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  • What should India do in the current international energy market?

    energy

    Context

    • India marches ahead carrying the same challenge projected as last year that it will have to navigate the choppy waters of a volatile petroleum market without straying from the green path towards clean energy. Energy security cannot be achieved by focusing only on the supply and distribution side of the equation. The demand conservation and efficiency sides are equally important.

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    Current situation of international energy market

    • Fragmented energy market: the energy market has fragmented and energy nationalism is the driving force behind policy.
    • Restricted markets for Russia: Irrespective of how and when the Ukraine conflict ends, Russia will not be allowed access to the western markets for as long as President Putin is at the helm of the affairs. One fallout is the tightening energy embrace between Russia and China.
    • Declining western orbit and increasing non-aligned approach: Three, OPEC plus one which is, in effect, Saudi Arabia plus Russia has stepped outside the Western orbit. Saudi Arabia has made clear it intends to pursue a Saudi first, non-aligned approach to international relations including with the US.
    • Emergence of new energy centres: The new centres of energy power are emergent around countries that have a large share of the metals, minerals and components required for clean energy. China is currently the dominant power.

    What should India do against this backdrop?

    • Government must increase productivity of existing sources: Discounted Russian crude is an opportunistic panacea. It does not provide a sustainable cover to meet our requirements. To secure such a cover, government must increase the productivity of our existing producing fields; additional resources should be allocated for accessing relevant enhanced oil recovery technologies.
    • Secure long- term supply relationship with Saudi Arabia and Iran: Further, it should leverage the country’s market potential to secure a long-term supply relationship with Saudi Arabia and an equity partnership with Iran.
    • Enhance the strategic petroleum reserves: It should enhance the strategic petroleum reserves to cover at least 30 days of consumption and remove the sword of Damocles that the CBI/CVC/CAG wield over the heads of the public sector petroleum companies so that their traders can, without fear, take advantage of market volatility.
    • Expediate gas pipeline grid: The construction of a pan-India national gas pipeline grid should be expedited.

    energy

    Analysis: Phasing out coal and the energy transition in India

    • Coal one of the major sources of energy in India: Coal will remain the bulwark of India’s energy system for decades. It is no doubt the dirtiest of fuels, but it remains amongst, if not the cheapest, source of energy. Plus hundreds of thousands depend on the coal ecosystem for their livelihood.
    • Phasing out is not yet a near possibility: The option of phasing out coal whilst environmentally compelling is not yet a macroeconomic or social possibility.
    • Need a balance: In the interim, the government has to find an energy transition route that balances livelihoods and pushes forward the green agenda.
    • Steps to be taken: Some small, politically feasible steps in that direction would include increased R&D expenditure for coal gasification and carbon capture and sequestration technologies; setting a carbon tax; the establishment of regulatory and monitoring mechanisms for measuring carbon emissions from industry; the closure of inefficient and old plants and a decision not to approve any new ones.
    • Determining competitiveness: In parallel, it would help if Niti Aayog were to pull together a group of economists and energy experts to determine the competitiveness of coal versus solar on a full-cost basis

    Other possible measures 

    • Upgrading the transmission grid: Allocation of funds for upgradation of the transmission grid network to render it resilient enough to absorb clean electrons on an intermittent basis. The sun does not shine at night and the wind does not blow all the time. In parallel, the underlying structural issues currently impeding the scaling up of renewables must be addressed.
    • Repairing the balance sheets of discoms through various regulatory reforms: In parallel, the repair of the balance sheets of state distribution companies (discoms), easing the procedures for the acquisition of land and the removal of regulatory and contract uncertainties are most important.
    • Building up the domestic chip industry: It will take decades to harness our indigenous resources of the metals and minerals critical for clean energy and build up a domestic chip industry. In the interim, diplomats should secure diversified sources of supply to reduce the country’s vulnerability.
    • Developing and commercializing 3G clean energy technologies: Finally, the creation of an enabling ecosystem for developing and commercializing third-generation clean energy technologies like hydrogen, biofuels and modular nuclear reactors. Nuclear, in particular, should be pushed.

    energy

    Conclusion

    • India is not responsible for global warming, but it will be amongst the worst affected. Millions live around its coastline. Their livelihoods will be undermined by rising sea levels. Millions will also be affected by melting glaciers and extremes of temperatures. So irrespective of who is to blame, India has to stay on the path of decarbonization. It cannot afford to develop first and clean up later.

    Mains question

    Q. What is the current situation of international energy market? What are the measures that India should take in the time of global uncertainty of energy market.

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  • 2nd Jan 2023 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    2nd Jan 2023 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

    [WpProQuiz 1203]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 1203]

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  • E-waste sector and Gender Justice

    E-waste

    Context

    • According to the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, out of the total 56.3 million tonnes of discarded e-waste products generated in 2019, only 17.4 percent was officially recorded as being collected and recycled. The rest end up in landfills, in scrap trade markets or are recycled by the informal markets.

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    E-waste in India

    • Third largest contributor: India is the third largest contributor to this great wall of waste after China and the United States (US) with a whopping 1,014,961.21 tonnes generated in 2019-2020, out of which only 22.7 percent was collected, recycled or disposed of.
    • More than 12 million workers: For the 12.9 million women working in the informal waste sector, Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE’s) are lifelines as it contains valuable recyclable metals notwithstanding the detrimental effects it can have on health and the environment.

    E-waste and Burden on women

    • Less women in value chain: Inequalities are particularly pronounced in this largely gender-neutral sector across the value chain which is heightened by the barriers in decision-making roles.
    • Negligible percent of women: With reliable data hard to come by from this sector recent reports indicate that an estimated 0.1 percent of waste pickers account for India’s urban workforce with women populating the lower tiers in this economy as collectors and crude separators at landfill sites.
    • Men at skilled position: Men unsurprisingly dominate the entire spectrum of skilled positions as managers, machinery operators, truck drivers, scrap dealers, repair workers and recycling traders.
    • Women mostly from poor background: Workers in this ‘grey sector’ are some of the most marginalised, poverty-stricken, uneducated people from vulnerable backgrounds with little social or financial security. They remain unprotected at their workplaces, and often are victims of sexual abuse with no bargaining power in selling their goods. All of these factors then act upon their exclusion as cities begin to formalise the waste sector to effectively control discarded goods.

    E-waste

    E-waste Impact on Health

    • Incineration and leaching: Open incineration and acid leeching often used by informal workers are directly impacting the environment and posing serious health risks, especially to child and maternal health, fertility, lungs, kidney and overall well-being.
    • Occupational health hazards: In India, many of these unskilled workers who come from vulnerable and marginalised are oblivious to the fact that that what they know as ‘black plastics’ have far reached occupational health hazards especially when incinerated to extract copper and other precious metals for their market value.
    • Exposures to children: This ‘tsunami of e-waste rolling out of the world’, as described in an international forum on chemical treaties, poses several health hazards for women in this sector as they are left exposed to residual toxics elements mostly in their own households and often the presence of children.
    • Constant contact with organic pollutants: According to a recent WHO report, a staggering 18 million children, some as young as five, often work alongside their families at e-waste dumpsites every year in low- and middle-income countries. Heavy metals such as lead, as well as persistent organic pollutants (POPs), like dioxins, and flame retardants (PBDEs) released into the environment, have also added to air, soil, and water pollution.

    Laws and regulations related to E-waste

    • India’s E-waste (Management) Rules, 2016: Released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) flagged e-waste classification, extended producer responsibility (EPR), collection targets, and restrictions on imports of e-wastes containing hazardous substances.
    • Amendment to Rules: The amended Electronic Waste Management Draft Rules 2022, expected to come into effect by early next year has also emphasised on improving end-of-life waste throughout the circular economy.
    • Lack of clear guidelines: These progressive measures, however, lack clear guidelines on the role of informal recyclers and have particularly blind sighted the role of women creating a lacuna in equitable growth.
    • The Beijing Platform of Action: It is worth mentioning that The Beijing Platform of Action clearly maintains that a properly designed e-waste processing system can meet both economic and environmental goals to improve the status of women in the informal economy. Sculpting this blueprint in a variegated social and cultural milieu can perhaps play out to examine best practices and success stories around the world.

    E-waste

    How to make E-waste sector more gender inclusive

    • Ownership of supply chain: The social stigma attached to this sector progressively manifests in discrimination and loss of dignity. Women lack ownership at the end of the value chain as business owners of material processing units nor have access to capital for starting business ventures.
    • Separate policy for ground workers: Educating the un-educated takes more than simply designing training modules, skill development and generating awareness about e-waste should be tailored to run at ground-zero where workers operate without disrupting their daily work schedules.
    • Gendered data collection: All of these factors compounded by the severe lack of gender-disaggregated data necessitate earmarked gender budgeting to shape an inclusive e-waste management system.

    Conclusion

    • The concept of the 3R’s, Reduce, Reuse, recycle as envisaged under Mission LiFE will have to invest in women as drivers of a responsible waste management economy, recognising their critical role to minimise the quantum of waste with the ultimate objective of zero waste.

    Mains Question

    Q. Analyze the gender inequality in the E-waste sector? What are the ways to make e-waste sector more gender Inclusive?

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  • Day 1| Daily Answer Wars| CD WarZone

    Topics for Today’s question:

    GS-1         Salient features of Indian society; Diversity of India

    Question:

    Q. Indian politics has deep imprints of identity politics but meaning and nature of identity has oscillated and varied. Discuss. (10 Marks)

     

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  • Q. Indian politics has deep imprints of identity politics but meaning and nature of identity has oscillated and varied. Discuss. (10 Marks)

  • New Year and the Indian economic growth

    economic

    Context

    • The new year begins on a slightly more optimistic note for India. Global crude and food prices are down, the rupee has stabilised at 82-83 to the dollar after dropping from 74.5 levels at the start of 2022, even as official foreign exchange reserves have recovered. However, there are challenges to the economic growth of India which needs an immediate attention and action.

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    The current scenario and the optimism around Indian economy

    • Global crude and food prices: Global crude and food prices are roughly 38 per cent and 15 per cent down respectively from their highs in March, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
    • Stabilised rupee: The rupee has stabilised at 82-83 to the dollar after dropping from 74.5 levels at the start of 2022
    • FOREX recovered: even as official foreign exchange reserves, which had plunged to $524.5 billion on October 21 from a year-ago peak of $642 billion, have since recovered to $562.8 billion.
    • Environmental conditions are good for Rabi crops: With the prospects for the upcoming rabi crop looking good, as there is favourable soil moisture conditions, timely onset of winter and improved fertiliser availability on the back of declining international prices one can expect consumer inflation to ease further.

    economic

    What is inflation?

    • Inflation is an increase in the level of prices of the goods and services that households buy. It is measured as the rate of change of those prices. Typically, prices rise over time, but prices can also fall (a situation called deflation).

    economic

    What are the challenges?

    • Challenge is more on growth than on Inflation: The challenge for India this year is likely to be more on the growth than on the inflation front.
    • It seems, Chinese’s authoritarian policies making India a favourable investment destination: On paper, the world’s disillusionment with China (more specifically, the authoritarian policies of Xi Jinping, both at home and beyond) and its diminishing economic prospects, worsened by a looming demographic crisis, should be making India every investor’s favourite destination.
    • On paper government efforts are honest to attract investment: The present government’s focus on improving the country’s physical as well as digital infrastructure plus schemes such as production-linked incentive to attract investments in specific sectors, from solar photovoltaic modules and drones to specialty steels ought to have given added impetus to this process.
    • But on the ground, neither domestic nor foreign companies are really investing: The biggest drag on investment during the last decade was over-leveraged corporates and bad loans-saddled banks.
    • Deepening global slowdown is a major challenge to the economic growth: That twin balance sheet problem has more or less resolved itself. Today’s problem has mainly to do with strained government and household balance sheets. That, coupled with a deepening global slowdown constricting export demand, could have a bearing on India’s economic growth.

    What is Current Account Deficit (CAD)?

    • A current account is a key component of balance of payments, which is the account of transactions or exchanges made between entities in a country and the rest of the world.
    • This includes a nation’s net trade in products and services, its net earnings on cross border investments including interest and dividends, and its net transfer payments such as remittances and foreign aid.
    • A CAD arises when the value of goods and services imported exceeds the value of exports, while the trade balance refers to the net balance of export and import of goods or merchandise trade.

    economic

    What should the government do?

    • Refrain from fiscal stimulus and maintain macroeconomic stability: It should certainly refrain from any fiscal stimulus to kick-start investment or drive growth. Far from stimulus, what the country needs is macroeconomic stability and policy certainty.
    • Managing current account deficit: The current fiscal deficit and public debt levels are far too high to allow any new populist schemes in the name of putting money in people’s hands or sharp tax cuts to supposedly revive investor sentiment. Large government deficits will invariably spill over into current account deficits. The latter number, at 4.4 per cent of GDP in July-September, was the highest for any quarter since October-December 2012 and the prelude to the last so-called taper tantrum-induced balance of payments crisis.
    • Must prioritize fiscal consolidation: The coming budget must prioritize fiscal consolidation. This will enable the RBI to also pause interest rate hikes and further monetary tightening, which is probably not the best thing for an economy already facing multiple growth headwinds.

    Conclusion

    • India’s challenge has shifted from inflation management to facilitating growth in 2023. Policy stability and credibility should be the mantra that will ultimately work for India.

    Mains question

    Q. It is said that the new year 2023 is starting on a slightly more optimistic note for the Indian economy. In this background, discuss the challenges facing India’s economy and what the government should do?

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  • [Sansad TV] Perspective: Draft National Retail Trade Policy, 2022

    [Sansad TV] Perspective: Draft National Retail Trade Policy, 2022

    Context

    What is Retail Trade?

    retail
    • Retail trade is the selling of products and services to customers and includes all the aspects of the sale, such as installation, delivery and customer service.
    • In the context of commerce, retail must be a transaction between a business and a consumer.
    • If a local hardware store buys nails from a manufacturer, it is not a retail transaction.
    • An important term that is associated with retail trade is end-user. An end-user is the person or group who actually uses the product.

    Components of retail trade

    • Wholesalers: Wholesalers are companies that buy large quantities of a product from the manufacturer and then sell them to retail stores. They are often called middlemen because they operate between the companies that manufacture goods and the companies that sell them to consumers.
    • Shipping: When a product is purchased from a manufacturer, it needs to get to the wholesaler and eventually to the retailer. Shipping is a big part of retail trade. Whether the shipping is bulk transport of goods from wholesaler to retailer or small shipments from retailer to consumers, shipping plays a vital role.
    • Service: When consumers purchase certain products for their home that require installation, the install process is part of retail trade. The same goes for the customer service that a consumer might need after they purchase the product or the repair service that might be required on a product that breaks.
    • Sales: One of the most important parts of retail is the front-end sales of the products. Successful retail involves people with knowledge of the products who can communicate with the consumers.

    Features of Retail Trade

    The main characteristics of retail trade are:-

    • Retailer is the last link in the distribution chain.
    • Goods or services are sold directly to consumers by the retailer.
    • Retailer deals with a wide range of goods.
    • Retailer buys and sells a little number of products.
    • Retailer maintains personal relations with the customers.
    • Retailer is generally located in residential areas.
    • Retailer may contact the customers on telephone, Internet, TV or through his retail showroom.
    • Retailer acts as a middleman between wholesalers and customers.

    Why discuss this?

    • Make targeted efforts: This policy would focus on formulating strategies to provide a globally competitive and sustainable environment for the overall development of retail trade through targeted efforts.
    • Huge domestic market: India is the world’s fifth-largest global destination in the retail space.
    • Growth potential: According to a US-based report, the retail industry in India is likely to see 10 per cent annual growth to reach about USD 2 trillion by 2032.
    • Employment generation potential: Another report by CII-Kearney released in 2020 a cohesive national retail policy can help generate 30 lakh more jobs by 2024.

    Major challenges to retail sector

    • Unorganized market: India’s market for retail trade is largely unorganized. It lacks proper formal chains except few giants such as D-Mart.
    • High complexities:  A number of laws, compounded by state-level variations in implementation, create immense complexity for retailers, especially those with a pan-Indian footprint.  
    • Regulatory bottlenecks: If one has to set up a store in organized retail, we probably need approvals from 40 different authorities. Single window clearance could be largely beneficial.
    • Ignores e-commerce: While recognizing that retail trade in India is gaining strength because of e-commerce, this new draft is not applicable for e-commerce, multi-level marketing, direct selling or street vendors.

    About National Retail Trade Policy

    • The policy has been envisioned by DPIIT to formulate the national retail policy to promote the growth of domestic trade.
    • It focuses on formulating strategies to provide a globally competitive and sustainable environment for overall development of retail trade through targeted efforts.
    • The broad objectives of the policy are:
    • Ensuring easy and quick access to affordable credit.
    • Facilitating modernization and digitization of retail trade by promoting modern technology and superior infrastructural support.
    • Development of physical infrastructure across the distribution chain.
    • Promotion of skill development and to improve labour productivity.
    • Providing an effective consultative and grievance redressal mechanism for the sector. 

    Significance of the policy 

    • Promote EODB: This policy will streamline the retail trade and promote ease of doing business in the retail trade sector. 
    • Skill enhancement: It will encourage skill development and create more employment opportunities for all sections of society involved in retail trade.
    • Infrastructure boost: It will identify and address existing infrastructure gaps affecting the retail trade industry.
    • Employment boost: It will leverage retail trade as a tool for socioeconomic development of the country. A cohesive national retail policy can help generate 30 lakh more jobs by 2024. 
    • Investment inflows: It will accelerate investment flow to underdeveloped regions across the country. The retail industry is likely to see 10 percent annual growth to reach about USD 2 trillion by 2032. 
    • Promoting small retailer: It will create a level-playing field for small sellers by providing them access to credit as well as help large, organized retailers with quicker approvals.

    Conclusion

    • A cohesive retail policy built on the pillars of simplification, standardization, and digitalization will pave the way for significant growth and accelerate a short-term economic recovery. 
    • The policy is expected to lay down broad contours of a “prescriptive” framework and States will also have a key role in implementation.

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  • In news: Crypto Awareness Campaign

    crypto

    The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) will launch an outreach programme soon to create awareness of cryptocurrencies.

    What is Cryptocurrency?

    • A cryptocurrency is a digital asset stored on computerised databases.
    • These digital coins are recorded in digital ledgers using strong cryptography to keep them secure.
    • The ledgers are distributed globally, and each transaction made using cryptocurrencies are codified as blocks.
    • And multiple blocks linking each other forms a blockchain on the distributed ledger.
    • There are estimated to be more than 47 million cryptocurrency users around the world.
    • These cryptocurrencies are created through a process called mining.

    Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF)

    • The Investor Education and Protection Fund (IEPF) is managed by the IEPF Authority, which was set up in 2016 under the provisions of Section 125 of the Companies Act, 2013.
    • The Authority is entrusted with promoting awareness among investors, makes refunds of shares, unclaimed dividends, matured deposits and debentures and so on to rightful claimants.
    • As for investment education, the idea is to reach out to household investors, housewives and professionals alike in rural and urban areas and teach them the basics.
    • Focus areas include primary and secondary capital markets, various saving instruments, the instruments for investment, making investors aware of dubious Ponzi and chit fund schemes and existing grievance redressal mechanisms, among other things.
    • Until the end of October, it had conducted more than 65,000 awareness programmes covering 30 lakh citizens.

    Why is there a concern about cryptocurrency?

    • RBI caution: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has recommended framing legislation on the sector. It is of the view that cryptocurrencies should be prohibited.
    • Fiscal stability at stake: The crypto dilemma stems from concerns about the unregulated currency having a destabilising effect on the monetary and fiscal stability of a country.
    • Involved in unlawful activities: Further, crypto exchanges in India are being investigated for their alleged involvement in unlawful practices such as drug trafficking, money laundering, violating foreign exchange legislation and evasion of GST.
    • High volatility: Cryptocurrency investing can be a complex and risky endeavour as the category is extremely volatile and works round the clock.

    Will an outreach programme help?

    • Regulation is must: Apart from the outreach programme, there has to be a regulatory mechanism for the crypto sector.
    • Messaging has to be right: If the government takes a heavy-handed approach and starts saying things like virtual currency is not legal in India that will not be entirely true.

    Present regulation in India

    • RBI has banned banks and other regulated entities from supporting crypto transactions.
    • The Government has confirmed that expenditure incurred in mining cryptocurrency is considered capital expenditure and not a cost of acquisition.
    • Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 was introduced by the Centre.

    Way forward

    • Crypto assets are borderless and therefore, any legislation (for regulation or for banning) would require international collaboration to prevent regulatory arbitrage.
    • The collaboration must entail an evaluation of risks and benefits and the evolution of common taxonomy and standards.

     

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  • In news: Bhima-Koregaon Battle

    koregao

    The 205th anniversary of the Bhima-Koregaon battle was recently celebrated in all harmony at the Ranstambh (victory pillar) in Perne village in Pune.

    Battle of Bhima-Koregaon

    • The 1818 battle of Bhima-Koregaon, one of the last battles of the Third Anglo-Maratha War culminated in the Peshwa’s defeat.
    • It was fought on 1 January 1818 between the British East India Company (BEIC) and the Peshwa faction of the Maratha Confederacy, at Koregaon at the banks of River Bhima.
    • A 28,000-strong force led by Peshwa Baji Rao II while on their way to attack the company-held Pune were unexpectedly met by an 800-strong Company force of which 500 belonged to the Dalit community.
    • The battle was part of the Third Anglo Maratha war, a series of battles that culminated in the defeat of the Peshwa rule and subsequent rule of the BEIC in nearly all of Western, Central, and Southern India.

    Role of Mahar Community

    • Back in the seventeenth century, the community was particularly valued by the ruler Shivaji, under whom Maratha caste identities were far more fluid.
    • The value of the Mahars for military recruitment under Shivaji was noted by the social reformer Jyotirao Phule.
    • The Mahars were not only beneficiaries of the attempt at caste unity under Shivaji but were in fact valued for their martial skills, bravery, and loyalty.

    Mahars during Maratha Empire

    • The position occupied by the Mahars under Shivaji, however, was short-lived and under later Peshwa rulers, their status deteriorated.
    • The Peshwas were infamous for their Brahmin orthodoxy and their persecution of the untouchables.
    • The Mahars were forbidden to move about in public spaces and punished atrociously for disrespecting caste regulations.
    • Stories of Peshwa atrocities against the Mahars suggest that they were made to tie brooms behind their backs to wipe out their footprints and pots on their necks to collect their spit.

    Why is the battle significant?

    • The battle resulted in losses to the Maratha Empire, then under Peshwa rule, and control over most of western, central, and southern India by the British East India Company.
    • The battle has been seen as a symbol of Dalit pride because a large number of soldiers in the Company forces were the Mahar Dalits, the same oppressed community to which Babasaheb Ambedkar belonged.
    • After centuries of inhumane treatment, this battle was the first time that Mahars had been included in a battle in which they won.

    Dr. Ambedkar’s association

    • It was Babasaheb Ambedkar’s visit to the site on January 1, 1927, that revitalized the memory of the battle for the Dalit community.
    • He led to its commemoration in the form of a victory pillar, besides creating the discourse of Dalit valor against Peshwa ‘oppression’ of Dalits.

     

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  • Madan Mohan Malaviya and BHU

    Madan Mohan Malaviya

    An archive on the principal founder of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), ‘Mahamana’ Madan Mohan Malaviya was recently unveiled.

    Who was Madan Mohan Malaviya?

    • Malaviya was born on 25th December, 1861 in Allahabad.
    • He was a great Indian educationist and freedom fighter, distinguished from others for his significant role in Indian independence and his support of Hindu nationalism.
    • At the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), which he founded in 1916, he served as Vice-Chancellor from 1919 to 1938.
    • The University has around 12,000 students all across the field such as the arts, sciences, engineering and technology.

    Political affiliations

    • Malaviya rose up the ranks, and became president four times — in 1909 (Lahore), in 1918 (Delhi), in 1930 (Delhi), and in 1932 (Calcutta).
    • He was part of the Congress for almost 50 years.
    • He was one of the early leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha, and helped found it in 1906.
    • He was a social reformer and a successful legislator, serving as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council for 11 years (1909–20).
    • In the freedom struggle, he was midway between the Liberals and the Nationalists, the Moderates and the Extremists, as the followers of Gokhale and Tilak were respectively called.
    • In 1930, when Mahatma Gandhi launched the Salt Satyagraha and the Civil Disobedience Movement, he participated in it and courted arrest.

    Literary associations

    • He remained the Hindustan Times’ Chairman from 1924 to 1946.
    • He was involved with magazines including the-
    1. Hindi language weekly, the Abhyudaya (1907)
    2. English-language daily the Leader of Allahabad (1909) and
    3. Hindi dailies Aaj

     

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  • 129th birth anniversary of Satyendra Nath Bose

    satyendra nath bose

    Born on January 1, 1894, Bose collaborated with Einstein to develop what we now know as the Bose-Einstein statistics. We take a look at the Indian physicist’s illustrious legacy and stellar achievements.

    Satyendra Nath Bose

    • Born on January 1, 1894, Bose grew up and studied in Kolkata, where he solidified his position as an exemplary academician.
    • His father, an accountant in the Executive Engineering Department of the East Indian Railways, gave him an arithmetic problem to solve every day before going to work, encouraging Bose’s interest in mathematics.
    • By the age of 15, he began pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree at the Presidency College, and later finished his MSc in Mixed Mathematics in 1915.

    Career as researchers

    • These were tough times for Indian researchers as World War I had broken out and, European scientific journals came to India quite infrequently.
    • Not only this, most of the research papers weren’t available in English and both Bose and Saha had to learn scientific terms in German and French languages to read published works.
    • However, the new skill came in handy for them in 1919, when they published English translations of Albert Einstein’s special and general relativity papers.
    • Two years later, Bose was appointed to the position of Reader in Physics at the University of Dhaka. It was here that he made his most significant contributions to physics.

    Association with Einstein

    • Bose wrote a letter to Albert Einstein in 1924 about his breakthrough in quantum mechanics.
    • He claimed that he had derived Planck’s law for black body radiation (which refers to the spectrum of light emitted by any hot object) without any reference to classical electrodynamics.
    • Impressed by Bose’s findings, Einstein not only arranged for the publication of the paper but also translated it into German.
    • This recognition catapulted Bose to fame and glory.

    Breakthrough in the invention of Boson

    • He went on to work with Einstein and together they developed what is now known as the Bose-Einstein statistics.
    • Today, in honour of his legacy, any particle that obeys the Bose-Einstein statistics is called a boson.
    • On his 129th birth anniversary, we take a look at the Indian physicist’s illustrious legacy and stellar achievements.

     

     

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  • Indian road accident scenario: More serious than Covid-19

    accident

    Context

    • Cricketer Rishabh Pant’s accident near Roorkee resulting in some injuries, has once again drawn attention to the problem of road safety in India. Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, recently said that the Indian road accident scenario, with 415 deaths and many injured every day, is more serious than Covid-19. This is a frank admission that even with comprehensive road safety programmes, India’s record shows little signs of improvement.

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    Road Accidents in India A lookover

    • In spite of several years of policymaking to improve road safety, India remains among the worst-performing countries in this area.
    • Total 1,47,913 lives lost to road traffic accidents in 2017 as per Ministry of Road Transport and Highways statistics.
    • The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) figure for the same year is 1,50,093 road accident deaths.

    An overall apathy: Road safety and traffic norms violation

    • Easy licences without basic road signage knowledge: The fact of the matter is that simple but serious issues, like road users’ inept understanding of the basic traffic rules and road signage, easier access to driving licences without a meaningful ground scrutiny of skills and unchecked selfish and aggressive driving behaviour continue to dominate Indian road traffic.
    • Road traffic rules are grossly violated and goes unchecked: Deadly violations of lane driving, speed limits and traffic signals, instances of at-will parking on the fast-developing modern, smooth highways all these go mostly unchecked and unquestioned.
    • Human errors are major factors: The causes of road crashes, such as the ones above, are well known. Human error on the roads is admittedly the single-largest factor responsible.
    • Lack of understanding of basic traffic rules: Nobody seems to know which lane they’re supposed to be in; not even the traffic police personnel on duty can tell.
    • Charges are often framed against the driver but rarely against the officials: Further, in case of a serious road crash, charges are framed against the erring drivers, but rarely (or, never) against the road-safety public officials for non-performance, non-enforcement of traffic rules, not taking urgent corrective action on conspicuous road-hazards and the black spots.
    • Engaged more in paperwork than ion ground: At the macro level, various institutions of road safety, both at the national level and in the states, are engaged in routine paperwork and bear no accountability for the failure to produce desired results.

    What is road safety?

    • Road safety means methods and measures aimed at reducing the likelihood or the risk of persons using the road network getting involved in a collision or an incident that may cause property damages, serious injuries and/or death.

    What needs to be done?

    • The enforcement of traffic norms is the key to road safety: All ongoing programmes towards enhancing safe road conditions and vehicles have to go on. However, the priority goal and the global mandate is to significantly reduce the rising number of road crashes.
    • Scare resources and complex nature of road safety: The central and state governments run complex road safety programmes with their scarce resources, with little success. The World Bank has chipped in with a $250 million loan to India to tackle the high rate of road crashes through road-safety institutional reforms and the results-based interventions.
    • Wise administration and enforcement of rules is necessary: Regular, professional enforcement of rules and swift and innovative solutions to traffic indiscipline and bottlenecks by the administration could help evolve a healthy safe-road culture.
    • An example to be followed: In Delhi too the government’s insistence on drawing a bus lane on the city’s major roads has been accepted overnight, and largely implemented. The lessons from such sporadic but crucial initiatives are apparent and inspiring.

    What are the proposed measures?

    • To begin with, identify the two worst roads in a specific area:
    1. Notify each identified road as a Zone of Excellence (ZOE) in road safety (RS) This could include a state or national highway/road/part thereof and adjoining areas
    2. Provide road marking/written instructions on road-surface/road signage
    3. Take care to provide lanes for emergency vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians etc, as feasible
    4. Ensure adherence to basic traffic rules/ safety norms. Create multiple checkpoints (CP), every 2-4 kms for example, with each CP supported by road safety volunteers in addition to police
    5. Use tech aids, judiciously combined with manual interventions/ volunteers
    6. Supplement enforcement with road safety education/ awareness measures
    7. Station ambulances and lift cranes for swift response to accidents
    8. Make reliable arrangements with hospitals/ trauma centres through formal MoUs
    • The administrative structure for the implementation of road safety can be set up in three tiers.
    1. Tier 1 would be the Managing Group (MG), which would look after day-to-day operations and would be autonomous and financially empowered. The MG would meet daily to introspect, analyse issues, incorporate suggestions and assign tasks. It would organise training and refresher programmes for traffic police and road safety volunteers.
    2. Tier 2 would have district level monitoring. Exclusive personnel would be earmarked for ZoEs with a district. This is where urgent solutions would be sought, budgetary allocations made and review modes fixed. It would also ensure adherence to targets.
    3. Tier 3 would have top management and control, represented at the level of the Union or state government. It is at this level that a dynamic road-safety ecosystem would be developed. Existing road safety institutions would either be dismantled or rejuvenated, and there would be monthly reviews, with directions, accountability and disciplinary action
    • The expected results would include:
    1. A logical, simple, practical and convincing model that would add new perspective to road safety measures
    2. A potentially effective action plan, plus a dynamic live-experiment lab for road safety
    3. Application of best practices, both local and global
    4. Proactive engagement of elected public representatives, NGOs, RWAs, educational institutes and voluteers
    5. An evolving standing expert think tank
    6. Revitalisation and development of existing and new institutions of road safety
    7. Employment generation
    8. Traffic decongestion and lane discipline
    9. A carnival of road safety on the ground overnight, throughout the country, which would make road safety visible and respectable
    10. A model that would be replicable in other low and middle-income countries

    Way ahead

    • The need here is to return to the basics, with courage and coordination: A newly power-packed Motor Vehicles Act, a decentralised federal structure, down to the level of district and panchayat administration, and the Supreme Court committee on road safety and its regular monitoring of the related issues.
    • Regular monitoring: What is further required is a specific regime whereby road safety authorities are given clear targets for reducing road crashes over a defined period.
    • Ensuring accountability: Further, the authorities should be subjected to close and regular monitoring, review and accountability.

    Conclusion

    • In spite of several years of policymaking to improve road safety, India remains among the worst-performing countries in this area. It is absolutely necessary for citizens to follow road safety norms but government cannot look away from its responsibility.

    Mains question

    Q. Road accidents in India is a serious and a silent pandemic. Discuss where lies the overall apathy and discuss mention few proposed measures.

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  • Contamination of medicine: India; The Pharmacy of the world needs a relook in drug regulations

    medicine

    Context

    • Merely two months after the World Health Organisation (WHO) sounded an alert over deadly contamination in four brands of cough syrup manufactured by a Sonepat-based pharmaceutical company that were subsequently linked to the deaths of 72 children in Gambia, another Indian pharmaceutical company stands accused of a similar crime. This time, it is Uzbekistan which has accused a Noida-based pharmaceutical company of selling contaminated cough syrup that has allegedly killed 18 children in that country.

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    Thorough analysis

    • Unacceptable levels of Ethylene/ Diethylene glycol: In both cases, lab tests reportedly found unacceptable levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) or ethylene glycol (EG) or both in the cough syrups.
    • Ideally these chemicals should not be found in any medicine: Both DEG and EG are deadly chemicals that should not be found in any medicine.
    • Then how these chemicals end up in medicines: The typical reason these chemicals end up in medicine is because pharmaceutical manufacturers do not adequately test industrial solvents purchased from chemical traders and used to manufacture cough syrups despite the fact that the law mandates such testing for contamination.
    • Proximity in two cases: Given the physical proximity of the manufacturers implicated in the Gambian and Uzbekistan cases, there is a very high possibility that the same batch of contaminated industrial solvent was used by both companies.

    medicine

    Contamination of medicines in India

    • India has a tumultuous history of DEG contamination in medicines: Between 1972 and 2020, India has seen at least five mass DEG poisonings in Chennai, Mumbai, Bihar, Gurgaon and Jammu. The incident in Gurgaon led to the death of 33 children and the incident in Jammu of at least 11 children.
    • Difficult to diagnose deaths due to adulterated medicine: The final reported toll in such cases is definitely an undercount because it is notoriously difficult for doctors to diagnose such deaths and attribute them to adulterated medicine.
    • Lethargy and denial is a pattern with drug regulators in India: In August 2020, about eight months after the DEG-related deaths of the children in Jammu were first reported by PGIMER, Chandigarh, the same hospital reported that another two-year-old child from Baddi had died in its facility after consuming a different brand of cough syrup manufactured by the same company that was responsible for the deaths earlier in Jammu. This was a death that could have been easily avoided if the regulators had conducted and published a thorough root cause analysis after the Jammu incident and followed it up by a nationwide recall of all cough syrups manufactured at the same facility. This never happened.

    medicine

    Critique: Whether the Ministry of Health and the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization have learnt their lessons from these previous incidents?

    • Government will handle the issue just as any other public relation crisis: The present government is likely to handle this crisis as yet another public relations crisis instead of a public health crisis. Assumption is based on the observation of the official response from the government to the tragedy in Gambia.
    • Instead of condoling, accused them for not testing before prescribing: Far from condoling the deaths of 72 Gambians, the initial press release from the Ministry of Health gaslit the Gambians by accusing them of not testing the cough syrups before prescribing them to patients.
    • False presumption that the drug regulator is doing its job well: This was an absurd allegation because nobody tests drugs that are purchased before releasing them for patient use, even in India. The presumption is that the drug regulator is doing its job to ensure quality control.
    • Government’s information czars accusing WHO: The first step of this PR strategy was to keep leaking to journalists that the WHO was not co-operating with the information requests made by an expert committee set up by the Government of India to investigate the deaths in Gambia. This despite the government fully knowing that the responsibility of investigating the deaths lay not with the WHO but with the sovereign authorities in Gambia.
    • Rare mention of sympathy: The common thread running through these events is a communications strategy aimed at denial and intimidation. There is rarely a mention of sympathy for lives lost or a commitment to protect public health.
    • Even China does better than India: An iron fist in a titanium glove is the best way to describe the government’s response to any allegations of quality issues afflicting the Indian pharmaceutical industry. In 2007, when a Chinese chemicals manufacturer was implicated in the deaths of 365 people in Panama who consumed cough syrup manufactured with an adulterated industrial solvent, the Chinese arrested the manufacturer and publicly promised to punish him.

    medicine

    What should be done immediately?

    • The immediate public health response in these cases of DEG contamination should be aimed at limiting further deaths.
    • This means tracing the origins of the contaminated industrial solvent used to manufacture the syrups.

    Conclusion

    • What India needs right at the moment is to accept the fact that there is a major quality problem with the Indian pharmaceutical industry. Allegations cannot be morphed from one to another. Perhaps the need of the hour is to have meaningful and comprehensive conversation on actual regulatory reform.

    Mains question

    Q. It is said that India has a tumultuous history of DEG contamination in medicines. The recent deaths in Gambia and Uzbekistan supports this statement. What the critique has to say over India’s response in such cases.

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  • Day 12| Daily Answer Wars| CD WarZone

    Topics for Today’s question:

    GS-1         Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present – significant events, personalities, issues.

    Question:

    Q. The history of freedom struggle is replete with the saga of sacrifice, selflessness, bravery of women. Illustrate through examples. (10 Marks)

     

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  • Q. The history of freedom struggle is replete with the saga of sacrifice, selflessness, bravery of women. Illustrate through examples. (10 Marks)

  • 31st Dec 2022 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

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  • India’s global superpower ambition and an opportunity to lead the world

    global

    Context

    • In September 2014, in his first meeting with President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about making the US a principal partner in the realization of India’s rise as a responsible, influential world power. This was in a way the first time that any Indian prime minister had talked about the country’s ambition to grow into a responsible, influential world power.

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    India in World politics

    • India is not new to playing a proactive role in world politics: Right from Independence, India’s leadership had actively pursued an agenda that favoured the interests of developing or less developed countries.
    • India took a form stand against the domination of developed countries: Whether it was the GATT negotiations or the Non-Proliferation Treaty, India took a principled stand and stood up to the policy domination of the developed world.
    • India as a protector of developing world: India’s role as the protector of the interests of the developing world during WTO negotiations has been significant.
    • For instance: Murasoli Maran, as the Minister of Commerce in the Vajpayee government, played a very critical role in preventing developed countries from pushing through their trade and commercial agendas. The UPA government continued that approach, inviting opprobrium and occasional isolation from the interested players. However, that didn’t deter India from opposing agendas that were seen as against the interests of not only its people but also the larger developing world.
    • India added moral dimension to the developing world but seen as obstructionist: India’s significant contribution in all these fora was that it added a moral dimension to the developed world’s monetary vision. However, India, in the process, acquired the image of being a nay-sayer and obstructionist.

    global

    India’s smart shift in its approach

    • Stated playing proactive role: While standing up for the developing world and zealously upholding its strategic autonomy, India started playing a proactive role in finding solutions.
    • Paris climate summit provided a major opportunity: The Paris Climate Summit in 2015 provided the first major opportunity for India to highlight its new priorities. It played a pivotal role in clinching the climate deal while ensuring that the interests of the developing world are not compromised.
    1. India’s stand in the words of PM Modi: PM PM Modi cogently articulated this stand on the eve of the Summit: “Justice demands that, with what little carbon we can safely burn, developing countries are allowed to grow. The lifestyles of a few must not crowd out opportunities for the many still on the first steps of the development ladder.” India’s efforts resulted in developed countries agreeing to the principle of “common and differentiated responsibility”.
    2. India successfully convinced developed countries for INDCs: India also convinced developed countries to agree to the formulation of not externally imposed targets but “intended nationally determined contributions” or INDCs.
    • India emerged as a powerful player during Covid pandemic response through “Vaccine Maitri”: India’s arrival on the global stage as an important player was further augmented by its constructive response during the Covid pandemic. Besides undertaking the massive exercise of vaccinating its billion-plus citizens, India came to the rescue of more than 90 countries by ensuring a timely supply of vaccines through its “Vaccine Maitri” programme.
    • Commendable economic recovery in post-Covid world: India’s growing importance is conspicuous in many areas. Its post-Covid economic recovery has been commendable, with the World Bank even revising its projections for 2022 GDP growth from 6.5 per cent to 6.9 per cent. The IMF estimated it to be at 6.8 per cent while the rest of the world was projected to grow at 4.9 per cent.

    India in a new year

    • Stronger ties with African nations: The India Africa Forum Summit (IAFS), started in 2008 as a triennial event by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, met for the third time in 2015 in Delhi. PM Modi took a special interest in cultivating stronger ties with African nations which led to the highest-ever participation in the Summit. It is important to revive the process.
    • India’s crucial role in Russia-Ukraine war: At the Bali G20 Summit, India played a crucial role in ensuring that both Russia and its critics like the US had their say on the Russia-Ukraine war in a dignified way without being interrupted. On its part, India conveyed to the Russian leadership that it was not a time for war. The new year will bring an opportunity before India to play a role in ending the war.
    • Opportunity to set new agenda for global public good: As G20 chair, India has the opportunity to set a new agenda before the world’s most powerful block of nations. In the past, it always worked for the judicious sharing of global public goods. It is time now to undertake similar efforts for global digital and genetic goods.

    global

    Way ahead

    • India must continue to act as voice of global south: While striving to achieve its ambition, India must not lose sight of the principles that it always championed. It must continue to act as the voice of the Global South.
    • Focus on neighbourhood must increase: India’s diplomatic, strategic and political investments in its neighbourhood and Asia, Africa and Latin America must increase.
    • Attention in ASEAN IOR must grow: With SAARC failing and BIMSTEC remaining a non-starter, India’s attention to the ASEAN and Indian Ocean neighbourhood must grow. India’s Act East policy needs more teeth.
    • India must bring moralist dimensions in new tech developments: India always upheld moralism in global politics. In climate talks, too, the Indian side is resorting to traditional wisdom to achieve global good. India must bring that moralist dimension to new technological developments.
    • India must lead to regulate technologies for humanity’s future: The advent of artificial intelligence and genetic manipulation technologies is going to throw the world into turmoil. If not regulated globally on time, these technologies are going to play havoc with humanity’s future.

    Conclusion

    • The country is entering the new year on a buoyant note. The leadership of important multilateral bodies including the G20 and SCO has come into its hands. The new year is thus going to provide India with the opportunity to fulfil its world power ambition. However, opportunities come with challenges. China may try to curtail India’s ambitions by keeping the border tense. India needs to maintain harmonious balance.

    Mains question

    Q. From wars to the economy to climate, India has become integral to the contemporary global discourse. What will India need to do to fulfil its global superpower ambitions in the new year?

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  • NCW seeks to ensure POSH Act implementation by coaching institutes

    The National Commission for Women (NCW) has asked all States to ensure strict implementation of the sexual harassment at workplace law (POSH Act, 2013) by coaching centres and educational institutes.

    Why in news?

    • NCW is concerned over incidents of sexual harassment at coaching centres.
    • It seeks to give instructions to all coaching institutes to ensure effective steps are taken for prevention of sexual harassment of female students.

    What is the POSH Act?

    • The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act was passed in 2013.
    • It defined sexual harassment, lay down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry, and the action to be taken.
    • It broadened the Vishaka Guidelines, which were already in place.

    What are Vishakha Guidelines?

    • The Vishakha guidelines were laid down by the Supreme Court in a judgment in 1997. This was in a case filed by women’s rights groups, one of which was Vishakha.
    • In 1992, she had prevented the marriage of a one-year-old girl, leading to the alleged gangrape in an act of revenge.

    Guidelines and the law

    • The Vishakha guidelines, which were legally binding, defined sexual harassment and imposed three key obligations on institutions :
    1. Prohibition
    2. Prevention
    3. Redress
    • The Supreme Court directed that they should establish a Complaints Committee, which would look into matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.

    The POSH Act broadened these guidelines:

    • It mandated that every employer must constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office or branch with 10 or more employees.
    • It lay down procedures and defined various aspects of sexual harassment, including the aggrieved victim, who could be a woman “of any age whether employed or not”, who “alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment”.
    • This meant that the rights of all women working or visiting any workplace, in any capacity, were protected under the Act.

    Definition of Sexual Harassment

    Under the 2013 law, sexual harassment includes “any one or more” of the following “unwelcome acts or behaviour” committed directly or by implication:

    • Physical contact and advances
    • A demand or request for sexual favours
    • Sexually coloured remarks
    • Showing pornography
    • Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.

    The Ministry of Women & Child Development has published a Handbook on Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace with more detailed instances of behaviour that constitutes sexual harassment at the workplace. These include, broadly:

    • Sexually suggestive remarks or innuendos; serious or repeated offensive remarks; inappropriate questions or remarks about a person’s sex life
    • Display of sexist or offensive pictures, posters, MMS, SMS, WhatsApp, or emails
    • Intimidation, threats, blackmail around sexual favours; also, threats, intimidation or retaliation against an employee who speaks up about these
    • Unwelcome social invitations with sexual overtones, commonly seen as flirting
    • Unwelcome sexual advances.

    Unwelcome behavior

    • The Handbook says “unwelcome behaviour” is experienced when the victim feels bad or powerless; it causes anger/sadness or negative self-esteem.
    • It adds unwelcome behaviour is one which is “illegal, demeaning, invading, one-sided and power based”.

    Back2Basics: National Commission for Women

    • The NCW is the statutory body generally concerned with advising the government on all policy matters affecting women.
    • It was established on 31 January 1992 under the provisions of the Indian Constitution as defined in the 1990 National Commission for Women Act.
    • The first head of the commission was Jayanti Patnaik.

    Constitutional provision

    • The Indian Constitution doesn’t contain any provision specifically made to favor women intrinsically.
    • Article 15 (3), Article 14 and Article 21 protect and safeguard women. They are more gender-neutral.

    Objectives

    • The objective of the NCW is to represent the rights of women in India and to provide a voice for their issues and concerns.
    • The subjects of their campaigns have included dowry, politics, religion, equal representation for women in jobs, and the exploitation of women for labor.

     

     

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