Context: Recently, the Union Cabinet has given its approval to a new pan India Central Sector Scheme-Agriculture Infrastructure Fund.
About the scheme

• The scheme will provide a medium – long term debt financing facility for investment in viable projects for post-harvest management Infrastructure and community farming assets through interest subvention and financial support.
• The duration of the Scheme will be 10 years, from FY2020 to FY2029.

Under the scheme,Rs.1 Lakh Crore will be provided by banks and financial institutions as loans to:

• Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)
• Marketing Cooperative Societies
• Farmer Producers Organizations (FPOs)
• Self Help Group (SHG) & Farmers
• Joint Liability Groups (JLG)
• Multipurpose Cooperative Societies
• Agri-entrepreneurs& Startups

Aggregation Infrastructure Providers and Central/State agency or Local Body sponsored Public Private Partnership Project

• All loans under this financing facility will have interest subvention of 3% per annum up to a limit of Rs. 2 crore.
• This subvention will be available for a maximum period of 7 years.
• Credit guarantee coverage will be available for eligible borrowers under Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) for a loan up to Rs. 2 crore.
• Moratorium for repayment under this financing facility may vary subject to minimum of 6 months and maximum of 2 years.
• It will be managed and monitored through an online Management Information System (MIS) platform.

Benefits of the scheme

• The Project by way of facilitating formal credit to farm and farm processing-based activities is expected to create numerous job opportunities in rural areas.
• It will enable all the qualified entities to apply for a loan under the fund.
• The online platform will also provide benefits such as transparency of interest rates offered by multiple banks, scheme details including interest subvention and credit guarantee offered, minimum documentation, faster approval process as also integration with other scheme benefits.

Context: With global supply chains being disrupted because of the COVID-19 crisis, the Indian government has given a clarion call for “Aatma Nirbhar Bharat”. India has been the net exporter of agricultural commodities since 1991, however, there is scope for increasing its net export. This article suggests the strategy to achieve this.
Background

• Indian PM has given the clarion call for ANB in the backdrop of COVID-19 (which has disrupted the global supply chains) and border standoff with China.
• Protectionism: The government has banned 59 Chinese apps, has stepped up effort to check imports and investments from China and asked Indians to “be vocal for local”.

“Aatma nirbharta” in the agriculture sector

• Presumption: A large country like India should produce most of its food at home.
• Increase in foreign exchange reserves: The “aatma nirbharta” in food is because of reforms in correction of the exchange rate which is coupled with the gradual integration of India with the world economy.
• This has helped India increase its foreign exchange reserves from $1.1 billion in June end, 1991 to more than $500 billion today.
• India as Net exporter of agri-produce: The graph presents exports and imports of agricultural commodities over the last 10 years (2010-11 to 2019-20).
• It clearly shows that India has been a net exporter of agri-produce ever since the economic reforms began in 1991.
• Golden time of agri-trade: It was 2013-14 when agri-exports peaked at $43.6 billion while imports were $18.9 billion, giving a net trade surplus of $24.7 billion.
• Sluggish agri-exports: Since 2014, agri-exports have been sluggish and sliding and in 2019-20, agri-exports were just $36 billion and the net agri-trade surplus at $11.2 billion.

How to chalk out a strategy for increasing agriculture exports?

• Comparative advantage: India needs to export more where we have a competitive edge and importing where we lack competitiveness.

Current agri-export basket of 2019-20

• It gives a sense of “revealed comparative advantage”. Marine products with $6.7 billion exports top the list, followed by rice at $6.4 billion (basmati at $4.6 billion and common rice at $2.0 billion), spices at $3.6 billion, buffalo meat at $3.2 billion, sugar at $2.0 billion, tea and coffee at $1.5 billion, fresh fruits and vegetables at $1.4 billion, and cotton at $1 billion.

High subsidy effects

• Rice and sugar cultivation are quite subsidised through free power and highly subsidised fertilisers which accounts for about 10-15% of the value of rice and sugar produced on a per hectare basis.
• Faster depletion of groundwater: It is leading to the virtual export of water as one kg of rice requires 3,500-5,000 litres of water for irrigation and one kg of sugar consumes about 2,000 litres of water.

Incentives for exports of high-value agri-produce like fruits and vegetables, spices

• On the agri-imports front, the biggest item is edible oils which values about $10 billion (more than 15 mt).
• Atma Nirbharta: India needs to create a competitive advantage through augmenting productivity and increasing the recovery ratio of oil from oilseeds and in case of palm oil, from fresh fruit bunches.
• Potential: The maximum lies in oil palm apart from the mustard, sunflower, groundnuts and cottonseed. This is the only plant that can give about four tonnes of oil on a per hectare basis.
• India has about 2 million hectares that are suitable for oil palm cultivation — this can yield 8 mt of palm oil.

Road Ahead

• The government must focus on augmenting export and decrease import dependence in agricultural products which will further its goal of aatmanirbharta and doubling the farmers’ income.

Context: Recently, Odisha has decided to introduce locally produced millets for the first time into Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme and Public Distribution System (PDS).

Key Points

• The initiatives will be carried out as a part of the Odisha’s Millet Mission (2017).
• The State’s millet mission aims to popularise local production of millets among farmers and increase local household consumption for better dietary diversity and nutritional gains.
• It is an attempt to develop decentralised infrastructure for processing and re-popularising millets.

Aim

• The initiative intends to integrate locally grown millets as part of public food systems such as ICDS and PDS, mid-day meals.
• It also aims to build climate resilience among farmers and promote agroecological farming methods for cultivation that draw on chemical-free agriculture practices and locally sustained food systems.
• Ideally, the aim is to make the districts self-sufficient with produce, procurement and distribution.

Need

• Odisha has an immense malnutrition burden to address, with about 45% children who are stunted.
• The State also has almost 41% women who have a below-normal body mass index, according to the National Family Health Survey, 2015-16.

Features

• The districts will be using their District Mineral Foundation (DMF) funds to implement the initiative.
• DMF is a trust set up as a non-profit body under the Ministry of Mines through the Mines and Minerals (Development & Regulation) Amendment Act, (MMDRA) 2015.
• The objective is to work for the interest and benefit of persons and areas affected by mining related operations in those districts affected by the mining works.
• The money will be credited in the farmers’ account at the end of the sowing and harvest season based on the report submitted by local implementation agencies and vetted by the district administration.
• Additionally, all the districts will provide 1.5 kilogrammes ragi per person (out of the five kg per person entitlement) through PDS.

Complementary to Agricultural Practices

• The millet drive is largely focused on local food diversity and ensuring availability of food to farmers unlike the consumer and urban market-driven approach.
• Farmers who have adopted bio-inputs and follow the system of millets intensification will be given incentives for three years.
• The state government will also be incentivising agronomic practices including pest and weed management through organic methods. However, it does not exclude farmers who will be using chemical-based fertilisers.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has published the draft rules framed for the implementation of the Code on Wages Act, 2019.
Key Points

• The latest draft rules are similar to the preliminary draft published in November 2019 with one major change.
• The Ministry has changed the work requirement for eligibility for minimum wages and other benefits from nine hours to eight.
• The latest draft clarified the issue as the nine hours mentioned earlier included one hour of rest, which has now been mentioned separately from the eight working hours.

About Code on Wages Act 2019

• Aims to transform the old and obsolete labour laws into more accountable and transparent ones and seeks to pave the way for the introduction of minimum wages and labour reforms in the country.
• Removes the multiplicity of wage definitions, which can significantly reduce litigation as well as compliance cost for employers.
• Regulates the wages and bonus payments in all employments where any industry, trade, business, or manufacturing is being carried out.
• Links minimum wage across the country to the skills of the employee and the place of employment.
• It simplifies the methodology to fix minimum wage by doing away with the ‘type of employment’.
• It seeks to universalise the provisions of minimum wages and timely payment of wages to all employees irrespective of the sector and wage ceiling.

Key Provisions of Draft Wage Rules

• Working hours: The normal working day shall comprise eight hours of work and one or more intervals of rest which in total shall not exceed one hour.
• Central Advisory Board: Government will set up a Central advisory board to fix the floor-level minimum wages.
• Calculation of minimum wage: The criteria for fixing the minimum rate of wages per day for employees include: (i) standard family of four (self, spouse and two children) (ii) daily intake of 2700 calories per consumption unit, (iii) 10% expenditure on rent, (iv) 20% expenditure of fuel, electricity, and miscellaneous items, and (v) 25% expenditure on education, medical requirements and contingencies.
• Norms for fixing minimum wage: Minimum wages will be calculated on the basis of the geographical area of employment and the skill category of an employee.  
• For this purpose, the central government will divide the geographical area into three categories: metropolitan,, non-metropolitan and rural areas.
• The occupations are also divided into four skill categories: unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled.
• Technical committee: A Technical Committee will be formed to suggest, modify, add or delete particular occupations in the tentative list of four categories: unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled.

Context: Recently, the draft proposal -Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Ordinance, 2020- was approved by the cabinet under the chairmanship of Chief Minister of Haryana.
Key Points

• The draft ordinance aims to address the aspect of unemployment of the local population on a priority basis.
• It seeks a 75 percent reservation for the state’s local youth in the new employment opportunities of various private companies that will provide a salary of less than Rs 50,000.
• Besides privately managed companies, the ordinance covers societies, trusts, partnership firms and Limited Liability Partnership firms located in Haryana.
• The employees getting a monthly salary below Rs 50,000 would now have to register on the portal of labour department, which would be free of cost facility. 
• The companies that fail to register on the portal will have to pay a fine of Rs 25,000 to Rs one lakh.
• The candidates seeking to take benefit of the scheme will require a domicile certificate. 
• The private employers will, however, have the option to recruit local candidates from one district to only 10 percent.
• There will also be an exemption if suitable local candidates are not available for a particular category of industry. 
• However, in this, the private companies will need to inform the labour department and only that they will be permitted to hire youth from other states.

Impact of this move

• The availability of suitable workforce locally would definitely enhance the efficiency of the industry and commercial establishment.
• Further, the state government has decided to give preference to local candidates in low-paid jobs as it is socially, economically and environmentally desirable.

Context: According to the central scheme database of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, 2005 (MGNREGA), at least 1.4 lakh poor rural households have completed their quota of 100 days of work for the first three months of the year.
Key Points

• At least 1.4 lakh poor rural households have already completed their quota of 100 days of work under MGNREGA in the first three months of the year, and will not be eligible for further benefits under the rural employment guarantee scheme for the rest of the year.
• Another seven lakh households have completed 80 days and are on the verge of running out of work as well, according to the scheme’s database.
• With COVID-19 pandemicand the lockdown resulting in thousands of unemployed migrant workers returning to their villages and now dependent on MGNREGA wages, activists are urging the government to increase the limit to at least 200 days per household.

Challenges

• With the COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown resulting in thousands of unemployed migrant workers returning to their villages, many are now dependent on MGNREGA wages.
• Having completed the quota of 100 days of work, in the first three months of the year, they will not be eligible for further benefits under the scheme for the rest of the year.
• With work running out, the families are in a huge crisis.
• While the construction sector, which usually absorbs a large number of workers, has also collapsed, the demand for MGNREGA work has been increasing.

Road Ahead

• Activists are urging the government to increase the limit to at least 200 days per household.
• The scheme contains a provision for districts affected by natural disasters to request an expansion of the scheme to allow for 150 days of work per household.
• Given that COVID-19 was declared a national disaster, activists have demanded that this provision be implemented immediately.
• Activists have argued that the limit should be imposed per adult individual rather than per household.

About MGNREGA

• The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, earlier known as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed on 7th September 2005 to augment employment generation and social security in India.
• It covers all districts of India except the ones with 100% urban population.
• It was also announced that three crore senior citizens, persons with disabilities and widows will get one-time additional amount of Rs 1,000 in two installments which will be provided through DBT (Direct Benefit Transfer) over a period of three months.
• This announcement was made as an initiative towards the loss caused by the Covid-19 outbreak. The 21 days lock down is expected to cost the Indian Economy a cost of around 9 lakh crores. 
• Funds worth Rs 31,000 crore are also to be provided to augment medical testing, screening and providing better healthcare facilities to those who have been affected financially due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

Context: Recently, the Union Cabinet has given its approval for developing of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs) for urban migrants and poor, as a subscheme under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).
Key Points

• The existing vacant government funded housing complexes will be converted in ARHCs through Concession Agreements for 25 years.
• The States/UTs will select concessionaire through transparent bidding and will make the complexes livable by repair/retrofit and maintenance of rooms and filling up infrastructure gaps like water, sewer/ septage, sanitation, road etc.
• The special incentives like use permission, 50% additional FAR/FSI, concessional loan at priority sector lending rate, tax reliefs at par with affordable housing etc. will be offered to private/public entities to develop ARHCs on their own available vacant land for 25 years.

Targeted Beneficiary of the Scheme: A large part of workforce in 

• manufacturing industries, service providers in hospitality, health,
• domestic/commercial establishments, and construction or other sectors,
• labourers, students etc. 
• who come from rural areas or small towns seeking better opportunities will be the target beneficiary under ARHCs.

There will be an expenditure of Rs 600 Crore which is estimated in the form of Technology Innovation Grant which will be released for projects using identified innovative technologies for construction.

Advantages of Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (AHRCs)

• Creation of New Ecosystem: It will create new ecosystem in urban areas making housing available at affordable rent close to the place of work.
• More Job Opportunities: The investment under ARHCs is expected to create new job opportunities.
• Traffic and Pollution Control: The ARHCs will cut down unnecessary travel, congestion and pollution.
• Economically Productive Use: The government funded vacant housing stock will be converted into ARHCs for economically productive use.
• New Investment Opportunities & Promotion of Entrepreneurship: The scheme would create a conducive environment for Entities to develop AHRCs on their own vacant land which will enable new investment opportunities and promote entrepreneurship in rental housing sector.

About Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban)

• It envisions Housing for All by 2022 and it subsumed Rajiv Awas Yojana and Rajiv Rinn Yojana.

It seeks to address the housing requirement of urban poor including slum dwellers through following programmes –

• Central assistance to Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and other implementing agencies for Slum rehabilitation with participation of private developers.
• Promotion of Affordable Housing for weaker section through Credit Linked Subsidy
• Affordable Housing in Partnership with Public & Private sectors
• Subsidy for beneficiary-led individual house construction
• It covers all 4041 statutory towns as per Census 2011 with focus on 500 Class I cities in three phases.

Centre and state will be funded in the ratio of 75:25 and in case of North Eastern and special category States in the ratio of 90:10.

• Beneficiaries: Urban poor who does not own a pucca house, Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Lower Income Groups (LIG – eligible only for credit linked subsidy scheme).
• States/UTs have flexibility to redefine the annual income criteria with the approval of Ministry.
• Under the mission, a beneficiary can avail of benefit of one component only.
• HUDCO and NHB have been identified as Central Nodal Agencies (CNAs) to channelize this subsidy to the lending institutions.
• Credit Linked Subsidy: It is an interest subsidy available to a loan amounts upto Rs 6 lakhs at the rate of 6.5% for tenure of 20 years or during tenure of loan whichever is lower.
• The houses will be allocated preferably in the name of Women in the family.

Context: Recently, MeitY-NITI launches Digital India AtmaNirbhar Bharat App Innovation Challenge to realise PM’s vision of Digital India – AtmaNirbhar Bharat
About the challenge

• It is launched by Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology(MeitY) in partnership with Atal Innovation Mission – NITI Aayog
• It is an App Innovation Challenge for Indian tech entrepreneurs and Start-ups.
• It aims to support and build a strong ecosystem for Indian Apps.

This innovation challenge will run in two tracks

1) Promotion of existing apps

• For promotion of existing apps and platforms across the categories of e-learning, work-from-home, gaming, business, entertainment, office utilities, and social networking, the government will provide mentoring, hand-holding and support.
• Track-01 will work in mission mode for identifying good quality apps for the leader-board and shall be completed in around a month.
• Track-01 is being launched in 8 categories: office productivity & work from home; social networking; e-learning; entertainment; health and wellness; business including agri-tech and fin-tech; news; games.

2) Development of new apps

• For incubating new apps and platforms, Track-02 initiative will work to help create new champions in India by providing support in ideation, incubation, prototyping and roll out along with market access.
• This challenge will be jointly hosted by the Government and members of the tech community to make it more holistic.

Expected outcomes of the challenge

• Give better visibility and clarity to existing apps to achieve their goals.
• Create tech products to find solutions to tech conundrums with the help of mentorship, tech support and guidance during the entire life-cycle.
• The Innovation Challenge will be available on the MyGov portal.
• A specific jury for each track with experts from Private Sector & Academia will evaluate the entries received.
• Shortlisted Apps will be given awards & will also feature on Leader boards for the information of citizens.
• The Government will also adopt suitable Apps, guide them to maturity and list on Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
• Some of the key evaluation parameters will include Ease of use (UI/UX), Robustness, Security and Scalability.

Atal Innovation Mission (AIM)

• It is Government of India’s flagship initiative to promote a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.
• It is launched by the NITI Aayog.

It has two core functions

• Entrepreneurship promotion through Self-Employment and Talent Utilization (SETU), wherein innovators would be supported and mentored to become successful entrepreneurs.
• Innovation promotion: to provide a platform where innovative ideas are generated.

Context: Recently, Ministry of Railways has kick-started the process to allow private players to operate certain trains on its network by inviting Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for the operation of passenger train services on over 100 routes with 150 modern trains.
How it works?

• Train sets have to be brought by private operators and maintained by them.
• Fares in private trains will be competitive and prices on other modes of transport like airlines, buses have to be kept in mind while fixing the fares
• Private participation in passenger train operations will only be 5% of the total operations of Railways. 95% of trains will still be run by Indian Railways.

Objectives of the initiative

• To introduce modern technology rolling stock with reduced maintenance.
• Reduce transit time.
• Boost job creation.
• Provide enhanced safety.
• Provide world-class travel experience to passengers.
• Reduce demand supply deficit in the passenger transportation sector.

Benefits of Privatisation

• Improved Infrastructure: It will lead to better infrastructure which in turn would lead to improved amenities for travellers.
• Balancing Quality of Service with High Fares: The move would foster competition and hence lead to overall betterment in the quality of services.
• Lesser Accidents: Because private ownership is synonymous with better maintenance, supporters of privatisation feel that it will reduce the number of accidents, thus resulting in safe travel and higher monetary savings in the long run.

Critical Issues which need to be addressed for this initiative

• Financial Viability: There will be questions over the financial viability of some routes which has not been good for Indian Railways in terms of revenue earned in last few years.
• Subsidy by Indian Railway: Railways tend to cross-subsidize passenger fares through freight revenue. This translates to below cost pricing, which will make it difficult for private players to compete.
• Issues associated with higher pricing: The higher fares needed to cover costs by private players might bring them in direct competition with airlines, pricing them out of the market.
• Absence of independent regulator: Further, as the experience of private operators in running container trains suggests, setting up an independent regulator will be critical for creating a level playing field for private players. Currently, the same entity is effectively the policy maker, regulator and service provider, rolled into one.

Context: Recently, the World Bank (WB) and the Government of India has signed the USD 750 million agreement for an Emergency Response Programme for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).
Key Points

• The World Bank’s MSME Emergency Response Programme will address the immediate liquidity and credit needs of some 1.5 million viable MSMEs to help them withstand the impact of the current shock and protect millions of jobs. 
• This is the first step among a broader set of reforms that are needed to propel the MSME sector over time.
• The Government of India is focused on ensuring that the abundant financial sector liquidity available flow to NBFCs, and that banks which have turned extremely risk-averse, continue taking exposures in the economy by lending to NBFCs.
• This project will support the Government in providing targeted guarantees to incentivise NBFCs and banks to continue lending to viable MSMEs to help sustain them through the crisis.

The World Bank Group, including its private sector arm – the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will support the government’s initiatives to protect the MSME sector by:
Unlocking liquidity

• India’s financial system benefited from early and decisive measures taken by the RBI and the Government of India (GOI) to infuse liquidity into the market. 
• Given current uncertainties, lenders remain concerned about borrowers’ ability to repay – resulting in a limited flow of credit even to the viable enterprises in the sector. 
• This program will support the government’s efforts to channel that liquidity to the MSME sector by de-risking lending from banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to MSMEs through a range of instruments, including credit guarantees.

Strengthening NBFCs and SFBs

• Improving the funding capacity of key market-oriented channels of credit, such as the NBFCs and Small Finance Bank (SFBs), will help them respond to the urgent and varied needs of the MSMEs. 
• This will include supporting the government’s refinance facility for NBFCs. In parallel, the IFC is also providing direct support to SFBs through loans and equity.

Enabling financial innovations

• Today, only about 8 percent of MSMEs are served by formal credit channels. The program will incentivize and mainstream the use of fintech and digital financial services in MSME lending and payments.
• Digital platforms will play an important role by enabling lenders, suppliers, and buyers to reach firms faster and at a lower cost, especially small enterprises that currently may not have access to the formal channels.
• MSME sector is central to India’s growth and job creation and will be key to the pace of India’s economic recovery, post-COVID-19. The immediate need is to ensure that the liquidity infused into the system by the government is accessed by MSMEs.
• Equally important is to strengthen the overall financing ecosystem for MSMEs. This operation seeks to achieve both these objectives by furthering the role of NBFCs and SCBs as effective financial intermediaries and leveraging fintech to broaden the reach of finance into the MSME sector.
• The World Bank has to date committed $2.75 billion to support India’s emergency COVID-19 response, including the new MSME project. The first $1 billion emergency support was announced in April this year for immediate support to India’s health sector. Another $1 billion projects was approved in May to increase cash transfers and food benefits to the poor and vulnerable, including a more consolidated delivery platform – accessible to both rural and urban populations across state boundaries.
• The $750 million loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a maturity of 19 years including a 5-year grace period.

Importance of MSMEs for Indian Economy

• Employment: It is the second largest employment generating sector after agriculture. It provides employment to around 120 million persons in India.
• Contribution to GDP: With around 36.1 million units throughout the geographical expanse of the country, MSMEs contribute around 6.11% of the manufacturing GDP and 24.63% of the GDP from service activities.
• MSME ministry has set a target to up its contribution to GDP to 50% by 2025 as India becomes a $5 trillion economy.
• Exports: It contributes around 45% of the overall exports from India.
• Inclusive growth: MSMEs promote inclusive growth by providing employment opportunities in rural areas especially to people belonging to weaker sections of the society.
• Financial inclusion: Small industries and retail businesses in tier-II and tier-III cities create opportunities for people to use banking services and products.
• Promote innovation: It provides opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to build creative products boosting business competition and fuels growth.

Country's first Kisan Special Parcel Train

Context: Recently, Indian Railway introduces country's first Kisan Special Parcel Train or Kisan Rail will start from August 7, 2020 to provide seamless supply of perishable produce.

• The train will transport material between Maharashtra's Devlali and Bihar's Danapur Railway station. It will be covering a distance of 1,519 kilometres in around 32 hours.
• The Kisan Rail will carry fruits and vegetables and will make stoppages at several stations and pick-up and deliver them. This will help in bringing perishable agricultural products like vegetables, fruits to the market in a short period of time.
• The Kisan Rail train with frozen containers is expected to build a seamless national cold supply chain for perishables, inclusive of fish, meat and milk.
• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced to start 'Kisan Rail' in the current year's Budget, for providing a seamless supply chain of perishable produce.

Northern Railway runs first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train
Context: Recently, Northern Railway today ran first-ever Vyapar Mala Express train

• This train destined for Jirania in Tripura has 46 wagons. This is an express service where piece-meal stock will reach its destination in a shorter time.
• The train departed from Delhi Kishanganj for Jirania and it will cover a distance of 2,673 km from Punjab to Tripura.
• Wheat was loaded in 34 wagons at Guniana station of Firozpur Division by Food Corporation of India and in the remaining Rice and Pulses have been loaded. Railways has earned more than 94 lakh rupees from this Vyapar Mala Express train.
• It will help small traders in moving their cargo through Railways, in a short time, cost effective, convenient and environment-friendly mode of transportation.

Context: Recently, the Indian Railways has decided to be self-reliant for its energy needs by utilizing its vacant lands for Renewable Energy (RE) projects.

Moving towards ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Railways

• The Ministry of Railways has decided to install solar power plants on its vacant unused lands on mega-scale.
• The use of solar power will accelerate the mission to achieve a conversion of Indian Railways to ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Railway.
• Railway Energy Management Company Ltd. (REMCL) is working to further proliferate the use of solar energy on mega scale.
• It has already floated tenders for 2 GW of solar projects for Indian Railways to be installed on unutilised railway lands.

Projects along operational railway lines

• Indian Railways is also adopting an innovative concept of installation of solar projects along operational railway lines.
• This will help in preventing encroachment, enhancing the speed and safety of trains and reduction of infrastructure costs due to direct injection of solar power into the traction network.
• With these mega initiatives, Indian Railways is leading India’s fight against climate challenge.
• These are significant steps towards meeting its ambitious goal of being a net zero carbon emissions organisation and meeting India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) targets.

Achievements in this sector

• Energy procurement from various solar projects like 3 MWp solar plant set up at Modern Coach Factory (MCF) Raebareli (Uttar Pradesh).
• About 100 MWp rooftop solar systems on various stations and buildings of Railways.
• A project of 1.7 MWp near Bina Traction Sub Station, Bina (Madhya Pradesh) connected directly to Overhead Traction System (OTS) will be commissioned shortly.
• This is the first of its kind project in the world authorised by Indian Railways in collaboration with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL).
• BHEL is one of the seven Maharatna companies.
• The project was undertaken by BHEL under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme.
• It involves the adoption of innovative technology for converting Direct Current (DC) to single-phase Alternating Current (AC) for feeding directly to Railway’s overhead traction system.
• It can produce approximately 25 lakh units of energy annually and will save around Rs. 1.37 crore for Railways every year.
• On a mission mode, Indian Railways takes decisive steps to transform itself as ‘Net Zero’ Carbon Emission Mass Transportation Network by 2030.
• Pilot project in Bina getting operationalised soon and under extensive testing and trial.
• Mission Atma Nirbhar Bharat remains the driving force.
• Solar Energy to make Indian Railways a complete ‘Green mode of transportation’.

Context: COVID-19 will have severe negative impacts on most of the United Nations-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), according to a report that has tracked the progress of 166 countries since 2015.
Key Points

• The SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals designed to be a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all.
• The subsequent socio-economic crisis after COVID-19 has affected all countries, including high-income ones in Europe and North America.
• As a result of lockdown, many economic activities were shut down, leading to massive losses to the economy and loss of jobs, with maximum impact on vulnerable groups.

Negative Impact
The report said COVID-19 had negatively affected several goals including:

• SDG 1 (no poverty)
• SDG 2 (zero hunger)
• SDG 3 (good health and wellbeing)
• SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth)
• SDG 10 (reduced inequalities)

Immediate Relief
At the same time, the pandemic had brought “immediate relief” in areas related to:

• SDG 12 (responsible consumption and production)
• SDG 13 (climate action)
• SDG 14 (life below water)
• SDG 15 (life on land)

However, these gains will be short-term.
India and SDG

• Among 193 countries for which the SDG index was prepared, India stands at the 117th position with an overall score of 61.92.
• China is ranked at 48, Brazil at 53 and Russia at 57. In south Asia, Maldives is ranked at 91, Sri Lanka at 94, Nepal at 96 Bangladesh at 109, Pakistan at 134 and Afghanistan 139.
• It ranked below two South Asian nations — Pakistan and Afghanistan.
• India faces major challenges in 10 of the 17 SDGs which include — zero hunger, good health, gender inequality among others.
• There are significant challenges in another three SDGs — no poverty (SDG 1), Life below water (SDG 14) and Life on land (SDG 15).

Road Ahead

• The health, economic and social crises triggered by COVID-19 called for increased international collaboration and solidarity to support the most vulnerable countries, the report said.   
• Countries could cooperate on dissemination of the best practices rapidly, addressing hunger hotspots, ensuring social protection and promoting new drugs and vaccines.

Context: Recently, the Central government has stated that it will not extend the deadline for payment of equalisation levy by non-resident e-commerce players, even though a majority of them are yet to deposit the first installment of the tax.

• The equalization levy is aimed at taxing foreign companies which have a significant local client base in India but are billing them through their offshore units, effectively escaping the country’s tax system.
• The step has come in the backdrop of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) investigations into taxes adopted or under consideration by 10 nations, including India, on revenues of American digital service companies like Netflix, Airbnb etc.

Background for Equalization Levy

• Equalisation levy at 6% has been in force since 2016 on payment exceeding Rs 1 lakh a year to a non-resident service provider for online advertisements.
• It is now applicable for e-commerce companies that are sourcing revenue from Indian customers without having tangible presence here in the country.
• The amendments to the Finance Act, 2020 had expanded the ambit of the equalisation levy for non-resident e-commerce operators involved in supply of services, including online sale of goods and provision of services, with the levy at the rate of 2% effective April 1, 2020.
• The tax applies on e-commerce transactions on websites such as Amazon.com. Google in particular as the tax applies on advertising revenue earned overseas if those ads target customers in India.

Issues

• Tax experts point out that there are practical difficulties in getting PAN and many companies are not paying the equalisation levy as there is still considerable confusion and lack of clarity on the applicability of the same.
• It is believed that the requirement of having a PAN and an Indian bank account could cause administrative delays in remittance by non-residents.
• The levy has several issues that primarily include very wide coverage (even non-e-commerce companies could be covered), lack of clarity on how consideration needs to be determined especially in cases where the income is minuscule compared to the transactions facilitated by the non-resident e-commerce operators.
• Even transactions between non-residents are covered and this according to tax experts would be an extraterritorial overreach along with practical difficulty in implementation.

Changes in Challan ITNS 285

• The income tax department has modified challan ITNS 285 (relating to payment of equalisation levy) to enable payment of the first installment by non-resident e-commerce operators.
• The challan also seeks mandatory PAN and provides for ‘Outside India’ option while seeking address.

Penalties Involved

• The non-payment could result in a penalty equal to the amount of equalisation levy, along with interest.
• The late-payment would attract interest at the rate of 1% per month or part of the month.

Road Ahead

• As India is racing towards becoming a digital giant and should be negotiated to avoid any hurdles in its implementation. Further, there needs to be international consensus on taxation on a digital economy.

Context: Recently, the Indian Banks Association (IBA) submitted a proposal for setting up a bad bank to the finance ministry and the RBI, proposing equity contribution from the government and the banks.
Key Points

• The idea of setting up a bad bank often comes up for debate, especially when stress in the banking sector is projected to rise in the near term.
• A slump in earnings of companies and individuals could lead to a jump in non-performing assets, reversing the early trends of NPA reduction post enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and write-off of bad loans by banks.
• To tackle this upcoming challenge, the banking industry has proposed the setting up of a government-backed bad bank.

Understanding Bad Banks

• A bad bank buys the bad loans and other illiquid holdings of other banks and financial institutions, which clears their balance sheet.
• A bad bank structure may also assume the risky assets of a group of financial institutions, instead of a single bank.
• Bad banks are typically set up in times of crisis when long-standing financial institutions are trying to recuperate their reputations and wallets.
• Banks that become insolvent as a result of the process can be recapitalized, nationalized, or liquidated.
• If they do not become insolvent, it is possible for a bad bank’s managers to focus exclusively on maximizing the value of its newly acquired high-risk assets.
• Critics of bad banks say that the option encourages banks to take undue risks, leading to moral hazard, knowing that poor decisions could lead to a bad bank bailout.

What kind of NPA spike is expected during this outbreak?

• The impact of Covid-19 and the associated policy response is likely to result in an additional Rs 1,67,000 crore of debt from the top 500 debt-heavy private sector borrowers turning delinquent between FY21 and FY22.
• Given that 11.57 per cent of the outstanding debt is already stressed, the proportion of stressed debt is likely to increase to 18.21 per cent of the outstanding quantum.

What is the government’s view over Bad Banks?

• While the finance ministry has not formally submitted its view on the proposal, senior officials have indicated that it is not keen to infuse equity capital into a bad bank.
• The government’s view is that bad loan resolution should happen in a market-led way, as there are many asset reconstruction companies already operating in the private space.
• The government has significantly capitalized state-owned banks in recent years and pursued consolidation in the PSU banking space.
• In the last three financial years, the government has infused equity of Rs 2.65 lakh crore into state-owned banks.
• These steps, along with insolvency resolution under the IBC, are seen as adequate to tackle the challenge of bad loans.

What is the RBI view?

• The RBI has so far never come out favourably about the creation of a bad bank with other commercial banks as main promoters.
• Former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had opposed the idea of setting up a bad bank with a majority stake by banks, arguing it would solve nothing.
• Rajan argued that a government-funded bad bank would just shift loans “from one government pocket (the public sector banks) to another (the bad bank) and did not see how it would improve matters”.
• Indeed, if the bad bank were in the public sector, the reluctance to act would merely be shifted to the bad bank.
• Alternatively, if the bad bank were to be in the private sector, the reluctance of public sector banks to sell loans to the bad bank at a significant haircut would still prevail.

Alternatives to a bad bank

• Many experts argue that the enactment of IBC has reduced the need for having a bad bank, as a transparent and open process is available for all lenders to attempt insolvency resolution.
• The view is that an IBC-led resolution, or sale of bad loans to ARCs already existing, is a better approach to tackle the NPA problem rather than a government-funded bad bank.

Former RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya has proposed two models:

• Private Asset Management Company: The first model is a Private Asset Management Company (PAMC) which would be suitable for sectors where the stress is such that assets are likely to have economic value in the short run, with moderate levels of debt forgiveness.
• Setting up National Asset Management Company (NAMC): The second model is a NAMC for sectors where the problem is not just of excess capacity, but possibly also of economically unviable assets in the short- to medium-term, such as in the power sector.
• The NAMC would raise debt for its financing needs, keep a minority equity stake for the government, and bring in asset managers such as ARCs and private equity to manage and turn around the assets.

About Non-Performing Asset (NPA)

• A nonperforming asset (NPA) refers to a classification for loans or advances that are in default or in arrears.
• A loan is in arrears when principal or interest payments are late or missed.
• A loan is in default when the lender considers the loan agreement to be broken and the debtor is unable to meet his obligations.

About SARFAESI Act

• The Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act, 2002 (also known as the SARFAESI Act) is an Indian law that allows banks and other financial institution to auction residential or commercial properties (of Defaulter) to recover loans.
• Under this act secured creditors (banks or financial institutions) have many rights for enforcement of security interest under section 13 of SARFAESI Act, 2002.
• If borrower of financial assistance makes any default in repayment of loan or any instalment and his account is classified as Non performing Asset by secured creditor, then secured creditor may require before expiry of period of limitation by written notice.
• The law does not apply to unsecured loans, loans below Rs 100,000 or where remaining debt is below 20% of the original principal.

Context: Recently, the Assam government has decided to upgrade Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary into a national park. 
Process

• The proposal to upgrade sanctuary in a National park will be submitted to the central government. In most of the cases, centre does not veto such a proposal from a state government.
• Assam Chief Minister has also directed the forest department to prepare a draft notification and to hold public hearings in order to take views of the local dwellers regarding the upgradation who are residing around the Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary.

Significance of this move

• While wildlife sanctuaries are protected areas which permit some activities such as grazing, national parks call for a complete protection status under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
• Its importance will increase and new rules will bring increased vigilance to the area.
• Once the sanctuary is given the National Park Status by the government, it will guarantee the protection of the flora and fauna and better management of Dehing Patkai which forms the largest stretch of lowland rainforest in the country. 
• With the status, there will be a flow of more funds which is expected to boost the infrastructure of the sanctuary.

About Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary

• The Dehing Patkai Wildlife Sanctuary is also known as the Jeypore Rainforest.
• It is located in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam.
• Dehing is the name of the river that flows through this forest and Patkai is the hill at the foot of which the sanctuary lies.
• Fauna: Rare fauna found in the region include Chinese pangolin, flying fox, wild pig, sambar, barking deer, gaur, serow and Malayan giant squirrels.
• It is the only sanctuary in India which is home to seven different species of wild cats - tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, leopard cat, golden cat, jungle cat and marbled cat.
• Assamese macaque, a primate found in the forest, is in the red list of Near Threatened species.
• Flora: Dehing Patkai is a deciduous rainforest interspersed with semi-evergreen and lush green flora.

Context: Recently, Researchers have now found the fungi Ophicordyceps nutans for the first time in central India in Kanger Valley National Park in Chhattisgarh.
Key Points

• The Ophicordyceps nutans have been previously reported in India only from the Western Ghats.
• The fungus was found on the host insect Halyomorpha Halys.
• Also called the stink bug, this insect is a pest to forest trees and agricultural crops. The stink bug is known to damage the flower and fruits of soybean, green beans, apple and pear.

Life cycle of the fungi

• The life cycle of the fungi involves infecting the insect when alive, developing fungal mycelium inside its thorax, and when it is time for the spores to come out, kills the bug.
• The fruiting body sprouts out from between the insect’s thorax and head, and it continues to take nutrition from the dead body. The fungi are very host-specific, so the spores travel and infect many more stink bugs.

Significance

• Previous studies have shown that these fungi can be used as a biological pest control agent.
• Exploring these fungi as a pesticide will help reduce the harmful effect of chemicals in agricultural fields.
• Several species of the Ophiocordyceps fungi have medicinal properties.
• Reports have shown that China has been traditionally using it. Also, in the Western Ghats, the local people use these fungi as an immune stimulator.
• Studies from across the globe have noted that this fungus is rich in biologically active metabolites, vitamin C, phenolic compounds, and also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties.
• Some studies also claim that it contains a component called ‘cordycepin’ which has anti-cancer properties.

About Kanger Valley National Park 

• Also known as Kanger Ghati National Park, it is located in the Bastar district near the Kholaba river.
• It is named after the Kanger River which flows near the Park.
• The park starts from Tirathgarh waterfall and ends near the Kolab River in the Orissa border.
• The Park has mainly Cuddapah group of rock formation and at some places vindhyan group of rock formation, shales are the common rock formation of cuddapah group, which are horizontally bedded, at many places calcareous, the other rock formation is slate.
• It was declared as a National park in the year of 1982.
• Flora of the park: It consists of mixed moist deciduous type of forest with predominance of sal, teak and bamboo trees. In addition to these, the National Park is also known for medicinal plants, grasses, climbers, wild sugarcane, canes, ferns and epiphytes. 
• Fauna of the Park: It include tigers, leopards, mouse-deer, wild-cat, chital, sambar, barking deer, jackals, langurs, sloth bear, flying squirrel, wild-boar, striped hyena, rabbits, pythons, cobra and crocodiles.

Context: Nearly 80% of the sanctuary, world's biggest habitat of one-horned rhinos spread over 430 sq km, is inundated by flood waters. 
About Kaziranga National Park

• Kaziranga National park’s 430 square kilometer area sprinkled with elephant-grass meadows, swampy lagoons, and dense forests is home to more than 2200 Indian one-horned rhinoceros, approximately 2/3rd of their total world population.
• Formed in 1908 on the recommendation of Mary Curzon, the park is located in the edge of the Eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspots – Golaghat and Nagaon district in Assam
• In the year 1985, the park was declared as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
• Along with the iconic Greater one-horned rhinoceros, the park is the breeding ground of elephants, wild water buffalo, and swamp deer.
• Over the time, the tiger population has also increased in Kaziranga, and that’s the reason why Kaziranga was declared as Tiger Reserve in 2006.
• Also, the park is recognized as an Important Bird Area by Bird Life International for the conservation of avifaunal species. Birds like lesser white-fronted goose, ferruginous duck, Baer’s pochard duck and lesser adjutant, greater adjutant, black-necked stork, and Asian Openbill stork specially migrate from the Central Asia during the winter season.
• The park has successfully managed to grow the population of Greater one-horned rhinoceros, an endangered species.
• The vast expanse of tall elephant grass, marshland, and dense tropical moist broadleaf forests undoubtedly makes the park look beautiful but it’s the presence of Brahmaputra river, which makes it look enigmatic.
• Due to the difference in altitude between the eastern and western areas of the park, here one can see mainly four types of vegetation’ like alluvial inundated grasslands, alluvial savanna woodlands, tropical moist mixed deciduous forests, and tropical semi-evergreen forests.
• Kumbhi, Indian gooseberry, the cotton tree, and elephant Apple are amongst the famous trees that can be seen in the park.

About Asian One-horned Rhinoceros

• The Indian Rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is also called Greater One-horned Rhinoceros and Asian One-horned Rhinoceros and belongs to the Rhinocerotidae family.
• Primarily found in parts of north-eastern India and in protected areas in the Terai of Nepal, where populations are confined to the riverine grasslands in the foothills of the Himalayas.
• Weighing between 2260 kg and 3000 kg, it is the fourth largest land animal and has a single horn.
• These Rhinoceros once ranged throughout the entire stretch of the Indo-Gangetic Plain but excessive hunting reduced their natural habitat drastically. Today, about 3,000 Rhinos live in the wild, 2000 of which are found in Assam’s Kaziranga alone.
• These Rhinoceros can run at speeds of up to 55 km/h for short periods of time and is also an excellent swimmer.
• It has excellent senses of hearing and smell but relatively poor eyesight.

Current situation and mitigation efforts in Kaziranga National park

• Incessant rain in the region over the past few days has resulted in most of the water bodies overflowing and the animals moving to higher reaches.
• At present water has entered the park through natural channels which is normal but the situation becomes extremely critical once water flows over the Brahmaputra embankment.
• Apart from the Brahmaputra, water from the Dhansiri, which is a tributary of the Brahmaputra, also entered the park.
• Series of measures to mitigate flood impact such as pressing seven new speed boats into service, several rounds of awareness drives among the fringe villages, seeking their cooperation and support and repairing the highland inside the park so that these can provide shelter to the animals during flood.
• The anti-poaching camps have been repaired for use by the mobile anti-poaching teams that will patrol the park 24X7 during floods
• Besides, staff members, including divisional forest officers, forest guards, home guards, boatmen and commandos of the elite Assam Forest Protection Force (AFPF) are currently deployed at the park.
• Time cards are being provided to vehicles coming from both sides of the Kaziranga National Park to provide utmost security to animals from being hunted.
• Troops of Indian Army along with SDRF and Civil Administration conducted rescue operations and evacuated around 150 villagers who were stranded.

Context: According to a report published by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), about 60% of known infectious diseases in humans and 75% of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic.
Key Points on Climate Change and Transmission of Diseases

• Warmer temperatures can increase the vector population size and distribution, along with the season duration when infectious vector species are present in the environment.
• Erratic weather events have an impact in the transmission of diseases as well. For examples: in Africa, an outbreak of Rift Valley fever, a mosquito-borne zoonotic disease, occurred with higher than average seasonal rainfall.
• The thawing of permafrost in the Arctic and sub-arctic region can significantly transforms soil structures, vegetation and habitats.

Key Points on Increased Zoonotic Disease

• About 60 per cent of known infectious diseases in humans and 75 per cent of all emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic.
• Zoonosis or zoonotic disease is a disease that has passed into the human population from an animal source directly or through an intermediary species.
• Zoonotic infections can be bacterial, viral, or parasitic in nature, with animals playing a vital role in maintaining such infections.
• Examples of zoonoses include HIV-AIDS, Ebola, Lyme Disease, malaria, rabies, West Nile fever, and the current novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) disease.

Anthropogenic factors and Zoonotic Diseases
The report identified seven anthropogenic driving factors leading to the emergence of zoonotic diseases:

• Increased demand for animal protein;
• Rise in intense and unsustainable farming;
• The increased use and exploitation of wildlife;
• Unsustainable utilisation of natural resources;
• Travel and transportation
• Changes in food supply chains
• The climate change crisis.
• The growing demand for animal-derived food has encouraged the intensification and industrialisation of animal production, wherein a large number of genetically similar animals are bred in for higher productivity and disease resistance.
• Intensive farm settings cause them to be raised in close proximity to each other, in less ideal conditions characterised by limited biosecurity and animal husbandry, poor waste management and use of antimicrobials as substitute for these conditions. This makes them more vulnerable to infections, which can further lead to emergence of zoonotic diseases.
• Loss of forest cover for agricultural purposes such as growing of soy, used as a key constituent of animal feed, is also influencing the emergence of zoonotic diseases by increasing human access to wildlife.
• High use of antimicrobials in such farm settings is also contributing to the burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which itself is a chronic pandemic of high cumulative damage threating public global public health.
• The increased use and exploitation of wildlife can bring humans in closer contact with wild animals, thus increasing the risk of zoonotic disease emergence.

Recommendations based on One Health Approach
The report made ten recommendations based on the One Health approach that could aid a coordinated multi-sectoral response to future pandemics. These included:

• Raising awareness of zoonotic diseases;
• Investing in interdisciplinary approaches, including One Health;
• Expanding scientific enquiry into zoonotic diseases;
• Improving cost-benefit analyses of interventions to include full-cost accounting of societal impacts of disease;
• Strengthening monitoring and regulation practices associated with zoonotic diseases, including food systems;
• Incentivising sustainable land management practices and developing alternatives for food security and livelihoods that do not rely on the destruction of habitats and biodiversity;
• Improving biosecurity and control, identifying key drivers of emerging diseases in animal husbandry and encouraging proven management and zoonotic disease control measures;
• Supporting the sustainable management of landscapes and seascapes that enhance sustainable co-existence of agriculture and wildlife;
• Strengthening capacities among health stakeholders in all countries; and
• Operationalising the One Health approach in land-use and sustainable development planning, implementation and monitoring, among other fields.

Context: The threat posed by plastic waste to the environment is well established. The corona pandemic has led to an increase in plastic waste. This article suggests some ways to deal with the issue.
Background

• Dependence: The hyper-hygienic way of life has become the increased dependence on non-recyclable items such as plastic-lined masks, gloves, hand sanitizer bottles and other PPE kits which has increased SUP waste.
• There has also been a steep increase in day-to-day items such as plastic bags and delivery packaging.
• Plastic waste: According to a report of Mckinsey, we generate 350 million tonnes of plastic waste globally in a year of which only 16 % is recycled.
• Post COVID-19: Today, the WHO estimates that the planet is using about 89 million masks and 16 million gloves each month whose waste is much higher than that estimated in the McKinsey report.
• Stark picture: The Guardian recently reported that there are possibly more masks than jellyfish in the oceans today.

Single-use plastic (SUP)

• They are disposable plastics meant for use-and-throw.
• These comprise polythene bags, plastic drinking bottles, plastic bottle caps, food wrappers, plastic sachets, plastic wrappers, straws, stirrers and Styrofoam cups or plates.

Handling of Plastic pollution
Pre-coronavirus time: Different nations had their own programmes to handle plastic waste:

• In countries such as Canada and the US, recycling of plastic is classified as essential.
• In India, we have the Plastic Waste Management Rules of 2016, which were updated and amended in 2018. In Swachhata Hi Seva campaign in 2019, people from all walks of life collected plastic waste from their surroundings and disposed of it suitably with the help of the local authorities.

Corona time:

• The national as well as the global momentum for plastic waste management has been seriously disrupted.
• Thailand had planned to slash plastic waste completely in 2020. Now it expects to see such waste rise by as much as 30%.
• In Singapore, the Bring Your Own (BYO) movement was started in 2017 where consumers were urged to bring their own utensils to restaurants in the effort to reuse and recycle. This has received a blow with global giants such as Starbucks doing away with their “Bring Your Own Cups” policy due to the pandemic.

How to deal with the SUP in current circumstances?
Effective Handling: It is important to understand the distinction between plastics and SUP so that we may change our lifestyles to balance our need for plastic with effectively managing its waste.
Economic opportunity

• We require new business models which are designed for sustainability.
• In Uganda, they are melting plastic waste to make face shields for selling.
• In Singapore, start-ups are using stainless steel cups and bamboo boxes which can be returned and reused after being washed and sanitized.

By Shifting consumers behaviour

• We need consumers to care about their role in the plastic waste value chain by using their power to change the existing unsustainable approach.
• For example- In rural India which have declared themselves open defecation free (ODF), village communities across the country are now starting to plan for setting up waste collection and segregation systems with material recovery facilities at the block- level under phase 2 of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Grameen).
• Though the plastic-made items used to protect ourselves against the coronavirus are necessary but these are essential short-term needs for health, sanitation and other frontline workers as preventive measures against the coronavirus.

Road Ahead

• The options are all around us but true change is possible only when each one of us takes responsibility for the environment around us and takes necessary steps to Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Remove, or dispose of plastic waste safely and effectively.

Context: According to a recent United Nations University (UNU) report, global e-waste will increase by 38% in the decade between 2020 and 2030.

• UNU is a global think tank and postgraduate teaching organisation headquartered in Japan.
• UNU’s mission is to resolve the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of the United Nations, its peoples and the member states.

Reasons for rising e-waste

• E-waste is generated when electrical or electronic equipment (EEE) is discarded, or returned within warranty, by consumers, and also from manufacturing and repair rejects
• Discarded laptops, desktops, cellphones and their batteries, air conditioners and television sets, cables and wires, tubelights and CFLs which contain mercury, are some examples of e-waste
• While technology obsolescence creates e-waste (for example, landline phones, 2G vs 4G), power supply voltage surges which damage electronics are a major factor contributing to India’s e-waste
• India enjoys a frugal hand-me-down culture with a long line of re-users from a younger sibling to a maid to her village. As a result, our e-waste takes a lot longer to reach end of life
• An additional problem arises when developed countries export their e-waste for recycling and/or disposal (legally or illegally) to developing countries, including India

Global Data Analysis of 2019

• There was 53.6 million tonnes (MT) e-waste in 2019, which is a nearly 21% increase in just five years.
• Asia generated the greatest volume (around 24.9 MT) followed by the Americas (13.1 MT) and Europe (12 MT). Africa and Oceania generated 2.9 MT and 0.7 MT respectively.
• Most E-waste consisted of small and large equipment like screens and monitors, lamps, telecommunication equipment etc and temperature exchange equipment.
• Less than 18% of the e-waste generated in 2019 was collected and recycled.
• E-waste consisting of gold, silver, copper, platinum and other high-value, recoverable materials worth at least USD 57 billion was mostly dumped or burned rather than being collected for treatment and reuse.
• The number of countries that have adopted a national e-waste policy, legislation or regulation has increased from 61 to 78 and includes India.
• It is far from the target set by the International Telecommunication Union to raise the percentage of countries with e-waste legislation to 50%.

Concerns

• Toxicity: E-waste consists of toxic elements such as Lead, Mercury, Cadmium, Chromium, Polybrominated biphenyls and Polybrominated diphenyl.
• Effects on Humans: Some of the major health effects include serious illnesses such as lung cancer, respiratory problems, bronchitis, brain damages, etc due to inhalation of toxic fumes, exposure to heavy metals and alike.
• Effects on Environment: E-waste is an environmental hazard causing groundwater pollution, acidification of soil and contamination of groundwater and air pollution due to the burning of plastic and other remnants.

International convention in this regard

• E-waste export, though, is regulated under the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal, which has been ratified by 188 nations.

E-waste in India

• Structured management of e-waste in India is mandated under the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016.
• Some of the salient features of the rules include e-waste classification, extended producer responsibility (EPR), collection targets and restrictions on import of e-waste containing hazardous materials.
• There are 312 authorised recyclers of e-waste in India, with the capacity for treating approximately 800 kilo tons annually. However, formal recycling capacity remains underutilised because over 90% of the e-waste is still handled by the informal sector.
• Almost over a million people in India are involved in manual recycling operations. Workers are not registered so it is hard to track the issues of employment such as workers’ rights, remunerations, safety measures, etc.
• Labourers are from the vulnerable sections of the society and lack any form of bargaining power and are not aware of their rights. This has a serious impact on the environment since none of the procedures is followed by workers or local dealers.

India’s Recycling capacity

• Though there is no such estimation for India, the country’s low recycling capacity (8 lakh tonnes annually) is an indication of big loss in terms of its inability to mine precious and critical materials from the e-waste.
• Besides, e-waste is also a serious health and environmental hazard if it is not disposed of properly.
• India is the only country in the South Asian region with e-waste legislation, but the e-waste management is largely based on the informal sector.

Road Ahead

• It is needed to come up with a strategy to engage with informal sector workers because doing so will not only go a long way in better e-waste management practices but also aid in environmental protection, improve the health and working conditions of labourers and provide better work opportunities to over a million people.
• This will make management environmentally sustainable and easy to monitor.
• The need of the hour is to generate employment, which can be done through identifying and promoting cooperatives and expanding the scope of the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016 to these cooperatives or the informal sector workers.
• Effective implementation of regulations is the way ahead to managing the e-waste that is yet to be regulated in at least 115 countries.

Context: Recently, Minister for Science & Technology, Health & Family Welfare and Earth Sciences and Minister of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development & Panchayati Raj released ‘Guidelines for Evaluation of Nano-based Agri-input and food products in India’.

• The Guidelines have been prepared jointly by Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (M/o A&FW) and Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare through concerted Inter-Ministerial efforts coordinated by DBT.
• The formulation of these ‘Guidelines’ is one of the most important steps for delineating quality, safety and efficacy assessment of the novel nano-formulations which can be commercialized.

Key Points
These guidelines apply to the following two categories of products: 

• Agri-input products in the nano form of finished formulation as well as active ingredient(s) (AI) of a new material (inorganic/organic/composite) dimension that is intended to be used in agriculture and allied sectors.
• Agri-products in the nano form of finished food formulations, finished feed formulations, finished dairy formulations, food/feed formulations from marine resources, nano carriers for nutraceuticals delivery, nano processing aids, nanocomposites for food packaging and nano sensors for food/feed packaging, food/feed safety applications and for dairy products safety applications.

Significance of the guidelines

• These guidelines are aimed at assisting in making policy decisions by providing information on the existing regulations for nano-based products in agriculture and food and also to ensure quality, safety and efficacy of the targeted products.
• These guidelines would help policy makers and regulators to frame effective provisions for future novel nano-based products in the agri-input and food sectors of India.
• Compared to bulk form of chemical inputs in crops, use of nano-nutrients can reduce nutrient run-off into ground and surface water and thus can reduce environmental pollution.
• Encourage the Indian innovators and industries to develop and commercialize new nano-based formulations and products in these sectors.

Key Definition as per the guidelines

• Nanomaterial (NM): Material that ranges in size from 1 to 100 nm at least in one dimension or any materials that possess improved properties because of the effect of dimension(s), even if these dimension fall outside the nanoscale range, up to 1000 nm.
• Nano-agri-input product (NAIP): Agricultural input preparation containing NMs intended for applications on crop for the purpose of farming.
• Nano-agri product (NAP): Agricultural preparation containing NMs for consumption or application in food/feed and their supplements.
• Scientific Rationale Needed to manufacture NAIP/NAPs: The rationale underlying manufacturing of NAIPs and NAPs should be specified with reference to their claimed advantages in comparison to conventional products.
• Provide assistance on specific requirements for NAIPs and NAPs: General requirements as specified in the provisions of CIB&RC (Central Insecticides Board & Registration Committee), Fertilizer Control Order (FCO), FSSAI and Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) will be applicable for any new NAIP/NAPs.

It also provides guidelines on

• General storage stability requirements
• Safety Assessment of Manufactured NAIPs and NAPs
• Provide the list of information which is required before the evaluation of NAIP/NAPs

How nanotechnology can aid in Agriculture?

• Nanotechnology is a rapidly evolving field with the potential to take forward the agriculture and food industry with new tools which promise to increase food production in a sustainable manner and to protect crops from pests.
• Nanocapsules can enable effective penetration of herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and genes into the targeted part of the plant, ensuring a slow and constant release of the necessary substance to the plants with minimised environmental pollution.
• Nanosensors and delivery systems can allow for precision farming through the efficient use of natural resources like water, nutrients, chemicals etc., and also detect the plant viruses and soil nutrient levels.
• Nano-barcodes and nano-processing could also be used to monitor the quality of agriculture produce.
• Nanoemulsions can be used to reduce bacteria on produce.
• Hybrid polymers can be used in packaging and to reduce spoilage of produce.
• Nanofertilizers, which are modified fertilizers synthesized by chemical, physical, or biological methods using nanotechnology to improve their attributes and composition – can be used to enhance the productivity of crops.

Context: Recently, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has said that India, which is tackling the worst locust attack in 26 years, should remain on “high alert” during the next four weeks.
Key Points

• Rajasthan is the most affected State in the country.
• The other affected states are Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Bihar.
• The Indian government has stepped up efforts and is using equipment such as drones and Bell helicopters to control the menace.

Locust Swarms

• Locust is an omnivorous and migratory pest and has the ability to fly hundreds of kilometres collectively.
• It is a trans-border pest and attacks the crop in large swarms.
• Found in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, they inhabit some 60 countries and can cover one-fifth of the Earth’s land surface.
• Desert locust plagues may threaten the economic livelihood of one-tenth of the world’s human population.
• Swarms of locusts in the desert come to India from Africa/Gulf/South West Asia during the summer monsoon season and go back towards Iran, Gulf & African countries for spring breeding.
• In India, more than 2 lakh square kilometres of area comes under Scheduled Desert Area.
• Pink immature adults fly high and cover long distances during day hours from one place to another along with the westerly winds coming from the Pakistan side.
• Most of these pink immature adults settle on the trees during night and mostly fly during day.
• The immature locust is very active and their mobility makes it difficult to control the swarm at one location and it takes 4 to 5 days of control at different locations to control a particular locust swarm.

Locust Warning Organisation (LWO)

• The Union Agriculture Ministry’s Locust Warning Organisation (LWO) is headquartered in Jodhpur.
• LWO said that the locusts that came in 2019, after a gap of 26 years, were mature and had affected 12 districts of the State.

About Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

• It was established by the United Nations in 1945 and is a neutral intergovernmental organization. 
• It is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger.
• It strives to provide information and support sustainable agriculture through legislation and national strategies, with a goal of alleviating hunger.
• It works to achieve food security for all and make sure that people have regular access to enough high-quality food to lead active, healthy lives. 

About Desert Locust

• The Desert Locust( scientific name Schistocerca gregaria ) is one of about a dozen species of short-horned grasshoppers (Acridoidea) that are known to change their behaviour and form swarms of adults or bands of hoppers (wingless nymphs).
• They are usually restricted to the semi-arid and arid deserts of Africa, the Near East and South-West Asia that receive less than 200 mm of rain annually.
• It lives a total of about three to five months although this is extremely variable and depends mostly on weather and ecological conditions. The life cycle comprises three stages: egg, hopper and adult. 
• Originating over Africa these locusts and moving from the western region to central and then eastern regions, as their population increases have entered India through Iran and Pakistan. 
• They are harmless to humans but pose a threat to vegetation and crops in their way. 
• They pose a threat to aircraft in the critical landing and take-off phase of the flight.

Context: Recently, the Union Power Minister has said that India will not import power equipment from China, saying that the sector, being strategic and essential, was vulnerable to cyberattacks.
Key Points

• The announcement comes amidst rising tensions between India and China owing to the standoff at the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh.
• Any import of equipment from prior reference countries will require prior permission of the government, the Minister said, even as he reiterated that such permission won’t be available for either China or Pakistan.

Concerns

• China has over the last few years been a major source of power equipment for India, with a share of roughly a third of the total imported machines in terms of value.
• Imports of these capital-intensive machines have been rising at a fast rate despite sufficient, if not surplus, domestic capacity and India being a serious exporter of such equipment.
• China constituted close to 30 percent of the total imports in the electrical equipment segment in FY19.
• The Minister highlighted the need for self-reliance in the sector.

India’s progress in the power sector

• A lot has been achieved in the power sector, including capacity addition of 15,000 MW a year since 2014, and connecting the entire nation through one grid.
• However, a major challenge is to make the distribution companies viable and the country self-reliant in equipment manufacture.

Context: Recently, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to undertake performance assessment and ranking of the highways in the country.
Key Points
The criteria for the assessment have been broadly categorised in three main heads:

• Highway Efficiency (45%)
• Highway Safety (35%)
• User Services (20%).
• On the basis of outcome of the assessment, the authority will undertake a comprehensive analysis and decide on the level of intervention required to enhance the overall service quality.
• Apart from overall ranking of all the corridors, separate ranking for Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT), Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM) and Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) projects will also be done.

Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) Annuity model:

• Under this, a developer builds a highway, operates it for a specified duration and transfers it back to the government.
• The government starts payment to the developer after the launch of commercial operation of the project.

Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) Model:

• Under this model, the cost is completely borne by the government.
• Government invites bids for engineering knowledge from the private players. Procurement of raw materials and construction costs are met by the government.

The Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM):

• In India, the new HAM is a mix of BOT Annuity and EPC models.
• As per the design, the government will contribute to 40% of the project cost in the first five years through annual payments (annuity). The remaining payment will be made on the basis of the assets created and the performance of the developer.
• Here, the developer has to raise the remaining 60% in the form of equity or loans. There is no toll right for the developer.
• Revenue collection would be the responsibility of NHAI.

Other parameters

• Additionally, important parameters like operating speed, access control, time taken at toll plaza, road signages, road markings, accident rate, incident response time, crash barriers, illumination, availability of Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS), functionality of structures, provision for grade-separated intersections, cleanliness, plantation, wayside amenities and customer satisfaction will also be considered while conducting the assessment.

Importance of Roadways in India

• It provides better connectivity between Rural and Urban area and hence advancement of Rural India occurs.
• During the transportation of goods from ports to its destination it is very important to have better Road connectivity so that time, fuel and money can be saved and hence ultimate economic development occurs.
• To link every remotest areas( example : J&K, Northeast part, mountainous regions etc) of this country with the mainstream of economy it’s very much important to have better connectivity so that overall development of those people can be ensured.
• Even road connectivity is very much important in linking Intra-state Urban areas and Inter-states for better transportation of various goods and services and hence for overall development in terms of saving time, money etc and reduction in pollution and CO2 emission level.

How it can be further improved

• Govt have launched one initiative known as Bharatmala programme which connects all major cities of this country
• Quality of roads in many parts of country is still pity so it needs better attention by respective state govt and local govt to improve the quality of roads
• Road pricing system is very much important as it provides as income for Govt and it can spend on constructing roads in much better way
• Due to traffic congestion in cities and many times on highways,pollution level rise. So increasing width of roads in India should be a priority

Road accidents in India

• According to data tabled by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in the Parliament, Road accidents in India killed between 1.46 lakh and 1.5 lakh people every year between 2015 and 2017, which works out to a daily average of 400 or more deaths in each of the three years.
• According to WHO report, road accidents are the eighth leading cause of death for all age groups surpassing HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and diarrhoeal diseases.

Context: Recently, the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organization (NATMO) published the 4th updated version of COVID-19 Dashboard.
About NATMO

• NATMO functions under the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology.
• It is headquartered in Kolkata.
• It was founded by Prof. S.P.Chatterjee, the then Professor of Geography, Calcutta University.
• It is the sole national agency bearing the responsibility of depicting national framework data in the form of thematic maps and atlases to cater to the various needs of different sectors.

Major objectives of the organization are

• To prepare atlases and thematic maps.
• To collaborate with other central and state government organisations to meet their map requirements.
• To promote the use of geospatial information and technology in cartography
• To provide training in Remote sensing, Geographical Information System, Global Positioning System and Digital Cartography.
• To publish maps and atlases for the benefit of various users
• To carryout geographic researches.

Main Functions of this organization are

• Compilation of the National Atlas of India in Hindi, English and other regional languages.
• Preparation of thematic maps based on socio-economic, physical, cultural, environmental, Demographic and other issues.
• Automated mapping and GIS application for increasing efficiency in mapping technique.
• Geographical researches.
• Digital cartographic research and training.
• Golden Map Service covering the whole of India especially towns and cities.
• Web-based maps and atlases making and updating.
• Preparation of maps/atlases for visually impaired.
• Digital mapping and training using Remote sensing, GPS and GIS technology.
• International collaboration in thematic and atlas cartography.
• Capacity building and infrastructure development.
• Documentation and publicity.
• Any other work as entrusted to NATMO by the Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology or the Central Government.

Context: Recently, the Prime Minister has inaugurated the 750 MW (Mega Watt) solar project set up in Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. It is in line with India's commitment to attain the target of 175 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022 including 100 GW of solar installed capacity.
Objectives & Significance

• The solar plant will provide electricity to the industries in Rewa and also to the metro rail in Delhi. This is the first solar project in the country to break the “grid parity barrier”.
• It is a cheap & clean energy source which will help poor, middle-class families, tribals and farmers of the state.
• It is expected to reduce carbon emission equivalent to around 15 lakh tons of CO2 per year.
• It exemplifies the commitment of the nation to achieve the 175 GW target of installed renewable energy capacity by 2022. This includes 100 GW of solar installed capacity.
• It has been acknowledged for its robust project structuring and innovations.

Key facts

• Developed by- The solar project was developed by Rewa Ultra Mega Solar Limited (RUMSL). The company is a joint venture of Solar Energy Corporation of India and Madhya Pradesh Urja Vikas Nigam Limited MPUVN).
• It consists of three solar generating units of 250 MW each located on a 500-hectare plot of land situated inside a Solar Park having a total area of 1500 hectare. It is one of the largest single-site solar plants in the world. 
• The Rewa Solar Power project has received the World Bank Group President’s Award for innovation and excellence and was included in the book ‘A Book of Innovation: New Beginnings’.
• 24% of energy from the project will be supplied to Delhi Metro and the remaining 76% will be supplied to the State DISCOMs of Madhya Pradesh.

India and  Solar Energy

• As per the World Energy Outlook Report 2015, India has the substantial solar potential of around 750 GW. 
• It is strongest in the north and northwest of the country (Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir), but the potential is also considerably high in several other states, including Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh.
• India’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC’s) commitment includes 100 GW of solar power out of 175 GW renewable energy by 2022.

The 100GW solar energy comprises of:

• 60 GW of utility-scale projects (both solar PV and CSP) like solar parks
• 40 GW of rooftop solar applications for commercial users and households, together with some small-scale schemes and off-grid capacity. 
• Some important initiatives of the government for solar energy are National Solar Mission, Sustainable rooftop implementation of Solar Transfiguration of India (SRISTI) scheme, Suryamitra programme, National green energy programme and green energy corridor etc. 
• The establishment of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) of more than 122 countries initiated by India, most of them being sunshine countries, which lie either completely or partly between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn to promote solar energy.

What is Grid parity?

• It is the situation when an alternative energy source can generate power at a cost of electricity that is less than or equal to the price of power from the electricity grid.
• Grid parity is the point when the cost of the alternative energy becomes equal to or less than electricity from conventional energy forms like fossil fuels. 
• It’s one of the most important things energy analysts look at when determining how economically viable an alternative energy form is for widespread development and adoption.

Central Grid: Central grid is an interconnected system of local and regional grids to provide continuous supply of electricity in the whole country. It is one seamless network for delivering power to consumers.
Merits:-

• It provides relief to power deficit regions.
• It will also improve transmission and facilitate better management of demand, ensuring the stability of the electricity grid.
• Easier availability of power could also lead to lower tariffs

Demerits:-

• The reliability of the central grid cannot be assured.
• Despite central grid, problems of load shedding and power outages are still common with some parts of India having access to power for less than eight hours a day.
• Distribution: the link between power generation plants and the end users is a complex challenge that India’s power sector is tackling with.

Context: Recently, scientists from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) have provided evidence for the first time that Lithium (Li) production is common among low mass Sun-like stars during their Helium (He) core burning phase.
Key Points

• Provides observational evidence for the first time that Lithium (Li) production is common among low mass Sun-like stars during their Helium (He)-core burning phase. 
• The “Helium (He) flash” (onset of He-ignition at the star’s core via violent eruption), at the end of the star’s core hydrogen-burning phase, will be the source of Li production.  Our Sun will reach this phase in about 6-7 billion years.
• The study also suggests new limits (A(Li) > -0.9~dex) for classifying stars as Li-rich, which is 250 times below the threshold (A(Li) > 1.5~dex) used till now. [Dex is an order or factor of ten]
• This discovery challenges the long-held idea that stars only destroy lithium during their lifetime implying the Sun itself will manufacture lithium in the future, which is not predicted by models, indicating that there is some physical process missing in the stellar theory.

About Lithium

• Lithium (Li) is a light, inflammable metal.
• It has brought about a transformation in modern communication devices and transportation.
• The origin of much of the Li can be traced to a single event, the Big-Bang that happened about 13.7 Billion years ago. 
• Over time, Li content in the physical Universe has increased by about a factor of four, which is meagre compared to the rest of the elements carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, iron, nickel and so on which grew about a million times over the lifetime of the Universe.
• Stars are primary contributors to this significant enhancement of heavier elements through mass ejections and stellar explosions (Supernova). Li, however, understood to be an exemption!
• It is to be noted that the measured content of Li in the Sun is a factor of 100 lower than that of the Earth, though both are known to have formed together.

Context: Recently, the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India located at Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg has taken steps to establish an Urban Forest in the Office Park.
Key Points

• This would be a dense urban forest with multiple tree layers including 12000 saplings of 59 indigenous species in another year or so.
• The Miyawaki method of forest creation is employed which could help in reducing the temperature by as much as 14 degrees & increase the moisture by more than 40%.
• With minimal maintenance, including watering and de-weeding, the urban forest will be self-sustainable by October 2021.
• A dense forest ecosystem will be created in an area that is little over 1 acre in size.
• The multi-layered forest will have shrubs, small to medium-size trees and tall trees carefully arranged as peripheral and core plant communities.

Urban Forests

• Urban Forestry concentrates on all tree-dominated as well as other green resources in and around urban areas, such as woodlands, public and private urban parks and gardens, street tree and square plantations, botanical gardens and cemeteries.
• The forest is made up of trees which are native to the area and are three dimensional, multi-layered communities having 30 times the surface area of the greenery of single-layered lawns, and have more than 30 times the ability to protect against natural disasters and to conserve the environment.
• The Urban forests are the lungs of the cities and act as an oxygen bank and Carbon Sink and send out an action-oriented message of bringing back lost environmental protection forests.
• They have an ecosystem which can restore habitat for birds, bees, butterflies and microfauna.
• These are essential for pollination of crops and fruits and to help maintain a balanced ecosystem.

About Nagar Van Scheme

• The Ministry of Environment and Forests has launched the Nagar Van Scheme on the occasion of World Environment Day on 5 June.
• The scheme aims to develop 200 Urban Forests across India in the next five years.
• The forests will be developed with the help of people’s participation and collaboration between the Forest Department, Municipal bodies, NGOs, Corporates and local citizens.
• The scheme will also provide an opportunity to the states to manage urban ecosystems.

Road Ahead

• India is endowed with rich biodiversity having several species of animals and plants and hosts 4 of the 35 global bio-diversity hotspots containing several endemic species. 
• However, increasing population, deforestation, urbanisation and industrialisation have put our natural resources under tremendous pressure causing loss of biodiversity. 
• Biodiversity is vital for survival of all life form on this planet and is a key to providing various ecological services. Urban forest is the best way to bridge this gap. Hence, this scheme.

Context: Recently, the commerce ministry is considering to replace the multi-modal transportation of goods act with a full fledged national logistics law with a view to promote growth of the sector.
Background

• India’s logistics sector is highly fragmented and the government aims to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14% of the Gross Domestic Product to less than 10%.

Key Points

• The Commerce Ministry is considering replacing the Multi-Modal Transportation of Goods Act (MMTG) with a full-fledged national logistics law with a view to promote growth of the sector.
• Multimodal transportation refers to a combination of more than one mode of movement, such as rail, road or sea, for end-to-end delivery of goods.
• A National Logistics Efficiency and Advancement Predictability and Safety Act (NLEAPS) is under consideration.

Significance of this move

• The new law aims to define what the logistics sector is and its various participants are. The new law aims to create a light regulatory ecosystem.
• The move assumes significance as high logistics cost impacts the competitiveness of domestic goods in the international market. 
• Effective implementation of the policy would help provide an impetus to trade, enhance export competitiveness, and improve India’s ranking in the Logistics Performance Index.

Need for National Logistics Policy:

• There is a need to bring down logistics cost for global competitiveness as India’s logistics sector is highly defragmented and the aim is to reduce the logistics cost from the present 14 per cent of GDP to less than 10 per cent by 2022.
• India’s logistics sector is very complex with more than 20 government agencies, 40 PGAs, 37 export promotion councils, 500 certifications, 10000 commodities, 160 billion market size.
• The logistics sector provides livelihood to more than 22 million people and improving the sector will facilitate a 10 per cent decrease in indirect logistics cost leading to the growth of 5 to 8 per cent in exports
• It is estimated that the worth of the Indian logistics market will be around $215 billion in the next two years compared to about $160 billion at present.

Objective of the policy
The policy which has been formulated by the Commerce and Industry Ministry will aim at-

• Improving India’s trade competitiveness,
• Creating more jobs,
• Improving India’s performance in global rankings,
• Paving the way for India to become a logistics hub.

Steps taken to make the plan robust
The following announcements in Finance Minister’s Budget Speech will make the National Logistics Policy more robust:

• Introduction of GST and e- Way bill system has brought efficiency in the logistics and transportation sector.  It has reduced turnaround time of trucks by over 20%.
• Geo-tagging of all warehousing.
• Warehousing shall be promoted to comply with WDRA norms.
• Village Storage Scheme through Women Self-help groups shall provide backward linkages for seeds thereby reducing logistics costs.
• Cold chains for fish and perishables shall be promoted.
• Refrigerated vans shall be attached to passenger trains to promote movement of perishables quickly.
• Krishi Udan scheme shall be promoted/launched whereby horticulture and perishable commodities shall be transported through the air-route.
• National Organic e-Market will be developed for organic products.
• Accelerated development of highways will be undertaken.
• Delhi – Mumbai and Chennai – Bengaluru express highways to be made operational by 2023.
• The governance structure for the corporatization of one major port shall be introduced.
• 100 more airports shall be established under the UDAN scheme.

Context: Recently, a formal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for data exchange between the two organizations.
Key Points

• A "Data Exchange Steering Group" has also been constituted for the initiative, which will meet periodically to review the data exchange status and take steps to further improve the effectiveness of the data sharing mechanism.

Impact of Data Exchange between CBDT and SEBI

• It will facilitate the sharing of data and information between SEBI and CBDT on an automatic and regular basis.
• In addition to regular exchange of data, SEBI and CBDT will also exchange with each other, on request and suo moto basis, any information available in their respective databases, for the purpose of carrying out their functions under various laws.
• It marks the beginning of a new era of cooperation and synergy between SEBI and CBDT.
• The shared data could be used for the purpose of scrutiny, inspection, investigation and prosecution.

About Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)

• In April, 1988 the SEBI was constituted as the regulator of capital markets in India under a resolution of the Government of India.
• It was given statutory powers on April 12, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• It is the regulator of the securities and commodity market in India owned by the Government of India.

SEBI is also responsible for the needs of the following three groups which constitute the securities market:

• Issuers of securities
• Investors
• Market intermediaries

Intermediaries and certain financial institutions operating in securities markets are also subjected to SEBI’s directions and norms. SEBI has the power to regulate the following branches:

• Depositories, participants and custodians
• Debenture trustees and trust deeds
• Insider trading, FII’s merchant bankers and mutual funds
• Portfolio managers, investment advisors, registrars to capital issues and share transfer agents
• Stock broker, sub-brokers, underwriters, bankers to the issues and venture capital funds and
• Substantial acquisition of shares and takeovers.
• It also issues guidelines for disclosure of information and operational transparency for investor protection, pricing of issues, bonus and preferential issues and other financial instruments.

Context: Recently, the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has launched a new category of awards titled ‘Prerak Dauur Samman’ as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.
About Prerak Dauur Samman

• It is a new category of awards launched as part of Swachh Survekshan 2021.
• It has a total of five additional sub- categories –Divya (Platinum), Anupam (Gold), Ujjwal (Silver), Udit (Bronze), Aarohi (Aspiring) – with top three cities being recognized in each.

In a departure from the present criteria of evaluating cities on ‘population category’, this new category will categorize cities on the basis of six select indicator wise performance criteria which are as follows:

• Segregation of waste into Wet, Dry and Hazard categories
• Processing capacity against wet waste generated
• Processing and recycling of wet and dry waste
• Construction & Demolition (C&D) waste processing
• Percentage of waste going to landfills
• Sanitation status of cities

About Swachh Survekshan

• It is a ranking exercise taken up by the Government of India to assess rural and urban areas for their levels of cleanliness and active implementation of Swachhata mission initiatives in a timely and innovative manner.
• The Union Ministry of Housing And Urban Development takes up the Swachh Survekshan.
• The Quality Council of India (QCI) has been commissioned the responsibility of carrying out the assessment.
• It is being conducted under the ambit of the Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban).
• Swachh Survekshan-Rural is conducted by the Ministry of Jal Shakti.?
• The process of ranking cities and town of India on the basis of cleanliness was first conducted in 2016, which covered 73 cities.
• The second and third round of the survey in 2017 and 2018 widened the coverage of the assessment to 434 cities with a population of one lakh and above and 4,203 cities respectively.
• The 4th edition-2019 covered 4237 cities in a record time of 28 days and was a fully digitized paperless survey.
• The integrated Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM)- Urban Management Information System (MIS) was also launched that will help in bringing various digital initiatives under a single platform.
• For states and cities, this portal will provide a unified and hassle-free experience for the creation of both Swachhta and Digital India.

Objectives

• The annual cleanliness survey aims to encourage large scale participation of citizens in cleanliness drives.
• It aims to ensure sustainability of initiatives taken towards garbage free and open defecation free cities.
• It aims to create awareness among all sections of the society regarding the importance of working together towards making towns and cities a better place to live in.

Context: A case for three-phase transition to mandatory digital payments, accounting, and transactions for government proposed by the CAG under a new project and law called DATA (Digital Accountability and Transparency Act) 
What are the goals of DATA?

• The starting point is mandatory and common data standards for all entities receiving government funds in all forms of funding 
• The endpoint is a single searchable website to ascertain total government funding by element and entity

What steps are needed to make DATA a reality?

• Covering the distance between these needs three elements: 100 per cent end-to-end electronic data capture: All receipts and expenditure transactions including demands, assessment, and invoices should be received, processed, and paid electronically.
• Data governance for standards across all government entities: Data standards are rules for describing and recording data elements with precise meanings and semantics that enable integration, sharing, and interoperability.
• Technology architecture that must ensure that all IT government systems should conform to a prescribed open architecture framework (for instance, IndEA) while ensuring robust security and maintaining privacy.

What are the advantages of DATA?
Long Overdue reform

• The Union budget grew from Rs 197 crore in 1947 to Rs 30 lakh crore in 2020 and total government expenditure may be higher than Rs 70 lakh crore.
• But the form and manner of keeping accounts have more or less remained unchanged since Independence

Reduce errors 

• Manual transactions and manual payments often lead to manually entered data at different stages in different databases on different systems which makes to unreliable & vulnerable to errors
• DATA ensures Business continuity (electronic records cannot be lost or misplaced like files or paper records) and an incontrovertible audit trail

Enhance transparency & accountability

• It makes all government revenue and expenditure data electronic, machine-readable, granular, comprehensive, purpose linked, non-repudiable, reliable, accessible and searchable.
• It will enable legislatures to draw “assurance” that each rupee due to the government has been collected, and each rupee has been spent for the purpose it was allocated.

Addresses the problem of siloed IT systems 

• Government computerisation has often mechanised manual processes rather than “re-engineered processes”.
• This has created siloed IT systems with individual databases that lack modern data sharing protocols, which DATA tries to solve

Addresses concerns of fiscal data

Due to siloed IT systems, fiscal data was being

• Incomparable: as basic as salary expenditure across states
• Obscure: large expenditures booked under omnibus head called other
• Non-traceable: actual expenditure against temporary advances drawn or funds drawn on contingent bills
• Misclassification:  grants in aid as capital expenditure and bookings under suspense heads

Enables the use of cognitive intelligence tools 

• DATA will provide with huge information which will enable tools like Big Data analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning to use it for policy making
• This in turn will support the establishment of budget baselines, detecting anomalies, data-driven project costing, performance comparisons across departments.

Cost efficiency: Bad behaviour currently costs the RBI Rs 4,000 crore in bank agency commissions because many parts of the government do not use the RBI’s free e-kuber system

Context: Recently, the 15th Finance commission held a detailed meeting with representatives of the World Bank, Niti Aayog and member of its High-level Group (HLG) on the health sector.
Key Points

• Finance Commission may like to look at health in three different ways: grants to enhance per capita spending, block grant for capacity building and a performance incentive for certain health outcomes.
• More than 60% of health demand in India is supplied by private sector.
• Leveraging private clinics along with DBT may be used as tools to increase engagement with private sector.
• In health sector, institutions like district hospitals, primary health centres, private providers, municipalities, social sector system may be leveraged carefully.
• World Bank could play a role in designing and implementation of such programs while working closely with such institutions.

A presentation made by World Bank Highlighted that:

• There is scope for service delivery reforms by using innovation, leveraging technology, institutional strengthening, coordination and empowering of States.
• The adverse economic impact is likely to be proportionally larger than the direct impact of the coronavirus on morbidity and mortality.
• Quality of care has emerged as a key issue in India’s health system.
• There is also a need for renewed focus on equity and need.
• Greater attention to resource allocation is required within States.
• Service delivery should rely on a robust public/private mix.
• Government of India can be an enabler of ‘open source’ approach to promote service delivery reforms.
• Service delivery innovations need to be encouraged like introducing technology solutions, primary health care centers in urban areas may be run by contracted private providers, public-private partnerships may be encouraged in areas of digital technology, data science, bottom of pyramid models; and multi-sector actions and community mobilization.
• Service delivery innovations need to be encouraged like introducing technology solutions, primary health care centers in urban areas may be run by contracted private providers, public-private partnerships may be encouraged in areas of digital technology, data science, bottom of pyramid models; and multi-sector actions and community mobilization.
• Strengthen national and state institutions to effectively prepare for pandemics (NCDC) and develop ICMR as a global center for excellence in medical research.

Context: Recently, the Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) has said that the government should issue compulsory licences for the manufacture of a generic version of Remdesivir, an anti-viral drug being used to treat COVID-19 patients.
Background

• Remdesivir is developed to treat Ebola and related viruses.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the drug helps to prevent Covid-19 viral replication. It has the best potential and can be used in high doses without causing toxicities.
• It has been observed that the USA has bought the entire stock of Remdesivir for the next three months. It will therefore not be available for the rest of the world.
• Vaccine nationalism occurs when a country manages to secure doses of vaccine for its own citizens or residents before they are made available in other countries.
• It is done through pre-purchase agreements between a government and a vaccine manufacturer.
• Also, the manufacturing firm of the drug Remdesivir has a patent monopoly and thus charging a price that is hundreds of times its original cost.

Proposals

• With the USA buying up all the stocks of the drug and high cost may cause unavailability of the drug for other countries including India.
• Thus, the party has suggested the government invoking Clause 92 of the Patent Act (1970) that allows it to issue compulsory licences.

Key Facts

• Compulsory licensing(CL): It is a process where a government allows someone else to produce the patented product or process without the consent of the patent owner.
• It is one of the flexibility on patent protection included in the WTO’s agreement on intellectual property –TRIPS  Agreement.

Section 84 of the (Indian) Patent Act,1970 provides that any time after three years from date of sealing of a patent, application for compulsory license can be made,provided:

• the reasonable requirements of the public with respect to the patented invention have not been satisfied
• the patented invention is not available to the public at a reasonably affordable price
• patented invention has not worked in the territory of India.

Section 92 of the (Indian) Patent Act,1970 provides that compulsory licenses can also be issued by the Government if there is either a “national emergency” or “extreme urgency” or in cases of “public non-commercial use”.

Context: Analysing the perception of national interest by different generations of leadership.
Background

• The Indian PM made a public and undisguised reference to China’s expansionism in his address to Indian troops.
• China rejected the allegation of expansionism and said that they had signed boundary agreements with all except two of its neighbours.

Approaches of former governments in Foreign Policy
Nehru’s approach
China policy

• He was convinced that China would not attack India and his Defence Minister had likely played a big part in inclining Nehru towards this conviction.
• None of his advisers cautioned him against this miscalculation as most of them had no experience in foreign relations.
• He was not guided by any ideological considerations and still dreamt of India playing a big role on the world stage and believed that China could be a partner in that endeavor.

Kashmir policy

• No Himalayan blunder: When a ceasefire was called for in January 1949, it was not because he was pacifist by nature or that he trusted the UN or any other country to label Pakistan as aggressor and persuade it to vacate the aggression.
• Ground Reality: TheIndian Army was in no position to run over the whole of Jammu and Kashmir at that time which has been definitively and conclusively brought out by respected scholars as well as in the official history of the war published by the Defence Ministry.
• No ideological bias: The writer believed that national interest was the guiding principle in foreign policy of Nehru as he described foreign policy as essentially selfish in a response to a letter by Albert Einstein.
• Interest with West: India needed technology and other assistance which he convinced could be obtained only from America.
• He looked towards Soviet Union only after the Americans concluded the military agreement with Pakistan.
• His mistakes and the blunder over China were caused by wrong assessments and not due to any ideological factors.

Indira Gandhi approach
“Verify and still not trust approach”

• Her basic approach was that there is no such thing as trust in international relations.
• She expects to have normal and peaceful relations with Pakistan in future but never with China as it is an expansionist power.
• Handling Pakistan: She is accused of being naive and too trusting when she allowed Pakistan’s 90,000 prisoners of war (POWs) to return to their country without getting anything in return.
• Available options: Whether she should have asked Pakistan to vacate all the territory it had occupied in Jammu and Kashmir or she should have kept the POWs in our country for long.

Road Ahead

• The previous leaderships must be held accountable for the mistakes or blunders they might have committed but they acted in the prevailing circumstances according to their perception of national interest.
• For example-One government might conclude that the civil nuclear deal with the US served India’s national interest and some other government in different circumstances may think otherwise.

Context: Recently, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has expressed interest to have an Open Sky Agreement with India.
India’s Open Sky Policy

• The National Civil Aviation Policy (2016) allows the government to enter into an 'open sky' air services agreement on a reciprocal basis with South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations as well as countries beyond a 5,000 kilometre radius from New Delhi.
• It implies that nations within 5,000 kilometer of distance need to enter into a bilateral agreement and mutually determine the number of flights that their airlines can operate between the two countries.
• India has open sky agreements with Greece, Jamaica, Guyana, Finland, USA, Japan, etc.

Freedoms of the air

• The freedoms of the air are a set of commercial aviation rights granting a country’s airlines the privilege to enter and land in another country’s airspace.
• The first freedom of air allows a carrier to take off from its home state, the second freedom of air allows it to land in a second country.
• The third and fourth freedoms of air allow the airline to take off from the country it has landed in and come back to land at its home base.
• The fifth freedom allows an airline to carry revenue traffic between foreign countries as a part of services connecting the airline’s own country. It is the right to carry passengers from one’s own country to a second country, and from that country onward to a third country (and so on).
• Fifth freedom traffic rights are intended to enhance the economic viability of an airline’s long haul routes, but tend to be viewed by local airlines and governments as potentially unfair competition.
• Sixth freedom is the right to carry passengers or cargo from a second country to a third country by stopping in one’s own country.
• An open sky air service agreement allows for airlines from the two countries to have an unlimited number of flights as well as seats to each other’s jurisdictions.

Significance of the Open Sky Agreement

• Open Sky Agreements are bilateral agreements that the two countries negotiate to provide rights for airlines to offer international passenger and cargo services. It expands international passenger and cargo flights.
• India has Air Service Agreements (ASA) with 109 countries including UAE covering aspects relating to the number of flights, seats, landing points and code-share. But does not allow unlimited number of flights between two countries.
• Open skies between India and UAE will allow unlimited number of flights to the selected cities of each other's countries.

Context: According to recently released government data the trade deficit of India with China fell to $48.66 billion in FY 2019-20. This dip is due to the decline in imports from China.
Key Points

• India on several occasions has raised concerns about the widening trade deficit with China as the deficit was on the rise for the past two financial years. Also, India was witnessing a rise in FDI from China which would result in more dominance of Chinese firms in the Indian market. 
• In April, the Government of India tightened FDI rules for the countries sharing land borders with India.
• As per the new rule, a company or an individual from a country that shares a land border with India can invest in any sector only after getting government approval.
• Recently, after the violent stand-off at Galwan Valley, India has become more stringent and critical about the trade and business deals with Chinese companies. 

Trade Deficit- 

• The trade deficit stood at $53.56 billion in FY 2018-19 and $63 billion in  FY 2017-18.
• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from China in India has dipped to $163.78 million in FY 2019-20 from $229 million in FY 2018-19.
• The imports from China account for 14% of India’ import. The main imports include clocks, musical instruments, toys, sports goods, furniture, plastics, electrical machinery, electronic equipment, chemicals, iron and steel items, fertilisers, mineral fuel and metals. 

FDI from China-

• The FDI from China stood at  $350.22 million in  FY 2017-18 and $277.25 million in FY 2016-17.
• The sectors which received maximum FDI from China during April 2000-March 2020 are automobile ($987.35 million), metallurgical ($199.28 million), electrical equipment ($185.33 million), services ($170.18 million), and electronics ($151.56 million).

Steps by India to check the trade deficit

• It is framing technical regulations and quality norms for several products in order to reduce dependence on Chinese imports and address the trade deficit. 
• It has imposed anti-dumping duties on several goods, which are being dumped in the domestic market at below the average prices from China with a view to guarding domestic players from cheap imports. 
• Over 50 quality control orders (QCOs) and other technical regulations have been notified in the past one year, including those on electronic goods, toys, air conditioners, bicycle parts, chemicals, safety glass,steel and electrical items etc. 
• The government now is accentuating the Make In India initiative. In the recently announced Atma Nirbhar Bharat scheme, Hon’ble PM called for self-dependency and support domestic industries by Vocal for Local sentiments in order to boost the Indian economy and make it less dependable on others.

Context: Recently, the five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed under the high impact community development projects (HICDP) programme for developing educational infrastructure to support Kabul at a time when the war-torn country’s peace process is confronting challenges.
Key Points

• The five memorandums of understanding (MoUs) were signed under the high impact community development projects (HICDP) programme being implemented by India to further strengthen the bilateral development partnership.
• Since 2001, India has undertaken projects worth $3 billion in Afghanistan.
• These projects are part of India’s commitment to assisting Afghanistan emerge as a “peaceful, united, prosperous and pluralistic nation”.
• Despite an agreement signed by the US and the Taliban in February, Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in terrorist violence even as it grapples with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Afghanistan–India relations

• Bilateral relations between Afghanistan and India have remained strong and friendly over the decades, tracing back to the Indus Valley Civilisation.
• Between the 10th century to the mid-18th century, northern India has been invaded by a number of invaders based in what today is Afghanistan. Among them were the Ghaznavids, Ghurids, Khaljis, Suris, Mughals and Durranis.
• The Republic of India was the only South Asian country to recognize the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan in the 1980s.
• India-Afghanistan relations were diminished during the 1990s Afghan civil war and the Taliban government.
• India aided the overthrow of the Taliban and became the largest regional provider of humanitarian and reconstruction aid to the present day Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.
• India shares border with Pakistan and there is the Durand Line conflict between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

India’s Interest in Afghanistan

• Economic and Strategic Interest: Afghanistan is a gateway to the oil and mineral-rich Central Asian republics.
• Afghanistan’s main advantage is its geography, as anyone who is in power in Afghanistan controls the land routes connecting India with Central Asia (via Afghanistan).
• Developmental Projects: The massive reconstruction plans for the country to offer a lot of opportunities for Indian companies.
• Three major projects: the Afghan Parliament, the Zaranj-Delaram Highway, and the Afghanistan-India Friendship Dam (Salma Dam), along with India’s assistance of more than $3 billion in projects, hundreds of small development projects (of schools, hospitals and water projects) have cemented India’s position in Afghanistan.
• Security Interest: India has been the victim of state-sponsored terrorism emanating from Pakistan supported terrorist group operating in the region (e,g. Haqqani network).

Context: The stark indignity that many internal migrants endured on their long march home suggests that they are perceived as being politically powerless as they do not form part of voter banks. This calls for considering One Nation One Voter ID as a policy measure to resolve the issue.
Background

• In the light of the pandemic crisis, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has made it possible for senior citizens above the age of 65 to vote by postal ballot, given that they are at greater risk from exposure to the novel coronavirus. 
• Previously, this option was available only to disabled citizens and those above 80 years.
• The article argues for a similar empowering approach towards migrant workers.

Key Points
Voter turn-out

• India currently has over 91.05 crore registered voters and in the 2019 general election, a record 67.4%, i.e., 61.36 crore voters, cast their vote.
• Almost one-third, amounting to a substantial 29.68 crore voters, did not cast their vote.
• National Election Study surveys have shown that about 10% of registered voters refrain from voting due to a lack of interest in politics which implies that around 20 crore voters who want to vote are unable to do so.
• This includes about three crores Non-Resident Indians (NRIs). Only about one lakh NRIs have registered to vote, presumably because voting requires their physical presence in India. Of them, about 25,000 voted in the 2019 elections.
• A substantial proportion of the voters who are unable to vote would include the migrant labourers.

Migrant labourers in India

• Internal migrant workers constitute about 13.9 crores as in the Economic Survey of 2017, which is nearly a third of India’s labour force.
• They travel across India in search of economic livelihood, in the construction sector, as domestic workers, in brick kilns, mines, transportation, security, agriculture, etc.
• Many never intend to settle down and wish to return to their native villages and towns once their work is completed or the working season ends.
• Often they toil in exploitative low-wage jobs, lacking identity and proper living conditions, without access to welfare and unable to exercise their voting rights.

Challenges

• The migrant workers face enormous difficulties in exercising their franchise.
• Migrant workers become quasi-disenfranchised, forgotten voters because they cannot afford to return home on Election Day to choose their representatives.
• Internal migrant workers do not enrol as voters in their place of employment since they find proof of residence hard to provide.
• Since the migrant workers do not have a vote where they work, their concerns are easy to ignore in their host State. Sometimes, they are targeted for allegedly taking jobs away from the local population.
• This leads to a callous attitude towards the plight of migrants. The migrant labourers are considered mostly politically powerless.
• To enable NRIs to exercise their franchise, the government brought in legislation in the previous Lok Sabha to enable voting through authorised proxies. However, the proposed legislation has lapsed. The lack of such proposals for the internal poor migrants is evident.

Suggestion
Policy measure

• Similar to the ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme being ushered in to enable migrant workers and their family members to access Public Distribution System benefits from any fair price shop in the country, there is the need to usher in ‘One Nation One Voter ID,’ to ensure domestic ballot portability.
• Migrants should be able to physically vote in their city of work based on the address on their existing voter IDs and the duration of their temporary stay.

Implementation

• To facilitate voting by migrant workers, the ECI could undertake substantial outreach measures using the network of District Collectorates.
• The COVID-19 crisis mobilized governments and non-governmental organisations to set up registers and portals to reach out to migrant workers. The data available through this can be utilized to register migrant workers.
• Given the developments in digital communications, it is technologically feasible to record and transfer votes to their respective constituencies without compromising the credibility of the election process.
• There are operative systems that enable a form of voter portability that can serve as a model for re-enfranchising migrant workers.
• Service voters (government employees) posted away from home can vote through the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS).
• Classified service voters (e.g., military personnel) can vote through their proxies.
• The ECI has said that it is testing an Aadhaar-linked voter-ID based solution to enable electors to cast their votes digitally from anywhere in the country.

Road Ahead

• Voting must be viewed as a civic right. Well-thought-out initiatives that facilitate voting and remove obstacles to voters exercising their franchise must be emphasized on. Ensuring that every Indian voter can participate in elections is imperative to ensure a democratically inclusive India.
• The ‘One Nation One Voter ID,’ approach would help empower the forgotten migrant voter. Once migrant workers get to exercise their franchise, there would also be a change in how they are treated.

Context: Recently, the Supreme Court and High Court judges stated that a committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs to introduce reforms in criminal law lacks diversity and it needs to ensure transparency.
About the Committee

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a national level committee for reform in criminal law.
• Composition: It is a five-member Committee headed by National Law University Vice-Chancellor Dr Ranbir Singh with leading lawyer Mahesh Jethmalani among others as its members to undertake a review of criminal laws.
• Functions: The committee will look into the introduction of new forms of punishments including principles of restorative justice and applying the revised punishment framework to the offences, reviewing the amounts of fine, identifying offences requiring an addition to the IPC and identifying redundant offences.
• It will also look into aligning provisions of the IPC with SC judgements.
• The panel will also look into strengthening the legislative foundations of criminal justice institutions in order to enhance their efficacy and effectiveness while simultaneously limiting abuse of powers, including discretionary powers.

Concerns

• This “committee lacks diversity both in terms of the social identity of members, as well as their professional background and experience”.
• Unlike previous committees that had been assigned reforms of such magnitude, this one did not even have full-time members. 

Suggestions

• Diversify: Include more expertise, diversity and create sub-committees with outside experts and other consultants with established track records in the field of criminal justice.
• Working structure: The committee should clarify whether or not it is working independently of the MHA.
• Stakeholders Engagement: It is imperative for the committee to engage with a wide range of stakeholders in the criminal justice system in a meaningful, substantive, and transparent manner.
• Make response publicly: The signatories suggested that all the responses received by the committee should be made publicly available on its website.

Context: A February 2020 Supreme Court judgement on Criminalisation in politics may have far-reaching consequences for Indian democracy. It will first be implemented in the coming Bihar elections in October 2020.
Background

• Judgement: The Court has asked the political parties to state the reasons for selection of candidates with criminal background and why other individuals without criminal antecedents could not be selected as candidates.
• If a political party fails to comply then it would be treated as contempt of Court’s orders/directions.
• It will first be implemented in the coming Bihar elections in October 2020.

Earlier orders for reducing criminalization in politics

• Each candidate shall submit a sworn affidavit giving financial details and criminal cases.
• Each candidate shall inform the political party in writing of criminal cases against him or her.
• The party shall put up on its website and on social media as well as publish in newspapers the names and details of such candidates.

Why did the Court pass such an order?

• There is increasing number of MPs with criminal cases pending against them.

Need of criminal free politics

• Governance free of the criminals: As politics dominates the bureaucracy and reins in business, civil society and the media.
• Better intention: Capability is not sufficient and there is a requirement of intent to do public service.
• No single party problem: It is not about any party but about the political system as one of them is going to run the government.
• Better result: The criminalization in politics result in bad governance and survey after survey show that people around the country are unhappy with the quality of governance.
• Better choices: As there are limited choices, voters try to vote as best of their ability. They need better alternatives.
• Other wrongs: Using money power to buy MLAs and MPs sometimes makes a mockery of election outcomes which is expected to be followed by criminals.

Reasons for criminalization despite several laws and court judgements

• Lack of enforcement of laws and judgments.
• There are no tough penalties on them if they don’t follow the orders.

Need of more vigilance

• Better monitoring: Monitoring the affidavits of candidates
• Working with the Election Commission to ensure that information is promptly available on their websites and widely circulating this information to voters using all the social media tools available.
• Better compliance: It includes monitoring compliance with the Supreme Court judgment to see if details of tainted candidates are promptly put up on their websites and on their social media handles along with proper reasons for giving them tickets.
• Not just winnability of candidates: Voters need to be vigilant about misuse of money, gifts and other inducements during elections. We need to realize that people who bribe us for votes cannot be trusted.
• More public pressure: There is a need for ensuring prosecution with public pressure. For example-some positive may come up if one political leader is hauled up for giving tickets to large numbers of tainted candidates.

Suggestion

• Political parties should themselves refuse tickets to the tainted.
• The RP Act should be amended to debar persons against whom cases of a heinous nature are pending from contesting elections.
• Fast-track courtsshould decide the cases of tainted legislators quickly.
• Bring greater transparency in campaign financing.
• The Election Commission of India (ECI) should have the power to audit the financial accounts of political parties.

Road Ahead

• Need initiatives from political parties: All the Supreme Court judgments on electoral reforms since 2002 are in fact responses to citizen initiatives and not one initiative has come from the political system.
• Mahatma Gandhi taught us that to solve a problem, we have to confront the real issue. A root cause diagnosis shows that political party leaders are squarely responsible for this state of affairs as they field such candidates.

Context: Recently, it has been alleged that the strength of the Council of Ministers (CoM) in Madhya Pradesh exceeds the prescribed Constitutional limit.
Key Points

• The recent expansion of the Ministry in Madhya Pradesh has increased the Council of Ministers strength to 34, which is more than 15% of the effective strength of the legislators at 206.
• The effective strength of the House is calculated by deducting the vacant seats out of the total strength of the House.
• Article 164 (1A) of the Constitution prescribed that the total number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister, in the Council of Ministers in a State shall not exceed 15% of the total number of members of the Legislative Assembly of that State.
• Provided that the number of Ministers, including the Chief Minister in a State shall not be less than twelve.
• This provision was introduced through the 91st Constitution (Amendment) Act, 2003.
• The Assembly strength of 228 dropped to 206 in March 2020, when 22 rebel Congress MLAs resigned, toppling the then government. Two seats fell vacant earlier owing to deaths.

About Council of Ministers in State

• The Council of Ministers in the states is constituted and function in the same way as the Council of Ministers at the Centre.
• Article 163 (1) provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister as the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions.
• However, the Constitution does not specify the size of the State Council of Ministers or the ranking of ministers.
• They are determined by the chief minister according to the exigencies of the time and requirements of the situation
• Article 164 (1) provides that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and the other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Chief Minister.
• However, in the states of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, there shall be a Minister in charge of tribal welfare who may in addition be in charge of the welfare of the scheduled castes and backward classes or any other work.
• Article 164 (2) provides that the Council of Ministers shall be collectively responsible to the State Legislative Assembly.
• Article 164 (4) provides that a person can remain as Minister without being a member of the state legislature for a period of six consecutive months.
• Article 164 (1B) provides that a member of either House of state legislature who is disqualified on the ground of defection shall also be disqualified to be appointed as a Minister.

Context: Recently, the US reiterated that its stands on sanctions have not changed for those countries who purchase Russian arms and weapons. The sanctions include India too. 

Background

• After the violent clash and intrusion of China in Galwan Valley, India took the decision to bolster its Airforce squadron for any future conflict scenario. 
• Recently, the Defence Acquisition Council approved the procurement of 21 MiG-29 fighter jets for the Indian Air Force (IAF), an upgrade for 59 of these Russian aircraft and the acquisition of 12 Su-30 MKI aircraft. 

Highlights of the announcement

• The US urged all of its allies and partners to give up deals with Russia that poses a risk of triggering sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). 
• It mentioned that the US government is aware of the reports regarding India’s planned defense purchase from Russia and is considering the situation where a specific transaction would result in sanctions or not. 
• The U.S. was continuing to “closely monitor” the situation and supported a “peaceful resolution” of the situation and mentioned that there are strict criteria for considering a waiver, and each transaction is evaluated on a case-by-case basis. 

What is CAATSA?

• It stands for Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act (CAATSA).
• It is a federal law and was enacted in August 2017 with the objective of countering the aggression by Iran, Russia and North Korea through punitive measures e.g. imposing sanctions. 
• It includes sanctions against countries that engage in significant transactions with Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors.
• Section 231 of the Act empowers the US President to impose sanction on persons engaged in a “significant transaction” with Russian defence and intelligence sectors.

Two of the most stringent of these sanctions are:

• Suspending export licences related to munitions, dual-use and nuclear-related items; and
• Ban on American investment in equity/debt of the sanctioned person.

The act gives authority to the US President to “impose five or more of the sanctions described in section 235 (of CAATSA)” out  12 types of sanctions. 
The U.S. President was given the authority in 2018 to waive CAATSA sanctions on a case-by-case basis as part of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2019.

• In the past US has threatened India with CATSAA on its deal for S-400 with Russia.

What sanctions will be imposed?

• prohibition on loans to the sanctioned person.
• prohibition of Export-Import bank assistance for exports to sanctioned persons.
• prohibition on procurement by United States Government to procure goods or services from the sanctioned person.
• denial of visas to persons closely associated with the sanctioned person.

Implications on India

• Although the sanctions are not directly imposed on India, it affects India nevertheless. The major reason for this is the nature of relationship India has with Iran and Russia. India happens to have strong trade ties with both these nation states.
• No, as per the provisions of the bill, US imposes sanctions on all its adversaries, as well as all countries and firms dealing with this adversaries.
• So, if India does not remove ties with Russia and Iran, the US may invoke sanctions against India. India cannot afford to lose the growing diplomatic relations with the US, but neither can it afford to forego supplies of defence and oil from Russia and Iran.

What is STA(Strategic Trade Authorization)?

• It is basically US recognition of India's growing status both politically and financially(here, other nations also come).This action befits India's status as a major defence partner of US. Prior to that India having an status of STA-II.
• Now India became 3rd Asian country ,after Japan and South Korea,37th country at global front.
• Traditionally it is given to those countries who are member of NSG,Wassenaar Arrangement,Australia Group and MTCR but India is member of 3/4 groups (i.e. except NSG)
• Note:-It is first country in South Asia and first country to get it without NSG. Even Israel is not given STA-1 status so far. By this we import a large segement of dual use technologies and other strategic technologies(i.e. in civil space,defence sectors etc.)

Context: Recently, US President chose Mount Rushmore for his 244th Independence Day speech this year. It was symbolic at a time when the country has been rocked by anti-racism protests as part of the Black Lives Matter movement.
About Mount Rushmore

• It is a memorial situated in South Dakota. It features 60-foot face carvings of four US Presidents — George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
• The idea to carve the granite face of Black Hills was conceived by historian Doane Robinson in 1923, who thought it could promote tourism in the region. Robinson wrote to sculptor Gutzon Borglum in 1924, suggesting that he “design and supervise a massive sculpture there”. Borglum responded that he was “very much interested” in the proposal.
• Subsequently, Congress passed legislation authorising the carving of “heroic figures” commemorating the national history in the Harney National Forest, which is now called the Black Hills National Forest.

Why Mount Rushmore was chosen?

• Borglum chose Mount Rushmore as the site for carving since it was the highest peak in the vicinity, had resistant granite, and faced the southeast and therefore would receive good light throughout most of the day.
• Borglum selected these four Presidents since he felt they represented the most important events in the history of the US. The carving began in 1927 and was complete in 1941. Borglum died in March 1941, after which his son Lincoln took over the project for the remaining seven months.
• Criticism:
• Some critics view their policies devoted to the complete “annihilation or subjugation” of the Indigenous people. Lincoln has been criticised for his response to the Minnesota Uprising — over 300 Native Americans were sentenced to death after they were accused of attacking white settlers in 1862.

Context: Recently, Australia has suspended its extradition treaty with Hong Kong in response to a new national security law imposed by China.
Key Points

• Australia announced a range of visas that will be extended from two to five years and offers of pathways to permanent residency visas, although, it is not clear how many Hong Kongers are expected to get the extensions.
• By doing so, Australia has offered an immigration pathway for residents fleeing Hong Kong, after several Western countries aligned with the US, including Canada and Britain, introduced similar measures to confront China’s security crackdown in the city.
• The move comes after China bypassed Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to impose the sweeping security legislation without public consultation.
• Critics view it as a further deterioration of freedoms promised to the former British colony.

Issues With National Security Law

• China bypassed Hong Kong’s Legislative Council to impose the national security law which prohibits activities which are viewed by China as secessionist, subversive or terrorist activities or foreign intervention in Hong Kong affairs.
• Under the law, police have sweeping powers to conduct searches without warrants and order internet service providers and platforms to remove messages deemed to be in violation of the legislation.
• Thus, the law is considered as an attack on human rights especially freedom of speech and freedom of assembly of the people of Hong Kong.
• It also violates the basic law of Hong Kong which suggests that no central government agencies can interfere in the functioning of the Special Administrative Region (Hong Kong).
• Article 12 under the basic law suggests that there will be a high degree of autonomy for administration of Hong Kong.

Have other countries done something similar?

• Britain, too, is extending residency rights for up to 3 million Hong Kongers eligible for British National Overseas passports, allowing them to live and work in the U.K. for five years.
• US parliament unanimous passed a bill that would impose sanctions on entities that help violate Hong Kong’s autonomy and financial institutions that do business with them.
• Canada has suspected its extradition treaty with Hong Kong and is looking at other options including migration.

China’s Response

• China last week warned Australia against “interfering in China’s internal affairs with Hong Kong.”
• The Party warned that “no one should underestimate the repercussions to the Australian economy from a further deterioration of bilateral ties.”

Context: Recently, China has made new territorial claims in the eastern sector of Bhutan’s Trashigang district. Beijing had made this claim while objecting to a request to develop the Sakteng wildlife sanctuary in eastern Bhutan’s Trashigang district at an online meeting of the Global Environment Facility (GEF). 
Background to the situation

• According to written records, there has been no mention of Eastern Bhutan, or Trashigang Dzongkhag (district), where Sakteng is based, that borders Arunachal Pradesh, in 24 previous rounds of boundary negotiations held between the two countries between 1984 and 2016.
• The negotiations have not been held since the Doklam standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in 2017.
• Bhutan has always maintained a discreet silence on its boundary negotiations with China, and it does not have any formal diplomatic relations with Beijing.

Bhutan-China Border Dispute

• Bhutan and China have border disputes dating back to 1984. But they were limited to North Bhutan  and West Bhutan. 
• It is the first time China is making a claim to East Bhutan, more precisely Sakteng was never a part of the exising disputes.

Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary

• Wildlife sanctuary located mostly in Trashigang District and just crossing the border into Samdrup Jongkhar District, Bhutan. 
• It is one of the country's protected areas. It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan's Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion.
• The sanctuary is of easternmost temperate ecosystems and landscape
• It is part of the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests ecoregion. 
• It protects several endemic species including the eastern blue pine and the black-rumped magpie.
• Important rivers: Manas Chu, Bada Chu and Dhansiri Chu.

Global Environment Facility (GEF) 

• It is a multilateral financial mechanism that provides grants to developing countries for projects that benefit global environment and promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities.
• Based in Washington DC, USA, GEF was established during the Rio Earth Summit of 1992.
• GEF is managed by the United Nations Development Programme(UNDP), the World Bank and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
• With 183 member countries, and alliances with civil society organizations, the purpose of addressing the environmental issues across the globe.

GEF also serves as a financial mechanism for the following conventions

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNECCC).
• UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
• Minamata Convention on Mercury.

China targets India’s Arunachal Pradesh?

• The key could be the proximity of Bhutan’s “eastern sector” to Arunachal Pradesh – which China claims in its entirety as part of “south Tibet” : It could be the primary reason for Beijing to talk about differing boundary perceptions with Bhutan now.
• Though China might not have said it publicly, it’s not surprising if Beijing was opposed to the India-Bhutan boundary delimitation agreement, which was signed in 2006.
• China’s state-controlled media and Chinese academics consistently blame India for Beijing-Thimphu not having diplomatic ties.

Road Ahead

• Bhutan has protested against Chinese territorial claims in eastern Bhutan and said that it will also contest in future if China refers to the territory as disputed. Safety of Border from China is a concern for both India and Bhutan. Therefore, both sides need to work together on this issue.

Context: Recently, China’s health authorities are on high alert after a suspected case of the infectious bubonic plague was reported from Inner Mongolia.

• Local authorities in Bayannur issued a third-level warning for plague prevention and control that will last till the end of 2020.

About Bubonic plague

• The Bubonic Plague resulted in 'black death', one of the worst pandemics in human history, which claimed millions of lives in the 14th century. 
• The plague had reportedly originated somewhere in Asia, and spread through China and India, killing an estimated two-thirds of the European population in the 1340s and 1350s.
• The Bubonic plague also known as black death is a rare but serious bacterial infection that is transmitted by a bacteria called Yersinia pestis. It generally spreads through contact with infected fleas.
• The Bubonic Plague diagnosis is made by finding the bacteria in the blood, sputum, or from the fluid in the lymph nodes. Those infected from the Bubonic Plague bacteria require urgent hospital treatment with strong antibiotics. 
• Though as per WHO, human-to-human transmission of bubonic plague is rare, those with the pneumonic form of plague can transmit the infection to other people through droplets.
• Bubonic Plague is airborne, as it is generally contracted from infected fleas. 

Types of Bubonic Plague

• Bubonic plague: The bubonic form of plague is when the bacteria enters the skin through a flea bite and travels through the lymphatic vessels to a lymph node, causing it to swell. In advanced stages, the lymph node could break open with pus. 
• Septicemic plague: The septicemic form of plague is when the bacteria is circulated in the blood stream. If this kind of plague is not treated in time, it can be 100 percent fatal. In advanced stages, in can cause tissue death and subsequent blackening of fingers, toes and nose.
• Pneumonic plague: The pneumonic form plague is when the bacteria advances to the lungs. This stage is extremely advanced and fatal. 

Context: Under its new powers to punish human rights offenders, Britain has announced economic sanctions against individuals and organisations from Russia, Saudi Arabia, Myanmar and North Korea.
Key Points

• Britain had previously imposed sanctions as part of the European Union or under the auspices of the United Nations.
• Since leaving the EU in January 2020, it has implemented its own version of the U.S.’s Magnitsky Act.
• This allows authorities to ban or seize assets of individuals guilty of human rights abuses.
• The U.K. law authorises the British government to prevent sanctioned individuals from entering the country, channeling money through British banks, or profiting from the U.K. economy.

Sanctions
The sanctions include 49 individuals and organizations:

• Saudi intelligence officials accused of involvement in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul.
• Russian authorities implicated in the death of Sergei Magnitsky,  a lawyer who died in a Moscow prison after exposing a tax fraud scheme involving Russian officials.
• Commander-in-chief of the Myanmar armed forces, and Myanmar army commander – accused of orchestrating systematic violence against Myanmar’s Rohingya minority.
• North Korean organisations: the Ministry of State Security Bureau and the Ministry of People’s Security Correctional Bureau, sanctioned for running prison camps in the authoritarian state.

Context: Recently, the Maldives and Sri Lanka have become the first two countries in the World Health Organisation’s South-East Asian Region (WHO SEAR) to have eliminated both measles and rubella ahead of the 2023 deadline.
Key Points

• This makes Sri Lanka and the Maldives the first two countries in WHO South-East Asia Region to achieve measles and rubella elimination ahead of the 2023 target.
• Member countries of WHO South-East Asia Region had in September 2019 set 2023 as the target for elimination of measles and rubella, revising the goal of the flagship programme that since 2014 had focused on measles elimination and rubella control.
• Bhutan, DPR Korea and Timor-Leste are other countries in the Region that have eliminated measles.
• Under the Global Vaccine Action Plan, measles and rubella are targeted for elimination in five WHO Regions by 2020.

Criteria

• A country is verified as having eliminated measles and rubella when there is no evidence of endemic transmission of the respective viruses for over three years in the presence of a well-performing surveillance system.
• The Maldives reported its last endemic case of measles in 2009 and of rubella in October 2015.
• Sri Lanka reported the last endemic case of measles in May 2016 and of rubella in March 2017.

About Measles

• Measles is a highly contagious viral disease.
• It remains an important cause of death among young children globally, despite the availability of a safe and effective vaccine.
• Measles is transmitted via droplets from the nose, mouth or throat of infected persons. Initial symptoms, which usually appear 10–12 days after infection, include high fever, a runny nose, bloodshot eyes, and tiny white spots on the inside of the mouth. Several days later, a rash develops, starting on the face and upper neck and gradually spreading downwards.

Its Vaccine

• Measles can be prevented with MMR vaccine. The vaccine protects against three diseases: measles, mumps, and rubella.
• CDC recommends children get two doses of MMR vaccine, starting with the first dose at 12 through 15 months of age, and the second dose at 4 through 6 years of age.
• Teens and adults should also be up to date on their MMR vaccination.

About Rubella

• Rubella is a contagious, generally mild viral infection that occurs most often in children and young adults.
• Rubella is the leading vaccine-preventable cause of birth defects. Rubella infection in pregnant women may cause fatal death or congenital defects known as congenital rubella syndrome.
• There is no specific treatment for rubella but the disease is preventable by vaccination.

Its Vaccine

• The rubella vaccine is a live attenuated strain, and a single dose gives more than 95% long-lasting immunity, which is similar to that induced by natural infection.

Context: Recently, the President of the United States formally started the withdrawal of the US from the World Health Organization (WHO). 
Background

• Recently, the US President has accused the WHO of putting “political correctness above life-saving measures”.
• According to him, the outbreak could have been contained “with very little death” if the WHO had accurately assessed the situation.
• According to him the WHO has failed in its basic duty and must be held accountable.
• Earlier the US President has threatened to pull US funding allocated to the WHO and redirect them elsewhere which garnered criticism from world leaders. The US is the United Nation’s single-largest contributor.
• Since 2017, the US has pulled out of many international bodies and treaties like UNESCO, Paris Climate Agreement, UNHRC, Trans-Pacific Partnership, UNRWA, Iran nuclear deal. 

About the withdrawal

• The withdrawal process can take at least one year and the withdrawal will be effective from July 6, 2021.
• With a year’s notice for withdrawal, the US must pay its outstanding fees under a 1948 Congress resolution.
• The United States makes mandatory payments to maintain its membership in the WHO. The mandatory payment, known as the “assessed contribution,” may prove difficult for the President to cut without congressional approval.

Consequences

• If the USA withdraws from the WHO, it will lose its seat and will not have access to new influenza virus samples for research.
• With no more U.S. scientists embedded in the WHO in key roles, including outbreak response teams like the one that visited Wuhan, it will lose out on health intelligence that will compromise the country’s response to international disease outbreaks.

Impact on Global Health

• The departure of the U.S. will be a significant blow to the WHO in terms of loss of technical expertise and could lead to loss of annual funding of about $450 million.

Challenges faced by WHO

• In 2005 there was a revision of the International Health Regulations which made it mandatory for countries to notify the WHO of all events that may constitute an international public health emergency and to “respond to requests for verification of information regarding such events”.
• Yet, the WHO has limited power to ensure compliance by the Member States, including limitations in independently verifying member states’ official reports.

About World Health Organization (WHO)

• It is a specialized agency of the United Nations with a mandate to act as a coordinating authority on international health issues. It was founded in 1948 and has headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland. 
• It has 194 Member States, 150 country offices, six regional offices. It works in collaboration with its member states usually through the Ministries of Health.
• Fundings of WHO: It receives its funding from two main sources:
• Member States paying their Assessed Contributions (AC) (countries’ membership dues): these are a percentage of a country’s GDP (as agreed by the United Nations General Assembly) and are approved by the World Health Assembly. They cover less than 20% of the total budget.
• Voluntary contributions from the Member States and other partners like United Nations organizations, intergovernmental organizations, philanthropic foundations and the private sector.

Context: Recently, a fire broke out at Natanz, an Underground Nuclear Facility of Iran used for enriching uranium. While Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 is increased.
Key Points

• Located in Iran’s central Isfahan province in Tehran, Natanz hosts the country’s main uranium enrichment facility.
• It is known as the first Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant of Iran.
• Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant (FFEP) is Iran's second pilot enrichment plant.
• It is among the sites monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers i.e. the USA ,UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany.

Issue

• IAEA Inspection: Natanz became a point of controversy as Iran refused to allow an IAEA inspector into the facility in October 2019, after allegedly testing positive for suspected traces of explosive nitrates.
• Nitrates are a common fertilizer, however, when mixed with proper amounts of fuel, the material can become an explosive as powerful as Trinitrotoluene (TNT).
• TNT is also known as 2,4,6-Trinitrotoluene and does not occur naturally in the environment.
• It is an explosive used in military shells, bombs, and grenades, and in underwater blasting.
• Stuxnet Computer Virus: The Stuxnet computer virus, believed to be an American and Israeli creation, disrupted and destroyed centrifuges at Natanz amid the height of Western concerns over Iran’s nuclear program in 2010.
• USA’s Response: The USA has unilaterally withdrawn from the nuclear deal in May 2018 as Iran has continuously been breaking all the production limits set by the deal.
• According to the IAEA Iran enriches uranium to about 4.5 % purity, above the terms of the nuclear deal.

About International Atomic Energy Agency

• Widely known as the world’s “Atoms for Peace and Development” organization within the United Nations family, the IAEA is the international centre for cooperation in the nuclear field.
• The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology.
• Headquarter: Vienna, Austria.
• The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.
• In 2005 it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work for a safe and peaceful world.
• Functions: It is an independent international organization that reports annually to the United Nation General Assembly. When necessary, the IAEA also reports to the UN Security Council in regards to instances of members’ non-compliance with safeguards and security obligations.

Context: Recently, the USA has announced that F-1 and M-1 visa holders who are planning to take online only models will not be allowed to stay in the USA.

• Many universities in the USA are planning to shift all their classes online for the fall semester due to Covid-19 pandemic.
• Fall semester starts in late August and ends in late December or early January whereas the Spring semester begins in January and ends in early May.
• F-1 visas are issued to study in the USA for full-time students whereas M-1 visas are issued to students engaging in vocational or non-academic studies.
• The announcement comes weeks after the USA President suspended H1-B highly skilled worker visas through the end of the year. Most of these visas go to Indian citizens each year.

Key Points
Announcements Made:

• The students outside the USA planning to take all courses online in the fall semester would not be permitted entry into the country.
• The USA would not issue visas to students who are going to take all their classes online due to the pandemic.
• It also stated that the active students under F-1 and M-1 visas in such programs must depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction to remain in lawful status.
• The USA regulations do not allow students in F-1 status to be in online classes but normally F-1 students are allowed to take one class or three credit hours online.

Affected Population

• There were more than one million international students in the United States for the 2018-19 academic year. That accounted for 5.5% of the total USA’s higher education population.
• Also, international students contributed $44.7 billion to the USA’s economy in 2018.
• India is the second largest source of the foreign students in the USA after China.
• The largest number of international students come from China, followed by India, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Canada.

Consequences

• If alternative measures are not opted then these students may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to, the initiation of removal proceedings.
• It is a difficult situation for students as international travel already faces disruption due to Covid-19.
• Available Alternatives: Affected students may switch to visitor status but it is not a long term solution as visitor status is short term and there is no guarantee that it will be approved.

Road Ahead

• Considering the unprecedented pandemic scenario, the USA can amend the regulation for F-1 and M-1 students.
• The one-size-fits-all approach will create more havoc and complexities not only in USA administration but also in diplomatic relations with countries like India and China.

Context: Recently, a draft bill to reduce the number of foreign workers in Kuwait has been deemed constitutional by the legal and legislative committee of the Gulf state’s national assembly.
Key Points

• Kuwait is planning out a more comprehensive plan to cut down on foreign workers, and this has led to fears in India that as many as 7-8 lakh Indians could be forced out of Kuwait if the bill is enacted into law.
• The bill proposes that the number of Indians, who form the largest expatriate community in Kuwait, be reduced to 15% of the country’s 4.8 million population.
• The bill, however, proposes similar quotas for other nationalities too.
• The move is likely to affect 1.30 million unskilled and illiterate expatriates who constitute nearly 40 per cent of the overall population.
• Out of the 3.30 million expatriates in Kuwait, the Indian community constitutes about 50 per cent and hence is likely to be the most affected.
• With its own citizens turning into a minority, Kuwait has been working to reduce its dependence on foreign workers.
• There were similar proposals earlier to reduce jobs as well as wages of the expatriate community.
• If the current bill becomes a law, the unskilled workers would be the worst hit. 
• However, the objections raised by Kuwaitis themselves against the passing of the bill, citing the possible shortage of workers in that country, is definitely a ray of hope for the Indian community.

India–Kuwait relations

• India–Kuwait relations are bilateral diplomatic relations between the Republic of India and the State of Kuwait.
• Kuwait is the source for 10-12% of India’s oil imports while India is among the largest trade partners of Kuwait.
• Indians form one of the largest expatriate communities in Kuwait with their presence in white collar jobs increasing consistently.
• Indians have been described by the Emir’s special envoy as having acquired a special space in Kuwait as “a brilliant and the least problematic expatriate community which works for the overall development of Kuwait”.

Context: Recently, the Russian citizens have supported a set of constitutional amendments including continuation of presidency by Vladimir Putin in a recent held referendum in the country.

• The national referendum had asked voters to decide whether to approve 206 constitutional amendments.
• Both turnout and popular support for the amendments was higher than when Russians voted to adopt the current Constitution itself in 1993 (when support was 58.4 percent with 54.8 percent turnout).

What will change with the constitutional reforms?

• The amendments would allow Putin to run for two more six-year terms, in 2024 and 2030.
• The Russian Constitution bars more than two consecutive presidential terms. The new Constitution doesn’t change the two-term limit in theory, but in practice, it resets Mr Putin’s terms so that it will be the first election under the new Constitution for him, to be held in 2024.
• Other amendments strengthen presidential and parliamentary powers, enshrine traditional values including an effective ban on gay marriage and guarantee better minimum wages and pensions.

The other changes to the constitution include measures to respect the country’s heritage and the orthodox church as well as strengthen the Kremlinover local and municipal authorities.

• The amendments also place strict limitations on Russians who hold foreign citizenship or residency from serving public office. 
• Most notably, these constitutional restrictions block any individual who has ever held foreign residency or citizenship from ever running for President.
• Finally, the amendments also declare the importance of a belief in God, that Russia will defend the historical “truth” about WWII, and that Russia is the successor state to the Soviet Union.

Challenges ahead for Russia

• According to the IMF, the economy hasn’t expanded in dollar terms for a decade.
• The Fund estimates the GDP to shrink by 6.6% this year. With the pandemic affecting local businesses and the oil price fall eating into exports revenue, the Kremlin finds it difficult to fix the economy in the near term.
• In foreign policy, Russia’s relationship with the West remains troublesome.
• The sanctions imposed on Russia after the annexation of Crimea in 2014 are still in place.
• Though Russia managed to prevent the collapse of the Syrian regime after its intervention in the civil war, the Syrian crisis is far from resolved.
• Russia also faces allegations of interference in the elections of other countries.

Context: Recently, the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) under the Ministry of AYUSH and the National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR) under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).
The purpose of this MoU is to conserve the Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Genetic Resources (MAPGRs) in the National Gene Bank (NGB).
Key Points

• It was establishment by the National Gene Bank was notified in 1996-97.
• It was hosted by National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR), New Delhi.
• Its purpose is to conserve the Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) for future generations in the form of seeds, genomic resources, pollen etc.

Functioning:

• The NGB has four kinds of facilities, namely, Seed Genebank (- 18°C), Cryogenebank (-170°C to -196°C), In vitro Genebank (25°C), and Field Genebank, to cater to long-term as well as medium-term conservation.
• It stores different crop groups such as cereals, millets, medicinal and aromatic plants and narcotics, etc.

Other Facilities

• The Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway houses the world’s largest collection of seeds.
• India’s seed vault is at Chang La (Ladakh) in the Himalayas.
• National Animal Gene Bank, established at the National Bureau of Animal Genetic Resources (NBAGR - Karnal, Haryana), has the objective of conserving the indigenous livestock biodiversity.
• NBAGR is one of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutes.

About National Medicinal Plants Board

• In order to promote the medicinal plants sector, the Government of India set up the National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) on 24th November 2000.
• Currently the board is working under the Ministry of AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha & Homoeopathy).
• The primary mandate of NMPB is to develop an appropriate mechanism for coordination between various ministries/ departments/ organizations and implementation of support policies/programs for overall (conservation, cultivation, trade and export) growth of medicinal plants sector both at the Central /State and International level.

About National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources

• The ‘National Bureau of Plant Introduction’ was renamed as ‘National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources’ (NBPGR) in January 1977.
• It is one of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institutes.
• ICAR is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare.
• It is a nodal organisation in India for management of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR).
• It has played a pivotal role in the improvement of various crop plants and diversification and development of agriculture in India through germplasm introduction from various institutes/organizations located in foreign countries and germplasm collection from within the country and abroad and conservation thereof.
• Germplasm is a live information source for all the genes present in the respective plant, which can be conserved for long periods and regenerated whenever it is required in the future.
• The NBPGR has linkage with National Active Germplasm Sites (NAGS) for the management of active germplasm of field and horticultural crops.
• NAGS are located at NBPGR regional stations, other crop-based ICAR institutes or State Agricultural Universities.
• It is headquartered in New Delhi and has 10 regional stations.

Context: Recently, the Mars Colour Camera (MCC) onboard ISRO’s Mars Orbiter Mission has captured the image of Phobos, the closest and biggest moon of Mars.

About Phobos

• Phobos is the innermost and larger of the two natural satellites of Mars, the other being Deimos.
• Both moons were discovered in 1877 by American astronomer Asaph Hall.
• Phobos is a small, irregularly shaped object with a mean radius of 11 km and is seven times as massive as the outer moon, Deimos.
• Phobos is largely believed to be made up of carbonaceous chondrites.
• The violent phase that Phobos has encountered is seen in the large section gouged out from a past collision (Stickney crater) and bouncing ejecta.

About Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM)

• The MOM also called Mangalyaan is a space probe orbiting Mars since 24 September 2014. It was launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• It aims at studying the Martian surface and mineral composition as well as scans its atmosphere for methane (an indicator of life on Mars).
• It is India’s first interplanetary mission and it made it the fourth space agency to reach Mars, after Roscosmos, NASA, and the European Space Agency.
• It made India the first Asian nation to reach Martian orbit and the first nation in the world to do so on its maiden attempt.
• It was initially meant to last six months, but subsequently, ISRO had said it had enough fuel for it to last “many years.”

Context: India has finally planned to invite Australia to join the annual Malabar naval exercise that has so far included just Japan and the U.S., in a move that could risk China’s ire.
About Ex. Malabar

• Exercise Malabar is a trilateral naval exercise involving the United States, Japan and India as permanent partners.
• Originally begun in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between India and the United States, Japan became a permanent partner in 2015.
• Past non-permanent participants are Australia and Singapore.
• The annual Malabar series began in 1992 and includes diverse activities, ranging from fighter combat operations from aircraft carriers through Maritime Interdiction Operations Exercises.

Significance of Australia’s inclusion

• Earlier, India had concerns that it would give the appearance of a “quadrilateral military alliance” aimed at China.
• Now both look forward to the cooperation in the ‘Indo-Pacific’ and the strengthening of defence ties.
• This has led to a convergence of mutual interest in many areas for a better understanding of regional and global issues.
• Both are expected to conclude the long-pending Mutual Logistics Support Agreement (MLSA) as part of measures to elevate the strategic partnership.

About Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QSD)

• The QSD is an informal strategic forum between the United States, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by semi-regular summits, information exchanges and military drills between member countries.
• The forum was initiated as a dialogue in 2007 by Prime Minister of Japan, with the support of Vice President Dick Cheney of the US, PM John Howard of Australia and PM Manmohan Singh of India.
• The dialogue was paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar.
• The diplomatic and military arrangement was widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power, and the Chinese government responded to it by issuing formal diplomatic protest.
• The QSD was recently revived considering the tensions in the South China Sea caused primarily by China and its territorial ambitions.

Context: Recently, Sri Lanka’s northern fishermen have reported a sudden increase in the number of Indian trawlers being spotted in the island’s territorial waters.
Issue

• The Indo-Lanka fisheries conflict became a strain on the countries’ bilateral ties, with talks at the highest levels and among fisher leaders on both sides proving futile for years.
• Main Arguments put forth by Sri Lankan fishermen are that Indian trawlers hamper their fish production and the marine habitat – scooping out marine organisms, including fishes and prawns.
• Furthermore, their livelihoods, now under strain due to the coronavirus pandemic that has impaired exports, would be further hit by the Indian trawlers.

How Sri Lankan government is handling the situation?

• In the last couple of years, Sri Lanka introduced tougher laws banning bottom-trawling, and heavy fines for trespassing foreign vessels.
• The Sri Lankan Navy arrested over 450 Indian fishermen in 2017 and 156 in 2018 on charges of poaching.
• A total of 210 arrests were made in 2019, while 34 have been made so far in 2020.

What is bottom trawling?

• Bottom trawling is a destructive fishing practice which affects the marine ecosystem. The practice, which involves trawlers dragging weighted nets along the sea floor, is known to cause great depletion of fishery resources, and curbing it is in the interest of sustainable fishing.

Territorial waters overlap in some areas

• There is no well-defined boundary line between the two nations
• Maritime border between the two countries is about 400 kilometers spreading along three different areas:
• The Bay of Bengal in the north,
• The Palk Bay
• The Gulf of Mannar in the center and the Indian Ocean in the south.
• In the Palk Bay region, distances between the coasts of the two countries varies between 16 and 45 kms.
• This means territorial waters of each country in some areas strays into the others if 12 nautical mile criteria are strictly applied.

India-Sri Lanka maritime boundary agreements

• Both countries signed four maritime boundary agreements between 1974 and 1976 to define the international maritime boundary between them. This was done to facilitate law enforcement and resource management in the waters since both countries are located closely in the Indian Ocean, particularly in Palk Strait.
• The first agreement was regarding the maritime boundary between Adam’s Bridge and the Palk Strait. It came into force on July 8, 1974.
• The second agreement came into force on May 10, 1976, and it defined the maritime boundaries in the Gulf of Mannar and the Bay of Bengal.
• India, Sri Lanka and Maldives signed an agreement for determination of the tri-junction point in the Gulf of Mannar in July 1976.
• In November 1976, India and Sri Lanka signed another agreement to extend the maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mannar.

Katchatheevu Island Issue

• The small islet of Katchatheevu, hitherto used by them for sorting their catch and drying their nets, fell on the other side of the IMBL.
• Fishermen often risk their lives and cross the IMBL rather than return empty-handed, but the Sri Lankan Navy is on alert, and have either arrested or destroyed fishing nets and vessels of those who have crossed the line.

Implementation of Practical Agreements

• Both countries have agreed on certain practical arrangements to deal with the issue of bona fide fishermen of either side crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line.
• Through these arrangements, it has been possible to deal with the issue of detention of fishermen in a humane manner.
• India and Sri Lanka have agreed to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries between the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare of India and Ministry of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development of Sri Lanka as the mechanism to help find a permanent solution to the fishermen issue.

Road Ahead

• The solution lies in transition from trawling to deep-sea fishing in India. Making the use of trawling technique an offence by the Indian government is another solution India can try to get back the island of Kachchatheevu on “lease in perpetuity”.
• Permitting licensed Indian fishermen to fish within a designated area of Sri Lankan waters and vice versa.
• There is anevident need for institutionalization of fisherman in Indian waters by the government of India so that alternative means of livelihood are provided.
• Government needs to mark up a comprehensive plan to reduce the necessity of Indian fishermen on catch from Palk Bay.

Context: As India emerges from the lockdown, labour market policy has to reverse the pandemic’s gender-differentiated impact.

The pre-COVID-19 situation (for rural women):-
Rural women faced crisis of regular employment

• According to national labour force surveys, a quarter of adult rural women were in the labour force (or counted as “workers” in official data) in 2017-18
• However, time-use surveys from rural Karnataka by NGOs show that, although there were seasonal variations in work participation, almost all rural women came within the definition of “worker” in the harvest season.
• The above data suggests that rural women face a crisis of regular employment. 
• In other words, when women are not reported as workers, it is because of the lack of employment opportunities rather than it being on account of any “withdrawal” from the labour force

Paid work outside home

• Another feature of rural women’s work, is that women from all sections of the peasantry, with some regional exceptions, participate in paid work outside the home
• Thus, while thinking of the potential workforce, we need to include women from almost all sections of rural households and not just women from rural labour or manual worker households.

Age differentiated aspiration amongst rural women

• A third feature is that younger and more educated women are often not seeking work because they aspire to skilled non-agricultural work, whereas older women are more willing to engage in manual labour.

Wage Inequality

• A fourth feature of rural India is that women’s wages are rarely equal to men’s wages, with a few exceptions. The gap between female and male wages is highest for non-agricultural tasks — the new and growing source of employment.

Underestimation of women’s work

• Counting all forms of work — economic activity and care work or work in cooking, cleaning, child care, elderly care — a woman’s work day is exceedingly long 
• It is estimated that the total hours worked by women (in economic activity and care) ranged from 61- 88 hours in the lean season, with a maximum of 91 hours (or 13 hours a day) in the peak season. 
• No woman puts in less than a 60-hour work-week.

Impact of Pandemic & lockdown on rural women
Limited agricultural activity for women: 

• There was increased tendency to use more family labour and less hired labour on account of fears of infection. 
• Therefore, though agricultural activity continued during lockdown employment available to women was limited.

Reduced income from agriculturally allied sectors

• For women across the country, incomes from the sale of milk to dairy cooperatives shrank because the demand for milk fell by at least 25% (as hotels and restaurants closed)
• Among fishers, men could not go to sea, and women could not process or sell fish and fish products

Collapse of non-agricultural employment for women

• Non-agricultural jobs came to a sudden halt as construction sites, brick kilns, petty stores and eateries, local factories and other enterprises shut down completely
• In recent years, women have accounted for more than one-half of workers in public works, but no employment was available through the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) till late in April
• Accredited Social Health Activists or ASHAs, 90% of whom are women, have become frontline health workers, although they are not recognised as “workers” or paid a regular wage.

Effect on Women’s health & nutrition

• During the lockdown period the burden of care work mounted. 
• With all members of the family at home, and children out of school, the tasks of cooking, cleaning, child care and elderly care increased

Disproportionate impact of lockdown on rural women jobs

• Among rural casual workers 71% of women lost their jobs after the lockdown; the figure was 59% for men.
• Data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) also suggest that job losses in April 2020, as compared to April 2019, were larger for rural women than men.
• Inadequate attention has been paid to the consequences of the pandemic for women workers and on the design of specific policies and programmes to assist women workers

Road Ahead

• ASHA workers must be recognised as workers and paid a fair wage. 
• Specific attention must be paid to safe and easy transport for women from their homes to workplaces.
• Healthy meals for schoolchildren as well as the elderly and the sick can reduce the tasks of home cooking, which reduces care burden of women.
• In the short-run provision, employment of women can be increased through an imaginative expansion of the MGNREGA while a medium- and longer-term plan needs to generate women-specific employment in skilled occupations and in businesses and new enterprises.

Context: Everyone acknowledges that the news industry is in deep crisis. While the prognosis varies and the prescriptions for revival differ, everyone seems to believe that in order to be reinvented, journalism has to be re-imagined.
Reasons contributing for crises of journalism

• Digital disruption: Technology has transformed the way news is produced, delivered and consumed around the world in following ways:
• Worldwide access to journalism, wherever it is reported or published. This includes changes in revenues and costs and in how journalists perform their roles.
• Faster response to news by journalists and their consumers, with implications for the ethics and accuracy of those stories.
• Lower costs of production, enabling greater competition and requiring dynamic new business models.
• New platforms, particularly in social media, that shift the balance of power in news and threaten to disintermediate traditional players.
• Greater mobility in news, for journalists and their audiences.
• The shrinking advertising market: Newspaper agencies, tv media and even radio stations earn their revenue from advertising market. But the corona crises and the lockdown which followed it devastated the economies leading to curtailment of ads for goods and services and thus loss of advertising market for legacy journalism.
• The trust deficit: Fake news, yellow journalism is casting shadows of doubt over the credibility of media and creating the impression that the media is offering just one of several possible truths.

Elements common to good journalism are-

• Truth: Journalism’s first obligation is to the truth only to promote sharing of credible information in society.
• Loyalty being a public good: Its first loyalty is to citizens who subscribe it to learn more about their surroundings.
• Verifying information: Its essence is a discipline of verification to present double-checked information.
• Independence: Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover to prevent any biasness in reporting.
• No Politics: It must serve as an independent monitor of power to prevent concentration of power with a single institution and promoting shared power among all.
• Constructive criticism: It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise which helps to build democracy and enables people’s participation in events.
• Being precise: It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
• Conscience is supreme source of ethics: Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience so that they take ethical decisions based on their conscience not under pressure.
• Duties of citizens: Citizens, too, have rights and responsibilities when it comes to the news. It includes holding news agencies accountable for all their acts.

Road Ahead

• The task of re-imagining journalism cannot be left to journalists and media managers alone. It requires the collective thinking of all stakeholders. Readers are the substantial stakeholders and their inputs are essential in reworking the contours of journalism for the 21st century.

Context: Several news reports and surveys on the plight of India’s less-privileged workforce during the lockdown have highlighted the massive scale of falling incomes and loss of means of livelihood.
Background
Poverty estimation in India

• India’s poverty line has been based on unrealistically low thresholds leading to conservative poverty numbers. Irregular updating of official poverty lines and unavailability of data on consumption expenditure from National Sample Surveys in recent years have added to the ambiguity around poverty estimation in India.
• According to the household consumption expenditure reported in the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), 2017-18 and applying State-specific poverty lines (used by the erstwhile Planning Commission in 2011 based on the Tendulkar Committee recommendations, adjusted with current price indices), about 42% or around 56 crore people were ‘officially’ poor before the lockdown was announced.

Concerns
Livelihood shock

• The pandemic and the stringently enforced lockdown have had a devastating impact on India’s labour class.
• There have been reports of a massive scale of falling incomes and loss of means of livelihood. The livelihood shock to such a large proportion of the population is unprecedented in the nation’s history.
• There could be severe implications with increasing hunger-related deaths and destitution, leading to social unrest and crime.

Increase in poverty

• Around 20 crore people were within a narrow band of 20% above the poverty line implying that these people were only a few hundred rupees over the poverty line threshold. A modest dip in earnings — and hence a fall in consumption spending — would push a majority of them into poverty and hunger.
• The lockdown seems to have pushed such vulnerable sections into poverty.
• The extrapolation of the PLFS data extrapolated for the year 2020 suggests that about an additional 40 crore people were pushed below the poverty line due to the lockdown.
• Around 12 crores of this lockdown-induced newly poor are in urban areas and another 28 crore people in rural areas.

Poverty deepening

• Those who were already poor are going to suffer a further worsening in their quality of life, a phenomenon known as poverty deepening.
• Even before the lockdown, around 16% of the population had per capita consumption expenditure of about a third of the poverty line.
• The lockdown would have pushed the already poor to extreme poverty.

Destabilization of the urban economy

• Massive reverse migration flows out of the urban informal sector will hinder the economic recovery in the post-lockdown scenario.

Inadequate state responses

• The article notes that the formal responses of the state to address the economic impact of the pandemic have been mostly inadequate and poorly conceived.
• The second economic stimulus package announces only a token increase of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) wage by Rs. 20 (Rs. 182 to Rs. 202).
• The demand for work is anticipated to increase by 25% with the reverse migration-fuelled increase in rural labour supply. The additional grant made to the MGNREGS seems insufficient.

Suggested Solutions

• Focusing urban areas– Around 12 crores of this lockdown-induced newly poor are in urban areas. Thus, a ‘direct’ employment program implemented through municipal corporations could be introduced to guarantee 20 days of work in urban areas. This will also stop the reverse migration from urban to rural areas.
• Wage subsidy–To encourage a revival of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the most prominent clusters, wage subsidy can be provided in the employer-contractor facilitation programs.

Rural specific schemes

• A revamped, expanded NREGA needs to be made the fulcrum of the government’s rural interventions.
• The revamped scheme would require providing 90 million workers guaranteed employment of 20 days of work/month for at least the next six months. This would entail an additional financial stimulus of Rs. 1.6-lakh crore.

Road Ahead

• The neo-liberal growth that we have experienced since the 1990s has been largely through breaking the back of the laboring class. In post corona India, we need policy measures to alter the course of economic progress and reorient development programs for benefit of all stakeholders including the labour class.

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) has asked state governments to provide Mid-Day Meals (MDM) or food security allowance whichever is feasible, to all eligible children till schools are closed due to COVID-19.
Key Points

• Kerala is already providing hot-cooked meals to students at home.
• The schools across the country have been closed to contain the transmission of covid19 outbreak. 
• The ministry’s order came after the Supreme Court issued notices to all state governments to explain how they would ensure the midday meals reach the vulnerable while schools stay shut.
• According to the MDM Rules 2015, when meals cannot be provided to students on account of unavailability of foodgrains, cooking costs,or due to any other reason, the state government is expected to provide a food security allowance to each child consisting of foodgrains and cooking cost entitlement.

About Mid-Day Meal Scheme

• The MDM Scheme comes under the Ministry of HRD.
• It was launched in the year 1995 as a centrally sponsored scheme. 
• The scheme provides that every child within the age group of six to fourteen years studying in classes I to VIII who enrolls and attends the school shall be provided hot cooked meal having nutritional standards of 450 calories and 12 gm of protein for primary (I- V class) and 700 calories and 20 gm protein for upper primary (VI-VIII class), free of charge every day except on school holidays.
• The scheme covers all government and government-aided schools and also Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.

The MDM rules 2015 provide

• The place of serving meals to the children shall be school only.
• If the Mid-Day Meal is not provided in school on any school day due to the non-availability of food grains or any other reason, the State Government shall pay the food security allowance by the 15th of the succeeding month.
• The meal shall be prepared in accordance with the Mid Day Meal guidelines issued by the Central Government from time to time.
• Procuring AGMARK quality items for preparation of midday meals, tasting of meals by two or three adult members of the school management committee, including at least one teacher, before serving to children.
• The School Management Committee mandated under the Right to free and compulsory education t of 2009, shall also monitor implementation of the Mid-day meal Scheme.
• The State Steering-cum Monitoring Committee (SSMC) shall oversee the implementation of the scheme including the establishment of a mechanism for the maintenance of nutritional standards and quality of meals.