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  • First Nobel for Climate Science

    Three scientists received the Nobel Prize in Physics for work that is essential to understanding how the Earth’s climate is changing, pinpointing the effect of human behaviour on those changes and ultimately predicting the impact of global warming.

    Who are the laureates?

    • The winners were Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann of Germany, and Giorgio Parisi from Italy.
    • In 2015, at a UK-based climate-focused online publication sought to identify the three most influential climate change research papers ever published.
    • The paper that received the most votes was one by Syukuro Manabe and Richard Wetherald way back in 1967.
    • These reports for the first time, had described the impact of carbon dioxide and water vapour on global warming.

    Citation for their Climate Model

    • Manabe is a senior meteorologist and climatologist at Princeton University.
    • In the 1960s, he led ground-breaking research into how increased levels of carbon dioxide lead to higher temperatures on the surface of the Earth.
    • This laid the foundation for the development of current climate models.
    • Hasselmann is a German physicist and oceanographer who greatly advanced public understanding of climate change through the creation of a model that links climate and chaotic weather systems.
    • Parisi has focused on quantum field theory and complex systems.

    Why it is significant feat?

    • This is the first-time climate scientists have been awarded the Physics Nobel.
    • The IPCC had won the Peace Nobel in 2007, an acknowledgement of its efforts in creating awareness for the fight against climate change.
    • A Chemistry Nobel was also awarded to Paul Crutzen in 1995, for his work on the ozone layer, is considered the only other time someone from atmospheric sciences has won this honour.
    • The recognition of Manabe and Hasselmann, therefore, is being seen as an acknowledgement of the importance that climate science holds in today’s world.

     

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  • [pib] National Road Safety Board

    The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has notified the constitution of the National Road Safety Board.

    National Road Safety Board

    • The NRSB will be constituted of a panel of seven members and a chairman, with the members having experience in the fields related to road safety, traffic regulation, urban planning, civil engineering and police enforcement and investigation.
    • Additionally, the board will also comprise of technical committees to look into a variety of aspects of road safety from civil engineering to vehicle construction and safety equipment.

    Why need such board?

    • Along with the rapid expansion and up-gradation on the road network and the enforcement of higher safety standards for vehicles, the Government is now actively looking into the safety of roads too.

    Terms of reference

    • The Head Office of the Board shall be in the National Capital Region and the Board may establish offices at other places in India.
    • The Board shall be responsible for promoting road safety, innovation and adoption of new technology and for regulating traffic and motor vehicles.

    For this purposes, inter alia, the Board shall formulate

    • specific standards for road safety, traffic management and road construction for hilly regions
    • guidelines for capacity building and development of skills for traffic police, hospital authorities, highway authorities, educational and research organizations and other organizations
    • guidelines for establishing and operating trauma facilities and para-medical facilities, for consideration by the Central Government
    • provide technical advice and assistance to the Central Government, State Governments and local authorities on road safety and traffic management

    Key provision: Protection of Samaritans

    • The board aims to promote Good Samaritans and good practices in road safety and traffic management
    • Good Samaritans who rescue victims of serious road accidents and rush them to a hospital within the golden hour will now be rewarded with ₹5,000.
    • They will also be eligible for a cash prize of ₹1 lakh which will be given to 10 such Samaritans in a year.
    • It has been felt that there is a need to motivate the general public through cash awards and certificates to help the road accident victims in emergency situation and to boost their morale.
    • The categories of accidents that will make one eligible for the award will include those that result in a major surgery or minimum three days of hospitalisation or brain and spinal cord injuries.

    Do you know?

    The ‘golden hour’ has been defined as ‘the time period lasting one hour following a traumatic injury during which there is the highest likelihood of preventing death by providing prompt medical care.

     

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  • [pib] Industrial Park Ratings System (IPRS) Report

    The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has released the Industrial Park Ratings System Report.

    Industrial Park Ratings System (IPRS)

    • The IPRS pilot exercise was launched in 2018 with an objective of enhancing industrial infrastructure competitiveness and supporting policy development for enabling industrialization across the country.
    • The IPRS report is an extension of the India Industrial Land Bank which features more than 4,400 industrial parks in a GIS-enabled database.
    • It seeks to help investors identify their preferred location for investment.
    • With this report, the investors can even remotely refer to this report to identify the suitable investable land area, as per the various parameters of infrastructure, connectivity, business support services and environment and safety standards.

    Highlights of the report

    • 41 Industrial Parks have been assessed as “Leaders” in the Industrial Park Ratings System Report released by DPIIT.
    • 90 Industrial Parks have been rated as under the Challenger category while 185 have been rated as under “Aspirers”.
    • These ratings are assigned on the basis of key existing parameters and infrastructure facilities etc.

     

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  • 6th October 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

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    [WpProQuiz 802]

    [WpProQuiz_toplist 802]

  • [pib] GI tagged sweet dish Mihidana

    The first consignment of GI-tagged sweet dish Mihidana sourced from Bardhaman, West Bengal has been exported to the Kingdom of Bahrain.

    About Mihidana

    • Mihidana, described as the micro cousin of the traditional Boondi, is derived from two words, Mihi meaning fine, and Dana, meaning grain.
    • The dessert is made from powdered Kaminibhog, Gobindobhog and basmati rice, mixed with a small amount of gram flour and saffron for a golden colour.
    • It is then blended with water by hand till its colour lightens.
    • This mix is then poured through a brass ladle with tiny holes into a pot of ghee and deep-fried.
    • The fine fried small rice-like grains are dipped in sugar syrup and drained once soaked.

    Back2Basics: Geographical Indication

    • A GI is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin.
    • Nodal Agency: Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry
    • India, as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), enacted the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 w.e.f. September 2003.
    • GIs have been defined under Article 22 (1) of the WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
    • GI is granted for a term of 10 years in India. As of today, more than 300 GI tags has been allocated so far in India (*Wikipedia).
    • The tag stands valid for 10 years.

     

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Which of the following has/have been accorded ‘Geographical Indication’ status?

    1. Banaras Brocades and Sarees
    2. Rajasthani Daal-Bati-Churma
    3. Tirupathi Laddu

    Select the correct answer using the code given below:

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 1 and 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

    Post your answers here.

     

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  • How to solve the UPSC 2021 Prelims paper? Remember these points

    How to solve the UPSC 2021 Prelims paper? Remember these points

    UPSC Prelims paper is designed to test your accuracy and your eye for detail. As an aspirant, your target is not to answer all the questions but accurately answer as many questions as possible. The analysis of the last 5 years of cutoffs reveals that answering 55-60 questions correctly is sufficient to qualify, so the primary objective of any aspirant should be to reach this number while minimizing the number of incorrect answers. 

    Keep in mind that UPSC Prelims Paper 1 provides an ample amount of time for students to answer the questions. Accuracy, more than time management, is the skill required to crack this paper. And here is the simple 4-step process you can follow to clear Prelims 2021:

    Step 1 – In the first step, go through the paper and answer all those questions whose answers you know with 100% certainty. These are the questions where you don’t even have to think twice for the correct answer. Most of these questions are direct in nature and take less than a minute to solve.

    Step 2 – In this step, spot the questions which you can solve with a little bit of thought. These are often statement-based questions that you’ll have to analyze for a few extra seconds and then arrive at the solution. Keep in mind that you are absolutely sure of the answers to these questions before marking the answer. Step1 and Step 2, therefore, require you to answer questions where you don’t doubt your answers.

    Before moving to step 3, count the number of questions you have attempted. Keep in mind that even with complete confidence in your answers, a few of them may be wrong. Suppose you have marked 55 answers that you are sure of, factor in at least 4-5 questions you may have gotten wrong. Move to step 3 with this calculation in mind.

    Step 3 – In this step, you will need to take some time. Dig into your memory. Try elimination techniques to reduce the number of options. Then you’ll need to take an educated guess for the correct answer. 

    Using the first three methods, most serious aspirants can solve 75-80 questions in a period of 90 minutes. More often than not, this is sufficient for you to score above the cutoff. But, if you feel low on confidence and believe that you may still need a few more questions, then move to the next step. Don’t worry, you’ll still have around 30 minutes remaining.

    Step 4 – In this step, pick the questions where you can eliminate at least 1-2 options. You will have 2 remaining options but no certainty. This is a risky step and you’ll have to make sure that you do not attempt a lot of questions in this round. 

    While this is the process of approaching the paper, there are a few additional elements that you’ll need to keep in mind:

    1. Analyse the paper on-spot – Do not go to the examination hall with a predefined cutoff in your mind. After the first round of reading, you’ll have a fair idea of how difficult or easy the paper is in relation to the last few years. Target a cut-off based on this analysis. A target of 115-120, however, is the best to achieve.
    2. Avoid silly mistakes – Read the questions correctly. UPSC often stumps students with tricky language. Make sure you understand the question perfectly before answering. Also, keep marking the answers in your question paper and the OMR sheet simultaneously. If you wait for the end of the exam to mark the OMR sheet, you may make mistakes due to the time rush and lose valuable marks.
    3. Brush up on answering techniques – There are multiple answering techniques like elimination, extremity test, etc. that can be extremely helpful. For example, if an option presents you with an extreme point of view for a topic, that option is incorrect more often than not. A quick revision of these techniques with examples can help you make better educated guesses.
    4. Rest – The most important thing of all is to rest before the exam. A couple of days before the exam won’t make a difference to your studies. Take this time to rest your mind and body. Relax yourself, eat well, sleep well, and go for the exam in a calm state of mind. You have done the hard work already, don’t let negative thoughts cloud your judgement now.

    Remember – You can do it and you will do it, trust yourself!

    All the best from our team at Civilsdaily!

  • [Sansad TV Archive] Indian Economy: Growth in Core Sectors

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    Context

    • For the second month in a row, output from India’s eight core sectors has shown acceleration.
    • It rose by 11.6%, in August, compared to a 6.9% contraction a year ago.
    • Although crude oil and fertiliser output has declined, 4 out of 8 core sectors registered strong double-digit growth according to the Index of Eight Core Industries released by DPIIT.

    Growth in Core Industries

    • The ICI measures the combined and individual production in 8 core industries that include Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
    • These 8 Core Industries make up 40.27 per cent weight of the items included in the IIP or the Index of Industrial Production.
    • The August output of ICI was 3.9% higher than pre-COVID levels, compared to July that recorded a 1.1% uptick above 2019 levels.
    • Cement production jumped 36% compared to a 14.5% contraction in August 2020, while coal and natural gas registered a 20.6% surge.

    What are the Core Industries in India?

    • The main or the key industries constitute the core sectors of an economy.
    • In India, there are eight sectors that are considered the core sectors.
    • They are electricity, steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilizers.

    Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) vs Index of Industrial Production (IIP)

    [A] Index of Eight Core Industries

    • The monthly Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) is a production volume index.
    • ICI measures collective and individual performance of production in selected eight core industries viz. Coal, Crude Oil, Natural Gas, Refinery Products, Fertilizers, Steel, Cement and Electricity.
    • Prior to the 2004-05 series six core industries namely Coal, Cement, Finished Steel, Electricity, Crude petroleum and Refinery products constituted the index basket.
    • Two more industries i.e. Fertilizer and Natural Gas were added to the index basket in 2004-05 series. The ICI series with base 2011-12 will continue to have eight core industries.

    Components covered in these eight industries for the purpose of compilation of index are as follows:

    • Coal – Coal Production excluding Coking coal.
    • Crude Oil – Total Crude Oil Production.
    • Natural Gas – Total Natural Gas Production.
    • Refinery Products – Total Refinery Production (in terms of Crude Throughput).
    • Fertilizer – Urea, Ammonium Sulphate (A/S), Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN), Ammonium chloride (A/C), Diammonium Phosphate (DAP), Complex Grade Fertilizer and Single superphosphate (SSP).
    • Steel – Production of Alloy and Non-Alloy Steel only.
    • Cement – Production of Large Plants and Mini Plants.
    • Electricity – Actual Electricity Generation of Thermal, Nuclear, Hydro, imports from Bhutan.

    [B] Index of Industrial Production

    • The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity and manufacturing.
    • The all India IIP is a composite indicator that measures the short-term changes in the volume of production of a basket of industrial products during a given period with respect to that in a chosen base period.

    Difference between the two

    • IIP is compiled and published monthly by the National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation six weeks after the reference month ends.
    • However, ICI is compiled and released by Office of the Economic Adviser (OEA), Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), and Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
    • The Eight Core Industries comprise nearly 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
    • These are Electricity, steel, refinery products, crude oil, coal, cement, natural gas and fertilisers.

    Importance of Core Industries

    • The core sectors have a major impact on the Indian economy and significantly affect most other industries as well.
    • Their measures help account the physical volume of production in India.
    • Their analysis offers clearer and realistic assessment of what’s happening in the economy
    • Their progress is used by government agencies for policy-making purposes.
    • They remain extremely relevant for the calculation of the quarterly and advance Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates.
    • The core sector is also known as Infrastructure output as they represent the basic industries that form the base of the economy.

    Do you know about the Strategic Sectors?

    The government has identified four strategic sectors where the presence of state-run companies will be reduced to a minimum.

    1. Atomic energy, space and defence
    2. Transport and telecommunications
    3. Power, petroleum, coal and other minerals and
    4. Banking, insurance and financial services

  • Lessons from the death of the ease of doing business index

    Context

    The Ease of Doing Business Index (EoDB) came under attack on grounds that its data was modified in response to pressure from countries like China and Saudi Arabia. As a result of an independent audit, the index has now been abandoned by the Bank.

    Methodology used in EoDB ranking

    • World Bank researchers developed the EoDB ranking system under the assumption that better laws and regulatory frameworks would increase the ease of doing business and improve economic performance.
    • It collected data from respondents in various countries regarding existing laws and regulations on multiple dimensions, validated them through internal scrutiny, and then combined them into an overall index that allowed us to rank countries.
    • Each dimension was weighted equally and added up to create a scale.

    India specific issues with the EoDB ranking

    • If we want to create an internationally comparable index, we must ask similar questions.
    • Difference in level of development not taken into account: Yet, many of these questions may not be locally salient in economies at different levels of development.
    • For example, EoDB asked questions about the ease of getting an electric connection.
    • However, it is not getting a connection that is the problem, rather the reliability of electricity supply that hampers Indian industries.
    • In addition, most of the questions focused on hypothetical cases about limited liability companies.
    •  However, the World Bank’s own enterprise survey shows that 63 per cent of Indian enterprises are sole proprietorships and only 14 per cent are limited partnerships.
    •  Focusing on protecting minority owners’ rights in this tiny segment of Indian industries and using it to rank the business climate in India does not seem particularly useful.
    • The index placed tremendous faith in formalised systems while simultaneously disdaining bureaucratic structures embedded in this formalisation.

    Why EoDB ranking was so significant?

    • A bigger problem is that EoDB had acquired such power that countries competed to improve their rankings.
    • Countries assume that their EoDB ranking will attract foreign investors.
    • Empirical evidence about this presumed impact is questionable.
    • There is indeed some evidence that the score on EoDB is associated with FDI, but this association exists mainly for more affluent countries.
    •  For instance, in 2020, China was the largest recipient of FDI despite ranking 85th on the EoDB.
    • One of the less visible parts of the EoDB exercise was the underlying political message.
    • Regulation, often treated synonymously with bureaucratic hurdles, is bad, and abandoning regulations will bring positive results.

    Way forward

    • Should we try to reform the index or give up on it? The decision rests on the answer to two questions.
    • First, are there universally acceptable standards of sound economic practices that are applicable and measurable across diverse economies?
    • Second, if the indices are so powerful, should their construction be left to institutions like the World Bank that bring not just knowledge but also wield the heft of global economic power?

    Consider the question “What are the advantages associated with Ease of Doing Business ranking? What are the issues with it?” 

    Conclusion

    The presumed economic consequences, as well as political benefits associated with improving the rankings, encouraged many countries to try and “game” the system by making superficial improvements on indicators that are being measured and, when that failed, by putting explicit pressure on the World Bank research team.

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  • Elimination Technique (Tikdams) helped me clear Prelims 2020 big way || Divyanshu Choudhary, AIR 30, UPSC 2020 || UNHERD: Civilsdaily’s Toppers Talk Series (Link inside)

    Elimination Technique (Tikdams) helped me clear Prelims 2020 big way || Divyanshu Choudhary, AIR 30, UPSC 2020 || UNHERD: Civilsdaily’s Toppers Talk Series (Link inside)

    Talk to Divyanshu’s UPSC Mentors- https://bit.ly/Free_One_to_One_Mentorship

    Guys, in this edition of Unherd, we have AIR 30 Divyanshu Choudhary to share this journey for UPSC preparation.

    He did his engineering from BITS Pilani and given went for MBA from IIM Calcutta. He left his lucrative private job to pursue a career in Civil services.

    This success came at the cost of a lot of hard work. Despite having COVID 3 months prior to Prelims, he did not lose his focus.

    Starting with a dream and ending with its reality, is very much possible if you trust yourself, work in a direction with a focused plan of action. He is one such example for us too at Civilsdaily IAS.

    Let’s hear more from the winner himself in the video.

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    Heartiest congratulations to Divyanshu Choudhary

    AIR 30

    UPSC Civil Services 2020

  • Last Minute Revision Modules for UPSC CSE Prelims 2021

    Revision and practice of the mock test have incomparable importance in the UPSC Prelims examination. Considering this year’s prelims being just a week ahead, it’s high time that all of the appearing aspirants should go through the important and most repetiting topics being asked in the exam.

    Looking at the demand of the examination, we have started the “Mission Nikalo Prelims’ initiative for better coverage of the syllabus. We have cherrypicked the ‘60 most important topics‘ from where a maximum number of questions have been asked by UPSC in the past 10 years. We have accompanied the mock tests so that the practice angle should also get covered.

    It’s the best time to give the final touch to your preparation and cover the topics which have left due to a dearth of time. The link to the initiative is given below:

    Mission Nikalo Prelims (Click here)

    All the best!

  • UPSC Prelims 2021 || How to Solve the paper during exam || by Santosh Gupta (Link Inside)

    UPSC Prelims 2021 || How to Solve the paper during exam || by Santosh Gupta (Link Inside)

    Connect with our mentors:- https://bit.ly/Free_One_to_One_Mentorship

    To know more about Civilsdaily IAS:- https://www.civilsdaily.com/ias-2021-22-mentorship/

    Hello Aspirants of Prelims 2021, are you fully prepared for prelims? Do you know how to perfectly utilise two hours of paper to qualify prelims? Do you know how many rounds you should go to solve the paper? How to handle pressure and remain confident during exams?

    Santosh Gupta sir discusses here not only exam pressure but also how many rounds you should go and how to best utilise time for a perfect score of 130+ from his own experience of getting 130+ in his all 6 attempts in prelims.

    How to avoid silly mistakes, watch this video of him. It is most important for all of you appear for prelims 2021:– https://youtu.be/AfavQ_6ne7Q

    How to utilise remaining day for revision effectively for Prelims:- https://youtu.be/m1LLOStMiF0

    How to utilise Elimination techniques for solving questions by Sajal Sir:- https://youtu.be/nWSptxBC9r0

    About Santosh Gupta sir:-
    Santosh Gupta sir has scored above 140 twice in UPSC prelims and always 130 plus in all 6 attempts. He wrote all 6 mains and appeared for Interviews 3 times. He has qualified UPSC EPFO and BPSC 56-59th also.

    He has been teaching and mentoring UPSC aspirants for the last 5 years with tremendous interest in environment and ecology and Polity.

  • Taproots to help restore India’s fading green cover

    This op-ed tries to establish a fair link between forest cover and population dependency on it.

    A decline in Forest Cover

    • The State of the World’s Forests report 2020, says that since 1990, around 420 million hectares of forest have been lost through deforestation, conversion and land degradation.
    • Nearly 178 million hectares have decreased globally due to deforestation (1990-2020).
    • India lost 4.69 MHA of its forests for various land uses between 1951 to 1995.

    Various reasons

    • Despite various international conventions and national policies in place to improve green cover, there is a decline in global forest cover.
    • Dependence on forests by nearly 18% of the global human population has put immense pressure on ecosystems; in India, this has resulted in the degradation of 41% of its forests.

    Why conserve forests?

    • Covering nearly 30% land surface of the earth, forests around the globe provide a wide variety of ecosystem services and support countless and diverse species.
    • They also stabilise the climate, sequester carbon and regulate the water regime.

    Need for restoration

    • Restoration in laymen’s terms is bringing back the degraded or deforested landscape to its original state by various interventions to enable them to deliver all the benefits.
    • Building and maintaining activities help to improve ecological functions, productivity and create resilient forests with multifarious capabilities.
    • India’s varied edaphic, climatic and topographic conditions are spread over 10 bio-geographical regions and four biodiversity hotspots, sheltering 8% of the world’s known flora and fauna.

    India’s dependency on forest resources

    • Out of its 21.9% population living under the poverty line, nearly 275 million people including local tribals depend on the forest for subsistence.
    • The intricate link between poverty and environmental degradation was first highlighted by India at the first UN global conference on the human environment in Stockholm.
    • Though India’s increasing economic growth is helping to eliminate poverty, there is continued degradation and a growing scarcity of natural resources.
    • Further, encroachment of nearly 1.48 MHA of forest and grazing in nearly 75% of forest area is also linked to the livelihood of local communities.
    • The participation of local communities with finances for incentives and rewards is essential to redress this complex riddle.

    Strategies adopted by India

    Ans. Bonn Challenge

    • To combat this, India joined the Bonn Challenge with a pledge to restore 21 MHA of degraded and deforested land which was later revised to 26 MHA to be restored by 2030.
    • The first-ever country progress report under the Bonn Challenge submitted by India by bringing 9.8 million hectares since 2011 under restoration is an achievement.
    • However, continued degradation and deforestation need to be tackled effectively to achieve the remaining target of restoration by addressing various challenges.

    Key challenges

    • Local ecology with a research base: forest restoration and tree planting are leading strategies to fight global warming by way of carbon sequestration.
    • However, planting without considering the local ecology can result in more damage.
    • Similarly, planting a forest in the wrong places such as savannah grasslands could be disastrous for local biodiversity.

    Best strategy: Natural Forest Restoration

    • Luckily recent research has shown that naturally regenerated forests tend to have more secure carbon storage.
    • Being less tech-sensitive, cost-effective and conserving more biodiversity, natural forest restoration is becoming more widely accepted.

    Limitations to India

    • Nearly 5.03% of Indian forests are under protection area (PA) management needing specific restoration strategies.
    • The remaining areas witness a range of disturbances including grazing, encroachment, fire, and climate change impacts that need area-specific considerations.
    • Further, much of the research done so far on restoration is not fully compatible with India’s diverse ecological habitats hence warranting due consideration of local factors.
    • The involvement of multiple stakeholders in forest restoration is bound to cause a conflict of interests among different stakeholders; along with low priority and insufficient funding, it becomes even more challenging.

    Policy measures

    • There have been remarkable initiatives to involve local people in the protection and development of forests by forming joint forest management committees (JFMC).
    • However, a review of their functionality and performance is essential to make them more dynamic and effective to scale up their involvement.
    • Therefore, negotiations with a wide range of stakeholders including these committees for resolving conflicts and fulfilling restoration objectives are a must and a challenging feat to reach a suitable trade-off.

    Way forward

    • Adequate financing is one of the major concerns for the success of any interventions including restoration.
    • The active approach of restoration which includes tree planting and the involvement of communities seeks incentives and rewards and make the whole affair quite cost-intensive.
    • The contribution of corporates in restoration efforts so far has been limited to 2% of the total achievement.
    • Hence, alternate ways of financing such as involving corporates and dovetailing restoration activities with ongoing land-based programmes of various departments can help to make it easy for operation.
    • Apart from these specific challenges, the common barriers to restoration as identified globally also need critical review before placing the required methodologies and area-specific strategies in place.

    Conclusion

    • Active engagement of stakeholders including non-governmental organizations, awareness and capacity building of stakeholders with enabling policy interventions and finance can help a lot to achieve restoration objectives for India.
    • The need of the hour is an inclusive approach encompassing these concerns with the required wherewithal.

     

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  • Govt moots easy clearance for Forest Land use

    The government has proposed absolving agencies involved in national security projects and border infrastructure projects from obtaining prior forest clearance from the Centre as part of amendments to the existing Forest Conservation Act (FCA).

    About Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

    • The FCA is the principal legislation that regulates deforestation in the country.
    • It prohibits the felling of forests for any “non-forestry” use without prior clearance by the central government.
    • The clearance process includes seeking consent from local forest rights-holders and from wildlife authorities.
    • The Centre is empowered to reject such requests or allow it with legally binding conditions.
    • In a landmark decision in 1996, the Supreme Court had expanded the coverage of FCA to all areas that satisfied the dictionary definition of a forest; earlier, only lands specifically notified as forests were protected by the enforcement of the FCA.

    What is the proposed amendment?

    • The proposed amendment is part of a larger rationalizing of existing forest laws for infrastructure projects.
    • The act was regressively interpreted over the right of way of railways, highways.
    • As of today a landholding agency (Rail, NHAI, PWD, etc) is required to take approval under the Act as well as pay stipulated compensatory levies.
    • They are required to pay Net Present Value (NPV), Compensatory Afforestation (CA), etc. for use of such land which was originally been acquired for non-forest purposes.

    Other proposals

    • The Environment Ministry has proposed provisions for penal compensation to make good for the damages already done to trees in forest land.
    • The document also proposes removing zoos, safaris, Forest Training infrastructures from the definition of “non-forestry” activities.
    • The current definition restricts the way money collected as part of compensatory cess can be spent towards forest conservation purposes.

    Previous attempts made

    • Previous attempts to amend acts linked to forest laws have been controversial.
    • There was a plan to amend the Indian Forest Act, 1927, that deals with the rights of forest dwellers, in an attempt to address contemporary challenges to the country’s forests.
    • The draft law had been sent to key forest officers in the States for soliciting comments and objections.
    • It drew flak from activists as well as tribal welfare organizations.
    • The government withdrew the draft and has said that a newer updated version was on the anvil.

     

    Try answering this PYQ

    Consider the following statements:

    1. As per recent amendment to the Indian Forest Act, 1927, forest dwellers have the right to fell the bamboos grown on forest areas.
    2. As per the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, bamboo is a minor forest produce.
    3. The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 allows ownership of minor forest produce to forest dwellers.

    Which of the statements given above is / are correct?

    (a) 1 and 2 only

    (b) 2 and 3 only

    (c) 3 only

    (d) 1, 2 and 3

     

    Post your answers here.

     

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  • What is Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) ?

    The outages at Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram occurred because of a problem in the company’s domain name system. At the heart of it was a BGP or Border Gateway Protocol issue.

    What is BGP?

    • Simply put, it is the protocol that runs the internet or makes it work.
    • Since the internet is a network of networks, BGP is the mechanism that bounds it together.
    • When the BGP doesn’t work, internet routers can’t really figure out what to do and that leads to the internet not working.
    • The routers — big ones — keep up on updating other possible routes that are used to deliver network packets to the last possible source.
    • In this case, Facebook platforms were the last point of destination and BGP problem meant Facebook was unable to tell other networks know that it was on the internet.

    How does it work?

    • The BGP is like an entity that is responsible for creating and more importantly updating maps that lead you to sites like Google, Facebook or YouTube.
    • So if someone is responsible for making and updating the map, and they make a mistake, then the traffic — or users — will not end up reaching that place.

    How did a BGP issue affect Facebook?

    • A BGP update message informs a router of any changes you’ve made to a prefix advertisement or entirely withdraws the prefix.
    • There were a lot of routing changes from Facebook last night and then routes were withdrawn, Facebook’s Domain Name Server went offline.

    Role of DNS

    • DNS is the phonebook of the Internet.
    • People access information online through domain names — timesofindia.com or facebook.com.
    • Internet browsers use IP or Internet Protocol addresses and what DNS does is that it translates domain names to IP addresses to browsers can load Internet resources.
    • If DNS is the internet’s phone book, BGP is its postal service.
    • When a user enters data in the internet, BGP determines the best available paths that data could travel.

     

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  • Physiology Nobel for work on temperature and touch

     

    U.S. scientists David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian have won the Nobel Medicine Prize for discoveries on receptors for temperature and touch.

    Who are the Laureates?

    • David Julius and Ardem Patapoutian, working independently in the United States, made a series of discoveries in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
    • They figured out the touch detectors in our body and the mechanism through which they communicate with the nervous system to identify and respond to a particular touch.

    What did they discover?

    • They discovered the molecular sensors in the human body that are sensitive to heat, and to mechanical pressure, and make us “feel” hot or cold, or the touch of a sharp object on our skin.
    • n 1997, Dr. Julius and his team published a paper in Nature detailing how capsaicin, or the chemical compound in chili peppers, causes the burning sensation.
    • They created a library of DNA fragments to understand the corresponding genes and finally discovered a new capsaicin receptor and named it TRPV1.
    • This discovery paved the way for the identification of many other temperature-sensing receptors.
    • They identified another new receptor called TRPM8, a receptor that is activated by cold. It is specifically expressed in a subset of pain-and-temperature-sensing neurons.
    • They identified a single gene PIEZO2, which when silenced made the cells insensitive to the poking. They named this new mechanosensitive ion channel Piezo1.

    How do they work?

    • The human ability to sense heat or cold and pressure is not very different from the working of the many detectors that we are familiar with.
    • When something hot, or cold, touches the body, the heat receptors enable the passage of some specific chemicals, like calcium ions, through the membrane of nerve cells.
    • It’s like a gate that opens up on a very specific request. The entry of the chemical inside the cell causes a small change in electrical voltage, which is picked up by the nervous system.
    • There is a whole spectrum of receptors that are sensitive to different ranges of temperature.
    • When there is more heat, more channels open up to allow the flow of ions, and the brain is able to perceive higher temperatures.

    Therapeutic implications

    • Breakthroughs in physiology have often resulted in an improvement in the ability to fight diseases and disorders. This one is no different.
    • There are receptors that make us feel pain. If these receptors can suppress, or made less effective, the person had felt less pain.
    • Chronic pain is present is a number of illnesses and disorders. Earlier, the experience of pain was a mystery.
    • But as we understand these receptors more and more, it is possible that we gain the ability to regulate them in such a way that the pain is minimized.

    [Note: We will compile all Nobel Prizes into a single post once all are awarded.]

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  • Outer space

    In opening new pathways for outer space cooperation in the recent US visit, PM Modi has positioned India to engage more productively with a rapidly evolving domain that is seeing more commerce and contestation.

    Outer Space Cooperation: A backgrounder

    • International cooperation is the new normal in space exploration, but it’s not a new concept.
    • One example of this cooperation is the International Space Station (ISS).
    • Another advance in international cooperation in the peaceful exploration of outer space came with the Artemis Accords.
    • Introduced in October 2020, the Artemis Accords establish a set of principles to guide space cooperation among countries participating in NASA’s Artemis program.

    There are five treaties that deal with issues related to outer space

    1. Moon Treaty: Non-appropriation of outer space by any one country, arms control, the freedom of exploration
    2. Liability Convention: Liability for damage caused by space objects
    3. Rescue Agreement: Safety and rescue of spacecraft and astronauts
    4. Outer Space Treaty: Prevention of harmful interference with space activities and the environment
    5. Registration Convention: Notification and registration of space activities, scientific investigation and exploitation of natural resources in outer space and the settlement of disputes

    Why does Outer Spaces matter?

    • Space situational awareness (SSA) involves monitoring the movement of all objects — natural (meteors) and man-made (satellites) — and tracking space weather.
    • Today, space is integral to our lives and disruption of space-based communications and earth observation will have serious consequences.

    India’s strategic interest in Outer Space

    Delhi’s new strategic interest in outer space is based on a recognition of two important trends.

    1. Centrality of emerging technologies in shaping the 21st-century global order
    2. Urgency of writing new rules for the road to peace and stability in outer space

    Why need US for this?

    • Technology cooperation has always been an important part of India-US relations.
    • But it has been a boutique discourse between the relevant agencies of the two governments.
    • The US has traditionally dominated outer space in the commercial domain.
    • As emerging technologies overhaul global economic and security structures, Delhi and Washington now have to widen the interface of technology.

    Why need a comprehensive outer space treaty?

    • Although human forays into space began in the middle of the 20th century, the intensity of that activity as well as its commercial and security implications have dramatically increased in recent decades.
    • Outer space has become a location for lucrative business as well as a site of military competition between states.
    • Until recently, outer space has been the sole preserve of states. But private entities are now major players in space commerce.
    • At the same time, as space becomes a critical factor in shaping the military balance of power on the earth, there is growing competition among states.

    Expanding QUAD in this term

    • Until now, the maritime domain has dominated the strategic cooperation bilaterally between Delhi and Washington as well as within the Quad.
    • The annual Malabar naval exercise, for example, began nearly three decades ago as a bilateral venture in 1992 and became a quadrilateral one in 2020 with the participation of Australia.

    Why does US need India in OST?

    • India, which has developed significant space capabilities over the decades, is a deeply invested party.
    • The US recognises that it can’t unilaterally define the space order anymore and is looking for partners.
    • International cooperation on space situational awareness is similar to the agreements on maritime domain awareness — that facilitate sharing of information on a range of ocean metrics.
    • India has been strengthening its maritime domain awareness through bilateral agreements as well as the Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) at Gurugram.
    • India has also taken tentative steps to cope with the unfolding military challenges in outer space.
    • It has also initiated space security dialogue with close partners like the US, Japan, and France.

    Making a first global move

    • When signed, the agreement with the US on SSA will be the first of its kind for India.
    • Washington has agreements with more than two dozen countries on SSA.
    • The US and Indian delegations have also discussed a US initiative called the Artemis Accords — that seek to develop norms for activity in the Moon and other planetary objects.

    Way forward

    • As commercial and military activity in outer space grows, the 20th-century agreements like Outer Space Treaty and the Moon Treaty (1979) need reinforcement and renewal.
    • The growing strategic salience of outer space demands substantive national policy action in India.
    • That can only be mandated by the highest political level. Back in 2015, PM Modi’s speech on the Indian Ocean focused national attention on maritime affairs.
    • India could do with a similar intervention on outer space today.

     

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  • 5th October 2021 | Prelims Daily with Previous Year Questions

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  • [Burning Issue] Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission via video conferencing. Currently, the program is being implemented on a pilot basis in six Union Territories. Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission has the potential to bring revolutionary changes to our health facilities. It marks a new phase in 7-year efforts to strengthen health facilities.

    Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will create a seamless online platform that will enable interoperability within the digital health ecosystem and will now connect the digital health solutions of hospitals across the country with each other. Under the New Mission, every citizen will now get a digital health ID and their health record will be digitally protected.

    Background

    Before knowing about the latest initiative, let us look at India’s flagship ‘Ayushman Bharat Scheme’.

    What is Ayushman Bharat Scheme?

    • The Government announced two major initiatives in health sector, as part of Ayushman Bharat programme.
    • Health and Wellness Centre
    • National Health Protection Scheme
    • Aimed at making path breaking interventions to address healthcare problems holistically, in primary, secondary and tertiary care systems.
    • Covers both prevention and promotion of health.

    Need for Ayushman Bharat

    1. India is in a state of health transition.
    2. Infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, malaria, dengue, H1N1 pandemic influenza and antimicrobial resistance are a threat.
    3. Also the country is facing the emerging problem of chronic non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer which are now the leading cause of mortality.
    4. New factors are emerging that threatens the country’s health security like ageing population, climate change, globalization, urbanization and changing lifestyles.
    5. We lag behind in addressing healthcare delivery across the length and breadth of the country.
    6. We have one of the highest levels of out-of-pocket spending on health.
    7. Average cost of treatment in private hospitals is 4 times higher than that of public. This pushes many people below poverty line.
    8. Funding for healthcare has been a major concern.
    9. Several states have implemented or supplemented their own health protection schemes. Ayushman Bharat programme builds on these schemes.
    10. Failure of Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY).

    Health and Wellness Centre

    1. Health and Wellness Centres will be the foundation of country’s health system.
    2. 1.5 lakh centres will bring health care system closer to the homes of people.
    3. Will provide comprehensive health care, including for non-communicable diseases and maternal and child health services.
    4. Will also provide free essential drugs and diagnostic services.
    5. Also provide mental health services, vaccinations against selected communicable diseases, and screening for hypertension, diabetes, and some cancers.
    6. Allocation of Rs. 1200 crore for this flagship programme.
    7. Contribution of private sector through CSR and philanthropic institutions in adopting these centres is also envisaged.

    National Health Protection Scheme

    1. National Health Protection Scheme will cover over 10 crore poor and vulnerable families or around 50 crore people.
    2. Will provide coverage upto 5 lakh rupees per family per year for secondary and tertiary care hospitalization.
    3. Identification of eligible families through the socio-economic caste census (SECC) data.
    4. World’s largest government funded health care programme.
    5. National Health Agency will govern the implementing mechanism.
    6. Adequate funds will be provided for smooth implementation of this programme.
    7. Cost of packages will be decided by National Health Agency.

    Significance of Ayushman Bharat

    1. Move towards the goal of universal health coverage
    2. Creating Swasth Bharat.
    3. Accessible healthcare at secondary and tertiary level institutions for the bottom 40% of the population.
    4. High involvement of states as the states are the custodians and the implementers of the scheme.
    5. Ensures enhanced productivity, well being and avert wage loss and impoverishment.
    6. Generation of lakhs of jobs, particularly for women.
    7. Like Jan Dhan scheme did for financial inclusion, Ayushman Bharat will create huge awareness of health insurance
    8. A higher life expectancy.
    9. The country will meet its social development goals.
    10. With respect to infrastructure and trained medical professionals, tertiary healthcare faces a big challenge. This problem is more acute in rural areas. AB will address this challenge.
    11. Will improve access to healthcare and bridge the demand-supply gap.

    National Digital Health Eco-system

    It is a National Digital Health Eco-system that supports Universal Health Coverage in an efficient, accessible, inclusive, affordable, timely, and safe manner, through the provision of a wide range of data, information, and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems, and ensuring the security, confidentiality, and privacy of health-related personal information.

    Knowing in detail the main scheme, let us look at the current developments and initiatives by the government to bring the health sector and Digital India mission in confluence to provide better services to the people of India and increasing governance through ICT.

    What is Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission?

    • It aims to provide digital health IDs for all Indian citizens to help hospitals, insurance firms, and citizens access health records electronically when required.
    • The pilot project of the Mission had been announced by the Prime Minister from the ramparts of the Red Fort on 15th August 2020.
    • The project is being implemented in the pilot phase in six States & Union Territories.

    Features of the Mission:

    Use of technology

    • There had also been an unprecedented expansion of telemedicine in the corona period- so far about 125 crore remote consultations completed through e-Sanjeevani.
    • The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission would now connect the digital health solutions of hospitals across the country with each other.

    Health ID:

    • It will be issued for every citizen that will also work as their health account. This health account will contain details of every test, every disease, the doctors visited, the medicines taken and the diagnosis.
    • Health ID is free of cost, voluntary. It will help in doing analysis of health data and lead to better planning, budgeting and implementation for health programs.

    Healthcare Facilities & Professionals’ Registry:

    • The other major component of the programme is creating a Healthcare Professionals’ Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registry (HFR), allowing easy electronic access to medical professionals and health infrastructure.
    • The HPR will be a comprehensive repository of all healthcare professionals involved in delivering healthcare services across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.
    • The HFR database will have records of all the country’s health facilities.

    Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission Sandbox:

    • The Sandbox, created as a part of the mission, will act as a framework for technology and product testing that will help organizations, including private players intending to be a part of the national digital health ecosystem become a Health Information Provider or Health Information User or efficiently link with building blocks of Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission.

    Who will be the implementing agency for the mission?

    • National Health Authority (NHA) under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

    What are the intended benefits of the mission?

    • Indians will be able to use IT-enabled tools to share prescriptions, blood test reports and X-ray diagnostics with doctors, irrespective of where they were generated.
    • It involves the creation of a unique health ID for every citizen and a digital registry that aims to facilitate seamless interactions between healthcare experts.
    • This is a much-needed intervention given that management of chronic diseases has become a critical public health challenge in the past 15 years.
    • Data portability could expedite the treatment of the critically ill, especially those who suffer from more than one ailment.
    • The severity of Covid-19 effects amongst those with comorbidities has highlighted the need for a repository that alerts a doctor to a patient’s medical history at the click of a computer mouse.
    • In the long run, the creation of a health record system could improve public health monitoring and advance evidence-based policymaking.
    • It ensures ease of doing business for doctors and hospitals and healthcare service providers.
    • Enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.
    • Create integration within the digital health ecosystem, similar to the role played by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in revolutionizing payments.
    • Old medical records cannot get lost as every record will be stored digitally. The Digital Ecosystem will also enable a host of other facilities like Digital Consultation, Consent of patients in letting medical practitioners access their records, etc.  
    • Based on the foundations laid down in the form of Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity and other digital initiatives of the government, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission will create a seamless online platform.
    • Through this platform, the provision of a wide range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems while ensuring the security, confidentiality and privacy of health-related personal information.

    Global learning

    • Globally, the tryst with e-health innovations has been a mixed one.
    • The UK’s National Health Service was one of the first to deploy a digital system to make patients’ records accessible to doctors across the country.
    • The programme did not earn the trust of doctors and failed to adequately address issues related to data confidentiality. Aborted in 2011, the project is regarded as amongst the most expensive failures in IT history.
    • In the US and Australia, where digital healthcare has enjoyed a relatively better outing, the creation of a patient and physician-centric e-healthcare ecosystem remains a work in progress.
    • The US medical system has witnessed regular debates on what must be jotted down in hospital records and prescriptions.

    What are the challenges and concerns?

    • The lack of a data protection bill could lead to the misuse of data by private firms and bad actors.
    • Exclusion of citizens and denied healthcare due to faults in the system are also a cause of concern.
    • Evolving a language of communication in the digital health ecosphere could pose unforeseen problems in India given the country’s diversity and its chronic shortage of doctors, especially in public health centres — the main source of medical care for a vast number of people in the country.
    • Poor internet speeds could make data entry an onerous proposition for the rural healthcare provider.

    Way Forward

    • The NDHM still does not recognize Health as a justifiable right. There should be a push draft at making health a right, as prescribed in the draft National Health Policy, 2015.
    • Learning from the global experiences, India has to wisely draft the policy rules and implement according to current infrastructural limitations and present needs. The experience out of corona pandemic will be the key guiding factor behind the implementation of the mission.
    • The standardisation of NDHM architecture across the country will need to find ways to accommodate state-specific rules.
    • It also needs to be in sync with government schemes like Ayushman Bharat Yojana and other IT-enabled schemes like Reproductive Child Health Care and NIKSHAY etc.
    • The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission gives patients the option to choose the records they want to share. The areangements should be accordingly made to protect the privacy of the people and save them from further exploitation.

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  • Reimagining food systems with lessons from India

    Context

    The first and historic United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) 2021 was held in September this year.

    Significance of food system transformation

    • Global food systems are the networks that are needed to produce and transform food, and ensure it reaches consumers, or the paths that food travels from production to plate.
    • Global food systems are in a state of crisis in many countries affecting the poor and the vulnerable.
    • In terms of larger goals, the food system transformation is considered essential in achieving the sustainable development agenda 2030.
    • This makes strong sense as 11 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) out of 17 are directly related to the food system.

    Achievements of the Food Systems Summit

    • The summit created a mechanism for serious debates involving UN member states, civil society, non-governmental organisations, academics, researchers, individuals, and the private sector.
    • The debate and response focused on five identified action tracks namely: Ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all; Shift to sustainable consumption patterns; Boost nature-positive production; Advance equitable livelihoods, and Build resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks, and stress.
    • The Statement of Action emerging from the summit offers a concise set of ambitious, high-level principles and areas for action to support the global call to “Build back better” after the COVID-19 pandemic.

    Lessons from India’s experience with food systems

    • India’s long journey from food shortage to surplus food producer offers several lessons for other developing countries.
    • The learnings encompassed elements of nutritional health, food safety and standards, sustainability, deployment of space technology, and the like.
    • Safety nets: One of India’s greatest contributions to equity in food is its National Food Security Act 2013 that anchors the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS), the Mid-Day meals (MDM), and the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS).
    • Today, India’s food safety nets collectively reach over a billion people.
    • Food safety nets and inclusion are linked with public procurement and buffer stock policy.
    • Challenge of climate change: Climate change and unsustainable use of land and water resources are the most formidable challenges food systems face today.
    • The latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has set the alarm bells ringing, highlighting the urgency to act now.
    • Nutrition and food diversity: Dietary diversity, nutrition, and related health outcomes are another area of concern as a focus on rice and wheat has created nutritional challenges of its own.
    • India has taken a bold decision to fortify rice supplied through the Public Distribution System with iron.
    • Low nutrition: Despite being a net exporter and food surplus country at the aggregate level, India has a 50% higher prevalence of undernutrition compared to the world average.
    • But the proportion of the undernourished population declined from 21.6% during 2004-06 to 15.4% during 2018-20.
    • Food wastage: Reducing food wastage or loss of food is a mammoth challenge and is linked to the efficiency of the food supply chain. Food wastage in India exceeds ₹1-lakh crore.

    Need to eliminate hunger

    • ‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World’ report, estimates that around a tenth of the global population was undernourished last year.
    • Hunger and food insecurity are key drivers of conflict and instability across the world.
    • The Nobel Peace Prize 2020 conferred on the United Nations WFP highlighted the importance of addressing hunger to prevent conflicts and create stability.

    Way forward

    • Collaboration: We must collaborate to invest, innovate, and create lasting solutions in sustainable agriculture contribution to equitable livelihood, food security, and nutrition.
    • Lessons from India: India has so much to offer from its successes, and learning also, to prepare itself for the next 20 to 30 years.
    • There is a need to reimagining the food system towards the goal of balancing growth and sustainability, mitigating climate change, ensuring healthy, safe, quality, and affordable food, maintaining biodiversity, improving resilience, and offering an attractive income and work environment to smallholders and youth.

    Conclusion

    We are on the cusp of a transformation to make the world free of hunger by 2030 and deliver promises for SDGs, with strong cooperation and partnership between governments, citizens, civil society organisations, and the private sector.

  • Revealing India’s actual farmer population

    Context

    Depending on the source, there is a wide variation in the number of farmers in India.

    What is the extent of variation?

    • The last Agriculture Census for 2015-16 placed the total “operational holdings” in India at 146.45 million.
    • The Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM-Kisan) scheme has 110.94 million beneficiaries.
    • National Statistical Office’s Situation Assessment of Agricultural Households (SAAH) report for 2018-19 pegs the country’s “agricultural households” at 93.09 million.

    What explains the variation?

    • This wide variation has largely to do with methodology.
    • The Agriculture Census looks at any land used even partly for agricultural production, the land does not have to be owned by that person (“cultivator”), who needn’t also belong to an “agricultural household”.
    • The SAAH report, on the other hand, considers only the operational holdings of agricultural households.
    • Members of a household may farm different lands.
    • The SAAH takes all these lands as a single production unit.
    • It does not count multiple holdings if operated by individuals living together and sharing a common kitchen.
    • Accounting for only “agricultural households”, while not distinguishing multiple operating holdings within them, brings down India’s official farmer numbers to just over 93 million.
    • Expansive definition: SAAH’s definition of “agricultural households” is expansive.
    • It covers households having at least one member self-employed in agriculture and whose annual value of produce exceeds Rs 4,000.
    • Such self-employment needs to be for only 30 days or more during the survey reference period of six months.

    So, what is the actual number of farmers?

    • The estimate of actual number is based on the following methodology.
    • The SAAH report gives data on agricultural household income from farm and non-farm sources, both state-wise and across different land-possessed/operational holding size classes.
    • From the above data, we can categorise “full-time/regular” farmers as those households whose net receipts from farming are at least 50 per cent of their total income from all sources.
    • The SAAH report also has state-wise estimates of agricultural households for each land-possessed size class.
    • By taking only those size classes in which the dependence ratios are higher than (or close to) 50 per cent, and adding up the corresponding estimated number of agricultural households, we are able to arrive at the total “full-time/regular” farmers for each state.
    • Following the above methodology, India’s “serious” farmer population, in turn, adds up to 36.1 million, which is hardly 39 per cent of the SAAH estimate.

    Policy implications of having actual numbers of farmers significantly lower than estimated

    • If the actual number of farmers deriving a significant share of their income from agriculture per se is only 40 million a host of policy implications follow.
    • Targeted policy: One must recognise that farming is a specialised profession like any other.
    • “Agriculture policy” should, then, target those who can and genuinely depend on farming as a means of livelihood.
    • Minimum support prices, government procurement, agricultural market reforms, fertiliser and other input subsidies, Kisan Credit Card loans, crop insurance or export-import policy on farm commodities will matter mainly to “full-time/regular” farmers.
    • Land size matters: The SAAH report reveals that the 50 per cent farm income dependence threshold is crossed at an all-India level only when the holding size exceeds one hectare or 2.5 acres.
    • This is clearly the minimum land required for farming to be viable, which about 70 per cent of agricultural households in the country do not possess.
    • Policy for labourers: What should be done for this 70 per cent, who are effectively labourers and not farmers?
    • Their problems cannot be addressed through “agriculture policy”.
    • The scope for value-addition and employment can be more outside than on the farm — be it in aggregation, grading, packaging, transporting, processing, warehousing and retailing of produce or supply of inputs and services to farmers.

    Consider the question “What explains the wide variation in the estimates of the number of farmers in India? What are the implications of such variations for agriculture policy?”

    Conclusion

    Agriculture policy should aim not only at increasing farm incomes but also adding value to produce outside and closer to the farms. A more sustainable solution lies in reimagining agriculture beyond the farm.

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