed samanvaya. Best minds are always organized and that happens when you hit the right balance. Working aspirants may take advantage of both worlds provided they are given the right guidance or else they may even end up getting sandwiched and lose efficiency.

    Many aspirants I have spoken to, fall in the second category and find life a lot harder ever since they have started to nurture “to be an IAS” dream. Then what’s wrong, to keep high ambition is not right? Or managing the ambition went wrong. Definitely, it’s always admirable to aim high and remain ambitious. So as a corollary, the problem is with “ambition management”.

    This is where Samanvaya comes in. Its “not panacea” but the “right path”. As UPSC IAS is never about making leaders but about awakening leaders. There is a leader in everyone of you / us. We need to be tinkered the right way. Like Jamwant in Ramayana, we want to help you awaken that balance to keep your study-work organized. The true potential is obtained only when you are pulled towards study not when you are pushed to think of study.

    So finally, what do we do in our Samanvaya program?

    We truly believe that there is no substitute for hard work and pain. Samanvaya is all about finding the direction in which you must do your hard work. Everyone, whether working or not, is a human being in making for years. So that makes for unique case study with every single aspirant. Samanvaya is as much a discovery for you as it is for us. We help you discover and uncover the best you, not for anything else but for this exam only. But yes there are externalities, good ones indeed!

    What after Samanvaya?

    Proceed > Plan > Prosecute

    You get a Team of mentors. One who is in constant touch with you (aspirant ) and many who are indirectly keeping a watch on the individual’s progress and relay necessary feeds for course correction.

    Now, who are Mentors and what’s a mentorship program?

    1. Mentors – Who are they? Other than being the best and most experienced in the UPSC ecosystem, they work with you on your strengths and weaknesses. That’s when you get a solution specific to you. It’s never a copy-paste. In this process, you always leave a gainer.
    2. Again mentors  – You not only make professional relations but also hew a rapport and is like a guide. And mind you, there are always mechanisms in the backend to top-up any situation which appears to be going out of your control. Thanks to constant feedback, we have our house in order.

    And about the mentorship program, it is best understood when we talk about it and see what best can we do for you?

    Let’s get on this journey with a short questionnaire. 

    Samanvaya for UPSC IAS Working aspirants

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  • Important Policies and Schemes Regarding Education

     

    30th Apr 2021

    1. SHREYAS Scheme: Scheme for Higher Education Youth in Apprenticeship and Skill (SHREYAS)

    Launched by- Ministry of Human Resource Development

    Important objectives-

    • Improve employability: The scheme aims to improve the employability of introducing employment relevance to the learning process of higher education.
    • Linking education with industry: Close link between education and industry/service sector.
    • Establishing earn while you learn the system into education

    Operation of the scheme-

    • It will be operated in conjunction with the National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme.
    • The scheme will be implemented by the Sector Skill Council.

    2.  NEAT Scheme- National Educational Alliance for Technology (NEAT) 

    Launched by- Ministry of Human Resource Development

    Objective- Objective is to use Artificial Intelligence to make learning more personalised and customised as per the requirements of the learner.

    • It is a PPP based scheme.
    • MHRD would act as a facilitator to ensure that the solutions are freely available to a large number of economically backward students.
    • MHRD would create and maintain a National NEAT platform that would provide one-stop access to these technological solutions.
    • EdTech companies would be responsible for developing solutions and manage the registration of learners through the NEAT portal.

    3. EQUIP- ‘Education Quality Upgradation and Inclusion Programme (EQUIP)’

    • It is a Five-year vision plan, finalised and released by HRD Ministry.
    • The ten Expert Groups have suggested more than 50 initiatives that would transform the higher education sector completely.
    • The groups have suggested 10 goals for the higher education sector.
    • Key Goals are-
      • Double the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education and resolve the geographically and socially skewed access to higher education institutions in India.
      • Position at least 50 Indian institutions among the top-1000 global universities.
      • Double the employability of the students passing out of higher education
      • Achieve a quantum increase in investment in higher education.

      Important Initiatives launched in 2019-

    • DHRUV- The Pradhan Mantri Innovative Learning Programme –
      • DHRUV has been started by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India to identify and encourage talented children to enrich their skills and knowledge.
      • In centres of excellence across the country, gifted children will be mentored and nurtured by renowned experts in different areas, so that they can reach their full potential.
      • The program aims to cover two areas namely Science and Arts.
      • The program is to be launched from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
    • NISHTHA- National Initiative for School Heads and Teachers Holistic Advancement.
      • Its aim is to build capacities of 42 Lakh government teachers across the country.
      • The basic objective of this massive training programme ‘NISHTHA’ is to motivate and equip teachers to encourage and foster critical thinking in students.
    • PARAMARSH- Paramarsh’ for Mentoring NAAC Accreditation Aspirant Institutions to promote Quality Assurance in Higher Education
      • The scheme will be operationalized through a “Hub & Spoke” model wherein the Mentor Institution, called the “Hub” is centralized and will have the responsibility of guiding the Mentee institution through the secondary branches the “Spoke”.
    • SHAGUN– Union HRD Minister launches Integrated Online junction for School Education ‘Shagun’
      • It is one of the world’s largest Integrated Online Junction for – School Education.
      • It is an over-arching initiative to improve the school education system by creating a junction for all online portals and websites relating to various activities of the Department of School Education and Literacy in the Government of India and all States and Union Territories.
    • UDISE+ Unified District Information System for Education Plus – To ensure quality, credibility and timely availability of information from all the schools in the country.

    4. RISE– Revitalising Infrastructure and Systems in Higher Education (RISE).

    • Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) scope was expanded to meet the rising financial requirements of educational infrastructure in the country
    • The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the proposal for expanding the scope of Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) by enhancing its capital base to Rs. 10,000 crore and tasking it to mobilise Rs. 1,00,000 crore for Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022.
    • The CCEA has also approved that the modalities for raising money from the market through Government guaranteed bonds and commercial borrowings.
    • In order to expand this facility to all institutions, especially to the institutions set up after 2014, Central Universities which have very little internal resources, and the school education/health education infrastructure like AllMSs, Kendriya Vidyalayas, the CCEA has approved five windows for financing under HEFA.

    5. IMPRESS- Impactful Policy Research in Social Sciences

    • Under the Scheme, 1500 research projects will be awarded for 2 years to support the social science research in the higher educational institutions and to enable research to guide policymaking.
    • The broad objective is to identify and fund research proposals in social sciences with maximum impact on governance and society.

    6. SPARC- Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration.

    • SPARC scheme aims at improving the research ecosystem of India’s higher educational institutions by facilitating academic and research collaborations between Indian Institutions and the best institutions in the world.
    • At a total cost of Rs.418 Cr for implementation up to 31.3.2020 and Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur is the National Coordinating Institute to implement the SPARC programme.
    • Only such Indian institutes can apply which are in top 100 NIRF ranking or top 100 NIRF subject ranking.

     7. LEAP-Leadership for Academicians Programme

    • It is a flagship leadership development training programme.
    • It is a three weeks Flagship leadership development training programme (2 weeks domestic and one-week foreign training) for second level academic functionaries in public-funded higher education institutions.
    • The implementation of LEAP Programme will be through 15 NIRF top-ranked Indian Institutions.

    8. ARPIT- Annual Refresher Programme In Teaching (ARPIT)

    • It is a major and unique initiative of online professional development of 15 lakh higher education faculty using the MOOCs platform SWAYAM.
    • For implementing ARPIT, 75 discipline-specific institutions have been identified and notified as National Resource Centres (NRCs) in the first phase.

    9. Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram- It is a first of its kind portal for students seeking Education Loan.

    • A fully IT-based Student Financial Aid Authority has been proposed through the ‘Pradhan Mantri Vidya Lakshmi Karyakram.
    • This initiative aims to bring on board all Banks providing Educational Loans.

    10. Institutes of Eminence Scheme-

    • The aim of the scheme is to bring higher educational institutions selected as IoEs in top 500 of the world ranking in the next 10 years and in top 100 eventually overtime.
    • The salient features are available in the UGC Guidelines and the UGC Regulations under which greater autonomy viz.
      • To admit foreign students up to 30% of admitted students.
      • To recruit foreign faculty up to 25% of faculty strength.
      • To offer online courses up to 20% of its programmes; to enter into academic collaboration with top 500 in the world ranking Institutions without permission of UGC.
      • Free to fix and charge fees from foreign students without restriction.
      • The flexibility of course structure in terms of a number of credit hours and years to take a degree; complete flexibility in fixing of curriculum and syllabus, etc. has been provided to IoEs.
    • Each Public Institution selected as IoE will be provided financial assistance up to Rs. 1000 Cr over a period of five years.
    • The private institution will not be given any funds.

    11. Samagra Shiksha Scheme–

    • The scheme is an overarching programme for the school education sector extending from pre-school to class XII and aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education at all levels of school education.
    • It envisages the ‘school’ as a continuum from pre-school, primary, upper primary, secondary to senior secondary levels and subsumes the three erstwhile centrally sponsored schemes- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) and Teacher Education(TE).
    • Bridging gender and social category gaps at all levels of school education is one of the major objectives of the scheme.
    • The scheme reaches out to girls and children belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), minority communities and transgender.
    • The Samagra Shiksha scheme supports States for a strengthening of school infrastructure including in rural areas.
    • The scheme provides for the infrastructural strengthening of existing government schools based on the gaps determined by Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) and proposals received from respective States/UTs.

    12. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan-

    • Universalizing elementary education across the countryRashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan, Vidhyanjali, PBBB.
    • Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan is implemented as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme in partnership with State Governments for universalizing elementary education across the country. Its overall goals include universal access and retention, bridging of gender and social category gaps in education and enhancement of learning levels of children.
    • SSA provides for a variety of interventions, including inter alia, the opening of new schools, construction of schools and additional classrooms, toilets and drinking water, provisioning for teachers, periodic teacher training and academic resource support, textbooks and support for learning achievement. These provisions are made in accordance with norms and standards and free entitlements as mandated by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009. 

    13. Rashtriya Madhyamic Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA)-

    • It aims to raise the minimum level of education to class X and universalize access to secondary education.
    • To ensure good-quality secondary education with a focus on Science, Mathematics and English; and
    • To reduce the gender, social and regional gaps in enrolments, dropouts and improving retention.
    • To make sure that the secondary schools conform to prescribed norms, removing gender, socio-economic and disability barriers, etc. Important physical facilities are provided which include, (i) additional classrooms, (ii) laboratories, (iii) libraries, (iv)art and crafts room, (v) toilet blocks, (vi) drinking water provisions, (vii) electricity / telephone/internet connectivity and (viii) disabled-friendly provisions. Improvement in quality through, (i) appointment of additional teachers to improve PTR (ii) in-service training of teachers, (iii) ICT enabled education, (iv)curriculum reforms and (v) teaching learning reforms. Equity aspects addressed through (i) special focus in micro-planning, (ii) preference to areas with concentration of SC/ST/minority for opening of schools, (iii) special enrolment drive for the weaker section, (iv more female teachers in schools and (v) separate toilet blocks for girls. 

    14. Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA)-

    • It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS), launched in 2013. It aims at providing strategic funding to eligible state higher educational institutions based on their progress.
    • The key objectives of RUSA are to improve access, equity and quality in higher education through planned development of higher education at the state level.
    • The central funding (in the ratio of 60:40 for general category States, 90:10 for special category states and 100% for union territories) would be norm based and outcome dependent.
    • The funding flows from the central ministry through the state governments/union territories to the State Higher Education Councils before reaching the identified institutions.

     15. Unnat Bharat Abhiyan (UBA)-

    • It aims at-
      • Building institutional capacity in Institutes of higher education in research & training relevant to the needs of rural India.
      • As a flagship programme of the Ministry of HRD, it aims to link the Higher Education Institutions with a set of at least (5) villages, so that these institutions can contribute to the economic and social betterment of these village communities using their knowledge base.
      • Provide rural India with professional resource support from institutes of higher education, especially those which have acquired academic excellence in the field of Science, Engineering & Technology and Management.
    • The UBA 2.0 was officially launched on 25th April, 2018

    16. SWAYAM-

    • Study Webs of Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds is an indigenous IT platform for hosting the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs).
    • SWAYAM is designed to achieve the three cardinal principles of Education Policy viz., access, equity and quality.
    • It targets those students who could not complete their studies and professionals who wish to upgrade their knowledge.
    • This is done through an indigenous developed IT platform that facilitates hosting of all the courses, taught in classrooms from 9th class till post-graduation to be accessed by anyone, anywhere at any time.

    17. Saksham Scholarship Scheme-

    • The scheme was launched in 2014-15, with the objective of encouraging economically weaker differently-abled students to pursue technical education at Diploma and Degree levels.
    • The scholarship amount of Rs.30,000 is provided towards tuition fee reimbursement and Rs.20000 as contingency allowance for 1000 persons/annum.

    18. Swayam Prabha-

    • The SWAYAM PRABHA is a group of 32 DTH channels devoted to telecasting of high-quality educational programmes on a 24X7 basis using the GSAT-15 satellite.
    • Every day, there will be new content for at least (4) hours which would be repeated 5 more times in a day, allowing the students to choose the time of their convenience.
    • Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an autonomous Inter-University Centre (IUC) of UGC maintains the web portal.
    • The DTH Channels shall cover the following:
      • Higher Education.
      • School education (9-12 levels)
      • Curriculum-based courses that can meet the needs of life-long learners of Indian citizens in India and abroad.
      • Assist students (class 11th & 12th) prepare for competitive exams.

    19.Shala Darpan Portal-

    • It is an E-Governance school automation and management system for Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti (NVS).
    • This portal has been developed for information sharing and knowledge dissemination for employees and students across schools and offices of NVS.

    20. All School Monitoring Individual Tracing Analysis (ASMITA)-

    • Shala Asmita Yojana (SAY) aims to track the educational journey of close to 25 crore school students from Class I to Class XII across 15 lakh schools in the country.
    • Students will be tracked through their Aadhaar numbers and incase those not having a unique number will be provided with it.
    • This online database will carry information about student attendance and enrolment, mid-day meal service, learning outcomes and infrastructural facilities, among other things, on one platform for both private and government schools. 

    21. Global Initiative of Academic Network (GIAN)-

    • It is intended to enlarge and deepen the interface of India’s institutions of higher learning and globally recognised institutions of academic eminence.
    • Under it, faculty from highly rated institutions abroad will visit India, interact and partner with their counterparts and with students, and deliver specialised courses. 

    22. IMPRINT India-

    • It is MHRD supported Pan-IIT + IISc joint initiative to address the major science and engineering challenges that India must address and champion to enable, empower and embolden the nation for inclusive growth and self-reliance.
    • This novel initiative with a twofold mandate is aimed at:
      • Developing new engineering education policy.
      • Creating a road map to pursue engineering challenges
    • IMPRINT provides the overarching vision that guides research into areas that are predominantly socially relevant.

    23. Ishan Uday and Ishan Vikas-

    • Ishan Vikas and Ishan Uday schemes are being implemented for the students of the North-Eastern region.
    • Ishan Vikas is coordinated by IIT, Guwahati.
    • Under it selected school children from the North Eastern States  are  brought in close contact with the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISERs) and  National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS) during the vacation period
    • Ishan Uday Scholarship Scheme is administered by the University Grants Commission (UGC). Under the scheme, the scholarship is provided to the economically backward students from the North East Region for pursuing general degree courses, technical and professional degree courses.
    • It is envisaged to provide 10000 scholarships annually.

    24. Shodhganga-

    • It is the repository developed to contain an electronic copy of all M.Phil/PhD thesis to make it accessible to all institutions.
    • The task of setting-up of this repository is assigned to Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET), an interuniversity centre of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
    • It also provides access to Indian theses and dissertations in open access to the worldwide academic community and making visibility of Indian research to other countries.

    25. Vidya Virta Abhiyan-

    • It is to encourage varsities to display portraits of Param Veer Chakra-decorated soldiers.
    • The objective is to instil a sense of nationalism and patriotism among the students
    • Universities and educational institutions across the country will have a wall of heroes, depicting portraits of soldiers who showed extraordinary courage in defending the nation.

    26. Diksha Portal-

    • HRD ministry has launched Diksha Portal (diksha.gov.in) for providing a digital platform to a teacher to make their lifestyle more digital.
    • It will serve as National Digital Infrastructure for Teachers.
    • Diksha portal will enable, accelerate and amplify solutions in the realm of teacher education. It will aid teachers to learn and train themselves for which assessment resources will be available.

    27. Margadarshan-

    • The scheme aims to provide mentoring to institutes by a well-performing Institute.
    • Institutions of repute will act as a mentor with its existing facilities to serve as the hub to guide and disperse knowledge to 10 technical institutions.
    • It is under the purview of All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a national-level apex advisory body under the Ministry of Human Resource and Development.
    • Mentor institute also provides services to faculty for self-improvement.
    • Government-owned, aided and self-financed institutes and universities approved by AICTE can participate.

    28. JIGYASA-

    • It is a student- scientist connect programme by the Ministry of HRD and Ministry of S&T.
    • It focuses on connecting school students and scientists so as to extend student‘s classroom learning to research laboratory based learning by visiting CSIR laboratories and by participating in mini-science projects.
    • CSIR and Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS) are collaborating to implement this programme.

    29. Maitreyi Yatra-

    • It is an exclusive student exchange programme for J&K organized by Ministry of Human Resource development.
    • It provides a good opportunity for the youth of J&K to be acquainted with culture, language and development story of different parts of the country.

    30. Madhyamik and Ucchatar Shiksha Kosh (MUSK)-

    • It is a non-lapsable pool in the Public Account for secondary and higher, education known as “Madhyamik and Uchchtar Shiksha Kosh” (MUSK) into which all proceeds of “Secondary and Higher Education Cess” will be credited.
    • The funds arising from the MUSK would be utilized for schemes in the education sector which would be available for the benefit of students of secondary and higher education, all over the country.
    • The MUSK would be maintained as a Reserve Fund in the non-interest bearing section of the Public Accounts of India.
    • The major benefit will be enhancing access to secondary and higher education through the availability of adequate resources while ensuring that the amount does not lapse at the end of the financial year.

    31. National Testing Agency (NTA)-

    • It has been established as a premier, specialist, autonomous and self-sustained testing organization to conduct entrance examinations for admission/fellowship in higher educational institutions.
    • It will be registered as a society under the Indian Societies Registration Act.
    • It will act an autonomous and self-sustained premier testing organization chaired by an eminent educationist appointed by Ministry of HRD.
    • It would conduct those entrance examinations which are currently being conducted by the CBSE (NEET, JEE), AICTE etc, thereby relieving them of this responsibility.

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  • Major seismic hazard along Assam faultline

    Location of epicentre

    • An earthquake of magnitude 6.4 on the Richter scale hit Assam around 8 am on Wednesday.
    • The primary earthquake had its epicentre at latitude 26.690 N and longitude 92.360 E, about 80 km northeast of Guwahati, and a focal depth of 17 km, the National Centre for Seismology (NCS) said.

    The faultline

    • The preliminary analysis shows that the events are located near to Kopili Fault closer to Himalayan Frontal Thrust (HFT).
    • The Kopili Fault is a 300-km northwest-southeast trending fault from the Bhutan Himalaya to the Burmese arc.
    • The fault is a fracture along which the blocks of crust on either side have moved relative to one another parallel to the fracture.
    • The area is seismically very active falling in the highest Seismic Hazard zone V associated with collisional tectonics where Indian plate sub-ducts beneath the Eurasian Plate the NCS report said.
    • HFT, also known as the Main Frontal Thrust (MFT), is a geological fault along the boundary of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

    Need for earthquake preparedness

    • The Northeast is located in the highest seismological zone, so we must have constant earthquake preparedness at all levels.
    • Continuous tectonic stress keeps building up particularly along the faultlines.
    • Today’s earthquake was an instance of accumulated stress release — probably, stress was constrained for a fairly long time at this epicentre, and hence the release was of relatively higher intensity.

  • Making social welfare universal

    The article highlights the need for universal social protection scheme in India and suggests a way to achieve it.

    Need for universal social security

    • The pandemic has revealed that leveraging our existing schemes and providing universal social security is of utmost importance.
    • This will help absorb the impact of external shocks on our vulnerable populations.
    • The country has over 500 direct benefit transfer schemes for which various Central, State, and Line departments are responsible.
    • However, these schemes have not reached those in need.

    Lessons from Poor Law System in Ireland

    • An example of a universal social protection scheme is the Poor Law System in Ireland.
    • In the 19th century, to deal with poverty and famine, Ireland introduced the Poor Law System to provide relief that was financed by local property taxes.
    • These laws were notable for not only providing timely assistance but maintaining the dignity and respectability of the poor while doing so.
    • They were not designed as hand-outs but as necessary responses to a time of economic crisis.
    • Today, the social welfare system in Ireland has evolved into a four-fold apparatus that promises social insurance, social assistance, universal schemes, and extra benefits/supplements.

    Issues with the existing social protection schemes in Inda

    • Existing schemes in India cover a wide variety of social protections.
    • However, they are fractionalised across various departments and sub-schemes.
    • This causes problems beginning with data collection to last-mile delivery.

    How universal system would help

    • Having a universal system would improve the ease of application by consolidating the data of all eligible beneficiaries under one database.
    • It can also reduce exclusion errors.
    • The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) is one scheme that can be strengthened into universal social security.
    • It already consolidates the public distribution system (PDS), the provision of gas cylinders, and wages for the MGNREGS.
    • Generally, social assistance schemes are provided on the basis of an assessment of needs.
    • Having a universal scheme would take away this access/exclusion barrier.
    • For example, PDS can be linked to a universal identification card such as the Aadhaar or voter card, in the absence of a ration card.
    • This would allow anyone who is in need of foodgrains to access these schemes.
    • It would be especially useful for migrant populations.
    • Making other schemes/welfare provisions like education, maternity benefits, disability benefits etc. also universal would ensure a better standard of living for the people.
    • To ensure some of these issues are addressed, we need to map the State and Central schemes in a consolidated manner.
    • This is to avoid duplication, inclusion and exclusion errors in welfare delivery.
    • The implementation of any of these ideas is only possible through a focus on data digitisation, data-driven decision-making and collaboration across government departments.

    Consider the question “What are the issues with existing social security schemes in India? What would be the benefits of replacing all these social security schemes with universal social security scheme?”

    Conclusion

    India is one of the largest welfare states in the world and yet, with COVID-19 striking in 2020, the state failed to provide for its most vulnerable citizens. This underlines the need for a universal social protection scheme in India.

  • The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) formally launched

    Tackling the supply chain disruption through SCRI

    • The Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) was formally launched on Tuesday by the Trade Ministers of India, Japan and Australia.
    • The three sides agreed that the pandemic revealed supply chain vulnerabilities globally and in the region and noted the importance of risk management and continuity plans in order to avoid supply chain disruptions.
    • Some of the joint measures they are considering include supporting the enhanced utilisation of digital technology and trade and investment diversification, which is seen as being aimed at reducing their reliance on China.

    How China reacted

    • China’s Foreign Ministry on Wednesday described the move as ‘unrealistic’.
    • The formation and development of global industrial and supply chains are determined by market forces and companies choices, it said.
    • It also said that the artificial industrial ‘transfer’ is an unrealistic approach that goes against the economic laws and can neither solve domestic problems nor do anything good to the stability of the global industrial and supply chains, or to the stable recovery of the world economy.

  • Limited sops make scrappage policy for vehicles unattractive

    Why the Vehicle Scrappage Policy is unattractive

    • The policy proposes to de-register vehicles that fail fitness tests or are unable to renew registrations after 15-20 years of use.
    • Limited incentives and poor cost economics for trucks in the Vehicle Scrappage Policy, coupled with lack of addressable volumes for other segments is unlikely to drive freight transporters to replace their old vehicles with new ones, said a Crisil report.
    • Though the scrappage volume of buses, PVs and two-wheelers is expected to be limited as well, the policy’s impact on new commercial vehicle (CV) sales could be sizeable, based on addressable volume, ratings agency Crisil Research said in its report.
    • The potential benefit from scrapping a 15-year-old, entry-level small car will be ₹70,000, whereas its resale value is around ₹95,000. That makes scrapping unattractive, Crisil said in the report.

  • Antimicrobial resistance

    The article highlights the challenges posed by anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and suggests ways to deal with it.

    Understanding the severity of challenges posed by AMR

    • Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the phenomenon by which bacteria and fungi evolve and become resistant to presently available medical treatment.
    • AMR represents an existential threat to modern medicine.
    • Without functional antimicrobials to treat bacterial and fungal infections, even the most common surgical procedures, as well as cancer chemotherapy, will become fraught with risk from untreatable infections.
    • Neonatal and maternal mortality will increase.

    How AMR will affect low and middle-income countries

    • All these effects will be felt globally, but the scenario in the low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of Asia and Africa is even more serious.
    • LMICs have significantly driven down mortality using cheap and easily available antimicrobials.
    • In the absence of new therapies, health systems in these countries are at severe risk of being overrun by untreatable infectious diseases.

    Factors contributing to AMR

    • Drug resistance in microbes emerges for several reasons.
    • These include the misuse of antimicrobials in medicine, inappropriate use in agriculture, and contamination around pharmaceutical manufacturing sites where untreated waste releases large amounts of active antimicrobials into the environment.

    Stagnant antibiotics discovery

    •  The Challenge of AMR is compounded by fact that no new classes of antibiotics have made it to the market in the last three decades.
    • This has happened on account of inadequate incentives for their development and production.
    • A recent report from the non-profit PEW Trusts found that over 95% of antibiotics in development today are from small companies, 75% of which have no products currently in the market.
    • Major pharmaceutical companies have largely abandoned innovation in this space.

    Measures to deal with the challenge of AMR

    •  In addition to developing new antimicrobials, infection-control measures can reduce antibiotic use.
    • A mix of incentives and sanctions would encourage appropriate clinical use.
    • To track the spread of resistance in microbes, surveillance measures to identify these organisms need to expand beyond hospitals and encompass livestock, wastewater and farm run-offs.
    • Finally, since microbes will inevitably continue to evolve and become resistant even to new antimicrobials, we need sustained investments and global coordination to detect and combat new resistant strains on an ongoing basis.

    Way forward

    •  A multi-sectoral $1 billion AMR Action Fund was launched in 2020 to support the development of new antibiotics.
    • The U.K. is trialling a subscription-based model for paying for new antimicrobials towards ensuring their commercial viability.
    • Other initiatives focused on the appropriate use of antibiotics include Peru’s efforts on patient education to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions.
    • Australian regulatory reforms to influence prescriber behaviour, and initiatives to increase the use of point-of-care diagnostics, such as the EU-supported VALUE-Dx programme.
    • Denmark’s reforms to prevent the use of antibiotics in livestock have led to a significant reduction in the prevalence of resistant microbes in animals and improved the efficiency of farming.
    • Finally, given the critical role of manufacturing and environmental contamination in spreading AMR there is a need to curb the amount of active antibiotics released in pharmaceutical waste.
    • Regulating clinician prescription of antimicrobials alone would do little in settings where patient demand is high and antimicrobials are freely available over-the-counter in practice, as is the case in many LMICs.
    • Efforts to control prescription through provider incentives should be accompanied by efforts to educate consumers to reduce inappropriate demand, issue standard treatment guidelines.
    • Solutions in clinical medicine must be integrated with improved surveillance of AMR in agriculture, animal health and the environment.
    • AMR must no longer be the remit solely of the health sector, but needs engagement from a wide range of stakeholders, representing agriculture, trade and the environment with solutions that balance their often-competing interests.
    •  International alignment and coordination are paramount in both policymaking and its implementation.

    Consider the question “Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) represents an existential threat to modern medicine. What are the factors contributing to AMR? Suggest the measures to deal with it.”

    Conclusion

    With viral diseases such as COVID-19, outbreaks and pandemics may be harder to predict; however, given what we know about the “silent pandemic” that is AMR, there is no excuse for delaying action.

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